It was now well into the night and the stars in the night sky casted their glow on the ocean and it's most surficial of depths . However, where Nereus was going was far beyond the reach of the glow from these celestial bodies.
Following his breakthrough to the Wave Ruler rank, Nereus decided to check out the shipwreck he had initially noticed in a nearby trench.
Ordinarily the denizens of the deep like the Mer tried to keep their distance from anything that could be related to those who lived on the surface.
Their was strong superstition about entertaining anything that had to do with the finless, curious, and often bloodthirsty surface people and more often than not the Mer and other races below the sea wouldn't even utter their name let alone visit one of their seafaring relics.
But Nereus was far from an ordinary Mer, he himself had led an ill-fated great war against the surface people many years ago so there was nary a drop of fear in his heart toward them.
At this moment, there was a sudden,
Whoosh!
Nereus's figure that was nearing blurring speeds swam through the Open Sea with a speed so swift that it was beyond that of a Pacific Sailfish.
In fact it wouldn't be far from the truth to say that his speed was nearing a fraction of the speed of sound!
Wherever his speedy figure passed, the water was almost parted leaving a multitude of foamy bubbles in his wake.
'This is most satisfying, as expected even my top swimming speeds have increased as a result of breaking through!' he thought happily
Some distance away from him and quickly approaching was the dilapidated figure of what seemed to be a barnacle and algae covered shipwreck complete with stern, hull, and figurehead still intact and recognizable.
The massive vessel looked to be about 23 meters long and judging by the wear and tear on it and it's sails, it had sunk below the depths a long time ago.
'Judging from the condition of this ship I'd say it couldn't have sunk any more than 50-100 years ago' Nereus quickly surmised as he inspected the deck after reaching the ship.
"So I guess the surface people are still alive and kicking after all this time...hmph figures" he muttered while further looking around the deck of the ship.
Besides the rotted wood and rusted metal present he could also see what looked like tell tale signs of a battle as rusted weapons, charred sails, and various holes in the stern and deck of the ship could be seen.
Nereus couldn't help but wonder what could have taken place here, but with the release of a deep sigh that created a trail of rising bubbles he figured that he probably wouldn't be able to find anything of use on the ship's deck.
He then eyed one of the rather large holes on the deck before swimming inside to take a look.
From the moment he entered inside the mysterious hole in the ship he was plunged into an inky darkness that was rife with a strange atmosphere.
The water here was much stiller and colder than on the deck and Nereus had to fight back an involuntary shudder.
Luckily thanks to the evolutionary advantages of the Mer race the darkness and cold were only initial sight hindrances, after a moment in the cold darkness Nereus's eyes began to glow a ghostly shade of azure as they became adjusted allowing him to now see perfectly fine.
"Huh? What the-"
After Nereus had noticed, he suddenly realized that the area he'd entered wasn't what he thought he would be.
He'd expected to be entering a cargo hold of some sort as ships of this size were usually used for transporting goods across the sea but instead, he found himself within what appeared to be the cabin of the ship.
The algae covered and wood planked space with six beds built into the walls, appeared rather unremarkable to Nereus's eyes as he scanned the room.
However, what he saw next effectively made his eyes bug out in surprise.
Shackled to the floor at the very center of the aged wooden room, were the skeletons of what appeared to Nereus to be 4 surface dwellers.
All 4 skeletons were stark white and completely clean as if scavengers had already had their way with the corpses for some time.
The 4 skeletons were also still adorned in the clothes they were wearing when they died and judging by the styles of their dress, they had all been female.
'This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder... what in the depths could have taken place here?'
Nereus stared at the unexpected find for a good amount of time as he digested his astonishment. Finally, a glint of light appeared in his eyes as if he had an idea before he lightly muttered to himself
"Hmm… things have gotten interesting; I wonder if I can do that thing here?"
He then smiled a watery grin.
"I suppose there's only one way to find out"