My Taming System Makes Me Overpowered

The abyssal silence that followed the fall of The Sleeper was absolute.

As the mountain-sized leviathan calcified into a lifeless reef of dark coral and basalt, Vince stood on the edge of the trench. In his human palm, the Tide Core pulsated with a steady, rhythmic azure light—like a beating heart ripped straight from the ocean’s depth.

Suddenly, a brilliant purple System interface flared before his eyes, illuminating the dark water with vibrant violet light:

[TIDE CORE ACQUIRED & INTEGRATED]

[CORE SYNERGY DETECTED: ELENA (FIRE) + VETRA (DRAGONKIN FIRE) + MORIELE (ELVEN NATURE) + TIDE CORE (PRIMORDIAL WATER)]

[NEW PERMANENT PASSIVE UNLOCKED: OCEAN SOVEREIGNTY]

> Full Water Mana Manipulation unlocked.

> Passive Underwater Breathing acquired.

> Under water Depth & Hydro-Pressure Immunity active in all forms.

[WORLD QUEST: TAMING OF NERISSA THE TIDE CALLER OF NETHROS — IN PROGRESS]

> Objective: Complete taming of General Nerissa (Siren).

> Current Status: 20% ➔ 25%

Vince exhaled slowly as he popped lyrielle’s bubble. Instantly, the oppressive, bone-crushing weight of 11,000 meters beneath the surface vanished completely from his body. Oxygen filled his lungs naturally through the ambient water mana, and the ocean fluid around his fingers responded to his slightest whim, swirling around his knuckles like obedient silk. He no longer needed his Dragonkin transformation just to survive the abyss.

Not bad at all, Vince thought with a quiet smirk.

Then, the adrenaline that had been sustaining the party finally ebbed away, leaving a bone-deep, overwhelming fatigue in its wake.

Vince, Vetra, Nerissa, and Lyrielle didn’t even bother to swim. Suspended in the dark water column, they let their limp bodies sink slowly toward the seabed, drifting like falling leaves through the twilight abyss until they settled softly onto the fine sand below.

"Wow fighting a mountain that size was thrilling..." Vetra groaned, sprawled flat on her back. Her dragonkin fire core was slowly cooling down, sending wisps of warm steam floating up from her scales.

"Save your breath, dragon," a voice called out.

Through the clearing silt, the surviving Vanguard soldiers and displaced Siren citizens swam forward. They had watched the terrifying battle from afar, bracing for their end. Now, seeing their General alive and the titan slain, tears of relief mixed with the ocean water.

Gently, the Siren soldiers lifted the four exhausted heroes, carrying them through the devastated underwater valleys toward a makeshift encampment nestled within a coral ridge.

The devastation was staggering. The ancient city of Nethros was gone—its grand pearl spires and crystalline domes pulverized into sparkling dust during The Sleeper’s awakening. The sunken kingdom was a field of majestic ruins.

In the camp, Siren healers went to work, wrapping injured limbs in glowing, medicinal kelp pastes.

Lyrielle sat on a smooth rock, her staff resting against her knee as she wove a delicate Elven recovery spell. Two small vials of glowing emerald serum coalesced in her palms. She drank one herself, a healthy pink returning to her pale cheeks, and handed the second directly to Vince.

"Here, drink this," Lyrielle said softly, her eyes lingering on him with warm concern before she shot a teasing look at Vetra, who was watching hungrily from a nearby stone. "Sorry, Vetra. Elven serums require precise mana tuning. Besides, a legendary dragonkin like you can handle a little fatigue, right?"

Vetra snorted, leaning back against the rock with a sharp, wicked grin. "Keep talking, long ears. Next time I’ll let you fight the giant tendrils while I sit in a bubble."

Vince chuckled, downing the bitter green liquid in one gulp. Instantly, a wave of refreshing vitality washed through his limbs, clearing the mental fog from the fight.

A short distance away, standing at the edge of the coral ridge, Nerissa stared out over the ruins of her homeland. The golden glow of her eyes was subdued, heavy with the weight of leadership.

The old Nethros was dead. The hidden cage where her people had hidden from the world for centuries had been shattered.

Driven by her fierce sense of duty, the Siren General gripped her trident, her jaw setting tight as she prepared to march down into the ruins to begin organizing the clearance effort herself. She couldn’t afford to rest—not while her people were homeless.

Before she could take a single step forward, a warm, firm hand wrapped gently around hers.

Nerissa started, turning her head to find Vince standing beside her. He had swum up so quietly she hadn’t even heard the water shift.

"You don’t have to carry the whole ocean on your shoulders alone, Nerissa," Vince said, his voice deep and grounding. He looked out over the shattered city, then back into her golden eyes, his thumb lightly brushing the back of her palm. "We’ll rebuild it together. Not as a hidden cage this time... but as a legacy."

Nerissa stared at him, her chest tightening. The raw strength he had shown in battle was terrifying, but the quiet, unyielding support he offered now was something entirely different. For the first time in her life as a General, she felt like she didn’t have to stand alone.

A soft, rare smile broke across her stoic face.

"Alright," Nerissa whispered softly, her fingers gently tightening around his. "Together."

A subtle purple notification flickered briefly in the corner of Vince’s vision:

[NOTIFICATION: GENERAL NERISSA’S AFFECTION & RECOGNITION INCREASED TO 40%]

"HEY!"

A sharp, indignant yell shattered the moment.

Lyrielle stood fifty yards back, her hands on her hips, her wooden staff glowing green as she glared at Vince in disbelief.

"Vince! Get back over here right now!" Lyrielle shouted, her voice ringing clearly through the water. "You just drank a high-tier recovery serum! You haven’t rested anywhere near enough to be running around playing architect!"

Vince turned toward the elven scholar, a playful, mischievous smirk spreading across his face. He squeezed Nerissa’s hand once, then pushed off the seabed, floating smoothly beside the Siren General.

"Catch me first!" Vince called back, shooting through the water at an effortless speed using his newly acquired water manipulation.

"Why, you—!" Lyrielle gasped, her ears twitching in outrage. She kicked off the ridge, her elven wind-and-water magic flaring around her feet as she gave chase. "Don’t you dare use my own serum’s energy to run away from me!"

Nerissa couldn’t help a soft laugh from escaping her lips as she swam alongside Vince, watching the elven scholar chase them down the coral valley.

The battle for Nethros was over. The ancient city of Nethros lay in ruins, but as their laughter echoed through the deep, a bright, hopeful dawn settled over the abyss.