Realm of Water

The Realm of Water is a vast elemental realm and the third trial Shadow must overcome to claim the true power of the elementals. Though the realm had an island, much of it takes place underwater. This trial alone proved to be arduous, even for Shadow.

## **Overview**

The Realm of Water is a representation of the water element. Much of it takes place in an underwater world. Since there’s no means of breathing underwater, Shadow used his wind powers to create a barrier of wind to provide air for both him and Tiffania. This requires them to stay within the barrier to breathe. If they leave, they would drown. When heading into this realm, Shadow loses his water elemental abilities temporarily till he fights off the guardian.

## **The island**

Upon arriving in the realm, a lone island was shown. It was a tropical island in an open sea. This acts as an introduction of the realm. For any being visiting this area, it’s a relaxing paradise. Despite it’s welcoming appearance, the island belies the dangers of the deep waters.

## **Underwater**

The majority of the realm takes place under the vast sea. Many of the realm’s sights are found here. Shadow likens the sight as an entirely different world. Much of the creatures are normally non-hostile, allowing anyone to go through without a problem. Few of the creatures found in this area are openly hostile.

Despite being close to shore, there are dangers within this region of the sea. As mentioned prior, some creatures are openly hostile, most notably, large predatory creatures. In spite of this, Shadow and Tiffania prevailed, making their way through the underwater sea.

Midpoint of this area, the wildlife shown began using bioluminescence. This became an indicator as Shadow and Tiffamia were reaching the deeper areas of the ocean. Both noted the water was starting to feel cold.

## **Charybdis Whirlpool**

To progress deeper in the realm, Hien notified Shadow and Tiffani to find the Charybdis Whirlpool. It was their means in finding the guardian of the water elemental.

The whirlpool is characterized by its giant size, equivalent to being an underwater tornado. Near it, a giant squid was encountered, guarding any who attempt to use it. The danger of this whirlpool can send its victims down to the deeper levels of the sea. Despite the danger it poses, Shadow and Tiffania were forced to use it to progress through the realm.

The force of the whirlpool was dangerous to ride through. The vortex was so strong, Shadow and Tiffania were forced to clutch on each other’s hands to stay close, fearing they’ll separate. After a grueling ride through the whirlpool, Shadow and Tiffania were able to ensure the vortex, though it left them unconscious.

## **Abyssal Plains**

This particular area is part of the travel within the realm. Much of the region is in near total darkness. Due to lack of sunlight, this region was noted to be rather cold. Shadow and Tiffania arrived in this region after enduring the dangerous Charybdis Whirlpool. The water pressure was noted to be heavy, but Shadow‘s wind barrier was able to endure, allowing them to progress.

The creatures in this region are openly hostile, due to the scarcity of available food. One particular creature was a giant jellyfish called a Medusa Jellyfish, which stung Shadow’s arm with its electric venom, poisoning him during his adventure through the area. However, some are benign. A prime example is the mysterious luminescent biomass in the sea bed that shines brightly.

Due to the depths, the realm has hydrothermal vents present. This made traveling on the sea bed difficult, due to the high temperature present. With little time to spare, Shadow and Tiffania made it through the region, albeit Shadow weakened from the poison of the Medusa Jellyfish.

## Creatures

The creatures of this realm are noted to be more dangerous, due to using their natural habitat to their advantage. From the early portions near the surface, there were few monsters to fight, making the shore area somewhat safe. Most notably was a water devil that impeded Shadow and Tiffania within their travel. The creature's skin was too tough to fight normally, requiring Shadow to use his wind and earth elemental powers. His fire elemental powers were rendered useless due to the ambient water

Upon reaching the Charybdis Whirlpool, Shadow and Tiffania were forced to fight off the guardian of the whirlpool. It was a giant squid-like monster, making the challenge more difficult than it already was. Not wanting to prolong a fight, Shadow and Tiffania used a salvo of Chaos Spears combined with a rain of stones to pelt the creature down. Upon being defeated, the pair descended the whirlpool.

Going deep in the Abyssal Plains, Shadow and Tiffania noticed many of the creatures in the deep ocean. It was proven to be a hostile world as Shadow suspected. Various deep sea predators make the Abyssal Plains difficult without monsters roaming about. Viperfish were one example of the journey being made difficult. Tiffania slayed one with wind magic, but it caused other predators to appear, forcing the pair to flee with Shadow using his wind powers to disorient the creatures.

The pair were soon warned by Hien of a Medusa Jellyfish after encountering it. It was noted to be a dangerous creature, capable of unleashing a powerful toxin that not only poisons the victim, but giving electric burns. Lightning was often seen dancing on the creature's tentacles. The flame spirit warned of its ability to shoot both its toxin and lightning. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, Shadow ended up getting stung on his right arm, which made prolonging in the realm a dangerous option. With the venom running in his veins, Shadow was forced to blow the creature with his wind elemental power, creating a current to blow the creature. However, despite the brief touch, the venom on Shadow soon began to incapacitate him. The contact site of the sting caused his arm to look unhealthily afflicted with electric burns and blisters that made the sensation worse upon bursting. The venom was capable of inducing necrosis in the body, causing great pain for Shadow to endure.

## The Guardian

Within the depths of the Realm of Water is the Black Turtle. It's described as being as large as a tiger shark with black crystals on its body and shell. Its feet also appeared to made of crystals. The mouth of the turtle was noted to contain large, tough and sharp teeth. The creature's shell proved to be too tough. Even with Shadow using Zenyōso in its earth elemental form, it couldn't carve through.

However, the weakness from the turtle was exploited from Shadow using his fire elemental powers to heat the shell up. This caused the shell to become brittle due to the rapid change of temperature. Finding an advantage to use, Tiffania helped in heating up the turtle's shell, rendering it brittle enough for Shadow to crack through it. This didn't let the beast stop from its next action.

The battle continued on an iceberg created by the beast. Shadow was already being slowed down and poisoned by the venom caused from the Medusa Jellyfish. Shadow had to act fast to defeat it, but it had one final trick. It showed its mastery with water, attempting to drown Shadow, before swallowing him. This gave Shadow the advantage to slay the beast, thereby completing the Realm of Water.