《I'm a Stingray?》 Chapter 1: System reboot Chapter 1: System reboot "The hell!? Why am I underwater?" [System reboot] [Loading...] [I''m your ocean survival system, you are my servant] [Feed me points, and I''ll show you the secrets of survival with the aid of body upgrades] "Oh for the love of..." ... [Your first task = locate and kill any small species of the crustacea family, juveniles are preferable] Regardless of that task being spoken out, he was confused about what the hell was going on here and just how on earth did he, Tim Lake appear here underwater. At this point the predicament was so bizarre that hepletely ignored what the system had just said. In fact he wasn''t even sure what the system was and thought that craze was creeping in, because he could hear the system but not see it. "Who the hell are you? How did I get here?" Tim shouted, panic was evidently growing stronger after every ticking second. [I''m your inbuilt ocean survival system, you are the new owner of this stingray body] [I have knowledge equal to one world and beyond it, I can help any oceanic creature survive this cruel environment] "Damn this thing has a lot to say." Timined, but he didn''t speak out loud and only thought of it briefly. [I heard that] "Oh so you can read my thoughts too, perfect." He answered with the aid of sarcasm, feeling a bit embarrassed especially since the system sounds like ady although it also sounded a tadputerised. [Yes] That aside, a few seconds after the self imed amazing system, continued without being asked too. [Avable system points = 10] [Purchase options = 1] Now the best solution was to y along. This all felt like a bizarre dream, especially since he wasn''t suffocating. "Let''s hear that option out I guess." It did feel like a dream, he even tried to swim fast but the effort was shunned down by slow results. Which often happened in dreams when one tried to run away from the antagonist of the nightmare. [Option number 1 = learn everything about your species] [Price = 3 system points] "Kind of expensive for information that is solely about ''my'' new body." The little stingray continued with hisints, but didn''t want to stretch it either. A hunch inched that he won''t be here for long, therefore stating. "But whatever, I''m buying the first option." [Loading purchase] [Loading information] [Species = bluespotted ribbon-tail ray] [Family = dasyatidae] [Gender = male] [Age = 29 days] [Length = 15 centimeters] [Width = 7 centimeters] [Weight = 0.3 kilogram] [Purchaseplete] [3 system points consumed] [7 system points remaining] "Sounds like I''m very small." He pointed out what was painfully obvious. And right after, the system continued with no rtion to the main spoken topic whatsoever. It felt difficult tomunicate with someone or in this case something, that didn''t listen. And now although drowsy, he was trying to figure out a way to get rid of this system since nothing good seemed toe out of it. [3 more options have been unlocked because of the previous purchase] [Option Number 1 = learn location] [Price = 14 system points] Pissed about this cheap bastard of a system and feeling even more convinced to get rid of it, Timmy started shouting. "Damn, that''s expensive as hell! What good would my location do me here? Find and visit old friends? Hell, I can end up on a sushi dish even though we''re in a dream." The boy''sints became a bit expansive and of course he had many reasons to yell like a crazed sea-dog, who would have the chance to encounter such a situation or a dream... A dream couldn''t be this specific. And the young man kept feeling his body parts work on the water as he calmly swam on the noticeably, salty sea. So bit by bit it became even harder to believe that this unfortunate situation was a dream. However the system obviously didn''t care about all theseints, it even continued to list down what she was about to say. [Option number 2 = view the chart of your capabilities] [Price = 3 system points] "That sounds interesting." He most definitely felt intrigued and instantly wanted to hear this one out, "I want to purchase this option." [Purchase confirmed] [Loading information] [Your capabilities will be stated shortly, each level gives you a brief example of just how good you are on specific capabilities] [Hunting capabilities = level 1] [Jaws = level 2] [Barb = level 1] [Barb venom = level 0] [Body strength = level 1] [Speed = level 2] [Natural camouge = level 4] [Vision = level 1] [Sniffing = level 1] [Sex appeal = level 0] "Wow. It feels like anything could kill me." The little one pointed out, trying to ignore the fact that his sex appeal was down to level 0. [It can] [System rmends small prey, until further notice] [Purchaseplete] [3 system points consumed] [4 system points remaining] Afterwards, without asking about Tim''s opinion once more, the system continued to exin what thest new option was. Although this began to feel tremendously annoying. [Option number 3 = upgrade hunting capabilities to level 2] [Price = 28 system points] "That''s insane!" He shouted. While from any other point of view, it would just look like bubblesing out of a tantruming stingray. [Ocean survival system is of high ss] [Ocean survival system provides points perpleted task] [Ocean survival system assures survival as long as you obey themands and finish the tasks!] [To increase the odds of survival you need points and capability upgrades] It was certain that even as a system, she was already fed up by the boy''s continuous tantrums, and the rant she thundered through just now was intended to humble the young one. "Fine fine, nothing but a rip off!" He replied, still heavily unconvinced. Being reminded of something through the system''s rant, he questioned. "How much to remind me what my first task was?" [Free of charge] [Your first task = locate and kill any small species of the crustacea, juveniles are preferable] "What the hell is a crustacea?" Tim queried with another shout, feeling puzzled. But the name did ring a bell. [Humansmonly know them as, crabs] [Uing hunting tip, free of charge...] [Bury yourself in the sand and wait for any passing by juvenile crustacea to crawl by. Once close or over you, sting the crustacea and then consume it after the kill] "I hope it is as simple as you exined it." Timmy butchered but it was also half a question that the system did not answer. As the little sea pancake began swimming towards the sand, the system gave out a bit of information that might motivate him here. [Upon one killed crustacea, you will be rewarded with 1 system point. Since it is also a task, system will give you an additional single point] "Am In a rush? I feel very hungry!" The little boy queried, since he could use a second thought on this. [Uing current state information, free of charge] [Health bar = 100/100] [Hunger bar = 3/15] [Sleep bar = 11/35] [Stamina bar = 12/15] [Based on your current state, system rmends to hunt a crab down as soon as possible] Tim was damn right, this system just won''t shut up. Ask one question and it gave more than one answer. It most definitely managed to overwhelm his little stingray brain. "Can I upgrade any other capability? Like venom? It would at least make this hunt a lot easier." And he did have a point of course as such a perk woulde in handy. [The only body upgrade avable is, hunting] [After that is upgraded, you can upgrade jaws. Afterwards you can upgrade barbs and then barb venom] Giving out a gentle bubbly sigh, the stingray came to agree with one fact. "Looks like there is a long journey in front of me." [Good luck] Chapter 2: Enemy Chapter 2: Enemy "System, I''ve been waiting for an hour now! Where the hell are those crabs?" Tim let out yet anotherint. But at least his behaviour can be eptable now, it wasn''t easy to wait so long for food while being dangerously hungry. [You''ve been waiting for 37 minutes, guests aren''t supposed to lie] [You should continue waiting, crustaceans will eventuallye here. Talking isn''t rmended as it can scare away prey] While the two exchanged a bit of dialogue, the little boy could feel something pointy touching his back. Thankfully nothing was stabbing him but it still felt weird. Upon in-built reflex, he swung that dangerous tail and felt the barb piercing through whatever was on his back. That should teach this creature to respect personal space. Wait no, this was what the little stingray had been waiting for. Now was the time to strike with the best of his abilities. So Timothy pulled out his tail and then bashed it in through the prey again. This procedure was repeated over and over until the upper hand had beenpletely gained. Throughout the stabs, he could feel several pointy feet on his back which gestured that this could be a crab. Although killing it does feel hard on the conscious, it''s either it or him. The battle generated into being shortsting, there wasn''t much a crab could do against a stingray that stretched several times its size. The inflictor wasn''trge but the crab species that fell prey was just very small, possibly a juvenile. Rising from the sand now as there was no reason to hide, he finally managed to get a glimpse of the crab in question. It was small obviously, but also didn''t seem to escape a stereotypical crab''s form apart from its yellow colour that covered most of the carcass. It had swollen eyes, they poked out of its head but it seemed like this battle had damaged one of its eyes. Most likely thanks to that barb that was randomly stabbing here and there, throughout the attack. Feeling a bit nauseous to consume an uncooked crab, not so fond towards the countless stab wounds on it either, the little stingray thought. "This is so disgusting, but I have no choice." [You have other choices, death is an option but you have to starve through it] [As for what most of my guests were concerned about, as a stingray you don''t have taste buds so this meat won''t make you hurl] "Wow thanks for all the motivation." He replied with a hint of sarcasm, having it difficult to appreciate how the system had toment on everything. When he was buried in the sand earlier, the blue-dotted boy had a bit of time to analyse this whole situation, this new life. So far he wasn''t a fan towards any aspect of these circumstances, even to the slightest minimum. This situation was tremendously bizarre to think about. He had somehow died, reincarnated into a stingray''s body and now had to just deal with it. He thought that the best this darned system could do was at least to be quiet. This whole new life was tiring enough and he didn''t need a moody minddy running her mouth. The system should know to keep quiet now, considering that it can read the guest''s mind but no! Deciding to just get on with it now, he sunk jaws towards this dead crab''s leg and then felt absolute ease biting it off. Suddenly, he remembered something about his jaws being level 2 so this made sense. Unable to taste anything but still liking how his stomach felt when food had finally got in there, Timmy gave in a bit more effort to swallow the rest of the crab''s leg. Taking one bite at a time even, which made the meal feel like some kind of edible stick. This crab was small, possibly about 7 centimeters wide. So it proved that this carcass could have belonged to a newborn. It felt tad sad to eat this one but the options were painfully limited. He got a hint that this crab had a somewhat protective shell. The prime example was how its back cracked once jaws were sunk in it. The shell portrayed a mildly durable form, but it couldn''t be too powerful if a small stingray managed to bite through it. [Ghost-crab killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward] [System taskpleted. 1 additional system point has been rewarded] [Total system points = 6] [Eating a full grown ghost-crab typically gives the following effects on your overall state of being...] [Effect on health, non existent] [Hunger is being tamed...] [Effect on sleep, +1 bar] [Effect on stamina, +1 bar] A tad pissed towards the system''s never ending banter, but less pissed this timepared to when he had nothing to eat. Timothy uttered, "Darn you''ve got a lot to say! Calm down, I just ate a crab." And then he went for the carcass again, continuing to feast on it. And felt his own belly bing bigger after every crunchy but yet soft, bite. A few munchester, with the small crab mostly consumed and getting a tad tired of eating even, he heard the system yelling out statistics once more. [Hunger bar 7/15] [System rmends you to sleep, you have eaten enough to avoid starving] [Short term sleep is rmended, because other predators are always on the move] Willingly agreeing with this darned system for once, he still had to ask a question that felt rather stupid. "Stingrays sleep in the same way that humans do, right?" It felt as if the system gave arge sigh because of that question, but it still answered. [Affirmative. Do bury yourself in the sand as it increases the rates of survival against any bigger predator] ... Once opening his eyes, Timmy spotted a big fishy face that was ring all the way down to his little soul. Worse yet, this fish carried a pair of terribly shining teeth. At such a sight, he couldn''t help letting out a bubleyint, panicking and demanding information. "What''s that?" [System recognizes a species of shark, specific information can''t be given to you unless its meat is consumed] Not exactly caring what branch of species it was, he hollered. "Okay and how the hell do I get away from it?" An instant reply was expected but for once the system remained absolutely silent. Not even willing to specify that she wouldn''t give away such delicate information. Feeling that the shark''s nose was touching his head, out of developing fear and animalistic instincts, he swung the barb against this enemy and felt the collision against flesh. Good enough, the shark suddenly swam away! maybe its eye had been struck? It was hard to tell, the shark swam away faster than it got stung. He dashed out of the sand and firmly hoped to not meet that enemy again. Even hoped to find a safe space for himself, so a demand had to be shouted out. "What do I do now? Why aren''t you talking?" [You''re demanding information that doesn''t reach your current criteria. Such purchase options will be avable for you after many upgrades] Tremendously pissed towards this system, the little stingray hollered. "You greedy bastard! There won''t be any upgrades if I be shark food." Out of a sudden he saw what could be the same shark, cross and block the straightforward route that he was originally heading towards. Once lending focus towards the nose, he could see a hole located a couple of inches below the enemy''s eye. Yes, this was the same shark and anger was conquering its entire subconscious! The urge for revenge was radiating. Chapter 3: The momentum Chapter 3: The momentum The shark didn''t spare a second and directly charged towards Tim, its nose jerked straight forward and its tail pping from left to the right; portraying a fearless approach. This was a terrible situation to be found in, the enemy wasn''t actually tremendously huge, but still had to be at least 2 meters long! In this case, size raged as a prime problem. Because the little stingray didn''t stand a chance of keeping up a longsting battle! Unwilling to just wait for the shark toe and rip him to shreds with a single bite, he decided to swim directly downwards! The aim became to find refuge in the sand, it was the base portion of the n at least. Such a move was good enough to buy himself a few seconds of life because the shark just continued forward, with its built-up, fast-pacing momentum. The enemy swam a few meters forward before realizing what was going on here. Number-wise, it gave Timmy around 12 seconds to pick the next idea that will help aid survival against this developing attack. After thinking through the options he had, the prime n became to dig deep in the sand and hope that the shark would be blind for a little while, long enough for this situation to descend in severity. But a new solution revealed itself in the midst of this chaos! There was a little hole just about 10 meters away, and it stretched just about 20 centimeters in width. Its size was just a rough guess but in this case, it can help serve a purpose. Without warning for any other opportunity or problem to reveal itself, the little boy charged directly forward and aimed for this hole ~ the goal was to hide in it and find shelter from this massive enemy. Within a second he heard the tail psing from the shark, pushing through the water left and right. This could only signify that the enemy was getting dangerously close. The situation forced into unfavorable circumstances once the enemy took a significant dive down! A foreign momentum came thanks to that move, which only forced the little stingray to adapt with it. What came out as bizarre in this situation, was how his barb actually found a way to slide through the surface of the enemy''s belly. It was a shortsting glory because he was tail pped right after; which had forced the boy tad out of orientation. But in another way, closer towards that hole. Although that break of momentum was ufortable, the worst part was already over. So he continued swimming forward with piled-up might, all of the speed that a 29-day old stingray could build up. Such work resulted in finally having the hole just a meter away! But along with this sess came a realization that he had underestimated the enemy! It had already made a shift turn and now was just a few feet away, putting pressure on the left side. It''s teeth could be heard pping and urging to bite through flesh. Bam! What just happened in a split second while he wasn''t paying enough attention, was enough to shake any man down to the very bottom of one''s soul. A strange head had poked out of that very hole of which the young one tried so desperately to get in. This strange head had supercharged forward, and even managed to dig its teeth against the rushing shark! The momentum from both of these seemingly bigger species, started pushing the little boy around like a ragdoll. He had no orientation whatsoever for a few short moments, even felt his spine touching the shark''s back! Such contact had poked instinctive thoughts. Therefore he hurried that little barb up and down, stabbing the enemy quite a few times before trying to make a dash for it. Panicking through and through, Tim also started moving his jaws up and down, over and over again: trying with his utmost abilities to at least fight back this situation! Unsurprisingly, his jaws met flesh. They dug through the shark''s tail before getting pped by the very same tail once more! [Short-fin mako shark identified, statistics have been saved in your collection] [Eating a full-grown shark of this species can grant the following effects...] [Effect on health, -45 bars] [Effect on hunger, +450 bars] [Effect on sleep, non existent] [Effect on stamina, non existent] Ignoring all of this information, he instead used the opportunity to charge towards the hole and finally achieved the goal of reaching a bit more protection. But suchfort came with a price. He was still a tad disoriented and smashed against the hole''s side. [Health, -5 bars] "Stupid hole! Stupid shark!" The young oneined and then barged in the hole, but this time avoided receiving any more damage. [Health bar = 95/100] "It''s not that bad, it''s not that bad..." Timmy murmured, wanting to convince himself with perhaps delusional positivity. The infrastructure of this hole didnt exactly have anything worth admiring. It was nd in terms of any texture, and was mostly covered in sand. But what was difficult to understand, but at the same time stood as an eye-catcher; was how a green colored, brick shaped item wasying on the little dens bottom. It was just a bit bigger than him in size and radiated a faint ray of light. Of course, it too was green. He had an urge to approach it, but the illumination managed to hurt his eyes even though it wasnt shinning like a star. [Stay away from that, I have no idea what it is] Such a sentence had managed to stump the little boy. Not because he was just ordered around, but because it simply seemed unusual for the system to say that she didnt know anything about such an item. Within a few seconds, he decided to heed themand and just floated away. He had no idea what exact purpose such a brick could have. And it was even more difficult to understand why it was in this den, but right now he did not want to think about it. So after a short while, feeling that no one was chasing him, basing that theory on the very momentum and sound of the water here. He poked through the hole and obtained the displeasure of witnessing a couple of species, who were fighting to the death. Apparently, an eel had appeared in the scene before. It was taking residence in that very hole that the boy tried so desperately to get in! Taking a second to think about this situation, he came up with a rather firm theory and expressed it too. "That eel wanted to eat me, but bit the shark instead." [System rmends to swim away, their battle won''tst long] "Right right." The young one got back to his senses, busted out of the hole, and spotted a glowing red coral reef in the near distance. Although in his limited vision it seemed much more like a blur. That shark seemed to be winning after all so it might not be the best idea to float around and watch the show. It wasn''t quite easy to watch it either as a lot of blood was bursting around along with other more solid pieces. The coral reef can grant a lot more advantages when ites to avoiding big predators. It had small spots to slip in, lots of twists and edges, perfect for hiding. Finally reaching the coral reef. He slipped through a bushy like sea nt and swam down further, following a tunnel like way that the reef provided. Taking a moment to rx, feeling his body feel at ease as stamina increased for the better. This bizarre situation felt like it was over, so the little one began feeling just a hunch more happier. Half a minuteter, he could see the same mako-shark poking its nose against that very same bushy sea-nt at the very entrance. Fortunately the enemy couldn''t fit in. So its nose had basically be target practice now. The shark''s mouth was over a foot away from the nose and its body couldn''t fit through the coral. It would be a good idea to go and stab it several times if one was revenge oriented, but there still were risk factors as the shark won''t stand still for Tim to stab. Unwilling to move at the moment since the enemy can''t exactly inflict damage in this situation, the little boy took a moment to observe his surroundings. Well the ce here was red and carried other shades that this specific colour provided. But there also seemed to be a way he could slip through if staying here all day long, suddenly had been ruled out as an option. Thinking it through for just a little bit, he decided to take that route and head towards more safety. Taking an effort to move, he felt the fins touch against edges that this hole provided. But this wasn''t exactly a problem since a stingray''s body was usually squishy and soft. Thankfully he didn''t have to squeeze through for a long time because another opening revealed itself. This area felt like a hole but gave in characteristics of a small cave. This ce was wide, perhaps about 8 feet across and the colour red started to fade away in this section. And instead was reced with sand, a bit of rock too. I wasn''t dark down here, he could see light bursting out of the several bushy and firm sea-nts above, proving as a good ceiling. At the very bottom, he spotted a lot of spider-like creatures. Easily visible and didn''t exactly seem so dangerous, but all those legs made the young stingray feel a bit nervous. Hoping to get something out of this system now, he asked. "Those aren''t sea spiders, are they?" [They are a species of shrimp, easy to kill but not so fulfilling. Full statistics can''t be given before you take a bite of the species. I rmend you kill a few for system points] [Each of these shrimps, will grant you 1 system point once killed] [This isn''t a system given task so you won''t get additional points for the first kill] [Good luck] Chapter 4: Pin point Chapter 4: Pin point Chomp chomp chomp! Went Tim through one of these shrimps, trying to avoid its legs but still identally biting through one. At least these shrimps couldn''t fight back so these were quick and easy meals, the barb didn''t even have to be used against them. The only few steps would be to swim forward and eat these things alive, tad brutal but it was for the sake of survival. This was how the ecosystem workede to think of it, so there was no time to feel bad about it. [Marble shrimp killed, 1 system point has been given to you as a reward] [Eating a full-grown marble shrimp grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, +0.5 bars] [Effect on hunger, +0.3 bars] [Effect on sleep, -0.2 bars] [Effect on stamina, -0.4 bars] "I understand why this meal has bad effects, it''s because of the legs isn''t it?" The young boy asked. For a second it sounded like this was meant as a joke but it was quite the opposite. [No. That kind of information isn''t avable for purchase right now] "Of course." He answered and gave out a small, bubble generating sigh. Not at all surprised by the system''s greedy build. Unwilling to talk about this topic any further, he began paying attention to something else. There were quick meals crawling around. Who hence the advantage, couldn''t fight back. So the progress-hungry stingray dashes towards the next shrimp and left the one he just had killed, to munch onter. ... "Ughh I''ve never felt this tired in my life..." Timmy sighed, crashing on the sand and fluttering his fins a couple of times to force a patch of sand up and then over his back. Throughout the killing spree, or in this case, feeding spree: the system has yapped on and on about getting points so that went through his mind right away. "Can you tell me how many points I have now? It must have at least 20." [Avable system points = 22] "Wow!" The little sea-pancake hollered, bursting a ton of bubbles as he hunched from the spot. "I''m rich! What is there to buy now?" [There are currently 2 avable upgrade options] [Option number 1 = learn location] [Price = 14 system points] This portion of the purchases still felt a bit bizarre. What would location matter at this point? The young man couldn''t really figure this portion out, but the system imed to be very smart so perhaps there was more to this. [Option number 2 = upgrade hunting capabilities to level 2] [Price = 28 system points] [System rmends to avoid purchasing anything until you attain 28 points, so you can purchase the second option. It will increase the odds of survival] Almost as if forgetting that a shark and an eel almost ughtered him, the sea-disk became a tad cocky because of all these kills and decided. "No, I want to learn my location." The system was the clear boss here but couldn''t really pick what the guest buys with the gathered up points. So of course she immediately went into action. [Purchase confirmed] [Activating pin-point location] [Finding host...] Out of a sudden, a map appeared in front of Timothy''s vision, stretching from one end of his sight to the other as if fulfilling aputer screen. Such an urrence most definitely felt bizarre. "Wow!" He shouted, forced to emerge from the sand even. And dashed away for a foot since he didn''t expect a map. Instead it was expected for the system to just yap on about where he was at. At first earth appeared and then it started zooming in. The globe started spinning in those same seconds, finally stopping and enhancing the zoom-in option on a specific spot. 4-5 secondster, the little guest could notice Italy due to its one of a kind natural formation and borders. The zooming was focusing right on the bottom edge of the country, towards that seperate ind that looked like a ball getting kicked by the rest of thendmass. The zooming in, submerged into the sea-water and began taking left and right turns, directly searching for a certain little boy and it found that specific coral reef, that the young one had bashed in. Finally, the guest could see himself from above, well his backside a least. It felt as if someone had bashed a camera through the sea-nt ceiling above his head. This was the most bizzare thing he had ever seen and yet such a sight was still shing like aputer screen. [You are in the strait of sicily, near the city of sicily] [This map can be zoomed out for a higher and or more urate point of view. That is, if capturingndscapes is the guest''s preference] [Map will be avable for a time span of an hour] The urge to p this system across the face, if it had any, became stronger than ever. "You''re a greedy system, what will I do with the map for just an hour?" [I rmended you to not purchase this option] [Purchaseplete] [14 system points consumed] [8 system points remaining] "Only 8? I thought I would be left with 15 or something!" Tim hollered, thinking that the system was cheating him out of points. [System does not make mistakes, the guest doesn''t understand math] Bubbles bustled out of the stingray as he dashed in a circle, boiling in rage and shouting like a maniac in between the tantrum. "Well thank you! How much do I need to pay for that nice joke?" [Free of charge] "Uh... oh dear I''m tired." The little one murmured,ying on the sand. And with the little energy he had left, the boy pushed the same sand, up: to hide in it. "Do I have to sleep? Is it safe?" [Loading information that deciphers your current state of being...] [Health bar = 100/100] [Hunger bar = 15/15] [Sleep bar = 5/35] [Stamina bar = 4/15] [Based on your current state, system rmends immediate sleep. Risk factors here are lower considering the hidden location and additional sand] Trying to be optimistic about this situation, d that things are looking up for once, he murmured. "Guess I can search around in the map for anything cool, before crashing asleep." [You have 56 minutes remaining] [After guest wakes up, system will give a task that grants a single system point] Liking the sound of a task but not the whole picture or theck of information, he immediatelyined. "That''s a low pay, I''m ready to take bigger missions!" [You''re not] [You have 9 more tasks toplete that each give a single system point] [Taking smaller tasks one at a time will help you survive longer] [The short-fin mako shark is an example. Killing one of those gives a lot of points but in your current levels, you can never kill one] [Listen to my rmendations and you will survive] Chapter 5: Just in time Chapter 5: Just in time "Wow, I woke up and there isn''t a shark trying to kiss me." Tim mumbled, realizing he had slept like a rock and his fins felt heavy too. Taking a peek around, it was fair to say that he wasn''t the only life form in this little nice hole that represented a home. Thankfully there were no threats, nothing to worry about. Just shrimps of the same species from what he had killed before taking a nap: had appeared here and called this ce home. They weren''t greater in number this time. Only 4 had appeared and they would prove as sufficient system points even though he wasn''t hungry to be exact. Cocky about being able to beat the weaker, he fluttered fins a little but to stretch and then shouted. "You''re on mynd!" Finally, he dug jaws on the back of a marble shrimp. And at the same time waved his barb to stab another one closeby. A few chompster, all of the shrimps had died although their use descended once system points were gotten out of them. [4 marble shrimp killed. 4 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Avable system points = 12] "Nice, I''m gonna buy the hunting thing in no time." With buying in mind, another idea struck the boy and he didn''t fail to put it into word. "Why can''t I buy anything else? Like venom and stuff." [For survival, you must buy every option there is before more options unlock. So me as the system has taken the privilege to organize everything for you] "You''re a greedy bastard." Timmy scolded, getting a tad angry already but in a way he began thinking twice about offending this system, considering that it might be able to make the boy go crazy. It was in his head after all. Completely ignoring what the little stingray wanted to say, the system continued with her own agendas. [Hunger bar = 15/15] [Health bar = 100/100] [Sleep bar = 15/35] [Stamina bar = 10/15] [Based on your current overall state, you can proceed with task 2] [Task 2 = Locate and kill a sea urchin] [Uing hunting tip, free of charge...] [Try to avoid the urchin''s spiky spines, don''t let it touch your belly or head and just go for the bite] A tad concerned about his well being, a question has to be asked instantly. "What if I get stabbed?" [You will feel pain] Well that was shockingly direct, such transparency was needed in terms of survival. But the task that was given still felt dangerous considering the small reward that came with it. Trying to be optimistic for once, a few sights were recalled. "I''ve seen plenty while ying with the map thing. Hopefully, I find one before the shark gets back." The system kept quiet regarding that expression, there wasn''t any need to speak as thedy behind this system had said what there was to say. Now all the little guest had to do was follow the prime rmendation. Poking his head out of the red sea nts, the little sea-disk instantly spotted what was left of that eel. The same one who became the prime reason for Timothy''s survival yesterday. Gazing in as many directions that a stingray could gaze at, the shark seemed to be nowhere to be spoken of. Maybe it had enough already? It was stabbed a few times by the same little boy and the eel took a few bites of that shark as well. This hole-shaped home he had found however, was too good to let go of. So he had to remember its location as it gave so much safety, free food as well. Waving his fins across the sea waters, he moved slowly and ufortably close to the sand all for the sake of avoiding any unnecessary attention. A couple of minutester, he reached the eel carcass and saw it as an opportunity to finally learn what exact species it was. Num num. A bite was taken and the system started yapping, finally breaking the somewhat long silence. [Moray eel killed. 40 system points have been given to you as a reward] Freaking out, mostly for the better, the little boy hollered. "What!?" But the system of course continued her own agendas. [Eating a full-grown moray eel grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, +20 bars] [Effect on hunger, +70 bar] [Effect on sleep, +30 bars] [Effect on stamina, -10 bars] "Just let me get it straight, I got 40 system points for biting this eel?" Tim shouted, excited and hoping that the system didn''t malfunction. [It looks like the shark bad bitten the moray eel badly, but it didn''t exactly kill it] "The eel wasn''t moving..." He weighed in but at the same time felt stupid for contemting if these points were deserved. [It was paralyzed from pain and giving itsst struggle, you bit it just in time] Enthusiasm rising for the better, another realisation knocked. "Wait so now I can do that upgrade?" [You can but system rmends to do it back in the den. Upgrading body parts is painful and can disorientate you] Looking forward to this a lot less now, a bubbly reply was unleashed. "Oh." Thinking about the task, he pitched. "Guess I should find a sea urchin then. Oh and bite this eel, because it wakes me up!" Then another idea went through his head and was instantly vocalized. "How many points do I have right now?" [Avable system points = 52] More than happy, the young stingray celebrated. "I''m rich boy!" It was definitely worth celebrating. But thinking about an eel, led him towards another conclusion. He swam towards the little den of which contained the eel before, and poked his head through it. It was mostly for the sake of curiosity, but he also wanted to figure things out. He was looking for that green brick, and wanted to look at it again for the sake of trying to figure out what it was. He even swallowed the fact that this attempt will surely hurt his eyes, so in many ways, he was ready to look at it. But The brick wasnt there! It disappeared! Such a case was even more confusing than the bricks existence. Because as unique as it was, it seemed tremendously worthless. No fish could possibly need it, at least thats what he assumed. So who would want to carry such a worthless and possibly heavy thing around? A big bad shark couldnt have barged its head through the little hole to pick it up. So it only meant that something smaller had pulled and carried the green brick away. But that only made the situation even more confusing. As it had no value, yet more work would be put into just carrying it! This situation was arge headscratcher but he did not want to think about it. ... Having swum about 50 meters from the den now, the prime problem was crashing on the sand a few times because the eel messes with stamina. As for everything else, it was going pretty smooth. The prime goal was to find urchins but the problem with finding those was that a stingray would need to look down all the time in order to spot one, but he couldn''t. The boy''s eyes could only see left, right and a bit above. That was just how his eyes were naturally ced. So to see below, he had to spin so either of his eyes catched any glimpse of the sand. That was one option at least, but then he remembered to swim close to the sand. That way, everything could be seen from the bottom to top. Not to mention it offered a bit more camouge against any potential predator. Swimming just five minutes more, he finally spotted an urchin crawling across the sand. Chapter 6: Health -10 Chapter 6: Health -10 Charging towards a detected urchin had to be the best part while hunting such a species, simply because they can''t dash away. These small things crawl really slowly. Originally he wanted to stalk for just a few seconds. But considering that in these surroundings he was constantly exposed to danger, the best solution was to get this over with. So he finally reached close enough to take a bite of the spiny sea-creature. Satisfaction flew far away from Tim''s disposition, because a few of the ck arms that surrounded the urchin''s body, scratched the little boy''s chin. Which in exchange had forced a bit of blood to break out. Although he had bitten through most of the creature with a single bite, the damage it delivered was still there. And the little one feared for the worst although aware that such small sea-critters couldn''t be too dangerous. [Health -10 bars] The system dered and it got the sea-pancake a tad scared. But such a small quantity of health loss, didn''t feel exactly drastic. So instead, he mainly focused on the burning sensation of pain under his mouth. Although clear minded, his ego was damaged more than health. So the boy charged towards what was left of the urchin and ate it whole. That managed to give out a hint of satisfaction, but it wasn''t enough to tame all the damage that was caused to self esteem. [Purple sea urchin killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward] [Since this is a system given task, you also get an additional point] [Total system points = 54] [Effect on health, -10 bars] [Effect on hunger, non existent] [Effect on sleep, non existent] [Effect on stamina, non existent] Pissed beyond prepare, Timmy couldn''t resist shouting. "You brought me here just to take 20 points of my health!?" [Speed has been upgraded to level 5 for 1 hour] "Wait really?" He instantly questioned, this didn''t exactly feel believable. "What level was my speed at before?" [Level 2] "Amazing! This is a great cheat!" The sea-disk celebrated and began swimming in circles, enjoying the more than doubled natural speed! [Health -1 bar] "Oh shit! This is because of the wounds, isn''t it?" The little one questioned while hurrying towards the red portion of the coral reef that he called home. [Yes] "I need to find more of those leggy crabs! What were they... the ones that give health?" He queried with a bated breath, due to swimming through a distance of 30 meters in just a mere 5 seconds. [Marble shrimp] Not caring much about the name and remembering that the system won''t in any way help locate one, a mumble was unleashed. "Yes those. I hope there are a few in my den!" ... Reaching that little hole he called home, Timothy felt astounded that more of these shrimps were dumb enough toe back here. A few shrimp legs were scattered around the den due to thest feast, and these neers ignoring those hints now gave a hunch of just how dumb they were. But regardless of this opportunity that represented a new feast, the effects won''t really be drastic since there were only 4 marble shrimp crawling in the den. The circumstances began feeling even worse when the system notified, [Health, -1 bar] Motivated from the attempt of avoiding death itself, he hollered. "You leggy crabs can''t get away from me!" But of course that thunderous tone just caused a couple of bubbles. Once reaching the shrimps at the bottom of the hole, he bit through the closest one''s back and carried along the chunk with him thanks to the built up momentum. Swallowing the bite, he turned around and dashed towards another living shrimp, biting through it like thunder. Killing these critters was easy considering that a single bite could rip one of them in half! After the raging stingray finally killed all 4, the system dered. [Total system point = 58] [Your wound has been tamed by the salty sea waters. Guest will no longer suffer any slowly decreasing health because of the recent injury] [Health bar = 80/100] "Pew..." Murmured the little one as heid fins on the sand, trying to rx a tad bit although not exactly sleepy. Having the option to think a tad more clearly now, due to the recent wound healing. He could demand, "Let''s upgrade my hunting." [Confirmed] And in an instant, he started feeling arge sensation of pain on his jaws, around his mouth too. That pain continued by giving a strong headache which followed along with the entire body aching like hell. The system was right in terms of orientation, this is almost unbearable for such an inferior life form. Wanting to shout, but his mouth feeling far too stiff to do that, all the sea-pancake could do was circle around for a while to let out such rage. Half a minute of soul torturing painter, the system finally uttered. [Hunting capabilities have been upgraded to level 2] [28 system points consumed] [30 system points remaining] "Finally." The boy sighed,ying down on the sand and taking his precious time to let stamina regenerate. But there was one thing the young boy forgot! Well he was forgetting about a lot of things but that wasn''t the point here. Buying that upgrade came with the ability to progress even further, and the system made it transparent. [3 purchase options have been unlocked] [Option number 1 = Upgrade jaws to level 3] [Price = 45 system points] "What a rip off!" The young one instantlyined, obviously not liking these bizarre prices but still had to put up with them, since survival itself was apensation for all this hard work. [Option number 2 = Endure water pressure for 10 meters more] [Price = 75 system points] "What!" He shouted, again thinking that the price was crazy but then got intrigued by the fancy title. "What does it mean?" [It means you can swim 10 meters deeper without the sea pressure crushing you] A tad scared since he didn''t think that the sea could do anything like that, he questioned. "How deep can I swim now?" [200 meters] Well regardless of the fact that he wasn''t aware of sea pressure, it was nice that there were upgrades to go against it. Although it was painfully obvious that it would take a lot of work to buy any of these options. [Option number 3 = Increase personal IQ by 5 points] [Price = 90 system points] "This has to be a joke." Well at least he understood what IQ stood for. But regardless, these prices just sound far too high for his standards. Feeling tad offended by these prices and wanting to make himself feel better too, he asked. "How big is my IQ now? Gotta be over 160..." [Your personal IQ = 45] Dumb apparently but smart enough to notice another fact, he thought out. "Of course... well wait of course. I''m in a stingray body so I have a smaller brain!" ... It was made clear that he couldn''t really buy anything right now. And his health was [80/100] so before the urge for slumber overwhelmed the little stingray, he decided to go for a hunt through the big coral reef that was attached to his den. The aim was to find and chomp on any marble shrimp. Unwilling to expose himself towards that big shark that wanted to kill him hours ago, it was decided that swimming high over the corals wasn''t the best idea. Instead, he slipped and squeezed between various colors of coral. After a while he found a decent looking tunnel and didn''t really pay attention to his surroundings since he could barely fit. But out of a sudden, a semi-sharp pain poked on the middle back. The prime problem was that this ce was far too snug to escape the pain. And so the system dered, [Health, -1 bar] Chapter 7: Deal Chapter 7: Deal Panicking, although the received damage was minimal. The little one began putting in a pale attempt of sinking deeper in the tunnel, for the sake of avoiding whatever was inflicting pain on the backside. That marvelous barb swung in all directions to hit whatever the problem might be, but that proved ineffective as well! [Health, -1 bar] "What the hell is attacking me!" Timmy hollered, finally able to fit his fins through the small tunnel, which in exchange allowed to further sink down. Now he met with a sharp right turn, but thankfully not the kind of sharp to cause bodily damage. This was some weird coral formation that came along with an even weirder tunnel. He had sunk down over 10 meters now and continued to sink down a bit lower, panic had rapidly enveloped his mind to the point of running low on stamina. After a short while, the little boy found a semi-sharp left turn. This one stretched for 4 meters only before a bigger opening was revealed, that at least didn''t fail to give a bit more freedom in terms of movement. Well this ce was more like a hole, it had simrities to the den he possessed. But this one was submerged below coral, far deeper than any other structure he saw and it was double in size even! But yet that didn''t necessarily make it massive, the structure was just around 15 feet wide and had a partially spherical form. [Health, -1 bars] He heard once more before rushing into the just discovered wide-opening, and finally felt something get off his back. Be it by panic or reflex, the boy''s barb swung a couple of times and pierced through whatever had caused damage until now! [Health, -3 bars] [Green sea-urchin killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward] [Avable system points = 31] [Eating a full grown, green sea-urchin can give the following effects...] [Effect on health, non existent] [Effect on hunger, non existent] [Effect on sleep, +1 bar] [Effect on stamina, non existent] Not impressed by the statistics whatsoever, he questioned. "That''s a pretty useless urchin, does it give any powers? Like upgrades on speed or anything." [No, those are all the effects] "This is shit then, I lost health and can''t even see anything here!" Rage was evident in his tone and the reasons for it counted plenty. The darkness was weighing in pressure a bit more than the rest of the issues right now. Yet he still had a crave to know, "How''s my health now?" [Total health = 74/100 bars] "That''s not so bad... it''s not so bad." The blue-dotted menace repeated it, somewhat delusional and this was definitely recognized as a random mood swing. Trying to n in advance, he recited. "I just need to get out of here and find leggy crabs, yes yes that should do it." Making for the exit that was just a couple of meters away, adrenaline was forced to meet a sudden spike. Because the way out had been blocked by a species farrger than him! It was a full grown eel, possibly stretching 1.5 meters long! Beautiful at least and he could even recognize what exact species this monster was, a moray eel. Such a fine beauty can kill the little boy with just a single bite, it would be stupid to fight against that fact. Surprisingly not attacking, the elongated creature actually spoke out a question. "Do you want food?" Absolutely shocked thatmunication towards other animals was possible, with a faint nod he answered. "Uhhh... yes kinda. I need marble crabs for something." [Marble shrimp] The system corrected, bing a tad sick of the young one''s memorisation capabilities. "No no, I need marble shrimps." The stingray corrected, hoping that the eel wasn''t pissed off along the way. Still fascinated, the 30 day old fellow didn''t even allow the eel to speak thanks to enthusiasm. "You can speak mynguage? You can speak stingray?" "A couple stingraynguages, yes. You all aren''t soplicated." The eel answered but thetter couldn''t figure out if this was a taunt or a warm and peachypliment. Getting straight to the point, the long species weighed in. "I can tell you where to find marble shrimp, but you have to get me out of here first." Staggered by such a bizarre demand, Tim pointed out the obvious. "How can I even do that? And how did you get stuck down here?" Willing to talk since loneliness had struck strong for a long while, the moray deciphered. "I''m here for 6 months already, because hundreds of sharks came to the reef for a feeding spree. I survived by killing any shark that was small enough to fit through this tunnel." Finally finding a way to rte here, the small one gave out a loud sigh and stated. "I hate sharks!" Getting back to the point, this possibly new friend reminded. "Me too but I gotta get out of here. The sharks have left a week ago but now I''m too big to fit through the tunnel." Wanting to find a solution, the sea-pancake offered. "Oh... do you want me to eat the coral? I have great jaws." Liking his enthusiasm but not the idea that came along with it, the eel contradicted. "No no that would take forever. You have to find Drake the mako-shark, he knows how to get me out of here." "Uhhh... I think that one tried to kill me." Thetter pointed out once rethinking the biological name, of which the said species carried. Not willing to me a shark for trying to feed, the elongated one excused. "Yeah he does that... but that shark is my friend and has been in the reef before the feeding spree." Trying to avoid this weird task but aiming to evade death down here as well, the sea disk described. "Your friend hates me, he got attacked by another eel while chasing me." "I''m Harold. Yell my name and he will hear you out for a little while." Well this n became a bit better but it didn''t exactly lower all risk factors, which managed to cause a bit of nervousness. "Tell Drake where I am, he knows what to do." Trying to assure that this task won''t go in vain, Timothy reminded. "Okay okay. But you will help me find the leggy crab things, right?" Sure of his own capabilities, the bigger animal weighed in. "Of course, I know at least 6 spots where they usually stay." Chapter 8: Decisions Chapter 8: Decisions An agreement was struck clear. That and they even made a firm-ish n; the reward seemed handsome as well, so all the motivation required to continue with this task has been gathered up, piled into one spot. Head on wouldn''t be the best way to describe it. More like he slipped between sand and coral for the pure sake of avoiding death itself. Everything bigger here, could be a potential enemy in just a blink against the 30 day old boy. The n that little Tim made here, was to keep a tremendously low profile. At least until he could find that specific shark that this task had highlighted. The next step after that would be to yell out from an appropriate distance, to decipher what the situation was like. By now it had struck him that a great alternative option would be to abandon this n. Measures could be taken to avoid both the eel and the shark, so there wasn''t really anything pressuring the boy to continue this task. He just found a bundle of 6 marble shrimp, which inevitably enhanced the thought that abandoning this task might not be so bad. Although a tad odd, these critters were standing close to what appeared to be a sea sponge. It was a bit of a blur, regarding why these couple of distinctive species were standing so close to each other. But it might not be random, considering that animalistic instincts lead these species where to go, and what to bite. But at the same time it might not be too random. As although the sponge was mostly yellow, it had ayer of green on the top. It seemed as if some human had swum down here and gave the sponge a hat. However, this green portion looked more like a thin te. The hero was no biologists but perhaps sea-sponges arent supposed to look like this? The fact that these shrimp were close to the sponge, gave a hint that they were here for a reason. Whatever the reason might be, finding these critters inevitably meant that his health could be regenerated now, at least by a hunch. So he gave a bit of attention towards the surroundings before heading for this meal. It was a good idea to be a bit paranoid here regarding safety, because this small hole was open and a few feet across. It pointed out that any shark could easily poke its nose here and deliver permanent damage. Monch monch monch! He tortured the first shrimp for a quick second, joy evident in his tone as a shout broke out. "Leggy crabs! Muhuhuhahaha!" He was getting a bit over the line, but these creatures were ying a big part when health was a topic. He had little to no trouble to bite through them, but eventually got a full stomach and had an urge to hurl out all contents. [Health bar = 77] [Total system points = 37] Regardless of the stomach ache, this situation yed off better than expected. His health had raised a little, and the system points that came with it felt even better. It was fun to hunt critters who couldn''t exactly escape the massacre. Now, Timothy was raging between two decisions. Go back to the den and forget about the whole task, or seek out the mako shark. And he even managed toe up with a good point, to aid either side of the debate. "If I go to the den now, tomorrow I can hunt for more food, my stomach wouldn''t be full." He could forget all about this risky task and just go sleep, but yet another thought was haunting the boy. "Harold has been down there for 6 months... that would make me go crazy." "But the shark can kill me..." Fear struck hard but he finally decided to do something wise, "System what do you think?" [Both eels and sharks are predators and are known to be smart. System can''t ess what they think, so this task can go for the worse in a few seconds or for the best] Spotting that the system was toying around with words, he queried. "So you don''t know what I should do?" [The goal is survival and both decisions promise perks that aids survival. So this is all up to you] Finally deciding what to do, fishing out reasons to not abandon the task, the sea-disk uttered. "Yeah, the eel can help me find those spidery-crabs. And I can just hide in coral if they lie." ... "Harold the eel needs help!" The little boy shouted, from thefort of a yellow coral crack. He spotted what seemed like Drake, peacefully swimming around a few meters away. One of the problems that came along with being a stingray, was the inability to make a lot of vocal abruption. Most couldn''t hear him unless they were floating very close by. Realizing that the shark was in no way close, the young one shouted harder, more than he ever did. "Harold the eel needs your help!" To aid the idea of attraction, he began waving the fins around but that might not do much. His camouge levels were respectively high, and the yellow coral aided for the worse. Meaning it would be difficult for any species to spot the boy, unless they looked for him with a lot of attempts. A few secondster, he could spot the same shark charging forward. Even bashing the nose against coral but thankfully not able to catch the 30 day old boy! Still smacking its jaws, the shark heard Timmy scream once more. "Harold the eel needs your help!" And so, the shark stopped rampaging and shouted back. "He''s alive? I thought he got eaten!" That felt nice to hear. A shark caring that much about an eel, it felt bizarre at least. But most importantly, this predator was able to speak the ribbon-tail stingray''snguage. d that the shark wasn''t trying to bite him in half, it was the perfect time to weigh in. "Yes, he sent me to find you. He''s stuck under a lot of coral." Now swimming side by side, the young one thought it was insane how such a day arrived. To swim near a shark without it trying to rip through him in half, either when human or a stingray, such a situation was never expected. Finding the spot where the eel was trapped in, wasn''t exactly difficult. The sea-disk remembered that it wasn''t too far away from his den, and even found the same long tunnel that led to the underground spot. Sure of himself, he swam in circles and yelled out. "Here''s the ce, Harold is under here!" As if an indirect sign to move away, the mako-shark charged towards the coral and bashed his head against it. Such natural structure still remained in ce, so Drake repeated the procedure although wounds broke through his skin. With no intent of stopping, the shark charged forward again. But this time struck the coral with his left side instead of his head. A dusty mist was slowly rising as this big species did not slow down, no brakes were taken. Finally, after receiving tens of wounds, they spotted the eel slipping out of a hole. It wasn''t appropriate for his size, it led to squeezing through but it was still enough to escape. Spotting his friend, the biggest fish here became tremendously happy and shouted out. "Harold it''s actually you. I thought you were eaten in the feeding spree!" "I almost was." Thetter assured, flinching his eyes due to all the wounds his shark friend had received. Breaking the nice reunion, the sea-pancake reminded. "Okay now let''s go get that shrimp." Giving the boy a strong re, the fat eel weighed in how this was going to go. "Get out of here, while you can swim away." Realising that he had been tricked, the little one yelled. "But we had a deal!" Backing up his friend''s words, Drake uttered. "Boy don''t make me bite you in half, fuck off." Chapter 9: Vengeance Chapter 9: Vengeance Such a result... well it wasn''t the easiest on the little boy''s subconscious. He had even gone far enough, to risk being eaten by a whole-ass mako shark; but yet got his good will trampled with what we canbel as trickery. Of course he instantly fled the scene. Because the idea of fighting enemies who were much stronger and bigger than him, was tremendously stupid. He would be ripped to shreds, eaten whole. And afterwards these enemies would have a goodugh about it. His speed that had temporarily been upgraded to level 5, proved useful when it came to ditching the scene. The little boy did not want to wait around. Because although those bastards had given him an option to live, they could change their mind. But yet regardless of who the odds might favour, Tim''s little mind still raged. "They will die on my hands, well fins... Vengeance is the only way!" And such a feeling struck strong in this stingray''s mind, even though these goals seemed a bit too big for a mere child. It was difficult to understand or figure out what his destiny in this new life was. But right now the motivation to kill those who had wronged him, was growing after each heartbeat. Throughout a few moments, the blue-dotted boy had made a decision. Even if his entire new-life went by, through carrying along the sole intent of chasing revenge, he would consider that life worthwhile. But right now was the time to prepare for such goals, so he thought out. "Need to find more leggy crabs and I have to buy every upgrade. Yes... those punks shouldn''t be able to kill a stronger stingray." It seemed like a good n, but a few measurements had to be taken for the sake of increasing the odds to his favour. Leaving the coral reef for an hour or less seemed like a good idea in hindsight. Because an impression had been made on the little one, that it would be easier to find sea-critters, anywhere away from the reef. It sounded smart, but the sea-pancake was behaving rather boldly. This time, he didn''t put in an attempt to be sneaky through this short-travel. But instead just charged through the waters at full speed. It was worth noticing that he was passing through the very same route, where he had inflicted the first kill. This spot held a handful of memories. Sadly one of them was the fact that he almost got eaten by both an eel, and shark. In a point of view, it might sound stupid toe here again, especially since the only goal was to explore different portions. This ce carriedrge risk factors before, but it felt like a good option to be here because of the simrities. The goal of revenge had many steps, but right now he picked out the first. "Have to upgrade my jaws, or else I won''t stand a chance to kill them!" [You won''t have a chance to kill them even after an upgrade, as you''re currently too weak to beat them] Well thankfully the system was reasonable, and the young one could notice it; so he decided to cooperate. "Can you at least tell me when I''m ready?" [Yes. As a task, you will eventually have to kill a shark or an eel. So even if it wasn''t nned, those will be marine animals you will need to hunt in the future] It was noticeable that the system was talking about such events, in the far future tense. But that wasn''t exactly demotivating. Instead, the sea-disk was reaping reasons to follow this goal, and his confidence was building up bit-by-bit. Shaking those thoughts away for now, he decided to focus towards the little mission he had made recently; the one that was rted to health. The boy''s vision wasn''t the best, but he still could spot prey that was anywhere from 10 to 20 meters away. Likewise, he found a meal to feast on. It wasn''t exactly easy to count how many critters there were, his vision wasn''t capable of giving good hints from such a distance. But judging from those eyes, that poked out of the heads of these critters: these could be the same crab species that he had ughtered in the very beginning. Barging towards them right now didn''t seem so smart, so he had to double-check. "What was the first crab I hunted? What species?" [It was a ghost crab] That name rang a bell, so he jumped a little and swiftly spoke. "Yes, they were the ones with weird eyes. Can I get health from them?" [Fully consuming a ghost crab grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, non existent] Effect on hunger, +3 bars] [Effect on sleep, +1 bar] [Effect on stamina, +1 bar] This is not what the young one was looking for, but this situation could still be skinned for benefits. So he asked, "Oh this can help me wake up. How sleepy am I?" [Sleep bar = 10/35] Shifting ns, he decided. "Oh then I definitely need to eat a few of those. I need energy to hunt leggy crabs." [That is rmended] It sounded like a good idea, but other aspects worked harder than the devil. "My belly is full! I have to poop out some food." An idea ran through the sea-pancake''s mind. He began swimming at full speed, but was also just randomly circling around; for the pure sake of ''getting things to move.'' This was making the boy a tad dizzy, but it was better to burn off some food instead of waiting for his body to digest it. A hundred things could happen until then. So after an ufortable number of spinster, it was time to slow down. He crashed on the sand and allowed stamina to regenerate. While at the same time, he was peeking at the ghost crabs who weren''t spooked away from all thatmotion. They were ugly crabs without a doubt, but all the young one could think of was. "That should have burned some food down." Right after, he felt that little stink hole bursting out what can metaphorically be called, bullshit-and a-half. Throughout the day he had been eating anything that he found. So it wasn''t a surprise, that the result was poop which was extra weird looking and smelly. "Uhhh... that felt good. How''s my hunger bar now?" Timothy asked. And at the same time, gave out thergest sigh generatable out of such a small bean. [Hunger bar = 10/15] The feeling of revenge had certainly made the little stingray think about any idea, a tad harder. So he pitched, "Oh then I eat two of these and just kill the rest for points." [A good idea would be to drag the bodies in the den, to feed off them when you get hungry. It lowers the risk factor] "Good idea." Heplimented and began charging towards the crabs. Getting closer, these indeed looked like the first crab he had stabbed and eaten. They had to be ghost crabs. Such a name sounded intimidating, but there was nothing paranormal about them. He charges towards the closest one, bit right through its head and heard the system utter. [Ghost crab killed. One system point has been given to you as a reward] Repeating the procedure, he broke through the water to charge against the other close by crabs. This species didn''t seem to have a lot of long legs, so it felt a lot less creepy to eat them. Exactly 7 killster, he asked a question to the system; because the prime goal for the day was to upgrade basically anything! And she was quick to answer. [Total system points = 44] [Sleep bar = 12/35] "I still can''t buy the jaws thing ha?" He queried, after remembering that the new purchase options were much more expensive. [You need just another system point to upgrade jaws] Reaping confidence out of it, he recalled. "I just know that it''s worth it. These crabs couldn''t escape me because of the hunting upgrade hehehehe." Remembering another task, he peeked at the 5 remaining ghost crab bodies and spoke to himself. "Now to take these bodies in my den, one by one..." Afterwards he sighed a tad bit because this task sounded boring, but also asked. "I can''t buy a human hands upgrade, right?" [There is no such upgrade, you''re a stingray] ... Dropping one of the bodies in his den, the young boy came across aprehension that was difficult to swallow. Someone else here had started calling the boy''s den, a home. And so, he couldn''t help shouting. "What the hell are you doing here?" Rising from the very bottom of the hole-like den, a creature slim and agile popped out. The animal was long-bodied without a doubt and was fat like a cow too. "This is my home now." "I found it first! Get out of here or I will bite you." The blue-dotted kid warned. And even revealed his jaws against the enemy, snapped them too. This intruder was none other than Harold the moray eel, who instantly threatened. "Get out of here before I change my mind about eating you. Don''t let me catch you in this reef, ever again!" Chapter 10: New den Chapter 10: New den What that eel did was indeed foul but Tim can''t exactly do much about it. That enemy is a meter and a half long, has a row of sharp teeth that can kill the boy easily and of course is much faster. While Tim, well he''s just a 30 day old stingray and can''t possibly measure forces with a bigger enemy. This specific enemy has a mako sharkpanion so the odds weigh on the enemy''s side, this young stingray is powerless to oppose. So carrying the hunt he tagged along, Tim made his way out of the coral reef and follows the same path the boy''s used to. One because the 4 other ghost crab carcasses are here and two because he wants to find a new den that''s not so far away from his old one. Reading his mind, the system interrupts with a rmandation. [Don''t find a new den that''s close to the old one, the eel can find you and eat you.] Still pissed, especially now with his idea opposed, Tim shouts. "Then what am I supposed to do ha? The crabs I killed are close to the old den and I don''t want toe back and forth." [The crabs were important when you had the den, now make it as a main goal to find a new den. You can stack up other animals in there.] The system is obviously trying to reason although Tim shares the same intent, but yells it out instead. But yet, not listening to this system never paid off well so he decided to put rage aside, well more like he decided to filter his rage and turn it into progress. Taking a moment to calm down, he recalls what trouble holes could bring and therefore questions the system. "Which hole has the least bitty madmen?" [Uing tip, free of charge.] [Generally, you need to sleep where big predators can''t get in. So look for a hole that you have trouble fitting in, it can lead to a good den for low levels like you.] Dropping the crab after taking a moment to carefully analyze what thisdy system said, Tim uses hisst few minutes of level 5 speed to rush as far away from the coral reef as possible, although barely taking a moment to look around for potential dens. His goal right now is to get far away and he even keeps repeating it in his head. "Swim swim swim swim swim..." His mind enhancing that pure urge of revenge although at the moment the boy''s technically fleeing the scene, considering his speed one would think that this little stingray will never return. But no, either Harold or Drake, they won''t taste the opportunity of manipting or threatening the young Tim, without that taste ending up sour and venomous. ... About 300 meters from the coral reef now, speeding like a maniac and covering all of that distance in less than a minute thanks to that blessed speed, Tim finally slows down as his stamina can''t endure it anymore. His rage cooled down a bit as speeding to such extent does over work his body. The boynded on the sand beneath him and took a moment to regain energy. On the way here he did spot crabs or what look like them, along with a few species of fish but did not want to stop and take a bite out of them, reasons are numerous. One and primarily, he doesn''t want to rely on the reef or anything close to it for food. And two, he feels too full and has to burn down some energy. It''s interesting how he wants to feel hungry now while in the beginning he was suffering with hunger. As for the reef, it has be a big ego game now. He doesn''t even want to swim near it at the moment, not to mention relying on it for food. Taking a moment to nce at his surroundings while his stamina replenishes, the young stingray spots a slightly narrow hole a few meters in front of him. The structure of the hole is interesting, as the entrance is supported by a significant nodge up that would make one think the sea surface is behind this nodge. But no, the entrance is in the middle of a bump, a naturally structured rock that stands out. But he doesn''t want to rush in it although it does look system rmended. Right now, Tim has dug himself in the sand and ns to stalk the den for a good while. Falling asleep here is not an option, he is especially exposed here where a random animal could be inhabiting the den. A few seconds are required for this situation to turn sour and lead towards Tim getting bitten in half. A good hour has passed now and Tim hasn''t seen any predators or normal fish either go in or out from this hole, from this possible den. Through this hour, the stalking stingray has even pped his fins a few times against the sand to attract what could be hiding behind this hole. But no, nothing came out. And this most definitely can be a good thing, it screams den potential. Finally deciding to try his luck and swim in, Tim feels his fins squeeze in through the entrance which could be just 10 centimeters across. Small but It''s not like Tim is 10 times the size. Squeezing through just about a meter deep, the young boy finds himself in a bigger opening, it looks more like a ditch. Ugly, only 4 or so feet across but at this point it''s perfect for Tim although less roomypared to his old den. The structure of this new den is easy to understand. The exit/entrance is at the top, on the right corner. The den is about 7 feet deep which gives that ditch vibe, and finally it''s just 4 feet wide, almost circr. There isn''t much light here either but that could be because it''s bing dark above the surface''s waters. The sun''s setting and getting here is a perfect timing as the most dangerous predators roam at night. "This ce is ugly, where are all the colors?" Tim asked himself, not quite used to such an atmosphere. [You''re surrounded by gravel and rock, you have sand at the bottom so it proves perfect as a den for you. In this darkness it''s just anotheryer of camouge.] All of that information forced little Tim tad weary but that''s not the whole reason, he has been swimming around through most of the times ever since he reincarnated into this body. And yes, that does tend to tire even the toughest stingrays out. Since this den looks perfect to sleep in without having to worry about getting eaten, the young stingray buries himself in the sand and utters. "Good night system." [Good night guest.] ... Rising, thankfully with no predator trying to molest a boy with a kiss, the first thing Tim hears is the system informing. [Sleep bar = 35/35] But that''s not all thankfully, with progress as the sole goal, thedy sounding system specifies. [Locate and kill a sardine.] [You can get a system point by each sardine you kill.] [Since it''s a system given task, you will earn an additional point.] Chapter 11: Cloud Chapter 11: Cloud Getting out of the new den, the first thing that scrolled through the young Tim''s mind is. "How will I find sardines now." The system did not answer, obviously not paid enough just yet to teach this young stingray how to hunt everything. Giving a tip about the first ever hunt was a free but for everything else, he will likely have to buy the privilege, such luxury called knowledge isn''t free. Trying to not move too far from the den, little Tim takes a bit more time to observe his surroundings now. There''s absolutely no rush considering that he''s well fed and rested. The only rush is that urge to upgrade, progress. Fair to say this little stingray is carrying rageparable to a blue whale in size. Swimming about 30 meters away from his den, the young Tim spots what looks like a cloud in the middle of the ocean. Curious most likely and willing to get closer since his vision isn''t proving useful from here considering the low level. Swimming about 20 meters further, young Tim notices that the ocean ground below him is much darker here. Which can only project that this isn''t the ocean ground, since he technically can''t see it. This portion of the sea is just too deep, most definitely not for this stingray to explore considering the limited depth handling capacities. It also means that this stingray has swam too far from the shore now, this is where the real predators are. Yet it doesn''t mean that he can''t continue this path, the task given by the system is most definitely possible. About 100 meters away from the den now, he has approached that ocean cloud closer and can notice countless silver like colours shining, reflecting the bit of sunlight that breaches the ocean''s surface. He has to be at least 50 meters underwater now considering theck of reflection. Yet he isn''t close enough to notice what these species are, it can''t be one animal. Because no animal can get seemingly over 2 kilometers big and no animal can move this way. a portion of this cloud moves left, the other moves right, most move randomly around. Even if Tim''s personal IQ was 5, he still would be able to understand that this isn''t one animal. But now it doesn''t look like this curious stingray has to approach any closer as the cloud ising here itself. Not sure how to feel about this, how toprehend this size, safe or hazardous? He starts swimming back, to buy a few more seconds of decision making. Just about 20 secondster, the cloud overwhelmed the young Tim''s vision. Nothing particrly harming, but now from up close he can see plenty of small fish captivate his vision. And when we say small, the talk is about thousands of fish who only stretch 5 centimeters. That small, yet animals from the same species swim across Tim and stretch in size almostparable to the stingray. Doing logicalparisons, these bigger could be the full grown ones. Remembering stuff from his human life, sardines are usually very small so he should be in the right ce. Spotting what can be small enough for the young Tim to handle, he charges forward, ps a few fish with his fins and digs jaws on a small species. [Sardine killed. 1 system point has been rewarded.] [Since this was a system task, you get an additional point.] [Total system points = 46] Chomping through the whole sardine, consuming it, Tim hears the system continue with her banter. [Alewife sardine identified, statistics have been saved in your collection.] [Consuming an entire Alewife sardine of any size grants the following.] [Effect on hunger, +1 up to +5 bars.] [Effect on health, +1 bar.] [Effect on sleep, non existent.] [Effect on Stamina, non existent.] "Oh this can''t get any better." Tim shouted out and charges towards another small sardine. He understands that charging against the bigger ones may sound manlier, but killing the big ones will make him feel full too fast and he won''t be able to replenish much health. It''s well stated that Tim doesn''t have arge IQ but he''s so determined towards revenge that he actually started thinking about decisions twice. Raging through the crowd carrying a massive silver lining, killing the 7th sardine in a row by now, the young Stingray already feels full and has an urge to hurl. There is only so much a 31 day old stingray can eat, his stomach capacity limits at 15 bars. Wanting to feel more sure about progress, although horrible with math, Tim asks the one who is 50 mountains smarter. "System, at what bar is my health?" [Health bar = 84/100] "Oh now we''re talking! I''m finally recovering." Tim celebrates while taking a few seconds to stalk a bigger sardine. Wanting to make a good move, the young stingray questions for the sake of reassurance. "System, should I kill a big sardine and drag it to my den?" [That is rmended.] A smile growing on his little stingray underside, he uses all of the level 2 speed to charge towards a full grown sardine. This one has to be around 20 centimeters long, almostparable to Tim''s size. Fearlessly, he takes a bite right on the fish''s spine, near the neck. Tim''s jaws are strong enough to take off a bite easily and sardines aren''t so boney either so that''s a massive plus. But yet the sardine isn''t dead. Tim is slightly bigger but his bite size only ranges 4 centimeters long. So while taking another bite of the same sardine, the young stingray swings his tail randomly with a prime aim to strike this hunt and kill it faster. At that second, a muchrger toothy fish captures Tim''s vision. Thankfully it isn''t a shark but this one isn''t small either. It isn''t small and is charging at full speed towards Tim. pping his fins, Tim swims a hunch higher along with the hunt and spots the attacking fish swim right under him. Using the opportunity, mostly out of instinct, Tim ps his tail around and feels it sink into some meat below. It has to be the attacking fish. The only downside to such sweet short victory is losing the hunt he just killed, oh well at least he has a system point more. That toothy attacking fish has taken Tim''s catch but suffered a scar around the face so there is only one winner here. Forgetting about that, he spots another bigger sardine fish and charges towards it, no reason to get demotivated. ... Swimming into his den, pushing the 20 centimeter long massacred Wifeale sardine in and rather proud of his sess as well. That cloud of sardines swam away as well, went closer towards what Tim thinks are the shores. It proved useful as after that he could see which way to go and managed to locate the new den. Finally pushing the hunt through the 1 meter long entrance, the progressing stingray finds a sight he didn''t expect. A species has invaded his home but this isn''t necessarily a problem. His den is somehow filled with living sardines, they probably swam down here by ident. But in this case, Tim spots a good food supply and a lot of system points as there has to be at least 20 sardines here be itrge or small. ... A good five minutes passed and Tim ripped through most of his meals although a few actually managed to get away, fled from the den. He does feel tired, it''s hard to kill over 20 sardines in a row but thankfully they aren''t bitty. Feeling absolutely certain that he can do an upgrade now, after piling up the bodies in one spot, Tim demands. "System, upgrade my jaws." [45 system points consumed.] [35 system points remaining.] "Oh that''s nice, I can buy another upgrade in no time." The enthusiastic stingray celebrated, but forgot one thing about body upgrades. [Purchase confirmed] [Loading purchase] "By the name of god!" Tim shouted, feeling a massive pain arising around his jaws and his sentence was forced towards a mumble as well. Mouth bing stiff, his fins starting to feel sore as well, next thing he hears is the system warning. [Stamina = 0/15] And so he falls on the sand, unable to move around and can feel his eyes force close shut. An abnormal sight cascades his vision, the young stingray spots an animal poking its ugly head in his den. An animal fairly bigger in sizepared to a sardine, an animal that shines blue in colour and carries ck dots as well. But It''s face is the most captivating as a row of pointy teeth stick out of its mouth. But the rest of this fish'' body is oddly shaped so Tim can''t help thinking. "What''s a pole fish doing in my house?" Swimming down closer, reaching close enough to Tim''s face, forcing one to think that these two are making out. Odd enough, therge fish isn''t attacking and even shed a sentence of poetry. "We meet again, friend. Which end or cloud will save you from my jaws? I''ll send you down to hell." Obviously a threat but since Tim never met more than one fish that looks like a pole, it''s easy to figure out who this is. The non functioning left eye on the animal''s face gives a good idea, this must be the same fish he struck through the sardine storm. But yet, Tim''s stamina is low and he is too stiff to talk, nheless move. Shocking enough, the fluent stingray speaking fish looks at the sardines and adds. "Looks like you made me dinner as well." Chapter 12: Level 3 Chapter 12: Level 3 Surprisingly talkative, the long fish continues to shed. "Why aren''t you talking? I''m speaking yournguage." The upgrade still going on, Tim''s body feelingpletely sore, trying to talk, the young stingray can''t yet let out a word. Pissed because of the silent treatment, the long fish doesn''t say a word more and slowly swims closer towards Tim''s face. [Your jaws have been upgraded to level 3.] Still feeling sore but able to speak, Tim unleashes a sentence for the sake of stalling. "I don''t know who you are." That of course is a lie and the long fish decided to point it out. "So you don''t remember stabbing my eye out?" And the few seconds of silence after it, is all Tim needs tounch what can make the difference between life and death. Charging forwards from his spot, swimming underneath the long fish, Tim waves his barb and stabs the enemy right across the face. It''s enough to make a fish of this size [1 meter] flinch in pain and Tim didn''t fail to further stretch out this disposition. Using the upgraded jaws, Tim bites the long fish right near the neck, takes off a 4 centimeter wide bite. The jaws went through flesh rather quick, they feel sharper than usual which grants another second tond strikes. Swimming forward, Tim swipes his tail up and down, hitting the long fish on several spots across the belly and at the end going for the tail to take a chunk off. "Just stand still so I can eat you!" The elongated fish yells out, somehow still alive regardless of all those strikes from the little Tim. "Eat my ass." Tim replies, spotting that the enemy has turned around already. pping its row of pointy teeth, the enemy charges forward at a built up burst of speed. Swimming upwards and inevitably evading the enemy, Tim''s spots him bashing the wall of the den. Getting a bit of a blurry vision, the enemy doesn''t move a foot more and tries to wait it of. Swimming above the enemy, Tim uses his weaponry of a tail to strike the long fish all across the back,nding about 6 more blows and again going for the tail, taking off a bite in less than a split second. Spotting that the enemy isn''t turning around to strike, Tim goes ahead to take another bite off. Witnessing something he did not expect after, the enemy fish''s belly directs towards the ceiling, blooding out of everywhere already. It ain''t pretty but it''s survival of the fittest. This fish busted in the den, threatend to take the food and not to mention threatening murder. [Great barracuda killed, 40 points have been rewarded.] "That was a barracuda?" Tim questions, tad forgetting that these animal species exist. [Eating an entire barracuda grants the following.] [Effect on hunger, +30 up to 70 bars.] [Effect on health, +30 bars.] [Effect on sleep, +10 bars.] [Effect on stamina, +15 bars.] "Those rewards are huge! He was an easy kill." Tim yells out the obvious, hoping that this isn''t a mistake. [This isn''t a shrimp, you can see howrge the barracuda is.] Taking a better look, Tim starts to understand the point. This fish has to be at least 15 times his size, stretches a meter long even. But still the reward is stillrge and Tim can''t help thinking. "Maybe this system isn''t so greedy." [Your hunting skills have be exemry, you nearly don''t fit the criteria to kill a barracuda any yet you did.] Getting apliment from the system, that''s the first time for everything but it''s more of a seed for something else. [I rmend increasing personal IQ, it will make you a better hunter.] Liking the idea of bing smarter, but having doubts, Tim questions. "Do I have enough points?" [Total system points = 75] [You need 15 more system points to increase your personal IQ by 5 points.] And this time instead ofining, Tim actually finds enthusiasm. "Oh, maybe I need to kill more sardines. Still I''m very close to buying another upgrade!" Going for the barracuda after, the young stingray sinks his jaws in but not enough to snap another chunk of meat off. Just enough to move the fish and ce it near the other food storage, but it''s no easy task. Would make one think that it would be easier to kill a barracuda than carrying it. Tim uses all the power of his fins to drag it back, pping them around and putting every muscle into use but it''s still barely enough. Such a struggle can''t help make him think, "What I''d give to be bigger right now. There isn''t an upgrade like that, right?" [System can''t control how big you grow, that solely depends on your age.] [At the moment you are 31 days old.] Finally pulling the body down to the edge of the den and swimming to hisst sleeping spot, and questions. "Do you have another task for me... which task is this?" [You havepleted 3 system given tasks so far.] [Next task, locate and kill any species of seahorse.] Remembering what thest task projected, and searching for a seahorse striking unusual, Tim questions. "They aren''t dangerous right? I don''t want to walk in another death trap." [No task I give you projects a death trap, system wants guest to progress and survive.] [Sea horses aremonly harmless, easy to kill. The only trouble you will face is finding one, they are small and not somon in these parts.] "Oh so I should rest?" A good question to ask, the system hasn''t been wrong so far. [Not necessarily, but you need to replenish your health since this task may require travel that''s longer than usual.] Looking at the barracuda, Tim takes a few more moments to replenish stamina and then slowly makes his way towards the corpse. "Oh then this barracuda will be my meal today. That should teach him a lesson for wanting my meal." [Take as many bites as you can handle, scavengers tend to go in dens when the resident isn''t there. You might not find bits of your meal after returning.] Chapter 13: Light between a storm Chapter 13: Light between a storm The task is clear, Tim understands it and the motivation tagging along if much fatter than he is, so one can imagine the size. Squeezing through the one meter long entrance/exit of his den, the first thing that captures the boy''s vision is a sardine swooping in the little tunnel to grant a kiss on the forehead. "Are you lost little fe? Just move away so I can get out. Then I encourage you to go down my den, it''s rent free." Tim crackles, joking around obviously but thankfully the fish isn''t answering back. "I don''t know the sardinenguage and you don''t know mine either. Oh well, get out of my way." Tim debates with himself mostly and charges forward although with slim chances to bite this fish considering the snug spot. Finally making it through the tunnel, he spots that the sardine cloud has overwhelmed the area. Whatever they''re looking for, it seems weird and at this case annoying. He can''t see anything, swimming around randomly can get him lost. Not that the den is super fancy and such but he has piled up a month''s worth of emergency food there. Looking back towards his den, trying to decide if he should go back in and wait this out, the young stingray spots a few sardines slipping down there. They will prove perfect as extra points, but there is one perspective that has taken roots in his mindset and now it''s blooming. "I have to finish this task, my enemies have to die and soon!" But then again, he considers the other dangers of swimming in a sardine cloud. "What if I meet another barracuda?" But then, fairly over confident the boy yells. "Ha! I can kill another one! Would just be extra points." One thing that aids his motivation at this moment, is spotting the sunlight right on top of this fish storm. The sun''s beams cascade through the gaps that each sardine provides when swimming little as a foot away from each other. It''s less crowded up there so the young Tim most definitely will be able to navigate better and therefore starts swimming upwards, going fast even for the sake of not getting caught off guard by super charging predators. Making it up there just under a minute, reaching the light and able to see that the ocean''s surface is just a few meters away, what captivates him now is the storm of sardines once more. They''vee close around him and seemed to have forgotten the sense of personal space, bumping on the young stingray and such. Thankfully he isn''t mad right now or a few sardines would have been stabbed to death or chewed up too. But yet it doesn''t mean that the situation isn''t getting more restricting, he feels the sardines just getting closer. Touching the boy underneath the belly, squeezing his fins together and even blocking all vision. The light is gone at this unusual moment and young Tim can''t help panicking. "I can''t see and I can''t move!" The light finally breaching through the patch of sardines, granting a much better vision now and even less blurrypared to the usual, the first thing Tim notices is a human?... That and the sun warming up his back, it feels nice. Perhaps the stingray species he qualifies with, enjoys warmth more than cold. That isn''t so important now, as this scene is far out of the usual. Forces the boy to think, "People in Italy can walk on water?" [You''re in a fishing.] The system interrupts the rage of thoughts, tad sarcastic in a way. [Try to get out of here before you suffocate. A timer will appear at the bottom left edge of your vision.] [After the timer runs out, you will start losing health and can die.] And of course as promised, a small timer, red in colour, appears where it''s supposed to and makes Tim think. "Oh that''s nice." [2:00] [1:59] [1:58] [1:57] "Wait, are you saying I got caught in a and can die?" Well thankfully he came back to reality and started putting every part of his little brain into use. [Yes] "Oh shit, oh no." Tim utters, panicking and even pping his tail along with the whole body around. The same human working the Tim is in, spots the unusual and thinking to himself [tranted]. "I didn''t know there were yellow sardines with blue dots." Curious, the young fisherman reaches in for Tim to grab and analyze the ''sardine''. [1:42] The moment this human''s hand touches Tim''s back, the young stingray swings his tail so hard, that a small sardine who wasying over it, flew up for half a foot. Breaking through a portion of the restriction his body is facing, the young stingray''s tail charges forward and strikes the curious human right on the wrist. "Porca puttana!" The young italian boy shouts, jumping back and pping his arm around. Tim was attached to the young man for a moment, that''s why he flew off the andnded 7 feet away on the deck. The fisherman''s panic aided to escape the, but now he''s on the deck and took some damage as well because of the fall. [Health, -10 bars.] [1:33] Wildly pissed, the young man grabs a spear and runs towards the stingray with that prime urge to kill, ignoring the blood bursting out of his wrist. But clumsy enough, he charges forward too fast and slips. In that same second, Tim strikes the boy but doesn''t manage to cause any damage since his barb bashed through rubber boots fishermen usually wear. Thanks to that instinctive split second, Tim ends up flying a few feet up in the air and it isn''t because he got kicked or stepped on. [1:30] His tail clinging on the rubber, Tim got in some way tossed once the boy''s back met the deck, as if god wants the young stingray to stay alive. And this time, Timnds in the water but can feel his tail hurting for the first time since he reincarnated as a stingray. [Health -30 bars.] [Total health bar = 49] [Emergency tip] [Immediately seek shelter or health raising food.] Chapter 14: Stiff, struggling and a new friend. Chapter 14: Stiff, struggling and a new friend. Dipping in the water, damage and risk made clear, the first thing that thunders through Tim''s mind is. "I need to get back home!" And of course when home glows as a golden topic, he means the new den, it''s a home although technically it''s just a hole. What still swims as a massive barricade however, is the fuckingrge sardine storm taking residence beneath him, or whatever the hell they''re doing. Finding his home in such conditions is nearly impossible unless roaming around like a blind bloak is reasonable to the young Tim. Normally it would be an option but right now Tim''s tail is hurt, feels bruised but quite actually it''s sprained. The tail ys a role when swimming and most definitely proves useful in self defence. Finding his den will be impossible unless these fish swim away but waiting here for a predator to swoop in and bite him in half, isn''t a good option either. So he finally decides through the raging pain, "I have to find my den." And starts swimming down. Sardines keep bumping into him, nothing serious orparable to the past situation, they are just randomly swimming fish. Tad annoying when bigger sardines block his way, the young Tim has to give an extra effort to just slip away from them which is draining energy he doesn''t have. Due to the restraint he feels on the tail, it feels as if stamina is being restricted. As if 10 bars out of stamina got reduced, temporarily banished, and the only ones to his disposal are the 5 other bars. Thankfully it isn''t that hard to slip through sardines either, considering his natural pancake like form, but still he can''t help repeating. "Ouch ouch ouch." Sinking lower, he can harshly spot what looks like freedom. Well it''s dark but at least there aren''t any more sardines there. A tad more motivated, as if pain wasn''t pushing enough, he charges forward with a bit more energy and instantly feels as if his tail muscles are crackling. "Ouch ouch! Fuck!" [Health, -2 bars.] "Okay, okay I need to slow down." Tim spoke to himself and started pping the sea water in a way that wouldn''t allow the tail to move much. The darkness bing more attractive, sinking a lot lower right nowpared to the starting point above, he notices how the sardine masses are slowly reducing. Taking his time to sink about 20 meters lower, he stops, looks up and notices how the sardine storm is well above the young stingray''s head. "Okay, this is progress. Okay okay okay, now where is my home?" Asking that question, panic no doubt along with enthusiasm, he startsprehending a prime fact. "This is nowhere near my home." Trying to think of another n, another procedure to take, the system breaks his brain storm with words worthy of consideration. [Danger!] [Danger!] [Danger!] [You''ve swam too deep, you''re currently 220 meters underwater!] "Why didn''t you tell me earlier?" Tim shouted while panicky swimming up, to avoid anymore damage but at this point it seems impossible. [The sardine school above you are making the waters lighter, so it took a bit longer for you to receive damage.] "Ouch!" His tail stung, rather in pain still and rushing made it worse. [Health, -2 bars.] Swimming higher, aiming towards the sardines where at least he can survive a bit easier, Tim keeps thinking. "Is this the end? I was just getting used to this body..." [Health, -2 bars.] "I''m trying my best!" Tim shouts, feeling himself 10 meters away from the cloud. [Health, -1 bars.] And at this point, he has reached the cloud again and thankfully this time the system brings kinda good news. [Safe depths reached.] [Your total health is = 42/100] "This is shit! System, help me find my home!" Tim insists although expects that the system will enhance it''s greed now that desperation is a topic. [Dangerous situation protocol measures activated.] [Measures will end once guest is safe.] [Free survival tip uing, such tips have to be bought as an option.] [Swim 50 meters higher, and then turn left until you find the border between shallow waters and deep waters.] "You mean that big dark ditch thing, the one near my home?" Tim questions, trying to understand the tip and already following it. [Yes, you''re currently in that so called ditch. The border is your best friend, find it.] Soaring through the sardine cloud, roaming across slowly for the sake of not receiving tail damage, a fact goes through his mind right now. "Predators won''t find me here, it''s too crowded." Then again he thinks about meeting a barracuda through the same cloud who followed all the way back to the den and can''t help worrying. "What if a predator finds me again?" Thoughts roamed in his head and we can''t say that any of them were positive considering the damage and situation, but after a few minutes of struggled swimming he meets what looks like the border. Well, it''s mostly sandy with a hunch of rock, and a long almost straight line stretches left and right. Wanting to be sure of this sess, he once more questions the system. "Am I close to my den? Help me system." [System can''t pinpoint the den location but you are progressing, search this area for the den.] [Avoid the darkness that''s behind this border, your den can''t possibly be there.] Tim can see the border but yet it''s crowded, with health as a prime concern, he looks at a sardine and takes a bite, regardless of how full he feels. To slim the odds of getting an overly bloated tummy which can make this situation worse, the young stingray ughtered the smallest sardine he could find. And the systemid out various stats but the one Tim is most interested in is, [Health, +1 bar.] WIth the same idea in mind, he goes for another sardine... but ends up kissing what he doesn''t want to kiss. A nose appears in front of him but far different from that of a sardine, less pointy and a bit wider. Surprisingly, the species in question speaks stingray and urately deciphers. "I need your help, I have an offering." And right after, drops a few sardines out of its mouth, that are bitten in half. Seeing it as an opportunity, Tim exins the situation with an aid of a beg. "My tail is hurt, help me find my den." And indeed the situation is bing hazardous health wise, the tail keeps feeling numb by the minute and movement through fins is bing restricting as well. Having a better view of the creature, it looks like a shark but much smaller than what he''s used to. Looks twice the size of a full grown sardine, probably half a meter long. Yet this one isn''t hostile, and even offers solutions. "By any chance, do you have dead things in your den? I can smell a few close by!" Spotting the golden opportunity to bargain, Tim pitches. "I have a lot of them and I can give you some, I have a barracuda killed as well." "I don''t need food." The shark deciphers, swimming near Tim andying on the sand. And offering something that is tad sacrificial, the shark adds. "Swim over me, sink your jaws on my back and hold on, I''ll try to go slow." Chapter 15: The brothers Chapter 15: The brothers Although this short journey ufortable for either sides of the stick, this more than helpful shark aided at a pre-holy matter to find the den. Tim''s energy flinched by a hunch once he spotted the entrance of the den, and invited the shark toe in if he can. Squeezing in with the help of this same shark, they find over 15 sardines swimming around, most likely got down here identally. Seeing it as an opportunity to pile up more food but not nearly having what it takes to do it, Tim looks at the shark and requests. "Kill these fish for me, theye in handy." And of course, being a few times bigger than Tim, the sharkpanion starts biting through sardines, chasing them around in the den and only about 2 minutes after, all the living sardines met an end. Sad really, Tim could have gotten a few extra points here but right now the main aim is survival. So while the shark was terrorizing these fish, Tim went ahead towards the food stock, asked the system a couple of questions and figured that eating sardines will give the quickest health. Eating a barracuda is helpful as well, but within a few bites he will feel full and will have to wait it out. Chomping through 3 entire sardines by now, picking the smallest just for the sake of being able to eat more in quantity, the young Tim questions. "How''s my health now?" [Health bar = 47/100] "Okay okay, I''m recovering. But what will I do about this shark? I can''t kill a shark!" Of course he is grateful as well but thest experience with a shark didn''t go so well. [You might not have to, this shark is showing abnormal behaviour.] [He could have killed you in the sardine school.] [System rmends asking the shark what this is all about.] [You''re full, don''t eat for a while to avoid gut damage.] Asking for the shark toe closer, Tim instantly tries to break the ice cap of confusion. "I appreciate everything you did but why did you help me?" "Because I need your help." The small shark instantly replies, cutting to the case although still not transparent. "What could you need me for? I almost died out there if it wasn''t for you." Pointing out the obvious here but it''s a good point of reference. Even Tim''s tone strikes low, most definitely sick of this bullshit, although the urge for revenge still hits strong. Uttering what Tim didn''t nearly expect, the young shark recites. "The word is going on about you, are you the stingray who helped Harold out of that den?" "Yeah I am." Tim answers, not wanting to exin how he got cheated and disrespected. Finally shedding light of all that help, the shark utters. "I''m Marlo, the whitetip reef shark. I represent a group, we want you by our side." Pointing out the obvious, Tim challenges the offer after digging in the sand to rest. "You want a stingray in your group? Isn''t that odd? You''re a shark." Expecting this one, the shark in a greater enthusiasm adds. "Our group has 37 members, half of them aren''t even sharks." His curiosity peaked, liking to work with a group who will inevitably make him appear stronger, Tim first questions. "And what does this big group do?" And perhaps revealing what might get Tim entirely convinced, he cites. "We all share something inmon. We want Harold the eel and Drake the shark, dead." "I''m in then, those bastards will die." Tim slightly shouts, but instantly regrets it because his fin ached in pain right after. "I didn''t realize you''d ept to join us this quickly. But I like it, those two will pay for terrorizing our reef for months now!" Marlo continues with a stronger shout, happy about having a powerful member. Well not so powerful, but brave yes. The young Tim actually had the guts to deal with these monsters before and Marlo can see a barracuda longer than him, dead in this den. Tim is bing a stingray obviously worthy to either fear or be in the same league with, Marlo did a good job today. Letting out a demand after, Tim adds. "Get me... what are those leggy crabs called..." [Marble shrimp] Revealing the reason behind a demand, Tim exins. "Yes marble shrimp, I have to be sleepy so my stomach digests all that food. After that I need to eat more to get health, I can''t join your group if I can''t even swim." Not quite understanding how this works but knowing what to do, Marlo expresses. "I''ll kill a few and bring them here for you." Swimming towards the hole, the helpful reef shark adds. "Rest now, you need it." ... Later on, Tim gets waken up by what we can consider a light fin tap and a sweet tone repeating. "Wake up." "Oh you''re here." Tim adds, normally he would panic but right now he doesn''t want to move. On the shark''s side, stand two odder looking fish. Definitely smaller than Tim although a lot more round. But thankfully Marlo gives a quick introduction. "These are Konon and Koob, the pufferfish brothers." Letting go of a marble shrimp they each picked up, the brothers both greet. "Hello." "Hello, you must be part of the group." Tim replies, wanting to get on their good sides from the very beginning. "Oh they are but don''t understand your stingraynguage." Marlo became quick to decipher, and adding. "They just know how to say hello and learned it today." "Oh, that''s okay." The young stingray assures, not caring much about such barriers. These are the first puffer fish he sees, but remembers learning a bit about them through his human life. These fish puff and that''s when they can be the most dangerous. In front of Tim, they look small. Perhaps 10 centimeters long but he doesn''t want to try their luck with them. In front of him, the young stingray notices about 6 more marble shrimp, these are likely brought from Marlo the reef shark. Not wanting to ask a system based question out loud, Tim thinks, knowing the system can read his mind. "Can I eat now?" [Hunger bar = 12/15] Tim isn''t the best at math but this does sound kinda good. "Oh so that means I can eat... how many?" [You can eat 10 marble shrimp before reaching full capacity.] And that gained a smile on the young stingray''s face, of course he only has 8 shrimps to chew on but the sleepy effect they bring can help fall back asleep, that way it will be easier to wait it all out so he can eat for health again. "Thank you for these shrimp but I''m still in no condition to swim. I will sleep again and eat a few sardines, then I should be able to join you." Tim has to be honest although at this point it sounds like a scam. But Marlo found the young stingray in a terrible condition and most likely can understand that this isn''t a lie, so he expresses. "Take your time, there is no rush." Soon as they swam out, Tim feels his stomach roaring a tad bit and to feel relief, he started letting it all out, poop flying out of his ass and the system as if congratting. [Hunger bar = 7/15] "Great, now I can eat more sardines as well!" Tim celebrated with a thought, not wanting to yell and got into work towards the shrimp in front of him. ... [Health bar = 55/100] [Eating capacity reached, don''t eat anything for a while to avoid gut damage.] This is a congrattion along with bad news, his health has most definitely gotten better and he feels the fins feel less numb, can move them around a hunch easier. But his tail, it still feels numb although it hurts a bit less. Luckily he has nearly 30 more sardines to chew through and is feeling tad sleepy because of the 8 marble shrimp he ate. Swimming back towards the sand, digging in and not bothering to move his fins for the sake of not receiving damage, Tim talks to himself. "I will heal my tail soon! Just need more sleep, yes... more sleep." Chapter 16: What species? Chapter 16: What species? Waking up, no doubt drowsy but eager to know more about progress, Tim hears the system announce it as a type of emergency. [Hunger bar 3/15] Staggered but unwilling to move just yet, Tim questions. "That fast? I just took a nap." Thankfully willing to be talkative about statistics this time, free of charge. The system takes a second before specifying. [You''ve been asleep for quite a while now, your injuries drained energy, even while you were sleeping.] [You''re currently 34 days old.] These are helpful without a doubt, they decipher how long he has been asleep. A couple of days maybe, or tad less but Tim still worries about other topics. Worrying, pping a foot away from the sand beneath him even, the young stingray utters. "The shark probably thought I stood them up." Approaching the sardines which are piled up close to where he slept at, Tim thunders through a prime thought. "I have to get there quickly." And so, the young boy chomps through the smallest sardine he could find, for the sake of not getting a full stomach too fast. Asking about the health bar would be a waste of time this moment, he knows it''s low and understands that getting health asap is crucial. Sardines are interesting creatures when ites to effect, the size of a sardine affects hunger but it doesn''t affect health, the health benefit will always be +1 bar. After devouring 6 sardines whole, some of them being bigger than what he hoped for, Tim hears the system as if congratting. [Health bar = 61] "I never thought this would make me happy." And it''s indeed true, while in the beginning he was worried when health dropped around 80 bars. And this short raise of health proved efficient in another aspect, his tail feels a lot less numb. About 30% of the pain is still there, he can feel it amongst every wiggle but it''s a lot less inparison. Good thing too, as this tail is a bit of weaponry crucial for survival. I mean, he took an entire barracuda down thanks to the tail, it''s value can''t be looked over. Feeling ready today, he heads for the exit and murmurs. "Time to meet that group." ... Soon as he gets out of the den, aiming to swim for the reef in front of him, young Tim spots a fish figure approaching from a distance. Thankfully the sardine school have swam away from here, that should help in terms of orientation. But that fish figure, it looks tad too big for Tim to face considering the current condition. Getting demotivated, tired no doubt, he slides back in the den''s entrance with an aim to observe. His vision isn''t the best, so taking a risk here would be considered a dumb idea in general. As the big looking fish got closer and closer, Timothy started recognizing a familiar face, well... form. Fishes of the same species tend to look almost identical. But Tim can recognize his tone, the fish spoke out. "What are you waiting around for? The group is waiting for us." Rising out of the hole, Tim excuses himself. "Oh it''s you, I thought it''s another sharking to kill me." Well now finding that group of 37, likely hidden in the coral reef will be easier now, security feels better with a shark following him around, although this shark only half a meter long. With joy, the young stingray ps his tail around while following the friendly shark named Marlo. ... Following the shark towards the coral reef, being guided between a few twists and turns, reef''s dark blue in colour mostly, tagged along with yellow shades shredded scarcely amongst the tunnel. The tunnel itself is stretching long, Tim thinks it''s about 50 meters up until this point, thankfully it''s roomy enough for a stingray to pass through without bashing fins. However, it''s somehow narrowing downwards, sinking deeper. Swimming about 30 meters more, any colour of a coral slowly disappeared while making this distance. Now, he can mostly see rocks, cobblestone perhaps but it''s far smoother in texture although sharper than it''s projection portrays. The scene he submerges into after, well... it''s certainly unexpected. This ce, it looks more like a room now, after leaving the tunnel behind. The same colour shares it''s radiance, except here he can see sand at the bottom. This... hidden den in a way, feels restricted in a certain way. For example it''s only 5 feet tall, Tim''s den is deeper than that. However, width is a grand advantage, it''s round in one portion and square in another corner. Fairly random and nature generated, an underground cave of some sort, it seemingly stretches 20 meters wide. "This ce is amazing!" Tim slightly shouts, simply staggered by the width of this den and not quite paying attention to everyone else here. "It is, we''ve been down here ever since the sharks flocked the reef about 6 months ago." The reef shark deciphered, slowing down just a tad bit for the sake of alluring attention towards the rest of the group, but still privileged to express. "It''s amazing what someone can achieve under desperation." To that... well Tim doesn''t know how to react or reply to it although every cell of his body rtes to it, ever since reincarnating into this stingray body. Swimming towards a small shark, Marlo introduces. "Meet this new member we recruited just yesterday, Husat the great white shark." "Aren''t great whites supposed to be huge?" Tim asked, remembering how popr these fish were when he was a human. "I will berge! What''s the problem ha? I''m small now because I''m young!" The great white shouted, invading the young stingray''s personal space. Well now this fish here doesn''t look so small, has quite arge face and at length longer than Marlo, stretching 5 feet long. "Husat shares the same thought with us, he wants revenge, although not against the killers of this reef." Marlo interrupts, swimming in between the two to stop a possible battle. Raging, the young great white shouts once more. "Yeah, I''m going to kill that colossal squid that ate my mom! You''ll see!" Understanding the pain of which this little shark is experiencing, Tim offers. "And I''ll help you, we are a group now aye?" Before the young shark could say anything else stupid, Marlo makes another introduction. "And this is Alba, we found her guarding our brave great white here." Upon appearance, it is easy to understand that this one is a stingray and that''s why Tim kept his cool, there is a fish of his branch watching. Liking the thought that this one is a female, Tim swims forward and asks in a tone that projects romantically. "So, what species are you?" "Whip-tail species." Alba answered and Tim suddenly feels his ass getting hit, with a prime aim to shun this flirtation attempt down. Well thankfully Tim didn''t get stabbed, plus thisdy looksrger so it probably isn''t the best idea to piss off someone that''s double his size. Breaking the romance, Marlo interjects. "Okay people, there are a lot of introductions to do and we will do them, but right now we''re running low on food and see, we gotta fix that." Chapter 17: Hunting session Chapter 17: Hunting session And so after a ray of requests that portray proper scheduling, exchanged from one fish to the other, the group of 38 went out for their hunt, specifically the side quest to get food in this den. Coral reefs tend to be full with life, and the little hunting grounds this group didn''t have an understanding with, have been consumed by the shark invasion that stretched 6 months. That sardine storm flocking the reef also contributed in to forcing the food resources of this reef, scarce. Marlo described those facts right before they went out, the food situation isn''t favourable but swimming away beyond the usual to scavenge for food, can most definitely fix this situation. The group here understood that Tim is injured and a good portion even insisted that he holds back and waits here. But Tim considered other opportunities, for example burning out food he ate for the sake of being able to eat more health raising species. It can work out in the long run plus he''s assigned with other fish so protection won''t be scarce. One thing that proved Marlo as an extraordinarily good leader, is the ability to properly manage a team. The entire group for example, has been split in 7 parts which mostly includes 5 fish each. To add extra protection, he has assigned one or two sharks on each team. However the point of splitting the group in 7 parts is to cover more territory. It wouldn''t be so profitable if all 38 go at one ce and find out that it has no resources or at best not enough of them. It proves that he is worthy as a leader, which is odd itself because animals aren''t supposed to be so smart, this is straight up a strategic hunting n. Although Tim doesn''t quite understand the history of this group yet, nheless who assigned him as a leader. He hasn''t been quite given the opportunity to know more due to the rush for food. With the situation calming down a bit more now since everyone is swimming quiet for the hunt, Tim decides to ask. "Since when was this group created?" Asking that question, he gives a glimpse at what''s in front of him. Well it''s sand and water but the destination is certain, they''re going for that deep part of the ocean, the one that has a border separating shallow and deep water. It''s a bit more dangerous yes, but as a group they''re stronger and this is where desperation meets opportunity, as more dangerousmonly equals to a bigger reward. They have to swim 300 meters to get there but hopefully it will be worth it. "2 years..." Answered a slithering sea snake, and hence the extra dots enhancing the letter S. Seeing a snake in the den got Tim tad scared at first, but after a short conversation earlier he realized that this sea snake is a sweetheart. What''s more blissful toprehend is her name, Basilia. It just has a nice ring to it,pliments her ck and white striped skin. The same snake borates on her im. "I was the 7th to join... back then I had lost my mother by that eel who tricked you." At this point Tim''s thinking about how it has been 2 years and Basilia is still this small. Thedy is just twice as long as Tim, possibly 30 cm long. But instead he expresses hate towards these enemies. "That bastard! I swear, when I get big enough that trickster will pay." Became fairly enranged under a second, not a good idea considering that his stamina feels limited due to this travelling. Thinking more about the snake''s form here, she looks quite like an eel and that''s what making Tim nervous a bit. "We all want them dead, but there are many killers like him and our numbers are still small." A shark answered, chiming in the conversation. Pointing out the obvious, Tim expresses. "But like, you''re a shark." "A small one, I can''t kill an eel." He answers, and does have a point, being just half a meter long. This looks like another reef shark, but this one has a funny name as well, an introduction has been made earlier. He''s Eriz. Well that quite killed the conversation, Tim has no reason to go against it when Eriz describes himself weaker. Could be perfect timing as well, as they have reached the border now. Even better, Tim can spot something in the distance that represents what he has been hunting, a seahorse! "Oh god I totally forgot about that." He expressed out loud and got quite a few strange stares. "Forgot about what?" A sea turtle answers, a bit bigger than Tim in size and dark blue in colour with a few white stripes, this one is Tevenot. And the only other fish with them is Alba the whiptail stingray a.k.a Tim''s crush. "I always wanted to know what seahorses taste like." Tim answers, wanting to avoid talking about a system only he can hear and debate with. "Go for it." Eriz the shark encourages while eyeing another fish in the semi-far distance. "Sea horses are too small to bring back to the den, so just eat it." With no hesitation and for the sake of progress, Tim takes a moment to build up momentum and swims just an inch above the sea horse, taking a bite mid charge. Fairly was a bite strong enough to kill something so small, Tim feels tad bad about eating creatures, it can lead to wrecking a home, but this is survival of the fittest. [Yellow seahorse killed, 1 system point has been rewarded.] [Since this is a system given task, you also receive an additional point.] [Total system points = 77] [The following information have been saved in your collection and can be used limitlessly, upgrade regardless.] [Effect on health, +2] [Effect on hunger, +0.3] [Effect on sleep, non existent.] Effect on stamina, non existent.] [Your total health = 57/100] "Too much information system, but at least my tail feels a bit better." Tim thought, to which the system did not answer. While Tim was debating with the system, Eriz the reef shark went and caught the prey, it''s fairlyrge, almost as big as him. "You got a tuna, nice!" Alba congratted, while herself looking for prey and spotting one right where the border is. Charging to it at full speed although the target technically can''t go anywhere, Alba the stingray digs her jaws into it andes back up, she killed a white m. "You can eat that?" Tim expressed, not quite liking to taste a m. Swimming a bit further away and dropping the m on the shallow area, Alba questions. "What? Is your mouth too soft for that?" "I have tough teeth!" Tim slightly shouts and gets a sudden burst of motivation. Eriz being praised before Tim even aided that motivation, so he spots another m 10 meters to their left and charges towards it. Sinking his teeth on the white m, Tim thinks. "However the hell am I supposed to eat this?" [Hard m killed, 1 system point has been rewarded.] [Eating an entire hard m grants the following.] [Effect on health, non existent.] [Effect on hunger, +1] [Effect on sleep, +1] [Effect on stamina, non existent.] [Information has been saved in your collection and can be used limitlessly regardless of upgrades.] Swimming back to Alba, he drops the m near to where she dropped it and states. "See, easy kill for me." Chapter 18: The grand offer Chapter 18: The grand offer The hunting session has been going good so far but that doesn''t necessarily mean that they are close to fixing the entire food shortage. It''s confusing why they didn''t use the massive sardine storm that passed, to tame the food shortage but hey Timmy doesn''t take part in the administration, he''s just following the demand or in this case, the request. One other thing specifically limiting them is the amount of food they can carry, regardless of the size they have between their jaws, grabbing more than a carcass at once is harder for most of the group Tim''s in. Eriz the reef shark can carry 3 or so carcasses at once if they were smaller but at the moment he has taken out a tuna fish almost his size, carrying more than 1 carcass at this moment can bebelled as impossible. So after waiting for Basilia the sea snake and Tevenot the sea turtle to catch a hunt of their own, the team of 5 started making their journey bag to the big den. The journey is 300 meters worth of their time but for Tim this can y out for the better. Yes he still felt sore because of all the recent injuries but that will slowly fade. In this case, the best way to make it fade is poop out all the food he ate and consume anything that raises health. ... Squeezing in the den, they thankfully don''t see any enemy here causing havoc, big enemies can''t really make it down here without bringing down the whole den. Upon first nce, Tim figured out that the 6 other groups that were spread around the reef have seeded at a rather stronger pace. They can see a pile of food right in the middle that could easily feed the entire tribe of fish, even though there were sharks here. The food pile is 6 feet across, a couple of feet tall and a few sharks even went out to go fetch more food. Seeing Tim''s group approach, Marlo swam a few feet closer to them and congratted. "Nice catches, your hard work is appreciated." Spitting out the m he caught, Timothy contradicted. "Are you kidding? One of you killed a tuna 10 times my size!" And that is no bluff, there was arge fish in the middle of the food pile. It''s hard to imagine that survival demands to possibly break a fish family apart, but it''s either them or the group. This tribe of 38 has a good rtion with the rest of the reef but what ranges out of the reef isn''t their responsibility. Take it this way, the reef acts like amunity while anything out of it are more like lone wolves, so chances are no families got broken. "That doesn''t matter, you''llnd bigger kills eventually Tim." Marloplimented, lowering the standards so no one feels small. As the other groups of fish made their way towards the exit, Tim''s team felt encouraged to do so as well but before they could leave, Marlo swam near the young stingray and requested. "Tim, can I have a talk with you?" "Sure." Answered the little stingray, truly expecting the worst. Gazing at the rest of the group, Marlo orders. "The rest of you can continue the hunt, I think it''s best if Tim rxes for a while, he''s hurt." To that, his team could only nod and swim away, most of them can reason which is surprising for fish. Truly thinking that this is about rxing, Tim swims a few feet away and dug himself in the sand with a few ps. "Tim, wake up." Marlo interrupted just a few secondster, weighing in right after. "I need you for a special task." "I knew this was too good to be true." The young boy mumbled and pped his fins to escape the sand. "I''m listening." Unleashing a ray of sentences that nted seeds for another request, Marlo cited. "The entire tribe can''t help admiring how brave you are. Dealing with an eel and facing arge shark is something either the craziest or the bravest can do." Having the shark''s words fairly misinterpreted, Tim counter expressed. "I did it for leggy crabs, I''m not sorry about it. Those bastards were the ones who tricked me." Laying out the n that forced the young boy''s eyes wide open, the little shark interjected. "Whatever the motive was, you have it in you to deal with a task that nobody else wants to. Tim, I want you to spy on the enemies for us!" Forced into a mumble, he expresses. "Enemies?! I could get eaten!" Going on with the praises, Marlo weighed in. "But you didn''t. Escaping those big enemies needed more than one skill, it''s like you''re 3 animals all in one body." Wiggling his numb tail and carrying a rather smirking face although it almost kissed the sand, Tim boasted. "Well they were too dumb to find me, I used the reef to hide." Getting his point firmly proven, Marlo elongated. "See exactly, you know where to hide and avoid getting killed, that makes you perfect for this job." "But what will spying on them do? I can''t kill them just now." And that has been his leading thought ever since this new task has been offered. "You aren''t supposed to kill them, we just need to keep an eye on them. So if one day they discover this den and choose to attack, you cane and warn us." Once more, this fish proved smart to a human standard. Liking the idea of having to sit around all day considering all the damage taken from exploring, Tim finally agreed. "Sounds easy enough for me, but I can''t spy on them now. My tail still hurts, I need time to recover." Moving around happily because of this agreement, Marlo offered. "Of course, I remember you said something about food that raises health. I don''t know how that works for you stingrays but feel free to feed on the pile here." Chapter 19: The grand offer (2) Chapter 19: The grand offer (2) Going through the pile of food, Timmy found the snacks he loved the most... well more like what he knew about the most. These species have made a good impact on him since they are one of the first species he ate once reincarnated in this new body. Tim loved yelling out their name, we know them well, the leggy crabs a.k.a marble shrimps. They are dead, so this didn''t really give him system points, he didn''t have that privilege here. But points were his least concern right now considering that the health bar just isn''t reaching 100! He didn''t want to be a food hog so the boy mostly ate the marble shrimp that counted exactly 6 carcasses and ate a couple of sardines as well. His hunger bar was 9/15 before he ate these and now the boy''s full but not enough to cause any gut damage. As for his health, it only arose to 62 as each shrimp granted 0.5 health bars and the sardines granted 1 each, all together these species provided 5 more health points. It''s small but by each rise he felt the tail''s numbness going awaypletely, he''s building health up and will eventually reach 100/100 points, joining this group increased those odds by a good 30%. Feeling most definitely ready to stalk the massive fish which would most likely require toy around all day, he gazed at Marlo and said. "Okay I''m ready for mission impossible." "It''s not impossible if you do it Tim, this is easy for you." Added Marlo, enjoying the child''s behaviour. "Okay then mission impossible that''s not so impossible for me, is a go!" Tim hollered and stretched thest word as he thundered across the den and made for the exit. ... Getting out of the reef, the first problem he encountered was just finding the enemies. The reef wasrge, the ocean evenrger so it wasn''t easy to find a shark and an eel although both of them were considerablyrge. The first thing that caught his attention was a big portion of dark blue captivating arge patch of the coral reef. They are corals obviously but there are other details that add its own luxury. For example curls between these corals forming a big circle one can swim in between and admire. There also was underwater vegetation like some weedy stuff that were most likely kelp. There are urchins here and there too, but their detail acts more like a background since the coral is dark blue and the species are often ck in colour as well or at least a shade of it. Taking chances, Tim made for the massive heptagon shaped blue patch and kept his eyes sharp for the sake of finding them and not getting attacked at the same time. To further enhance his own safety, the boy squeezed lower towards the coral so in case of a surprise attack, the coral would prove as a protector and help the boy avoid getting bitten. ... With his own pace, he squeezed and slid between the tightest coral spots just to avoid swimming higher where the young stingray could get snatched. Right now, he hasn''t spotted anything that represents the enemies, although having swam for over 200 meters now. The blue patch is beautiful to explore but he sure wishes for colours he can camouge better at, like in a path of yellow coral. At the moment, he stopped andid down in a short tunnel looking coral. Tim can see whatever is in front of him and could turn around to check whatever is behind. The tunnel has no dead end so both sides provide exposure. At that second, he spots an urchin out of the tunnel, just two meters away and gags. "Pokey bastard, stay away from my skin." Giving that little stingray sigh after, he sees a couple of bubbles pop over his head which after led focus away from the sea urchin. About 30 meters away, he spotted what either looks like an eel or a sea snake. It all seemed blurry from this point considering his low level vision, so further action had to be taken. He gently pped his fins and elevated out of the tunnel, sinking down in the coral right after so he doesn''t capture further attention. Timothy doesn''t know just how good sighted eels are so it''s better to be safe. Getting 10 meters closer, he passed the urchin and swam right into another one of these spiky bastards. To that, he scoffed and murmured. "Stay away from me spiky ball." Now, he can see the situation a bit better and recognized a key characteristic on the eel. "Yes... that fat snake is Harold... now I can stalk you my ugly enemy." It seemed like the eel was doing something, swimming around in circles and loops, asionally stopping on his spot and hammering about something, hard to hear it really. So, he swam just 10 more meters closer where the risk factor was much greater and gave an ear to the stammering, heard Harold shout. "Where is the hideout!?" "We don''t know, we don''t know!" High pitched tones echoed, giving a clear sign that more species are on that spot. Right after, he spotted the eel bashing it''s head down and pulling out something familiar. For a second, it looked like Tim saw himself getting eaten in third person! Harold has bitten a stingray on the head and looks identical to Tim! "Did that bastard just eat a stingray?" Tim thought, analysing while deep in coral. Strongly enraged in just a matter of seconds, Tim snuck back to that urchin 10 meters behind him with an idea growing in his mind. "He ate stingrays and I will poke holes in his ass." Aiding his idea is another grand fact and he decided to ask the system about it too. "Do urchins upgrade my speed?" [Yes, these urchins do.] Half minded about it, remembering the negative effects of biting an urchin, he finally decided. "For the stingrays." And lunged towards the urchin, took a bite out of it and ripped it in half. d that he didn''t get poked this time, he took another bite and ate it whole. [Purple sea urchin consumed.] [Effect on health, -10 bars.] [Effect on hunger, non existent.] [Effect on sleep, non existent.] [Effect on stamina, non existent.] [Speed has been upgraded to level 5 for an hour!] Feeling small bearable bits of pain captivating his whole body, Timmy murmured. "Time to save them." Chapter 20: The grand offer (3) Chapter 20: The grand offer (3) Charging towards the eel at a built up speed that crossed 10 meters in just 1 second, the young boy couldn''t help appreciating how his tail wasn''t burning upon every wiggle. Which is odd because his health reduced, so the pains shoulde back? They should but at the same time shouldn''t, the food helped heal his damaged tail and now the pain of losing health just spread through his entire body at a barely restricting pace. One way or the other, it meant that his tail ispletely healed which was rather relieving considering the few days of experience with it. However, getting back to Timothy''s decision, once charged towards the enemy eel, it only took 2 seconds to reach the bastard. Tim''s speed obtained such a pace that Harold could only see a fast moving yellow figure pierce the water before a sensation of pain struck his forehead. Dashed backwards, Harold hollered. "What the fuck was that?!" And had the urge to rub his head on some coral increased, as if itching would reduce the pain. Looking back down, he spotted that the stingrays have made a dash for it, just disappeared. Harold has no n to chase them considering the main threat is here or at this point, the main irritance is here. It''s not like he could find the 4 living stingrays he was tormenting, they have vanished as if the sea swallowed them. In just a split second, Tim stopped and took a nce at the stingray Harold had spit aside. It''s nothing pretty, the poor stingray had it''s head bitten off which inevitably interjected how strong a moray eel''s bite can be. The stingray carcass shows signs of bones, a lot of tiny bones rowed close to each other on both sides of the bite. That most definitely enraged Tim, his motivation to damage this eel just sky rocketed. Tim dashed a bit lower towards the enemy, most definitely diving where collision with coral could initiate if a wrong turn was taken. A quarter of a second after, Harold shouted. "For fuck''s sake! My ass!!" Swimming around in circles, the moray eel eventually grasped a nce of his behind and saw a hole in it, right next to where poopes out. Boiling in anger, Harold shouts. "Who are you? Face me like a man!" Stopping just 5 meters away, Tim called for attention to the enemy''s left. "Over here!" "It''s you... the dumbass. How did you be so fast?" The moray eel puzzled, swimming a meter closer. "I ate your mom." Tim answered, his tone high pitched for the sake of teasing. Getting back to business before the eel gets too close, Tim shouted. "You killed a stingray, now I will kill you!" "I''d like to see you..." Harold tried to tamper with the boy''s confidence but felt something sharp instead. Of course it was from Tim, he swam straight forward Harold and took a chunk of meat right off the enemy''s waste. That won''t necessarily kill Harold, it was just a 4 centimeter wide bite. But this... it most definitely left a sense of burning pain for a few days. Through the same second, the enemy eel felt a few other sharp pains running down his fat back. This was Tim''s respected work, after taking a bite of Harold, he took a sharp turn upwards and started stabbing the eel upon every given chance, as fast as his body can handle it. Collectively, the young man struck the enemy 7 times with his tail, that''s 7 wounds this ill intended eel has to deal with for a few days. But of course this wasn''t enough to kill a whole meter and a half long eel, it would take ten times the effort to reach even remotely close towards ughter. Swimming a few meters away, he could hear Harold throw a loud tantrum, spun in ce and struck the coral with his head even. "What do you think system, am I doing good?" Tim thought, know that thedy will hear his question. [You''re doing good but this is suicidal!] [Grand emergency tip uing...] [Swim away as fast as you can!] "Not this time system." Tim replied while already charged towards the bastard eel, finding an opening. Harold was fairly dizzy because of that collision with the coral, that gave Tim further advantages. He charged right over the eel''s head and took a bite around the neck. With the anger not entirely taken out yet, Tim went for another bite around the neck. That''s when he felt the back of Harold''s head smash against him, right across the stomach. It didn''t cause any damage alone but did manage to lunge the boy against hard coral on their side. [Health, -7 bars.] [Total health = 54] [Swim away, now!] "This health isn''t meant to hit 100 ha?" Tim asked himself while using the confusion to dash up towards the sea surface just for a few meters. He needs a better view of his surroundings before finding the next spot to hide in, he doesn''t want to be chased all the way down to the hideout. Comprehending the dark blue colour the coral reef had to offer, throughout the few seconds he spotted a hole that''s more to his liking. A perfect ce to hide, it portrayed a small hole Tim can easily slip in, but for a fat moray eel it was indeed impossible. He found the way in and thankfully didn''t bash his heads or fins in the way in, that would most definitely contribute to a further health loss. He sunk 5 meters deep and met with a dead end, a couple of marble shrimpying about too. And since that bastard isn''t bashing his head in the hole, it can only mean that he had lost track of Tim. With no hesitation, he took a bite off the shrimps and ate them whole with a bit of effort. That travelling and fighting for sure worked up an appetite. [Total health 55/100] ... "Don''t worry, I won''t bite you... I want to help you." A fish''s tone projected softly, gazing at the family of juvenile stingrays. "You''re a shark! Sharks are no help. Don''t eat us please!" One of the stingrays shouted but finished the sentence with a softer tone. Trying his best to convince, the shark uttered. "I don''t want to eat you, please follow me." Chapter 21: Siblings Chapter 21: Siblings Fighting that eel was quite a rollercoaster of emotions but yet the young man doesn''t regret it regardless of the health lost because of it. Losing that health although it was already low, felt like a dimpensation when we consider the soothing taste of revenge. Harold now had several holes in him, that was enough to fulfill a quarter of the revenge he wanted to take. But seeing that stingray die tingled Tim''s revenge senses further. This case can''t be closed now until Harold dies, that fat slithery bastard has to die, ording to the demand thundering in the young man''s subconscious. But that''s something to deal with in the future, he still wasn''t tough enough to kill a whole eel and would take time to reach such a criteria. As for taming the raging decreased health, he found a couple of marble shrimp which provided instant ease on the slight numbness he felt throughout the entire body. It didn''t fix the whole problem but now it''s easier to move around at least. Valuing detail, the system announced. [Total health 57/100] "That''s good enough I guess." Tim murmured once meeting the end of the patch that depthened in dark blue colour. A prime thought took root in his head, repeating. "So much for spying, I have to go back to the den for food." ... Slipping through the long entrance that connected the den with the sea, the first thing that captivated Timothy''s view was Marlo who screamed. "Congrattions!" And over 10 fish in the den behind the shark, as well echoed. "Bravo!" Obviously, they''re cheering at Timmy the small stingray. But yet it didn''t make it less confusing, staggered the boy even. "What do you mean?" Tim questioned, finally forming a theory that he was spied on. "Your friends here told us what you did to Harold the eel." Marlo broke the confusion, his tone echoed satisfaction, the few fin swings showed it too. Finally spotting the 4 stingrays he saw earlier, Tim sighed and joyfully spoke. "Oh so you brought them here? Good, it''s dangerous out there I tell ya." "Thank you for saving us." "You were so fast!" "Thank you!" "Harold will never bug us again." "I doubt that, he''s mad now." "So? Tim can kick his tail again." The group of 4 stingrays muttered between their selves after they approached Tim, all of them well intended obviously. Liking all the praises but wanting to get at the food pile asap, Tim cutted it short. "You''re wee, can''t let stingrays get killed now can I?" "We''re not just stingrays, we''re your siblings." One of them weighed in, feminine by tone. Afterwards she swam closer and greeted. "I''m Haze." "Hi Haze, I''m d you consider me close but we aren''t siblings." Tim uttered, trying to be nice with thisdy. "No you are our brother, we remember your scent." Another one of the said siblings insisted, male by tone. "Don''t you remember us? I''m Philip." "I really don''t... almost died once so that can be what made me forget." That was the best excuse Timothy could think of, he can''t be yapping to them about a system or reincarnation. Another thing, he didn''t really wanted to fight this im. Stingrays can have siblings as well although he really didn''t remember anything. Tim is no marine biologist, but it''s no surprise for fish to have a lot of siblings in one liter. "Oh... I heard mom mention something about fear making us stingrays forget stuff... this is normal." Another stingray added, female by speech. Wanting to be helpful, she added. "I''m Patty and that''s your brother Snoopy." "Hello Patty and Snoopy, I''m Tim as you heard. I''ll try to remember everything so please give me time." There is no reason to fight all of this especially with food standing as a prime thought. "You''ll remember... we''re all that are left. You saw Gummy die, Harold killed him." Haze exined, her tone showed grief although power as well. "A lot of sharks attacked us and killed mom, 7 of our siblings as well... it was so hard to see them die." Philip added, dug himself in the sand after to avoid emotion. At this point, the rage that was shunned down by that continuing pain, poked its head out again and forced Tim''s word to thunder. "What?! Those bastards! Drake did it, didn''t he?" "What''s a bastard?" Patty murmured, a bit confused but grasped that it''s nothing good. "It wasn''t Drake." Marlo interrupted, wanting to weigh in facts. "It happened when all those sharks came to feed here." "He''s right, those sharks are long gone by now." Haze assured, although not liking that fact either. Wanting tofort these siblings who most definitely have suffered more than him, Tim uttered. "You''re safe here, I''ll protect you and so will your friends here." "That''s right." Marlo interrupted once more, handing out a speech as that''s what he does best. "Most of this tribe has lost their families to sharks... including the smaller sharks so we can rte." ... Meeting his siblings was nice without a doubt but right now Tim has other issues, like pushing the physical pain away. So the young man dug his face into the pile of fish meat, specifically scoping out either sardines or marble shrimp. He would try the other fish but doesn''t quite know what effects they bring, his health is already low and risking it here would be a bad idea. Thankfully the whole tribe has been busy bringing in food here, Tim could find 20 more marble shrimp here, not so hard for a shark to bring them heree to think of it. However he can''t eat them all without risking gut damage, so he ate as much as he could and yielded 6 more points of health. [Total health = 63/100] "Oh well at least the pain is gone." Tim thought, tad angry that the health hasn''t gone over 70 yet. It going that high would kill almost all risks but he wasn''t yet blessed with such a gift. After Tim was done feeding, Marlo approached him and felt honoured to announce. "Your skill is just... extraordinary, I need you to do something important. We can call you a qualified survivor... that''s how skilled you are!" "Spying worked peachy for me, I found out that Harold wants to find this den, he called it a hideout though." Tim deciphered once recalling the fact. To that, Marlo the reef shark instantly replied. "I know, that''s why we need you to do something far more important." "I''m all fins... or ears, whatever." Tim cited, feeling tad numb. Getting into depth, Marlo pitched. "We have good rtions with most of this reef, but we didn''t touch a few sides like the far north. The enemies want us all dead so I need you to go to the far north and recruit more fish, and of course spread out our solitude with the other fish there." Chapter 22: Pregnancy Chapter 22: Pregnancy The bars were just raised higher, by word it''s easy to determine that the task Tim was assigned to demands someone bigger and more powerful. Because of that, Tim was almost apanied by his siblings, it would make sense. But considering that his siblings didn''t have a system, them tagging along would just slow down the whole process. Tim would need to save their asses all the time and chances are it wouldn''t be enough to keep them in one piece. This coral reef carries enemies more than possible recruits, just bashing in this mission can kill them all. As for epting the task, Tim didn''t think twice about it and instantly agreed. The prime reason behind it, he gets to move more and burn out food more, of which he can rece with food that can raise health. At first navigation was tricky, especially since Tim didn''t know which way the far north is... however Marlo helped navigate, now Tim just had to follow a straight or at least slithering path. ... "I don''t understand this! How did you send a little bastard there? I can recruit fish better than him!" Alba hollered, ring at Marlo and awaiting for an exnation. Perfectly calm, Marlo took the liberty to answer. "He is a qualified survivor and the only one who cane back unscaved." "And how can you know that if you didn''t even test me? I''m bigger than him too!" Alba rambled, circling on her spot and fairly enraged. Wanting to evade this topic without hurting thedy''s feelings, Marlo cited. "His skillset and speed tops size Alba, now are we going to continue talking about this? There''s fish to hunt, we need food." Finally calming down as an idea arose in her mind, Alba pitched. "We''ll see about that, I''ll go to the far north and get more recruits than him." Pointing out the obvious, the leader muttered. "That''s not smart, it''s full of predators." "I''ll do it anyway, that little bastard can''t be stronger than me." She didn''t yell once more, well perfect because topics like this can develop headaches even on fish. Understanding that having an envying hot head in the tribe would cause more trouble in the future, Marlo agreed. "Okay, it''s your death reef, go for it." And so thedy stingray slipped her way out of the reef and made her way towards the far north, however she took a different path from Tim. Chances are they won''t meet each other, the reef wasrge and they could be swimming 50+ meters away from each other. ... As Tim travelled about 300 meters through the reef, using his level 5 speed to the utmost advantage, losing stamina quickly became the resulting aftermath. And so he sunk deeper towards the reef instead of swimming above it, he found a little hole that''s befitting to his body colour. Although he is still roaming through that massive dark blue portion of the reef, there are sea nts here and there that share his body colour. The hole he slipped 4 meters deep in, had a bundle of yellow sea nts above his head. And the fact that he was on blue coloured coral, led to an inevitable fact that Tim is almost invisible to anything above. His body looked like a yellow te that''s covered by blue dots, so the camouge here makes sense. However, rxing a little bit opened his mind towards other topics and he instantly put it into words. "System, why have you stopped giving me tasks?" [Guest''s health is too low for system given tasks, you have to raise health before the next task is given to you.] "Oh right, that''s fair." The young man added and took some time to recall everything that happened. Everything went downhill ever since that human damaged his tail and yet somehow wherever he went, losing more health feels like the inevitable. It truly was a pain in the ass, sometimes literally but at least he''s progressing. Laying over the coral, something else captured the young man''s attention. Well, the thing was moving, climbing up and heading towards Tim. It''s tiny, just a bit bigger than Tim''s 4 centimeter mouth so killing this little critter was most definitely easy. But yet, the creature doesn''t seem to fear Tim''s presence and was even getting closer. Granting the creature a better view, Tim noticed that it''s a crab of some sort, although differentpared to what he saw so far. This crab was white and covered with red dots, well at least it''s normal for a crab to have a hint of red as a body colour. "I''m a little hungry..." Tim murmured and dashed towards the approacher once it got 1 meter near. The little crab had no luck when it came to dealing with a stingray whose speed was still cranked up to level 5, so faster than the eye could blink, the crab lost most of its body. Tim''s jaws were sharp enough to bite through that crab so swiftly that the little critter''s legs and w were left behind after that bite, barely a few centimeters away from the former spot. And so Tim made a U turn and got back to his prey, finishing it off. [Trapezia killed, 1 system point has been added as a reward.] [Effect on health, non existent.] [Effect on hunger, non existent.] [Effect on sleep, non existent.] [Effect on stamina, non existent.] "That was a waste of time." Tim murmured, but then out of a sudden felt his stomach feeling weird. First he felt difort and then pain, of which forced him to shout. "Shit shit shit shit! Trapezia, more like trap!" [Your hunger bar has been doubled for 1 hour.] After the system rmed about that weird gain, Tim''s sharp stomach pain suddenly disappeared and made him think. "Uhhh... I hope that crab didn''t get me pregnant." [You''re a male, it''s impossible.] "I died, now I''m a stingray and am listening to a system in my head. Don''t tell me what''s possible." Point taken, but Tim finally learned how to add a dash of sarcasm. [With your current temporary upgrade, you can eat twice as much for a while and when the upgrade is over, you won''t throw up because of overeating.] [Health bar = 63/100] [Hunger bar = 12/30] [Sleep bar = 7/35] [Stamina bar = 8/15] "Oh looks like I need to sleep... but these upgrades can''t be wasted." Tim uttered, getting in a slight debate with himself. That aside, getting such a upgrade will aid twice as much when ites to raising his health. So to that Tim felt tad grateful, soon enough his health will go over 70 at least. The disaster of what we canbel as a massive health loss, will finally be tamed. A few secondster, something unusual captivated the young man''s field of hearing. A familiar voice yelling out the same sentence over and over. "System, answer me!" Chapter 23: Supply pack Chapter 23: Supply pack Arising from the hole he slipped into, Tim''s vision was captivated by a familiar figure. It was none other than Alba, the same stingraydy who held an entire rant with Marlo. "System?" Tim interrupted, tad spooking thedy and forced her to swim a meter away. Once she turned around and spotted Tim, the first thing thedy hollered was. "The fuck do you want? Get out of my way, I will go get more recruits than you!" Not weighing enough importance on that quest, Tim still stuck to the main point. "You mentioned system... I have one as well!" "Boy I have no idea what you''re talking about." Alba answered, her tone projecting a screech as she started waving around her tail. [Sharing such information with another being is not rmended, change the topic.] "But she has a system as well!" Tim yelled out, which from another point of view it would seem like he was talking to himself. [You''re revealing super sensitive information, it''s never a good idea!] And this time Tim could hear how bad the situation is, as the system actually started yelling. "Okay okay, I don''t know what a system is." Tim finally gave in and gave out a little stingray sigh. "Could have progressed together but that''s okay." Afterwards the stingraydy swam away and Tim didn''t fail to follow her right after, although still a bit low on stamina. "We can get recruits together." Tim pitched, wanting to find an excuse to spend more time with thisdy full of attitude. Stopped on her spot, Alba used her left eye to re at the boy and immediately after stated. "No thanks." Afterwards, Tim felt a sharp sting near his tail, bashed on the fin. Apart from that pain alone, he felt an additional raging pain around the striked spot, his tail began to feel numb as well. Putting two and two together, Tim asked her. "Did you just sting me?" Indirectly admitting it, Alba recited. "Don''t put your nose in my business, or venom would be the least of your problems." As the youngdy swam away, Tim felt almost paralyzed! His entire left fin became too numb, impossible to move and his tail started sharing the same fate as well. "What have you done to me?" Tim tried to speak, but his sentence was cut in half as the mouth felt heavy. Without an answer, Alba swam away and continued her quest as if nothing happened, now the system started raging! [Health -30 bars.] [Health -3 bars.] [Health -3 bars.] [Health -2 bars.] [Health -1 bar.] [Health -1 bar.] [Health -1 bar.] [Health -1 bar.] [Health -1 bar.] As the system gave out those rming statistics, Tim barely noticed where he had fallen into. A few meters near the hole he took rest from earlier, stood a bigger hole, 5 meters wide, where any predator could swoop by and spot Tim. One advantage out of it however, was the hole''s depth. It possibly stretched around 25 meters deep and there aren''t any known enemies on sight. "System, I don''t feel so good." Tim unleashed the thought, as his mouth still felt too numb to move. [Total health = 20/100] [You have been stung by a strong venomous tail, it''s effects are dictated.] [The venom has done it''s full damage already, now it can''t do anything more.] [Since you are my servant, when an outer source inflicts pain on you, the damage is instant. Meaning, it won''t take days until the damage reaches its full effect.] Not even strong enough to panic, Tim stated. "Okay that''s nice... but I''m dying." [Yes you are.] Afterwards Tim tried to swim but it was nearly impossible. After full efforts, the boy could barely swim half a meter away. "I can''t heal myself like this, I can''t move." [Super critical state reached, guest has one chance of survival.] zingly confused, Tim''s first idea was that the system will summon marble shrimp here, illogical but intense pain all over his body didn''t really allow the boy to think straight. But a question can always clear things out. "What''s the chance of survival?" [You can use a health regeneration supply pack.] [The pack can give you 50 points of health.] [You can never use this again as you have only 1 supply pack.] Not quite sure how that works but at least understanding the word health, Tim thought. "Okay, use that and save me please." [Health supply pack used.] [Loading...] [Activating...] [Health +50 bars.] [Total health = 70/100] At that same moment, the numbness that surrounded his body started vanishing quicker than the eye could blink. That massive burning pain near his tail took a few more seconds to disappear but it''s fate was no different from the rest of the effect. Comprehending the one thing he hasn''t felt these past few days, which is theck of pain, Tim took one spin of a swim and started yelling in joy. "There is no more pain! I''m free!!" [You still have doubled speed and hunger bar, use it to raise your health more.] "Okay okay okay." Tim repeated, his joy reverting into super sharp focus as he stalked the perimeter for any living being. In the close distance, he spotted what were heavily familiar to this point. "Leggy crabs!" Spotting the marble shrimps, he charged towards them at maximum speed and bit one of these little beings in half. There are about 12 marble shrimp here, and chomping through them was rather easy as they can''t get far. The system kept yelling out the statistics upon every kill but the one we can put the most value on are the final results. [Health bar = 76/100] [Hunger bar = 15/30] [Sleep bar = 7/35] [Stamina bar 6/15] Getting back on his former spot to rx, one question began to storm Tim''s mind. "Did she really have a system?" [Yes, but she doesn''t anymore.] [She was using my system but was stripped out of the title.] [Because my servants can''t attack each other, so the inflictor loses all connections with me.] "Well dang, you really had my back there... well kinda." Tim murmured as he took time toprehend the whole situation. One feeling that started invading all other emotions was the feeling of revenge, of which forced Tim to speak out. "You made an enemy today, Alba." Chapter 24: IQ Chapter 24: IQ After piling up a bit more stamina, Tim made his way out of the deep hole he fell into earlier and took a peek of his surroundings for the sake of spotting Alba. Fair to say, no luck. Thedy had enough time to get out of here even if she swam slowly, all odds were to her favour except one, Tim knows where she''s going. The far north of this coral reef, that''s the prime goal at least but chances are they won''t meet each other as this reef is at least a few kilometers wide... although there is no exact geometrical shape to determine which side can be wider. This reef has a heavy ecosystem, this is where most life is at... or at least was before the hundreds of sharks came for a feeding and stayed here for 6 months! Now, it feels like an abandoned town, the odds of meeting with either predator or prey has beenrgely reduced, while the smallest beings are the mostmon consideringrger sharks didn''t manage to reach those. Those thoughts going through his head, Tim could understand a bit better why Marlo wants to increase his tribe''s size. This reef has faced a mass extinction already, thest thing they need is for the inhabitants to hunt each other for food. Furthermore Marlo wants to stop the big bullies who feast on the reef, that demanding a higher number is understandable. Surfing a couple hundred meters more above the coral at full speed, covering about 30 meters every 5 seconds, Tim''s mind primarily went through the attempt to raise confidence. "You can kill her, you got this! She doesn''t even have a system now hahaha! You killed a god damn barracuda muhahaha! You got this Tim, you got this." That''s a sample of thoughts that ran through his head under a short few seconds. It''s fair to say that it made the young stingray a bit more confident, but we can''t ignore that his speed and rants caused a disturbance through the coral reef. As he finally passed through the huge mass of blue coral, something started chasing the boy. Sensing the water behind him having an unusual disturbance, Tim immediately sunk down towards the coral reef that illuminated light grey in colour. But in the meantime, he unleashed what the stomach has carried so far... poop. It wasn''t a surprise to do so, his speed most definitely over works the body, which in another way gets things moving. The poop flung through the water and Tim heard the system inform. [Hunger bar = 7/35] As if an airne, Tim tilted his body to the left and started swimming in a 45 degree angle with one prime aim, to hide in the coral. And so, he slipped through what looks like a crack in the coral but is just a weird natural formation that stretched about 12 centimeters wide. Right after, he felt the coral walls too close to his body, rumble violently for a few short seconds. Afterwards he heard a familiar tone demanding, "Come out of there you little bastard!" Turning around, he saw none other than Drake''s nose trying to break in the coral. And of course this is a golden opportunity to tease the 2 meter long enemy. "How did my shit taste? Having a good time Drake?" "Don''t worry, you''ll figure it out." Drake thundered from the other side and began to hit the coral with his head. Trying to observe his surroundings better, Tim noticed that there is no way out of here... and Drake doesn''t really have trouble breaking through this little bit of a crack Tim has slipped through which makes the situation all the more rming. [Total system points = 91] [You have enough points to increase your personal IQ.] "And how will a bigger IQ help me here?" Tim murmured, but the system did surely hear. [You''ll have more chances to hide from the shark.] [A bigger IQ also helps form quicker thinking.] "Okay okay, upgrade my IQ." Tim requested, feeling the coral walls around him shift,id on his back too. [Purchase confirmed.] [Purchase loading...] [Your personal IQ has been upgraded by 5 points.] [Total IQ = 50 points] [90 system points consumed.] [1 system point remaining.] "Oh that didn''t hurt." Tim spoke out, surprised and happy about it. Right at that moment, he heard Drake bashing against the coral once more. It''s impact was strong enough to shift everything around the young Stingray, but also forced the boy to turn around somehow. Seeing the other side of the coral, he spotted a little hole, perhaps about 7 centimeters long. Most definitely small but as Tim swam closer and took a peek at it, he could see pitch darkness from the other side. Basing it onmon logic, he figured out that it''s darker because it''srger. And so before Drake could strike the coral again, he sunk towards that little hole after squeezing his fins closer to each other. And afterwards he heard the coral reef getting bashed once more, due to it a 1 meter wide chunk of coral fell behind him. Heck, if Tim didn''t swim away the moment of which the chunk fell, he would have been most definitely crushed. His puny size can''t take that size and the system couldn''t dig him out of such a foul situation either. Turning around, he spotted Drake bashing through the ceiling and managed to chase Tim as well. Circling around the wide opening that doesn''t seem to have walls or a bottom, Tim made for the exit for the sake of not bing shark food. Drake took a few seconds to make a 360 turn and that was all Tim needed to make a proper escape. The young stingray speeded out of thisrge ce, and getting out of the coral was easier considering therge hole Drake caused. Grasping his surroundings after escaping the coral, Tim spotted Harold the eel rushing towards him, intents are easy to predict. Chapter 25: My name is... Chapter 25: My name is... Quick to calcte what would happen if the young stingray kept swimming in that same direction, Tim decided to take a different base of action. His eyeballs rolling around for solutions, he spotted an opportunity hidden amongst the coral. His IQ wasn''t necessarilyrge enough to be an expert battle strategist, but we can''t devalue the solution he filtered out amongst all other choices. Taking a peek back at Harold the eel and at the same time hearing Drake explode out of the coral the young stingray left behind, this solution felt even better to take action upon. Finally taking a significant swim downwards, escaping Drake''s jaws by just a few inches, Tim slightly heard the two enemies collide against each other, heads bumping. It was barely hearable considering themotion these two enemies caused from all that swimming. After swimming downwards, on his left Tim had a bit of coral that''s straight in figure but as if carved in as well. By carved in, we ce value on the fact that the coral is wide and smooth enough to let Tim slip in a better spot. The line Timothy slipped through felt like a runway, the only difference here is that the runway is sunken and would almost look like a pipe. Good enough, Tim could swim through it swiftly and slipped through a bigger patch of coral that was on his left before. As the two enemies took time toprehend the situation, sadly all in one piece, Tim took the liberty to mock. "Haha, suckers!" Through the same second he saw the corals hurrying near his eyes while the young stingray dashed forwards at full speed. Coming in as an aid to his quickly built up n, the coral seemed to sink just a half meter lower while taking a significant turn right. Taking that route, it aided the young stingray to harshly confuse the enemies. He was already so small and disappearing in coral made the whole task harder for them. And finally he found arger opening about 15 meters from where the enemies were. To aid this escape, he took a significant turn to the right, almost at a 180 pace. Although Tim''s personal IQ is 50, he did firmly understand that the more twists and turns he swims through, the easier it was to confuse the enemy. Experience itself through those few short seconds aided that thought. "Where did he go?!" Harold thundered, itching his head on the coral to wash the pain away. Staggered in a few aspects, Drake answers with another question. "That little fucker is too fast, what does he eat?" Firmly in denial, Harold the eel added. "He isn''t fast, just small." "Kiss my tail water suckers!" Timothy yelled out from the background as he found another opportunity to sink lower. The coral in front of him was more like a 4 foot wide opening, seemingly connected to therge underwater cave Tim escaped from earlier. "I sense where he is, follow me!" Drake shouted, twirling around a couple of times before he made for where Tim swam. Weighing in another fact, Harold hollered. "We have to find that hide out, don''t let him escape!" Using the opportunity, Tim made for the big hole Drake bashed open through the coral earlier. In other words, the young stingray was swimming back to the spot he started from, well close to it at least. Not nning to discover what this cave can offer just now, Timothy slipped through that huge hole that was bashed open and made directly towards the left side of the starting point. It was a grand idea to do so because the enemies are looking 10 meters away, on the right side,pletely the opposite. Heck of a move for a dumb stingray. Hell if his speed wasn''t at level 5 right now, him bing shark food would be the inevitable, speed was worth the sacrifice of 10 health points. "Why are they looking for the den?" Tim thought as he swam through the coral, sinking deeper by the second. And henceforth bad thoughts captivated the young boy''s mind, as these bastards looking for the hideout can''t be anything peachy. "Eh, there are like 20 sharks in the den. They can defend everyone until I get new recruits." As he swam away further, hearing the two enemies yell at each other became the inevitable. "Where did he go? How did you lose him?" Harold''s tone echoed the loudest as if in charge. Noticeably pissed by tone, Drake yelled back. "Shut the hell up and look for him that way." Based by the sound of them, these enemies were still looking for Tim in thatrge cave. Oh well, helps him in the short run in terms of escaping. But faster than the eye could blink, Tim was captivated by someone else''s presence, two souls joined the scene actually. To of which, Tim couldn''t help giving a loud whisper after he jumped out of ce, spooked because of the two jumped out of nowhere. "What are you two doing here?!" "I''m Konon." One of them answered. And the other followed. "I''m Koob." "I know who you two are." Tim answered as he waved his fin for the puffer fish brothers to slip deeper in the coral. "Marlo sent help." Koob rified, finally shedding light to this weird encounter. Waving for them to follow him out of danger, further towards the left, Tim questioned. "Why? I can handle this all alone just fine." "I''m Konon." One of the puffer fish brothers repeated, a bit louder this time. "I know who you are! But why did... oh wait you don''t speak mynguage." Well this became a bigger hassle, thenguage barrier can get in the way big time. "I''m Koob." The other brother felt the liberty to add. Understanding by now that Marlo is smart and sent these two puffer fish brothers for a reason, Tim decided to just go with it and cited. "Okay just follow me, maybe you can help me." Chapter 26: Damaged Chapter 26: Damaged Following Tim the stingray, they''ve squeezed away from the enemy and bought a grand perk, which is time. They were still about half a meter under the coral, using the twists, turns and openings to their disposition, safety was no longer a problem. But when one doesn''t have to think about safety, other topics have the freedom to open in their mind. Althoughmunication between the three stood dim, Tim couldn''t help murmuring out his thoughts. "Why are they looking for the den?" And afterwards the thought''splexion unravelled, allowing the young stingray to figure out. "Wait I know why they are looking for it. They just want to kill us all... but." Putting his increased intelligence into use for the sake of filtering the risk factor, Tim thought. "They want to kill us all but how do they know the den exists? They aren''t supposed to know about it." Pushing the thought forward, he finally figured out. "Someone must have snitched on us, one from the group. Could Alba have done it? No no, she can''t be that dark, or can she? Well shit, this is shit." Afterwards he raged between two decisions, the risk factor seemedrger than he thought and it could need further counselling. "Should I go to the far north or go rm Marlo?" As he finally stopped his pace to rx a little bit, allowing stamina to regenerate, one of the puffer fish appeared in front of him and decreased burden by a quarter. "I''m Konon." ... As they''ve made further towards the far north,munication between these three stood minimalist due to thenguage barrier. But their presence is getting Tim more and more confused, as Marlo exined the young stingray as a prodigy. Sending down help right after just doesn''t add up, it can''t be because of that thought of extra protection, Tim doesn''t need it. [Since guest has raised health, a new task can be given.] [New task, find and kill a clown fish.] [These species are small so killing one will grant you 1 system point.] [Since it''s a system given task, you''ll earn an additional point.] Avoiding murmuring this time so the puffer fish brothers can''t hear him out, Tim thought. "I could use points right now, only have 1." [Getting system points can be easy if you know where to find them.] [Smaller beings don''t give a lot of system points at a time but killing a lot of them can help in the long run.] [The reef might not be the best idea to go on a killing spree, the tribe you stand in solitude with ims to have great rtions with most of the reef.] [You going around killing everything can get you a bad reputation and possibly killed from the same tribe.] Well it became clear once more that the system was much smarter, Tim barely thought about these before. But yet he was still confused so further questions can help out. "So I should wait until I get out of the reef?" [Yes, either that or locate another reef you can hunt on.] [You have to remain part of the tribe, it has benefits that aid survival.] [Furthermore it''s unusual for fish to behave like his tribe so that''s a further guarantee of your group''s worth, you''re with goodpany.] "I guess you''re right, the system points can wait for a while. I might hunt around my new home a little bit, I saw that there were fish there before." At this point Tim wanted to yield an easier solution. Finding another reef seemed difficult at this point, this is the only reef he knew and finding another one might take a while, not to mention how hard it can be to travel to the hidden den and any other reef, constant sea urchin consumption would be a must. Finally making it out of the coral, they meet with a sight that isn''t so easy on the eye. A stingray, but far different from Tim in shape and size, seemed to have taken damage on its left fin. Hoping that this one spoke the samenguage, Tim slowly approached and asked. "Are you okay? I want to help you." They were strangers towards each other no doubt but who wouldn''t help someone in need? This stingray doesn''t seem hostile and is about 5 times Tim''s size, if they could recruit this stingray it would a nice win. And so a feminine tone chirped, heavier in ent so Tim only understood half of the sentence. "I was running away from some sharks and cut my fin on some coral." But yet the young stingray could understand her so he added. "You''re bigger so that makes sense but don''t worry, we will help you." Getting a better look at the wound, well it''s nothing pretty. There are three deep lines dug in her fin, thest one being the longest, reaching down to the fin. The first line being half of that size and the one in the middle the shortest, Tim could see flesh and a bit of bone on the scratches as well. Not quite knowing how to heal a stingray that doesn''t have a system, Tim asked for help with a thought. "How do I heal her, system? I have no idea, should I even heal her?" [There is no way to quickly heal a fish, they don''t have systems.] [The wound can''t kill her so you just have to keep her out of danger.] [The salt in the sea water has enough healing properties so it should fix her fin in no time.] [You have to get her into the den, it''s a safe spot and eating food would help her heal a bit faster too.] An idea given birth, Tim approached thedy a bit closer and asked. "Can you swim? We need to get you in a morefortable spot." "I can." Thedy answered, trying to follow Tim but with one attempt to move, they could notice how lop sided she was swimming. And so Tim slipped under her fin and gave a bit of effort to lift thedy up, pushing her a bit as well. "We just need to get you in that hole over there, sharks can''t swim in it." After setting her in a meter deeper, he turned to one of the puffer fish and repeated. "Marlo Marlo, go get Marlo." Chapter 27: Aquatic nature Chapter 27: Aquatic nature After Koob left to get Marlo, the situation became calmer by the passing second. These two lovely stingrays don''t know each other and Konon doesn''t speak or understand theirnguage. After the mandatory questions asked regarding what happened here and how long she has been suffering, other topics were shunned away. Until Tim remembered one grand fact, "This is awkward, I don''t even know your name." "Oh right, I''m Dana." Thedy stingray answered after she flinched in pain. "Oh hi Dana, I''m Tim. What kind of stingray are you? I''ve never seen someone like you before." Well that''s quite true, regardless of which life he never saw something like this stingray before. "I''m an eagle ray, that''s what my mom told me at least." She answered, her tone light as enduring the pain started bing normal. Well now at least having something to talk about, Tim couldn''t help asking something that has been swimming in his mind through these few seconds. "That''s different, I never saw someone like you before. You''re young aren''t you?" Dana let silence stretch for a while but that was all to count, finally answering. "Uh, I''m 25 days old or something so yes, pretty young." With a little bit of a shout, Tim encouraged amazement in his tone. "Wow but you''re bigger than me! That''s funny because I''m 35 days old I think, maybe less?" "Nice to meet you Tim. Well maybe we can be friends ha? Both of us are stingrays and we''re swimming alone." To such an offer the young man couldn''t help feeling a blush. But of course had to act cool although the crack in his tone begged to differ. "Uh sure sure sure, we can do that. But first you need to heal, we have a big den where you can rx, it''s amazing there and has all the food you can eat." Giving Tim a better nce and spotting the blue dots over his head, she answered. "Okay dotty Tim, we can swim together after I heal." But with the word ''alone'' captivating the young man''s mind for a few seconds, he immediately asked a question. "Why are you travelling alone? I think you''re too young for that." Not quite certain why Tim doesn''t know about this, the youngdy pointed out. "Uhhh all of my siblings went to live their own lives soon as we were born, that''s kinda how it works." Trying to avoid the awkwardness of not being knowledgeable, Tim once more assured. "Oh right but we can help you anyway, we have a tribe full of people who lost their mothers." Dana sounds young by tone yet her size doesn''t quite meet the pitch of tone, she sounded as young as Tim but size was obviously different. Apart from that, the young stingraydy stretched 50 centimetres long, that''s about 4 times Tim''s size. Thedy was 40 centimetres long (tail discluded), shorterpared to width but that''s what the name is for, eagle rays. Her fins are like triangles that make up most of her size, most definitely a unique creature. White dots surround Dana, spread all around her body apart from the tail and belly. While what acted like a coat was the pitch darkyer of flesh, thisdy would fit in perfectly in the deeper waters when older. ... "I''m here, what''s the problem!" Marlo asked as he dashed in the very tight hole of which the stingrays have hid in. "This friend was injured while swimming away from sharks, we need to get her to the den." Tim answered swiftly and afterwards saw 3 more sharks behind Marlo, one of which was the great white. Fair to say that neither of them were enemies, these are all sharks from the tribe who came here for back up. "I see Koob panicked too much, he said that sharks are attacking a stingray." Marlo exined and afterwards gestured for other sharks to move aside. Afterwards the small in age butrge in size, great white shark swam in and tried to manoeuvre himself through the tight coral. Calmer now since reinforcements have arrived, Tim joked. "Koob is greatpany but I wish we could understand each other." "Oh they will learn eventually, that''s why I sent them with you." Marlo answered as she helped the young stingraydy to climb over the great white shark. Leading him out of the coral, Marlo encouraged. "Swim slow, you''re a great white, enemies won''t approach you." And then gazed at the 2 other sharks that tagged along in this rescue mission, ordering. "Follow him, we''ll be travelling out in the open and need all the protection we can get." And so the sharks heeded themand, they are only half a meter long but can still pack a punch of a bite. Soon as the 3 sharks left, Tim turned to the tribe leader and expressed. "I thought you sent the brothers because of Alba." "Why would I do that?" Marlo questioned, legitimately confused. Thundering by tone, Tim''s tone cracked after the first word as his fins flipped with rage. "That bitch tried to kill me! I barely survived. She will die next time I see her, don''t care about no pact." Half surprised and wanting to tame down hostility, Marlo advised. "She did show bad behaviour... but I didn''t know that girl would attempt murder, that''s mad but try not to kill her if you aren''t attacked again." Letting his anger twitched muscles rx, Tim half reasoned. "I don''t like killing friends but she is my enemy now, let''s hope I don''t meet her." ... After a consultation with Marlo the leader, the young stingray started following his main task once more. Marlo assured that the den is safe and they will take extra precautions especially since the enemies are looking for the den. As the aim to reach the far north continued, Tim heard the system rm. [Sleep bar = 4/15] [You have to sleep right now, or else your task performance can result inadequate.] [The far north, like in the name, is far away. You won''t be able to go there and back with the current sleep bar.] "Uh oh right, sleep is a thing." Tim uttered as he seeked through the purple coral for afy ce to sleep. What caught his eye was a little crack formed opening in the coral, just big enough to fit in a hand sized stingray as him. "No enemy can find me here hehehe." Chapter 28: Damaged Chapter 28: Damaged After a while, Tim woke up to the system notifying. [Sleep bar = 30/35] Most definitely unusual for him ever since arriving in this new body but we can''t ignore that he didn''t have better luck before it as well, Tim had a lot of sleeping disorders before. Moving around his fins a little bit, stretching them out, he thought. "So this is how it feels like to get a good night''s sleep?" Well it wasn''t exactly a full night''s sleep since the bar wasn''t [35/35] but Tim felt content about it. Afterwards the sunlight captured his vision, it''s rays slipped through the crack of the coral, illuminating a line of light. Upon that scene, he came into a realization. "I''vepletely lost track of time in this new body, never know when it is daytime and when it''s night." Perhaps something that one wouldn''t be so happy about but as a stingray, apart from not sleeping regrly, there was no other problem. It''s not like he has a 9-5 job here and the tasks given don''t have a set time limit so this is a wondend. The only disadvantage here in this new life was not having hands and being kible by everything remotely bigger. Ready to continue the task, he slipped out of that crack of which represented an exit and his field of view was stolen by something that looks odd for a sea creature. Well at least odd for Timothypared to what else he has seen up until this point. There was a small fish in front of him, half the times smaller and it carried an orange colour that seemed just a bit faded. "This fish looks weird... is it a clown fish?" Tim asked himself and the system of course heard those thoughts and came bashing with an answer. [Such information can''t be given to guest unless you bit a clown fish before.] Tad more motivated, Tim asked. "So I should bite this fish?" [You''re still in the reef, that''s not rmended considering what the faction has as a motive and the roots it has spread through this reef.] Feeling tad scolded right now, he expressed. "Gees okay." ... As he ventured deeper through to coral, his prime goal remaining the far north, tiredness began to be as a problem. No health problem thankfully but his speed has gone down to level 2 again and it''s hard travelling under such condition. It requires strength as well as stamina, both of which are limited and require time to regenerate after certain periods of time. A bit of good news however, he had travelled enough to be half way through the reef already. There was no specific statistic informing about that fact but Tim was sure that he has travelled at least 3 or so kilometres. The reef might not be bigger than that so this quest was very close to further progressing. After he took time to rx, continuing the swim towards the destination became the inevitable. Although often tired, he doesn''t n to give up and had admirable motivation. He also contemted about eating an urchin for speed, even saw a few of which he could have bitten through. But after consulting it with the system, that might not be the best idea considering that there was no rush, not to mention his health not being at the most favourable number. [76/100] Travelling just a bit further, he met with a scene that doesn''t exactly portray anything peachy. No fish is getting killed thankfully but we can''t say that the scene was still good. Coral, well in this portion it seemed all messed up, bits of it broken down even as the entire scene began to carry a lifeless blue colour. Blue covered most of the corals here but Timothy could see a ray of yellow on his far left who was also stripped out of colour. "What happened here?" The young man softly murmured while swimming a bit higher above coral to avoid any cuts. Everything seemed ruptured here and slipping through coral might not be the best ideapared to where he had slept so far. "The sharks, they did this." A tone shone, not loud enough to spook the stingray out but enough to be hearable. Basing the thought of what Drake the shark did to corals to free his friend, Tim asked. "So the sharks came here and bashed the coral down?" Although he had not seen who''s speaking out just yet, having a conversation didn''t seem like a big problem considering theforting tone. But yet curious to figure it out, the small stingray took a moment to look around but his vision failed to be captivated by anything important. And then suddenly, he saw something slithery making its way out of the coral, her feminine tone answering the question. "No they didn''t bash it down but ate it''s inhabitants." Although Tim isn''t yet used of seeing long and slim beings, snakes especially, he kept the cringing emotion aside and asked. "So that''s uh...?" Circling over a bit of coral and keeping her distance to not spook away the young boy, she continued. "The reef needs fish to stay alive, everything was perfectly bnced and fish themselves kept their homes alive... now the reef is dying." She was carrying a dark colour over her back and her belly was yellow, a fairly long snake as well, nearly 2 meters. "Ohhh, well you sound old, was the coral like this before?" Unwillingly offensive but at least Tim was trying to get somewhere with this. Offense aside since she felt too weak to argue, the snake answered. "I am 11 years old, living my final days. So yes I can tell you, the coral wasn''t ever like this before, the sharks havee here over and over... there are no more animals to support this reef." "Uhhh you sound tired, can I get you some food miss sea snake?" Of course the young man understood what hunger felt like and didn''t want an olddy to feel it. Rarely hearing such an offer before from a stranger, the olddy couldn''t help smiling as she answered. "I''m Lili. But yes, can you get me some food? I haven''t eaten in a week." Chapter 29: Clownfish Chapter 29: Clownfish "What kinda food do you likedy Lili?" Timothy asked as he made sure to keep his distance. Based on what happened a few days ago when he first helped someone in need, one would think that Tim wouldn''t help strangers anymore. But thisdy seemed sweet and wasn''t asking for anything but food, what trickery could lie behind it? One thing that pulled the boy''s heart strings was the fact that thisdy was an elderly. Who would refuse helping an elderly who wasn''t in a favourable state? She''s too tired to move which only pointed out that she wasn''t able to move enough even before getting this hungry. No no, he doesn''t sense any scheme behind thisdy''s words and even managed to filter out the pain behind her tone when she described how this part of the reef was dying. "Anything really, but I would appreciate it if you get me clown fish, that''s the first meal I ever ate as a juvenile." Hmm well that started humble but thedy couldn''t help craving something specific, especially since the stingray was offering options. "What a coincidence!" Tim shouted which almost spooked thedy, then he shed light to such shout. "I''m looking for the same thing, want to taste them!" "I know where you can usually find them." Lili the sea snake stated and pointed her tail towards the far north. "It''s that way." Feeling that this was too good to be true, he cited with half a shout after swiftly circling in ce. "This is just the universe aligning for me then, because I have business that way and at least now I can remember which way to go." Her olddy tone cracked as she slowly described, "I have no idea what this universe is but have fun, you can munch on as many as you like." Happy about this big find that would only advance towardspleting the task, but yet remembering a key problem, he questioned while wagging his tail lightly. "Do you know Marlo?" At this point her happiness screaming volumes, especially since it was projected through her tone, she queried. "Oh so you''re his problem solver ha?" "Yup, I''m on my way to solve a problem right now actually." Tim expressed but then felt stupid for revealing it and understood why his IQ was 50. Revealing what the system wasn''t certain off, the sea snake cited. "Oh well then don''t worry, clown fish don''t like anyone but their selves so much on as many as you can. I''m pretty sure they''re evil." ... Swimming about 100 meters away from where he spoke with the sea snake, Tim''s short field of vision was quickly captured by a clown fish. Well it''s not big, half of Timmy''s sizee to think of it but we can''t say that it''s orange colour didn''t stand out in the blue and green coral. Terrible camouge capabilities at best but in this case it proved as a quick lunch for Tim, he felt tad hungry. After swimming around 10 meters close to it, Tim swiftly charged towards the prey in question. But forgot that his swimming speed was no longer cracked to level 5, that itself still felt hard toprehend. He had a taste of bigger speed before andcking it now felt tad tough on the conscious. However the point was, the clown fish dashed away and escaped Tim''s bone crushing jaws! To of which, he couldn''t help muffling a cuss. "You little motherfuck...." But thankfully the clown fish''s speed wasn''t so longsting, it slowed down a few seconds after which allowed the hunter to catch on. Munch munch munch. Tim ruptured through the clown fish, biting right where the white line stood and getting a bit of that orange too. That was enough to bite the prey almost in half, most definitely killed it. To of which Tim celebrated. Now you''re dead, evil water pper!" And afterwards made a meal out of the rest of the fish, feeling his hunger satisfy. [Hunger bar = 7/15] [1 system point point added.]. [Since this was a system given task, you get an additional point.] [Total system points = 3] [Eating an entire clown fish grants the following...] [Effect on health, +1 bar.] [Effect on hunger, +1 bar.] [Effect on sleep, non existent.] [Effect on stamina, non existent.] [The above statistical information has been saved in your collection and can be used regardless of upgrades.] [Health = 77/100] At this point fearful, gratitude was drowned by paranoia as he directly asked the system. "Thanks for the spam, apart from that everything is going too good right now. A shark will bite my ass won''t it?" [In the ocean, everything can bite your ass.] "Okay." He answered, unwilling to ask any further questions. And then put in an attempt to stalk the perimeter, spotted a clown fish about 10 meters away. "Too bad they aren''t swimming in groups, I don''t want to swim, my fins feel sore already." But yet he did swim, charged towards the clownfish and expected it to dash away. But this one was far more easy going, until Tim realized that it''s asleep. "Sleep at this time of day huh? Bad choice." And afterwards he just swooped towards the prey and bashed his tail through the middle of the fish. Reason he didn''t bite through it, was that clown fish were already small in size and biting through it would leave barely anything for Lili. [1 system point added.] [Total system points = 4] Looking at the clownfish and the hole through it, Tim scolded himself. "She didn''t eat for a week, this won''t fill her belly!" Taking a moment to look around, he cited. "I need to find more for her." As if the holy above his head aided that good will, he could spot two clownfish fighting each other in the close distance, forcing him to think. "These fish really hate each other." Chapter 30: Clownfish (2) Chapter 30: Clownfish (2) Feeling a bit tired of all the moving around, Tim took a moment to stalk the fighting clownfishes. Stalk is a harsh word although he wanted to kill them both, he''s watching the show instead, that''s a better word to describe it. In front of him, the prey was raging against each other, one would think this was a boxing match for 25,000$. Although the same in size, the upper advantage in battle seemed to shift every few seconds. One clownfish bit the other on the rear tail and as aeback, the other bit the enemy right on the head. One would think clownfish are too puny to bite but no that''s not the case, a big IQ wouldn''t be demanded to figure out that these fish were territorial. Thus it made Tim think, "So d that me and my tribe get along well." [I don''t mean to banter but you don''t get along well with everyone in the tribe.] Hesitancy aroused in his tone as the young man asked. "Oh right, Alba. What will I do about her system? Should I kill one of my own species?" [She isn''t of the same species.] "But she''s a stingray." Timmy reminded although unable to recall the exact species. [One that almost killed you.] [At this point she has no difference from Harold and Drake who want to eat you alive.] [System categorizes her as an enemy, it''s best if you do the same.] Able to understand reasoning a hunch more now thanks to the IQ upgrade, Tim spoke with his tone muffled by the bad destiny. "I guess you''re right." Those clownfish however, were still raging against each other, their rage interjecting a disturbance in the water, bubbles to be more transparent. The wounds they''ve inflicted on each other weren''t necessarily gory but we can''t say that damage hasn''t been dealt, the surface of their skin was definitely broken. Watching the back and forth battle for just a couple of minutes by now, Tim left the prey he killed, behind and then charged towards the raging oranges. Being too distracted, the clownfish didn''t spot Timothy swoop in, their crave for battle leading to blinded eyes. Blinded of their surroundings, unable to notice the inevitable doom that was piercing the water at 2 mp/h. Hlup! His tail wiped throughout one of the clownfish, a 3 centimeter hole bursting through its head. It wasn''t so graphic really, just a hole in a fish. That most definitely broke the fight and the other clownfish noticed what caused such damage and couldn''t help giggle in its ownnguage. Turning around and seeing the little orange giggle, Tim couldn''t help thinking. "Damn, these clownfish really are evil." Noticing that the stingray who''s about triple his size, has fixed an eye to eye stare, the clownfish stopped giggling and took a sharp turn left. Making a swim for it towards the coral about 3 meters underneath but its speed was far too slow to achieve any result worth talking about. The prey gave a little burst of speed at first but it didn''tst long, most likely because of battle exhaust. Tim was quick to catch up but stinging this one with his tail was rather difficult considering the prey was in front, swimming as fast as it could. So once getting close enough, the young stingray took a significant sharp turn downwards. The intent wasn''t nearly to swim in front of the clownfish. Instead, as he took a turn downwards, his tail was swift to get closer than ever to the prey. A quarter of a second after, his tail met with the swimming orange''s backside leaving a death inflicting hole in it although venom isn''t even a part of his arsenal. [Total system points = 5] Ready, he gazed at the carcasses and asked himself. "How do I hold all of these with my mouth now?" He went ahead to try and sink his four teeth on both of them but could only grab a hold of them for a second or two. About 5 minutes of continuous attemptter, his lips met with the clownfish'' which forced him to yell out. "Ee! I kissed a dead fish!" [Get used to it, especially if you want to carry 3 fish at a time.] "Oh right, I killed another one earlier." Tim was reminded as he noticed a bit of sass under the system''s tone again, making him think. "I thought systems were perfect or something, why does it feel like she''s evolving?" [Because I am!] The system slightly shouted and gave Timothy a bit of a spook. [I''ve adapted thousands upon thousands of characters as I formed the system to perfection and can shift tomunicate with the guest in the best way possible.] [I wasn''t born perfect and had to learn everything through thousands of reincarnation.] [Although I''m far from perfection, my knowledge outmatches any living creature on earth or beyond It.] "Oh, sorry missdy." Tim murmured, feeling like he offended thedy. "Didn''t mean to make you mad." Although this new life was unfair, this system was the best thing in this new life and remained in that position. Sure there were friends around here but none of them show their best interest at heart like the system does. Realizing those facts, Tim felt tad guilty for being so rough on the system at the very beginning and decided to shift his ways by a hunch if not more. But yet still curious, he questioned. "But system, who made you? Where did youe from? Did you appear out of thin air and then got into brains or something?" [I don''t know.] [I just appeared in a whale''s mind one day and then had to learn everything, that and teach the whale how to survive although I didn''t know how.] "That''s kinda sad, but you''re strong now, smart and stuff." Tim uttered, trying his best tofort. [Indeed.] As the deeper conversation met an end there, Tim remembered that he was doing something. "Okay now how do I grab all 3 of these fish..." [Uing smart tip, free of charge.] [Put your tail through the carcasses and then curl your tail so they don''t fall off.] [That way you can drag 2 of them with your tail and the other with your jaws.] Feeling a decent amount of gratitude and having a hunch that this was free for a reason, Tim gave a small sigh which was enhanced by a smile, adding. "Thanks, system." Chapter 31: Task 6 Chapter 31: Task 6 It barely took a few minutes to get back to the sea snake. He had to stop once due to the clownfish he carried, slipping off his tail. That was most definitely a nerve wrecker but he recovered quickly, although stabbing the slippery fucks a couple of times. Making it back to Lili, he could notice the happiness on her face thanks to bringing not 1 but 3 of her favourite snacks. Food, yes that can bebelled as the best way to win someone''s heart. But in this case he''s winning over an olddy''s heart, although not wanting anything in return. Through a bit of effort, thedy began to devour a whole fish and then went to the second, afterwards to the third. At these moments Tim was reminded that snakes don''t really chew their food. But instead, they absolutely swallow an entire fish! Timmy was a bit shocked at first but adjusted after the second one, remembering how friends bantered about snakes taking like a week to devour their prey after swallowing them whole. At the end, she gave a bit of a sigh and cited. "Oh that felt good. Thank you, young boy." "I''m happy to help, hope this will get your energy back." Tim answered, genuinely happy for this olddy. And afterwards he remembered why he swam all the way here to begin with, expressing it. "Okay now I have to go. I''m going to bring you more foodter, or tomorrow maybe." But yet shifting off topic, Lili kept the young boy here so she added. "You''re a nice boy... who also seemed to be concerned about this reef. There is a way to help it you know." "Is there?" Tim questioned, genuinely confused yet with a spark of hope. It would be tremendous if all the dead things around this small radius looked better, more life filled like everything else in this reef. Her tone arising for once, she pitched as if a madwoman aiming for world domination, each of her words having its own weight. "Oh there is and you better try to help, or else this whole reef will die." "Anything, I will do anything!" Tim assured, bing tad spooked of such narration, yet thinking. "I didn''t know that clownfish can get snakes high." "Life." The olddy murmured it. And then continued with a louder st, "We need life to revive this ce." Asking a rather dumb question, the stingray interjected. "And how can I find life in the ocean?" At this point, Lili couldn''t help gazing at the boy in utter confusion, with a low tone speaking as she wiggled her tail. "What?" And afterwards found the motive to specify since this boy did a good deed earlier. "There is an entire ocean to find life in." Able to catch up atst, he questioned just for reassurance. "So I need to bring fish here?" Happier that her way is understood, she continued. "Yes. I''ve been here long enough to figure out that every fish works to keep the reef alive." But yet Tim interrupted. "Except clownfish." So she had to absolutely assure, "Yes. Except clownfish, they''re pure evil!" And then the n had to beid out. "We need to bring life here so journey out of the reef and convince fish toe and live here." "You mean... anywhere on the reef?" Tim questioned, tad confused. With a bit more energy to move around now, thedy arose from the reef she was seated on and specified. "Eventually yes, but for now we have to bring every fish right here so they can revive the reef and keep the rest around it from dying." "Oh okay okay I understand you." He assured, wiggling on his spot as a celebration of understanding Lili who speaks the stingraynguage for some reason. "So you''ll do it?" She questioned, wanting to assure once picking up that Timothy wasn''t the smartest fish out there. "Yes!" He answered, tone arising higher and portraying motivation. Happier and moving around less for the sake of not intimidating the young stingray, she expressed deeper thoughts. "I hope you can start as soon as possible. I can''t reward you with anything but please use all the skills you have to keep this reef from dying. Marlo trusts you so I can as well." Her words reminding the boy something important, he chirped. "Marlo! Right. I have to go and do the thing he asked me to." "But after that, I will go search for fish, there''s a ce I want to try." The young stingray assured as he swam across the sea waters with the far north as a target. ... About 6 hours have passed already, Tim took the liberty to stop and rx every time he felt stamina going extremely low. That was for the sake of not tiring out his entire body before reaching the end side of the reef, as it would be difficult to go back home through all that distance, if his sleep bars were burned out quicker due to improper stamina management. Throughout his countless thoughts, the system interrupted with half of an rm. [Sleep bar = 18/35] "Oh I can work with that, I think the far north thing is close." And he carried a far point, his fins felt sore from all the swimming. [Your personal state is stable enough to proceed with task 6.] [The task is, find and kill any species of starfish.] "Uhhh... aren''t those too big to eat?" Tim questioned, fearing more than a few characteristics of such an animal. [Most starfish are bigger than you, but aim for the smaller ones.] [If you n to eat an entire starfish, system suggests to burn out your hunger bar.] [Their size is too big for you to carry either on the hidden tribe or your new den, so rule that out as an option from now.] Feeling anxious simply because of how the starfish was shaped, unwilling to consider any type of danger, he murmured. "Okay, okay. This is for progress. You can do it Tim!" Hoping that this task doesn''t carry any surprises, Timothy partially scolded the system. "If this starfish kisses me or grabs a hold of me, I will go mad!" [The chances of being raped by a starfish are always low, but never 0.] Chapter 32: Long fish Chapter 32: Long fish About an hour more, Tim decided to take a further break. Swimming for so long has made his body ache, it was a lot of work for a stingray who stretched a bit over half a foot long (tail discluded). His sleep bar has decreased, nothing rming considering what he went on with just a few hours earlier, but it''s still best to stop and sleep somewhere. Especially since the way back he had to swim, along with the possible recruits, can swallow most of his sleep even if he began with a full bar. As he swam a couple of feet above the red, yellow and blue coral that were merged together, surprisingly closer to each otherpared to what he had seen so far. The quest that Lili gave him, kept running around in the little boy''s head. He observed every bit of information recable from their chat, and Lili''s ims were indeed true. Well a portion of it at least, he doesn''t know if the part about the reef needing life, was true. But he was able to observe through travel that therge mass of coral reef here,cked life. There were barely any other animals around here, he saw 10 or so clownfish so far but didn''t want to eat them for the sake of the task. Crabs lurked around here and there, some being red and eye catching while the others being smaller, ck dotted. He also saw the favourite type of species to feast on, the leggy ones, marble shrimp. The urge to chomp on those was strong but through the few experiences, he didn''t fail to recall that eating one of those, will consume the sleep bar as an effect. Small critters roamed the reef, but they were far too scarce and he didn''t even encounter a big bad predator on these parts. Lili''s im was true, the sharks have fucked this ce up to the core and what was underneath it. He doesn''t understand why sharks just casually came here and feasted on the reef for 6 months, but he did know that the situation was bad. It needed help and Tim was willing to put in effort for it. Being able to endure 10 more meters of depth pressure would aid his intent to help, as the ce he wanted to check first was the border that drew the line of extreme depth and shorebelled depth. That ce was odd but life must be in there, that and Tim missed staying in his own new den. He found an orange coated coral reef that proved seductive as a ce to nap on. There was a tiny hole on the top left corner, that was textured with rough thin lined bumpy coral, trickier to slip in but worth it. Aa it opened a way to a small little hole on his left, just half a meter further. No predator can get in here so it''s safe and snug to nap on. The stars painted on the water surface signified that it was night time, so that mourned as an extra advantage in terms of proper camouge. pping his fins on the flooring although there was no sand, Tim closed his eyes and murmured. "Goodnight, system." ... He woke up with the system describing urate statistics, the boy was barely awake for a few seconds and became spammed. [Health = 77/100] [Hunger bar = 3/15] [Sleep bar = 35/35] [Stamina bar = 15/15] "Well well well, my sleepy thing finally filled up. First time for everything hehe." Tim celebrated as he pped his fins and tails around to stretch them. Damaged tail muscle had haunted him for quite a bit and now, being able to jiggle it around without flinching in pain, just felt heavenly! Moving around just a bit in the foot wide space he was in, Tim decided to hear out his surroundings before getting outside. He always felt like his hearing was decent, so why not put it into use instead of bursting out of the hiding ce like a madfish? Everything stood silent, he could hear water moving up and around the coral, almost making wave ssh-like sounds. Tad rxing, but then a female voice captivated his sense of hearing. "Where are we gonna go now? Mom is dead." "I don''t know, quit asking me that." A male tone answered, but yet high pitched enough that Tim almost missed the difference. "This is so unfair, she just found us!" The female tone raged, swimming in ce apanied by rage. But she spun a round too much and lost orientation, hitting the coral with the side of her face. Tim saw that after poking his head out to see just who he could be dealing with. He spotted 2 thin and long looking fish, oddly shaped from his point of view. "I didn''t know that silvery fish can be green." The stingray thought after blinking a couple of times, to fight away the effects of reflective sun rays, that breached his eyes for a few seconds. "This is exactly what Marlo sent me here for." And afterwards he swam out entirely out of the little space he slept at, but yet didn''t swim directly towards them, with an aim not to spook. Instead, a sent out word had to be interjected softly. "Hello, I''m Tim." "Who said that!?" The male fish asked, his tone cracking in between the high pitch. "Rx, I don''t want to kill you. But want to offer you something instead, something that will help all of us." Timothy spoke once more, not yet revealing himself to these long fish. Well they aren''t exactly long, just a foot. But them being far thinner than Timmy, like 2 fingerse to think of it, made them look longer. "We don''t need help!" The same male tone thundered, or at least tried to, but his tone wasn''t so strong. "Shut up. Yes we do." His sister disagreed and pped the boy''s ass with her fin. "How can you help us?" "We have a whole tribe of orphans, people like you and me who lost their parents, thanks to sharks or any other enemy." Deciphering that grand fact, he emerged from the coral and faced the fish, they seemed harmless enough. Chapter 33: Recruitment and solidarity (1) Chapter 33: Recruitment and solidarity (1) "Really?" Thedy long fish asked, and at the same time was thankful that Tim wasn''t attacking them. "Yes really. There are a lot of us, over 40 now I think." The young stingray answered and then tried to figure out other ways of convincing these fish. His IQ wasn''t really high although it faced an upgrade. Speechcraft is low as well, his only perk was nick naming things. But here such a skill would y no value unless these fish like to be indirectly harassed. Finally, after feeling grateful that these two speak the stingraynguage, he recited. "That''s what I came here for, it was a long travel but I''m here to recruit fish like you." "To fight the sharks? That''s stupid, we can''t fight them. Why do you think our mom died?" The male fish answered, this time his tone lower, likely because of recalling the disaster of losing a close family member. Although Timothy wanted to cuss this fish for being such a wuss, an alternative way of speech had to be found. "We want to fight the sharks, yes. But that doesn''t mean we will send small fish to fight, we have reef sharks for that." "Sh-sharks?" The male answered once more, using basic logic to figure out that this was a bad idea. "Yes, but they are smaller. And have lost their mothers from bigger sharks, no one will bug you there. There is plenty of food there too, so that would probably be your job in the tribe, to gather food." He couldn''t believe how scared these fish are but yet again the trauma seemed to have happened just a few moments ago. But finally the female sibling expressed a point of view, "This is a good idea, Rummy. We can live there better, food and protection is what we want." The male long fish who apparently goes by the name of Rummy, didn''t fail to contradict. "Yes Amie but we don''t know these fish, what if they eat us?" "There''s literally a pyramid of food right in the middle of the den, no one wants to eat you." Tim assured, getting tad annoyed. But then decided to use a name that seemed to work through the reef, "Do you know Marlo?" "Marlo the shark?" Amie instantly asked, her tone cracking for once as it arose. "Yes, that guy. He sent me." The little stingray assured and could sense the aura here ascending towards the heavens. "Our mom spoke a lot about Marlo, we were going to find him before getting attacked." Rummy exined, his joy stronger than the other sibling. "I guess you''re lucky, but we need to find more like you and what was the other thing..." At this point he used the entire brain a 15 cm long stingray can carry, to remember a certain task. Tim imagined Marlo shaking his thin fins while carrying a fish shaped face that doesn''t show emotion enough, however that didn''t act like a bigndmark in terms of memorisation. But then he recalled that recruitment is linked with the other task. Afterwards remembering Lili, the olddy sea snake, he suddenly remembered a bit of the task and built up himself what there was missing. With a mumble, deciphering. "We have to find geezers or any other fish that isn''t an orphan. To tell them that Marlo and his tribe won''t ever attack them, we are bosses here and true bosses don''t eat their friends." Different but at the same time it''s better than what Marlo requested. It seemed to have proved effective as well, as the long fish became happier for siblings who just lost their mother. "We can help you!" Amie yelled out, her inspiration far out matching that of a stingray''s who had just woke up. "We know 3 older fish who should know about Marlo." His brain catching up to the entire situation by now, Tim questioned. "We are in the far north, right?" "Yes, that''s what mom called this ce." Rummy assured, giving a fish lipped smile. Shaking his head to fight away every bit of the slumber''s effects, Tim demanded. "Oh good, then take me to this fish. I''ll do the talking so you don''t have to worry about that." And so they continued to head north, originally the route Tim wanted to take. It took just a bit of swimming for them to enter red coral, this was an awful ce to be in considering that the colour green and yellow stand out like a zit, but the task had to be followed. What Tim managed to notice here, was the natural architectural works. That''s how he called it, yes although it was obviously nature generated. This ce has a lot of coral that twisted in circles and aiding their beauty, suppressing texture were the green sea nts that branched through these circles. Adding something better to look at, and definitely forcing the young stingray to forget the scene of dead coral, the one he faced once dealing with Lili. The passages between these circle shaped corals was roomier than what the young boy faced so far. Although being in snug ces felt barricading through his travel, the protection they provided would be stupid to over see. But yet the red coated passages here seemed smooth, chipless and gave a hunch that some crazy fish had tidied up the ce and carved 300 or so circle shaped corals. He swam in between one of these special corals, and couldn''t help noticing that it seemed bigger now, from up close. It had to be around 15 feet across, but a lot less when it came to thickness. As the roof of the coral seemed about 4 feet thick. Regardless, everything here seemed a lot more captivating, beautiful. The increasing numbers of colourful sea nts made him ignore the main quest, especially since one of them tickled his t stingray bum. Until Amie interrupted with half a shout. "We''re here." Chapter 34: Recruitment and solidarity (2) Chapter 34: Recruitment and solidarity (2) "We''re where?" Tim questioned, his vision still captivated by the coral. "This isdy Kaling, a needlefish like us." Amie described and the young stingray''s vision became quickly captivated by a long fish 3 times his size. Well the needlefish was about 2 feet long butpared to him, size was an advantage although not monstrous. "What does he want?" Kaling asked, moody a bit as her tone struck harsh. "I have no food to give him." Remembering just how good he had be at hunting, Tim answered. "I can get food myself, killed a barracuda before, no sweat." Although that statement cocky and tad exaggerated, the first part was still true, he killed a barracuda in the new den he found. But to such a sentence, the longer needlefish couldn''t help opening her eyes wider, her mouth a bit more open than usual, signifying shock. "But you''re a baby." "Doesn''t matter, I''m a badass." He answered once more, cocky no doubt but at least he didn''t brag about killing an eel. That would be a dumb thing to say because he only delivered the finishing bite, Drake messed up that eel before Tim tried his luck. At this point hating his brain in general, Tim shook his head and recalled. "Anyway that''s not what I''m here for. I want to tell you something." "Tell me." The 2 foot long needlefish requested. "I was sent here by Marlo the reef shark. We have a tribe of orphan fish. Anyway, the point is that our tribe will never harm you or anyone in this reef because we are bosses." Horrible description at best but that''s all he could remember. "Little toote to promise anything like that, the sharks already killed most of us." Lady Kaling reminded, quoting the 6 month siege where hundreds of sharks feasted upon the reef. "Yeah well our sharks have nothing to do with the fishy massacre, we''re suffering like you are." At this point Timmy realized that thisdy is stupid. Stupid and mean but he also understood a little bit that she is suffering emotionally. Tim can''t really connect with these fish, even with his siblingse to think of it. He never knew them before and boom, out of a sudden woke up as a stingray. It''s hard to rte with everyone, most seem like strangers. But at least he''s capable of emotion, even though it was mostly vengeful wishes and or cocky sayings. At this point he wanted to end the conversation, so he asked. "Do you know any orphans? We need more recruits or else what''s left of this reef will die." Thankfully willing to cooperate now, the olddy exined while pointing her front fin to Tim''s left. "Go this way, there should be a few big crabs who suffered from the sharks. They might want to join you." But then she pointed at the right, and yelled. "But don''t be a fool to go this way, that''s where the sharks live." "Okay noted, I might go there anyway though, because that''s what bosses do." This term had been overused at this point but at least Kaling can resist the urge to fish p this young boy. ... Travelling for about 50 meters, their field of vision was blessed by... well crabs. They do seem big, specifically because they are wider and have a t back and stomach that made their bodies seem stretched out, around 40 centimeters. They seem to have a lot of legs as well, so Tim thought. "Oh nice, bigger leggy crabs." Once one of them turned around though, the first thing that captured his attention were the pointy decent sized arms. The arms carried one big finger, as if designed for stabbing the hell out of the enemy. Apart from that, there was one more smaller finger lower from the tip. These ws are likely not used to cut prey but rather stab them, unique in many ways but it made Tim keep his distance. "Lugulugulugulugulugu." One of them sounded out, making his 2panions gather up closer as they saw Tim as a new face. "Kekekekekekekekekeke." One of itspanions followed as they all took the liberty of raising their ws up. Out of a sudden, Rummy uttered the samenguage as them, sounding like a malfunctioning printer. "Gagagagagagagaga." "They don''t trust you." Amie finally started tranting, making sense out of what sounded like cavemen talking. "So they want to strip you out of bones." His pupils wider, he could only answer. "Kinky. Can you tell them that I just want to recruit them on the tribe?" "Lugalugalugaluga, luga." Rummy recited, but to the crabs he probably sounded like a dictator as their emotion became transparent. ws arose higher and shouts became moremon, all 3 of the crabs speaking out at once. Tim''s joy was brought down and stabbed on once Amie exined. "They don''t trust you and threaten to kill. But they might join if you do something for them. It''s a good idea to take the job, dungeness crabs are really tough." "That''s pretty stupid but they can molest a shark with this ws..." Yet still unwilling to go on with this, Tim thought out. "What do I do, system?" [The needlefish girl is right. Dungeness crabs are tough so that can work to the tribe''s favour.] [They can''t swim like you do so the task might be rted to it, "easy peasy" as a past guest had said.] [Take the task, it should be short.] Understanding that the system was wise enough to not lead into a dead end, or a bitter result. Tim became a bit more confident with his decisions, the crabs would have noticed a smirk if they were crawling underneath where he was swimming over. But yet easy by tone, he assured. "I can handle anything they throw at me, ask them what they want." Speechcraft rather golden and intent aimed towards progress, Rummy dictated. "Glugluglu, glu glu. Glu gle ." Chapter 35: Recruitment and solidarity (3) Chapter 35: Recruitment and solidarity (3) Through a bit of back and forth conversation, the dilemma of these dungeness crabs wasid out like a 10 foot tall canvas. Well for a start, these 3 crabs are brothers who apparently have more family members hidden somewhere else. But the main dilemma was the smaller family members that had fallen down a hole, that was rendered unnoticed by its surrounding coral. 5 of the smaller dungeness crabs had fallen down in a deep hole and getting them out wasn''t easy, at all. As a reward, Amie broke down the deal. "If you reunite the little ones with these crabs, they will get 10 more bigger family members and join your tribe." Intrigued by such an offer, Tim couldn''t help asking for reassurance. "Really? So that''s like 23 staby crabs that will join our army?" "18, but it''s still a good number." Rummy corrected, thankfully a hunch better at mathematics, that made the young stingray think that maybe there was more to these ''fish schools''? "Okay okay then it''s a deal!" Tim dered and heard one of these crabs interrupt right after. "Ragadagadagada!" "Well shit." Rummy cursed out and felt a tail smack on the but by his sister. "What?" Tim questioned, fearing that these crabs chickened out from the deal. "The hole they fell into, is flocked by cktipped groupers." Amie exined, her tone shaking a tad bit upon deciphering. Absolutely never hearing about such fish before, Tim asked. "Is that bad?" "Yes it''s bad! They can pretty much kill you." Amie assured and her brother seconded that by a worry of his own. "It''s probably best if we ditch these losers. These groupers are known to terrorize our fishmunities." "Coward aren''t ya? I killed a dang barracuda! And I''m not backing out from the deal, that wouldn''t be what bosses do." At this point he felt like everyone was his inferior, but second thoughts arose about bringing these needlefish in the tribe. "Okay then, the hole is right over there." Amie nodded, at a direction just 3 meters away from the dungeness crabs. "Alright." Tim answered as he started off slowly, with a bit of hesitancy. And then questioned in his head, "System, are those groupers really dangerous?" [Such information isn''t avable to you, as you never bit on these specific fish before.] [And you don''t have the purchase to obtain information about fish you haven''t bitten.] [As for the deal, it''s great for the faction you assigned to.] [However, these decisions are solely based on your choices.] "Again with the greedy y?" Timined and with a grunt poked his head in the foot wide entrance. It took a couple of meters to understand how those small crabs just fell into this thing. But the cave looking result deciphered that puzzle, although the young stingray didn''t really care much about it. Hidden underneath this particr yellow, circle shaped coral, specifically where Tim''s starting point of this journey was. Lays hidden the cave we just mentioned. Well it was not much of a cave considering it being 3 meters across, but it gave such a vibe to a 17 centimeter long stingray. It even sunk about 5 meters deep so at this point it felt more like a ditch. Timothy expected to be weed by those enemies, the name grouper sounded big. But there was no enemy to provide a bitty wee, no little dungeness crabs either. The only thing weing here, was the natural architecture of this little opening. The yellow coral had somehow merged with stone, creating half s foot thick lines that either pointed straight down or made slight turns. Truly beautiful, made Tim wish that he found such a den in the very beginning. The sand colouring the very bottom increased that urge to live here, as sand is a perfect ce to sleep on. But yet, the tribe would be too far away at this point, therefore living here would just be ying dumb. However, the little crabs not being here, made Timothy think that they had already been eaten. So that meant that this task would automatically be terminated. He wanted to turn back, but as he swam to the bottom, a couple of tunnel looking, foot wide holes revealed their selves... which gives a hunch that those crabs might have crawled down there. So he pushed hesitation back and thought in repetition, "Bosses don''t quit. Bosses don''t quit. Bosses don''t quit." As his head dipped in the left tunnel, what captured the eyes that were ced in the middle of his eyes, was an orange fish. Making the young boy think, "Oh look, a clownfish." But through that same second, the entire body of his felt lunged behind, pushed away by this orange fish and led back to the entrance of this natural structure. As he got pushed out, getting a better view of the now,belled enemy, was the inevitable. Well it looked like a clownfish, but there was far more orange colour on this one, a few thinner stripes of yellow and nothing about this fish was white. "Ho ho ho, overgrown clownfish wants to test me? Okay." Tim spoke out, his confidence arising as he charged towards the fish that struck more than twice the stingray''s size. And the enemy had the courage to lunge forward as well, Timmy could see it''s short tail pping the water rapidly, left and right. Taking a swift turn up right before what could have been a head to head collision, Tim''s agile tail danced across the momentum and smacked the fish right across the face. This time however, he didn''t manage to stab. But the built up momentum and tail speed, left another wound. Simr to being sliced with a knife, his tail ran across the fish''s face and most definitely poked one of this enemy''s red eyes, out. Looking back after delivering the blow, Tim could see the ''overgrown clownfish'' twirling in ce, rageful indeed and perhaps in pain at that same pace. Chapter 36: Recruitment and solidarity (4) Chapter 36: Recruitment and solidarity (4) As the enemy twirled a couple more times, Tim didn''t bother waiting for a proper introduction and charged once more, swimming right under the fish''s belly and delivering a couple of blows. But yet it wasn''t enough to bring this orange eye sour down, as it began to chase Timmy. He could hear this animal pping it''s jaws, that signified a grand fact. This was no clownfish, they can''t be that dangerous. Well it seemed thin like one, although not as long. To which he teased mid battle, "Catch me if you can, t flipper!" And then pped his own fins against the water, giving a huge burst of energy not to just swim up, but to turn upside down. The enemy greeted the scene by tickling the young man''s back with the tip of the row of scales it carried. In that same giggle, Tim swung his tail and managed tond a couple more blows. While the enemy just swam up, taking a few seconds to realise that it got bamboozled. As the overgrown orange flipper took his time to turn around, he saw the blue dotted, yellow stingray charging at him in full, furious, 3 mp/h speed. Collision became the prime and aimed option, as Tim aimed to return the favour but not with his tail. The young boy''s head struck the enemy right against the waist, fish waist would be an appropriate name to use here. And henceforth, the enemy was pushed a foot away after the first second of collision. The momentum pushed the orange fish another foot away, although a lot slower. Making him meet the yellow coral coated wall, although it was much more anti climactic. From his limited point of view, Timmy saw the fish flipping upside down, showing no signs of movement. Making the boy think, "I''m a bull! You thin orange peel! Muhuhuhahahahahahaha!" And then he went ahead to take a bite on the 40 cm long enemy, his little stingray mouth couldn''t really consume much. But the prime aim was understanding statistics. [cktipped grouper identified and killed, 14 system points have been rewarded.] [Total system points = 19] "What!" Tim couldn''t help yelling as themotion he caused, let out little stingray generated bubbles. "I take everything bad I''ve said about you, system. That''s a lot of points!" [cktipped groupers are dangerous. They have rows of teeth which only raises the risk factor, not to mention the scales on their backs.] [Their size also contributes in to getting more points.] [Eating an entire adult grouper grants the following statistics.] [Effect on health, +5 bars] [Effect on hunger, +15 bars] [Effect on sleep, non existent.] [Effect on stamina, non existent.] At this point he felt more than grateful and a bit smarter for doing this job for the crabs, but yet he was resistant. "That''s pretty good but I can''t eat now. We have that starfish task you know." [The groupers are still dangerous. So system rmends eating this carcass for health. The starfish task can be pushed for a little bitter.] At that point, Timmy felt an urge to poop, so he did and heard the system notify. [Hunger bar = 0/15] That being heard, he decided that waiting to eat would be a dumb idea. He can''t remember right what happens if the hunger bar remains 0 for a while, but one thing was certain, it can''t be anything peachy. So while avoiding the several pointy scales on the carcass'' back, Tim dug his little jaws right in the belly of the loser and chucked a chunk down, even feeling it how it went down to his stomach. A lot of munchester, he finished the grouper body and the only thing that remained was the short fins it had and the scales that showed no nutritional value. They were bones, why bother wasting time with them? [Health bar = 82/100] [Hunger bar = 15/15] [Sleep bar = 32/35] [Stamina = 12/15] "Nice, I''m recovering. Too bad I won''t be able to eat the rest of these t flippers down there... but it would be better if there weren''t more of them." He felt cocky about the sess that was just achieved, but... The system said something about these fish having a row of pointy teeth, and Timmy does not want to know how that felt like. After all, his health hasn''t even reached 100 yet ever since Alba attacked him. ... He had swam through the left tunnel for a few minutes now, and it was fair to say that the foot wide tunnel didn''t always share the same width. A specific point that took a lot of his time, was squeezing through a part that was half his size. That signified an extremely small portion to slip through, but he made it by squeezing his fins closer and struggling a bit to pass. While the following portions weren''t so big either, half a foot perhaps but he managed to slip through those portions without a problem. The only particr barricade was having to swim slower, since there was less space to movepletely freely on. The tunnel so far was a hectic 30 meters long, truly unusual but he doesn''t really want to take time and question nature''s architecture. He wasn''t an engineer, but just a simple stingray, looking for some crabs. A few meters more, he swam into what we can call an opening. But it was far too smallpared to the entrance he had left behind. This opening was half a meter wide and a meter long, would be a perfect ce to nap on really considering how deep in he had followed this narrow tunnel. As he took time to observe this room''s cobblestone carved surroundings, he heard tails flipping at the other side. Therefore his gaze fixed right forward, and he spotted one of the same species he just had killed. It''s nose striking ck in colour and anger raging in its eyes, letting out a couple of bubbles too. Chapter 37: Recruitment and solidarity (5) Chapter 37: Recruitment and solidarity (5) "Hmmm another overgrown clownfish to humiliate." Tim murmured, but the species on the other side doesn''t seem to understand the stingraynguage. Without warning, or uttering a single sound for that matter, the enemy charged forward at the whole speed it could gather up. It wouldn''t take a scientist to figure out that this opponent was twice as fast if not more. It''s short but yet decently sized, orange coated tail surely contributes to such speed, but muscle might stand behind such sess as well. Tad nervous, Tim felt like it would be a bad idea to head bud this one, considering that he didn''t have the chance to build up momentum. Instead, he used a short and desperate burst of energy, to get the rest of his body out of that tunnel. And pped his fins like a struggling seagull, managed to swim straight up. Avoiding the enemy became the inevitable. That fish itself proved that speed didn''t always link to agility. The opportunity given, although through desperation, Timmy used his now considered signature move against the enemy. His tail acted as if an extra fin, that pushed him upwards, but at the same time it behaved like the lethal weapon it usually was. Right at the moment although half random, his stinger dipped it''s flesh piercing tip right on the forehead of the fish, just a bit above the eyes. And the enemy just kept going on at that momentum, following the tunnel, taking a second to realise that the target had escaped. "Take that you bullfish wannabe!" Tim celebrated, certain that he once more got the upper advantage. And then turned around to wait for the enemy. Whichever way it chooses to attack, Timothy felt certain that he cannd another heavy blow, especially considering that he was higher than ground level. [ckfin grouper killed. 14 system points have been given out as a reward.] [Total system points = 33] Absolutely staggered at this point, Tim shook his head abruptly and asked himself. "What? With just a sting? These fish are weak! Tsk tsk tsk." [Not necessarily, but you actually managed to find a weak spot.] At this point uncertain if he should feel confident or like a loser sea disk, all Timmy could grunt was. "Huh?" [All enemies or prey have a weak spot. In this case, you hit the opponent on the head and severely damaged it''s brain.] [In most cases, fish can''t live without a brain.] Carrying a smirk on his face and closing his eyes, lifting the entire nose, he uttered. "I guess we can say that I am a master hunter. Best in the reef and the universe!" [Health -10 points.] The system rmed as his fin felt a sharp pain. [Total health = 72/100] Almost near his t booty but thankfully not close enough to the tail, he really doesn''t want to feel tail pain any time soon. Whatever bit him, had thankfully let go. So Tim swiftly turned around and noticed orange features, the enemy obvious considering where he was at. "You disky motherfu..." Pissed beyond measurement, Tim charged straight forward andnded a strike right across the fish''s face, through the split second where he swam underneath the enemy. Rageful enough, he decided tond a more embarrassing blow, equally as painful. His little jaws that were closer to each other, dug right close to where the enemy''s reproductive system would be. And didn''t n on letting go, continued to chomp and chomp on that ce, digging an inch deep in the enemy by bow. In panic, the enemy just lunged at full speed, circling around each corner of this small opening. Timothyid like a disk on the enemy''s belly, fairly upside down at the moment. And his tail, well it was working faster than the gut chewing mouth. Flinging around like that of a wasp''s whose girlfriend was stolen. Landing about 7 hits with it across the enemy''s face and neck, the system interrupting as the enemy slowed down. [cktip grouper killed. 14 system points have been added as a reward.] [Total system points = 47] Letting go of the enemy, Tim rushed through a rageful thought. "I want to reap every health point this orange peel took from me... but damn I''m full." After taking a moment to observe the pain on his fin, he realized, judging from the pain that this enemy had sunk his teeth on of the young boy''s left fin. Pretty big but yet again small when giving a thought that this enemy was just a bit above Tim''s length, although a bit shorter than the first attacker. Sucking it up, insistent that this wasn''t such a big deal, Tim began to follow the tunnel. A couple more minutes passed, he had gone through about 20 more meters of stone enved by sand on the bottom. This part was a bit easier to pass through, he enjoyed every second of this freedom. He finally swam into a bigger opening. This one stretched just 7 meters across, but to a small stingray this felt like a mansion. He seriously began contemting about living here, it''s pretty roomy although the enemies here seem moremon. Of course the new den he already found was good enough and the old den he was stripped out of, still remained in his mind... but there was nothing wrong with having 3 dens. The idea of proper housing went out of his stingray mind as the yellow and grey walls eventually led to spotting a bigger... fatter looking enemy. Near it, stood 5 crabs, moving about. These have to be the little ones that Tim was sent here for in the first ce, their size pointed out such a characteristic. They are alive, that''s tremendously rare when something so small faced against a predator, heck they are smaller than Tim, which said a lot. But his entire focus became captured by that bigger fish, it''s patty lips were covered with roundish patches of ck and pale yellow. The rest of its body carried simr characteristics, the only difference was that the patches were either bigger or too small. Every bit of this fish''s skin uttered a clue, random texture. Trying his luck, Tim first warned. "Hand over the dungeness crabs and you can live." "I can assure you, little stingray. There are other options. For example, you be my ve like them. Their family shall be my ves too, it''s either that or I eat their children." Not only did this fatter fish speak the stingraynguage but his vocabry stretched expansive. Confusing at best but at least he sounded smarter than most of the enemies that Timmy dealt with. Impressed but yet heavily offended, Tim contradicted like a hero who didn''t think of an entrance phrase in advance. "No offense but... wait actually, a lot of offense! Who would want to be a ve to a sea cow?" Scooping to the boy''s levels easily, the fish across the other side of the wall, answered. "I''m not a sea cow you little thin tailed fish! I''m a tiger grouper!" Insistent with his points, Tim whole heartedly teased. "A fat one." Chapter 38: Recruitment and solidarity (6) Chapter 38: Recruitment and solidarity (6) Fairly pissed by the bite sized sea disk''s wordy, the tiger grouper shouted with a bit more energy. "Obey me!" "No." Tim answered casually but yet sure of himself, eyes closed and mouth raised up with that statement. Fear from this fish had long left by now. "Yes!" "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes." "No." "Yes! Wait... why am I fighting about this? Prepare to die you little runt!" Well the grouper who sounded smart in the beginning, finally started using its brain more. The ultimate smart move at this point, was snapping out of that little argument with Timmy. Could have gone for an hour or so if he decided to continue with that game. Tim could see the massive grouper charge forward, his intent well visible and his lips fat and patty, hiding a row of jaws. Taking a second to observe his surroundings, Tim could see that the flooring of this hidden den wasn''t like any other he had seen before. There were rivering lines of either natural or fish dug tunnels, nothing that sunk too deep but it provided both of them here, with the chance to slip between these tunnels and mess with the enemy''s mind. Although Tim''s recent victories had helped him build up an attitude that would never let him flee, this situation pointed out that a big fish shall not be underestimated. He wasn''t dumb enough to miss out on that fact, so he stood his ground for a while... waiting for the exact moment. And right when the fish was just a meter away, piercing the water like a fat torpedo at possibly 15 mp/h speed. Timmy gave out a burst of his own, made sure to specifically slide as close to the ground as possible. His tail raised up at that same moment, craving fishy flesh. Well he wasn''t a zombie but that''s what predators usually want. The tiger grouper''s speed was heavily underestimated, Tim expected this one to move like a fat cow. But no that wasn''t nearly the case. Yet again it was proven that speed doesn''t always link with agility. As the enemy just kept charging forward like a bus whose brakes had been cut. The enemy missed to hit or bite Tim, the chances of it in that second had been lowered next to 0. The enemy was moving so fast that he didn''t even manage to point it''s head down once spotting that Tim escaped. To do that, the enemy would have to stop and turn around. But the grave mistake had already been made, as Tim''s tail slid from one side of the grouper''s neck, through the belly too and parted ways once the tail began to show. The 60 centimeter long beast had received massive damage, as Timothy''s tail had left a bad cut. Thankfully no horrid scene followed after such as the enemy''s internal organs falling out, but the damage was still decent. Tim slipped right in the foot wide tunnel after delivering such a blow, and heard the enemy shout with all his power. "You fucking bastard!" "Fat cow says what?" Tim yelled back as he ventured through the tunnels, using it half as a hiding spot. While the other half of his intent was to analyse a quarter of the surroundings if not all. The enemy seemed fierce and powerful although Tim was wholeheartedly harassing him. "I will rip you in half!" The tiger grouper yelled back, turning around and searching for the little stingray. These tunnels were coated byyers of dirt and stone, behaving like a ceiling. So it wasn''t exactly possible to see Tim, at least from the tiger grouper''s point of view. So the sense of hearing had to bepletely relied on, proved a bit more effective as Tim yelled back. "That''s a weird thing for a sea cow to say. Aren''t you supposed to eat sea grass or something?" At this point the harassed enemy could sense that the little stingray, had taken one too many turns and slipped 5 meters away already. Swimming to his left, the tiger grouperid right over a tunnel that had no ceiling but was just a smooth roundish shift of elevation, acting like half a tunnel. But yet right in front of where the tiger grouper hadid down, stood a portion of the tunnel that had a ceiling. Out of which, Timmy rushed out, extremely unaware of what stood as a barricade. Unable to hit the breaks and go in reverse, he used that built up speed to forge a n. pping his fins a couple times harder than usual, his tail and lower back hit the ceiling of the little tunnel. As he put in effort to use the little gap that stood between the ceiling''s end and the enemy. His head poked out first, and then the tail followed, at this point being half a foot close to the enemy, almost lending a kiss. [Health, -20 bars.] The system rmed and Tim felt a sharp pain right after on his whole right fin. [Total health = 52/100] Making him scream, "Oh my god, that hurt!" The enemy let him go at that second, not for mercy but to take another bite. This fish''s teeth aren''t razor sharp but pointy instead, so to chew an enemy, it would take a few bites. Timmy used that second, gave out a little outburst of speed that got him right out of the enemy''s jaws. Using the opportunity and remembering something about weak spots, Tim flung his tail in all directions under just a blink and struck the enemy around the face not once but 3 times! After swimming a meter away, it took him a few seconds to realise how sore his fin began to feel, but thankfully it wasn''t ripped off, so that itself was a big gain. Taking a peek at the exits/entrances, 3 more orange colours shone, rushing towards the scene. These fish are unmistakable, cktipped groupers and they weren''t here to help Tim either. Chapter 39: Recruitment and solidarity (7) Chapter 39: Recruitment and solidarity (7) Understanding how severe the situation was bing, Tim made a great U turn and swam directly towards the fat fish, who should be the boss of this little tribe considering size. Feeling that his right fin wasn''t working enough, thanks to the numerous dots of tiny pain that contributed something significant. He decided to use it at the utmost advantage, by just letting it be. The boss fish was charging at him through that same second, willing to do a head bud. But that''s not what Tim nned, it would be suicidal to headbud a fish who just in length, was 4 times his size, not to mention width. So using the imbnce that the hurt fin provided, Tim''s body shifted narrowly and reached to a point where he was swimming in a vertical manner. Before indulging to what could have been a collision, Tim noticed that one of the enemy''s eyes was messed up. Yes... that should serve him right for messing up the health of this young stingray. Able to slip by the enemy''s side after avoiding collision, Tim''s tail started working over time andnded about 5 stings. And all the tiger grouper could do was keep swimming before realising what just happened. [Health, -5 bars.] The system rmed as Tim felt a fish bashing his back, pushing the young stingray about 2 feet away. [Total health = 47/100] "Shit shit shit shit shit!" Tim''s tone thundered, fear of death captivating one side of his brain and anger captivated the other. While his tail, well it swung around like that of a stingray''s whose raging emotions demanded sess. Poking the cktipped grouper around the head about 4 times and then hurrying away from it. [cktipped grouper killed. 14 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 61] "Weak spot, nice nice nice but I''m pretty much dying." Tim thought as he hurried for another tunnel entrance, 3 meters away from the one he got out of. Yet behind him, sensing another being became the inevitable after he sessfully made it in the foot wide, grey coated tunnel. This sense felt short bursting, like a short tail that tried too hard to catch up, pping the water left and right at the most rapid speeds with the crave of sess. He has had a few examples of such movements before and could tell it aside. The fact that there were only 2 species of groupers here, made sensing what this fish was, a lot easier. It''s nothing other than a cktipped grouper, and it''s charging with all of his being just to bite Timmy. They can fit through these tunnels so it was far easier for them to encourage a fish hunt through these formations. He could hear the enemy''s teeth snapping like that of a piranhas, blood and flesh as a crave. It sounded female by tone and was uttering something in her ownnguage, to Tim it sounded all like gibberish but now he felt more concerned as gender became clear. Either if he liked it or not, ady fish wanted to bite his ass. Typically that would be kinky, but this was nothing intimate and even if it was, Tim was still a juvenile and a stingray so this was a big no no. Yet he couldn''t help sensing that the enemy was catching up, they are naturally faster at the moment and he does have a damaged fin, his left one didn''t feel so good either. Feeling his stamina getting low, Tim had no other option but to slow down, ultimately letting the enemy catch up. But his IQ of 50 working over time at this point, an idea aroused in his mind thanks to the sense of desperation. Heid t on the ground, while the cktipped grouper didn''t have the same luck of stopping on her spot. THKKKL! His tail poked a hole right through the enemy''s neck, althoughpletely lucky at this point since he had no specific aim but that urge of doing damage. [cktipped grouper killed. 14 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 75] [Thest currently avable option can now be purchased.] "No offense my beautiful system, but better sea pressure endurance won''t help me here." Tim replied, being in enough pain that kindness became somehow easy. Weird but the system couldn''t help answering, [A blush on the system has been aroused.] Ignoring how much the thing in his head lovespliments, Tim''s vision was captured by a spiny dot shaped crawler. A sea urchin! Making the little boy think, "Hmmm, I wonder if..." And without a proper self debate, he charged towards the unholy snack and bit it in half with just a gulp, taking another bite to finish it off was mandatory. [Purple sea urchin killed. 1 system point has been given as a reward.] [Total system points = 76] [Purple sea urchin eaten, it''s effects are the following...] [Effect on health, -10 bars.] [Effect on hunger, non existent.] [Effect on sleep, non existent.] [Effect on stamina, non existent.] [Speed has been upgraded to level 5 for an hour.] [Total health = 37/100] [That was a very dumb idea. Regenerating this type of health will take a lot of work!] "Trust me with this, system." Tim replied and took a bit of time to regenerate his stamina, trying to ignore the moderate pain that had captivated most of his body by now. "Come oute out, you little runt." The tiger grouper''s thick tone echoed across the 7 meter wide room. "Maybe he''s dead boss." Thest cktipped grouper suggested, female by tone. Having it difficult to believe, the boss gave in his smarter point of view. "No no, if he was then my ve woulde out and tell me about it." "Niaaaaau!" They heard Tim''s tone holler across the room, as his speed didn''t fail to cover 5 meters of distance in just a second. The boss'' only working eye managed to capture Tim, breaking the water at a speed half the time faster than his own, somewhere around 15 mp/h. Chapter 40: Beating the bush Chapter 40: Beating the bush Before they knew it, Tim''s bull like charge struck right against the boss fish, his jaws sinking somewhere extcruiatenly painful. The young stingray hung right on the tiger grouper''s... eye! The only functioning one even! It took a moment to realise what happened, but the boss did feel a bit of pain somewhere on his head. Although in the first few seconds uncertain, the enemy realized what had happened once he tried to grasp a better vision of where the young assassin went. That was the problem, he couldn''t see anything. Being renderedpletely blind wasn''t something on fat cow''s wish list for today, the prime goal was enving everyone. Hollering became the prime way of reaction and rage fueled it, the thought of revenge as a base, it''s seed already nted and a sampling poking its head. "That son of a bitch!" Through the holler, he felt a sharp pain in his lower area, which forced him to yell. "By the love of all fish kind!" Swimming away afternding a sessful blow on the crotch, the agile stingray muttered. "That''s what you get for enving children." In the meantime he heard the dungeness crabs screaming something in their ownnguage, their pointy ws raised up, as if cheering. "Aragadagadagada!" "Thank you! I think." Tim hollered back at them and then his target became the only other living animal who had fins. It was thest of the cktipped groupers, coincidentally the only remainingdy here. Gender regardless, Timmy hated every one of these groupers. He began to charge at full speed against the enemy, his momentum causing a minor disturbance in the waters here. GUP! He felt something heavy hitting him, just a split second before they were about to collide, although the prime intent wasn''t collision to begin with. [Health, -5 bars.] [Total health = 32/100] "This is getting bad!" Tim panicked as he took a second to see who hit him, it was pretty easy to figure it all out really. But yet something didn''t make sense, and Tim didn''t fail to point it out. "How did you see where I was going? You have no eyes!" "I still can hear, you little runt!" The tiger grouper asked and pped his teeth with an intent to rip Timothy in half. But yet he failed, Tim swam away at full speed, thankfully his fins working enough to swim away and maintain about 70% of the speed that the temporary upgrade provided. The enemy heard that, and his thick tone shook loud as he questioned, raging. "How did you be that fast?!" Stopping on his spot, Tim let the silence stretch for a handful of seconds, building up anticipation. As for the first time, his tone became thicker. "It''s because I ate your fat mom." "You little motherfucker!" The fish yelled out and charged directly where the little stingray was at. But this time, Tim knew what to look out for and took a sharper turn left, enjoying how the enemy aimlessly continued that direction and eventually used those fat patty lips to kiss the walls. It took just a second to reach his target, and the first base of action as he saw the fear in her eyes, was to bash a hole in her head. Typically he would enjoy a longer battle but this wasn''t a situation to tease enemies with extra wounds. Unwilling to face this battle, she took a sharp turn right and used all of her speed and energy to swim away, yelling something in her ownnguage. What bothered her most, was how Tim swam directly at her a few seconds before fleeing the battle became a reasonable option. The young stingray''s speed was astonishing, but apart from that he spun madly through that short second, perhaps 7 spins. He didn''t n to do that but his right fin was injured enough to break proper swimming bnce. Whenpared with level 5 speed, the result was astonishing. With that same formation, he burst through the waters, chasing the enemy whom made it to the exit. He wanted to follow this enemy but... there were fatter fish to fry. But yet deciding whether to chase or not took a few seconds, a low IQ can''t be med for that. But rather... something else, petty. He could catch a glimpse of the fear thisdy fish had and was resistant tond this kill. Her escaping, fairly gave a reason to spare an enemy for once. Suddenly, the world went dark which made the young man think. "Great, I died. Well that wasn''t as painful as I thought it would be." Taking a few more seconds to analyse the situation, the pain on his right fin and the rest of the smaller pains signified something tad more realistic. Dead fish shouldn''t feel pain anymore. But why did his vision be dark, without any additional pain? Celebrating, the tiger grouper carried a smirk on his ck and yellow lips, citing. "Serves you right for not obeying me. Resistors shall always be my food!" Afterwards he could hear the dungeness crabs, yelling out louder and with visible sadness in their tone. "Gagaragaga!" Hearing him out perfectly, since he was literally never closer than this to this fat fuck before, an idea aroused Timothy''s sense of adventure. HLLUP! A pointy thing poked out right through the tiger grouper''s spine, and then the same spike bursted near where the anus ''was'' supposed to be. With every bit of force, Timmy charged his tail in every direction one could swing in a confined space. Every strike bought the young man just a hunch more out of restriction, by now about 11 hitsnded! While the boss grouper here, couldn''t help uttering. "I didn''t know that big men like me can get pregnant." Rageful in every aspect, Tim continued his stabby ways,nding 7 more hits through the enemy''s flesh and skin. At this point, the big bad tigger grouper had gained holes in it like a straw hat. [Tiger grouper identified. 37 points have been gifted as a reward.] [Total system points = 113] [Eating a full grown tiger grouper grants the following.] [Effects on health, +35 bars.] [Effect on hunger, +50 bars.] [Effect on sleep, +5 bars.] [Effect on stamina, non existent.] Although these stats were amazing, at this point Timmy felt beaten like a bush. And as he slid out of the enemy''s mouth with thankfully no additional wounds, he replied. "I''m full, so these stats are just fancy numbers." And then he took a bite off the enemy, as a way of showing dominance. Although psychotic in more than a few aspects, he enjoyed seeing the enemy bruised, beaten and dead. [Your stomach capacities have been doubled for a time span of 1 hour.] And then he felt a sharp pain on his belly developing, which forced a prime thought in his head as if he was a stranger to such pain. "Oh my god! Am I getting pregnant?!" Chapter 41: Aftermath Chapter 41: Aftermath [You''re not getting pregnant, that''s still impossible.] [Your stomach capacity has just doubled for an hour.] It was tad sad how the system still had to exin this unfortunate portion, but this time there was a bit more lightness in her tone. The sound that in the far beginning soundedputerised, now gave a human hunch. Better yet, it didn''t seem like the system was pissed... this time at least. Her tone showed joy and it felt like she was by her side this time although a scold was under process. At least that''s how it felt for a few seconds, afterwards the system raged like a tantrum throwing toddler. [However your stupidity paid off for once.] [A tiger grouper provides decent health and you can use the temporary upgrade to your utmost advantage.] [You''re pretty close to dying so I extremely rmend to stay here until your health recovers.] "But there is so much to do! And I can''t eat this entire cow." Tim contradicted, feeling that he was already runningte with the overall task of recruitment and solitude. [It is extremely important for you to stay here and eat that fish and it''spanions as well. You have to do it even if it means staying here for 3 days.] [Your total health is 32/100] [That''s extremely low, 2 more points and you''d be on the doorway of entering critical.] [If you go out and handle any given task, death would be a guarantee even if you meet a minor enemy.] At this point, Timothy inevitably felt like being nagged but never had he agreed with it more before. Both of his fins feel sore, although the right one more than the other. His entire body feels tired, and not only because of thecking stamina. And the concern in the system''s tone, well he could hear it. Therefore he decided to go along with her grand rmendations, citing. "You''re right system, I''ll slow down. The dungeness crabs can wait, their kids are safe now anyway." "I''m Koob!" He heard a little stinker shout from the top of its organs, rushing in the scene like the short tailed torpedo it is. And bashed the dead tiger grouper right on the gut, and afterwards expanded, bing about a foot wide now! "Thanks Koob but I killed it already." Tim pointed out after oveing the shock of seeing this pufferfish here. But then he remembered that they don''t speak the stingraynguage. In those same seconds, he heard a familiar tone shouting. "I''m Konon!" Then at a simr speed, another pufferfish burst in the scene like a fearless bear and bashed his head against the carcass, puffing up in the end. "It''s dead already!" Tim shouted out, although not at all rageful. But then an ideaing in his mind based on the system''s rmendations, he gazed at one of these pufferfish and requested. "Marble shrimp, can you bring me marble shrimp!?" But then to make sure that this idea was good to begin with, he thought out a question. "Marble shrimp can make me sleepy, right?" [Loading information about marble shrimp that had been saved in your collection.] [Effect on health, +0.5 bars.] [Effect on hunger, +0.3 bars.] [Effect on sleep, -0.2 bars.] [Effect on stamina, -0.4 bars.] "Okay then I remembered it right for once." Tim celebrated and after that, he tried to recall what his idea was. Finally remembering, consultation with the system became a must. "What do you say if I tire myself out to sleep? I''ll burn out food as well." [That''s actually clever for once, but I already knew the thought so why describe it to me?] [Go for it, start swimming around right now even.] "Okay okay." Tim hurriedly answered, d that he was called clever for once. But then took over the first problem, looking at Koob, he once again demanded. "Marble shrimp, I need you to get me as much marble shrimp as possible." Most definitely having it difficult to understand, the pufferfish replied while slowly deting. "I''m Koob." Hating thenguage barrier at this point more than his enemies, Timmy gave one more attempt. "Leggy crabs! Can you get me those?" At that second, he saw Koob making for the entrance at full speed and his brother joined once deting. Tad happier, he thought. "Guess they understood that. I wonder why they got back here? They''re supposed to be with Marlo." Gazing at the dead carcass and briefly recalling all the work that had to be done just o recruit these crabs, Tim murmured. "Marlo owns me like, a tuna fish for this." And then started nibbling on the enemy''s head, wondering just how many bites he had to take in order to devour this fatty fish. ... [Your total health = 42/100] As Tim wanted to grab his stomach with fins thanks to overeating, the only thing he could mumble was. "Guh, I feel pregnant." The positive part from this however, was the sole fact of feeling better already. The smaller wound on his left fin felt reduced by half, although its pain not small enough to be ignored. While the right fin just felt a tad better, this one might take longer to heal considering what fish sunk his teeth into it. Feeling tad more energetic, that being a minor effect of eating a tiger grouper, Timmy began to swim in ce. Well here there is a lot of room to swim around in, 7 meters of space wasn''t exactly small for a stingray. He started off slow and gradually began to build up speed. As for the carcasses here, it didn''t bother him at all. Although the tiger grouper''s head was consumed by now and only of its body remained. About 15 spins around the cribter, he felt a good urge to poop. Why stop aye? This isn''t his den. [Hunger bar = 28/35] "Oh great now I can eat more." Tim celebrated but steered away from the carcasses here. Sticking to his ideas, Timmy cited. "I''ll save this spot for marble shrimps... if those brothers bring them." Chapter 42: Taming the aftermath Chapter 42: Taming the aftermath Up until now, Tim had spun about 50 times at full speed, giving in his most work just to burn out food. One thing that came as an advantage after experiencing what felt like pregnancy, was that food burned out in his gut quicker than usual. Although it was difficult for Timmy to understand the context at first, the system repeated a few times just because the guest''s brain is small. [Having the benefits of a gut whom capacities have been doubled, means that you have to eat twice as much.] [And that''s not because you can fit more food through those little guts, but because your body burns out the nutrients twice as fast.] [So don''t be surprised if you poop again in this same hour. Because with double stomach capacitieses a doubled metabolism.] Well Tim could understand half of that at least, all he understood after taking every word into consideration, was that he had to keep moving. Swimming in circles over and over, just to use this temporary upgrade to its utmost advantage. At this point the young boy didn''t mind, even if he had to poop every few minutes. As a reward to such attempt, he heard the system announcing. [Hunger bar = 20/35] "Nice nice nice." Tim repeated slowly over and over, as heid over the sand in this room. And this is where further thoughts decided to conquer his piece of being, raging in his mind. "I did all of this and the reward is just... surviving." By now those thoughts nted like a seed, he continued. "I swam in here with a lot of health and now? I almost died for something that''s like, useless. This task was supposed to be short, how did it lead to me almost dying. The dungeness crabs aren''t even so important, they can''t kill big sharks." Breaking the confusion and the odds of luck, the system interrupted his thoughts. [The odds you took were transparent when you swam in here and saw that tiger grouper.] [Stingray before you who had the system and even were bigger and stronger than you, failed in such battles.] [So take this as arge win, every odd was against you.] Surprised that the system gave such a constructive praise, Timothy asked just to be sure. "So you''re saying that I''m a good survivor? You sound just like Marlo." [You''re not just a good survivor, you''re a prodigy.] Trying to sound smart, the boy here mumbled through his words and thought out what was discriminated by tone. "Prodigy... right. That word, same as probably... which means I''m probably. Wait, what?" [It means you''re out performing every other stingray at least, that had the system before.] [Your IQ is low, but in battle you use every bit of it to your utmost advantage. Which makes me ask you this question. Were you a war lord in your previous life? Or did you do anything that included strategy?] "My past life? Oh right I wasn''t born a stingray. Well in my past life I was... can''t remember." In this new body, his memory felt like that of a pickle''s. Short, slim and sometimes juicy. Although he can''t go in his brain and see if it had a green colour as well. [It had to be strategy rted. Because your ways of using all the weapons that you have are in all ways, extra ordinary.] Smart enough to be sarcastic, Tim replied. "Yes, that''s why I''m dying." [You''re dying because of the ego in your little brain. This battle could have been fled without any serious repercussions, but you chose to bite fish that are far beyond your level.] "Oh, well thank you." He replied sarcastically, not knowing what else to say at this point. And then heard familiar tones, screaming their own names as they rushed through the two small entrances here. Afterwards they dropped a couple of beings that seemed oddly familiar, it''s surprising how they rushed their fins through the water while carrying such shipment. "Leggy crabs!" Timmy yelled out and rushed towards the already dead pieces of merchandise. Although they were small, eating these things bring down good memories. At least the good stuff can be remembered easier. He saw the two needlefish swimming in after, carrying the same merchandise. Munching on all of them, Tim noticed that his statistics aren''t good enough. So he asked them, "I need you to bring me more of these, that fish messed me up a little and this helps me heal." Amie gazed at the tiger grouper that had its head eaten, couldn''t help cringing a bit due to such a graphic scene but yet was great that a bully of the far north was gone. Before they left, Tim requested. "Can you carry these small dungeness crabs out of here? My fins aren''t on a good shape to carry them." "Of course." Amie answered as her brother provided proper trantions to the 5 little ones, assuring safety. ... About an hour had passed by now, the time Tim had spun ranged countless. But yet the progress was decent enough. The allies have bought 3 more rounds of marble shrimp. Where they got it and if it breaks solitude, Tim did not know and at this pace, didn''t care either. He had eaten about 16 marble shrimps until now, but yet since each part didn''t give much health, he only got 8 points out of it. That wasn''t exactlyrge but yet it wasn''t small either, his health was 50/100 points by now. Amie, however, brought good news. "The dungeness crabs appreciate your deed and are stunned by your bravery. 10 of their finest crabs will join the reef." Although a good result, he felt far too sleepy, and therefore only replied with. "Okie dokie pokie." To that of which, Amie the needlefish had no way of replying. And instead directed everyone else, "Our warrior has to sleep now, we will stand guard here until he wakes up." And then continued by tranting it to the pufferfish, the amount ofnguages they know was stunning but it worked out well. "Pipipipipi, pipi!" Chapter 43: EQ Chapter 43: EQ As his little stingray eyes open, the first thing in his vision, thankfully wasn''t an enemy practicing low scale molestation, such as a kiss. But instead, he saw the 4 fishy friends that were near him before slumber overtook reason and conscious. The system immediately put in an effort to wake Timmy up quicker by giving in some grand base information. [Health bar = 50/100] [Hunger bar = 0/15] [Sleep = 32/35] [Stamina = 13/15] The hunger portion was rming, he was happy that the health wasn''t dropping down because of it but still had to ask the system with a brief thought. "What happened? I slept with like, 17 hunger bars." [You went asleep while your stomach was still active, working at double the pace. So most of what you consumed has been burned down.] [System advises to eat what you can scrape off the tiger grouper carcass, there is still a lot to eat off it.] "Okay." Tim answered as he gave out a yawn, understanding only half of what the system said. Remembering that he wasn''t alone here, the boy greeted his friends. "Thank you for guarding me guys... and you,dy." "The crabs are still praising you. Their little ones exined the entire battle, so these crabs feel big and confident for pairing up with someone so strong." Amie exined while her brother wasmunicating with the pufferfish brothers, regarding another topic. With food in his mind, Tim swam towards the carcass and took a couple of bites before answering. "It wasn''t easy but bosses don''t back up from fights." "You truly are a boss." Amieplimented, with a smile on her fishy face. Spotting the ongoing conversation between Rummy and the pufferfish brothers, Tim asked. "Since you speak theirnguage, can you ask them why Marlo sent them here?" Through a bit more chewing, Tim got into a brisk realisation. Eating the same tiger grouper body, won''t grant another ray of stomach upgrades. It strikes a fact out, that these temporary upgrades were a one time thing if taken from a single fish body. Tad limiting but Timmy didn''t want toin about it, because it felt weird to go through the stomach upgrade, felt like pregnancy. Rummy broke the silence a bit after by tranting, "Marlo doesn''t want you dead, he is concerned about some other stingray so these fish will be your body guards. Specifically because they can puff." "Sounds like Marlo alright." Tim answered and continued to chomp on the carcass, his level 3 jaws unwilling to spare bones through the munching. Amie moved in with another topic right after by exining, "There also are some pufferfish looking for you. The way you killed these predators was amazing so they have a job for you." Tad more honest, he answered. "Better not be to rescue more kids, almost died here you know." Instantly breaking such a thought, Amie contradicted. "You probably won''t have to rescue anyone, the pufferfish said that this is a stealth mission. Whatever that means." "Let me see much pain will go away, can''t risk going there without being healed enough." That was practically a way of telling these friends to stop talking so he eat the fish. A lot of munchester... Tim heard the system granting the only information he wanted to hear about. [Health bar 65/100] "That''s better than I expected, my fins feel a lot better today." The young stingray thought while pping his fins, and then remembered something stunning. "I got a lot of points yesterday right? These fish weren''t easy to kill so..." [Your current total system points = 113] Happy that he finally reached such numbers, Timmy requested. "Nice! If I can buy that depth upgrade thing,y it on me." [Purchase confirmed] [Purchase loading] [Upgrading depth durability by 10 meters....] At that moment, Timothy felt a sharp pain right on his head. It felt like a hammer struck the noggin but thankfully the pain after that, started reducing. As it spread on where the neck is supposed to be, covering his body round and round through that area, his pain split in half. And it continued towards the tail, reducing by half on each step. Tim felt that if the pain he received on his head, equaled to the one he obtained on the rest of his body, it would easily feel as if getting ttened like a pancake. [Now, guest can go 210 meters underwater without receiving water pressure damage.] [Purchasepleted.] [75 system points consumed.] [38 system points remaining.] "Shouldn''t like 80 points remain, I had over a hundred." Timined, his math skills explicitly catastrophic. [System never does mistakes with calctions.] Ignoring the young boy''s stupidity, the system began to exin something that didn''t fail to capture all attention. [3 more purchases have been unlocked.] [Option number 1 = upgrade barb to level 2] [Price = 80 system points.] "What! Finally. This means that I can poison my enemies, right?!" At this point, his enthusiasm broke borders and beyond. Simply because poison, or in this case, venom, sounded pretty cool. [No. Let''s not confuse him with venom. Upgrading your barb, means that you can stab easier and stronger after.] Trying to keep all good enthusiasm with this, he thought. "Oh... well that''s cool. Because I killed everything with my barb." While the friends around here, just saw the boy peeking at the fish, thinking. "Did he fall asleep?" Wouldn''t be a surprise to think so, as he was just nkly staring at the carcass, having a full on conversation with the system in his head. [Option number 2 = increase emotional intelligence by 5 points.] [Price = 110 system points.] "Hold up hold up hold up!" Tim interrupted, having a hunch that this might be a scam. "I upgraded my intelligence already." [You upgraded IQ, which includes logical intelligence.] [This option allows you to increase EQ, which is emotional intelligence.] [They are 2 types of intelligence, far different from each other but often cooperate.] [With a high emotional intelligence, you can control emotions. Be it your own or the individuals around you.] Chapter 44: Primary and secondary Chapter 44: Primary and secondary Trying his absolute best to understand, Tim managed to ask an actually insightful question. "Oh... so my brain can carry 2 intelligences." [That''s a bit hard to exin. Typically, as a stingray, one wouldn''t be able to have more than 1 intelligence.] [But since you''re a human who migrated in a stingray brain, the intelligences you have are numerous.] [There can be hundreds of intelligences, each different based on amon individual.] [But in you, system has recognized 5 intelligences that can be cultivated.] [Your emotional intelligence is 60. Which is good, but not good enough to be considered average. This also exins your ego and crave for vengeance.] Thankfully able to catch up with such information he never heard of, he questioned. "So, I''ll be a genius someday?" [You''ll be like 5 geniusesbined, through a lot of hard work. That is, if you don''t die.] And that''s where Timmy began to think in depth again. Although these predictions aroused the sense of adventure, he couldn''t help thinking. "What''s the point of being a super genius when I''m just a stingray? These are confusing times." But yet the system didn''t bother replying to that thought and added. [Option number 3 = Increase durability by 5 points.] [Price 45 system points.] A bit more sure by now that the system won''t scam him, Tim still asked. "What''s this? Does it mean I can swim deeper if I buy it?" [No. This is a different type of durability. With this upgraded, you can withstand damage easier and lose less health when you take damage. Lesspared to the past durability at least.] [Your current durability is: 5] "That sounds low... I should upgrade that as soon as possible or else this reef will kill me." Firmly realistic at this point but he just wanted to sound smarter. But yet enthusiastic, in his head he screamed. "These upgrades sound a lot better! Finally things that will make me a better killer hehe." Yet confusion striking his little brain, he asked. "But... I never heard of these upgrades before. If I remember right, you haven''t told me these in the beginning." [Reasons behind it are easy to exin.] [In the beginning, I only exined the most important skill set that has a soul purpose of aiding survival.] [If you have noticed, you always have the option to upgrade a main skill. Such as: Hunting capabilities, jaws and now the barb. Eventually you''ll be able to upgrade the other main ones, all in perfect clock-wise order.] [But there are also secondary skill sets, like: Any type of intelligence, durability, etc. These abilities aid survival but dominance as well.] [These secondary abilities were given suchbel for the sake of order. If we put everything in one ce and call them primary abilities, it would take months before you can go back to the first ability on the list and upgrade it.] [So for the sake of order and survival, these abilities have been split in two sections. Like-wise, that''s why you get to upgrade 2 secondary capabilities and only a single primary one, at a time.] [It''s all to bnce the odds of survival, dominance, and of course a prime goal is to be a prodigy, apart from just surviving long enough in the beginning.] Feeling like his tiny little brain would catch on fire at this point, Tim''s braingged for a bit before he regained the ability to think. "Well you lied, these aren''t easy to understand. But if I took it right, you''re saying that I can be the strongest stingray to ever exist in the history of forever." [Yes, you can be the strongest to ever live. That is, if you listen to me now when you''re the dumbest, respectively.] "Oh." Tim mouthed and heard Amie projecting what almost sounded like a shout. "Wake up! The pufferfish are waiting for us." ... "So these are the pufferfish that have a special mission for me?" Tim asked, trying to water quote as best as he could with fins. "Yup these are the ones." Rummy answered, certain of his memorisation capabilities. Blinking about 7 times now just to be sure he wasn''t hallucinating from the pain that the upgrade caused, Timmy asked. "I don''t mean to be racist but why are they grey?" "These are bronze pufferfish, that''s how they''re born." Amie cleared out, thankful that these fish don''t understand thenguage. They seem to be about double Tim''s size, which typically wasn''t a threat alone but these fine pieces of nature are known to rule their tribes with an iron fist. At least that''s what the needlefish siblings saw. This species also seemed a bit less fat, apart from their head being big that is. Generally it was interesting to look at them, beautiful in a shade way. Willing to get the chit chat over with so he can explore for what can gain health, he asked without caring even a hunch more about these pufferfish. "Okay, what do they need me to do?" And so, the biggest of these pufferfish cited like a dictator who had to pee. "Pipipipi! Pi pi, pipipipipi. Pi!!!" Tim had absolutely no idea what all of that was about, but Rummy was quick to trante. "They''re on constant war with this other pufferfish tribe, so they need you to deliver a deadly blow." Looking at his surroundings, Tim almost instantly fact checked that im. As these aren''t many of these bronze pufferfish around, only like 7. So chances are, the rest must have died in fearsome battle. But yet sceptic, he asked. "That''s basically an assassination. I don''t understand how stealth fits into this." After a bit of discussion, the biggest of these fish, got closer to Timmy and spoke out. "Pipi." Staggered beyond measure, all he could do was gaze at the pufferfish and hope that the fat head won''t try to kiss. Rummy once more interrupted and uttered a couple of words that didn''t fail to strike the young stingray into a puzzle. "Stink bomb." Chapter 45: The holy protection Chapter 45: The holy protection "What?" Tim questioned, genuinely confused as his tone stood mild in manner. Although hesitant to exin, Amie chirped word by word slowly. "They want to attach a stink bomb on your fin, you''re to sting it with your tail once finding where the most pufferfish stay. This chief said that the stink is so bad, whomever swims close to it or past it, dies." Timmy let silence stretch for a moment, soon as he caught up on what this entire situation was all about. Wanting a second thought, he turned to the system and got into counselling. "Is it a good idea to kill all those pufferfish?" [In terms of spreading solitude, it''s a terrible idea. You can''t be neutral with every lesser species of the reef, if you go around killing fish just because you are asked to.] "That''s smart, I''m not doing it." The young boy thought out, this has been the most reason of which the system projected. There were wiser times of course but he can''t understand everything. ring at the pufferfish, he wholeheartedly asked even after considering the odds of ruining rtions with these deal offerers. "Why would I want to kill them? Do they ruin families like the sharks?" Rummy felt hesitant to trante this part, he even swam a few inches back as he started it off with one word to the pufferfish and then gradually exined the rest. This tribe of course had something to say about it, and Amie was more than willing to trante. "As we said earlier, the war between these tribessted a long while by now. But... the opposing tribe did something ufortable in the most recent attack." Most definitely intrigued, Tim asked. "What did they do?" Upon such a question, he heard the twomunicate for a long while. One would think that they were debating ns for world domination, but no they were fish. And so Amie came with a grand exnation. "Looks like the enemy pufferfish did a lot of evil stuff. But the most recent evil deed was... ****." "Oh." Tim thought, building up a rather stable reason to fight now. "Child ****." Rummy corrected what his sister couldn''t say. "Oh!" At this point, the blue dotted sea pancake''s rage topped that of 10 individuals under just a few short seconds. Entirely woken up to this point, he immediately volunteered. "When can I bomb those losers?" Apparently this was described earlier through conversations that seemed gibberish to Timothy, so granting an exnation was easy. "Not before you eat the holy protection. The den of these enemies has some kind of weird water that can kill any fish that wasn''t born to handle it." "Uhhh... this sounds dangerous. But what''s this holy protection?" At this point he didn''t know what to expect, but hoped that it would be marble shrimp. "Well it''s..." Amie tried to exin but got instantly interrupted by Timothy, demanding. "Wait wait wait. What''s the pay for bombing these enemies? How many pufferfish will be sent to our tribe?" Broke the cycle ofying out a good n at this point, but after a bit of trantions, Tim found out. "All 7 of them will join the reef. Their heritage is ruined due to the war and because of sharks as well. So they have nothing to stay here for, they''re all in for protecting the reef." His enthusiasm spiking like a needle when found in a haystack, Tim yelled out. "Yes! That''s the boss stuff. Lay the holy on me baby!" It took just a few seconds for the holy stuff to arrive, as the chief of these pufferfish literally spit it out. The holy substance, that''s what they called it. It looked like dead coral, grey and colourless. Well actually it was dead coral, so Tim didn''t really understand what was holy about it, especially since it came out of a fish. The bite sized chunk of coral was covered with this green slime, he wants to think that''s because of it being in the pufferfish''s mouth. Might be from something else, but he doesn''t want to know. "Okay, so I should eat that?" Tim asked, most definitely struck with hesitancy at this point. But only saw the fish around him speak out and p their fins, gesturing clear agreement. So he got closer to it and muffled, "Okay... can''t be that bad right?" Getting closer, he could sense that the piece of coral was abnormally hot... although it was underwater. This can''t be because it was on the pufferfish''s belly, "So the warmth makes it holy?" And then he took a bite off it, his level 3 jaws struggled to crunch through it. So the young man had to crackle it through his powerful jaws a few times before it became crumbled enough to be swallowed. After chucking it down, the only thing he could think of was. "I hope it''s not that hard when I poop it out." Later on they brought this blue, smooth textured tool, bean shaped. A pufferfish chewed on some sea grass and spat on the blue bean after cing it on Tim''s fin. Afterwards Amie reminded. "Remember, stay hidden and throw the stink bomb when you spot a lot of the enemies. Then just swim away as fast as you can. The enemy''s den is that way." Barely listening to what the needlefish said, Tim''s surroundings started bing weird, suddenly all the yellow coral around him became red. Red and... well. The coral began to speak, although in anguage that Timmy couldn''t understand, but yet it didn''t sound gibberish. "Niaaaaaaau!" Tim hollered with the strength of all his organs, piercing the water to what felt like 1,000 km/h. Although, it was just his usual maximum speed of 3/mph. After swimming about 50 meters, smelling the scent that became far too familiar. His already corrupted vision, got captivated by what we can call arge green cloud, right after all the red coral went away. Chapter 46: Mist Chapter 46: Mist The little hole he swam into was ratherrge, just the entrance might be somewhere around 8 meters across. Felt like a couple of mansions at this point, although it was only the entrance. Being in the right ce however, was a problem that he did not have to worry about even for a blink. The weird water... it was all around him, mucus green in colour, he could barely see what was 2 feet away. But yet this felt like the right ce, not because of the advise he took from the needlefish but... The weird water... it was calling him. Repeating his name. "Timmy." "Timmy." "Timmy!" Pissed of at this point, his shorter tempered sides emerged amongst reason. "What what what? I''m here. Let me bomb you already, gees!" "But we love you Tim... be a part of the gas, be one with our weird water." The gas spoke out, soft by tone. But yet he ignored every word and focused on What''s more important. "The holy protection is amazeballs!" Afterwards he had a sudden urge to scream it all out, there wasn''t much to stop him from doing so. "Aaaaaaaa! I will bomb all of you! Muhuhuhuhahahaaa!" A few fin wigglester, he heard a disturbance in the cave water just about 5 meters away. And wondered that him being found had anything to do with that shout, yet he found no reason to believe such nonsense. But yet safety and camouge was a must... the gas told him. So with a violent p against the water underneath, the little boy reached to the ceiling of this little underwater room/cave, his back kissing it. And saw a big headed fish swimming 3 or so meters underneath him, carrying light brown and green colours, textured with a checkered patterns. Silence remained firm as the enemy stalked the perimeter. In the meanwhile, Tim slowly swam across the ceiling, behaving as if a 100 meter long predator wanted his booty. Slowly but surely, he swept all the way down to where that pufferfish came out of and followed what was a 3 foot wide tunnel. Although to him it felt like half a second, the young man had swam for 100 meters across this tunnel! Massive, not even logical in some aspects so one can only guess that these pufferfish somehow bit through rock and coral to make this den based on individual or collective preference. Thankfully quantity didn''t stand against his favour, the only enemy he saw in this under the sea ground structure, was the one in the very beginning. Yet he made sure to take a careful swim at a time, staying too close to either the ground or ceiling. Through that effort he also tried his best not to set off the stink bomb, which was rather hard considering that the walls kept cursing. Cursing in that same matter of which the fisherman boy did, loud and possibly Italian. To of which he couldn''t help thinking, "The holy protection isn''t protecting me from these loud ass walls." He finally found another opening, this one carried different characteristics, it was pitch ck and there was no weird water on sight. Tim doesn''t nearly understand how these pufferfish made the water green up until a meter ago. But quite frankly, he doesn''t want to know for the sake of avoiding turning green. The first thing that greeted the boy was a... well pufferfish. This one was weirdly shaped, or at least that''s what the boy''s vision was representing to his little stingray mind. This pufferfish was extremely fat, enough to be considered 2 feet wide! And it couldn''t help make Timmy wiggle his tail in an urge for battle. But through a jog of memories, he figured out that this greeter wasn''t really a big threat. He recalled Kob and Konon. They became fatter before and it seemed in all ways, voluntary. So he just swam away from the pufferfish and hoped he won''t be followed, disappeared in the darkness this opening provided, to further his ns. Swimming fast became a primary way of avoiding all trouble. As for being slick... well Timothy hasn''t had the bust luck with it, sad considering that his natural camouge is at level 4 without the aid of any temporary upgrades. 3 more pufferfish of the same species had captured his sense of sight while rushing through this dark depressing mist. Each of these enemies weren''t nearly happy to see the blue dotted stingray here but there was little they could do about it. As the dark mist provided a proper deal of disappearing without even the faintest trace. He swam directly down, in search of the bottom here. Although absolutely high at this point, it would be easy to find the exit. Because through this dark eye poking mist, the bit of light breaching through the tunnel at the very point, was spottable no matter how far away the orange sea disk swam. Through his maximum, fin pping speed, feeling collision right on the noggin became the inevitable. Tim could only hope that the stink bomb didn''t puncture, he had seen 5 of these enemies so far but those numbers didn''t really screamrge. So he wanted to seek more and more, explore with a good will of mass massacre. If there aren''t anymore pufferfish here, it would be a good idea to puncture the forbidden bean in this very mist. After the hard collision against the solid grey rock here, Timmy spotted something unusual just about 10 meters away. The first thing to be concerned about was that he isn''t supposed to see 10 meters away in this dark mist. Bur yet he did... and it became further unusual the more time was lended on it. It''s an arm... a human hand if Tim recalled right. It was not even a skeleton and seemed recently deceased, the rest of its body wasn''t there so this made it all the more perplexing. But yet all Timmy could think of was, "How did a human squeeze through that tunnel?" Chapter 47: Guards Chapter 47: Guards Absolutely staggered, he saw the decapitated hand itself, struggling to move around. After doing what in some aspects seemed like a yoga stretch, the hand took a big leap and stood in front of Tim with the aid of the fore and middle finger. Bizarre enough, it began to talk. "Why have you disturbed my slumber? Little one." Without warming, the human hand thumbed the young stingray right on the noggin, further scolding. "This is my den and shit, why are you here?" Feeling the radiance of submission of which the hand interjected, so he gave in all attempts to y it cool. "I''m definitely not here to do anything stupid. This ce is weird." "This ce is my home! But I pretty much died haha." The deceased hand cited, even sat like a toddler who lost bnce, rather adorable. Pretending as if he didn''t notice the obvious, yet d that this hand was the only thing that didn''t yell at him through the journey, Tim spoke. "Oh shit! How?" Pointing behind it, the pigment pale hand specified. "I was exploring this ce because of the weird gas. But like, died haha. My body is under that pile of rock over there." Legitimately concerned, Tim blinked a few times before he asked. "Oh no. What do you n to do about it? I mean, you got out but when will the rest of your body escape?" Carrying a nk skin filled look, the hand expressed. "Well... I don''t really need it. So I will just explore here for a while and then dip." "Oh... looks like you''ve been around here longer than me. Can you tell me where all the pufferfish are at?" Good way to use this unusual friendship to the utmost advantage. Trying to avoid looking suspicious, the system carrying creature came up with a grand idea. "I need to kiss them." Letting silence stretch, he felt like the hand was giving a strong re, but paranoia was shunned away when the unusual new friend added. "Sounds legit." And then immediately broke out proper piece of advice. "The way is pretty much blocked, so you have to go around it to find a way in. Follow a pufferfish or something but be sneaky, they can eat your ass." "Okay thank you. Sorry that you died and all." Tim expressed, swimming away through that greet and making for the higher parts of this mist. ... His head attached to this mist''s ceiling as if to a lover, Timmy''s limited view was focused on what seemed like moving dots. After getting all the way up here, a dot was all that one could see from up here, anytime a creature swam down underneath. Now there is a certain reason why that happened. He was close enough to the bit of light that bursted out of the entrance, considering that he had swam so high. And that light provides minor illumination that ranged away from the main one, shades descend to the darker depending how far away one would be from the light. Well, Tim can mostly see dots swimming around the darker shade of this yellow illumination, so far he had counted 20 but yet they could be the same fish swimming in circles. How much there were here wasn''t his concern, Tim wanted to follow one of these enemies into sess. The n was to stink bomb this ce, and that can''t be done just against 5-10 enemies. One pattern that had no chance to escape being noticed, was the routes these fish eventually followed. The stealthy stingray had been here for almost an hour, and managed to patch up what this small number of fish were here for. Guarding! Yes, they were guarding this ce, but repeated the same routine over and over in this specific spot and no other. Tim went low enough earlier when he spoke to that decapitated hand, and then swam up. Although his memory fish poop sized, he doesn''t remember running into any of these enemies on the way up. Although in all aspects high, Timothy could puzzle everything together and think. "Why aren''t they guarding anywhere else?" [Can you hear me, guest?!] "Yup yup yup I can." Tim repeated after a slight panic, unaware where this tone wasing from. "You sound pretty." [Why haven''t you answered? I''ve been trying to contact you over an hour now!] Tad pissed of how thisdy was expressing herself but yet feeling too nice to point it out, Tim answered the question instead. "I literally didn''t hear anything. But you sound familiar." [I''m the system that''s in your head.] [The nasty coral you consumed is messing with your brain.] Wanting to keep this effect that provided grand levels of knowledge andmunication, Tim added. "Oh the coraly coral. I kinda need it right now, still haven''t bombed these pufferfish." [Okay. Well I can''t do anything about it anyway.] [The coral has been identified as a drug. I have found where it is in your brain and what its effects are, the prime one being delusion.] [The effects will wear off in about 2 hours. So better handle the task before that.] [However those pufferfish discovered this monstrosity of a drug, it''s giving you 100% protection from this deadly and rare underwater gas.] "Yup them pufferfish are really smart... I can talk to corals now, but they yell a lot." But what young Tim didn''t realise, was that his conversation here wasn''t thought out. But instead it was yelled out, in another perspective it would look like a stingray shouting at water. As he took a moment to look down, spotting 8 pufferfish near him became the inevitable. Wanting further intel on such a situation, he tried to whisper. "Prettydy system thing. Why are they staring at me like... motherfuckerly?" [They want to start a cake bakery.] [They want to kill you! Isn''t that obvious?] Such a result couldn''t help making him think, "Dang, the cave ratted me out." Chapter 48: High assassin Chapter 48: High assassin "Well fuck it! So much for being sneaky." Tim yelled out and stretched his free fin forward, pointing at one of the pufferfish. And then waved the tip of his fin back and forth, demanding. "Come forth, water kisser." It was uncertain if the masses on the other side of the stick understood what he just said. But either way it didn''t matter, as the biggest of these beings charged right forward, while the rest remained behind. Although his vision was blurry and not only because of how dark this ce was, Timmy could spot danger approaching mainly because of how fat this fish was. And therefore pped his fins against the water, rapidly swimming just a foot behind. His back arose higher, curled like a bananae to think of it, while his tail struck directly forward and was acting like a spear. The big head continued to charge forward, its head was making directly for the stingray''s exposed belly. But such momentum was only a recipe to further trouble, as the banana formation was pushed through the waters, forced to move faster. So what was originally supposed to be a spear like tail standing stiff on its ce, became half a projectile. The momentum of the big head, spun the stingray. And the banana formation lunged his tail right through the enemy''s yellow belly. [Checkered pufferfish killed. 10 system points have been given as a reward.] [Total system points = 48] "I did not expect this to be that easy." Tim answered, wondering what points this crazydy was rattling about. [Eating an adult checkered pufferfish grants the following.] [Effect on health, +2 bars.] [Effect on hunger, +15 bars.] [Effect on sleep, non existent.] [Effect on stamina, -10 bars.] [Statistics have been saved in your collection and can be used endlessly upon request.] [As for your question. Yet again you have discovered a weak spot.] [In this case, just puncturing pufferfish can have them killed as the pain of having their sack popped is far beyond endurance.] Hearing such information, Tim couldn''t help yelling out. "I''m the greatest stingray alive!" And then pushed the carcass away, screaming at the closest pufferfish. "Fight me! I''ve met coral tougher than you." epting the challenge fearlessly although the big cheese was ughtered in front of them, the checkered pufferfish''s dorsal fin flickered rapidly through the water, all in for battle. Next thing Timmy knew, the pufferfish struck him right on the noggin, much like an angry bull who got pinched on the bum. The collision pushed the yellow coated boy a couple of feet away, but thankfully he wasn''t rmed with any health drop. So continuing this battle became an option easy to follow, although his vision had be blurrier than ever all thanks to that head bump. With his less damaged left fin, he gave a strong p against the water! Which pushed the tail on the other end, to make quite a spin. Holding it straight like a needle for the sake of the n, the momentum built up with that impacting stingray spin, didn''t fail to deliver what it was supposed to. The very tip of his tail dug into the enemy''s skin, and then slid away to the left, across what we can call a waist? Spinning like that made the young boy face away from battle, so he turned around immediately so the enemies don''t get the pleasure ofnding a strike through a blind spot. Spotting the pufferfish turn upside down blessed his limited vision next, its mouth hung open as well, which in many ways eximed what the deal was. [Checkered pufferfish killed. 10 system points have been rewarded to you.] [Total system points = 58] "This is easy!" Tim mumbled and his confidence arose over the cave ceiling thanks to these couple of easy kills. With full speed, he charged towards the 6 enemies in front of him, fear not nearly being a part of his subconscious at the moment, as if deleted from that tiny little brain. Although high, he could understand what their weakness was, mostly because the system specified it. After building up that golden 3 mp/h speed, being just a foot away from the enemies even. As if hitting the breaks, Tim pped his left fin a few times stronger than the other. Which indeed acted like pulling an emergency break, it yed around with friction itself! Because such an attempt leaned his entire body to the right, we can easily say that the built up momentum aided such a lean that a blinkter was transformed into a spin. The stinger shook the waters with a straight formation and the very tip met with an enemy''s eye, escaping the mouth by a toenail. After cutting that particr enemy across the big face, it slid another round and met a panicking pufferfish just on the other side. And slit that enemy narrowly across the tail, reason behind it was theck of bnce that struck the sea pancake after the second spin. Although high with the holy protection, he could understand whom the odds favoured after that spin lost its vour. So he dipped down in the mist with all the speed that the 7 centimetre across, fins could provide. 3 of these puffy enemies pped their dorsal fins to follow the blue dotted idiot, but sometimes luck wasn''t enough to handle things in life. As they wandered around to see where the stingray was, one of these guards received what was in all aspects, unexpected. "My ass!" The pufferfish yelled out in its ownnguage, as a sharp pain captivated right where the anus was supposed to be. Although it couldn''t bend enough to check its anus, the pain and the very sense of not feeling anything clenching, gave a good hint. That and, it couldn''t feel the anal fin moving around so all odds weighed on the scale and ''screamed'' out what happened. Next, it could feel a sharper pain on the stomach and then again, afterwards once more. Chapter 49: High assassin (2) Chapter 49: High assassin (2) In all means, that was Tim chewing in and around the stomach for the pure sake of bloody murder. Dipping back in the mist, he thought out. "These are supposed to be guards? I killed like a million already." [You killed 4 of them.] Although still not certain where thisdy is, Tim didn''t bother to look around for her since she seemed nice. And instead answered, "Okay okay okay, still good though. But now I gotta kill these other 400." And then another thought struck him. "Wait! What was I supposed to do before that?" [Seek out where the rest of the pufferfish are.] "Oh right. Thanks pretty creepydy." Tim stuttered and then busted out of the mist like a t torpedo, targeting a single enemy. This one had strayed out of where the rest of the group seeked the enemy, proved braver a little bit but that itself won''t necessarily lead to sess. Wanting to test out another technique, in reality mixing it with the banana form, Tim lunged right on the enemy''s back! Dug his teeth right behind the eye even, clenched his free fin so he could hang on the enemy a bit better. Right after, his tail raged left and right, nailing the enemy around the waist. One would think that these opponents were getting at it, humping in the middle of the battle. But no! Why would he romanticize the enemy? This was all led with that prime thought of pre meditated murder. Against a pufferfish, a sting would be enough to pop them like a bubble, while Tim unleashed at least a few. Death became certain for this fat headed enemy, and the agile stingray continued his rage of ughter on the next enemy. Whom was either dumb or brave enough to charge head on like a horny bull. Most definitely unwilling to be struck on the stomach by these big heads again, Timmy let go of the carcass'' head and slipped behind it. The enemy stormed right against the dead friend, while the young one had just disappeared in the mist. The bull head stopped on its spot, wondering where the enemy went, but finding him became easier as a sharp pain captivated two crucial sides of the body. One on the stomach and the other against the back, this one however was due to an attack that didn''t rte to the previous one. Tim had punctured this enemy through and through the body, pierced the stomach first and the stinger came out above the back, as if an assassin had beaten this bastard into submission. His tail stood straight, without a corner but floating around here too long wasn''t necessary the best idea. So he wiggled the stinger a bit and gave a burst of energy through his fins, allowing to slip out of the enemy. The 2 remaining pufferfish enved the boy''s view, charging at full speed was a preference of theirs for some reason. Considering how short their tail is, chances are the bursts of speed they often have can only be shortsting. These fish however, shared no rtion to their deceased friends when it came tounching an attack. After they got just a foot away from Tim, at the same time they began to inhale unholy amounts of water. Through that process, he was able to see these pufferfish arise twice in size, bing a foot wide! Not quite sure how to approach such an entrance in battle, but having it quite hard to hold inughter as well because now their faces seemed like that of a sheep, whom drank too much water at a time but then got spooked enough to remainpletely stiff. Before he could do a thing more, what struck him next wasn''t any particr weapon that would stab the boy through and through, but instead... Water! Yup, it felt as if a wave of water had hit him and the impact was enough to, in all terms flip the sea pancake. Apart from losingplete vision of the enemies, he got flipped upside down. Bad enough, vision was no longer something that can fall under his disposition. "What''s the deal with fish eating me whole." He thought and then started wiggling his tail, testing the area around him. Here it was definitely snug, but not tight enough for a slim tail to be held under restriction. With all the force a swallowed stingray could gain, Timmy struck the roof of this fishy structure and felt his stinger easily bash through the enemy''s back. Afterwards he felt that everything had be a lot more snug, to the point where even moving a fin by a quarter of an inch, would be a problem. Short said, Timothy felt like a smi. Vision was granted once more after his whole body felt tickled by friction, the enemy had spit him out and Tim could see the same one deting in the process. Death was certain for this checkered bastard. With only 1 enemy left, it became rather transparent whom the odds favoured in this ughter thirst battle. So Timmy charged straight ahead, gave an extra push to swim over the enemy''s head and curled his tail into a U form, striking the enemy right across the face. [Checkered pufferfish killed. 10 points have been rewarded to you.] [Total system points = 118] "Those were the easiest points I''ve ever gotten. These guards were a joke." Timmy celebrated, a bit more able to focus now and understand what points are really used for. "If I had time, I would totally eat these fish." And so he stood in ce for a good half minute, trying to remember just what he was here for but thankfully a friend was always to his aid. [Seek the way into where all the pufferfish are.] "Right right right right right." Tim repeated like an annoying malfunctioning tape recorder, making for where he thinks to the way in was. Chapter 50: Thicker skin Chapter 50: Thicker skin An idea came into his mind at the very moment and he decided to immediately get behind it, citing. "I want to upgrade my shit. I remember something about being badassier... tougher. What was it?" [You must be referring to the endurance upgrade.] "Yes that! Give me that!" Tim thundered, his eyes carrying joy thanks to the prime thought of being a tougher disk to bite after this upgrade. [Purchase confirmed.] [Loading purchase...] After such an announcement, he could feel a few hundred tiny sharp pains all over his body. From the head and all the way to the end of his tail, not rejecting even a needle sized spot. Such painsted only for a few seconds, it got the young water pper confused in a couple of ways. And he even expected a sharper pain that might knock him out cold. [Purchaseplete.] [Your durability has been increased by 5 points.] [Total durability = 10] [45 system points consumed.] [73 system points remaining.] "Neato patito." Tim answered, absolutely gibberish at this point but he was smiling like an idiot, full of joy. ... Stretching a bit to shun away the soreness that came along with the pain, he could feel the spine crackle a tad bit and his skin felt a bit tougher to manoeuvre. But thankfully that got fixed just after a few more attempted stretches. After a bit of snooping around, he managed to filter out a couple of options regarding how to go through this hell of a copse. The first would of course be the patriotic option, which was to gain as much speed as he could and bash the absolute shit against these hundreds, possibly thousands kilos of rock. In all aspects that was ridiculous, but how would the boy acknowledge that? He was higher than the birds on the sky. Yet the system was there to correct such utterly moronic thought, just by pointing out the obvious. [You''re too small for that, don''t be crazy.] "Right right right." He repeated and heavily relied on the second option, well at least he wasn''t high and stubborn at the same time. He swam a few more feet down and decided to find the half tunnel that he had discovered just about 5 minutes ago through the snooping. It seemed more logical to follow this option but the young boy wanted to avoid it. The reason behind it were obvious, it seemed too dark through there. But with options extremely limited, the spooky grey coated tunnel had to be taken. Typically he wouldn''t be scared of the dark but the situation the stingray was in, well, the world typical has been temporarily banished. He swam towards the tunnel, encouraging himself. "You can do it. You can! You''re the greatest stingray alive." [Now I didn''t say that you are the greatest alive. Just a prodigy, that doesn''t mean what you''re iming.] "I''ll ignore that." Timmy answered and blessed the very beginning of the tunnel. This not so natural structure being here, was in no way luck for the young boy. But instead, it would be considered luck for the pufferfish. However the copse was caused, they were given the opportunity to pass through it and still have freedom of movement, although just a hunch more restrictive. Through the swimming, he heard the system scold. [You aren''t following instructions, the bronze pufferfish requested for you to stay hidden.] "And?" Tim asked, genuinely unable to understand where the problem was. [And you''re doing the opposite. 8 pufferfish were killed back there, that would be difficult not to notice.] [That and you''re proving horrible at using your small size and natural camouge to stay hidden.] "I don''t understand what the problem is? They were supposed to die anyway." At this point he even struck the system staggered. How could a stingray whom was high as shit, recall such an important piece of information faster than an all powerful piece of knowledge collecting system? But proving that there was nothing to worry about, he added. "And if anyone snitches about it, I''ll kill them too so no biggie biggie with this piglet." So the system just remained quiet and witnessed how the young boy continued to swim through the snug tunnel, almost kissing stone as if it would unleash seduction and move it away thanks to that. Thankfully the tunnel wasn''t so long, 30 meters or so but still this entire cave proved massive. For him this seemed like a little vige, there were many aspects to call this ce so. But that aside, as his head dipped out of the tunnel to meet the other side, the first thing that greeted him was a meter long sea snake, screaming with a high pitch. "Imposter!" And then lunged towards Timmy, with a full intent to swallow the boy whole, it seemed big enough to do so and the light blue colour didn''t fail to dictate size as well through this harsh darkness. With all of his regenerated power, he tortured the water molecules that surrounded his body and took a direct sharp turn upwards. Which forced the snake to go through the tunnel instead of dealing damage of any sort, nheless anything serious. But as everyone can recall, Tim has a tail. That of which took just a quarter second longer to follow the rest of the body. So as the enemy snake made through the tunnel, the very tip of the stingray''s stinger ran through right in the middle of the forehead. It wasn''t any damage worth praising, just enough to break the first half inch of the skin, as if a pencil drew on it. To a snake thisrge, that would seem nothing more than a minor war mark, it would eventually look like war paint really. "No need to panic, I know why he''s here." A thick female tone shone in the midst of darkness that this ce provided. And this wasn''t the system''s tone no, he already knew what that sounded like so this voice was quite new. Chapter 51: Sparky Chapter 51: Sparky A blinkter, the whole ce was blinded with grand illumination, as if submissive to thedy''s tone. The first moving thing that Tim was able to noticeter, was a short and chubby fish that stretched just a couple of feet wide. But yet it seemed toorge whenpared to the 40 or so animals that surrounded it, all of which were pufferfish. Apart from them, there was a 4 foot wide ditch right on the bottom of this cave. Tim could see it clearly although it was 15 or so meters below. Reason behind it can all be thanked to what colour the ditch carried, mucous green and full of opacity. It was nothing in colourpared to what the gas here could provide. No no, the ditch was far thicker in colour thanks to carrying a liquid between its round walls. His curiosity was piqued in all aspects but the main thing that scrolled through that little mind was. "I''m fucked." But surprisingly, chaos did not strike the cave or may we say, chaos didn''t strike against the stingray. But instead, that fat and short fish slowly swam upwards with a prime aim of lending Tim an ear but also paying high attention to the seaweed around his arm. Her female tone dimmed heavy and gravely, signifying an older age. "You are here to kill us all ha? The bronze fucks couldn''t kill us their selves and sent here what my men described as a... gifted killer?" The young stingray let silence stretch a tad bit, and it wasn''t because how high he was but out of fear instead. Because as the olddy talked, Timmy could see her teeth that proved in all aspects horror like. They were white but yet covered with blood. Some stretched 3 inches long while some others stretched under an inch, nothing about her jaws seemed even. More interesting yet, a thin horn like body part stretched out of her head which was illuminating the ce in that same luscious green colour that was located in the ditch. Ignoring her questions in every way, Timothy asked. "What are you?" Respecting the prime fact that this boy here was alive in this type of gas, thedy had just a needle sized motivation to shortly answer. "Humpback anglerfish." Trying to push fear aside, he asked. "Haha so you''re ruling over these fools?" Feeling quite entitled, the olddy dictated slowly, screaming by each end of a sentence. "I am... they have no other choice but to obey mymands. They are heavily under the influence... addiction towards the holy tar." "So you''re making all this weird green water? All the gas and shit? What are you eatingdy big teeth?" At this point fear was pushed away by half, simply because he felt a hunch more superior to these checkered pufferfish. Correcting the young boy with a thundering shout, she recited. "The holy tar was already here, I just learned how to use it... better than anyone else. First I used it to triple my size and then, tomand these fools." Direct enough, he decided to figure something out. "Oh well do you know that these fools are raping fish?" Circling around the stingray, she exined. "Yes... that''s how the addiction is passed, through sexual intercourse. Other fish don''t usually cooperate with us so we found ways around it." That considered, he stretched out the seaweed covered fin and then curled it towards his mouth. His level 3 jaws cutting through the dark green nt without a single resistance, ripping through it with one bite. The humpback anglerfish had no idea what was going on here, until Tim revealed a raging thought of his own, interjected calmly. "Then I have no reason to spare you and the ass suckers of the holy tar." Afterwards he let the forbidden blue bean slip out, thankfully it didn''t sink like a rock but instead just floated around near him. The anglerfish didn''t really know what to expect at this point but he made it crystal clear as the stinger bashed right against the stink bomb. At first, it broke in two and a blue misty type of substance emerged around it after. The blue substance merged with the green gas that captivated the entire cave here, spreading at a radius of about 2 meters first. And after a blink, the entire mist here shifted blueberry blue in colour! Everything, apart from the 4 foot tall ditch that carried the thick green substance the olddy referred to as, holy! Panicking, she put in effort to revive the original colour that captivated this cave, giving her absolute best to illuminate the light on her head as much as possible. At the first try it proved utterly useless and the other 4 tries proved just as pathetic, to of which Timmy couldn''t help teasing. "Your blinker is broken haha." Enraged far beyond measure, her mood interjected with illumination, the green light on her head shining stronger than ever. Bizarre enough, the blue dotted stingray could see sparksing out right near the lightbulb of this creature... yes that''s how he decided to call it. And as thedy increased her attempt to enve this blue light right back to her submission, those sparks increased. Although high and dumb, he is aware that sparks underwater are typically not a good thing. So with all of his organs, the boy shouted. "Stop that!" With the stink bomb dropped already, Timmy could remember that it was time to dash out of here. The holy protection guarded him from gas but not whatever this was. The checkered pufferfish turning upside down, encouraged the thought of fleeing. On the way to the tunnel, he shouted. "See''ya water fucker!" And spotted the spark around the humpback anglerfish, turning into arger fire! It started off just a foot wide, but 2 meters of swimmingter the fire expanded tenfold in size! All Timmy could do at this point was try not to get held back by any snug part of the tunnel. 30 feet deep in the tunnel, he could hear a raging fire behind him but thankfully not strong enough to fry him whole all the way here. Chapter 52: High yet observant Chapter 52: High yet observant Although the fire behind him was in all aspects raging, it didn''t necessarily damage Timmy. The disaster solely had a radius where green gas was mixed with the blue one. This tunnel had no such thing so that necessarily rendered the tunnel as a safe ce toy his fins on. Although not at all tired, heid on the grey rock to observe just what the hell happened. Because this situation had no thread of making sense, yet he wants to puzzle it all together. Raging thoughts ran through his mind, using all the avable brain cells used for focusing, stating one theory after the other. "So I got in this ce, the gas was supposed to kill anyone who didn''t consume the holy protection but yet it didn''t kill these pufferfish." "Wait... that long fish mentioned something about these puffers being born around it." "But how long is this weird water here? I never even knew stuff like that existed." "Must be some kinda magic. Is it magic? No, I don''t think so. That old bag of bones didn''t mention anything about magic. She would brag about it if it was truly magic." "She said something about knowing how to use the holy tar... and somehow got the fish under mind control or drugged or whatever." "This doesn''t make sense! None of this is normal. How the hell can yucky green tar even be down here!" "And how did that anglerdy make the weird water explode... water isn''t supposed to explode!" "Hmmm maybe there is something the friendly puffers didn''t tell me... this is all too odd." Well that''s where the self counselling session met an end, he had settled with the thought of ming the fish who sent him here. Thankfully he did not receive any damage, not even a single bar dropped but there isn''t enough transparency in this situation and Timmy thinks that''s no ident. So he detached from the t-ish rock underneath and slowly started swimming away through the rest of the tunnel. Swimming slowly however, might not have been the brightest idea as something significant captivated him. "God! That smells like burned ass!" He yelled out and thenprehended why the weapon was called a stink bomb. Rushing out of the tunnel became a new idea that he had a lot of motivation to follow. Because only the smell itself was strong enough to cause a blurry vision, when paired with being absolutely high then the scale weighs heavier on disorientation. But thankfully no disaster captivated the young one, he made it out of that tunnel and then browsed the first dark mist he met. For the sake of seeing the friendly hand once more and giving it a greet. But it wasn''t there for some reason, Timmy had genuinely spent about 5 minutes looking for that good unit but luck wasn''t given to him this time. So he made for the only bit of light through this mist, to follow the next tunnel that was most definitely longer, 100 meters or so. One thing in particr that Timmy loved about this tunnel was the 3 foot long width it provided. The prime reason behind it was easily the ability to move so freely. The vibe it gave was also something he treasured. Now that the holy protection effects were definitely less effective, he couldprehend his surroundings without feeling like travelling was light speed fast. The tunnel here seemed like a massive worm had punctured the rock and coral, to make a badass under the sea ground den and lived here for like a million years. The chipped stones, out of order and sticking out like a zit, gave out such a thought. Nothing about this tunnel seemed natural at this point but he can''t think of a creature strong enough to make thisrge ce. As he was just about to reach the end of the tunnel, his vision was blessed with a good reminder that his memorisation capabilities were equal to that of a carrot''s. Another checkered pufferfish was charging towards him, most definitely at full speed. And he didn''t notice iting due to taking time with admiration of this weird tunnel. So in all means, he didn''t notice the checkered pufferfish before it got just a foot away. Out of reflex, he tried to p his wings like a desert eagle and swim out of the way. Almost did so even, but such a p was only a recipe to disaster all thanks to the prime fact of meeting the enemy eye to eye. The attempt to get away got him into more trouble. The pufferfish had its mouth wide open with an attempt ofnding a bite, so Tim identally swam right through the enemy''s mouth. In this one, it felt snug as hell! Mostly because this enemy was smaller. The stingray had a hard time understanding just how he lunged right through this enemy''s mouth. But luckily no damage was dealt against his body, the only problem was the snug spot here that once again made the boy feel like a smi. Out of a sudden he felt the surroundings expanding, genuinely able to turn around because of it and peep at his surroundings. His first thought was, "Well shit. The cave ate me." But after peeking at the skin walls, he came up with a second thought. "Oh wait, the pufferfish puffed." Understanding whom had superiority at this point, Tim formed into that golden banana formation and lunged through the roof of this joint with that prime goal of dealing proper damage. His stinger had no trouble whatsoever to puncture through skin and bone from the feels of it. Made the young boy think that upgrading the tail might not be something he needed anytime soon. [Checkered pufferfish killed. 10 system points have been given as a reward.] [Total system points = 83] Right after, the yellow coated sea pancake could feel his surroundings closing in once more. Chapter 53: Soul Chapter 53: Soul So he pulled the stinger out and made for where he thought the mouth of this puffer was. With a bit of attempt, he slipped through but could also feel his back and belly getting scratched. Thankfully no rm about damage was rung, so once more he escaped without taking damage. This mission was in all terms easier than he thought, and as a good gift, the pufferfish here can be consumed for health. After a bit of consulting with the system, Tim had realized that his hunger bar was only 7/15. Easily understandable considering all the distance he had covered, not to mention the battles. But it also meant that he can''t consume this entire checkered pufferfish but only half of it. Which in exchange will fill up the hunger bar to its limit, grant just one more point of health which summed up the total of 66/100. Last but certainly not least, his stamina had decreased by 5 points as an effect to consuming such a species. [Stamina has been temporarily reduced by 5 points. This effect willst for exactly an hour, so system rmends you to get out of here and rest for a while.] "Well shit. This is a forbidden puffer then." He answered and wiggled his tail, making for the exit of this joint. First things first after he reached those friendly fish who gave him this mission, was to ask them questions regarding this entire mission. Nothing seems to add up and without further questions, the curiosity could haunt him for a while. Through swimming out, he could feel a small disturbance in the waters. But figured that it was just some crazy clownfish raging somewhere out of this gassy den. So he didn''t bother to look around and made for the clearer waters, his little fins stroking the water softly. This task was finished fast so he had a lot of time until the holy effects wear off, rushing wasn''t part of his subconscious for now. But that disturbance... it felt closer now. As if a short tail was violently torturing the water, piercing water like a crazy water kisser. Once more Timmy did not pay attention to it, brushed it off as clown fish fighting each other this time. In the quarter of his eye, spotting an orange sh became inevitable, hard to spot when swimming above bloody red coral but his short vision worked good enough this time. At this point, he felt certain that this orange fish caused all of that disturbance. Judging the speed, it became all the more usible. As it got closer, Timothy realized that this was no small clownfish. No no, instead this was a fish whom stretched twice of Tim''s size. Recalling some recent memories, it became easier to figure out what this species was. And spotting the dark patch above the roof of its lips made everything clear. This was none other than a cktipped grouper. It didn''t take much logic to figure out that this one wasn''t here for anything good, a simple animalistic instinct would be enough to figure that out. So Tim followed the direction where the enemy was raging through. Oddly, it wasn''t swimming directly towards him but was instead taking an alternative route, almost taking a U turne to think of it. It was all on the boy''s left view so he slowly shifted his body towards that direction to predict when the enemy will attack. His stinger stood curled up, waiting and craving to massacre the orange bastard''s head. The enemy got closer by every blink and Tim did not fail to follow each second of it, until finally he was led left enough to make a 180 turn. His pupils jerked wide open as the sense of vision captivated a pitch ck fish, whom stretched 3 feet wide and had a terrifying row of pointy stick like teeth raging forward. "What the hell is that!" Tim shouted, right when the enemy was about 3 feet away. He tried to sink down in order to avoid the enemy, but that was stripped out as an option because it wasn''t so easy to avoid a 3 foot wide fish! At this rate, he had a short hope of getting swallowed whole, that would inevitably help escape those horrible teeth who can deal deadly damage regardless of his durability being recently doubled. When the enemy reached just a foot close, Tim tried toprehend the realization that this could be the end. Right at that second, something orange flickered through the quarter of his eye once more. And... Bashed directly against the big dark enemy, knocking off its route by a few inches. But as much as Tim was concerned, the enemy rushed right through his right side without causing any damage. Having the opportunity to peek at the enemy''s back, thanks to all the momentum such beast brought. Spotting the hump on its back helped Timmy easily realise who this bastard was, the beast being short lengthed made everything a hunch more transparent. "This bitch survived that fire?!" Tim thought while taking a peek at the orange bull that had enough momentum to knock that huge bastard out of the way. Confused of whom to attack at this point, he asked the cktipped grouper. "You didn''t mean to do that, right?" "Oh I he meant it." She answered and shook her head after, reciting. "That fat fuck has tough skin." "But why did you attack it?" Tim questioned, genuinely confused and once more ignoring his surroundings. "Look out!" Thedy orange fish shouted and dashed against Tim, using her rather strong slim head to push the boy out of the way. The massive fish raged through the water above them right after, her dorsal fin creating a noticeable line through the waters, all thanks to that torpedo like speed. And thankfully it stopped charging for a moment after missing the target for the second time. She stood 5 meters away but Timothy could notice how she became dark skinned, it was all thanks to that fire. The enemy''s gaze focused directly towards him, her tone stretched loud with a single statement. "The holy tar demands your soul!" Chapter 54: Spiny Chapter 54: Spiny Fearless with every cell of her body, the anglerfish charged right towards Tim, ignoring the other one''s presence. Unwilling to know how the insides of this enemy seemed like, Tim jerked his fins upwards right away and slipped a foot more below. But that wasn''t enough to avoid a 3 foot wide enemy, so he had to repeat that procedure which aided to sink another food deeper. At that moment, the enemy shed right against Timmy''s spine, simply because she was swimming straight downwards, so the odds favoured her in a few aspects. But she wasn''t lucky enough to dig those ugly yet dangerous teeth on the boy, the only collison worth talking about was the bashing itself. Aimlessly, Tim had raised his tail at that moment, curled it into a U form. That aided tond the first ever physical blow against this enemy, as the barb sunk right below the beast''s mouth. The momentum however, was strong enough to drag the boy along effortlessly. That and his tail was flexing hard enough to not break the said attack position, so that became a reason for him to hang on this beast as it dashed 10 meters away from the collision point. After a couple seconds, he could see what had just happened. Still seeing the enemy''s belly over his head, helped figure stuff out. While still hooked against the beast''s chin, he made a 180 turn, most definitely flipped like a pancake. The prime aim of such a move was to dig his vicious level 3 jaws right against the enemy''s belly. The belly was all he could reach, because although short, this beast was still 2 feet long! If it was any shorter, Timmy could have easily bit her anus without any said resistance. High or normal, he would do anything to win a battle and what would hurt more than losing reproductive part? After taking one bite, he could sense just how tough this enemy''s skin was. It felt like chewing through that nasty coral he had to take in the beginning of this task, well technically her endurance was half of that. But yet, once recalling all this risk factor, he easily had motivation to bite a bit harder this time. So after taking off a 4 centimeter chunk, he took another and then the next. 5 bitester, he felt the enemy slowing down and muffling what sounded like anger. "That was a mistake." And then Timmy could hear fins pping, their impact was strong enough to cause noticeable disturbance in the water. But spooking fish in a 30 meter radius wasn''t really the prime concern here, especially since everything in his vision started spinning. About 5 secondster, figuring out the situation became easier when taking the 10 or so spins into consideration. This beast was horizontally spinning on the spot, without even bothering to swim from her spot and such. She was doing numerous 360 spins, making them look easy to do but the effort put on them stood out like a zit. After figuring out what she was trying to do, Timothy stopped biting off chunks through the enemy and instead held on the beast with those very jaws. But the bizarre situation scared him to bite a bit too hard, so he took another chunk off the enemy and felt himself twirling like an empty beer bottle, such a mistake had forced him to lose proper grip of the enemy. Tossed 5 feet away, dizzy no doubt, through the blur he could see arge object dashing towards him. This has to be the enemy, no buts about it. Dangers acknowledged, he began to bash fins against the water to move away... but yet was still spinning and in another way was disoriented, so such a task became tricky. He was just aimlessly swimming around, although the attempt to progress far exceeded what a little stingray could provide. As the enemy got close enough to be just a couple of feet away, Tim once more felt like this was the end. Because the enemy... well she was far more powerful than the tiger grouper he faced. That grouper almost led him to death... but this one? The odds favoured one fish and it was only the one who was tough as stone. After one more spin, Tim arrived in the position of getting a far better glimpse of the raging enemy. Through that same tenth of a second, an orange rock bashed through the water, made its way up and struck therge fish right below the chin. Forcing it once more to change directions! Forcing such a massive beast to change directions enough to get those teeth away from his body. And instead, Tim was bashed on the belly this time but thankfully the system didn''t rm anything about taking damage. With the golden opportunity given, he began to fling that tail of his around as fast and as violently as one could. 3 stingster, a strike against this beast''s eye was finallynded and a shout followed after. "You tiny inferior shit!" Remembering just how a bad idea it was to hang on this enemy for too long, Tim used those fins of his to leap off the enemy''s head! But yet still close enough to kiss the monster''s back, he slid down as if on a slide and in the meantime managed tond 5 more strikes with the stinger. His tail was working overtime and fear of being absolutely ughtered, aided such speed. "Oh for the love of...!" He heard the enemy shout, in those same seconds when the attack wasunched. He hadnded stings before but thisdy did not yell... even when there was a crater being opened in her stomach from countless bites! So Timmy got a slight idea and spoke it out. "So that''s your weak spot ha?" But then spotted the orange fish about 15 feet away and asked her, "Why are you fighting this old hag?" Chapter 55: Sacrifice Chapter 55: Sacrifice "Because she stole my pic snacks." The orange fish answered, sarcasm as if her second name. "Oh, good reason." Timmy answered back, in all aspects unable to understand the sass. Thankfully able to speak the stingernguage properly, she assured. "No! I came here to protect you!" At that same second, the beast of an anglerfish raged across the water, right between them and aiming for the blue dotted sea disk. Thankfully more observant of his surroundings right now, especially since the dizziness wore off just a hunch more, not to mention the effects of the holy protection. He jerked those yellow fins downwards and lunged his body up, trying to avoid the enemy. But that wasn''t enough, so he had to p them fins a few more times just to get away from the torpedo-like monster. Escaping the enemy but sadly unable tond a blow, he turned around and shouted out. "Why are you angry? I won fair and square!" "You killed my entire tribe!" The humpback shouted as she took a sharp U turn to seek out the enemies once more. At that moment he saw the cktipped grouper approach, uttering. "She won''t reason with us. Any bright ideas?" Recalling just how hard it was to kill an enemy smaller than this one, he answered. "Uh... survive?" And then the old hag dashed across the water, right in between them. At that second, it was every fish for themselves because this pair split in two directions in order to avoid certain doom. A bit disoriented once more because of the enemy''s momentum spinning the boy like a frisbee, he managed to find the orange fish and recalled an idea, screaming it out. "The back! Bite the back if you can, it''s her weak spot!" Unable to understand how this boy''s mind works, the one and onlydy orange fish answered. "How am I supposed to bite that old fat ass'' back? You see how fast she is, right?" "Would you rather fight her all day? She won''t go down!" Tim answered and felt a slight pain on his fin, then realized what caused it. He had been pretty much head butted by the 3 foot wide beast, dragged along the water but thankfully nowhere close to the mouth. Yet he felt something hard and straight around the bum, at first it was concerning but then he remembered that this enemy had a thingy on her head that made green light. pping his fins, heunched off thedy''s head and dug those jaws in that pole of which had dim illumination. Snap! Those level 3 jaws were strong enough to dig through and through the bit of flesh, it was about 5 centimetres wide but not strong enough to withstand that pre-meditated attack. Tim was bashed off bnce by that tail after and heard the system announce. [Health, -5 bars.] And right after he heard the enemy shout, "I will kill you!" "Kiss my ass water sucker!" Tim shouted back, tad celebrating because ofnding a blow strong enough to make the big bad beast cuss again. And then he charged as far away from the enemy as possible, seeing the red coral with a big circle on top of them, an idea struck his sense of being. Reaching close enough to the cktipped grouper who proved more than helpful through these short minutes, he pitched. "Follow me!" At that point he didn''t bother to stop and debate what the n would be and felt confident enough, due to being already about 30 feet away from the enemy. Such confidence made him shout, "Niiiaauuuu!" While piercing the water at a not so stunning 3/mph speed. The orange fish followed after, but she proved faster than the stingray she had aided up until this point, twice as fast really. Eventually reaching the coral, the cktipped grouper waited on Tim but could also see therge enemy chasing after him, getting far too close already! At that moment she thought, "This old hag is crazy fast!" And therefore carried a point, she had to be going at least 25 mp/h! That''s not a speed that any typical fish had, but one gaze at the muscles on her tail would make one understand how such speed was achieved. Spotting that the enemy had gotten far too close to Tim already, being only 10 or less feet away, a course of action had to be taken. So the brave hearted orange fish bursted a fart and raged away from her spot, charging directly towards therge enemy. As he was swimming away, Timmy could feel the raging disturbance through the waters behind him, and managed to estimate that the enemy was just a foot away. The water itself having more friction out of a sudden, slowing down momentum even, helped the boy get a hunch that the enemy had opened her mouth already. Bum! A couple of heads thumbed and the sea pancake''s momentum returned back to normal as he made directly towards the coral. Looking back, he could see the orange fish''s belly facing towards the water''s surface... that wasn''t nearly a good sign. "Well shit. She''s dead!" Tim muffled but decided to put that thought behind quickly as his own ass mattered more than a fish he didn''t even recognize. And afterwards continued with the n that took root in his pea sized brain a moment ago, blooming it now with a shout. "I''m here, you living fish stick!" The enemy''s route had temporarily been changed due to the collision earlier against the orange fish, she had swam straight upwards all thanks to a fish that was tens of times smaller. But now... the fearsome enemy charged right towards the coral, Tim was specifically floating over the base on one of these unique corals. As the anglerfish got exactly 5 feet close, Timmy didn''t want to bother waiting any longer. Considering speed, it would be a tremendously horrible idea to try his luck. The blue dotted dumbass swam right upwards and heard a loud thumb right after, it felt almost like an earthquake as the water itself created a set of underwater waves! Chapter 56: Teamwork Chapter 56: Teamwork Looking down, he could see the very coral of which this beast shed into, copsing! Shattered at the very bottom and the effects of it going up like the domino effect, the main point that led this copse was very close to where the enemy had head butted it. Seeing just how much damage a head bud from this beast can cause, Tim felt a hunch more sad about the cktipped grouper whom took a bullet for him. But now the prime focus was on the enemy, he could see the very coral copsing over therge fish! The beautiful red coral that was shaped like a circle, shattered in 3 main pieces and one of them fell right on the tough fish''s back! Even a moron at this point would understand that the enemy had been restricted by the copse, seeing her bash the caudal fin around in utter desperation assured such thought. So Timmy charged directly to the enemy, with the prime thought of noticing that the risk factors have been sliced in half. Soon as the sea pancake reached just a couple of feet away from the enemy, he gave a massive burst of power on his left fin and felt the entire body twist to the right mid swim, behaving like a frisbee. Such a move made the boy''s backsidend directly on the fish''s head. With a swing of that marvellous barb, he hadnded a horrible kiss right on the enemy''s only working eye. Swimming a foot more away, he could hear more struggle as the enemy shouted. "Your soul can''t escape the holy tar!" "Aha sure." Timothy answered and lended a view towards the enemy''s spine. The humpback had been struck with coral and the damage from it was in all terms hard to carry for a fish whom carried her weak spot right on that body part. Unwilling to wait until the enemy can break loose from these chains that mother nature threw over her, Timnded right on the hump. And then moved that vicious tail of his, striking the enemy 3 times right on the hump! Such pain forced therge anglerfish to yell out and put an attempt to fight, but it wasn''t enough to break free. So Timmynded on her once more and continued stabbing the back,nding 5 more strikes! "Enough!" The enemy shouted, and flinched her chest backwards and the tail right towards the front. Which as a result, made the humpback release enough power tounch Tim about 15 feet away from her and the coral was moved enough to aid breaking free. Spotting the enemy slowly rise, facing the boy directly although blind, all he could say was. "Well shit." But then heard an excruciatingly loud toneing from the front, citing. "I''m Konon!" And a simr tone following up. "I''m Koob!" Such an entrance got the two opponents confused, even Tim who had known these pufferfish for a long time. A few seconds more of analysing was all the brothers needed tond their prime attack! Well... it didn''t really cause much damage. One of them shed against the enemy''s left side and the other shed on the right. But due to being small and plumpy, the effect was minimalistic. But then, all of a sudden... Puff! The brothers unleashed their most dangerous weaponry against the enemy with one inhale of the water around them, sucking in as much as they could carry. A secondter, the big bad enemy was captivated with more than a few dull spikes whom prime motive was to unleash poison! "Ah!" The old enemy humpback shouted, apparently not tough enough to endure the boiling effects of poison. Through the midst of that horrid shout, Timmy could see some memorable characteristics. Thin to be more exact... The needlefish siblings seemed to be carrying what one can call a massive red te, but no, it was just a 40 centimeter wide crab! Near the siblings, stood a small pack of pufferfish carrying a couple more of thoserge crabs. A few secondster, the crabs were tossed right on the enemy''s back and the thud once these beingsnded those pointy ws on the hump, was hearable. Unwilling to give this massive fish a chance to fight back, these crabs started bashing their pointy and yet strong ws all across that back. These dungeness crabs showed no remorse, regardless how much the anglerfish yelled on each strike, these tough bastards kept bashing their tough ws a few inches deep in the hump. Since they are too big, one crab had to hang on the beast''s tail with one w and stab with the other... one could easily tell that getting constantly stabbed in or around the anus was nothing good to experience. Filtering out that shouts have be lesser, Tim charged right towards the enemy and sunk his jaws right on the head, taking a chunk off. And then he took another, unwilling to miss the opportunity of taming this beast into submission. About 5 bitester, the enemy lost her set of bnce and therefore all of the crabs fell off the enemy andnded on the coral, although it didn''t really deal them any damage considering how tough their whole body was. Still hanging on the enemy, he finally heard the system specify. [Humpback anglerfish killed, 20 system points have been added in your collection.] [Since this fish is abnormallyrgepared to any fish of her species, you get rewarded 40 more system points.] [Total system points = 143] "Haha! That''s kind of a cheat, these crabs basically ughtered this old hag." Tim debated but the idea of earning so much points felt more than great. [Eating this entire fish can grant the following effects.] [Effect on health, -500 bars.] [Effect on hunger, -100 bars.] [Effect on sleep, -300 bars.] [Effect on stamina, -200 bars.] [This fish had been poisoned and had bad effects before it as well. System heavily rmends to not consume it.] Upon hearing such foul statistics, he thought. "So d I didn''t swallow any chunk." But then a thought hit his head, "Wait..." Chapter 57: First platoon Chapter 57: First toon It took him a few seconds to remember that there was one more fish whom lended a hand in battle before these tough shells came by. Spinning around in his spot, Timmy finally managed to find where that particr fish was and rushed towards her, separating from the crowds of friends be it new or old. After reaching the orange fish, observing a dead fish whom died in his cause was hard on the subconscious. But he still couldn''t help thinking out loud, "Why would you fight that old hag? I don''t even know you." Afterwards he felt pressured to add, "Now you''re dead... because you wanted to help me." "I''m not dead, was just resting." The orange fish answered, turned around and then shook her head. "That bag of bones was like a swimming rock." "Oh you''re alive... either that or I''m still high. Am I high?? No... the coral is yellow again." We can consider this half of a self debate, but one needs time to recover after consuming odd coral that came out of a pufferfish. "She''s alive." Amie assured as she swam near them, afterwards adding. "Isn''t she the one who escaped from the tiger grouper''s den?" "I have absolutely no idea who she is, that''s what I''m trying to figure out." Tim answered, more genuine than ever, the needlefish didn''t make sense at this point. Able to face these fish eye to eye after shaking away the dizziness enough, the orange fellow assured. "Yes, I am the grouper who escaped, your friend is right." Although more stable than ever at this point, the sea disk was still dumb enough to ask. "Oh that means I have to kill you now. Why did you bother to follow me?" "I''m not a big fan of stingrays but you killed a terrible person today, the tiger grouper was a menace. Most of my friends were beaten into very before you came and killed them all." Rather direct but transparency is what everyone needed after such battle drama. But confused like most times, Timothy wanted to figure out more in a way of terrible self expression. "So?" Confused how someone so gifted can be so dumb, thedy tried to hold back her sass and further exined. "So, I wanted to thank you for wiping out his evil ways. But also, I want to be your friend." "Girl the only way you can be my friend is if you join my tribe, otherwise you can''t beat around this bush." Perhaps misused the saying in several ways but at least his point was made. Painfully direct, the cktippeddy expressed. "Oh I stalked your friends long enough to know about that. I have no idea what your tribe is for but sure... anything to leave the north side." "Okay miss orange. Your first task as my friend is to take all of these new friends to our hidden den. You just need to protect them and stuff, do you think you can do that?" At this point he felt like a master negotiator, seeing all these new faces around aided that thought. But thedy ended his winning streak by answering, "That''s not how friends work but sure." As she swam towards the rest of the group, whom stood behind near the corpse, she turned around once more and recited. "I''m Osira by the way." "I''m Tim." He answered and then tried to remember what had run through his pea sized mind earlier. "Uhh what did I want to do? Sleep? No no... I slept enough." Then he got interrupted by Amie, who had to contradict the boy''s choices. "Are we really travelling without you? It isn''t safe." Although he hated to be interrupted, his attention span wasn''t strong enough to remember why he would be mad. So instead, the pancake focused on answering the question. "It''s not safe at all but you saw what those crabs could do, they killed a monster and shit. You''d reach the den feeling fresh as a daisy." Assuring the rate of sess, he also added. "Koob and Konon have travelled enough to know exactly where the den is, follow them and you should have no trouble." ... After a few minutes of adjusting and brief nning, the rather decent in number group of marine animals started their way to the reef, specifically heading towards what we can call the far south considering the current location. The closest new friends insisted for Tim to join along, but he felt like the results so far aren''t so great to build arge tribe that can fight off big bad sharks. So going with them could eventually lead to making all that travel just to get back here... not to mention, Alba is out here somewhere, obtaining recruits of her own. Thest thing he would need is to get back at the den and see that the biggest enemy yet had out performed this mission. So by all means, he had to stay here for a while... But the far north isn''t a ce he was much used of, residential areas specifically, are hard to decipher which one would be best to have a temporary stay in. Going back in all that weird explosive gas would be a horrible idea, so he decided to go back to the only other discovered decent den here... the same one where the tiger grouper had been ughtered. The fish''s tail remains there, ready for consumption and after losing 5 more health points, it would be best if he got back there and consumed it. Eventually, he got into thergest room of this den and right then, a thought he had forgot, came back. "Dang, I forgot to ask those pufferfish about that weird explosion!" But then counted facts again and decided that it might not be too important to understand that weird part of nature right now, so he decided to follow another thought. "System, what upgrades are there left?" Chapter 58: Smart talk Chapter 58: Smart talk [Guest has 2 remaining purchase options.] [Option number 1 = upgrade barb to level 2] [Price = 80 system points.] "Oh right... the non venomy thingy. Wish I had this before fighting that beastdy, her skin was like rock." At this point the holy protection effects had almost worn offpletely, so remembering stuff from the near past became much easier. But once more the system ignored the boy''s banter and continued with her own recitations, stating the following. [Option number 2 = upgrade emotional intelligence (EQ) by 5 points.] [Price = 110 system points.] Scared by that massive price, he brushed it off with a half reasonable thought. "I''ll leave this one forter, no need to be smarter right now." [The current task that had been given to you by the tribe, massively depends on how well you perceive and interject emotion.] [Speechcraft ys a heavy role in this task, you need to know what to say in order to continue this task with the current sess rate.] [So system rmends you to upgrade emotional intelligence.] At first Timmy wanted to directly refuse such a rmendation, but it only took a brief recall of memories to understand how a bad idea that was. So while half willed, he pitched. "Okay, I''ll upgrade my EQ but after I eat what''s left of this fish." Gazing at the tiger grouper''s tail, Timmy went ahead to dig them jaws into it, one munch at a time to avoid exhausting himself even more. ... Over more than a hundred bitester, he heard the system give a summary of the stingray''s overall state of being. [Health = 71/100 bars.] [Hunger = 15/15 bars.] [Sleep = 18/35 bars.] [Stamina = 12/15 bars.] After trying to give out a burp but inevitably failing and spitting out a small chunk of meat instead, his attitude focused towards a bit of positivity. "Aye, things are starting to look up. Right now I realise that having 100 health points is too much to ask for." But then remembered what he got down here to begin with, therefore requesting. "Okay system, upgrade my EQ now. Please." [Purchase confirmed] [Loading purchase...] Unlike thest time when Timmy upgraded intelligence, this time the young one could feel just a slight pain right in the middle of his forehead. An impact that can be brushed off as too light to care about. But yet it helped him remember, "I''m so happy that increasing intelligence is painless. Why doesn''t everyone do this?" [They don''t have systems and going the long way around isn''t preferable by most masses.] "Easy, sassy system." Tim answered but then came into a firm realization, he can understand sass! Such a capability didn''t even exist in his sense of being before, and now suddenly understanding it became a foot closer. [Upgradeplete] [Your emotional intelligence has been upgraded by 5 points.] [Your emotional intelligence = 65] [110 system points consumed.] [33 system points remaining.] At the moment he could almost feel grief for all those points lost, but the thought of bing smarter itself, helped snap out of the mood. And instead of grief, cockiness began to overwhelm his conscious, making the boy utter. "Now I''m a super genius!" [Technically, now your emotional intelligence is considered average.] [If you were a human, that number would still be below average.] [But amongst stingrays, you''re basically smarter than most others that are your age.] Able to understand half of that information, the boy shook his head toprehend everything and added. "So you made me take that upgrade just to call me dumb? Peachy." "Intelligence ha? You''re still a baby, a juvenile." He heard a familiar tone softly speaking from an unknown location, illuminating this 7 meter cave with an echo enough to make that soft tone sound rageful. Taking the effects of the holy protection as a thought, heined. "Great, now the cave started speaking to me. A cave with a system? What''s next? A rock? A needlefish? That hag we killed?" "You''re dumber than I remember." That same tone spoke out, feminine in every aspect and sassy no doubt. A few secondster, he spotted a wider winged disk shaped fish emerging from one of the many tunnels that took refuge in this cave. Completely gray by colour, her long tail whipped against the water as she added. "I want to kill you and that system that hides in your head." Finally recognizing thedy, Tim cited. "Alba, my biggest enemy. I was wondering when I would get to kill you." "I''m still wondering how you survived but my guess is that the system had something to do with it." The stingraydy answered,pletely dark grey by aura. Looking at the enemy now, young Timothy came to a realisation that he might have overestimated what power the other side of the stick can throw. Fuck''s sake, him being 15 centimetres long actually managed to seed against bigger bader enemies. A prime example was the same one whom''s den had been repossessed. So confidence as if his middle name once more, the sea pancake tried to threat with all of his being. "I''m trying so hard not to kill you, take that opportunity to fuck outta here." Swimming just a little bit closer although still 3 meters away, thedy whom definitely interjected a strong front, dictated. "I see the system in your little head has made you too confident. I own this reef and you going against me is just ying idiotic. But your intelligence isn''t big enough to understand that just yet." With intelligence involved, the boy rushed through a ray of thoughts, trying to filter out. "Okay Tim, it''s your turn to say something smart! You can do this!" And such internally built up confidence, portrayed around him with a prime vocal reply. "You might have taken those points but you can''t touch this groin." Absolutely staggered, all the other side of the stick could answer after firmly processing such words, was. "What?" Chapter 59: Plan Chapter 59: n Trying to be just a hunch smarter again, Timmy tried to assure. "Ha, see I''m already smarter than you." Trying to shun away that awful pun even further, he had to add. "But what''s more important, you''re weaker than me now. I killed fish a million times your size already!" Proving that she had been here longer than the boy perceived it, Alba weighed in. "I saw what you killed, with the aid of 20 friends. That''s not a win." Unwilling to talk anymore with the fear of saying something stupid again to the most hated enemy, the young manid out a strong string of words. "I killed a lot of fish before that old hag, you will be one in my collection. After all, you don''t have a system anymore so we can tell whom is useless here." Smart enough to understand that a portion of this threat wasn''t a bluff, she chirped. "Although you''re not nearly strong enough to beat me, I won''t take chances." "See, I didn''te here alone." Uttering such a sentence, Timmy began to spot over 10 fish heads, swimming out of the small entrance that this ce provided. He doesn''t nearly recognize these pieces of marine life, so in no way could this be good for the young fellow. He finally managed to count 17 of these fish, apparently they are from the same species. About a meter each although too slender for fish of that size. But after a bit of analisation, certain characteristics began to shed light. At first he confused them as sharks considering their dark shaded back and white belly... but no these weren''t sharks. But weaker species instead, tunafish of some sort. They boy could point that out once peeking at their pointy nose which in his view looks, ugly. This amount of fish was more than enough to fill half of the den with space, Alba seemed like a marble shrimp at this pointpared to them. But yet these fish weren''t attacking, allowing the stingraydy to speak. "My forces far out beat yours. You will be aughing stock in the hidden den when they look at my soldiers." In those same few seconds, the boy could see a storm of ck coloured crabs bursting out of the entrance and stopping near Alba, waiting patiently. Until she turned around, facing these crabs who in all aspects seemed just a bit bigger than Timothy. "I see the rest of my forces have arrived, splendid." These crabs... well they seemed terrifying. They have 3 rows of extra feet that hung on the middle of their waists, pointing forwards and making them look a lot like spiders, 20 centimeter long ones. These look smallpared to the tunafish but counted 3 times in quantity, there are still a few of them passing through the entrance. Giving her attention back to the enemy, Alba recited. "Little boy, I will save you the embarrassment of presenting your recruits to the tribe." Spotting the fear in the blue dotted stingray''s eyes and quite enjoying it too, she pitched. "My friends here will rip you into a million pieces, this is the end of the road." Seeing a solution out of this but also requiring time to put it into motion, the boy contradicted. "Uhhh... what if we make some sort of deal?" The enemy quantities are far toorge, even if he had a full health it wouldn''t be enough to endure a tenth of the damage these fish can inflict. Thankfully, Alba took the bait and asked. "What deal could you possibly make with me? Stop using that pea sized brain of yours, the end is here." Able to read Timmy''s mind, the system encouraged his hidden idea. [That is the only option to get out of this problem, take it.] Letting silence stretch wholeheartedly on purpose, waiting exactly 10 seconds, the boy cited. "See we can do a little deal, it will help me but you the most." At this point pissed, she yelled out. "What''s the deal?!" Taking a few more seconds to reply, the boy answered. "A dealy deal about the..." And then made a dash for it right upwards until he reached a mild height and then continued towards that path, where the exit was at. The piece of water he was swimming on, carried the least enemies so the n of his became more enhanced. "Don''t let him live!" Alba shouted and argemotion amongst the masses broke out. The tunafish began to swim faster which caused enough disturbance in the waters to create waves of some sort, knocking him a bit off bnce but not enough to stop that golden 3 mp/h momentum. After making it through the easiest part of this barricade, the wise sea disk began to swim directly down towards where the exit was. This particr task was harder as it carried more crabs near it, and their ws do portray a deadly attack if he made the mistake of getting too close. As he swam close enough to be just a foot away from the exit, something long broke his winning streak. It crossed the stingray''s path so he ended up smacking against the fish. By instinct, his tail swung against the enemy andnded a couple of blows while his jaws sunk into that white belly, taking off a small chunk. [Slender tuna recognized but not killed.] [Eating a full grown slender tuna can grant the following.] [System points = 70] [Effect on health, non existent.] [Effect on hunger, +150.] [Effect on sleep, non existent.] [Effect on stamina, non existent.] "So I was right, this is a tunafish!" Tim celebrated and felt like a super genius. But that didn''t y such a big role here, the prime aim was survival and it can be attained by fleeing like a coward. So after those strikes made the enemy flinch enough to move half a foot away, he made for the nearby exit and could feel the enemies charge after him, themotion in the water showed it all so the boy did not dare to turn around. Chapter 60: No shit Chapter 60: No shit There were a couple of tunnels to choose from before the sea pancake made his escape, but at that split of a second he didn''t really want to be picky and took the one on the left. Now this one seemed smaller but that can work out in the long term as the right one was wide enough to fit these slender tunafish in. But the left one is half of that size, horrible for these fish to swim through but perfect for young Timothy. The boy did not want to figure out just what would happen if he slowed down to rx, or stalk the enemy. Without a doubt, that would be a horrible idea so he just kept going. Eventually, the yellow coated stingray made it out of the tunnel and met the very starting point of this whole underground structure. It was the smaller room whom was coated with rivers of yellow coral and had apletely yellow ceiling as well, perfect for a dene to think of it. But that''s not what he was here for, instead the kiddo just rushed out of the hole at one edge of this ceiling and faced the underwater architecture that stood identical in shape. Comprehending a quick nce of his surroundings, the boy felt as if he was high again as a particr piece of being was rushing across the water. Staggered and scared, Timmy muffled. "How the hell?" The figure got a lot closer under just a couple of seconds, helping the boy confirm what can be picked apart from delusion. "That old hag came back from the dead?" Feeling absolutely stiff, unwilling to ept such a fact, panic struck the little boy''s heart at an impactful manner for once after a long time. The only thing he could utter and repeat beyond reason, was. "No no no no no..." Through that panic, the 3 foot wide enemy took victim any water in front or around her, piercing the masses with envious speed. Fast no doubt but yet slowerpared to what she could achieve before the crabs beated her into submission earlier. No one would make a fuss about that however, the olddy took so many shots against the spine. On the contrary it was more concerning how she was alive at the moment, it just doesn''t make sense. As she got just 10 meters close, Tim could hear the beast yell out. "The holy tar demands your soul!" Just a couple of blinkster, Tim heard arge crash right underneath him but felt too scared to open his eyes and see. This was the first time where he got so scared that, moving fins was rendered as an option that he couldn''t take. Opening his eyes, the boy gazed around a little bit, pping his fins to check. "Am I dead?" But as the sea disk peeked down, he could see the massive anglerfish''s body jagged in coral. That coral ceiling of which hid this den from the rest of the world was broken into a thousand pieces ranging from massive to atom sized. He could also see 4-5 slender tunafish bodies captured in this crash, most of which were heads who showed absolutely no signs of life. Upon further inspection, he spotted a species whom he did not expect here at all but at the same time wasn''t surprised. Directed towards the species, he thanked. "This is the second time you saved me, Osira. I''m so d youpletely ignored my orders." "Friends don''t give orders to friends." Thedy cktipped grouper answered, carrying a smile but he could notice that thedy was tad mad. At this point, scared to go against whom absolutely disorientated a seemingly undying enemy, Timmy repeated. "Right right right." But then heard the friend here yell, "Follow me before she recovers, again!" ... They had dashed about 300 meters from their starting point, specifically trying not to leave the north territories here, since the task of recruitment was still active. Absolutely tired at this point thanks to continuous sprinting, Timmy could hear the system rm. [Your stamina is bad enough to go below 0, slow down.] Gazing at orange fish''s sluggish swimming, he could easily figure out that she was tired as well. So an idea had to be pitched, "We need a ce to hide right now, there is only so far we can swim under a short time." Although tired, Osira couldn''t appreciate such quitter attitude and therefore had to answer. "No shit genius but it''s not a good idea. We have barely gotten away from the enemy, we can be easily found." Slightly offended although not at all because of the primary offense, the boy contradicted. "You can easily be found, I''m yellow and so is all this coral." Although tired, she had all the energy necessary to bite back... with words. "Those blue dots will stand out like a swimming shrimp, you''d be tuna food." Although dumb as a twig, the boy was smart enough now to understand the base motive behind thedy''s words, which was the urge to survive and seed. So cooperation became key for both sides of the stick to achieve their way of things. "Okay. We swim a bit more and then we hide, it''s the best idea." To such an idea, all thedy wanted to do was nod. And furthermore she wanted to use the energy to swim further, but to the stingray she pitched. "You''re used to hiding, look for a good spot as we swim." "Okay, sassy fins." The boy answered, trying not to lose a bit of good will that had built up in his conscious these couple of minutes. And then decided to illuminate that good will by the aid of speech, "You''re a crazy little orange fish but I never saw someone this brave, you faced death twice and got me out of it as well." "As bizarre as it may sound, I have respect for you so it would be stupid to let you die." Heart warming, kinda but at least she was brutally direct. Happy but yet confused, the sea pancake asked. "Uh why do you have respect for me? I almost killed you in the grouper den." Bringing the main point here and what hung on her conscious the most, she weighed in. "But yet you didn''t, although you could. Maybe you were justzy but I''d like to call it mercy." Deciding to be brutally direct like her, Timmy assured. "It was both, d I didn''t kill you though. You''re a boss!" Chapter 61: Embrace Chapter 61: Embrace Considering thecking stamina, they didn''t travel more than 50 meters before the young stingray crashed on the sand encrusted coral and refused to move. Thankfully he didn''t faint but the boy would be close to it if they swam just another 50 meters. But before he crashed on the sand, a little crack in the coral managed to capture the corner of his eye. So after Osira was under a bit of panic, they made a decision of taking refuge in that crack. Unlike on most corals he had explored, this crack had the entrance right on the very top. So it means that the formation was either cracked from a bigger being or was created like that naturally. Either way it didn''t bother them as taking refuge in it became the prime idea, the architectural values didn''t really matter. They struggled to climb in it at first, mainly because of Timmy having so little stamina and of course because the crack was high on top of this strange circle shaped coral. Osira gave him a little push from underneath, just enough to give a little boost but she swam away after a couple of seconds once realising that the helping position was embarrassing. Once reaching the crack they came to a certain realisation, it was big enough to fit these good hearted fish in but not big enough to have freedom of movement. The crack slips down like a slide but just enough for them to fit in and escape the naked eye. The enemies would specifically have to poke their nose in this small crack in order to sense life inside. Timmy slid in first and the grouper was short to follow. Silence struck for a good 5 minutes as these gentle beings took their much needed time to recover a tenth of their stamina. A bit after, the more than toughdy moved her head, pointing out. "We have to keep moving soon." But noticed that Tim had fallen fast asleep already. Although he was a ruthless killer and a prodigy as well, the boy was still too young, of course sleep overwhelmed his senses now and then. Wanting to p him awake but finding the boy too cute for such a task, she justid back on the coral flooring and murmured. "We have time to rx." ... About a couple of hourster, Osira opened her eyes and noticed one grand fact, she had fallen asleep. But yet her surroundings felt toofortable for people who had slept in a snug spot. Moving around just a little bit, the fine ck noseddy could feel a bit of flesh around her back. Necessarily, it meant that the only other marine animal in this spot had embraced thedy with his short fin. In a way, he was hanging over thedy''s back, acting like a big spoon although smaller than Osira. Noticing that he was still asleep, the orange fish had a hunch that all of this was done unconsciously. Therefore she didn''t wake the boy up with a vicious bite to demand an exnation. But instead, slowly moved away and thought. "Please don''t wake up now." Later on she heard the only other animal here, yawning and letting out a little bubble. "Morning already." d that his senses were dumb enough to not notice anything once waking up, Osira put that embarrassment led paranoia aside and stated the obvious. "It''s literally midnight right now." Direct, the young boy gave out half aint. "This life is weird. Can''t even get a proper scheduled sleep." But then realized that he was drowsy enough to say something that stupid, and instantly tried to counter it. "The marine life is hard." Thankfullypletely unaware that the boy across her hasn''t yet adjusted to the marine lifepletely, she finds a motive to go against his word again. "It is. But that''s how survival works, you know?" "Yes." The stingray answered and spread his fins a little bit wider to do a stretch, gave out another little yawn too. Direct, the cktipped madwoman asked. "What happened down there? I saw a lot of tunafish in the crash, those can''t be your friends." Recalling such a problem the boy decided to express his distress with vocals that would even wake up a blue whale. "They aren''t my friends at all, each of them wanted me dead, fish food!" "Don''t yell you moron!" The orange fish shouted out and had an urge to bash him against the head with that bull-like attack. As the atmosphere sunk towards stress under these few seconds, after calming down, Osira continued her dig for information. "But what did you do to them? I saw them head for this den, that''s why I''m here to begin with. It felt like their group was far bigger than ours." Getting to the main point here, she added. "Just how did you enrage so many fish?" "I didn''t do anything to them really. Even the leader of theirs who is the most pissed with me, I didn''t do anything to her. She''s just evil." As much as he hated to admit these strings of words, nothing strayed away from facts. His ego felt hurt due to being unable tond even one strike against Alba, yet she almost killed the boy and today tried to do it again. As an even bigger problem, that old hag somehow got back to life and although a hunch curious, he did not want to understand just how that happened. Understanding that this history might have deeper roots, she decided to cut the questions there. "Well that''s sad, she''s a bitch." And insteadid out a new base of thoughts, queries. "So what will we do now?" After taking a few seconds to shake off a tenth of his drowsiness, the boy recited. "We can''t take on Alba''s group right now so it''s the best idea to continue what I came here for." Speaking out for him, Osira added. "Recruitment and solidarity." Chapter 62: Where does sand come from? Chapter 62: Where does sande from? Carefulness as a middle name, the party of 2 slipped out of their hiding spot and gave a short moment to check the perimeter for any potential threat. The first thing that blessed their vision, was a pair of patty blue lips, far crossing the border of personal space. Perceiving it as a threat without a doubt, Osira charged like a spooked bull and smashed against the other side''s head. A momentter, they heard a feminine tone shout. "Fuck!" And with a softer volume, the same tone continued. "That hurt a lot. Why did you do that for?" "I thought you were an enemy." Osira was quick to answer but by just having a look at this fish, it was easy to determine that she wasn''t an enemy. Racial preferences don''t nearly y a part here, it''s just that this fish was far too small to pose any actual threat. For fuck''s sake, it''s only 10 centimetres long, shorter than Timmy if such a thing was possible! "What are you?" The stingray asked, drowsy enough to build an improper sentence although offending wasn''t his motive. This fish had a very interesting string of colours. The main one being light blue and a faded shade of greenid out here and there. But there was also a further interesting characteristic, the name said it all. "Bluelip parrotfish." Thedy answered proudly, sounding like a new adult by tone. "We used to be prettymon in these corals before the sharks attacked for 6 months." "Oh... sorry for your losses." Osira stated, feeling tad sad that she was young enough to first hear about the existence of these fish. Slipping towards the topic that interested her most, the bluedy recited. "I''ve been hearing a lot about youtely. Just a while ago, a group of tunafish were looking for you. I don''t know what you did to them, but good job. I hate those jackasses." At this point understanding where this was going, Timothy indirectly agreed to the question. "Let me guess. You want revenge on some fish?" Strangely, she contradicted with a term that he had not yet heard ever since the reincarnation. "No, I want revenge on some humans." Such a demand was shocking enough to shake away half of the sleepiness away from the boy, it was just too bizarre! Trying to sugar coat the fact that he can''t kill a full grown human, Tim weighed in. "What? That''s not a good idea. I can kill fish but... killing humans isn''t easy for me right now." Painfully direct, the blue lipped one started shouting like a dictator. "You don''t have to kill them, they don''t even need to understand who sent you there. I just want to hurt the humans, they have to feel pain!" Feeling that this task could be a lot easier, the boy nted a seed of motivation for himself just by asking a sadlymon question. "So they killed your family and stuff?" Calming down by a hunch, the light behind those eyes that unleashed anger, had dimmed. "Yes. After me and my family survived the shark attacks, we went out to hunt for food but my brother got hit with a big spike or something and my mother was caught with some weird t thing that had holes." Knowing that term better than anyone else at this point, the sea pancake corrected. "Nets, she wasted." "Whatever that is, I don''t care. My family is dead and the humans have to feel pain now as well." It''s nice to have fish around whom get straight to the point, the boss here enjoyed it. Leading this usible task as if grabbed by the tail, the blue fish continued. "I know where to find them, some even swim underwater and a few are on the shores. You will hurt all of them." Seeing one w with this whole n, Tim wanted to point it out before such a life threatening situation was put under motion. "That''s nice and dandydy but as a payment for all of that, we need you plus any other friends you have, to join our tribe." "I don''t have friends..." She answered, although hesitant for the first time. Seeing no major or at least a mild benefit at this point, he stated. "Then sorry, I can''t help you." As the group of 2 swam away, silence bing heavily awkward, they heard that new adult tone shining in desperation. "Wait! You have a tribe right? Tribes have dens. I have 17 rows of teeth, so your ce will always be spiffy because I eat all the junk. And..." Turning around after swimming 2 meters away, the boy asked. "And?" While Osira did not want to intervene in such business. A hunch more confident, the blue one felt happy to chirp out. "My teeth are strong enough to chip coral, my species has made all these underground dens you know." Absolutely shocked to the point of losing a bit of bnce, Tim shouted. "What!?" Possibly ruining this bustling moment, thedy across them felt proud to present. "Where do you think sandes from? We eat coral and then we poop out sand." Wanting to ignore how he had swam in fish poop for so long, Timmy stuck to enthusiasm. "That''s insane! Let''s go hurt fleshy humans!" "Okay, thank you for helping me get revenge." She answered, a slight joy shone in her tone but afterwards dimmed thanks to dipping this conversation into further detail. "About an hour from here is where humans go underwater to hunt fish, we will go there first... I want that one to feel the most pain!" FIUUUN! They heard a strange tone scarcely hurting their ear canals and a secondter, some weird fast moving fish pierced the water near them. It seemed slim, yet long which formed abination that in no way seemed natural. The strange fish slipped just a couple of inches below them and bashed against the coral, almost hitting the parrotfish. Giving a better look at the strange fish, Tim could see something that he did not fail to recognize, regardless of being a stingray. It was metal, pure enough to shine and long enough to cause fatal damage, making Tim shout. "It''s a spear, swim away!" Chapter 63: The prime attack! Chapter 63: The prime attack! The blue lippeddy was quick to slip in that small crack of which the team of 2 came out of, it was close by so refusing such an opportunity could have drawn the line between survival and bing sushi. It benefited her at least, as for the others, Osira had dashed towards one of these big identical corals near by, hiding behind it and hoping that the human would be dumb enough to miss her. As for Timmy, he had dashed on thepletely opposite direction from the grouper, specifically to the right. He had used the yellow colour that captivated the entire north side of this coral reef, him sharing almost the same colour proved perfect as camouge. After all, his level for such work was 4! Slowly but surely, the human swam towards where the spear had nailed, putting in a bit of effort to pull it out, especially since the point was like a hook. As for the blue lippeddy, she had the displeasure of seeing the metal spear itself twerking left and right before the human finally managed to pull it out. Thankfully she didn''t receive any damage, apart from a few scratches that were obtained by squeezing in one corner of this little room, but it was nothing serious. Tim was able to get a brilliant glimpse of the enemy although he was 10 meters away, a distance of which everything starts bing blurry. If he was 20 meters away, just spotting a brief human form would be impossible due to the heavily limited natur vision the boy had. The human however, was wearing a set of pitch ck clothing and was carrying a cylinder of some sort on its back. "That''s probably used to store fish in." Tim thought as he began to analyse the situation a bit better, trying to figure out a way out of this. After cursing a few times thanks to the workout of which the spear gave him, the human took a deeper breath and stalked the radius for any other fish. Out of a sudden, the human felt a sharp pain right on its ankle and at that point they could understand the enemy''s gender as a medium manly tone yelled out. "Cazzo!" Looking down, the human could spot a little blue dotted stingray hung on the bottom of his leg. As the, by tone middle aged man went through another ray of curses, he reached down to rip Timmy right off his leg. But soon as he bent down, a couple more pains struck like a wrecking ball directed right to the knee. Excruciatingly painful, but he had no other choice but to bend down and remove the little sea critter. That''s when more pain struck, as that same spot became a breeding ground for traumatizing injuries. Finally able to reach the stingray, this raging human managed to grab him right around the fins and squeezed the boy a little. But luckily it wasn''t anything to make the system rm about health loss, so the boy felt confident the same as he was fearful. With a couple of strikes against the hand, this grabber had no option but to let go and mourn for his hand with a good grab around it. That''s where Tim made a dash for it and stroked the waters underneath his fin in a massive, dependable, maximum speed of 3 mp/h. He could feel the human swim after with that pure urge of revenge but humans aren''t supposed to live underwater, so Tim was at least half the time faster as he went behind a coral and took a U turn. The human''s eyes were burning in rage enough to fail noticing the small one take such turn, granting the sea disk a quick escape. Damage was done but the boy still didn''t have any ns of fleeing. Instead, after making the turn, the boy swam directly behind this dastardly human and was brave enough to be just an inch away from the living body. With one strike, Timmynded his barb right against the enemy''s ass. Although not aimed so, he even managed to hit right in the anus! That sort of damage will take a lot of time to live down. But logically, it wasn''t enough to kill this human on the spot so a shout echoed, muffled by water. "Stronzo!" Timmy used the string of pain that the enemy was handling as an opportunity to slip away. So he first swam towards the closest friend, whom was hidden in the coral. "Common coral eatingdy." Tim shouted and spotted the other friend about 5 meters away, waiting for them. "I wasn''t hiding!" The blue lippeddy yelled out after dashing from the hiding spot. "Right, well I didn''t say you were." Timmy yelled back as they dashed for the orange fish near them. FLIAUUU! A rememberable tone shone across the atmosphere, temporarily enving the water through every inch it traveled. Scared, Timmy stopped on his spot to analyse where such a shot came from and had a motive to go back and help that human lose his virginity for the second time. At that second, he could see a fast moving object run across the water so ferociously that the momentum dragged him along. If he didn''t stop swimming at that exact moment, the spear could have most definitely ended his life. No anu... buts about it. Knowing that it was the time to swim away, he assured that therades here were safe before shouting. "Swim faster! Don''t be on the open!" Thedies dashed away while Timmy attached on the head of one of these big identical corals, spying on the situation to figure out just where the hell could that attacke from. At the same time he felt confused how that human recovered from such painfully embarrassing attack that fast! The sea pancake managed to spot an identical human about 5 meters away from the first one, making the boy think. "Oh, he has a friend." Chapter 64: Death Chapter 64: Death Giving attention to the friends whom were still waiting nearby, Tim shouted. "Get out of here, I will teach this one a lesson and be with you after." Afterwards he swam across the coral''s back, slow and low-key enough to make it appear like he was sliding down. It went so on for about 20 seconds before he had finally reached the bottom. This coral reef matches his mostly yellow skin colour so greatly, not to mention the sand over it. How foul and dumb would it be if such natural gifts wouldn''t be epted, especially in situations like this. But once hended over the sand, the first thing that went through Tim''s mind was the blue lip''s im about sand. He had thought that all sand was natural, but no... one would never expect for poop to be mixed with it unless spotting the process happening with their own eyes. Slowly but surely, he made it about 5 meters closer to the enemies and dreaded every little burst of energy while getting there, all the time thinking about how the sand rubbed on his belly. The human he did not yet attack became much more alive once the boy got too close. For a second it made him think that the enemy had acknowledged the presence, but no that wasn''t the case. The neer had noticed that his friend had been attacked and therefore made a hell lot of gestures until the injured one swam for the water surface. Such an act made Timmy think that theter would follow, but no. The new enemy was still down here, trying to focus as much as possible through the radius of which a limited underwater vision typically provided. It took the sea disk a minute to understand what was happening, so he decided to second a thought for the sake of safety. "System, when do you think is the best time to attack this enemy?" [Definitely not now!] [This humanoid has reloaded its speargun, you do not want a spear through you.] Curious, he expressed with absolute certainty. "You''ve seen examples before ha? I trust you on that, it poked the coral like a madman." [14% of the stingray guests of mine, have died because of a human attack.] Staggered at this point, that little stingray face curled as he thought out a question. "You keep stats on that? How much to know what else can easily kill me here?" [This is general knowledge that you can use any time, may it serve as a motivation to heed my word.] [But do you really want to hear these out now? That human wants you dead and probably has more spears.] "He has no idea where I am, look at that fool, looking around like a hungry chicken." Timmy felt half confident about such a im but yet was tremendously curious to hear this out, for the banter. [Loading carefully analysed causes of death amongst stingrays...] [Data fetched] [Throughout my 1,385 year of continuous function, I had 74,916 stingray guests.] "That''s a lot of stingrays. How did you have time to manage it all?" [I hosted many animals at once, but that was proving chaotic so now you are the only one with a system.] [The system has to perfect and remold techniques to reduce the death rate after reincarnation. Because after all, human souls are given a second chance of life here, not a death trap. I know that as my motive ever since hosting my first animal.] "So I''m basically ab monkey now?" Tim asked, able to catch up with what the deal was. [In a way, yes. But take it this way, the research I reap out of you can equal to a massively reduced death rate for others that can and will share the same fate someday.] Feeling a bit prouder but yet still curious, he for once kindly requested. "Okay, that''s fair. Can you continue with the statistics now?" [Gender and species regardless, death was caused thanks to the following carefully built up examples...] [Animal attack = 16%] [Human attack = 14%] [Starvation = 12%] [Beached = 10%] [Disease = 9%] [Failure of durability towards specific temperatures = 8%] [Depth damage = 7%] [Squished by natural structures = 5%] [Suicide = 4%] [Poison = 3%] [Venom = 3%] [Killed by a lover = 2%] [stic consumption = 2%] [Killed by a potential mate = 1%] [Pre mediated **** = 1%] [Stupidity = 1%] [Parental abuse = 1%] [Burned byva = 1%] [Data sessfully briefly specified.] [This information won''t change for a while, depending on how long you can survive. But guest can use this information without any said limit, upon request.] As the system ended her statistics, all Tim could say was. "Damn, you really kept track on all of that." [I did. As you noticed, neither of them died because of old age so that portion is particrly concerning. It means that 14 hundred years of work isn''t enough to keep a stingray alive long enough to have it die due to old age.] Finding a w, kinda. Tim decided to point it out, "Maybe because they feel special?" [What does guest mean?] Thankfully tad more specific, the boy expressed. "They feel special to have a system and stuff so they take big ass quests too early." [That is a great reason yes.] "Maybe limit just how much they can do in the beginning. Control their minds or something and add 20 beginner tasks, that only give a single point and stuff." [That''s... genius. How can your small mind think of something smart enough to tinker 14 hundred years of cultivation?] "Because I''m a boss." Tim answered, although heavily unable to give any further exnation because he didn''t know either. [Your rmendation has been adapted in the system. Any new marine animal after you, will have to go through more tasks.] [But mind control will be excluded, they need freedom to think and act.] "Works for me but... is there a reward for this tip?" [Apart from me calling you smart, there is no other reward.] "Peachy." Tim answered and remembered why he came here to begin with. Chapter 65: Discrimination Chapter 65: Discrimination As Timmy took his ever loving time to understand those statistics, the corner of his eye captured the humanoid''s brief movements. Although the enemy moved slowly, progress was still there as it had swam about 15 meters away from the stingray, far no doubt. After further analysis, with just a couple of seconds lended, he figured out that the enemy was tad scared. The prime factor that raised such thought, was the slow movements. It signified that the fleshy one who desperately wanted to be a marine animal, paid exaggerated attention to surroundings. Which either calcted to fear or a prime urge to kill the fish who roughed up the first humanoid enemy a bit earlier. Spotting the enemy''splete inability to find him (Tim), the boy became twice as confident which now can be considered risky. An idea nted in his mind and blossomed like a mint nt in the first tip of summer thanks to one question. "System, how many points would I get if that human dies under my buff strong fin." [First of all, your body strength is at level 1.] [Second, killing a human doesn''t give any system points. You can try when you actually meet the criteria but right now it''s best to avoid doing so.] "Why wouldn''t I get points? Do you see howrge that human is? Basically like 10 Harolds!" He felt fairly enraged but thankfully didn''t yell it out loud. [Ocean survival system focuses on marine animals, whom only way of living is dependent on the ocean or at least half depended by it.] [Likewise, killingnd animals doesn''t give you points either.] [Unlike 14 hundred years ago, humans being underwater has mostly be for sport or enjoyment, so system has erased the reward for killing a human.] At this point, the boy wanted to find reasons to encourage pre meditated murder against this enemy, so he argued. "Kinda stingy to be honest, it''s really hard to kill a human so there should be a big reward for it. 500 points at least." [Sorry, the rmendation is rejected.] At this point feeling discrimination but not smart enough to understand the emotion or put it into word, he instead raged. "Why? You epted the other tip!" [Indeed. But the death rate on fish kind from humans met a massive spike once the guests figured out that great points can be achieved from it.] [As you said, killing a human is hard work. But that didn''t stop opportunists, hence the massive death rate.] As if a moody teenager, Tim''s view instantly shifted, afterwards adding. "Oh you''re smart." [Indeed. And you are difficult to work with.] "Because I''m a boss." Timothy answered, rather confident and then focused on the base n. "It would be a waste of time to kill this one, but I can cause some damage." [If you must, keep it short. A few stabs can deliver the message you want to interject.] "Okay okay okay, now I stab." The sea pancake answered and moved a foot from his spot. But instant paranoia struck him, thinking that the first human might have spotted the attempting ambush predator. Looking to the left, he was quick to realise that the first enemy had already swam up. Gazing at the water surface, Tim could see a small cloud of blood surrounding the enemy, likely because of the stabs. Confident to the furthest extent for the morning, he sighed. "Air sucker." And then swam a foot more towards the enemy whom at this point was 20 meters away, back turned andpletely unable to spot the most ill intended enemy. Feeling certain that the enemy won''t be able to see him, the sea disk went through a burst of energy, swimming for 5 meters before he attached on the roof of a big coral. The far north having identical coral architecture, gave the ability to spot the enemy easier. It was still a blur considering the target being 15 meters away, but it still stood out like a zit. So he reached for the coral floor and then slowly started swimming towards the enemy without any particr break between the stalking. Now, he got just 5 meters close and managed to get a grand view of the overall figure this humanoid carried. Considering size and theck of curves, this one had to be a man as well. Not that gender mattered much at this point, he would attack anyone whom tried to kill the boy and his friends with that dangerous smooth spear. The enemy''s back was still turned, so Timmy used the opportunity to charge towards the enemy at full speed, reached his target under just a second! Landing on the human''s middle back, hended a strike right near the spine and managed to attack one more time before a heavy yet muffled tone, yelled out in pain. "Cavalo!" The human waved his free hand behind with the aim of finding and grabbing whomevernded those sharp pains. That was the blue dotted assassin''s sign to get the hell away from that spot. And instead, he swam straight down and then made a sharp turn upwards. All in the same seconds when the enemy was turning around to face the attacker. Being close to the inner thighs by now, Timmy decided tond another blow but steered clear from the crotch. If he attacked that particr part, chances to touch the reproductive part was too high. That was one thing he did not want to touch. So instead, he sunk lower andnded a blow on a spot whom will surely behave like a lifetime wound. With one swing, he struck against the knee but felt the stinger having a hard timending a puncture. Difficult but not impossible. But yet not wanting to take his precious time, Timothynded a strike right above the knee and then repeated the blow on that same spot. A split secondter, he dipped down straight for the big chunk of coral, taking a swim around it to find a good hiding spot. Chapter 66: Debt Chapter 66: Debt After making a dash for it, the young one could hear a lot of vocabry that sounded rough yet short, most likely curse words. It sounded a bit funnier when the water itself along with the mask, muffled half of the sound of which that human unleashed. Timmy did not understand the italiannguage, but such a shout can''t be honey mixed with sugar but likely the opposite. He nned to charge again, but now it was far too risky considering the human was raging more than ever. That and the sea disk could hear a spear fling across the water and then the other. That part was concerning, Timothy did not want to know how getting speared felt like. So once more, he became scared to attack although on the other hand, he wasughing it up. The third spear flung across the waters, whistled like a missilee to think of it. At that point, he couldn''t help thinking. "How many spears does this jackass have?" Probably plenty, but since it would take a while to reload a speargun, not to mention find and untangle the ones that were shot out. Such setbacks can lend an advantage, but it was not to use them now. After a 10 minute wait, the enemy humanoid had calmed down by a half and after seeing the odds, swimming to the surface became the best idea. Perhaps the enemy wanted to check on his friend, or himself as the recent inflicted wounds weren''t so light either. This was a sign for whom can take an extra step towardsnding more damage, the stingray can attack of course. So slowly but surely, Timmy began to follow the enemy but steered clear from that spear for the sake of not bing sushi today. As the human poked his head through the water''s surface, a sharp pain encrusted what was arge shout. Every type of pain was half wee when dealing with marine animals, but this human did not expect a sharp unbearable pain in the anus. Afternding the not so deadly blow, Tim started twisting his fins to reach for the ocean bottom, feeling satisfied by the cumtivended blows. Right before he was about to hide in some coral, a fast moving object broke his momentum and almost nailed the young boy against the coral. If he dared to swim just a hunch faster through that split second, a headshot would have be the unfavourable inevitable! Happy that he survived this without losing a single point, Timmy took a mild turn and his belly faced the sand... which didn''t fail to release unfavourable feelings, once thinking how sand was made. He rushed straight forward and didn''t worry at all regarding what the humanoid can do. Even with all that gear, the enemy was slow underwater so no harm was expected. After swimming 20 meters away, he could hear a familiar tone gesturing with a shout. "Over here!" He didn''t bother stopping to figure out a better idea of where that voice came from, but instead just kept swimming and tried to determine through it. He swam about 10 more meters away but then heard that same tone yelling out, "Over here dumbass!" At that point he was sure that this fine littledy was Osira, but yet did not figure it out where it all came from. He didn''t, before taking a peek on the left. "There you are." The sea pancake spoke out after spotting an orange fellow, happy no doubt before he charged straight forward. Reaching the 2 fish, he encouraged. "Let''s get the hell out of here." ... "That was incredible!" The blue lipped fish yelled out after they took a second to rx, 200 meters away from the enemy. "Yup, those humans never knew what wasing to them." Tim answered, a tad bit less enthusiastic and trying to ignore the fact that he was human in the past life. "They didn''t!" Thedy answered once more and then felt obliged to tell, "I''m Stacey by the way." Knowing that he will inevitably forget the name due to thisdy''s soon toe department, the stingray just gave a dim nod and cited. "Okay, I''m Tim and that''s my friend Osira." Her enthusiasm still strong, the blue fish yelled out. "Nice names! Okay so now we have one more pace to go. After you attack those humans, I''ll join the group you have." Getting a hunch more offended now, yet sad when recalling his past life, Tim gave a slight shout. "It''s more of a vige at this point,dy. Don''t offend it by calling it a group!" Excusing the stingray''s effort all thanks to what he can do, Stacey shouted back but with good intent. "Okay, it''s a vige. Now can we go and hurt humans? I want them to feel pain, just like they''re making our fish kind suffer!" His mood spoiled by now, he felt it best to point out. "This is bing tiring, I never did a job this big for a reward this small. Know that I won''t risk myself, will just sting a few humans ande back." "Okay that''s fair. I''ll do the most work when we get back to the... vige. That way you''d be in my debt." After hearing thedy utter that out, the other end of the stick couldn''t figure out if that was meant to be said out loud or thought. So Osira became the first to speak out, "Nobody owes anyone debt, especially Tim." Understanding where this conversation took a spiky turn, the blue lippeddy was quick to improvise. "Of course of course... but I''ll do more work than anyone else and in exchange, you''ll attack a human or two for me through your journeys." Recalling all the dens he saw so far, Tim felt happier to assure. "I can work with that." Circling in her spot, the smallest fish here cited in utter joy. "Then we have a deal! Now let''s go hurt some more of these bastards!" Chapter 67: Stuck Chapter 67: Stuck One thing particrly interesting about the far north coral reef, was just how close the shorelines were. It being close exined the presence of the spearfishermen in this specific portion of the reef. And it exined the presence of the countless men and women who were having a good time along this particr beach of the city. Tim''s starting point was far from the beach, yet it wasn''t too far either. Of course he wasn''t 3 kilometres away from the beach, but never bothered toe on this side either since no task pointed towards it. The coral was built in such a way that if one got dropped on the far south of the reef, specifically where Tim reincarnated, it would only set them a couple more hundred meters away from the shores. But, if one was dropped on the far north of this reef, where he was now that is, they would be a couple more hundred meters closer to the shores. It''s a bit hard to understand, but that''s how the coral was generated here. And where the hidden den was, also yed arge role when it came to getting around. Well, now Tim was closer than ever to the shore and with just a 400 meter swim, he had reached in the most shallow water ever, based on the boy''s experience of course. Timmy could see the sand just below him and the water surface close by as well. The water was 2 meters deep here and he was swimming in the middle, the friendly couple of fish following along of course. "These are the ones, bite and sting as many of them as you can." Stacey encouraged, as they gazed upon the swimming and ying humans just 10 meters away. Their movements were a bit of a blur for him, especially since most of them weren''t standing in one ce, he could hear kids yelling and running around as they do but it would be too risky to reach those, that''s far too shallow. Seeing the countless risk factors here, he wanted to bring back a previous topic by starting it off with. "There are a lot of humans here, gotta be like half a million." "Or 50." Osira corrected, seeing that her friend here was exaggerating things. Getting to what he wanted to say, the kinda clever sea disk recited. "Right. Well I will only attack like 5, can''t bite them all or I can die here." Although hating this deal, she had to agree with half a tone. "Fine, bite 5 of them." Feeling ready, Timmy charged directly towards the closest human. Basing it on body figure, this one seemed like a big male with decent muscles. It''s odd how this one was in deeper waters when he could show off those muscles to the countlessdies here. But regardless, Tim swam right between the legs and heard the humanoid shout from the top of his lungs. "Cavalo!" Afternding a strike with that vicious barb, Tim swam away at full speed and thought. "What''s he screaming about? A leg wound doesn''t hurt that much." The young stingray doesn''t n to attack this one again, no that would take too much time. Instead he swam directly towards the next target, this one appeared to be female but a lot older. Timmy could see roll after roll of fat, she was quite wide. Wasting no second, the boy stung this one right above the knee as well and moved to the next target with no thought ofing back. But this one didn''t scream for a while, about 10 seconds really. Perhaps she did not notice the barb, was asleep maybe? It was uncertain to Timothy but perhaps all the blood woke thatdy up. He felt a bit weird about attacking the human kind, he was of the same species before after all so these attacks didn''t fail to arouse bad feelings. Unwilling to go check on the olddy, he floated all the way to the next target and noticed that this one was a female as well. Except she seemed younger and better toned, had a lot more curves. If Timmy was human, he would likely sneak peaks of this finedy time after time. But as a stingray, he didn''t really feel aroused. Most of his mind is like that of a stingray''s, the only difference was his soul being human, which of course made him different from any other living stingray at the moment. This portion of the beach was a couple of feet more shallow, Tim didn''t notice that until he had to pick out which body part to strike. Yet he didn''t care to be decisive since any damage is enough to cause a little blood pool. A couple of secondster, he felt that something was odd afternding this sting. There was something holding him back, as if thatdy was quick enough to grab the boy by the tail. That of which made him shout out like a spooked baboon, "Let me go!" Looking back while still swimming straight forward, he could see that some cloth was stuck on his tail. It took him a moment to realise what it was, but hearing the high pitched scream after helped assure the theory. "I stole her bra?" The boy thought to himself and felt extremely embarrassed. The system sounded female as well and he did not want her to observe such a sight, in a bizarre way it felt like stealing her bra and that would feel tremendously embarrassing. A second after, his head hit something hard but yet soft. And then he could feel the entire little stingray body being elevated from the water. A male human face captured his vision after, this one had grabbed the bra and lifted Tim from the waters along with it. And so, that same high pitched scream echoed across the beach but this time, the humanoid could see the almost nakeddy pointing with one hand towards him and with the other covering her breasts. Upon furtherprehension, he also saw a good portion of men and women charging towards him. Chapter 68: Hat Chapter 68: Hat Understanding what this situation was leading to, the man holding the bra or differently called, bikini. Shouted out in italy''s own respectednguage. "I didn''t take this! I found it!" A few secondster, he was pounced by more than a few men while women followed along after, some surrounding thedy who lost her bikini to provide coverage. Throughout this massive hassle, the bikini was tossed high in the air, which gave Timothy absolutely no other choice but to follow. About 5 meters high above water, the young one began to struggle left and right with aims to break free from these soft shackles. Thankfully he wasn''t jagged in there too harshly and it took about 5 rapid speed tail movements to break free, even though he had to puncture holes through the bikini. But the momentum and muscle of that tail was strong enough to toss the bikini about half a meter away from where the boy was falling too, which made the said clothnd over another youngdy''s head. While Timmy... well, hended over a man''s head, one of which was giving the used one a good beating. Feeling the ufortably soft and slimy thing on his head, the man rushed to grab it, hoping it''s not a big bad seagull poop. "Porca putana!" The italian man shouted out as a sharp pain captivated the palm of his hand. By instinct, the man in his early twenties flung his arm clock-wise under a split second, craving to check out and hold the spot where pain illuminated. Thankfully, Tim wasn''t stuck on this one so that fling projected the boy about 5 meters away. Him being only 0.3 kilograms heavy, aided to reach such a distance with ease. Hended right in the middle of 5 or so humans, but the area was far less crowded here so the sea pancake faced a belly flop and then sunk in water. After a couple of curses, he sank deeper in the waters with a couple of harsh ps against the salt waters, and targeted a pair of feet,nding a blow on one of them before he slipped between the legs, making a dash for it. ... "That was incredible!" Stacey shouted after the hero blessed their vision. "You were there for a blink and boom boom boom, they all started screaming!" Wanting to ignore andpletely eradicate that he stripped ady off her bikini by ident, Timmy answered proudly but yet casual. "Well that''s what bosses do." Through his thoughts, the boy cited. "I''m d this task didn''t hurt me, the rest so far always bit me on the ass. Now I''m happier about this task cheating me out of system points." [We have to remember, you took this task willingly. System did not assign you too.] [As for your growing embarrassment, don''t forget that I can read your mind as well. Likewise, you don''t have to be embarrassed. The only thing female about me is my tone, I don''t have a body form or even emotion that rtes to any specific gender, I am specifically neutral.] Although the system said to not be embarrassed, everything just bacshed as now he felt even worse and such tangled emotion made him dictate the root of stupidity itself. "Don''t worry system, I would never take your bikini." Still casual in expression and emotion, the system answered. [You can''t, I don''t have a physical form.] [I''m literally living in your brain right now. Fair to say, it''s not so roomy in here so let''s hope you can buy the intelligence upgrades faster.] "Right right right right." The boy spoke out in that little mind of his, half ignoring what thedy had just said and turned to his friends. "Okay now we need to go." "Go where?" Osira asked, half confused but also wanting to figure out just how hard the next task will be. Trying to remember as much as he could, the boy took about a minute before he answered. "Uh some olddy yapped something about a spot being dangerous to swim in, it''s full of sharks?" Living here through her entire 1 year or life, Osira most definitely understood the surroundings here. "Oh I know what you mean but... there is no life there apart from sharks, why go there?" "I have ideas." Tim spoke out and only shed light towards this cloud of blooming confusion by turning to the light blue fish and asking. "You''re a fish that can make big fancy dens, do you know where all the dens are?" "I do, even the ones that are supposed to be secret. We share information with friends and family, nothing can escape us although we work in small separated groups." At this point thisdy went on a bit too long, bragging is a button that can''t be deactivated easy. But it proved what the boy wanted to figure out, bluelip parrotfish know their way around. So he immediately asked, "If there are hidden dens where sharks can''t get in to, then maybe there is life in those dangerous waters." Unsure but yet still talkative, Stacey exined. "Probably yes, but I wouldn''t know that. The 6 month long shark invasion wiped out most fish and we don''t really know now where fish live and how many of them are there." "Because it''s hard to go and check." Osira added, sealing the description. A bit more enthusiastic about it, as they were swimming away he pitched. "Okay well we aren''t so many fish so we can sneak our way there and find more recruits, we didn''t nearly get enough yet." Thinking that these are words a loser would say, Osira contradicted. "I wouldn''t say that, I mean those dungeness crabs are the strongest ones you ever recruited, not so many in this reef could fight them and win." "But Alba has recruited more, not to mention the tunafish are bigger than any fish we had recruited, her group is more powerful and I don''t like it at all." Such a statement is heavy toprehend but yet it proved that the boy can use that little brain of his. "That many fish along with the hidden vige''s location, can''t be trusted on her fins." Chapter 69: Backfire Chapter 69: Backfire 700 meters... that''s the distance of which the group of 3 had to withstand in order to reach a point they have be quite familiar with, Tim especially. Remembering a spot in the north speaks volumes itself, because everything here was mostly identical. Just looking at this spot was deafening and terrifying at the exact same pace. It took a lot of guts to take this exact route ande to this specific ce, but it had to be done for the sake of curiosity. They''ve swam to the same spot that could have killed him and Osira just earlier on, it was midday right now so they could have a glimpse of the area a bit easier. Specifics under consideration, they came to see if that old hag was still here. The beast somehow returned from the dead, neither of them could understand how but it was still happening. Careful enough, Tim asked for the twodies to stay back and hide somewhere just in case the situation became hazardous in 2.2 seconds. He slowly swam towards the hole that used to grant ess to the big great underground den that formerly used to belong to that tiger grouper. This is where the humpback crashed hours ago and blocked Alba''s entire group inside, for a while at least. Although he approached with much hesitation so his head wouldn''t be bitten off, the boy eventually made it to the point where a glimpse could be grasped. And... well she was gone. That entire 3 foot wide and long body was gone like a fish mother when their spawns were big enough. This was especially perplexing and gave a vibe that the strongest enemy he had ever faced, appeared to be an immortal one, unkible. Such a thought caused difort in that little heart of his for once, "How does she keep surviving? The coral crushed her." Tim wasn''t actually scared of that big old hag, such fear diminished when he faced that crazy sack of bones in battle... an anglerfish''s triple sized face was scary enough to push fear out of an individual, if such a thing could even be understood. Here, he came just to see if the enemy was alive... or dead, the boy didn''t know what term to use here. The system notified that he killed the monstrous fish, and the system was never wrong regarding such statistics. And this powerful enemy surviving once more, makes the boy fear that she will eventually attack the den. Sure the crew there was strong enough to kill thisdy 3 or 4 times if fate demanded it, but how many battles will it take until the vige ran out of fish? That crazy enemy had teeth vicious enough to fuck up a reef shark with a few bites, hell she seemed bigger than one so this made it perplexing as well. That aside, he figured out what happened in this copse after him and Osira made a dash for it. The tunafish have apparently dug their way through the rumble, he can see a 2 foot wide hole on the top corner of the copse. Although some enemies were taken victim, there was still enough of them to open up a hole in no time, a few weird dark coloured crabs being there, also aided the odds to the enemy''s favour. And so, a harsh reality struck the young boy... perhaps the recent intelligence upgrade had increased the odds of self doubt because the boy truly began to rage through that fishy mind of his. "This is not good, not at all. How the hell do I make enemies anywhere I go?" "The tribe doesn''t need to face all the enemies I made, fuck''s sake how is everything backfiring this much? The goal was just to recruit fish, how is everything leading to me risking my own ass and the tribe''s booty as well?" "These are fish! Fish. How is the entiremunity here so confusing? They are supposed to be dumb as a board, they''re fish!" After ranting those raging thoughts to the system but getting no reply, he decided to think just a hunch differently. "Fuck it, let them bring it. I will kill every enemy one by one if they try their luck." Then he swam a bit higher to take a better look of his surroundings, hoping that he won''t be stalked by any enemy remotely dangerous. A few seconds after, the sea disk made his way towards where themdies hid and cited. "That big hag is gone which means that she is alive. But let''s hope we don''t have to meet her soon, now we should follow the task." Understanding the strong mildly depressive aura in between this muffled rage the boy interjected, with half a motivation the blue fish seconded the idea. "Yes, let''s not focus on the fat one. I know exactly which den to check first." "How far can it be? My fins began to feel a bit sore." Timmy asked, at this point not even trying to portray an indescribable role model, specifically what he made a good portion of the masses think up until now. Uncertain how to exin it, the parrotfish let silence stretch for a while before she answered. "It''s like, far. You know how big a human is? I''d say it''s 150 long humans away." Finding the opportunity to sound smart which was indeed quite rare, Tim exined. "Okay so 300 meters. A human is 2 meters long so we can use that to exin how far a den is." Actually willing to learn, Stacey questioned. "Hmmm so I just cut the number in half and then use this meters thing to describe it?" "Yup that''s pretty much it." Tim answered and noticed a puzzled look on the orange fish''s face. She spoke for herself however, stating. "I don''t like numbers, let''s go pop some shark heads." Upon such a sentence, Tim''s eyes widened up and he had to contradict. "We won''t be fighting any sharks, that would kill us." Wanting to feel strong and important, she decided to write a little poetry through the art of speech. "Okay sure but I can fight! If we get attacked, just stay behind me or flee. I''ll knock their bones through their asses." Chapter 70: Entrance Chapter 70: Entrance About 150 humanster... the tiny group made it what wasbelled as a top priority, yet most of this group had no clue where exactly they were going. Only Stacey knew where one of these hidden dens are supposed to be, whichbelled the bluedy as the prime tool of navigation. The hidden den had an unique entrance, thankfully it didn''t require a special word to pass through it but it sure was different. In this group, Stacey was the only one who could open it and as a brag, she asked her friends to stay a foot away just to get a bit more attention. Afterwards the parrotfish swam straight up and then took a sharp 180 turn downwards, her narrow head making against the t and in a way, polished looking coral. What forced the rest of the group to shake their fins, was an abnormal sudden fact. Stacey disappeared, just like that! For a split second it seemed like the coral arose in a perfect mater upon contact, made a 360 turn and swallowed the blue fish whole. And then, the group could see Stacey arise from the coral as if a zombie fish who came back from the depths of the oceans. When she came out again, they could see a round shaped piece of coral flipping against the water like a tossed coin, that seemed to act like an entrance and exit. "That really is hidden." Timmy pointed out the obvious, intending it as apliment of course. "But you didn''t tell me anything about this ce. What fish can we expect to deal with?" Unwilling to be specific about it, Stacey stretched. "Oh, about that..." "What?" The stingray weighed in such a question, giving her an awkward eye. Feeling a bit pressured, she pushed all conclusions away by partially clearing out. "It''s full of diamond stingrays, at least it was but..." "But?" The boy repeated, dumb enough to still stand with suspicion towards thedy. Using the boy''s short attention span, the parrotfish weighed in another burden. "You know, the shark invasion. They are probably all dead so I hope you don''t mind seeing dead stingrays." "Let''s hope they are alive." Tim answered and tried to mimic the same procedure the blue fish did but inevitably failed. He belly flopped on the coral and felt the entrance barely shift, but being just 7 centimetres wide doesn''t really give the opportunity to shift a 30 centimeter wide entrance. Giving an aid, Osira swam a couple of feet up and then bashed the hell out of the coral. Barely took any effort for her considering just how tough she proved herself throughout the recent battles, the entrance flipped twice which shows whom was the true bull here. Timmy fell victim to such power, he spun along with the coral beforending on the other side. Embarrassing enough, he almostnded over Osira. As they waited for thest one of the group to swim in, the young stingray took time to appreciate the architectural values here, the most important one being width. The tunnel was half a meter wide, most definitely equal to the entrance''s size. In other words, it was nothing snug for anyone in the group and granted the luxury of moving around freely. The only thing difficult about this ce was theck of illumination, it couldn''t seep out of any hole here, the area was sealed shut. One thing he could tell apart from this darkness was the yellow coral spreading its short and limited branches across the semi-smooth cobblestone. "I can''t see a thing." The youngest one hereined and swam right next to Osira''s backside after. "I can." The orange fish assured and pped Timmy with her fin. "Follow me, there is a one way tunnel going straight down." Well the area was dark indeed but at least it was easy to see a string of orange in the midst of deafening darkness, so the boy followed Osira and Stacey followed the blue dots in front of her. They swam about 30 meters deep and then took a slight turn to the right, which led to a tunnel that no longer pointed down but straight ahead instead, it felt easier to swim over this portion. With about 40 more meters of travel, they could see the tunnel expanding, at this point it had be 2 meters wide. Right as they met the end of this tunnel, their vision was captured by what seemed like an under the sea cavern, stretching about 15 meters wide and long, this might be the biggest den they have found yet. "Where are the stingrays already? This ce looks so dead." Tim asked, losing his patience and dripping away hope as well. "We''re here." A female but yet masculine tone illuminated in this strong darkness, and afterwards their vision was blinded by a red light. There seemed to have been some gems on these walls, and somehow they have lit up in an area filled with water, right when that woman spoke out. After they adapted half way to this blinding light, they were forced to take a glimpse of what seemed like arge pancake, swimming 2 meters high above the ground. That same female tone echoed across the waters, strong enough to barge fear in these smaller souls, refusing to experience even a single mumble. "What are you doing here? Usually we eat intruders alive but you''re one of our kind... a stingray." Swimming in front of Osira so she doesn''t get hurt by what seemed to be a pitch ck stingray who was covered with white dots equal to Timmy''s size, the boy cited. "We need you to join our vige." Feeling that this was like amand and quite hating it, the female almost shook the sand as she contradicted. "You can notmand us little one, so think twice about what you think. But furthermore, why would we need to join your tribe?" "We?" Stacey asked from the background. "Yes, we." A truly manly tone echoed from the background afterwards and the ground itself began to crumble. It made the little group think that the cavern was copsing but no that wasn''t the case. Instead, 2 more stingrays of the same form and size had emerged, demanding. "Now answer her question!" Chapter 71: Speechcraft Chapter 71: Speechcraft These stingrays... well they didn''t fail to bash the sense of magnificence in each of the minds that the visitors carry. Their size was nothing like Tim ever saw on a stingray, they seemed to stretch a meter wide which felt like the entire cave was eating the tiny group of 3 whenever these massive stingrays waved their fins. In a split second between the sh against eyes the gems caused, Timothy got a shback of the sardine storm that almost got his neck. In all terms, these stingrays are humongous and that''s what the boy focused on instead of asking the tiny question he was asked about. Until the other male by the bigdy''s side shouted, "Answer her question!" "Easy... yelly pants." The blue dotted tough boy answered and swam just a couple of feet higher, directly vertical so he didn''t pose a threat. "I came here to address the issue that can kill us all." "You mean the spearfishermen?" The stingraydy answered, her tone softer than ever once familiarly uttered through the mouths of these potential enemies. "Why do you want to talk about those? They are too dangerous to deal with." Staggered beyond prepare, the boy let silence stretch for a while and began to sync towardsughter by every said word. "You fear the spearfishermen? They''re a joke, I basically took their virginity earlier." "What?" One of the men asked, not sure how toprehend this situation. "That''s physically impossible unless you became their whore." Happy to prove these massive beings wrong, the boy recited in a cocky matter. "I stabbed their butholes and chased them out of the water." "That''s a lie, humans are too dangerous to approach!" Thedy in the middle shouted out, having her ego hurt due to a little nobody being able to damage humans. "You''re too weak to actually hurt them." "I stabbed 2 of them, easy peasy." The boy assured once more but then remembered why he got here to begin with. "But that''s not why I''m here, we want you to join a tribe... er... vige of fish who want to fight off sharks and stuff." Understanding these fish a bit more now, the bigdy directly refused. "I don''t think it''s worth joining your group, 3 small fish aren''t enough to fight sharks." At this point bing a dictator who didn''t have a thick vocabry, Timmyid out the base of this situation. "That''s where you''re he wrong, patience my potential group mate. I pretty much left the vige when there were 40 fish and I just sent 20 more recruits to the den, it''s fair to say that we collected a lot of friends." At this point feeling certain that the little boy was lying, the white dot coateddy asked. "You mean to tell me that this vige has... 60 fish?" "Yup." Tim assured, not a single doubt in his tone. At this point not sure what to believe, one of these men asked. "That''s extremely hard to get yet you are so small... just how?" Hoping that such a question woulde, willing and wholeheartedly, the boy chirped. "I''m a boss." Heavily sceptical, the diamond stingraydy pitched. "Okay boss, we want to see if your words are just words... let''s find another spearfisherman." ... "Those are a lot of spearfishermen." Osira pointed out the obvious as they stalked what was about 5 of these humans, craving trouble and sushi. Assuring that sentence of which his friend nted, the young boy added his own verse. "Yes... I only attacked 2 of these weird humans before." "Well, you took 2 of them so you should be able to take 5." One of these diamond stingrays weighed in, making the odds rather unfair. Tim wanted to stab this one and courage wouldn''t be the thing hecked when it came to following such a measure. But when recalling all the funny cusses from this group when they tried to get out of the tighter spots of the tunnel, the little sea pancake threw sea water on that rage. And afterwards put in the base of a bargaining n, using all of his little stingray brain the pitched. "If I stab all of these, you will join our tribe so we can fight off the bad sharks of these reef." Seemed more like an order, to which the bigdy immediately answered. "What if we don''t?" Proving that his recently upgraded emotional intelligence didn''t go in vain, the boy pointed out a pattern by stating what these marine animals tried to conceal. "Then I won''t bother attacking these humans who from the looks of it, terrorized your family more than sharks did." "Erg... sure, we will join your tribe." Thedy answered for all of them, feeling absolutely certain that Timmy will die just to prove a point that can''t be proved. She felt certain this would be an instant fail, one look at the little boy helped put all doubt away. The blue dotted maniac was only 7 centimeters wide, while only a diamond ray''s tail was that wide. It doesn''t make sense but more importantly, these massive rays are too scared to ever face and fight a human. All those facts considered, basic logic screamed that the exaggerating sea disk will die today. The humans were about 20 meters away so that was an advantage when it came to providing minor camouge, the enemies haven''t yet noticed the animals who hid behind these big coral. Tim could only see a few ck coloured dots in the ocean, his vision was still horrible, level 1. So he just swam towards that direction, using the mostly yellow skin that surrounded his body to swoop in smoothly. Getting about 5 meters closer now, he couldn''t help feeling a bit nervous. This situation started to feel dangerous, the boy began to have second thoughts and started to hate his big loud mouth. What caused him anxiety was a little critter crawling through his vision, making him yell out. "Eek an urchin!" But a few seconds of anxious rapid shakingter, an idea rolled in his mind and a smirk arose with it. Chapter 72: Signature Chapter 72: Signature Although hesitant just by a quarter, he firmly understood the importance of this idea. So with a little burst of speed, the raging sea pancake took a bite off the little critter in front of him. [Purple sea urchin killed, 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 34] [Effect on health, -10] [Effect on hunger, non existent] [Effect on sleep, non existent] [Effect on stamina, non existent] [Your speed has been upgraded to level 5 for exactly an hour.] [Total health = 61/100] "This is totally worth the hurt." The young boy answered but of course was happy that no additional loss of health points managed to strike him. "Now let''s hope I don''t get hit... that would be very bad." Thanks to having level 3 jaws, he had it a bit easier to bite through the spikes of an urchin without receiving any additional damage. He also understood that keeping a stable horizontal position while biting the urchin, can help avoid additional damage. With one more bite, the sea urchin was eaten whole because although it didn''t give any other values, Timmy did not want to waste food. Even though that food was rough enough to tickle his throat and stomach for 2 or so hours. Confident beyond prepare and more than willing to show off, he charged directly towards the enemies and had no thought of being sneaky or careful, screaming the way there. "Niaaaaaau!" To the only human who managed to capture such sight in time, it appeared like a small torpedo was piercing the water in unholy speeds, frightening in many aspects because a fast moving fish was never a good thing. FIAUUUU! That same human unleashed that soul consuming weapon through the waters, a spear of course, there were no doubts about it. But panic rarely gives good aim and when one was underwater, the aim became even worse. So the spear was a good meter underneath Timmy before the weaponry crashed on some coral, bing quite stuck in there. It was never easy to hit a 7 centimeter wide little being whom could move or in this case swim, 20 mp/h! Less than a quarter of a second after, the human whom attempted tond the kill, felt a sharp pain right on his wrist. Giving the pain in question a nce, he could see blood puking out of it along with a small hole as if bitten through the piece of snorkeling outfit. In his ownnguage, the human yelled. "My hand!" But his tone was muffled by bubbles and sea water, not to mention the ridiculous thing on his face, so the friends around could only attain a sense that something wasn''t right, their ears were spared from the shout. But the second these humans used to grant all of their attention to one of their own, was enough to wee pain that they did not expect. One of these men screamed and held their ankle, the other followed the procedure of panic but held his knee and the two others held their hips. When underwater, the biggest fear would be being bitten by a shark... who would expect that a bite sized sea disk could cause such damage? As these humans howled in union, the group of hidden fish couldn''t help but to feel amazed... half of them at least. The diamond stingraydy who seemed to be the leader of her own, mumbled with confusion bing her best friend. "How is this possible? He is so small..." Although confusion struck strong for these new fish, what''s important was the fact that they could see everything, their doubt against Tim was violently diminishing. In the meantime, Timmy began to round up the enemies once more, striking 10 more strikes, some received more than the other. All these stabs feel pale inparison to what he could truly do, so the boy decided to leave an unforgettable mark on one of these sushi craving humans. He made a good ''U'' turn after swimming a couple of meters away from these humanoids and then charged straight towards the closest one. With a swing of his little tail, this enemy had toe up with ways of living down the humiliation of getting a direct stab in the anus. The shout for such pain oupeted anyone else''s here, his friends didn''t know if they should haveughed or cried. Afternding his signature blow, the agile assassin swam away and felt confident enough to stay exposed, a couple of meters above these tall corals. What he didn''t know, an enemy had recovered from the damage enough to raise his speargun, pointing it at the fast moving fish and unleashing such an attack without a single piece of hesitation. The spear pierced through the water much faster than the stingray could, it only took half a second for it to reach Timothy. This shot... well it wasn''t working to the sea pancake''s luck, quite the oppositee to think of it. But... Just a foot before it was about to devour the young one''s soul, the stingray could hear a sound... much like a loud thud. Spooked, he instantly turned around and noticed a familiar figure on its way toying upside down in these salty reef waters. A slender tunafish to be more exact, it had a spear bashed through its body so death was assured for this one although it was giving a minor fight. Considering the recent urrences, a fish of these species could only have been paired with Timmy''s arch nemesis. Well... at least this one took all the damage that could have most likely killed the stingray. He felt happy about this jackass being here but at the same time worried. His burden grew massive once paying more attention to where this enemy came from, 10 more fish of this kind poked their ugly heads in the waters with Alba swimming in the middle and a group of dark coloured crabs crackling their feet against the coral. Chapter 73: Whom do the odds favour? Chapter 73: Whom do the odds favour? But yet these tunafish weren''t lined in perfect order, some proved slower than the others and therefore were far behind from the rest. While some proved faster than anyone else of their kind, specifically 2 of them. Speed as a perk in this battle, Timmy charged directly towards them, although in a way it did seem like he was going against the entire group. He did not want to back down, especially now when he felt so sessful. Hell no, this wasn''t a day to back down. Reaching the 2 fastest enemies, one of these tunafish was quicker than the other and therefore faced damage at that same speed. Recalling the method of which worked the most, his tail curled forward, raised above the backside as if a scorpion. When at such speeds (20 mp/h), certain battle tricks can be easily bought if one took just a second to reflect. Likewise, Timothy did so and managed to slide his stinger from one side of the tunafish to the other, leaving a half meter long wound just by pping one fin against the water more than the other. Paired with great speed, such pre nnedck of bnce pushed the boy''s body to the side, making him swim at a 90 angle for a second. Which was enough to leave such a wound, if his barb was any stronger, such a slice would have ripped apart a few organs with ease. That angle was kept just for a second before such imbnce continued it''s breach, making the boy spin a couple of times. And to counter the effects of spinning in the water like a bullet at this point, the right fin had to go against friction a few times at the same strength. The second he gained bnce, the sea pancake made a grand move of swimming straight up and then towards the very starting point of this battle. The prime reason behind it was simple, he did not want to fight the 8 other tunafish alone, that would be ying stupid even with such speed. Returning back to the starting point, he could see that the other fast tunafish had analysed the situation already and figured out that Timmy escaped their toothy grip. Therefore it had turned around and now was swimming directly towards the blue dotted menace they so desperately wanted to kill. After just a second, these shers had reached a meter close to each other and that''s when something orange slid through his vision, making the enemy dissapear from the battle route. But yet Timmy was still following that route for 10 or so meters before he slowed down and analysed the situation better. Spotting Osiranding a few bites on the enemy became easy, of course it was her who interrupted this battle. Noticing that she was being overwhelmed once the slender tunafish actually managed to fight back and even almost bit her, Tim began rushing in battle. At the same time, he could see the same enemy that was just cut by that heavenly barb, apparently that attack wasn''t nearly enough. Behind that damaged enemy, he could see the rest of the tunafish still charging towards battle. That''s when he could see a light blue raging torpedo hitting the fish that Osira was fighting. Proved faster a little bit but it seemed like her bite was far stronger, because the slender enemy began struggling more than ever, wiggling like a worm just to shake off Stacey that had lunged on its skin. Using the distraction, Tim charged towards the struggling tuna and curled his tail downwards,nding a blow right in the noggin and dragging it down for a couple of inches before he lunged for the other enemy, whom was 3 meters away. This was the same fast fish of which had received damage from the raging stingray a bit earlier. For this one, the boy had to take a mild right turn which made attacking it, a bit harder. But yet an idea emerged in that pea sized mind of his and putting it into motion was difficult and probably stupid, but he did not want to waste it now when the odds were not in their overall favour. He curled that tail downwards a bit further and then pushed it in front as much as a little stingray can while still maintaining proper speed. The friction caused by revealing his belly on the water, began to slow the boy down in that half a second but also enhanced the move. Feeling like a warlord, he couldn''t help yelling the way there. "Banana strike!" And that''s when his tail dug in the slender tuna, puncturing the much bigger enemy by the side in a 45 angle. The speed was enough to dig his entire tail in the enemy but the stinger did not burst out on the other side of the fish. This tuna might be slender but not enough for a small ribbontail ray to poke through and through. But the momentum was still there so Timmy ended up being dragged around by the tunafish for about 15 meters before he could break free. Spotting that this particr fish had swam away in fear, his attention gripped amongst the small friends here and the contribution they were making. His confidence was lost a little bit after noticing that the fish whom the twodies were fighting, hasn''t yet died. The friendly fish of his were still digging their jaws on the enemy. But it wasn''t enough, they haven''t killed a single fish in this battle yet the rest of the enemies were just 10 meters away. Knowing that this battle is going to be long and deadly but yet unwilling to flee again, his head shook to shun away fear and repeating a string of words became the next step. "You can do this!" That''s when he noticed all 8 of the tunafish changing directions, making for the surface and then taking aplete 180 turn towards heart felt fleeing. While Alba... she just paused on her ce and her eyes opened up, as if carrying fear for the first time. Chapter 74: Ruthless Chapter 74: Ruthless Gazing at the very beings that were shaking her soul, Alba pointed out with a stutter. "You are supposed to be dead... the tunafish told me so!" Rather confident at this point after enjoying the fear in this opposer''s eyes, one of these diamond stingrays had to speak out, specifically one of the men. "Being dead and being in hiding has a fine line, the difference would be life and death itself. So you were gravely mistaken, misinformed." At this point unable to catch up, solely because of fear and not stupidity, Alba stuttered. "What? This uhhh... what?" Seeing that her friend might haveplicated things a bit too much, the boss of theserge stingrays swooped in the conversation. "Let me cut it short, you will die." Although stubborn, she could understand when the odds didn''t nearly favour her. So that considered, she took a sharp turn and headed for what we canbel as the shores of this piece ofnd. But that itself would be a bad idea, the first reason being the shores stretching a kilometer away. It''s fair to say that the tough and partially calctive Alba, was scared for her life and was fleeing because of it too. "Thank you! I''d be a tuna meal if you weren''t here." Timmy thanked after assuring that the enemy had swam far enough not to hear that. Before the boss of these diamonds was about to answer, they could hear quite a whistle breaching the atmosphere and poking a hole in the coral a foot beneath Timmy. Taking a look at their left, it was easy toprehend that the humans had recovered from the attack the little sea pancake had unleashed and were ready to make their pain worth while. Understanding that Timothy was ready to charge against them just by judging the wiggle on his tail, the boss of her own kind started controlling the other fish around her. "Go kill your enemy there, we will handle the humans!" Seeing the bigger enemies getting closer, the youngest here couldn''t help asking. "Are you sure? They have strong weapons!" Speaking for the rest, the least talkative man of this little group, assured. "You were able to cause a blood pool beneath them, we can do it 10 times better. It was only a matter of realising it." And then directly charged towards the humans, a secondter he pped the water with one fin and began swimming at a 45 angle, a spear poked the waters right after andnded right near Timmy, again. At this point, one of these stingrays had proved highly observant, the young one''s techniques were being copied and the sudden courage of theserge sea disks, assured that thought. Craving revenge but not wanting anyone in this group of stingrays dead, Tim turned to his friends and requested. "Go help them, I will handle Alba." Soon as Tim let out that demand, arger than ever blood pool had captured their attention. The 2 other stingrays rushed to battle as they had feared the inevitable. But at that second, the two fighting bodies 15 meters away, turned to their side. Which granted a clear yet graphic vision, the diamond stingray''s barb was barged through and through the spearfisherman who unleashed the first shot earlier. The humans around him were staggered but yet almost ready to attack, their spears pointed towards the enemy but they couldn''t shoot in the fears of hitting their friend with a deadly spear. The confused ones didn''t know what hit them as a pain over 7 centimeters thick, captured their gut. The remaining diamond stingrays had arrived in battle and their presence was impossible to not pay attention at. Feeling absolutely certain that these fish can handle the situation, Tim started off against the water with a burst of speed and maintained it. Who knows how far Alba had gone until now but at least finding her shouldn''t be a problem considering her grey natural colour, it wasn''t so useful here where all coral was yellow. About 5 minutester he was able to spot thedy he so dreaded, she had slowed down and took shelter on the bottom of these unique corals, in what we can call a bit of a crack. She was well hidden and if her grey features hadn''t captured the boy''s vision in the midst of that 20 mp/h speed, he would have most likely missed the arch enemy. Lucky at best but such a situation can be used to his advantage now, so the little pancake swooped down to face thedy whom was twice his size. First, his fins met the sand with a bit of a crash considering all the speed built up but luckily it didn''t cause any damage at all. Yet still confident after seeing him alone, Alba barged from the hole she was hidden in and then stopped on the spot, which allowed that deadly tail to swoop forward. Although not expecting such an outburst all thanks to seeing her flee a bit earlier, the boy was still able to avoid it just by charging directly forward. That whip-tail lunged but managed to miss the target just by a quarter of an inch, far too close. Knowing which attack works best so far, the boy continued charging forward and then curled his tail up, allowing the barb tond a deadly blow. Although Timmy struggled a bit to slip through, a cut stretched from one side of the stingray''s belly to the other, her face also received a bit of damage. Afterwards a shout was the inevitable, pain overwhelmed the biggerdy as she cussed. "You little ass sucker!" Unwilling to be caught in a bad situation, Timmy busted out of the little crack he had swam into through the heat of battle. At that same second the enemy was turning around, so the young boy managed tond a strike right near the head, which forced thedy into another shout. Chapter 75: End of recruitment Chapter 75: End of recruitment It took barely a second to swim away from the enemy and make a sharp turn to face her. Seeing that thedy barely had any energy to move at this point, perhaps because of the slice across her belly, Timmy decided to offer another route out of this. Here, he came topletely vaporize the enemy but now seeing just how fast she went down and what condition thedy was at right now, petty moved in. She almost killed him before and now... went down with just a couple of strikes, it is here where the boy realized that this enemy was overestimated. Swimming just a bit more behind to avoid her, the brave stingray offered. "We don''t have to do this, back down and get the fuck out of here. I''ll turn a blind eye, will tell everyone you just fled." Spitting out blood and using such rage to go against the smaller one, Alba tried to yell out but it sounded more like a dying bird. "Scared... you''re scared!" At this point the boy felt like his good deed was rejected with a harsh reply but yet judging from the blood pool, he understood why. So while suppressing half of his rage, the boy pointed out the obvious. "I can literally kill you with just one more stab, use this opportunity. You lost. The friends of yours have fled like the cowards they are, do the same." Pain taking over any rage her brain contained, the greydy caved in. "Okay, go." And then used the only energy she could collect to swim back in the little crack in the coral, letting a trail of blood tail behind her. Swimming away from the battlefield and partially happy that he won''t have to kill thedy, a thought emerged in his head. "So stingrays can die out of a belly slice? It was so easy, I thought this battle wouldst like 3 days." That thoughtid out, the young one continued with another. "I wonder how easy it will be to kill a shark, or an eel... Harold you trickster, I''ming for you and my den." Soon as that thought finished, he could hear a forced shouting straight from the backside while his fins partially touched the sand, due to swimming close to the ground. FLLKKK! A half whistling sound inflicted the water. Paired with that shout, it gave the boy no solution but to turn around swiftly. Doing so, his vision was overwhelmed by a tail as wide as him, punctured through Alba''s body and the sand underneath as well. Such a situation made the sea disk usemon sense a bit more, therefore he gazed up and spotted what felt like the sky swallowing him. But no it was just a diamond stingray, a few seconds of observance helped figure it all out. A familiar female tone shone after, reciting. "I thought you were smart. Why do you turn your back on an enemy?" Afterwards that wide barb barged out and away from what we can now officially call a carcass, and the body just remained there with a nk look on the eyes. Pissed beyond prepare, he shouted. "I gave this bitch a chance to live and the first thing she did was try to stab me on the back?!" Wanting to assure that the crazydy won''t ever move again, Timothy charged towards the carcass and began to stab all around the head. About 17 stingster, something unusual had still stuck to his brain and interjecting it with the aid of speechcraft was the inevitable. "Wait, you think that I''m smart?" After getting the feast of watching the young fellow devour the enemy with stings, the diamond stingraydy answered. "Well, smart enough." But then decided to show a bit of appreciation, "Thanks to your battle moves, we have killed the humans and received minimal damage." Concerned, the boy pushed cockiness aside and asked. "Your friends got speared?" Gesturing for the boy to follow, along the way she answered. "Just one of them, it''s a light cut really. The spear just hit the edge of his fin and flew away." ... They arrived back to where the past battlefield had started. The first thing that caught Timmy''s eye were the pile of humans way up on the surface, along with their weaponry dropped all the way down to the sand. The corpses were too far away to make anything out of their wounds but perhaps it was best this way. The boy decided that eating a human would feel way more weirder than eating a fish, all the organs and stuff. As they arrived in the scene, the diamond stingraydy described. "We will first feast on these humans and then be on our way to this vige of yours, you have won our alliance." Happy but yet disgusted, the boy yelled out in joy. "That''s great but... I don''t eat humans, feel free to feast on them though." "Suit yourself." One of the males here answered and afterwards swiftly made for the surface, the intent was obvious to pick out. Spotting that a few dark skinned crabs had still remained here, Tim asked. "Does anyone know how to speak crab?" "I know a little." The quiet male of these diamond stingrays answered and swooped in a bit closer to hear the boy out. "Okay, I will make this short so the crabs can understand with those little brains of theirs." Tim assured and at this point felt like a dictator. Acting like he was clearing the throat, the stingray began. "You crabs are far too untrustworthy at this point but we won''t kill you. Instead, just stay here and remember the day when we spared you... I think it''s enough to tell your little crabs about. However, I don''t want to see you leaving the north side of this reef so stay here and just live out your lives." As the diamond stingray exined, Osira approached and questioned the boy''s stupidity. "Well that wasn''t short, but why aren''t we killing them?" Proving that his memory wasn''t too horrific, Tim recited. "This reef is dying and we need fish and stuff to keep it alive. These crabs dying today would only kill the reef faster, you''ll know what I mean through the travel but trust me on this. These low excuses for crustaceans are needed here." Unwilling to debate with all of that right now, the blue fish just answered. "You haven''t been wrong so far, let''s hope these crabs won''t chase our asses like that undead hag does." Chapter 76: Cartoons Chapter 76: Cartoons Throughout travelling under a day, the group of 6 fish was blessed with the eye sore of dead coral that gave a vibe the same like a wicked disease. It would be reasonable to think so, as the damaged portion stood right in the middle of this entire coral reef. It truly was unsettling but yet the rest of the group could not understand what the whole point was. Sure the coral here had died out but what did it have to do with the reef life in general? No matter how much the rest thought it out, they just could not find a connection between this coral and letting those dark crabs run free. At this point Timmy proved useless in terms of shedding more light so he was hoping that the 12 year old sea snake whom assigned this task, would help exin better. But that became another problem, the olddy just wasn''t here! He had absolutely no idea where a tired animal would go but the boy didn''t want to scope the whole coral to figure it out either. One thing that urred as a blur to Osira especially was the reason why Timmy quit the recruitment and solidarity task short. It was hard to understand at first so the small sea pancake had to repeat himself a few times, but the sentences always originated to one idea. "We have gathered enough friends to kill a shark, why deprive the north side from fish when they need it just as much as the rest of the reef does? We don''t want the reef to die so those who stay in their hidden dens, must remain there and do whatever they do that keeps the reef alive." "I wanted to meet the sharks everyone feared so much but that''s for another day, we didn''t need to engage in pointless battles, killing those sharks wouldn''t give us any benefits." "We need to start this mission of saving the reef and I just wanted to get away from that crazy undead anglerfish as well. The sooner we start, the quicker we can save this ce." Well those were the answers of which the boy gave every time, they surely made sense but whom was smart enough could tell that everything originated around his agendas. One couldn''t get mad about it though, his intends are good enough and he was just a little stingray whom was pretty much pushing all boundaries just to help everyone, be it the tribe or the entire reef. So most could respect his spirit, hard to believe that this young man was only 40 days old! ... As they paused to take a good long break, one thing bloomed inmon amongst them. Hunger! Their bellies were thundering because of it and it was harder on the big ones. These diamond stingrays were a meter across and obviously required more food just so their bodies can keep going. They had passed the middle of the reef a few hours ago but to reach the den which was all the way to the other side of the reef, specifically south, at least 12 more hours were required. Travelling that long without eating something now would be a horrible idea, they need nutritional energy to go on. Tim was the first to pitch the idea, his health being 61/100 aided the motive. "We should stop here and see what we can hunt." "Agree." "I would even eat an urchin right now." "All I taste is water, I need meat." A few of the group members followed up while some weren''t really talkative, it was easy to figure out why. Known as the idea man thanks to the countless heroic and or typical acts, the youngest here felt obliged to state. "We''ll split up and meet back here, don''t forget this spot." Unwilling to put up any debate, the group split and began to scavenge for any little critter they could find. Although the tribe strived for solitude throughout the entire reef, there still were certain marine animals that proved good as a feast. Such as species of smaller crabs, shrimps and clownfish. The reason behind it was obvious, what shark could a shrimp possibly fight and win against? Feeling his stomach roaring for food, Tim couldn''t help asking the system. "How''s my hunger bar looking,dy?" [Hunger bar 1/15] "That''s pretty bad, reminds me of my first days in this body." Tim thought out and made for what seemed like a hole in this patch of red coral. The hole itself didn''t seem like it was made from coral, just dirt and gravel. It didn''t look like anything worthwhile but the boy was desperate enough for food. Swimming about 2 meters in, the first thing that caught his eye was this purple looking fat animal that seemed to have 11 or so arms. Absolutely disgusted, Timmy shouted out. "Eeww what the hell is that?" [A starfish] "Really? They look disgusting!" The young oneined once more and his desperation flew away by a corner. [You''re lucky they aren''t bigger.] "Not helping." He answered and observed just how small these beings are, certainly shorter than Tim but they stretched wider by a hunch. This starfish had to be about 10 centimeters wide, and he didn''t waste a second on killing it considering this marine animal can''t really fight back or swim away fast enough. With 3 or so strikes with that wonderful barb that carried a couple of blue lines on each corner, he could hear the system announcing. [Reef starfish identified and killed.] [1 system point has been given as a reward.] [Since this is a system given task, you received an additional point.] [Total system points = 36] [Eating a full grown reef starfish grants the following...] [Effect on health, +5 bars] [Effect on hunger, +1 bar] [Effect on sleep, non existent] [Effect on stamina, non existent] "5 health bars ha..." Timothy contemted as the 11 arms on the being didn''t fail to give the boy a chill... underwater. "This is not the starfish I remember in cartoons." [Cartoons? You mean those drawn things that show in a small box?] "You don''t know what cartoons are? But you''re like extremely smart." At this point he was absolutely staggered. [I''m 14 hundred years old. But a few thousand guests have mentioned cartoons, although I still don''t understand what they are.] "They are very funny, we gotta find some way for you to see them." The boy pitched the idea but then remembered what will not be so funny, eating this animal. Chapter 77: Recovery Chapter 77: Recovery Although eating that starfish helped to sessfullyplete task 6, it didn''t really satisfy hunger enough for energy to be yielded out of it. So after observing this little opening here, the boy managed to spot a small tunnel in the middle of this ce''s left walls. The tunnel was half his size so imagining just how small this spot was, shouldn''t exactly be a problem. Desperate enough to give it a try, the young man swam towards that tunnel and began squeezing in it. When ites to holes half his size, it would be difficult to go in it but not impossible. Crawling through it, the little sea pancake felt like an assassin. Snug spots tend to give out such a feeling, it was fair to say that he enjoyed every moment of it. After just a meter, this snug tunnel led to what appeared to be an opening although way smaller than the main one. Just a foot wide to be exact, so this would be a good hiding spot for any animal who could actually fit in. Although it took a few seconds to observe his surroundings better here, after moving away from the tunnel, light was allowed to breach in this small ce. That as an aid, he could spot a couple of marine animals that he did not want to see again. To which he couldn''t help shouting, "God, again!? I hate starfishes!" Their purple colour was unmistakable, well at least one of them was purple. The other carried a light shade of pink as a colour, although identical in shape to the other starfish. Feeling a bit uneasy with these different colours, he decided to ask the system. "Are these the same starfish? I don''t want to eat anything that can kill me." [Yes they are the same, these species tend to have 3 main colours but at the end of the day are all the same and provide the same effects.] [Would you like a reminder of what effects these starfish can bring?] "No no, they bring 5 health points and that''s all I need to know." Tim answered as a chill captivated his spine after seeing one of the 11 arms move around. Lunging forward, that magnificent barb swung as if a helicopter''s wings andnded more than a few hits on these easy kills. It was fair to say that he did not want to see them move and killing them quickly would be the way to go. After munching through them, Timmy asked for specific statistics and the system did not fail to provide. [Health = 76/100] [Total system points = 38] [Hunger bar = 4/15] Although a hunch happy about the health bar, he instantly focused on what''s not right. "This hunger thing is really slowing me down." But one thing he managed to notice right a few seconds after was how at ease his body began to feel. Through a day of travelling he could feel the entire body feeling partially numb and a slight pain remained on his fin. By time he came to get used of such a minor pain but feeling it go away now made the young one realise that he had been tolerating a bit too much. That''s the moment he heard his system interrupt what could have been another self lecture regarding why things happen. [Guest is in a state good enough to start with task 7.] [Task = find and kill a m.] "Really? That''s easy, I killed a m before." One would easily assume that this dumb stingray wouldn''t be able to remember such a small memory between over a hundred kills... But this memory was directly linked with Alba, the same girl he had a fancy for so in all ways it made sense for him to remember this kill. Although at the same time it pushed him in a bit of sadness, joy remained once recalling where ms can be found. [Small ms are preferable because the task will give just an additional point, regardless if the kill gives you more than that.] [System rmends to proceed with this task when you have eaten enough fish, otherwise it would just be ying stupid.] Understanding when this task has a great chance of being executed, Tim answered. "Okay. I''ll look for them soon as we get back to the hidden den." ... Soon as the young one got out of the tunnel, something rather unusual didn''t fail to capture his entire attention. Stacey hade back to the spot where they were all supposed to gather up, but yet she got back too early. That however would be a problem pale inparison when he looked at what thedy was fighting... a group of 3 clownfish. Although thisdy was a bit bigger than the stingray, she still struggled fighting off these smaller enemies but yet didn''t fail to deliver damage to a single one of them. Considering her 17 rows of strong dependable teeth, she began devouring one of the clownfish, one bite after the other and actually managed to split the enemy in half! After having a goodugh, knowing that these enemies can''t be dangerous enough to kill thisdy, Tim charged straight forward in battle and swam underneath one of the fish. With his barb pointed forwards and curled, he managed to puncture through the tail of this enemy which left behind a wound strong enough to have the system announce. [Clownfish killed, 1 system point had been given to you as a reward.] Seeing this as nothing, the young man just made a turn and swooped towards the only remaining enemy whom was hanging on to Stacey with a bite. Sinking his jaws right on the clownfish''s tail, Timmy pulled the enemy behind. His jaws managed to cut through flesh and bone easily, considering the jaws being level 3. That''s when the system announced again, [Clownfish killed, 1 system point had been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 40] "Thank you." He heard Stacey speak out, her tone signified a bit of exhaust. This good blue lippeddy might not be the best for battle, this situation showed it. Knowing that everyone else is hungry, Tim decided to only take one of these clownfish and cited. "You''re wee. Eat one and leave the other for Osira." "What about the stingrays?" The parrotfish asked, genuinely thinking for everyone. "I''m sure they can find food for their selves." The blue dotted hunter answered and took a bite off the fish. After finishing it off, he heard the system announcing. [Health bar = 77/100] [Hunger bar = 5/15] Happier than earlier, he listed out a brief n. "Oh now it''s getting better, I just need to eat something bigger now." Chapter 78: Home (1) Chapter 78: Home (1) Travelling the next 12 hours became much easier all thanks to the massive kill the leader of the diamond stingrays managed to make. The much capabledy had managed to find, battle and kill a reef shark. It was understandable really, considering a full grown reef shark was usually half a meter long. But the thought of killing a shark weighed heavy upon the subconscious, asmonly it wasn''t something easy to do. When it came to the pact of solitude with the entire reef, it wasn''t necessarily a problem to kill a shark. Sure in the hidden den they had gathered 15 or so sharks to work for the reef''s favour but the rest share that prime thought of survival. Which equaled to butchering everything in sight, the reef wasn''t a limit for them so in all ways, they were the true aggressors towards the pact. The shark carcass was consumed to the bone, it wasn''t quite difficult to do so with big stingrays feasting on the body. But yet bones and a bit of flesh was still left behind, everyone was full and whomever gets hungry through the travel, can eat once they arrive in the den. Throughout the travel, they thankfully had not faced any difficulties. The reef here was mostly dead so the risk factors are far lowerpared to what the effect would be if this ce was full of life. They did not encounter Harold or Drake either, that would be a major problem as battling a 2 meter long shark and a fat eelpanion would be like pushing coral with their heads, it wouldn''t make sense even with therge stingrays to their aid. ... "You''re finally here." Marlo shouted once spotting the hero of the den and the entire reef for that matter, swimming in with more than worthy troops. Hoping that it won''t be a deal breaker, Timmy followed up. "Yup... a bit early but I can exin everything about it." Breaking the little portions the boy worried about, the leader here followed up. "It wouldn''t make sense if you stayed. Look at this ce, it''s carrying more fish than we can handle." But yet unwilling to stop with the praises, Marlo continued. "Once again, you have proven more than sessful. At this point I don''t even know what to name you... what rank would fit you best?" "Uhhh." Timmy stretched, not quite sure what ranks are. "A hero, that''s what he is. I don''t think there would be a better rank from that point." He heard a familiar tone shout, after that portion the entire den busted in cheers. That tone struck feminine, and he remembered right away who this gooddy was. "Hello Haze. How are you doing sister?" "Better than ever." The small stingraydy answered right away and then Marlo interrupted. "She''s been working harder than most... I expected your siblings to be like you but this girl tips the coral." At this point staggered with intrigue, the boy immediately asked. "What has she been up to?" The enthusiasm''s pace remaining firm, Marlo answered. "Mostly hunting, a quarter of our food pile is thanks to her. I''ve never seen a small stingray hunt as good as Haze." Most definitely impressed that a small stingray without a system, could achieve such results, he offered. "Maybe I should take Haze on one of my missions... how are my other siblings doing? Where are they?" Direct, the leader answered with an aim to praise them as well. "They''re good, currently on a hunt behind the misty border, they''re fast learners." ... After snacking on some of the loot, Tim had taken a nap for the sake of recovery and half ideas strolled in the little boy''s mind before crashing cold. Waking up to what appeared to be the break of dawn, at least based on what a few other fish described, the boy went towards the food pile and took a few more bites to thoroughly satisfy hunger. Seeing one of the big stingrays, an idea enrolled in his mind, specifically the one he thought about. "I should find my sister." After asking Marlo, he managed to understand that thedy of this family had swam out for another hunt. She was progressing tremendously well with it so honing the craft became a motive. One other thing he noticed through the inevitable morning dizziness, was Stacey''s work. As a start the den here appeared to be much cleaner, she had mentioned something about that earlier. But after processing the idea, he remembered. "She''s eating trash here... and pooping out sand. It''s best if the rest don''t know that." Stacey appeared to be working on the backside of these walls, apparently an expansion was necessary now with so many fish around. That would likely take a while but at least it will be done. Swimming halfway through the long tunnel, he was greeted by one of these massive dungeness crabs. Recalling what he might have ignored, the same species was also in the very start of the exit. After swimming all the way up, another crab stood in the tunnels, not doing anything important but just standing around. After observing the little holes near where these crabs stood, he managed to recall that such architectural work wasn''t here before. Stacey either worked too fast or this was achieved differently. Talking to these crabs was ruled out as an option since he could not understand theirnguage, but he could figure out why they were here. "cing the most dangerous crabs in the reef as guards ha? I will never call fish stupid again, this is too well thought out." Swimming just 10 meters away from the exit, he was blessed by a friendly face. "Oh you finally woke up ha? I was hunting when you came here." Thankfully remembering her name, he shouted with joy. "Amie... how''s hunting going?" Not sure why would he ask such a question after seeing her without any food between those fish lips, the needlefish answered. "Bad enough, but I''ll bring something home." Chapter 79: Home (2) Chapter 79: Home (2) Knowing that she might not be the best hunter, instead he put value on other aspects, therefore inviting. "No rush. Bettere with me, we have another mission on our hands." Sensing danger but unwilling to back down, she swallowed fear by asking. "Oh really? What do we have to do?" "Kinda like what we did before, but I need you to trante if we meet fish I can''t understand." Well the boy was drowsy enough to be direct, it was clear that thisdy was of better use as a trantor. "By the way have you seen Haze, my sister?" Catching up with the boy after he clumsily swam away, Amie answered. "She''s in the mist, there are more animals there than in the mist apparently." "The mist... that''s a good ce to hunt." He answered casually but yet was sad once more as the mist gave a shback of a small memory with Alba. ... 250 meters of slow swimmingter, they managed to find one thing Timmy treasured enough to remember where it was exactly located, his den! Titles considered, we can call this den his second one now as it was too old to be called new. This is the same smaller spot the boy imed after his first den was invaded by the moray eel. After squeezing a meter through the 10 centimeter wide entrance, he felt at home after the ugly features of this ce caught his eye. Full of gravel and rock as walls and sand at the bottom acting like a mattress. At this point he did not want toy on the sand considering the idea of how it was made, but he specifically came here to check something. "My food... it was stolen by little bastards behind that border." Expressing so, he could see the long fish toughen up as well, yelling. "How dare they? Thieves!" "I had a lot of food here, a dead barracuda as well but everything was stolen!" It''s not like he didn''t expect for such a thing to happen, the system even warned about it in the beginning but still... To have food or any possession stolen, it just triggered a type of ego that felt more like an offense. He was getting angry, but the warmth in his heart grew stronger than that. This ditch-like 7 foot deep den, had been here when Timmy was suffering before and after the sardine storm. Seeing it again grew a great feeling although just a few days had passed that kept these two apart. So after observing the 4 foot wide den for a while, he decided to add. "Well the ones who ate my food are probably dead now, the food pile in the hidden den is massive." And then they got out of the den, going for the misty darkness just 50 meters away behind this little ce he called home. The border... well it carried a burden far heavier than what he faced with Alba here... this is where he almost died the first time. Depth here was indeed a problem, he had swam far too deepst time, deeper than what his back could handle. Well not he can at least sink 210 meters deep, perhaps the extra 10 might not be too helpful but it can make a difference, the things Timmy would do to have those extra meters when he almost died here. With a bit of observation, he could clearly see that Haze wasn''t here. Well his limited vision could tell that fact apart at least, after all he can only see 20 meters away before everything bes a big blur. "She isn''t here, any ideas?" Tim asked, trying to shake away the minor trauma which was currently paired with drowsiness. Wanting to be more helpful than just a trantor, she pitched. "My nose is good enough to find your sister... although I might be wrong." Although still unable to focus, he did manage to pick out something strange, therefore expressing it with a question. "You smelled my sister?" Realising where she had taken a sharp turn in the conversation, she tried to save herself from embarrassment. "Of course and I was right to do so. See, we need it!" ... About 10 minutes of smellingter, they had followed the line that separated mist from rity, heading directly west as the borders demanded it. Avoiding trouble became easy as they just had to swim a foot or two underneath the line. There was half a tunnel in most of their travel to the west, which aided greatly in terms of camouge. Since the mist didn''t exactly have thousands of animals swimming around, it became easier to avoid trouble. But... What captivated their sense of vision a split second after they stopped travelling, was difficult toprehend. It was Haze, obviously. But the littledy had pierced and was clinging on a tunafish a hell load of times bigger than her. And it seemed like she was losing the fight, because the tunafish began to struggle more than the hunter can handle. Worse yet, it began to swim towards the mist at full speed, dragging the youngdy along. Understanding that the water pressure can kill her, Tim charged right after, following the enemy who had practically abducted his sister. But then felt a bash underneath, which didn''t fail to lunge the boy straight up for a couple of feet and then he noticed the same tunafish swimming straight up and towards the water surface. This at least wasn''t so bad, even if they getted again, Tim at least had experience regarding how to break free from such death promising shackles. So after feeling grateful that such a sh didn''t cause him any health damage, the young man began to follow the menace of a tunafish. But speed wasn''t to his advantage, this sea disk can only go at a maximum speed of 3 mp/h while the enemy was going at least 10 times as fast. It''s speed was remarkable and at this point he began to think his sister as stupid for taking such a bite. Chapter 80: Bite bite bite! Chapter 80: Bite bite bite! Although at this point far behind the target, he could still see it leap out of the sea waters and then bash down into a belly flop. That surely hasn''t done any damage, suffocation was not a problem but the impact against water could have been damaging, although minimalistic. The tunafish afterwards began to charge straight down, no one could ess its mind and exactly predict where it was going... but it was a bit obvious considering the current position. Unwilling to let it escape that low, Timmy changed directions a little bit to swim right in front of the enemy, but yet feared that speed and what potential damage can be done when paired with a row of jaws. The tunafish almost escaped the boy, a quarter of a second would be enough to do so. But he swooped in on the right moment and the momentum that the enemy''s speed unleashed, forced himpletely off bnce. The enemy was bigger, perhaps a meter long so the water friction it tagged along can''t be underestimated. Thanks to losing bnce, his tail swung across the water at speeds that didn''t give him options to aim and strike. Which led the barb tond against the enemy''s tail and it dragged along just for 5 or so inches across the enemy''s flesh. Disorientation proved useful for once but this damage can bebelled as minimalistic at best... the hell could it do against arge tunafish? But yet the damage was enough to force the enemy towards wiggling its tail abruptly, which led to a minorck of bnce, forcing the fish to go left for a while. That was overall great, because the fish was swiftly changing directions towards the shallow waters instead of the mist. After a bit of observing after regaining orientation, Tim noticed a familiar figure on the waters near him. "You got off? Thank god!" It was Haze, apparently the attack he unleashed had knocked the sibling down, not necessarily because thedy was cut but due to that violent tail shake. A bit pissed but proving that such attitude runs in the family, thedy sea disk shouted. "I almost killed it? Why did you interrupt us!" Shouting at first but unable to yell out each word thanks to the minor of stamina, Tim recited. "You almost killed it alright, or the other way around. Do you realise that diving into this mist can crush you like a shrimp? Not only that, fighting a tunafish asrge as that is insane! Even I wouldn''t do it." Feeling her ego slightly damaged, the blue dotted mad girl contradicted. "A tunafish can''t kill me, just watch." FIUUNN! The tunafish passed by them, right in the middle and almost caused a collision. Although he did not want to admit it, such a sh could have surely caused some damage if not anything fatal. Understanding that the enemy had be pissed and seeing that it can leap about 2 meters above the sea waters, he shouted out. "I have to take that beast down, go hide somewhere!" "Hide from a tuna? Never!" His sister yet again refused, proving troublesome at least but this situation can end her. "I can fight!" FIUUN! They saw the tunafish swim in between them once more, this time however it was a lot safer considering that the enemy swam about 3 meters away in between them. But yet Timothy could still feel the disturbance in the waters which made this situation a whole lot more concerning. Knowing that arguing here can get them both killed, he decided to slightly cooperate. "Okay, then just try not to die and let me handle this motherfucker!" Soon as he finished that sentence, the enemy had already arrived for yet another attack, slid right underneath Tim until the point where flesh touched flesh. But the momentum was too strong, so at first the boy got head butted right on the belly, tossed upwards for a meter and the enemy caught up after that attack. His tail swung in panic, so amongst the several swings, the boy ended up bashing the barb right on the enemy''s spine. Well, near the spine at least but it noticeably damaged the enemy because it slowed down and began to violently shake its tail around in aims of fighting off the pain. But somehow, Timmy''s barb was jagged in between the spine bones so it became very difficult to get off the enemy. The violent shake bashed the boy into an idea, by now he was very awake. With a bit of struggle he moved around and lunged the rest of his body on the tunafish. Using those amazing level 3 jaws, he hung on right near the enemy''s dorsal fin. The struggle still continued, it was visible when considering all that attempt to shake him off. Unwilling to wait and see what happens, hended another bite right in the same spot and took off a chunk. After swallowing the first chunk, he continued with another but spat it out. And continued that procedure, 3 more bitester he could feel the enemy charge towards a random direction, thinking that it will escape the pain that way. But the little sea disk still continued with his n, taking one bite after the other until he caused enough damage to actually oppose this monstrosity. About 15 bitester, he had dug in the skin deep enough to see the passage where food passes andnds in the stomach. Thankfully his tail was still stuck or otherwise he would slip in this route, although he was no stranger to such fate. With enough damage caused on this side, using his jaws the boy began climbing out of the little hole in the tunafish and bite by bite moved towards the left side of the fish. With a bite, he easily took off a chunk and spat it out after. Then took another, afterwards another. Landing about 7 bites until the enemy actually began to slow down due to the sudden yet continuous pain. Chapter 81: Legendary Chapter 81: Legendary In just a second, the stingray slowed down and stopped on its spot. That''s when the next and yet hardest to find step initiated. He began to feel a violent shake, it took just a moment ofmon logic to realise how it was happening. He could even feel the movements of the fish, specifically how it was arching that back and then letting the belly round up like a ball. At that point it was easy to determine that the enemy was doing the cow-cat yoga pose violently, just to shake off the little critter on his back. Realising what he considered as a barricade to further ns, the boy clung his teeth against the enemy''s flesh, fighting with all of his will to hang on. At this rate if he had let go, the hump of this tuna''s back would have hit his face hard enough to cause actual damage. But... The unexpected followed after as the barb that was bashed near the enemy''s spine, found a new ce in the waters. Simply, it was no longer stuck in there and was given the opportunity to move free. Seeing this as a problem in terms of hanging on, the boy took a swing against the waters in aims of bashing that marvellous barb back in the enemy. But at that second, the tunafish moved its belly down which led to the swing being nothing but a nk one, who only managed to touch water. In the same second, the imbnce apanied by the shake, forced the boy to take a stronger bite against the enemy. But also, a bit of his head was hurt because the sea pancake''s body became pretty much vertical at that point. Thankfully it wasn''t enough to cause any actual damage, that durability upgrade is working like a charm. The bite was enough to bite through a chunk of flesh, which inevitably led to losing grip of the enemy, forcing the ns to go all south. Finding the opportunity, the tunafish made a dash for it right towards the mist and didn''t give anyone the pleasure of being able to follow. Understanding quite well that this enemy was too strong to beat, he seeked for Haze and shouted. "We need to get out of here!" "Never!" His sister answered back and stalked the mist, waiting for the enemy to return. Feeling that this type of stubbornness was wildly familiar and frankly not liking the fact, the boy hollered like a baboon. "This tuna will kill us both, do you see howrge it is?" Through their loudly projected bickering, shed the enemy whom was in topic, captivating the battlefield and demanding the lives of whom inflicted against it. "This is bing insane." Tim murmured to himself and wished to have that tunafish hunting shark here, he would have been really helpful. The enemy passed by them and swam straight up, heading for the surface of the sea again, as if doing a belly flop against the water would be of any help here. Looking at his sister, Timmy decided to add through that quick moment of free time. "If you aren''t fleeing, at least try to do anything useful, like stabbing that fucker through the eye." Staggered by such an idea, she swam closer and asked. "That actually works? I found it stupid to get too close to the mouth." Giving the idea a firm foundation by now, Timothy encouraged. "It works, we need to blind the enemy or else this battle willst all day." At that second, the enemy swam right at them and bashed against the male of this pair with the tip of its nose, the system afterwards rmed. [Health, -5 bars] [Health bar = 72] Afterwards the enemy swam straight down, thankfully not dragging the little boy down there as well. Gaining orientation, he felt staggered and mumbled. "A head butt actually managed to cause damage for once." But feeling sick of having a low health quite often, he thought. "I can''t let my health drop below 70." And then rushed out of the spot, knowing the routine of the enemy by now, expecting that it would charge at this exact same spot. Swimming 3 meters to the side under less than a second, he could feel the water behind, vibrate in a manner strong enough that it gave a brief indication. The enemy had surely once again pierced the water at its usual dangerous speed. But once turning around to observe the situation, something did not quite make sense... Haze was nowhere to be seen. His only conclusion became that the enemy had eaten the youngdy, so Timothy charged straight up with aims of reaching the inflictor and tearing its stomach apart just to get his sister out. Although she was a stubborn loud mouth in this battle, this brave sea pancake can not let her die... no sibling should die anytime soon, that''s what he thought. Reaching half way there to the surface based from the starting point he was on, spotting the tunafish swim straight down became the inevitable. But... Through the blur of a vision, he also managed to spot a little critter attached to the enemy''s face... this was none other than Haze. At this point he became perplexed beyond prepare, but yet proud to have such a family member. His sister just needed an idea and took it soon as one revealed itself, not to mention that it wasn''t exactly easy to follow such an idea, yet she did. Swimming down after the two, he saw thedy stingray swim up and shout out like a barbarian, but yet in joy. "I stabbed both its eyes!" "Wow both?!" Timmy shouted back, not quite certain if what he was hearing is true. At this point, he even began to think that the system lied about him being the only marine animal with a system... because Haze''s hunting skills was more than prodigious, it was legendary. Enhancing the thought of hunting now that the odds favoured them just by a hunch more, Timmy swam right down and gestured for his sibling to follow, yelling. "We need to stab it all around the head, I have a feeling that''s its weak spot!" Chapter 82: Similarities Chapter 82: Simrities "Got it!" Haze shouted and didn''t wait for his brother to orientate. Wanting to yell out that it was too dangerous to go alone but yet knowing that such a demand would have yed no value in controlling his sibling, Timmy just hurried along after her. One thing he particrly noticed was his sister''s speed... it wasn''t normal for a stingray whom as well was just 41 days old. The tunafish had emerged from the depths of the mist, rather aimlessly but not quite like that. It might be using other senses such as vibration or smell, so we can''t call its movements exactly aimless. In a good second, he could see Haze lunging towards the enemy and digging her jaws behind the enemy''s neck, afterwards her tail bashed in all directions the below section could offer, prating a few hits before Timmy could even arrive. Although the battle was quite heated, he did notice that such a move was familiar... could perhaps his sibling have observed such a move under these short minutes? He did not know and did not want to ask right now considering the situation, although that question indeed managed to squeeze his brain. Finally able to reach what they havebelled as the enemy''s ''weak spot'', Timmy began to repeat the procedure her sister made,nding a handful of stings against the tunafish''s head. At the same time, the enemy was panicky swimming around, they could hear the tuna p its teeth, urging to bite the enemies if they were actually clumsy enough to slip down. About 20 more stabster, it became well understandable that the head wasn''t this enemy''s weak spot... but the damage done can''t really be underestimated. At the same time, the tunafish had already swam all the way up to the surface. One would expect exhaust by now but the tunafish leaped out of the water, double the times as usual... leaping 4 meters above the waters. Timmy was blessed with the opportunity of being able to see the sunlight shine directly in his eyes, it was as annoying as it was magnificent. Throughout the blur that rays of sunshine would cause, he took a peek at his sister and half managed to notice what she was doing. It was rather easy to puzzle it all together, she was giving the enemy more shots a second that the boy''s vision was able toprehend. Following along after hearing the enemy do a belly flop and afterwards bing blessed by the wet sea waters, Timothynded 7 or so shots before the enemy sunk 10 meters deep. [Skipjack tuna identified and killed. 60 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 98] At this point the boy was stunned, he did not expect to kill the tuna this quick,nding over 50 shots just on its head and not seeing it dying because of it, enhanced such a thought. But yet the enemy died, making him think. "I must have gotten lucky this time." And indeed he was lucky, because if Haze hadnded the final blow, the system points would have just scattered deep into the sea waters. Separating from the enemy, he finally managed to get a better view of it. It has a white belly with a few ck lines across it, and it''s back has a dark shade of grey. It barely seemed like a tunafish when one would take colours under consideration, but shape and muscle form tended to say otherwise. [Eating a full grown skipjack tuna, grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, non existent.] [Effects on hunger, +40] [Effect on sleep, +80] [Effect on stamina, non existent.] "That''s an oddbination." Tim thought, afterwards continuing. "But how does a big fish like this give so little hunger points?" [Size doesn''t determine what effects a fish species can bring, edibility does. Once a fish is consumed, your body filters out just what a specific fish can provide.] [The effects are yielded at absolute uracy but nothing extra cane after that. Some fish species are weaker with effects and some are stronger, size rarely determines anything.] "That makes sense." The little boy thought but then granted all his attention back to Haze, half scolding. "That was incredibly stupid! Just why would you go after a fish that could cripple you?!" "Because I can? Why would I fear something that''s bigger if it''s weaker?" The sibling answered and that''s when Timmy realized that her and the system are so much alike. Well at least regarding this sentence, the attitude was annoying at best but got paired with great bravery, one would think she was suicidal. Knowing that there is no way to battle a hot head through a conversation, but yet still feeling enraged, he contradicted. "That''s incredibly stupid, this will get you killed." At this point feeling opposed, she answered. "Nothing can get me killed, now shut up and let''s drag this tuna into the hidden den." With the word ''den'' now imnted in his mind, the boy swiftly moved topics. "Speaking of dens, I have one close by that had a dead barracuda inside, did you touch that?" "It didn''t have your name on it, plus what would you need that for? The hidden den needs it, we have like 100 fish." That''s a rather indirect way to admit it, but now a piece of the puzzle was added on both sides of the stick. "Besides, I didn''t know that it was your den." Although wanting to yell out, he decided that meat wasn''t something so important to fight about, so he ended such a topic by pitching. "Let''s get this tunafish to the hidden den and then we will talk about something." Sensing something boring, Haze added. "It better not be a lecture, I don''t need it." Thinking that it would be weird for a sibling of the exact same age to scold one another, he just decided to clear it out. "No, I need you for something important. You seem to have a thing about protecting your kind, how do you feel about protecting this entire reef from dying?" Chapter 83: New objective (1) Chapter 83: New objective (1) It took a while to drag a 1 meter long tunafish towards the hidden den, specifically since that den was a few hundred kilometres away, just entering the reef would take 300 meters of travel. But yet the fish was surprisingly light for something that big, it had to range somewhere around 15 kilos. Surely enough to scarcely feed the whole tribe, but considering the food pile, no one would have to rely on what one hunter brings home. On the way there, Haze had pondered over and over what her brother had said. He didn''t want to get into further detail before they reached home and she didn''t bother to insist. As for the question she encountered, ''How do you feel about protecting the entire reef?'' still stuck with her like a blood sucking leech under one''s chin. She wanted to protect the hidden den who had epted her and granted a safe ce to call home, but protecting the entire reef? It didn''t sit right with her, especially since it meant that she had to protect the bad individuals as well. If time was by their side, she would have enhanced such a thought, because of all those enemies encountered in one trip. Finally reaching there and being spared by the trouble of squeezing the fish through the thin 50 meter long tunnel, all thanks to the aid of which one dungeness crab provided, what greeted them on the other side was apliment. "Good job Tim, you did us a good deed with this hunt." They knew this tone all too well, it was Marlo. Deflowering what could have been a small wave of bickering, the blue dotted boy contradicted. "Actually, my sister killed this one." "It''s true, she blinded the tuna and then they both killed her." Amie added, knowing what the sea pancake was trying to do but refusing to strip him out of credit, she was with them after all when all that battle happened. Although not quite understanding what a needlefish was doing in such a ferocious battle, Marlo still continued with good intent. "That does sound amazing, I''m d to see you two work together." "If you saw the actual battle you would reject thatpliment." Tim thought and wanted to express it by the good ways of speech as well but was held back by another topic of which had bloomed. "I have another task for you Tim... well actually you will be a part of it." Marlo introduced, weighing the base of what could be the biggest task yet. "You did an excellent job on finding more recruits but we can''t forget why this group was created." At this point, Timothy couldn''t ignore that his task to keep the entire reef from dying, had to wait. It didn''t take much logic to figure it out, nothing that came out of this... vige leader''s mouth had proved pale in importance. Like a dictator, Marlo broke in what the deal was. "We want revenge on the bullies who robbed us out of family, we are united against them and need to act quickly." Wanting a bit more time, the blue-dotted menace fought the idea. "What''s the rush? It''s not like they have the guts to go anywhere else." Proving that a side of his might not be good and peachy, the leader broke down the prime n. "Every day of their existence is a threat to you, me, your siblings and this entire tribe. Harold for a start, has to die and after killing him, Drake will be next." Yet still opposing the n although understanding its value, the yellow coated stingray continued. "I don''t think it will be possible to kill them separately, they stick by each other more than ever because of our hidden den. They fear us, even though they are too stupid to ept it." "I don''t want to wait and see what happens when they actually manage to find our hiding spot, and I doubt that you want that as well. But yet if you fear to take this task, I understand." Such a statement weighed heavy against the stingray or anyone who favoured the boy, which was pretty much most of this vige. Finding that rage that was hidden in between his pea sized mind, Tim yelled out. "I''m not afraid, they should be afraid of me!" "That''s the attitude I want to hear!" Marlo cheered and afterwards assured. "Rest assured that I will be part of this battle and all the 15 other reef sharks in this tribe will assist us as well, our great white friend too!" At this point it felt like Harold would stand absolutely no chance, because even though these reef sharks were half a meter long, they were still sharks and could prove deadly when their numbersbined. Not to mention, the juvenile great white shark will aid this battle. Yet still feeling concerned and wanting Harold absolutely dead, he gazed at the dungeness crab who was making its leave to get back to guarding this ce and wanted to figure something out. Better yet, put out a rmendation. "What about those big crabs. Will they join us in battle?" "No." Marlo assured and then sunk in deeper to this topic, wanting to assure that his n wasn''t ill thought out. "When we leave this den for the battle, there won''t be many powerful fish to guard everyone who isn''t for battle." Recalling what these crabs did to that powerful old hag, Tim began to share the same thought. "It''s a good idea to keep them here then, these crabs fear nothing and have ws to prove that patriotism as well." "What about me?" They heard a casual but yet determined female tone echoing behind them. "And me?" Another female tone shone, equally determined to the earlier. Darting their eyes to thedies, they managed to see Osira and Haze. Both of them have proved more than brave, although one more logical than the other. Feeling a bit morefortable with this battle, the young stingray had to second. "I wouldn''t mind if they tagged along, these two are good fighters." Chapter 84: New objective (2) Chapter 84: New objective (2) After giving thedies a long gaze, Marlo came up with an idea and pitched. "Then they better stay here, I can''t let under any circumstances, let my people get hurt or killed while we are away handling this long awaited duty." "But I want toe and fight!" Haze opposed the idea, craving the blood of the enemy whom ate their siblings right in front of them. "Harold must die by my fins, he must!" Giving out a direct order, although calmly interjected, Marlo cited. "Harold is too dangerous, it''s not a good idea to tag you along." "But I''m the best hunter in this vige!" Haze once more opposed, willing to do anything just to tag along. Feeling offense for other men rather than himself, Tim exined. "Now that''s debatable, I''ve seen reef sharks take down a tuna with a whole lot less effort." Wanting to change the girl''s mind just to end up in good terms, Marlo exined. "Besides, if you weren''t good enough, I wouldn''t trust you with protecting this ce while we are away, these fish are my top priority." Unwilling to drop it, his sibling continued. "But..." "There is no buts." They heard another female tone in the background, specifically behind the pile of food. "You will protect the den with me along with the diamond stingrays." Arising over it, he saw ady he was greatly familiar with. "Shame on you Timmy, you haven''t even greeted me yet." This was Dana, an eagle stingray that was just 10 days younger in age but 4 times bigger in size, she was truly worth the talk. This is the same woman he had found injured under some coral when first departing to recruit fish on the far north, her figure is unmistakable. It''s hard to forget a big stingray in general. "You were sleeping when I arrived and that was the same problem when I went out today, you always sleepdy." One would think that this was a harsh way to reply, but it was all for fun and games. "Well I''m not sleeping now." She pointed out the obvious, but this was more than a taunt. Speaking of pointing out the obvious, Timmy cited. "Your fin has healed." Yet still sticking to step one, Dana swam closer and stated. "That''s not how you say hi." "Hi..." The boy stretched it, just to brush it off his shoulder. "Your fin healed fast." Shedding a bit more light to this, she answered. "It''s easy to heal when all I do is eat and sleep, your friends proved very helpful." Using her whip to lightly touch the boy''s belly, the eagle eagle ray cited. "And it looks like 10 fish were feeding you, chubby." And it was true yet it made sense all at the same time. Tim had swam around eating unholy amounts of meat and over worked his body to poop it all out. It exined that big belly all and well, if one took enough time to observe the boy, they would be confused how he hasn''t grown yet. Feeling tad embarrassed, the boy curled his fins downwards to cover his belly and refused to admit anything. "I don''t have a belly." "Not to interrupt you two love seagulls but I have to add something else." Marlo broke in between the two, all to grab attention rather than cause embarrassment. Neither of them were given the opportunity to oppose the idea of these two being lovers, because Marlo continued projecting his train of thoughts. "We will start the nte at night because that''s when Harold least expects us, they think that we are too weak to hunt at night." "So we have a few more hours? That''s nice." Tim followed up, it seemed like the end of this conversation. That''s when Haze moved in to ask a question, trying to forget how Osira seemed like she wanted to bite everyone here. "You mentioned something about another task, will we do that now?" "No no, that needs a lot more time. Maybe we can pick that up tomorrow." Tim answered and the idea to consult with his system took a good ce in his mind, but he also had to add. "I will tag along all my siblings in that task." Feeling entitled, the youngdy could even go so far to shame her family. "But they can''t hunt like I do." Luckily neither of them were here right now. At this point he had trouble understanding thisdy but yet didn''t want to be rode, therefore stating. "That doesn''t really matter, we probably or hopefully won''t have to hunt anything and I want to know more about my own blood family, can''t remember a thing." "I will help you too, right Tim?" They heard a feminine tone breaking the conversation and he instantly realized who it was. Quite quick to answer, "Of course Osira, who else will save my ass if all things go wrong?" "Well you saved me from probable doom so I will help you as well." Dana assured, knowing quite well that she will be epted. "Sure, unlike any other task, this one needs more fish so all of you are wee to join." Although he was used to fighting mostly alone, the mist didn''t show much dangers apart from being dark and having a water pressure enough to crush the life out of the undeserving. It took a couple of hours before they left Timmy alone to carry on with other tasks, in between those hours, the hero took time to tell his numerous adventures through the far north. Most were attentive listeners while Haze really cursed the fact that she wasn''t there. Thedy especially began to hate Alba, and felt like she could do something to spare his brother from what could have been death. Well it was fun telling the stories but now the boy had to shift towards a more important matter, consultation with his much loved and effective system. Eager to know but not so great at remembering detail, he asked. "System, can I upgrade my barb?" Chapter 85: Restriction Chapter 85: Restriction [Yes, your points are sufficient to upgrade your barb.] Happy that he finally reached the step of upgrading that specific body part, joy began to take over all other emotions as he spun once in ce, thinking out a chant. "Yes!" And then remembered that the system requires a specificmand, therefore he also added. "Upgrade my barb then!" [Purchase confirmed] [Loading purchase...] Right at that second, the small yet worthy stingray began to feel a pain on his tail so sharp that it restricted every bit of movement on that specific body part. First it felt like the very tip of his tail was cut off, the pain was strong enough to feel like that body part wasn''t his. But then the pain had a significant nudge down, yet it was still strong enough. Making the young man self express, "Just when I forgot what tail pain feels like..." And just a few secondster, his pain went awaypletely, relief became a best friend although he still remembered how the pain felt like. [Purchaseplete] [Barb has been upgraded to level 2] [80 system points consumed] [18 system points remaining] "Yes, finally!" The boy celebrated and then recalled. "Emotional intelligence was rushed, I needed a better barb through all those battles." [If your emotional intelligence wasn''t high, you wouldn''t see all these animals here.] "Right." He answered, unwilling to debate and frankly not having the motive to do so, as his focus was all granted towards joy. But afterwards a thought sprouted in his little head and forging it into a spoken sentence was easy, "Are there more stuff to upgrade?" [No, you currently have bought all avable options.] Happiness swiftly shifted into confusion, making the boyy over the sand underneath and then ask. "Then why aren''t the new onesing? My memory is fish shit but I can remember that new stuff are supposed to appear now, to upgrade." [You''ve bought everything too fast. For such cases, system has set a limit but most guests aren''t able to reach these limits considering what prey they usually feast on.] [To unlock new options, you will have toplete all 10 tasks that give just 1 system point as a reward.] "Shit." The boy answered, realising just how bad of a problem this is and then confusion turned into anger. "I think you hate over achievers, this limit is stupid!" [On the contrary, system aims to aid prodigies. This is why you can''t progress too fast, some portions of your journey demands more attention rather than just swimming over them after giving it one nce.] "That''s why you won''t let me upgrade?" Timmy asked, unintentionally sarcastic. [Yes] [Because if you don''t know how to hunt the smaller marine animals, how will you hunt the bigger ones?] [You admittedly proved sessful to kill enemies far more powerful than you, but that streak can''tst forever.] [You need to learn how to kill more species of fish, if long term progress can ever bless your soul.] At this point only able to understand half of that im, he couldn''t help answering. "Okay, missdy system. I will follow your exaggerated demands, what should I be killing again?" [Any species of m, which is the 7th task.] [Afterwards you need toplete 3 more tasks before you can purchases upgrades.] "This sucks." He answered but afterwards began to contemte ideas, trying to schedule everything. "I should be able to hunt a m before we go to hunt Harold, we still have like 5 hours." And then moved towards the exit of this ce, ignoring every other fish here, thankfully no one else was paying him attention and it wouldn''t be a problem if they did so. It''s just that now, the little sea disk didn''t want to think of an excuse regarding why he was leaving the hidden den. A few minutester, he made it out of this hidden structure and made for the only ce he ever saw a m before... the borders. Dark mist, yes that''s the best way to describe the spot whom sinks so deep that nothing but pitch darkness made itself visible. Regardless of that feature, along the border-line that splits deep and shallow waters, is what the young hunter wants to scope for the sake ofpleting the system given task. ... Arriving at what we canbel the highly desired destination, Tim could not help but giggle after recalling thatrge fight to kill the skipjack tunafish. Thinking about it further, he recited. "Haze is so stubborn, I wonder if mom was like that? Or was it dad''s trait, whoever he is?" Continuing to swim near the border, just a couple of feet above it, his eyes focused on what was around even though in thoughts he had submerged. 10 meterster, something eye poking captured every bit of his attention. Well it seemed like a little cave, a tunnel to be more exact but what was in it is what managed to reflect enough in order to capture visual senses although 3 meters away. It was something small, white and smooth. And of course we can''t forget, it had a perfectly round shape. Something rather insignificant to catch attention, but the illumination it reflected managed to catch an eye. Because after all, the border wasn''t really deep and met a shallow-water-levele to think of it. "Oh a pearl." Tim murmured, remembering what these things actially are. "Too bad I can''t sell it, it would be worth a fortune if I was a human. Here these are pretty useless unless I bring them to my own den for decoration." Thinking about his sibling after, he muttered. "Haze would steal it anyway but still..." BLLUB-BLLUB-BLLUB! He heard a sound that was rather hard to ignore, his tail felt a portion of what the said sound interjected. Except it was more physical, and paired with pain. Which made the boy lunge forward in order to avoid the pain and it was good to do so, as that ear torturing sound managed to follow by each swipe he took against the salty water. Chapter 86: Testing the waters Chapter 86: Testing the waters With the ear drumming sound still following, Timothy put in all effort to swim faster and faster through the waters for just about 5 more meters, which fairly was crossed in half a second since fear helped break through his average speed. Thankfully no damage managed to bless his tail with what could feel like anus pain if the tail was severed enough, that bodily durability upgrade he had made, was sureing in handy. It proved extremely useful, because right after slowing down, the young one turned around and saw that the entire entrance he swam through just a breath earlier, has copsed. A portion of this copse had managed to touch his tail in the dawn of the copse but thankfully and luckily, it didn''t cause damage. Observing the mess, he felt surprised how the copse didn''t crush him whole. Instead of focusing on this major problem, the small sea disk focused on something else instead. "Well, I can never get that pearl now." [Forget the m, you just got buried alive!] Luckily the system was there to bash sense in the dumb one''s mind, afterwards even continuing. [Such death is so rare for stingrays yet you managed to swim in it, this is terribly unlucky.] Yet surprisingly calm, he answered. "This is barely shockingpared to what happened these past 10 days." And then took a second to observe the mess a bit further, another thing managed to catch his eye and it was white in colour, paired scarcely with a pale shade of ck. Charging towards it after instantly recognizing what it is, Tim pped those little jaws and took arge bite out of what seemed like this day''s awaited target. [Hard m killed. This animal''s information regarding what effects it can cause, is already in your collection. Would you like to hear it out?] Although remembering what a m is, he didn''t nearly remember the effects and therefore answered out of curiosity. "Yes, tell me." [Loading information...] [Eating an entire hard m, grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, non existent] [Effect on hunger, +1 bar] [Effect on sleep, +1 bar] [Effect on stamina, non existent] [1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 29] "Those stats are pretty boring, how can sleep help me get out of this mess?" And he carried a rather firm point with that sentence, the exit was closed shut, even Stacey wouldn''t be able to eat through it. It was a surprise how the hard m wasn''t crushed by the copse, perhaps the aid of distance from the outside world, helped provide a hint of protection. [Guest is under a good condition to start the next task.] [Task 8 = Find and kill a whiteleg shrimp] "Shrimp ha? This should be fun... after I get out of this ce." The stingray asked, feeling that giving a task now was rather odd. He also felt that the system was being oddly too specific with the demand, but whatever can help him buy more upgrades is what Tim will follow. Taking a few more seconds to turn around and observe the surroundings, he saw a small little hole in the end of this little tunnel, providing just a hint of green light. Which felt rather reversed because the exit is straight on the opposite site from this light, which gave a sign that this bit of illumination is underground, somehow. After the dust caused from the copse began to settle down, that same light began to shine brighter, poking the ceiling of this tunnel who at the same time limited just how far the thin beam of light can go. "Please tell me this is something good." Tim spoke out and then took a moment to get closer and observe the light beam. Since it was breaching the back end of this tunnel, specifically a wall, he even managed to take a peek through the hole where this light was bursting from. Although it took a few tries to fight away the blur, since the little hole focused light on just one spot, making it difficult to see through it. After a few tries of adaptation, he managed to see what''s on the other side. And... It wasn''t really anything significant, he could just see another dirt encrusted wall. And spotted that underneath the said portion, this weird green light was glowing stronger than what light was breaching through the hole he was peeking through. This situation was most definitely bizarre but yet normal considering what he had faced recently. Calcting what to do next, he decided. "I have to go through this hole, there is no other way to go." Taking another peek at the copse, the newly bloomed idea made a bit more sense. But to go through this tiny 1 centimeter wide hole was impossible even for someone as small as Timothy. So another n had to be forged just to go through this one, well it didn''t really take much thinking. The first thought was to rush against it and hope for the best, a collision should do damage. But unwilling to feel a headache, he first decided. "I should test the waters first." That was metaphoric of course, as he wasn''t exactly swimming on anything else but sea water. The reference aimed towards another meaning. Tim turned around and raised his tail, poking the very tip of it through the hole, just to feel how difficult it would be to smash this wall. After a few seconds of testing, he thought. "This feels inappropriate." And pulled away his tail, once more facing the hole. Remembering a particr fact about his own body, Tim pitched an idea to himself. "My jaws are at level 3, maybe I can bite through this hole, just enough to go through it." [That idea might be the best one in this situation. Although I don''t recognize what this weird green light coulde from, this is your only option.] Chapter 87: Returning grace Chapter 87: Returning grace Motivation bing his best friend now, although we can''t say that it wascking up until this point - Timothy avoided to charge straight forward against the tiny hole and instead just slowly swam near it. With a prime idea in mind, he began to test his jaws along the tiny rocky hole, making sure it''s biteable before risking to break those little jaws in an attempt to break through this natural prison. After about 15 seconds of testing, he figured out that it might not be such a bad idea to chew through this thing, although it won''t necessarily be easy. Finally putting the idea into motion, little Tim began crunching his two and only jaws against the barricade, felt them sink in just a quarter of a centimeter. Such statistic convinced the boy to give just a little bit more power against this rock, which aided to bite a centimeter deep. It felt weird at best, especially since this procedure reminded him of the holy protection - a.k.a coral he had to crunch and eat, that wasn''t the best experience consumption-wise. And finally after a bit more effort, the determined little sea critter managed to find what the other side of this small hole had to offer. Well his jaws found it, those little eyes are yet to see what''s on the other side. Spitting the chunk of pure rock out, he took a peek at the hole and noticed that now it has expanded to being 3 centimetres wide. Not exactly the biggest but it will do the trick considering that this young one was only 7 centimeters, he is yet to grow into a bigger killing machine. Sessfully squishing through the hole along with a couple of scratches but thankfully not any notified health losses, Tim finally managed to grasp a better peek at just what this new section contained. Well... It too was just mild-green in colour, fairly confusing considering the fact that no light source made itself visible. Everything just shone in the same colour, his little stingray vision couldn''t spot anything different even if there was anything to notice. But, one particr fact that didn''t fail to strike the boy stunned, was the architectural values of the ce he made it through with that vicious little bite. This ce is huge!! Possibly the biggest natural structure he had ever seen before. Here, he could see what seemed to be several tunnels, spread randomly here and there - fairlyplimenting the overall perplexion this 32 meter wide structure had to offer. The walls themselves are mostly coated with rock, if he bothered to look closer, small patches of dirt would be visible here and there. Now a lot of options to escape this ce had made their selves mildly transparent, but it was a bit more concerning once grasping the idea that this ce felt more like a maze. A handful of new tunnels are through his vision just here and the bottom itself didn''t yet make itself clear, so there is no gurantee that there aren''t more tunnels if he swam deeper. Taking these options under careful thinking, he managed toe up with one usible idea. "I should swim deeper before getting into any of these tunnels, maybe I can find where this green light ising from. Besides, I have time." And putting that idea into motion, he began to swam down, it took 30 meters of travelling to find a whole new field of view. At this point, what was a blur before was rather clear now. Although tunnels became a lot more scarce down here, the ground itself became an option to explore, giving a hint that thisrge tavern was also more like a ditch due to being about 50 meters deep. Aiming to explore the ground, one thing finally managed to capture his vision - fairly standing out like a big red zit, and it was what Timothy hoped with all of his being, not to find down here. "I was just high, I was just high, I was just high..." he repeated while swimming closer towards the eye sore, trying to bend reality just to avoid handling this situation. "It can''t be!" What stood in front of him was a patch of thick, and yet crunchy green coloured tar. Worse yet, whatever was the life of this unholy substance, managed to cause bubbles ~ underwater! Deciding to ept his fate, Timothy cited. "Great, the holy tar is here and the hidden den is just half a kiloemte away." Thinking it over a bit more, thankfully using a few more sprinkles of reason, he came to a thought. "That old hag isn''t here, and even if she was, so what? I killed her twice already and can do it again!" He indeed began feeling cocky, but yet carried still a little hit of doubt, so a self made idea was pitched. "Maybe I should bring this ce down." But when ncing at the walls, he understood how bad of an idea it was. "I can''t spend all day here biting rock!" Yet he couldn''t ignore this holy tar, it was definitely a problem, especially when gazing at size. He remembered the first patch of holy tar being small but this one... it stretched nearly 10 meters wide!! It''s absolutely massive for a stingray, whatever use one can yield out of this spot, it surely would be a lot which in return made this a problem for the whole reef if one decided to be an enemy. Slowly swimming away to keep his distance, Timothy asked. "System, do you have any idea what the hell this is?" [You don''t have the option to hear out such information, but even if you did, I don''t recognize this substance at all.] After a minute of thinking and resisting the urge toin, he cited. "Let''s hope that crazy old hag doesn''t find this tar, I don''t know how this works but I''m assuming it would be bad." And afterwards began swimming higher, reaching for the closest tunnel this ce had to offer. Chapter 88: Miss Chapter 88: Miss As he went through the tunnel that was the closest to reach, swimming 15 meters in it, Tim''s field of vision was captured by what in all terms, was a marine animal. Happy but yet nervous to see life down here, he couldn''t help but yell out. "Leggy crabs!" And then charged right towards these fine species, using the ground itself here that sunk down just by a foot ~ making this meal appear like it was already in a bowl. By now the little stingray had eaten so many of these sea critters, that he learned to ignore the freaky, spider-like legs they had. Instead he chewed through those legs as if consuming a snack, which was understandable after the core of the animal was eaten. This little bowl contained 4 of these animals, which aided in many ways once considering that he hasn''t eaten anything all morning and that these precious animals provide an outstanding gift. [4 marble shrimp have been killed and consumed. Like-wise, 4 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 33] [Health bar = 74/100] [Hunger bar = 10/15] [Sleep bar = 19/35] [Stamina bar = 10/15] But yet unsatisfied with these statistics, Timined. "I''d be surprised if my health goes over 80, this is bing so rare nowadays goddamn it!" [You just have to expand the knowledge around animals who can grant health. This ce is practically an underwater wastnd and you still manage to get health raising foods, bizarre at least but your bar is perfect - considering the circumstances.] "Sometimes I can''t understand who''s side are you on." Tim answered as he took a better peek of the 6 foot wide tunnel he was in, afterwardsing back with another im to enhance the first one. "One second you hate me and in the other you love me, this is so confusing." [I reply based on situations and just how dumb your ims could be, so how I answer is depended on you.] "Understandable." He answered and continued following the tunnel, at this point beginning to notice the drowsy effects of consuming those little sand crawlers. This tunnel stretched seemingly long, eachmon turn felt like the end of the road but it was reced by another piece of natural structure, the tunnel continued to be more exact. At this point, having travelled 60 meters deep into this path ~ he notices an animal that seemed all too familiar, linking it with the overall situation in this dilemma, he easily managed to puzzle it all together. "I thought these things went extinct after I killed them!" Timothy shouted as he red against the pufferfish that slowly swam about 5 meters away. And of course the system swooped in and sshed reason on the boy, [Their entire species can''t go extinct just because you killed a handful of them.] But the raging sea disk didn''t want to reply and instead focused on the enemy, himself trying to stay hidden here just for a few more seconds. These are the same checkered bastards that flocked the area in the den of which that crazed angler fish possessed. It''s rather confusing to think of just how the same animals made their way here, but one thing stands victorious against them, Timothy knows their weak spot. That in mind, he didn''t want to hide any longer and instead charged right towards the enemy whom was double his size, thrusting with that pure intent of asserting dominance. The checkered menace somehow noticed the boy, perhaps because of the war cry the opposer released, as if shouting would help the matter. With the new situation partiallyprehended, the pufferfish made a dash for it to the left - this tunnel being 6 feet wide at average gave quite a lot of space to aid such manoeuvre. Thanks to that, Tim continued to charge forward and noticed his w a split second after it was toote. [Health, -15 bars] [Total health bar = 59/100] At this point absolutely staggered, he didn''t entirely understand the situation until the sharp pain continued to spread on his fin. Considering that he had a huge restrain on a portion of it, the little boy began fearing for the worse. Gazing at the enemy whom had swam 5 or so feet away, his conclusion met an answer. Enraged more than ever in his entire fish life, the sea pancake shouted. "How dare you bite off a piece of my fin?!" Although the shout had spooked the enemy a tad bit, it still had the guts to spit out the chunk it bit off, which in a way felt like an offense to Timmy. The sudden reduction of health unleashed an effect that caused a bit of fatigue throughout his entire body, the pain on his left fin made it difficult to properly move. Those barricades aside, he still wanted to charge against the enemy at full speed and assure who''s boss around here, even if it meant that death might reach near. But yet he did not want to underestimate this enemy again, because it was fast enough tond such a blow ~ he does not want to think about how the situation would be if bodily durability wasn''t upgraded a while ago, death would feel like a certain equation through this dilemma. Ready, he once more charged towards the enemy but now his speed has been reduced by a good portion, now the sea disk was going at a not so stunning 2 mp/h. Seeing that the enemy had began to charge as well, Tim continued with the next step of this attack. With a smack against the waters, he swam just a foot higher to avoid collision by any means - these pufferfish seem to have deadly jaws, he does not want to explore more pain. But the inability to swim properly had caused an inevitable effect, he began swimming in a lopsided way. What was supposed to be a direct strike against the head, just managed to scratch the surface because his tail was locked tond a specific blow, the strategic boy didn''t think far enough to change the n. His barb just ran across the enemy''s head for a quarter of a foot, right after the collision was avoided. At this point the probability of killing the enemy with this past blow, was far too low. Enraged because of thatrge miss, Tim turned around and witnessed the enemy following a singr path before it too took a sharp turn, facing the enemy. Chapter 89: Advantageous disadvantage Chapter 89: Advantageous disadvantage The two sides of the stick now being on an inevitable death stare towards each other, Tim couldn''t help getting angrier by the passing moment all thanks to the wound inflicted on his left arm, the pain itself was sharp but the ego linked with it was even sharper. He killed these same species effortlessly before, but now this pufferfish who doesn''t seem to be any different, managed to leave quite opposing damage. It wasn''t the easiest on the subconscious so the young stingray wants blood boiling revenge!! Ready, Timothy unleashed yet another war cry and charged head on against the enemy, although speed wasn''t working to it''s maximum thanks to the new wound. Still, just a whole second was required for the two parties to meet, collision at this point was something that neither could avoid. But... When a fin is damaged, bnce doesn''t be an option and is reced with the demand for more effort instead. Before the two were about to smash each other''s head with the prime intent of murder, the enemy was left staggered as theck of bnce aided to avoid meeting each other. But yet it wasn''t enough. So after seeing the opportunity: Timmy pped his fins against the sea waters just a bit more, which practically helped the imbnce to be even more unstable, while at the same time changing ns. As a result, the raging sea disk flew above the enemy''s head, missing everything just by an inch. His barb was already curled down since the formerly nned attack included to unleash the banana formation ~ so as a result, that same vicious stingernded right through the enemy''s head. Since only a centimeter was the difference between them shing or not, the barb failed to leave a scratch on the surface. But instead sunk deeper,nded right near one side of the eye and continued to puncture through the pufferfish'' head - bing tangled thanks to this move, now stood as the next dilemma. [Health, -2 bars] [Total health = 57/100] Although not necessarily a problem, he felt a bit of pain on the barb because the momentum of which the enemy had built up, managed to beat that of Timmy and therefore he got dragged along by that same pace for a couple of feet. In a bit of panic, he began to juggle the tail around just to be free of these wildly ufortable shackles ~ which as a result, continued to do damage on the enemy because although horrific, the barb is still through its head, almost touching the other side of the skin. A few secondster, he managed to escape from the situation and heard the system announce the news right after the little boy managed to swim 3 feet away and turned around. [Checkered pufferfish killed, 10 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 43] [You already have information about this marine animal regarding what effects it gives after consumption, do you want to hear out those effects?] Although still steaming with rage, the young one can recognize opportunity. Considering his overall capabilities to memorize, eating these fish will feel like something new for quite a while. So he instantly assured, "Okay, let''s hear it. I hope these ones raise health." [Eating an entire full grown checkered pufferfish grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, +2 bars] [Effect on hunger, +15 bars] [Effect on sleep, + non existent] [Effect on stamina, -10 bars] Feeling that the damage he took was now an absolute loss, Timined with half a shout. "By the love of god! How can this fish be that useless?" At this point he began cursing this awful fate, and the rant continued. "I can''t risk filling my stomach with what gives only 2 points of health! What if I get hurt again?" [I''m d you are using logic, it is not a good idea to eat this fish. Look for marble shrimp instead.] Trying to keep a positive attitude all of a sudden, he hurried through a sentence. "Okay okay, you''re right. There were 2 leggy crabs here, maybe there are more." And then continued following the tunnel, absolutely ignoring the carcass left behind and instead began questioning this ce more. A checkered pufferfish being present here, surely gives a hint that only such species stands close to the holy tar. But yet this ce isn''t over pupted like the previous battle-zone in this criteria. Those thoughts nted, he instantly came into a realization. "Wait... isn''t holy tar supposed to be surrounded by a lot of deadly gas?" With this conclusion came fear, he already took enough damage from one fight, thest thing one would want to discover was deadly underwater gas. [I sense no gas in this area, otherwise you would be notified.] d that the system cleared it out to the extent with just a few words, Tim sighed in relief but continued being confused. "This ce has a big patch of holy tar but feels deserted, there is no gas here either so what''s going on? You don''t know anything about this system, do you?" [System has no information regarding this ''holy tar'' and what covers the front and back end regarding any specifics, I can''t help you.] Such a situation only managed to bring the boy into more confusion, this young stingray wasn''t used to thinking this much. "Weird, weird but what if... no, weird." Following the tunnel aided towards confusion, as it only stretched longer, by now he had swam about 100 meters deep and yet there was no end. But thankfully he began meeting a significant turn upwards, right after he started thinking about turning around to follow any other path. He wanted to yell out aint for this ce''s entire architecture, but right at that moment, a sound shone out. "We aren''t alone here..." And it wasplimented by another, "You feel that too? Then it can''t be me being weird, a new fish has intruded our home!" Chapter 90: Discovery Chapter 90: Discovery The enemies could indeed sense that something was... in the waters, but haven''t yet determined Tim''s exact location. Opposing disaster by a small little hunch, a couple more familiar creatures ran across his vision and didn''t fail to spike attention along with joy. Perhaps they have been a bit hidden until now, either that or he didn''t pay attention to the surroundings enough considering that bigger enemies were close by. "Leggy crabs!" Tim celebrated with an internal shout and slowly but surely moved towards them, avoiding attention. With a single bite, he chewed through more than half of the marble shrimp that was the closest, took his time to chew thoroughly and then moved to the other. The kill was smooth enough for the only other shrimp there, not to panic and crawl away. Afterwards the system proposed to specify quite a handful, but Tim only asked for the most important things. [2 marble shrimp killed, 2 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 45] [These kills have given you a full health point.] [Total health = 58/100] At this point young Tim''s attention was solely granted to the health raising friends, therefore he became a bit bleak when it came to noticing anything else around. With a nce up and forward: he instantly noticed that one of these checkered bastards had swam too close, it was practically close enough tond a kiss, that itself was rming but the fact that this fish hasn''t attacked, didn''t fail to curl nerves into a ball. "What are you doing here? You don''t seem like a pufferfish." At this point the enemy''s overall intelligence was revealed, clearly not so bright. But the sort of clever sea disk wanted to use this opportunity, it wasn''t a good idea to fight while his health didn''t portray a good statistic. It would be even dumber to fight now where in an indirect way, another route has been proposed. So with a bit of thinking, Tim filtered a bad attitude away and cited. "I''m lost, a tunnel copsed and I became stuck here." Truthful in some aspects, he wasn''t lost or neither did the brave hero want to ask this fish for pity, but this situation has to be used. Surprising enough, the potential enemy instantly answered. "We would show you out of here, but..." "But?" Timothy asked, knowing that this could never be good. Dumb enough, the certain enemy revealed. "Today that would be impossible, something big is close by." Although not quite considering the threat as something serious, the hero wanted to reap more information out of these fish, the second one came close as well now so maybe he too can speak. "Big? Like, you''re cleaning up this ce or what?" Although supposedly smarter, the second arriving fish deciphered. "My brother made a mistake to tell you this much, but it doesn''t matter. You will be a ve soon, I wonder if the holy tar epts a lousy species like you?" Giving in all attempts to push the raging sense of egoism aside, he began to ying along. "But I''m worthy, the holy tar will ept me, whatever that is?" His n put into motion although those little jaws had to be gritted for it, one of these pufferfish instantly answered. "The holy tar is like our mother, we be one with it, binds our souls." The enemy''s brother continued this sentence with a bit more motivation, "But we have struggled to find a leader capable enough of speaking to the holy tar, it won''t speak to any of us." Trying to understand how this bizarre thing works, sincest time he was in a simr situation, the boy was high as the sky so observing surroundings became difficult. Trying to reap just a little bit more information, the clever sea pancake asked. "So when someone speaks to the tar, our souls will be given to it?" Feeling in a superior position by now thanks to the not so smart stingray''s clever approach, one of these enemies answered without fear. "Yes, we will all do our part to activate the tar." ying along to the fullest extent, Timmy encouraged. "Okay then let''s go to the tar, I guess my fate is certain now so I can''t even fight it." And took a turn backwards, facing the opposite way he had swam in until now considering that''s where the aimed location is at. Although they felt it odd for an outsider to be this casual towards such a topic instead of fearful, in a way it felt like a reward for them ~ because now they can offer another soul to the holy tar, one that doesn''t prove troublesome to convince, one that they do not need to battle. So the first approacher enhanced the idea, "Sure, since you are willing..." And his brother continued, "This one was an easy catch. I wonder which one of us will do the ceremony on him?" ... Following the tunnel down, they encountered the body of the pufferfish whom proved troublesome for Tim to kill andnded that damaging bite as well. Seeing one of their allies dead, wasn''t quite the easiest on their little pea sized minds. It managed to ensnare rage, drag it towards their brain and unleash it against the rest of their battle as a pacing emotion. Being first to speak, one of the pufferfish yelled out. "Who killed our friend like this?! We just saw her moments ago!" Trying to y it cool, mostly because he needs to figure out more about this green holy tar business, Tim yed out. "I don''t know, saw the body as well but can''t imagine what could kill this strong man here." "She wasn''t a man!" The second checkered pufferfish corrected, feeling a hunch more angry now. Trying to suppress the raw urge to bash his barb through this loud mouth''s head, the hero assured them. "Sorry, I don''t know what happened to her." Doubtful in a few aspects, the enemy''s brother pitched with a shout. "Bastard, you killed our friend! Didn''t you?" Chapter 91: Ceremony Chapter 91: Ceremony Knowing for a fact that this entire ''holy tar'' business won''t be understood unless he ys it cool here, Timothy answered with half a tone carrying calmness and the other one pushing rage away. "How could I kill a fish like that? I''m small and helpless!" Yelling was a criteria necessary to shun away the bit of sarcasm he had in that projected tone and it didn''t fail to make everything a lot more believable, he began feeling cocky regarding just how well these bastards can be fooled. After a bit of contemtion, one of these enemies answered. "Maybe he''s right... it isn''t easy for one of us to be killed, we are all trained." At this point the enemy wanted to bite a chunk off his brother just because of how easily sensitive information was let go off, but everytime such thought urred, he remembered that the stingray intruder will forfeit his soul soon enough. So while putting away rage, the pufferfish continued with the topic regarding this carcass. "We will drop her down in the holy tar, that way her soul can''t escape anywhere and will return to where it belongs." Gazing at Tim, the enemy shouted. "Don''t just stand there looking stupid,e help us drag the body!" ... Finally swimming all the way down to the holy tar, Timothy noticed the two enemies chattering faster than usual ~ panic led in a way. "Are you sure we should do this?" And the pufferfish insisted, by answering with a firm tone. "Why wouldn''t we do this?" Logic was perhaps on his brother''s side a bit more, the very wordy proved so. "We have no one who can talk to the tar, what if something goes wrong?" But yet still insistent, the curious pufferfish argued. "How hard could it be? We just toss the body in the tar and that''s it. Besides, don''t you wanna see how the tar sacrificial thing works? Only the elders had to do it, we never saw it." Perhaps fear led by now, his brother was stubborn like everyone else in this room. "I don''t think we should do this..." "Why? The elders are all dead thanks to waiting for a miracle, I don''t want to spend my entire life like that. Besides who could punish us? The elders are dead, only us young ones remain." The pufferfish answered and started dragging the body alone, swimming close enough to the tar, now able to observe its thick beauty up close. Although a bit hypnotized by how the tar slushed around, sometimes causing bubbles as it circled around itsrge patch in a whirling like matter - the pufferfish admired the scenery as if seeing it for the first time, opening his mouth with a sigh. But that gap widening between his jaws, released the whole grip from the dead friend and they managed to see the carcass slowly float down towards the tar. Once the what almost every fish here considered holy, touched the skin of the body that fluttered down towards it and made contact, they could hear a sudden pop that was loud enough to be considered a gun shot ~ except only Timmy would know what such a sound was. Thankfully, no gun-flinging human had invaded this underwater tavern but such sound solely was unleashed by the same green substance that managed to be a main topic for every fish here. The pufferfish who had dropped her down there, had a sharp thought that the soul demanding tar became angry of such action. But after taking a better peek down after a bit of the tar sshed up by just a foot, but thankfully not hitting the soul brave enough to try out this ceremony. Every fish that participated in this weird sight, could see the body of the deaddy, split in half. It was split in half and began to follow the route of which this tar spun at, her body slowly melting as if fallen inva. But unlike the speed of melting thatva could provide, this body was burning slowly. Her skin was fried off first and then the bones began to shatter down bit by bit, some finding their own route to spin at after escaping the main body. In about a whole minute, the girl''s body disappeared almostpletely in the significantly glowing tar. All that remained for only a few seconds of time, were a few shards of the body. Although Tim didn''t nearly understand just what the hell happened here, this situation didn''t in any aspects fail to absolutely shock him. Although he had learned a bit about this not-so-holy substance today, learning more somehow managed to arise more confusion in his restricted little mind. He was almost in a trans-like shock, until the same pufferfish who dropped the body in the tar, swam towards him and announced. "Now it''s your turn, we will hold a ceremony and see if the holy tar will ept your soul." "I have to dive in that thing? It will just kill me, it''s not like your dead friend came back to life right here!" And the young stingray did carry a firm point, nothing here made sense but at least this tar doesn''t have the ability to bring back the dead. "No no, your ceremony will be a lot different." That same pufferfish assured and a wide smile grew on his face, it seemed tad evil. While the enemy''s brother who had slowly returned out of his journey ofplete fear, continued to shed more light upon this topic. "We must breach your soul so the holy tar can test you, but don''t worry, we won''t cut you open. We all went through the ceremony, so our souls are ready for when our mother, the holy tar, activates." Afterwards they heard a thicker tone in the background, alluring every gaze as he cited. "You two tried to steal my job ha? Bull shitters, I''m the only one who can hold ceremonies here on new fish. Do I have to teach you another lesson?" Recalling the pain that came along with the ceremony, the two pufferfish brothers nodded in agreement. "No sir no. We understand and obey... for now." "Yes, for now. Themunicator will be here soon, for all of us to obey." Able to observe who this new fish was, the young stingray managed to notice a couple of key characteristics. This fish was big, perhaps almost a meter long and was quite chubby too. Paired with such features was a thick and pointy... mating tool. Chapter 92: No drilling! Chapter 92: No drilling! Gazing upon the approaching enemy, Tim had a hard time identifying just what kind of species it was. Apart from the earlier stated features, this species seemed pretty round and textureless ~ there was no ce to focus on apart from the size and crotch. This marine animal is hard to identify but the young stingray didn''t care about specifics, he only knew that fighting this enemy would be a terrifically bad idea. Concerned because the topic surrounded him as the neer, the brave sea pancake broke down the chatter between these enemies by asking. "Hold on, how is this ceremony held? Like, what''s that big fish supposed to do?" The enemies began sharing one single smile afterwards, a bit crooked and even aplete dumbass would be able to pick up that such an expression carried no good-willing intent. Perhaps it''s great in their points of view, highly likely. One of these pufferfish shed a bit of light to this bizarre topic by demanding, "Just turn around." Getting a hint of what''s going to happen here, remembering key life features from when he was a human, he began panicking upon realisation and shouted for reassurance. "He better not be touching my ass!" The same pufferfish who set out the demand a bit earlier, continued with another. "No one''s crazy about touching your t ass... but your soul has to be breached! So I''m telling you only one more time, turn around!" Gazing at the big fish whom had stood quiet for a while, peeking at his crotch afterwards and noticing it that it stretched perhaps three times Tim''s body size, he couldn''t help utterly refusing. "Hell no, I''m not getting drilled by this mad fish. Fuck you and your ceremony!" The cover was blown at this point, a good portion of new information has been admittedly collected as well. And now he instantly thought about what a different group of pufferfish exined - before they sent him out to mass ughter the fish in that other den before, whom too worshipped the holy tar. "These maniacs really raped innocent fish, just to surrender their souls to the holy tar... however that fucking works." The young stingray raged those thoughts through his head. Throughout that same second of storming thoughts, he had lunged towards one of the pufferfish, flinging his magnificent barb upwards and sliding underneath the enemy after:nding a strike right against the head before escaping. The system was swift to announce, [Checkered pufferfish killed. 10 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 55] "You bastards are supposed to be trained? Weak!" Timmy shouted as a form of tease against the enemies, at the same time he heard the other pufferfish yell out. "My brother!" The water itself became massively disturbed through that split send and he could feel the enemies following with the prime intent of ripping the inflictor into pieces. Speed remained as a problem, being bitten on the fin isn''t quite easy to handle and he could the biggest enemy following along, proving the fastest. A strike on his belly was inevitable to feel after, bnce no longer became an option as he was tossed off the route, spinning quite like a disk - but thankfully no damage was felt, that strike from the enemy was almostbelled embarrassing. Although struck a tad dizzy because of that collision, the boy''s little brain was sharper than a dagger thanks to the elerating danger. Therefore, the same tunnel he had gone through earlier, caught the corner of his eye. And with such a circumstance, it was easy to puzzle out what the next move should be. He twisted that little stingray body to the right and lunged with all of his power towards the tunnel. But regardless of effort, speed just couldn''t go over 2 mp/h. Which allowed for the other living pufferfish here to have a shot against Timothy, even though the attack was nothing more but charging like an angrynd bull. He instantly saw the enemy sliding underneath, ultimately missing the target. It was a blur regarding how that happened, but once his fin ached thanks to a swing against the water: he remembered that theck of bnce was making him swim lop-sided. The fleeing stingray was admittedly close to the wall a few seconds ago when the big enemy fish struck him, so the raging puffer decided to share a simr fate, knocked the basalt wall with all the speed that a checkered pufferfish could gather up. The tunnel he aimed for was just a couple of meters away, so the twirling sea disk managed to reach it before disaster could have poked out its ugly head. Arrived at it and even managed to swim a few meters deep, before he heard the pufferfish yell out like a raging baboon. "I''m going to kill you!" The enemy bursted through the tunnel, his eyes troubled with rage itself and the not-so-holy intent to kill had followed along with the tiny dorsal fin on his spine. FLUGH! The checkered bastard felt a sharp pain right across his forehead, and rage was reced by a total mist that suppressed emotion and solely insisted on having an empty space. Short said, the enemy''s soul had left the said puffer''s body. [Checkered pufferfish killed. 10 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 65] "These dumbasses are far easier to kill when they are angry." Tim celebrated as he separated from the very ceiling that proved helpful as a camouge. The enemy would have never expected a shot from above, but now another problem has dawned brighter than the shining sun in an early summer morning. These battle cries and unnecessary shouts have rmed any fish who had the ability to hear, in a hundred meter radius at least. That and therge chubby fish was snooping around the entrance of the tunnel, somewhat scared of swimming in deeper to investigate. Trouble multiplied when a familiar female but yet heavy tone, echoed from the main portion of this natural structure, loud enough for anyone to hear. "What the hell is going on here?!" Chapter 93: Dangerously dangerous Chapter 93: Dangerously dangerous Taking a few seconds toprehend the entireplex of that sound, Tim felt shocked and struggled to admit what the situation was evolving to. "It can''t be, my luck can''t be that bad!" "I can sense you down here, motherfucker!" That same female tone shouted, it felt like she was far away but the tone was loud enough to cause a few goosebumps and raise the inevitable feeling of danger. Majorly unwilling to battle such an enemy while carrying a low health bar and no friend to aid in the collision, Tim didn''t bother to argue-from-a-distance and made a quick dash for it towards the other side of the tunnel, avoiding confrontation. It took half a minute for him to reach back to the previous point, where the brave stingray had met the two pufferfish whom were used for information. It was fair to say that the heat of the moment aided to attain such speed. After a few more short seconds, the route led to a straight way up, and what option would the little boy have but to follow it. One thing that stood to his favour was the overall calmness in the waters at the moment, sure he was freaking out because of how dangerous the situation had be. But the waters were yet to meet any disturbance, there was nothing following the young man. [Deadly gas detected!!!] [You don''t have any form of protection against it, swim away!] "That old bitch already activated the tar?! Well shit, I didn''t manage to see how that works." Tim stood in one ce, still contemting what had happened instead of heeding the rmingmand. The situation was simr to a person who was frozen in fear, but in this case the small sea pancake was frozen in confusion and sudden deep thoughts. Agitated and in a small but not-so-noticeable form actually concerned about the young fellow, the system almost grilled up enough emotion to suffer, but yet was still able to shout. [Swim away you dumb fuck!] "Okay okay okay okay!" Tim repeated, panic arising and shunning away any other emotion. He continued following the same path but then saw the gas slip in, surrounding the boy by a bit. Eager to escape it with every muscle of his body, Tim gave it a bit more effort to swim and almost reached the usual speed. But his fin was still damaged, so this type of effort managed to spread pain on the other fin, a portion of it went down to the tail. And yet the system was still rming, [Faster! Swim away faster!] [This gas has arge kill rate, you won''t be able to survive it!] "Okay okay okay!" The panicking stingray yelled out as he followed the same path with full capacities. A familiar figure appeared in his eyesight through this dash of speed and fear, but thankfully it didn''t stand like arge barricade. Although in panic, Tim just swooped to the enemy''s side andnded a blow right across the face. His barb managed to hit the enemy''s eye, scratched it out of use all throughout the heat of the moment and the very tip dug in the enemy''s head as the curl sessfully formed ~ in thatst quarter of a second, the collision ended and the fleeing boy continued the route. [Checkered pufferfish killed. 10 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 75] Yet throughout all that panic he couldn''t help almostughing at the enemy who was supposed to be trained, to get killed this easily. And at the same time scoffed at the points, thinking. "What use are these points if I can''t upgrade anything?" Thoughts became something minor to run upon after that point, especially since he could feel the very gas following along so fast that a portion of it had engulfed his tail. To fight off what could be any damage at all from such exposure to the pre-unkwnown, Timmy raised his tail up and pushed it forward as much as possible - as if he was a cow in heat, the barb almost scratched his head at this point. After about 40 more meters of intense fleeing, the system carried a d voice as she announced. [The dangerous gas is no longer in your perimeter, system fails to detect it.] But yet still unsure and urging to be on the safe side, he continued to swim for 20 more meters and then copsed on the sand but thankfully remained conscious. With a bit more energy he flipped around like an actual pancake just to see what had been following the rear, green gas was easy to see from that point and it quite well portrayed the form of a mist. Energy did not stand to his disposition, all the effort put in just to swim away, exined the case but he was still able to observe. "This is exactly the same mist I saw when I bombed everyone in the other holy tar spot. Don''t know what the hell these bastards are doing but it''s not natural." [Stamina = 2/15] the system announced, obviously this was the most concerning statistic. For once, the youngling felt lucky and thought. "Would you look at that, if the gas followed me a bit longer, I would be deader than that crazy angler hag." Yet still ufortable to stand so close to this deadly gas, he pped against the sand to elevate a foot high and began following the path he had started, to find a way out of here instead of weighing luck based on this not-so-natural substance''s overall mood. His stamina couldn''t bear it but the current speed was a bit below 1 mp/h, so in a way it allowed for the bar to slowly recover while at the same time making good distance away from the problem. This tunnel seemed to be rather long, he had travelled for about 100 meters more, following the path that took turns left or right. No enemy came to greet him thankfully and quite frankly he preferred it this way, thest kill was by luck at best, such a result wouldn''t be able to be so easily repeated. Although no soul had yet greeted the little boy, he still managed to hear a familiar tone calling out. "Did you find Tim yet?!" Chapter 94: Issues Chapter 94: Issues And another familiar tone followed up with an answer, "No I didn''t find him, it''s like that crazy fish ate our brother!" Shaking his head a tad bit, firmly shocked because of what kind of melody managed to bless the hearing senses, but yet paranoid and thinking that the gas had started causing hallucinations - Tim still shouted out, "I''m down here!" "What the fuck?" He heard a female tone shout out, the holler was short but underestimating its weight would be dumb. And considering the choice of words, thisdy must be Haze. "How could you even be down there? Are you dead?" A male tone questioned, concern separated as a sole emotion when one would hear out his volume - paranoia would be the second. Although Timothy''s memory is a bit shattered thanks to that little head, tone was at least something he could remember, this sibling must be Philip as such a characteristic intent is somewhat hard to forget. Shedding more light towards the dilemma so his siblings don''t enroll into being more freaked out than they already are, the hero exined. "I was trapped in a tunnel and swam all the way here." "Well that exins it." Haze thought out and began debating ways of how to fish her brother out. Keepingmunication key, the stingray under a dilemma described. "Yes, it''s crazy down here. I found a big pool of holy tar and that crazy anglerfish is here, I heard her voice." Weighing in a key problem, Philip revealed. "We know, that old monster almost killed Rummy. If it wasn''t for the guard crabs, we would lose another sibling!" This wasn''t so shocking but yet it still managed to ram down nerves, for the hero to cite. "That bitch, how many times does she have to die before actually dying?!" Keeping a positive attitude, the caring sibling described. "She was slower than you described, so maybe death for her is actually close." "That exins why she hasn''t chased me." Tim thought but then heard the lovely sister uttering wordy that represented a good portion of her critique. "Shut the fuck up with the angler talk, we need to get our sibling out of there." Concern came along with reasoning although it didn''t picture demotivation, Philip asked. "How can we? There is no way to get in." Unwilling to hear out anything that doesn''t give an option, Haze demanded. "Then we have to make a way, go get the guard crabs and that girl who can chew through rock." And continued the idea, sealing it with a prime decision. "I''ll stay here so we don''t lose the spot, swim fast and remember where I am, don''t get lost." Concern continued to shine through the boy''s face, he floated in the same spot and was hesitant to swim away, until the well scheming sister demanded. "Go Philip, get all of the crabs here!" As the sibling swam away, she heard the other one underneath unleashing a bit of thunder of his own. "You haven''t changed a bit. Why are you always on edge?" Willing to debate even in such a situation, she answered. "First of all, you''ve only been gone for 2 hours and second, I am not on edge." "You are on edge, be calm, smooth like water or something." So much for saying anything motivational but the young hero tried to make a point and even continued. "No need to yell at Philip like that, not everyone can think and work like you do." This topic had sunk a bit deep all of a sudden and she had the urge to cuss out the t boy swimming underneath, but instead decided to start and push this topic away. "Well... I don''t expect him to, just want to get you out of there." Unwilling to let this go just yet, Timmyid out another question. "That''s not the point, why are you always angry?" There was so much the littledy wanted to tell but once thinking about one topic, it stretched too far and opened up other topics which made it impossible to find a starting point. So to save the trouble of possibly having a mental breakdown by just thinking the situation through, Haze answered with a little lie. "I don''t know." ... "I brought backup." Philip yelled out and such a statement raised thoughts on the boy underneath the ground, as he didn''t hear any life form swimming above the water - nheless speaking. Those were his thoughts for a mere few seconds, until a mild but yet ear-catching tone echoed from at least 50 meters away. "Ragadagadagadaga!" Relief overtook a good portion of the hero''s body as this type of backup feared no enemy and could be heavily relied upon, the dungeness crabs are through and through the toughest marine animals in the hidden den. Once these valued allies arrived, Haze''s tone shone through themotion as she firmly demanded. "Break this ground here, we need to dig my brother out." The warrior-like crabs stared at her nkly for a while, one would sense confusion if these species had facial expressions. Silence remained as a key standard until another familiar female tone, swooped in to trante. Once she began reciting the samenguage as these guards, Tim could easily point out in that little head of his. "Looks like Amie made it here too." After a few seconds, he managed to hear the very ceiling enduring countless taps. It felt like nothing for a few seconds but the very specs of dirt that had an origin from the winding patches higher above, began falling down. Having a feeling that it would be a terrible idea to float around right where everyone was digging, he swam a meter away from the site and the deadly gas too, waiting for progress. THULL-LL-LL-LL!! The sound of dirt itself crumbling became the prime thing to hear about, something that the young boy could not ignore. Although vision isn''t Tim''s best characteristic, it was easy to notice a straight and thin line appearing on the ceiling, coating a meter''s worth of distance and unleashing tens of smaller branches that were a tad harder to notice. Chapter 95: Marlo Chapter 95: Marlo The crackling sounds continued to grow, ignoring it now was impossible regardless of what thoughts the most recent event could arouse, and what struck him amazed the most from this situation was a w that finally managed to burst out of the ceiling. The w was pointy and no doubtrge for a crab although it was just about 7-9 centimetres long, such a scene made the boy think just how that could be possible. The thin line that coated the ceiling before had advanced more than ever, it had transformed into several holes and cracks. One of these crabs bashed through the ceiling after and Tim could see the very rest of the ceiling in front of him, swiftly copsing and causing quite a barricade. The copse was followed along with what almost felt like an earthquake, the crabs could feel everything shake but for swimmers like Timmy - the dust that came along with it was the most troubling, his vision was struck with what felt like several sharp pains. Opening eyes barely felt like an option after that, thankfully both of them were functional but it was difficult to observe everything. A slight nudge on his left fin was felt after, it wasn''t anything painful but it sure didn''t ask for permission or respected personal space. He was pushed forward a bit like a ragdoll, at first it felt confusing but it only required a little bit of thinking to figure out that a fish was pushing him out of the tunnel. The cleaner water the boy found himself at, aided to clear out the dust off the already limited eyesight, the salt didn''t really bother him at any given time. This situation was a bit tough to understand under these few seconds. Tim expected that the team digging him out would take a good while but this all just happened too fast, these dungeness crabs are not to be underestimated. "How did you get down there?" A familiar tone asked, gazing at who was close by, he noticed Osira. He was d how she was the first fish to burst down there although expressing it with words was difficult - so instead he just teased. "You love to follow me don''t you?" Unwilling to tap out after acknowledging the tease, she contradicted. "I will follow you, dumbass. Just left you alone for a little while and you''re here under the sand." Recalling this situation and going back to the base root of the problem, Timmy murmured. "I just wanted a goddamn m." "Marlo!" A male tone shouted out and rushed in the scene like a torpedo. With a quick nce, the group was able to figure out that the fast swimming fish was Koob. Thinking about it, there wasn''t ever a time where either of these brothers was slow paced, he guessed their speed to be at least 15 mp/h at this point. "What about Marlo?" Amie asked after swiftly swimming close to the fish whom a lot consider a friend. Thankfully this long and thindy can trante, although her face wasn''t naturally capable of emotion, after consulting with the pufferfish: the aura she unleashed swallowed the entire team here, the inability to speak sealed conclusions and managed to freeze everyone else. It felt as if a knot was on her throat, hesitation shone as an emotion and an rm had to be forced out with all the force of her organs. "The hidden den is under attack!" "Shit." Tim pointed out and instantly sted towards the direction where he thinks the den is. The reef seemed close by so that''s a good start. Osira followed the hero along right after and took a right turn, signifying which way to follow. For a little while they could hear the dungeness crabs bashing their legs against the sand, following the hero, but they were swiftly outswam considering that speed wasn''t to their disposition considering size and thickness. Although both of the swimming fish were swallowed in fear, Osira managed to point out what could be the main problem here. "All the guards are behind us." Unable to catch up, the rushing stingray asked. "So?" Less hesitant by speechpared to everyone else, she pointed out what most had overlooked. "So our strongest friends are not in the den, whoever is attacking us will have plenty to kill." Once again, Tim felt anxiety raising up as he expressed. "Shit." ... As they reached the very front of the entrance that the den held, it was easy to notice that it was as if blown open, triple in size and it''s stubby coral architecture was shattered and turned either into rubble or sharp and long edges. "What could have possibly done that?" Osira questioned and after checking how the rest of the tunnel was normal, it became more confusing. It felt as if the attacker wanted to prove a point, what fish could they have possibly fought here when no one wasn''t even there? Rushing down the tunnel, they found a big fish battling the 3rge diamond stingrays whom had joined this vige just recently. Granting a bit more attention to their surroundings, they could see a lot of dead fishid around the ground of this ce or just floating about - their bellies facing the ceiling of this joint. Half of the bodies belonged to smaller souls, but 30 or so belonged to foreigners and had patterns of which the hero could easily recognize ~ checkered pufferfish. The focus slid away from these bodies once the diamond stingrays swung their tails around, hitting the enemy against the head and leaving holes bigger than Tim was in width. The enemy shouted out in pain and anger followed along as a thick but feminine tone hollered. "The holy tar demands all of your souls, all of them!" With one more strike against the head, the enemy was forced a couple of feet away and stopped struggling. It''s face aligned towards Timothy''s gaze and he spoke. "You crazy old anglerfish." After a split second, the dead eyes she carried, returned with a bit of life and the jaws snapped with a set of rage, urging to dig on flesh. Chapter 96: Blood blood blood Chapter 96: Blood blood blood "Can''t eat me, you bastard!" Timothy shouted as he used those little fins to lunge backwards with one big p. Such a procedure aided to form the banana attack, therefore his barb stuck out forward and struck right against the enemy''s head. But the attack wasn''t good enough, the barb sunk just a quarter of an inch deep, nothing but a scratch for a monster like this one. The 3 foot wide anglerfish decided to charge straight forward after that point, pping her teeth over and over with a prime urge to bite this troublesome sea disk in half - her massive and pointy jaws would prove painfully sessful if our hero made the wrong move. Tim swam straight forward after that point, ultimately avoiding collision, floating at maximum speed over the enemy. Through those seconds he was able to see how messed up the enemy''s back had be: there are countless stab marks, the hump this crazydy used to have has been almost destroyed and thanks to the recent attacks, blood was puking out of a few smaller holes. Such battle wounds forced the young stingray to cringe in a bit of fear, as he contemted. "How the hell is she still going?" For the absolute goal of not ending up on this enemy''s jaws, Timothy had swam behind the massive diamond stingrays who hadn''t failed to prove the toughest fish that this den had to offer. These past few seconds of observation has aided to have a rough death count of allies who belonged to this den, at least 40 have been killed thanks to this attack and the battle wasn''t yet over. The sharks have survived these attacks the most and 10 of them could be seen still putting up a fight with the checkered bastards that terrorised this den, that gave a hit that 5 or so reef sharks have been ughtered in this attack. Although a lot more enemies have been ughtered, a great amount of 20 still took charge in battle and had a prime aim ofnding more injuries. He expected the big enemy to turn its tail andunch an attack once more but after turning around to face it, he could notice something that wasn''t so favourable to look at. The anglerfish has submerged into a chase, going after the only other blue dotted ribbon-tail ray that was currently in this den. "Leave my sister alone you bastard!" Tim shouted and immediately charged forward to chase after the main enemy. But his fin was still damaged so even with this rageful effort, he only managed to reach a maximum of 3 mp/h. His route was broken in half and then spun when a bigger being floated above his head with grand speed, sharing patterns that weren''t nearly hard to notice. It was one of these diamond stingrays, the leader even. So at the moment this became an all woman battle. In just a couple of seconds, thedy with the well deserved name ~ used her fins to attach on the big enemy''s back, the grip wasn''t so great as this wasn''t even part of a stingray''s instinctive attacks. But the inflicted damage that came with it, managed to slow the enemy down which ultimately allowed Haze to swim away and escape death. The new added weight itself forced the anglerfish to slow down, the several sharp pains took captive the rest of the speed - the leader had used her marvellous tail to puncture the enemy''s backside more than enough time to disfigure that portion of the body. Rakatakatakatakatakatak! They heard that marvellous tone bashing against the basalt and coral of the long tunnel that represented an entrance, a 50 centimeter dungeness crab had the honour and displeasure of being the first to enter. This one was the biggest obviously, it seemed like a big red te with deadly ws. His friends were quick to join after, several of them were big while there were a few as well whom were smaller but still ready for battle. Philip swam above the crabs and joined the battle as well, he swam behindpared to the rest just so he could lead this portion of the group to battle. They''ve instantly crawled their way into battle, the greatest portion of them were battling the 15 remaining checkered pufferfish while the 3 biggest of these dungeness warriors, began lending a w in battle against the seemingly immortal enemy. The diamond stingray hadnded so many blows against this enemy''s backside that there could barely be seen anything on it apart from holes, but yet the enemy wasn''t dead. Everytime the fish around it had a slight joy when thinking that the enemy finally died, the crazy olddy began pping her teeth again after one of those ursed eyes returned back to life. The biggest crab slipped underneath the battling pair and stabbed upwards, bashing his pointy ws against the enemy''s belly. A few shotster, it began yelling something in its ownnguage but the diamond leader had somehow understood it and detached from the enemy, swimming towards the rest of the battle to aid the ughter against the checkered bastards. With that step in battle taken, the biggest dungeness crab used his power to drag the old hag down and so the 2 other friends began bashing their ws against the enemy, 5 or so stabs per second wasunched. They didn''t stop attacking even when this former-humpback yed absolutely dead. No no, they just continued stabbing,nding one blow after the other and disfiguring this enemy in the marvellous process. At this point, chunks of the old hag''s meat had already flown here and there although not all of it was thanks to these crabs. The battle had met an outstanding turn once these tough allies joined the battle, these checkered menaces started dropping one after the other and victory seemed transparent. But... Right through those few seconds, the entrance was given the displeasure of letting in arge group of these checkered fish. Their species were the same as the dead animals on the den ground and their intent through this breach was crystal clear. Chapter 97: Realisation Chapter 97: Realisation The den carried 40 more of these bastards now, their quantity isn''t so easy toprehend especially since the den was filled with fish now. Such a situation made Timmy think, "No wonder none of these pufferfish were in their homes, they were waiting to attack us!" If one would want to move around here, they would have to inevitably face one of these enemies and it was the same result if one didn''t want to move from their spot. Tim was one of the first to notice these enemies bash in the scene just because of the disturbance they have caused in the waters. He had noticed that the quantities wererge so the first step was to swim to the side so the bundle of teeth wouldn''t shred him into pieces as even the hero wouldn''t be able to avoid such trouble. After they got in which was something that no being here wasrge enough to prevent, he began lunging towards them. Speed wasn''t to his highest disposal but a proper battle strategy was. It took only a few seconds to build the n up and a blink to execute it. The first of these menaces he attacked, received a cut right across the face as the raging sea disk swam across with his tail curled. The second enemy that he managed to find, got a stabbing strike right against the head and was inevitably forced dead. This was the very weak spot that these enemies had, and experience made it easy to hit them all while using the floppy side that was his damaged fin - to avoid getting bitten. He wasn''t willing to stop and check just how damaged his enemies became once he struck. If they died then it''s great, if they didn''t then the next target would be any other fish who would be unlucky enough to collide against him. His attention and focus throughout this chaos was solely lended to observing his surroundings enough tond enough blows and not get killed in the process. These enemies were randomly charging around as if they were deadly torpedoes, and they would most definitely bite anything foreign that crossed their paths. So he had to use all senses to have aplete overview of his surroundings, no split second could be spared, every attack had to be avoided. And so he slid or stabbed through enemy after enemy, by far killing 15 of them alone and leaving the damaged ones for his friends to kill. It truly was difficult to swim at full speed through this procedure with no intent of stopping before the odds favoured the fish of this den, quantity-wise. The system had rmed more than a few times through these past kills, a lot of them were urging rmendations to get the hell out of here. But he only paid attention to what began appearing very attractive, the most recent notification felt like a new achievement. [Checkered pufferfish killed, 10 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 225] This species most definitely contributed in to achieving system points of such quantity. It felt like a big achievement but considering the average and yet growing prices per each upgrade bought, these points might aid just to buy a couple of upgrades ~ so this wasn''t anything to be too proud about. Since the crabs and reef sharks aided to massively reduce the enemy quantities, especially after Timothy began nailing one after the other through the head, the hero had stopped on his spot just to observe how bad the situation was. About 8 reef sharks have been bitten dead by these attacks but one of them seemed to have had the most severe wound. This particr shark had its entire belly ripped off, getting closer to the corpse it became easier to determine who hadnded such a blow. The wound was almost straight, it had no curl so this damage couldn''t have been done by anything but that humpback anglerfish whom indeed was bigger. But as he observed this dead shark more, giving a peek on the eyes as well and smelling the carcass too, he attainedplete utter shock upon realisation. "This is Marlo. No!!" m! A couple of heads collided, the hero saw one of the enemies change its route and bashing against another enemy of this den. A tone he knew all so well hollered and pierced the stingray''s suddenly reduced atmosphere, "The fuck you standing around for? We are in the middle of a war." Turning around, he spotted Osira. And what she had done just a second ago was easy to determine, an enemy was bashed against the head by this finedy - but the prime intent was protecting Tim who was angry enough to be lost due to the death of this friend. "Marlo is dead!" He shouted out, acknowledging what the problem was and the heroic grouper could sense the pain in the boy''s tone although still unable to understand it. Motivation standing stronger than ever with an unwilling sense of breaking, she shouted. "Nothing we can do about it now, let''s kill the rest of these bitches!" And that''s when the young one was brought back to reality and charged towards the closest pufferfish he could find,nding not 1 but 2 strikes against the head so the chances of survival sink below 0. After that kill, he leaped against another close by enemy and indeed managed to cause another pre-meditated murder. Tim''s ision was captured by the two stingray siblings of his whom were working almost side by side, chasing enemies together and almost mimicking the battle techniques that the hero here had invented. m! Another sh was heard and the shocked sea disk saw another enemy changing course, Osira''s tone thundered after. "Don''t just float around, kill!" And then herself charged towards another one of these pufferfish and sunk her teeth on it, taking off a chunk and then swimming away to not receive any blind shots from any other enemy. Chapter 98: Ripped in half! Chapter 98: Ripped in half! Once he was struck back to the battle after Osira thundered through his hearing holes, every emotion of which the hero contained, rapidly became reced by nothing but boiling and blood-thirsty rage! He arose from the very sand that carried the fins when he was gazing upon Marlo, and locked vision with the closest enemy before lunging forward. Speed for once in a while became a perk all thanks to this precious rage. Definitely something worth being proud about but it still was barely 4 mp/h. He spiked through yet another enemy but wanted these fish to feel more pain so the boy avoided striking against the head. And instead that dangerous barb began scratching across the side of an enemy, it sunk just an inch deep as a wound across the enemy was imprinted from one end to the other. Through the battle cries Timothy heard something pop and remembered why these attackers are called pufferfish. "Every spot of theirs is a weakness, I just need to destroy their sack thing." The attack was an inevitable death cause and the young one felt proud about it but the crave to kill more hasn''t yet disappeared. His eyes and tail craved another enemy to ughter. A new cumtive of 5 kills counted after a while, and he had heard the system yap about gains over and over. Even now, she didn''t fail notifying. [Checkered pufferfish killed, 10 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 275] Plentiful no doubt but the raging sea pancake''s focus wasn''t lended to such aspects, instead he made it all the way where the toughest souls this den had to offer. They were still going at it, showing that crazy old hag who truly rules this reef. These dungeness crabs had stabbed this one enemy so many times that when Tim arrived to take a peek, all he could see was holes taking refuge in the entire body! There were no eyes, no face or fins. Just a blob of meat whom has been tortured with more holes bashed against it than any other being could possibly handle. Even the crabs felt convinced that their job was more than well done so they began crawling away from the body, giving everyone a better view. "Our messenger is dead!" One of the living pufferfish yelled out and suddenly a stronger disturbance overtook the waters, as if such a thing was possible. The enemies all ended their battles and charged towards the spot where the mutted body wasying at, Tim wanted to turn around and make a dash for it or at least stand and fight but he came into reality a bit toote - gazing upon the corpse didn''t fail to make him feel lost. The second he tried to swim away, a sharp pain captivated a good portion of his right fin, directly at the bottom and painfully close to the private portions. [Health -15] [Total health = 43/100] This shot managed to damage the only other functioning fin, and so speed will not be to his disposition for a long time ~ that is, if he survived. These numbers were smaller than most times, the only other moment he reached health low to this point was when he got stung by the now-dead Alba. The same enemy who just delivered such damage, wanted to take another bite after swallowing one of the chunks. But... The bite our young hero had received was enough to grant a bit of information, although he did not have to turn around and look. Sensing a minormotion in the waters, right next to him even, the clever stingray swiped his tail up and punctured the enemy right through the neck. His tail didn''t manage to puncture through to meet the other end of the skin surface. But it still aided the system to notify, [checkered pufferfish killed, 10 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 285] One of the enemy''s attacks was not focused on the stingray who managed to cause quite some havoc in the battlefield, but instead he was focused on the dead ''messenger'' a bit more than anyone else. The most concerning part was that this pufferfish was a new arrival, he didn''t belong to the second batch of warriors but had just reached the scene. Swimming fast wasn''t to his aidpared to all the friends, the only reason behind such motion was that he had puffed. That itself was confusing alone as she should have long deted if he had met an enemy on the outside. Here, even though in battle, none of the pufferfish had puffed in order to interject any damage through that kind of route. But this one had and at the same time it felt as if the sea water itself was pinpointed to his body, he felt this great mass trying to crush him and it wasn''t in any way metaphorical. The yellow colour on his skin began turning pale and the straight checkered patterns crumbled into a scribbled way, it felt like his soul was being sucked out in the worst possible way - even the flesh and bone in his body began deteriorating. With thest bit of life he had left, the pufferfish deted and bursted out the contents that were trapped in his stomach once he had inted earlier before entering this den. A thick-green-substance hollered its way through the waters and dotted right over the anglerfish''s body, this ridiculous liquid even made its way through the many holes thisdy had withstood. The pufferfish whom was obviously picked to make such a delivery, literally split in half after that. Whatever this substance was, touching it wasn''t a good idea at all unless one intended suicide or wanted to sacrifice their body. After a few seconds, the corpse of the humpback began shaking around and 1/4th of the holes had disappeared, allowing anyone around to witness a bit of skin. Every fish in this den, enemy or friend, had stopped their battle and stood side-by-side, gazing at themotion that included this ridiculous green substance. After a handful of more seconds, the entire den heard a shout that solely included rage and determination. "The holy tar demands your souls!" Chapter 99: Ripped in half (2) Chapter 99: Ripped in half (2) And so, the craze-encrusted enemy had somehow plumped back in colour, that natural brown skin restored only on specific patches. Thest time Timothy had seen this monster carrying such life, was when he faced her back at the first den whom contained such awful green substance. The big bad enemy began moving around, twisting left and right as if she was another soul whom had reincarnated into this body and was trying it out in panic. With a massive burst of energy, she nearly didn''t hesitate to charge towards her enemy that had long made a sour ce in her heart. He was the closest there and bing a target wouldn''t have been a problem either way once considering history. Such thunderous force managed to scare the young boy for once in a long while. He wanted to escape but the fins didn''t want to oblige, as if they were frozen in ce. It only took a moment to realise that there was a psychological wall behind this inability to move away. Sure he had enough ego to refuse allowing this old hag tond yet another kill, but if that ego was removed, what would be left? A handful of things, he managed to realise that through the few seconds of terror but the prime one remained as the urge of suicide. Somehow he had be a stingray without wanting to, although he was a prodigy here, life underwater had proven horrific so far. So behind all that ego, he wanted to die, Tim wanted for this crazy old anglerfish to bite him in half and end what could be years of future suffering. And the enemy was happy to oblige such unspoken wish, she had already begun charging straight towards the target and was pping her jaws more than ever ~ them craving every bit of flesh that the hero possessed. In a split second they could hear that rough thud of a sound when powerful jaws meet flesh. However, the brave sea pancake was still floating on his spot, alive and in one piece. Themotion in the waters became hazardous for any fish whom was in a 1 foot radius of a specific scene, thankfully our t hero was 2 feet away. A dust cloud was caused thanks to this trouble, and barely any fish in the area could see just what the hell was going on. The anglerfish had met some type of barricade, she hadn''t yet escaped the underwater dust cloud and judging from the constant jaw-ps, the situation was intense. Everything went quiet after a while and the dust cloud began calming down, the first thing that the sea pancake managed to see was the enemy''s head poking out of the cloud, her mouth wide open. But... It wasn''t charging straight forward with aims to sh the hero down. Instead, the head met a sub-spin and slowly nailed to the ground. A quarter of the cloud dimmed down after just a handful of seconds and anyone present, managed to see arger being present in the battlefield. Whom it was, struck out as a bit of a blur for a while until someone called out with joy evident to her tone. "It''s Husat the great white shark!" Upon further observation, Timmy managed to notice that the anglerfish''s head was cut down not-so-clean and the tail wasying around a few feet away from where the battle took ce. Afterwards they could see the brave young shark spitting out a foot wide chunk, it was clear that his jaws were strong enough to bite through that tough skin the enemy used to possess. A battle-cry hollered from the top of their lungs and it was clear whom had the advantage, inhabitants of this den had more motivation than ever to strike the enemies down! Considering that a great white was aiding them in battle now, this scene became more of a massacre - these pufferfish whom dared to harm this den had only given a fin more into digging their own graves. An end was met and the not-so-hidden den stood victorious against the attackers. Losses were definitely met from this side, a lot of the smaller fish have been ughtered, including the one and only sea turtle that inhabited this ce. A clean up was necessary after this point, of course after the fish took some time to calm down and observe everything that just happened. The dead allies were lined up and Tim was given the unfavourable task to count everything. In this battle, 60 marine animals whom inhabited this den, have lost their souls. So that pushes this hidden den back to step one, having just 30 allies. It''s worse than when he got here although more diverse in species thanks to the new arrivals. After the disaster, Timothy had asked the system a question that didn''t feel like it mattered. "How many points do I have now?" [Total system points = 335] "That''s more than I ever got but at what cost? These fish all died because of that crazy bitch!" His thoughts were certainly set into a firm rage but the facial expressions didn''t manage to let out any emotions, it remained nk. A sweet tone sounded out near the hero out of a sudden, asking. "What will we do with all these bodies?" "Why are you asking me?" Tim answered and noticed that it was Osira whom had asked such a question. Pointing out what could have escaped as a forgotten fact, with a bit of hesitancy in her tone, thedy cited. "Well... Marlo is dead and a lot of these fish would want to hear out your thoughts." Feeling more emotional than ever, he answered. "I don''t deserve to lead these fish. Look at all these deaths caused just because I bothered that hag to begin with." "She was going to destroy fish kind no matter what, if not today then it would have happened tomorrow." Afterwards showing that her attitude is just as strong as her support, she once more questioned. "Now tell me, what do we do with these bodies?" Chapter 100: Brother Chapter 100: Brother After giving it just a few moments of logical thinking, Timothy decided to point out what most would expect, forging it as an order. "Look, we obviously can''t use our own friends as food so their bodies should be buried somewhere." A random reef shark whom survived this battle, decided to question the foundation of this new authority. "How could we bury all these fish? It would take a lifetime." Although he was a bit staggered how anyone of this tribe would be picky after such a crazy situation had struck the entire vige, the young hero tried to remain in a good mood as he recited. "So digging is a bad idea?" And then decided to reprocess the n while a lot of fish nodded in agreement, after a while he stated. "Then we will drop the bodies in the mist. Sure it''s a bit far away but none of us could swim deep enough there without dying." Observing the semi-nk expressions on therades for a few seconds with the aims of figuring out the overall motivation, Tim decided to weigh in this decision a tad bit more. "So if you all like this idea..." A portion of the crowd broke out before he could have finished the sentence, stating their thoughts and beliefs out loud. "That could work." "Sounds like a lot of swimming." "Great." "It will be so hard to let them go." Understanding the emotional baggage by at least a bit, the sea pancake also wanted to point out. "The ones that don''t have good feelings about carrying their dead friends can sit this one out. Instead, go search for the rest of our friends, I think a few of them are still out hunting for food." And so, the entire group began moving around at a pace that was almost considered too fast. Tim avoided looking at Marlo''s body before a couple of reef sharks dragged it out of the den, this day was hard enough and it had no need to feel more difficult. As for the rest of this tribe of fish, he did not really feel any connection with them. Apart from a few animals whom he managed to feel the faintest bit of connection. So technically he could have helped out to drag bodies away, however the wounds on his fins tend to disagree with such action. One of his fins has a chunk taken off at the very tip and the other one straight on the bottom so it was extraordinarily hard for Timmy to carry an entire body for a couple hundred meters. Come to think of it, his stamina felt as if damaged and wouldn''t quite regenerate even though he wasn''t technically doing much, that''s when the system notified. [Host is in a position that demands action to restore sense-of-being. Would you like to hear out statistics regarding your current state?] At this point unwilling to fight reason, the sea disk just answered. "Sure." [Health bar = 43/100] [Hunger bar = 2/15] [Sleep bar = 8/35] [Stamina bar = 6/15] Feeling tired, his brain bing unable to catch up for just a few seconds, he questioned. "That''s pretty bad, what should I do?" [Your best option right now is to find health-raising food to eat, as to why, I will exin to youter although the base context is easy to understand.] "Okay... health food, let''s see." He answered while at the same time began swimming around the den and located the food pile. Thanks to the battle it had certainly been messed with, spread around at best since no sane fish would stop to eat in the midst of battle. A lot of food was tossed around silly until finally he noticed a familiar body, one he still loathed of losing. "Is this a goddamn barracuda?" [Yes] After a bit of thought, he decided. "It can''t be mine, this is an untouched body." [System highly rmends consuming this great barracuda. It''s effects on health are the highest yetpared to any other animals you have statistics of.] [You can take a bite off this fish to determine just how much health bars it can give, although we understand what most can give.] Unwilling to speak out or think, he just answered shortly. "Okay." And took a bite of the clearly hunted body, afterwards the system instantly processed and notified. [Great barracuda identified, exact effect-led statistics will be stated shortly...] [Effect on health, +35 bars] [Effect on hunger, +90 bars] [Effect on sleep, +10 bars] [Effect on stamina, +15 bars] "That''s he helpful." Timmy instantly answered, even spoke out this time. But when giving a better peek at the barracuda, it wasn''t so hard to understand why it gave such perks. With just a peek, it was easy to see that this one wasrger than usual, perhaps 1.2 meters long and it''s a bit fat as well. He couldn''t think about any fish here, powerful enough to bring down such prey but here it was a huge advantage for the young boy. Without hesitation, he began chomping down on the fish, using every bit of his power to chew through as the low sleep bar was giving trouble functioning properly. Energy arose upon every bite, the smaller effects of consuming this animal had obviously started to kick in. But still, although there was a bit of a difference, he still felt like a bag of bones. After a while, he had consumed countless bites but considering the barracuda''s size, the boy barely even managed to make a difference ~ one would think that a small marble shrimp had taken a feast here. But yet his hunger bar was to the fullest and the most important statistic exined, [Health bar = 49/100] It was getting a tad better but it still was bad considering what statistics he had before getting into that tunnel, the same tunnel whom was the very base of thisrge problem. [Now you should go asleep.] [The wounds you have will consume a lot of your energy and hunger bar too, faster than usual even. So you can''t sleep for long and have to wake up again to feast on this barracuda.] Although the boy was feeling as if a swimming zombie, he could sense opportunity and therefore for once in a while gazed at the opportunities of disaster. "That''s he nice! I have chances to heal faster now." Gazing at his surroundings, Tim figured out that each and every sibling of his had showed up in the den now and therefore a request wasid out. "I need to sleep and recover,e here and protect me." Chapter 101: Family talk Chapter 101: Family talk Being surrounded by family felt good although the connection he had with them was close to being considered non existent. It''s hard to connect with fish he barely knew for 10 days, but the warmth was still noticeable even though they were underwater. The radiating warmth imprinted on his conscious enough that even dreams were better, but it was cut short as the system woke him up with a repetitive rm before the snooze session stretched almost 2 hours. [Your hunger is dangerously low, find food as fast as possible.] As Timmy opened his little eyes, still unaware of his surroundings, the system switched the rm almost at an instant. [Food spotted and identified but you need specific ones.] [Look for health raising food. Last time you ate a barracuda and it raised your health.] A great reminder for a little boy who woke up drowsy enough for most of his surroundings to appear like a blur and unfamiliar. It made sense as his sleep bar was already low and he barely slept for 2 hours. Haze was the first to point out his nonsense by citing, "The hell are you waking up for? Justy down and rx." It took a couple of tries before the boy acknowledged her existence, but after a few more seconds he had gained more awareness of everything and was able to reply. "Foody food." And after realizing what he just said, the sentence was enhanced by another. "I feel extremely hungry." The barracuda carcass thankfully wasn''t so far away and no one else had thought of eating after such a disaster so it was in all ways good for the hero. He took a few bites off the barracuda, and Philip announced a few seconds after he swam close by. "You like that ha? We killed this one, it was a long ugly battle." Biting food had actually aided to wake up faster, perhaps it was the bit of chewing that demanded more attention of his surroundings? Thanks to that very fact, he was able to reply after swallowing another bite. "Let me guess, it was Haze''s idea to hunt this big-ass fish?" "Yup." Patty assured and wanted to add what could have been restricted in her emotions for a while, "She yelled a lot before I was convinced, very loud." To such a sentence, the marvelously brave Haze had an urge to point out. "Ain''t my fault that you''re scared." "Scared? No. She''s logical rather than going to fight a 1.2 meter long maniac with jaws, well at least I am. Only joined you bastards because I didn''t want more of my siblings to die." Snoopy exined a greater portion of the battle, the preparation about such a hunt became a tad more clear at least. But it still made the hero speak out with the intent of a light tease, "Your attitude really doesn''t fit your name." Wanting to protect his unfortunate name, Snoopy spoke out. "Our mom and dad picked me the worst name, you can''t me me about that." "Well it isn''t easy to name 14 children." Philip reminded, but the thought of family roots managed to sync the 4 siblings into a sour mood that illuminated only through their square of conversation. What they heard afterwards was just the hero chewing through his meal with speed that elerated after each bite. He stormed through the carcass as if thest time he ate was a month ago, he barely was that old. The system decided to exin a portion of her own after the boy became almost awake, [As you noticed, hunger was stronger now than ever for you.] "No shit." The boy thought out and then decided to question the idea after a chunk of meat brushed around his lips, "Why am I so hungry? I doubt that my sleep bar has been restored at this point." [It''s lower than before] To such a im, he couldn''t help raging through that pea-sized head. "The fuck? Are you broken?" [No] [The wounds you have will drain your hunger, sleep and stamina a lot faster.] [The reason behind such a setback is solely for your wounds to heal faster.] Although he didn''t understand half of it, young Tim was still aware enough to ask a question. "So, these holes on my fins will eventually disappear?" [Ask your siblings] His eyes opened up a bit wider as he instantly questioned, "Hey guys, how do my wounds look?" Snoopy eagerly bounced in the conversation after that point and deciphered, "I could have been seeing some odd delusion but as you slept, a good portion of your wounds slowly regenerated as if you were some kind of fish god. I swear that bones were slowly growing back." "Weird." The young hero answered and kept such a face that illuminated a true sense of uncertainty, but truly inside he was growing a smirk. And immediately asked the system, "So that''s what you meant?" [Yes] [Your body is sucking out all energy for those wounds to heal. It''s normal in nature but in your case it''s quicker and actually regenerates lost tissue, bone and muscle.] This situation was still difficult for the young boy to understand so he spoke anguage that seemed all too familiar, "So I should eat?" [Yes] [Eat that barracuda until you are full and fall asleep again.] After just a few minutes, the young man had chopped enough meat to fill that little stomach of his and was ready to drop in a fooda. Those rted stats themselves being already low had definitely aided the idea. But before he emerged into what his siblings would henceforthbel as not-so-boring slumber, the system had to announce. [You have obtained another 6 points of health from this eating session.] [Total health = 55/100] After that little spike of excitement, slumber was quick to catch on and forced the young man to only let out a few words that were rted to said spike but barely made any sense. "My health is be yes good." Chapter 102: Restoration Chapter 102: Restoration And so, the young man had repeated the little procedure to raise health as much as he could. It felt awfully repetitive to him and the urge to get this over with, raged through his head like an angry tortoise. Every time he woke up, a bit of the wounds that were inflicted on the little body of his, had sealed just a few dots more - regenerated what was lost with a pace that almost seemed holy. The first couple of attempts of progress were the toughest as sleep and stamina were actually going backwards, so in a way he had felt like a swimming zombie. It nearly wasn''t easy to handle but things picked up just a little bit when he had woken up for the third time. Sleep definitely wasn''t to his advantage even then but at least the bar stopped going backwards and actually started progressing the fourth time he woke up. After that point his wounds were almost healed but the pain was stubborn and did not yet n to go away. For a few moments he didn''t really know if the pain came from regeneration of flesh and bone or the wound itself. The barracuda in front of him waspletely consumed when he woke up to face it for the fifth time, and now thinking it back, the idea of eating such arge animal felt totally unrealistic. Tim was at least 10 times smaller yet he had enough motive to eat everything under a span of 10 hours! It was insane through and through but the system was swift to exin how the hell this was possible. [Your entire metabolism was at a rush with the aim of healing your wounds.] [So the barracuda bits you ate were broken down, stripped out of benefits and used on the said wounds.] [All of this was done faster than usual so your body was on constant urge for food and energy. This exins how you were drowsy even though the barracuda had qualities that gifted a few points to the sleep and stamina bar.] "This also exins why I had to poop 5 times." Timined but in reality he felt better than ever, or at least better than in a while. His siblings saw that the boy was rumbling over something but they only guessed it had to do with the wounds and theck of sleep so they left him be. A question of utter importance popped up in the sea disk''s head and he was eager to sh it with a thought out question, "So how much health do I have now?" [Health bar = 78/100] "What!" Tim yelled out and began swimming in circles, his siblings noticed it but didn''t bother to check and just submerged in slumber, it was night time and they all were tired. But Timmy continued his celebration, "I didn''t know that my health would raise this fast!" [The barracuda you ate had in total granted 35 points of health, that''s not to be taken lightly.] [Luck was by your side, getting chunks bitten off you was a curse as much as a blessing.] "No need to turn poetic on me, systemdy. The important thing is that my health is marvelously high." His wordy tad stupid no doubt but the overall aura had been raised, coated with joy. So she didn''t bother to argue, but instead advised. [Now you are to scoop out and eat more marine animals that give you health, even if they are small and almost ineffective.] [It is clear that the way of living you have tends to take a lot of health. So for the sake of survival, look for marble shrimp in the food stash and consume them.] Finding the food pile was easy but it also aided to grant a bit more attention to what was blessing his surroundings. For a start, all the living fish this tribe had to offer, have returned now and were submerging into slumber. With Tim, there has to be a total of 40 marine animals here. Clearly more than half have been wiped out thanks to that unnecessary battle but at least there were still souls to call this ce home. The other thing he noticed was how tidy this ce was, the entire tribe had surely worked their asses off while he was sleeping the pain away and the reflection that theck of stench portrayed ~ was soothing to the overall noggin. As he scooped through the carcasses with an aim to find the death defying leggy crabs, his vision was blessed by Osira and Stacey sleeping next to each other. This battle had surely tired them out both mentally and physically, it was clear that one of them had a little trauma or otherwise they would have not slept so close to each other. Originally, they were supposed to be back now from ughtering Harold the eel but the situation proved troublesome for another battle to be held today. He smiled as much as those little lips could naturally allow and through the brief darkness he had seeked another 5 minutes for what could satisfy his soul. A small pile of them were apparently hidden beneathrger bodies, considering how small they were, it was easy to understand the reason. Any littlemotion in the waters would separate them from the big pile. With a lot of joy he began chomping through them, eating every bit of those little bodies and not even allowing half a small leg to escape. His stomach could fit this whole meal because although the wounds hadpletely regenerated, there are still markings on them apanied by a hint of pain. So of course, the metabolism was still working fast. [14 marble shrimps eaten. Would you like to hear out your overall status bar situation?] At this point, the young consumer was eager about every statistic considering the unique situation. So he permitted, "Yes." [Health bar = 85/100] [Hunger bar = 15/15] [Sleep bar = 1/35] [Stamina bar = 3/15] Although the admirable health bar made him happy, the rest still forced Timothy down to the sand where he uttered. "I must sleep, yes yes, sleep." Chapter 103: First home (1) Chapter 103: First home (1) After those strong wounds hadpletely healed, yielding energy out of amon meal was far easier. Thanks to that fact, the little hero woke up after about 6 hours of sleep and felt better than ever, although tad hungry. As he was chewing through a bit of tunafish just to restore what little hunger wasgging behind, he only became angrier. The prime reason behind such emotion that was enveloping in his subconscious was the soul fact that he had enough energy to think a bit betterpared to yesterday. Marlo is dead but the hero was yet to ept that fact. It just seemed too bizarre although the rules of survival always warn about death, nothing seems to add up. One moment everything was okay in the den and when he got back, bodies lied on top of bodies and there was nothing he could do to reverse the said damage. It almost forced the little boy to stop eating, but no he wasn''t going to push valuable food away. Instead, rage piled up in his subconscious bit by bit and started behaving like a damn that was about to blow, calmness was almost erased as an option. The hagfish''s body isn''t here either, and considering how it was severed, the tribes-fish have likely dumped her remains down in the mist that''s about 300 meters away. He doesn''t want to believe that such a seemingly immortal enemy, could recover from that defeat, but in another way he wished that she would. Because in that way, he could face that bastard of an anglerfish and deliver some damage of his own ~ all with the aims of letting out some steam. But then, an idea scrolled right through his mind and he took the raw emotion to try and form it into a n. "There still are a couple of animals I could hunt down for revenge." That thought continued to bloom after he swam away from the bits of tuna he was eating, "We dropped the mission earlier because of the disaster. We didn''t go out to hunt and kill that bastard, Harold." Swimming towards the exit, he saw one of the dungeness crabs guarding the tunnel. Happy that they still are eager to protect this ce, the boy just nodded at them with a smile they couldn''t see, and made his way up the long tunnel that connected the outer world to the hidden den. Originally, a lot of strong fish would have chased and killed the enemy all together but after those losses, Timmy does not want to include anyone else in this battle. Normally, he would give in all work to go and find an enemy who could possibly be in hiding. In most cases, the arrogantly brave hero was directed to danger itself. But this time, he knows exactly where to go. ... Just near the point where the reef connects with a semi tnd of sand, there was a home that was stolen from a weaker soul in the beginning portions of this whole adventure, that reincarnation managed to offer. Normally, Timothy would pay a bit more attention to his surroundings. The young boy would stay closer to the coral just to avoid attention and a possible ughter itself. But today, he wasn''t feeling like doing so. Rage was stomping forward stronger than the fear of death itself. But for once, he was also well informed and the base of such confidence wasmon sense. He had left behind friends and family who were deep in slumber. Likewise, it meant that now was the break of dawn. This is the time when the weaker are asleep and strong predators normally fall to sleep after a night of hunting. This helped the little man to feel confident that no predator would engage in a chase. Along with it, this time of the day gave the feeling of superiority over the target. He stalked the little den for a while and a bit of memories struck back. The yellow coral that spread down like a river through the very ceiling of the home, caught most of his attention - solely because it was unique to see. Timmy couldn''t help feeling a bit better thanks to seeing his first ever home again, but the prime emotion was still dominating. Peeking down, he saw a figure that seemed all too familiar. The fatness that enveloped on the enemy''s body was a key characteristic that was difficult to forget. What feeling of joy he managed to build up just a little bit earlier, became eradicated once he spotted the enemy he loathed the most in this life. Unwilling to hold an unfair battle, Tim felt confident enough to yell out. "Wake up fat ass!" "Huh what who?" The enemy mumbled and slithered left and right a tad bit, and afterwards emerged higher towards the wide exit. Once he noticed just whom had bothered the deep slumber, Harold couldn''t help butugh for a few seconds before he inevitably threatened. "So the meal has swam all the way here. Are you feeling suicidal, boy?" Knowing what to say once peeking amongst the enemy''s face, feeling even more confident now, the stingray poked. "Big talk for a guy who got his eye molestedst time we met." In a split second, the enemy''s face shifted to an ugly one and he immediately charged forward with no warning whatsoever. With arge p against the water, Timothy swept up and avoided what could have easily been a deadly bite and heard those awful jaws p after a quarter of a second. He didn''t have enough time tounch an attack but wasn''t eager to get killed either, this wasn''t an attempt of suicide. It was easy to predict that fighting in a secluded area wasn''t a good idea at all, so the revenge led hero had swam away from what used to be his home. And then weed the 1 meter long enemy to battle, yelling out. "This is the end for you, Harold!" Chapter 104: First home (2) Chapter 104: First home (2) Staggered by the little stingray''s confidence enough to be offended by it alone, after failing to bite through the target, Harold yielded a gaze. His head was slightly tilted to the left as a sour patch of words escaped through those awful jaws, "The end? For me? You''re as pathetic as your sibling." With such a topic tampered, the fat eel used the growing hostile expression on the hero''s face to add. "I''d like to say that he was a good meal... but you motherfuckers are really bony." Unwilling to allow this bullshit of an expression to escape unpunished, Tim instantly charged towards the fat bastard. No intent in this battle was good willing, likewise his tail pointed forward with the aim of summoning the banana formation. The salty sea waters themselves were forced into trouble, as what little friction was in between the two fighters, managed to slow down the stingray by at least a bit - all thanks to his fins being spread wide as the stinger was heading towards the one and only target. Harold opened his jaws like a blood craving shark and waited for the much appraised stingray to swim right between those jaws that can easily bite off flesh and bone. Collision became the inevitable. The first was avoided but the second one was on a stroke of luck. The little sea pancake managed to bash that marvelous barb right through the eye, the entire thing managed to bash in. Timmy almost thought that he scratched the enemy''s skull but Harold set into rage right after and began shing his thick head around, all thanks to the sharp pain that has spread bigger than the struggle of death itself. It only took a couple of seconds to get tossed far from where the first collision had its root. But since they fought in the open, it didn''t exactly prove troublesome for the youngster as water aided to cushion the toss and bit-by-bit grant a sense of proper orientation. Right after a second, his senses tickled once the ursed eel unleashed a shout. "I can''t see anything! You bastard!" His emotional intelligence had worked a lot these days, situations like this truly exin why such a part of the brain would be honed by a tenth. So the youngster let out a phrase solely powered by emotion, "You were blind anyway, what''s the difference? Your soul is darker than the deep mist itself. Those eyes on your head were just a formality." [Smart] "Thank you." Tim thought as he charged upwards to avoid the fat eel whom was charging straight ahead. Feeling weird about being close to the enemy while control wasn''t to his highest disposition, the hero continued swimming upwards for a meter more and then took a sharp right turn. Aiding the confusion, afterwards he swam straight down and made it all the way underneath Harold, keeping a good distance of 2 meters for the sake of proper control of this battle. With an opportunity spotted, the somewhat calctive sea pancake dashed straight forward towards the target. But the enemy was struggling a bit too much, panic had taken ce in that dark hard of his for sure so the tail was just swishing around in all directions. That forced the boy to lean his whole body to the left, it took a strong p against the sea to suddenly shift in such directions. His tail curled into a U-formation, the strong fins stood straight and stiff as possible just to get closer to the target - lowering the chances of missing the strike. Barb finally met flesh a split second after, the starting point was right near the anus. He could feel the enemy flinch but for once that unique spot wasn''t the target. Regardless of what the wishes were, the momentum he had built up with those healthy fins, helped to drag the tail upwards for a little while. The result was a foot-long cut even though an eel''s skin was tougher than what enemies he had mostly faced up until this point. "You small cunt!" Harold yelled out after the cut was delivered. But even before that sentence was let out fully, another sharp pain was inflicted against the meter long enemy, all thanks to the rough barb that sunk deep in flesh once and then again. After those shots, the bastardous eel began slithering around a bit too much. So for safety''s sake, the hero took a route that directly led away from the battlefield. Every bit of his battle had worked to the young man''s advantage. But apart from rendering the enemy blind, thended shots weren''t enough to kill an enemy who was at least 10 times bigger and countless times tougher. A yellow portion of speed blew across the waters, catching anyone with vision or at least good senses, by surprise. It headed straight towards Harold, and a secondter, another one of his shouts sounded out. "Fuck!" A familiar figure echoed across the waters after the enemy sounded out, although it was 10 meters away, the hero could see easily who it was. Tad bit pissed off about it, he shouted. "The hell are you doing here?" "What does it look like?" A feminine tone hollered back, without a single regret in her tone. "I''m saving your ass!" Noticing that it was none other but his sibling Haze, the young hero continued the screamingpetition with an answer. "My ass waspletely safe, I''m winning!" Harold entered to a fit of rage right after, blindness was a dilemma no doubt but he still managed to charge directly towards the neer. At the same time shouting out, "I will eat your sister the same way I ate your brother!" Considering the most recent attack, she was just a meter close away from the meter long enemy. So just a second after she could hear those jaws p and the momentum that the panicking body of the eel managed to produce, dragged her in closer towards danger. The first bite was aplete miss but the second one... sucked thedy right near the jaws ~ close enough tond a deadly bite. Haze''s whole short life shed before her eyes as those jaws whom were stained with bloody dots, were closing in tond a bite. Chapter 105: First home (3) Chapter 105: First home (3) GUP! An ear punching sound echoed. It felt rough to hear but at the same time sounded soft, as if whatever shed were two soft bodies bashing against each other. Too much action was crammed all in a split second, that everyone around could just not understand what happened up until a secondter. "How dare youe and fight without me?!" A familiar female tone echoed once Tim thought that everything was lost. "Can''t a man fight alone for once?" Tim yelled back, and emotions themselves became so mixed up in that second that he could not understand them by the slightest. He took a peek at Haze and easily figured out that she was aided to escape what almost was a bite through the head. That of course managed to give him a lot of relief and brief happiness too. And then the hero gazed at the new arrival on this bloody battle, it was easy to determine who this was once taking a peek at the orange features. It was Osira, the marvelously brave cktipped grouper who does not fear battle, at least when Tim is involved in it. She continued to steer the boy''s emotion, strongly poking irritation with another holler once swimming away from the enemy. "You''re a man? When were you going to tell me?" Although agitated a tad bit, he was still somewhat happy to see her here and thatrge thud from earlier proved that she took the enemy head on. Therefore he just answered with a nk threat, "If you didn''t just save my sister, I''d remind you!" Afterwards they heard a battle cry unlike any other that came out of Harold the unholy. Struggle was evident in his tone, a mental breakdown close by as the shout finally escaped after a 5 second long and thick growl. "Die! All of you!" He charged right towards where the closest sound managed to tingle senses, everyone was smart enough to keep their distance for the sake of keeping their asses. Apart from Timmy of course, he was right in front of the blind-eye that belonged to this ragging storm of a charging enemy. With a bit of struggle, he shed fins towards the opposite direction for the sake of sinking lower towards the ground for the sake of avoiding the blow. But... Unlike swimming up, this procedure was much more difficult as he had to move the fins in reverse. Swimming up wasn''t an option this time as the enemy would be quick to catch up andnd a deadly blow. GUP! He felt the enemy''s body mass pinning almost like a needle, close to his tail and managing to cause strong imbnce! Thankfully those jaws were escaped but the boy was tossed a meter to the side in exchange. [Health -2 bars] [Total health = 83/100] "This isn''t so bad, this isn''t so bad." Tim uttered repetitively, trying to ignore that the collision felt so much like a spank on the ass. The eel continued to charge forward with that pace of which was fueled by intense rage as a prime base, and smashed against the yellow coral that was close to the ceiling of the den. Thankfully a marine animal of that size, couldn''t really destroy coral with a strike of such volume so the home whom used to belong to Timothy, was still safe. The collision managed to slow the beast down by at least a quarter, the group could hear a bone crack even, so that can never be a good sign for the enemy. Harold turned around a little bit and shook his head around, trying to push the pain away, uttering. "Where is that fat-ass shark when you need him?" Wanting this to be an easier kill, the sea pancake tried to keep a manly tone as he shouted. "Give up, you''re outnumbered." "Fuck you!" The enemy answered back and easily helped the team determine just how cooperative he was towards such an idea. Feeling like he knew where the closest sound came from, the eel charged right towards direction, almost to the left even. But for a blind fish, everything felt like left so he just followed what sounded like the base of a sessful attack. Unwilling to get tossed like a frisbee by the enemy again, Timothy pped his left fin and therefore bent around to the right side at a 45 angle. Using the split second that still stood to his disposition, Timothy charged straight forward and swam in the same angle. The base intention was to avoid collision, he only had a second to work something up in exchange for his own life and that was the first idea that came in mind. Harold pierced up towards Timothy, the momentum that the raging jackass managed to build up, sucked him backwards for a good second, almost changing the route that required so much effort to build up. Once Tim managed to regain just a little bit of more control, his stinger curled downwards and formed into a U-formation. The 45 angle remained somewhat intact, so that made it easier tond a sting. Harold charging like a crazed beast, aided tond a longer and quicker cut as the little boy did not have to rely on his own momentum to deal damage. And since eel''s somewhat slither around when they swim, the enemy kept bashing it''s body back and forth against the barb while sliding away towards the direction that the momentum had picked. Thanks to thosebinations of a quick collision, to Harold it felt as if a saw had ruptured through his body and bashed enough to form wounds that looked like internal triangles. Harold continued to swim forward, blood coated half of the little hero''s body and enveloped on the surrounding waters as well. This... seemed more than enough damage, but the little boy could instantly sense danger. Sure the damage is content, but the cloud was deep in colour and wide enough to make predicting the enemy''s next move: tricky! Chapter 106: First home (4) Chapter 106: First home (4) The mist of blood spread out just by a foot more on each side. But when gazed upon from the little hero''s point of view, it felt as if all this red could swallow him whole alone. Although this wasn''t an emotion he was used to, the boy synced into nervousness as he pped those fins to swim backwards as fast as possible. By all means avoiding the mist. Caught by surprise, the system rmed. [Moray eel killed, 40 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Considering size, you also get an additional bonus of 20 system points.] [Total system points = 395] "What? It was that easy?" I''m rich!" Timothy thought out, a smile evident on his little face although the rest couldn''t understand the reason. [Thest attack managed to scar many internal organs, that eel was tough but not immortal.] [Would you like to know what effects this carcass grants upon consumption?] Excited that the battle met an end here without friends and family taking any damage, Tim was happy to request. "I can''t remember shit from thest eel I ate so do tell." [Confirmed] [Eating this specific carcass who is bigger in sizepared to other moray eels, grants the following...] [Effect on health, +20 bars] [Effect on hunger, +70 bars] [Effect on sleep, +30 bars] [Effect on stamina, -10 bars] "This one is an absolute fat-ass, but I won''t be eating him." Tim decided and was quite sure about it but just now he realised how long they have been standing in silence. Therefore he called out, "He''s dead. We killed the bastard!" Although it was tough to see, every participant in this battle wanted to believe this and were close to letting out a celebration holler but yet still weren''t sure if the hero''s words spoke the truth. Spotting that no one was letting out a sound, Timmy once more assured. "He really is dead, trust me!" And then swam right through the blood mist as confidence stood strong in his conscious. Once going through it, his entire body was covered in blood and Osira was the first to gain a glimpse of such a horrific sight. Sure they are used to this little stingray being a ruthless killer but to see him coated in blood... that sure managed to cause a shiver. With little effort he swam towards the carcass and easily managed to find where the wound took ce. A 70 centimeter long cut was spread across the eel''s left side. Surely he knew that enough damage had been dealt but couldn''t imagine a cut this long. Thankfully apart from the cut, there was no scene that stood superior in position, nothing was too disgusting apart from said wound. Harold''s mouth was wide open, likely because of the shock that sharp sudden pain can inflict. Seeing that Timothy was to the carcass without any drastic result as a repercussion, the cktipped friend joined in to have a better peek. It was fair to say that she was convinced whom this victory belonged to, so no regret stood evident in her mind while approaching. Apliment slipped out of her lips, but became coated with a different emotion soon as she opened her mouth. "You actually managed to kill this fat-fuck! Didn''t know you had it in you, being small and all." A crack in his tone shot out as he yelled, "Shut up! I''m ferocious! What does size matter?" His mood portrayed that of an angered man but in reality, he couldn''t feel happier to be coated with an enemy''s blood! This specific opposer felt as old as time, this one is the first marine animal whom managed to steer so many bad emotions in his little heart. But today, this bastardous eel wasying down dead. The 2 weeks in between the day they met and this evident victory from today, felt like an eternity considering all that happened. Which made this feel like an even bigger achievement, because in only 2 weeks, he managed to kill an enemy he hated the most! With satisfaction growing stronger in his tone, Tim called. "Haze, we killed him. Come and have a look." ... They''ve arrived at the hidden den just a few momentster and noticed that some of the fish have already woken up, the majority of them being reef sharks. Carrying the fat eel all the way here was quite difficult so they didn''t even bother and left the body there. Peeking at 3 of thergest reef sharks, Timothy requested. "There is an eel carcass waiting for you, we couldn''t carry it here so go get it." Snoopy overheard the talk and instantly came rushing in, shouting. "You actually managed to kill Harold?!" "Yes." Tim answered, brushing it off casually as if it wasn''t such a big deal. "You motherfuckers! Why didn''t you wake me up? I could''ve helped!" The young man hollered, angry no doubt but at the same time excited. Unwilling to hear out the yelling stingray, the hero of the hour allured his gaze towards the sharks. "Haze can lead you to the body, bring it here because it can feed us for a while." As the group of 4 left to fetch the body, Tim remembered something rather crucial. "I need to hunt a crab or some shit, to finish the task or else I can''t upgrade." It felt a bit rough to know that nearly 400 system points have piled up but yet he couldn''t spend them anywhere. Actually, this was somewhat torturous. Not nearly able to remember what kind of crab he was looking for, asking the system became the inevitable. "What am I supposed to hunt again?" [You need to hunt a white-leg shrimp so your guess was rather far off, this is the 8th task.] [After killing this species, you will need toplete 2 more tasks before upgrades unlock to you.] Thinking it over just for a few seconds, he looked around and then shouted something rather smart. "Does anyone know where I can find white-legged shrimps?" Chapter 107: Loner Chapter 107: Loner A shark was quick to answer out of the crowd but disappointment was evident in her tone. "I know a spot where like hundreds of them live, but they''re pretty useless. Why do you want them?" "I''ve heard they taste nice and want to be the judge of that." That was an utter lie, stingrays of his species don''t even have taste buds. Disagreeing in every way she could but trying to be nice as well towards the little marine animals that they subconsciously consider a leader now, thedy shark cited. "They taste nd, at least for me as a shark. Those shrimps aren''t even so fulfilling but I don''t know what you t-ones consider tasty so go for it." "I''m curious." Tim answered and tried to brush away the emotion to argue with thisdy. There wouldn''t be anything to argue about, he never saw one of these shrimps before and everyone knew that considering he admitted it. Continuing the n to finish task 8, he questioned. "Where can I find them? Shouldn''t be hard to spot right? You said that there are hundreds of them." Trying to break down the location easier instead of rushing through the sentence, sheid out. "Days ago, Marlo told me which ce you called a home. Surely you can get back there?" "Of course, it''s my home." The little boy assured and listened attentively. "The border to the mist is right near your home. Go to the border and then turn left, you need to follow the line for about 2 kilometers so that will be the most boring part of the journey." Sounded understandable enough, the curious stingray had already prepared a mental preview of where to go. Having a feeling that he won''t remember more if this exnation stretched, he questioned. "And after swimming that far away, the shrimps are easy to spot right?" Proving that she is somewhat smart at remembering, the reef shark contradicted. "No, not at all. You will find a bit of dead coral that stands upright and is very pointy. My only guess is that humans separated it that far from the reef but it''s a great way to navigate." "Okay." Tim answered and used every bit of his brain to try and remember the pointy coral specifically. "So they live in the pointy coral?" At this point having doubts about the little boy and the leadership they have assigned him to, she continued to exin. "No. After that you need to go a bit deep in the mist, go straight down and a tunnel on the side of the sand wall will be easy to spot unless your eyesight is hriously bad. That''s where the shrimps are." After pondering over all the information she deciphered, the same shark weighed in a thought. "Not worth the effort if you ask me." Knowing that he doesn''t really have a choice, Tim found an excuse. "Nah, I need to taste those shrimp." "You know how to go there then." Thedy shark answered and decided to also weigh in. "The shrimps are easy to tell apart, they are white and as big as you." "I''ming with you." Snoopy volunteered right after the conversation seemed to have met an end, the opportunity to thank thedy wasn''t even given. But the hero was quick to refuse, "No no, that''s a bad idea." "To go and hunt shrimp? Common, I could do it with my eyes closed." The little boy made a good point and Tim couldn''t really find a valid reason for his brother to stay here. But it only took seconds to figure out his own feelings, the young fighter just wanted to be alone for a while and didn''t want anyone to tag along. Remembering the whole disaster that struck them tomorrow, he answered. "Actually I needed you to stay here and repair that hole in the entrance, the rest of the tribe would help you." At this point he had figured out a grand excuse and felt confident that he could kill two seagulls with one stone, "But for you and our siblings I have a better idea." "What is it?" Snoopy jumped right away, his eyes were sparkling in excitement as the mission already soundedrge. Feeling a bitzy to talk right now but feeling that it''s the only option, he sunk into detail. "See our reef is dying and I need you and our siblings to follow the border line near the mist and find any animal toe and live in this same reef. In theory, it will keep everything here from dying." Weighing in a more crucial part, he cited. "Also you need to follow the opposite way of where I''m going. Steer clear of any tunnels there too, it didn''t go well for me." Feeling that this conversation has been going for far too long now, he seeked the diamond stingrays without allowing Snoopy to speak any longer and requested. "I need one of you to be my second inmand, look out for this ce while I''m gone. Shouldn''t be too long." "Okay, easily done." Thedy amongst them answered and dismissed the boy as if this wasn''t anything important. Afterwards he finally made it out of the den and sighed in relief when no one was following him. It was a bit confusing regarding why he wanted to be alone but after swimming for about a hundred meters, he managed to decipher a bit of the emotions. This entire life had been rough but these days especially, were torturous or impactful at least. He wanted to be alone and take in everything that had happened, and what would be better than silence to let these thoughtse in and spread out of his brain to ease up a portion of the burden that constantly seemed to growrger. With the ability given for once, he began taking in excitement once thinking about what upgrades would be avable for purchase. 2 of them are aplete mystery but the other has to be the tail-venom upgrade. That managed to strike excitement in his little heart and therefore he began swimming a bit quicker. Chapter 108: Detail Chapter 108: Detail It didn''t take much effort to follow the path he had decided to take, the only partially difficult portion was remembering where the starting point of this journey was. Sure he remembered that the shrimps are white and somewhat hidden but the back and forth information of finding them, made it possible for a few details to slowly slip out of the young man''s mind or at least be a blur. But once gazing at the mist along with the border that separated shallow waters from the deep one, a little sh of memory came to his mind. "Of course! I need to reach my new home first!" And after that bit of orientation, he instantly fell on the right path and followed along what we know as the border. It came as a brief realization that he for some reason had always followed the right side once meeting the border, but this time he was doing quite the opposite. Tim followed the border with little effort, the task was important but he remembered that this route is at least 2 kilometres long so it wasn''t the best idea to break through the waters at full speed. Considering his normal and much more rxed speed, it took about 2 hours to get through half of this long route and this is when he began feeling a bit too tired. With a brief question, he asked the system to break down his overall state of being at the moment. And the nicedy was quick to heed the request. [Your current state will be deciphered in the following...] [Health bar = 83/100] [Hunger bar = 3/15] [Sleep bar = 20/35] [Stamina bar = 4/15] [It isn''t the best but you just need to stop and rx to get rid of half the problems.] He had sunk in the sand for a good 15 minutes and one thing stood evident as he contemted over a few thoughts, "Looks like I need to hunt something right now. The shrimp nest is like an eternity away." Tad exaggerated but he had a point. Feeling a bit more rxed, he arose from the sand and used those little eyes to observe more of his surroundings. A silver like glow managed to shine and it was irritating to the eye, he didn''t quite like it and swiftly looked away. But curiosity grew stronger and he slowly swam closer towards the irritating light, what caused it became clearer all thanks to vision itself allowing it to. Naturally, approaching a living being or anything in particr, would shed detail to him whose sight is almost hriously short. This fish was half its length, after further observation he figured out that not 1 but 3 of them floated around as a school. This made him happier as the chances of fully replenishing the hunger bar became much easier. Feeling absolutely no threat from these beings, he charged straight forward with a sudden burst of speed, rxing a bit earlier made this all the more possible. Biting through the fish''s neck, he heard the system announce. [Silver belle killed, 2 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 397] [Eating a full grown silver belle grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, non existent] [Effect on hunger, +3] [Effect on sleep, non existent] [Effect on stamina, non existent] "Those are pretty sucky effects." Timothyined and right at that moment, his eyes met a pain sharp enough to force them shut. [Sight has been upgraded to level 15 for a full hour, use it wisely.] "The hell?" He almost shouted, confused at best and the sudden pain made him forget what exactly this ''sight'' thing was. After a few seconds he gained enough courage to open his eyes and the surroundings became almost unbelievable, to the point where the young one almost synced into aa thanks to the sudden shock. He could see about 5 kilometres away, that itself isn''t something significant considering that he could see far without this upgrade. But what was shocking, was the fact that he could see everything clearly in the most insane detail rather than it being a big blur. Seeing his entire surroundings in a blur before was a hard life. Everything felt like a mist but instead just carried different colours and any shade they represented. Shaking his head, not quite sure how toprehend this and having trouble believing it to although the system confirmed it a bit earlier. Tim lended an eye to the other 2 fish that stood near and was almost scared to death. The silver belles did not grow in size and for that he was half thankful, but what shocked him was the detail he could see on these species. Every corner and piece of skin appeared clearer than ever and the detail made the fish seem as if a disease had struck them that forced the skin itself to chap and shatter. Which felt even more bizarre as just a moment ago, these fish seemed smooth as the sea waters itself. Unwilling to look at them any longer, he shifted the gaze to the far left and could see hundreds upon hundreds of fish swimming in the far distance, above the mist. The ones that were 2-3 kilometers away seemed almost clear enough to make him think that they floated around just 20 meters away. But the fish who swam around to what felt like the border of his visionary capabilities, appeared less smooth and more like a blur. That was fair considering that the distance between them and him felt like an eternity. Afterwards he decided to look at an animal who appeared to be the biggest of anyone nearby, perhaps 3 kilometres away. A second after that animal approached close enough to almost lend a kiss. He screamed and awaited for death itself, cussing. "What the fuck!" Opening his eyes again, he noticed that the massive animal was still at its original spot,zily swimming around. Considering the way of swimming, this must be a whale species of some random sort. Focusing on the whale again, he noticed that it got far too close. But this time he was less shocked about it and used an example of his past life to build up a theory, "This upgraded sight is letting me zoom in anywhere I want to!" Chapter 109: Destiny laid out Chapter 109: Destinyid out [Correct] the system added, pulling away the young hero from the amazement and continued her exnation. [A level 12 vision typically requires a stingray a few years to acquire and costs a fortune too, most don''t even live that long.] [You''ve taken advantage of a species who isn''t so popr and doesn''t seem so useful either. A great percentage of your species never even ate a silver belle because they don''t appear interesting or useful. Not to mention, they aren''t even in the list of species you need to kill as a task.] [As a system, I typically make any guest avoid perks like this one. It''s a trick to filter out dumber and less curious fish and instead allow the wiser ones to prosper.] [Since you''ve proven yourself quite a prodigy and painfully curious too, I will give you a free tip.] [Eat the other 2 silver belles so you can use this advanced vision for 3 hours instead of 1.] "I take back anyint about you!" Timothy yelled out and charged straight towards the closest silver belle whom had swam about 10 meters away now. He gave in an extra attempt to not focus on them and avoid horror itself, it only took a bite to end one of these species and he quickly chased the third. True to her words, the system notified. [Your level 12 vision can now be used for a time span of exactly 3 full hours.] [Total system points = 401] "Awesome!" Tim celebrated, swam in circles for a while as well before he turned to the carcass and began munching it down to the bone. Soon after he ate the other 2 corpses and asked the system about the only statistic he cared about. Thedy was more than willing to reply, citing. [Hunger bar = 12/15] "This is good enough, I will eat a white-legged shrimp once I get there and hunger will no longer be a problem." A decent n at best, he even began following the same direction. Gazing straight forward, he was able to see a pointy thing in the middle of the route he had to take. It seemed more like a dot considering that the little boy was a kilometer away from the next checkpoint, but with one attempt of focusing, he managed to obtain great detail. A pointy coral was standing in the middle of the route, stiff near the border line with no signs of falling down in this absolute mist. This made the little man smile as it determined that he was in the right way. Casually giving a nce to the mist, specifically to the lower portions, something rather bizarre managed to catch his eye. Green, the colour he began hating the most out of any other. It dimly shone deep in the abyss of a mist that most weaker fish didn''t dare to go into unless they were suicidal. The green colour was darker inparison to what he had seen so far but one particr aspect about it was more rming than ever. Henceforth the young man decided to put it into word, "Where the fuck did that huge pile of greene from? This isn''t normal in the ocean is it?" [It''s not normal at all, this is hard to understand] With such weight put on after the system''s assurance, the young man cited. "If that''s holy tar then we arepletely fucked. The whole reef wouldn''t be able to battle even their weakest fish, that is if they have an army too down there." The young man carried a point. But one thing that stood both as an advantage and disadvantage was the distance. This green substance was at least 4 kilometers deep and even with Timmy''s level 12 vision, it appeared like a blur. Even when he decided to zoom in, the details and secrets about this tar were unwilling to show their selves thanks to theplete darkness that coated most of the glow. But a couple of facts became far more transparent than this weird glow. Today he couldn''t even think of trying his luck by going down there. But in the far future, he will have to go there for the sake of disabling any possible attack against the reef. It will possibly be the hardest battle of his life, the tar stretched 500 meters wide in a circr shape and the enemies down there are likely worth 500 meters of holy tar. The sea pancake can''t go down there until the little body of his could withstand at least a 4 kilometer deep water pressure. There was an excruciatingly long way to go. Shifting his focus away from what could quite possibly be holy-tar, the young man continued his route towards the targeted task and just decided to put this future dilemma to the back of his little mind. ... It took a bit of effort to get all the way to this pointy little coral, he had to stop a couple of times just for the stamina to replenish but now he was closer than ever to finishing task 8. Recalling the information of what the reef shark told him took a while, especially since the half a kilometer long holy-tar had taken a lot of his focus and situation processing capabilities. But after 10 minutes, he remembered that the next portion of this journey can be followed just by swimming towards the mist. About 50 meters deeper, he found the tunnel that is supposed to lead to this den of white-legged shrimps and thankfully: the system did not rm of any pressure damage. Timmy doesn''t really know how deep he had sank until now but his guess is a bit above 150 meters. Shouldn''t be any trouble at all as his endurance is a quarterrger than that. The first thing he saw once syncing 10 meters down the tunnel was a marine animal so white in colour that it made the little boy think that he saw a ghost! Typically, he wouldn''t be able to see anything down here where darkness had swallowed most of the area but with a level 12 vision, everything here seemed brighter than the sea surface in midday. He easily realised what this species was and charged directly towards it, biting it''s belly and taking off a chunk with ease all thanks to the level 3 jaws. It shouldn''t be a hard kill considering it''s half his size. But! Chapter 110: Struck deal Chapter 110: Struck deal The prey was not ready to give up just yet, it struck back with a pinch and made him hear the system announce. [Health, -3 bars] [Total health = 80/100] "You motherfucker!" Tim shouted and then went ahead andnded 3 more bites in just a second. That was enough to bite half way through the prey and he heard the system announce right after. [White-legged shrimp killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [Since this hunt was a system given task, you also gain an additional point.] [Total system points = 403] [Eating a full grown white-legged shrimp grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, +1 bar] [Effect on hunger, +2 bars] [Effect on sleep, non existent] [Effect on stamina, non existent] "That shark girl was right. These shrimps are pretty empty although half my size." The young man pointed out the obvious but then managed to seek out a benefit. "But... since they don''t feed the hunger bar that much, I can eat a few of these shrimps to gain back health." It was a good idea and he nned on following it but for now the system reminded why he swam all the way here to begin with, [Task 8 finished.] [Guest is in a state good enough to start task 9] [Task 9 = find and kill a needlefish] "This will be awkward." He thought out once remembering that a couple of good friends are needlefish as well. "I should just look for one here rather than on the reef." After these brief ns, he continued to munch on the shrimp he just killed and after about 20 bites, it waspletely devoured and the systemid out a portion of information. [Health bar = 81/100] [Hunger bar = 13/15] [Sleep bar = 17/35] [Stamina bar 9/15] The situation was somewhat steady but he had lost a bit of health thanks to the shrimp he had just devoured. ording to the system, he had enough space to eat another one of these species for the sake of health. Sinking deeper in the tunnel and meeting a mild drop down 5 meters after, he saw a shrimp of the same species underneath and went down tond a bite. This time he steered clear from the little ws these ones have andnded a bite right on the neck. It was almost an instant kill and the only information he cared about, made itself transparent. [Total system points = 404] "I have a hell lot of points." He celebrated while munching on the shrimp and feeling blessed by the silence here. "Considering the prices, these points are probably just enough to buy 3 upgrades..." After a bit of contemtion, he decided. "Still, this is pretty good." After eating through the shrimp, leaving no trail of murder whatsoever, he asked the system about the most important notification. [Total health =82/100] "Good, I''m recovering." He answered while sinking lower towards the tunnel. About 30 meterster, he swam in what felt like a big cavern and saw about a hundred of these same species just casuallyying around. One thing he was sure of was that if he tried battling this entire tribe, one pinch after the other would result into death in a mere minute. Instead, an idea ran through his mind and therefore he put it into word as if he was the most extroverted marine animal in the ocean. "Do any of you speak mynguage?" "Kugudugudugudugu!" The entire crowd sounded out, giving a rather clear answer although it sounded mostly gibberish. After a minute, a bigger shrimp ~ possibly 30 centimeters long, approached Timothy and assured. "I can speak yournguage. What are you doing in our nest?" "Nothing evil, trust me." The little boy gave out a brief lie, surely the couple of kills he made have a high chance of escaping unnoticed. Continuing the presentation, the little blue-dotted boy smiled. "I''m here to propose you the chance of a new and better life." "I''m listening." The big, white-legged shrimp answered without any signs of rejection in his swift tone. "The reef has been stripped out of fish thanks to a shark attack thatsted 6 months. They likely won''te back since they know that there barely are any fish there. So you will be safer there than here. Not to mention, the reef has a lot of food for species like you who probably don''t eat meat that often." At this point he was surprised of all this information he managed to remember and worded out. But it surely managed to convince therge shrimp who clearly must have some authority over this whole pack. Still proving difficult, the white male questioned. "What benefit do you have out of this?" Knowing that this question can lead to a lot of extra work, Timothy answered. "Nothing, it''s just an opportunity for you. I won''t be affected either way." This was half truthful. He won''t be affected personally but the reef will. Through and through, this was nothing more but a good deed for the sake of saving the reef. Tens of these shrimps epting the invitation will surely prove effective, not to mention if over a hundred joined. "Okay." Therge one answered, quite unwilling to put up a further debate. "We just need one thing from you." Happy that this went smoother than expected, the young one immediately answered. "Anything, tell me!" "You just need to protect us. Barely any of us have been to the reef and we don''t know what dangers await on the way there. We need your protection and guidance." The shrimp understood that the young stingray wouldn''t be such a big protection but any was better than none. Extraordinarily happy, the young stingray spun on his spot and assured. "Easy peasy. I don''t know if you noticed but I''m a great fighter. I took out an entire great barracuda before all on my own." To that, therge shrimp just gasped and immediately turned to the rest of the tribe, yelling something in their ownnguage almost dramatically enough to make this feel like a problem. Chapter 111: Thought out but yet stupid Chapter 111: Thought out but yet stupid After a lot ofmotion and ear rambling conversations between the masses that took refuge in this very portion of the tunnel, the same shrimp approached Tim closer and stated. "I am the speaker of this shrimpmunity." That reference alone was enough to portray him as heavily important, but the hero''s face remained firmly unsurprised. Therefore the white-legged one continued, "I have exined to them the offer you had just made." "Great!" His face finally lit up because the convincing tone interjected a hunch earlier, made the boy acknowledge that the deal is sealed. The speaker carried a stiff face before contradicting, "It is not so great. See I''m the speaker but not the king of everyone here. This tunnelmunity alone has 37 tribes, one of them has taken your offer into consideration while the others want to make you a mere pleasure pet." At first the young stingray didn''t understand the term ''pleasure pet'', but after recalling the way of ceremonies in the holy tar tribes, it was easy to figure out that this wasn''t anything good-willing. Putting that aside, he focused on the good news and expressed. "That''s good enough, I''m seeing a lot of shrimp here so my guess is that a tribe is big." "It''s not good enough." The animal on the other side once more went against the highlight of an expression and exined, "You need to prove yourself worthy to the said one tribe that wants to follow you." "Let me guess. I need to kill another tribe so they can leave with a big bang?" He knew where this was going and quite frankly was thinking of backing away. Sure it would be nice to have tens of these species take new residence on the reef but it would take a quick guess to figure out that a single tribe has at least 50 of these shrimp, fighting all of them would be difficult and perhaps not quite worth it. "We don''t do that in thismunity. To find shrimp like that, you would probably need to sink deeper in the mist." The speaker exined and through those words noticed how he was floating off topic. With a head shake to fight off other thoughts, he slightly hollered. "Anyway." And then continued, "You don''t need to fight a tribe but rather the same tribe''s toughest shrimp." "That should be easy." Tim answered but the marine animal across had heavily epted questioning and denial, so a heart-felt speech recited. "Because you need to prove that your rmendation is backed up by fearsome capabilities, in case the tribe runs into trouble through the near future." Well at least his dialect was thick for a shrimp who perhaps knew a lot ofnguages. Wanting to reassure, the young one cited. "I''ll do it." Giving him a long nce to determine if the boy was serious, the speaker opposed. "That''s a pretty stupid idea, but I can''t do anything about it. You will fight their warrior in a bit." Turning to the other shrimp, he began yelling in their ownnguage more than usual so the hero just slowly inched away a foot behind just in case these species all decided to attack at once. This way he would at least have a bit more space to flee. But after seeing the entire room-full of animals calm down, rehearsing the idea of a single one-on-one battle seemed a pretty good deal. As he wouldn''t need to build up a feud with any other shrimpmunity, that is if he was actually sent out to kill an entire tribe. He became more and more sure that fighting this battle won''t have future repercussions that could molest his t booty. A group of them crawled to the left and the other to the right, making a clear way that was obviously dedicated to the shrimp warrior who was yet toe. One would almost mistake this kind of behaviour with that of a human, who knew that shrimp would have behaviour skills of an appropriate level? The bubble-causing sound of a shrimp pushing forward felt heavier by the passing second. It was easier to dedicate attention towards it now that everyone else had synced intoplete silence. After a moment, he finally was able to capture a brief glimpse of the warrior in front. The first noticeable features were a couple of thin blood-red antennas that took root on the nose and slightly curled above its head, perhaps reaching all the way to the other end of its body too. This... animal actually managed to make Timothy grant attention to these odd legs these species have. He could count 9 pairs of them who were short but capable enough to keep their bodies above the sand flooring. This one, far different from the other tribes-shrimp, had legs who were covered with red tips, as if it had crawled through blood. Those facts aside, this entire opponent got close enough for the hero to determine its size. It had to stretch 40 centimetres long and it was fat enough to put the originally slender looking figure of this same species, into shame. "I''m fighting an opponent nearly 3 times my size... nice." Heined and finally had a brief idea how to use sarcasm too. But thinking over past battles, his meatless lips synced into a curling smirk before he murmured. "Wouldn''t be the first time I kill an animal far out of my league." As if subconsciously, the rest of the shrimp began forming a ring around the two fighters, soon as the fat warrior had crawled up here. When the speaker approached these two, the ring had almost been formed into a perfect circle. It was evident that everyone wanted to see this big buff shrimp tear the challenger into pieces. The speaker broke in the deal, "You made a bad mistake epting the challenge but let''s get this over with." Feeling happier once taking a peek at the bigger shrimp, he continued. "If you somehow manage to kill this bigdy in front of you, the tribe will ept your invitation." "If you lose, well... you die." At this point the speaker felt stupid for exining this part. "There are no rules. But the question is, are you ready?" Processing the information, Tim mumbled a question. "It''s a she?" Chapter 112: Shocking Chapter 112: Shocking "Okay, I''m ready." Timothy assured after noticing that the overall atmosphere had been rendered angrier because of his question. Giving the boy a worried but yet curious peek, the speaker nodded it''s pointy face before crawling away and yelling. "Fight!" The little stingray was the first to move. He dashed backwards with one p against the waters, with the pure intention being to keep distance away from thisrge unit of an opponent. This was a fight to the death so thest thing he needed to experience from the very beginning was a bite from this fearsome opponent. The shrimps around them burst into a littleughter and thought that the neer posed no threat considering the first thing he did was to dash away. Taking it personally without a single doubt, he decided to focus on the enemy''s back. But considering that the level 12 sight upgrade was still active, the eyes zoomed in exactly on the spot he intended to and the sight was horrific. He could see that the smooth texture of this species wasn''t really smooth, and it seemed that a lot of shit had covered her back. But with a bit more focusing and a quick thought through his past life, it was easy to get into conclusion that this isn''t exactly poop but bacteria instead. Now he felt nauseous about biting this enemy and the sudden zoom forced an almost feminine shout to slip through his jaws. The crowd went wild with augh and it was clear to see whom they favoured. Even as tribes who likely don''t prefer each other''s being here, they still would love for another species to be destroyed here. "I thought racism isn''t a thing underwater." Tim thought and stopped focusing on the enemy. Instead, he calcted how exactly it would y out if he charged forward from this same spot. Feeling confident, the young one began swimming forward and tried to reach full speed although he only had a meter to do so. [Health -5 bars] [Total health = 77] "Shit!" Tim yelled out as he felt the pain, but thankfully it failed in all directions to render him immobile. Having the ability to turn around, he had noticed that the enemy had its triangr snout covered with blood. This managed to discourage him by a little bit. But that was swiftly transformed and then tenfolded into confidence once he thought, "Her bite only takes 5 points?" Such a statistic with a little bit of brief calctions made him figure out, "I couldnd like 10 deadly blows before shends 2 of them." Well he based those on past battles, but every marine animal is different. After he stomached the boos and shrimpyughter from the crowd around them, he came up with another n. Using his grand-level focus, he figured out that this species didn''t have ws for some reason. Well maybe because it''s a shrimp? This alone managed to bash an idea in his head under just a couple of seconds. Terminating his focus, the young one decided just to keep a steady view instead of looking away from the enemy. It was the best idea to not focus on anything in particr, that helped big time. Before he had charged forward once more, giving more power to the left fin was the next step as it helped him sync into a 45 angle. It was difficult to keep that posture while under speeds that were yet to reach their full potential but the young one doesn''t have ''giving up'' as his middle name. Keeping that position, he swam to the enemy''s right side and curled his tail under the belly, syncing it into a U-formation and nned to strike against the face, tond a deadly scratch. But by instinct, the shrimpdy swiftly turned her head to the right and tried to bite the dashing enemy. That fact considered, the barb managed to hit the enemy right through the head. Although she was inevitably bigger, the strike was strong enough to bash through and through the noggin. Thedy shrimp yelled out in pain for a single second, but it was ratherpressed. Tim ended up dragging her behind by a whole foot, which as well aided to shun away screams. The whole crowd went dead silent, and one of them ran into battle once they noticed that the warrior they treasured so much, refused to make another move even if it was as little as wiggling a leg. Timmy had swam slightly upwards afternding the blow, and began nning his next attack. [White-legged shrimp killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [Since this species is far too bigpared to any other shrimp of the same species that nature has to offer, you get an additional point.] [Total system points = 406] "That''s a pretty cheap reward. This one wasrge, 3 times my size!" Heined through that little mind of his but at the same time was happy that this battle had ended. The system also described other statistics but he almost entirely ignored them. He was full and wouldn''t exactly eat this enemy in front of the entire crowd. This now considered failure, will likely be thrown out of the mist. Timothy thinks that these shrimps won''t consume someone of their same species. The speaker moved out of the crowd as well after some hesitation. He did not know if the battle was over, it seemed a bit too unrealistic for that massive warrior to be ughtered with one strike. Approaching Timmy, he cited. "Congrattions, you''ve somehow managed to kill your opponent." Swimming closer in pride, he heard the speaker cite. "Now we can move to step 2, are you ready for it?" Tad mad, the little stingray jumped first and then dashed closer towards the announcer before he reminded. "You said that the tribe will follow me after I kill their warrior!" Completely honest, the white one recited. "I didn''t know that you would survive the battle." Chapter 113: Arrogance Chapter 113: Arrogance "Well, I did." Tim reminded, since such a fact seemed to be ignored by the masses here. Irritation was evident in his tone throughout a highly pitched projected demand, "Since I survived, the hell am I supposed to do now? The deal was to just kill that fat warrior!" "Uhhh... that was a part of the deal." The speaker tried to excuse, noticing himself as wrong but he unwilling to ept it. Unwilling to be tricked as he had grand-examples from the past of how much a simple trick can elerate if it''s allowed to build up ~ the words that escaped the young man''s jaws after were, best said agitated. He started it off with, "You know that''s a really dumb thing to do right?" At that portion Tim was almost quoting the speaker, mocking him actually. But didn''t want to stop there either, so he continued. "You can''t just trick anyone whoes down here, especially someone who can destroy you!" Unwilling to let go of rage, dialogue became a bit more open since no other shrimp could speak thenguage. "I have no idea what shitty tradition this tribe has but this isn''t fair. If I sense even the slightest danger, all of you will die!" That portion was fairly exaggerated, both of them were aware although the speaker didn''t bother to fight the idea. Instead he answered, "What you want to do is up to you. But now let me exin how this is going to y out." Letting out a bubble of sigh, the sea pancake decided to give in. "You will tell me. But you will tell me everything, I don''t want to encounter anything that you haven''t told me about." "Fair enough." The speaker answered and thought it through for a few seconds as he was leading the winner deeper towards the tunnel. After a half minute, he exined. "See there are 37 tribes here but there is a king who makes the final decision for this wholemunity." Not quite sure what the point here was, he questioned. "So?" Willing to talk about it, especially with a fish who seemed to be capable, the white one continued. "You need to convince the king regarding why it is a good idea for a tribe to follow you." Feeling that this can y out badly, the sea disk questioned with an awkward eye. "And if I can''t?" Heeding the threat from earlier, the speaker answered. "He will probably have you hunted or enved." And this made the boy feel half depressed. Just earlier he thought that this decision won''t have any bad results be it now or in the future. But somehow, he has gained high chances of offending a king whosemand was valued by 37 tribes. He couldn''t help but internally cussing the speaker for keeping in so much information. If Timmy knew all of this, he could have backed out and searched for better ces that can live in the reef. This tribe felt almost barbaric, the traditions sound crazy. ... Timothy had really underestimated how big thismunity is. He had followed the speaker down the tunnel which took paths left and right, offered other ways to go even, and continued towards such a pace for nearly 100 meters. Through such a swim, he had seen at least a couple thousand white-legged shrimp. This felt inevitably bizarre as he was used to theck of life that the reef was cursed with. This situation made the boy think just how life-filled and at the same time dangerous, would the reef be if it shared even half the pace of life that was found here. Such thoughts were bashed away soon as the speaker announced, "We have reached the king''sir. Are you ready to meet him?" Feeling the pressure of that very question, he took a few seconds before shortly answering. "Yes, sure." Right after that answer, the white-leggedmunicator raised one of his limbs to gesture a few other of the same species, who seemingly were standing guard here. About 10 shrimps lined up and began pushing a foot wide rock out of the way, whom was attached to the wall and acted as a blockade for a tunnel. Likely used to prevent most animals from getting in or out. Swooping through it with little effort, they made it into a room that stretched 30 feet wide in a circr matter and a species bigger than anyone else in this entiremunity, was standing firm on a t and clean-textured rock that stretched only a couple of feet long. Surprisingly, the first words this species spoke of was anguage that Tim could understand. "What have you done to be blessed with giving me a visit?" From that first question it was clear how big and strong this species felt, arrogance was even evident in his tone. It only took a nce for Tim to realise that this was some species of shrimp. What struck different however, was the species'' skin and size. Half of this marine animal''s skin was covered with red that behaved much like scarcely spread river branches ~ but the colour white still managed to cover more than half of his body. Bizarre no doubt but it has to be of the same species with everyone else here or at least a species very close to that. His half meter size felt tad overwhelming so it took Tim a few seconds before he answered. "I have killed one of your toughest warriors." Towards such an answer: everyone, even the speaker, broke into a heartfeltughter. He was confused before the King assured, "Trust me, you couldn''t have killed any of my toughest warriors." Looking around, he believed it. There were shrimp that were a bit bigger than the verydy he had just killed. These ones however, somehow appeared to be a bit more muscr. So he didn''t fight the idea since it would likely equal to battling all 16 of the shrimp in this room. Instead, he remained with the prime n, his tone stood casual. "I have killed the toughest warrior in one of your tribes, therefore I demand to bring the same tribe back to the reef!" Chapter 114: Arrogance (2) Chapter 114: Arrogance (2) The entire little crowd in this room had broken intoughter, the king was cracking it up the most until he noticed how Timothy had not yet changed expressions. Everything about him seemed casual, but in reality the system kept rming. [Anger levels high] [Anger levels high] [Anger levels high] [Calm down or you will copse] It was fair to say that he hated beingughed at, but the odds don''t favour him now especially when he had swam very deep. The king was the first to break the awkward silence in half after theugh, asking. "Oh, you were serious about that?" Interjecting rage with the aid of speech, Tim questioned for what seemed like thest time. "This is bing a pain in the ass. But like I don''t want to kill a king or some shit so just answer if you will give me the tribe or not?" "Did you just threaten the king?" One of the shrimps yelled out and moved out of his spot, making a way to fight the young one. "Silence!" The arrogant bastard of a king shouted out, and most froze on their spot and even avoided breathing. Continuing, the shouter pitched. "This little t fish obviously feels confident. So let''s put that confidence to the test." Unwilling to do any further task be it for the king or any other shrimp here, the sea disk felt it appropriate to add. "If you''re asking me to marry your mother, then sorry. No one could be that brave." "Oh you went there ha? We can go there. Guards!" A secondter, 30 or so white-legged shrimp barged in the room and tried to figure out the problem. Knowing a grand way to avoid trouble, he swam a meter high and thought. "This elerated quickly." That was one thing, but this also ruined all chances of recruiting 1 of the 37 tribes. "At least now I feel less guilty about eating a couple of these leggy whites." "Kill the t one! Don''t let him out of here alive!" The king hollered, obviously thement regarding his mother had managed to touch every vain of a nerve. The first procedure the young one took, was to target the marine animal whom he hated the most here. With a dash forward, he locked eyes with the speaker and curled his barb close to the belly,nding a blow right across the head. At this point he was sure that the weak spot belonged there. The system joined the conversation after but only to notify, [White-legges shrimp killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 407] "That''s what you get for lying like a bitch!" Tim yelled out and headed straight forward to the next target. With a swipe to the left, his tail ran across the face of the closest by shrimp who was without a doubt, one of thergest ones here who couldn''t hold inughter whenever the young one said anything amusing. [White-legges shrimp killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 407] "That sharkdy was right. These shrimps are nd, or empty, whatever." He thought while swimming higher to avoid any blind strikes from the enemy. "Easy kills." "Kill him you bastards! The hell are you running around for?" The biggest shrimp heremanded, heavily pissed of this entire situation. Finally feeling like the superior in this situation, the young stingray answered for the rest. "They can''t swim high, your pathetic majesty." "Then I guess this battle needs a man who can reach higher." The king answered, finally lifting his fat ass from the t rock he wasying on and stepping a foot away from the former spot. As expected, therge shrimp''s movements were slow and sloppy. Expected and yet unexpected for a marine animal who beats usual size, stretching half a meter long. Before Timmy could let out augh once seeing the sloppy behaviour, the very target of mockery leaped upwards for a meter high! It felt bizarre at least, but he swam away higher with just a simple smack against the water and still used the opportunity to mock. "Leggy white-ass, you can''t reach me!" Dropping down on the sand, his majesty made another leap and almost reached 2 meters high. Clearly he was yet to warm up. The young stingray managed to dodge this leap once more but it would take a wrong move to have obtained a nasty bite. "The hell are you jumping around for?" He shouted and swam around to the right and then higher, using all odds to avoid any more damage. "Stay down there!" It had managed to push the boy into nervousness in a few ways, in no way would he want to be body mmed by a fat shrimp. "Nervous aren''t you?" The king shouted as every other shrimp made way for the fat one to move around. Seeing that the rest were giving an attempt to reach the boy although they were keeping distance from the biggest one, Timothy decided to call out. "Prove yourself brave and send away your ves. Let''s battle like real men!" "Are you calling me a woman?!" Therger one shouted and afterwards gave a deadly gaze against the rest of these shrimps. The smallest ones rushed out of the room while the biggest ones were quick to follow. Using the opportunity or in this case the arrogantly hazardous disadvantage, the king casually encouraged. "Come down now and fight me like a real man, you suggested it." sh! The biggest one felt a sharp pain right on the tail, almost close enough to be considered a pain in the booty. "I came to fight like a real man." Tim answered afternding right near the enemy, facing eye to eye. "You actually managed to touch me?" The king asked, a gasp tagged along with that question. This made therge one think that this was a bad idea. Perhaps it would have been better if a few other shrimpsnded blows. For him as the most valued joining battle now was ill thought out and in all ways rushed. It was rushed, but ego can work harder than reason. His majesty wants to reap every bit of pain out of this loud mouth and enjoy every second of it. The young sea pancake had arge urge to prove himself a worthy opponent, enough to strike fear in the enemy''s heart. So he counted, "I killed fish many times my size, you''re just practice for me, old man!" "Bluff. I''m still surprised how you killed my guard! This has to be some kind of charade." The biggest one shouted and then charged straight forward, his jaws reached out with the aims ofnding a deadly blow. Chapter 115: Arrogance (3) Chapter 115: Arrogance (3) Knowing what his biggest advantage was, Timothy leaped high as much as one could with a single p against the salty waters. It was a massive aid but he could still feel the king''s massive antennas tickling the soft portion of his belly. "The biggest mistake you made was sending those guards away!" The brave little boy shouted, his tone crackling with the pure thirst of blood lust. Through that same sentence, he had already taken a dive towards what was locked in his eyes as a target. That marvelous barb began twirling left and right, such an act behaved like a deadly attack once he managed to swim on the enemy''s side. A bit of eleration paired with fear, helped tond about 4 blows which felt rather easy to puncture through skin. [Health, -7 bars] [Total health = 70/100] "Fuck!" Tim shouted as he felt a strong bite right on the fin, but luckily it wasn''t enough to take off an entire chunk, that would be tremendously troublesome. Yet it proved a fact again and again. This species is more than 3 times the hero''s size yet the damage it deals was hriously small. But pain was pain. And the portion he just received, almost felt good. The anger he had built up just by holding in rage until now for the sake or recruiting a tribe... well, it wasrger than his size no doubt. Now tond blows and receive them, half of the steam broke out - as if he was a sucker for pain. The sudden shock of damage made the boy bounce out of the way and follow the narrow path in this open room, that aided to escape another blow. Gazing back at the enemy whose body parts he craved to be spread all over the room, the brave sea pancake boiled with a threat. "Are you getting nervous? Not so easy to fight without those pleasure guards you have ha?" "How could you possibly know that?" The king shouted back but felt more embarrassed than ever. It felt as if his secret had leaked out of thisir and somehow reached the ear holes of this bastardous stingray. "I will kill my guards soon as I kill you!" "Good luck with that." Timmy answered, confident blooming in his tone enough to be considered a blood-red rose. Right after that second, he witnessed the enemy leap high enough to be considered a threat. It had to be at least 3 meters high this time, if the ceiling was any closer, he would have brought the cave down. Unwilling to wait and be crushed by this double cheeked maniac of a king, the hero rushed straight forward. And after a foot of distance, he swam straight up with a bit of extra effort. Poking the tail downwards and close to his belly, the sea pancake used the tail''s momentum along with an opposite bash against the water with his fins: to stop on his spot and push the main tool forward, the one that can stab a species to hell and back. Elegantly, he has synced into the banana formation. Although those two names don''t go well together, its result was beyond elegant. The enemy could not stop the speed built up while falling down towards the flooring again, so this was a great aid for the little inflictor. The king tried to swiftly swim out of the way but those chunks of meat didn''t allow such a procedure ~ so the loud mouth continued to sink like a rock and harshlynded his belly against the barb. Although the momentum had in all ways worked to the stingray''s favour, it wasn''t enough to poke the tip through the enemy''s back - but the damage was still plentiful. Using the situation to a further extent, Tim gazed upon one of the many legs this bastard had and managed to reach out and lock those jaws in them. These legs felt tough but the young one could notice that a simple stronger bite would be enough to bite through. But... That''s not what he wants to use it for. Holding on to the leg with his jaws, he began bashing the little tail left and right with the pure intent of slipping out of the enemy''s body. Once his tail reached half way out, the grip against the king''s leg snapped because the bite force was too much. It made sense, these species are nd inside and the boy had level 3 jaws! Regardless of the inconvenience, it was still enough to reap benefits out of it. The young hero managed to slip away from the belly before sand met him and the enemy. He had an idea of how much health would be lost if he was bashed against the surface. Although it wasn''t significant, it wasn''t peachy either. "Shit! You little bastard! That was a grave mistake!" The king shouted out and acted like he was inplete control in the situation. At this point it couldn''t even be considered arrogant overconfidence. Delusion would be the best way to describe it. But that wasn''t a problem because surprisingly, he enjoyed the very pain in the enemy''s tone and the mental breakdown that was building up with it. At this point Timmy thought himself as evil... to feed off someone else''s pain? It does sound inhumane... but this was the fish world. In all ways, he was aware of the emotional intelligence working over time ~ making a theory, that some portion of this intelligence would be more active than the other chunk. At this point, the young one didn''t even feel bothered to point out just how stupid the king''s ims are. He just began circling the foul-mouthed fat one and observed how nervousness emerged by every p his fins went briefly against the water. Unwilling to take his chances anymore, feeling the pain in the mid section bing stronger by the second ~ it became a motivation for his majesty to yell out, "Guards! Get your white asses here!" Chapter 116: Arrogance (end) Chapter 116: Arrogance (end) For the young hero, it would feel like a gain if the same amount of enemies bashed in the room for the pure urge of battle. But his wishes were crushed through and through, as more than 100 shrimp have rushed in their. Through and through, this is the biggest battle he had faced, quantity-wise at least. In a second he began thinking just how the hell did the situation elerate enough to be in this battle. But he had a bit of struggle piecing the situation together and chose not to think about it. Instead, the first thing he did was to charge towards the shrimps that proved fasterpared to the rest of their group. About 5 of them were fast but not nearly as agile, so will little movements such as a tail swipe across the face: aided to briefly kill these enemies and consider it as something insignificant. [Total system points = 413] This gave an advantage in terms of striking fear against the masses. A seed of such emotion had definitely been nted in their subconscious but the numbers they had, illuminated a cumtive confidence that worked as a counter effect - ultimately leading Tim away from the battlefield for the sake of living. "You''re swimming away now huh? You will die here today! Hear that, t-ass?" The king shouted from the top of his lungs as the situation was heavily pushed to his advantage now with all these guards lending a hand in battle. And frankly, the situation felt heavily like so. It wasn''t nearly easy to fight a toon from the looks of it, while in actuality there were at least a few thousand more shrimp here. This situation wasn''t working to his favour. But there was one thing that worked as a great advantage and he was holding on it with his dear life. Distance! Yes. The ceiling is at least 30 feet away while the shrimp can''t jump high enough tond damage, apart from the king of course. Conversation would be like trying to push a wall at this point. Tim didn''t n it, but surely felt that anything he would say could most likely equal, to the king saying something arrogant enough to consume brain cells. That fact considered, he didn''t bother to talk. Instead he pped those smooth, blue-dotted fins against the water and swam higher, this was the only solution that allowed the gift of thought. Feeling a bit stripped out of options, he asked with a curled face. "System, any ideas at all?" [Even a system that has gathered intelligence for 16 hundred years, can''t dig you out of this trouble. Even someone as intelligent as I, can''t help here.] Feeling tad offended but also considering it realistic, he brushed the thought away and put that little brain of his into work - afterwards fixed his gaze back in the battlefield. Within a few seconds he managed to observe a few key facts that were easy to notice. Half of the guards were guarding the king, the other half was trying to battle while most just shared a sense of fear in their eyes. "Seems like the king is what they''re all so stressed about, hmmm..." He figured it out and then swam closer towards the guards. The closer he got, it managed to back the enemies away which gave a sense that these animals feel nothing more but a pack of hyenas when ites topetition. After taunting the guards for a few seconds, he took a sharp turn left and headed straight for the king, putting in all effort to build up maximum speed under 3 short meters. The first thing he noticed under that quick blur of an attack, was a shrimp whom stretched 40 centimetres in length, jumping in the way and behaving like a body shield. Unwilling to collide with this one because it would likely lead to disorientation, he took a quick and rough turn upwards. But that nice little tail worked hard enough to leave a long cut across below the shrimp''s neck ~ it wasn''t necessarily a kill, but that shrimp won''t fight for a while. After swimming up, he swam back down and regained pace of what was the main n. The king became his main focus and they locked eyes as if this was a heated romance in an uninhabitable ind. But... One pair of eyes carried confidence powered by rage while the other pair was swiftly submerging into fear. The entire toon of shrimp here, proved as useless when it came to controlling the emotions of the 2 main figures here. Crunch! His powerful level 3 jaws sunk right through the king''s forehead, which acted as a great base for the next attack! He gained bnce once grabbing a hold of the king, and used that bnce to push the other lethal weapon forward into what was almost considered the banana formation! The barb shed all the way up the throat and this time he put in a lot more effort to pull it out again and then puncture on another spot around the throat. While at the same time, his jaws kept taking bites off the forehead. It seemed a bit hrious to see a species this small, pounce and prey on the king with such ferocity but the inflicted wounds were definitely not adorable. [White-legged shrimp killed. 1 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Since this species is abnormallyrge, you also got 3 additional points.] [Total system points = 417] "That was easier than I thought." The little boy mumbled and then instantly dashed towards the higher grounds. No one could reach him here and one fact stood evident. The shrimp had all started dashing towards the deceased king, one would think that they were concerned and sympathetic. But right after he began hearing countless crunches, which allured more shrimp from the other side who likely weren''t even guards. A good minute passed and once therge quantities of shrimp had left the area where the king''s body resided, Tim was almost shocked to see how the entire body had vanished. He didn''t nearly understand what traditions this species has, but until now a lot of the aspects seemed beyond chaotic. These crazy marine animals had just devoured the king they respected and feared so dearly! Most of the big guards had remained alive through the battlefield, thankfully they seem to understand the stingraynguage. One of them approached Timmy and spoke with a tone that cracked in excitement, but also gestured a bit of a rush. "You''ve defeated our king. ording to thismunity''s tradition, you are king now!" The little boy always saw himself as important but this surely tipped the bucket. With a mumble, he assured. "Would you look at that system, I found a way out of the disaster." Chapter 117: Forefathers Chapter 117: Forefathers [I have to remind you that this species is showing weird traditions. Even I am not aware of these weird procedures, so my best advice would be to get out of here as soon as possible. Because this species can drag you into their set of craze.] "I will get out of here." Tim assured, but then recounted all the trouble here and stated. "But not without my tribe. I worked my ass off to bring a few pale-ass shrimp to the reef." The biggest guards had surrounded the little one, although at the same time they were keeping a good distance of 2 meters thanks to fear and respect. A lot of them were giving the hero a rough gaze, confusion was evident on their facial expression but also excitement. While a quarter portion carried a lot of rage. Considering the situation, it felt like a speech was in order so Timmy cleared his throat and projected. "Listen here ye shrimp. I don''t speak yournguage at all so you who can understand me, will trante for the rest." He felt like they would obey the direct order of a king and therefore the proud little sea disk didn''t bother to debate thismand, but just continued. "I don''t know what traditions you all follow, but your king is dead which means that all of you should listen to mymands." To such a statement, neither of them objected but instead tranted. So he could only guess that they were all in agreement, or most at least. Therefore the speech continued, "Originally, I nned to take just one tribe with me but your ex king proved himself an asshole. So now I will bring all of you to my reef." Feeling that such an achievement would truly get the whole reef out of trouble by at least a quarter, he let silence stretch for a few seconds before asking. "Now, which one of you can tell me just exactly how many shrimps does this wholemunity have?" It took a few awkward moments before he got an answer but finally a smaller shrimp walked forward and began raging something in its ownnguage. Once noticing the conflicted look on the new king''s face, a guard was quick to arrive and trante. "This one''s father keeps count of all the tribes. There should be a bit over 5,000 shrimp in thismunity ording to this little one''s im." "5,000 hmmm..." The hero thought and was quite pleased by the numbers, this was definitely a lot more than he bargained for and there was no objection to the order either. Willing as much as the system to get the hell out of here, he instantly shouted out an order after. "Okay now listen to me! Get the hell out of myir and gather every single shrimp in this tunnelmunity and head for the exit." Trying to be a bit more clearer of what he wants, another thing also had to be added. "We''re all moving to the reef and anyone who goes against my word, will face a quick death I assure you that!" After tranting, all of the white-legged shrimp rushed out of the room and began rambling something in their ownnguage ~ likely spreading the recent news or best said, themand. Given the time to think, another episode of thoughts bashed against the little boy where he wanted to figure out reality and what''s around it, almost paralyzing. One thought rushed out after the other, self-conflict built up bit by bit the deeper he sunk. "Just how the hell did I get to the point of bing a king so quick?" "I came here just to finish task 8 and somehow swam into a huge win. Can''t tell if this is my stupidity or themunity''s?" "Fucking hell, I just wanted to bring a tribe of 50 maybe a 100 with me to save the reef. But even my good intent ended up with an arrogantrge-assughing at me and ticking my every nerve." "I don''t remember life on earth but this new one has to be a lot more confusing. Can''t understand anything but one thing is clear, the entire fight I put up was to save the reef." "So I can''t be a bad person... fish, right system? I''m notmanding an entire civilisation from the looks of it... for any personal profits but just want the reef to be healthy." "Whatever bad thing will happen in the futureing from these shrimps, won''t be my fault right?" [Oh it will definitely be your fault. The truth is, everything you do in life will have repercussions. But in this life especially, even if you do things right, it can kill you.] [So don''t think about it too much] [My guess is that your good intent led to a bigger reward. I''m not a big believer in destiny but it seemed that the reef is destined to be saved by you.] The system definitely didn''t help with that portion but it managed to snap the little one out of thoughts because a sharp pain in his head had struck for a brief second. Finding a brief reason to be confident, he sighed and twirled his eyes around the room to state the obvious. "Fuck it! Anything can kill so might as just do whatever the hell I want." A minute after, hisir was briefly overwhelmed by shrimp who seemed average in sizepared to the biggest guards, but still had features that characterized uniqueness. He couldn''t count them all but they had to be at least 30. Their shrimpy faces proved hostility but their bodies didn''t seem to catch up with their intent. They were thin, slow moving and slightly shook upon every step. The one in the middle who was a bit biggerpared to the rest, walked out a bit closer and introduced herself. "I am the leader of the mist lover tribe, and the rest here are also leaders of the 36 other tribes in thismunity." "Okay? I imagine you want me to bow or something?" The aura he sensed on these shrimp wasn''t nearly pleasant so thest thing he wanted to do was to y nice. The hostility on thedy''s face had massively transformed into an urge to kill, so expression itself instantly spiked towards the worst. "Behave you t piece of shit. You aren''t taking thismunity anywhere! Thismunity has been alive for decades and it was all thanks to the effort our forefathers have put in. We aren''t going to allow an arrogant hot shot like you, to lead ourmunity to the dangers of the reef!" Chapter 118: Visitors Chapter 118: Visitors Although he feels weird about killing simple elderlies, he was no stranger to murder in this world - as the prime rule still stands, kill or be killed. So with the bit of guilt put aside, his face synced into a smirk and approaching these shrimp for the sake of intimidation, was the second step. "Thing is, I''m not asking either of you what to do with my shrimp. I am the king!" Sure he wasn''t nearly connected with thismunity to consider them close to the heart, but a point had to be proven and it proved tad effective. The team of elderlies were slightly shaking in anger and couldn''t stomach how such a simple and small being had be a king! An old man from behind decided to point out a difort, yelling. "Your shrimp? You''ve been here for an hour!" Unwilling to budge, the young hero shook his head mild abruptly and contradicted. "A title is a title and if yourmunity is any worth being around, all of you will respect my decision!" He easily sensed that everyone wanted to object this decision and the debate would be rather long as there were 37 elders here whom each could add a thought of their own, even if those thoughtspliment each other and can feel repetitive. Unwilling to give them the opportunity, he indirectlyid down a challenge. "I understand that my title can be stolen with a battle. So if you think my authority is stupid then by all means, try to take my title away." A few elders craved to indulge into battle although their tiny bones have far been rendered useless for such an intent. Some were healthier than the others, but regardless of the crave, in the end it alles down to what they could actually do, which was nothing. It was easy to understand who was the strongest warrior here, the king had died on this young man''s fins and logically, there won''t be any other shrimp strong enough to put up a battle. So instead of fighting, the loudest elder began crawling out of the room and the others were short to follow. One by one they made it out while thest, whom carried longer antennas than most, stopped on his spot a bit before reaching the exit. Turning around, it felt necessary for this old man to add a reminder of importance. "Our ex king was a pain in the ass but he knew how to keep ourmunity safe. I''m sure you will do theplete opposite." "Understand that if the trip to this reef of yours, anyhow equals to hundreds of deaths for our shrimp kind, our tribes will be obliged to hunt you down. I don''t think you could handle 5,000 shrimp, your majesty." Afterwards the elderly man crawled right out and focused on managing the tribe that was making way towards the exit, over 100 meters away. "I actually managed to pull it off." The sea pancake celebrated and brushed off every threat as unimportant. What could these shrimp do? Swim above sand and follow him around? ... At first he didn''t want to leave their. His health had dropped a bit through the recent battles so the opportunity to think it deeper had been granted. Gaining health would be the best opportunity for the sake of increasing his own odds against whatever the future might contain. And quite frankly he was surrounded by species who could grant health. But a couple of things stopped him from using the resources. First and foremost, it would tarnish his reputation that was already tarnished, if he was caught hunting and munching on any of the white-legged shrimp here. Second and perhaps the least important, his stomach was still full of food and fitting in another shrimp would be rather difficult although these species were nd. After a while longer he thought it the best idea to simply push forward and leave the roomy den he was rather fond of. Sure this massive home belonged to an asshole of a king but it was still nice. He could feel the instinctive side of the brain, favouring this room. But still it was time to leave it, especially since themotion out of their became far less active. It was transparent that they had followed the order. Yet again a tone managed to captivate his ear holes, it was easy to determine what the next step should be as the interjector had stated. "This ce really is empty. I wonder what could have made those dumb shrimp abandon it? This ce is amazing." In all ways, this itself didn''t signify hostility but it demanded an awkward eye against whomever said it. After taking a peek at the right, Timothy spotted a group of fish whomid out familiar body forms. It only took a slight thought to remember that these were needlefish. Their body form isn''t so easy to mistake and once one of them saw the little hero, a rough male tone shouted out. "Looks like someone is living here after all." "Doesn''t look like a challenge, we can just kill him and im this ce as our own." At this point, it has been made transparent of how friendly this species was. The cute little sea disk had met needlefish before but they weren''t nearly as hostile. And from the looks of it, this pack counted 7 of them. The biggest of the group charged straight forward and thanks to his advanced vision, Tim could see the very water avoiding friction and failing to hold the enemy back as it''s slim body pierced through the salty waters. Considering how firm the tip of its nose was remaining, it was easy to figure out what was close to being shed as a weapon, in this conflict that had taken root swiftly and was elerating into a battle. The enemy was at least half a meter long which naturally meant that more strength would be brought to the table, once considering size. Timmy had never fought a needlefish before, but if an idea had to be tried out against them, now was the best time to do so! Chapter 119: Polefish Chapter 119: Polefish His first instinct was to get away from trouble, but the sudden burst of energying from a half meter needlefish surely managed to spike a bit of anxiety. Which in return, led to him sshing fins against the water and swimming backwards rather than to the sides or any other logical way. The very nose of the enemy bashing against the water, managed to push him over the edge even further - in this case it was almost literal. The panic fulfilled swim had made him p fins against the water a bit too much, so little Tim ended up toppling over ~ it''s fair to say that he was flipped like a pancake. His tail was in panic and shed left and right for the sake of gaining bnce. But the whole battle proved having a 2 second time span and him flipping over took 1 and a half. Those facts aside, he felt the very tip of the barb touching something squishy and ripping through it for at least a foot - but it happened so fast that the only thoughts that managed to take root, were those encouraging death, this enemy proved just too fast! [Needlefish killed. 1 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Since this is a system given task, you get an additional point.] [Since this fish is biggerpared to the other of its kind in the area, you also get an additional pack of 3 system points.] [Total system points = 422] For the first time in a while, the young man felt happy to be spammed by the system. Through the same second he mumbled, "Wuh? Huh?" Regaining bnce, he took a peek at the needlefish whom had swam close enough past him to end up dead apparently. And it was easy to understand how it resulted to such a drastic wound. The carcass had a long and almost deep cut right across the belly, a portion of it touching the neck as well. It was no easy sight but a species this thin, ending up with a wound like that surely managed to exin the quick death. Without even bothering to ask, the system had already continued her information spam since this was the first needlefish that Timothy had killed. [Eating a full grown needlefish typically gives the following stats, but they might change ording to size and environment of said species.] [Effect on health, +10 bars] [Effect on hunger, +10 bars] [Effect on sleep, non existent] [Effect on stamina, non existent] "Finally, an enemy who is actually useful." He muttered but then felt amotion in the waters behind him, it was almost unnoticeable. But the sound felt somehow harder to forget thanks to seeing it in high resolution earlier, if that makes sense. Without going through the trouble of going around, he pierced against the water straight downwards and could feel the enemy swim above, but thankfully no skin-to-skin contact had been made. That fact considered, it only meant that this particr enemy continued swimming forward and would likely need a few seconds to retaliate. But since 7 enemies entered this battle after feeling it appropriate for all of them to battle a small child, it only meant that they will continue to charge like crazed men and women. Another one bursted forward with the tip shining as a weapon, but this one yelled out a battle cry before charging which made it easier to predict, the enemy''s tone cracking made it a bit funny. Knowing that they have it difficult to stop once charging, Timothy used the extra granted second to swim up and then saw the enemy swimming closer. Using the exact opportunity, the little boy gave it a bit more power and even used his tail to charge forward ~ which led to being lunged exactly on to the enemy''s neck! Using the powerful level 3 jaws, he managed to cut a chunk through the enemy''s skin and spine in less than half a second. It was easy and the enemy just continued lunging forward and took a while to realise what happened. [Needlefish killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 423] "That was easy." Timmy thought and one peek at the body helped him realise why just a single point has been given. This one was small, about 20 centimetres which made it a lot easier tond a kill against this enemy as his jaws managed to indulge a great portion of the neck. Spitting out the food, he turned attention towards the rest of the enemies and noticed the genuine fear in their eyes - this is where a bit of confidence could be reaped from for the little hero. Feeling that something should be said, he teased. "Oh what? The big tough pole fish are scared now?" "Were not polefish!" Thergest in the 6 survivors yelled out. And the smallest of them assured with a cracked tone, "We''re needlefish!" "Your needles are just for show." The sea pancake taunted and this time, he was the one to charge forward instead of the other way around. Upon such sight, 3 of them moved to the sides as they heavily tried to avoid what they considered as the biggest threat, which was the boy''s barb! The only fish standing their ground... er... waters, were the same ones who ran their mouth just a little bit earlier. The big one charged forward as well and felt confident of his trajectory, there would be no way to miss a target that was charging in the exact same direction. Timothy could zoom in in the midst of this battle and noticed that although this enemy was willing to put up a head on fight, the fear in his eyes spoke otherwise. A normal being would find petty and spare the enemy, but no. The raging stingray saw this as aplete advantage. Once they got just a foot close to each other, the hero took a dive and sunk just a bit below. His tail curled up and faced whatever friction would dare to make contact. Chapter 120: Polefish (2) Chapter 120: Polefish (2) His levelled up tail aided to slice through flesh a tad easier and when such power was put together with the momentum the enemy had built up: it ultimately equaled to slicing meat and bone easier than a knife could go through butter. [Needlefish killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 424] Timothy knew that this would equal to a kill the moment his tail met with the enemy''s skin. Furthermore, the bigger needlefish whom died earlier, aided to be confident with this method of ughter. But his motives didn''t stop there. Timothy charged straight towards the smallest enemy after sessfully avoiding the after-drag of the enemy''s fast momentum. It was easier to keep this target in check, as the little guy was frozen in fear although he barked the most out of the group. This is the same fish who rmended ughtering the hero and afterwards iming this ce as their own. Although he barely cared about thismunity of shrimp and the dirty walls that surround it, murder was attempted against the raging sea disk. So using that rage as a motivation, he finally reached the small enemy. With a single bite, he chopped off the head. This one was rather small and didn''t even bother to close his mouth in order to form a pointy tip so practically all defenses were lowered thanks to the gift of fear. The system gave brief information again, but the young man only focused on one and ignored the other. [Total system points = 425] Gazing upon the 4 remaining enemies whom clearly have understood that they have made a grave determining mistake, the hero yelled out. "Your biggest friends are dead! Are you going to bow to the king now?" This never urred as a genuine thought to him. Sure earlier he had used the term but only as a bargain. And now, he preferred the idea and wanted the enemies to fear that title be it if they survive this or not. "Maybe I am getting a little too cocky." Timmy thought and charged towards the closest enemy whom had dashed to the side of the tunnel out of fear, they weren''t allowed to answer his question from earlier. A bite right against the middle waist was enough to send this one to heaven or wherever fish go, even though this one was well over 30 centimeters long. "Maybe I am cocky." He finally decided, showing a hint of self awareness. Charging towards the enemy who had fled on the right side of the tunnel, he bit this one on the tail and easily snapped it off. The kill wasn''t instant but where would an enemy go without a tail? Seeking where the 2 remaining enemies are, he thought. "I am cocky but it definitely isn''t a bluff." [Health, -5 bars] [Total health = 65/100] Right at that second, he felt a sharp pain on the bottom portion of the left fin. It took a bit of instinctive reflexes tounch a counter attack, but the enemy was so close that he could see the pointy tip running close to the skin, pushed forward ~ obviously the aim had been to punch through and through the skin, but such a result wasn''t achieved. His marvelous barb swung like a propeller and at least a handful of hits had been struck but it was hard to keep count in such a situation. Swimming away, he noticed that the enemy had suffered a few holes around the neck. This kill was instant, no doubt about it. But for once he actually felt stupid instead of brushing it off as anyone else''s fault. This was the same fish who had failed to collide a bit earlier and had swam away a bit far. And yet he hadpletely forgotten about this enemy and therefore suffered damage. The system moved in to cite the only notification he cared to hear about right now, [Total system points = 428] The only surviving enemy made herself transparent and cited, "Please spare me! I haven''t done anything bad to you!" Thinking about it just for a brief second, this was correct. This enemy was part of the group but never truly attacked, even dashed out of the battlefield once the opportunity was given. Gazing upon this enemy, he noticed that she was barely bigger than him in size, obviously a teenager in fish years. It felt bad to kill a kid but it felt even worse to let an enemy go. So he queried after letting out a sigh that was packed with contemtion, "Give me just one reason for me to spare you?" "I never even wanted to be part of the group. They didn''t have enoughdies around and said that they were going to use me to make babies when the time is right!" This answer managed to shake the little boy, but at this pace it wasn''t at all bizarre. He saw examples before and even heard that there might have been a possibility of child-rape. But... this one could still be lying so the young one decided to ponder it over for a few more seconds. He was quiet but the remaining potential enemy, wasn''t. "I never even touched you and that would probably be impossible. Just let me go, how could I possibly cause you trouble?" "She could have been an extra point but whatever." That was a somewhat firm decision in that little head. But it also had to be put under vocal assurance, "Okay, get the hell out of here and try not to be a ve again." Happier than ever, she nodded her long head and turned right around to get out of this natural structure, didn''t even bother to utter a single word. That''s when the system once more moved in and specified, [You are in a state almost decent enough to continue with task 10. Regardless, you have ess to the task.] [Task 10 = Find and kill a western rock lobster.] [Once you finish this task, you''ll be able to buy upgrades again. But considering the points you''ve already piled up, you will meet the limiter soon.] "Guess I should follow tasks more often then." He decided but then figured the utterck of knowledge towards this species. Then, an idea bashed through Tim''s head, he called out. "Stop right there!" The needlefish was almost scared to death thanks to that demand. Her only thought was that the stingray had changed thoughts. Turning around, she faced the little one and worded. "Uh... why?" Chapter 121: Dots Chapter 121: Dots Thedy had obviously in all odds expected the worse, but to her surprise, the fish on the other side casually asked. "Do you know any ce where I can find uh... western rock lobsters?" In this case, he nearly didn''t have a reason to exin exactly why he was looking for such a species and just expected an answer from the fish he had spared. The needlefish let out a sigh of relief but then shook her head left to right, trying to recall where she had heard that name. It took a little while before she answered, "They are, well... quite far away from here." "How far away?" He asked, tad pissed of the fact that this fish wasn''t getting directly to the point. Unwillingly sarcastic, she answered. "To the west, so it''s far away." An irritating glow began itching portions of his skin, and by now he was recounting the reasons why thisdy was spared. "Be more specific." Sensing the little anger, she swiftly rushed through a sentence. "You just need to go close to the reef and then cross it. Keep following the borderline and you''ll eventually see lobsters of many sorts." Still a bit confused, Timothy asked. "Uh, how do they look like?" Thinking for a little while, fear struck in her heart even further as she tried to exin. "I''ts hard to exin, just ask around for them once you get there. I''m sure they will respect your word, you''re like... a great fighter." Seeing that she had started to slightly shake, the stingray just cited. "You can go now." The thin fish rushed through the tunnel at maximum speed and was seeking for the exit. While behind, the young hero easily managed toe into terms. "Looks like the new upgrades are still far away. From her description, the lobsters I''m looking for are at least 10 kilometres away." "Well at least I can do a couple of things at once. I''m supposed to lead these shrimp to the reef anyway." After making that brief decision of the uing feature, his attention fixed towards the biggest body here. And then with a slow swim forward, he began munching on the enemy who in the very dawn of this battle, was the cockiest in the group and fairly the strongest. The long cut was still across it''s abdomen, it seemed a bit graphic but he ignored those features and just continued eating. The little man wasn''t in a rush, especially since it would probably take time to fully organize over 5,000 shrimp whom had gone outside. He could only chew through half of the fish, the little stomach couldn''t handle more than that. But the system was tad happy to exin about the most important portion, [Total health = 70/100]. ... Finally making his way to swimming outside, the first thing that managed to capture most of the little guy''s vision, was the whole ground itself painted in white. Thankfully, there weren''t bodies on top of bodiesying dead and the sight made him feel a bit proud as a new king. Only now he managed to understand just how many 5,000 shrimp are when they walk near each other. Although he was no math wizard, it was easy to assume that the circle thismunity had formed in a circr matter, stretched somewhere around 400 meters in width! It was like a super toon of soldiers but since this species is small, it just looks as big as a full human toon. A bigger shrimp approached the little man and spoke with anguage he could understand, "What is your nextmand, your highness?" "The task we have is simple and shouldn''t cause us any losses unless we are very unlucky." He introduced and the shrimp below knew what wasing next although he pretended to be dumb, "We''re going to the reef and then we will make our way to the middle of it." Wanting to assure that the wholemunity understood their new fate, he eximed just for the sake of striking fear. "Ourmunity will forever live in the reef, be prepared for a better life!" At least this portion wasn''t a bluff. Because although living near the border seems cool, life in the reef is better and it will be amazing soon as the reef begins restoring its overall health. The big shrimp spread themand on 10 others, it was phrased shorterpared to what the new king had said. But it was spread to other shrimp right away and before he knew it, the entire massive coating of white species began yelling out the samemand and it was loud enough to cause Timothy a bit of ear pain. Everyone began moving towards the reef in no time and the young man felt excited about it, although the distance was a good 6 kilometers before they even touch the reef''s coral, not to mention the other 2-3 required to travel towards the center. ... They''ve made a good kilometer of travelling by now, it was fair to say that they got just a little tired but thankfully their speed was simr to each other. The young stingray''s vision was still at level 12 although it was at the edge of the time span that was pre-set in the very beginning. Regardless of the threats from before, he didn''t really bother to look around enough and just focused on the reef who remained as a blur in his vision. Suddenly he heardmotion from the crowd underneath and just a bit after it turned into a shared scream, with a bit of focus on the crowd, he could notice a few dots swimming above the shrimp in the distance. Focusing on these dots even further, his vision merged towards a super zoom and he attained a clear vision of whom had given them a visit. The group carried 5 barracudas and each one of them was bigger than any of these species he had faced before. That''s where he remembered the brag about killing a barracuda before, so naturally a lot of shrimp will rely on him now! Dashing straight forwards with the aim of reaching the elerating battlefield about 100 meters away, his super zoom was still doing work and noticed that a few bigger shrimp have already indulged into battle for the sake of protecting their kind! Once again, he was angry about the speed that was limited to a low level. The battle wasn''t too far away but it surely felt like forever. His fins were working to their furthest extent for the sake of dealing the damage of his own as soon as possible. Chapter 122: Dots (2) Chapter 122: Dots (2) Considering the pure anger of allowing some simple barracudas to harm marine animals that he kinda thought as his own, the raging stingray managed to beat the speed barrier by just a little bit ~ his entire body worked to reach a speed of 4 mp/h. When he finally arrived in the battle-waters a minuteter, it felt as if an explosion erupted just because of his being there. The shrimp began yelling a bit louder and the enemies were just a tad confused of just why on earth would a little shrimp join a battle, that would most likely put an end to his stupidity. The coupled emotions were used as an utter advantage by the little man, so he went ahead to use one of the most dangerous attacks that have been discovered in this new life! Dashing towards the biggest barracuda, he pped the right fin harder than ever against the waters and was pushed to a 45 angle, bursting across the water with the right fin raised high. The marvelously dangerous tool curled under the belly and descended into a U-formation, the very tip had an angle that was destined to leave a cut rather than a stab. His first contact with these particr opposers, shed just now. And thanks to the preparations, he sliced through the first portion of skin like a hot knife through butter. But for once he actually managed to hit a fin, that felt a bit like a bump but it was almost easy to figure out that the said fin had been cut out clean. The massacre of which the single move unleashed, continued to dig down on the enemy''s left side and only separated when the little monster reached close to the tail. It didn''t feel like a kill, although the damage was quite plentiful even though the enemy was a fearsome barracuda! Once young Timothy turned around to gaze upon the wound, the theory was proven right. Blood had tainted the waters but the enemy he had just attacked, wasn''t exactly dead. Instead, after a bit of wiggling around in pain, it had gained a bit of orientation and was solely targeting the strange neer that this battle was holding. It was targeting the stingray of course, and although a fin was chopped off clean, its tail was still in a great working condition. With a burden against the water behind it, the sliced enemy charged forward and had an elerating speed that the little boy was quite envious of. The enemy got too close so fast that he almost mistook it as an idental super zoom. Thankfully, with a single struggle against the liquid friction underneath him, the sea disk managed to get out of the way! But his tail was still curled down and bashed against the water a bit harder as an attempt to swim higher a bit faster. That equaled towards his barb bashing right against the enemy''s back and sinking deep enough to break a bone, thankfully it belonged to the barracuda. It kept swimming forward which only led to little Tim getting dragged along the waters by this long freak of nature. But still this opportunity was too great to escape unnoticed. Swiftly and surely, he dug those powerful level 3 jaws against the enemy''s skin and immediately heard something crack. He took off a clean bite and then spat it out, right after he took another and avoided consuming that one as well. As for the enemy''s wounds, the spine had received quite a lot of damage that even a system would need 7 wonders to heal it in this kind of environment. Yet the raging sea pancake continued to take off bites, severing the spine and causing extremely unbearable pain, until the system had to notify. [Great barracuda killed. 40 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Since this one is abnormally sizedpared to others in this environment, you get 10 additional points.] [Total system points = 478] It felt reasonable, this species was at least 1.2 meters long but yet was touring around near a reef who was stripped out of life, it didn''t make much sense but it surely paid off a lot of points! Right now he actually felt a bit rich. Giving attention to the rest of the battle, he had noticed about 100 shrimpying dead on the ground, most of them were smaller and a few bigger ones were in between as well. The bigger ones were likely almost suicidal, fighting for their tribes andmunity. Regardless of that fact, it proved that these barracudas worked very fast! It wasn''t easy to kill these many shrimps under a short time, who knows how many they have munched through. Across the dead white-legged shrimp, he also noticed a barracuda whom had been brought down by the bigger crabs most likely - but now was being devoured by the smaller crabs who had stormed the area to consume the opportunity but also prove a point. With this brief advantage, only 3 barracudas were remaining in the battle field, 2 of which were upied in battle. Tim fixed his gaze towards the smallest enemy here who was just a bit under a meter long and charged straight forward. These attackers were pushed to a disadvantage so it was only logical to use it towards its furthest extent. The enemy noticed himing and immediately turned attention away from the shrimp and solely focused on the stingray. This pushed the boy towards a nervous hint, because this one is a bit more aware although smaller. And those jaws managed to cause even more emotional trouble, even his upgraded durability wouldn''t be enough to survive a bite like that. Throughout the speed he piled up, Timothy gained an idea and the scarcely growing fear had aided by at least a bit. It was definitely a risky trick that he had never tried before, but if it was done right, this death would be almost instant! Chapter 123: Dots (end) Chapter 123: Dots (end) Collision was close by and to turn this move into a reliable reality, the first step had to be put into motion even though the anxiety that wasing with it, spiked up more than usual by a mountain''s scale. The first portion of the entire move was sessful once he pushed the tail as forward as he could, and at the same time forming a curl with it that reached towards the stomach. This managed to make everything by a tad bit more nerve wrecking, be it for Timothy or the enemy on the other side, especially since head-to-head collision was just a single second away! Second things second, he had to sacrifice thefort of stability to push the move towards advancement. Meaning, he allowed the tail to push forward even more which in exchange managed to turn half of the body upside down - that and everything was moving towards such direction. Since the fins can''t do much the more he synced to being upside down, stability had to be kissed goodbye. The barracuda was almost sure that collision would be heavily avoided this way, so she just continued swimming forward with a n to attack faster by the time she managed to turn around. But little did she know, the young stingray was close to finishing off the move who was put on a test drive for the first time ever! With the tip of the barb pushing more forward than ever, the first portion of admirable collison rooted on the enemy''s chin, well close to it at least. Paired up with the momentum that he got from sacrificing bnce, the tip of the stinger pushed further in a narrow way, and blood became evident amongst the waters ~ but at the same time managed to cover up the scene where the tail had bashed through the entire enemy''s head, and was sticking out in the other side. [Great barracuda killed. 40 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 518] It felt bizarre for such a move to work at a pace this great but at the same time it made a lot of sense. This attack had most likely severed the brain, a weak spot for most marine life. "I''m really bing rich." Tim thought, joy had managed to capture half of his conscious although his little body was covered with the enemy''s blood. [Forget about bing rich, you''re an insanely gifted strategist. I have never seen a move like that before in my 16 hundred years of work!] Yet we can''t ignore that the system points have piled up quite a lot but it will likely only buy just 4 upgrades. And worse yet, the chances of bashing into another option limiter are higher than ever now. But it wasn''t the time to think about points now, the battle wasn''t over yet. So Tim pushed away thepliment and gave a peek to the other barracudas and noticed just how unaware they were of the situation. 3 of their friends were destroyed in battle and the kill streak won''t stop there for sure. Lunging towards the 2 enemies at full speed, he first targeted the one that was the closest by distance and easily managed to forge a n. The enemy in front of him was a good 1.4 meters long, perhaps the biggest in this group so it would surely take some power to take it down. What acted as an advantage were the plentiful wounds on this fish, likely caused by the shrimp army ~ this will help ughtering the blue bastard a bit quicker. Avoiding to go for the head because of the anxiety the past kill had given despite the sess, he went right for the tail instead. Using the powerful level 3 jaws, he took a strong bite against the tail''s bone and flesh - a crack sounded out right after and the enemy moved left and right, bing scarce with the focus towards the big battle and focusing who had caused the damage on the rear. It was a pale attempt, he turned around only to notice that nothing was there. As for Timothy, he had moved towards the next enemy and dealt the exact same damage. With the distraction caused, the white-legged menaces dragged the enemies closer towards battle and begannding one bite after the other. Noticing that the battle was progressing towards the end, he got back to the next barracuda, lunged over its back and dug those jaws to grab a hold of it. Then, his barb began propelling in all directions and one stab after the other contributed into putting this menace down for good. [Great barracuda killed. 40 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Since this body is biggerpared to the others in this environment, 25 more system points have been given to you as a bonus.] [Total system points = 583] As he was feeling happy about the results, it took one peek towards the one and only remaining enemy to figure out that the battle was close from over. The shrimp have dragged the barracuda towards the ground and were feeding on it too even though it was still alive. Highly unwilling to give up those points, Timmy separated from the carcass and dashed towards the dying enemy. With the efforts required to push the tail entirely forward, he nailed against the enemy''s head but was this time formed into a straighter position rather than curled ~ in reality, it felt as if he was a bumble bee. [Great barracuda killed. 40 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Since this body is biggerpared to others in the area, you get an additional 10 points.] [Total system points = 633] "I take back everything bad I''ve said about you, system." He celebrated as that number felt abnormallyrge for his standards. A few more points and he would likely be able to buy 6 upgrades once they unlock! But the system wasn''t done there, a secondter it notified. [Congrattions, your body length and width have increased by a single centimeter each.] [Now you''re 16 centimeters long and 8 centimeters wide.] Chapter 124: Ranks Chapter 124: Ranks "What? I''m bigger now?" Timothy yelled out with all of his power and even ignored the fact that so many shrimp could have eavesdropped. [You are, but the difference now is barely a centimeter for both width and length. You are far away from bing a full grown adult.] Regardless of that fact, it felt like a marvelous gift and he couldn''t help feeling a great sense of sess and began swimming in his spot even. It felt magnificent, apart from that he had gathered up so many system points and using them is so close from happening. Yet regardless of these wins,pared to all the losses and trials he had gone through ever since he obtained this new body, the wins still feltcking and could use more. A shrimp managed to ruin the fun by bursting in to report, "Your majesty, over 200 white-legged shrimp have died in this battle." "No biggie, we still have like 4,800 more of them left, right? It will feel like nothing had happened, this is a bigmunity." His attitude surely proved optimistic but judging from the resing from everyone around, this was snowballing into a problem. The marine animal who just had spoken to him was likely a guard, so it was easy to simply brush that one off. But the next shrimp to make an entrance, had a feminine tone. Apart from that it shook with authority, the first word managed to catch Tim''s attention even though he was not looking at her. "Hear me, king! This matter must be discussed and now!" Although it was ear catching, it also managed to be equally annoying. And the first thing he said was, "Stop yellingdy." Letting out a rough sigh and tightening her jaws topress rage, the olddy got closer and added. "It doesn''t matter if I yell or not. 200 of our kind have died, what do you n to do about this situation?" "What do you want me to do? They are dead." Yet still his view remained stiff and difficult to battle. But thisdy came prepared, regardless of the fact that only a few minutes were given. Therefore she managed to counter-argue, "Precisely. You haven''t even been inmand in a day and yet we lost so many brave souls, your ruling is already hanging by a thread!" "Another threat? This is getting old." The stingray answered and just swam away to end the topic. Thankfully, no mad-shrimp dared tounch a sneak attack after that type of disrespect. ... Travelling became much easier after that point. Predators of the surrounding areas kept a good distance away from therge toon. Timothy couldn''t tell why but they legitimately turned their tails and swam away once noticing the group. If these predators have a vision admirable enough, his thought would be that fright had entered their hearts thanks to the most recent battle. Either that or a group spanning over 300 meters wide, felt a bit too intimidating for anyone who wanted to try their luck. After a while he stopped focusing on these beings as confidence had built up brick by brick like a castle. However, when he zoomed in on a damn reef shark and noticed how it fled right away, a huge brick dropped in his conscious castle and managed to decorate the interior. By now, they''ve travelled a total of 4 kilometers from the starting point, and only now had one of the elders approach with a different demand. "Ourmunity is tired, we demand to rest here now!" "Okay okay, that''s fair." He answered and liked the idea too. Thatrge tunnel was left with him having an empty stomach but a travel that long, managed to rupture the already consumed provisions. The group finally stopped walking and out of a sudden he heardplete peace and quiet. It wasn''t noticeable but the cumtive crawling of the entiremunity, had slowly tired out his hearing senses - although it wasn''t deafening, its impact was drastically felt now when everyone stopped moving. It would be a horrible idea tond somewhere surrounded by these shrimp who could turn on him at any time. So after that paranoia was pushed through a thought, he swam away from the crowd andnded about 30 meters away. His vision was on the edges of the massive upgrade, it hadsted quite a lot of time but sure proved useful. In this case it was easy to keep a nce at the crowd and charge towards any threat if it actually appeared. Right after a few seconds, the vision suddenly closed in and anything above 20 meters away, appeared like a massive blur. Heavily familiar, and it instantly made him think. "Yeah makes sense,sted so long already." At that moment, an old looking shrimp approached whom was paired with a few bigger of its kind. Whatever their intent might be, it couldn''t be good,mon logic fought in every aspect to think that way. "I can''t say that it''s my pleasure to meet you, king." That was the first thing of which the elder uttered, his energy was made clear after that point. "The hell do you want now?" It felt as if Tim had met this one before but it felt like a new face, "I can''t bring back the dead." "You can''t but I still demandpensation. Most of my tribe had died in the barracuda attack that you failed to prevent!" It was easy to notice that this geezer came prepared for the debate, his raging attitude proved it so. A bit pissed that his level 12 vision was gone and definitely agitated by this geezer, it piled up all together to the sea pancake shouting. "What could I possibly give you?" Feeling happy that the conversation had led down where he wanted it to, the old shrimp allowed for silence to stretch a little as a bloat of victory and then answered. "Ranks! Of course someone like you wouldn''t be aware of anything like that but I want to be the new president of this entiremunity." Chapter 125: Brown coating Chapter 125: Brown coating "A president? That sounds important and I still don''t understand why I should give such a title to you." Thest thing he would want to do is give a higher privilege to a shrimp who just heavily opposed him. But considering the stupendous confidence, this geezer immediately gathered up enough facts to argue. "The contributions my tribe offered in thest battle should make me a grand president. What sacrifice could be greater than death?" Right now, the young stingray began considering the consequences. Another geezer had made a great warning earlier solely based on if or if not thismunity takes losses through the travel. When that fact is taken under thought, it would be a tremendous mistake now to cause even more drama with this specific tribe who by im, has faced the most losses in this recent battle. So to win a favourable image in thismunity, he had to give this old man a higher rank. But it would be dumb to rush this, therefore Tim questioned. "Tell me who you would have themand over as a president?" "Mymand isn''t battle rted. When we settle down, I can make the decisions between how the working force is split and where they could be sent." After allowing for the king to ponder that fact, he felt an urge to add. "Trust me, it''s way better if I have control over the work force. Your lead will cause a mass starvation." Taking a peek at the guards around the old man, a pressuring vibe unleashed that forced the little one to make a demand. "Do you second his words? Do you approve that he is right?" Most of them don''t seem to understand the stingraynguage, but one did and answered. "I second his words." Once it was tranted, the rest shared an evidently confident tone. "We second it as well." It felt like the best time now to stretch silence, that way most of them would fix their gaze towards the king, enough for him to imprint a phrase in their hearts. "Good. If these words are proven wrong, I will kill all of you. Only a moron would think that this is a bluff." Afterwards the group thankfully had moved away, the geezer was happy and that flowery mood would likely be taken back to the entiremunity, therefore it would be widespread by an inch more. This can lead to these shrimp having a more favorable view towards the new king, because right now they are hating him more than that arrogant hot-shot who had likely tortured a few of them. ... After a bit of rxation, they began moving once more towards the reef. Timothy was still hungry but at those moments, no fish had passed by whom he could feed on. So right now he had to swallow the fact that the hunger bar was at 6/15. It took 2 more kilometres of travelling but they finally had made it to the reef without encountering another problem. It felt somewhat satisfying to spot the reef from a long distance before, his original vision was limiting but there was a sense of joy to see a heavily blurred out reef. In some sense, it felt like afort view. Through most of the points the reef was far away but it was still there, it kept reminding the boy of the goal for thismunity and helped to push on further. The main problem now was that his health stood dangerously low at 1/15. It felt dangerous but with the reef here, it will only be a matter of time for hunger to be cured because even though the reef doesn''t have much life, he knew where to go for food. Right before the journey was about to ascend deeper towards the reef, a shout echoed from the other side of the toon and its roar managed to infect everyone around ~ ultimately leading to the entiremunity sharing the same words. Giving a peek at the problem, it was difficult to identify it as a massive blur appeared. The problem was over 300 meters away and his vision was unclear once the 20 meter mark was crossed. A smaller shrimp came along and pinched him on the bum, but thankfully it didn''t cause any damage. Peeking down, he heard a scolding female tone shouting out. "Go that way, go go go! We are under attack!" It was still difficult to determine what the problem was but the only guess stood as the toon being under attack. So towards the direction that the shrimp pointed, he lunged forward and began following the route at the entire speed that he could build up. This led to leaving the reef behind and following the tter pieces of sand just to be included in whatever problem was ascending on the other side. The more he reached towards the problem, the more he could notice shrimp heading towards the same direction - which itself was a great sign of where to find the problem, ultimately making theck of vision a problem not worth worrying about. Peace was something he swiftly forgot and the growing anxiety wasn''t the main factor to such cause, but the continuous shouts that only grew stronger. It felt as if his hearing senses had been shattered into uselessness, the only way that helped assure that his hearing holes were still working, were the screams. The journey of 300 meters felt like eternity and a half, his hunger being low aided as a setback because energy wasn''t a perk that could be used right now. Finally reaching the scene, the first thing that caught his entire vision was a coating of brown shing with themunity and indulging in a war that had already tossed body parts around. Obviously these were enemies whom had arrived for a battle, but thankfully they weren''trge enough to prove truly troublesome individually. A razor sharp thought was that these species were life-long enemies to thismunity. A single focus on them helped to determine that they didn''t seem too different from the shrimp that Timmy had governing power over. The only difference was colour. These enemies struck brown in colour and their first toon appeared 7 times smaller. The battle here was close from being over, but... On the not-so-far distance, he could see another patch of brown approaching for a corpse craving battle. Chapter 126: Brown coating (2) Chapter 126: Brown coating (2) Considering that bodies on top of bodies belonging to the white-legged shrimpmunity, wereying around above the sand, mutted and dead ~ it was easy to figure out what to attack although the odds had slowly grown to his ownmunity''s favour. He charged towards the smallest group that was underneath, at least he could see these ones so putting up a worthy battle wouldn''t be difficult. But yet lunging in the middle of the battlefield would be a death assuring idea, so he swam towards the outskirts of battle to pick out an enemy who stood a foot away from the rest. Perhaps this one was a leader? Maybe so, because he was bigger than most of hisrades which in a way asserts authority in amon group. This enemy was about 70 centimeters long, stood a bit thickerpared to any species here as well. But size regardless, Timothy charged straight forward and nned to unleash every bit of his frustration on this unfortunate man. This time he nned to unleash a move that he wasn''t quite used by. There were far too many long legs and antennas on this being so being stuck in this one''s bones would feel a tad more ufortablepared to any other situation. So as he charged towards the side of the beast, the marvelous stinger avoided to curl. Finally reaching collision with this bigger marine animal, Timothy''s prime weapon swiftly brushed against the enemy''s back. Since the barb didn''t curl, the very tip had sliced rather than stabbedpared to other situations. So it ultimately meant that his speed wasn''t dragged down by collision, and the slice that was delivered had burned a bit more although the wound wasn''t deeper. As he swam away from the enemy, a battle shout echoed above the others. Managing to turn around, he noticed that the very shout came from the enemy. Although the motive to such a thunderous tone was easy to find the root of, it still stood a bit confusing how one species would have such vocal power. That regardless, it still remained evident that the attack was sessful enough to cause heart trembling pain. So he rushed towards the enemy once more and already began propelling his tail against the water to set the muscles loose. By now he had a feel of how thick the enemy''s skin could be so it was a tad easier to determine how to strike now. In a blink of an eye, he shed with the big one again and swam away at an equally fast speedpared to before. This time however, the barb had sunk twice the amount deeper. Which not only urged the big one to let out a shout, but also was enough to muffle it down - as a result the enemy didn''t scream but instead began looking around to spot and counter attack the next move. Timmy had already swam towards a safe distance and observed how his ownmunity hadpletely devoured the whole group that stood against them. That fact considered, they began charging towards the big one since no other obstacle stood in front of them at the moment. Taking a peek to his right, he noticed that the big brown dot was crawling closer by every given second so it stood evident that another big battle will sh soon. Hismunity began surrounding the biggest enemy and took off one bite after another. It wasn''t difficult to overwhelm a single enemy regardless of size, so only seconds passed by before Tim was confirmed that this enemy was close to giving thest kicks. Thanks to that fact, he charged straight forward and wanted to unleash a move he was yet to master. While charging forward with as much speed as he could build up, the young one violently chucked his barb forward and said goodbye to horizontal bnce. Straightening his tail along with the rest of the body, he bashed against the enemy''s back and allowed the entire stinger to sink in. This was growing in his conscious to be called the "bee formation". [Western rock lobster killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] Staggered beyond prepare, after putting an attempt to swim away from the battle, he murmured. "What? These aren''t shrimp?" [This kill was a system given task so you also get an additional point.] [Since this body was an abominationpared to species in this area, you get an additional 10 points.] [Total system points = 645] [Eating a full grown western rock lobster usually grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, non existent] [Effect on hunger, +5 bars] [Effect on sleep, +2 bars] [Effect on stamina, non existent] And then, the system raised out a question that managed to touch his every heart string although he was still trying to catch up with everything. [3 new options have been unlocked, would you like to hear them out?] With a quick thought, he answered. "The primary option is about venom right? Show me that one for now and I will look at the other onester." Timothy feared that if all the options had been listed out, he would try to upgrade them all and by then the battle would have ascended towards too many deaths. So it was only logical to take this decision. [Option 1 = unlock venom] [Price = 20 system points] "That''s extremely cheap." He recited and felt a bit bad about calling the system a cheap bastard before. That aside, he immediately requested. "I want to buy this one, unlock it right away!" [Purchase confirmed] [Loading purchase...] Right through those seconds, a tremendous pain struck at the very tip for a short half a second. Then it halted for a while and gave the delusion that itpletely disappeared. But right after it struck again with pain half the time less effectivepared to thest one and finally, the pain went entirely away. [Purchaseplete] [20 system points consumed] [625 system points remaining] [Now, you have the ability to unleash venom on anything you please.] [Barb venom = 5/5] Chapter 127: Brown coating (3) Chapter 127: Brown coating (3) This situation didn''t fail to be more and more intense. Sure he has gotten a massive advantage with venom finally being unlocked, but the idea of being able to bash a dangerous substance through enemies, managed to add stress as much as it gave excitement. By all means, it was up to him now to deliver the biggest punch in battle. Typically that wouldn''t be much stress but here, a massive battle was only elerating. The two sides were yet to sh, just a swim towards the enemies managed to get a portion of them in a clear view - which inevitably meant that they were only a bit over 20 meters away. There was no better time to test out his tail than now, so he continued to swim forward and took the fastest enemy head on. This one was separated from the group standing behind so it was easier tond a shot without suffering repercussions from the close by enemies. Lunging downwards, his tail curled a bit morepared to thest strike for the sake of increasing the chances of a venom st. Unwilling to face the mouth of the enemy whom was a bit bigger than him, the young one took a sharp left and then headed directly towards the enemy with a sharp right. Finally, collision stood evident as the young one flung his tail across the enemy''s back and heard the system announce. [Barb venom = 3/5] The strike he made could be easily considered as random, it was almost instinctive but in all ways not good enough - like a little boy who tried it for the first time. But strangely, the system did not notify about a kill. He wanted to ignore it but of course thedy can read his mind and so she began exining. [Don''t forget that your venom is level 1. You can''t expect to kill an enemy within a second with your venom.] "Makes sense." He answered and decided to fight against the other approaching enemies. This one had been cut and struck with venom, how many bites could it withstand against a massive toon? Charging towards the side of the entire group, his tail curled downwards and aimed to reach closer to the belly. This way, the attacks will be a bit deeper. Crashing against the first enemy on this side became possible swiftly and he kept the tail in that position, while at the same time sliding across the other enemies nearby. The idea was to avoid stopping to fight one enemy and instead leave a cut across a great line of brown. Which proved evidently sessful. These lobsters felt empty like shrimp so every slice across their backs wasn''t enough to slow down his speed. [Barb venom = 0/5] "Oh well, at least some lobsters will struggle because of my venom now." He thought after reaching the other side of the enemy toon. Timmy had made a rough guess here, but there has to be at least 500 brown lobsters in this new toon alone. Gazing at the far distance, he could see at least a couple more patches of bigger size so this was rolling down to a dangerous snowball. Sure hismunity still has over 4,000 shrimp, but how many battles can they withstand against these enemies who have equal amounts of fighting bodies, if not more? The far patch of enemies was just 100 meters away so it was only a matter of time before the battle here would be worse. So that fact considered, he immediately began swimming towards the far enemies with a n in mind. But right then the system rmed, [Hunger bar =0/15] [You will slowly lose health now until hunger is replenished.] "Shit!" He shouted and then turned right around. Since most of the lobsters were focused on the battle in front of them, none really cared to look behind. So with the opportunity given, he charged towards one of the lobsters, bit it right across the spine and then swallowed the bite. This wasn''t enough to raise a bar but it''s better than nothing. Afterwards he bit the lobster by the chunky tail and began dragging it away from battle. Most lobsters didn''t notice thismotion, and those who did, failed to care about it. The lobster tried to fight back but it was difficult to do so with an injured spine. Looking for a weakness, Timmy decided that the head might be the best idea so he swiftly bashed the marvelous barb against the head. [Western rock lobster killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [Total system points = 626] This one wasn''trge but here it worked in every advantage. The little boy took a bite and then the other. Considering the rising tension, he took about 3 bites per second and ate a good portion of the enemy, until the system announced. [Hunger bar 2/15] That felt like enough, so with a p against the water that was enough to cause a dusty cloud, he charged towards the closest brown toon and tried recounting the little details in the hastily built up n. The enemies were only 50 meters away now from the big battle, so it was easy to reach them. One thing he did not notice was the shrimpmunity behind, cursing the little stingray in every way their limited dialect could fit, because they saw him as a ''king who deserted a battle''. That wasn''t necessarily a big issue but this situation was ironic, especially considering that his only aim was to help what was left of themunity. He stood in front of the toon of 900 or so lobsters whom originally were supposed to sh in battle very soon, and shouted. "Stop right there!" Surprisingly they listened to themand as if fear was their middle name. A bigger lobster poked out of the crowd and thankfully could speak the samenguage. Yet again, it was nothing peachy. "Who are you to stop my lobsters? You are nothing but a floating disk!" Feeling rather entitled, the little boy immediately shouted back. "I am the king of those shrimp that your stupid lobsters are fighting. Now I demand you to stop this battle and battle me instead." Seeing that this big lobster wasn''t satisfied, he added. "Don''t get me wrong, this isn''t a self sacrifice. I want to slice your biggest warriors into pieces and feast on themter, to prove who is the real boss here!" That''s when the system notified, [18 western rock lobsters killed, therefore 18 system points have been given to you as a reward.] [Through the group you killed, some wererger than others so you also get an additional pack of 36 bonus points.] [Total system points = 680] The numbers were definitely satisfactory, but now he didn''t even have to look back to assure. "The battle behind me is close to being over. We will stop this war now and allow the big boys to settle this out." Fixing his gaze directly at the enemy''s eyes, he threatened. "Bring your fucking king here if you want to!" Chapter 128: The brown deal Chapter 128: The brown deal From such a sentence he had uttered, it was only expected that the enemy would start raging around and cussing with every foul word that was included in their critique. But somehow they were standing surprisingly quiet. All that he could consider as chatter, were the mumbling and whispering amongst the hundreds of lobsters in front of him. This felt like a great opportunity to step in prepared for the next move. But that''s when the system interrupted, [You have an inactive upgrade, would you like to activate it now?] It felt tremendously weird to hear that question, he had never encountered an upgrade to be inactive before and the first thought that ured was the system glitching or something. But he needed every help that there was there. So without even asking more about this upgrade, he immediately answered. "Sure, activate it!" [Confirmed] [You''vepleted 10 system given tasks so your: health, hunger, sleep and stamina bar will be upgraded by a tenth of their original standards.] Before he could ask just what the hell that meant, the system continued to rage with an unrequired information spam. [Upgrades activated and imnted] [Loading your current state of being...] [Health = 65/110] [Hunger = 2/17] [Sleep = 13/39] [Stamina = 2/17] [Barb venom = 1/5] These stats felt tremendously different, so this helped to patch everything together on what exactly the system meant. It felt like an additional reward regarding how this upgrade felt painless. The trouble he had gone in toplete these tasks, also felt a bit more worthwhile. One thing that struck like a truck was the minor shift of energy. It felt as if his eyes opened up a bit better once this upgrade had activated. Minor body wounds and pain disappeared by a hunch which was very satisfactory although he did not eat anything that increased health. But this celebration met an end when thergest lobster he had ever seen, began crawling away from the group and had an intent in its eyes that was evidently murderous. It only took a small moment before the enemy arrived just 5 meters away from Timothy, that''s when it shouted. "You wish to fight me?" "Yes!" He answered with a shout equally strong although cracking by tone, "If I win, all of you will fuck off towards where you came from." "Deal." The big lobster answered, apparently feminine by tone. "But if I win, the white-legged shrimpmunity will admit defeat and be our ves!" It was clear that both shrimp and lobsters were fucked in the head, so far it was easy to point out, but Tim doesn''t want to allow for these bastards to get their way. Thisdy was most likely not a ruler but had enough confidence to win this thing and probably win the favour of the true ruler of theirs. Feeling a hunch more confident than the opponent, he assured. "Deal." That''s when the other lobsters rushed forwards, but thankfully neither of them aimed toy a hand on the little stingray just yet. Instead they were just forming a circle around the two warriors who were going to submerge into battle, leaving just 20 feet of space to battle. Willing to step in a bit more prepared, he questioned. "System, what other options can I buy?" [Loading...] [Option number 1 = Endure water pressure for 30 meters more. Price = 120 system points] This one seemed especially useful. Last time he had only gotten an upgrade that only allowed to sink 10 meters more, but 30 feels like a steal although the mist is possibly a few kilometres deep - it wouldn''t prove so useful there. [Option 2 = permanent live map] [Price = 100 system points] This one was a bit confusing but considering the price, his only guess was that this map was far betterpared to the first one he had bought. The name ''permanent'' was the first hint and its price was the other one. He had questions but now was not the best time to ask them, so he requested. "I''m buying both of them and fast please!" [Purchases confirmed] [Loading...] The battle was close to starting. The opponent was somehow stretching all of her legs, which stretched outwards in a rather creepy manner, each of her legs about a foot long. While her body was a hint over 80 centimeters long! This was definitely the biggest lobster he had ever faced in this new life. In a second, a sharp pain struck right across the young man''s noggin. It felt as if a war ne had been shot down in the air above them and unluckynded right on the little stingray''s head. Such a pain was strong but it ended before he even realised that it started. And afterwards spread down to where the neck was supposed to be, but there the pain was far more durable. It continued down the spine and finally reached the tail, each bit of pain was far less tortuous than the previous step. This type of pain felt tremendously familiar. [Depth durability has been upgraded by 30 more meters.] [Current depth durability = 240 meters] Right before he was about to celebrate, a huge map shed right in front of the eyes and then minimized, traveled to the corner of his vision. This still felt bizarre at best but proved that his points were being put into good use. With a little focus on it, he could see blurry representations of marine animals in the area. Be it from the front or back, it covered a 20 meter radius as far as his eyes could see, which was rather limiting. That''s when the system interrupted, [This map''s effectiveness will be solely based on your vision and smelling senses. The higher they are, the better you can urately predict just what is around you.] [Purchasespete] [220 system points have been consumed] [460 system points remaining] It felt rough to see the point numbers drastically drop like that but where else could these babies be used? They are system points after all! At least from this pace, it feels a bit obvious that 3 more upgrades can be easily bought with the remaining quantities. While he was focusing on the map and how wonderful it was although blurry in all directions, the bigdy on the other end, rmed. "Let''s battle, you worthless seaweed!" Such a phrase felt tad offensive, especially since he doesn''t remember how a seaweed looks like although a few of them had been encountered in the reef. Unwilling to keep calm either, he shouted back. "Prepare to die you fat fuck!" Chapter 129: The brown death Chapter 129: The brown death There was no reason to continue the debate any further. Timothy charged forward and so did the enemy. But he knew better than to charge directly at the enemy''s mouth for the sake ofnding a blow. In the midst of his road towards collison, the sea disk took a sharp right turn to gain a bit of space, enough to make a proper left turn afterwards towards the enemy. This type of manoeuvre didn''t only buy a few extra seconds but also aided tond a strike on spots where the enemy wouldn''t be able to counter attack enough. Considering this enemy''s size, he didn''t want tond a strike right on the middle of the body but instead moved a bit lower. The prime intent was to steer clear of that mouth. He didn''t know exactly how much damage this enemy could cause but doesn''t want to figure it out either. Finally colliding after what felt like an eternity, his barb struck the enemy right where he imagined a lobster''s hips would be and instinctively unleashed all the venom that was piled up in his tail. What was originally a stab, became a cut as well because the built up momentum managed to drag the barb across flesh for half a foot. It didn''t seem like plentiful damage on an enemy this big but it managed to cause a shout fueled with pain. Oncending the blow, he avoided immediately taking any sharp turns just because the enemy could turn her body around andnd a nasty bite. But after swimming a few feet away, he swam towards the former point he floated above before this battle had begun. It didn''t take much time to realise that the enemy was charging straight forward like a crazed bull on drug addiction. The lobster was mad and craved flesh and bone itself! Knowing what his advantages were, Timothy pped his fins against the water a bit harder than in usual high pressure situations, and therefore lunged upwards while the enemy slipped underneath. He was in luck how this crazeddy avoided biting up, or else the young man would have faced damage enough to possibly stop this battle. For once he made a quick sharp turn right after and charged towards the enemy whom was still charging forward or at least trying to slow down. Catching up, his jaws sunk right on the lobster''s middle back and the fins were used to hold on as well but their grip-less smooth surface could only do so much. Half a secondter, his barb sunk against the enemy right underneath the middle back ~ it sank all the way in and forced the enemy to unleash another shout. Seeing that the enemy was yet to twist around tond any bite, he pulled out the barb and then bashed it in again to inflict more and more pain. He managed to notice one thing, this enemy was indeed bigger and had rougher skin too, but it was still pale inparison to another enemy. Short said, these lobsters were as empty inside as the shrimps, literally. Afternding about 4 strikes with his tail, Timmy bursted up towards the sea waters and took with him a chunk of meat ripped off the enemy''s back. He could not feel any crunchy bones but such a bite will surely leave a painful burning sensation. The best solution now was to swim a few feet away and allow the enemy to rage in everynguage it knows. Once he managed to attain another gaze on the lobster, he noticed how movements were slower than before. She was charging forward but it was in half the speedpared to just a moment earlier, which feels like arge advantage because before he escaped from this enemy''s full speed all thanks to pure luck. Gazing above the crowd of lobsters, he managed to spot a coating of white on the other end of the crowd. Thankfully they weren''t battling which proved as a great advantage for the deal Tim had just made, because if they continued the battle, this attempt to stop the mass ughter would prove worthless. Focusing back on the big lobster he was battling, it became easier to notice that she had swam too close by now. Out of a sudden, she leaped upwards and managed to jump a good 2 meters above the sand. With a quick attempt, he pped the fins in the opposite direction but managed to sink down just by half a foot because such a movement was unusual for the whole body. The big lobsterdy slid above the young man''s head and skin managed to touch skin through it, but thankfully he was t bodied so no friction was caused by this collison, making the enemy only slide away. But... When the two bodies touch, by reflex his tail perked up and curled forward. It took no effort whatsoever for it to sink in flesh and the enemy''s weight aided for the cut to continue and at the same time sink deeper against the brown belly. One thing he did not notice was the fact that just a bit more venom had regenerated since hest used it. So through the cut, this same cell burning substance had been unleashed on the lobster which made this strike all the more dangerous. The lobsternded on the ground and afterwards crawled a few steps before her legs shook in the attempt to stay up. This battle was close to being over and he charged forward to leave a handful of more wounds to finish this quicker - as if the 50 centimeter cut wasn''t enough! [Western rock lobster killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [Since this species is an abominationpared to most in this environment, you get an additional 10 points.] [Total system points = 472] This came in as a bit of a shock. He knew that the dealt damage was strong enough but expected for this lobster to die after a few more shots. This only made him think, "These lobsters are empty inside as well. Their size and anger is just for show." He did not notice that the other patch of brown lobsters had already reached and managed to give a peek to this battle. And now that it''s over, the crowd was roaring in disbelief and rage. A lot of them wanted to move in and rip this little stingray in half but a deal is a deal. Another big lobster, perhaps the biggest one in this entire patch of brown species, had bashed itself through the crowd just to deliver a message of his own to the winner. This one had to be at least a meter long, which makes it a true abomination of nature. Once it spoke, it became easy to determine that this one was a man. This big lobster raged through a sentence, "You killed my daughter! I don''t know how but you killed her!" "Your daughter was the easiest kill I ever handled." Timmy answered, obviously a big fat lie but he aimed to mentally torture this big lobster. At this point he felt that the lobster was going to explode, he began shouting even louder now. "I am the king of these lobsters! And I dere you as an enemy of mymunity!" Chapter 130: The brown death (2) Chapter 130: The brown death (2) "You''re the king huh?" Timothy asked and the thought of it managed to bring back the memories down in the tunnel 6 kilometres away. To put an idea to the test, he shouted. "Would your title be taken if someone beats you in battle?" Seeing this as an opportunity to bloat and at the same time offend the little boy, the big tough lobster king shouted. "Why on earth would you want to know something like that? Weakling!" Seeing that this type of conversation would stretch ufortably long, equal to this lobster''s ego, it became evident that more drastic measures had to be taken for the sake of luring this bastard into battle. Even though these were measures that he hated to use. "Sounds like you''re already scared. Your bullfrog of a daughter was braver than you." "You dare mock my deceased daughter?" The king shouted and it became a bit noticeable that his brown skin became a bit red in anger. While on the other end of the stick, the little hero thought out. "How did saving the reef put me in a situation like this? It should have been more simple, why is doing the right thing so confusing and difficult?" It was fair to say that he can depend on the overall personal arsenal he had cultivated into, throughout these short 2 weeks. But in any case he wouldn''t want to fight an overgrown enemy even if it was for 1,000 points and not to mention any lesser case such as ''doing the right thing''. But the situation had snow balled to this point so the only option remained to respect it by just following it. While he didn''t bother to carry on the conversation, the lobster king had already crawled close enough to state that he was ready for battle. The brown patches of lobsters began moving towards and then behind him, for the sake of making clear for who they stood for. Which in exchange allowed the white-legged shrimp to move closer and show which side they stand for, that of Timothy''s of course. So it ended up with a 50 foot circle being formed around the twobatants. The bottom side of the pile had coated the sand with white and the top side with brown. If one swam above the crowd, it would be easy for them to spot a perfectly straight horizontal line in the middle which defined the borders of which species was which. Standing a tad paranoid, the little sea pancake wanted to assure. "So it''s settled? If I kill you today, these lobsters of yours will fall under mymand? I will be their king!" It felt weird to speak like a medieval king that acted like a stick was stuck up his ass, but in this case it seemed necessary. Neither sides respected him and likely wanted him dead, so it would be much worse if hecked confidence throughout the deal and behaved like a submissive peasant. It would be bad be it for the face of the entiremunity and for the overall deal. Unwilling to speak and ready to start the battle right away, the lobster king shouted. "It''s a deal. Now shut it and fight!" Then without warning, the big brownie charged forward and began pping those jaws even - all by the aims of ripping the little stingray in half for the pure intent of gaining vengeance for the deceased daughter! As for Tim, his motive to fly out of the way was never stronger than it was at this moment. So with a p against the water, he lunged upwards like aunching rocket and had quite a lot of time to escape the bite-radius. So the lobster king just continued charging forward and bashed against the white shrimp that were behind the little stingray. This will likely be great for face, this lobster had likely squashed a few smaller shrimp to death and a lot will be happier when this abomination dies on the hero''s fins. The enemy turned around and began charging forward once more, this is when the little hero began taking a sharp turn to the right just for the sake ofnding a good blow. This lobster however, wasn''t as dumb as that abomination he called a daughter, so this 1 meter monster began crawling his way to the right for the sake of forbidding any blind shots. It would be impossible tond a shot like this, so after getting too close, the blue dotted maniac took a sharp left turn towards the opposite direction and managed to get out of the enemy''s sight. Instinctively, the enemy began crawling to the left now for the sake of avoiding blind shots. But... It wasn''t fast enough. He felt a sharp pain across the middle back and it was followed along with a burning sensation that added an additional pain ~ that portion was hard for the enemy to understand. While the system just notified the hero, [venom 0/5] This shot was nice but nearly not enough to ughter a lobster who stretched a monstrous meter long! So the enemy just turned around and charged forward a bit angrier, his speed was fairly thunderous for someone who had to crawl rather than swim. Seeing that charging forward like a bull wasn''t working out, thankfully this time he realized it before identally charging to a crowd of smaller animals - he located the yellow coloured stingray and decided to use another method of battle. The lobster king leaped upwards and opened his mouth wider than ever for the sake of increasing the chances ofnding a bite. Expecting something heavily dangerous like this, Tim began swimming higher instead of lower ~ all thanks to the close-shot experiences he had when taking the opposite measures. The enemy ended up sinking down afterpletely missing the shot. But to the hero this type of leaping has be a problem that couldnd a tremendous bite. So he charged downwards to follow the big lobster and once he managed to catch up, the level 3 jaws went into work once they clung on one of the enemy''s legs. Chapter 131: The brown death (3) Chapter 131: The brown death (3) It wasn''t even necessary to put in all of his power to the bite in order to snap through the leg he had clung on. This attack definitely wasn''t enough to kill therge enemy but the shout grumbling with pain and agony was like a melody to the blue dotted menace''s ears. They crashed to the ground together as the hero didn''t have any time to escape afternding the vicious bite. But thankfully the crash wasn''t strong enough to cause any true damage that the system would bother to notify about. As the lobster king was bobbing his head left and right in pain, the stingray inched away towards the tail of the enemy with a half intent of avoiding the head. He quickly swam towards thest leg in line and didn''t hesitate tond a bite on this one as well, right in the middle where the leg bends. It only took a few seconds to snap this one off although in width it was almost the size of Tim''s body. Fairly, he had taken a few bites before sessfully biting the leg off. Now the enemy had 2 legs less to work for him when a leap would be nned. It didn''t make a massive difference especially since the king still had 8 functioning ones but it was still progress. Through the rush of a second, he noticed the enemy''s massive tail that spread much like a hand-fan people use in hot summer days. This made the boy think, "Oh so that''s what''s helping you jump so high?" And of course the new aim was to damage that tail so this massive king is grounded and therefore easier to attack. But... in a blink of a second, that same tail lunged forward and caused amotion strong enough in the waters, to push the little stingray away. The mouthful of meat he had taken from the leg, had been force swallowed thanks to thatmotion, well at least a single bite will keep the hunger bar from reaching 0. This flinging tail on the other hand, managed to ruin his ns so he swam away for a meter or so to avoid a strike be it from the tail or the enemy''s big mouth. A lot of damage had already been done and the crowd on either side were roaring be it in anger, disbelief or joy. It was easy to determine which side felt what because of this progression towards battle. nning a move, the young boy asked. "System, how much venom do I have on my tail right now?" [Barb venom = 1/5] "That''s too little." Heined and felt convinced so once taking a peek of the enemy who still had a motive to charge forward regardless of the venom inflicted in his body and theck of 2 legs. [Before you n anything, note that venom alone won''t bring this abomination down. It would take a day before your venom actually kills him.] After Timmy lunged out of the big lobster''s way, allowing it to continue charging forward, he asked once more. "What else does the venom do then?" [Your venom has been different from the start since you have a system.] [This venom manages to slow down the enemy in time because of the bloodclot and nerve damage caused in their bodies.] [Not to mention, it takes a lot of energy to suppress the burning sensation that venom leaves on the skin. To an enemy, it feels as if boiling water has been tossed on their wounds.] "All of this from a level 1 venom?" He questioned and then took a sharp turn to charge towards the enemy. [Yes] His confidence had fairly restored by at least a third so this battle felt like it was already in the bag. As he finally reached the enemy lobster whom was yet to turn around and face the battlefield, his jaws sunk right on the roof of the enemy''s tail. He kept a fair distance for the sake of not getting tail pped, simply because this tail looks powerful and takes a third of this brown creature''s whole body. He took a bite and then another against where he thought the spine of this enemy was located. It was hard to make a brief assumption, because the surface seemed all familiar and even. There was no line in the middle that signified a spine being naturally imnted in it. After each bite he took, the lobster king became only more pissed and jiggled around stronger for the sake of pushing the little yellow stingray away. It was a poor effort as his mouth couldn''t reach behind enough and the tail had been damaged enough to be prevented from flinging back too much. He finally let go of the tail and asked the system for a specific statistic, of which it answered. [Barb venom = 2/5] Feeling a bit more confident about what damage could be inflicted now, he charged directly towards the enemy''s other end and ignored the risks of being bitten beyond healing. He kissed bnce goodbye by allowing the tail to move forward, afterwards came the procedure of straightening his body for the sake of building up momentum. And at the end, he managed to puncture through the back of this enemy''s head, allowing the whole tail to sink all the way in which was easy because the barb''s strength had been upgraded before as well. Pushing instinct away this time, he unleashed the entire venom that had been piled up in his tail, making the aftermath of a burning sensation a bit strongerpared to earlier. With an almost panicking attempt, he slid away from the enemy''s head with several strong fin ps and just now realised how much he had been pushing through to win this battle and even going far enough to use a risky move such as the bee-sting formation. The young boy felt tired and hungry yet was pushing through those types of natural barricades for the sake of winning this battle, ultimately for the sake of the reef. After swimming away for a couple of meters, he saw how the lobster king still had the motive to turn around and continue the battle. Chapter 132: Fearful peace Chapter 132: Fearful peace Fixing his gaze with Timothy, therge enemy forced out a question after realising that his steps were bing only heavier. "What did you do to me?" The young man did not expect for the enemy to slow down this quickly, especially since the enemy had the motive to continue walking after a shot against the head. But willing to inflict fear on the dying enemy, he decided to answer. "I realise you''re stupid so let me exin. You''re dying because of the venom I put in your head, be sure that this will be very painful." Little did the young boy know, the enemy had dozed off through the little answer and crashed on the sand. That''s when the system notified, [Western rock lobster killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward.] [This creature is a massive abominationpared to other bodies of its kind so you get an additional 20 system points.] [Total system points = 493] "It was that easy?" The blue-dotted maniac uttered and then moved towards the body with a growling stomach, hunger taking over. After taking off a couple of bites, he remembered that thousands of shrimps and lobsters had surrounded him. So to prove a point, Tim took anotherrger bite with the intent of ripping off a chunk asrge as him - and then swam up to face the patch of brown. "This is your king and all his power." Within a second it became a bit tricky for himself to know what that meant, but a second phrase ran through the little mind and then it was spoken out. "Your king was weak and died by my fins! Your king is gone! Or dare I say, ex-king!" It was clear that within the crowd, the majority did not understand what the boy hollered about once he had dropped the chunk of meat on the sand. All they knew was that their king wasying dead and a little menace was the cause of it. That''s when he heard the crowd behind, break it out in a cheer that was twice as loudpared to the battle cry from earlier. It stood evident that the white-legged shrimp had unleashed such a cumtive shout, all by the aims of celebrating the failure of their enemy! In a matter of seconds, marine animals of higher positions began approaching the young man, there was a lot of space to go around since the circle that the crowd had made, still stretched 50 feet wide. Old looking shrimp, counting up to 3, came out of the crowd of which Timothy had full governing under and the other side pooped out the same amount of geezers as well. Thankfully all of them were fluent in the stingraynguage so a mild debate was close from breaking, the little stingray is the king of both thesemunities now, making him the best to settle out political topics. A lobster was the first to speak, a foot long and had antenas almost double that size, which took roots on the head like the other bodies here and stretched backwards. "I demand control of the white shrimp!" "I demand control of the rock lobsters!" It was easy to determine which side uttered such a demand, one of the white geezers of course. It was transparent that they hated each other will all their sense of being, although most likely this was the first time they met. And the debate broke out further right after, a lobster geezer shouted. "These shrimp havemitted war crimes in our tunnel, they''ve killed innocent people who weren''t even in our toons!" "False! We''ve never even been to your rotten tunnel! Ourmunity was always wealthy and never required to go low enough to attack an entire othermunity!" A white shrimp shouted out with absolute certainty. Hostile by tone at least although the uttered sentence was in all ways diplomatic. "Are you calling us liars?" The biggest elder of these brown lobsters shouted and raised his front legs to submerge in battle. "Yes! You''re all liars!" The shrimp answered and repeated the same procedure. "Silence!" The new king of both sides shouted and then threatened, "I don''t want to kill old people." "Old? I''m neat as a stick." One of the elders contradicted and forgot what he was mad about earlier. Piling up a scheme that was equal to his size, the sea disk asked one of the lobsters. "How many lobsters does yourmunity have?" "After this battle, my guess is about 2,000." One of the geezers answered, not so sure about it. Wanting to feel superior, the shrimp barged in the topic as well. "And we probably have over 4,000 shrimp." "Nice, so now I have themand of over 6,000 bastards." Basing it from hisnguage, it wasn''t certain if he was celebrating orining but one thing was for sure, he intended to bash the idea in their head of who the new king was. Noticing that the geezers didn''t have anything to say right now, heid out amand. "Look I don''t care what wackass feud your twomunities have but it stops here. I''m your king and you two must follow mymand!" Noticing that they were slowly swallowing that fact, he bashed another order to help them process faster. "Apart from living peacefully, both of you will now live in the reef." The lobsters were the most shocked about this while the other side just carried a mutual look on their face. A brown geezer finally shouted out, "What the hell are you talking about?" "You have ears." The new king pointed out the obvious. And then remembered how hungry he was and just wanted to get this over with quickly, "But I can''t trust neither of you so obviously you won''t live close to each other." With a bit of thought, he decided. "The white-shrimp will head to the middle of the reef and the brown-lobsters will live on the west of this exact same reef." This led to another thought that he wanted to point out, "I haven''t explored the west but my guess is that it should be calm. Remember that either of you are not to kill the reef''s inhabitants and instead just hunt out of the reef for food." "If any of you try to start another war, I will eat all of the elders on both sides." Of course dominance had to be asserted, fear works better than reason and here it had to be inflicted at a stronger rate. Chapter 133: Fearful peace (2) Chapter 133: Fearful peace (2) After that decision had been made, the majority of the lobsters were getting ready to devour the ex-king whose body wasying ughtered on the sand. But considering that there was no other animal around that he could eat, the best idea was for Timothy to eat through the carcass. To assert hismand, the young onended above the body and took a bite - nothing else had to be said for every other lobster or shrimp to keep their distance. After eating enough through the carcass to feel a bit of the little headache in the pea-sized brain of his, going away. He heard a tone thundering from behind, "Your majesty! We need to talk." Turning around, he noticed that the interjector was a white-legged shrimp whose age has clearly gotten the best of him. Without waiting for the king to answer, this elder continued. "Through ourmunity, 11 tribe leaders are angry and demand action." "Angry about what?" The blue-dotted menace asked, at this point it was a tad difficult to filter out the reason. "Some demandpensation about the losses in this battle, 7 of them to be exact. While the rest demand that you break all connections with the lobsters, you can''t be a king in bothmunities!" Theseints made sense, it was hard to argue with them. But the little hero wasn''t really used to being bossed around or following amand from someone that isn''t a friend or at least doesn''t ask nicely. So after taking another bite from the carcass, he cited. "No one will get anypensations and I''m not giving up the crown either." Trying to keep hisnguage in check although tone-control was far lost, the elder shrimp hollered. "This is not a time to behave like a child!" "And this isn''t a time for your tribe leaders to behave like bitches." Thenguage was most definitely rough, but the young one wasn''t even yelling it out. Instead with a casual and taunting tone, he continued to recite while taking joy out of the other''s facial expression. "I didn''t start the war with these lobsters, your ex-king did. I even ended the war so what the hell do you want from me?" "Our ex-king did not start the war with them either. They were lying just to find an excuse to kill us all!" Rage was topping over all emotions at the moment, this geezer was on the verge of copsing because of it. "It would be a stupid idea to do so, considering that they have less lobsters. Your ex-king did something stupid or else these lobsters wouldn''t take a big risk." He felt smart about noticing this fact, but anyone with a basic logic can piece a portion of the story together to figure out that the bastard of an ex-king was not innocent. Knowing that these kinda debates can go on forever thanks to the overall stubbornness of fish-kind, the young hero cut the conversation short by adding. "So I won''t reward our precious leaders because of the losses they had, because of a war that I did not start." Unwilling to give up, the elder questioned. "What about being the king of our enemies?" "They''re not your enemies any more. They are under mymand and you are as well, so war is no longer an option unless any bastard has the guts to kill me in a fair battle and take the crown." Well such a reply would erupt when someone is bothered while eating. He had never felt smarter than today and even the geezer was shocked of such hostile but yet urate intelligence. One might think that his IQ has ascended towards the 160s by now but that wasn''t the case. These shrimp and lobsters are so used to their way of life and dealing with problems, that any other solution would be almost impossible to think of ~ simply because it''s unheard of in their couple ofmunities. Tim on the other hand, has nothing to do with these marine animals before and therefore he could think out of the box, and bash it on all of their faces. It didn''t require much intelligence. Noticing that the geezer had been struck silent, the new king demanded. "Get everyone ready, I think you heard me before about where we were going? Or at least I think it was you who heard me." "Yes yes. We''re going in the middle of the reef." The elder answered and then began crawling away to avoid any more loss of face. Happy that he could continue eating again, the sea disk began chopping on the carcass and felt happier each time as his overall state was rejuvenating for the better. He managed to eat half of the carcass before the system notified, [You no longer need to eat as your current state is the following...] [Health = 73/110 bars] [Hunger = 17/17 bars] [Sleep = 10/39 bars] [Stamina = 17/17 bars] [Barb venom = 3/5 bars] It stood evident that this carcass had healing properties and the increased stomach capacities helped absorb a bit more of it. That''s when he heard another tone sound out close-by, but this one was far more submissive and yet sharp. "We await yourmand, your majesty sir!" The references were a bit mixed, but once turning around he spotted a half meter long lobster standing stiff and straight. Unwilling to make eye contact even, as he awaited for the king''smand. Feeling happy to finally see someone who cooperates willingly today, he answered. "The lobsters will be going to the west of this reef so prepare everyone." The conversation was cut there as the big lobster just turned around and rushed towards hismunity to carry out the orders. This most definitely felt pleasing, but also allowed for other thoughts to barge in. "I still can''t understand how helping the reef ended up with me controlling 6,000 of these bastards but this isn''t so bad." And it was truly difficult toprehend, who else from the reef had the same position? But positivity was seated as he decided, "I should continue to help the reef, even though I wasn''t the one who almost destroyed it." Realism knocked on the door now with a conclusion, "This big task will probably kill me but I would be bored anyway if I tried doing other stuff." "Plus working to help the reef is paying off big time, maybe this life isn''t so bad." That might be the most positive thing he uttered through the 2 weeks of life here. But the system interrupted, [Guest is under a fair condition so 3 more upgrades have been unlocked. Would you like to hear them out?] Chapter 134: First settlement Chapter 134: First settlement "Hell yes!" The young hero hollered as he lunged away from the corpse, beingpletely done with it already. [Confirmed. The new upgrades are included in the following...] [Option number 1 = Upgrade body strength to level 2] [Price = 60 system points] Body strength, he hadpletely forgotten about this one although he heard about it in the very beginning. Strength seems important but he definitely failed to associate it with anything, be it in battle or under any other circumstances. So to hear about it now, the prime question that rolled in his head was. "The hell could I use strength for? It''s not like I''m a heavy-weight lifter." Regardless of that question, the system had not paid attention to that raging thought and just continued with her pace of exining. [Option number 2 = increase personal IQ by 10 points] [Price = 160 system points] Hearing out such an option, his heart spiked in excitement as he hollered out. "Yes, finally! I love to be smarter." Although such a reaction adorable, the system ignored him once more and the little stingray didn''t let out a specificmand for the sake of allowing the system to continue with the third andst option. [Option number 3 = increase bodily durability by 10 points] [Price = 80 system points] "That''s extremely cheap!" The hero pointed out after just remembering how helpful these kinda upgrades could be. And from the looks of it, purchasing thest option will make him 4 times more durablepared to the very beginning. He wasn''t great at math but the thought of buying all these options felt possible and managed to cause emotions simr to the warmth of love. The system seems to be finished with her part of the bargain, so Tim immediately asked. "Can I buy all 3 of these options likest time?" [You have sufficient system points to do so.] "Really? That''s awesome!" At this point he began swimming in circles thanks to utter joy and everyone around thought that he had gone mad. "I''d like to buy them all." [Calcting...] [300 system points consumed] [193 system points remaining] "I''m still rich?" He questioned and for once felt bad about not understanding mathematics. "You definitely aren''t a cheap bastard!" The celebrations for today were plentiful, but that''s when he thought. "Maybe it''s because I had so much time to collect points..." Before the sea pancake could continue the thought, a wave of sharp pain began overwhelming his body and felt as if thousands of needles had been bashed against his every bit of skin! It wasn''t enough to knock him out cold but this could quite possibly be the toughest upgrade-rted pain he had ever experienced! In shorter than a blink, all of the pain went away and the system announced. [Body strength has been upgraded to level 2] Tough pain was expected right after but the system instead announced, [Your IQ has been upgraded by 10 points] [Total IQ = 60 points] "Oh nice." He celebrated and became happier than usual of how this upgrade went by without experiencing any particr pain, he forgot that increasing intelligence didn''t cause any difort. Right now he was too happy so the increased 10 points weren''t really proving too effective, but they will likely noticeably performter on. Just when he thought that all of these upgrades were over, pain once more entirely enveloped his body and allowed the system to announce. [Bodily durability has been increased by 10 points] [Current durability = 20 points] "All of this is worth it." He uttered while trying to shake away what was left from the pain, only now realising that he was pushing against the sand thanks to strong disorientation. He regained bnce under a few seconds and noticed that everyone had been staring weirdly. Trying to brush it off as nothing, he swam a couple of meters higher and ignored everyone around. The twomunities had already started walking towards the reef and had covered thends with 300 meters of either white or brown. Thankfully both of them respected each other''s route and steered away from battle. Now he had to decide which one to follow, it was impossible to follow both as they were going on different destinations although on the same reef. He didn''t have bonds with either side so favouring one over the other stood as a stupid idea. So instead, personal benefits had to be taken into consideration. One group would be heading towards the middle of the reef where the most damage was, these were the white-legged shrimp. While the lobsters would be going to the west of the reef which in some aspects is considered as below the middle. This necessarily meant that if he went with the shrimps, it would be easy to go towards the west afterwards to check out if everyone had settled in ~ so with that in mind he decided which side to follow. ... They''ve finally made it to the middle of the reef and thankfully no casualty had struck them. Thanks to this sess he felt tad happy but also upset because the same sea-snake whom had requested aid for this reef, wasn''t anywhere to be seen. His n swiftly became to seek thisdy right on the other day, right now the silvery rays of the moon had partially coated the sea surface, which was a great sign for the weaker to sleep and for the predators to rise. The timing felt perfect and he was close to copsing for sleep and left themunity to handle their selves. Right now they were all seeking ces to settle in and sleep, while he had found a little crack in the coral to slip in and nap on. Thismunity now carried 31 full tribes, as some werepletely obliterated in battle while a few tribes who ended up with too few members, joined another smaller tribe. That fact aside, there were still over 4,000 shrimp in thismunity and they were all putting in effort to find a proper ce to sleep and live in. Since this ce didn''t have arge tunnel that could fit all of them in on spot, most tribes picked a hole or small tunnel to live into while a few tribes paired together. This worked for the best as the tribes were spread all around, circting in a 200 meter radius even, instead of just beingpressed in a small spot. So in general, this could help the reef restore a bit faster considering that it wasmon for smaller beings to feast on the reef''s properties be it good or bad - therefore slowly creating an ecosystem from scratch. Chapter 135: Task 11 Chapter 135: Task 11 It was difficult to wake up, especially since yesterday''s travel waspletely tiresome and almost soul consuming. But thankfully there was no shrimp trying to murder the little man on his sleep. They would probably have arge struggle if such an attempt was made because now it was twice as difficult to damage him. With a peek upon the surroundings once slipping out of the coral crack, he noticed that the entiremunity was lively and working - equal inparison to when he first saw them in their tunnel encrusted home. It was difficult to make up which route they were following, as there was no exact destination. Everyone was walking around everywhere like panicked sheep, but the difference here was that these shrimp were far more organized although the eye did not say so. Tim did not notice it, but an elder shrimp was sitting behind him and most likely had awaited for the little king to wake up. The red coral was rather wide, about 7 feet across so it could fit quite a few shrimp inside or above it. The same elder spoke, "Looks good doesn''t it?" The sea pancake leaped away from his spot, most definitely frightened and felt as if the water was scared of his fins. The amount of power he gave in just to leap upwards was mild, but yet double as effectivepared to what he was used of in life-and-death battles. He noticed this major difference but didn''t want to talk out loud about it and instead faced the elder, "The hell did you yell like that for?" "I didn''t yell, you''re just still drowsy." The elder excused himself and continued the topic he wanted to talk about. "Everyone''s working like they''re supposed to. Great view, right?" "I guess." The little man answered, trying to pretend like his clear vision didn''t stop beyond 20 meters. "My presidency is great, thismunity has gathered 500 kilos of food already." The elder puffed his chest in pride and here it became transparent what this talk was about. A pile of food like that seemed tremendouslyrge, the king was admittedly impressed but right now he portrayed weak memory. "Oh right, you''re the president." And then shifted to another topic, "I need to go check on the lobsters and see how they settled in. After that I will be handling other business, having to do with bringing more fish to this reef." To such a n, the elder couldn''t say much as such actions only led to him benefiting personally. "Interesting." After stretching his fins with a little circling swim, heid out. "Yes so I need to ask you. Under the king, who is the strongest in position through thismunity?" "That would be the grand president." The elder immediately answered, loving where this was going. With a bit more pride, he spoke slower so the king could hear out properly. "And then I''m the third most important, when ites to giving outmands." "You cheated me there didn''t you? A president doesn''t seem to be too smallpared to what you told me about it yesterday." It was easier to figure this out now, he was well rested and the IQ had met a proper upgrade yesterday. "With all due respect your highness, it was yourck of knowledge that led to such a decision." The elder specified and wanted to escape a scolding by adding, "But I see where you''re going with this and there is nothing to worry about, we can handle everything while you''re not here." Timothy expected a big debate here but the elder had pretty much done the opposite. But things going this smooth was never a good sign, so he had to remind. "I will be gone for a while. So remember, you can''t start a war with anyone in this reef and you can''t use the reef''s inhabitants for food." "Yes yes, we are well aware of your bizarremands." The shrimp answered as he urged to end this conversation quicker to enjoy his own position that would be even more respected now, with the king being away. "I''ll let the grand president know of your absence, so we can decide which tasks could use more attention while you''re away." It was certain that these shrimp don''t love him and he doesn''t love these shrimp either, but the position of the king can not be forfeited for the sake of saving this reef. The moment he would surrender the position, a war against the western rock lobsters would break which would only reduce the poption here. So with everything settled here, he swam up and began swimming towards the west for the sake of checking out how they were faring. The new and permanent inbuilt map he had bought from earlier, had apass on one edge of the screen which was a great aid for someone who didn''t pay attention of their surroundings, before sleeping. It was only after he had left thismunity, when the system announced. [You are ready to follow andplete tasks that give 2 system point bonuses uponpletion.] [Task 11 = Find and kill an European Squid] "Squid? Aren''t those things as big as a bus?" The little hero''s preview on squid was urate but he was only thinking of the biggest species. [This one is small enough to only give you a couple of system points. So it will be easy to kill, especially for you.] This made him happy, but the main problem shone now as he realised. "I never saw a squid in this new life, where the hell am I supposed to find them?" [That''s up to you] Within a few minutes he had pondered over possibilities of just where he could find a squid of any sort, if not the exact same one that the task demanded. He couldn''t help but remember that squids could be associated with someone he already knew. That was difficult to patch together until a thought pped the pea-sized noggin, "The great-white shark, of course! I need to visit the hidden tribe after checking the second settlement!" Chapter 136: Temperature Chapter 136: Temperature The travel towards the west of the reef wasn''t exactly problematic. Now with apass on his vision, everything became a bit easier to follow along - mainly because he didn''t have to worry about following a straight path. The texture across this west side doesn''t seem to be too eye catching. In his little brain, the area here has been brushed off as normal, a typical reef. The main 3 colours he kept seeing were blue, green and yellow. Patches of such colours often spread wide but they were often all mixed together as well. They are truly beautiful but not so specialpared to the north where the entire portion was coated in yellow. Considering that the distance stretched 2 kilometers away, it wouldn''t take much time before young Tim arrived at his destination. But now, the system came knocking with a question. [You haven''t yet explored the 3 new avable purchase options, would you like to have a look?] Considering how starved for upgrades he became because ofgging behind in tasks, the answer was an immediate, "Yes!" [Loading options...] [Option number 1 = Upgrade speed to level 3] [Price = 120 system points] Speed, this is the thing that he probablycked the most. The very speed itself helped this young one to perform tremendously in battle against opponents that were at least a few times stronger than him. A brief idea of how fast he would be after this upgrade was impossible to imagine since it was never upgraded before, but the hype about it only arose. Considering the sess, the price for this upgrade seemed too cheap. And the sea pancake even unleashed a high pitched screech, that made it tricky to determine his gender. But the system continued exining the rest of the deal as usual, [Option number 2 = Increase temperature toleration by 10 points] [Price = 25 system points] This might be the cheapest upgrade he had ever heard of. Well the first upgrades were even cheaper but considering that he has bought several so far now, the prices should get higher - yet here it showed the total opposite. Tim''s only guess was that such an upgrade was socking in his body that the price had dropped down to the bottom of the well. That aside, this upgrade seems pretty fresh and at the same time confusing. Sure temperature durability seemed interesting, but a raging question popped on his head. "What will I need this for?" The system refused to answer and just continued, [Option number 3 = Increase EQ by 10 points] [Price = 200 system points] "I definitely can''t afford that." The sea disk pointed out the obvious and then asked, "Why the hell does intelligence cost so much points?" [Because it''s intelligence] This kind of answer felt a little bit sarcastic but that short sentence was totally understandable, intelligence shouldn''t be cheap, those two thoughts don''t go well together. It didn''t take much thought to decide what to upgrade. Surely it felt like a kick on the belly to lose all points but he couldn''t stay weak forever. But even though his IQ was upgraded earlier on, he couldn''t remember enough. So he instantly asked with no shame, "Can I buy the speed and temperature upgrade thingy?" Both of them seem cheap, and the system assured it. [Your system points are sufficient to buy those upgrades] "Lay it on me baby!" Timothy requested with a tone high pitched thanks to excitement. [Confirmed] [Implementing purchases...] That''s when the young man felt a quick sharp pain on his fins, specifically the side that faced towards the sand. This pain went away fast and was reced by a sore and restraining feeling located on the middle of the fins. It was so strong that he couldn''t move them anymore and thereforefortablynded on the sand. [Speed has been upgraded to level 3] [Temperature toleration has been increased by 10 points] [Total temperature toleration = 10 points] [145 system points consumed] [48 system points remaining] This definitely meant that he had no tolerance before towards such an aspect of nature, but what confused him more was this type of upgrade bringing no pain. Sure the fin pain was directly rted to speed, but there was no other pain. The soreness had let him go by now and it became easier to move the fins. Now it was time to put them to the test! He charged forward towards the west and put in all effort to reach the very pique of speed that those little fins could provide. It took little observation to figure out that he was travelling at almost twice the speed, but it surely felt elerating. The best guess was that he could swim at about 5 mph now when at full speed. Little Timmy was happy about it, but a question still steered in his mind. "What is this temperature thing for?" [The durability towards water temperaturepliments water pressure endurance.] [The lower you sink underwater, the colder it bes. Low temperatures won''t necessarily cause you health loss but your blood will slow down and you''ll slowly freeze to death. That is, if you don''t have the temperature upgrades.] "So basically without this, I can die?" He understood the system just a hunch better now but reassurance surely felt nice. [Yes] ... Travelling towards the west became a lot easier now, it only took him an hour to reach the destination. And spotting arge patch of lobsters wasn''t exactly difficult, as they covered and mass of over 200 meters - considering that they were spread on little caves and tunnels that were imprinted in the coral. Although brown in colour, thismunity was like a bee''s nest. Once one of them saw Timothy approaching, half of themunity became aware before he even reached themunity, still hovering 20 meters away. An old lobster approached him right away and gave out what felt like a genuine wee, "Your majesty, we are happy to be blessed with your presence." This felt a bit odd, especially since the elders from the white-legged shrimpmunity had hated him to the core. These lobsters let out a far more weing aura, but this seems overdone. And managed to arouse suspicion too, so his young majesty immediately asked. "Is there something wrong?" Chapter 137: Food situation Chapter 137: Food situation With one nce at the elder''s hesitant face, it was easy to determine that something was wrong. But thankfully this old lobster wasn''t too shy to talk, "Yes, something is very wrong." Now he realised that the system given task might take longer than expected, and therefore a dissatisfied sigh was unleashed. Afterwards, he had to request. "Tell me, what do I need to fix?" Still a bit hesitant, the geezer let silence stretch for a while before answering. "This ce is new for us and we don''t really know where to find food." "You''re like a whole army!" Timothy pointed out the obvious and began feeling that governing thismunity was a bad idea. Well a couple thousand lobsters is way better than gathering up other marine life one-by-one. So he decided to ignore their ipetence and wanted to add something. But the elder lobster cut his word off before it elevated, "You told us not to hunt for anything in the reef." "But the rest of the ocean is right there." The hero pointed out the obvious with a nod. The bumpy line that separated the reef from a patch of lumpy sand, was just 30 meters away - it was visible even with his poor eye-sight. But this lobster didn''t want to give up here, so he contradicted. "I''ve sent a few men to explore the area, all they managed to find were some marble shrimp. They can''t feed our entiremunity." Although it was tempting to go eat those little critters, it would have been a terrible idea because thismunity was already slowly starving. It became evident that matters had to be taken on his own hands, so the young one pitched. "I''ll explore the area for your men, but at least 30 of them have toe along with me. I don''t want to travel all day just to show your men where I found the food." "That''s fair." The elder answered and turned to his own kind, several shouts were heard after but to Timothy it felt like flesh yelling at flesh - considering that he couldn''t hear anything. The elder worked fast. Once his majesty agreed to fix the problem, he didn''t even wait but immediately sprung into action like an angry badger. A little whileter, his vision was blessed by 50 big lobsters whom each stretched at least half a meter. Obviously more than requested but such a quantity can put in a lot more work. If they found food, these 50 lobsters can work their asses off and tame the hunger situation a bit faster, even if they can''t feed the entiremunity with one delivery. Tim didn''t want to waste any time. After helping this tribe, he had to go back towards the hidden den which was a bit far away. There he has business with the great white shark, that young fellow perhaps knows where to find squids - so the system given task would be a step closer to being finished. So with a shout, he demanded. "Okay, follow me." The team dispatched from the tribe right after and had a bit of spring on their step, a bit ignorant on the fact that they would need to travel at least a kilometer. They have forgotten that this task might not be so easy. But thankfully the hype eventually died down so the young one could focus a bit more. His vision continued to be terrible since it hasn''t yet been upgraded but a blurry overview of his surroundings still managed to inform a bit of possibilities they could try. The inbuilt permanent map on his vision, also managed to help a little bit. Because it showed a clear-ish view of the sand around them, so a view from the top managed to be a bit more useful. This map helped locate about 3 holes on the sand, close to each other. Although he ignored the first ones because they seemed too small, thest one spread a meter across so it felt a bit logical to explore it. They had swam half a kilometer from themunity by now, but a question still had to be asked. "Have you been in this hole before?" Most of these lobsters did not understand his stingraynguage, but a couple of them were fluent. Therefore they answered, "No. I don''t think that anyone has gotten this far." "Well then that''s why ourmunity is starving. I don''t know how you survived before but food won''t jump in your mouth. You have to look for it." Typically, seeing someone dumber than him would have sparked in joy. But for the bar to go this low, where standards are barely visible? Timothy feared that he might need toe here a few times just to make sure thismunity doesn''t get wiped out, thanks to starvation. Knowing better than to go directly in a hole, and since the group wasn''t arguing back, he nodded at one of the biggest lobsters and said. "Go down that hole." This one didn''t understand hisnguage but another lobster was quick to trante. Most of the team did not understand why the king had made such an oddmand, but the biggest lobster was in no way hesitant. Therefore he stepped forward and poked his head down the hole before carefully following what seemed to be a tunnel inside. "Good, it''s safe." The little sea-pancake celebrated but that''s when a brief disturbance was felt in the waters. Something rushed out of the hole. Well, more like it spiked upwards in a pace so fast that most did not understand what was going on - it was like a blur whose origin was tremendously difficult to determine. It was difficult, before the fast moving animal had stopped. With one peek at it, Timothy managed to notice that this was a great barracuda, one of the most fearsome predators he had met. It was under a meter long, average at best but such size still couldn''t be underestimated. Especially since the very lobster whom had gone in the hole, was hanging on the long fish''s jaws ~ 10 meters above the sand. It became evident that a battle had to break out. But none of these lobsters could swim 10 meters high so this all became dependent on the young king. Chapter 138: Food situation (2) Chapter 138: Food situation (2) The lobster that was stuck on the enemy''s jaws was still putting up a fight, his multiple legs were working over time to pinch and lightly stab the barracuda''s chin and throat. But it wasn''t enough to even escape the bite, not to mention kill the meter long barracuda! Unwilling to wait and see what happened, especially since the bar of this battle has already been set high - both literally and figuratively. Timothy lunged towards battle and pped his jaws mid way as the spot where he would bite, had be clear. Such an enemy was truly fearsome but at the moment, its belly was exposed. So the little hero instantly used this opportunity to reach andnd a bite against the belly, his speed being upgraded earlier had helped to reach that point within a sh! The hero took a chunk off the barracuda''s belly, which didn''t stretch wide considering his small size. But the cut was deep enough to make the barracuda flinch and drop the struggling lobster that was struggling on its jaws. Unwilling to know what a bite from this bastard would be like, even now with tripled durabilitypared to the beginning - he sunk right down to the sand andpletely avoided the enemy while at the same time carrying a chunk of flesh in his mouth. Seeing that the group of 50 men was still somewhat scared, he yelled. "Don''t let this bastard get a hold of you! Do everything to avoid it and only bite when you find a good chance!" Most of them didn''t understand the boy but the trantors were quick to spread the message, that''s when the team began randomly running around. It seemed reckless at best but the barracuda was surely struck confused. It didn''t even realise that Timothy hadnded the vicious bite. As for the lobster whom had been stuck on the enemy''s jaws, he barely had any strength to move. Death might be close for this one so he just crawled in the same hole of where the enemy hade out of. The prime intent was to avoid getting bitten again, at least death should be a bit more peaceful. The enemy seemed to havepletely forgotten about the victim and instead charged towards the closest lobster that was running close by. These crawlers were fast but beating a great barracuda''s speed wasn''t something that just any species could achieve. So the lobster could only run so far before it felt the bite of the enemy on his tail, the shock of it managed to cause a shriek along with a desperate lunge forward. The barracuda began violently shaking its head left and right, while the results of such a move were drastic enough to ensure death. Simply because those big sharp had caused several deep and long cuts! The enemy then let go of the carcass and began targeting another lobster, it was clear that this freak hadn''t woken up from his nap with the crave of food but the urge of ughter instead. That''s when it felt a sharp pain right on the very lower back, close to its tail. The pain was strong enough to send chills through the enemy''s entire spine. The tough bone made it tad hard to crunch through it but level 3 jaws only struggle with a handful of animal bones in this area. Timmy had sessfully bitten through flesh, nerve and bone, right at a spot where it could be considered as a great barracuda''s weakness. It began shaking a portion of its body but the tail was almost impossible to move, which had rendered the enemypletely immobile, a cripple. The only danger it posed now, was being alive. If one got too close, those jaws wouldnd a deadly bite. But as far as everyone here was concerned, it can''t charge towards anything. Back pain that this enemy experienced, made it impossible to twist around and behind for too far, so this was a great opportunity tond more bites. At the same spot, the little hero bit through several times and finally managed to brute his way through the entire tail. It fell down on the sand while the barracuda''s long body was shaking left and right in panic. From all the deaths that were popr in the ocean, this was the least expected. But although the pain was massive, a few more bites around the neck along with venomous stings were necessary to permanently end the enemy''s life. [Great barracuda killed. 40 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 88] And so, as the crowd around them gave a slight cheer to celebrate the fate of this not-so-great barracuda, one of the lobsters who could speak hisnguage had approached. For the sole purpose of praising a bit more, "The kill younded was amazing! I didn''t know you could fight like that." Seeing that he was going too far, the same one humbled himself before adding. "Your highness... surely is skilled." This type of reaction made the young man happy, it was even better how they even excused the death of their friends at the moment. A couple of lobsters had died while on his lead, this should be enough to piss them off. Yet it didn''t, these lobsters were far different from the shrimp. "Thank you." Tim answered and his focus returned to the mission. He pointed towards another brown lobster who likely couldn''t trante anything, therefore beingbelled as a bit less important. Towards that man he let out a demand, "Go in that hole, it should be safer now." Although hesitant, thest thing this big lobster wanted to be called was a coward. So he slowly crawled towards the hole, went in and after a while slowly went out. A few sentences were exchanged in theirnguage, before the trantor pointed out. "He said that there is a long tunnel down there." This was a good sign because the longer a tunnel was, the more chances there stood for life to be down there. So hemanded, "Then we have a lot to explore, we''re all going in." He wanted to get this little mission over with as soon as possible, squids had to be found and this area doesn''t seem to contain them. Chapter 139: Food situation, light Chapter 139: Food situation, light The entrance of the tunnel had been a bit exaggerated. He was only a second there and imed that there was a big tunnel down here, but the swim through it would take a casual few seconds. Tim was leading the team of course, now that there weren''t any dangerous predators to pounce on him, swimming in the front felt much easier. After crossing the short-ish tunnel, the path led them downwards. A drop of which was difficult to cross through, unless one swam. The lobsters struggled more considering their size, only their many legs managed to slow down and muffle the fall. Most of the tunnel had a coating of sand with asional dirt here and there that seemed to have been hardened over time ~ the overall texture was lumpierpared to the outside, the bumps were closer to each other. They continued to follow what the path offered but by now it was still too short, as the 50 lobsters haven''t even managed to crawl in now. Simply because the tunnel could only fit one at a time and each of these lobsters stretched around half a meter long, it was tricky to fit them all in the beginning. On the other side of the stick, Timothy was giving it his best to observe the surroundings for food or possible predators. The area continued to be darker so it was difficult to stalk around. By now the young man began to think that only the barracuda had inhabited this area, life usually stands near the entrance of tunnels, especially the smaller ones. "Maybe that longfish has killed everyone here?" The hero thought but still wanted to keep his hopes up. If no life lurked in these tunnels, the biggest risk would be a time waste. The path eventually took a sharp left turn and that''s when the first sign of life appeared! The group was greeted with a pack of marble shrimp, that counted up to 10 in number. Happy beyond exnation, the sea-pancake shouted. "Leggy crabs!" And then charged towards these beings, chomping through a couple of them became the inevitable. He felt like it was well deserved, there was a full-grown barracuda carcass outside that themunity could feed onter. Although the effects these species bring wasn''t drastic, memories from a couple of weeks ago had kicked in so it felt a bit nostalgic to bite these species in half with a single bite. Of course he didn''t eat all of them. Although the 8 remaining shrimp can''t feed themunity enough, it was still food. The system asked about announcing the effects but Timothy only asked about the statistics he cared about, and thedy obliged. [Eating 2 of these marble shrimp has granted you with a single point of health] [Total health = 74/110 bars] [Killing 2 of these marble shrimp has given you 2 system points] [Total system points = 90] "Good good good." He celebrated and only now realised that the rest of the team had heard the outburst of joy. Gazing at them, the little heromanded. "Let''s keep moving, we will kill the rest of these shrimpter." And so that samemand was shouted across the tunnel, except it was a differentnguage, one that the rest of this team could understand. Although it was fun for them to kill a species that has no chances of fighting back and dealing damage, it had to be left forter. It only took 10 more meters through the deafening darkness for Timothy''s sight to be blessed with another group of marble shrimp, except this one was double in size. They have found more of the same species, this was great but the amount now along with the barracuda outside, wasn''t even enough to feed half of the children in themunity. Hunger can force a few of these lobsters to drop down dead if more food wasn''t found. So they left these shrimp be and either swam or crawled above them. A drop of elevation was found after but it was easy to follow it. Because although it went down, it wasn''t exactly vertical and the sand underneath their legs made it easier to crawl down. As for Timothy, he could just easily swim down towards this drop. The drop stretched for 10 meters so that made it even easier to cross. But the first thing that greeted their limited vision was stronger darkness and what felt like tens of crawls from the left. Another thing that felt weird was how this portion of the tunnel didn''t seem to have an end or a sharp turn in either direction. Yet they still could hear crawls to their left, which made everything a bit more confusing. After a bit of observation, the sea-disk had put all 60 points of his IQ to work in order to figure out just what the hell was going on. After a few seconds, he yelled. "We''ve found a cavern!" His shout had managed to scare those who were the closest by, while whatever was crawling to their left, had panicked and now were pacing around harder. What felt like a p across their eyes was the sudden burst of colourless light in this cavern. Which failed to give a hint of how big this ce was or what the hell caused the light, because their eyes were squinting thanks to the devouring pain of sudden light! After taking a second to get used to it, it became transparent that there were 5 light sources here and they were all moving around like madmen, or women? It was difficult to determine their gender because of the light and the fact that they still weren''t sure what these bastards were. One of these colourless lights was charging forward, by now it was sure that this attacker was an animal. So Timothy didn''t want to hold back and wait for danger toe. His eyes had managed to work through the pain and get a better nce of the surroundings. The form of the charging species felt all too familiar, it was a shape he loathed! Chapter 140: Food situation, light (2) Chapter 140: Food situation, light (2) The hump on the enemy''s back represented a powerful and almost strained posture. But most importantly, it gave a hint of familiarity. Once one of these bastards got too close, its long and disordered horrific jaws helped remember even better. "An anglerfish!" Timothy yelled out for the others to be rmed, while for himself the young one had dashed to the right. Seeing that its target had beenpletely missed, the enraged anglerfish continued charging forward and bashed its ugly teeth right on one of the lobsters who was crawling in, yet to understand what was going on. A howl filled with pain and agony echoed from the same lobster, and the young hero wanted to help but figured that 48 marble shrimp are more than able to deal with a fish that was admittedly smaller than them. So he lured in focus towards the other bright colourless lights that were raging up and down the cavern. It didn''t take much effort to notice that another one of these fast-moving menaces was charging directly towards the little stingray. Still unwilling to know what it was like to be bitten by one of these hump-backs, the boy pped his fins harshly against the water that was floating underneath and managed to propel himself upwards with elegantly brutal speed. The hero''s body strength being upgraded earlier, proved quite useful for such a case. The anglerfish ended up following a straight path although the target had far been lost. Meanwhile Tim was putting in all of his speed to charge against another enemy, who was nkly pacing left and right at full speed. Just in time he had managed to reach the target andtch on right on the hump. It inevitably made the enemy holler in pain, but the pace didn''t slow down which led to the little sea pancake being dragged along with the momentum: stuck on the enemy''s hump. This was no new experience to the boy so he just put in a bit more effort to tighten those jaws and inflict a bite through and through. Which ended up being inevitably sessful! The sea-disk got detached from the enemy, even carrying a chunk of its flesh in his mouth. And after getting a grip of orientation, he red at the enemy whom had just received the wound and noticed how it had stopped swimming. Instead it was struggling to move, even if it was a foot from the starting point. As a pale attempt of fighting the pain enemy, this injured menace was violently shaking left and right which wasn''t so effective. On the contrary it managed to push more blood out of its system, coating the surrounding area with it. This one''s fate is certain, but one particr fact was that its lightbulb was still working. And twisting left and right was an eyesore, but also provided light to a bigger area than usual. As a final result, the young hero managed to figure out what was causing those crawling noises in the very beginning. Timmy was far away from the former spot, where he had heard these same noises for the first time, but the point was still valid. Underneath the dying fish were arge group of marble shrimp, it only required a brief inspection to figure out the species. Typically these marine critters aren''t so fulfilling as a meal, but there has to be around 5,000 of the same species although the area they covered was barely 5 meters! If one wouldn''t see this with their own eyes, it would seem unrealistic. Because so many shrimp fitting in under such a small area of space, it just didn''t sound right! But one has to remember that each of these species were around 4 centimeters long. So what is logically seen as impossible was all the more possible. "I don''t think anyone will be hungry for a while." Timothy thought out and realised that there might be more than one group of these shrimp, especially since there was a hole right next to the pack which might lead to another section of the tavern. But now was not the time to properly think about this. He gave a peek at the other side of the battle and noticed that the couple of anglerfish whom had tried to attack him before, weren''t shining their lights brightly anymore. It could only mean that the lobsters had managed to win the battle, it would be embarrassing if they didn''t, considering that they were bigger in size and had superior numbers. As he was about to turn around and face the couple of remaining hump-back anglerfish, a sharp pain managed to make itself evident right on the left fin. [Health, -5 bars] [Total health = 69/110] "That''s a lousy bite." He celebrated, beingpletely aware of whom had inflicted the damage. But the enemy wasn''t letting him go. It''s jaws had managed to break the surface of the skin but this made the young hero think that those teeth were just for show. These vile teeth didn''t even manage to bite through and through flesh. Instead out of anger, the enemy was shaking left and right which in exchange managed to cause a few extra cuts. [Health, -2 bars] [Total health = 67/110] Unwilling to wait and see that bar drop down any longer, even if it was a single point ~ so with a flinch, his barb perked upwards and to the left, managing to puncture half of the tail through the enemy. Finally, he unleashed all of the venom that this marvelous barb possessed. Unwilling to let this go with just one sting, the young one pulled his tail out and then bashed it in again although it didn''t contain any venom this time. This attack was repeated a few times before this foul beast finally decided to give in and released the hero''s fin. By now he had noticed a key fact. Although of the same species, these anglerfish were probably half the size of the mutated old hag who wanted their souls. It was difficult to miss this part, these enemies were just a foot long. [You''ve killed 2 hump-back anglerfish. 40 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 130] The system was always right when it came to this type of announcements, so it was only a good idea to focus on the only remaining enemy. Turning to the left, he noticed the only light in this cavern, getting closer in horrific speed that for once managed to cause a chill down his spine. Chapter 141: Food situation, light (end) Chapter 141: Food situation, light (end) It was evident that this particr enemy was faster, and a bit biggerpared to the other enemies whom had perished in this very cavern. So the young man didn''t have an option of escape this time, and was unfortunate enough to be run over by the charging enemy. The angler''s head bashed against his stomach which resulted to getting dragged away thanks to the momentum. Surprisingly even though the collision was rough, no damage was inflicted on his body - at least not anything the system had notified about. Thankfully he wasn''t stuck on the enemy and his t body managed to help him slide away from the danger zone. He toppled across the water a couple of times and took a few seconds to regain orientation. Although this battle proved tougher than the previous one, he was still clear minded enough to ask. "Howe that crash didn''t make me lose health, system?" [Your bodily durability has 20 points. In this environment there are only a few more species who could kill you with a bite. It''s different from the beginning when everything could kill you.] [Most species around here, can only scratch the surface of your skin now. The damage they can deal isn''t deadly] This managed to boost the young hero''s confidence by a blue whale''s size, even though before it was the weight of an Orca''s. So he cut the conversation and charged directly towards the only remaining enemy who was almost double his size. The humpback hasn''t yet turned around due to the momentum it had built up earlier, so this was the perfect time tounch a counter attack! Young Timothy charged straight towards the menacing anglerfish, and used his level 3 speed to its furthest extent just for the sake of using this opportunity to strike at a blind spot. Finally, he decided to sacrifice bnce and pushed the stinger as forward as possible. Such a move was a tad risky because he could lose enough bnce to do a little backflip, which would totally ruin the attack. By now sliding across the water while being upside down, he finally reached the enemy who just now had started turning around. This led to the stinger colliding against the lower waist of the enemy, which was a tad muscr but not imprable! Like a raging bumble bee, the hero had impaled his stinger through and through the enemy and felt the immense struggle that came from the damaged fish afterwards. The extra struggle it put up was directly rted to the pain but thankfully this species'' body is stiff enough to prevent the mouth from reaching too far back. Giving in a bit of effort, with a few strong ps against the water, the sea pancake managed to escape. Simply because pulling out his barb from any piece of flesh was easier now, thanks to the find working harder now due to the upgraded body strength. He made a good distance away from the enemy and noticed how it was struggling to swim away. Instead it just continued to shake left and right, which seemed more like a shiver. This upper hand in battle gave the hero a bit of time to observe more of the surroundings. Which in exchange gave a sight of another group that solely contained marble shrimp. This pack was about 10 meters across, and they were all crawling and moving around, close to each other. Such a size doesn''t seem much but in numbers, it should equal to about 10,000 marble shrimp crawling around all in one ce. This continued to seem heavily unrealistic, it was hard to believe that this cavern could contain so much life, but the stronger truth was that there were more groups to discover. His gaze focused on the enemy once more and he witnessed thest fight it put up. That''s when the system notified, [Hump-back anglerfish killed. 20 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 150] The battle was over, there wasn''t any enemy that would put up a fight. And that''s when one of the western rock lobster appeared, announcing. "Your majesty. We have killed the enemies that tried to attack you." Sadness managed to make the enemy''s tone crack, but another portion had to be added. "We''ve also lost 3 more men, those anglerfish have a nasty bite." That''s when the hero''s confidence jumped over the moon and pooped in ake up there. These lobsters are bigger than him yet bites from those bastards had managed to kill a handful of these subjects. The system was definitely not exaggerating when she exined the boy''s bodily durability. Trying to lift up the overall mood, he had to exin. "Well their sacrifice has helped a lot. This cavern has thousands of marble shrimp!" The lobster''s eyes widened up a bit, although it wasn''t noticeable in this darkness. But by tone it was easy to notice the surprise this subject experienced, "Thousands? That can feed ourmunity for a month!" "Damn only a month?" Timothy asked, heavily unsatisfied although he had to admit that the work required for such a gain wasn''t drastic. The only problem was that he might need toe here again in order to keep thismunity alive, and he didn''t want to do that. "What fish can we hunt for ourmunity to be fed for a year?" "Probably a few sharks." The buff lobster answered but then assured, "We don''t need to do that though. Our men have gained experience in this hunt and I think we can handle another big hunting session like this one." Wanting to convince his beloved highness that his people were capable, the brown one had to add another piece of thought. "The elder you spoke with had sent 100 other men outside of the reef to hunt, we will have a lot of food soon. It''s just that the beginning is rough." Timothy had to admit that these lobsters were quite grateful and heavily self dependent. When something went wrong, they med their selves and seek a solution. While the white-legged shrimp he also had under governing, me the young man for everything that goes wrong. Feeling a hint of gratitude towards them, the boy spoke out a n. "Have the men kill and grab as many of these shrimps as they can carry and send them back home. They are to bring 300 more men here who can walk a long distance and carry a lot of shrimp, this cavern needs a lot of work." The esteemed highness didn''t want to stay idle either, so he pitched. "I will go down that hole over there, alone. If there is food down there then the wholemunity will eat well for a while." Seeing just how much damage those anglerfish had caused, the brown one offered. "Let mee with you." Noticing what it is about, the brave sea pancake added. "No no, I can kill anything that threatens me, but the rest of you can''t. We lost enough men today so leave this to me." Although the lobster felt uneasy about it, nothing in their blood would prefer going against the king''s words. So he answered, "As you wish, I''ll order the men right now." Chapter 142: Ket Chapter 142: Ket As nned, he headed for the hole he had spotted in the midst of battle earlier. The overallyout of this cavern was still a mystery. A grand hint was that this ce is wide but that''s all it could be understood. Considering this ce''s darkness, the one thing he wanted to upgrade right now was vision but that goal was a far fetch. ording to the system, it was in the bottom of the list as primary upgrades before the same list would be taken back from the top. Although he missed the hole and bumped on the side, which managed to release a couple of curses... he managed to go down and tried with his utmost ability to look through the darkness a bit better in order to figure out if life was down here. The area here was anticlimactic. A separate hole in a cavern should mean that a bigger species was living in it. But here it was difficult to follow the tunnel, nheless find life. One thing that stood evident was the tunnel''s length. It stretched over 15 meters long so far and an end was yet to be found. But what beganing in as a shock, is a simple name called illumination. The hero had tried to get used to the darkness here for the sake of seeing better, but that effort was slowly proving worthless. Because the deeper he went towards the tunnel, the brighter it became. For a second he felt crazy but a bright light could have quickly shed on the other side of the tunnel. This caught all of his attention and he expected an anglerfish to charge forward. Feeling confident about withstanding the attack, he shouted. "Face me, toothy bastards!" Such a shout had managed to work over-time, because he didn''t see a single light this time but a handful of them instead. His heart sunk down the boy''s stomach thanks to that sight because facing another pack of fast moving anglerfish would be troublesome. Especially since he was alone. But nothing had faced him yet. And when recalling those handful of lights that were close to each other, the image they portrayed was that of startled fish. So of course, from that he managed to reap confidence which at the end led to another shout. "I''ming for you!" After that point the little hero charged straight forward and followed the tunnel at full speed, although the overall illumination was still dim. Throughout travelling another 20 meters in, he noticed that the overall tunnel was filled with a lot more light. Not good enough to aid the vision work to its full capacities but enough to see what was underneath him and on the sides too. Such a strong ray of light managed to damage his confidence, therefore the sea pancake stopped the heavenly pace and asked. "System, is it a good idea to fight all those anglerfish?" [Typically I''d say that it would be a horrible idea. But it doesn''t look like these marine animals are anglerfish, they aren''t the only species that can illuminate under water.] "Then I should be careful." The hero decided, he surely wasn''t going to back away. Especially with a sense of discovery glowing stronger than the potential threat. Fate demanded it for this tunnel to be explored so he continued following the path, only to notice that the tunnel was only attaining more and more light. Finally he found an end of this very tunnel that was mostly covered with hardened dirt, and what stood in front of the young boy was fascinating to the point of scepticism. There was a massive source of life swimming back and forth. It was hard to make up an urate measure but this light stretched at least 5 meters wide! The most impacting fact was that this source of life wasn''t attached anywhere, be it on this new-found cavern''s walls, ground or ceiling. It felt like an entity that was floating and shining in the middle of the smaller cavern who eventually moved in any direction. Thanks to this massive colourless light, it was difficult to see as the effects weren''t so easy on the eyes. He was given enough time to work against the light and attain a better view of just what the hell was going on here! Whatever this thing was, it hasn''t attacked yet so that was a great advantage. Out of a sudden, a tiny portion of the same light had separated from the big one and was approaching Timmy. Surprisingly the same piece of light could talk, which led to a shock bigger than the actual problem. The dot of light asked, "Why are you in our home?" Swiftly, the hero feared that if he answered that question truthfully, the massive light on the other side of the stick woulde for his ass. So instead he answered with a question, "What are you?" "I''m Ket." The dot of light answered somewhat peacefully, feminine by tone. "Me and my friends over there are shlight fish." This species'' name felt like a joke and although the little sea-disk wanted to behave, the only sentence he could chirp was. "What the fuck?" Hearing such a reply, the same light rushed into a backflip and ran her tail across the t sea-disk''s face. It felt like a tail and now he realised that the light''s size was a bit under estimated. After regaining senses, the hero pointed the obvious with a shout that resembled shock. "Did you just p me?" "Behave." The fish demanded and that''s when the hero realised that the huge patch of light behind thedy was glowing a bit harder now. Feeling quite intimidated, the blue-dotted menace actually agreed to behave and answered a former question. "I''m here just to explore, also thought that rotten anglerfish are here." "I''m guessing that you''re their friend, they''ve let you pass." Ket asked for the sake of reaping out information. But the next sentence had forced the entire crowd behind thedy, into a strong gasp. "No, I killed those hump-back bastards!" Chapter 143: Ket (2) Chapter 143: Ket (2) "What?" Timothy asked, feeling that the brag he unleashed a bit earlier was the worst decision of his life. After allowing for silence to stretch for an ufortable amount of time, the samedy who had approached, now exined. "Those anglerfish have kept us imprisoned for years now, none of us could harm them." Thinking thatst sentence over, she also added. "Trust me, we tried." By now he was here enough to adapt against the light that damaged his vision. In exchange he got the ability to observe these fish rather than just noticing their light that was apparently imprinted on their faces. This species carried various colours that mostly stretched in the light shade, and by shape they seemed short and bulky. The most important thing he noticed was just how small these species are. Most stretched just a centimeter or two, longer than him. Hence he understood why this tribe that included seemingly hundreds of fish, were unable to fight a few humpback anglers. Still, being rude was thest thing he wanted to do but these species still could be reaped out of a few benefits. But first and most importantly, he wanted information. It mighte out as odd considering who he was as an individual, but the young one wanted to test out just how much he could memorize now, even if the requested information was totally irrelevant. "How did you get up here? I never saw shlight fish before so my guess is that you need to be down there in the ck mist." This might be the most insightful question he had ever asked but yet it didn''t y heavy value. "We came here for peace." Ket answered with a firm tone, without knowing fear because the sentence she uttered was nothing but truth. He understood that the deep mist carries many dangers but fish who are born there, should be mostly used to the environment enough to survive. That fact poked another question he had to recite, "Isn''t there peace down there?" Hesitation was evident on her face, before thedy answered with a stretched out first word. "The dark mist is never peaceful but about 10 years ago it became unlivable down there. Crazed fish were kidnapping children and well..." This pattern felt far too familiar, so the hero skipped that answer and reced it with another. "Holy-tar worshippers?" Upon answering with such a short sentence, thedy held a face simr to that of being pped across the face with a hammer. For a second she thought that this t boy was a mind reader, but that was too unrealistic. Instead, she asked the obvious portions. "You know about them? How? No offense but you don''t seem like a fish who can go deep enough in the mist." "I''m not." Tim answered shortly and then felt it appropriate to describe since they were discussing a mutual topic, "They''re up here as well. So far I discovered 2 of their tribes and killed all of their members of course." "I don''t know how many you killed but the dark mist has thousands of worshippers. At least it did 10 years ago. They spread up here too so my guess is that they have be even more dangerous now." This information came in as quite a shock, difficult toprehend. "This is bing a big problem." He answered and felt it as the right thing to say. As just thinking about so many enemies managed to cause a massive sense of difort in his heart. Still there was nothing he could do about it now apart from ughtering any worshipper that lurked around up here. So he decided to end the topic, "Okay thank you for telling me all of this. You can go out of this ce if you want to, no anglerfish will be on your way." Ket had a great impression towards the young hero so she revealed a bit of her past, "Thank you but we will stay here. Those hump-backs have tricked us and used us just for food but without them around, these caverns will be a lot more peaceful." "Okay but know that you will have to rely on the outside world for food. There are thousands of marble shrimp here and my men wille and kill them all for food." This portion was a bit awkward to exin especially considering Ket''sst sentence but it had to be said. Wanting to appear more of a hero, he assured. "I will tell my men to stay away from your people and they won''te down here again after we kill all the shrimp." Considering the circumstances, the deal was made right away as the young hero had literally just saved them from very. He slowly swam out of the hole and then met with a group of western rock lobsters, who apparently had crawled all the way here as fast as possible once they were told about the plentiful food resource here. The conversation with them was short, mainly because it was hard to maintain a conversation with individuals who kept thanking him. After assuring them which rules to follow, Tim scraped the area for a few marble shrimp. He was already sleepy so the result just managed to bring down the sleep bar to the bottom. Knowing better than to sleep where thousands of shrimp could crawl in and put him out of his misery, the young one decided to head for the reef. The elder had to be met and the conversation with that one was idle and short. The hero, simply assured that they will have food for a whole and exined how he has other stuff to do right now. But if any topic required the king''s attention, specifically the critically dangerous ones, a lobster was to be sent towards the very ce where the battle against the white-legged shrimp had been halted before. There, the hero''s name should be mentioned enough until someone familiar with the said name, pops up. With all these responsibilities put aside, the young one found a nice private coral crack to sleep on and swiftly fell asleep with one thought in mind. "I must destroy the holy-tar cult." Chapter 144: Slap of life Chapter 144: p of life It felt nice to wake up fully rested and without thousands of animals tomand, this was a good break for the little man and he noticed that the slumber he had submerged too was long enough to allow the entire night pass by. It was now the break of dawn, and the first thing he wanted to know more about could be seen as crucial considering day to day life in this environment. "How''s my health? I forgot." By that sentence alone it was evident that his memorisation capabilities were yet to be honed. But no one could be a super genius overnight after all. Not through a leveling system at least. [You''ve eaten 8 marble shrimpst night so your total health is 71/110] [Also, you''ve received 8 additional points yesterday thanks to the same shrimp you have killed.] [Total system points = 158] "This is good, but not good enough. You said that there are only a few more fish who can kill me around here. I can''t risk having low health, it has been a big pain in the ass for a long while anyway." It was fair to say that paranoia had taken a root in his heart. Which was weird as a whole because he wasn''t paranoid before when almost anything could have killed him. Right before the system was about to say anything, a familiar figure managed to capture the corner of his eye after he had left the crack in the coral. The figure was long and although far from his vision, it portrayed a hint of blue. Which made him ask, "Barracudas give health, right?" [Correct] He didn''t need a second reference after that portion and used the opportunity to directly charge against the pole-like creature. It was fairly swimming peacefully, high above the coral even but that didn''t matter. It only was a matter of seconds to reach the enemy, being able to swim 5 mph now was helpful for such an aim. What he did not expect was for the barracuda to actually fight back! It noticed the water piercing speed that was enving the waters. And the first thing it did was charge straight forward to avoid the attack, following the original route it had already followed prior to the attack. In a handful of seconds it managed to turn around and charge towards the same little boy who tried tond a bite. Tim was yet to turn around so an open blind spot was provided, that of which the enemy didn''t fail to use. The hero felt a sharp pain on his right fin and the system instantly rmed, [Health, -10 bars] [Total health = 61/110] The barracuda''s face when it noticed that it was impossible to bite entirely through the skin, was priceless. It''s eyes widened in shock and it felt that the razor sharp teeth it was packing, was utterly useless even against a species that was mostly such an easy kill. On the other side of the stick, the little t-fish thought. "Only 10 points?" And began bashing the marvelous barb to the right, managing to push the very tip against the enemy''s chin. The enemy was afterwards blessed with an additional burning sensation on the same spot, thanks to the entire quantity of venom that had been stored on the hero''s stinger. The sudden shock of pain had managed to force the enemy to open those former dangerous jaws. Which inevitably allowed the stingray to escape, that''s where disaster erupted for one side of the stick. Ignoring the bit of pain that was enveloped on his fin, the hero charged towards the enemy once more and inflicted a bite right on the enemy''s bottom tail. Such a wound elerated only for the worse when a crack came out of that same bite. Such pain forced the barracuda to twist its upper body, backwards as much as possible. Feeling that a bite wasn''t enough, he spat out the chunk of flesh and bone. Afterwards clung on the enemy with another half-bite, moving the tail as if a propeller in all directions ~ stabbing the barracuda at a count of 5 times before separating from the battlefield. With a few ps against the water, he witnessed the enemy trying to beat the wounds away and continue the battle. But much like the recent fish the hero had killed, this one shivered violently left and right, almost unable to swim away. "Weak spots work like a charm." He celebrated, but then noticed that the enemy just didn''t want to give up. Using its front fins, or more properly named pectoral and pelvic fins, the barracuda continued to swim forward but at a much more inferior speed - far from being good enough for battle. This resulted to Timmy swimming backwards as he observed the enemy, uttering. "Sad. You seem like the kind of fish I wouldn''t kill, just because you''re stupidly brave." And he felt a bit of guilt too, over attacking this one. But barracudas never really proved good will so far, in the long run it wasn''t a bad idea to try and kill this one. After 15 seconds of forced and imbnced swimming, the enemy''s belly turned towards the water''s surface and so the hero heard. [Great barracuda killed. 40 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 198] "I''m bing rich again!" He celebrated while gazing upon the dead marine animal. But also wanted to assure that this was a kill worth while, "Just how much health will this one give me?" [Eating a full grown barracuda only has great positive effects on your overall state of being.] [But as for health, this one should give you 30 points if fully consumed] Looking at the carcass, he began recounting goals before taking the first bite. "I will need a lot of health. You can read my mind system, you know what the deal is. There might be more holy-tar tribes up here and I must kill them all. Those toothy ass-faces will only bring chaos to the reefmunity I''m risking my life to build for the sake of helping. They can''t mock my effort like this." "Most importantly, no one else is strong and smart enough to kill these crazy bastards." He was exaggerating a bit of that sentence, clearly narcissistic but a point had been made. "Their death will lie on my hands... well, fins." Finally, he was self aware enough to add. "This isn''t about surviving anymore, this new life is bing moreplicated." Chapter 145: Dance Chapter 145: Dance Consuming a meter long barracuda wasn''t easy for someone so small, even though he has a system that can provide perks. He barely ate 1/4 of the carcass before the system announced to stop for the sake of what''s good and right. But consuming such a portion only managed to give him 6 points of health, which wasn''t nearly enough. The fight with the barracuda had taken more than that so it felt like a stab on his ego to stop eating now. By luck, that''s when the young hero''s stomach acted up and as a result he took a massive shit. This piece of poop felt so hard that it made him think for the worse, column cancer. But thankfully that wasn''t the case, he had just eaten too much flesh and bone so far. Apart from feeling like virginity had been lost because of this dunk, it made more room for more food to be consumed. Specifically, half of the belly has been cleared out. So he used this opportunity to eat more and in exchange get more health. But that could only help so much, because his stomach wasn''t so big after all. This time the stingray got 4 more points of health. Even though barracudas are bony creatures, they only bring positive effects such as higher stamina and sleep. This gave Tim an idea. Suddenly the sea-pancake began swimming in circles, but to avoid getting dizzy he took a longer route rather than circling in a small single spot. Going at full speed and pausing when stamina couldn''t handle it anymore, an hour went by like that. In the end, it became inevitable for the system to announce. [Please stop swimming, your hunger bar is down to 0] This method of stomach cleaning almost felt self destructive, but the goals he had made are suicidal so this only felt bite sized. Within a sh, the blue-dotted menace charged towards the carcass and began eating again. After filling up once more, the system rified that just 12 more points of health had been given. This was good but not satisfactory enough, especially since the head of the carcass wasn''t yet consumed. Using the same trick, he began swimming in a long circle at full speed until the hunger bar went back to 0. As a final result after full consumption of the ughtered barracuda, the system notified. [You''ve reaped all 30 points of health that the carcass could provide.] [Total health = 91/110 bars] "I feel like a new man." The young hero expressed but this might not be anything that the system hasn''t heard before through a past guest. "All my painful and itchy wounds are gone. My entire body feels flexible and I feel triple as powerful now!" Although it was yelled out simr to how a raging baboon would behave, it wasn''t in no way exaggerated. Since his health bar''s limit was at 110 points now, every effect that increases health felt almost double as effectual. Simply because of the fact that it would be 10 points more difficult to kill him now. It wasn''t anything too drastic but sure as hell satisfactory. Since there was apass on one edge of his vision, he knew precisely which way to follow, directly south. ... The travel towards the south took about 3 hours, mostly because he had swam slower than usual for the sake of picking up hints that pointed towards holy-tar tribes. Unfortunately, he hasn''t found anything regardless of the extra effort. It felt like a p against the booty by an urchin, but thankfully nothing like that had happened physically. Taking the loss, the blue-dotted troublemaker headed towards where the hidden den was. It took a bit of effort to locate it again, especially since he wasn''t here for a few days. But when he noticed a dungeness crab standing firm near a little hole, it became transparent that he had found the little den. Greeting the nice guard although neither of them could understand each other, the hero followed down the long tunnel to meet everyone there. They were all tremendously happy to see the man return and the first thing one of the diamond stingrays had asked was. "You were the one who brought thousands of shrimp near the reef, right?" "Of course it was me. Who else could be smart enough to do it?" It was an obvious self praise but most who spent time with the boy, were used to such an attitude. "I knew it!" The diamond stingray shouted towards their one and only female boss, and added. "Now you will do the thing!" The leader was most definitely hesitant but the only other diamond stingray by her side, encouraged. "We had a deal." Giving a long and strong sigh, she moved away from the crowd and started behaving weirdly. Well more like she had started a dance, which was difficult to do but yet was satisfying. Her t body was pushing up and down, behaving like a wave or a beached fish - but this dance was far more controlled. Seeing the strict and deadlydy seemingly doing something stupid, the hero was dumb struck but at the same time couldn''t hold in hisughter, afterwards stating. "Seems like you all have been busy." But regardless of that expression, the leader continued dancing and after getting over the first few seconds of embarrassment, she seemed to enjoy the dance bit by bit more. As for the food stash on the other side of the den seemed interesting but the reason he came here for, still stuck in his mind. Therefore a question erupted, "Where is the big shark? I need to ask him something." "Right here." A surprisingly thick tone echoed from the other side of the den. Turning around, the hero saw the very fish he was looking for, swimming in the den with a 2 meter long tunafish between his jaws. This shark was still huge but hasn''t really grown much from thest time they have met. The great-white shark got closer and then dropped the kill on the food pile, stating. "What do you need?" Chapter 146: Exploring the dark mist Chapter 146: Exploring the dark mist "I don''t want to bring this up but you told us that a squid has killed your mother." Timothy got straight to the point, he had already bought many upgrades but not even a single system given task had beenpleted. "A colossal one, yes." The shark assured and then got close enough to invade personal space, locking eye contact. "And you promised me that one day we will kill that squid." "Today isn''t the day, we''re still too weak." He assured and by now figured out that such a promise had beenpletely forgotten. It felt tremendously stupid to make such a promise because a colossal squid isn''t an easy kill even if all his primary levels were above 10. But this kind of situation could still be used for benefits, so he worked up an excuse. "I want to kill smaller squids for now though, just for practice." It would be a tremendously stupid idea to exin that the system demanded such a task, that was a secret that no one should know about. So this situation could be easily used to form a few lies. Although he was a fish, therge shark knew where this conversation was going and cited. "There are squids near the border but you need to go down the mist for a little while. I don''t know how much of that you can handle." The attitude of this great-white shark has met a drastic change. From what Tim could remember, in the beginning he was filled with rageful energy and bumped around. But now the only thing that this boy rocked was depression, a cold dead look in his eyes equal to that of a ruthless killer. The underwater life could do that, but the hero just ignored it. And wanted to speed things up a bit, "Where exactly in the mist? I can give it a shot." "After you leave this den, just follow a straight path and then go straight down to the mist." It was a simple guide and it seemed like the shark wanted to end this topic swiftly so such a wish was granted. The little stingray had greeted a few of the fish here and made it out of the reef, only by now he had noticed that Haze and the other siblings weren''t here. It felt a bit harsh to forget about his own blood but a thought was quick to follow, "Maybe they''re still busy gathering up fish on the west side." Leaving the thought as just that, the system given task grew as a main thought, therefore he continued following a straight path with the stubborn aim of finding the border that split light from darkness. ... Timmy hovered above the border for a good minute now and tried to use his limited vision to figure out if any squids could be spotted around here. It was a pale attempt because his vision wasn''t good enough to seek something far away in broad daylight, not to mention darkness. The reality stood all around hesitancy. It didn''t go so wellst time when he identally sunk deep in this dark mist, that day could be counted as one of the worst in the reef. Wanting to attain a bit more confidence, he asked. "System, how deep can I sink again?" [Right now, your body can withstand water pressures of up to 240 meters deep] Gazing at the water''s surface, it didn''t seem like it was 200 meters away but paranoia still struck strong. Worse case scenario, the water surface could be up to 100 meters away from the point where he was floating on. "Okay, I''ll go down there. But please yell as much as you can when the water damage thingy starts kicking in." The n was sealed after this point, the only other step would be to go down. Wanting to reap a bit more bravery, his eyes were shut to avoid looking at the darkness. By now it was also decided that the moment he can''t see anything but darkness, the best idea would be to reach back for the surface. Sinking about 30 meters deep, he noticed that a third of the overall illumination in the area had been cut. This wasn''t exactly traumatic but it felt pressuring how no squid had appeared yet. When reaching about 50 meters deeper, the first sign of life appeared here. But the scary part was that this life was carrying a dot of light, which gave a great hint of just what might be approaching. Getting ready for battle, he heard the same living being, uttering out a shout. "The holy-tar demands your soul!" This reference felt tremendously familiar but it can''t be that crazy old hag whom seemed to have an important position through the overall sect. It can''t be her, she was ripped in 3 pieces! Regardless of what identity this enemy carried, it didn''t stop the fact that it was attacking, once more shouting. "Give in to the tar!" "Both the tar and you can kiss my ass!" Timothy yelled out after noticing that along with the colourless light, this species had a pair of eyes that were glowing in green. This gave a hint that this enemy''s soul has long been surrendered to the tar, so this fact made the young boy prepare a bit better for battle, this fight will be intense. The enemy charged straight towards the hero. Once noticing that this male sounding menace was getting too close, he dashed towards the left which in exchange made the enemy bite water instead. Attaining a golden opportunity, he followed behind the enemy and got close enough to have a peek at its tail - finally being able to unleash a vicious bite too. It all happened in a second so how the very tail seemed, was a big blur. He felt utterly shocked onceing into realisation of just how soft that flesh was: biting through it was child''s y. The enemy began howling in pain and gave out a bit of a cry too. Able to catch up, he noticed that this big bad light carrying fish was actually not-so-big and had no attack power whatsoeverpared to others in the reef''s environment above their head. This was a shlight fish. The hero broke intoughter after figuring this out and assured, "With you as a sacrifice, I''m guessing that the holy-tar sect is making desperate choices. But don''t worry, I''ll put you out of your misery." Even though the young one gave a little speech, the enemy was crying out in the process and it was quite annoying. So the hero just went ahead and took a bite. Chapter 147: Exploring the dark mist (2) Chapter 147: Exploring the dark mist (2) [shlight fish killed. 5 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 203] [Eating a full grown shlight fish can have the following effects...] [Effect on health, non existent] [Effect on hunger, -5 bars] [Effect on sleep, -3 bars] [Effect on stamina, -3 bars] [System rmends you to avoid eating this fish as it''s contaminated with an unknown substance that signifies danger.] "The effects look pretty useless but how did I get 5 points? This fish is thin and small, just a bit longer than me." This situation was a bit difficult to understand, this was one of the easiest kills ever. [Typically these species are supposed to be deep down underwater. How and why they are here is difficult to understand, they are supposed to die up here where there is less water pressure.] [But as much as you are concerned, you got more points because typically these species are difficult to reach] This situation was only bing more and more confusing, but right now it was to be pushed back forter. This fish is dead and that''s all that mattered, now he just needs to kill a squid in order not to be stuck on a purchase lock. Sinking about 20 meters lower now, sticking close to the vertical border wall for the sake of not getting lost - vision was put into more work for the sake of figuring out where life could be found. This area contained far less life than expected, so at this pace he would be happy to see any creature. That''s when another simr, colourless light shone away from the wall and began dashing at full speed towards the hero. Normally he would be able to counter attack such a charge, but right now he couldn''t see anything but a small dot of light. Upon a swift decision, the magnificent t-fins pped against the water, which in exchange had violently propelled the hero upwards. Being close to the wall was an advantage at this point, because the enemy smashed against it and gave the other side of the stick a superior position. Which can be simplybelled as time. He attained 5 more seconds to turn the tides of battle, leading to a bite against flesh. The bit of light that this enemy carried, aided to figure out just where he had bitten. Somewhere around the middle back, and this flesh was softer than usual as well so he almost figured out which fish this was. [shlight fish killed. 5 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 208] "I knew it. No other fish could be killed this easily." This expression was quite arrogant, as he only has killed a couple of them so far. [This fish is contaminated as well, don''t consume it] "This one was raped and sacrificed as well, this cult is really desperate." It continued to grow as a thought, but right now the main thought was the nerve consuming darkness that lurked in every corner. The depth limit hasn''t yet been reached so this was a bit of motivation to sink lower. 10 more meters deeper he gave a peek to the wall and was bashed by 5 glowing lights, that weren''t so easy on the eyes. It was bizarre because the wall was supposed to be close to his fins yet the lights were about 15 meters away. This was difficult to understand and a bit of logic helped figure out that they were in a tunnel. And so another n had bloomed, "This is where your rotten tribe is hidden ha?" He knew better than to try his luck with another tribe considering just how much trouble the past one had caused. But just because it had caused trouble, motivation bloomed for the greater good. Although vision wasn''t a plentiful option even with the 5 lights, it was difficult to notice all of the surroundings but that didn''t stop the raging little sea-pancake. Bashing against one of the heads, Timothy''s tail swung left and right which in exchange met with flesh not once but twice. Almost subconsciously, a point of venom had been unleashed with each strike which aided greatly at a battle against 5. Bashing jaws against another piece of flesh, he noticed the same soft texture of flesh that gave a hint just what the hell these species were. Nothing wasnding a bite against him so this was another advantage, it gave motivation to the boy. He began shredding across flesh and bone a bit faster now just for the fun of it. It was entertaining to ughter enemies who can''t fight back. The battle ended and allowed for the system to notify, [You''ve killed 5 shlight fish. 25 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 233] "I''m really bing rich again." He softly celebrated and noticed one key fact. Everything here has been shrouded withplete darkness. At least it seemed so for a long semi-traumatizing minute. Twirling around a handful of times by now, he noticed a tremendously faint shade of green, illuminating through the other side of the tunnel. This was hope but yet again trouble. Through a quick decision, he began following the almost hypnotic light and half a minute after, noticed how the restricting tunnel had be half the time more illuminating. And shortly after he noticed a massive drop underneath. One peek at it made it transparent of just where the light wasing from, although the source was enough to force his eyes to close for a few seconds. At the very bottom of this cavern, which seemed far away from this point, a patch of green-tar stretched 15 meters across the flooring. What forced his eyes to open, were countless hollers that worked together to create a terrifying melody. Gazing at the tar again, he noticed that no fish was charging for battle but were swiftly swimming in circles, around the holy-tar. The situation seemed manageable considering that he had the upper advantage tounch a sneak attack against a few. But that''s when he felt a couple of sticky arms clinging around his fins, from underneath. Chapter 148: Exploring the dark mist (3) Chapter 148: Exploring the dark mist (3) Looking down, he noticed a single bright green light, which made it easier to spot a couple of jaws that seemed all the more deadly. Worse yet, with a gravelling tone it uttered. "The holy-tar demands your soul!" These jaws were approaching closer by the second. The sticky arms that were tied around his fins and middle back, were working together to pull the boy towards those jaws. He never saw a creature who had green lighting out of its mouth, but this wasn''t a situation where one had time to observe the weird phenomena or study it. Using his barb that wasn''t at all constricted, he stabbed the enemy right near the mouth: allowed for the entire barb to bash in since he was almost intimately close to the enemy, and released the entire venom that was piled up at the very tip of his tail. The enemy gave a low-toned screech and unleashed the young hero. But the blue-dotted boy wasn''t going to let go of this weird species without a fight. He continued stabbing the enemy over and over, the soft flesh it had was an encouragement to keep going. The sound of thudding flesh was released for a handful of times. Whatever this enemy was, this portion of the body it had, waspletely mutted by the rain of stabs that this panicking hero had released. After feeling satisfied, he swam away from the enemy with a single p against the water and heard the system announce. [European squid killed. 2 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Since this was a system given task, you also get additional 2 points] [Total system points = 237] This time the system didn''t give the statistics regarding effects and instead just stated. [This marine animal is contaminated as well, avoid consuming it] "I''m not stupid." Timothy pointed out but after thinking the notifications over, he celebrated. "Wait this was a squid?" [Yes. The right species too] [You are also in a proper state to begin task 12, would you like to hear it out?] It was a terrible time to think about a new task right now, but the enemies down there were busy yelling their heart out anyway. So the hero agreed, "Sure, tell me." [Task 12 = find and kill a red sea urchin] "For hell''s sake, urchins again?" The sea-diskined, knowing that there is no way to avoid this task. But then after recalling the pain that came along with a great reward, he added. "It better have a great speed upgrade like thest urchin. Or anything good really. I don''t want to get poked by an urchin right now, or ever." [Since you have never eaten a species like that before, you can''t get any information about the species] "Fine fine fine fine." It was best to end the topic now, there were tens of marine animals underneath. Turning his attention entirely towards the battle, he began pushing the dead squid towards the end of the tunnel and just now noticed how small it was, perhaps just a foot long. Finally the carcass reached to the very edge of the tunnel and was pushed down. Slowly, it floated towards the very bottom of the cavern andnded in the midst of the holy tar. As about what happened to the body, Tim didn''t want to have a look at it to figure it out. The yelling hadpletely stopped in a matter of seconds, the fish down there all began raging in their ownnguages. And it only took a short half a minute for someone to put everything together and shout out amand, "We have an intruder! Go search the entrance!" A whole bundle of them rushed upwards like mindless sheep, their eyes glowing green with craze, eager to rip everything into shreds. Once they reached the very tunnel of where the carcass had dropped from, they still haven''t yet found anything and therefore could only head through it to seek where the enemy could be hiding. Within a split second, the first few fish who had busted through the tunnel had first felt a sharp pain on their heads. They did, before that pain elerated towards their spine and became an open wound. The inflictor of such pain was a little boy who had just stretched down his tail and curled the barb forward. Several fish had died thanks to that simple attack, unaware of what the hell happened. They didn''t have much time to think about it either, as death was almost instant. After 13 bodies had dropped dead, some of the remaining enemies gained enough senses to figure out where the main problem stood. Therefore they stopped charging forward like maniacs and refused to go in the tunnel, even though they still couldn''t see who was causing such damage. There were over 20 fish floating near the entrance of the tunnel, giving the hole an awkward eye and being firmly unwilling to go in it. Out of a sudden, something had leaped against a fish who was closest to the tunnel. This thing had clung on its face and used a weird tail to stab the said fish''s face, several times beforetching off and pouncing on the next close by fish. This thing was of course, Timothy. He hasn''tpletely observed just what species could be roaming here but they were sure as hell, easy kills. Neither of them was attacking but instead were deep in shock. Surprise attacks had such effects. But once he got to the 4th fish in this cavern, a small pain was felt at the bottom side of the fin. [Health, -1 bar] [Total health = 90/110] Unwilling to receive more damage, he swung the barb to the left and stabbed the enemy away. Turning around, he noticed that the damage was dealt by a simple shlight fish. It was as good as dead now but the 15 other enemies were alive and ready. Once gazing underneath towards the holy tar, he noticed another group of fish bursting out of some tunnel located on the bottom portion of the cavern wall. Amongst these enemies, one of them stretched a dangerous 2 meters across. Chapter 149: Exploring the dark mist (4) Chapter 149: Exploring the dark mist (4) This 2 meter long enemy was light grey by colour. But the glowing green eyes were coating a good portion of the body with a lighter shade of green. Come to think of it, thanks to the holy tar, every fish here appeared green. Once thergest enemy shed its teeth upwards, it became transparent that a shark had somehow be enved by this unholy sect. And fighting such a species wasn''t something he nearly wanted to do. Within a sh, the young one charged right back to the tunnel he came from and made use of its constricting width. A few secondster he heard the same shark bashing against the entrance of the tunnel. Not giving up, it bashed again and used its jaws to try and cut through the barricade that was dirt and rock. "Kiss my ass, you overgrown worm with fins!" It was fun to mock an enemy once stripping them out of options, yelling out felt even better. A few more earth shaking strikester had passed before the shark figured out that this method wasn''t working out. Therefore it allowed for other smaller fish to storm the area. Although the illumination here was dim, the green light they brought along gave hints that these enemies carried jaws with them. Undoubtedly, they were more dangerouspared to the first few fish he had massacred. The best solution became to bust out of this tunnel and head for the dark mist on the other side. It was easy to find the exit, the overwhelming green was on one side and the scary darkness was on the other. So he leaped towards the exit at full speed and the building up emotion, felt equal to any situation where violent piano music would be ying in the background. Once reaching the outer world, he switched directions by heading straight up. The enemies coated the water with green, forming a straight line across the ocean and thinking they were still chasing the stingray they so desperately wanted to kill. That''s when the system announced, [So far you''ve killed 17 contaminated fish of various species you have already discovered] [The total reap from those kills is 42 points] [Total system points = 279] "I''m bing rich again boy!" The hero celebrated and wanted tough out loud at the straight line of enemies who were still heading away from the cavern at full speed, urging to catch the enemy. Having a hunch that such a dumb move would blow his cover, the little boy kept that emotion in and then swam back in the tunnel, aiming to reach the cavern again. It was clearly noticeable now that the only creature remaining in this area was the 2 meter long shark. It was still a tremendously stupid idea to charge against an enemy like this one, but this entire tribe had to be ughtered. Even if his life hung by a thread thanks to it. Noticing that the enemy was facing away, Timothy used the blind opportunity to lunge on its back and then swim at full speed towards the enemy''s head. While at the same time, his barb was pointed downwards and curled too. Which in exchange led to a long clean cut across the spine, salted with a single point of venom too. Knowing what woulde next, he violently pped fins against the water just before reaching the head. And it was a good idea to do so because the shark''s head twisted upwards. A deadly bite would have definitely beennded against him if the hero had continued swimming forward. But something about this shark''s face seemed familiar. The sea-pancake had the memorizing capabilities of washed off driftwood, but enemies were a section of thoughts he could not demolish. "Drake?" He shouted out after attaining a safe distance from the enemy. That was the first shocking part, the second portion was how the same enemy reacted to that name and then just growled. "The holy-tar demands your soul!" Having it hard to understand this situation, the hero questioned with a thundering tone. "How the hell did they get your soul?" For a few seconds he felt bad for this enemy but just a few recalls of what this shark had done in the beginning, was enough to push away any feeling of sadness. It was great that he did so because the enemy ignored all questions and began pping his jaws with the sole intent of ripping the little boy into pieces! Tim swiftly moved to the left and felt the left side of the shark''s nose, bashing against his fin and causing a strong wave of disorientation. Thankfully he wasn''t bitten but the collision alone was enough to shake his brain a little. [Health, -3 bars] [Total health = 87/100 bars] The impact was strong, the right fin began feeling tremendously sore but it was also a motivation to just get the hell out of here. But the shark had swam upwards so leaving through the tunnel he came in from, wasn''t an option. Considering this dilemma, he slid towards the bottom of this cavern and seeked another tunnel to go through. At that second he noticed that Drake had already gotten too close, perhaps just 5 meters away. It was a dumb idea to follow the biggest tunnel considering that the biggest enemy here can easily go through it as well. So he charged towards a tunnel on theplete other side. A second after he heard a loud crashing right from behind. If this tunnel was reached just a little bitter, the boy would have easily be a snack. Drake didn''t want to stop there and instead continued smashing against the tunnel, rage had conquered his entire brain and the sole intent was to get in. This was a dead end tunnel so there wasn''t a second option, there was no way out. And after about 3 shes against the tunnel, he could see the very ceiling branching out a long crack. Backing away, Timothy felt something pointy poking his ass. Turning around, something red made itself transparent in this tunnel. Smiling, he rushed through a sentence. "An urchin. Man am I d to see one of you bastards. Let''s see if you can give me any extra upgrades!" Chapter 150: Exploring the dark mist (5) Chapter 150: Exploring the dark mist (5) Although tad hesitant because this urchin''s points seem longer and more painful, Timothy understood that there was no other option but to try his luck and hope for the best. Swimming forward, his jaws sunk on the enemy and managed to break down a few pointy arms before reaching the prey''s core. It felt painful at least but his durability has been increased enough to make it quite difficult to receive damage from these species. With a couple more bites, he managed to chew through the rest of the carcass and heard the system announce. [Red sea urchin killed. 2 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Since this is a system given task, you earn an additional 2 points] [Total system points = 283] [You''re in an overall state favourable enough to start task 13, would you like to hear it out?] "Maybeter." Tim answered and felt devastated how this kill didn''t give any good effects. At the same time, a big chunk of dirt fell right in front of him but it wasn''t big enough to block the path. [You''ve eaten a full grown red sea urchin so the effects are stated in the following...] Smiling, the hero''s heart met with a spike of joy as he uttered. "Oh yes! Here ites." [Effect on health, non existent] [Effect on hunger, +1 bars] [Effect on sleep, non existent] [Effect on stamina, non existent] [As an additional effect, your jaws have been upgraded to level 25 for an hour] "What!?" The blue-dotted menace hollered like a wild baboon, feeling damn sure that this was the biggest temporary upgrade he had ever faced. [You heard me] And that''s when a wave of pain struck the boy against the face. It felt like a hammer had smashed his jaws in for the ironic sense of progress. The pain was almost enough to knock the boy cold but he held on. The hero didn''t even have the faintest idea regarding how powerful these jaws could be now. But there was only one way to figure it out. Gazing at Drake who continued smashing against the tunnel, he noticed that under a specific half second, the enemy had its nose exposed to a usible bite. An opportunity. Well he wanted to use it and unleash all fury with it for the sake of getting out all frustration that was built up against this enemy. Out of a sudden, the very ceiling fell down from this bruised tunnel, blocking the entire path. This felt like a tremendously unfortunate faith, this was no different from being buried alive. After the dust from the copse had calmed down, he noticed a vertical crack right above a pile of dirt. It was glowing in a thick green colour so it necessarily portrayed an escape route. Without waiting for Drake to block that exit too, the little one charged straight forward and squeezed his fins closer to each other for the sake of escaping wlessly through the crack. Gazing down, Timothy noticed that the enemy was bashing against the very same spot, trying to cause trouble. Unwilling to wait for this shark to regain proper senses, the hero charged forward! Within a second, his jaws met with the very middle back of this enemy. The bite was so clean that it became difficult to determine, regarding if he had touched flesh or not. Better yet, the built up momentum wasn''t damaged and he eventually met with sand from the very floor of this cavern. Tremendously unaware of what was happening, he just charged to the left and tried to make a good distance from the shark who most definitely couldnd a deadly bite. [Short-fin mako killed. 170 points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 453] Although the massive spike of system points was shocking and at the same time exciting. He still just couldn''t understand how a 2 meter long shark had just been killed with a single bite! Swimming higher, he began understanding why. In short words, Drake was melting. But if taken the time to properly exin, we''d figure out that this big enemy had a foot wide hole right through the middle back. And this hole was expanding thanks to some weird green goo that was spread on each side of the hole. The little hero wanted to ask just what the hell was going on but the system continued with her rant of information. [This is only a half grown mako, so likewise the benefits and points are also split in half. If this carcass was full grown, you would have been able to reap 340 points] Such an amount was no doubt tempting but right now he was just happy that this tremendously powerful enemy, was dead. [This carcass is contaminated and at the same time melting because of your properly upgraded venom. So system rmends to avoid eating it] It was just mentioned that venom had managed to cause a ruckus this big. But venom sttered out from jaws? It didn''t feel normal whatsoever. Before the situation could be thought of further, his senses tingled because of an eruption from above. The pack of fish whom had chased him out earlier, had returned. From this point of view, it felt like a cloud of fish had stormed the area but now was not the time to panick about it. The odds have only one fish to its favour. Without even waiting for a split second, the brave boy charged towards the crowd and began swinging his tail left and right once reaching the crowd. Stabbing everything even if it was without the aid of tail-venom. Using the new found gift from the urchin, he took one bite after the other against these enemies ~ only to notice that foot-long fish would bepletely obliterated by a bite. Most of the times their bodies along with the ashes would be melted down because of the venom. Sometimes only a portion of their tail would remain. Chapter 151: Done Chapter 151: Done Through that set of rage, the hero continued biting through the enemies. Within the chaos he noticed that each bite would force the masses to cower. By each kill, the enemies were more motivated to avoid battle rather than to indulge in it. But it was a pale attempt because it only gave the hero more time to be heavily dangerous. Within 5 minutes, he had ripped through every enemy that was in this cavern, not even the holy-tar could help them. The battle was over but something didn''t feel right. In the other couple of tribes he had ughtered before, there was a leader amongst them or at least one being initiated. Here it didn''t seem like there was any leader. Just a bunch of fish who have sacrificed their souls to the holy-tar. There was a wide tunnel to explore at the bottom walls of the cavern, but the hero was plotting a new idea that would destroy this tribe forever - regardless of how many more sect members could be hiding down here. Before that n was put into motion, the system announced. [Through that massacre, you''ve killed 34 fish of various species. All of which you have discovered before] [The reap from these kills has given you a total of 95 points] [Total system points = 548] "It''s all going too well. A few days ago I was struggling to pile up 100 points. This is just amazing." Timothy felt gratitude without a doubt but at the same time was getting worried. The points he had are without a doubt plentiful but it only inched the boy closer towards another purchase lock. After all there were 8 more tasks to go. If he earns points faster thanpleting tasks, another lock was just around the corner. Facts regardless, it wasn''t the time to worry about stuff like this. Instead he went ahead to put the n in motion. These jaws were more than reliable and here it can destroy this god forsaken tribe without having to sync into another killing spree. Going for the ceiling of this cavern, he took a bite against the dirt and rock, noticing how it melted between those jaws before he even tried to spit it out. This is just what the little stingray was looking for. So using the opportunity, he began chewing through the ceiling and with just a few bites had managed to carve a hole big enough to fit in. That was quite handy but the n had just started. Within a few minutes he had chewed about 10 meters up and then had taken a sharp turn towards the direction of the same tunnel that acted as an exit and entrance for everyone. The only difference was the 10 parallel meters in between them. It wasn''t exactly difficult to understand what purpose this extra tunnel would have. Obviously, it would be used as a way of fleeing this area. But now the rest of the n could be put into motion. Through every direction that was avable, he began chewing long straight holes through the dirt and made sure to avoid sinking too low towards the cavern. Although he had chewed like a madman, it took half an hour toplete most of the n. And now his stamina was feeling tremendously low. But after one more bite, the entire area began shaking. This was the great hint to just get the hell out of here. He tried swimming at full speed but considering theck of stamina, the most he could go was 2 mph. Dirt and rock began shaking even stronger and eventually screeching sounds becamemon! Just as he had reached half way through towards leaving this mess, the entire ceiling of the cavern began copsing at a rapid pace. A heavy chunk of dirtnded on his back. And although it wasn''t enough to cause damage, it was enough to pin the boy down, making it impossible to swim away. Within a second he was dragged along with the copse, and regardless of the attempt of swimming away - no progress whatsoever could be reached towards that goal. Arge thud was heard as soon as the dirt and rock crashed at the very bottom, enveloping the holy tar through and through along with the entire bottom section of the cavern. Thankfully the masses of dirt and sand above the hero''s head weren''t massive, he wasn''t crushed. And even managed to burst through the dirt in half a minute, finally shunning away every restriction ~ the dirt melting jaws had helped. The tunnel he had carved earlier to make a quick escape, now felt like a waste of time. Because there was arge opening across where the ceiling used to be. Well this could work too. The entire holy-tar tribe had been massacred and ruined, so the only other step would be to swim away. But he was pooped, stamina was next to 0 so this calmness had to be used to regain energy, even though the dark had already surrounded each corner now. "I got a lot of points, system. What can I buy again?" It seemed like a perfect time to ask such a question. No species could have survived around here, who would be able to interrupt? [You can only buy 1 more upgrade before more options unlock] This felt like a blessing, but he also wanted to assure it. "So the upgrades won''t be locked?" [No they won''t be locked,] This felt indeed satisfactory but it was difficult to understand when the option lock would exactly be. At this point he hadpletely forgotten what this option could possibly be, a quick demand had to be made. "Okay let''s hear the upgrade." [Option number 1 = upgrade EQ by 10 points] [Price = 200 system points] Feeling that such an amount wasn''t tremendously expensive now, excitement grew as he yelled. "I can afford that, give me the word upgrade baby!" [This won''t upgrade your vocabry, you will just be more emotionally intelligent] Chapter 152: Eruptive heat Chapter 152: Eruptive heat [Loading purchase...] This is where the young hero expected for hazardous pain to bash forward with all its might. It was an expensive upgrade after all. But regardless of how much he waited, nothing painful arrived. Not even a pinch. [Upgradeplete] [Your EQ has been increased by 10 points] [Total EQ = 75] [200 system points consumed] [348 system points remaining] That''s when it urred to him that brain upgrades don''t cause any pain whatsoever. It was still confusing to understand but in this case a blessing. But what felt like a scam was an observation he wanted to point out, "I don''t feel any smarter..." [You shouldn''t even notice it this early. Eventually you''d notice that overall emotional choices will be smarter. Either that or even more chaotic than usual] [As for now, your EQ is a hunch above averagepared to other fish] Regardless of effort, Timothy couldn''t understand what the system had just meant with the ''chaotic'' part but this wasn''t the time toin. Even if small, progress was just made here and things keep going for the better. He was getting ready to leave this ce and rest on the illuminated side of the border, but that''s when the system peaked his curiosity. [3 more purchase options have been unlocked. Would you like to hear them out?] "Hell yes!" The hero shouted, knowing that the points he had were sufficient to buy at least another upgrade. [Option number 1 = upgrade natural camouge to level 5] [Price = 300 system points] "That''s extremely expensive!" Heined, it was a good reason to do so because the total points he had felt like a joke now in front of the purchase. At least the current level of this capability seems nice. But the system was used to suchints until now and naturally ignored the boy, stating the rest of the bargain. [Option number 2 = increase eruptive heat by 50C] [Price = 200 system points] "What the hell is that?" The little hero hollered, this new option managed to make him bounce off the spot. But questions didn''t have the time to be answered right now and the system didn''t ept an interruption. Everything had to be listed down before submerging into any other topic, regardless of importance. [Option number 3 = increase IQ by 10 points] [Price = 250 system points] "Howe IQ is more expensive?" This stingray wasn''t the brightest but the second type of intelligence had been upgraded earlier and he remembered what the price for it was. [Because IQ is first in line when ites to overall importance regarding intelligence.] At the moment, the cheapest option seemed to be the most important one and now was the best time to ask. "Okay. Can you tell me anything about the heat thing?" [Eruptive heat will give you the ability, to coat your entire body with drastically increasing heat] [Each upgrade gives you an extra second to keep it going and determines how many times a day you could use it.] [Right now, if you buy this upgrade it can only be held for a single second and used once a day] "Seems pretty stingy." Heined of course but couldn''t help feeling that such ability could be very useful, especially if he was stuck on an enemy''s jaws. "I''ll buy this one." [Purchase confirmed] [Loading...] The pain he felt right now had struck at a ce which forced the boy to pounce forward and out of this hole, heading higher towards the surface. He wanted to swim away from the pain but could in no way ignore that the boiling hot pain was solely on his anus! It felt that the sub-cool water here was useless in terms of slowing down the effects. This heat had an environment of its own. [Upgradeplete] [Total eruptive heat = 50C] [200 system points consumed] [148 system points remaining] Although these expenses were massive, his ass was still burning hotter than the actual expense that came with it. But thankfully it was calming down by the second. Thinking it over for a brief second, he decided that this environment had little amount of species who would force such a move to be used in battle. That''s why he cited, "Let''s try this thing out. How do I activate it?" [It''s instinctive, just think about it] Within a few seconds, massive heat suddenly erupted all around the boy and as mentioned by the very system, it didn''tst long. It felt a bit anticlimactic, but the hero wasn''t given the opportunity to view from another prospective. He had ignored the map as well. If the map wasn''t ignored, he would notice that the entire body had turned into a blood-red colour for a quick second. It was bizarre in all aspects but that''s what heat can do. Before wanting toin again, he once more charged forward to avoid certain heat. But this time it wasn''t located in his anus but was in the waters instead. The little sea-pancake had actually managed to heat up the water around himself. After getting over the fact that this move was almost self destructive, he decided to celebrate. "This upgrade is awesome! Stingrays can really do this?" [Normal stingrays can''t. But thanks to me, your body has been slightly mutated in order to adapt this kind of power] "You really weren''t kidding. Survival in this goddamn ce can be easier with you around." This could be one of the least retarded things the hero had said, it felt pleasant. [Systematic blush] Uncertain of how to handle such a situation, he decided to move towards another topic. "Tell me about that task? I don''t want to be locked out of options." [Task 13 = locate and kill a butterflyfish] Tim''s heart skipped a beat here and he instantly questioned, "Dear god. Please tell me it doesn''t have wings?" [What? You''re afraid of butterflies?] The system''s tone had broken the usual right now and this felt like a straightforward tease. Chapter 153: North side Chapter 153: North side "Of course I''m not afraid!" Timothy hollered, feeling more embarrassed rather than angry. Still unsure, he asked. "They don''t have wings, right?" [I''m not supposed to give information like that. But, they don''t] Giving arge sigh, he afterwards added. "I have no idea where to find those. Maybe they know something in the hidden tribe?" With that question in mind, he began swimming towards the tribe and wanted to figure out an excuse of why he would need to hunt such a specific creature. ... The moment he got inside the den, he noticed a handful of familiar figures floating close to each other. Thankfully they weren''t here for anything bad and chaos wasn''t spread across the structure. Joy was evident in their eyes once they noticed Tim swim in, and one of them felt it necessary to instantly announce. "We brought 8 groups of fish to the reef!" Such a statement was enough to shock the hero, but numbers tend to matter a lot. Haze was the first to announce such an achievement, her usual attitude had shifted for the better thanks to happiness. "That''s pretty good." The system carrying stingray wasn''t one to givepliments easily, but ego can be put aside for blood-family. "It will help the reef a lot!" "We were told about the thousands of lobsters and shrimp youmanded. You did all of that alone so you''re the true hero." Pattyplimented, she was undoubtedly the softest here and never shied away from givingpliments. "You fuckers are too humble. Tell him how many animals those 8 groups had. I don''t mean to bitch around but we practically saved the reef." It seemed like a sentence that would be yelled out, but on the contrary it was spoken out too casually. Snoopy might be cursing more than the entire denbined. Staggered beyond prepare, the hero tried toprehend the situation while asking. "You all actually managed to bring more than 6,000 animals here?" "We brought above 14,000! They are really happy to be in the reef." Philip announced, happier about theter part rather than the actual numbers. "I didn''t know that the ocean had 14,000 fish. That''s impressive!" Timmyplimented, once more proving that he wasn''t the smartest around here regardless of the upgrades. "What kind of animals were they?" Urging to point it out first, Snoopy showed them once more that he doesn''t have trouble remembering. "Tunafish, crabs, sunfish, squids and shrimp. Some had more tribes than others and we couldn''t really fight the sunfish, they were massive but liked living in a reef." Entirely pushing jealousy aside, the hero instead felt like a great burden had been tossed away thanks to this sess. Thanks to that he solely aimed to praise, "All of you did an amazing job! You have no idea how much this will help the reef." He wasn''t a math wizard but based on the sheer reef''s size, another mass migration like these ones can help restore and maintain the reef for a long white ~ unless any disaster strikes. Right before the mood went high for the better, Haze deciphered. "We have a problem though." Timmy''s face instantly shifted for the worse as he asked, "Problem?" "Yes. On the north side of the reef there are sharks who are bugging one of the tribes we invited." She was rather direct and wanted to plot as soon as possible because her brother wasn''t one to sit idle, "Amie said that you avoided battling those sharks." Such a sentence felt like a stab in the anus, but it didn''t range away from reality. "I was too weak back then, now they are a problem we can get rid of." "We?" Patty asked, not liking where this was going. "Yes. All of you are clearly stronger now. Your sess is bigger than mine." Perhaps it was an exaggeration but the hero wanted to make a point, "I don''t have to worry about protecting any of you when we battle." All of them carried smiles on their faces but Philip was the only one expressive enough to exin, "That''s all we wanted to hear. Although some siblings can''t say that out loud." The res this sibling got right after were strong, but he ignored them and felt proud about the statement. It wasn''t like this reciting was a lie. Taking lead of the conversation, mostly because he didn''t want to face such emotions although they did manage to cause joy, the hero pitched. "We have a n then. Those sharks will die by our hands... damn it, fins." ... Travelling towards the very other side of the reef took time, especially since it was a good distance of around 6 kilometres. Considering that fact, a break had to be taken for the sake of reaching the destination in a favourable overall state of being. The only species they could eat here without causing a revolt, were the marble shrimp and ghost crabs. They were widespread although not tremendously high with numbers, not to mention they didn''t have much capabilities when it came to fighting back. A few marble shrimp were enough to keep the gang of siblings going and once they reached just a kilometer away from the aimed destination, night time had struck. So they found a nice and cozy hole, it wasn''t exactly roomy so these siblings had to settle with sleeping snugly close to each other, or on top of one another. Morning arose and they began munching on more crabs. Snoopy wanted to prove himself a good hunter so he ughtered these shrimp before anyone had woken up, surprising them with breakfast. This day and night of travelling had given Timmy a bit of time to think about the situation. Sharks were bugging the tribes but is it the best idea to face numerous big enemies? Although these siblings are skilled individually, could they really face several sharks? With that in mind, after they ate, the hero announced. "We will try to handle these sharks in a peaceful way first. It wouldn''t be a great idea to fight them right away." Chapter 154: North side (2) Chapter 154: North side (2) Snoopy was the first to consider that idea as utter garbage, and teased about it too. "You really are scared of those sharks." Wanting to use a point of reference and break down a possible argument, Tim questioned. "Have any of you ever fought a shark?" Neither of them gave an answer towards that question which was an indirect answer itself. So the hero simply smiled and said, "You didn''t. They are extremely dangerous and can kill us with a single bite. I only killed one by luck." "You actually killed a shark?!" Patty shouted. Excited that they might not be so doomed with a shark-yer in their arsenal. "By luck." The hero assured. He didn''t want to sound mysterious but knew that the system in his head can''t be mentioned in any topic. "It was Drake the mako-shark, he was one of my biggest enemies." The whole crew had a lot ofints regarding this topic, be it favorable or against the hero''s word. But even as stingrays who typically weren''t too intelligent at this age, they could understand that whatever the hero said was correct. So they kept the arguments to their selves and feltfortable with their beloved brother taking the lead. They began travelling once more but were dazzled by a group of 7 fish that seemed t bodied, but yet didn''t swim like a stingray. Instead, it swam as if vertically across the waters. Curious, the hero asked. "What the hell are those?" "Butterflyfish. A lot of them areing back home now. This reef used to be their home before the army of sharks had attacked." Snoopy assured, he had spoken to fish like these before and could easily understand why they had made such life decisions. This fish was required toplete another task, but guilt emerged bit by bit. He wanted to kill one of these fish but knew how important it was for more animals to live in this very reef. So a question had to be asked, "Are there a lot of these fish?" "A few hundred right now, lots more will probably migrate. The fish I talked to said that a few thousands are thinking abouting back, they''ve swam far to the west before apparently. To avoid the massacre." Snoopy felt smarter the more he exined and his intelligence was often visible but this kind of information could be figured out by anyone. Thinking it over for a few moments, it would be weird if he went ahead and killed just one of these fish. So amand had to be let out by the contemting hero, "We need to eat a bit more before eating the sharks. Let''s kill them!" Although it felt weird to kill fish that were practically considered allies, the rest of the team didn''t really hold back and charged into battle. It wasn''t much of a fight to kill species like this, the most difficult part was chasing them. This could be used as a bit of more experience as well, they will be a hunch more prepared for a possible battle against the sharks. Timothy was the second to reach one of the enemies as Haze was still the fastest of this crew. And once he reached these t-fish, the first thought was. "Yup, they don''t have wings. Thank god!" Although these fish seemed beautiful, coated with yellow and white vertical stripes, it was inevitable to use them in the worst way possible. It only took a single bite to send this pray towards the next world, but the hero was excited to hear the system announce. [Butterflyfish killed. 2 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Since this was a system given task, you also get an additional 2 points] [Total system points = 152] Eating a full-grown butterflyfish grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, +5 bars] [Effect on hunger, +3 bars] [Effect on sleep, non existent] [Effect on stamina, -1 bar] It felt odd how a fish equally long to the hero in size, could only grant so little hunger bars. But just thinking about how t these butterflyfish are, it made sense. And such effects were tremendously useful considering that with an empty stomach he could eat nearly 6 of these fish and reap 30 points of health. Although he felt well-fed, health was never a waste of time so he ate through the carcass and allowed his siblings to eat the rest of the carcasses that were ughtered here. Although they don''t really have health bars to replenish. It felt refreshing to eat a fish that raised health. And the system was quick to notify about the only statistic the hero cared about, [Health bar = 92/110] This felt like an achievement but considering the overall environment here, it might notst too long. But what felt like a bigger achievement was the system moving on with the next step. [Task 14 = locate and kill a moorish idol fish] This felt like one of the most bizarre names out there, definitely not anything he had heard before. But considering it only gave 2 system points, it shouldn''t be that difficult to find. But of course the hero couldn''t help thinking, "Where the hell am I going to find one of those? I can''t even remember that name." Regardless of suchints, the system didn''t really bother to reply. So after Tim''s siblings were done feasting on these fish, they''ve continued their travel. ... After an hour, they have reached the area where the sharks are supposed to be. Timmy''s siblings have seen them before and knew exactly where to find them. After all they have acknowledged this problem through the migration process, but just couldn''t do anything about it. The sharks were nowhere to be seen for a few short moments, so the hero got great hopes up that they might have moved somewhere else. Hope grew thanks to that thought, because a usible fight could have been entirely avoided. But hope won''t keep one alive in this environment, life didn''t work like that. Chapter 155: North side (3) Chapter 155: North side (3) Out of a sudden they were surrounded by a group of 10 sharks. The biggest was a stunning 7 meters long and the smallest was half a meter. This situation elerated far worse than they expected it, Haze could notice that there were more sharks than before now. Thankfully these enemies weren''t in a rush to attack, or else this would be a one-sided ughter rather than a battle. Simply because the group of stingrays didn''t have an arsenal big enough to challenge these menaces. The biggest of these sharks finally broke the silence, but it wasn''t for good. "Would you look at that. We didn''t even have to hunt for a meal this time, they came to us." "Meal?" Timothy repeated. He wasn''t scared in any way, on the contrary he seeped anger out of those foul sentences. "How do you know that it won''t go the other way around?" That''s when the entire group of sharks beganughing with all their power. The hero''s threat was somewhat a bluff but these enemies usedmon logic to figure out that the bluff was almost delusional. Hence they seeped confidence out of it. It was all fun until one of the mildly sized shark''s eyes opened wide upon a strong realisation. He began eyeing the hero and got closer too. After a moment the same shark asked, "You''re that kid... who blew up that crazy sect?" Confusion was still evident on the enemy shark''s tone, that''s why the sentence was interjected as more of a question. Finding a bit more confidence now, the hero answered. "Yes, that''s me." The same shark who asked that question, hurried to the opposite direction for the sake of making a clear distance away from the little stingray. After feeling a bit safer, the same shark hollered with a male but yet cracked tone. "That little thing is a monster!" "Exin yourself!" Another shark shouted out towards herrade. This one was the biggest here and feminine by tone. Yet size regardless, a firm fact was nted that she too was bing a little bit nervous. "Who is this kid?" "This monster had direct contact with that sect leader, the one with big teeth and killed her too! All of these stingrays are sick now with that crazy, green disease!" This shark''s manliness was dripping away by each spoken word, but it became transparent what the problem was. These sharks fear the holy-tar, not Timmy or any of his siblings. Such a situation wasn''t expected by any of these stingrays but the hero could definitely use it to his advantage. So far he had been close enough to the holy-tar sects tounch a dependable attack. The sea-pancake locked eyes with the leader of these enemies and then shouted with all of his power, "The holy-tar demands your soul!" Waiting for a few seconds at first, the hero charged straight towards the enemies right after and most definitely enjoyed how these big, bad sharks dashed in all directions with fear being their main motive. Such a bizarre battle felt like it was over. But regardless of that fact, the hero continued chasing them and figured out a new threat to yell out. "This reef belongs to the holy tar! Leave leave leave!" When these sharks heard such a statement, they headed directly towards the water''s surface with the aim of avoiding the reef. But the raging stingray still wasn''t convinced that these enemies would leave the reef. So he dotted towards the one that was the smallest and leaped against its tail, ripping off a chunk that carried a bit of bone too. This made the smallest shark howl in pain, breaking a spine can almost always force an enemy into immobility. The hero''s siblings joined in the feast and began ripping chunk after chunk away from the shark. He wanted to leave and chase the other enemies but this shark was close to dying. So instead, the blue-dotted menace began chomping a bit faster, until the system had to intervene. [Reef shark killed. 50 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 202] As the rest of these enemies saw theirrade ughtered by a pack of ''diseased'' stingrays, their fear arose for the worse to its furthest extent. After making sure that these points didn''t go in vain, he began chasing the biggest enemy once more and kept yelling. "Leave this reef or surrender your soul!" Fear had enveloped all of this leader''s conscious. She kept swimming up as if that would provide a ce to hide. Since this big shark was just swimming in circles, the hero wanted to use this opportunity tond a bite. It would be tremendously brag-worthy if he could bite such a beast after scaring her beyondprehension. But that n proved foul as a massively impactful force had pierced the surface of the water and was heading straight down. The momentum it brought was enough to erupt everyone close-by, off bnce. Worse yet, it had managed to pierce through a marine animal''s body... but thankfully it was the big shark that the hero was chasing. It was difficult to understand what this was, but once having the opportunity to re at the surface, it became a tad easier to figure things out. There was a massive dot above the surface. And although his vision wasn''t good enough to attain details, it was easy to figure out that this was a boat. Whatever massive spear they haveunched against the waters, it was enough to shock the shark silly and drag her towards the boat. There was no saving thisdy and neither did Timothy care to do it. After that problem was taken care of, he began looking for the other sharks. But either his vision was limited or they had swam away as if their life was on the line. With that problem figured out, the sea-disk dashed towards his siblings and yelled out. "Let''s get out of here! There are humans above us." Chapter 156: North problems Chapter 156: North problems Considering the collision up on the surface, all of his siblings were ready to just get the hell out of here. It is unlikely for humans to use a massive spear against stingrays, but they didn''t want to take any chances. To avoid detection the team of siblings swam away from the battleground, but still made sure that they didn''t leave the portion of the reef that was covered with yellow. In terms of camouge, it should help to perfectly fit in and avoid any predator - even humans. The team wasn''t really tired after making it out of that mess, this day was tremendously anticlimactic in terms of battle. Scaring away those sharks was more of a mock against the enemies rather than battle. So although they had fun, the rest of the day was just steps away from bing boring. It was, until they heard a strong shouting from their left. Fixing their gaze towards that direction, they saw a fat fish bashing forward like a crazed lunatic. Difficulty grew in the situation, this fish seemed bizarre but at the same time continued shouting a sentence that the hero was all too familiar with. "The holy tar demands your soul!" "Thought that I killed all of you bastards before! The north side is supposed to be clear of this sect!" Situations like this felt repetitive but it was always interesting to investigate things that are rted to such an attack, for the sake of information. The enemy was just 20 meters away now so this short time-span had to be used in order to unleash a warning, "Whatever you do, try to avoid getting bitten! This bastard seems strong." Meeting face to face with the enemy was the next step. This one barely seemed like it carried any teeth so that could be ruled out as a problem! Within a second, it began dotting on the hero and went into a more proper chase. Since it didn''t have any weaponry, the stingrays didn''t really care of who this fat and yet short fish chased. But out of a sudden, Timmy noticed a green gooey substance flying above his head. The enemy caught up right after but was disoriented enough topletely miss the target and dash above the hero''s head, avoiding all collision. "What the hell was that!" The sea-pancake asked, not referring to the enemy but whatever came before it. "The blobfish shot it out of its mouth!" Snoopy pointed out but through that effort of pointing the nonsense out, he gave a bit less detail towards the surroundings. The same green and gooey substance shot out across the water andnded on young Snoopy''s face and then dripped down across the rest of his body. Such fate had managed to make the smart boy unleash a thundering howl of pain. Worried, the rest of his siblings charged towards the boy to figure out what the hell was going on. That and to possibly help. Most of the siblings at least, were there. While Timothy was heading towards the enemy. Anger was eating up the little hero''s mind, because that green substance felt all too familiar and being hit by it seems death ensuring. And yet this crazed blob fish had coated one of his brothers with it! The blue-dotted menacended on the enemy''s back and began bashing his marvelous tail down against the blob! Using venom felt stupid considering that this creature might likely be contaminated already. So he continued bashing the pointy tail against flesh for a few times. But before he knew it, the enemy shot out yet another st of goo. Unfortunate enough, this shot headed towards the rest of the sea-pancake''s siblings! And within a split second, they were all covered with the same green substance and all erupted in pain, hollers escaping through their lips as however this substance was causing pain - it felt unbearable. Pissed off beyond prepare, his heart sinking towards anger and sadness the more his blood siblings yelled, he began attacking the enemy with every ability that was avable. Barb shes became faster, jaws were used to rip off chunks of flesh by every bite. And to inflict a bit more damage, he unleashed the new found ability. With just a short moment taken to think about it, his body heat erupted towards being more dangerous. Wanting to use this ability to its finest, through the same second he attached the belly against the enemy''s back and heard it screech in pain. Ignoring the boiling water that was floating around, Tim continued shing against the enemy until an announcement was made. [Blobfish killed. 20 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Since this body is carrying foreign characteristics that make it less of a blobfish, you get an additional 20 points] [Total system points = 242] [Don''t eat this fish, as it is highly contaminated. Even more than other fish who were in the same sect] The system carried a good point but he wasn''t really focused on eating right now, neither did he bother to listen at the rest of what had to be said from the system. Instead he dashed towards the siblings, worried that this bizarre and sudden battle had killed them. Snoopy was the first to capture his view. This brother had risen from the group of bodies underneath and didn''t carry any green gooey substance that seemed like tar. His skin seemed tremendously smooth and carried a dark grey colour, far different from the former shade. Worse yet, it managed to reflect the sunlight that was far above their heads. Getting closer, the only question that Timmy could ask was. "What the hell happened to you?" Such a question couldn''t be answered no matter how much one would try. But Snoopy decided to sink this situation into even more confusion as he curled into a weird looking cone. A secondter, he charged straight towards a big chunk of coral. The speed that was paired towards such a charge was magnificently powerful. It wasn''t even possibly to see which direction he moved towards, one would catch up only after hearing the collision against coral. Within a few seconds, the same spot Snoopy had crashed against, began falling down thanks to the half-foot hole that was poked through the coral. Chapter 157: North problems (2) Chapter 157: North problems (2) The very coral that was unlucky enough to be struck, shattered in 3 big chunks thanks to that very hole of which the little Snoopy had caused. Such a situation was tremendously difficult to stand, especially when the same stingray came back in one piece. Timothy couldn''t help giving a contemtive re, how could this be more confusing than death? The first thing he managed to utter was, "What the hell is going on?" His brother carried the same shocked facial expression with another firm hint of worry. And the answer he coulde up with was. "I don''t know..." Haze was one of the toughest so she was the second to arise after that episode of traumatic pain. This littledy didn''t carry any confusion or worry in her eyes, but just anger and vengeful intents towards the blobfish that had already been destroyed in battle. Unlike her brother, she didn''t change in appearance whatsoever. But what thisdy unleashed in a split second was enough to shock anyone for life, simply because of how unusual it was. With a simple nce against a patch of coral, the conscious siblings noticed how the very coral began breaking down in all directions. It unleashed a loud creak that most definitely managed to pierce the ear. It became difficult to understand what was going on. Small chunks had shot out from the coral in all directions and then bigger chunks fell down and caused a little rumble against the ground. The coral patch was broken down in a thousand pieces and from the looks of it, a re against the same coral was enough to cause such colossal damage. But that fact regardless, this littledy doesn''t seem to be surprised and instead behaves superior above the power and the target she demolished. Such an attitude was a tad intimidating but these siblings are used to her so they don''t really mind it. Before any more questions could be asked, Philip managed to get himself together too but seemed to have changed in appearance just a little. The boy''s body colour was coated with a hint of green, which was heavily noticeable considering that his former colour mostly contained yellow along with blue dots spread around. By now it was clear that the holy-tar like gooey substance had caused these drastic changes and seemingly gave powers too. But how could this be possible? There are thousands of fish who were in the holy-tar sect yet neither of them had powers! It was tremendously confusing but Philip had an urge to demonstrate his powers as well. With a foot-long burst forward, a colourless form that represented a shark''s mouth had shot forward and shed against a big patch of coral. By now it felt a bit funny to unleash all this rage on coral but it was sure as hell great for target practice. The colourless shark-bite that formed was 6 feet long and just a couple of feet wide. Bizarre at least but the damage it unleashed against the coral was tremendous! Such colourless power-move behaved like a vicious bite, but the damage it had unleashed was super clean. A massive chunk was bitten off and then pulled across the sand nearby. But when looking at the rest of the coral, it seems as if someone had taken appropriate measurements for the bite to be perfectly sliced in a vertical matter. Tremendously powerful but understanding just how the hell this was possible, felt difficult. "I think we got powers." Philip pointed out the obvious and the conscious siblings wanted to smack the boy behind the head. It was obvious that they got powers and hearing such a sentence was more head-wrecking than trying to figure this out. But yet neither of them said anything ill-manered and awaited for Patty to awaken. And she did not let them dwell on worries, although technically she was thest one to wake up after such tremendous pain. No one had to speak anything because the process was already subconsciously understood by now. These stingrays simply woke up and had an urge to demonstrate their powers so it was likely that Patty would do the same. And the littledy didn''t fail to disappoint. Within a blink, her barb barged upwards and then forwards, which in exchange unleashed a set of 3 barbs; that were moving in a pace fast enough to disclude water as a friction-causing obstacle. Three barbs shot against coral and the impact unleashed a screech that felt equal to the shot havingnded on their ear holes. These barbs had pierced the patch of coral but didn''t stop there. They had broken through the other side of the patch and halted still after impaling half-way through the other patch of coral. There was no doubt that such a power-move was tremendously powerful. And now seemed like the best way to talk, Timothy asked. "Just what the hell is going on here? How did that weird tar give you all powers?" It was not that he carried jealousy but these abilities seem dangerous enough to be life threatening. What if they have side-effects as powerful as these power-moves? Thoughts of that sort were so difficult to stomach, he had just started building a bond with these siblings. These stingrays were all too stunned for words. Although some were more confident than others, they werepletely uninformed of why this had happened. Since they were silent, the system used the opportunity to pitch an idea. [Bite your sister] "What? Why?" Tim asked, unwilling to even think of how inappropriate that would be. [Bite your sister and I might be able to give information of what could be causing this] Uncertain of how to put this into words, he nced at one of his sisters and muttered an idea. "Look, I have these weird senses that allow me to figure out more stuff about an animal once I bite them. Maybe it will work here, it won''t be a powerful bite, Haze." Chapter 158: North problems (3) Chapter 158: North problems (3) ''Weird senses'' was the best way to describe this ability. Well the system would be doing all the work, but it wasn''t the best idea to describe that, even towards siblings. The system itself urges to be secretive about it although the reason is still a blur. Instantly, Haze objected. "Why bite me? Bite one of the boys!" It was a firm reason of which the little hero had no way of going against. But after a few moments, the best idea he coulde up with was. "I''ll bite all of you, more information will be helpful." Neither of the siblings werefortable with such a method, Timothy included. But this seemed to be the only way of figuring out these bizarre powers, without putting their life on the line. So he decided to get this over with and requested, "Philip, can you just stretch out your fin towards me?" This sibling wasn''t the most motivated to go ahead with this n, but didn''t put up a fight either and offered a fin almost instantly. The system carrying boy went ahead and just dug in the tip of his jaw towards this volunteer, and pushed down deep enough to pierce the skin and let some blood seep out. [That''s enough] The system announced and processed this bit of blood, [Hmmm... quite bizarre] "What''s going on?!" The little boy asked and had an urge to yell out but in this case it would be tremendously weird. "Will they die?" [No. Well not because of these changes at least] [I''ve used the blood sample to analyse what bodily structure would be required to contain this kind of blood, since it seemed to have changed as well along with the rest of the body] [Aplete chart of what I could analyse is ready to be heard out. But this kind of information shouldn''t be avable to you now. Neither should you be able to buy it soon, but such a perk can be unlocked for an hour. I didn''t do this for anyone before but this information is valuable, it will be a nice addition to my collection of knowledge] [Price = 200 system points] The sea-pancake''s heart ached after hearing such a price but also understood that the system is going beyond bounds to help both him and herself. So he simply nodded and allowed it, "Sure, I''ll buy it." [Purchase confirmed] [200 system points consumed] [42 system points remaining] By now Timothy had realised that his siblings had given strange and contemtive res, so he started behaving as if still thinking: smacking his jaws too. [Your brother Philip has met aplete body rebirth. The internal body parts he has now can be barely considered that of a stingray''s although his bodyform is still identical to one.] Such a piece of information was in all ways difficult to understand for a pea-brained boy. So the only question he coulde up with was, "So that''s what''s causing him to shoot out big-ass ghost jaws!" [Somewhat, yes. His entire body has been reformed to meet the requirements that this new ability demands] [As for the jaw-power itself, this solelyes from Philip''s brain. He isn''t shooting out jaws but using smaller particles in the waters instead] [These particles cane out of anything. Coral, animals, even water. And within a second they are automatically broken down andpressed for use, before they are turned into any desired form. And what strength it has is all determined by Philip] This seemed like the most powerful ability one could run across, the little hero was bing a bit envious. He only understood half of what the system had exined but could build up a thought, enough to ask. "So he can shoot out jaws with his mind now?" [Yes, but that''s not all. His entire body has changed to support this kind of power, including his brain] [The blood sample wasn''t enough to make an urate guess but right now his IQ should range around 400. And the other intelligences should be high too] Such information came in as more shocking than the realisation that the holy-tar sect has spread amongst thousands of bodies. But by now his siblings had grown impatient. So he swiftly introduced, "Philip, you can use everything around you now and transform them into big jaws. It''s like mind control but you can destroy everything around you with a thought, just to make those jaws." The rest of his siblings had a lot of trouble catching on, so Tim also added. "You have be smart enough to control small particles around you and use them however you want to!" "Great so my theory wasn''t so far off." Philip answered and forced all of them into shock. It was difficult to catch up on how he figured this bizarre situation out already but the system carrying boy understood it, his brother has attained a massive IQ now so it shouldn''t be too tricky for the boy to understand how his own body worked. There was no time to understand the rest of what his brother could be capable of, as curiosity urged to figure out more stuff. Snoopy volunteered to be bitten after and from the looks of it his IQ hasn''t changed, although it was already high. "Bite me, but stay away from my ass yer!" This sentence already made the situation ufortable but thinking about biting into this boy seemed torturous because his entire skin was covered with what seemed like metal. Finally deciding to try and sink his jaws on this sibling, it was noticeable at an instant that it would be difficult to even puncture the surface of this guy. So a bit more power was given in but yet it was ineffective. So the system carrying boy gave in all of his thrust against the metal-flesh and finally managed to break the tip of the jaw in. Thankfully, the system announced. [That''s enough] Chapter 159: North problems (4) Chapter 159: North problems (4) [Your brother''s blood has been analysed and it will be exined for free, since the purchase you made has a time-span] [Loading...] [Snoopy''s skin isn''t made out of metal. Instead, his skin has been upgraded to being tremendously tough. Spears likely won''t be able to scratch him, not to mention forcing in any puncture] [Your brother''s internal organs are still mostly normal, apart from the muscles who are now extremely strong to support his power move] [Intelligence seems to be the same but that''s not necessarily a problem since it was already high] Before turning to his siblings, Tim found it best to assure first. "Okay so you''re telling me that both my brothers have been mutated?" [The green substance has forced changes on them and somehow shifted their original form, it gave them powers to. So in all ways, this is a mutation] Seeing that his siblings were waiting with anticipation and confusion evident in their eyes, the hero finally gained enough reasons to exin. "Looks like it''s kinda the same with you Snoopy. Except you have strong muscles and tougher skin. That''s why you can swim so fast and destroy a goddamn coral." The more he spoke, the more sense this portion of the situation made so most became more willing to explore what was happening. That''s why Patty moved closer and although hesitant, she reached out a fin. "Bite me now. I want to know what has changed in my body." It felt awkward to bite one of the females so he hurried back after breaking the very surface of her skin, even had his eyes closed as if something like that would provide privacy. [Analysing blood sample...] [Your sister''s main mutation seems to be on the tail. Her barb is now an endless supplier of extremely strong and venomous spikes] [Her tail mainly now carries strong muscles to support this power, but the rest of her body is a bit strong too for the sake of bnce and avoiding injuries] This was the portion of the information that made the most sense. So the little man was quick to deliver the message, "Patty, your tail is crazy strong now and can shoot deadly spikes because of it." "It''s perfect for her really, she avoided battles anyway. Now she can fight from far away although it won''t help with her bravery." The woman who unleashed such a sentence was Haze, she doesn''t really like her sister. Well her sister''sck of bravery is mostly dotted but one-sided drama is almost never ending. And yet theter didn''t try to fight back and epted that her sister will never stop yapping about bravery regardless of how many times she would be told not to. But this time Patty had an opportunity to deal damage with a simple question, "If you''re so brave, why haven''t you been bitten by our brother yet?" To such a question she couldn''t properly reply and instead just swam closer towards the hero and reached out one of her fins. Ego had definitely been damaged here, "Bite me already." Such a situation was embarrassing enough so the young one just wanted to get this over with. Therefore hended a soft bite and then swiftly backed away, only to hear the system introduce the situation right after. [Analysing blood...] [Haze has gained the possibly most unique ability here. She can look at any structure and figure out a 9-dimensional preview of the same structure. This portion of her power is supported by a high IQ along with great vision] [While her ability to dismantle an object is fully based on the ability to break certain portions into small particles. This type of power is still confusing, but her entire internal organs have changed to support it - I sensed organs that don''t belong to a stingray] [Thanks to her 9-dimensional view, she knows where the weak spots are in any structure or object and then breaks those points into particles which ends up demolishing the target] [Such a power demands a big IQ or else her head would have exploded. It''s a rough guess but her IQ has to be over 600] This information was the most confusing to understand, especially the 9-dimensional portion. So the only thing the little hero could utter was a question, "Haze, how do I look like?" Although she was hesitant to exin and a tad shocked that her brother figured out her visual ability, an answer waster given. "All of you look weird now. I can see your skin and all of your organs." "My senses were right then." Timmy answered as if he figured everything out. Well, the points spent for this information still felt painful so he deserved credit. The other siblings were confused so they were enlightened in a few seconds by the little boy, "Haze has great eye-sight now and can break down little particles although she can''tmand them like Philip." "She is also the smartest here now. I''m not sure if you all know what an IQ is, but hers is around 600." Although it was difficult to admit this portion, it had to be said. "Philip is super smart as well but his IQ is 400." Wanting to give them a better grasp of how this type of intelligence works, the boy also had to add. "These two are basically so smart that it seems impossible. The average IQ is under 80 in the sea world." Everyone was pondering over the situation and information about their siblings but mostly their selves. Although everything about this felt bizarre, they were all struck speechless and even the smart ones had it hard to understand how a simple liquid made all these changes. Tim felt the worst out of all of these siblings, simply because now he was the weakest amongst them while just a moment ago he had reigned supreme in power. That fact regardless, a thought ran through his mind and managed to hand over motivation. "That blob came from the east. Maybe there is a holy-tar tribe there that we can destroy!" Chapter 160: Raw Chapter 160: Raw Although a tremendous amount of confidence has been given to the overall group of siblings, one of them stood out. It was Patty and she questioned, "Is it a good idea to go fight those crazy fish right now? We just got these powers." "You have to stop being scared, this is bing a problem." A simple thought would help figure out who unleashed such critique. But this time it was actually Snoopy who spoke, even continued. "We can kill every enemy around here. You can fucking explode sharks with your barb." Wanting to filter the situation towards the firm aim of what''s better, Philip intervened. "A bit exaggerated but he has a point. No enemy could kill us now, we are the best." This situation could be debated for a long time. So it was best for the little hero to cut it short and encourage a demand, "To the east we go then." His siblings were quick to follow along although not all of them were convinced to fight. Haze felt like the most powerful of them all so she gave in an extra attempt of avoiding looking at anything specifically. The ability she has can be expensive. What could start as a simple focus towards a structure, can end up as a demolition because the control she had over these powers was equal to a baby who was learning to walk. The rest of the siblings were equally untrained. ... The journey towards the east was best described as short-distanced but longsting. It became easy to follow a proper trail of where that beast came from, because there were spots where the same green substance had been bashed against. It was all over the ce,ying over coral with foot-wide quantities where just any marine animal could swim by it and force through a tremendously powerful transformation. This sounded like a good thing because more animals could defend the reef. However what it sounded like and what the actual situation would be, had the same examples of delusion and reality. This group of stingrays choose to protect the reef inhabitants with these new powers but most fish have an IQ low enough to be corrupted by greed. Most marine animals would go around bullying and eating others for the fun of it. The sharks were a good example although half of them did it for survival. So Haze was given the opportunity to hide the existence of these patches of green-substance. The ability to destroy this tar was impossible because even after looking through it with her 9-dimensional senses, there wasn''t a weakness or particles to destroy. The substance almost felt otherworldly but even such structures would have particles. This thing doesn''t. Since it couldn''t be directly destroyed, the best idea would be to hide them. So the littledy had first broken a hole through the coral and sand flooring by breaking down the smallest particles first ~ the biggest onester. It took no time because although her ability was raw, it was still powerful and little precision was required to dig the tar 10 feet under the sea floor. The second portion was easy, the walls of the hole were broken down which buried the substance forever. Or at least for a long time. One thing that most didn''t notice until recently, was Haze''s shift of eye-colour. They had attained a thickyer of darkness. Along with fall smaller, numerous white dots. It gave a great hint of how powerful her eyes were now but they also appeared pretty. The team had continued following the same path, it was in an almost straight line. Because from the looks of it, that crazed blob-fish had swam straight and sted the green stuff as if a wild battle had erupted. But on the contrary the entire ce seemed pretty calm, so these all hint towards that blob being crazy. Finally, a weird view had captured them. Around a hole that was mostly spread across the sand and a bit on coral, there wererge amounts of this weird tar. Looking inside, there was more of it so it felt difficult to enter it. Sure this same weird-tar had given them powers but all of them were scared of touching this thing again. And it wasn''t because of the pain that came with it, but the uncertainty. Philip was given the opportunity to hone his powers a bit more, simply because this next portion of the n required brute force. The rest of the siblings were asked to move away and he assured a good distance from the hole as well. Within a split second, the 6 feet long jaws generated from seemingly nothing and then shot out towards the hole. Which in exchange had sshed the weird-tar all around but thankfully not on any of the siblings. Arge portion was bitten off the hold which gave a great aid in terms of removing the tar, half of it was already removed ~ the tunnel seemed to have carried the same substance as well before being blown away in all directions. Entering this underground structure felt a bit easier now so Timothy was the first to swim towards such a goal. But before even reaching close enough, his vision was captured by what seemed like a fast-moving fish. It had charged directly towards the young man and such a move never felt like something safe. He wanted to dash upwards to avoid this sh but it felt impossible, there just wasn''t enough time to do it. The tremendousmotion suddenly became associated with a force that punctured the very odds of destiny. An extremely fast moving object had enved the scene and bashed against the very animal that had charged towards the little hero. Such an impact was strong enough topletely redirect the enemy, there was no consideration of how much momentum the said enemy had piled up. This collision resulted into an animal being bashed against the ground; followed along by a 10 feet wide dust cloud that erupted because of the crash and collision. Chapter 161: Idol Chapter 161: Idol It took a good minute for the dust cloud to calm down. Timothy had long gone away from the same cloud, just to get away from any potential attacking from any other enemy that was down there. Thankfully no other animal emerged. A short moment after the collision it had been made clear whom had attacked the enemy, it was Patty. Her senses had proven faster than that of anyone else''s so she was able to shoot out 3 barbs that individually aided to deliver a devastating blow. Although the hero felt proud to have such an agile sister, it was evident that if she had missed: the hero would have been ripped in half regardless of how good his bodily durability was at the moment. So a halfint had been unleashed towards thedy, "I hope you can aim like that all the time or we would all be dead." "Well I..." The littledy was about to answer but her sentence was cut short. By no particr danger but Snoopy instead, "My skin is like metal. She can''t kill me!" "Yes. Thank you for reminding us." Haze answered instead of anyone else and the conversation was cut down short there. Even though she meant it as a tease but her tone pointed otherwise. Now they were able to see at least half as clearly, just what kind of marine animal had attacked. The figure was rather dismantled, ripped in 3 pieces because each barb was enough to cause a foot-wide hole. Piled up with a heavenly momentum, it was enough to blow up the attacker even though its body was more than a foot wide! But judging from what is left from this body, considering that there were short fins and an almost nk-straight back, this must have been a mako shark. This one was under 2 meters long. In other words it meant that this shark wasn''t full-grown. In this case size didn''t mater as even a 8 meter long shark would fail to fight against Patty. She was definitely overpowered. It wouldn''t be an everyday scene to see a small and young stingray who was powerful to this extent. But as for superiority, this team of siblings can easily rule the reef and protect it too. Although all of them gave the littledy a few weird looks, it was made certain that the power she could unleash was not to be mocked. The carcass was still melting because of the green venom. Now it was the best time to continue the n so Tim added, "Let''s go and see what else is down there." And as ifpletely ignoring the recent attack, he still swam in first to face the unknown, head-first. Unsurprisingly, another animal busted out of the hole but this time he didn''t give the chance for any of the other siblings to handle this. Instead, the hero leaped towards the charging enemy and throughout the split second, he managed to unleash one of the toughest attacks. His marvelous barb curled downwards and then straight forward, which in exchange had struck the enemy underneath the chin. But the barb wasn''t curled enough so it didn''t poke through the head but sunk deeper towards the enemy''s chest. Thanks to the dust cloud that was yet to fully go away, the enemy''s size was greatly overestimated. Simply because the enemy was just a bit longer than him and died almost instantly once struck. Opening his eyes to observe the situation, it was clearly noticeable that 3 holes had been blown open, right near the hole. Looking back at Patty, he said. "I''m so d you missed the shot." "I did it intentionally." She answered shortly. Not for the sake of being intimidating but because this day has been tiring, with all the scolds blowing around. The topic was ended there, which allowed the system to notify. [Moorish idol killed. 2 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Since this is also a system given task, you earned 2 additional points] [Total system points = 46] "What? This is how a moo fish... whatever, looks like?" The sea-pancake questioned with a thought. And noticed that the features on this fish were simr to thest tasked-target. It was t in a vertical way but had slightly different colours. This one was carrying yellow and dark stripes. What stood as somewhat more interesting about this fish, was its back which had an antenna like string flowing backwards. It seemed as if a kid had tried to draw a fish but heavily failed to draw the tail. Regardless it was beautiful but now the creature had been ughtered so beauty did not matter. Another thought arose, "This sect is really desperately enving any fish they swim across." Although it was obvious that this sect''s arsenal could be tainted with weak fish, it also meant that the problem was snow-balling into a reef-wide issue. "I hope this sect hasn''t spread on the reef too much. Or else these tribes will take us forever to kill." As they began to carefully go through the tunnel, the little system immediately announced. [You are in an overall state that''s good enough to start task 15. Do you want to hear it out?] He never wanted to be locked out of purchases again, this wasn''t the best time to follow a task. So he answered, "Not yet." The system obliged so it became less nerve wracking to continue following the tunnel. It became less dangerous to swim in this tunnel the deeper they sunk in, but the next problem arose: darkness. It became difficult to move around, especially since this den wasn''t simr to any other. What started off as a single tunnel, continued as several of them mixing together and creating a maze that barely made any sense. Such a situation had slowly managed to build up unnecessary tension. Enough to forget that one of these siblings had vision capabilities unlike any other. 9-dimensional even. Chapter 162: Symbol Chapter 162: Symbol Noticing that her siblings were ufortable because of this very same darkness, Haze gave in all effort to hold down a mean expression, which only took a second of work considering the high intelligence she carried. And then spoke out, "Let me lead this time, I can see everything here pretty clearly." Everyone awaited for a solution like this but neither of them remembered that one of their siblings could offer a solution. Tension really tends to work for the worse sometimes. Without making any extramotion, she swam a bit more forward to begin leading the group and then they continued the hunt for anything that might be down here. This ce was weird in all terms so the prime thought became to leave this ce as fast as possible. ... They''ve swam in this set of tunnels for nearly an hour now and they never saw a sign of life! What stood as a prime issue was the overall fear that this group carried. Bit bit bit it really felt usible for them to get lost in this ce. "This is weird." Haze finally pointed out, stopping on her spot after piecing everything together. "It feels like a maze but it really isn''t one. On the contrary this ce isn''t natural but fish-made and the tunnels all work together to draw a symbol." "You noticed that too?" Philip asked, being the second smartest in the group with a stunning IQ of 400. Regardless of that intelligence, he still felt unsure about the thought of this ce resembling a symbol. Indirectly answering that question, she recited. "I have memorized every twist and location of each tunnel. It feels like a maze but everything leads us to one point, which is the middle of whatever this symbol represents." All the other siblings here were unaware of what the hell was going on, even after that exnation was deciphered. So Timothy became the first to ask, "What does the symbol look like?" "It looks weird." Was the only quick answer that could be let out, but an idea came with it. Using the barb, she began drawing across the sand flooring to give a visual representation of the symbol in topic. It was simple to understand but still failed to make any sense, because no marine animal or object would have this form. It didn''t seem natural. Once focusing on the middle of the symbol, they noticed a circle. Later on it was made more apparent that this circle carried 3 wings that were bigger than the middle portion. These wings started out as smaller once being near the dot, but the rest of the wings slowly grew in size as the other end of them was drawn. It seemed simplistic at best but all the way weird. Even after looking at this symbol, no one could make anything useful out of it. Apart from Haze who moved away from the group and began eyeing all of the surroundings in a few seconds. "Now if I''m right... we should be in the middle of the symbol." Feeling that such a statement had a heavy weight, no one replied to her and waited for an boration. The room became silent which allowed thedy to focus even better. Seconds after they heard a faint crack which came along with another crack, a few secondster it was followed by several of them. A louder, ear-piercing sound erupted right after and the rest saw arge crack spreading across the middle of the floor. Such ear damaging sounds ceased to exist now and were reced by crashes which shook the soul rather than the ears. A dust cloud erupted throughout the entire small cavern and it became difficult for most to spot anything around them. What began piercing the blinding cloud was beams of green light which became more and more invasive by the passing second. It felt like a good idea to remain in this cloud since it offered proper camouge. But eventually the dust calmed down and the entire group could see tremendously clearly what was underneath. Haze had broken down particles enough to take out the entire flooring of the symbol''s middle section. And that same sand had fallen in the middle of what seemed like a holy-tar pool. It wasn''t enough to overwhelm the entire pool but was instead just dotting in the middle. The most space it could take was a fourth of the holy-tar patch. Although highly expected, bundles of fish did not burst out in all directions even though this cavern was big enough to hold sect members who could invade half of the reef, single-handedly. The patch of holy-tar itself stretched 15 meters wide. Whatever these fish do with such a substance, it sure seemed plentiful to serve their needs. Life didn''t seem to be plentiful in this hidden cavern but it wasn''tpletely deprived of it. One fish was floating around the pool''s left end and didn''t fail to maintain an effortlessly casual attitude. Neither of the siblings wanted to approach the tar or this fish too closely, but every bit of life here had to be wiped out for the sake of never having to deal with this ce again. So they swam behind the one and only enemy, but noticed that it didn''t really show any fear ~ the dang fish didn''t even bother to turn around. "I see that my son has done his job well. All of the new experiments are here." This fish''s tone was manly by tone but it was evident that the same voice was tired. The fish in front of them had spoken and by appearance it seems to be of the same species with that blobfish who Tim had killed earlier. What this older fish said made a lot of sense but neither of them wanted to cooperate. So the hero was first to speak out for the rest, "We didn''te here to kiss your ass, old man." Chapter 163: Upcoming era Chapter 163: Uing era "It doesn''t really matter what you want to do. Your friends or blood, whoever they are. Have been enved by the holy tar." Here, the blobfish finally turned around and faced the guests that hade here. Confidence was greater than ever and dictatorship was an urge this old man couldn''t hold back, "These experiments got powers but soon enough they will only prove as food for what''s greater. They have no difference from the critters we feed on." From the group of stingrays, Timothy was the one with the most rage and unleashed it too although vocabry didn''t exactly seed to expand. "What the fuck are you talking about? My brothers and sisters have their souls intact! They can''t be enved." "Enved? Why would our beautiful sect give them this honour?" The blobfish slightly yelled but all of them could understand that this was delusional at least. This sect enved every fish they ran across. But this old man still managed to release a few statements that got all of them shocked, "Your siblings will only be food for what''sing. This reef will soon enter a new era, all of which belongs to the holy-tar sect. We''ve worked years to make this upper-side of the ocean as our own, and now this goal is on our fingertips. Close to beingpleted!" "My son went through a horrible transformation and the 77 members that lived here, sacrificed everything to help him transform into a monster. He was meant to carry the refined tar, our sect will only be bigger because of him!" It felt that this old man had a lot more to say, but the opportunity wasn''t given. Simply because Haze had enough of this blob''s bullshit and began unleashing every bit of her ability tounch a deadly attack! First the enemy''s tone was significantly decreased in volume, which was a hint that sudden pain had enveloped this man. In a matter of seconds, the other siblings managed to spot little dots bursting out of the enemy from tens of directions. Which alone wasn''t good enough to cause an instant death towards this blob but definitely managed to cause pain. A silent cry came out of the enemy and it was made certain that the energy to shout had beenpressed, thanks to all of the pain. The blob tried to move as well but it became impossible even further by the passing second. After a few hundred small dots had broken out in all directions from the enemy, the entire blob beganpressing into one spot. In fact it was even worse than that as this odd fish didn''t simply shrink in size, but folded several times like paper. It was difficult to watch, especially after hearing a few bones crack but it felt especially scary how thisdy was inflicting such damage only with her mind. Timothy wanted to scold thedy for rushing with this kill. More information could have been withdrawn from the enemy because thankfully this one was one of the most talkative in this sect. But considering the method of murder, he felt it would be a dumb idea to enrage thisdy. The blob folded into nothingness in a matter of seconds and that''s when Philip interrupted, "That''s new ha? I don''t think you knew how to do that before, you literally just folded that blob." Feeling a tad happy that at least one of these siblings was smart enough to pick up such details, she gave a light nod and locked eyes directly. "Those particles can be moved around a little, not just broken down. So I used both methods to fold that worthless body into nothingness." A lot ofints could have been let out this time but the little hero decided to get this over with quick, even used a point of reference he had picked up from earlier. "Okay enough with the smart talk. Sink down this holy-tar pool so we can get out of here. Some crazy fish ising soon so we need to get rid of more tribes as fast as we can." "That''s not what''s going on." Philip pointed out but couldn''t find the softest words to describe this bizarre situation. That''s when Haze swooped in and gave out an even more thought out exnation. "The reef will face its biggest threat yet. Because for once we won''t face a fish who needs the holy-tar to grow stronger, but us siblings who have been struck with the refined-tar." As if synced in perfectly, the other smart sibling continued exining. "And I think that blob was being literal. This stronger fish will use us as food rather than the holy-tar, that is if they eat tar to begin with." "Judging from that confidence that the blob showed, this fish will definitely be stronger than any of us." The little smartdy weighed in, feeling that such a small detail was tremendously important. Getting angrier throughout the exnation, the kind stingray boy who wasn''t used to roughnguage, added. "This darn sect is strategic too. So all of that work they''ve done over the years, to spread their tribes here, was only to make a useful environment for one fish or many of the same, who are strong enough to push this reef into a new era." And then the smartdy sealed this developing issue by adding. "This new era will mean chaos for us. Because the tribes here will have superior backup, so it will help to enve every living being here far easier." Such an exnation became extended but it was clear that intelligence was working overtime for these couple of siblings. They''ve picked so many hints out of an indirect dictator-like talk. The little hero was definitely lost regarding what was going on but the problem sounded serious and the next step seemed like a blur. So a question had to be asked, "So, will we sink the pool?" One of the stingrays who spoke less this time, Snoopy to be exact, replied. "Sinking the pool won''t do much now but at least a new tribe can''t hide here. So go for it, Haze." Chapter 164: Taming the upcoming era Chapter 164: Taming the uing era When it came to rupturing a hole through the ground, it was made clear that Haze was fully qualified to do so. Most of the time, such a procedure wouldn''t even take a minute but this time they were looking at arger patch of holy-tar. It stretched 15 meters across and the substance over it made it a tad more difficult to work with. The littledy knew well regarding just how much her abilities could handle, so towards the idea of sinking the pool, she added. "I''m not strong enough to sink all of it, it can take all day." Although the idea was directly refused, neither of them were worried considering that the overall arsenal in this team was far too powerful now. Thest thing they would worry about was sinking this pool. Proving that thought right, the samedy nted the seeds for a counter offer. "But this entire cavern is on the verge of copsing because it was made in a rush and didn''t have enough fish to work in it either. That old gas back said that there were 77 fish who sacrificed everything... that''s not a lot of animals when ites to building a ce this big." Philip managed to catch up where this was going but the rest were mostly unaware, that''s why the littledy had tomand. "All of you need to get out now. I''m guessing that you have remembered the way out, Philip?" "I never really saw anything in the tunnels, but it is easy for me to remember how long to swim before taking any specific turns that can lead us out of here." Just like that the n was made although the other siblings were unaware what the n was. Yet both of these siblings encouraged, "It''s time to leave this ce." Most of them began heading for the broken down ceiling, and made their way out of here. The holy-tar offered a bit of illumination to the tunnels now thanks to the wide opening that was broken down before. Haze was left behind ording to the swiftly built up n and her eyes were stalking the entire cavern here. Swiftly but urately, she recounted all of the weak points here and began inflicting damage. She had given the most focus on the upper portions of this structure, which seemed unstable just by looking at them. And with just a little bit of concentration, a few bits of dust began individually flying off from those same upper spots. Within a few seconds, up to 100 particles counted and that''s when a few pounds of dirt fell down andnded on the patch of holy-tar. The effect didn''t stop there as she continued rupturing through a few other portions that were close to the ceiling''s section. Sand mixed with dirt, along with a few rocks too, began crashing down from all directions and this time the quantity was much more overwhelming. They weighed a few hundred pounds so once this quantity met with the ground, a small earthquake had erupted. Itsted only a second but it''s weight was enough to even allow the rest of the siblings to feel it. That wasn''t a surprise considering that they did not yet leave the tunnels. The copse had managed to cause a massive dust cloud, and the littledy was even buried a foot below the outskirts of this copse, but it was nothing she couldn''t escape out of. Once digging out of the dirt and sand, she put in effort to look through the cloud. Within a few seconds of attempt, it became easier to do so but obviously the sight wasn''t clear enough. That''s when the young girl felt a tremendous shake. From the faint glimpse she could catch, themotion wasing from the left walls of the cavern. This forced the situation to elerate quickly because the copse from the left side had also somehow spread to the very ceiling. Sure she has broken the cavern''s ceiling but there was a portion above that as well which specifically belonged to the tunnels. Haze was brave but she could notice when a situation was leading towards the odds of life and death itself. So she headed towards the right side of the cavern with hopes of avoiding this ce. And thankfully there were a few tunnels avable to barge through, one of them was close enough to reach. The little stingray had bashed through the tunnel, and that''s when a dust cloud followed along and even managed to cause pain in her eyes this time. But what stood as the biggest problem, was that the tunnel on this lower portion of the cavern, waspletely blocked. She couldn''t possibly dig out of here although her powers include destroying any small mass with her mind. Two particr reasons made this situation difficult to dig out of. The first would be theck of knowledge of her surroundings. Sure a tunnel could be dug but it''s difficult to predict how firm that tunnel will stand. She can see through sand and dirt itself, but once particles were broken down to dig a tunnel, the weak-spots of the ceiling will be rearranged. Meaning what wasn''t a problem before, can be a problem after trying to progress with the digging. What stood as the second problem, was the fact that she was over 40 meters underground. Even if it''s possible to make a tunnel that long, it will take far more than a day. And by then other aspects will be a problem, such as hunger. This meant that in all ways, thedy was stuck here and there was nothing she could do about it. Giving arge sigh, she expressed. "So much for doing good. I try so hard and this is how it ends up?" That''s when she started hearing a weird sound. It didn''t sound like an earthquake nor did it portray anything that a light shake would cause, but instead her senses were tingling because this sound had roughmotion. It was as if dirt was fighting against dirt and one side only, was winning. Chapter 165: Taming the upcoming era (2) Chapter 165: Taming the uing era (2) That weird sound halted for a quick second. This helped thedy rx, she never liked being unaware of what was happening around her. Such a feeling was frowned upon even before she got these weird powers. Haze''s 9-dimensional eye-sight helped when it came to looking through dirt walls, but she couldn''t really look through deep enough. In most cases she could just see through half a meter of any object or structure, but it was for the sole purpose of analysing ~ this power wasn''t built to solely look through objects or animals. With thatmotion out of the way, she once more began nting the seeds of a n to get out of here. This situation was rough but giving up was never in her agenda. But that sound... it returned once more and the grinding type of sound it made, was strong enough to cause uncontroble shivers. Within a second, her vision captured something unusual. Some fast-moving object had bashed through one way of the tunnel to the other. One would think that such amotion would cause a copse, which would bury thedy alive. But the rupture through dirt and sand was so swift and agile, that it was a tad difficult to cause any undesirable damage. After the dust cloud caused a bit of difort to the eyes, she spotted a familiar figure in the tunnel, it cited. "Let''s get out of here sis. I would savour the moment of saving your ass for once but that tunnel won''t hold for long." From the expressions themselves, it was easy to figure out that this creature was none other than Snoopy. Fighting the cloud of dust and spotting his silver like skin, it was easier to firmly determine that it was him. Towards such an expression, the littledy had an urge to fold her sibling like paper, but thankfully the intelligence she had came with an unholy amount of self control. So they quickly made their way out through the tunnel, fairly unscathed and once they reached the surface; this gooddy was greeted with a warm sight. The rest of her siblings carried joyful and relieved looks on their faces, this felt like home itself and towards her it proved a point. Family was important, it was easy to filter out that their care was genuine. They even expressed it in various ways, all at the same time. She wanted to say something equally warm but it felt as if her tongue was tied. So instead, grand focus was lended towards the tunnel that they used as an escape route. It seemed that the entire cavern and tunnels had copsed. But there wasn''t enough dirt and sand to properly fill the cavern. Only 3/4 of it was filled, and it required shattered corals that went down along with the copse, to fill the cavern the way that it was. This was good in a way, that holy tar can''t be used again. Or at least it would take a hellish amount of work to dig it out, this sect didn''t seem to have many members in the reef so that would make everything trickier. With a bit of focus, she began chipping off small particles from the tunnel. And after a moment, tens of them had flown away from their former position, which led to a few pounds of dirt falling down in the tunnel. She couldn''t see deep enough down there, but what she could reach was enough to cause damage that would permanently make this ce unusable. Dirt and sand kept falling down in the tunnel, and in no time it was almost leveled with the rest of this copse. The team felt happy that this task was over, but all of them were aware that this could be just the beginning. A good idea now was to reach for a coral crack to rest in and figure out the next step. In a few seconds they did so, dirt was down their throats so they put in a bit of work to cough that out. But afterwards Philip was the first to break the agitated atmosphere, "We need to split up." "What? Why?" Patty was the first to ask, yelling out even. Although such behaviour wasn''t really found in this gooddy. "I wish that we all had an intelligence boost." The smartest sibling here expressed and then weighed in before anyone else could speak, "Something strong ising after us mutated ones and it wants to use us for food." "I got that part." The otherdy replied and tried to remain patient as well, "But why should we split up? It''s dangerous." Philip knew how such a conversation would go down so he took charge, "Which is exactly why we should split up. That strong fish, whoever it is, wants to use us for food but we can''t ignore that these holy-tar tribes are also important." "Without them, this reef can''t be pushed to the new era that geezer yapped about." This time it was Snoopy who spoke out, thankfully he was catching up with everything. "We figured out that the tribe we just buried, needed 77 members to somehow create that blob monster." "But if we kill all the sect members then there won''t be any fish to use, meaning they can''t create another fish that shoots out refined-tar." The smartestdy added, wanting to be a tad more kind and therefore picking less saltynguage. Almost as if synced with a single thought, the smartest brother continued exining the problem. "This means that there won''t be any mutated fish for that stronger sect member to feed on. The whole foundation of this sect is based on these holy-tar tribes." While these siblings were discussing what the entire n was, be it from the enemies or their own, the system carrying stingray felt happy to be surrounded by intelligent siblings. Because he could never have figured this out all alone, there were just too many twists that came from the enemies. This conversation could have gone on for a long while, and Timmy had caught up enough to figure out what they should do, so hemanded. "It''s settled then. We are going to split and destroy as many tribes as we can!" Chapter 166: Task 15 Chapter 166: Task 15 Considering the delicate situation, it didn''t take much time to form a proper n. The idea was simple, to destroy. And the method of doing so is to scout the reef primarily, it would be stupid to wait for the holy-tar tribes to find them. Since their arsenal counted 5 stingrays of different powers, be it mutated or non-mutated, the entire reef could be covered at a way faster pace ~ that was another reason to split up, the progress it represented far beated anything they could do all together. His siblings were heading to cover a side of thepass each, while Timmy had chosen to go towards the very middle. There were a couple more reasons to do so apart from hunting down enemies. The prime one was to check on the tribe of white-legged shrimp who proves troublesome to govern before. And the second reason... it had a heavier history behind it. As he was heading towards the destination, the system reminded. [Your current state is good enough to try out task 15, do you want to hear it out?] "I forgot about that." The little stingray sighed and then requested, "Tell me what I should hunt." [Task 15 = locate and kill a dwarf moray eel] "Sounds familiar... have I killed one of those before?" Most things tend to sound familiar actually, simply because he was tremendously terrible at remembering things. [You killed a couple of normal moray eels before, one of them was Harold] [This species however, is much smaller and befitting to a task that gives just 2 system points upon sess] Everything began to make a lot more sense now, but confusion once more struck as he had barely any idea where to find any species of eel. The only ones he saw were submerged in the reef in the past, so that was the best option to choose from. ... It took him about 3 hours to reach the middle of the reef, mostly because he wasn''t trying to rush although the situation urged so. The goal was to wipe out every holy-tar tribe in the middle section of the reef, but that didn''t mean he shouldn''t keep an eye out for any other tribe on the way there. If one was found, it was to be ughtered regardless which side it resided on - such a method aided to get rid of this problem quicker. He hasn''t swam into any evil tribe so the efforts felt pale. This whole mission felt nd, until a few shouts were heard from about 100 meters away. He could not see what was going on, the vision he carried was very limited and this coral reef wasn''t t - so understanding the situation was tricky. All he could do was charge at full speed towards the screams and hope that the situation was easy to tame... but judging from themotion, that wouldn''t be the case. He finally arrived and noticed a coat of white coloured species dashing left and right. It seemed like they had submerged into some kind of battle. Upon further inspection, he could spot that this was the very tribe he had governing over. They seem to be raging in battle against some species of fish who wererger in size but smaller in quantity, far smaller. Regardless of that fact, the damage they were inflicting was great and the hero walked into body parts that belonged to the shrimp, being tossed around. The situation still felt fresh because there weren''t many white-legged ones around. If there were more here, the shrimps would definitely gain the advantage in battle. Although he didn''t recognize the species, the little hero charged directly forward with the aim ofnding a bite against the half meter long species. Just now he noticed that the eyes these enemies carried, were glowing in a strong green colour. It became a tad easier to figure out what was going on, but this also specified that the situation was a tad more dangerous than expected. Still it didn''t stop the hero, heunched against the closest enemy and managed to dig his jaws against flesh. Just now he had noticed how white coloured these species are. He didn''t pay attention to colour before and just wanted to attack, but these fish were mostly white in colour. It would be tremendously difficult to kill a fish that was over 3 times bigger in size, so he leaped directly towards the other closest by enemy ~ he carried a chunk of the previous enemy''s flesh. Towards the next target, he began sacrificing bnce for the sake ofnding one of the toughest strikes he coulde up with! The tail pushed forward as much as possible, which led tonding against the enemy at almost full speed. Although overdone, he unleashed all gathered up venom against this enemy for the sake of taking one down as quickly as possible. This marvelous bumblebee attack forced the enemy into a strong flinch, in exchange it began charging directly forward. And as an unlucky aftermath, Timothy was dragged along by the sheer power of a fish who wanted to escape pain: his barb was stuck on the enemy''s ribcage and that wasn''t so easy to escape from. By now, the system had gathered up enough information to exin. [Haddock identified. Would you like to hear out the effects?"] Feeling a tad agitated due to that question, he swiftly replied. "No!" And gave in all power to detach from this enemy, which mostly included jiggling the tail around in all possible directions. That''s when he felt a crash and as a result, was hurled across the sea-waters before meeting with a chunk of coral. Thankfully it wasn''t enough to cause any reported damage but it still was painful. It was noticeable now that the white-coloured fish had crashed against coral as well. Such a result gave a hint of disorientation, which helped the hero gain a bit more confidence: his strike was definitely effective. But... That''s when he saw one of the same enemies charging straight towards him, jaws snapping. Chapter 167: Folding Chapter 167: Folding Such a sight was scary but not exactly anything he wasn''t used to. So the young one began pping fins randomly, portraying a semi-desperate struggle to get out of the way. He did not know how dangerous a bite from one of these enemies could be, neither did he care to figure out. The half meter fish ended up bashing against the coral, specifically at the hero''s former position. Timothy had the time to get mostly out of the way, but it wasn''t enough. Since he had decided to swim up, the white-coloured enemy had bashed against the little one''s tail. [Health, -3 points] [Total health = 89/110] Such pain was definitely not anything he wanted to tolerate. Although in numbers it didn''t sound drastic, tail pain was almost paralysing - mainly because it was his primary weaponry. Raging beyond measure, the sea-pancake abruptly shook his head to gain a bit more focus. His t lips curled into an ugly frown once locking eyes with the enemy''s back. It was still regaining some senses, because a bash against hard and often sharp coral, wasn''t great on the noggin. Using the opportunity, he charged against the enemy andnded the barb straight through its spine. That''s when a sharp pain followed along. Typically, breaking through soft bones and flesh wasn''t damaging to the barb - but in this case, his tail was damaged and using it has a bad aftermath. Terrible timing to have such an injury, the enemies weren''t yet ughtered and the white-legged shrimp in this specific area were close to being ttened by these half meter long fish. Regardless of these horrible circumstances, the young one continued fighting but this time avoided using the barb. Instead he went against the same enemy who was underneath him, and began putting in those powerful jaws into use. Typically, several bites within a second would inflict so much burning pain on an enemy, that a sense of disorientation would barge in. Stamina would run low as well due to the often pale effort to fight the pain. But brief damage wasn''t what the hero was going for. Instead, he lunged and dug jaws against the enemy''s spine. This one was tougher to munch through but after hanging on for a few seconds, he took a mouthful of bones from the enemy. Struggle erupted amongst the waters, it was clear that such delivered damage was far stronger than anything this lousy fish had experienced! It tried to swim forward but it was a pale attempt. Because once moving the tail, it flinched in pain and within a few triester, it was followed along by a shiver! This enemy will be as good as dead soon, or at least rendered immobile to the point of not being able to fight! So rage was reced with confidence as the young hero charged towards another enemy that swam close by. His tail was still aching and using it previously had obviously made everything worse. So as an alternative but surely effective option, he once more used the jaws against the enemy. And just now had noticed that they had a thin ck line that ran just below the spine, from one end of the fish to the other. This species was truly beautiful although Haddock was weird for a name, it was a bit of a shame that they had to be put down for good. He tried to bite this one through the spine as well but destiny seemed to have other ns. Because instead, Tim had just dug close the enemy''s front fins. It wasn''t exactly any damage worth talking about, he didn''t even find any bones through this bite. But it was toote tond another bite because the enemy had turned around and was looking for trouble. Gazing around, he noticed that a couple of haddocks have been killed already, it was obvious that the shrimp had dealt such damage. But it wasn''t enough because 4 more of them were up and swimming around like the maddened fish they were, a bright green light was glowing through their eyes. This reminded the sea-pancake what the whole deal of this situation was, domination. Either side could have attacked which unlocked such a gruesome battle. But considering that there weren''t many shrimp around, it was more likely that the holy-tar members had started this battle. He didn''t know when reinforcements would arrive but right now there were 4 enemies who craved to rip the boy apart, one of them was charging straight forward. Although the sea-disk''s tail was damaged, his fins weren''t. So with a rough ssh against the sea waters, he leaped upwards like a startled mammal. The enemy continued charging forward and smashed against coral, simply because such body mass wouldn''t grant control once attaining too much speed. That was one fish he wouldn''t need to worry about for a few more seconds. So he charged towards another fish who was close by, this one, just a second ago, had decided to fight against the remaining white-legged shrimp. Such a situation was an advantage, simply because the enemy was distracted. And so the hero charged towards this specific fish and already started pping jaws for the sake ofnding a gruesome bite. But in a split second he was greeted by an enemy who timed an attack well enough. It had charged against the young stingray and bashed against the boy''s fin! Which in exchange had managed to spoil his attack and orientation, as the strike was simply too much. [Health, -5 bars] [Total health = 84/110] At this point, it had struck the boy how important the secondary upgrades were. Because how much damage could he have received here if his bodily durability wasn''t upgraded to 20 points? After spinning like a disk for a few times, a bit of orientation was regained. The enemy who had stricken him was still charging forward, its momentum wasn''t damaged which made the hero feel like a rock in the road. "What I would do to have Haze here right now." He expressed, the urge he had was for the enemy to be folded like paper but that wasn''t possible. Chapter 168: Healthy haddocks Chapter 168: Healthy haddocks Damage regardless, the enemy would still need a few more seconds to return and attack. In other words, it gave Tim time to charge towards another enemy who was floating underneath. Unwilling to miss a proper bite again, he tried focusing a hunch more regardless of the received pain that was damaging momentum. Finally, he managed tond a proper bite against the enemy. The bite was inflicted against the tail-bone, such damage was equally terrifying to the other fish he had rendered immobile earlier. The only difference here was that this enemy was moving the middle back more, and the tail not at all. Regardless of the damage, this enemy was still moving but the system somehow still notified. [Haddock killed. 40 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 86] [You still have information regarding what effects these fish can give, would you like to hear them out?] "No!" He answered swiftly, a tad agitated of that question. For a second it was hard to determine where these points came from, specifically from which body. But after brief thinking, he was reminded of the enemy he had impaled with the aid of the entire tail. That was damaging enough but he had also unleashed all avable venom against that fish, so such a kill made sense. Giving a nce amongst the east, he noticed a coating of white. His vision was far too low when it came to determining detail, but even a fool would realise that a 15 meter patch of white that was swallowing the coral ~ could only mean that reinforcements were arriving. While he was giving attention to the east, what could the corner of his eye was a fast moving animal that was too covered in a white colour. If it had any other shade, the hero would have trouble noticing this one''s approach in time! This one had gotten too close already and it didn''t seem like an option to charge upwards, the enemy''s forehead seemed a bit too big. So instead he charged straight down, although it felt unusual. Regardless, he only needed a few inches to get out of the enemy''s path. The momentum however, was too strong. Although he wasn''t hit, the speed of this enemy was enough to drag him behind and even lead to a backflip. By now the pain which was piled up with agitation, felt like a bit too much. He hoped for the reinforcements to put in a bit more work, but it will likely take a while more until they deliver their own part of the bargain, even though they had arrived in battle already. There were just a couple more healthy enemies at the moment and both of them were focusing on Timmy. The reinforcements were solely focusing on the damaged fish so that didn''t exactly prove useful, worse yet he will likely be cheated out of system points because he wouldn''t exactlynd the finishing blow. One of the haddocks began charging directly towards the boy, but this time he had no intent of floating away for the sake of safety. Locking eyes directly with the enemy, one would expect a steamy romance session but that wasn''t nearly the case. Instead, he just inched a bit up and decided to submerge into a bit more pain for the sake of sess. His tail was poking forwards, under the belly with a good C-formation. Just a point of venom had regenerated, it wasn''t enough but it will have to do. The enemy reached ufortably close in a split second, but wasn''t agile enough to escape the gruesome barb that began scratching its forehead. The enemy continued charging forward which only led to stretching the wound across the spine. The slight hump this species had, didn''t allow the barb to continue sliding in a straight line. But the venom inflicted was spread across the entire wound instead of one particr spot. This was a good shot, but that fact regardless, the young one unleashed a wild shout. His barb had been hurt more due to this attack and the pain was far more than expected. He still could wiggle the tail around but any movement hurt like hell, this only pointed out that his tail muscle had been damaged quite enough for today. Considering the situation, he awaited for the other healthy enemy to arrive in battle. But with a single view, he noticed that the same enemy who had tossed him off bnce just earlier, had been entangled with the white-legged reinforcements. Such a situation gave a wave of motivation to charge towards the enemy he had just cut. Using the barb was no longer an option whatsoever, simply because the pain was unbearable! Instead, the young one used those marvelous jaws tond a bite against the enemy''s tail-bone. This white-coloured fish was still taking time to turn around and face the battle, sonding the strike was easier. It was fair to such sudden pain that the enemy received, was strong enough to reduce half of the remaining energy it had. Thanks to the inflicted damage, the enemy began putting in pale attempts to swim away. Mercy was one thing that the young one didn''t have towards enemies. So the opportunity was used to lunge andnd a few more bites against the enemies at a rapid pace. Bite after bite wasnded, until the system notified. [Haddock killed. 40 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 126] It felt more than satisfying to kill another one of these half meter long bastards, but it didn''t reduce the bodily pain he already had. A view towards the rest of the battle was given, and he could only hope that the reinforcements have proved their selves useful ~ simply because he would need to struggle a lot in order to continue battling. Although a tad unexpected, it seemed that the white-legged shrimp had ughtered more than enough of the enemies and they were battling thest one. Within a few more seconds of observation, the hero noticed that another group of reinforcements had arrived. Chapter 169: Elongated familiarities Chapter 169: Elongated familiarities And with their aid, the enemies were just flocked with bites and pokes, simply overwhelmed. This battle was finally over and Timothy just gave out a sigh of relief, although he couldn''t keep up a smile thanks to the overall body pain. Considering that these carcasses were contaminated due to the holy-tar, consuming them wasn''t an option. The shrimps might try their luck but after a few bites they will figure out that it would be a bad idea, a few swallows surely wouldn''t cause instant death. He used the time to regain a bit of stamina, but it barely had any proper effects to pain. So he stalked the area for anything useful but that''s when one of the bigger looking shrimp approached. It seemed older too and once speaking out, it''s gender was easy to identify as a male. "Your majesty, we are blessed with your presence." Although he had a strong hunch of what happened, it would be the best idea to y dumb here so thismunity doesn''t me everything on him. "What''s going on? Why have these haddocks attacked?" "I just arrived here. But based from what some of the survivors told, these fish had just attacked without warning. Maybe for food?" The elder specified. And within a few seconds it became easy to determine that this was the same shrimp, of which was given the title of a president before. Happy that this specific man had a soft approach, Tim expressed. "That''s too bad. But do they know where these bastards came from?" "I''m not sure." The president answered and then began yelling something in their ownnguage, until a few more shrimp appeared. After a while, the same geezer returned and exined. "These enemies came from the west, but we don''t know if they have a den." "I''ll find the den." The sea-disk assured and then just broke the conversation there. One would expect for him to take a bit more time toy down a few questions, regarding just how well this tribe of shrimp was doing alone. But no that wasn''t the case. Originally he wanted to give a few minutes of his day to these white-legged ones, but now wasn''t the best time to do so. A hunch inched that the holy-tar tribe was too close, that could be one of the many reasons regarding why a battle had broken out. And with the pressure of an enemy tribe being anywhere nearby, the hero felt restless and wanted to get rid of the enemies as soon as possible. After that task is done, it will feel less troubling toy some governing on these shrimp. So he began heading west without even letting out a greet to anyone, knowing that these critters have no option but to tolerate. Yet it still felt rushed to meet the enemies with a sprained tail. It was his most powerful weapon and battling what can be from several to tens of enemies, without a healthy tail, would just be ying stupid. With that thought in mind, he began looking for health raising food. But the prime problem was that he couldn''t really remember a lot of such animals, his memory was still terrible. He only knew that one marine animal gave health for sure, and those were the marble shrimp! It was difficult to find a few of them considering that his vision was weak, but one thing came in as a reminder. These shrimp seemed to prefer partially secluded ces, holes even. So with that in mind, he poked his nose in a few coral cracks. It had taken over 10 minutes before he noticed any signs of this species. And once he did, about 8 could be counted but the difference they could make all together was minimalistic at best. Regardless of that fact, it didn''t mean that such an opportunity should be wasted. So he charged forward and killed one of them with a single bite, before taking his time to eat through one. These critters couldn''t go so far, which meant that there was no reason to rush and kill all of them before happily consuming. It took a while to eat through these little pieces of prey, and even after eating all of them, the hero still didn''t feel exactly full but the healthy effects were felt a tad bit. [8 system points have been given to you as a reward for killing these shrimp] [Total system points = 134] [Loading your overall state...] [Health bar = 88/110] [Hunger bar = 14/17] [Sleep bar = 15/39] [Stamina bar = 9/17] The situation was getting somewhat better, but the wounds from the battle haven''t been exactly recovered, so this was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to wellbeing. So the best solution was to go west and just hope that he would run into more of these things before submerging into another battle, he didn''t want anything more than to heal the barb. Just 10 minutes after, his eye caught something that he was getting painfully familiar with: a glowing green colour. This meant that a battle was far too close but fate worked in weird ways. But far different from any other tribes he had visited earlier, this patch of holy-tar wasn''t hidden anywhere underground but was on the surface, visible to the naked eye. Thankfully this one wasn''trge but it was also difficult to understand just how this tar got here. It was difficult to remember if he was here before, but he had passed throughout the middle of the reef a few times ~ a patch of this unholy substance should have been easy to spot. Upon further observation, he noticed that the tar wasn''t guarded by any fish, there wasn''t a bit of life to be spoken of. The tar was justying there, which made the whole situation a lot harder to understand. Getting closer, he noticed that a meter long, slithery marine animal wasying close to the tar but it was as good as dead. At first he didn''t pay much attention to this carcass but once piecing together the hints, his heart sank due to a sudden realization. Chapter 170: Funeral Chapter 170: Funeral He began grinding those little jaws, trying to suppress anger. It took a few moments to truly analyse the situation, but he realised that this dead sea-snake was none other than the olddy he had talked to, while journeying to the north in order to recruit other fish! This woman was the same one who had acknowledged that the reef was dying. And due to her guiding, the reef has over 20,000 new inhabitants at least! Just by being observant, thisdy has helped the reef make a tremendous first step towards full recovery. But yet there sheid, dead and even had her head coated with ayer of green. Which signified that she had either attacked something that was contaminated, or somehow dipped her head in the pool. If tears would be visible underwater, one would have dropped. Timothy felt an uncontroble ray of grief for thisdy, what he would feel towards a dead rtive was pale inparison. He only knew thisdy for a short while but understood how kind spirited she was. And the thought of a friend in age dying, felt just a hunch more sad. He did not know what happened here but it must have surely been rted to the holy tar. There just weren''t too many hints that would exin where this reef came from. But one thing was easy to understand. However this tar came here, this olddy has put in all effort to fight it and whateverpanion such a bizarre situation brought. A hero would be the best way to describe thisdy. But now the prime problem was rting to getting rid of this tar. Which itself was tremendously difficult because it wasn''t underground, but above the coral surface. This painfully meant that he couldn''t destroy a whole holy-tar tribe, by simply causing a cave or cavern copse. Instead this little boy would have to figure out how to bury this 5 meter patch of the unholy. But regardless how much he thought, no idea came by. Which led to the thought of asking out, "System how can I bury this stupid pool, do you have any ideas?" [You have a body strength that can aid lift underwater objects, that are equal to you in size. So you can slowly but surely drop enough rocks and coral on this pool topletely cover it] "That will take forever! There are other tribes that I need to destroy." The little boy answered, trying to excuse that he was just toozy for such a task. [Okay then you need to figure out another way of covering the pool, perhaps with more animal-power] Such a sentence was difficult to understand for a short while, but the grief that was generating today gave an extra boost that aimed towards solving this problem. So he put that little brain in a bit of more work, and figured out the first portion that will help. "We need more help huh... maybe I can get one of my siblings here." That n was somewhat good but it also aided to figure out another, which added weight to this overall situation but also a possible solution. "They are too far now, maybe I should ask others for help." And after taking that possibility into consideration, the idea just grew for the better right after. "That''s it!" Happy beyond prepare, he hollered like a spooked cow. "I''ll ask the shrimps for help. They have no option but to obey the king!" With that idea in mind, he wanted to turn back instantly and fetch workers but instead another thought poked out first. And it managed to instantly obtain top priority, "I need to bury her somewhere first, can''t have some random fish using this olddy for food." Saying that out loud, it stung the boy''s heart that a great portion of his rtionship with this sea-snake was providing food for her. The thought of an older animal slowly starving because of immobility, just hurt worse than a tail sting. So within a half hour, he had chewed and swiped through sand and a bit of dirt too. The prime goal was to create a hole that sunk a couple of feet down. He felt confident that any animal wouldn''t sink that deep just for food. Such a goal was achieved and it was time to bury the body now. Tim gave a peek at the carcass but had a difficult time digging his jaws in thisdy''s tail, it felt more difficult than expected to touch a dead friend. But regardless of that fact, he finally just decided to get on with this and lightly dug jaws in thedy''s flesh; avoiding the cause of any additional damage. With a bit of struggle he managed to drag the sea-snake in the hole. To make the carcass fit better, he curled thedy in a way that surface snake usually did - which was apparently far lessmon in the underwater world. Finally, he could bury thedy. Which was a task that was the easiest done in terms of physical effort, but the most difficult in terms of emotional baggage. It felt difficult toprehend that thisdy will be gone forever after being buried here for good. Such feelings made the boy feel a bit more certain that his connection to humanity hasn''tpletely diminished. Sure he had animalistic instincts, but senses like this pointed out that his soul truly belonged to a human being. Eventually he pulled through andpletely buried the old sea-snake, and wanted to give a few seconds of silence in front of the grave. Perhaps a prayer too but to what would he pray here? This environment was hell on earth itself. Well the deed was done and now it was time to snap out of these devouring feelings. The prime mission needed attention, as this whole reef would have a far worse fate if he didn''t continue. With the possibility of death proven usible, he just thought. "I hope my siblings are doing okay out there." Chapter 171: Stupidity Chapter 171: Stupidity In a short while he managed to reach the tribe of white-legged shrimp, and the first that greeted him were a fewrge men who had arrived in the scene. They were acting as big tough guards but it was a firm reality that they were quite useless now. They seem to be a bit more prouder in terms of achievement, so they took Timmy as just a passing by stingray - ultimately they failed to pay him any further attention after determining that he wasn''t a threat. Regardless of that kind of arrogance, the young one demanded. "I need 100 shrimp toe with me right now." The looks they gave him at that very second were filled with confusion and a few of them even beganughing, which was spread around like a disease amongst the other or the same species. The little stingray was used to being hated, but definitely not used to beingughed at. So towards one of thergest shrimp, he charged and managed tond a bite right against the noggin. Which apparently led to an instant kill, but yet it made sense because this species are like paper, easy to crumble. [White legged shrimp killed. 1 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 135] A good half of them gazed in shock, unwilling to believe that a little stingray had caused such a death but the rest just decided to attack. Being seen as a threat, about 30rge shrimp had surrounded him and were ready to jump into battle. But to avoid them, the hero just swam up which basically ended the battle before it started because these shrimp can''t really swim up. That''s when a tone thundered amongst the crowd, "What the hell is going on here?" In a few seconds, the president of these shrimp appeared in the middle of the battlefield and yelled out. "Why are you trying to attack our king?!" Such a sentence came in as a wild shock towards all of them around, it was difficult to understand how they couldn''t recognize the king. Because chances favour that a lot of banter had spread amongst them about the king being a stingray! A few of them began shaking and were sure that death was close by, while the king himself had just settled in with the thought that these shrimp are tremendously stupid. What the old man shouted after, came in as a wild shock. "All of you who tried to attack the king, will be killed and used for food!" The ray of fear broke out uncontrobly amongst the crowd and a couple of them even pooped out their lunch. But that''s when the little hero spoke out, "No they won''t be." "But sire, they tried to kill you." The elder reminded while thetter was trying to figure out why the president was behaving this nicely towards the king. Before he hated the king with all his being, and expressed it too. Trying to avoid any losses, he answered. "As useless as they look right now, we need these bastards." And the topic ended there, the king''s word couldn''t really be fought against to a far extent. So another one was opened up, the king got straight to the point. "I need like a hundred shrimp toe and help me with something." "For what exactly?" The president asked, feeling that such a request was bizarre. "There is this weird pool of tar that needs to be covered. Those fish who attacked were all crazed because of it." Perhaps it was a bad idea to spread such information but the whole reef will acknowledge this massive problem eventually. "And you want to craze my men by sending them there?" The geezer instantly asked, feeling that this was just a tremendously bad idea. "They''ll be fine as long as they don''t touch the tar." The sea-pancake answered, feeling a tad agitated over this questioning. "They''re under mymand." The geezer stopped the questing there as he knew that power was glowing a bit brighter on the other side, but it had to be added. "Can you at least take the weakest one? We need protectors in thismunity and sending the big ones to possible death is a horrible idea." Felt like an odd requesting from someone who wanted these same big shrimp sacrificed for food just a moment ago, but logical at least. "Okay, pick out the weakest ones." ... It didn''t take long to form a team that was mobile enough to put in physicalbour. Although often a pain in the ass, that geezer was pretty good with managing any group. So within half an hour they began their journey towards the patch of holy tar. Communication would be bleak since most do not understand the stingraynguages, but this group of 100 has already been warned of what they can and can not do. The prime rule was to avoid getting touched by the holy tar and the task was to just throw any material in it. That was the task they followed once reaching there, and a good hour went by without any casualties worth talking about. Warnings aside, this group carried individuals who were rather stupid, soplete carefulness would be a gift that this project could not achieve. Not one but a couple of them fell in the tar, that was the situation they were forced to deal with. Since the situation led to those circumstances, Tim yelled out for everyone to get back. Some heeded themand while the others were yet to understand what was going on. A mutation was expected, thest thing he wanted was for shrimp he didn''t have full control over, to gain any useful power ~ it would inevitably be a kick in the ass. So he approached the scene and witnessed what was happening. The n was to kill these shrimp once they were fully mutated, they can''t be left wandering around. Chapter 172: Different effect Chapter 172: Different effect But contrary to expectations, ugly looking shrimp didn''t pop out of the pool after a few nerve wrenching moments. In fact most of the scene was anticlimactic, for the hero at least. The rest were mostly watching in fear as their couple of friends were being devoured by the holy tar! It first started out with their form being as if melted, which was a good sign that a mutation was nearby. These shrimps even began expanding in size right after, terrible toprehend really because along with these changes came along ear piercing screams. And just when Timmy thought that the mutation was close to being over, the couple of shrimp exploded! Limbs and other body parts of theirs were sttered across the sea-waters, and some of them evennded above the heads of other allies. It was gruesome at least but the stingray was smiling about this, because now at least he wouldn''t have to fight any mutants. Noticing that the entirerge group has been left in shock, he shouted out. "Okay now let''s get back to work! Don''t fall in the tar, you saw what happened." A few trantors amongst them followed along by exining themand to everyone, and within a half minute everyone went back to work. This situation ended up better than expected, but it doesn''t mean that it didn''t cause more questions. Thest time he saw a fish drop in the holy-tar, the effects weren''t exactly like what he saw today. Back when he witnessed a dead body being tossed in the holy tar, the effects were not so different from being tossed inva. The body slowly melted and there was no way to stop that. But the carcass didn''t explode which made this situation a whole lot more difficult to understand. It is as if this was a whole different patch of holy-tar. It was difficult to make up a theory on something that even the system didn''t have information for, so these thoughts were quickly abandoned. The holy-tar tribes don''t need to be understood in order to be destroyed. Although frightened to the core, the white-legged shrimp continued to work and hoped that this day would end soon. Although what they could carry wasn''t massive, nearly a hundred of them contributing into covering this pool, had an effect fast enough for the naked eye to notice it. It became boring to watch them work so the young one asked, "System, are there any upgrades that I can buy?" Upgrading in front of everyone would be a tremendously bad idea, he wasn''t dumb enough to do that. But just wanted to do something with his time instead, the situation was boring. [The cheapest upgrade is 250 system points so you can''t buy anything] "Of course, things are only bing more expensive." After a bit of pondering, he came up with a small little idea. "Maybe I should hunt another barracuda." [That would generally be a dumb idea for someone of your size. But in this case, your tail is in no condition to fight] "I forgot about that." He answered and tried to move the tail a little bit, only to feel pain that caused a flinch. It took a good couple of hours before the tar was buried down a few feet between rock, coral and dirt but it stood evident that the job was well done. No fish would be strong or dumb enough to smash heads against a pile of nothing. Even if they did, the aftermath would surely be something they regret. With this situation handled, he gave out amand for everyone to stop working so they could go back home. And such amand was valued as if sent by god, because they were simply sick of working. ... They arrived back at the closest by, white-legged shrimp tribe in a short time and began settling in their surroundings. Some were rxing a tad bit before preparing to travel once more, because their tribe was located a few tens of meters away from here. While everyone was doing with their time what they wanted to, Timothy was looking for the president of this wholemunity. Considering what a face the little hero was carrying, one would think that a war would break out soon. But that wasn''t the case, the boy was just confused and in exchange carried facial expressions, that were no different from a bull frog who couldn''t find a mate. These shrimp observe the king''s motions every second, so the talk regarding what he does, spread fast amongst the tribe. In a few seconds it became certain that the president was looking for the king, more than the other way around. And they eventually met, the elder immediately showed his manners. "Greetings sire, I heard you''ve been looking for me." "Bad news first." The blue-dotted menace answered, as if the topic was about news to begin with. "A couple of your shrimps have fallen in the tar and exploded." "What!" A shout erupted from thetter. But upon a bit of pondering, he decided that this was expected. Right after, the young one continued with the topic he had nted seeds on, citing. "The good news is that the pool of holy-tar has beenpletely covered. Crazed fish won''te from your tribe, at least not because of that pool." "You frighten me." The old shrimp was quick to assure, and had to ask. "You''re saying that there are more pools out there?" Feeling a bit smart, he immediately asked about a topic he had been building up conversations for. "Most likely yes. I was going to ask if these shrimp have reported anything weird, like that pool we just covered." Wearing a pale look on his face, even paler than a shrimp''s overall skin, the president shouted. "No, of course not! How would anyone know about these bastardous ns you follow!" A bit confused regarding why this geezer erupted, the young one expressed. "I don''t follow them, they just need to be destroyed and clearly neither of you could do that." "Well we haven''t heard or saw anything." Thetter answered and then just broke out the conversation by crawling away, adding. "I need to manage the men now, have a good day." Such reactions were best described as weird, but the young one couldn''t make anything out of it and just swam away, to look for any other tribes. That''s when a weird tone reached his ears. It sounded weird at first but after a while it was subconsciously categorized as a whisper, "Pst... we need to talk." Chapter 173: The deal Chapter 173: The deal "Why do we need to talk?" Timothy answered as he had trouble figuring out where the sound came from. "That attack wasn''t a coincidence, everything is nned." Such a sentence didn''t exactly sound shocking, but it felt especially odd how someone had to whisper just to express what seemed somewhat obvious. After circling in the same spot a few times, he spotted one of the white-legged shrimp that portrayed attempts of someone hiding. This one was hiding about 5 meters away which was weird, because such a whisper would require a lot of work. Swimming towards that shrimp, he spoke out. "How do you know that it was nned?" Such a situation was a tad difficult to understand, the young one hasn''t really caught up on what''s going on. But thetter was quick to order around, "This isn''t a ce to talk, meet me where the pool was before you ordered men to bury it." And then the white-legged one swiftly disappeared in the coral, took a few turns and joined the rest of the crowd nearby: which firmly made it impossible to follow the woman, especially for someone with a weak vision. Thanks to thest thing that critter said, it became easier to figure out that it was a woman, full grown too. Gender didn''t really matter here, it''s not like romance was nned towards thatdy. If that was the case, then this could bebelled as underwater pedophilia. But such a situation didn''t fail to peak curiosity. He has been living in this body for a while now, mostly handling the reef''s problems. But for someone to whisper their way to schedule a meeting, this was definitely something he experienced for the first time. So without putting into much thought, unable to connect any dots regardless of the many hints, he decided to go towards where the pool of holy-tar used to be. ... Within a few minutes, he had reached the former pool. Normally it would take a bit longer, but he swam at full speed for the sake of reaching there quicker. Although his tail ached a tad bit through it, a full speed of 5 mp/h was doable. But there was one thing he didn''t really think through, a shrimp couldn''t go equally fast. So he ended up waiting for a good 15 minutes more, before a faint white dot appeared on the corner of his eye. It got closer in just a few moments and it immediately sunk in the main topic, stress in her tone. "Did anyone follow you?" Such a question came in like a wave, it made the boy pull his face back because personal space was invaded a tad bit as well. "I don''t think that anyone could swim as fast as me." "Good. I don''t have much time, we''re being overworked like hell these days. And they will notice that I''m not there pretty quickly." That sentence was proven right once noticing how swiftly she was speaking. So the young one saved her the trouble of any additional questions, instantly getting to the point. "Tell me, what''s going on?" Looking at the hero directly in the eyes, she revealed. "There is a traitor amongst themunity. I heard him make a deal with some fool with green eyes, this attack was scheduled by the deal itself." Although expected from these shrimp, this usation was a bit too big. So a question had to be weighed in, "Are you sure about that?" Uncertainty evident in her eyes, thedy slowly exined. "I heard him make a deal, but there were no other witnesses." "Then you could be a big fat liar." Timmy replied almost instantly and fished out another reason, "You could be doing this to be someone important so you don''t need to work." Agitated, her whispers instantly became shouts. "You fool! I''m trying to save my friends and family from these greedy ns!" Sensing a bit of reasoning in her tone but feeling offended by such a shout, he immediately replied with a shared shout. "Stop yelling or I''ll kill you on the spot!" Egotistic at best but it managed to tame the situation for the better, as thedy replied in a calmer tone. "There is no reason for you to believe me, but as our king you need to look out for your people. So you must look into this." She was getting ready to leave but before doing so, another piece of information was revealed. "The one that you turned into a president has made a deal with these attackers. I did my part and now you can do whatever you want." The little stingray had submerged into a bit of shock and a few pieces of the puzzle began to fit in. But before he could say anything, thedy continued. "Me and a few others will flee this ce at night. We refuse to live where crazed fish could eat us at any moment." But such a statement felt rough so she also asked, "Of course if you see it reasonable. Do we have your permission to flee?" Although such a demand felt odd and his ego was hurt through it as well, thisdy could be the most genuine one in the wholemunity of white-legged shrimps. Although the little stingray was still pondering over the information, thisdy will likely not get in the way in the future regardless what decisions he would take. So a simple blessing was given out, "You can go. They won''t be able to hunt you down, I won''t let them." "Thank you." Thedy answered and began crawling through coral, likely carrying conflicting feelings but at least something went her way today. Meanwhile the yellow coated boy had a difficult time putting together just what the hell was going on. It wasn''t a surprise that president shrimp would do such a thing, but the greatest question circled around why he would do it. The benefits would be pale. Within a few minutes he decided, "It''s time to figure this out my way." Chapter 174: Stalker Chapter 174: Stalker Night has descended amongst the coral reef and anything nearby. This was the time when apex predators emerged from their holes, to submerge in the hunt and aid their chances of survival. Well in these surroundings that wasn''t the case, since there weren''t anymore predators to be spoken of. Sharks weren''t around at least, so that made travelling through the night a lot easier. But the case here was that Timothy had already slumbered for a considerable amount of time, and woke up at night, but not for the sake of hunting. That nearly wasn''t the case here. A great conspiracy has been raised hours ago. It imed that the president of the white-legged shrimps, was making deals with an unholy sect. This just didn''t sound likely but if it was true, it meant that the enemies have figured out a new approach that aided domination. Regardless of what was going on, the n was to fix it through the night. Whatever danger mighte forth, the little stingray felt confident with his abilities ~ so motivation was just growing stronger to solve this issue. So he had swam towards the tribes of shrimp, and did his very best to avoid being noticed. The word here spreads like wildfire. So if one notices that the king has returned to themunity, such information will swiftly reach the president. The base n was to find the president and follow him, but that swiftly managed to prove stupid. Because for a start, every shrimp here looked the same, so it was difficult to point out details about individuals. A detail that could help just by a hunch, was the president''s size. He wasn''t massive or too small, just normal. But yet again there are hundreds of shrimp here with such body shapes, so everything became more confusing. It was midnight now so it was especially difficult to find anyone specific, especially with the limited vision he had! This entire n was developing into a whole bowl of stupidity, but the young one didn''t want to give up. So he began patrolling the tribes for the sake of spotting anything weird. One good thing that came out of this n, was the ability to spot these shrimp through any shade of darkness: simply because their super-white skin was tremendously noticeable. Such circumstances aided to escape everyone''s view. And the coral these tribes were based on, tended to be yellow quite often ~ so he could use those portions to camouge against anything that crawled by. He had been patrolling the area for a while now, but nothing important caught the eye. Looking at random shrimp didn''t help but that''s when another idea popped in. "Hmmm... those sect members had glowing eyes. Maybe I should look for anything green." Here it stood firm that every point of his IQ and other intelligences were used to figure out a n. And it was enhanced by following thoughts, "I can''t see anything from down here so... yes okay I should swim higher." After figuring such a portion out, that little noggin stung a little all because too much smart thinking was done under a short minute. It will take time until he adapted towards smarter thoughts, but here it will have to do in terms of advancing the n. Arising towards the very sea-surface would be a bad idea. Because even if there were green lights glowing below, it wouldn''t be easy to spot them from over a hundred meters away. So instead he just swam about 20 meters up, it should help gain a better view of everything that was underneath. While at the same time it would make it difficult, for anyone to figure out who he was. Because the night shade helped to obtain a bit of camouge. After a half hour more, the corner of his eye was caught by a dim green-light. So almost instantly, he began following that light but didn''t exactly charge towards them. Timmy wanted to find out more information about such a case, and if one was to talk out ns here, it would be a dumb idea to spook them. The green light was located fairly away from the closest by tribe, the distance had to be at least a hundred meters. Which gave a great hint that something might be going on here, as no one would talk about delicate matters in a crowd. This fish with glowing eyes didn''t seem to be on a rampage either, so it gave a hint that it was waiting for someone. The little hero wasying down over a patch of yellow coral, almost invisible to anything that could crawl or swim by. And throughout the waiting, he tried to make up what species of fish this sect member was. But he didn''t run into anyck for that matter. Because although the fish had glowing eyes, the illumination they let out wasn''t great and it only managed to give a little amount of details about the fish. Such cravings for knowledge didn''t matter just after a few seconds, because he could finally hearmotion from what was underneath. A whisper had broken out and the hero managed to instantly hear it out, "You fools can''t do anything right." That tone portrayed more lifelessness rather than any anger, which made it difficult to understand who was talking. So the little stingray began slipping forward from the coral, trying to get a better view. It worked like a charm, he could see an eye-damaging white texture. While trying to adjust to such a view, he could hear the same newly arrived figure, whispering once more. "All of your men were killed and the king had buried your pool. How ipetent could you be!" "How would we know that your king was a crazy stingray!" The other fish tried to excuse with a shout, but within that second, strongmotion broke out in the waters. The white-textured man had charged towards the fish with glowing green eyes. But what was seen before the actual sh was almost impossible to believe. Chapter 175: Stalker (2) Chapter 175: Stalker (2) Either Timmy was crazy or a light which had the same colour as fire, had emerged from the figure who appeared to be a white-legged shrimp. Whatever that light was, it didn''t manage tond any damage against the fish with glowing eyes. But in terms of asserting dominance, it worked like a charm because thetter instantly spoke out with a tone that was shaking lightly. "I''m sorry! I''m just the messenger in these parts, it is not me who calls all the shots." The urge to interrupt this battle and kill both of them, itched more than ever now. But these enemies were singing like birds so it was stupid to interrupt, as more valuable information could be revealed. Keeping his nerves under control paid off rather well, because that''s when the shrimp uttered. "The king''s interruption means that we need to change ns. It will be stupid to use that same pool now, because everyone knows how to find it so we could be caught in the act." It was clear that the other fish had been scared into submission already, so the new n could be deciphered further. "Go and tell your speaker that we need a new pool, this time we will pick a better ce so no random bastard could interrupt us." "Okay. Should I tell the speaker anything else?" The one with glowing eyes asked, unwilling to be in the presence of the other shrimp. A tad calmer now, the shrimp answered. "That''s all for now. All ns are paused because of our nosy king, we need another pool to continue doing what we have nned." And that''s where the conversation had met an end. The two who were making the deal, separated quicker than one could observe in this depth of darkness that the night provided. They weren''t rushing through the waters but one wouldn''t say that they were slow either. While Timothy on the other hand, was debating what to do, which one to follow. Gazing at the fish with glowing eyes, it was noticeable that this particr enemy was already disappearing in the darkness. But once giving a gaze at the shrimp, a few bits of fire-like light were surrounding the man. These lights blinked for a short second, but each time they did: the white-shrimp got too far away, this gave a hint that speed came along with whatever that light was. Such circumstances made the situation be a bit more pressuring that it needed to be. The blue-dotted menace had struggle picking out which one to follow. But one thing he was sure of, this white-shrimp was definitely the president. With that in mind, he instead began charging towards the other fish that imed to be a messenger. A short burst of energy covered the first few meters, for the sake catching up. But afterwards he followed along with discreet carefulness, for the sake of not getting spotted. But he wasn''t too worried about that particr fact, as the fish he was following had sounded rather cowardice a bit earlier - not to mention stupid. ... About half an hourter, he had managed to follow this weird fish across a massive patch of blue coral. This seemed familiar, as it has been seen before through the first travelling across the reef; when he was sent out to recruit other fish from the north side. It felt nice to visit this portion once more, but following the enemy became a tad more difficult. Because it seemed to disappear a bit more through such a patch, giving a hint that its body colour could be darker. The only thing that helped keep track were the glowing-green eyes it had. Eventually it disappeared almost without a trace. Which gave a great hint that it had reached whatever destination it had originally nned. The only problem was figuring it out where that ce was. Regardless of how he looked at the mass of coral in front of him, everything just appeared blue. It was a bit past midnight, so theck of illumination made it difficult to filter out any tunnel or hole that was around here. Tim approached the very spot where the enemy had disappeared. And that was where he began looking for any spot to follow down. Although it was difficult to see, he managed to find a couple of holes to try his luck on. But it just resulted towards dead ends which at the same time helped but were also annoying. Dead ends made sure that the hidden holy-tar tribe wasn''t here, but it also meant that he would need to put in even more effort to find them. It was tremendously annoying, but once checking out the second hole he found, joy arose as signs of life appeared to be here. Generally, life was difficult to find in this reef because of the 6 month long feeding spree that the sharks had inflicted, so any sign of life here was a good lead. He went in the hole, happy that the n of eradication was progressing ~ but only met with a dead end, which managed to tremendously chew on his nerves. Unwilling to give up, he began swimming out of the hole but that''s when a sharp pain struck the left fin. [Health, -4 bars] [Total health = 84/110] With the aid of instinct, he instantly struck towards that side and felt that marvelous stinger, bashing against a bit of flesh. It was soft and portrayed a weak species, yet it didn''t stop the little hero to unleash all venom against this one enemy. [Dwarf moray-eel killed. 2 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Since this is also a system given task, you get additional 2 points] [Total system points = 139] "This is pretty lucky." The little stingray celebrated, knowing that such a kill just made it a hunch easier to avoid getting his purchase options locked. It felt like good progress, and the system tried to push luck even further by asking. [Your overall state of being is good enough to continue with task 16. Would you like to hear it out?] Although it felt tempting, the best idea was to search for the hidden-tribe first, rather than to lose focus by trying out anything else. So Tim answered, "Not now, remind me about itter." And right after he recalled that the recent drops of health were worrying at least. So before aiming to get out of this hole, he queried. "What effects does this dwarf give?" It felt nice to call someone a dwarf, although he wasn''t sure just how small this eel was. Must be rather tiny considering that it gave just a couple of points. But now was not the time to tease a carcass, as he thoughtfully heard out the system. Chapter 176: Blessing curse Chapter 176: Blessing curse [Eating a full-grown dwarf moray-eel can grant the following effects...] [Effect on health, +20 bars] [Effect on hunger, +8 bars] [Effect on sleep, -10 bars] [Effect on stamina, -15 bars] "This is too good to be true." The little one celebrated, tremendously shocked of the healthy benefits that could be reaped from this carcass, with minimal effort. Ignoring the other aspects of what effects this meal brought, he began chewing on the carcass and somewhat appreciated how soft this flesh was, far easier to chow down. What the little one managed to notice, the more he chewed through the carcass. Was the reduction of energy that came along with it. Such effects made it feel like every bite was submerging the boy into slumber. Regardless of that fact, he continued chewing through flesh and bone, considering nothing else more important than health. This opportunity felt tremendously rare so he wasn''t going to stop, regardless the circumstances. It took a good half hour to consume the eel''s carcass through and through, but the young one was happy that it didn''t take too long to eat through it. And now the system had her turn to announce. [Loading your current overall state...] [Health bar = 104/110] [Hunger bar = 15/17] [Sleep bar = 15/39] [Stamina bar = 1/17] "Oh... oh yeah this stamina is doing the trouble isn''t it." He questioned, while struggling to keep bnce. Right after, he lost bnce and just fell on the sand that was just a few inches underneath. The following aftermath of consuming that eel, rendered the young one immobile. But thankfully it wasn''t anything permanent, theck of stamina wouldn''t let him move. Worse yet, his chest was huffing and puffing thanks to the sameck. Which as an after effect, forced stamina to stay down rather than to regenerate anything. It even began causing a bit of pain on the boy''s chest, hell this felt worse than being bitten. That''s when aint was set free, but it was mostly self inflicted. "I''m dumb sometimes, very dumb. Why didn''t I pay more attention to the stamina? The system clearly told me that 15 points would be lost!" One wouldn''t expect for a stingray of lower intelligence to be this self aware, but thankfully that noggin of his was putting in every point of intelligence to analyse this situation. It seemed less interesting considering that he needed this much effort, to recognize one of his own mistakes - but it still was progress in some way. Such strain and puffing on the chest, had continued for a good half hour before it finally began calming down. He had realised that stamina was taken too lightly up until this point, what happened just a moment ago was a reminder to be careful for it next time. Now that he could focus on anything else, the boy remembered what he came here for to begin with. Slowly getting up, a mumble was let out. "I need to keep looking for that hidden shit... uh, den." With minimalistic effort, for the sake of avoiding another crash due to stamina, he got out of the hole and began paying attention to anything around. It was difficult to spot anything eye catching, holes and tunnels was what he looked for especially. But this ce seemed stripped out of those, well at least in this specific patch of coral. What seemed like an eyesore, was a bigger patch of blue-coral. It was taller than most here, and it gave such a vibe, simr to those movies where a kingdom was hidden behind a mountain. So that gave a bit of motivation to swim higher, and check what could be seen on the other side. It was difficult considering theck of energy, but the hero wasn''t one to give up. Eventually he reached above it, and the scene was rather anticlimactic. There was just more coral behind it, and the sign of life was even more bleak here, if such a thing was possible. A patch of coral here seemed to be dead, such a scar stretched 30 or so meters across. It was shaped in the form of the letter C, seemed rather random but definitely was an eyesore. That patch was ignored and the main mission was focused on. He lended an eye to whatever was underneath, and noticed that there were exactly 3 holes on the flooring. They weren''t exactly carved in the taller mountain of coral, so such a result made the climbing up feel like a waste of time. But after a few sighs, Tim began feeling happier that at least now he had more options to try out, which gave a faint feeling that the mission hasn''t failed. And so the young one slowly began swimming towards the hole that was in the middle, and repeated. "Please be the tribe, please be the tribe." Eventually he managed to reach down and swam in the hole, but was blessed withplete darkness right after. This ce here didn''t seem like anything interesting. But regardless of how much he tried to look through, there didn''t seem to be a dead end here. Such a result gave a tad of motivation, so the young one began touching around with his fins to ~ because even now, he was mostly crawling through the sand flooring rather than swimming. Since he was able to think a bit more clearly now, the positive effects of that previous meal began to shine. Well not literally, although that would be convenient in a situation like this one. The blue-dotted menace just began noticing that his tail and fins weren''t hurting like they used to. There still were minor bits of pain that felt like a pinch, but that was about it. Such a result made him sure, that theck of stamina he was experiencing right now, was all worthwhile. Throughout the blind crawling towards the hole, he had gone in deep enough for the distance to be considered a good 20 feet. It felt like he was on the right path. And after a bit of more effort, a faint but noticeable green light, was sparkling what seemed like an eternity away. Chapter 177: Balls Chapter 177: Balls Such a result made Timothy feel absolutely sure that this was the right path. So he mumbled, "I found you now, bastards!" But for once he decided to use reasoning. Well more like the situation made the boy reach out for such options. Short said, he stopped crawling towards the just discovered light, and decided to allow stamina to regenerate. It felt like an eternity, and one thing that was tempting, were the hints of life in this hidden-den. The green light on the far other side, flickered often which meant that numerous marine animals were swimming above the tar, regardless how high. When one flew above such a source of light, it would be noticeable from out here, that the illumination would flicker up here where it''s effects weren''t as strong. And so the temptations to swim forward and just check everything out, grew stronger by the passing second. But yet it didn''t seem like energy had regenerated enough. So the young one waited for a good 15 minutes more, and thankfully no enemy popped out of the other side. If it did, the situation would be tremendously troublesome. Right after, he asked for a specific statistic and the system was quick to provide. [Stamina bar = 8/17] "Good enough." He replied with a low volumed tone. And afterwards began to slowly swim towards the light. After just about a short minute of swimming forward, the light around him was just increasing. The details of the tunnel here had revealed themselves, although there was nothing special about it, apart from the increasing width. The tunnel here was about 10 feet across, rather bigger for an underground tunnel. But it also made the boy understand why he was sliding straight down for a while. He had reached what seemed like the very entrance of the cavern that held the patch of holy tar. The pool itself was about 30 feet across, rather massive but not the biggest one had seen so far. It was easy to puzzle together that the structures these hidden dens had, were tremendously simr to each other. Well at least the cavern that held the holy-tar, it seemed that a wider opening was mandatory, to make the den whole. Regardless of these features, the hero was here to destroy everything rather than to appreciate it. No enemy was up here and with a peek down, he could see tens of fish swimming around the tar. And one of them wasrger than the others, which gave a great hunch that this was the leader here. As being 4 feet long wasn''t exactlymon in the reef nowadays. After quick inspection, it was evident that neither of them were looking up. So the young one used the opportunity to actually start swimming lower. Several feetter, he found a tunnel that pierced one of the cavern walls and swiftly swam towards it. Since no enemy came up here to bite his ass, it was a good proof that no one had noticed the sea-pancake swoop in. This felt like progress, and better yet it seemed like the tunnel wasn''t containing a dead end anytime soon. So he began following it down as it had a couple of benefits. One would be the ability to regain more stamina, and the second would be the ability to explore more without the entire tribe chasing after him. The tunnel curled downwards, which almost led to meet the pool that was at the very bottom. But another route was found before that, so he took it for the sake of exploration and regeneration. Such an alternative tunnel was followed for a few feet, it was smaller and he eventually had to squeeze through for the sake of progressing forward. At the end, he popped in a wider opening but at the same time it was just a couple of feet across, shaped like a sphere. Nothing in this room seemed particrly interesting for a short second. That is, it wasn''t before the young one''s eyesnded upon a small pyramid of balls. That name was the best way to describe their forms. They were balls that stretched just a few inches big, and were almost dark green in colour. Or they could be a tad lighter in shade, it was difficult to figure out since this roomcked illumination. Timmy had even identally touched these things, but thankfully no change was met with it. The first thought after seeing anything green down here, would be that it had rtion to the holy tar. So for these balls to fail causing any painful effects or anything at all, felt like a great relief. But at the same time it was thought provoking, what exactly were they? That''s when he heard a t, male toneing from the small tunnel he had squeezed through just earlier. "I won''t go in this time, you''re smaller so go ahead." Whatever this sect has nned, it was evident that they needed these green-balls, whatever they were for. And without any debate, a smaller fish that had dark-blue skin, poked its head through the entrance. Without waiting, and tremendously unwilling to make any deal, the young hero perked his barb below and then forward. Which in exchange, had struck the enemy right through the noggin. To aid the chances of a quicker kill, he even unleashed a couple points of venom. [Tail venom = 3/5] [Blue reef chromis killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 140] [Would you like to hear out what effects this fish can give after its consumption?] "No." Tim answered, finding it difficult to understand how an intelligent woman such as the system, had struggles figuring out when it would be a terrible time toy out statistics. [Good, it''s contaminated anyway] The kill was smooth, so the other enemy had it a tad difficult to understand what was going on. And just tail smacked the blue-fish against the bum, afterwards cussing. "Faster you moron!" Chapter 178: Cheaper tool Chapter 178: Cheaper tool Increasingly agitated that hisrade wasn''ting out with the green-balls: the living fish began squeezing in through the small entrance, aiming to figure out just what the hell was taking so long. It stood evident that Timothy hadnded a kill that was too smooth. As the biggest fish here was stillpletely unaware, regarding what happened. Eventually, the living enemy had squeezed through enough to enter the small room. What captured his vision, was the displeasure of seeing his friend whose belly was facing towards the ceiling. Upon further inspection, he noticed that the same body had a hole pierced against its head. Such a scene, forced out a shout. "What the hell happened here?" In the same second, the one who was spooked enough to shout, felt a sharp pain on his back. Such massive difort, followed along with what felt like an additional wave of pain. He wanted to shout, but the energy required to suppress this sudden pain, was enough to drain energy in mere seconds. So the best solution became to just get the hell out of here. But that was crossed out as an option, because unbearable pain was inflicted once more against him. But thankfully this time the attack was strong enough to cause an instant death. This blue coloured fish hadpletely died, without even knowing who the killer was. The murdering stingray detached from the ceiling right after and let out a sigh of relief. He wasn''t nearly scared of any enemies here, but right now the ability of stealth should be used greedily. Because sure the boy and his siblings can go on forever, when ites to ughtering these tribes. But right now they are barely aware of who these enemies are and what methods they use. Knowledge can aid quicker and even permanent extermination. Peeking at the enemy carcasses, he could notice that they were both simr, just different in size. One of them was half a foot long and the other was just 3 inches. [Blue reef chromis killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 141] [These couple of bodies are contaminated, don''t consume them] "Okay okay." The young one assured, admittedly agitated but also appreciating how the system was looking out for him. Yet this situation still managed to spike confusion, so he questioned. "System, do you know what these balls are? I''ll pay with points if you can tell me." She didn''t answer immediately, silence stretched for a few seconds which gave a hint that thedy in his head, was either still analysing or tremendously unaware, misinformed. But eventually an answer was given, [Maybe I know something...] Such a sentence was striking at least. It sounded shady although it might not have been intended that way. So the young one instantly asked, "Maybe? Are you hiding something from me?" [Analysing...] [I''ve dug in my memory deep enough and figured out that this holy-tar nonsense, might be older than we thought it is] To such a sentence, all he could utter was. "Huh?" [An orca who also had a system, had spotted these same green-balls over 30 years ago] "So you know about the sect more than I do but you''re keeping secrets?" That was the first thought that the young one could generate, it fairly portrayed low intelligence and some trust issues. [I saw these balls before, but didn''t really understand what purpose they had. It''s difficult to understand their purpose now, but I know for sure what they are] "Oh." The blue-dotted menace answered and then reached a brief realization, "It will cost a lot to tell me, won''t it?" [Unlike the blood analysis tool you had purchased earlier, this analysis tool isn''t nearly as expensive. And since I''m equally curious, you will be able to temporarily unlock the said purchase for an hour. You aren''t supposed to buy anything like this untilter, call this a gift you have to pay for] It took a good few minutes to process this entire offer, but it stood evident that the system was giving mixed signals. It felt like a tease, considering that thisdy knew just how incapable the young one was in terms of intelligence. Understanding the hints would take too much time, so he asked. "How many points do I need to pay for this?" [The best deal I can give you, is 20 system points for an hour long unlock] "That''s cheaper than I thought!" Tim uttered, with a smile growing on his face. And it was noticeable in his tone, that joy was spreading through his conscious. Almost instantly, he cited. "Okay, I''ll buy it!" [Purchase confirmed] [20 system points consumed] [121 system points remaining] [Loading...] [These green-balls were easy to analyse 30 years ago and it''s the same case today. The main ingredients in them are simr simr to what one would find in fish poop] An instant feeling grew that this was a joke. As he didn''t believe that any fish could make poop that was this wlessly round, or green. So the sea-pancake queried, with a sceptic faint tone. "Really?" [Fish pooping from a greend shark if I''m not mistaken. The only additional substance is what makes this poop green. I can''t recognize the additional one] Using his entire noggin to understand this situation, the small one took half a minute before asking. "So a greend shark came all the way here to poop?" [Not necessarily, greend sharks are anywhere in deep-waters. But they usually don''te up here, you never saw any of them] "So..." The sea-disk tried to think it through, but wasn''t yet ready to generate any idea. As if teasing a child, which at the moment was the literal case. The systemdy stretched out a few words, [Come on, you can do it] After piecing everything together, the realization came in like a hammer, and managed to cause a sharp pain in the boy''s noggin that onlysted a second. "Other fish are bringing green-poop from the deep ocean!" Chapter 179: What the deal was Chapter 179: What the deal was [Correct!] The system mildly shouted, celebrating that the guest had finally said something smart. "Okay so they''re bringing poop up here, but why?" That came in as another raging question, a tad insightful one too. And it hit like a storm generated wave. [That, I do not know. The additional substance that I can''t recognize, makes everything confusing] Thinking it through for a while, the young one decided. "Whatever these are for, it won''t matter after I destroy this ce because no one would be able to get them." Such a n proved smart, it managed to give the system a bit of shock. But in reality, the young one had never used his brain more than today. Something smart had toe out of this effort, eventually. [I rmend you to avoid rushing it this time. The shrimp you appointed as a president, had made some deal with the exact tribe you''re in at right now. Snoop around until you figure out more about this] A grand idea for sure. Timmy couldn''t agree more with it. So within a few seconds, he got out of the hole and began slowly swimming his way towards what other options this tunnel gave. The route only led towards the pool of holy-tar, so stealth would need to be his best friend right now. It was noticeable that there were still a lot of fish around the tar. And all it would take, was for one of them to lend a view towards the tunnel that the hero was in. Such a fate, would instantly lead to chaos breaking out. Because although these enemies were just brainwashed fish, it wasn''t difficult to point out someone who didn''t belong here. He got close enough, putting in obvious risk when one would look where he was positioned. The young one had reached the very end of the tunnel, and then justid t on the sand. This provided proper camouge against anyone who wasn''t paying enough attention, but also raised the risk factors. Because a single fin-p, would lead to anyone noticing the boy. Good luck was by his side for once, because he could properly hear what the group of fish were talking about. Well, mostly one of them was talking and the rest were listening. But it was helpful, as there had to be over 50 fish here. And if all of themmunicated at the same time, nothing could be understood. "That dumb shrimp thinks he is strong enough to order us around. But little does he know, our ns are only being reached faster because of his greed." The man who was speaking, had a male tone. He might be the leader here, that was a good hint considering that this fish was around 5 feet long. All of the fish here were listening to this man with careful attention, respect was also certainly given towards him. This leader was yelling out, which gave a hint that this was some speech. "The white-legged ones want more control over this entire reef, that''s for sure. And they want to use us to get that control, but the deal they had made will only aid the holy-tar sect!" A holler erupted after that sentence was spoken out. For a quick second, it spooked the kid. But he managed to realise that this shout was just a cheer, they were shouting on behalf of this dictator-like, fish. But afterwards the crowd calmed down, which allowed the speech to continue. "They are building new tribes for us! Slowly chewing their way to building caverns. Dumber than I thought actually. And as an exchange, they want just a few stingrays killed by our forces!" Such a sentence came in as arge shock! It was expected at least, but that rotten president was going a few miles above the line just for the sake of domination! Controlling his ownmunity didn''t seem enough for that one, he wanted the entire reef! This also gave a hint of why the entiremunity was working like hell. They weren''t looking for any food, no that wasn''t nearly the case. On the contrary, themunity of over 4,000 shrimp were working their asses off, to chew through rock and dirt. All for the sake of making tribes for this contaminated sect! It was agitating to just think about it, but at least right now, a lot of pieces of the puzzle were falling together. Well, at least the portions that were rted to the president of the white-legged shrimpmunity. But it seemed like the speech was reaching an end, as thergest fish here,manded. "Now. A few of you will get the balls and send them near the tribes of these bastard shrimps. Make a holy-tar pool there and then we will n the next step." It seemed like this holy-tar tribe was well oriented in terms of ns. Because a few bigger fish had already begun swimming towards the very same tunnel, that the hero wasying at. Timmy wasn''t exactly spotted by anyone yet. But the pressure of 3 or so fish, approaching at an ufortable speed, had managed to slowly raise the stress factors. Such a procedure led to the young one rustling over the sand for a tiny bit. Which followed up with his tail flinging upwards, and then it curled into a C-formation. Since these approaching fish were rushing, one of them ended up smashing against the barb. But yet was still unaware what had struck, because the young one was camouged better than expected. Likewise, such a situation could only lead to one of the enemies: specifically the one who had entered the tunnel first, to having its belly sliced. Although fast, these fish weren''t going fast enough ~ so the cut wasn''t massive, and momentum died down once the enemy stopped on its spot. It only took a swift nce to figure out the enemies who were hovering above him, were over a couple of feet long. Such circumstances managed to add a bit more pressure, which led the hero to unleash every bit of venom he had! Chapter 180: Same mistake done twice Chapter 180: Same mistake done twice It was made clear that an intruder was here. The first hint woulde from the 3 fish who had synced into panic. It wasn''t easy to stay calm once a weird tail had risen out of the sand, and even stabbed one of theirrades. The fish who had received all the damage, couldn''t exactly scream: because the pain was strong enough to drain the volume out of the victim. Instead, the untouchedrades had shouted out. One of them spoke anguage that the hero couldn''t understand, but the other had shouted. "Intruder! We have an intruder!" Such vocal power had managed to sync the entire tribe into panic. There were over 50 fish in this tribe and each of them had started swimming around, as if they were spooked sheep in a field. For a few seconds it seemed like they were under too much panic, they even seemed hopeless when it came to forming a proper attack n. But one would only need seconds to realise, that this tribe was swiftly building up a proper way of battle. Timmy only captured a glimpse of it, but that was all he needed to understand that the situation was elerating for the worse. So he focused on the few enemies that were close by. Within a few seconds, he bashed his tail several times against the enemy''s belly, and managed tond damage that felt satisfactory. Death was inevitable for this victim. But after looking at the rest of the tribe, it felt like he was shoveling snow in the middle of a tundra. Information was reaped out of these bastards but the true battle had just started. Regardless of his bodily durability, it seemed certain that this battle was going to hurt. [Leopard coral-grouper killed. 20 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 141] These fish weren''t the most handsome ones. They gave the portrait of a bald, middle-aged human father who was rattled by life a bit too much. But thankfully they gave out a decent amount of points, and seemingly were easier to kill. It was certain that this enemy was ughtered, so the young one nned to pounce towards the next. Arising from the sand, he turned around and began following the tunnel instead of heading towards the pool of holy-tar. But beforepletely bursting towards the chosen route, his tail swung upwards and stabbed on several spots. The enemy''s belly was riddled with wounds because half of the hero''s tail had been barged in it, he felt certain that vital organs had been hit ~ and therefore he didn''t stick around to wait for this particr enemy to die. It wouldn''t require a massive intelligence, to figure out that tens of fish were following him now. So the hero just continued following the tunnel, which curled upwards and led where the young one had entered in the beginning: specifically, to the higher portions of the cavern. Such a move would give some advantages when ites to battle, because Timmy would be able to attack a few enemies from above. Considering his 5 mp/h speed, he would reach the enemies andnd a few strikes before they understood what happened. But some of the enemies were smarter, and swam up towards the higher walls of the cavern to face the intruder head on. But ultimately, the chasers and the strategists of this tribe, hadpletely failed. Because the hero hasn''t popped through any side of this tunnel, but instead had merged with a side of the structure. When it came to camouge, the young one had levels that would definitely prove useful: especially in the middle of the tunnel, where it was a bit darker. As the ones who were chasing him, continued following their path, what struck them was certainly unexpected. Because that tail of which they dreaded, had poked out of the ceiling and began inflicting a new wave of damage. The first few enemies who were the closest and respectively, fastest; had barged towards the tip of the tail and therefore had their backs sliced, especially the upper parts that behaved like humps. It had tremendously affected their speed, they couldn''t swim as fast as they used to. And they began using half of their focus towards finding the enemy, and the remaining abilities to tame the wounds. Evidently, both sides were ineffective. Because other fish continued rushing forward, and pushed away the sliced fishes who had be aware of the danger. This led to over 20 fish being sliced across the back. And although he had agitated and damaged these enemies, it wasn''t enough to kill any of them. However, it was enough to open up a pathway. Because these enemies were dumb enough to continue forward, and in exchange had cleared out a way. As they were all pouring out through the higher portions of the cavern. As for the hero, he began following the tunnel''s side that led straight down, and tried to go at full speed for the sake of not having his path blocked. Eventually, he reached the bottom side of this structure but hadn''t exactly nned the next step. So a bit of anxiety was rising although until now, he had the upper hand. Feeling stripped out of options, he hid on the tunnel''s ceiling again. The thought was that these enemies would be dumb enough to charge straight forward once more. It worked better than he had expected, because now these enemies were dumb and enraged. Timothy''s tail poked out of the tunnel''s ceiling once more, and it led to a handful of enemies being cut across that same hump. This time only half of them had made the same mistake twice, but it was enough to take this battle towards the next step. Because the system had notified, [You''ve just killed 4 fish of different species, would you like to hear out what they were?] "No." He swiftly answered, less pissed off this time because he thought that these enemies here were dumber than him. "I never want to hear anything extra in a battle." [Affirmative] [From these 4 kills, you''ve reaped 36 system points] [Total system points = 177] Such wins felt nice, it stood evident that an upgrade will be bought soon: simply because the rewards so far were bountiful, even though the battle had barely started. But that''s when he noticed that enemies wereing from both sides, and he was stuck without any options of dashing away. Chapter 181: What turned the tides Chapter 181: What turned the tides It was evident that the situation had been forced to leaked through the hero''s grasp of control. Because escaping a situation where enemies wereing from both sides, would require:rge levels of intelligence, immense strength, and calmness in such situations. It was fair to say that Timothy didn''t possess any of those qualities. So using the whole little noggin he had, the young one tried to figure out a way to escape this situation unscathed, or at least alive. He couldn''t figure out a solution quickly enough, the enemies had arrived from both sides. One of the bigger and uglier ones, bulldozed the hero straight across the face. It felt as if this enemy was a torpedo, an angered one; because this particr enemy, didn''t even have to open its mouth in order to knock the hero off bnce. The young stingray was blown off the route and smashed to the side of the tunnel, that''s when the hero heard the system announce. [Health, -5 bars] [Total health = 99/110 bars] It took little thought to figure out, that if the boy''s bodily durability was any lower, the damage would have been much worse. But in this case, it wasn''t enough to knock him off cold. Such a torpedo like fish, had it difficult to slow down after attaining maximum speed. So the type momentum it could build up, led to this beast of a short-fish to bash against its ownrades. It wasn''t noticeable how much damage that would have caused to the enemies, but in this case it had bought the yellow-coated stingray a few seconds to put an attempt of fighting back. Shaking his head a few times to fight away the dizziness, the little boy noticed that the scene in front of him could be considered a train wreck ~ as a lot of enemies had shed here against each other, because they couldn''t slow down in an instant. Fighting them all in this restricted spot would be a rather dumb idea, so he charged towards the portion of the tunnel, that would lead to the lower parts of the cavern and managed to slip through the crowd. Most of these enemies were still putting in work to attain control over the situation, but some were swift and unscathed enough to chase the intruder. [You''ve killed 3 fish of various species. It''s confirmed that you don''t want to hear out the details in such a situation] [As a reward for those kills, you''ve attained 9 system points] [Total system points = 186] It felt odd how such notifications came now when he wasn''t exactly attacking anyone. But after thinking it over, the sh this tribe had earlier, could have been enough to add additional pain. And the cuts he had already inflicted, must have been timed well enough to deliver the final unbearable blows against these enemies. Before most of the tribe had shaken off enough pain to follow the hero, he had broken through the tunnel and headed towards the only fish that wasn''t participating in the battle. This one was the same 5-foot long fish who had given a speech earlier. His reactions remained emotionless once spotting a tiny stingray barging out of the tunnel, it felt like this battle would be quick. But it became more and more noticeable that the intruder didn''t show any signs of fear. And although irrational, the little stingray didn''t show any fear in particr. So the big fish began feeling nervous for a short few seconds, and awaited for otherrades toe and handle this battle. Such expectations felt stupid by now, because the intruder had gotten too close and even managed tond a strike. Agitated by what felt like a pinch on his forehead, the big fish put in an attempt to charge against this annoying critter who seemed dumb enough disturb their peace. But regardless of attempt, this big bad man couldn''t move most of his body, apart from one of his fins. But at this point it felt useless. Upon further attempts to move, the 5-foot long fish figured out that it was somewhat impossible. Along with that sour fact, his consciousness began to fade away bit-by-bit. But before losing all control over his own body parts, this fish could feel a burning sensation on his forehead that was only growing stronger. While this enemy was rendered immobile, Tim felt a bit more relieved as this fat fish would have been difficult to kill. The blue-dotted menace, had intentionallynded a blow against the forehead: but didn''t quite expect for the shot to work this well. It was more like he hoped for it to go well, that''s why he had used the only drop of venom he had, to inflict more damage against this bastard. Feeling superior, he began teasing the fat enemy. "You aren''t so strong now ha? Suffer, worthless tar worshipper!" The enemy wanted to say something but was rather paralyzed and couldn''t do so. It would have been worthless at this point, because the rest of the tribe had caught up. They were rather staggered to see the leader floating so closely around the enemy, but eventually even the dumb ones managed to figure out that something was wrong. The leader of any holy-tar tribe was respected beyond bounds, so these fish couldn''t just start a battle around him and inflict any idental wounds. So the entire remaining tribe had stopped on their spot, and were waiting for amand from their leader. Although shortsting, the silence felt like forever because regardless of the many gazes that were sent towards them, the leader didn''t speak out. Such a result felt agitating. But the hero was quick to break the silence, indirectly lowering the morale of the enemies although the intent was to tease them. "Your leader is under my control now. Look at him, the fat-ass can''t even move a muscle!" A lot of these enemies wanted to yell. But the thought of their leader being controlled by a mere little stingray, was both offending and yet frightening. Chapter 182: Explosion Chapter 182: Explosion Anticipation continued to grow, as the crowd of which the hero was witnessing, had itching urges to charge forward and shred the intruder. But fear was being inflicted through them, because this little stingray had attained control of their leader! One of them was apparently the bravest, and had swam just a bit forward for the sake of facing the intruder. Her tone was feminine and had synced into a shout, "Lies! You could never control our speaker!" His focus towards the crowd had steered away, as he mumbled through a sentence. "Speaker... hmmm, why does that name sound familiar." Within a few seconds, he felt a rumble through the ground underneath them. It helped attain focus, so he red towards the tar and noticed something rather weird. The unholy substance had somehow started causing bubbles, and it even began sshing up and down: tremendously odd at best. The situation became a tad weirder once a gaze towards the 5-foot long fish was lended, the same one whom the hero had rendered immobile just a moment ago. Its eyes were glowing harshly, this time flickering even; as if the source of its illumination was losing power. A few secondster, the same fish began shivering. And that''s when the samedy, who had spoken out earlier, shouted. "Our speaker is sacrificing himself. Everyone get out of here!" Such a sentence came in as a tremendous shock towards all of the tribe members. Some have it difficult to believe for a quick second, while most began dashing away in all directions like spooked deer. It didn''t take much intelligence to figure out that the situation was going for the worse. The 5-foot fish had begun to violently shake, rather odding from someone who was previously paralyzed. ying brave wouldn''t be the best idea right now, so the hero began dashing along with the rest of the enemies. Considering that his speed was better than half of these fish, he managed to get at the top of the cavern in a matter of seconds. The exit was clogged with other fleeing marine animals, so he couldn''t exactly get the hell out of here. It began to feel hazardous: because after giving a peek at the scene below, he noticed that the paralyzed fish was literally melting! And the holy-tar underneath that bastard, had begun whirling in a clockwise manner. But the frightening part was that the tar had broken out of the pool''s boundaries, and was smashing against the cavern''s walls upon every spin around the clock. It gave a portrait equal to raging waves, bits of it were sshing around upon every spin. One would think that the tar had thinned down, to attain such speed. But whatever the hell was happening, Tim wasn''t willing to explore for any sake of knowledge. The prime goal became to get the hell out of here. But once looking at the exit, it had been clogged even more now because the rest of this tribe had gotten up here for the sake of escaping. Neither of them were paying attention to the little intruder who had caused all of this. It was a tad funny that even though these fish had forfeited their souls to the holy-tar, neither of them were willing to bepletely wiped out of existence. Escaping this ce wasn''t an option for the little stingray. And this time he wasn''t given the opportunity to peek down once more, as a soul trembling boom had erupted. [Health, -20 bars] [Total health = 79/110 bars] Whatever had happened below, it had lunged the boy against this cavern''s ceiling. That was the situation for a few seconds, at least until the same structure began crumbling from all directions. He did not want to think about how much the damage could have been, if his body durability wasn''t at 20 points. It was evident that everything in today''s dire fate, was working to send this little boy to a watery grave. A clear hint was that the copse showed no sign of slowing down, so he had to get out of here! But even after he could sessfully open his eyes, it wasn''t possible to see anything. It became difficult to understand such a situation, but that was when a bit of illumination began breaking in from underneath. As rays of green light shone it''s way through the disaster,rge chunks of sand, dirt and rock were falling down from the ceiling and causing ssh-after-ssh in the pool of holy-tar. That was when the boy had realised, that the explosion was strong enough to push him through the ceiling itself. Such a fact was agitating and at the same rate annoying. Because what seemed like 10 feet of dirt, had fallen in the pool once the green light began breaking in. Meaning that he had been pushed through the ceiling equally deep. However the hell that was possible, it wasn''t nearly the time to think about it. So after trying to push away the burning sensation of pain, that was crawling up and down his back; the young one began looking for a way out of here. Out of a sudden, the structure began copsing a tad more violently from his left side. It rolled down and fell towards the bottom of the cavern. But something good had finallye out of this bizarre situation. Because what looked like a small opening, had broken up from the same spot. He was seeing illumination breaking through it, and it wasn''t because of the holy tar. But from the moon''s gentle rays instead. It wasn''t tremendously noticeable. But in such a situation where one would desperately look for a way out, it was far easier to spot an opportunity. So he began charging towards the same opening, but danger poked its ugly head once more, right after he got closer towards the hole that was poking through the ceiling. Chunks of coral were rolling down the hole, but some were small enough to fall straight down. Chapter 183: Locked shut Chapter 183: Locked shut Ultimately, if either of those chunks bashed against the hero''s head, the damage would be unfavourable. Because the hole itself was 6 feet across. Which meant that any coral that can fit through it, must be tremendously heavy. Unwilling to even think about it twice, he turned around to escape being hit by any of these big chunks. It only took a few seconds to realise that it was a good idea, because the holy-tar had sshed high enough to almost hit the little boy, after the biggest chunk of coral met the bottom of the cavern. Out of a sudden, the same opportunity of escape that was revealed earlier, came crashing down along with the coral. So now, Tim was stuck in this disaster and the situation was evidently just getting worse. He took a peek towards the bottom of the cavern for the sake of figuring out what was going on. But what revealed itself now, was equally shocking to the overall situation. Because the holy-tar of which was twirling, and bashing against every wall of the cavern before, had calmed down. It was stayingpletely still, but there was also a figure floating just a bit above the tar. Judging from the blue colour this fish had, it was easy to determine that it was the speaker. Such a title had pushed the young one into thoughts, even in the midst of this disaster. "That old anglerfish I battled, was a speaker too. At least that''s what a few bastards said. But she didn''t cause explosions like this even when being close to death... so how does this speaker here have the ability to explode?" Such a thought led to an instant and weird realisation. He red at the 5-foot long fish once more, and had it hard to believe a sour fact. "Didn''t this bastard explode earlier? How the hell is he still floating there!" After focusing towards the only enemy that remained here, a hint was recognised. But in an instant, the hero wished that he hadn''t realised anything. This fish had a transparent body! Tim''s vision was definitely unable to pick up such hints. But the case here was that, rays of green light were pushing through the enemy''s entire body! Second-by-second, the same fish was bing more and more transparent. His natural blue colour was fading away, and it was being reced by a darker shade of green! That''s when the same fish unleashed a shout. It was ear-piercingly loud, but at the same time had such a thick tone; enough to make one think, that the devil himself had descended from the very realm of hell! "The holy-tar has given me my soul back!" Was what the hero heard. It was enough to scar one''s sense of being, for a long while. Confusion itself was stronger than fear at the moment. Because whatever the hell was happening down there, the sea-pancake had no way of understanding it! At this point he didn''t want to look down anymore. And prayed to whatever deity ruled the oceans, to provide a way of escaping this hellhole. But if he was brave enough to look down, it would be noticeable that the enemy''s body had disappeared. That could had perhaps made the situation a loot scarier, but it would have been somewhat informative. Because it would be confirmed that the holy-tar, in some crazed way, could actually reap souls from any sacrificed fish. It was tremendously difficult to understand just how on earth that was possible, but it gave a great hint. Whatever this sect was doing, it was definitely not holy ~ but theplete opposite. The tar had calmed down, and although portions of the structure were still copsing, this particr step of the situation was calming its seas too. Shock had definitely enveloped the boy''s noggin, but his heartbeat was getting back to normal. He hadn''t ended up buried in piles of dirt, sand and coral, so it wasn''t all bad. But there still wasn''t a way to get out of here, meaning that he was trapped with the holy-tar that had behaved tremendously weird through these past few minutes. Although his soul and body were scared to the core, he was still brave enough to approach the tar for the sake of experimental purposes. Speaker. That was a name that ran through the boy''s noggin over and over. So after a bit of swimming, he had reached to the point of being just 10 feet above the tar. For the sake of testing, he uttered. "Holy-tar, can you speak to me!" It was a tad difficult to stomach the fact, that some random fish had enough connection with the tar to rupture an explosion out of it. The hero felt capable to reap even more benefits, so he was willing to explore opportunities. But regardless of attempt, the tar didn''t speak back like he expected it to. It felt a tad demotivating, so he sighed. "I don''t need this stupid tar anyway." After observing the surroundings for a little while longer, he noticed that everything was falling into ce to form a dependable structure. What was left of the cavern, was bing a tad more solid. Nobody could get in here but it also went the other way around, nobody could get out. Chunks of coral were littered all around the tar-pool, along with other masses such as dirt and sand. The ce was a total mess, but it had its own beauty in a way. The cavern''s left walls had behaved much like andslide, and were currently upying half of the lower space. But at the same time, the cavern''s upper sections had be a bit roomier, because so much of the ceiling had already fallen down. There was no way out, that was behaving as a firm fact. But giving up wasn''t something that the youngling nned. He could see several fish bodies littered in the tar, surely the copse didn''t allow them to escape. But it also meant that some other tribe members had escaped. Meaning that they were free to cause trouble to any other good inhabitant of the reef. That thought, wasn''t allowing the hero to give up! Chapter 184: Menace Chapter 184: Menace After another brief overview of all surroundings that enveloped the cavern at the moment, he started to be more and more sure that there just wasn''t a way out of here. This ce seemed sealed shut, and that fact was anxiety raising. The only n he had was to swim up towards the ceiling; and then just start chewing through it. But it slowly began to sound like a bad idea. Because apart from any copses, being possibly caused thanks to this idea. It was difficult to pick out a spot where to start chewing through. One would think that it would be okay to start anywhere, as long as it''s through the ceiling, but no that wouldn''t help here. He didn''t know just how long it would take to chew his way out, because the ceiling could be a meter thick here and 3 meters thick there. It could take a long time, starvation mighte quicker than the blessing to leave this ce. But regardless of just how bad this idea was, he didn''t push it away and categorized it as ast solution. But that''s when a loud-ish tone was heard through one side of the cavern, reciting. "We need to get the green-balls, nothing else is important!" For a second it felt impossible to orientate himself towards just where the hell this sound came from. Illusion in this new life, was something he had experienced for an hour or so. But this time, he sure hoped that this wasn''t the case. It became apparent that this wasn''t any illusion, once a handful of fish had slowly gone through the left side of the walls. Apparently a tunnel had actually survived the copse. Upon such realisation, it was easy to figure out that these fish had escaped earlier and then used this tunnel toe back. But the reason why these green-balls were so important, he could not figure out. It had something to do with the tar pools, and greend sharks, that was for sure. However the rest regarding this topic, was an agitating blur. Before any of these fish had seen Timothy, he had barged upwards to find a ce to hide. He simplyid over thendslide that had covered half of the cavern''s lower section. It would take a lot of effort for any of these fish to find the boy, even though he had used dirt to cover his body rather than sand. As for bravery, the sea-pancake definitely did notck it! But the golden topic was rted to green-balls, and he wanted to lend an ear for the sake of gathering information. Exactly 13 of various sizes had entered the cavern, the biggest one stretched just a foot long. They weren''t a true threat, but big numbers could be difficult to fight off. However now was not the time for battle. These fish aimlessly wandered around for a while, apparently looking for any other tunnels. But they were stripped out of luck as the copse had swallowed all of them. They went around the cavern for about 10 minutes in this manner, until all of them came to the biggest fish and stated. "All of the tunnels have been blocked, there is no way for us to get the holy-balls." That was an interesting name, the hero almost giggled to it loud enough to blow his cover, but thankfully attained control. These fish also said numerous other things but it was anguage that he could not understand. One thing that piqued his curiosity however, was when the biggest fish stated. "Then we have to dig our way through. I know every spot where we kept the holy-balls." Looking towards a wall that was practically untouched by the disaster, but still had faced a level of copse, he dered. "There are some balls over there. It won''t take us too long to dig through it." The remaining tribe members weren''t crazy about this n, and weren''t exactly moving around to follow the n. So the biggest fish shouted, by now it was easy to determine by tone, that she was a woman. "Common, chop chop! Without those balls, we can''t make another pool!" And so, the entire group of fish began swimming around like spooked sheep, and took a bite of the copse. As useless as that seemed, it was their only way of digging through the copse. While the sea-disk who was hidden under dirt, repeated a few times. "Hmmm..." And then finished pondering the new bit of information, although he had trouble thinking it out with a straight face. "So these holy-balls can make tar pools interesting." A menacing smile grew on his lips, as he thought. "I wonder what would happen if they could never use these balls." Such a thought continued to grow as a n, but now was not the time for action. If he attacked now, 13 fish had to be killed without allowing any of them to escape. It didn''t seem like a task that was too troublesome, but those green-balls had to be eradicated. So he lied in wait, allowing these enemies to put in heavybour. This n continued to give advantages, even though he didn''t realise it. Even the biggest fish on the enemy''s side, had admitted that this bit of work will take a while. This ultimately meant that at the end, these enemies will be dead tired. Even though they had no souls, bodies should tire out eventually after such work. It led to a sole fact, they will be far easier to kill and won''t have enough power to swim away, if cowardice once more captured their heads. Timmy continued to wait. Everything was going seemingly fine, this bundle of fish was putting in quite a lot of work. Some of them didn''t have jaws, so they were just carrying mouthfuls of dirt and rock - for the sake of clearing out the workspace. It was going fine, at least until a desperate shout erupted from one of these enemies. "No!" Chapter 185: Snipefish Chapter 185: Snipefish It took a few moments to realise what was going on. But judging from the dust cloud that had erupted right near the work-ce, the only hint was that a copse was inflicted against these enemies. "Dig him out!" A fish yelled out, it was the samedy who these survivors considered as a leader at the moment. "We can''t!" One of them shouted out, but it was impossible to figure out who shouted. This group of fish was bursting around in all directions like spooked deer, simply because they could not do anything to help theirrade, who apparently had been overwhelmed by a copse. Whatever work they have put in until now, was now considered worthless. Because dirt and rock had pissed all over their workspace. If they wanted to get the holy-balls now; these fish would need to put in a day''s worth of work at least. As for the only stingray that was in this cavern, he had it difficult to hold inughter. But at the same time was a tad agitated because a new n had to be made now. But it surely was fun tough at the enemy''s misfortune, it felt refreshing. However, now action had to be put in. From all things that he wanted to do, waiting around forever was something that he avoided. It felt logical not to waste time, so he emerged from the dirt and began stalking the closest-by-enemy. It was a fish that stretched half a foot in size, smaller than the hero without a doubt. It felt good to hunt something smaller for a change, he had been dealing with massive enemies for longer than he could remember. Unwilling to be secluded about it, he charged towards the prey, out in the open - unbothered if anyone else spotted him. And before anyone else could notice the sea-disk''s presence, jaws dug against the enemy''s neck from below! It came in as a shock for the little blue-fish who couldn''t see where this attack came from, but it stood evident that the kill was swift and only hurt for a quick second. [Neon damselfish killed. 2 system point has been given to you as a reward] [Since this should be the current system given task, you get an additional 2 points] [Total system points = 188] Although it was a terrible idea to ask insightful questions right now, it had to be done. "I don''t remember this. You didn''t tell me about the new task, right?" [You demanded for me to tell you about this taskter on. But since killing a fish of this species, was supposed to be your 16th task anyway, you get points even though you were unaware of the task] It made sense, and right now he didn''t want to ask a lot of questions regarding the topic. And instead, had charged towards a spooked fish who witnessed the kill. Eye-witnesses wouldn''t have much value here, since all of these fish are supposed to be killed anyway - but the rest of these fish, were still unaware of the grand threat. These few seconds of unawareness had to be used entirely, as it would be a tad more difficult to battle these enemies, if they were all attacking at the same time. So he directly charged towards this red fish, and ignored an irrational fear. This particr enemy wasn''t massive, and didn''t pose any actual threats. But, it was t in a vertical manner and that just seemed weird. He did not understand how evolution and species design worked, but right now he wanted to make an instant kill. So after getting close enough to the enemy, the young one began fluttering his fins a bit more roughly for the sake of slowing down just a little bit. And at the same time, young Timmy allowed his tail to push forward in less than a split second. So ultimately, he became a projectile that was moving at considerable speeds. A bumblebee if you will. The enemy had no other option but to try and swim away. But in an instant, its waist felt a shocking pain. And it was solely because the stingray''s tail, had barged from one side of its waist to the other. Which was rather easy alone. And thanks to the momentum, they both began rolling around in the sea-water like ragdolls for a few seconds. [Golden angelfish killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 189] After untangling from the enemy, it was noticeable that the remaining 10 fish had noticed his presence. That and they were getting ready to attack. This tribe felt dumb, that they just assumed the intruder had been overwhelmed by the copse. Thergest fish of this tribe, began charging towards the intruder after noticing that a few of herrades weren''t exactly ready, or brave enough to attack. It seemed like this enemy was bigger, but in actuality, she was just double in sizepared to the hero. So there wasn''t much to worry about, especially since there won''t be any stronger fish after this one. Unwilling to shy away from battle, Tim began charging head-first as well, but had a battle n instead of just ying brave. They reached each other in just a short second, but didn''t have a collision that one would tell their grandchildren about. The sea-pancake had avoided the head bud by fluttering above the enemy. But it couldn''t be considered an absolute miss, and in no way cowardly. His barb had curled into a C-formation, and a blow wasnded right against the enemy''s forehead! Considering the momentum that came along with it, he even heard a mildly loud thud afternding the strike. Venom had piled up in his tail until now. And thanks to excitement that came along with this battle, the entire quantity was unleashed against the enemy. Almost paralyzed, thedy couldn''t move ~ most likely because this shot had done damage against the brain. The fish he had just paralysed, had a long-ish snout that the hero feared. But considering that he was the only inflictor in that sh, there was nothing to fear right now. That''s when the system came in with a notification, [Longspine snipefish killed. 9 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 198] Such a reward didn''t feel exactly drastic. Especially since he still wouldn''t be able to buy any upgrades with the current amount of points. But just before he was going to charge against a bundle of enemies, who were getting closer by the second: the system announced. [Eating or biting a longspine snipefish, can upgrade your natural camouge for a time span of 1 hour] Chapter 186: Transparent assassin Chapter 186: Transparent assassin "How many levels will it give me?!" The young one asked instantly. He felt certain that this was one of the most unheard of, temporary upgrade. But regardless of the just asked question, the system did not answer. Considering those circumstances, he understood that the system won''t talk because of greed. She did mention before that additional upgrades were required to know such information; so her silence made a bit more sense now. Although fearing that health loss mighte with consumption of a contaminated fish, the young one was curious. This situation can be tamed without the aid of the upgrade, but this should be fun. So with a bit of hesitation, he munched just a chunk of flesh and chucked it down. Thankfully, no rm came with it so that made the boy feel certain, his curiosity was paying off. [Your natural camouge has been upgraded to level 12, for a time span of an hour] No pain came with this upgrade, thankfully. But it was also difficult to feel just how well this upgrade was working. And therefore, he began using the map that was on the corner of his vision. Upon a bit of focusing, trying to see himself from above ~ it was noticeable that the young hero was almost transparent! Odd at least. And it shook the boy''s heart, because although something like this was expected, he did not think it would be effective at a level like this. As for the enemies: they had just begun barging forward, but now they did not have a target, so they just aimlessly swam above the hero. They were a tad fearful, it wasn''t an everyday scene to see a fish disappear in thick water! The fish who didn''t attack but floated behind, were a bit more confused than scared. They were around in this tribe a bit longer, and have seen weirder scenes. But for a fish to disappear like that? It was a first time experience for them. Feeling that he carried a tremendously superior position, the little hero began putting a little battle strategy into motion. His first move was a stab against an enemy, who had just reached the carcass of which the intruder had bitten. This fish was small and seemed fragile too, so Tim didn''t really think about hanging around to finish off the enemy. And instead, continued to charge against another one who was equal in size. Considering the low-vision capabilities that these fish had, they could only hear that the intruder was swimming around. As for seeing him, it wasn''t possible even after it was toote! The sea-pancakended a blow against this thin enemy''s small cheek, and then dragged the tip of the barb across its side. Momentum was something he did notck, thanks to his top speed being 5 mph now. So this unlucky enemy could only acknowledge the pain for a short half-a-second, before true death reached it. The next goal became to ughter down the fish who were close to a foot long, as they behaved like true threats although it wouldn''t take much effort to kill them. Tension was building up as the atmosphere became deadly quiet for a few seconds. There wasn''t much to hear, apart from a deaf whoosh that ran across the water - which brought along bubbles too. Before they knew it, one of the biggest remaining fish, felt a sharp pain against its belly. Dying was difficult alone, but dying without even seeing the enemying, was even more distressing. If it was possible to see the intruding menace, these fish would witness a stingray clinging against the victim''s belly ~ with his barb pushed through the target. They could not see the blue-dotted boy, but they could see how theirrade was twitching thanks to the unbearable pain! But one thing that yed out well for the victim, was the fact that death reached in just a few seconds. Such a ughter continued against the other enemies, but there was only one victor in this battle. If this tribe had the ability to see the intruder, the chances ofnding at least some damage, would have been quite usible. But fate wasn''t by their side. Today was an event they did not expect. Losing the entire hidden-den was hard enough on the subconscious. But when they sneaked back down here, they were tremendously convinced that there were no more threats. Better yet, they even expected to be considered heroes for recovering the holy-balls. Those ideas and daydreams were tossed to the ground and stabbed afterwards, because the intruder killed them one by one ~ remorse was something that he did not carry against these worshippers. In just a few minutes, all of the tribe members were put down for good. And that''s when the system notified, [You''ve killed 10 fish of various species. As a reward, you have obtained 52 system points] [Total system points = 250] This reward seemed good, butpared to the workload, it almost felt like a waste of time. A grand example was that a tad less points, could have been obtained if he just hunted down and ughtered a single barracuda. It wouldn''t require much work either since he knew their weak spot. But that fact regardless, he felt happy because now an upgrade could finally be bought. Memory still failed to be his trump card, so the system had to be asked about further details. Afterying over a bit of dirt, high above the holy-tar pool, he asked. "Can you tell me what upgrades there are to buy?" [There are a couple of options, but you can only afford one of them] Feeling a tad enthusiastic about it, he instantly requested. "Let''s hear it." [You can upgrade your IQ for 10 points] [Price = 250 system points] Hearing that price had instantly made his heart sting. The first and prime reason was that he only had 250 points, and seemingly all of them need to be spent on a single upgrade. Racking up points has seemed slower recently, so that hurt a bit too. Deciding to just get on with it, especially since this situation required better thinking capabilities, he stated. "Okay. Upgrade my IQ, I''m buying it." Chapter 187: IQ, once more Chapter 187: IQ, once more [Confirmed] [Upgrading your IQ...] That''s when the little hero expected, for tremendous pain to be inflicted against his body, or head at least. But right now he realised why exactly he could use an intelligence boost. He kept forgetting that upgrading intelligence doesn''t hurt whatsoever. At least it used to be like that. Throughout this upgrade, he felt a small and painless pinch on his noggin. And the system notified just a secondter. [Upgradeplete] [Your IQ now is = 60 points] [250 system points consumed] [You don''t have any points remaining] It felt like a blessing, but the fact that it still was lowpared to the other intelligence he had, was agitating. But right now a question rolled in that little noggin, and it should be the best time to ask about it. So he elevated from the dirt, and questioned. "Howe my head didn''t hurt when I upgraded intelligence before? But it hurt a little bit now." [You will eventually feel more pain, the more you upgrade any type of intelligence] [Nothing had hurt in the past few upgrades because your brain wasn''t exactlyplex, so base foundations were still being set up. Now, your brain has attained a beginner level ofplexity. And naturally that''s what caused a small head pinch] The blue-dotted boy wanted to feel offended, but he also understood that the system was just being honest. Now however, he was looking a bit less forward towards upgrading intelligence. Specifically since pain will increase as if in a brick-by-brick way. But a bit of superiority began creeping in, once he realised that he had a system that can eventually make him a super genius. Random fish didn''t have that right now, humans probably don''t have it either. So with a bit of pride, he spoke out. "Should''ve known that it hurt because of my genius!" [You aren''t a genius, but your head did hurt because of intelligence. Such upgrades include tampering, and relocating nerves that are connected to your brain] [Glia and neuron cells in your head increase as well. So all together, that''s what causes and will cause pain] Gaining the grand hint that he only understood half of what the system had just said, it became noticeable that his intelligence had to be upgraded a few times more, at least if he wished to understand umon topics. Putting those thoughts aside, he began heading towards the very tunnel of which these enemies had sprouted out of. It was a bit too dark to see through it, but after reaching what felt like half way through ~ faint illumination was shining from the other side. Clearly it was the moonlight, and he never had imagined that seeing it would cause so much joy. After a few moments he had finally reached the other side of the tunnel, and took a few seconds to observe his surroundings. After peeking at thepass that was on the map, he managed to figure out which way the tribe of white-legged shrimp was. ... It took just a little while to reach the ce, especially since he was piercing the waters at full speed. Being sneaky wasn''t exactly a concern, as his transparency was still active thanks to biting through that snipefish. Most marine animals and predators couldn''t see him. But those who could, didn''t dare to approach as they didn''t see it as a good idea to follow an invisible fish. After reaching the tribe, he could notice that the area was a bit too calm. There weren''t many shrimp crawling around, and those who were, behaved like they didn''t see the king. Well they couldn''t, but it felt tough to be ignored when earlier they treated him as royalty. The few shrimp around here seemed tired as much as they were unaware. Their crawling waszy and slow, some even copsed on the spot for the sake of resting; the energy they had, wasn''t even enough to reach their homes. It felt odd at first, but the hero suddenly remembered something. And while swimming above a few conscious subjects, he managed to eavesdrop on a conversation. One of them, who seemed a bit older,ined. "The president is crazy. We elderlies can''t work like ves, that''s what the younger ones are for!" Ady who appeared to be a teenager, contradicted. "That''s a pretty stupid thing to say, you''ve lost a few grandchildren already. Doesn''t that bother you? Their jaws were broken and they barely had any energy to cry out." Such a conversation continued afterwards, but to Tim it was enough to piece the puzzle together. He had remembered the suicidal speaker back in the holy-tar tribe; talking about a deal that was made with the president of these shrimps. Right after, he mumbled. "So these shrimp are really making dens for the tar-sect. Traitors! I shout kill them all." [Although I typically would not mix up in situations like this, killing everyone is a horrible idea] [They are likely unaware of just why they''re digging. The higher ups are the only ones to me] "So you''re saying that other important shrimp are in on this?" It didn''t take much intelligence to understand that hint. But it also gave reasons to be angrier. [Most likely, yes] With that conclusion growing in the sea-pancake''s head, he began looking for where the president could be. First it felt like it would take enough time, for the sun to rise over the horizon before the target was found. Such a time span featured effort that he did not want to put in. So instead of swimming around aimlessly, he stopped and began observing all surroundings a bit better. It was difficult to see in the midst of darkness, but something still managed to capture the corner of his eye. Although it was blurry and over a hundred meters away, a whole coating of white that was over coral and sand, was tremendously difficult to ignore - even in night time. So having it swiftly decided, he began charging towards the just set target. Rage was building up bit-by-bit, as he just couldn''t figure out enough reason for this shrimpy president to betray the reef, and most importantly: his own people. The thought of it was agitating. Chapter 188: Old friend Chapter 188: Old friend Timmy had arrived close to this patch of white-legged shrimp, but his entrance wasn''t exactly dramatic. There was enoughmotion on the sand and above the coral, to allow him swim over without being noticed. Natural camouge levels were still level 12, so that aided to make apletely smooth entrance. Upon further observation, he noticed that these shrimp were simply walking back and forth through a single, wide route. Such a quantity of shrimp, just crawling around, would be enough to muffle sounds of any new arrival such as the stingray''s. But now, it was difficult to figure out what to do next. He located this patch of shrimp and they were likely working on something, but where would the workce be for these marine critters? They were just crawling in a long straight line. It was difficult to see the end of each side, darkness along with his weak vision, didn''t nearly help to figure things out. He could of course charge against any shrimp and demand information, with the aid of brute force: but that would require to kiss stealth goodbye. Thinking about it for a little while longer, he decided to just follow the right side. The worst thing that could happen, was the waste of time. If the result would be just finding residential areas, it would be easy to turn around and follow the opposite direction. Swimming a few feet above the shrimp, he slowly began to feel a bit more rxed. There were hundreds if not a thousand of these shrimp, just simply crawling in a straight path. It was satisfying to see, and helped the boy understand that he wasn''t the only life-form around here, and there could be millions more out there. And as bizarre as it sounded, after a short train of thought: he managed to find a bit of sympathy for these crawlers. It was a rare urrence for him to feel anything about anyone in this new life, apart from rage. But these shrimp are to be pitied. They behaved as one big unit, and what work they''re going to put in, would tire their souls and bones - yet they still do it, simply because they were told to. No individuality stood between them, neither of them seemed particrly special. Any swoosh could just kill them, and it wouldn''t affect anyone; because the life they lived was not significant. Thoughts like that were raging for a little while, at least until an external factor made the boy pay attention. Something was poking the boy''s booty, thankfully it wasn''t anything violent. But a brief panic swiftly emerged. No one is supposed to be able to see the little sea-disk, yet some creature has gotten close enough to be almost molestive. Swiftly turning around, he saw a face familiar enough to steer emotions in his heart, happy ones. Although happy, he was also shocked; so a mildly pissed question erupted, "What the hell are you doing here?" "Snoopy sent me here, he has new information about this holy-tar bullshit." Upon ways of expression, it was even easier to assure who this was. Thedy he was talking to, was none other than Osira the cktipped grouper. Along with her, the hero had caused quite a bit of ruckus, while recruiting fish for the hidden-den. But somehow, whenever Tim had the chance to go back to the hidden den, thisdy was never there. It was a bit distressing but he hadn''t exactly spoken out that stress, as everyone would simply tease right after. Neither of the shrimp below were paying attention to them, but talking about such a topic here wouldn''t be the best idea. There are quite a number of elders in this white-leggedmunity, and chances are that a lot of them are aware of the grand problem. So without asking just how the hell she could spot the boy, even when he had such grand levels of camouge, the sea-pancake waved a fin and whispered. "Follow me." ... They''ve found a coral crack to hide in, it was located about 50 meters from the line of working shrimp: so some privacy was granted without losing the target. This ce was a bit snug, which led the two being almost nose-to-nose, but it wasn''t all bad since it brought back old memories, even if those memories were less than a couple of weeks old. Osira broke the silence first by adding, "We''ve figured out that this dumb sect, is using some weird brick to drain the souls of any sacrifice." Such a sentence sounded most definitely bizarre, but that''s when a brief memory hit the boy! In the very beginning when he was just trying to find food, for the sake of survival ~ there was a brick shaped item, that carried a thick green colour. It had a faint source of illumination, but at that point it seemed tremendously random. Although he could not understand what that brick was, and he nearly couldn''t understand it now,e to think of it. But the opposing sect using it makes sense in some way. So first he expressed, "I knew it!" But that was a tad exaggerated, as he was tremendously unaware up until this point. He was mostly celebrating about the new bit of information, but expressed it differently. Afterwards he asked, "But how could snoopy figure that out?" "Snoopy had stalked a new tribe that was in the making. He had arrived a bit toote, but managed to notice that the tribe used a weird green brick, along with some balls of the same colour to finish creating a holy-pool." Such information came in as a blow, but it was expected. Before the blue-dotted boy could say anything, the grouper continued. "Before those things were used, the pool just had some weird pink colour." Although a bit hesitant for a few seconds, she continued to exin. "But after they were used, souls were being dragged away from the sect members. And afterwards they talked about a ceremony that was done before that." Chapter 189: Clingy predator Chapter 189: Clingy predator Ceremony, that rung a loud bell. Specifically since he was part of it before, and almost lost something that no child should lose, his virginity. Evidently, such a ceremony seemed to prove effective in terms of draining out souls from any random fish. That was somewhat relieving, because such a step towards soul very, seemed necessary and wasn''t just some sick joke made by the higher ups. However, neither of these friends had the faintest idea regarding why the holy-tar, drained souls only after a fish''s anus had been worked on. It was difficult to think about, and not to mention understand. Unwilling to admit that he had almostpleted the ceremony before, the topic was swiftly shifted. "We need to adjust our ns a little bit then." "Our n? Why, what''s happening here?" The thought of working together again managed to pull a few heart strings, but she was rather confused. "A few shrimps are cooperating with the enemy-sect, we need to kill them all." That was the briefest description he could figure out, and it spoke volumes regardless how little effort was put into it. Somewhat catching up, Osira answered. "Right, then what''s the n?" She understood the motive but everything else was a blur, so all nning had to be tossed over towards the little stingray. And from the looks of it, he was happy about that. For a brief moment, the little boy thought if his intelligence was noticeable. There had to be some reason for thisdy to blindly follow the boy; regardless what that reason was, it felt nice to be trusted. Letting silence stretch for a little while, he finally answered. "We can''t let the sect open up another tar-pool, so we have to take their bricks and balls." Such a sentence was difficult to say with a straight face, and thedy noticed a crack in the other''s tone, which led to a developing smile. That aside, the n made sense but after thinking it over for a little bit, she became confused. "So you didn''t kill the tribe after figuring out that they made a deal?" It was difficult to picture this young stingray cowering in fear, so she had to ask for the sake of certainty. Nodding a little but hitting the roof of the coral in the process, he assured. "Oh I did kill them all. But I have an itch that there are more sect-tribes into this scheme." Getting more and more confused, she asked. "What makes you think that?" "A few shrimps wanted me dead, that''s why they made a deal with the enemy-sect. At least that''s what their speaker said, but I have a feeling that there is more to it than just this. These shrimp are all working to make a lot of caverns for the tar-sect." Evidently, his recent intelligence upgrade was working harder than the devil. Sharing as if the same head, thedy followed up. "Meaning that these shrimp had made deals with more than one holy-tar tribe." Growing a big smile, he started out the sentence with a shout. "Exactly. I feel that something big is going to happen, and the best way to stop it from happening is to take away their tools." The n was sealed up by adding, "So we need to be sneaky first, at least until we find and destroy what they need the most." With absolute certainty, enthusiasm grew in her tone as she spoke out. "Let''s do this!" ... Dawn was an hour or less away. So it gave the team of two, a bit more time to pierce through the waters for the sake of finding the construction site. The route that Timothy had picked out earlier, proven to be correct. As they only required a good few minutes to reach what these shrimp were working on. The results were staggering. Before, it was an understood fact that these shrimp, were biting their way towards the creation of more than one cavern. But one thing that neither of the heroes expected, was for these caverns to be so close to each other. They saw the line of shrimp, splitting in 3 directions. And each group seemed to enter some tunnel, that was likely their workce. These works in progress, were only a short distance of 10 meters away from each other. That struck as highly unusual, because they have never seen hidden tar-dens being this close to each other. Tim and thedy decided to just enter the middle portion of this workce. He had a feeling that this one had begun construction first. So chances were high, that important tools had already been delivered here. A problem stumped them right away, and it could be difficult to solve this one, the issue had to with stealth. In the midst of darkness, Osira was mostly unnoticeable by any passer-by, but right now they had to enter through a tight tunnel. Which ultimately meant, that they would be too close to these white shrimps. Although these critters are clueless, they will notice an entire fish swimming above their heads; and havoc can break loose, if information about their presence reaches the higher ups. The couple of heroes were in a rush without a doubt, so a quick solution had to be figured out. That''s when the stingray began using his noggin a bit more than usual. It stung for a short second to think this much, but he gave out a sigh as an idea rolled in. "I will cling over you..." He cited. But considering that they had to whisper, the idea sounded like a child predator''sst words. An embarrassed blush began growing over her fishy cheeks, so thedy grunted. "The fuck are you talking about?" Clueless regarding what she was angry over, he asked. "You can see that I''m almost invisible right?" "Yes?" She added, bing even more clueless than the little boy. "If I''m over your back, you will be mostly invisible." The n made sense and it managed to stop what could have been a heart attack. So thetter answered, "Okay, let''s do it. But stay away from my tail!" Knowing that this good woman could head-bud him into unconsciousness, he swiftly nodded a few times. "Definitely!" Chapter 190: Pool creation Chapter 190: Pool creation After they settled with following such an idea, it didn''t take much time to reach the other end of the tunnel. Apart from some portions of their route being a tad snug, they didn''t exactly have any trouble. Timothy had started a minor fight, but he wasn''t exactly included in it. On the contrary, he had just poked a shrimp''s ass with his barb. The critter in question, had turned around and started a fight with another critter that was following along behind it. It was a tad hrious to see havoc break through them. And right now the little hero did not care about the title he had for these shrimp. King or not, he had plenty of reasons to vent frustration out somewhere - even if it was on his own subjects. The camouge trick was working like a charm. Apart from the grouper girl''s tail, they were mostly invisible. And those who had seen the tail, shook their heads and thought it was delusion thanks to being overworked. Once they''ve reached the end of the tunnel, the first idea became to start snooping around for tools. It was smart without a doubt, but in this case it proved useless. Simply because the higher ups weren''t even nearly concealing such tools. The couple of heroes could see various items on the bottom of the cavern. And near those things, floated a group of 10 marine animals who didn''t exactly identify with any shrimp species. It was difficult to identify which of these fish was the leader, because they all seemed: white, a tad big, and blob-like. But one creature that the sea-pancake managed to identify, was the rotten president who had brought these sect bastards here to begin with. After seeing that white-legged menace, emotions were steering in his pea-sized heart ~ but neither of them were peachy. On the contrary, these emotions featured hate and murderous intent. Before the couple of intruders could do anything, the blob-like fish sprung into action. Well it wasn''t anything drastic, since a battle had not been started. But we can''t say that the actual result wasn''t as frightening. These blobs began blowing out a substance out of their mouths. It was purple in colour, which just had made everything a lot more confusing. Because neither of these intruders could think of an under-the-sea liquid who had such colour. A tad frightened, Tim and thedy wanted to do something. But considering the situation, a whole new set of ns was required for the sake of figuring something out: that would actually work. As the two were observing in shock, one of these blobs went for another item. It was difficult to believe that these blobs hadn''t been split in half, carrying such substance seemed painful, even though they never saw such an example before. The blob in question, had grabbed what seemed small from a distance, but was surely a bit heavy. This thing was brick shaped and was just under a foot long. The greatest detail about this item, was the green colour it carried along with a faint hint of light. He had expected this, since Osira had brought over such information. But a sigh of mild-shock was still released, because this brick was connected with a key memory. In the very beginning, when he was almost eaten by both an eel and a shark, he had found an exactly simr brick in a small den. It''s purpose was tremendously difficult to understand back then, but now it was certain that this ursed sect, used it. It was still difficult to understand how it worked right now, but they did know that such tools should be destroyed. As these enemies were following along their procedures, the couple of heroes here were in a loud-whispered debate. Thedy was first to break the silence, as she was getting frustrated. "The tools are down there. What do we do?" "We can''t steal the tools from them now, there are hundreds of shrimp going down there." Thetter answered and it did make sense. President shrimp didn''t seem to mind that hundreds of inhabitants were watching; it was almost as if they were all aware of the n, but didn''t rebel in any way for various narcissistic and fearful reasons. Unwilling to allow for another tribe to be built, she began wiggling left and right for the sake of annoying the boy who had clung over her, and was willing to bring along reasoning. That''s why she stated, "I don''t care if there are hundreds or thousands! We have to stop them and kill the most important enemies too!" It was difficult to argue with such logic, and he didn''t n to keep the argument going for a long time - especially since one of the blobs had just dropped the green-brick on the pool of purple liquid! Within a few seconds, the sea-pancake whispered a decision. "I will try to kill the blobs and the president too, one by one. But those blobs will try to attack me all the time, so I need you to bulldoze them away." Caught up with most of the n except for a single word, she asked. "Bulldozed?" "Head-bud them." The blue-dotted boy assured, forgetting that fish had never exactly seen most human technology. "Okay, I can do that." She assured, but that''s when their vision was cursed with a realisation. The pool of purple liquid had begun changing colour. It had started off with a single thread of blue substance, that was piercing in the middle; and then expanded on all other directions of the pool, in a branch-like manner. It was beautiful to see, but in this case it posed an eminent threat! Now was the time to interrupt this nonsense. And seeing that there were only green-balls on the flooring near these enemies, pressure was building up on the other side of the stick. That''s when Timmy had wholeheartedly shouted, "Attack! And without even the faintest hesitation, he leaped off thedy''s back and began charging downwards at full speed! He craved to use a method that proved somewhat lethal before! Chapter 191: Figure Chapter 191: Figure Such a shout had spooked the enemies who were located on the very bottom portions of the cavern. But still the shout wasn''t projected as rough as the young one wanted to, because there were already hundreds of shrimp here. And although these critters weren''t mumbling or chatting, their crawling alone was enough to muffle singr sounds. Within a few seconds, the blob-fishes began panicking as it was certain that this intruder had no good intent. Such a result, had made the young stingray figure out a new way of attacking; because the blobs had begun swimming around like spooked sheep, rather than staying on their spots as expected. It wasn''t exactly a big problem, the hero just began chasing the closest by enemy, and had a n to unleash one of the most powerful moves against it. Within a few seconds, he had clung against the blob''s back with the aid of those marvelous jaws. It felt like a joyride right after, because the enemy began panicking and charging in random directions at double the speed. For a moment it was difficult to hold on, but he adjusted within a few blinks. Now was the time to unleash the attack, but he couldn''t quite remember the name and it was difficult to speak, considering that his jaws were piercing the blob''s flesh. So the only option was for him to activate the move with a simple thought, but the main problem was still visible. "Heat thing... uhh activate the water boiler. No!" Memorisation was obviously still not his trump card, but willpower was. So he continued to guess, "Explosive warmth!" That didn''t work either, and that''s when the system had to swoop in. [Do you mean eruptive heat?] "Yes!" The blue-dotted menace thought out, and felt certain that he will forget that name sooner orter. Within a second, the power-move activated! That''s when they heard a screeching battle-crying from the blob. Remembering whates next, the sea-pancake had immediately let go of the enemy and swam towards another direction. Although he was a bit further away now, it was easy to notice that a stingray-shaped burn mark had been imprinted on the enemy''s back! Funny in some aspects, but it sure had managed to deliver damage. He afterwards targeted another blob, that was brave enough to attack rather than swim away. Against this enemy, he had to build yet another strategy, out of scratch. An attempt was put in to swim up, but it proved useless. Because the boy''s back muscles were still hurting, due to being blown up against a cavern''s ceiling. The actual n was to swim up and pierce through the enemy''s head, alongside with an additional, but yet deadlier cut against its spine. However, now he had no option but to head-but against the enemy. Right now he was about to figure out, just how strong his head could be after countless bodily-durability upgrades. Contrary to expectations, the blob opened up its mouth which led to the hero going right in it! On the other side of the stick, Osira had unleashed a loud battle-shout and began charging against the enemy, who had just swallowed her friend. Within a few seconds, she reached the target and inflicted a direct head-but against the enemy''s noggin. The result was respectable. Especially since such an opposer stretched a couple of feet long, which was double the sizepared to this cktippeddy. But yet, she had managed to overwhelm the blob: even tossed the same enemy about 4 feet away. It was impactful, and fair to say that power that''s mended with rage, helped deliver a blow that was above average, even for her. So it was understandable to see that this same diseased freak of nature, had been knocked out cold. It''s mouth was hanging wide open, and that''s when thedy began seeing a weird scene. A pointy barb was breaking through the knocked-out enemy''s back. Such infliction continued to erupt through the enemy''s belly, and it progressed against its waist too. Within a few moments, this blob had endured over 25 stabs! There was only so much a fish of this kind could endure. So evidently, it began showing true signs of actual death. That''s when a small creature had begun to crawl out of its mouth. It was none other than Tim, and he seemed as fresh as a daisy. Thankfully, whatever substance this blob had carried in its mouth earlier, had been removed before the little hero was swallowed. Or else it would have be troublesome. Osira carried evident joy on her face after seeing the hero in one piece. And the stingray returned the smile with an even warmer one. So now they were more than ready to face off the rest of these enemies. But that''s when the sea-pancake saw a weird figure creeping up on thedy''s back. Within a few moments, she was violently yanked from her former spot. And whatever had dragged thedy away, ended up pushing her downwards and straight against the pool of blue-tar below them. Once they had crashed in the pool, and submerged through and through in it, had the hero figured out just what the hell happened. A few secondster, a white-coloured figure popped out of the pool, and it didn''t take much effort to recognize who this was. The president! He was alive and well, but carried a menacing look on his shrimpy face. Growing in anger beyond prepare, the sea-disk shouted out. "I will rip you into pieces!" But regardless of the threat, this old geezer gazed at a blob and shouted. "Throw the balls in the pool!" Hesitant, the blob mumbled. "But..." "Do it now!" The president ordered once more as he was getting ready to charge against the intruder, "It will rip her into shreds!" Feeling dominated, the blob heeded themand and tossed all of the holy-balls in the pool. Within a moment, they noticed the very pool swiftly branching a new-green colour across itself. And that''s when a figure began slowly emerging out of the tar. Chapter 192: Black-light Chapter 192: ck-light Trying toprehend the situation, Timothy uttered a single word as he gazed at the pool. "Osira?" Before anyone could think twice about what was going on, the situation elerated towards what was difficult to understand. Because whatever had emerged out of the pool of blue-tar, had unleashed an almost unnoticeable sh of ck-light. Tremendously faster than a blink of an eye, that same light had crashed against the president of these shrimp. Which ultimately led to this critter, being sted across the sea-water for a few feet. Although that shot seemed tremendously powerful, this shrimp had not met death. Although he had curled into a ball first for the sake of shedding a bit of pain away; he began moving, just a few seconds after. Fire-like light had erupted from the president''s numerous legs, and suddenly he just popped out about 5 meters away from the former spot. And from the looks of it, the brave and angry geezer wasn''t heading for battle, but forfort instead. But with what power he had left, a shout was unleashed. "Kill them you dumb blobs! Kill them!" The number of these white-blobs who were brave enough to face this disaster, charged all together. Only 3 of them could be counted, while the rest were either hesitant or swimming away. It was interesting to see bigger species being afraid of smaller ones. Although this situation should be enjoyed, the hero was solely focused on who had just risen from the pool of blue-tar. The other end of the stick helped for such a matter: because whomever this creature was, had just started shaking away the substance that was covering its body. It became easy to recognize that this was Osira, she didn''t seem to have changed physically in any recognisable way. What behaved as a reminder that she indeed had changed at least in some way, was another factor. Another beam of ck-light had been unleashed from thedy''s... well however she shot them out. And had crashed against the biggest blob here, who stretched a bit over 3 feet long! This enemy was fairly one of the bravest, and had built up a momentum to bulldoze these intruders. But once this weird-light had struck this fat sect member, its momentum was blown down. And it became difficult for this blob to keep going as well, because it was shaking its head for the sake of loosening up the strings of sudden pain. Seeing that thedy was taking control of this battle, Tim began charging towards the enemy who had started all this additional headache to begin with! And that wasn''t so difficult to do, as that bastardous shrimp had crawled in one of the cavern''s tunnels. Reaching the tunnel within a second thanks to rage, the hero began peeking around and noticed that it wasn''t so dark here. The structure had no curls but was rather straight-forward. At the end of the tunnel, he noticed the enemy shrimpying down. This ce was short built, simply because the entire cavern was still under construction. The enemy had noticed the stingray''s presence. So likewise, he began turning around for the sake of portraying a firm front. It was evident that a battle would break out in this snug tunnel, so the shrimp wanted to buy some time as the pain hadn''t yet gone away. Therefore, he spoke out. "You''re undeserving! I should have been the king all along." The young one wasn''t so crazy about being their king, so he wasn''t hung over the fact that all of this trouble was for a stupid title. Instead, he was angrier about the thought that this menace had tossed Osira in the tar-pool just a bit earlier. So a tease was unleashed for the sake of mental abuse, "Undeserving, but I keep winning. So who''s the true loser here?" It felt morally difficult to tease a geezer, but this critter carried nothing but hate and hunger for power. So only the slightest amount of guilt had bloomed through this little debate. But this wasn''t the time to argue, this old menace must die. That''s why the sea-disk didn''t want to continue the conversation, and prevented the enemy from speaking as well. "This is the end for you, old fart." It was a short sentence, but surely packed a punch. After letting out a slow and powerlessugh, the white-legged one muttered. "It won''t matter, you''ll never leave this ce alive. And if I die, my son will take over as the king." Feeling that it was a bluff, the young one just sighed. "Dumbass, you won''t be a king and neither will your son. This sect you were stupid enough to make a deal with, will try to enve your entiremunity. You just helped them." Feeling conflicted, the old man answered. "That''s impossible! It would break the deal." "They have already convinced you to allow an attack against yourmunity. What the hell are you talking about?" Tim pointed out, eager to figure out a bit more information regarding the whole topic. Agitated and wanting to brag as if being a child, the shrimp argued. "No. That was just supposed to be a motivation to build these caverns, they were all motivated to build a better and safer ce to live in. I''m a genius, because they hated you more after every bite they took through these caverns." Wanting to prove even smarter, he even added. "Today you were supposed to go in that pool, we lured you in." Closing in towards the enemy so the chance of escaping wasn''t given, the hero''s face shifted towards aggression as he stated. "Those blobs knew that blue-tar can mutate other fish, but they allowed it anyway. They don''t want me dead, not for your sake at least." At this point feeling dumbfounded and angry at the same time, thetter questioned. "What do you mean?" Feeling that it would be reasonable for this shrimp to know what the problem was, the sea-pancake deciphered. "Something big ising and the mutated fish will be used to feed it. They wanted to use me for food, obviously and that''s why they promised you that I would end up in that pool." Thinking it through, the hero also asked. "Tell me you didn''t agree to mutate a few shrimp?" Feeling that the other side of the stick was a mind reader, the shrimp grunted. "Bullshit! That''s impossible." And that''s when a fire-like colour broke out through the critter''s legs. As an exchange, the enemy had leaped towards the hero with an intent that was in no way pure. Chapter 193: Crashing down Chapter 193: Crashing down Although a battle was expected, the young hero did not think that this menace would attack that quickly. It came in as a swift shock, fair to say. But he managed to attain just a bit of control through this situation. That itself was a big achievement; because the president of these shrimp, was tremendously fast even after having faced damage from the great Osira. For a single moment the enemy was a foot away. But just half a secondter, this raging menace was in front of the hero''s face, almost lending a kiss even. But although the enemy approached quickly, an advantage wasn''t necessarily obtained. Simply because the sea-pancake had used the blink of freedom to push his tail forward. And as expected, the enemy had bashed against that same barb and let out a gasp; as shocking pain had enveloped his neck, chest and stomach. The white-legged shrimp species weren''tmonly massive, so Tim''s tail managed to go half way through the enemy''s body. But although that damage was plentiful, the blue-dotted boy was not satisfied with just a stab. So along with such a primary attack, he unleashed every bit of tail-venom that was avable. And just a moment after, he smacked against the salt-water for the sake of pulling away from the enemy. After the damage was done, it stood evident that this geezer had no motive to attack any more. Dedication was stabbed away, along with stamina and any bit of power that a critter could have. The cktippeddy had dealt quite a bit of damage to this old man earlier, and along with what the young boy had dealt - it became a recipe to disaster for the one who had been inflicted. Peeking at the president, it was easy to point out that pain had shifted the old man into an uncontroble shiver. This felt difficult to watch, especially after considering that the reason to such a death was linked with power-lust. This enemy was giving hisst kicks, so it felt like the appropriate time to exchange a word or two. "I want to ask if all of this bullshit was worth it? You''re dying, the tar-sect has tricked you and hundreds of your shrimpmunity had died because of your failure." Although losing power by the passing moment, the old one let out a few ufortable gasps that were forced in by pain. But he did manage to give a single mumble, "Fool." And afterwards he could collect a few more words, "I lost, but so have you! The sect was smarter than I thought, they have won over me but..." Letting silence stretch because of the unbearable continuous pain, the shrimp mumbled just a moment after. "But the entiremunity will hate you now, they already think that you are behind this." Noticing clearly that it wasn''t reasonable to show sympathy towards this dying critter, Timothy ndly spoke. "You''re pathetic." "I may be. But the king you had killed a while ago, was my brother. His and my death are not going in vain." Such information managed toe in as a bit of a shock, but the stingray couldn''t find enough reason to care. He didn''t care about this geezer or the ex-king of these white-legged shrimps. So without aiming to turn his back on this dying menace, the hero slowly backed out of the tunnel and witnessed the other side of the stick, giving hisst few kicks. [White-legged shrimp killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward] [Since this shrimp had abnormal capabilities, you get an additional 15 system points] [You''ve also killed 2 blob-fish, that you''ve attacked earlier on. As a reward, you get 40 system points] [Total system points = 56] Although such a gain felt nice, considering that he didn''t have any points a moment ago, now was not the time to think about them. The prime enemy had faced death, but it doesn''t mean that the other ones werepletely tamed. He gave a peek at the battlefield that was breaking out in the cavern, and noticed that the grouperdy had already dealt quite a bit of damage. It was easy to see that exactly 4 of the blobs had met the flooring of the cavern. It wasn''t certain if they were dead or not, but them being out of the way even if it was temporarily, was recognised as a blessing. But another problem began revealing itself, as a few hundred shrimp were crawling down the cavern; and it didn''t look like they favoured Osira''s side. And considering the number of approaching critters, a lot of them began losing grip and falling down. Yet considering that they were light weight, and underwater, the damage was at most minimalistic. Regardless of that fact, they were all barging down for the sake of killing the nasty grouper who had been ughtering down their allies. Unwilling to see his friend being attacked, Tim charged in the battlefield and began shouting with all the power of his gills. That reaction might have been tad exaggerated, because these shrimp could not swim greatly enough to reach the cktipped grouper. "Stay back! I am your king and I order you to stay back!" Such a shout came in as quite a bit of a shock for a few of them, but it felt almost ineffective. Some had slowed down, because although they could not understand thenguage, a yelling king was never a good thing. But after seeing that the rest of theirrades had not stopped on their spots, those who did halt earlier, gained motivation to continue. Although they could not reach the one target they aimed to destroy, it wasn''t necessarily true that they didn''t cause any damage. But the thing was that they only had begun causing damage to their selves. There were about 300 of these shrimp, and all of them were barging in the pool of blue-tar. It wasn''t certain if this substance could be called holy or unholy, but it was surely bringing in forced change. Screams had erupted from the pool, as these critters continued to charge in it. The entire cave ambience became muffled by these desperate shouts, and it proved transparent that now was not the time to be a hero. Chapter 194: Crashing down (2) Chapter 194: Crashing down (2) After taking just a brief moment to observe this hellish situation, Timnded a gaze towards the only genuine friend here. And neither of them had to say anything, as only an idiot would stay here after the issue had met such a drastic turn. They both charged towards the top side of this cavern, for the pure sake of escaping. But before meeting with what could have been a genuine escape, the blue-dotted hero had stopped for the sake of giving another peek. Regardless of just how dangerous this ce was bing, curiosity still managed to conquer half of the boy''s emotions. But this time, it proved to be somewhat of a good move. Because as a start, he had managed to revise thoughts of just how severe this situation was bing. As a start, these shrimp were not mutating. So that was good information to know, because if he wasn''t aware: a n would have been made for the sake of taming these shrimp, as wandering mutated critters wouldn''t be a good thing for anyone around here. Especially if those shrimp became as greedy as their ex-president. In this case, he figured out that it wasn''t necessary to make a n. But at the same time, the young one wished he could wash his eyeballs. And for once he actually wished to have a bad memory. Because those 300 shrimp who had stupidly jumped in the pool of blue-tar, were facing a cumtive fate that went below hell. Some of them were being ripped to shreds, a portion of them were literally exploding. While half of them had just desperately rushed out of the pool, and felt themselves withering away into nothingness. Osira had noticed that her friend hadn''t escaped the den yet, so she had turned around to seek the boy; only to figure out the fate of these very shrimp, who wanted her dead. That was when these two friends locked eyes with each other, equally confused. The grouperdy feared that she would suffer the same fate, and that was what the other side of the stick was scared about. It was clear to see that no mutation woulde out of this pool, even though the reason behind such a fact, only became more and more confusing. So with a simple gasp, they subconsciously decided to get the hell out of here. After they made it out, one of the blob-fish was spotted, floating around near the den. This was one of the same holy-tribe members, who had escaped before true trouble had broken in. An idea rushed through the young stingray''s mind, and he wanted to put it into motion right away. So he charged towards this fat and textureless enemy, who carried a wholly white colour. The hero had synced into a chase, but not for the sake of murder. On the contrary, he was doing so for the main sake of containment - he did not want this enemy to flee. But the boy''s attempt proved insufficient, simply because the enemy was faster. Perhaps caught on with what the idea was, although no words were exchanged for such a matter, Osira began chasing the same enemy. The gooddy proved faster in terms of short sprints of speed, it was the same matter when it came to unleashing an attack. A dim-ck light had broken near her forehead, and beamed towards the enemy under a short and simple blink. Once itnded against its flesh, decent damage was inevitable but it wasn''t enough to cause actual death. The blob-fish had first stopped its eleration, and then tried toprehend the pain. It came in as quite a shock and what followed after, was a mild-ray of disorientation. The enemy had begun twirling for a little while, before crashing on the sand. Unwilling to treat a menace lightly, the raging stingray had charged towards it and much like an angry bumblebee, his tail sunk against the blob''s abdomen. A moment after, Timmy spoke slowly to exin what the deal was. "Now I will ask you a question, and you will answer me right away! Got it?" Although shocked by the pain, this chubby blob could still let out a gasp-enhanced reply. "Yes." Knowing that such damage would not give this enemy any chances of survival, he got straight to the point. "Why didn''t my friend die after falling in the tar-pool?" Regardless of the staggering pain that was growing by the moment, an answer could still be given. "Your friend... was lucky. Our tar had changed colours while she was in the pool, that''s what saved her life. But..." Thatst word pained more than the actual situation. And agitation spiked up as if being stabbed by an urchin''s numerous spines. Yet that same word could still be stretched by the hero, "But...?" "Your friend, she..." The blob wanted to say something more, but that''s when itsst bits of power had left for good. Although angry that they couldn''t figure out more, the cktippeddy still carried a light tone. "Maybe you shouldn''t stab someone that you wanted information out of." "Well ha-ha-ha." Thetter mocked, and then swiftly pulled away from the enemy''s body. The overall aura between this couple of friends had elevated for the better, all thanks to this quick exchange of dialogue ~ but the prime concern still shone. And the sea-pancake proved faster to remind it, "I''m d you got powers, but you could be in danger!" Although feeling the same, she asked. "In danger from what?" "I don''t know, but this isn''t how fish are supposed to be mutated. What if you explode like those shrimp?" Although proving to be a pain in the ass, it was noticeable that this little man showed genuine concern. So thedy couldn''t be mad, instead she cited. "Let''s hope that I don''t. But we need to figure out more about this. It''s hard to understand just how it is possible for me to suddenly start shooting out ck beams." Such a statement was something they could both agree upon. So after thinking through this situation a bit better, he gazed at the den''s entrance they had just left. And then pitched, "Let''s go ask those blobs you had knocked out." It sounded like a good idea. But just as more attention was lended towards the tunnel, arge crash resounded. The very structure in front of them, began crashing down; coral itself was sinking drastically for a radius of 50 feet. Worse yet, the couple of friends didn''t have the faintest idea regarding what could have caused such a crash! Chapter 195: Governing Chapter 195: Governing Within a few moments, a dust cloud had erupted in front of them because of this very crash. It became terrifying by the passing second, as the rumble that came along with this crash, managed to shake the souls of anyone present. It wasn''t the best idea to stick around for the sake of experiencing the situation, so the couple of friends barged towards the opposite direction of this disaster. After a minute or two, the situation calmed down and the dust cloud was disappearing. Now they had the opportunity to have a peek at the damage, and noticed that it was worse than they thought. The damage wasn''t just isted in the main cavern, but had spread towards the couple of others that were on the sides. Painfully, the mess there was equal in valuepared to the very root of this copse. So ultimately, everything these shrimp had been working over these past few days, had been destroyed. And the bad fate did not stop there. As there were already hundreds of shrimp in these caverns, when the copse had started; so ultimately, most of these shrimps had died! It wasn''t tremendous damage against the entiremunity. But after including the war against the western rock lobsters they had, and the attack from those haddocks - it would be a surprise if thismunity of shrimps, had over 3,000 inhabitants right now. This was bing hazardous, as more than half of thismunity had died after leaving their former den. And obviously, they would all me the new king now. So ultimately, this was developing towards being a time consuming asion. A clear fact was that thismunity needed new governing, as everything about it now was chaotic. Change was essential, or else a lot more of these innocent shrimp will die. Regardless of how annoying they are,rge-scale deaths was something that they did not deserve. But to establish a new governing team, he would need to investigate all of the elders to figure out which of them had the purest intent. And that will just take too much time. It was almost unaffordable now when the hero''s team was racing against the clock, to slow down the growth of the holy-tar sect in this reef. After giving each other a few shocked looks, the couple of friends noticed a few shrimps approaching them. They weren''t attacking thankfully, but weren''t carrying soft looks on their faces either. A few seconds of observationter, it was easy to notice that these white-legged shrimp were elders. And one of them was quick to yell from a distance, "You''re a clueless king!" That same elder approached closer by the passing second, and shouted once more. "We have lost half of ourmunity because of you!" "Me?" Timmy questioned. He expected for all the me to be shifted towards him, but it still felt offensive. "It''s your rotten president who made deals with tar worshippers!" Such a statement had slowed down the momentum of these elders, who were confident enough to cuss against the king just a moment ago. They gave each other shocked nces, before one of them was able to speak. "Do you have a way to prove your words? We don''t trust you." This elder shrimp seemed interesting. Especially since such a sentence was spoken out casually, although it sounded rough. "What other proof do you need? How powerful do you think I am? That copse was likely caused because of some explosion, I can''t explode." Such an excuse seemed out of order, but the young one made sense. Noticing that he had gotten superiority over the conversation, Tim decided to take a few ns towards the next step. It might be the best time to do so, as these geezers were still thinking. The hero recited, "We need to fix things. I would hate it if more shrimps died, as much as you do." And that''s when an order was unleashed, "I demand that all elders gather up here, right now." These elders were still in shock, but such amand managed to poke thoughts for the worse. So one of them answered, "Why? Will you kill them as well?" "No, I will make a new government. There will be new presidents and whatever else." He couldn''t nearly remember all the fancy titles, but that could be fixed with a single question so it wasn''t a big matter. Such a sentence might be the best they had heard from this new king, as they were all eager to get a better title for themselves. So they began crawling in all directions to fetch the elders. So it gave the couple of friends some time alone to think. That''s when Osira questioned, "Do you really n on spending so much time here? There probably are hundreds of these elders." "There should be less, old people die a lot in thismunity." It sounded a tad rough, but it was evident that the young one was using his entire noggin. By now these two had subconsciously epted the fact that asking those other enemy-blobs for information, was impossible because of the copse. So ultimately, they have pushed that thought aside now. Tim thought about unlocking that blood analysis ability for a while, but it was too costly and the system might not agree. That aside, it would be rather embarrassing to bite the grouperdy. So for now the best solution was to push this confusion aside, and focus on it more when they encounter any sect members. ... About half an hourter, a group of 46 elders were standing near the copse. Countless murmurs were erupting between them, but their tones also managed to give a firm hint. nting the seed for the sake of reaping some minor information, he asked. "These are all the elders? I thought there would be more." An old man was standing aside from the crowd, so it was up to him to give an answer. "There are more, but we don''t let our old women waste time with things like this." "Sounds to me like you''re afraid." Such a sentence was bursted out from Osira, as she had noticed a pattern that seemed almost evil. Chapter 196: Intelligence juices Chapter 196: Intelligence juices "Afraid of who?" The seperate elder questioned, intentionally ying dumb. "All the elder women of your tribe." Osira pointed out what these geezers were all evading. Furthermore, she felt ready enough to add. "Who are you to decide if they should waste time with governing, or not?" "We''re their husbands and brothers." One from the crowd answered. It was fairly ill-phrased but was understandable. Timothy had not taken her friend for the type who gets mad over stuff like this. But regardless, he wasn''t going to allow these egotistic elders to eventually attain an upper hand of this conversation. But he also realised that there were many ways these elders could reap the situation to their advantage, for a higher position. So he didn''t portray solitude with the grouperdy, but asked a question instead. "Okay now calm down. Which of you think that women should be in the governing team?" His tone was t, so it became difficult to filter out which side he preferred. But considering the gender of which the king had, most assumed that he too didn''t want any women in such an important team. A lot of them began shouting their agreement to the cause, but it was difficult to figure things out. Using his entire noggin to manage the situation, the stingray spoke. "We will divide you all in two groups." After flinging his tail, lightly towards the left, he stated. "All of you who think that women should not be in the governing team, please go to this side." Within a few moments, a bundle ofmotion had erupted between them. And most of these elder men had crawled to the left. While on the other side, there were only 6 shrimps. The biggest side of these elders, were giving harsh gazes towards the other portion. While the smaller group, were feeling ufortable but still maintained a firm front. Confidence had risen through the bigger group of shrimp. And they were happy that the road to a good position became just a tad easier. For once, they were all eager to hear the new king speak. A wish, of which Timmy obliged. "I have made a decision." After such a statement, the atmosphere had been stricken dead silent. And anticipation grew as these shrimps were awaiting the prime demand. Osira was as unaware as anyone regarding what her friend truly thought. Worry was growing through her heart, because the chances of this boy joining the bandwagon of indirect sexists, didn''t seem small. That''s when the young boy spoke out, "Everyone who thinks that women should not join the governing team, have lost the race. None of you have the chance to be anything important in thismunity." "What? Outrageous!" An old man from the bigger group shouted, and the rest followed up with shared anger. The hassle to force a change in the king''s mind,sted for a while. But eventually they calmed down, and heard the young man speak. "You''re free to go now, you''ll figure out who will be a president and stuff like that." Some were still having it difficult to believe, so they took a few moments before leaving. But the king didn''t care about that, and instead gave a nce towards his female friend. She seemed evidently happy, so her smile was contagious enough to spread on the boy. Once they went away, the hero approached the 6 shrimp who weed the idea of having women governors. And with a greeting smile, he cited. "I need you to get every other elder here, who is a woman." These old men seemed as agreeing as ever, but this situation had to be thought out a bit more. Because a few statements that the other team of men had made earlier, sounded like a problem right now. So a new sudden rule had to be imprinted. Likewise, the hero added. "If their ''brothers and husbands'' don''t allow it, tell them that the king will use those brave geezers for food." Such a rule seemed brutal, and most definitely had a tease in between it. But in situations like this, brute force seemed to be the only way to inspire change. This small group of elders, began charging in all directions for the sake of finding the olddies. So it gave the couple of friends a bit of privacy once more. The cktipped grouper was the first to speak. Joy was easy to spot in her tone, although what slipped through her jaws was an evident tease. "I remembered you a bit dumber. When did you learn to make smart decisions like this?" It still was a terrible deed to let anyone know more about the system in his head, so a quick excuse had to be made. Unsurprisingly, he salted it with self praise and a failed attempt to sound smarter. "Surely a king such as I, had the intelligence juices somewhere." Although grateful to have such a friend, she had an urge to be equally sassy. Therefore answering, "Of course you did. Were the juices hidden in someone else''s ass? Because I saw you bite a few of them." "Well ha-ha-ha!" He answered in an exaggerated matter, although amused by that wordy. ... It took a good hour to bring all thedies here. Which was oddly long, because there seemed to be only 30 of them here. After thinking it through just a little bit, it was easy to figure out a few reasons for such a result. Thankfully, these elders were able to speak the stingraynguage, so it was easy tomunicate. But it was difficult to pick apart a question to ask, so silence had stretched for a few moments. At least until the young man spoke out a query, "What happened? I thought that there would be more women." "There should be." An elder man answered, crawling away from the crowd. This was one of the same men who had weed the idea of women being in the governing team. Afterwards, another unsurprising portion was exined. "Some refused toe here, my guess is their husbands had something to do with it." "Typical." Osira spoke from the background. Right after, the same elder recited. "There were also some who were ready to guard their old women with their lives. We didn''t want to cause a ruckus." Chapter 197: Swift decisions Chapter 197: Swift decisions It was a real problem that those egotistic and tradition-led shrimp, didn''t allow their olddies to be a part of this littlepetition, but now was not the time to be worried about it. This governing situation is nned to be fixed in a rush. As although the king showed interest, he couldn''t care less about these shrimp and theirmunity. Although harsh, the use of these shrimp here was to behave like a barricade against the reef''s death. There are thousands of other critters who are doing the same job, so paying too much attention to one particr side could be onlybelled as a waste of time. So now, he just wanted to handle the situation swiftly and hunt for any other holy-tar tribes that he could massacre. It was even more motivating to rush this procedure, after thinking about his siblings; who most likely weren''t resting, all for the sake ofpleting the overall hunt-down mission. So after thinking it a bit through, he decided that this littlepetition could be cut short, by asking the same question to these various fish. "What would you do, if you got an important job in thismunity?" It was a tricky question. Although it couldn''t help to entirely understand a shrimp''s goals, the character perks they would give upon answering such a question, would be enough to pick which ones deserve a good position. Various answers were heard from the crowd of 36 shrimp, but only a few of them stood out. Most of these elders forced every topic towards themunity''s honour and tradition. Although it was somewhat moving, it proved that they were unfit to have a good position. The one with the best answer, was an elder who had just entered the old age that every species would experience. His name was Bolt, and he carried a warmer smilepared to the rest. What he had stated, was thought provoking. "I would make sure that everyone would be safer and organized. My goal would be to set everyone straight and make them understand, that a lot of things aren''t worthy enough to die over. And that enough work can help the wholemunity live easier." After thinking it over, Timmy questioned. "Okay. Now tell me what the best position would be for any shrimp here? Under the king of course." The geezer had lived in thismunity through all of his life, so it was easy to answer. "That would be the grand president." "Okay. Then you are the grand president from now on." The little stingray stated, behaving as if such a title wasn''t a big deal. Shocking everyone around, but not caring so much about that; he asked for the next shrimp to crawl forward. After a while, he found another shrimp who had a decent answer. She was a fairly olddy, and one would think that death might reach her the other day, but that wasn''t a barricade for a good position. Thisdy had recited, "I wouldmand all the families to be calmer, and less angry towards their own kin. A lot of them waste too much time with dumb hate-games. I would make hate like that, illegal." Although a bit rough and dictator-like, thisdy was on the right path in terms of leading. But the king was clueless, so he had to ask a bit more about ranks. Therefore he questioned, "What position is the best, under the grand president?" A bit confused regarding why anyone would ask such a question, the gooddy answered. "A president is less important than a grand president." Wanting to get it over with faster, the king dered. "Okay then you are the president now. I think it''s enoughmanding power to make other shrimp, behave nicer." A smile grew on her face as she slightly jumped in excitement, "Thank you!" What caught the boy''s attention next, was another old man. The goals in the midst of these elders continued to grow dumber, but some of them were good enough to own a lower position. This old man had answered the question with a hint of ego, "I would make these pests have a bit more manners. They behave like clownfish in the reef, too violent. Guards would be assigned to make sure that shrimps don''t start any petty fights. Even if they have to be beaten all the way to getting manners." Although the young king was a bit shocked by such an answer, he could find reasons to think that this geezer had good ideas. Therefore, he asked. "Okay so what rank is less powerful than a president?" "A mayor." Thetter answered truthfully, feeling confident that he will get the title. "A mayor has a goodmand over the guards and their captains." "Okay then you are a mayor from now on." The little boy assured, and wanted to move on towards the other shrimps. Thest couple of shrimp he took an interest on, were apparently twin sisters and they insisted on sharing the same title after the king announced that one of them got it. Their title wasn''t really important, so the little boy made an exception. From now on they will be grand tribe leaders. Meaning if there was a dispute between the small or big tribes in this white-legged shrimpmunity, these sisters have the responsibility to settle down those disputes with minimalistic losses. Their im originated around order, and their way of expression was misced but their hearts were in the right ce. So Timothy feltfortable to give them the position. He didn''t care how many shrimps would be angry about these decisions, so he excused everyone and allowed them to get back to their everyday life or their new duties. The king was also aware that other shrimp had carried positions before, but their titles have been stripped away now as these elders were assigned with them. It was certain that the blue-dotted boy did not care if those shrimp would get mad. And if they really wanted to change these new ways, they could always try a battle against the king. Evidently, it felt that the governing situation in thismunity had been tamed a bit. So he turned towards Osira and spoke, "Let''s go. We have a lot of enemies to hunt." Chapter 198: Blackout Chapter 198: ckout It was an evident fact, that the little boy had managed to handle the governing situation swimmingly. But since such a case wasn''t captivating his attention any longer, it was the proper time to think about more perplexing topics. The first matter was rted to just how Osira had gotten these bizarre powers. The information they had gotten about such a topic, was fairly pale. It became confusing the more they thought about it. Especially after considering that the powers she got; were uniquepared to other forms of mutations, or different at least. An example for such a matter, was that Timmy''s siblings had gotten their powers in a different way. Based on the information they had gotten, the hero''s siblings were mutated by a crazed version of a blob-fish. Such a fish had required 77 sacrifices, just to be created. Which led to a prime and yet perplexing thought: it would take a lot of effort to mutate any other fish. Yet this fine grouperdy, had gotten her powers in a way that seemed less tricky. It gave hints that her type of mutation was unique, but at the same time it brought a lot of uncertainties. Although typically the hero would push such problems and uncertainties to solve forter, this was not the time to do so. Because Osira was the one who got caught as an experiment, between such a bizarre case. He wanted to make sure that this finedy, would not face any unwanted difficulties out of this mutation, that she clearly did not ask for. Better yet, they were supposed to eradicate other holy-tar tribes in the reef''s middle portions. So it could be the best time to reap information through their mission of ughter. Yet it didn''t mean thatments about it couldn''t be given now; especially since these two had developed a good friendship so far, although its base was no doubt bizarre. So the hero turned towards the grouperdy and stated, "This power suits you so much. Have you thought about it until now? You literally have a power that shoots out ck-light. You''re like an underwater bull now!" "Again with the bulls? I don''t know what a bulldozer is." She answered. And gave in attempts to seem pissed off, but she was surely enjoying such ament. Although odd, his intelligence felt challenged by such a reply. So the young boy went through different thoughts, attempts to be more exact; for the pure sake of exining what the true meaning or his references were. Yet regardless of attempts, the best he could say was. "Oh basically there are thesend things... uh animals, who have these big horns and attack everything with them." A tad more confused than the boy now, the cktippeddy asked. "What are horns?" Forgetting that other fish could not see what he pictured through that little noggin, the best answer he could give was. "They are these long and pointy things, pretty dangerous!" Remembering that she too had a row of pointy things on her spine, thedy managed to find a way of seeing it as offensive. "You''re finding new ways to call me ugly." "No!" He shouted, and afterwards instantly stated. "I''m calling you a badass!" Loving how he got worked up over such a pale topic, she felt satisfied enough to allow the boy to dwell in a bit of irritation. "Mmm, sure." The conversation had ended there. Not because thetter wouldn''t put in a load of more work to prove his point, but because their view was captivated by a magnificent sight. Dawn had broken. Such rays that the sun gave, had ava-like colour this early in the morning. The illumination it gave, had a colour soft enough to avoid damaging one''s eyes. The beauty it had was fairly outstanding, but it also was a reminder that they have been working their asses off until now. They barely even felt the effect of the night time, all because they were in a rush to solve every problem. As the train of thought continued at such a pace, the young hero thought. "How has my life be this? Was I destined to chase this dumb sect?" The boy was aware that he had chosen to handle this massive problem, but by now it began to feel a tad overwhelming. What kept him going now was the memory of Marlo who had been ughtered by these beasts, and the growing feeling that they are winning against this sect thanks to the aid of brute force. Osira had synced into simr deep thoughts, but half of hers had to do with the fact that she had gotten powers. But yet regardless of how deep in thought they were, something had managed to snap them out of it. Specifically, something that was illuminating stronger than the sun''s rays. At first it was confusing toprehend it. But after a bit of more observation, they noticed that something was reflecting the sun''s rays, more than average inparison to everything else that this reef carried. After attaining the ability topletely focus on it, along with swimming closer towards this weird sensation, they saw a te-like item. It wasying over a sponge and carried a thick-green colour. Odd itself, and yet here it managed to bring back some memories for the young stingray. He had seen the same type of sea sponges before. And once more he wondered if these marine animals were supposed to be like this. But at least this time, he had a lot more reasons to observe this weird thing. Osira had noticed the young man''s curiosity. Although she could not understand what the reason behind it was, she didn''t want to say anything for the sake of not breaking this boy''s concentration. Although they were friends, she understood that this boy wasn''t the most mentally capable. But as she got closer towards the boy, she ignored just how close she had reached towards the sponge. And that''s when she felt her vision going dark, along with her consciousness fiddling away. Chapter 199: Whack it Chapter 199: Whack it Although one of these good friends had been knocked out cold, the other was rather well and quite observant. Which in exchange had given one of them the opportunity to witness just what the hell was going on. Although, he did not understand how it got to this point. That green... item, whatever that darn thing was. It had leaped off the sea-sponge and clung on the gooddy''s face. It was difficult to understand how this alone had managed to knock Osira out, but one thing remained somewhat certain; this situation was turning dire. Although he had synced in a wave of panic and craved a solution, it was still difficult to think of any idea in terms of handling this situation. So the best option was to direct all attention towards the system, for the sake of reaping out knowledge. ming in aggravation thanks to this situation, he questioned. "What can I do?! Why is this thing attacking my friend!" Although shouting like a maniac, it was easy to tell apart that concern had grown in his tone. A crack between the sentence had emerged even, as he didn''t know how to feel about this. The system did not answer right away, which itself had managed to build up even more pressure. Yet the young one had no other option but to rely on thisdy that was in his head, so patience had to be his best friend right now. [I don''t have the faintest idea what this thing is, but you could try a few methods totch it off her face] "Tell me how!" Timmy shouted once more, urging to get rid of this problem asap. As if sarcastic, the system answered. [Hit the thing with your thing] Such a sentence was awfully misunderstood in an instance, so the hero had no choice but to ask. "What the fuck?" [Hit the weird green item with your tail] the system added, as if with a sigh. She had expected that the guest would understand the rmendation in the very beginning, but yet she somehow forgot that this little stingray wasn''t even brighter than a carrot. While the other end of the stick, thought theplete opposite. He did not understand how a super intelligent and well informed system''s first idea, was to whack the shit out of this weird item. But he most definitely wasn''t one to judge once considering desperation. So the n was put into motion after figuring out just how to do this. The hero was used to slicing enemies, but to literally smack one of them was quite different, as he had to disclude the tip of the barb and any effect it could bring along. After a little while, he decided to do a front flip. Typically it would be a tad difficult, but with the aid of level 2 body-strength, it felt easy. He synced into a front flip and allowed for that marvelous tail, to bash right against the enemy''s body. It didn''t exactly feel effective, but he could swear that this item had somehow flinched. Sensing that it will go wrong, but still having faith: he continued to use this method of problem solving, and once more whacked this weird thing right across it''s middle body. Surprisingly, it was enough to bash it away from his friend. But now came the matter of understanding it, just what the hell could this te-like item be? Because before it attacked, it seemed rather solid. But through the actual attack, it had curled its form for the sake of covering the grouper''s entire face. He gave a few more peeks at this odd item, and then decided to swim away from it for the sake of checking up on his friend. That''s when the system had rmended, [You had touched the item, but it didn''t hurt you in any way] Feeling that this was an odd time to state such thoughts, he asked. "So?" [Bite it] "What?" He instantly asked, noticing that it was a bizarre idea. [You need to bite this item, we might be able to reap information out of it] Sensing that such a new rmendation was putting pressure over him, especially since he aimed to solely look over Osira and put in an attempt to wake the girl up. Anxiety had spiked up at the moment, and right now he firmly decided to swim over his friend. He didn''t have any hands so it was difficult to shake thedy awake. Yet it didn''t stop the well-intended boy from trying, as he began headbudding thedy for the same purpose. Just now had Timothy noticed that this girl''s colour was obtaining a shade of green, by the passing moment. Her natural colour had mostly a thick shade of orange, so to see this girl turn green: well, it was very rming. His heart sunk down to the tail and a few words wanted to slip through the boy''s jaws, but it felt impossible to speak. Before the sea-pancake could do anything more, he managed to see a few senses of life from thedy. What started off as a light nudge of the lips, continued with a burst of energy. The cktipped grouper charged forward, and smashed against a bit of coral but it didn''t seem like it damaged thedy. Instead she continued to charge against other portions of coral, and it didn''t seem like her energy had any signs of slowing down. It seemed a bit hazardous when this gooddy began charging straight upwards, which could only lead to the sea''s surface. Although happy that she was alive, now another concern grew stronger. As it was difficult to understand just how all of this was happening. He didn''t want to allow thisdy to be lost while under the influence of such weird effects, so following her was the best option: although his speed was pale inparison, perhaps a fourth to what thedy could achieve. They continued to head for the surface, and it took no time to reach it because they both were seemingly at full speed. That''s when it was easier to notice that a big figure was floating across the surface. What it was, didn''t exactly carry any importance. But what swiftly became shocking, was this same figure being attacked by Osira the furious. It was difficult to make up what she had hit with her ck-light, but a greater hint was obtained when a few loud sshes against the water were heard. Upon further observation, he could notice that these sshes had been caused by humans. As a bunch of them were floating across the waters right now, and half of them had familiar weaponry on their hands. Chapter 200: Masculinity Chapter 200: Masculinity "Well fuck." Uttered the hero under his breath. Because evidently, the situation had turned for the worse. From anything that he expected for this new day to bring, this was not of them. But regardless of how bizarre it was, this situation had to be taken under his firm control. That was the favourable idea, but right now he didn''t have the faintest clue regarding what he should do first. Osira was still raging in all directions, and these humans shared almost the same pace. He had noticed that throughout the chaos, one human had raised their spear-gun and was aiming directly towards the hero of this reef. If this was the first time he experienced such a situation, this would be terrifying. But he unfortunately had a bit of experience when it came to facing off humans who had such weaponry. So naturally, he had a brief idea of how to handle the situation against these agitated fishermen. With that in mind, he began charging forward but after a swift second; he sank downwards for the sake of confusing the enemy. And it proved as a splendid move. Because right after, he heard the whistle of a spear that flew above his head, along with the disturbance it caused across the waters. It bought the boy an advantage, as it didn''t seem possible for this human to grab another spear at the moment. Killing these enemies felt weird at least, but it was also impossible once considering his current level of strength. Yet, it didn''t mean that he couldn''t cause damage that would be worth remembering. So without even a hunch of hesitation, hetched on this human''s crotch. On the contrary to what one would expect, he didn''t do anything intimate. But instead, his beautiful barb had sunk against the human''s anus. It was damage worth while, and in this case it seemed abusive. But in a lot of views, there was nothing that could hurt a man more than being stabbed in the ass, from any marine animal. The actual wound wasn''t as impactful as what it would do to one''s pride. This human was rendered powerless now, so the young ched off him and charged towards the next target. It was proven as the right choice, because the human he had just attacked, was swimming upwards the ship now; that was floating above their heads. Upon further observation, it was noticeable that this next human was not armed, nor did this one intend to go around hurting random fishes. The water was freezing cold considering that it was the break of dawn, so naturally all these humans were aiming to get out of the waters. Most of them got out, apart from a single human who was brave enough to return after taking a breath of air on the surface. This enemy was not carrying just one but two spear-guns, and they were noticeably loaded. It felt difficult to avoid these weapons, as it would require him to build a couple of battle ns for the sake of avoiding both shots. Tricky indeed. And while Timmy was thinking it through, this wild human was already aiming at the small target, and instantly pulled the trigger. Within less than half a second, the same spearunched against the blue-dotted pancake! This weapon''s ability to pierce through the waters at such admirable speed, was frightening. And it managed to bash some instincts through the boy''s mind. Likewise, he put it into use and swiftly swam up with the aid of a single fin-p against the water. It was effective enough. He moved out of the spear''s projectory, but the momentum that such a fast moving weapon had, was troublesome. As it managed to pull the boy''s body back, flipped it too and steered it away from proper orientation; even though it didn''t make any contact with the little one''s flesh. Clearly, this human wanted trouble or more urately, this agitated enemy wanted the hero dead and on a sushi te. Considering such hostility, Tim did not want to hold back either and aimed to poke several holes through this enemy. Each stab had a goal of being hostile! But for the moment, his main focus was to locate the enemy. Within a few seconds, he managed to find this raging human but it wasn''t fast enough. As its spear was already pointed towards the sea-disk, ready to be triggered. That''s when a shout was heard across the waters, "Yee-haw!" Although bizarre, it didn''t take much effort to understand that this shout belonged to the samedy-fish who was raging around in all directions, like a crack addict. It was Osira of course, and she was getting closer. Her shout was most definitely loud, but clearly the human wouldn''t understand a fishynguage. Regardless of that fact, it didn''t stop the pace that this situation was syncing in. After a blink of an eye, a super-fast-moving bit of light had bursted through the waters. It had a heavy value, as its raw power managed to overwhelm this foul human; more urately, the weaponry this agitated man was carrying. After the ck-light had struck the spear-gun, the raw power was enough to break the weaponry in half! It had managed to push the enemy off bnce as well: and likely broke a wrist, if not both. But the human was still in tact, although squealing in pain. The battle was established as finished, all thanks to that one attack. So the enemy began swimming up for the sake of climbing back in the ship. Fear was noticeable on this grown man''s tone, his way of swimming showed such hints as well. The little stingray didn''t want to leave it just with that. If it wasn''t for reflexes, that spear could have shot the little boy dead. So without hesitation, he began charging towards the fleeing coward; and perked his tail forward. His attempt was proven pale inparison, when a ck-coloured fish had struck right against the human''s head, at speeds that would definitely break the average barrier. Well, at least in terms of what eleration that most fish could achieve around here. Chapter 201: Task 17 Chapter 201: Task 17 Such an impact was a tad too massive for any human to handle. Likewise, they saw the same enemy floating around motionless, right after the collision. In this situation, this ck fish''s contribution to the battle was definitely useful. Because if only a second more was given to the enemy, the chances of Tim being pierced through and through by a spear, were rather high! But after getting over the shock, the little hero had the chance toprehend this bizarre situation. Just where did this fishe from, and why did Osira yell a tad earlier? A lot of questions were answered at once, after the same fish swam a few circling rounds and popped up near the hero''s view. This fish carried a wide smile on its face as well, to the point of seeming almost like a menace. However, the puzzle fell together once this fish spoke out. "I saved your ass again, Timmy." For a few seconds, it was difficult to figure out who this fish was. But after thinking it through, this tone began sounding oddly familiar; except this time it was easy to notice that, the same tone was somewhat improved and bnced. It was shocking at least, but the hero wasn''t rendered speechless. And he asked with a tone that dered uncertainty, "Osira?" "Yes that''s me." She assured, but was confused at the same time. Rather direct although terrible at wordly expression, thetter pointed out. "You''re ck!" "What do you mean? I''m orange!" She contradicted. Most fish were aware of their own body colour, she was one of them. A bit concerned now, the blue-dotted boy argued. "No. You''re ck!" After a bit of more observation, he cited. "You''ve also grown bigger!" Knowing that her friend wasn''t one who lied, she took a few moments to think this over and then muttered. "How is this possible?" Able to link things together, the sea-pancake reminded. "It all happened after that weird sponge, jumped on your face." Osira didn''t exactly remember that. But after thinking it over a few times, a few memories shed by. Well most of them were rted to cking out, but she could puzzle it all together. This situation was staggeringly confusing, but until now she did not recognize any bad side effects. The outburst of energy she had a bit earlier, was interesting at least. But now, its effects were calming down. In all ways, this seemed like a massive win. But the thought of these changes being linked with a weird sponge... it made the situation a bit more concerning. As an attempt of pushing the bad thoughts aside, she asked. "How big am I now?" Not the best at math, and definitely incapable when it came to logical points of views, the best he could answer was rted to past observations he had. With a bit of hesitancy, he exined. "You''re almost double in size! And you''re a bit uhhh..." Thetter portion was difficult to add, as the right words could not be found for it. But yet regardless, he had to finish the sentence because of how the other had locked eyes with him. Finally, the sea-disk exined. "You''re wider too." "Are you calling me fat?" The grouper asked with a shout. She was pissed for sure and craved to spank this boy. For a second, the young one realised that humans and fish might not be so different, as such bickering gave a good hint regarding the topic. But yet he still had created a situation that could escte quickly, likewise he had to fix it. So in a rush, he exined. "No! I''m calling you a badass!" Surprisingly, it was enough to tame the situation. As Osira was suddenly carrying a less deadlier look on her face, it was interesting to see how fast thisdy could be charmed. With a sense of joy through her tone, harmony was spread over a couple of words. "Thank you." With such topics aside, they were given more room to think this situation through. Silence stretched for quite a bit, and it became almost awkward. They had been tremendously focused to make sense out of this issue, to the point where their surroundings werepletely ignored. The whole boat that had floated above their heads before, had fled now along with all those humans ~ even that knocked out man was dragged out of the waters at some point. These couple of friends had sunk lower towards the coral, and didn''t care what happened above. If they could have had the chance to understand these humans,ughter would have broken out. Because they had med all of this damage to a massive shark! Somepletely believed such a story, while the other half was making it up for the sake of escaping embarrassment. Regardless, it was clear that the boat situation was over and now the main concern was figuring out this mutation business. Osira was now a couple of feet long, it seemed convenient but nothing made sense. Although hesitant, they had approached the same sponge who had caused all that damage. As perhaps a bit of information could be reaped out of it? It sounded like a good idea. But once they had gotten over there, it was a clear fact that they couldn''t seek any other benefits. Simply because whatever that te was, of which had detached from the sea-sponge andtched on thedy''s face; was now withering away by the passing second. This did not help at all. And after a few seconds, the grouper asked. "What are we going to do now?" After thinking it through briefly, thetter answered. "We can solve all problems at once if we look for another tribe." "You''re right." She agreed, although it was noticeable that the young boy was more concerned about the biggest issue. They had reset the past goal, and began floating their way towards a portion of the reef''s middle section that seemed unexplored. The atmosphere was quiet for a while. Not because they didn''t have anything to talk about, but because they were trying to understand the situation. But the stingray''s entire concentration was broken, when the system announced. [You''ve been neglecting your tasks too much recently, so I''m telling you the next one although you didn''t request to hear it] [Task 17 = locate and kill a ck ranchu goldfish] Chapter 202: Geezer Chapter 202: Geezer "Oh." Was the first thing of which the young man could answer. And after thinking it through, he agreed. "That''s fair." "Okay so the fish is... ck?" It didn''t take much intelligence to figure that portion out. [Well it''s in the name, so yes] After that portion was well established, he slid towards one of the most reliable solutions when it came to finding new animals. It wasn''t a method that guaranteed sess, but it simply was the best avable option. Peeking at Osira, he questioned. "Do you know where I can find a... uh." Well it took only that much time for the young one to forget the fish''s name. Yet luckily, the system could refresh his memory. [ck ranchu goldfish] Noticing that the grouper was a little pissed, he instantly continued the sentence. "Uh, I need to find a ck ranchu goldfish." It was difficult to understand why the young boy was looking for such a fish now, when a mission to seek out an enemy tribe sounded like the main priority. But after thinking it through, she got a couple of ideas. Yet still, a question had to be asked. "Is it important?" It was still a bad idea to tell anyone about the system in his head, so the best option was to brush it off with the slightest detail possible. Because after all, it''s difficult to figure out a secret if there weren''t any patterns to pick up. That''s why he mumbled through a sentence, "Uh... kinda, like yes but not exactly important." "I know a few spots. We''re going there after we find a holy-tribe." Time management seemed important now, and thisdy felt more than happy to contribute towards its honing. So like that, they continued to search for any signs of a holy-tar tribe, but so far it seemed like a waste of time. Worse yet, the stingray was bing a tad impatient. Dawn had broken a bit earlier and he was already feeling tired, that''s when aint was let out. "This is bing annoying. Where are the tribes?!" "Be patient." Osira instantly answered and continued, "We can''t win all the time, and we can''t win quickly either." A bit stunned to hear such a sentence from thedy, he questioned right after. "What do you mean?" After giving out a sigh that signified agitation, she recited. "We need to put in a lot of work first. Do you see how big this reef is? It might take all day before we swim into another tribe, they can''t appear anywhere we go to." Feeling that his intelligence was challenged, Tim answered. "Alright sassy pants, we will look for them all day." Sensing that she had created a slightly tense atmosphere, the grouper quickly put an attempt to tease the other. "You''re a good little boy." "I''m massive!" He contradicted, and carried confidence that was almost delusional. Most definitely willing to wreck the boy''s nerves, Osira added. "Yeah right, I could knock you out with a fart." Before endless bickering could have erupted, they''ve heard what sounded like a spear piercing through the waters. The massive difference here however, was that the whistling sounded far more ferocious! The fine grouperdy was sensitive enough to notice this massive change in the water''s atmosphere, and managed to act quickly. Within less than half a second, she barged towards the left side and took the sea-disk with her! And it was great that she did so! Because just a moment after, a tiny thing had enved the waters with its speed: right where the two friends were swimming a bit earlier! It was frightening at least. But curiosity grew stronger than any fear towards the unknown. Likewise, Osira began peeking in all directions for the sake of figuring out just what that was. "You''re quick, my young discipline." A tone ensnared the attention of these friends, but it sounded rather muffled. A few secondster, the ck-skinneddy managed to spot the attacker hiding in a coral crack, it appeared to be some species of shrimp. It was fair to say that all of her senses had been upgraded for the better thanks to that mutation, vision included. And at the moment, she was willing to put all her powers into use. "I''ll show you what''s quick..." She mumbled. And then instantly shot out a chunk of ck-light, which stretched around a foot wide! In an instant, it bashed against the spot where the shrimp stood and managed to blow bits of coral in all directions; but it wasn''t exactly damage that would create a new pit-hole in the reef. Yet contrary to any expectations, the same shrimp lunged upwards but not for the sake of damage. It had stopped on its spot, right near Osira and locked eyes with thedy. An old but yet fairly masculine tone was uttered out of the shrimp''s mouth, "How did you be this fast?" After observing this shrimp for a few seconds, it was noticeable that something was off. When it came to appearance, this shrimp seemed nothing but average; but after taking a peek at his eyes, a hint of green was present deep within, although not so noticeable. A string of confidence had stricken thedy, and it was enough to make her answer. "The same way as you, except I never wanted this speed to begin with." Although this shrimp seemed normal, one look at his facial expressions was enough to figure out a key fact: this shrimp knew more than appearance would reveal, he seemed wise too. And when this same old man spoke, it was even more noticeable. "My guess is, you swum in an ident?" Before the ck-grouper could speak, the geezer continued. "You and I aren''t so different then." A newyer of respect wasid out for this shrimp, as one short sentence was able to reveal so much. But yet, it became evident that another species here, hasn''t quite understood what was going on. Without a doubt, the clueless one was Timmy and he bubbled through a sentence. "What the hell are you two talking about?" It fairly managed to spoil the mood, but it also put everyone back on track. This situation seemed bizarre, but at least both sides of the stick were eager to exin it. "This man had also been mutated. Well, identally at least." Such a sentence yed a heavy value, and she didn''t lower her gaze away from this shrimp either. Because when it came to mutants, one wouldn''t know what to expect. It didn''t take much experience to realise that fact. Because as long as the mutations were rted to the holy-tar sect, evil coulde out of it more than anything good. Chapter 203: Steve Chapter 203: Steve In a few aspects, it was certain that the conversation between the two small parties had been well developed for the better so far. But it was also raw in many other ways. Uncertainties behaved as a loose end that had to be tied up, and decisions had an equal weight when severity was a topic. Timothy decided to seal up the conversation, simply by asking. "Okay, so do we kill him or not?" Such a question was heavy in value, and it managed to sync all three of them into raging thoughts; while at the same time, it built up tension in just a matter of seconds between the parties. The old shrimp began fiddling his eyes from left to right, looking at both of these fish. It was clear that one of these marine animals was powerful, so the geezer did not want to create bad ties. After a few seconds, he managed to answer. "I don''t want to kill someone who had the same sour fate as me." "Okay prove your words." The stingray swooped in once more, and added. "We want to kill a tribe of holy-bastards,e kill them with us." "Actually..." the old man stretched a single word. It had managed to build up a lot of anxiety on the other side of the stick. If the couple of fish in front of him had toes, they would stand on them. This situation was showing signs of benefits, and the sea-pancake especially, didn''t want to avoid those same benefits ~ as they were already in a rush, and could use any extra help! Thankfully the old shrimp had finally broken the anticipation, by adding. "I was putting all of my abilities into work, for the sake of figuring out a way, to banish a tribe from existence! But nothing was enough at the end of the bargain, they''re too strong for me." Before the other side of the stick could say anything, the shrimp continued. "The tar-worshippers, if that''s what you call them as well? Have forced me into a mutation. They aren''t my associates and shall meet with my well-fed wrath!" Although they were somewhat confused of this man''s wordy, it was clear to a certain extent, that he carried good intent. Chances are that he didn''t give a damn for this reef, but the urge to kill the opposing sect was enough. Feeling confident that this shrimp cannot kill them, the sea-disk cited. "You''re ready to kill, I can respect that. Join us in this hunt." ... They''ve set off after that brief conversation. But at least this time, they had a direction to follow instead of just swimming around aimlessly: simply because the shrimp already knew where a tribe was. And ording to the exnations, this structure of which carried the enemies, was rather new. Although it didn''t carry as much sect members, the threat it posed against every inhabitant of the reef, was stillrge! They had a motive, but there was a small barricade. The shrimp who was guiding them to battle, couldn''t exactly swim fast. Sure the geezer could burst forward in energy, but that can''t be used for long-term travelling. A solution was quickly found, but the idea pitcher was a bit hesitant at first. Osira had thought that it was a good idea, for this old man to climb on anyone''s back for the sake of easier travel. And since the ck-grouper was the biggest at the moment, it only sounded like the best solution for the shrimp to climb over her back. At first she had double thoughts about it. But a bitter, she remembered smashing her head against a boat without any repercussions worth mentioning. So with that confidence, she allowed the geezer to climb over her back. Because even if this geezer turned out to be an enemy, it wouldn''t be so difficult to kill the man. But although the idea was helpful, it managed to sync everyone in a silence that was growing awkward. Tim noticed it a little bit, but was still rather clueless regarding how heavy this silence was. That fact aside, he was still curious. So a question sprouted, "What kind of shrimp are you? I haven''t seen anything like you before." Such a question mighte out as somewhat offensive, but thankfully thetter was well aware of the overall situation. Likewise, the old man answered. "I''m a mantis shrimp." The answer sounded casual, it was obvious that the geezer wasn''t so happy or proud to tell his species'' name, but there wasn''t a hint of sadness behind that tone either. A couple of words still clung on the geezer''s mind, so he had to add. "You haven''t seen shrimp like me, because that shark invasion had killed them all." "That''s sad." The sea-pancake answered, but he didn''t exactly carry much grief. The talk about sharks had been mentioned so many times by now, that it wasn''t interesting any longer. So the young boy moved towards another topic right away, for the sake of curiosity. He peeked at the mantis shrimp and asked, "What''s your name?" "My name is Gech Feldg Eklunds the IV, and I am thest of my family." Such a name came in as a shock for the observants, it was rather unique. And of course the sea-disk had already forgotten the name, and was trying figure out an easier way around it. Curling his face in hesitation, he finally expressed. "I''ll just call you Steve." "Call me Gech." Thetter insisted, and began feeling a tad ufortable about his name. ... It took them a good half an hour to reach the very thing they woke up for. But it was fair to say that their expectations were broken, the average results from such a search hadpletely shifted. Because the tribe they were stalking, wasn''t underground but above it instead. It was somewhat beautiful, as the pool of holy-tar was carved into coral. Along with that detail, the pool seemed to be a tad covered with what appeared to be a coral ceiling. But it wasn''t nd in any way, when it came to texture and decor. Because the pool was surrounded by columns, that held the very coral ceiling that coated the tar. Magnificent to say at least, because it seemed to be carved by a single big chunk of coral. Although magnificent and somewhat medieval-looking, it was still confusing. Because unlike any other pool of unholy substance, this one was just a meter wide! It unleashed a couple of auras that were raging against each other. One of the auras gave a sense that this task will be easier than expected, while the other side of the stick; portrayed theplete opposite! Chapter 204: Ceremonies Chapter 204: Ceremonies After a brief contemtion, Timothy was the first to break the silence with a loud whisper. "Okay, let''s kill them all!" Although calm until now, the geezer had to swoop in with a scold. "Are you crazy?" Carrying a smirk on his face, thetter answered. "Trust me, this isn''t my first hunt." It was evident that he had given a bit more effort to sound like a badass, but his tone cracked in between the sentence so he sounded like a suffocating seal. But even though this moment could have been used to have a goodugh, the old man still put in an attempt to make a point. His face was building upplex hints, the more attempt he put in to exin the severity of this situation. Which led to hurriedly adding, "These enemies aren''t normal, they''re too powerful!" Such a sentence came in as a bit of a shock, but the couple of friends still weren''t exactly convinced. The opposing sect members had mostly been easy to kill, so the severity was difficult to take seriously. That''s why Osira questioned, "Are you sure?" "Yes!" Gech stressed, "This sect has ranks even. The most important sect members that our reef has seen, were called diators and that little tribe is full of them!" Such a name seemed interesting, especially since its origin came from the human world, the sea-pancake could notice that. But most importantly, higher ranked fish being here in the reef gave arge hint of danger. That''s why the youngest boy here asked another question, "Do you have any tips on how to kill them faster?" "I do, follow my lead." The old man spoke and then hopped off the ck-grouper. The pool of holy-tar was just over 20 meters away, so it didn''t seem like much of a hassle for this one to crawl forward instead of clinging on anyone''s back. After they got close enough, Gech yelled out. "My lords, I have brought you more fish who are willing to surrender their souls!" Upon such an uttered sentence, the res of which the couple of friends had given out, were heavy enough to molest a boulder. Since the beginning, they had not trusted this old shrimp enough; and now he had given them a mountain of reasons to not be trusted. Before anyone could react, a bundle of dark figures rolled out of the structure that covered the holy-tar. It was difficult to believe that a group of the most important ranks that this reef had seen, could fit under a ceiling that was just over a meter across. And once Timothy gave a nce of just how these fish were formed, he had a lot of trouble holding inughter. Not to mention, these fish were half of his length. It was difficult to take them seriously. These fish had a back that seemed swollen with water retention, a smaller head that didn''t get along so well with the back''s size, and a short tail. Everything about it was aughing stock. Osira had somewhat caught up with what the n was, so she uttered. "Those are ck ranchu goldfish, the full-grown ones can grow double in size. But yet we are still blessed with their presence!" "Blessed?" The sea-disk asked and suddenly carried a helpless look on his face, zingly confused too. Gech turned around to face the couple of friends, and locked eyes with the grouper. A smirk grew on his face once realising that thisdy was intelligent enough to catch on, he even released a little wink. The goldfishes had not spoken out yet, so the geezer used the opportunity to add. "Thatdy over there, has been blessed with a mutation and now she needs your blessing." Once that statement was made, one of these ranchu''s, who was fairly the biggest here, although just 10 centimeters long: separated from the crowd and aimed to face these visitors. Paying attention solely to the grouperdy, a feminine tone covered the atmosphere as the ranchu fish asked. "How did you get mutated?" After analysing that question for a few seconds, she noticed that it paid a heavy value. Considering that there were ranks and procedures in this sect, it was noticeable that mutations are supposed to be done only in a specific way. So after picking up the right words, Osira answered. "I was about to give my soul to the holy-tar, but an enemy attacked us and copsed the cavern. I fell in a pool of blue-tar, and came out looking like this." After pondering over what this grouper said, the ranchu fish nodded and then turned her back to these guests, for the sake of reaching the rest of the group. Within a moment, the samedy recited. "You''re currently unworthy to be a part of our sect, and so is the shrimp who brought you here." Although the ck-grouper couldn''t give the slightest damn about this, an act had to be put up for the sake of keeping the rouse going. That''s why she answered with a tone that portrayed desperation, "But why? I want to worship the holy-tar!" While Tim, well he was going through a rollercoaster of emotions. He gave a peek at thedy he held near and dear, and had it difficult to swallow the idea that she wanted to join the sect. It was fair to say that he remained as clueless as ever. But he was still waiting for a miracle, that''s why drama had not erupted from the young one''s side, which allowed the prime conversation to continue. That''s when the leader of these ranchu gold-fishes, added. "You need to undergo not one but three ceremonies, we can only help you with thest ceremony." Intriguing at least, but more information could be reaped out of this. So thetter asked, "What if I can''t do all of those ceremonies?" The leader gave a brief peek at the grouper, and then casually answered. "You will eventually explode, most have just a few months of time so use it wisely." Chapter 205: Waters fabric Chapter 205: Water''s fabric Such a statement, had forced the couple of friends to bulge their eyes open thanks to the pure emotion of shock! And one of these friends was feeling immense guilt regarding the whole situation. That one was Tim. It was he who had dragged Osira along to that cavern before, that was a sore fact: even though it was not him who had bathed thedy in the pool of blue-tar. Regardless of those numerous but yet massive details, it was obvious that this entire dilemma could have been avoided if the former cktipped-grouper didn''t tag along. Within an instant, he swooped in the conversation and shouted. "What do you mean she will explode? Fix her you buffalo-necked moron!" That was when Gech''s face curled with various emotions, the primary one being fear. He peeked at the gold-fishes and tried to build up a sentence that would hopefully dig them out of trouble, but he inevitably failed. The same leader of these ranchu fish, separated from the group and calmly approached the stingray who was brave enough to run his mouth. Her observation became more and more detail-oriented by the passing second, and a hint of satisfaction had eventually spread across her face. Afterwards she added, "Do you really want me to fix your friend?" Feeling that his personal space was being invaded, his pupils expanded with the aid of rage, and he lightly swam a bit higher for the sake of attaining some space. Then, he immediately answered the question. "Yes, and fix her quickly." Straight out of the blue, thetter decided to exin. "Do you know why our sect demands so many souls, for us to progress?" "Because you want to invade everything?" He answered, and it made a whole lot of sense. But the leader wiggled her head from left to right, disagreeing and then verbally contradicted. "No. It''s because those who have already given their souls to the holy-tar, can''t reproduce." Clueless at this point, he asked. "What does ''reproduce'' mean?" As that question was asked, both the grouper and the shrimp had let out a loud sigh of dissatisfaction. Even the older one had recognized that this boy wasn''t bright at all. "We can''t make babies." The leader firmly stated, and continued. "That''s why we force a lot of fish to give up their souls, and those fish will afterwards just live to repeat the same thing against others." More clueless than ever, and feeling that this conversation had been going on for too long now, he asked. "Okay? But how does this fix my friend?" "I have the ability to instantly fix your friend, but that gift can''t be given to just anyone, it has to be earned." The leader specified, feeling that she was attaining a superior position. And before anyone else could speak, she continued. "If you do an... unusual task for the sect, I will fix your friend." Unwilling to work for the enemy in any means necessary, but seeing this opportunity as a quick solution, he asked. "And what could that nonsense be?" "You are a blue spotted ribbon-tail ray, we don''t have much of your kind in our armies and we can use the venom you produce, to increase our rates of dominance. Right now you are able to reproduce, so that can be a way for you to pay the sect." Her way of exnation, felt dictator like, heavy at least. And she didn''t shy away with the rest of the deal, "We have thirty women of your species, who are ready to carry your babies." The idea of mating with so many women, didn''t sound so bad, especially when it came to feeding his ego. But the thought of helping the enemy just didn''t sit right in the young man''s noggin. Just before the sea-pancake was about to reply, a shout echoed behind them. "Now!" Before it was possible toprehend just what the hell was going on, the young boy saw a ball of faintly coloured ck-light, rupturing through the salty waters andnding right against the group of ck ranchu gold-fishes! Since these enemies were standing so close to each other, it was easy to hit all of them ~ and the strike was so impactful, that those fish had been sted right back in the structure that held the holy tar. Along with that type of impact, they could see chunks falling off the ceiling andnding on the tar, sshing its contents around. And within a few moments, a few bits of the tar made their way out of the pool. Now typically it wouldn''t be so easy for a liquid to ssh around while being underwater, but the tar is heavier and thicker. That was how a foot-wide quantity of tar, made its way towards Osira and covered a great portion of her body. At this point she felt like her fate was the worst here. Because in recent situations, everything that wasbelled as unholy, had somehow always managed to touch her. It was nerve wracking at least, but the pain that came along with this contact, had gotten most of her attention. Before the only enemy couldprehend what just happened, Timothy curled his tail forward and tried to stab the enemy through its fat neck! But it proved as a pale attempt, because the same leader had swiftly moved out of the way, and struck the hero with a tail p that proved to be tremendously powerful. The p was so strong, that the hero was tossed a handful of meters upwards. But thankfully, his durability was great enough to withstand such damage. The system assured it by chipping in with a few notifications. [Health, -7 bars] [Total health = 72/110] Gech had seen that massive strike, and noticed that the only surviving enemy would put in a second attempt to ughter the stingray. That gave the old man all the motivation needed, to finally contribute in this battle. That was why he leaped forward, with speeds that forced the water to whistle. Simply because the way he pierced through the waters, was gravity defying. In less than half a second, he reached the ck-coloured enemy and pushed his arms forward with the aim ofnding a blow! But at a pace that was faster inparison to anything that the mantis shrimp could achieve, the enemyunched upwards and aimed for the sea-disk. Her speed was so fast, that the very fabric of water that was all around her, tore in two for the sake of allowing this goldfish to pass through it. If one had any capabilities to catch a proper glimpse of such speed, they wouldn''t be able to believe it! But that was not the main problem. Because whatever coulde with this attack, could be death ensuring! Chapter 206: Godly tar Chapter 206: Godly tar Timothy was still trying to catch up with the battle, and it was clear that the enemy was fast enough to use such stunning confusion to her utmost advantage. She had even gotten a bit more motivation to attack, and began swimming faster throughout that blink of an eye. The hero was shaking his head to fight away the blur that came as an aftermath from that gruesome p, but at the same time had his mouth slightly open. And that''s when he felt something soft captivating the jaws jaws! Which forced the boy''s mouth to open up a bit more. In all ways, it hurt worse than hell considering that one''s mouth was a body part that could produce irritating pain. It was even more confusing to think about how such pain: equaled to being dragged across the waters for a few meters. [Health, -4 bars] [Total health = 68/110] Clearly something wasn''t right, and he was yet to catch up on understanding what was going on. But when anything touched the sea-pancake''s jaws, the prime instinct would be to counterattack it with a bite. And that was what he did in an instant, and those level-3-jaws proved more than effective to deliver a bite that was strong enough to cause true damage. Although the whole situation was still confusing, he heard the system chip in with more notifications. [ck ranchu goldfish killed. 2 system points have been given to you as a reward] [This was a system given task, so you get an additional 2 points] [Since this carcass is too powerfulpared to anything of its kind, you get an additional 60 system points] [Total system points = 120] [This carcass is heavily contaminated, don''t eat it!] That was when he caught up with half of the situation. It became certain that such powerful attacks werended by one little enemy. The reward seemed massive after considering that the actual task gave just a couple of points; but after a brief contemtion, it sounded somewhat logical. After putting an attempt to shake away a bit of pain, he gave a peek towards Osira and was thankful that thedy floated in one piece. He swam close to her and the geezer. The pain he was feeling, proved to be rather agitating. And since the boy had lost almost half of his health so far, it felt as if his entire body was hurting. As bits of pain here and there were building up to create mildly-severe agitation! Regardless of such a dilemma, he still put in an attempt tomunicate with these marine animals. "That was unexpected, are you two alive?" It definitely was not a question he intended to ask, but concentration wasn''t his trump card even while being good and healthy. "We''re alive, but we wouldn''t have been if Osira didn''t kill all of those fish in one go." Gech answered, his tone striking casual although it was a well intended praise. She pushed thatpliment aside and focused on something else, "Now I know why they''re called diators." Proving once more that he was well informed, the geezer exined. "diators are used to assert dominance in new territories. A few of them could wipe out all of the opponents that this reef had, or used to have." The ck-grouper then instantly asked, "How do you know so much about the holy-tar sect?" "I''ve been stalking them for the past three years." He answered with the greatest hint of causality one could find. And then felt confident enough to add, "I know a lot about them, enough to filter out a few lies that the ranchu-leader told you. That maniptive prune!" "Uh, so I won''t explode?" That was the thought that bothered the gooddy a lot so far, further references would be worshipped at this point. And Gech grasped the criteria that was required to answer such aplicated and sensitive question. Although his face curled with hesitancy, he was still able to answer. "Well yes you can explode, but there are a few ways to avoid it. That diator leader didn''t say anything about these other ways." "Howe she hid the solutions?" The grouper asked and almost could answer her own question a few seconds after, but couldn''t quite get to the point. Bing a bit tired of exining things, with a brief sigh, the mantis shrimp answered. "She wanted your stingray boyfriend there, isn''t it obvious?" "He''s not my boyfriend!" Thetter shouted, wanting to smack the shrimp to the point of making him a portrait on the coral. One would be offended by such wordy. But even though he was the side topic between their conversation, Tim had barely heard what the deal was. Instead the young man was solely focused on finding food that would raise health, the pain was bing more and more unbearable by the passing second. Regardless of such behaviour, it allowed for the former conversation to continue. It was fair to say that anxiety was raising the more this old man spoke, because only more questions had erupted. "How can I save myself?" This felt like a weird question. She never had thought that life would lead to asking it. At the same time, it pushed her towards other thoughts of the past, towards a time when life was simpler. As if almost avoiding the question, Gech crawled towards where the tar used to be and mumbled through a sentence that failed to make any sense. Upon figuring out that the girl did not understand him, the old man put a second attempt to exin. Specifically, he recited. "What sshed your face was something that this sect recognizes as ''godly tar'', it''s rather important." Afterwards he reached towards a little portion of it, that had broken out of the pool''s boundaries and took a light sip of it. Such a scene was bizarre at least, but thankfully it didn''t bring any aftermath whatsoever. If one would have the opportunity to check, they would notice that any small hint of green-light on the old man''s eyes hadpletely disappeared. Most definitely unique, but thankfully he was willing to continue the exnation after noticing that the grouper was still confused. Chapter 207: First request Chapter 207: First request "Godly-tar is known for its cleansing properties. Now you are barely connected to any form of tar, so the chances of exploding are much smaller." Such a sentence felt like a massive ray of relief, but worry still lurked in its corners. But what returned the recently depleted worries, was Gech''s further exnation. "That doesn''t mean that you''repletely safe. Consider yourself as lucky and cursed at the same time." At this point she was a bit more lost than her stingray friend, likewise she questioned. "What do you mean?" He faced thedy and carried a half smile while exining, "You are lucky and so am I. Because we got powers without giving our soul to the holy-tar sect." Without a single stutter, the mantis shrimp slowly exined. "But we are also considered cursed, because we need to do a lot of work to battle the bad effects. This is why we need to touch bits of godly-tar once in a while, it helps reduce those effects. But we can never really cure it." This information seemed fascinating at this point. And she would be happy to withhold such bits of knowledge, if she wasn''t the one who became ensnared towards such a curse. That was why she stuck with a thought, and asked about it vocally. "What are the bad effects?" Hesitancy struck the old man for once, as he took nearly half a minute to answer. "Well you could explode or slowly lose your grip of reality. Self control can be a big problem as well." Seeing that she was getting discouraged, which was a major issue when it came to dealing with such a sensitive case, the geezer wanted to intervene right away. That''s why he added, "But there is one thing that these powers won''t take away from you." A string of motivation spiked in her consciousness, and she asked. "Which is?" "The ability to love and have your own little guppies." He had even stretched that small sentence, which added a bit more pressure. That''s when the girl''s fishy cheeks turned a little red, and she instantly shouted out. "I don''t want to have kids!" "That''s your personal problem." Gech cited, brushing it off lightly without a care in the world. And stated something shortly to gain attention in this conversation, "There is another problem." Without waiting for a reply, the shrimp continued. "We have powers thate from the tar, but we don''t worship the holy-tar itself. So the sect will especially hate us, because they consider us prime enemies unless we show interest in joining their sect." "That makes sense." Osira answered after sessfully fighting away the blush. After peeking at the copsed structure, thetter added. "This is another reason why this... dead leader, wanted to take you through three ceremonies rather than simply sshing tar on your face." "You are ufortably smart about the sect''s business." She added after a bit of contemtion. Because at this rate, she wanted to be as dumb as a board rather then knowing everything about her fate. But even though this situation brought a lot of anxiety, it was better to know how to handle this curse rather than finding it outter on, through the hard way. Although these two had a rather important conversation, the only stingray here was working on something else. Specifically, he was focusing on getting any food that aided in terms of increasing health. Such attempts were filled to the neck with desperation, but at least it proved somewhat effective. Because he had managed to find a small bundle of critters that he enjoyed the most, and had a weird connection with. "Leggy crabs!" He let out a loud whisper and charged towards the one who was close by. If Gech saw the young boy eating a few shrimps, he might get offended; but thest thing that Timothy cared about at this moment, was a second thought. So within a few minutes he had chewed through all of these shrimps and heard the system specify. [From this little massacre, you have received 12 system points] [Total system points = 132] [Health = 74/110] It was impactful without a doubt, but not enough to brush away all of the pain that the sea-pancake was experiencing. So an idea brewed in his little noggin, and the first step required to put it into motion, was to approach the couple of marine animals he reached this pool with. It wasn''t a difficult task, since he had just swam a few meters away. And after finding them, he peeked at Osira and wanted to ask for help; but also remembered that he couldn''t be too specific about the whole set-back. Within those same few seconds, he noticed an elongated fish swimming above them. It wasn''t certain if this fish would attack, but it sure seemed like a barracuda. He wasn''t the best at memorizing things, but a species as useful as a barracuda was difficult to forget as it was just tremendously impactful. So the second portion of the desperate n was being put into motion. As he requested from thedy, "Shoot down that barracuda for me." Of course he could have tried to kill the target all by himself, but thest thing he needed right not was to take damage from a wildly toothy elongated fish! And of course, the grouperdy didn''t find any reasons to deny the request and instantly granted it. A ball of ck light generated in front of her, and shot out towards the target that was peacefully swimming above them. It seemed like a rather ruthless method of solution solving, but all of the barracudas he met, had not proven good and holy in any recognizable way. The ray of light had struck the prey hard enough to force it upwards for a few feet, but it seemed like an instant kill. Because a few chunks of flesh were blown off the fish, and it was floating down without the slightest movement. Peeking at just how powerful that st was, the mantis shrimp added. "This is an example of godly purity. You can do even more damage if you can suppress the curse." Chapter 208: Simplicity Chapter 208: Simplicity Such a statement regarding power, was put through contemtion by the grouperdy. So Gech didn''t have anyone to talk to for a little while, and that was why he began focusing on the boy who was devouring the carcass. At first he became a bit bothered regarding how the young boy was chewing through flesh and bone like there was no tomorrow. But after a little while, he began noticing an interesting pattern. The most visual one, was how wounds be it small or big, were healing. The small cuts on his back hadpletely disappeared, while the bigger ones seemed a lot better. Apart from these wounds finding painless ease, he could also notice the boy''s skin gaining a coating of sparkle. Everything seemed smoother, it almost looked like Timmy was bing younger. Until now it was noticeable that the mantis shrimp was a smart man, he was rather direct too. So of course he had no trouble vocalizing his thoughts once approaching the boy a bit closer. After a few more seconds of observation, he cited. "I might be going crazy but your wounds are healing at an exquisite pace." Thetter took a short break from eating, enough to answer. "Yeah, that happens." "Most intriguing." The geezer added, a tad unaware that he was confusing the boy with this wordy. Curiosity was growing stronger for this shrimp, that''s why he added. "Do you mind if I join in?" He had never tasted a barracuda before, so the geezer thought that maybe such healthy attributes could be benefited from today. Knowing that he could never devour the barracuda alone, the hero shortly answered. "Sure." The sea-pancake continued to chew through the carcass for a few minutes longer, but then felt rather full. He didn''t know what gut damage felt like, but it would be a new experience if he had continued eating. Regardless of that fact, he had managed to reap enough benefits from this feast. Because although it still sounded bizarre, a barracuda provided every positive effect on the list; the most treasured one being health. Having the procedures memorized, the system didn''t shy away to give notifications that surrounded this feast. Specifically, what the young man wanted to hear about the most. [Health, +9 bars] [Total health = 85/110] The improvements were clearly not drastic, but it felt like a good achievement to reach this mark again. And the greatest deal out of this was how the strongest portions of pain were eradicated. Since his health bar was more plentiful right now when it came to numbers, raising the bar was more impactful than before; as pain can go away with the aid of a few bars of health. Noticing that her friend was caught up in terms of stuffing his face all the way to the other end of his guts, Osira decided to remind the initial task. The information about her powers was tiresome right now, so she wanted to get her mind off it. That was why she cited, "Okay now we need to hunt for another tribe." She expected a reply from the younger one, but the geezer spoke out instead. "There aren''t really any tribes close by, the sect doesn''t prefer the middle of the reef." Although feeling a bit nervous towards such knowledge, the grouper decided to believe it: because regardless, this old man proved helpful so far. It only seemed logical to take his advice, especially after considering that he wanted to massacre the sect as well. Hearing out such a portion, the sea-disk decided to add his own thoughts. "Then we''re going back home." Feeling like that was a bad idea, Gech added. "There should be a lot of other tribes though, why don''t we explore the north for a while?" "My siblings are handling every other side of the reef, don''t worry." It felt nice to utter out such a sentence, and it wasn''t because of blood rtion. What made him feel like a more easy going hero, was the idea that all of this madness didn''t solely lie on his shoulders anymore... well, spine. In the beginning he had most definitely decided to save the reef from a fate they could not control. But the more he indulged towards such a task, the tougher it got. So now, to have a group of capable siblings who could handle such pressure, felt satisfying as much as it felt relieving. With all those facts considered, the group decided to get back home towards the hidden-den. Gech was given the opportunity to join them, but the prime idea was to drop him off in the same den rather than dragging him along everywhere. ... It took them a great part of the day to travel across the reef, but they were finally close to reaching the hidden den. It was a tiresome day at least, and now it was a bit after noon so admittedly they had time to put any work in. Being back here gave the feeling of satisfying simplicity. Because danger here was lower, and an overall goal before had been to just recruit as many orphans as possible, and any task was easier to achieve. Such feelings were nostalgic at least, even though all of that had happened just over a couple of weeks ago. Before they could enter the den, what blessed their field of vision was Snoopy who casually approached them. The first thing that uttered out of his mouth, was. "Y''all look great." At this point it was difficult to figure out if thispliment was genuine or just coated with sarcasm. But after recalling that this boy was too covered in metal-like skin, it became noticeable that the joke was moreplex than first perceived. Osira felt the most touched by such a sentence, and added. "You don''t look so bad yourself." It sounded like apliment but on the contrary, such a phrase had just continued the ray of sarcasm. But as these two weremunicating, the little old man on her back was mumbling through a few words. When attention was given to him, he spoke out a bit more clearly. "Fascinating, you are fascinating." Chapter 209: Collector Chapter 209: Collector "Why are you eyeing me, man?" Snoopy asked after noticing that the other had locked eyes with the boy''s body. "Your powers seem amazing." Thetter answered immediately, ultimately revealing what he was muttering until now. For a few seconds, the little stingray was trying to figure out how a stranger would know about something like that. But a brief ray of contemtion after, he managed to remember that his entire body had changed and looked like a small metal fortress. So the only thing he could answer was, "Well thank you." Since such a small awkward chat was pushed out of the way, Timothy could now ask. "How many tribes have you destroyed so far?" "Three I think." Snoopy answered and closed his eyes, feeling rather confident with that achievement. "You killed all those sect-fishes alone? Fascinating!" Gech swooped in once more with a worthy praise. "Easy for someone as skillful as I." The praised one answered, wanting to sound equally smart in terms of wordy. Although what the shrimp had just said, sounded like genuine bits of words, the old man had different views. He looked at this boy as if seeing a guinea pig, especially since such powers were rted to the holy-tar in a rather direct way. Of course the geezer did not want to harm any of these fish in the circle, but observing them was great in terms of learning more and more about the tar. After thinking things through for a little while, Tim pitched. "Let''s get to the hidden den, we will wait for the others there." With that idea in mind, they swam towards the structure and squeezed through its long tunnel after being greeted by a dungeness crab. Since the ce seemed intact, it was clear that these crabs proved to be excellent guards around here! Once they got down there, what greeted them were tens of friendly faces who admired the little blue-dotted hero the most. Snoopy had gotten a few weird nces, but once he began speaking, most inhabitants could recognize the boy and they stopped locking their eyes on his body, for the sake of respect. Rather interesting to see, that fish could have such a level of etiquette. After being greeted by a few of these marine animals, Snoopy decided to crack open a topic that carried a grand level of importance, but was also rather sensitive to touch. It might wreck thefort they gained here, but it had to be spoken of. Although a bit hesitant, he introduced an idea. "I was thinking about revenge my wonderful brother, we need to kill some enemies that are in our far past by now." His way of dialogue was a tad weird at the moment, but it was because the topic was heavy. Although he was like a swimming chunk of metal now, anxiety could still envelop the boy''s mind so he began stammering at a limited extent. The brother in question, was as clueless as ever, which was why he had to ask. "Which enemies? Harold and Drake are both dead, they got what wasing to them." The metal-boy''s face was twitching thanks to the prime reason of difort, but he still managed to answer. "I''m talking about the ones that killed our parents along with most of our siblings." Timothy could not even pretend that he had a connection with his stingray parents. What he knew for sure, was that him and they were connected by blood, but that was about it. He didn''t even remember them, so it was difficult to care about what he could not visualize. But he did care about these few siblings he had, so it only sounded logical to make sure they could attain the marvelous feeling of revenge. Yet he didn''t want to give too much pressure towards such an idea, so he wanted to brush the situation off lightly. Therefore he questioned, "They were sharks right? Even Patty could spank them to death, as long as you remember where they have killed our family." "I remember it." Thetter answered and could finally give out a sigh of relief. The conversation was where he wanted it to be, so the hero assured. "Okay then we will kill them soon. But for now, let''s make sure that the sect doesn''t kill the entire reef." It was reasonable, and the silence that was shown by the same boy who pitched the idea of revenge, gave a hint of approval. Hunting sharks didn''t seem like a big problem now, considering that each sibling was stronger than the other. "About that, I saw something very weird this morning." A feminine tone sounded in the background. After lending a pair of eyes towards the voice, they saw that it was Amie the needlefish. It felt a bit weird to look at thisdy now since in a previous battle, the sea-disk had ughtered a few fish of the same species but that emotion had to be suppressed right now. Yet it became a tad transparent, that thefort in this den could not be enjoyed for a long while. Such a thought was discouraging but he didn''t n to shy away from any task. So a question was swiftly asked, "What did you see?" "Uh... that''s kinda hard to exin." Amie cited, and began feeling a bit of stress while searching for the right words. Seeing that everyone was waiting for her to speak, she finally added. "I want to say that it was a fish, but fish aren''t supposed to be so big and small at the same time. They aren''t supposed to turn into sand." All of their eyes bulged wide open in shock, but Gech unleashed the strongest reaction by muttering. "What would be the most grand way to react to this... uhhh, well shit." Within a few seconds, a whole lot of emotions had circled around the hero''s mind but after hearing out the geezer, a bit of the burden was blown off his shoulder. And the crave for curiosity made him ask, "Do you know anything about this?" "Oh dear, oh no." The shrimp cited while syncing towards a fair amount of panic. "What what what?!" Timothy questioned as anxiety grew stronger. "The sect is taking the next step to conquer this reef, they have sent out a collector!" He shouted but also noticed that most could not understand the severity of this advance. So before anyone could ask any dumb and obvious questions, he instantly added. "A collectores and harvests all souls that were given to the tar, and with them he creates stronger fish who would guard this territory!" "Uh that sounds bad, can we kill it?" Such a question was asked right away, and it yed great importance. "You might have a chance to kill it." The geezer added, but wanted to brush away that thought forter. Instead he focused on exining, "The collector needs food to survive, but it can only eat anyone who had gained powers from the tar, not those who have given their souls to it!" "Well shit." The blue-dotted hero spoke out under his breath. Because from the clear looks of it, the most powerful enemy that this reef had seen, can only be taken down by him alone. When this problem was introduced, he felt confident that this enemy could be easily taken down with the aid of Snoopy; but now it was made clear that such backing was not an option. "Dana had gone to check what it was." The needlefish added, and such a bit of information had managed to raise the difort levels through the den''s ceiling. Within a blink of an eye, the sea-pancake shouted. "What?! How could you let her go out there!" "I can''t control what that big girl does!" Amie replied for the sake of defending her own name. "Shit shit shit shit shit!" The hero repeated countless times under his breath, and charged towards the exit. Dana was one of the first stingrays he had met, who didn''t show any form of hostility but gave out great vibes and loyalty instead of anything bad. It was somewhat understandable that he didn''t want thatdy dead. Snoopy was about to follow him, but a woman''s tone thundered before that could be done. "You heard what this shrimp said, the collector can eat you." Thisdy was one of the diamond stingrays, very powerful andrge in their own respected league; but what they shone more with, originated around loyalty. Likewise, she nodded towards her couple other friends and stated. "We will help your brother, the rest of you stay here." As they rushed out of the den as well, the mantis shrimp nced at Osira who was swimming in circles out of stress, and wanted to put in attempts to calm her down. That was why he cited, "Don''t sweat it, your boyfriend is skilled." Chapter 210: Collector (2) Chapter 210: Collector (2) Speed was an attribute that the herocked without a doubt. He could reach the 5-miles-per-hour barrier but that was about it. And in such a situation, it was insufficient. Because not only did he need to reach Dana as fast as possible, he also didn''t exactly know where to look first. It was fair to say that he had rushed this whole situation, but going back to the hidden den for the sake of asking about details, could be even more time consuming. Just before he came close to admitting that he had no clue where to look, he began spotting simr figures who were floating closer and closer. Once they arrived, it was clear to see that these marine animals were the small group of diamond stingrays. Their leader''s feminine tone echoed, as she questioned. "What are you doing here? The enemy should be near the border!" It sounded reasonable. The border had such a name because it separated the massive differences of ocean depth. It only made sense for the enemy toe out of the deeper portions of the sea. Without thinking about it too much, the hero nodded. "Okay, let''s go there then!" ... Within a few moments, they arrived at the very destination that was picked earlier and began paying attention to all surroundings. The prime idea was to look for this enemy, by stalking the borderline and just hope for the best. But it only took a few seconds for them to lose hope, as there was nothing here. And since a possible battle was likely going on between Dana and the enemy, there was no time to waste whatsoever. So it was up to Timmy to pitch, "Nothing''s here, we need to look somewhere else!" Before anyone else could have uttered out even a single word, they noticed a weird figure who suddenly popped out to their left. In the first few seconds it wasn''t scary, but severity was made a tad more apparent when the same figure continued to explode in size! After a blink of an eye, it became over 10-feet-long and was sloshing its weight around with the apparent aim to resemble a fish''s figure. The more solid such a form became, the more terrifying this scene was developing into. And the group of stingrays were quick to realise that whatever Amie had seen earlier on, wasn''t in any way an over-exaggeration! Regardless of how terrifying the situation was bing, the blue-dotted boy was the first to lunge forward and face the thing. But since it wasn''t attacking, it didn''t seem reasonable to do anything drastic at the moment. After staring each other down for a few moments, it was the hero who asked. "Are you the collector?" As if trying to reply, the thing began rumbling for a few moments, and released sounds that were equal to what a human would make while suffocating underwater; it came along with hints of hard materials crashing against one another, for the sake of making an ear piercing sound. Such sounds were even scarier once attention was lended to the creature''s appearance. It was pitch dark in colour, but it released small bits of green-light once in a while which seemed in all ways, artificial. Communication doesn''t seem like an option, so the best thought now was to figure out a way of attacking this enemy. Because from the looks of it, even though these stingrays were more in numbers, the enemy seemed much more powerful. To answer a question that neither of these sea-disk''s asked so far, the creature who they are recognizing as the collector, spat out a mouthful of bones that gave out a greatly familiar resemnce. After looking at what gave out the portrait of a ribcage, the group of friends felt their spines bing colder than ever. Because in many aspects, this skeleton resembled the body form of an eagle ray! It was even more bizarre how the skeleton wasn''t broken in any way! Not even a chip or tip of it was missing - everything was in ce and it didn''t seem like it was going anywhere. Anger spiked up in the boy''s mind, and the only thing he could shout was. "You water-kissing freak!" And without waiting for a reply or a second thought from anyone whatsoever, he charged against the enemy and began pping his jaws with the aim of devouring the monster, even if he had to do it chunk-by-chunk. But before the hero could even collide with this monstrosity, the creature''s appearance shifted again. For a second it seemed like the hero had barged through the target''s heart, but a brief peek would make one realise that the enemy had somehow shape-shifted its chest, to allow the stingray pass through without even meeting the slightest barricade. Within a second, Tim had reached the enemy''s other side and could see the reef in the far distance. It felt tremendously odd to have such a result, but the rage he withheld, didn''t allow the boy to stop the set of rage. Instead, he turned around for the sake of charging against the enemy once more but had the displeasure of witnessing a scene that continued to shed a bizarre aura. The very creature that he was facing against, had shifted its shape again and was now breaking down into millions of pieces. It crumbled down like an aged castle and mixed with the very sand that wasid out underneath them. At first it was easy to spot it, since the enemy''s colour was solely ck. But in a few short moments, it began disappearing from the sand''s surface, as if it was water that shrunk down in a hot pan. Such a result would make one think that Timmy had killed this monster, but a prime guess took over instead. They began thinking that the enemy had dug deep in the sand, and was hiding its body from anyone else! Before they were given the chance to figure out a n on how to handle this situation, they noticed a patch of ck-coloured material; shooting out of the sand and directly aiming for the diamond stingrays! Chapter 211: Collector (3) Chapter 211: Collector (3) It only took a whole second for the enemy to puncture through the diamond stingrays. And once it did, the results were beyond sour, contradictory to what anyone would expect that the worst case scenario would be! The creature moved away from where the small group of stingrays was positioned, and that was when the nightmare became a reality. Three skeletons were floating on the waters, slowly drifting down towards the sand. From everything that he expected out of his day, this was not one of them! And now, no miracle would be enough to revive these few stingrays whom had met a fate too sour forprehension! The hero had seen deaths before, but this type of murder had to be the most cruelpared to anything he had seen. These skeletons don''t even seem whole, so clearly the collector did not care to be gentle this time. It took a moment to shake out of this shock, but once he did, the only thing he could think of was to attack with all of his might. And even though examples were given; he did not want to take death into consideration, this enemy had to die! A split secondter, the same creature of which primarily consisted of dark, sand-like material, shot out some weird pointy things out of... what we can call its mouth. These materials were fast moving, so it was easy tobel them as weaponry! They had a thin and elongated build, that might be the reason why several of them were shot out. The target was small, so it sounded normal for several ammunitions to be shot out at once! Most of them either floated above his head or nailed themselves against the sand, but one... one bastardous spear-like shot, managed to collide against the hero. The tip of his fin was pierced through! And the momentum that came along with this projectile, was so strong that the hero was dragged along with it, at least for a few seconds before it met with the flooring: and resounded arge thud! [Health, -50 bars] [Total health = 35/110] Lethal and in its own league for sure when it came to power. It had managed to pin the boy against the sand, near the border line. If that wasn''t enough as damage, the thin weaponry had pierced through the sand enough topletely disappear in it. Meaning that it had pierced the boy''s fin and slid through it with almost elegant ease. The thud it had made, forced the flooring to rumble in a limited radius. And since he was bashed near the border, a chunk of sand and dirt had began crumbling down and falling in the depths of the ocean. Depths that didn''t seem like it carried an end and resembled a dark void! He was tossed against the sand so hard, that it felt almost impossible to move; his body was imprinted on the ground and not to mention, all that fresh damage was solely located on his left fin! Movement was as limited as ever. So he ended up falling in the void, and felt sure that death was getting closer. If the actual wound wasn''t enough, the water pressure that was going to strike him soon, would be difficult to escape. Luck was something that he usually did not have, but this time it seemed like he attained an advantage. Because he fell on a tform that wastched just a few meters below, on the border''s deep wall. So ultimately, he did not fall in the deep seas. And now was the time to focus on what could bebelled as the main problem. Blood was puking out of his wound, death still seemed rather close and there was a darn freak, who was on its way to consume every lifeform in the reef! All hopes seemed lost now, so he didn''t even try to move and began thinking that the best thing he could do for himself was to embrace an easier death. He wanted to die without any additional pain. That was when he saw a gem-like item of which was releasing a very dim green-light and was fist-sized. Weird enough, it began speaking out. And the first thing it said was, "Come at me, my child." Thest thing he wanted to do right now was move, so he answered with a mumble. "No." "So be it then, I''lle to you." The gem spoke out and then began changing its form. Within a few moments, it attained the shape of a worm but its colour now was radiating a tad thicker, which made it difficult to not pay attention towards this thing. And it continued the conversation by pointing out what the other did not nearly expect, "I see you have a system too. Weak at best but it''s good enough for such a lowly creature such as yourself." This day was bad enough, and thest thing that the hero needed was to be trashed by a worm, so the best reply he coulde up with was. "Suck my ass." Unsurprisingly, the worm-gem returned the favour. "Even when you''re close to death, you behave like a cunt... this reminds me of my younger self." Before the young stingray could reply, this green-gem continued speaking. "Ie from another universe, my name is Lin Wu the great! I fell into your universe and my body was shattered into thousands of pieces around this world." Thest thing that the hero wanted right now was a biography, so he whispered. "And what am I supposed to do about that?" As if wanting to smack the sea-pancake, thetter answered. "There isn''t anything that a lowly creature like you could do for me, but there is something I want to ask you." With thest bit of power he had left, Timmy answered. "What?" "Do you want to live?" The worm questioned and it almost seemed like it grew a wide and ufortable smirk. Chapter 212: Collector (4) Chapter 212: Collector (4) After such a question was asked, the young boy synced towards a fair amount of contemtion. Because just a few seconds ago, he had epted that death was only minutes away; but now a contradictory option was offered. As a start, he didn''t know if this opportunity should give happiness that he could live longer, or sadness that he still could not escape this cursed life. But after thinking it through a bit more, he recalled the reason why he avoided death in the very beginning. It was so simple but yet it carried a ship-load of emotions. He had died once and reincarnated into this body. With the chance of a new life given to the boy, why should he die again under such a short period of time? That was the thought he embraced in the beginning, and he didn''t want to steer away from it now. So within these moments, his decisions were renewed. But one thing that he did not notice, was how much time he had spent while under contemtion of the very option that has been given to him. The worm-gem was still waiting over his head. And judging from the front and back pacing, he was losing a considerable amount of patience. So it might be the best time to answer the question, "Yes, I want to live!" Satisfied towards such a result, thetter pitched. "Then I will let you live, but you will have to do something for me in return." Remembering what circumstances enemies had given so far, the stingray was drowsy enough to associate those past situations with what was being offered now. So he tried to yell, "I''m not letting you drill my ass!" "Gross! Why would I want to fuck a fish?" The green-worm answered and withheld the urge to smack this boy into another universe. Before the conversation could have submerged into deeper levels of stupidity, the same worm bashed in the proper exnation. By simply adding, "I just need you to do me a tiny favour. As you know, my body is shattered and spread all around the world, and you can do something about it." Thest thing of which the hero needed right now was to touch every ocean for the sake of looking for body parts that belonged to a bizarre green-gem. So demotivation was striking strong enough to make a firm stand. Of which he assured by speaking it out, "I''m not hunting for your body." Instant with his replies, which showed a rather big wave of desperation, the worm contradicted. "You don''t have to, the task is rather easy." Once more the sea-pancake was intrigued, so he thought that this trade might be worthwhile. "Tell me more, I don''t have much energy left." Unwilling to lower himself throughout this deal, the worm recited. "I will assure that one of your lowly friends will benefit out of this. All that one friend has to do, is to touch a gem that looks like me, when they find it." Definitely caught beyond prepare, Timothy questioned. "That''s all?" Plentiful when it came to exnation, the self loving worm described. "Yes. And the gem will benefit your friend, before it flies across the world to attach back to me. Your friend will get stronger because of it and my body will slowly grow." Feeling that the sea-disk''s heartbeat was drastically slowing down, the worm didn''t allow him to reply and exined the rest of the deal. By brushing it over at a considerably fast pace, "Also, your friend doesn''t have to look for my entire body, as I just need to grow big enough to restore some of my powers. Eventually I will be strong enough to search for the body parts myself." The stingray gave his best attempt to mumble through a sentence, but it wasn''t necessarily logical. "That''s a great offer, better than I expected from a green-worm." Feeling that he had attained a tremendous win today, the worm just cut to the end. "So do we have a deal?" "We have a deal." Thetter assured, wanting to nod but simplycking the power to do so. "Brace yourself." The worm mumbled, and it was easy to notice a whistle on his tone that embraced menacing thoughts. What the hero felt just a few seconds after, wasn''t so different inparison to being hit by a 40-kilogram-hammer! He felt like a massive chunk was dropped from above and hit him hard enough to barge him several feet under the ground. But what could be recognized as even more bizarre, was the fact that nothing had connected to the boy physically. Instead, a wave of almost transparent and green light, was just directed towards the injured fish. And whatever that thing did or was made of, it sure managed to cause a whole boat-load of pain! It almost felt bone-breaking but thankfully it onlysted for a few seconds. But what struck afterwards made him feel that this sudden pain was worthwhile. A massive sense of calmness and wellbeing enveloped the boy''s body. The bloody wound he had on the lift fin, was closing rapidly and the rest of his body was heading towards salvation. There was no pain in his body whatsoever, and it felt like he was reborn. But that wasn''t the actual case, and the system assured it too. [Health = 110/110 bars] [Hunger = 17/17 bars] [Sleep = 39/39 bars] [Stamina = 17/17 bars] With such a statistic gained, the sea-pancake had every bit of strength necessary, to leap upwards with enthusiasm that was enough to crush a boulder. But what he focused more on, was whatmonly had haunted him, and he spoke it out loud. "I never thought that my health would be full again." And after looking at the worm who was proud of his work, Tim spoke in a soft tone. "Thank you." "You''re wee." Thetter answered, but didn''t exactly want to be praised about it. So he instantly switched topics, "Now look, I have sted you with 5,000-millirems of highly purified radiation. That was what helped you recover and that''s what''s going to help you kill the collector." It was a surprise how this worm knew of the collector, but the hero did not want to ask any questions and just wanted to dash towards battle. That was why he just nodded and aimed to swim away. Before he could swim away, the worm pressured. "You have eaten something before that the collector is scared of. With the aid of radiation, it should be far easier for you to kill the enemy." Chapter 213: Collector (5) Chapter 213: Collector (5) With the aid of full speed of which he could achieve thanks to pure rage itself, Timothy was rather close towards reaching the beloved reef. And even though vision still wasn''t his trump card, the young man could still sense which way to go. Although it was somewhat bizarre, he could also sense the smell of death itself; which gave another great hint! As he didn''t have a great sense of smell, so it could only mean that the fragrance of which the enemy unleashed, was great and difficult to ignore. He finally reached the reef, and spent a good few seconds to annalise his surroundings. The scent here felt much stronger, but it made the situation more confusing because he couldn''t even see the faintest sign of the enemy. That fact regardless, the hints of death here were higher than anywhere else. He could see a bunch of skeletons spread around the ce: it was clear that their soul and body were stripped out of contents just recently, because they sparkled in a noticeable way and were mostly intact. Apart from such destruction, he could also notice that the coral had attained a heavily grey colour, nk would be the most splendid way to describe it. He couldn''t see well enough to measure how much of this reef had been stripped out of life, but the radius had to be a hundred meters wide at least! Just as he tried to figure out which way to go next, something exploded in size with a pace that would almost render someone blind. It was that creature of which only consisted of ck-sand. And from the clear looks of it, this monstrosity behaved angrier than ever. The crackling vibrations it unleashed were bing stronger, and it managed to raise the hero''s anxiety more and more. Ignoring its size, Tim unleashed a shout. "You killed my friends!" The enemy thundered a bit more afterwards, and the tone it was unleashing could manage to shake the soul of anyone present. As it was filled with a gravely texture, along with the fact that it was ufortably loud! Although a bit fearful, he did not want to back down whatsoever, especially after considering what lifely aim this beast had. So he charged directly forward and actually swam fast enough tond a bite against the enemy. It was a tad easier because this opposer did not have a sea-animals shape. The material that constructed this enemy''s body, indeed felt like sand; the only difference stood that the material felt crunchier and rather solid. So it gave the same result one would have if they chewed through stone. But what was more bizarre inparison to the bite, was how a part of the enemy''s body was shifting in colour: right where the little hero had bitten. That dark colour changed towards what shade of which true sand would have, and fell to the ground. Although it didn''t seem like major damage, at least a tenth of the enemy''s body had been detached and absolutely crumbled. His motivation to attack this bastard, had grown stronger than ever at this golden moment. So he spat the mouthful of sand, that he had ripped through just a short moment ago, and barged towards the enemy once more. It was noticeable that the boy was losing all fear, because he had charged in a portion where the enemy seemed bigger. Although such a move gave more ces to bite, the chances of the collectorunching a sessful attack was muchrger. Regardless of all odds, he managed tond another bite against this wretched enemy. And at the same time, that marvelous barb had poked forward and over his back; which in exchange,nded against the enemy''s wall of ck sand. He did not know if tail-venom would be of any help here, but instinct made the boy unleash it anyway. And since he knew that the enemy would take damage either way, he didn''t stick around to check the results. But shed towards another portion of the monster, which made him dwell deeper into trouble in a rather literal manner. Because right now he was inside the enemy, all he could see was darkness along with asional shes of bright green-light. But what could be identified as even more bizarre, was how the enemy didn''t seem to attack right now. The prime intent visually originated from the idea of trapping this little stingray, who was fairly attacking left and right. That was when he heard the loudest rumble yet. The entire body of this collector was shaking in an abruptive manner, it didn''t seem as bnced as before. Just a secondter, Tim noticed the entire left side of these walls opening up; whatever material the enemy had as a body, was crumbling into in sand! Logic still refused to be the hero''s speciality, but he could still spot a wide and screaming opportunity. So within a blink, he charged towards the opening and curled his tail as high as possible for the sake ofnding another strike. Unsurprisingly, it worked well enough as he had managed to inflict a foot-long cut across the enemy''s body, before making it out of there! What he heard afterwards was amotion that was so thick, that it almost felt like the water''s density physics had been altered upon will. He didn''t even have to turn around to know that the enemy hadunched an attack, likely with the aid of coral bits that it had harvested through this gue-like attack against the reef. Nevertheless, it was ineffective because the stingray had fled the trap he was in a short moment ago. And once he turned around now, the sea-disk could see a pile of in sand under the monster. While at the same time, another tenth of body-mass that this ursed enemy had carried, was in the process of violently dissipating. A quick moment of observation was enough to figure out that half of the enemy''s body had been ughtered, destroyed! It didn''t eliminate the entire threat but it was a tremendous start. Yet he still failed to understand how all of this was possible. Surely a simple bite wouldn''t be enough to cause such damage against a powerful monstrosity. It was difficult toprehend this whole situation, but thankfully the system found an inappropriate time to throw her thoughts in, again. [You are carrying a couple of substances that are working together, to destroy this enemy] [My best guess is that radiation could be the main culprit, that strange worm mentioned it too] [Use it to your utmost advantage, kill this freak!] Chapter 214: Collector (end) Chapter 214: Collector (end) Without waiting for a proper opportunity to reveal itself, the young hero charged against this wretched enemy with speed that almost broke the typical barrier! Within a second, he reached the monster and tried tond another bite. But there was an underwater wave that was unleashed by the same enemy, that knocked him off bnce! So as a result, he did a half front-flip and smashed against the monster with his middle back. It wasn''t necessarily troubling, but if he was going any faster, it wouldn''t be a surprise if he was imprinted on the enemy like a portrait. And contrary to all expectations from this move that could bebelled as a fail, the hero actually managed to cause some damage. Because somehow, even though he didn''t manage to chomp through the enemy with a bite; this monster still began withering away! And a certain luckybination had managed to push the boy a step closer towards victory. It was well stated that he had swam at full speed before the collision, so when that wasbined with the collector''s fear, the situation became even more advantageous. Because the enemy was shifting its body to create a tunnel for Timothy, all for the sake of avoiding touch: but it wasn''t fast enough because the stingray was tumbling at full speed, and this monstrosity had lost a good amount of its power already! So what could have been a tunnel that would trap the hero, became more like a hot-knife-through-butter effect. A tunnel was indeed created, but the hero had hit every corner of it. And considering that physical contact seemed to be enough when it came to dealing damage, the sea-disk ended up identally massacring half of what remained from this creature''s body. And eventually, he made it through the other side and could see the light again. Perfect in terms of attaining orientation, but his prime thought right now was to get away from the enemy''s path. Because he expected a ray of projectile attacks, and that was something that he did not want to experience again. Because no one would be here to save his ass for the second time! Yet he kept forgetting that this wretched enemy was unlike any other, weird would be the best way to describe it. And for some blurry reason, it did notunch a counter attack. Contrary to expectations, it was barely even moving. And unlike in the beginning, it was just four-feet-big now and rather round too; without any solid or recognizable shape that was worth talking about. It was clear that it had taken a lot of damage already, because it would have already exploded in size if it could right now, when the situation was going towards hell. So as the hero tried for once to pick a good spot to attack, he began feeling a bit shocked as the enemy began behaving in a even more abnormal manner than before. It was shaking with an abruptive pace, which made Tim think that he had actually scared the beast! But that didn''t seem to be the case, because other portions of such weird behaviour, began chipping in. The collector started unleashing a gassy-like substance that did notunch against the hero, but just randomly drifted above the beast and just calmly headed for the ocean''s surface. Such substance carried a weird green-colour. It started out tremendously thick and even had a lining of texture that was noticeable to the naked eye. But it dissipated over the few seconds and lost a lot of colour, it almost became transparent. The show was entertaining but he didn''t want to wait for this foul creature to make another move. Confidence was an emotion that the stingray had now, thanks to the recently dealt damage. So without even the slightest string of hesitation, he charged at the enemy at full speed! And nned to rely on a technique that proved effective in a lot of former battles. Bnce was being slowly sacrificed as his body clenched for the sake of allowing that marvelous barb to poke forward. So within a blink of an eye, hended against the enemy and inflicted what he had properly named as the bumblebee-attack! For a second he had feared that such a move would break his tail, but that wasn''t nearly the case ~ as we can consider this hit as a grand-leveled sess! Because it almost seemed like the enemy had flinched in pain, it was a drastically powerful attack in terms of dealt damage! Another quarter of the enemy''s body, crumbled and fell towards the rest of the average sand. Which in exchange, allowed Timmy to swim away from the monster after delivering such a marvelous blow. But just a second after he began swimming away from the enemy, he could notice what could be firmlybelled as bizarre but convenient at the same time! The enemy was withering away in all directions. It''s entire body was crumbling into nothing but average sand, which only piled up underneath the beast! Such massive amount of dissipation seemed convenient, because it gave a great hint that the battle was reaching a favourable end! So wholeheartedly, the hero heaved a sigh of relief and tried to think of what he should do next. A funeral might need to be held, as four of his friends had been literally stripped out of life thanks to this foul beast! Right at that moment, he heard an ear piercing sound that at first sounded like a shout, but then felt more like rocks being crushed against one another; at a pace that was impactful enough to make them whistle! It didn''t take much thought to realise that this sound came from the dying enemy, but what happened next surely managed to break expectations. A pile of sand that stretched a couple of feet tall, wasying in front of the little stingray. And that was when the pile started rustling in all directions, it caused a little but yet transparent cloud of dust. Yet at the end, a solid thing had slowly emerged out of the pile. Upon further inspection, it seemed like a in-grey-fish. It wasn''t exactly interesting, as it was just a foot long. The only thing unique about it were the textures it carried. They seemed a bit more detailed and had sharp looking edges, along with bulky fins. Observing this fish, ceased to be an option because itunched itself against the stingray after it broke free from sand! Chapter 215: Spike Chapter 215: Spike Collision became an inevitable fate, as this new fish managed to reach Timothy in a second or so; and the impact thanks to it, wasn''t so shabby either. Because the hero was tossed a couple of feet behind, and had a bit of trouble shaking away all the blur that can be categorized as an aftermath. Yet regardless, it wasn''t a death assuring blow so the hero could put in efforts to fight back. [Health, -7 bars] [Total health = 103/110 bars] He could only imagine that the damage would have been a lot higher if he did not upgrade bodily durability. So at the moment he felt blessed for taking such low damage. Yet his noggin was still under a bit of pain, so it could not be counted as aplete blessing. But now was not the time to focus on that, as this weird fish was attacking again and it was pping its jaws this time for the sake of inflicting damage! So with the aid of battle experience, the young boy first pped the waters with those tiny fins, to move a bit backwards for a couple of reasons. The first one was to buy more time, even if it was a quarter-second more. But the second reason was far more sinister! As his tail had curled upwards and was trying to push towards that direction with every bit of power it had! Like he had expected it, the enemy had arrived at the very moment of which the barb had beenunched upwards. So in exchange, this foot-long fish had attained the displeasure of feeling a venomous barb bashing against its neck, and bursting through the top side of the cor! It was painful without a doubt. It made the enemy throw its weight up and down in pain, so Timmy pulled back before such panic could have hurt his tail. The weird-fish swam away a few feet and tried to recover from the pain, or at least gather up enough stamina to suppress it. But what the naked eye could see at the moment, was rather interesting. This fish''s wound was not puking out blood, but bits of sand instead; which rolled down from its neck andnded on the ocean flooring that was close by. The sea-pancake was close to figuring out just what the hell was going on, but he couldn''t quite get there. It was difficult to put all the pieces together, even though he had a few patterns to use. It only led to mumbling while under a sigh, "Are fish supposed to be like this?" [Gech the mantis shrimp had mentioned that the collector you just killed, attains all souls from the sect members to create stronger fish who would dominate in the newly imed territory] [This fish was likely created out of desperation. And since the collector had lost most of its body before using this method as ast option, my guess is that: this fish is much weakerpared to any truly strong fish, that the collector could create] [Perhaps a tenth inparison to what powers these weird-fishes could usually have] Noticing that the system was massively intelligent and well observant to this extent, considering that it could link everything together in excellent decency, the hero felt at luck. His confidence was rising, and he thought that the source of such emotion should be rewarded. That was why he answered, "What would I do without you? Everything here would be harder if you weren''t around." Afterwards that sweet emotion was transformed into rage. And he did not want to wait for the system''s reply either, and charged against this fragile enemy at full speed instead. And the first thing he did wasnd another bite against its neck. From there he moved along to the spine, and jagged his teeth in there but had no n of taking a bite off just yet. Instead, he used it as a bncing point; for the sake of holding on to this enemy as the other side of the weaponry, flew in to deliver its own work! His barb bashed against the enemy''s lower back, over and over. It felt like each attack was forcing the enemy to submission, as its tolerances to pain were surprisingly low. Until now, the sea-disk had managed to deal a total of seven-stabs against this enemy. It was rather plentiful, so the hero decided to finallytch off for the sake of attaining some safe distance. But as he turned around, it was easy to see that the enemy was charging towards him at full speed. And before the slightest reaction could have been made, the enemy bit this little boy right against the fin! It was difficult to understand what those jaws were made of, but it sure hurt like boiling hell! Such pain was almost difficult to withstand but at least it wasn''t strong enough to take a chunk off his just replenished body. [Health, -10 bars] [Total health = 93/110] Thest thing he wanted, was to float around doing nothing when the enemy had caused such damage with a single bite. So without even a slightly developing thought of hesitation, his tail embraced the C-formation and curled under the belly! Which in exchange had gotten closer to the enemy, and the tip of it had managed to stab this bastard right where the gut was supposed to be. It wasn''t the best attack, since the sea-disk couldn''t move enough to inflict a deeper stab. But it was enough to force the enemy away, as it had let go of the boy''s right fin! Now both of them were trying to recover from pain. The weird-grey-fish was shivering to a certain extent which might be a method to push pain away. While Tim was just pping his fin, and the salt-water aided to a certain extent although it burned below the levels of hell! All and all, the enemy was faster in terms of recovery even though it was more fragile inparison. Likewise, it used that advantage to charge against the hero who was still a bit distracted because of the pain. That was when Timothy saw a long, thin and pointy bone piercing against the water as if it came out of nowhere! Such a bone, managed to strike the weird-fish right against its back; and the momentum was strong enough to drag the fish down towards the sand. Just then, the hero saw an entire skeleton plunging down against the sand along with this wretched freak of nature! Chapter 216: Scientific curiosity Chapter 216: Scientific curiosity This day had carried a lot of oddities, but what happened through these past seconds might be the toughest toprehend - even if everything that happened today wasbined to create a monstrous amount of uncertainty, it wouldn''t beat what the hero saw just now. A full and wless skeleton dropping from the higher portions of the sea, was confusing alone itself; but it was worse how that wasn''t all of which this skeleton brought along. Because this neer wasn''t just a rag doll, but it had the freaking ability to move! That''s not how life is supposed to be! A creature of this size would require a whole system of muscles, organs and nerves to properly function. Yet this thing was proving nature itself, wrong. This skeleton was a good half meter long and carried characteristics that would describe a stingray''s body! And now it was difficult to decide what to do, because the neer wastching its tail off the weird-fish it had just killed. And with a bit of effort, it swam upwards and faced the hero who was more terrified than ever. Fear was reaching new heights at the moment. He didn''t even bat an eyelid before, while facing against massively terrifying sharks; but this skeleton is proving far more terrifying! Before anything could be done, the oddity actually proved that it could talk. "Why are you afraid of me, Tim?" Although it sounded like the creature was suffocating while asking that question, it was understandable as much as it was fascinating. Never in two lifetimes, had he expected for such a tremendous situation to ur. He wanted to answer but felt at a loss for words. So the other spoke instead, "Don''t you recognize me?" And this time, through that horrid tone, the young boy could notice some familiarity. No wonder how deep this voice had sunk, it was always easy to recognize a tone that solely featured mockery. So with a hunch of hesitation, he spoke out a name that was more like a question. "Dana?" "Finally you remember who I am!" She celebrated, even leaped up a bit in sheer joy. Feeling certain that this was a friendly even though fleshless face, he could ask. "What happened?" "Your crystal-worm friend has revived me, can''t imagine how he did it though." It was noticeable by tone that thedy was confused, because she couldn''t understand what she was exining either. Pointing out the obvious, thetter cited. "But you don''t have the rest of your body." "Yeah, but at least I''m kinda alive you littleiner." The oddity stated, trying to remain enthusiastic. But now she felt ufortable, which led to a question. "You don''t mind how I am, right?" Giving her a long nce, the best he could do was build up a lie thanks to the respect he had for thisdy. "I don''t mind at all, you kinda look badass now!" "Pe!" The young girl followed along, unleashing a heavy sigh. Curiosity was taking over any other emotion, it led Timmy towards asking. "How are you moving though?" Before anyone could answer, the system decided to intervene with information that was rather umon. [Your senses are still rather terrible but I can see and smell that she''s surrounded by powerful and yet purified radiation] [That''s what''s keeping your friend''s soul intact. Whatever that worm was, it had helped her more than any parent could] "Oh thedy in your head is smart, I didn''t even know that about myself." Dana suddenly stated, and had the audacity to release a mocking tone even in such a heavy sentence. Towards that, the only thing that the hero could utter under his breath, was. "What the fuck?" [What on earth!] Tremendously descriptive, the skeleton expressed. "I can kinda read minds now, well at least the strong vibrations are noticeable and such. Thedy in your head takes a lot of your brain space when she speaks, it''s too loud not to notice." [Well fuck] The system cussed out for the first time ever, this was just too odd and bizarre. Even someone of her esteemed intellect could not hold back. "Well shit!" Timothy followed along, hating that someone could actually figure out his secret upon will. "Well fadoodles." The stingray-skeleton followed along, a tad lost regarding what was going on. [Listen to me, Dana] [I can sense that a strong source of radiation is holding you together. But that''s all it can do and it won''tst forever] [The worm has exined that you will grow in power after you touch other gems. Which specifically are the worm''s body parts] [My theory is that such a procedure will give you a long... uh, life?] "Not that I don''t appreciate it, but why are you helping me?" The oddity of nature spoke out, rather direct to the point. [Scientific curiosity] the system answered wholeheartedly, unwilling to beat around the bush. And continued, [I have never seen someone like you before, so my aim is to keep you alive for the sake of observation] [You could marry my guest for all I care, just stay close to me] The idea went smoothly up until that point, but it was painful to know that Dana could properly decipher thest portion of which the system had stated. As both the stingrays synced into a little bit of embarrassment. But the skeleton was the only one well-mannered enough to add, "Thest thing I want right now is marriage, don''t need it." And then assured, "But I don''t mind staying and travelling with you all." That was when the hero intervened, "Okay perfect, but right now we need to go check if the diamond stingrays have been revived as well." "I didn''t see any other skeletons to be honest." The bonydy added her own bits of thoughts. [The collector had roughed their bodies up pretty badly, I doubt they have any chances of revival] "I still want to check it out." Timmy insisted, and afterwards they departed towards the borderline where this mess had started. While the collector''s body and the freaky-fish it had given birth to, wereying together in a bundle of dirt and sand. This battle was over and they will never have the chance to move again. Chapter 217: Explosive diarrhoea Chapter 217: Explosive diarrhoea As they began swimming towards the very border that gave the definition between shallow waters and however deep the dark mist was, a ray of thoughts had enveloped the little stingray. And since Dana was well aware of the system''s existence, or at least the idea that there was ady living in her friend''s head, it seemed reasonable to ask questions to the system out loud. That''s why he spoke, "Howe I didn''t get any points? Those battles were stupidly dangerous." [Well you didn''t really kill anything. Because the collector hadmitted suicide and the fish it had given birth to, was killed by your friend there] After such a sentence was uttered, it was easy to see that the stingray-skeleton was swimming with a bit more pride. Obviously, she was proud of her own work. Yet before the hero could have unleashed a bundle ofints, the system shortly added. [But...] And then continued, [Since you did fight those weird creatures, and evidently contributed into their research one way or the other, I can reward you] [Note that these types of rewards are rare, since you didn''t actually kill those enemies. You are mostly being rewarded for surviving near the enemies long enough for me to observe them. Since these are new discoveries, the rewards are even bigger] [So you have attained 500 system points as a reward] [Total system points = 632] Such a notification had forced him to leap out thanks to shock, which was followed up with joy just a secondter. Initially he wanted toin his way to a hundred extra points, but this was just over the line! And for once in a while, he waspetent enough to express gratitude. "Thank you!" [Use them wisely] ... Eventually they arrived at the border, but had spent a bit of time looking for the skeletons. Timmy aided towards finding them, since he had a map that functioned in a third-person-point-of-view. It was easier to spot anything when a map was nced at. But their sess didn''t necessarily lead to satisfaction. As the bones of their friends were shattered, broken and spread across the sand. Little memorisation was required to figure out that a stingray''s bone was used to nail the hero against the sand, and send him close to death. So this could exin how the bodies weren''t in one piece. So the joy of victory he had experienced earlier, was swiftly reced by grief and rage as it was certain that these innocent stingrays were stripped out of life, while they simply tried to battle a great evil that could have gued the reef! It was difficult to swallow the concept of death when it happened to someone he considered as friends. But Dana seemed to be more easy going towards the whole situation. And it was body parts that she valued a lot right now, so she thought it as a good idea to do a favour for these deceased friends. She vocalised the idea too, "I think the best we can do for these stingrays is to dig a grave for them." [Although typically I wouldn''t care for such a matter, it is a respectful gesture to hide their bones from scavengers] It took a little bit of thinking to agree upon such an idea. They nodded and began cooperating for the sake of getting this task done quicker. Dana was using her rows of fin-bones to rake through the sand, roughly enough to dig for the sake of creating a decent ditch. While Timothy was gathering up all the bones in one spot, close to the hole that was being dug so it would be easier to push the parts in afterwards. It felt a bit odd to hold the lifeless skeletons of his dear friends, it was even more ufortable to hold them with his jaws ~ but life can be weird like that and there was little to nothing he could do about it. After a while, they managed to bury these skeletons a couple of feet under the sand. It wasn''t certain if such a quantity was enough to ensure that their carcasses wouldn''t be scathed any further, but right now they could only hope for the best. Now it was time to leave these diamond stingrays to rest forever, but it felt reasonable to say a word or two to their lifeless bodies. So Timothy floated above the grave and began yammering, "Uh, you three and me didn''t really have enough time to know each other better, but I know for damn sure that you all were fearless allies to me and the reef." "One of you had even saved my life, I can never forget that. But it''s sad how I couldn''t return the favour, that bastard killed all of you and it was impossible to do anything about it." Evidently the speech was sinking deeper now. It was noticeable that the young boy was speaking his heart out, increased emotional intelligence helped for such a matter. He could actually feel a connection with these deceased diamonds, which was an urrence as rare as a smart fish. But he sealed the speech up by adding, "The reef is safer than ever now so your deaths aren''t without a reason, and we won''t forget you." That was when his stomach flinched in pain, strongly enough to inspire explosive diarrhoea. But his anus begged to differ, it was burning as if boiling water was thrown against it. And he didn''t fail to express it in front of the graves and thedy who had helped him dig them, by shouting. "My ass is on fire!" Within a momentter, he began swimming in circles for the sake of escaping the pain, but it was barely effective as the stomach was still doing what it nned to do. Eventually, a chunk of poop that stretched just a couple of centimetres wide, made its way out and fell on the sand. It was rather heavy as it had caused a dust cloud. As for the chubby sea-pancake, he began feeling relief and could notice that his stomach was stabilizing and working like a clock. That was when actual diarrhoea kicked in, it sprayed across the water like an out of control fire-hose. What was even more bizarre, struck out as the system''s im. [Your length and width have increased by exactly 5-centimeters] [Now, your size is the following...] [Body length = 21 centimetres] [Body width = 13 centimeters] Chapter 218: The end, but yet a new journey Chapter 218: The end, but yet a new journey "This is a weird day." Was the best answer of which the young boy could follow up with. It sounded like the most neutral thing he could say. Because even though one bizarre situation after another came today, it would be unfair toin now while so many rewards were given. What he favoured at the moment was how his fins felt bigger and more forceful. The boy had upgraded strength before, and now when it wasbined with a slightly bigger wingspan, it was a bit easier to swim regardless of the direction. But now as always, without being asked to or giving out a hint before time, the systemid out a bundle of information on the boy. [What you had pooped out just now, looks like that holy-coral you had consumed a few weeks ago, when you had found a holy-tar tribe for the first time] [Although I can''t imagine why it had been in your gut until now, it did limit your bodily growth. So it is somewhat understandable how you exploded in size right now] [The rays of radiation that the worm has given you, had slowly forced the coral out since its initial intent was to grant health and protection] [Now the refined-radiation hadpletely left you for good, so I hope that you won''t miss it] After consuming all of this information which seemed rather solid and well ced, his noggin was struck with a realisation. The boy wasn''t used to thinking this much, so these thoughts came with a strong pinch in the head! Of course, he expressed what he had figured out. "This holy-coral must have been what the collector was scared of!" [That''s actually pretty smart...] "Of course it was smart! It was said by a genius such as I!" Thetter replied instantly to such a praise, ruining the aura a tad bit. "Well the smart is gone now, he''s back." Dana expressed, mainly aiming to tease her friend. "Ha-ha-ha!" The yellow stingray answered, trying his best not to offend a radioactive skeleton. But now, without warning or even the slightest heads up, the sea-pancake charged towards the border and was rolling his eyes across anything that was below. Tim''s vision was still terrible but he still tried to look for something specific. The bony-girl swam by afterwards and began looking around, even though she didn''t understand the point. [Hmmm... may I ask how you see anything,dy Dana. You don''t have eyeballs?] "Everything looks green and blurry for me, but I can find my way around." She answered truthfully after intercepting the system''s message. [Interesting...] What broke the conversation, was the hero citing. "Do you see the weird space worm anywhere?" It felt like an odd question for a few seconds, but she could build up a rough assumption regarding why such a creature was seeked. So she too put in an attempt to stare down the deep-sea mist. It was mostly ineffective and made her answer, "Not at all, I can barely see anything." Although he lost faith about finding the gem, a certain emotion still forced him off topic. "That crystal man has saved my life, he''s my best friend for life now." The greatest hope he had was that the creature would find him eventually, once it grew bigger. Maybe they could hunt a fish together? Perfect for bonding really. Regardless, the hero just began swimming towards where the reef was located and wanted to reach the hidden-den for the sake of fetching his friends. It took them a little time to travel. But before they even reached the destination, what blessed their sight was Snoopy who had left the den to seek them. His first focus was towards the swimming skeleton, it was interesting as much as it was terrifying. Dana couldn''t exactly see the other''s ugly facial expression, but she could sense the abruptiveotion that his brain was causing. So thedy had an urge to bone-smack this judgemental stingray, but that possible opportunity was brushed off by Timothy who evaded off the situation lightly. By simply adding with a yawn, "Don''t even ask, that''s Dana and it would take too much time to exin." Yet thankfully he also cut to a more matter, by adding. "But good news, we saved the reef!" "You did?" Snoopy asked, being rather doubtful about it. "Yes! I killed the collector!" Thetter assured, feeling that his fragile ego was being tainted. So the conversation went on and on like that, allowing everyone to understand every detail of the battle. Everyone in the hidden-den was also given a cosy, regarding the whole battle. It was fair to say that the hero had spent at least a couple of hours to describe the situation, and praised Dana a lot of times through it. So slowly, everyone in the den began respecting her furthermore rather than feeling fear towards thedy. Neither of the sea-pancake''s other siblings had arrived yet, but a topic regarding the family was still cracked open by Snoopy. Who started the conversation by pointing out, "Now we can afford to go hunt the sharks that have killed most of our family." That was when the great-white shark had squeezed through the den''s entrance, reminding. "You promised that we will kill the colossal squid who killed my mother." Clearly, these couple of promises piled up over one another. Not to forget that Dana has to travel a lot now for the sake of attaining more power and remaining alive. All of this required the boy to use his entire noggin for a few minutes, and they waited patiently for a reply. Timothy eventually figured out a good solution and decided to specify it thoroughly. By first directing attention towards the great-white, "All of my siblings are insanely powerful now, so a couple of them can help you kill that big squid. I''d say take Haze and Snoopy with you." It felt reasonable, the shark had nodded in agreement so that particr problem was kinda fixed. Now he gazed at his brother and fished out the n he had for all of the siblings. To a certain extent he could describe, "I need you to wait for our other siblings here and ask them to protect the reef with all their power." After a bit of rethinking he could exin, "Don''t let the enemy tribes to grow here, or else another collector wille up to kill you all." Once he thought about the reef, that sea-snake was remembered so he began caring a bit more about thisrge reef''s overall welfare. Enough to stress a specific factor, "I think it would be easy for you to bring a few hundred fish here once in a while, so please do. This whole reef needs to be alive!" Everyone around was either listening or nodding in agreement with the little boy, as if he was a great and smart dictator. But on the contrary he was just figuring out every idea possible to leave this reef for a while. Yet ironically these ideas proved well oriented, as if the boy who pitched them was not Timothy. Because admittedly, he was finding a solution for any problem or any possible future dilemma. A lot of these fish became even more impressed than they were before. While the smart boy in question, thought about his skeleton-friend once more and then tried to shift the situation towards a route that would benefit several souls. So he slowly spoke out his mind, "Me, Dana, Osira and Gech will go and hunt down the sharks who have killed my family." Such a statement led to paying attention to the only sibling he had here, for the sake of asking. "Are you okay with that? My friends here are ruthless killers to be honest." "I''m okay with it." Snoopy assured wholeheartedly, nodding his head like a chicken. All he wanted was for those sharks to face a gruesome death. To him, it did not matter who delivered the actual destined murder. But if this situation was looked at with a more honest point of view, the metal-skinned boy felt happy if one of his blood-family members carried out the revenge. And once Timothy gave a peek towards the group of friends he had picked for the revenge task, he saw that they were all enthusiastic about murder. Especially the mantis shrimp who stretched a smile like a deranged lunatic. Such nces helped the boy feel certain that this journey doesn''t have to be taken alone. Chapter 219: Volume 2 Chapter 219: Volume 2 The sun''s marvelous rays were shining above the sea waters, piercing their way through the surface and providing beams of light across the shallow waters that were coated with a shade of deeply saturated blue. Truly beautiful in many aspects. It sure beated the usual colours of which the group saw back in the reef. They mostly consisted of a far lighter shade of blue that was almost transparent. The atmosphere was beautiful here as well, and much more lifelike; they could see countless fish swimming across the waters. It was unusual inparison with the reef, where they only saw life if they were specifically looking for it. Such an ecosystem that could be found in this environment, was making a specific stingray rumble with greed. He saw this ce as a marvelous opportunity to pile system point after system point, it was somewhat a good idea. But he decided against it after the system encouraged it. Because at the moment, they were too eye-catching already. Specifically because they were small and seemed like easy pickings. Osira was the biggest teammate here, stretching just a couple of feet long and was a bit bulky too. But in this environment, such a size seemed utterly insignificant because until now they had seen hundreds of sharks. Now if the system carrying boy went on a killing spree, the chances of attracting one predator after the other, was muchrger. And although he had a tough bodily durability, it likely wouldn''t be enough against most shark bites. Until now, Osira was the only one who had been sent out to kill. Her abilities to generate ck-light were marvelous and tremendously effective against any prey. They have used her as a shortcut towards a meal through this fairly long travel, which fairly helped to remain low-key as the kills were quick! They had been travelling for quite a few days now, but they didn''t exactly keep count so it couldn''t be told for sure how long they have been on the route to the main task. One thing that somewhat helped keep track of the time they''ve spent on travelling, was the system specifying just how old the stingray was. Timmy was a splendid 70-days-old now, it felt rather interesting to know about such a fact. His age wasn''t exactly legendary, it didn''t even fit the average around heree to think of it; but it felt nice to know about such detail. Obviously he was still a long way from growing uppletely, be it in age or size but this felt like progress, survival felt like an achievement. Within the travel, it felt as if the system was in a great amount of pleasure to notify that the hero stingray had yet another growth-sprout. Throughout the few days, he had grown just a few centimetres in size. Statistic wise, the boy had the following measurements that the system was happy to specify. [Body length = 25 centimetres] [Body width = 15 centimeters] It wasn''t drastic, but at the moment he was half the times bigger inparison to when he first had reincarnated in this new body. The system excused these sudden growths as a result to all the food he had been eating. Reasonable at least. And it was assumed that he had better chances of growing faster now, due to the fact that he had gotten the holy-coral out of his gut. It had been med with slowing down the boy''s bodily-growth. And as an exchange, a few more sprouts are expected; it was convenient in multiple aspects. As for how travelling went, it was rather smooth considering that they did nothing more but follow the borderline that separated the two massively different levels of elevation. They had headed west, as it is described to be the spot where Tim''s family was ughtered. Such a path was followed for about 40-kilometers, a tremendously long journey for sure. The group''s fins and whatever other body parts they had, felt rather sore. But from a quick view of their surroundings, it was easy to notice that they had arrived towards the aimed destination or were very close to it. Night time reached once again, and the group found a small hole to hide and sleep into. It was located a few meters below the borderline, and the extra bit of darkness that it provided was like an extrayer of camouge. The group slowly went to sleep, but put in an extra attempt to have their guard up, because the area was filled to the gills with sharks! Any random Joe could swim over, poke their head in the small hole and unleash havoc. The sea-pancake was sleepy as well, but right now he wanted to explore an option that will aid survival in this tougher environment. "System, there is only one more thing I can upgrade now if I remember right?" Timmy asked with a simple thought, immediately getting to the point. [Yes, at the moment you can only upgrade your natural camouge before other options open up] He never liked how freedom of choice wasn''t an option when it came to upgrading, but the system wasn''t proven wrong yet. So he chose to just embrace such a life. That''s why he requested, "Okay, upgrade that for me." [Purchase confirmed] After thinking out themand, the boy clenched his teeth for the sake of preparing against what he thought would be a wave of pain. It should arrive soon. But contrary to expectations, no ufortable feeling arrived whatsoever. He felt his back-skin popping a few times in a soundless matter, but that was about it. It wasn''t filled with pain, but it did manage to poke curiosity. So he expanded the map that was on the bottom corner of his vision, and was given the blessing to look at himself from a third-point-of-view. And what he noticed was rather interesting. The blue-dots that he had on his back, were multiplying by number and almost reached double the amount; there had to be about 80 dots across his back now. While at the same time, it was noticeable that the coating of yellow colour that his skin had ~ was losing its shade and became more and more pale, but still carried a hint of its original colour. [Purchaseplete] [Natural camouge has been upgraded to level 5] [300 system points consumed] [332 system points remaining] [You don''t have any more avable upgrade options to purchase] [They will unlock after youplete task 18, 19 and 20] Chapter 220: Uninvited guest Chapter 220: Uninvited guest It was fair to say that he had tried harder to finish these tasks. The unwillingness to have his options locked, was the prime motivator and still continued to be. But the overall situations have not allowed him to focus solely on these tasks. Now it was obvious that he wouldn''t be able to buy anything for a while, but that can work to his advantage since a few more system points could be piled up. But regardless of that blessing, he still wanted to upgrade anything as fast as possible. That was why he asked, "Okay then tell me what my next task is?" [Confirmed] [Task 18 = Find and kill a fine-spotted moray eel] "Not another eel, I hate those overgrown worms!" He thought out, clearly unhappy. [These specific species barely grows as big as you, it will be easy to kill one] "Okay okay, I have no other option anyway." Timothy followed along with a yawn. And then cited, "I will hunt for one tomorrow. Now I want to sleep, precious good sleep." ... As the hero opened his eyes, the first thing that blessed his vision was a big, smooth-looking nose. Such a thing had enveloped the big entrance and showed no fear whatsoever, along with curiosity. He peeked at the other friends and noticed that neither of them were awake. Until now he didn''t have the faintest idea regarding how Dana slept, but she wasn''t conscious either. A cruel idea creeped in the boy''s mind as he peeked at the big nose. And obviously he wanted to put it into motion, so the little stingray tried his best to slowly float towards the nose, for the sake of remaining undetected. And after he got close enough, the boy yelled. "Activate eruptive heat!" Afterwards, he barged towards the nose andtched on it with the aid of his fins and jaws - behaving much like a jellyfish who was entangled with some random fish. As expected, the marvelous heat arrived and inflicted its madness against the species who couldn''t keep its nose out of their business. Wildmotions in the waters were heard right after, as the sudden heat was enough to leave a slight burn mark on the fish''s nose. It seemed more like sushi now, but it wasn''t exactly a terrifying wound because this heated power could only reach a rate of 50C. Timmy wasn''t the brightest one around here, but he knew when to back off from a situation for the sake of avoiding any unnecessary damage. Likewise, he had instantlytched off after delivering the blow and could feel that the water was heating up right where he had dealt the damage. But yet regardless of the attack, this sted nose had returned just a moment after and it was seemingly angrier now, as it was easy to see a row of razor-sharp teeth trying to make its way through the entrance. Regardless of such circumstances, he did not want to give up. And unsurprisingly, that was when another sinister n rolled into his noggin. The boy wasn''t evil if such things were measured, but he didn''t spare any other animal; be it predator or prey, they will die if destiny cited it so. So with a bit of more carefulness, he floated towards the enemy and then swam across the entrance from the left side to the right. Through that second, he tried to swim as high as possible to avoid those teeth, but also left a little gift behind. His marvelous barb had struck this fish against the nose, and left a long cut as a grand wound: which was also coated with all five-points of tail venom that the hero had on his disposal. The enemy flinched, and a dog-like whimper could almost be heard as an aftermath as well. Venom surely burned on its own, and the hero carried a special kind of venom thanks to the system''s help. But within a few seconds, the same nose returned and bashed against the entrance in a rate that shook everyone awake. An old man''s tone shone throughout this chaos, citing. "You did good so far but it won''t kill our uninvited guest, let Osira do this for us." This geezer was Gech the mantis shrimp of course. He had been asked toe with, in this revenge filled adventure for a couple of noticeable reasons. The man was both powerful and well informed. Unwilling to offend this man any longer since they were friends now, kinda. The hero tried to search for other words in his dialect for the sake of self expression, and actually managed to find reasoning. That was why he admitted, "Yeah you''re right, this nose looks too big for me to kill." "Sure is." The fine ck-grouperdy followed up. She was awake like everyone else and became well observant of the situation. So the gooddy swam towards the entrance and used her body-mass to push the little stingray aside, which was easy since the boy was horizontally thin enough to slip below anyone. Afterwards she began generating a ball of ck-light, it showed a few levels of transparency that any light would show but its shade remained thick. It was easy to see that thedy was putting all her focus on this ball, and her friends were waiting in anticipation for the attack to unleash itself. And finally, the shot barged forward and smacked the nose so hard that no other option but pain was given to it. They could hear quite a crack from this very blow, and the best guess is that a bone of the enemy had been eradicated. The same nose was pushed about ten-feet away, it gave clear hints that the impact was massive as the body-size of this enemy stretched around four-feet-long! It was easy to spot that such a fish was none other than a shark. It''s bulky back and thin tail-bone gave it all away, easy to spot. Gech peeked at the youngdy and stated, "You see, that attack is far more powerful now thanks to the godly-tar." Such a sentence came with a motive, and he wasn''t hesitant to state it. "You must keep your power pure like this, because it lowers the chances of you exploding, by a lot." "Noted." Osira answered with a small sigh, she had heard this over and over now. "Let''s get out of here, we have work to do." Tim cited and exited through the hole without even the slightest worry. The team followed along with such an idea, but that was when they saw another shark who was equal in size to the one that just got killed; and it was charging directly at this little group! Chapter 221: Sharks Chapter 221: Sharks It was easy for anyone to notice this foul enemy, and everyone was bracing for impact or at least waiting for Osira to unleash another ball of ck-light that would surely obliterate this predator. But contrary to all expectations, a special little mantis shrimp had leaped off the ck-grouper''s back with speeds that were rather admirable. The amount of power he had put behind that jump, had forced thedy he wasying over, to do a backflip. She was tossed a good couple of feet behind even, but thankfully wasn''t injured in any way. He pierced through waters like a bullet who wasunched with an excessive amount of gunpowder. Yet his momentum still met with a halt just after a few seconds, he was now half way from reaching the enemy. But that was when he surprised everyone around. Because even though he had no solid surface to imnt his legs on, the little creature managed to barge forward once more with speeds that were lesser inparison to thest leap, but still powerful. Within those few seconds, he reached the shark who had long since noticed the shrimp. Upon instinct, the enemy had opened its mouth and expected tond an easy kill. It only led to hearing a thud reverberating across the area, which was strong enough to numb all pain sensors that a shark could have. As that little geezer had gone through the enemy''s jaws, pierced the inner flesh of the enemy''s mouth and reached all the way to the brain. As for the team who were watching this good moment of action, all they could see was a line of blood emerging on the front and the back of the shark''s head; whichter on began spreading around thickly in all directions, beforepletely dissipating in the salty sea. The enemy had died with its mouth open, and Gech was simply standing on top of the minorly exploded shark-head. From that distance of fifteen-meters or so, he shouted. "I can''t swim all the way there,e get me." It was even more encouraging for the old man to stay on that shark, after taking a peek towards the bottom of the ocean. Which seemed dark enough to be considered as endless, they were floating near the border after all. The group arrived eventually and it was noticeable that they were all hungry. So Timothy, who was being notoriously known for determining if food is poisonous, just by taking a bite of it: moved forward and munched the ughtered shark. While the old man cited, "Go for the head next time, Osira. These sharks can''t do anything if they don''t have a brain." "Noted." Thedy answered, actually appreciating the advice since it sounded new. While on the other side of this group, the system began announcing a few rays of specifics that had to do with this carcass. [Mako-shark identified, this species has effects that will lower your health so I rmend you avoid it] Dana heard the system speak as well, but she didn''t really need to eat anything so this didn''t bother her to the slightest. But it could surely affect the others to a certain extent, so she didn''t n to fight whatever the sea-pancake was about to say. That was when the system carrying stingray, cited. "This shark is pretty much poisonous, let''s find something else to eat." They believed him blindly of course, so it wasn''t difficult for them to meet an agreement. Hunger wasn''t a big problem and it hadn''t kicked in strong enough yet since it was still early morning. Gech was peeking around in the meantime, and stated. "It''s best if we get out of here quicker." Afterwards he lifted his marvelously sturdy arms towards the higher portions of the sea and cited, "There are a few sharks who want this food." "It''s weird how sharks don''t mind being cannibals." Osira followed up as they slowly swam away towards the shallow waters. Such a statement made the hero think about lobsters and shrimps, which made him express. "It''s actually prettymon." Dana was swimming behind them and she didn''t enjoy how the grouper was floating so close to Timothy. That was why she tried to squeeze in between the two, but her rows of fin-bones ended up scratching both of them a little bit. It managed to disrupt their swimming pace a little bit, but they didn''t consider it as a problem and showed a bit of sympathy too, as the bonydy couldn''t exactly see so clearly. The mantis shrimp was ncing at the littledy. And judging from all the expressions that were forced on that bony-face, it was clear that jealousy was blooming from one side of the stick. Such a cute gesture had made the old man smile, this was adorable to watch. Timmy opened up a topic in the meantime after they reached portions where sand was just a foot below their bodies. He wanted to remind them of something that he did not want to forget, "Snoopy told me that the shark we''re looking for, has a missing front fin." "Pelvic fin is the name you''re looking for." The geezer was quick to add his own thoughts in. "Wow that matters." Thetter answered, trying to squeeze in as much sass as possible. And then he got back to the point, "Anyway we should stalk every shark for a while until we find one with a missing fin. There are a lot of sharks around here so we have much work to do." "We should try to be safe." Dana added while swimming from behind, trying to sound smart. Before any further references were given, Osira''s senses tingled as she yelled out. "Shark!" The mantis shrimp stalked the perimeter for a short second and spotted the charging predator,ing narrowly from above. He didn''t say anything and just waited for the monstrosity to get closer, and once it had reached just fifteen-meters away, he sprung into action. The power he put behind that leap, had managed to push the ck-grouper downwards with a force that was strong enough to nail her against the sand, causing a small dust cloud! Chapter 222: Sharks (2) Chapter 222: Sharks (2) "Would you quit doing that!" Osirained as she saw the old man piercing throughout the waters, much like a bullet. The marvelously fast mantis shrimp had managed to reach the target without the aid of a second leap: likely because he only had to jump straight up instead of narrowly. Afterwards, the group had managed to spot a bit of blooding out of the shark''s forehead. It was an instant kill without a doubt, it took care of the problem. But something new struck the group, and they did not expect it whatsoever, yet it wasn''t exactly a surprise. Another shark had literallye out of the blue, and was charging towards the group at full speed, which only portrayed that it aimed to rip the group apart! After regaining her senses, which didn''t take much time, Osira aimed at the shark and generated a ball of ck-light which shot out instantly. It seemed powerful but neither of them noticed a key detail of the ball. This time, it was half the size but didn''t exactly change its thickness of colour. Regardless of the circumstances, it was still powerful enough to deliver plentiful damage. After a second, it had struck the shark right against the forehead and a thud was easy to hear, as it stopped the formermotion in the water that was caused by the rushing predator. The enemy was forced to slow down, and it couldn''t swim anymore after just pushing through a few feet of distance. Afterwards its belly faced the water''s surface which was a great hint that the five-foot long shark had met death! Enemies of this size seemed to be ufortablymon here, and it began making the group feel a little bit nervous - especially since Osira was the one who could deliver the most damage, the rest felt a tad ipetent. From the dead shark''s body, Gech shouted out. "Come and get me child, this bloody thing will be covered with sharks any minute now!" Likewise, the grouper that was called over, headed towards that direction right away and just hoped that no other enemy would appear; because the little shrimp will likely leap towards them, which would throw her around like a ragdoll. A second after she reached the geezer, they could hear Timothy shout. "Herees another one!" And as they all took a peek to their right, there was a massive great-white shark approaching them. It was difficult to understand just how big this enemy stretched, but it had to be at least eight-feet-long and was abnormally fat! Such a creature appearing here, made it easy to understand that this was the biggest enemy they have faced so far! Well, in this environment at least. "The big girl wants all of this food!" Gech was the first to point out, reminding everyone that all of thismotion was over a simple urge. Without waiting for such apex predator to get closer, Osira focused towards the target and clenched her gut a little bit for the sake of unleashing a bit more power. Another portion of ck-light generated and shot out towards where she had aimed, but this ball was just a couple of inches wide; at least a tenth smallerpared to anything she had shot out until now. Itnded against the enemy within a few seconds, and inflicted an impact strong enough that forced the shark to analyse the situation for a quick second. Which was a big clue for the team to figure out that the shark had not died! And within a few seconds, it regained all the senses that such arge beast had lost, and began charging towards Osira primarily. What the marine life contained, weren''tmonly intelligent fish, but even this one could realise where the ranged attack came from. Likewise, it was angrier now and wanted to terminate the threat as fast as possible. While Osira gazed at the rushing shark, she mildly shouted. "I don''t have any more shots, what do we do?" "Well this is a sticky seaweed." The old man expressed and observed the approaching enemy. And then described what could bebelled as half a n, "Brace yourself, be ready to swim away." Considering what power this shrimp had, thedy had all confidence to trust the man blindly and swiftly did what she was told. In a matter of a few blinks the massive great-white, had reached to the point of being just five-feet-away and readily opened its mouth to inflict a bite. And that was what the geezer was waiting for. He leaped off the shark that was under his legs, with an impact that was strong enough to slightly push the carcass behind. Such a solid ce to leap from, allowed the old man to charge against the enemy at admirable speeds, but it was nothing inparison to what he had inflicted earlier. Eventually, hended against the enemy''s nose and slightly pierced through it, sinking just a few inches in. Such an attack wasn''t enough, as the shark had not even slowed down! It continued to swim forward and almost took Osira as a victim, but thedy was already prepared to get the hell out of the way for everything good and dear. The enemy continued to charge forward for a few more feet, and she instantly gave the enemy a peek. It was not that she cared much of how that beast would fare, but she had to turn around and find the mantis shrimp! Before she could even observe the situation, her back felt a light tap and then a tone echoed. "Swim away now, that shark will follow us after any second!" She reached the rest of the group and encouraged them to swim away as fast as possible too, but one of them was not convinced. Dana stalked the shark who was approaching once more after it had pushed away any drowsiness. And it was clear to see that the shark was not attacking thisdy, because she did not carry any flesh or muscles. To an average shark''s naked eye, this girl would look like nothing but a carcass. Once the enemy got close enough, the bonydy barged upwards and then poked her long tail forward. Her stinger ended up bashing straight through the enemy''s noggin and poked through the other side of its head as well. But the momentum that this eight-foot-long beast had built up, was still admirably strong. So the brave girl ended up being dragged through the waters for a few feet, because her tail was jagged in the enemy''s head. But then she could see that the apex predator''s mouth was hanging open, which gave a great sign that death had enveloped its soul. Her friends approached afterwards and Tim pointed out the obvious, "There are a lot of sharks here!" And afterwards they noticed tens of other sharks that were spread across the deep-blue ocean waters around them. They weren''t all attacking but it was easy to notice what they wanted. Chapter 223: Bag of bones Chapter 223: Bag of bones "A lot of sharks are stalking us." Timothy pointed out the obvious once more as he stared into the distance. "We have to find another ce to hide." Gech pitched in, his tone as casual as ever even though the topic in question was rather heavy. "Right." Osira agreed and began following a path towards the west. Inevitably, she was sinking a bit deeper towards enemy territory but there was a hole just fifty-meters away or so. It didn''t seem marvelouslyrge, but it was definitely what the group needed. They ended up following her and eventually slipped in the hole without any bad aftermaths worth mentioning. Any shark that could have potentially attacked them, mainly focused on the numerous carcasses that were littered across this perimeter. The fish around there encouraged cannibalism a lot, and they eventually began fighting over the food. But it only took minutes for the bigger sharks to arrive and feast on the food, they had shunned the smaller sharks away. Meanwhile, this hole of which the group had entered: was about seven-feet wide and its ceiling was rather closed in, but it had a small entrance which was what they truly needed. Osira broke the silence first, by asking. "How did my powers run out like that? I didn''t know that was possible." And it was truly so, she did not expect it whatsoever. Because through the travel, she had shot a few fishes down only when they were hungry. While in this more crowded environment, this was the first time she attacked. Now that they had the ability to think it through, she wouldn''t need to attack anyone if the little stingray had not agitated that nosy shark to begin with. But it wasn''t the time to y the me game now. "Powers do that yes, but yours should be replenished in a few hours. Don''t worry about it." Gech answered, brushing the situation off lightly again. "What are you doing in my home?" A sturdy and thick tone echoed in the background, which forced the team in a bit of shock. As they turned around to face whoever spoke, they noticed a horizontally t figure popping out of the sand flooring that this little hole carried. From the looks of it, this was a dungeness crab who stretched a couple of feet wide. Truly massive for its size, it was clear that this one acted as a predator in the wild rather than the other way around. It would be a bad idea to fight this thing now, when their powers were utterly exhausted. So Gech decided to take charge of the conversation by truthfully answering, "We''re just trying to survive, I hope that''s not troubling for you, mister...?" "Joshua." Thetter answered, a tad cooperative. Digging for the kindest words in his vocabry, the mantis shrimp carried out the conversation by stating. "That''s a beautiful name indeed! Rest assured that we will leave as soon as these wretched sharks swim away." Seeing the tension between these neers, the dungeness crab teased. "You''re talking like you want to sell me sand, rx a little bit." That was when the conversation met a whole different turn, as the blue-dotted boy noticed something rather thought provoking. Well everything about such a crab was thought provoking, as they were bulky and strong. But one thing still stood out heavily, and the sea-pancake craved to steal the lead of this conversation thanks to it. Which made him ask a rather direct question, "What''s that thing on your back?" "It''s a coat." Thetter answered with his seemingly typical thick tone, but it was noticeable that he carried a bit of pride. Rather quick when ites to pointing out the obvious, Tim questioned. "What do you need a coat for? We all live underwater." "Well I like coats." The crab insisted with a bit of determination in his tone. The coat in question, had no wobbly form that would allow it to wave through the waters. On the contrary it was rather solid and carried a dim green illumination, not to mention it seemed oddly cut with no geometrical form to urately describe it. Obviously, it was a body part from that same worm whom had saved the hero''s life. But telling a stranger that, would end up bing rather troublesome. So the sea-pancake decided to take this conversation towards another direction, "What can we do for you to get that coat off your back?" He thought of Dana as he asked such a question. Because in all ways, this gem can help thedy although he didn''t have the faintest clue how that process unravelled. But the situation became a tad disastrous, because this bulky crab had seen such a question as if it was massively disrespectful. It felt like his honour had been broken thanks to a simple query, rather interesting. That was why he shouted out, "My marvelous coat can''t be given away, you''re asking for too much!" Eager to win that gem over by any means necessary, the stingray insisted. "Common, I''m sure that you want something we can get for you." After a bit of contemtion, thetter answered. "If you tell me where you got that swimming bag of bones, I''ll give you the gem." Such a statement had managed to push the entire group in a fair amount of furry. But the only one who could withhold their rage, was Gech. And as for the rest, they all wanted to rip this crab into quite a few pieces. [Why are you trying to make a deal with this crab? All Dana has to do is touch the gem, it will solve all of your problems in one go] From this entire group, Timothy felt like the dumbest right now; because the weird worm had told him such information in the very beginning, but yet he forgot about it; which in exchange led to wasting time on this crab. Dana could thankfully hear the vibrations that were caused in Tim''s mind, which allowed her to pile a sentence together and indirectly hear out what the statement was. So a bit of emotions curled on her bony-face as a semi-sinister n began to bloom in her... soul? Whatever she was using to think, it worked well enough. And she approached the crab after pushing away Osira, who was ready to attack the walking te of a crustacea. She broke out the topic of which the other desired. Firmly stating without a single crack in her tone, "I can turn anyone into a skeleton, who do you want me to strip the life out of?" In all ways possible, this was a lie: but most here didn''t have a reaction on their face because they either believed it and got scared, or didn''t believe it and went along with the deciphered n. But the swimming skeleton had gotten close enough to this mouthy crab, and tried to keep the conversation going for the sake of distraction. Therefore she encouraged, "I''m sure that you hate someone enough to attack them this way, tell me who it is and I will do the dirty work for you." Before the creature could even answer, the cleverdy had gotten close enough to do a front-flip and simply bashed her tail right against the crab''s back. Which of course, firmly meant that she had touched the same green-gem of which this bulky creature considered as a coat! Chapter 224: Bag of bones (2) Chapter 224: Bag of bones (2) Unlike what any of them had expected, the gem didn''t do something tremendously drastic, such as exploding and taking everyone with it as a foul aftermath. On the contrary, it arose upwards faster than the eye could blink, and then just beamed away through the little hole in speeds that were too fast toprehend. Timothy nced at the exit and noticed that the water itself was being pierced because of the gem, it almost seemed like an air-filled tunnel was being constructed, wherever the item went. But what was even more interesting, the dungeness crab was dragged along with the gem; because for whatever reason, they were embedded with each other. But the sheer speed that this glowing-rock had, created an effect that was rather horrid. The crab had exploded into a bloody mist, and its smaller body parts were littering across the sea under a short radius. Such raw power made the hero feel a chill down his spine. He understood that these crabs are one of the toughest in the crustacea family, yet here this creature proved ipetent to resist. "That takes care of one problem." He muttered, as such a kill ended up being easier than expected. Although shocking, the show did notst long so the stingray began paying attention to his skeleton-friend, right after. And the situation on this side felt a lot more shocking, as thedy was shaking in an ufortable matter, as if something wanted toe through her mouth ~ but that would be a bad way to describe this situation, because she didn''t have the required organs to keep anything in. Everyone around her wanted to help; but they were all aware that thisdy was rather radioactive, so intervening could be suicidal. They had the time to discuss such matters before this happened, and Dana had specifically requested to not intervene. That might have been the best decision they had made, because how could they even help her at the moment? The whole topic about this weird gem is just too fresh. So she continued to rumble in that matter for a couple of minutes, but afterwards she had mostly calmed down. Which gave a hint that the worst part was already over, but one''s eye could lie more than the devil. As what erupted through this confined space right after, was enough to render someone blind - all thanks to the explosion that solely featured grand illumination. Everyone within the hole were forced to close their eyes, as the glow was strong enough to be noticeable from the outside. Any passerby who was above the water''s surface, could see this phenomenon too. Such illumination had managed to keep their eyes shut for a couple of minutes now, and what they could see after opening them, was difficult toprehend! Dana was still surrounded by ayer of green light, but it seemed much more refined now, noticeably stable. One could look at its transparent features without hurting their pupils. This light was thin and embraced the skeleton stingray''s form, as it took numerous turns to stay a perfect two-inches away from her every bone. And the first thing of which Timothy could think of, was. "Nice, she has a shield now." Although such a sentence was spoken out, the rest couldn''t exactly say anything as they were gazing with a grand level of admiration. The transparent ray of green that was surrounding her, was beautiful to say at least. It carried a massive amount of sparkles, and the illumination was unleashing some strings of light; that stretched a foot long away from its source, often curled too, but always returned to its source. And now, thedy was finally able to speak. But the bony-reactions she had, seemed dier. Yet her tone was too calm as she stated, "We''re in a lot of trouble right now." "What do you mean?" Gech was the quickest to question, fearing that thedy will explode. With a strong level of ipetence to exin, she took her time to mumble through a sentence. "This gem has increased my senses by a lot... well I can see a bit better too, but I can sense the vibrations around us, a lot better now... and there are about a hundred big fishesing for us!" "They''ve been attracted by the light!" The mantis shrimp was quick to catch up, and crawled towards the exit for the sake of observation. Cursing the idea of how this day was just getting worse, Osira suppressed her urge to cuss and just behaved calmly thanks to stress. "Well, this isn''t good." The first thing that busted through the entrance, was a creature that could actually fit: it was rather elongated and its appearance had managed to throw Gech off bnce. It thankfully couldn''t manage to bite through the old man, but the disturbance was enough to get everyone to higher their senses. Most of them were ready tounch an attack, but only the hero was capable of inflicting it. He barged forward and violently pped his slightly grown fins against the waters to reverse his route. He swum backwards, which allowed his barb to poke forward for the sake of lethality. It led this foul enemy, to bash it''s bulky head right against the weaponry. The strike was enough to puncture its skull, which almost always guaranteed a quick death - but it didn''t nearly solve the problem, since there were tens of other enemies outside! [Fine-spotted moray eel killed, so 2 system points have been given to you as a reward] [Since this is a system given task, you also get an additional 2 system points] [Total system points = 336] Arousal enveloped the boy''s mind by at least a hunch, and he had motivation to speak out. "Killed one!" That was when the shrimp intervened once more, expressing. "That''s all nice and dandy, but I saw at least fifteen great-whitesing our way." After such a statement was made, everyone began believing a bit more that death might be sooner than any of them expected. But it was easy to pick apart, who was thinking of something rather different. It was Timmy of course and he expressed it too, "This ce has too many sharks! How are we going to move around like this?" Before anyone could have answered that question, they felt a rather strong rumble that wasing from above. And it became apparent that the exit was covered by an external weight! Chapter 225: Bloodlust Chapter 225: Bloodlust Such a rumble had pushed the team into quite a bit of fright, but such abnormal trouble did not stop there. On the contrary it wildly elerated, because a nose barged itself through the hole they were residing in. It was easy to notice that it belonged to a shark, but they didn''t care to determine the exact species; because a shark was bad news regardless howrge or stupid they were. Unwilling to allow a typical marine predator to assert such dominance, Timmy barged forward and poked the enemy right through that snooping nose, using the bumble-bee-manuever. Although it wasn''t powerful enough to kill a shark, it did manage to explode a cloud of blood through the little cave. It was enough to agitate the enemy, so the young man was quick to pull away and join his friends after dealing the damage! One thing that the team was not aware of, was the chaos that broke loose on the other side after that strike was given. The blood had managed to poke the senses of other nearby sharks, who encouraged cannibalism without a string of shame. They bit through the bleeding shark, and of course it had fought back and inflicted wounds against the attackers. This continued as a domino-like effect, healthy sharks bit wounded sharks and those who were powerful enough to return the favour, did exactly so. Within a few minutes, the hundred or so sharks who were swimming above the little cave, had created a bloody mist. All of them were fighting one another, and what had started out as an aim for food, continued to be a shade of desperation for survival! This exined how the bloody mist became big enough to cover a spherical radius of three-hundred-meters! Worse yet, the domino-like effect continued in an alternative manner, as it had attracted other nearby predators! Some of them were strong enough to survive this cannibalistic feeding spree, some could barely scrape by and half of them somehow became small scavengers! Crabs, shrimps, clown-fish, even a bundle of stingrays had been attracted by the strong fragrance of blood. Eventually, at least five-hundred marine animals had gathered up here, making it certain that the situation was bing dire! The little group who were hidden in the cave, observed this entire battle and could not believe their eyes. This environment was proving incredibly hostile! The sheer quantity of life here was tremendously difficult toprehend, as they were not used to seeing this much life unless they specifically looked for them! Timmy felt the most guilt here, and he couldn''t help muttering. "All of this happened because I stabbed a shark?" "I''m afraid so." Gech added, feeling confident enough to answer. He was a rather well-informed man, nothing he spoke about was a simple guess. "Most fish tend to love blood, it drives them mad." Dana had it the hardest here, and she forced herself to suppress all senses. Because if she tried to analyse the situation above, her soul just could notprehend the sheer numbers of creatures, who were fighting in this fairly limited radius. What continued to be another problem, was the inability to use their gills properly, or whatever they breathed with. Because the blood-bath above them, had creeped their way in the hole. Every bit of water that was in this confined hiding ce, was covered with blood. It was suffocating to a certain extent, but had also painted the group in a coating of blood - apart from Dana whom had ayer of detailed green-light covering her body. Thanks to all this blood that had creeped in, a specific member of the gang was forced to embrace the blood spree. Although unexpected, that fish was Osira. She was shivering because of the urge to kill everything, and her pupils have attained a thick shade of red ~ and such a result wasn''t because of the blood, it did not paint her pupils. Gech could notice the aura of such strong blood-lust, even now when they could barely see each other. So without the slightest hesitation, he approached Osira and tried to guide thedy towards mental peace. By firstly and most importantly stating, "Try to breathe through it, find your calmer self down in that soul of yours and..." Before the geezer could finish what was left of such a wise-ish sentence, Osira decided to follow what she truly desired at this moment, blood! She rushed through the exit in speeds that were enough to cause a dust cloud, as if all this blood wasn''t enough! Before the gang could evenprehend what had happened, the youngdy had already taken several bites through enemies, head-budded a few of them, and simply embraced the killing spree. Gech aided the group to realise what was going on by stating, "She''s out there, we have to keep her safe!" Afterwards hetched on the only stingray that wasn''t radioactive, even pinched the boy to burst through this little hole and heed what the prime n was! When it came to this small friend circle, neither of them were scared to defend one another; so they all made it out in no time, and tried to look for thedy who hadpletely submerged into the bloodlust! But yet it was difficult to see anything here, as they seemed to be what can be categorized as the eye of the storm. Everything was just thick-red and one had to rely on their own senses for the sake of staying alive! Because sharks barged out of every direction, so they had to use the oddest manoeuvres to steer away from the storm ~ to a certain extent it almost seemed like they were dancing! But once they made it into calmer waters, where the dangers weren''tpletely gone but at least it was clear enough to see: they understood that the situation wasn''t as bad as they thought it to be. Sure Osira was still barging in every direction, causing more havoc than the sharks thanks to her powerful bull like head-butting, but everything apart from that seemed fine. The weaker sharks were killing off each other, while great-whites just stalked the situation from the outskirts of this battle - they only came near when one of the smaller sharks was proving stronger, putting an end to them. While species who were too small to be attacked, just scavenged out of anything they could find. Every marine animal was busy with their own view of battle, which made it the best time to leave this ce, especially since all of this blood could attract more and more predators. It seemed like a good n, but the ck-grouper wasn''t willing in the slightest, to cooperate! Chapter 226: Bloodlust (2) Chapter 226: Bloodlust (2) It was a firm fact that Osira had be too difficult to catch up with. Her speed was breaking over eighty-miles-per-hour, which was rather tremendous! And Gech who was the most experienced in terms of powers thate from the holy-tar, had it difficult to understand how thedy was achieving such speed. The geezer was utterly dumbfounded when he saw a shark being bitten in half from the same woman! Her bite couldn''t possibly be strong enough to cut through a three-foot-long shark, so evidently more physics were included into it! Friction was one factor, because her collision with the enemy would be enough to cause damage. And when that isbined with a bite: the result became more lethal, and it was seeminglybined with a head-butt too! So in other words, thews of physics themselves, were cooperating to make thisdy into a powerful killing machine. Nothing was working against her! And through every kill, she became more and more powerful ~ which had managed to make the situation terrifying, even for the massive great-white sharks who were stalking in the backgrounds. In a bizarre way, the ck-grouper had be super high; it was as if her head was numb but she could also think, observe and fight with over-working excellence! A lot of fish who had the opportunity to watch her, expected thedy to be only more and more powerful. Which is why all observers went into quite a shock, when she simply stopped on top of the chaos and began shivering. Some expected her to explode, a few even thought that the rush had stopped her heart, while some simply expected and hoped for her belly to turn towards the water''s surface. But contrary to what anyone could expect, something began generating in front of her forehead! Most could not see what it was. While only a selected few who had better vision or other esteemed senses, could notice what was going on although they could not understand it. Whatever was generating in front of thedy''s head, shared the same colour as what this chaotic situation was coated with, red. With these circumstances, it made sense why most couldn''t see this phenomenon. Timothy had swum near to the water''s surface, and even with his bad vision, it was easy for him to spot a sudden emergence of red - right where such colour wasn''t supposed to be there. This red-light that thedy was generating, grew thicker in colour and got the darkest shade of red. Not to mention, it grew bigger than any other light that the grouper could generate, almost seven-feet wide! After it attained the darkest shade, the light was unleashed towards the feeding spree that was happening below her! The shot managed to pass throughout the first few fish without damaging any of them whatsoever, even though such a result sounded rather bizarre. But the situation elerated once this ball of light sunk tens of meters deep in the waters, reaching right in the middle of the blood festival. That was when Timothy, who was a narrow distance of a hundred meters away from the middle of the blood storm, felt himself being violently dragged towards where the red-ball of light had erupted! The sea-waters themselves were moving towards the middle of the blood-mist, but thankfully such a pace halted after he was dragged just for a few meters! If he was unlucky enough to be close to that eruption, he would be able to see the fabric of water and oxygen themselves, being torn apart just so the red-light could expand. This procedure had shredded several sharks into a million pieces, but obviously the trouble did not stop there! Because the ball of light didn''t explode as one would expect it to, but charged against every living being that was close to it. The creatures that were just ten-meters away, werepletely shredded by the light who was spreading itself in all directions. What fishes were just thirty-meters away from the eruption, had either withstood massively dangerous cuts or were blown in half. While every other living being who was below the eighty-meter radius, had their entire supply of blood seeped out of them. The light didn''t force the blood out of these fish, but justpletely eradicated it out of their bodies, as if it never existed to begin with ~ simply by passing near them! It was a tremendously powerful blow, but thankfully none of the group that she considered as friends, had withstood any of that damage. Instead, they were given the displeasure of seeing over a hundred sharks, twitching their way towards death. And it seemed like the show was over there. As thergest apex predators that this mist had seen, swooped in to feed themselves on the battle remains. And since there wasn''t even the slightest drop of blood left over around here, no other creature would be attracted. Osira seemed to be done with her bloodlust as well, because she peeked at her friends and began swimming towards them. It was heavily unclear what her intent was, but the best guess was that she could not unleash another ball of red-light. Once they got together, it was fair to say that everyone was more confused than the other, but thankfully they could all use reasoning. The mantis shrimp was first to speak, and made the most sense. "Let''s get out of here, we can''t risk being caught by any sharks." With that rmendation taken and used, they began heading further towards the west. It was clear that they were heading deeper towards enemy territory, but chances were that they will swim a bit easier. Because a whole lot of sharks had been killed just a few minutes ago, meaning that Osira might have exhausted a bit of the dangers that this new environment offered. ... A few hundred meters away from the mass ughter, they managed to find a den that was bigger in the outside but portrayed a tiny entrance, rather elusive. They were quick tobel it as a base of operation, as peace itself felt easier to be found here where the group wasn''t on each other''s face. There were many topics to crack open, but the first one was rather easy to pick; and Gech opened it first because no one else wasfortable to do it. He cut to the case by stating, "I think that blood has helped you unlock a new type of powers... hmmm very interesting." Chapter 227: Bloodlust, definition Chapter 227: Bloodlust, definition Since such a topic was opened, it became a tad easier for Osira to follow along. Although she had to mumble through a few portions, the gooddy could recall the key portions of what happened. And she broke in the conversation by first stating, "The blood, it was calling me! It wanted me there and I wanted to cause more blood too!" That was impactful enough alone to hear, but she didn''t stop there. "It was screaming for me, I had no other choice but to do what it told me!" Although neither of them were unfamiliar with hunting, since survival itself was based on it under such circumstances - these sentences still felt impactful, and they were all bing more ufortable than the other. Well all of them but Gech, who was simply blooming with curiosity. He observed the youngdy and everything she had said. That was why he could keep this conversation going, without fearing that death itself was near. He had a few questions to ask, but the first one was rather simple. "How did you feel after you shooted out that new light?" After a bit of contemtion, all she could answer was. "I felt relieved, light-headed too." "Hmmm most interesting." The old man followed along. And then stated what everyone was thinking but couldn''t put into word, "Blood helped you unlock that power. But it eventually became too difficult to handle, so all that power had to be unleashed somewhere." Such a sentence led to asking a bigger question, "Can you shoot that same red-light now?" "Absolutely not!" The ck-grouper assured with a thundering tone, "I tried it on our way here, and it didn''t work. Without blood in the waters, I can''t even think about doing that again." "And you need a lot of blood to use it again, right?" The geezer asked just to be sure on a certain aspect of this discovery. "Yes, a lot of it." She assured with a little nod, "The more blood there is, the more powerful I feel." This topic had gotten a bit too heavy, Gech noticed how deep the atmosphere had be and he didn''t want to push the group into more worry. So he decided to seal the topic up as fast as he could. That could be done by firmly stating his thoughts too, "Well I wish to congratte you then. Because you have powers that no other tar worshipper ever had. Well at least I didn''t see them use a power like yours, most of them tend to have only one kind of ability and use that over and over." Such a statement had managed to push thedy into deep contemtion, making everyone await for her reply. But after a few minutes, she managed to find strings of confidence from this situation and allowed that to bloom. The first thing she expressed was, "It can help us a lot if we fight against hundreds of enemies." And then she counted, "Plus it won''t make me explode so no big deal." "This is good for you and all, but let''s remember why we are here." Tim swooped in after he heard all of what they had to say. Then he continued, "We need to find a shark who has a missing fin... but we aren''t even close to finding any clues." After recalling that massive feeding spree, Gech had to weigh in. "Maybe Osira has killed them all?" Unwilling to go back home with uncertainty on his fins, the hero had to weigh in. "Maybe, but we still need to be sure or else Snoopy wille here and kill every shark in this area." "Is that really a bad thing?" Dana questioned, wanting to stand out from the rest. "Sharks are important I think." The hero argued after that, although he didn''t know where he was going with this. Gech could add his own thoughts here, it''s fair to say that he was well informed in this topic too. "I''m afraid so, they help keep the waters from being over-popted by other fish, so killing them all is a bad idea." Wanting to sound smart again, the skeletondy pitched. "Then we need to go out and search again, this could be the best time since all those sharks had just been killed." "You''re right." The fluffy sea-pancake added, and wanted to get out of this little den as soon as possible. But this day was rather insane so he had to take safety measures through travel. Earlier on he started the bloodbath by poking that shark, such mistakes can not be made again, he had even begun feeling a bit paranoid. So as they floated towards the exit, he reminded. "We need to stay close to the sand and avoid any attention. These sharks love blood so let''s try not to attack anything, or at least don''t let me attack anything." Reasonable to say at least, they all nodded and some of them gave a little sigh. They were used to the boy''s stupidity until now, even though some were aware of it more than the others. And they felt certain that although the little boy''s methods were chaotic to say at least, those same chaotic ways of handling things had mostly worked. Odd in a lot of aspects but they could find enough reasons to respect him, after all he was the hero of the whole reef that they had left behind. Since silence had descended amongst the group, as they slithered their way deeper towards the west, embracing enemy territory; the system felt it reasonable to introduce what had a medium level of importance. [You are in a state that''s good enough to continue with the next task] [Task 19 = locate and kill a blue crab] It was true that he had a favourable state of being. Because through the forty-kilometer long travel, he was given several opportunities to increase his health, it was fully replenished at the moment. But regarding where he could find such a crab, the boy didn''t have the slightest clue and chances are that his friends didn''t know anything either. Chapter 228: Task 20 Chapter 228: Task 20 Life seemed a tad more scarce through the couple hundred meters they had traveled through. The massive number of ughtered sharks was one reason, but it wasn''t the one and only culprit. Either this atmosphere was less popted, or the water''s saturation of blue was far deeper. Regardless, they could mostly see random fish swimming around them at a safe distance of thirty-meters or more. Every creature was steering clear of each other here, minding their own business so to speak, and it was satisfying. Because although this area was a bit less popted, a few hundred fish had to be in a circr radius that can be considered a mile long. So them keeping their distance felt like a blessing. The sharks that they kept running into around this slightly different environment, were rather interesting. They were average in sizepared to the other sharks they have seen here, but were far less aggressive. These ones were like shy creatures who would swim away at the sight of any other living being, harmless so to speak. These species carried front-fins that were rather horizontal as they swam across the waters. Perhaps the reason behind such a characteristic, was that this species swam too close towards the sand - they were practically attached to it, often causing dust clouds. Since they haven''t proven hostile, it seemed like a smart idea to approach one of them and ask for directions. It took them a little while to achieve something like that though, because regardless of the fact that they''ve seen tens of these same species so far; most just ended up swimming away, unwilling to face any creature. One of these sharks proved reasonable and was willing to cooperate. It shouldn''t be too difficult to reap this situation for benefits, because the aim was just to ask a couple of questions. And once more, Gech was sent out to talk because he was great at speechcraft but also was smallerpared to anyone in the group. It ultimately made him look less intimidating, and the old man was aware how close he could approach, without making the other side of the stick feel ufortable. He crawled forward and then introduced, "We are visitors here and are looking for a shark." Although odd, the geezer could speak thenguage of these sharks simply because he recognized their species. Just earlier on he had told the group that this species was a nurse shark, its name sounded sweet. "Uh, which shark?" Thetter asked, already feeling a little bit nervous. "There are a lot of sharks here." Considering how careful thisdy behaved already, it wasn''t a surprise how this species had not appeared in the previous warzone. Hundreds of bodies could be fed upon there, but this species was noticeably not taking any risks. Knowing what to say next, the mantis shrimp specified. "The shark we''re looking for has a missing pelvic fin." "Uhhh..." The nurse shark stretched one word, fairly lost thanks to that detail. Noticing where the problem was, the old man had to follow up. "A front fin, the shark is missing one of those." "Oh!" The other sighed, and seemingly had a good idea regarding directions. That was when they heard a sh against the sand, it was idle but enough to scare the nurse shark away. It took little observation to notice that Tim had caused this little ruckus. It was difficult to understand why he did something that stupid at the moment, but the group became fairly agitated. The geezer peeked at Osira and scolded, "How could you let him swim around without adult supervision?!" Such a question gave a hint that the old man might have attempted to be sassy, but no he was dead serious! The ck-grouper couldn''t really catch up with the other''s train of thoughts. That''s why she thundered through a question, "Why am I supposed to babysit a hero? He should be able to take care of himself!" Ready for such a question, he swiftly answered. "He''s still a kid! And now we have to find another nurse shark, perfect!" Regardless of the bickering that was going on between the couple of species above him, the sea-pancake was just focused on what he was initially doing. And eventually they all surrounded him to see what was going on. Apparently, there was a crab that he was holding on to and it was rather dead by now: it would be easy for such an experienced boy to kill a simple critter, who was equal to him in size. "All of this for a crab?" Gech questioned as he unleashed a sigh, eventually finding the scene adorable. Eager to correct this man, the sea-disk cited. "It''s a blue crab!" "Of course." Thetter answered, simply assuming that this was done for food. Only Dana could understand why the boy had suddenly leaped towards some random crab, it was a system given task. He took a few bites, enough to feel less hungry and then cited. "Eat, it''s not poisonous at all." The group would need to put in a bit of effort to find another nurse shark anyway, so it sounded like a good idea to eat for the sake of some more energy. There should be a long day in front of them. Meanwhile the hero had swam a bit away from the carcass and requested the system to count the statistics again, of which thedy instantly replied. [Eating a full-grown blue crab, can grant the following effects...] [Effect on health, +1 bar] [Effect on hunger, +15 bars] [Effect on sleep, non existent] [Effect on stamina, -1 bar] [Total system points = 340] It seemed normal enough, these effects shouldn''t do too much damage as that negative bar would be spread across four-marine-animals. This kill seemed more worthwhile, after considering that he had cured a bit of the hunger right now. Apart from that fact, he had managed toplete the task so overall this felt like a marvelous win. But the system reminded that the trouble did not stop there, by simply moving on. [You''re current state of being is healthy at an almost maximized manner, so you are capable to start the next system given task] [Task 20 = locate and kill a blue-bolt shrimp] Hating the fact that the sea carried such a wide variety of animals, the boy fished out many reasons toin. But a brief contemtion helped him realise thatining would be a waste of time. So instead he tried to get some tips, "Do you know where I can find them, system?" [Your current criteria doesn''t allow you to hear such information] [But I can say, that the shrimp is blue] He tried to push sass away, but a bit of it slipped out anyway which made him answer. "Oh, wow. Thanks!" Chapter 229: No kidding Chapter 229: No kidding The team had managed to chew through most of the crab carcass, using it as a fine meal. Well, Osira had eaten throughout more than half of the whole thing since she was the biggest here. Regardless, it was fair to say that all of them were well fed now. Irritation began slowly converting into joy, as most creatures find it easy to appreciate anything that brings them food. Now they had motivation to continue the initial task, searching for a nurse shark can help bring everything back on track. And that was exactly what they did, although it took them another half hour to find one that wanted to cooperate. Dana was asked to guard the same stingray who spooked away a shark of the same species before, these two friends remained behind as far as possible, while Gech was on the front. He managed to cooperate with one of these bottom-dwelling sharks, and asked the same question he did from before when everything went to hell. The same shark answered and directed them deeper towards the west, where apex predators likely lurked in every corner. This was expected, so it didn''t really spike excitement. But yet clearly the risks were increasing by following this path. At least the fish who was asked for directions, felt rather certain that there was a shark with a missing front fin, who was living deeper towards the west. All thoughts aside, it was enough to keep their confidence going for this task, so they began swimming towards the said direction a bit faster. To avoid getting lost, they swam just a few meters away from the borderline. Although it often curled left and right, it was still a single line that separated deep waters from the shallow side, so its worth can never be underestimated. After they had attained the directions, this team of four had traveled a couple of kilometres towards the west and felt quite tired because of it, but they had to go on. It seemed like a good idea to hunt for a bit of food once more, for the sake of attaining more energy even though they had eaten earlier. And it seemed like the environment here was great to do such a thing, so they began swimming a bit higher above the sand, for the sake of picking out a fish to hunt. There were quite a few hundred fish here in a mile-wide radius, they couldn''t swim ten meters without a fish blessing their vision. It was easy to notice a few sharks, but they were lesser in this area; perhaps a quarter less inparison to what they had faced just a few hours earlier. This had allowed them to lower their senses, as there weren''t countless sharks trying to rip through them in every given second. After a while, they firmly decided to hunt down a great barracuda. The number of species here seemed countless, but Tim knew for a fact that barracudas can raise health, although he didn''t need it for that reason. Right when Osira was about to shoot the target down, they felt a strong disruption throughout the waters. It started off from their left side and it felt rather bizarre toprehend. Such a startle felt confusing, because every fish was heading towards them, yet the problem was that they weren''t even attacking anyone! The best hint that one could attain from such circumstances, was that something had spooked these fish! Yet they weren''t seeing any marine animal that wasrge enough, to push over a hundred fish through chaos! They didn''t see any blood in the area either, so this chaos couldn''t be any crave for hunger - nothing was rted to what the group had experienced so far, in this new territory. And the time to think had run out, because these fish had gotten too close and began bumping against them. One small collision wouldn''t be enough to push the group out of orientation, but once bumping against tens of them, all at the same time, things began feeling dangerous. Especially since a fewrger fish had tail-pped the hero into half consciousness, this one might have been a dolphin as it didn''t exactly aim to be dangerous. Within a moment, they felt a strong tug which took them hostage. And just now had Timothy began understanding what was going on, this wasn''t a foreign feeling. For a start, every fish that was close to them was approaching more and more, personal space did not exist here! And once the hero noticed that they were all heading towards a specific direction, although neither of these fish were properly swimming, the best guess was that something was physically pushing them all! After feeling certain of what was going on, he yelled. "We''re in a!" But it felt like a waste of time to say anything, because themotion that these fishes caused, was enough to muffle all sounds that could be made by a mere boy. With that considered, he began fighting through the bundles of fish that were taking his freedom hostage, and managed to find Dana. The sea-pancake''s vision was still as bad as ever, but he could easily see a thick that was made from stic. And thanks to all those bones that thedy had exposed to the world, she became the most entangled creature here! Theyer of green-light that she was surrounded with, didn''t prove helpful, when it came to keeping the away from her bones. "We''re stuck in a!" He shouted once he got ufortably close to thedy. "Yeah, no kidding!" She answered back, yelling with all her power for the sake of being heard. That was when they spotted Osira swimming towards them from the other side of the, seemingly free to move around, and with the mantis shrimp hanging on her spiny dorsal fin. The ck-grouper wanted to say something and kept yelling it out too, but the struggle that every other fish was putting in here, made it difficult to hear a single word! And a moment after, a small sized ship had swam high above their heads. And it was loud enough to outpete any other tone. That was when the couple of stingrays felt a strong tug against their bodies, as the was being pulled fast enough to make Osira disappear in the distance! Chapter 230: Stuck Chapter 230: Stuck "Shit shit shit shit shit!" Timothy uttered as fast as he could, panic had fairly enveloped the boy''s mind! He tried to find a solution but it seemed rather difficult right now, but there was one thing that he wanted to know. And Dana would be of great aid towards that matter. So he got close enough to her, and thundered through a question. "Can you sense how many humans are up there?" "I might, but trying it out might fuck me up!" Thetter answered, feeling quite under pressure already. Thisdy was a living... although fleshless, motion detector. Her senses were extremely high, which gave this good woman the ability, to pick out where specific nearby fish or humans were, without having to look at them. These senses worked all the time, and now she was doing everything in her power to suppress these senses; so the sheer amount of motion around here, does not push her towards insanity. Yet this boy was asking for such specifics, which inevitably threw all of her attempts of self-suppression to the trash. But it was understandable and she wanted to cooperate. Before the boy could have pushed her towards sensing the humans above, she simply yelled. "Okay I''ll try it out, but what''s your n?" Right after, he was bashed against thedy again! Although it didn''t seem like she hated that fact; in another perspective, it meant that the was being pulled out of the water. The weight against their bodies felt heavier now as well. But he still had enough space to yell out an answer, "I need to know how hard it will be to escape the ship! We will be pulled up there any moment now!" She could sense reason in these words, so the great-skeleton slowly began releasing her senses for the sake of testing the waters, regarding how many of these pping bodies she couldprehend. While at the same time, the hero thought of another solution. His jaws were powerful already, maybe they could be strong enough to cut a hole through this? So while thedy was putting in work to observe everything, he flipped to the side a couple of times. And throughout this process, Timmy used his upgraded bodily strength, to p other fish away for the sake of attaining a bit more space. It only worked for a second, but at least he could kiss the now instead of Dana''s head. And after a bit of nosing around, he figured out that the was rather easy to cut through, but it brought along other problems. This fishing tool was designed in such a way, that even a thin-bodied needlefish wouldn''t be able to slip through it. And the trouble didn''t exactly stop there. He had managed to take a bite through the, but its stic had managed to tangle itself on his two and only jaws. It was a hassle to spit it away, which ended up taking a lot of his time. So at this pace it would take an ufortable amount of effort, to break thedy free. That was when he saw a reflection that spread just a few feet underneath him. It helped make it apparent that they had left the sea-waters, and were just a few steps away from being dragged in the small ship. At that moment, a strong shout was unleashed by thedy that was restricted on his side! It likely had to do with her senses, she might have overworked herself. But thankfully Dana could yell out once more, "There are a lot of humans in this ship, we might die for real this time!" After thundering through that sentence of which she had forced out of her body, thedy gave hints of surrendering. But this defeat wasn''t exactly chosen upon will. She had swiftly lost consciousness, although it was difficult to understand how that was possible for a skeleton. Just when Timothy thought that the situation could not get worse, the system began putting in a few words of her own. [In a moment, you will see a timer on the corner of your vision] [Since you are stronger nowpared to thest time you almost suffocated, the timer has a few seconds more] [After that timer runs out, you will start losing health points] Unwilling to be sassy but anxiety encouraging him to do so, the hero thought out. "Oh great, that''s helpful!" And of course as it was described a moment earlier, a timer popped out. And it carried a red colour every time it''s numbers changed: but initially started out with a ck tone. [2:30] [2:29] [2:28] Before he could figure out a solution to this madness, he felt a loud rumble! And afterwards the that had constricted them, was being violently pulled away from these masses of fish! It felt nice to have the option of movement again, but yet another problem tagged along with the blessing of freedom. Dana was too tangled up in the so she ended up being dragged along with it ~ while her good friend could not do anything whatsoever, to prevent this sour fate. [2:03] [2:02] [2:01] He just couldn''tprehend how the situation led to this route, it felt random at best. But a bit of thinking helped him to realise, andprehend that this environment was far too dangerous,pared to anything they were used too! Timmy could see a human being approaching afterwards. Thankfully it didn''t carry any weapons, this human did not prove troublesome in any matter. Instead it was just analysing the hundreds of fish that had been brought on deck. After a few seconds, the fisherman shouted in their ownnguage. "I see a few sharks in here!" "Try not to push them in the hole!" Another one shouted out, while a few other of these humans began pushing random fish in a drop, just nearby. They were using a paddle of some sort to do the job. Seemed cheap at best but it didn''t fail to contribute. The most troubling matter out of this, was that right now these hairless apes were just a few feet away from the hero! They would eventually reach him and push the sea-pancake down the hole as well. That would make escape a lot more difficult! Chapter 231: Chaos unfolds! Chapter 231: Chaos unfolds! [1:38] [1:37] [1:36] He wanted to put in an attempt to escape this spot. The best idea would be to slip his way towards the ship''s edges where a hole was located, thanks to the infrastructure of this vessel. He could easily slip through that portion! But the prime problem was that Dana had been tangled in the, and it seemed extremely difficult to get all the way there, by her side. Worse yet, another human had spotted her and began untangling the good woman from the. They were utterly fascinated to see such a whole skeleton, and it was even more interesting how thedy continued to glow in a green-colour. These humans also just wanted to take such a sack of bones away from theirs, and then analyse their find, anytimeter. It took them a few seconds, but they had managed to untangle the skeleton at a sess rate that could be considered as halfway. In other words, it meant that she was still dangling from the! But that was when the hero felt a tremendously vibrant rumble beneath the small ship! It was strong enough to knock one of the fishermens, off board and towards the salty sea-waters! It probably wouldn''t be difficult for a normal human to swim their way back to the metaldders, and get out of the waters. But the prime question struck everyone around, be it fish or human. What was hitting the ship? It was a major head scratcher, and the mayhem didn''t seem to stop there; as another rumble was heard, and this time it even aided the stingray to slip away from the other bundle of fish! No one in particr was paying attention to the young man, as they were all taking a peek across the sea-waters. This gave Timmy the ability to worm his way towards Osira, and that had taken quite a few seconds! But now the main problem was getting thedy down from up there. Yet that seemed tremendously tricky and time was running out! He couldn''t leap from the deck too high, and the was a few feet above so this made the situation a bit more tricky. [00:56] [00:55] [00:54] Panic had begun enveloping the boy''s mind more than before, and his little eyes tried to seek for a solution, by pping his fins in order to check out all of the surroundings. A lot of fish had fallen in the hole of which these humans had pushed them to, making them utterly useless when it came to attaining help from them. If not anything else, a shark could havee near the and p around to the point of snacking Dana down. But no, all of these sharks were pushed down the hole, which left them powerless! A lot of the other fish were dying too, so this was a bad day for every marine animal around! But yet eventually, a crab emerged out of the pile of fish, and it seemed to be rather powerful; likely a dungeness crab, but it couldn''t be the one they had tricked earlier on. These species were powerful, they could easily slice the and provide proper aid. So Timothy decided to try his luck, as there wasn''t another option. Likewise he yelled out with all his power, "Crab! Come here and help me free my friend!" Thetter felt a bit surprised for someone to call out for them in such a chaotic situation, but it didn''t seem to be disagreeing. On the contrary it began crawling towards the hero, and arrived in just a few seconds. Before these two could exchange any words between each other, they felt what could be the biggest rumble yet! In fact it started out as a small shake, but then countless creeks echoed across the waters, which in exchange had brought along a tremendously strong quake! It had given the hero quite a bit of fright, and it was noticeable that the crab wasn''t fairing any differently. Yet even throughout such a fate, Dana was still knocked out cold! The circumstances became a tad rougher after they felt the very ship leaning entirely towards the left; specifically where they had felt all that rumbleing from! Within a few seconds, they saw the sea waters themselves, approaching everyone closer and closer! Before they couldprehend what happened, the water was all over their faces. After a few seconds, Timmy saw the crab floating towards the water''s bottom! These species of crab were rather heavy and the momentum of which this copse gave, aided the crab to sink down. A portion of the small ship could be seen as well, it had lost a great tenth of its original body-mass and still continued to destroy itself. These waves didn''t show any mercy either. These humans who had steered the vessel, didn''t seem to have a great fate so to speak. They were either knocked out, disoriented or desperately trying to swim towards the surface. Just a second after, he saw hundreds of fish spilling in the salty waters: a good half of them were either dead or drowsy, while the rest were just rushing to get the hell out of here! They might never get an opportunity like this again! Although convenient, the situation developed towards chaos once more! As such a massive bundle of rushing fish, easily pushed the boy out of orientation after the sh. Such a disaster unravelled itself in just a few seconds, so it was even more difficult toprehend the whole situation! He could even feel a lot of these fish, bashing against his tail. He had identally scratched or possibly killed a few of them, all thanks to this panic-filled rush! Worse yet, Dana couldn''t be seen anywhere! All he saw were silvery or ck, fish bodies who were sting against his face and every other body part ~ if the boy had any less bodily-durability, this could cause a lot of damage. Yet even between all of this chaos, the system found a bit of time to put her own portions of notifications in. For a super intelligent system, she never had a good grasp of when to speak out. [Blue-bolt shrimp killed, two-system-points have been given to you as a reward] [Since this is a system given task, you get an additional two-points] [Total system points = 344] [Eating a full-grown shrimp of this species, grants the following effects...] [Effect on health, non existent] [Effect on hunger, +1 bar] [Effect on sleep, +10 bars] [Effect on stamina, non existent] Chapter 232: Compliments Chapter 232: Compliments Clearly, this small critter could provide more perks than expected, but consuming it wasn''t necessarily an option after considering that he couldn''t even move a muscle around here! It was difficult to understand how a mere small shrimp had been entangled in the, and got to the point of being dragged all the way up here, but it didn''t sound impossible. Yet regardless, such an odd result felt like a blessing, even though it appeared small when attention was given to the system points. Regardless of that fact, this kill was a blessing because it had finished the system given task. And that achievement came along with more than a single advantage! And the system helped break those perks down, by asking a question in an awfully timed matter. She even had the audacity to keep a casual tone. [Your primary bars have met with an upgrade, they are now bigger by a tenthpared to what you had earlier on] [Would you like to hear out the details?] "No!" The boy thundered, he didn''t even have the motive to be sassy. After a few more minutes of light bruises and a handful of cuts from the other fish, that didn''t exactly cause any damage; the hero began seeing his vision clearing up. It felt massively relieving. Because even though they were underwater, he thought that suffocation was just around the corner. All thanks to the fact that he was so constricted, even a muscle couldn''t be moved upon will! Dana had not left his mind through this chaos, even though the situation could have forced other thoughts to roll in; so after he got a brief ability to see what was around him, the hero continued to look for the bonydy. She was likely still knocked out, so he didn''t want to allow the good woman to be lost around here. It would be tremendously inconvenient, if she got dragged away by some shark - that could likely guarantee death even for her fleshless body! Before he could even attain a lead to follow, his vision was blessed by a certain ck fish who was approaching at full speed. Once it arrived, a feminine tone managed to shake drowsiness away from him. "Let''s get out of here Tim!" It only took a second to realise that this was Osira. Her being able to find a single marine animal in between the hundreds, was admirable itself. But she wasn''t eptingpliments today or any other form of dialogue. And Gech who was on her back, didn''t seem to have a different thought as he was giving the hero a deadly stare! She lightly held the stingray by the fin afterwards, and began dragging him down towards the bottom of these shallow waters. Throughout this procedure, he tried to break free in order to look for the skeletondy, but it seemed rather impossible! Worse yet, the stress that such a failed attempt inflicted, had spiked anxiety higher than ever! Thest thing of which the sea-pancake expected, was for Dana to appear at the bottom of the ocean! Such a result gave an image that she was never caught in a to begin with, thedy seemed healthy as a newborn child. Well at least as healthy as a swimming skeleton could be. Although he was shocked for a few seconds, the boy could still express. "I''m so d that you''re safe!" "What happened?" The bonydy asked, feeling that her soul was a bit overworked. "You were caught in a, Osira had to sink the ship to save both of you." The mantis shrimp answered, being capable to remain calm even after such a disaster. "Should have known that you sank it!" Timmy shouted out, joy was evident in his tone which made this statement feel like a praise. Although she had desperately tried to stand out until now, the skeleton could notice a good deed and decided to push jealousy aside. A sense of calmness was enveloping her soul. And she could not remember what had happened, but neither of these friends had reasons to lie: so it seemed like a good option to trust their word. So with a calm and yet genuine tone, she locked eyes with the grouper and said. "Thank you." "Both of you are wee." She answered and then just began swimming towards the west. The couple of stingrays were sure to follow their friend right away, because they understood what the main motive was. Osira was quick to vocalise another bit of her thoughts, which aided the overall conversation. "It was fun to sink an entire ship." "How did you do that anyway?" Timothy asked, and brought in more reasoning. "No offense but that thing was too big for you to sink." "It was big, but Gech is a genius." This might have been the first and most genuinepliment that thedy gave towards this geezer. Of course she shed more light to that statement by continuing, "He told me to just keep attacking the middle of the ship. So that caused a big hole and sank it all!" "Smart!" Tim was the second to continue with such apliment and the skeleton nodded in agreement as well. "Indeed." The praised geezer answered, brushing off the life-saving ideas as unimportant. And he even sealed the topic by adding, "We have to keep moving though, it''s barely been a day and we almost died twice." "You have a point, this ce is extremely dangerous!" The ck-grouper agreed right away, as they continued swimming. Since that tremendously dangerous situation was put behind them now, it was easy to state that a moment of peace was given to the group of friends. Likewise, Timothy was given a few moments to check other statistics, and requested for the system to list a portion of them out. So of course, thedy in his head was quick to grant the request. [Your primary bars that decipher your state of being, have been upgraded by a tenth of their previous size] [Now, your current state is the following...] [Health bar = 121/121] [Hunger bar = 13/19] [Sleep bar = 35/43] [Stamina bar = 12/19] This proved to be an evident advantage. Because in any situation where he would need to eat food for health, a bigger hunger-bar can aid to recover quicker. Not to mention, health along with every other bar was raised as well. So in many aspects, he felt a bit more powerful and became more confident that any task would be easier to handle now! Chapter 233: Creative intelligence Chapter 233: Creative intelligence When ites to finding an enemy that was practically camouged between thousands of other fish, the best way to handle the task, was to constantly swim and hope for the best. They didn''t have any superior technology that would help them track down a single shark, even the system couldn''t help with it. So they just need to keep looking around and try to find the right shark to ughter. One solution would be to ughter any shark in this area, but that can pretty much kill the environment in this twenty-kilometer-radius, it wasn''t a good idea. Seeing that the team was putting in stubborn efforts to find the murderous shark, it felt like an appropriate time for the system to intervene. [Why do you want to kill that shark so badly? You don''t even care about the rest of your stingray family] Although a bizarre train of thoughts, the young boy exined to the system without letting out a sound. "I don''t care about them, it''s hard to care about family that I have never met. But this shark has to die for Snoopy''s sake." This seemed almost hypocritical, it gave hints that he both cared and doesn''t care about family. The system could easily pick apart that statement, and could form a proper question. [So you are willing to put your friends into danger for family that you don''t care about?] Timothy felt that it would be easy to exin this portion, therefore he recited. "Oh I care about the siblings that I''ve met. Although they''re annoying, they also are important to me. So I don''t mind doing something that makes them happy." Wanting to clear out another portion, he continued. "I didn''t know that this ce was so dangerous, or else I wouldn''t bring my friends along." Before the system could say anything, he also added. "Plus, I don''t want any of my siblings to be mad at me. They can kill with a blink!" [This definitely sounds like you] [In better news, you''ve learned to use your intelligences. The decisions you described just now, are a bnced mix of emotional and rational intelligence] [In other words, you''re a tad smarter now] Unsure of how to feel about this, he just thought out. "Thank you?" [You''re wee] [Three purchase options have been unlocked, would you like to hear them out?] Joy enveloped the boy''s mind as he yelled out. "Yes!" "What are you celebrating about?" Gech was the first to ask, as that loud shout had spooked the group quite a bit. Dana had heard the vibrations through the boy''s mind, and could decipher everything that the system had said. But most importantly, she understood that the system in the boy''s head should be kept a secret. That''s why she swooped in, "Oh he did that often when we met. He thinks too much and makes himself happy that way." "Most intriguing." The mantis shrimp followed along, and added. "That''s a good sign of mental rity." It felt rather new to hear otherspliment his intelligence. The emotion was tingly and most definitely brought satisfaction, but he had to brush off the topic swiftly so he could focus on the system. [Loading...] [Purchase option number-one = Increase your vision to level-two] [Price = 70-system-points] It felt like the universe was aligning for him once such an option was recited. He didn''t care about the slightly expensive price, and he didn''t mind that they were travelling either. Instantly, the boy demanded with a thought. "Upgrade my vision now!" Thankfully the system listened to thismand and did not exin the other options. Instead, she started to put the request into motion. [Confirmed] [Loading purchase...] That was when the hero expected for massive pain to swoop in, it sounded reasonable but it didn''t seem to be the case. Instead, the young stingray could feel a pinch on all corners of his eyes. It wasn''t painful and was just irritating to a certain extent, but that was about it. Considering that no pain came along with this upgrade, it felt like a massive win! [Purchaseplete] [70-system-points consumed] [274-system-points remaining] That was when he saw everything around him change! The surroundings didn''t necessarily shift their physical form, but a bit more detail and texture was given to them! The thick blue-water that surrounded them, seemed a bit more detailed now. He could see a string of sunlight piercing the waters, it made the hero feel that heaven had reached down here; but in fact he had just forgotten how detailed these types of beams could be. Apart from that, the friends around here seemed a bit more beautiful now. Likely because he could see them more clearly, but right now the sea-pancake could find a lot of reasons to appreciate everything that could be seen. Now, he could also see clearly for fifty-meters or so, which felt more than double in valuepared to what he had seen for tens of days. The realization of just how adapted he was with his past vision, was a bit of a brain shocker itself too. In all ways this felt like the best purchase ever, and managed to bring along happiness! Before this upgrade could have been enjoyed to its fullest extent, the system aided to derive attention from it with the aid of more information. [Purchase option number-two = Increase temperature toleration by twenty-points more] [Price = 80-system-points] [Current temperature toleration = ten-points] This seemed easily buyable as well, but right now the sea-disk was contemting if he should buy it instantly. There wasn''t a rush towards this upgrade since it didn''t y any big importance so far, but it still sounded useful. The system had aided the boy to break through the chain of thoughts by continuing her list. [Purchase option number-three = Increase creative intelligence by fifty-points] [Price = 800-system-points] [Current creative intelligence = one-hundred-and-forty points] Such a level of intelligence, came in as a rather strong shock! Not to mention that it seemed illogical for the boy to be so smart in any aspect. Inevitably, it forced him to think. "What!" Chapter 234: Sore fins Chapter 234: Sore fins "How am I so smart?!" Timothy shouted once more, for the sake of grasping information. [I did not have the option to check your creative intelligence, since it had been unlocked as an upgradeable option, just now] [But it seems like you had this intelligence, ever since you reincarnated into this stingray body!] "So, I was smart ever since the beginning?" He instantly asked, feeling more and morefortable about this. [Yes] [Either the stingray had arge creative intelligence, before you upied its body, or...] "Or?" The hero instantly followed up, desperate for more information. [Or you had a great creative intelligence in your former human body, and it managed to follow your soul] Trying to reap even more motivation out of this, he cited. "Oh... I don''t know how to feel about that, but at least I was a genius from the beginning. I love this!" [Correct] [Well at least you are a genius when ites to creative intelligence. But the rest of your mental capabilities, are still below the bracket] "I''ll be smarter one day, no rush." He expressed, because the levels of satisfaction were already high. It made it difficult to be mad about anything. It was noticeable that upgrading creative intelligence was tremendously expensive, but he didn''t want to let that aspect weigh him down. Because they were in an environment where dangerous creatures lurked in every corner, system points shouldn''t be too big of a problem. Instead, he began focusing on what he could upgrade. "I want to buy that temperature thingy, please." Well such a kind request was nice to hear for once. Even the boy could feel himself behaving nicer, and such self observation was a great sign that his emotional intelligence was being put into use. As for upgrading temperature toleration, it seemed worthwhile. Although the boy had not thought about it yet, the ocean carried a lot of different temperatures. Most of them were the opposite of hell, soul shiveringly cold so to speak. And not to forget that this world still had seasons, regardless of the fact that he was a stingray. It was better to be prepared. [Confirmed] Within those seconds, a sharp pain had struck the boy''s fins! It managed to stop Tim''s pace, he could not swim forward for a quick second. But then the pain spread away from the tip of his fins andunched towards the boy''s spine. It was paralyzing to a certain extent, and Dana was the first to notice suchmotion through the waters. Likewise, she turned around and began nting seeds to a believable lie. The system had to be maintained as a secret, even towards close friends. That''s why she asked, "Are your fins feeling too sore again?" Osira turned around and gave the sea-pancake a bit of attention. But considering what the described problem was, she didn''t give much concern towards the situation. They had travelled over forty-kilometers so far for the sake of this journey, it made perfect sense that their bodies were sore. But Gech was paying a bit more attention to detail. And when he noticed that the sea-disk was ufortably flinching and shivering thanks to the pain, he managed to pick apart that something wasn''t right. He wanted to ask a question, but it felt difficult to form a proper sentence in this case, even for such an esteemed creature such as Gech. Therefore he just let it be and hoped that the pain would go away quickly. [Upgradeplete] [80-system-points consumed] [194-system-points remaining] That was when all of that unbearable pain, had loosened its agitating grasp of the boy. This result provided a sense of relief to a certain extent. But he also felt really sore, yet thankfully every attempt to swim aided to send the aftermath away. [Current temperature toleration capabilities = 30-points] He still did not understand how this temperature thing worked, but since just a couple of upgrades were dedicated to it, chances were that the ability was still considered below average. Now, it was time for Timmy to grant a sense of relief to his friends by answering. "I feel better now, don''t worry about it." That managed to dispel the concern, before it could have transformed into an annoying debate regarding health. And now this group could focus on the main task. So they continued to swim west and hoped to find a shark that was missing a pelvic fin. ... The team managed to travel for a kilometer more towards this dangerous territory, and they unsurprisingly managed to find just what they had been looking for! A shark with a missing front fin could be seen, just thirty-meters away from them. And the first thing that ran across the group''s mind was the urge for murder! But thankfully most of them met the minimum intelligence criteria to think before attacking. Likewise, they began bickering for a decision. The enemy wasrge, so that became their first concern, and Gech indirectly pointed it out. "It would be the best idea if we all attack this great-white at the same time." "That''s stupid, we could hit each other." Osira decided to add even though such a sentence came out as rough. As they were debating, Timothy had observed the situation more than them although such a thing seemed unusual. He was eager to use his upgraded vision to its maximum, and this was a good time to do so. It aided him to figure out a big problem, and he shouted it out without shame. "That bastard ising for us, so think of something quickly!" Osira was the second quickest to give attention towards the charging enemy, aiding the gooddy to properly aim. It led to generating a foot wide, ck-light in front of her forehead and it only took a second to shoot it out. Which was convenient to say at least, because the enemy needed just a few seconds to swim through a distance of twenty-meters! The marvelously powerful light, had struck the enemy against the head. And considering the emotion that was put behind this shot, it ended up with the shark having a foot wide hole through its noggin! Chapter 235: Island Chapter 235: Ind In most situations, blowing an animal''s head off was considered enough tond a kill; this was another one of those cases, Osira had managed to kill the enemy in a manner that seemed almost effortless! This gave them a feeling that the mission had ended. And the thought of returning back to the reef was rather tempting right now, they were all looking quite forward to it. Upon further observation, they made sure that this shark was indeed missing a fin. It made a lot of sense, that a shark of such size could easily kill a family of stingrays. It was the biggest great-white they have seen so far, approximately eleven-feet long! This ughtered carcass was fat too, so it firmly aided the thought that this fish had killed Timmy''s family. The mantis shrimp was first to speak after the observation, "Well, that settled this task. What will we do now?" Before such an existential question was asked, they could see several more sharks surrounding them. It had managed to sink them into quite a bit of shock, their senses spiked up to maximum use! Not to forget, this group of seven-sharks seemed equally big to the monster they had just killed! The smallest one could be just a foot shorterpared to the carcass. One of them approached the gang, and demanded. "Surrender the food and we won''t kill you." It seemed like a great deal. And Gech was the only one whom had the proper vocabry to ept these circumstances. So from thefort of Osira''s back, he spoke out in the shark''snguage. "That seems like a splendid deal, we don''t like shark meat anyway." It was weird to see sharks eat one another, but cannibalistic actions in the wild were quitemon, and all for the sake of survival. It made sense to a certain extent, especially since fish generally were not intelligent. As these monsters began chewing through the carcass, of which could have quite possibly been their friend; the mantis shrimp wanted to use this situation, for the sake of attaining more information. Because the task they saw as finished, seemed to carry a different and yet perplexing story. These sharks were all missing a front fin! It was bizarre, but it also made the situation a lot more confusing: because if many sharks missed a fin, how on earth would they find the right one? In the meantime, Osira was struggling to keep herself away from bloodlust. The carcass these sharks were eating through, kept unleashing quantities of blood. And somehow, it took less amount of blood now, for the grouperdy to lose her grip of stability. Thisck of control had grown after she unleashed that attack of which solely consisted of red-light, maybe it was not a coincidence? From a distance, the shrimp yelled out for the shark who negotiated in the beginning. And once it got close enough, he cracked open the topic with elegant ease. By firstly asking, "Can you tell me how all of you are missing a pelvic fin?" The shark felt hesitant to answer once, this made the little group genuinely feel like they were dwelling into danger. It would be terrible if these sharks took such a question as anything offensive. Because even though Timothy had friends who could unleash lethal attacks, the amount of times those powers could be used, was tremendously limited. But thankfully thetter had managed to keep neutrality, "Humans took them away from us. There is a whole ind of them close by and all they do is hunt for fish." "I''m sorry to hear that, but can you point out to us where the ind is?" At this point it felt like the old man was pushing his luck, but a brief risk had to be taken. Using her only remaining fin, the shark pointed towards the north and spoke. "That way, but don''t be dumb enough to go there, you aren''t a match for those humans." To hear a massive great-white say that, it was certainly interesting. But the punching realisation that this task was not over, gave the group a lot of motivation to take this challenge. Yet going there for the sole sake of finding humans and big sharks, seemed like a dangerous waste of time. So the shrimp pushed his luck with another question. And it was rather tricky to build this sentence, "May I also ask if you know of any sharks that like to eat stingrays?" Although with a sigh, thetter could still exin. "Most sharks around here avoid eating stingrays, because those things have a lot of venom. But there is a group of sharks who hunt stingrays only, they should be around the same ind." Adding information that wasn''t asked for, the samedy weighed in. "Those sharks want to take revenge on humans, so it can be very dangerous there." That was when this apex predator parted ways, and calmly expressed. "Good luck." ... With the motive reflected and thought out, they began heading north and struck down a couple of needlefish in the meantime, for the sake of feeding on them. They had to eat something. After all, the previous carcass was exchanged for peace and information. Eating food became moremon when one was constantly travelling, so knowing how to hunt was necessary. However, the group became happier by the passing moment that Osira was their friend. Her ability to shoot down an easy meal was just marvelous. They had to travel for half a kilometer in order to reach this ind, but it didn''t exactly seem so worthwhile. The air-encrustedndmass was small, perhaps just a hundred meters across and the marine life around here seemed rather deprived. That was likely because these humans were over-using this natural resource. Money was a great motivator for such a case. But the misfortune did not stop there. Since there wasn''t much life around this area, it firmly meant that there weren''t any big sharks to consider as enemies that they had to ughter. It led to a fairly fresh thought, and Dana pointed it out for the sake of sounding smart. "Maybe these humans have killed our enemies?" After a bit of contemtion, Gech expressed. "We need to be sure, plus there is something that I want to try out right now." Chapter 236: Island (2) Chapter 236: Ind (2) Since the topic was about finding the shark who had killed his family, Tim was the first to form a question after hearing out what the old man had to say. He locked eyes with the geezer and asked, "What do you want to do? This isn''t supposed to be your battle, so tell me more?" With a small smirk on his shrimpy face, thetter answered. "You''ll see." It was clear that this little old man did not want to speak, he even began eyeing a small that was roaming across the waters, just a few meters away. That gave him motivation to instantly crawl forward, towards the same. He could have leaped as usual of course, but those types of powerful jumps are limited, and thest thing he wanted right now was extra attention. His friends firmly peeked at the perplexing geezer, and were in a slight pondering regarding what to do. Because for a wise old man, it didn''t seem so smart to crawl directly towards the. But they also understood that the geezer was very capable, so they just let him be and observed for the sake of reaping out any hints. They were quite unaware of what ns Gech had, and that managed to tingle their anxiety a tad bit. After a couple of minutes, the old man ended up being caught on the small stic; along with a few other fish who weren''t exactly tremendouslyrge in size. "Hmmm this portion of the n went smoothly." Gechplimented himself, "Way better than just crawling up to the surface, that would devour everyone''s attention." And just as expected, the mantis shrimp had been tossed into a pile of fish that were near the sea-waters. Once taking a whiff of the stench that enveloped this ind, which had a fragrance strong enough to make one hurl, it was clear that most beached fish here were dead. It smelled like rotten onions mixed with peanut butter here, worse than hell perhaps? Well it made sense to a certain extent, carcasses are supposed to smell like manure. This stench had helped the old man realise a detail that could have been overlooked. If he crawled anywhere away from the pile of fish, any fisherman would notice the man. Because it wasn''t usual to see dead fish p around. So with that fact considered, it was certain that any human could use various methods of murder, to stop the little old man and throw him back in the pile. Such circumstances weren''t particrly horrendous, since he could fight a human, it just meant that Gech had to be much more stealthy! Yet luckily, there weren''t any other factors that could prevent him from progressing. For example, suffocation wasn''t a problem! Although such perks weren''tmon amongst sea-critters, his gills were mutated to breathe air as well. And that was what he wanted to test, this was just the second time he tried breathing air. It was tremendously useful, especially now when he needed time to think the situation through, and seek a different solution prior to the vintage n. The circumstances became confusing, because there were over thirty big sharksid across this ind! At least that was how much he could see, and they were all missing their pelvic-fins. Obviously, humans had sliced off their fins for some mary reason, but this didn''t fail to make the task more difficult! More options had opened up for sure. In normal situations, more choices to pick from would be generally better. But here it made things trickier. Because for example, he had to check on every shark, for the sake of figuring out which one was the biggest. Initially, his n was to check if there were anyrge great-white sharks here. It would give a good hint that the targeted predator in question, could had been killed. Earlier on it was exined to the group that the targeted shark was massive, so this detail could be used as a form of identification. After pondering over what to do, the old man began swimming through the beached bodies, to reach one side of this fish pile. It was difficult to a certain extent, because these fishes were slippery, but it wasn''t impossible. After looking at his surroundings for a little bit, the old man decided to crawl away from the food pile and head for a nearby bush. But the unexpected happened in a split second! A human had managed to grab the geezer by the tail,pletely restricting his movements! It was easy to man handle a four-inch shrimp, but the captive in question also wanted to know where this dumb decision from the human''s side will lead; that was why he remained idle. Yet it became an evident fact that anxiety managed to spike, once he noticed that this human was walking towards a freaking campfire! These people had to eat of course, so it made sense how they were roasting marine animals. It made sense, but at the same time the situation became fairly chaotic, and it forced the old man to be a bit more hostile. Likewise, he aimed to inflict pain against the enemy with the aid of his powers! That was why any passer by human, could suddenly see a line of blood bursting upwards! The prime reason behind such a result, was thanks to Gech who had leaped upwards with all of his might! He had punctured through flesh and bone! Such a result was easy for a critter who had arms of such grand sturdiness! And the momentum he had built up, managed to make the human twirl its arm like a helicopter. The reason behind such an effect, was that Gech had used this human''s hand as a surface to leap up from. And when that isbined with the sheer force this geezer had upon a single leap, it made sense how the enemy human faced such strong damage. When blood wasbined with this entire scene, it wasn''t quite easy on the eyes. Such an aftermath worked as an advantage, because no one had a clue what to do, and screams were bing louder too. Countless fishermen began surrounding the injured man, trying to prove helpful. But Gech hadnded near the same campfire that was supposed to turn him into something edible. After shaking away the blur from crashing on the ground, he muttered. "That''s what you deserve, filthy ape." This chaos could be used to a firm advantage. So after making sure that no human was close enough to step on him, the old man began crawling deeper through the ind. In no time, he reached another pile of beached fish. But what he saw here was definitely unexpected, it managed to force the old man to unleash a heavy gasp! Chapter 237: Island (3) Chapter 237: Ind (3) The old man became utterly shocked, as there was a stunning fourteen-foot-long great white shark,ying across a pile of fish! Of course he didn''t have a proper way of measuring the carcass, but this thing was absolutely massive! It was so fat that it became difficult to understand how a mere human could have beached such a monster. Finding this thing, had helped convince the geezer, that he had indeed found the actual killer. But what managed to be fairly demotivating, was what he discovered after further observation. This shark was injured for sure, it was dead; but it wasn''t missing any fins! Instead it had a hole through its forehead, so chances were that it had been speared earlier on, but these fishermen had not taken its fins for some reason. Confusing at least, but another dilemma was being given attention towards right now. This could not be the shark who had killed the hero''s family, it can''t be! If it was, this beast should be missing a pelvic-fin if not both of them! Even for a wise old man, this situation began feeling a bit tricky to handle. Sure he could search through the rest of this small ind, but would it really be worth the time? If they didn''t strip a massive shark out of fins, chances are that they are for some reason, sparing the body parts of other great-whites as well. So this portion was quite conflicting. While he contemted what to do, chaos erupted from the side of the ind where he had emerged from! The first thought he had, was that Timothy had done something stupid, the idea itself didn''t seem impossible. But one peek towards themotion, helped figure out that the situation was entirely different! Because another massive great-white-shark had erupted out of the ocean waters! For some reason, that had forced human screams to reverberate through the ind! Upon further observation, it was easy to notice that these beastly marine animals, had attacked one of these humans! The intent behind such an act was difficult and yet easy to understand. The shark might have wanted revenge, but who would be dumb enough to beach themselves for such a crave? That seemed stupid even for a shark. "Most intriguing." The old man muttered, as he took a single second to observe the sudden chaos. It became more understandable regarding why this attack was happening, after the same shark managed to wiggle back towards the sea waters. And of course, the beast had taken that unlucky human away with it. Even though this situation seemed bizarre, it also meant that Gech''s n of exploration had met an end. Simply because he needs to enter the waters as soon as possible, to find the rest of the group. His aim was to protect them. Because in suchmotion, spears and jaws would envelop the environment, it wasn''t the best ce to be outnumbered. With all of his crawling abilities, the shrimp charged towards the sea-waters and wanted to taste salt as fast as possible. But when he was half way to reaching the destination, the same shark had beached itself again! But themotion had erupted over ten meters away from where the little geezer was crawling, so he was not harmed by this scene whatsoever. Likewise, that beast had taken another human as a victim! However this time, the massive fish had brought along another shark, who was a couple of feet shorter in size. This one had also managed to inflict pain against a human, but it only managed to grasp the fisherman''s leg! Such an attack was tremendously painful for the victim, but it became entirely lethal when the same attacker, managed to drag the prey down through the sea-waters! Blood was coating the surface that was near the beach, and this was when the old man feared that Osira could lose her grasp of rationality, again. He didn''t know if human blood would drag thedy towards such a lust, but it might be a good idea to go and calm that good friend down. After he finally reached close to the waters, he noticed that a human had gained enough courage to approach the biggest shark! Therge one was struggling to enter the waters this time, so it had dug itself in a bit of a sticky pickle. Without thinking twice about it, Gech leaped upwards and pierced through the nearby human''s thigh! One of these air-breathers wanted him fried anyway, so returning the favour didn''t feel odd. Considering what momentum the old man attained, just through a simple leap; it was understable how a line of blood blessed the air, before itnded on the sand to dry out. Such an impact, had managed to push the human through a loud scream, that featured desperate pain! The spear was dropped as well, so the massive shark had been given a few more seconds of time to chew through the human it had captured with its jaws. A small dust cloud had been caused from where the mantis shrimp had leaped, it was exinable considering what speed he had. And it also exined how he was still flying, close to sshing against the sea waters. Throughout the attack, the old man spoke out. "Serves you right, greedy twig!" But before he caused a small little ssh through the water''s surface, he and the shark had managed to lock eyes for a quick second. It was difficult to decide how he should feel about this, but his biggest hope was that the shark had appreciated this bit of help. Regardless of that fact, he hadnded on the waters now and seeked his friends. For a second he worried that these sharks had eaten the group, but that worry had diminished a bitter. Because the ck-grouper was charging towards him, and her intents were easy to figure out. The gooddy had arrived to pick the old man up, she understood that Gech was not the fastest swimmer or crawler, so to speak. In a few seconds they rejoined the group, and the team was sharing simr thoughts, as they peeked at the three sharks who were raining chaos against these humans. And suddenly, Timothy was the only one clear minded enough to put a n together, with the aid of a short sentence. "We need to check if they''re missing a fin!" Chapter 238: Island (4) Chapter 238: Ind (4) It took little effort to approach the killer sharks who were raining havoc against these humans, as they were literally just twenty or so meters away. And contrary to what the group had expected, the sharks didn''t mindlessly attack them. Instead, one of these sharks who was yet to attack a human, got a bit closer and yelled out. "The hell are you doing here?" "I love blood." Osira was the first to answer, awkward to say at least as her tone bounced in thest word. But yet, such a sentence was uttered out with a calmness that almost made the atmosphere ufortable. Her tone was casual, but one peek at her face would make it easy to understand that she was on the verge of snapping. The gooddy''s face carried severalplexions, right now her lips were quivering with the thirst for blood. Such dangerous beauty had managed to spook the ten-foot shark in front of them, but yet again an apex predator could find reasons to respect such a little monster. Once the shark pondered what the ck-grouper had said, a prime and yet short n was made. "Then help us shed more blood." After the group managed tond a brief view of observation, it was easy to notice that this specific shark wasn''t missing any fins. And that was when the bigger ones just reconnected with the waters; they seemed to be intact as well, no body-part of theirs was missing. Obviously, these were not the sharks that the group was looking for, so it didn''t seem irrational to help them. But at the same time lending them any help, didn''t seem like the best idea after considering the risk factors. This led most of the group towards contemtion of which step to follow next, well apart from Osira who was more than willing to shed blood! After thergest shark devoured the human it hadtched on, the beast approached the group at a pace that was utterly terrifying! For a second they thought that this monster wasing for the sake of ughter, but it took a single moment to figure out that the situation was unravelling towards another direction. The great-white had halted in front of the group and thundered through a question, "Are you the little bastard who saved me from a spear?" Although deep and heavy through those expressions, by tone it was easy to notice that this shark was a woman. It made sense to a certain extent as female sharks tend to growrger than the opposite gender. And right now, she was looking at Gech, impatiently expecting a reply. "Indeed it is I." The old man answered, and pushed everyone into shock. His friends were aware of how he could inflict damage against a human, yet they did not understand why he had helped a shark. The rest were far less aware of what this old man was capable of, so they just carried disbelief as they gave nces towards the little geezer. As confusion sprouted across the several fish here, the massive shark helped them get back to reality by offering. "Help me kill these humans and you will have my friendship!" Such an offer felt worthwhile, it helped them pick out what new headache this day will provide; but it wasn''t exactly what they were here for to begin with. What help could a shark be if the team left this isted area, sooner orter? It led to thinking that the idea of helping these sharks, was not worthwhile. Which made everything more confusing, as thoughts were contradicting against each other. But thankfully Gech was a refined little old man, so he couldprehend the entire situation and figure out a couple solutions. Right now he decided to follow the idea that provided the most benefits. So he could finally break the awkward silence, with a counter offer. "How about you pay me with information instead? We are looking for a group of sharks who specifically hunt stingrays." It took a few seconds of contemtion for thetter to answer, "I know who they are. Help me kill these humans and I''ll tell you where to find them!" Before an answer could have been given, this deal was sealed by a spear who whistled through the waters, andnded right against the sand; fairly in the middle of the two groups! It did not manage to hit any of these marine animals, but it helped recognize that danger was ufortably close! This eruption of speed that the weaponry brought along, forced the team towards a little spook. They all pulled their heads back and tried to swim away from danger, reflex demanded it so. But that was when a couple more spears flew against them, and the biggest shark here was hit right against the spine. Such a result made sense, as this beast was huge and humans had seen what damage this monster had inflicted! It did not manage to kill the massive fish, but it was good enough to cause plentiful damage. The group of sharks did not know what to do for a quick second, but adrenaline helped them figure things out! Although pain was taking hostage a great portion of her stamina, the massive great-white curled her body towards the left and sprung towards the humans who were closing in! She reached one of the enemies in no time, and managed to cling her jaws against the human''s body - even though such an attack led to her being beached once more. Thisdy either didn''t understand the concept of self-sacrificial actions, or truly understood them. Either way, her attack marked the start of a team-effort attack against these sted humans! Gech had seen one of the enemies getting too close to his friends, so the geezer didn''t even hesitate for a second to protect his own pack. With thest amount of power that he had left, the mantis shrimp leaped against the human! And at the same time, he could practically hear Osira''s curses after she got tossed against the sand: all because of the aftermath that one of his leaps would cause. After he broke from below the water''s surface, he could suddenly see and hear a spear whistling below him, with the aid of grand speed. The initial target of this shooter was likely changed, after the geezer had leaped through the waters. Instinct would be enough to change an aim at the veryst second. This inevitably meant that, if Gech had not decided to attack, the same spear could have punctured through one of his friends! In a second at most, the mantis shrimpnded against the human''s forehead and caused an ultimate head-shot! The impact was not enough to fling the two-hundred-pound man backwards, but death was ensured. The shrimp felt a bit more confident when the same human toppled forward, and crashed against the sand! This kill came with another benefit. For example, Gech was out of the waters once more and could observe the situation on this side of the stick, a bit better. He swiftly noticed that every fisherman that this ind carried, had gathered up to tame the attack that was inflicted from these big sharks! This helped the old man use rationality. It seemed extremely risky to be out of the waters now, especially since his attacks had run out ~ he would need at least a few hours now, to recharge. He could not do anything to help these sharks now either so nothing was worth staying out here right now. Before dwelling in the sea waters, he could hear several spears whistling across the air, which had likely bashed against the massive shark! After he entered the waters, it was easy to notice that Osira had been invested in the battle already! She was swimming around left and right, breaking legs of any human who was dumb enough to enter the waters through this chaos! It was fair to say that blood that was bursting in all directions, managed to give her more power! Chapter 239: Island (end) Chapter 239: Ind (end) Gech called out for the raging grouper a few times, but she ignored every call and just chased what the blood in these waters demanded! She continued to charge against humans who had entered the waters, and was purely unyielding in terms of giving them freedom. Eventually, this ragingdy had managed to immobilize more than a few humans. It was enough to tame the battle to her favour, but that perk had onlysted so long! Humans can be often dumb, but they could see the pool of blood that circting near the shores. It was even more disturbing when corpses began floating above the waters. So with those circumstances, they stopped rushing in the sea and just began shooting spears from thefort of sand itself! This was the grand reason behind why these humans obtained the upper hand in battle. They even managed to kill the biggest shark that had unleashed this chaos, she had been speared tens of times now. She was lying dead, beached thanks to her bold ideas and craves for blood. Most of these humans were zingly confused, regarding why these sharks were attacking so violently. It was just not in their nature for sharks to be bold enough to beach themselves, for such reasons. But regardless of the confusion, these humans knew something for sure, these sharks have to be killed! That and medical assistance had to be called out, for the sake of healing those who had survived the abnormal attack. All of this chaos happened in just a few short moments. Osira needed a bit more time to realise that another one of these sharks had been beached and ughtered! Such a result felt like a great loss. Because although she was blood-driven, the gooddy wanted to aid the fight against humans. While she tried to think of a new way of inflicting damage, a great portion of the blood had been dismantled through the sea waters. It had fiddled away and spread in all directions, so it became a tad tricky to sense it. Likewise, this result had helped the grouperdy calm down, and right now she was clear minded enough to remember that she had friends. It took a short moment to locate them, because this group was not aiding in battle any longer, simply because they couldn''t. Sure, a few stings could be inflicted against these humans, but the chances of getting speared were muchrger and it just wasn''t worth the risk! Seeing that everything about this situation was going to hell, the ck-grouper decided to regroup with her friends and just get out of here! She did not have a connection with these random sharks, so their deaths felt irrelevant. But before she decided to swim away, the smallest shark of that little revenge-craving group, had escaped the sand and joined the sea waters. With it, this brave shark had brought in another human, who was unleashing yet another bloody mist. Thisnd-walker was alive and tried so hard to break free! It was a pale attempt, as the shark began chomping on this victim! And such repetitive wounds aided to gift the blessing of death, against this enemy of marine life! The amount of blood was tempting, it gave Osira an urge to break loose and even beach herself for the sake of attaining more blood! But the quantities weren''t enough, so she had a brief grasp of control over her own being. Furthermore, it took little thinking to realise that this was the only shark that survived the chaos, which gave a great hint that this battle was nearing an end. Under these short few seconds, the shark locked eyes with Osira and used one of its pelvic-fins to point towards the west. And afterwards, a male tone erupted from the same fish. "Keep heading that way to find the stingray eaters!" Without any second reference or willpower to continue the conversation, this shark leaped towards the humans once more, which of course meant that he had beaches himself again! And a few momentster, the group of friends could hear several spears whistling through the air! If the shark wasn''t killed by those shots, it will be killed soon enough. This battle was over and it was difficult to determine who the loser was, because both sides of the stick had suffered tremendous losses! But now, any other confusion can be pushed aside, as one thought was radiating with certainty: Osira was not going to let her friends suffer any simr fate, to what the sharks had just experienced! So after reaching them up close, she urged. "Let''s keep heading west, this ce is more dangerous than all those sharks I killed!" It didn''t take much effort to make all of them agree, they wanted to get the hell out of here and Gech encouraged it especially. Was this entire battle worth it? Most likely no. The best guess is that this small group of sharks had wanted revenge, but Timmy and his friends did not have any benefits out of this whatsoever. The sharks who were supposed to give solid information, were dead! And the only clue they have gotten is to just keep heading west. It didn''t feel new, but at least the direction felt somewhat proper instead of an endless rabbit hole. Furthermore, these friends felt tired. Because ever since they have woken up today, three deadly situations were thrown against them, one after the other. These heavy circumstances had made this overall task a bit difficult to understand. Was this environment just too dangerous, or was the mission they had just an invitation for trouble? Because this amount of trouble under such a short period of time, just seemed unrealistic! Regardless of what this journey would bring next, the team did not want to stop here and had all motives to find the killers. But at the moment they needed a bit of time to rest, even if that time stretched just a couple of hours. This break wasn''t exactly aimed to tame things such as hunger and energy, but that was a bonus. Instead, half of the group aimed to regenerate their powers. All of them knew how necessary such a procedure was, especially since they considered Osira as her trump card if things got rough! So after reaching the borderline of which separated shallow waters from the deep portions, it became a tad easier for the group of friends to find a small little hole to hide in. Being hidden from any other enemy, gave the group enough protection to properly rx. Apart from resting their bodies, most of them were trying toprehend these massive killing sprees that the day had offered. Of course this day had been heavy on their consciousness, and right now they were trying to derive what''s good from bad. That, and is this way of living truly in their blood? Most of the team had these heavy thoughts, apart from Timothy of course who felt more self assured than ever! This level of confidence allowed the young man to tinker with other thoughts, and he was unravelling them wide like a canvas. Right now he felt almost like the weakest member of the group, and did not want tog behind thanks to such circumstances. It took a little amount of contemtion, to figure out that he wanted to focus on tasks. Specifically since after every tenth of them that bespleted, can raise health and other bars like that. Eventually, such a decision will pay off more. And the thought of being useless through this mission, aided him to be a tad more motivated. Finishing tasks was one thought, but he also wanted to attain a lot of system points. The massive price he had to pay in order to increase creative intelligence, will behave like a setback for sure. But that did not demotivate the young man as he was craving to be stronger. With all those thoughts considered, the system immediately introduced what can bebelled as the next motive. [Task twenty-one = Locate and kill a dwarfntern shark] [Since this is a system-given task, you will receive an additional three-system-points as a bonus] Chapter 240: Weird discovery Chapter 240: Weird discovery Although he wasn''t nearly scared, a question still itched in his noggin and could only be cured if he asked about it right now! Because of course, curiosity can be stronger than fear. "Am I really ready to hunt a shark? Aren''t they too big for a task that only gives three-points?" The sea-pancake thought out that question, allowing for the system to hear. It might be one of the most insightful questions he had asked so far, fairly umon for this little menace. The system had expected such a question, since she had heard it thousands of times from past guests. But it still felt a tad shocking to see Timothy specifically, asking such a question so she had motivation to treat the situation softly. [You are definitely ready to hunt a shark] [Because apart from the fact that you are a tremendously gifted hunter, this species isn''t difficult to kill] [It barely grows a foot long, and it only gives three-system-points as a reward, such hunts are usually pretty easy] "That makes sense." The hero followed along as he began zoning out in those same moments. Because sleep was creeping in, regardless of the fact that they had only been awake for a few hours. This day was too tiring already, and made the young man miss certain things from the human life, such as coffee. Regardless of those thoughts, he still dwelled towards slumber and didn''t want to worry about finding that weird small shark. Although he was stupid, Timmy could still fling aside every negative thought when sleep was his aim. ... A handful of hours after, the group had woken up and thankfully there wasn''t any shark poking its nose through the entrance, trying to molest them with a kiss. Such a result felt like a blessing, as it was one thing they did not have to worry about. And now as the group was pushing away the drowsiness, the main mission began weighing pressure in their little heads. Sure the objective to find and kill a massive shark, doesn''t seemplicated in hindsight, butplexion could be itsst name when the recent events were to be considered. Killing a massive great-white sounds and is difficult, but finding the specific culprit to the crime was proving insanely confusing. It was like finding a drop of water in the ocean, in this situation it can be considered as mildly literal. They have failed multiple times this day, their ideas had met results that seemed like dead ends to a certain extent. So those circumstances are beginning to cause quite a bit of stress; if they had hair, until now they could have pulled many of them. But regardless, they did not want to give up although practically the entire group did not care about the actual crime. All of them had specific reasons for being here, but half of their consciousness was settled with helping Timothy. Simply because he didn''t think twice before when it came to helping the reef or random fish, they felt that helping this stingray was always the right thing to do. Thinking about it now, it helped the group push a bit of the stress away. And so the team began leaving the little hole they had used for slumber, and continued following the borderline towards the west. A kilometer''s worth of travel managed to make the group think that all hopes were being lost. They kept seeing sharks but none of them were the ones that they seeked. It felt like the whole mission was going down the drain, but then something unique had managed to capture their attention! It was not necessarily rted to the main motive, but it sure managed to pique curiosity. From a far distance it seemed more like a dot, a weird pile of sand so to speak. But itsplexion became more apparent, the more this fine group travelled towards it. And once they had gotten close enough, it was noticeable that this thing was a sunken ship! A lot of woodwork covered it, so this could likely be a ship that had somehow malfunctioned over a couple hundred years ago. Once they got ufortably close to this contraption, it was easy to see that the main damage was dealt against the ship''s middle area. The whole thing was nearly split in half. So either tremendously strong weaponry had been used to render this vessel immobile, or another ship had purposely crashed against it. Seeing that the structure was near the borderline, it gave a hint that the second theory was usible. Regardless, such a sight was beautiful to say at least. And the thickly saturated blue-waters around here, made the scene appear a bit more beautiful. Sunlight had it difficult to reach all the way down here, over a hundred meters underwater. But the few beams that did manage to reach the spot, managed to give this contraption aplexing beauty. Dim but yet wide beams of light, shone through the ship''s rotten wood that was riddled with holes, thanks to the salt-coated aging process ~ this managed to give another shade of beauty. It was all nice and dandy, but once the group got too close, they noticed a bizarre characteristic. Timothy expected that a treasure chest would be found! But then he remembered that gold wasn''t used as a currency on the marine life, so that idea was swiftly erased with irritance as a tag-along. The odd thing about this ship, was that a coat of silver lining that wasid across the flooring of this structure. It stuck out like a sore thumb, eye-catching to say at least. Any idiot could figure out that a spotless lining of silver, should not be attached to a sunken ship but yet it was still there; and seemingly held the vessel together as well, keeping it from falling towards the void-like deeper portions of the ocean. It was noticeable that although the coating of silver spread across the ship''s bottom section a bit widely, this material was also rather thin as well. Interesting in many aspects to say at least. But now a prime question began itching everyone''s heads, and Timothy was the only one whocked patience enough to speak for everyone else. Although it felt a tad difficult to form a question, he still tried. "Can fishes poop silver?" Chapter 241: Silver tunnel Chapter 241: Silver tunnel "Fishes can definitely not poop silver... or whatever this thing is? I''m assuming that you know what silver actually is." Gech assured a tad swiftly, but his sentence had been slowed down by uncertainty. "Silver is a metal, it''s made from earth and stuff." The hero followed along, although he shifted the topic a tad bit. Not to forget, that statement was inurate in some aspects; but since neither of these fish were truly aware of what metal was, they suddenly saw the sea-pancake as a genius. Dana aided them to get back in the main topic, by questioning. "Okay but why is this ship filled with metal? I''ve never seen a sunken ship before, but are they supposed to be like this? Everything looks too spiffy." The good skeletondy carried a strong point. Because although thisplexity was an eye-sore: the thin metal that was coating this spot, gave a decipherable illusion that everything was in perfect order, clean so to speak. Not to mention, this oddity seemed very recent! As the silver ground appeared so fresh and new, that the slightest beams of light could be easily reflected from it! No one could give a proper answer to what the stingraydy had just asked, because this situation seemed just too different. And upon further inspection, they could see a tunnel-like entrance that stretched just about a foot wide. This led to another thought that was a tad firmer. Simply speaking, although this scene could be firmlybelled as bizarre, most of the group understood that a tunnel could lead to anything that was under the surface! So after a bit of contemtion, Timmy made a decision for everyone in the team. "I should explore that hole over there, you guys will stay here." "I''m not a guy." Osira corrected, her tone was calm and seemingly a bit hesitant to correct such matters. "Sorry missdy." The younger one followed along, truly apologetic. Yet the topic swiftly returned to the main one, as the geezer tried to discourage. "Do you really think that it''s worthwhile to go down there?" The crave for exploration was growing stronger, so the sea-pancake insisted. "Common man, do you know how rare this is? There might be something cool down there!" Using a further reference, the hero decided to remind. "One thing that this ocean has taught me, is that anyone could get powers so why shouldn''t I try my luck?" And with a wave of half-logic, he tried to seal the topic up by adding. "Besides, only you and I can fit through that tunnel. And if we both go down there, our friends up here can be attacked by sharks!" "We can protect ourselves." The ck-grouper was of course quick to add, because she was feeling just a tad offended. "Of course you can," Gech interrupted before the young boy could have said anything stupid. And then he continued, "His point is that more protection is better than less protection, if that makes sense?" Although still a bit pissed, Osira was reasonable of course. So she decided to move the conversation towards another direction, "Who''s going to protect him down there though?" The old man began embracing the idea of inspiration, so he tried to assure. "Himself, but can we really stop him though? This little rascal is obviously looking for treasure." And then the same man decided to seal the idea by weighing in, "Besides, it shouldn''t take too long." "Guh fine!" Osira replied and just hoped that her friend won''t do something stupid down there. As Timothy headed towards the tunnel with a strutt of confidence, a crack in his tone signified excitement. "It''s settled then, wait for me here!" And as he reached the tunnel, it took a bit of guts to enter the structure because it sure seemed creepy down there. Regardless, that hesitation onlysted a few seconds, because the little boy managed to find more reasons to continue sinking towards this rabbit hole. For example, this tunnel was coated with silver regardless of how deep he swam towards it. Which gave a sense offort, it made the little hero feel that a copse wouldn''t be possible thanks to these circumstances. Not to mention, the calmness and well-being in this area, allowed Tim to dwell into other thoughts as he sunk deeper towards this hole ~ because after all, there wasn''t anything better to do. It was noticeable that a full coat of silver, still surrounded this ongoing and snug structure; but it became more difficult to see by the passing second. So an option was to kill a little bit of time by embracing different thoughts. "I wonder if there are any sharks down here, could they fit?" He asked, speaking out loud because there was no one else around. [The smallest species, and or newborns could fit but there might not be any of those down here] Curiosity struck the hero once again, making him ask. "Why not?" [I have a sense that this tunnel will be a dead end, and no one stays in dead ends for long] He silently agreed to that thought, and just hoped that there was truly something down there that was worth the effort. But just now, he began noticing that the tunnel was a bit moreplex than he first had thought. Because it wasn''t exactly straight down, but had quite a few twists and turns. He could notice these soft changes in direction, because it would take a specific type of muscle work to swim in any direction. And until now, he was able to feel that he had swam upwards for tens of meters. It continued like that before he had to swim straight down once more. The sheer length of this tunnel began feeling fascinating; because in most cases, a tunnel that stretches just a few meters long, would feel utterly normal. But this one had stretched over a couple hundred meters long already! It began concerning the boy for a little bit, because just what could have made this long tunnel and why would they need to make it?! It felt like a great treasure was hiding on the other side, but an acute sense of danger was still developing! Along with that, he also felt that this tunnel might never end. Such a train of thought was illogical to say at least, but nothing about this tunnel made any sense either. So no idea could be discriminated, even though they waged war against each other! What gave the boy a bit of hope, had happened only after a couple hundred meters after he had entered the tunnel! The darkness he was constantly swimming through, was suppressing to say at least. But now, he could see a tremendously faint bit of light, illuminating from the other side! Chapter 242: Confusion Chapter 242: Confusion This dim bit of light had given the young hero enough motivation, to swim faster than ever towards it! Because although this tunnel had not proven dangerous, it weighed him down on psychological aspects. He had been travelling through for half an hour only, yet this had managed to tick every bit of nerves he had. Theck of illumination here was one aspect that put weight on his fins, but anotheryer of anxiety had kicked in. And it solely had to do with the fact of just how long the tunnel was. It continued to give a great sense that it was not natural! The levels of stress that such an aspect unleashed, was uncharted! Since this structure was highly unnatural, couldn''t it bring along insanity-embracing results, such as failing to provide a way out? All of those worries were left behind by every fin-p against the waters, as he swam towards the light with top speed. And likewise, the same illumination only got closer. What had managed to make Timmy slow down, was logic itself. Because after he figured out that this tunnel had managed to project sound, it only felt logical to slow down and observe rather than rush in like a maniac. He could hear countless fish swimming on the other side, it aided him to be more and more alert. These sounds teamed up with one another and sted through the tunnel, in exchange that managed to create countless echoes! So with a strut of carefulness, he approached towards the other end, and tried to stalk whatever was swimming here on the other side. His level of camouge in this overall structure, had been quickly proven as quite aughing stock. Because the tunnel was still coated with silver, it wasn''t the best ce for a stingray to be sneaky over. Along with the fact that this ce had a weird source of illumination, it made it tremendously difficult for Timothy to hide anywhere. Yet regardless, no fish rushed towards him to bring trouble along. This made the situation even weirder, because he could swear that there was life around here. After a few minutes of contemtion, he decided to just get on with it and explore whatever was on the other side. So with a bit of extended carefulness, he swam forward! And it was fair to say that the contents of this ce did not fail to prove itself amazing! Because for a start, the sources of light here seemed tremendously interesting, and somewhat impossible. There were countless gem-like things, that were embedded with the walls around here. They provided a seemingly endless amount of white-light across this structure! But furthermore, what the hero had found was a huge cavern! Mathematics still wasn''t the sea-pancake''s trump card, but this ce had to be over two-hundred-meters long. And apart from that, the ceiling was mostly thirty-meters away from the flooring, which made the whole structure appear even more roomier. The attempt toprehend this scene alone, was extraordinarily difficult. Because there were aspects that made this ce seem natural and unnatural at the same time! This managed to raise a question in Tim''s mind, and of course he instantly put it into words. "How deep are we, system?" [About three-hundred-and-seventy-six-meters deep] She was quick to answer, with absolute uracy being her guarantee. Such a statistic led to another question, of which he instantly asked. "Isn''t this depth supposed to crush me?" [Not at all. The sea-pressure isn''t going against you, but it''s weighing on the ceiling that''s above your head, instead. It is withstanding all the pressure, therefore it allows you to roam freely] Such a statement made sense, and the hero could only agree with it. So he fetched a few previous thoughts, and began unraveling them to make a theory regarding what was happening around here. Tim gazed towards the quantities of fish that were roaming above his head, and guessed that there had to be at least three-hundred of them dwelling in this cavern! Neither of them seemed to be nning to attack him either, but that was not the point. There were portions of this ce where it was noticeable, that small quantities of silver had beenid over. This silver was likely used to support this ce, all for the sake of giving it more stability. Such a thought had managed to give a hint, that whatever was releasing this silver, had quite a decent level of intelligence. The unleasher of pure silver, had managed to find weak spots in this cavern; and fixed it up by patching those spots withyers of silver! Such a detail was easy to spot but it also gave grand hints, which managed to seal the theory that this little man was building. The idea was that this cavern had been originally natural. This was easy to figure out, because most of this ce was not covered with this shiny metal. And since there was a three-hundred-meter long tunnel that led all the way down here: it gave a proper hint that someone or something, had specifically looked for an under-the-sea cavern. This led to the prime thought, that whatever creature stood behind this whole operation, was powerful beyond typicalprehension. These waves of thoughts were tooplexing for Timothy''s noggin. So a headache hade along with a few shocks of shortsting pain, he was not used to thinking this much. So the best solution seemed to slow down with the brain storming. And after pushing those thoughts aside by the slightest, he headed towards the biggest group of fish, and managed to fit in with them rather swimmingly. These fish weren''t exactly big, and this made quite some sense because the tunnel that brought them here, was just less than a foot wide. So obviously, colossal squids could not fit in here. What grew to be a firm fact, was that the sheer quantity of fish that were dwelling in this structure; had riddled the boy with an urge to begin attacking everyone! It seemed like a bountiful idea, because the amount of system points that could be won here, can help buy that expensive upgrade! But at the same time, killing anything here sounded like a tremendously stupid move. Because right now he had managed to fit in with the rest, which itself was a great level of camouge! If he just began stabbing and biting everyone, he would be easy to spot by any creature that stood superior over the others. So for now, the main goal became to lurk around here and try to figure out just what the hell was going on! Apart from that, an itching question was reverberating through his mind. Was there a big gain hidden in the briefplexion of this cavern? Chapter 243: Patterns Chapter 243: Patterns It was difficult to understand just why this ce was practically over-popted with fish, but nothing could be done if he stayed in one ce and waited for information toe along. So with a good motive, the young hero continued dwelling through the crowds. And eventually, he began noticing an annoying pattern. Regardless of where he swam, it was an inevitable fate to crash against another fish and lose orientation. It can be considered as lowly impacting, as he didn''t lose any health, but it was tremendously annoying. Apart from that, it managed to raise a grand question. Why is it so easy to bump against them? The first thought after that self-generated question, was that these creatures were just too annoying and dumb. It especially felt so, after another random fish had bumped up against him just a moment after! Regardless, after he pushed anger and curses away, Timmy noticed what can bebelled as a little clue. The same fish that had bumped into him just now, had gagged out a chunk of dirt. Normally that wouldn''t be too weird, but in this ce, every little detail should be paid attention towards. He wanted to focus on this detail, but that was when a bundle of other fish had managed to capture his attention. These fish were swimming straight up for some strange reason. This felt especially odd, after considering that the rest of the fish in this cavern, were not following that odd direction. Whatever question he had about the behaviour of which these fish showed, was reced by more questions. Because after he swam towards the cavern''s ceiling for the sake of observation, he noticed quite a strange behaviour. For some reason, these odd fish were biting through the ceiling; they were taking one tiny chunk after the other. If he could approach any closer without standing out like a sore thumb: he would know that these fish were putting in work, for the sake of making the ceiling appear smoother. Regardless of that little detail that had been missed, the sea-pancake could still connect the patterns that hid behind these actions. All of the fish in this cavern were working to make the structure look better, or at least more stable! Considering that patches of silver had been spread around here and there, it proved a point about the need for stability in this ce. But then another itching question emerged, why were they trying to make use of this cavern? Why were they putting in this much effort to make everything look right? That query had motivated the hero to dwell a bit deeper through this cavern, for the sake of discovering more clues. He eventually noticed that it wasn''t dangerous to move around here, even though it became annoying with all these fish bumping against him. Theck of danger gave the radiating perk of freedom. So he piled up a bit of bravery to separate from the masses, and search through what just had caught his eye! On one corner of the cavern, there were a few openings that gave the preview of tunnel entrances. They were just a couple of feet wide, each; but surely managed to catch Tim''s attention, he felt pressured to check them out. It took just a couple of minutes to reach these tunnels, because this ce was easy to move around, although it wasrge for an underground structure. So of course, this had made it much easier to instantly begin exploring this tunnel. What managed to give him a sense offort, was how a few patches of silver were spread around these tunnels. It almost assured that the structure won''t copse over him, because these tes of silver seemed enduring even though they were thin. Upon a bit of thought, he decided to enter the tunnel that was at the very top of this bundle. Although the thought itself was a bit random, the tunnel at the top gave a small sense of order and safety. What continued to givefort, was the fact that if he could not figure out anything new from this first tunnel, the other ones below, could be thoroughly checked as well. Illumination wasn''t a problem whatsoever, that was something easy to notice once he dwelled a bit deeper towards the chosen tunnel. As there was another one of theserge and white gems, who aided to provide a gentle ray of light towards this ce. This gem was located in the middle of the tunnel, quite easy to swim towards for the sake of observation; and now might be the best time to do exactly so. Upon close-up inspection, he somewhat understood how these things worked. But at the same time, it was tremendously difficult to understand how it was possible. The gem seemed to have just a couple ofyers. The outer one behaved like transparent ss, and had a duty to guard the inneryer of the gem. Because it was this inneryer, who provided this wless illumination. This gem was like a lightbulb, except it had more sharp corners and seemed more expensive! Regardless of how difficult it was to understand these things, the hero could still release a wave of appreciation. These things were beautiful for sure, and he wasn''t smart enough to understand some weird gem anyway, so why bother making things even moreplicated? Instead, he began recalling the prior motive and mumbled it too. "Okay, I saw this lightbulb long enough. Now I must search the rest of this tunnel." And afterwards he tried to attain a bit more focus, by repeating. "Must search, must search! Yes." With that mindset, he continued swimming deeper towards the tunnel and enjoyed the amount of illumination that was spread across this area. It aided to figure out even the slightest details, which was a rather good blessing. And after a few more meters, he met with what seemed like a dead end. But just a few more nces aided to figure out that it was not a dead end, but the tunnel curled directly downwards instead! To swim down, he just had to stop moving around and allow himself to sink like a rock. He could have swam down here easier if he just took a sharp turn with admirable speed, but that wasn''t a good idea. This whole territory was foreign, and it was difficult to understand if there were any risk factors to be spoken of, so he had to be careful for the sake of feeding paranoia. Contrary to all expectations, Timothy did not find any living being once sinking downwards. What he found instead, was a true dead end that carried a stacking of brick-like items. These things were green in colour, and projected a faint ray of light that shared the same shade. Within a slight moment, he figured out what these things were and felt his heart bing heavy! Chapter 244: RGALMCMMO-R Chapter 244: RGALMCMMO-R "Not this bullshit again!" He shouted with all of his power, and was clearly pissed beyondprehension. In any normal situation where he had to be sneaky, such a shout would surely allure trouble. But there were a couple hundred fish in the vicinity, and they would muffle all single sounds; even if they just had to swim in order to achieve such results. So it was fair to say that the hero was safe in this spot, but right now that didn''t feel like a blessing. It was easy to determine who possessed such green-bricks, the holy-tar sect of course. And they are supposed to be a few kilometres below the water''s surface, but yet here they are again, likely aiming to cause trouble. It wasn''t difficult to figure out why they were here, surely it had to do something with asserting territorial dominance. The enemy sect was simple minded like that, although it is obvious that the tools they are using are far moreplicated, when put under briefparison. As the little hero began debating what he should do regarding this whole weird issue, the system found an appropriate time for once, to add her own thoughts in. [For a second, let''s not focus on why the holy-tar members are here] [Let us focus on the bricks, can you bite them?] "Why would I want to bite this weird brick? They use this shit to make holy-pools!" Timothy instantly refused, because even he could figure out that this was a horrible idea. [They do, but have you asked yourself how that happens?] [Why do they use these things to make holy-pools? What are these bricks made of? Who makes them?] And the moment he began processing these questions, he could already feel a headache developing. Just pondering over one question, led to feeling a shocking pinch on his head; putting such logical patterns together, still refused to be his trump card. And before he could have synced towards an endless abyss of thinking, the system decided to interrupt once more. [Through your eyes, I have managed to observe these bricks enough to make a theory. Now I need you to just touch these bricks, if not bite them] It felt tremendously difficult to agree with the system''s decision, but she had not been wrong throughout most of the time. So what could the risk be if he listened to her again? After a bit of contemtion, he didn''t say a thing and just approached the brick. With a bit of hesitation, he floated over it andnded there. Contrary to all expectations, the brick did not unleash anything dangerous. It just continued to be a weird brick, and such a result wasn''t even favourable. "You made me touch a brick for nothing, but at least it isn''t dangerous." He celebrated, but at the same time felt sad that nothing happened. Such a train of thought was bizarre to say at least, but now he felt almost certain that the system won''t be able to discover anything new. Everything about his feelings right now, felt like a never-ending paradox. He wanted to know more about the enemy tribe, but at the same time: he wanted to leave this tar business in the past. Fighting them through the reef was just too time and energy consuming, not to mention he almost died a handful of times through the process. Feeling certain that he won''t be able to narrow down his thoughts and wishes, the best decision seemed to stop thinking. And that was exactly what he did. Thanks to that decision, it felt like his brain untangled and unravelled stress along with it. The best solution was to explore this cavern more, for the sake of feeling prepared against the enemy sect, if it bes a bigger problemter on. [My theory has just been proven correct] "What do you mean?" Timmy questioned, just a few seconds after. He needed a moment to catch up with what the system had to say, because that storm of thoughts from just a moment ago, was truly energy consuming. [This thing isn''t really a brick, it''s a container] Clueless at this point, he followed along with a simple question. "Erg, what does that mean?" [This brick, is some metal material that contains a stronger substance in the inside] [I don''t know how this sect forges ores into this shape, but the contents that it carries is far more powerful than the metal itself] [In short words, they use this brick-shaped metal container to transport a substance] He had to ponder over this information multiple times, but eventually caught up on the whole deal. The hero became aware enough to ask a question that made the slightest sense, "Do you know what''s in these bricks? What substance is strong enough to make fish-kind learn cksmithing, just so they don''t have to touch it?" [Judging from the effects that this substance has radiated through the brick, and towards your skin ~ I managed to put up a believable pattern, of what these bricks are containing] "Tell me already, this is making me too curious." The sea-pancake followed along, feeling his skin itch with the urge for knowledge. [These bricks contain: refined, gics altering; living, multi-celled and mutated micro organisms, who are just swimming in a small pool of purified radiation] [Or RGALMCMMO-R for short, you can call then like that too] Although he was stupid in some aspects, he could notice when things were tremendously odd. That was why he asked, "How the hell did you figure that out by just making me sit over a brick?" [I''m alive for sixteen-hundred years, I have sensed many substances through the many fish that I had hosted. Putting up an understandable pattern is easy for me] "Do you at least know why they use these in pools?" It felt like a worthy question to ask, smart as well to a certain extent. [No, I have never seen the full process of a holy-pool creation so I can''t give you any firm theories] [Also, I''d rmend you to swim away from these bricks] That rmendation took only a second to follow. He did not want to touch anything radioactive, but the things he had to do in this new life seemed unrealistically conflicting! A second after, the system found it appropriate to slowly and casually introduce a dilemma that wasn''t nearly expected, but also made a bit of sense. [Although the radiation hidden within this brick is pure, it is still dangerous. So you are in the process of developing level-one skin cancer] Chapter 245: Knocking boost Chapter 245: Knocking boost "Did you seriously just give me cancer?" Timothy asked, as he sensed his stomach-area feeling weird. [Technically the green-brick has given you skin cancer, but yes] Under these new circumstances, the first thing that he wanted to ask was. "Am I going to die?" [No. Well, at least you won''t die directly from skin cancer.] Such a sentence felt quite heavy for sure, but at least the system was trying to be statistically correct. And she continued to decipher the topic afterwards, [The chances of you dying from this disease are almost impossible. You would have to be very unlucky, or horribly stupid to die from this] And for the sake of self-praise, she sealed it up by adding. [You have me as an in-built ocean survival system, so that lowers the chances of you dying from this dilemma, to zero-point-five percent] With those facts considered, the stingray could heave out a sigh of relief. But paranoia was still lurking in a corner of his consciousness. So he swam away from the bricks,id his back over the tunnel''s sandy flooring, and then expanded the third-person-view map. He managed to notice that his yellow belly, had been suddenly coated with a few snake-shaped lines, that carried a light blue colour. It didn''t hurt, but managed to give a bit of an itch. Such an addition wasn''t irritating enough to take his attention hostage, but it was still there. So it made the boy ask a question, "Is this bad? Will it be painful?" [Highly unlikely. Apart from that, the cancer cells themselves will disappear over time. You just need to eat health-raising foods] "That''s not so bad." He answered and unleashed another sigh of relief. Afterwards he rolled over to a normalying position, and instantly noticed how his skin felt more irritated than ever, by the sand. Such a result made him jump a little bit, for the sake of avoiding a devastating itch! Now he was floating a foot above the sand, and had the time to think a bit more for this overall situation. Unsurprisingly, the first emotion he had managed to find was unsainted anger. But at least he was capable to bash rationality through that emotion, which had helped him reach a certain realisation. Which had made him unleash a roaring demand, "I got cancer because of you, can''t I get a reward now?" [I was getting to that] [You have aided me to discover new information regarding the holy-tar''s methods. So naturally, such rare information is rewarded] [As a prize for your contribution to such a matter, you just have received three-hundred system points] [Since you have risked a lot by touching a radioactive brick, for the sake of letting me attain information, you''re being rewarded with an additional two-hundred-and-fifty system points] [And since you have gotten cancer due to the same reasons, you have received another one-hundred system points] [Naturally, I want you to survive for longer, since you are helping me achieve such valuable information. That was why you have gotten three varieties of rewards] [Total system points = 844] Joy was evidently growing in his soul, it almost felt like cancer itself was worth getting, because all he had to do was sit on a brick. Since such a train of thought was developing, he couldn''t help thinking. "Can''t believe that I got cancer, just to be smarter." Of course these couple of things had no direct rtion, but this amount of points wasrge enough to buy the creative intelligence upgrade. [Speaking of that, would you like to purchase the option?] "Yes." He assured, but the situation had made him forget what came along with an upgrade, pain. [Confirmed] Just a secondter, he felt a sharp pain that had struck right in the middle of his brain. And its effects were strong enough to instantly knock him out cold! It took more than an hour for him to wake up again, but of course the boy had no track of time at this point, neither did he n to pay attention towards such an aspect. So he didn''t have the slightest clue, regarding how long he was asleep. What he was granting all of his thoughts towards, was the splitting headache that had been wide-spread across his head. It was throbbing to the point of feeling like a heart-beat, and it didn''t give a hint of slowing down. Throughout the pain, he managed to build up a question. "Why did this upgrade hurt so much?" [Your creative intelligence was high to begin with. And when that was paired with a purchase that upgraded the same portion of the brain, by a third; massive pain was the inevitable] [By the way, the upgrade isplete] [Your current creative intelligence = one-hundred-and-ny points] [800-system-points have been consumed] [44-system-points remaining] After hearing those notifications, he submerged towards a bit of half-efforted contemtion; and managed to find a bnce of rational enthusiasm. That was why he slightly hollered, "I''m poor again, but at least I''m an ultra genius now!" [Your other types of intelligences are still admittedly low. But right now you should be the smartest marine animal on earth, in terms of creative intelligence at least] Although a hint of celebration began to grow in his noggin, he still had it difficult to understand where the benefits of this upgrade were. His head continued to throb, and he did not notice any new or smart thoughts. Through these moments, it didn''t feel like the upgrade was worthwhile. But at least the upgrade had been bought, so new ones could be unlocked now. And the system didn''t fail to get right towards that point. [Three purchase options have been unlocked, would you like to hear them out?] Although the headache did not allow him to think clearly, even he could notice that it might not be the best time to chatter with the system here for too long. Sure this ce was a bit secure since it was a tad hidden from the rest of the cavern, but it was also made certain that this situation had be more chaotic than expected. Because whatever was going on in this cavern, the holy-tar sect was behind it and that could never be a good thing. That was why he wanted to focus on just how to destroy this foul enemy, rather than chatter with the system. But curiosity was still there, blooming at a pace that made it feel impossible to reject its thorns. Likewise, he gave out a swift agreement. "Sure, but make it quick. I probably can''t buy anything anyway." Chapter 246: Battle-analyst Chapter 246: Battle-analyst [Purchase option number-one = upgrade sniffing senses to level-two] [Price = 50-system-points] He wasn''t quite sure how to feel about such an upgrade. Sure it seemed useful since it was a primary upgrade, but what use did it have? The boy could still sniff even prior to such an upgrade, but he didn''t find much use out of it. These particr senses still felt highly under-developed, so he never actually relied on them through any situation that this ocean had thrown against him. So the only emotion that Timmy could understand out of this, was the feeling that he was not impressed. This upgrade was yet to be explored, but thankfully it seemed pretty cheap. The hero didn''t really react to this first option, so of course the system was given just a bit more space to decipher the other buyable upgrades. [Purchase option number two = increase depth durability, by a hundred meters more] [Price = 270-system-points] Such a recitation had made the boy bulge his eyes wide open, as curiosity grew in his consciousness. And of course he could recognize how wonderful this opportunity was. Likewise he wanted this topic to be expanded, therefore he praised. "Wow, that''s a big upgrade! I expected a lot less." And for once, the system actually stopped and followed along with such a sentence. [It''s practically nothing when we consider how deep the ocean is, so you''re still scratching the surface] [You can currently withstand 240-meters of oceanic depth. So even after the upgrade is bought, this particr portion of your abilities, would still be low inparison to what is achievable in the long term] "It still sounds like a good upgrade though," The young one added, trying to remain positive. A further reference wasn''t given to this topic from the other side of the stick, especially since this upgrade could not be bought; so likewise, the system could continue listing down what was left. [Purchase option number-three = Unlock the blue-moon-ability] [Price = 130-system-points] "Uh... what is that?" Timothy was quick to ask, feeling utterly lost after hearing out the upgrade. [You''re not supposed to know, but I can describe it briefly to you] "I appreciate that," The blue-dotted menace followed along, meaning every word as his face shone with excitement. [The blue-moon-ability is an attack that can be unleashed at a short range at first, but gradually increases in power and range] That barely made any sense, as it didn''t describe the power at all. The system noticed this bewildered confusion that stormed the guest''s mind, therefore she decided to reveal just a bit more information regarding this power. [This attack has illusion properties included in it, and uses the sea-water''s blue colours to create that illusion. So the name isn''t just for show] [Once purchased, this power can be used limitless, but it will take time and effort to master the move and the patterns behind it. However, it should feel worthwhile] He still didn''t understand what this power was all about, but also understood that he could not ask any more questions. The system had spoken more than it is supposed to regarding the topic, so it felt rude to ask more about it. Instead, he grew more and more excited towards purchasing this great power. Of course that seemed like something for the future, since he didn''t have enough system points to buy it ~ but at least it was something to look forward to! Such a list of new upgrades, had made the young boy forget that he had gotten cancer just a few moments ago. Not to mention, he forgot everything about those green-bricks, and the stunning fact that these tools were over four-hundred-meters under the surface. Considering how much this day had thrown against him, it made sense how one would forget a few things - because after all, his little brain could onlyprehend so much. What helped him get back on track, was the sight of a fish that had poked its nose in the specific tunnel where Timothy was at. It had gotten too close, and right now it seemingly posed a threat. The fish''s body was restless, and it was twitching a little bit as well: but fear was not in its eyes. On the contrary, this thing was ready to attack. But at least, one thing that stood as an evident advantage, was the split-second of time that the hero was given. The newer had locked eyes with the sea-pancake for a split second, before it inevitably attacked! That had given him just a nudge of time, that was used to leap from the sand and prepare for the battle! Although the given time was advantageous, it didn''t prove to be enough. As the enemy had already gotten close enough, and crashed against Tim! Thankfully, the damage it inflicted, wasn''t enough to be considered as anything worthwhile by the system; she did not notify the little boy about any health loss, meaning there wasn''t any to be spoken of! He had bought a couple of durability upgrades before, so theck of damage made a lot of sense here! Although the collision wasn''t impactful in that aspect, the attack was still heavy: it had managed to drag him across the salty-waters for a couple of feet, but thankfully he knew what to do next. In terms of overallprehension of any situation, the hero wasn''t the best at it. But when it came to battles, it was the one thing that he could easily understand and work-up an idea to use. He wasn''t nearly cloud-minded about it, and actually thought of a handful of ideas ~ these thoughts had to do with unleashing a counter attack, and he decided to pick the one that made more sense. So after slipping away from the enemy''s bull-like attack, his stomach clenched for the sake of pushing his fins forward! In exchange, those same fins had pped against the enemy''s skin; this had allowed the hero to cling over the enemy''s back, so now they were closer than ever but this solely worked to Timmy''s advantage! Chapter 247: Pumping throb Chapter 247: Pumping throb Just a blinkter, his barb curled downwards with the aid of all those muscles that were hidden in that marvelous tail! This led to leaving a gruesomely deep wound against the enemy''s lower back! And such a result, had allowed the sea-pancake to give a good nce at the enemy, and he became a bit baffled right away. This enemy seemed below average in some aspects, too slim so to say ~ and the natural weaponry it carried, didn''t seem extraordinary either. So what has motivated this ck-coloured fish to attack so ferociously? Timmy could not wrap his head around this whole situation. However, what aided this counter attack to the furthest extent, was the fact that they both crashed against the tunnel''s walls! They had smashed against the same portion, that had beenbelled as a dead-end, earlier on. So ultimately, the enemy had been forced towards visual and mental blurriness; as a crash against such a strong dirty wall, was not so easy on the noggin. This crash had given the advantage of time, because the hero had attained a few more seconds to further pressure the enemy towards a yield! Likewise, he attacked once more and this time young Tim did not bother totch on the enemy. Instead, he just floated close enough and begannding one stab after the other against this weirdly aggressive fish! Since the size differences between these couple ofbatants was not drastic, it wasn''t necessarily difficult to kill this foul attacker! Such a swift kill makes sense in a sort of way, since this heroic stingray was quite used to ughter! So every strike from his side, was stronger inparison to what any of the same species could deliver! These circumstances had forced the enemy to reveal it''s belly towards this tunnel''s ceiling. Or short said, this fish was as good as dead! So likewise, the system came along with a handful of notifications. [Dwarfntern shark killed, three-system-points have been given to you as a reward] [Since this kill was a system given task, you also received an additional three-points] [Total system points = 50] "It was that easy?" He thought out, and was feeling a bit blessed thanks to this opportunity. He knew thatpleting tasks faster, ultimately led to achieving a bigger health-bar in the future! So the sense of achievement after everypleted task, felt quite marvelous. And of course, the system didn''t bother to engage in conversation, and instead deciphered. [Consuming this species will have a positive effect on your emotional intelligence, for a time-span of an hour] "Really?" He questioned right away, feeling a bit sceptical about such a concept. [Yes, really] The system had never lied until now, so the sea-disk couldn''t find any reasons to avoid trying such food out. And not to forget, eating a shark of any type was quite a boost to his ego. Even though he had it difficult toprehend that sharks can be this small, that thought was swiftly pushed aside as he got closer to take a chunk of meat off this carcass. Although he was hesitant for just a moment, chewing through this enemy was not totally avoided. He eventually took a bite, and it almost felt like the effect was instant - because just a moment after, he felt an excruciatingly sharp pain on his head! Unsurprisingly, pain of such a volume had managed to knock him out cold! And of course, such a result made it difficult to understand just how much this branch of intelligence had been raised. Even if the system had described the specifics, it felt like an impossible deal for him to remember anything. The best option now was for him to wake up soon, and analyseter. What came as unexpected, was the fact that he woke up just a few minutes afterwards. It was unusual to say at least, because such mental upgrades should take hours to recover from! Regardless of how bizarre this situation was, the overall result was still advantageous; because such an upgrade had a short time-span. After all it was just temporary, so it''s good that he woke up quickly. But with such a great win, came a downside that was tremendously difficult to ignore. A headache along with a pumping throb, had spread across his forehead and it felt almost impossible to manage. He couldn''t really think straight, and it might likely take quite a long time for the effects of intelligence to be felt; which made such an upgrade feel a bit contradictory to its own intent. Because if it can''t be even fully used, then what''s the point of having it temporarily upgraded? What helped understand this upgrade more, and at the same time unleashed a wave of amazement, was the system''s reminder that deciphered specifics. [Your emotional intelligence has been upgraded with an additional one-hundred-and-ny points for a time-span of an hour] [Your total emotional intelligence currently is two-hundred-and-sixty-five points] Such numbers felt great indeed. Factually, this was the highest he had achieved in any type of intelligence, it almost made the pain seem worthwhile. But right now he could not notice where the benefits of this upgrade were, his head was just hurting too much. So understandably, Timmy began focusing towards another dilemma, which was the holy-tar sect. It was not certain if this wretched organisation, was directly linked to whatever was happening in this cavern right now: but such a thought didn''t feel illogical. This little shark that had just attacked him, wasn''t contaminated in any way. Such a fact wasfortable because it meant that a holy-tar pool, had not influenced such illogical and violent behaviour. It was relieving to think about that, but then again this had managed to make everything even more confusing. Timmy was in no condition to think, but one thing he knew for sure: wherever the sect poked its ugly head, insanely staggering trouble followed along. So although he was still dumbfounded by this whole situation, he still had motivation to explore the problem. Those green-bricks had been found here after all, so there should be more trouble to explore before making a proper decision. That was why he began leaving the tunnel, and peeked at the crowd of fish that simply seemed unbothered. They continued to work with whatever their minds were set up to, and firmly ignored the hero''s existence. Chapter 248: Word warrior Chapter 248: Word warrior Although the massive crowd of various fish was quite some distance away, it wasn''t exactly difficult to rejoin them and disappear between these masses. His splitting headache was gradually reducing as well, so he managed to think of something smart once more! Fair to say, things began working his way a little bit. However, the idea was to pretend like he worked, for the sake of avoiding any unwanted attention. It should work out fine as the idea sounds simple enough. Although it firmly seemed like a method to escape trouble, there were understandable reasons behind it. The prime example was that he didn''t exactly feel ready to fight anyone or anything, so the most logical decision was to wait until this headachepletely disappeared. Either that, or at least until he could think of a smart way to advance against the enemy; if there was an enemy be spoken of that is. It was noticeably convenient how making such a n, was firmly linked with exploration. Because pretending to work, easily allows him to swim from one end of the cavern to the other, without standing out whatsoever. And evidently, having a firm understanding of what this ce was about, ultimately meant that he could build up a better n. So overall, his decision to explore the vicinity can be considered as golden! It was an especially good decision, after considering that he could possibly be battling the holy-tar sect once more. It wasn''t a bad idea to be prepared for the worst against such a matter. Because after all, this sect was strong enough to bring destruction and misery towards anywhere they went! They cannot be underestimated! And this task of eradicating this ursed sect, could not be taken lightly! Getting back to his main idea... it wasn''t necessarily difficult to pick what to do, in order to appear like he was working. Most of these fish were just carrying rocks and dirt: for the sake of throwing them in a lower portion of this whole cavern. Such a task itself was not difficult to do. That and it led to exploring another portion of the cavern, that was pretty much on the other side of the whole natural structure! He had followed a few tunnels that twisted and turned their way, towards a smaller portion of the vicinity. This spot had mainly stones as walls, which didn''t fail to make this situation a bit weird: because a prime question was raised. Why were these hundreds of fish, transferring debris towards a spot that seemed more usable, inparison to the rest of this cavern? Sure this spot was smaller, but it was far more stable. Timmy could not understand any reason behind such actions, but he could be close to figuring it out. Because his headache was slowly dissipating. It felt as if needles were being pulled out of his brain, one after the other. He spat a rock out of his mouth of which he had been carrying, for the sake of appearing like he was working; And then started understanding why this headache was disappearing so quickly. Physicalbour! Constant movement, and the fact that he had carried a rock that was heavy for his size, meant that his entire organs had been functioning to support such work! Unsurprisingly, the constant blood rush had washed away the effects on the brain that had been wearing him down. So after he brought yet another rock to this same portion of the cavern, for the sake of appearing like he was working, most of the headache had gone away! And conveniently, there were less fish in this smaller area this time, so it became easier to observe what this ce had to offer. This ce was snug inparison to the bigger cavern, it was just about twenty meters wide. That and it was spherically shaped to say at least. There were these same white-gems who provided illumination in this ce, and such a tool had helped himprehend a hint that had been overlooked so far; these fish were not just randomly dropping bits of rock and dirt! No no, that was not the case. Instead, they were carefully and strategically cing the debris, for the sake of shaping a proper ce for a pool! Or best described, they were creating a floor that had a hole in it. Such a structure was great for holding any liquids. And since they were already underwater, clearly this spot was being designed to hold a heavier liquid! "Most perplexing," He softly spoke out, and just realised what he had said. Although it wasn''t drastic, he didn''t expect himself to use suchnguage that sounded smart and refined. It felt like a loss of identity for a second, because Gech was the only one who used such ways of expression. Regardless of such an odd twist, his focus returned towards the empty pool''s infrastructure. But that focus had been swiftly cut short, because a bigger figure weighed in these waters ~ with both heavier actions and dialogue. "Why are you cking around, ve?" Obviously, nothing about such a question was well-intended. And after Timothy turned around, he noticed that the dirty-mouthed marine animal was actually an eel! It was easy to state that the sea-pancake absolutely loathed eels of any kind, and this elongated bastard had just given him another reason to feed such deep-rooted hatred! Upon further observation, before the hero uttered a single word: it was noticeable that this eel, was more powerful inparison to any others! Simply because this beast was longer, chubbier and that slimy-looking brown skin was only an eye candy; that drove attention away from this animal''s pointy, long, and disgusting teeth! But now was not the time to be fearful towards such aspects. On the contrary, it was time to answer back! And he had gathered up more than a fewebacks that would irritate if not offend, anyone who was the victim of such a sentence. Yet contrary to everything that the boy wanted to say, another form of expression began domineering his conscious! And unsurprisingly, it swiftly affected his vocal interjection too! "Bodily very is pale inparison to whatever is taking your mind as a hostage. Isn''t your attitude nothing but a veil that covers your insecurities, of which radiate stronger than anything that your critique can muster up?" Timothy slowly recited, utterly shocking the enemy with such a level of insight! But the little menace did not stop there, he continued by also adding. "You are either someone who is ipetent to perform simple tasks, therefore you force other fish to do the work for you ~ or your significance iscking enough that you have been sent out to deal with thesebouring ves?" And what sealed this multiple edged offense, was a simple question that was unleashed by the same little boy. He simply asked, "Now tell me, which poison is your mind being wrecked with?" Chapter 249: Crazed eel Chapter 249: Crazed eel Unsurprisingly, the enemy eel began weeping like a little baby. In the beginning, what Tim had said did not make much sense ~ but after such ways of expression were contemted, the eel couldn''t help but question his own existence. What started out as a small weep, continued to be a semi-crazed mental breakdown. The eel swam towards this little cavern''s flooring, and rolled on it as if he wanted to shake something off his skin! Such a strong action didn''t exactly fit a saddened fish, but in this case it was convenient although this sort of damage seemed minor to say, at least. It did, until the system came along to announce something around this very same topic. [Congrattions, you are pushing the enemy towards insanity] "It seems so. I feel a bit sad for this preposterous bastard." He followed along, proving that no level of intelligence would stop his faultynguage. Although emotionally he was more than a genius, logically he was stillcking behind. So he turned all attention towards the system and asked, "What should I do to him now?" This was a unique situation, so he didn''t exactly know how to approach it. When it came to practicing any battle against an enemy, he was tremendously self dependent. But here it seems like the situation should be approached differently, at least that''s what he felt. Yet contrary to expectations, the system simply answered. [Just kill him quickly before more fish arrive here] [After you kill him, swim away towards the big cavern so no one could remember who the killer was] He grew hesitant towards such a n, and the root of that emotion was easily deciphered as he asked. "But is it really worth it? He''s already going crazy, why should he be punished more?" Just as that question was asked, he noticed the same eel charging directly towards him with a speed that can not be underestimated! Timothy''s reflexes were quite honed by now, thanks to the countless battles he had participated in; so he managed to p the water with his fins, for the sake of lunging backwards and buying himself some time! The original idea was to point his tail forward, and just let the enemy smash its head against the marvelous weaponry. But that was rendered out as an option. Simply because the two-meter-long eel''s momentum was plentiful enough, to push the hero off bnce! His tail ended up scratching the enemy''s back, but that cut was only a foot long and it wasn''t deep either - so it can bebelled as practically ineffective against such a fat monster! The enemy continued swimming forward, and eventually smashed against one of the little cavern''s walls. Such an impact wasn''t strong enough to kill the sted eel, but it did aid to embrace craze! And although an instant kill had not been inflicted by the hero, there was another result that proved to be advantageous! The long-bodied marine animal, had crashed against the wall hard enough to slow himself down. Now this monster was trying to shake the numbness away, as the crash had minorly paralyzed a portion of his back muscles! The system found this opportunity as a golden one, to express. [You didn''t want to kill this eel, now look how the situation is ying out] [You need to remember! A crazy enemy is worse than a stable one, use your time wisely!] Just as that sentence was uttered out, the same eel began rising from that crash and seemed quite ready tounch another attack! Likewise, it charged just a second after with speeds that were slower inparison to the first attack, but still seemed lethal! In a matter of a blink, the fat monster had reached Timothy and even began pping its jaws for the sake of ripping him into shreds! With quite some confidence, the sea-disk faced the enemy. And then began putting into motion, a move that had proved useful more than a handful of times in the past. Once more, he lunged backwards and poked his tail forwards as quickly as he could! The enemy arrived sooner than expected, but that wasn''t necessarily a problem. Because it''s head still ended up smashing against the hero''s barb! The damage seemed almost instant! Although the stingray got dragged across the cavern for a few meters, thanks to the momentum of which this eel had built up; the situation still developed to his favour! This enemy''s movements were simply slowing down at a drastic pace so to speak; leaving the hero with no doubt that this foul attacker was meeting an end! This felt like a marvelous win, it was amazing how effective a strike against the head can be, even against an enemy of such a soul-shaking size. And as always, the system came along with notifications that specifically originated around this battle. [Slender giant moray-eel killed. One-hundred-and-fifty system points have been given to you as a reward] [Total system points = 200] "It was that easy to kill this bag of meat and bones?" He questioned, and slowly nudged away from the enemy. He tried to shake the numbness away, of which had solelye from the impact; but he that might take a little while. [It was easy to kill this one because you aimed for the head, that is a vital body part for most discovered marine life] [But also, this eel isn''t even full grown] Such a statement had made him gulp in fear, and he projected that difort by asking. "You''re trying to scare me, aren''t you? So I be more careful?" [Not at all, this species can grow up to four-meters-long! That''s double the size of what you had just killed] After contemting such a scary fact, he simply decided to express. "I hope that my presence hasn''t alerted more eels of this seed. That is, if there aren''t any more of them here." With enthusiasm feeling like an emotion that he could easily adapt towards now, thanks to the increased levels of intelligence; he decided to figure out if this kill had more benefits to it, and also simply pushed fear aside. Therefore he simply weighed in a question, "I''m notcking any health so to speak, but what effects does this ursed species bring?" Chapter 250: Blue-moon-ability Chapter 250: Blue-moon-ability [Eating this entire carcass, can give you the following effects...] [Effect on health, +82 bars] [Effect on hunger, +130 bars] [Effect on sleep, +10 bars] [Effect on stamina, +7 bars] [Eating a full-grown carcass of this species, would bring double the effects of what you just heard] "Would you look at that, most intriguing... an eel that actually brings good tidings." He followed along, practically talking to the carcass. His overall bars were pretty good right now, so he did not have to eat the carcass; but it felt good to be well-informed, just in case. The system managed to break down his train of thoughts, by rmending. [You need to get out of this small cavern right now, these fish will likely tell their superiors about this kill!] And of course he had no reason to avoid such advice. There were over ten fish here, and it didn''t seem like either of them were on his side. Obviously they would favour the side of whomever was their superior in this cavern. But there was something else about them, that could not be ignored. These fish didn''t seem scared, nor angry to the point of attacking the little intruder; on the contrary they carried a nk expression on their faces, much like introverted individuals who disconnect from the world with the aid of their grand thoughts. It was weird to say at least, especially after one of them just continued working instead of panicking in any recognisable matter. But now was not the time to ask why they seemed so absent-minded, as the system''s rmendation had to be heeded! He charged out of this little vicinity, and pierced through the tunnel that connected the small cavern to the big one. Thankfully, for a situation like this where he had to hide for the sake of safety: a n had been formed prior to the actual chaos. He had carried stones back-and-forth, enough to properly observe at least a small portion of the overall tunnel structure. Thanks to that, he managed to find a little hole to hide into - and the chances of being found there were below zero, if not better. Because this specific hole was located right in the middle of the tunnel that connected the couple of caverns. It could be entered through a small crack, that was riddled across the ceiling. This crack was almost invisible to the naked eye, one would need to look for the specific spot in order to find it. So such an aspect proved quite advantageous. He was safe here, but the attempt to hide felt a bit exaggerated right now ~ because it didn''t seem like anyone was looking for young Timothy down there. No, these various fish just continued to work. Regardless, such peace could be used to his advantage. And it would be stupid if he didn''t use this freedom to think; because theck of information that surrounded this overall weird cavern, gave him a feeling that he could not ignore. He sensed that this was just the beginning of chaos. If there were actual dangers that this cavern could provide, his best guess was that any harm was both far away and ufortably close by. This had made facts rage against each other, which in exchange, had managed to cause a bunch of mixed emotions! Well regardless, he wanted to use this peace in order to advance, before facing anything that this weird day had to offer. He decided that buying an upgrade woulde in handy right now, but couldn''t quite remember what these purchases were or how useful they could prove. "Enlighten me regarding what my criteria could achieve today, system. Radiate your knowledge with me, do tell what I can purchase before facing my inevitable fate?" He recited, and had it difficult to figure out if he was a poet or a stingray. This type of intelligence was weird, and it was working stronger by the passing second; he couldn''t even recognize himself anymore. It felt even more terrifying how he eventually will upgrade intelligence enough, to sound like this everyday. Even the system had it difficult to catch up with the request that had been made a moment ago, but of course she was smarter than anything else in these oceans. So she was quick to abide the query. [You currently have enough points to purchase the blue-moon-ability] [That and, you can upgrade your sniffing senses. But note that these purchases will deplete most of your points] "It''s not like I can grace anyone else with this currency," He followed along, letting out a passive-aggressivement. And afterwards he demanded, "I''ll acquire both of them, if thedy pleases?" [Confirmed] "Ah, you approve it. Perfect." He cited, and that was when he began noticing something rather irritating. He didn''t have a nose so to say, but something above his mouth began itching more by the passing moment. It was especially irritating how he could not soothe the itch. Because not only didn''t he have any arms to scratch it, but it also felt like this itch was under the skin! And after a second, he almost wished for the itch to remain there forever: because a striking pain had enveloped the same spot! It felt like a slightly sharpened hammer had hit his face, and it was worse how a throb began taking root in the same spot! It ticked like a heartbeat, and brought more pain each time it did so. But thankfully and unsurprisingly, the same pain disappeared as if it was never there! That was when he coughed up a little bit of blood, well that was a first time thing for sure. Normally such a result would scare the shit out of any normal individual, but here it felt like such blood came along with a blessing. His nasal canals felt cleaner than he ever thought it possible! So he took in a big whiff, but swiftly figured out that it was a bad idea. Dirt and sand didn''t smell so good, and it ended up making him cough a bit more after a few small bits entered his nose. Well it wasn''t a major issue, especially since the ability to have senses that were so capable, felt like a true blessing. Also, it was elerating how these sniffing senses were just level-two, even after the upgrade! The system had helped him get to reality, by informing. [Your purchases have beenpleted] [180-system-points consumed] [20-system-points remaining] [Now you have obtained the blue-moon-ability, I rmend that you try it out a few times before using it against an enemy] Chapter 251: Air tunnel Chapter 251: Air tunnel After contemting that advice, he had to point out. "I don''t mean to sound simr to a whining whale, but your excellency is quite aware that I still don''t have the slightest clue regarding what this blue-moon-ability is?" [I''m aware. You need to get out of this hiding spot first, this ability is an attack move that requires a bit of strength] "Now we''re rolling," He celebrated, and slid away through the ceiling''s crack without the slightest hesitation. His eyes instantly met with several fish whom were just carrying along any dirt and rock. Thankfully, they weren''t attacking or panicking in any way to be spoken of. It almost felt like these fish werepletely ignoring therge eel carcass, that was floating in the little cavern. Odd to say at least, but right now he didn''t want to think about that. Instead, he focused on the system again and asked. "Okay, now enlighten me with what I should do next?" It felt odd to continue speaking in this manner, but it sure managed to raise a bit of his confidence; simply because it sounded like an intelligent way of speaking. He was almost sad that this type of upgrade was temporary, as he became a bit adapted towards such intelligence. [This is a power move that solely relies on what your fins can do, especially the illusion part] [You need to be swimming forward before activating this move. And to activate it, you need to spin your body a few times while still swimming forward] [This is a bit tricky to understand, but you should still get the hang of it] As the system was specifying this move, he was already in the process of trying it out. The tunnel was long, but it was also roomy enough so here he had the opportunity to try the move out. For a second it was difficult to understand the whole concept, but his fins had been hurt enough through time, that he knew what it was like to spin while swimming directly forwards. It was a process that physically tired out a lot of muscles, since he had to over-use every bit of them - but it was not impossible to do. Therefore he tried it out, but right now his fins could only aid him spin just three times. It wasn''t a great number, but he began understanding what the system tried to teach. Because while he was doing this move, he also took a peek at the third-person-view map. Although he couldn''t fully focus on it, he noticed that the waters were moving abruptly while he attempted the power move. The salty-waters themselves had spun to create a small little tunnel that was mostly filled with air. This tunnel was big enough for him to mostly fit in there, but his fins were still out of the borders, because they were steering through the waters. He also noticed that this water-walled-tunnel was generating a thick-blue-mist! It obviously was not enough to render anyone blind, but it gave an illusion that one would think Timothy hadpletely disappeared through thick water! This power-move gave a hint of good use, but he couldn''t help thinking that it wasn''t powerful enough. The system had heard those thoughts, and decided to weigh in a few more key facts. [I should remind you that this move will take time to learn, especially since it can be used limitlessly] [It''s far different from the eruptive heat, where you didn''t exactly have to learn anything in order to use that power-move] [The blue-moon-ability will take time to learn, but it is a one time purchase. You won''t have to spend another point on it, but it can be stronger the more you try to figure the move out] Towards such a sentence, he could only celebrate. "Extraordinarily strong for a purchase that didn''t even cause me pain!" And then he wanted to try out the move again, he had quite some motivation to do so. But in order to gain just a little bit of more motivation, he targeted a random fish for the sake of testing. Timmy remembered the system saying that this move wasn''t just about illusion, so he wanted to figure out what else was there to be found. He charged towards the target and spun like a barrel, just enough times for the air-tunnel to stretch long enough in order to reach the fish. The tunnel ended up stretching just about three-meters long! And since it was twice asrge inparison to what he first managed to generate, the tunnel copsed a lot faster this time. He could not even develop that deep-blue-coloured mist that would give the illusion of him disappearing. But it was fair to say that the rest of the results were good enough. The targeted fish had been forced to enter the air-filled-tunnel, and what had struck the marine animal didn''t nearly have anything to do with suffocation. Instead, the foot-long fish had begun swimming quite a lot like Timothy. And the aftermath that came after the power-move had dissipated, were still strong. The little blue-dotted menace, was observing how the fish continued to spin like a barrel, quite a few times; even after the air-tunnel was broken down. After regaining some bnce, the fish stopped swimming and began rushing in all directions; it smashed against the dirty walls like someone who had been spooked towards craze! This continued for half a minute, but the fish regained its senses and just continued working, as if nothing had happened. Now he did not know if the sealing behaviour was linked to the blue-moon-ability, but he began understanding that this move was powerful! Even though it can''t kill an enemy, it can be a great tool when he has to fight against several opponents. He would cause far more damage, if half of an opposing group were suffering with disorientation! He wanted to try this power-move out a bit more, for the sake of mastering it. But that was when he heard a thick female tone, questioning. "Are you the dipshit that has killed our guard-eel?" Chapter 252: Dip-shit Chapter 252: Dip-shit He turned around and expected a heavy-battle, especially since the woman who had asked the question, didn''t sound absent-minded whatsoever. Her rage made it certain that she was ready to avenge whomever has caused trouble to her faction. But contrary to all expectations, he couldn''t see any new marine animal here, whatsoever. He thought that an even bigger fish had arrived to battle, but there wasn''t anyone new here. "The hell are you spinning around for?" That same female tone thundered once more, giving him a little spook. Such pace of confusion had managed to spook him out quite a bit. And now he began wondering if the holy-tar sect had discovered some new technology. That was why he asked, "It is indeed perplexing how you''re invisible. Can you face me this instant, so we can discuss the matter that you had brought forward?" He tried to sound tough and mad, but the vocabry insisted otherwise; and with suchplex ways of dialogue, he couldn''t really control how his voice sounded like. Irritation grew tremendously through the opposer''s noggin. Unsurprisingly, this anger had made her yell out for the sake of rification. "I am not invisible you twit, look down!" After such a rmendation had been bashed against his face, those little stingray eyes shone brightly, all because he figured out that this woman wasn''t invisible! It felt like a huge relief, he didn''t want to deal with someone that he couldn''t even see. That and, he felt proud that his grasp of sanity was still firm. This spike of intelligence came along with a bit of paranoia. For example, he thought that the walls were talking before he figured out where the voice wasing from. After he looked down, he figured out that thedy was just a mere crab; not a big one either. But just a small, defenseless looking sea-crab who mostly carried a red colour. After he put in effort to holdughter in, he could ask. "What business do you have with me, you insignificant critter?" "Who the hell are you calling insignificant?" Thedy followed along, furry radiating from her beady eyes. Before that question could have been answered, the situation swiftly elerated towards what can be firmlybelled as foreign! Timothy could not quite understand what happened. All he saw was a red-coloured mist, surrounding his entire vision. It wasn''t painful so to speak, but his entire world still managed to turn ck right away! ... What had managed to wake Timothy up, were countless bickering that was expanding as if over his head. Thanks to the fact of how his eyes were naturally positioned, he managed to find the arguing fish in an instant. They were located about seven feet away from where he wasying, and their debate was rather loud as it only grew in intensity. Before he could fully focus on those fish, a headache began developing on his noggin and it started throbbing like a beating heart! Extremely painful to say at least, but it went away as quickly as it arrived before. He couldn''t quite understand why such an ache was acting so abruptly, but thankfully the system managed to shed light upon such mystery. [Your temporary increase in emotional intelligence, has gone away now because the timer met an end] He didn''t know how to feel about this for a quick second, but thanks to the fact that his head wasn''t throbbing anymore; it became easy to pick apart all thoughts, and then pile them up together for the sake of rity. He knew what to feel, and had an idea of what he should do next. First things first, he decided that the crabs in this vicinity, should not be agitated. Because an insignificant looking critter of such kind, had managed to practically p him into unconsciousness. Secondly, he aimed to make heads over tails regarding what those couple of fish were arguing about. He began focusing on them, but then lost all focus after seeing what species these debaters were. He felt sure that these arguing fish were reef sharks, which was a species that only grew a half meter long. Naturally, they wouldn''t be too dangerous and their bite wouldn''t be able to kill Timothy ~ simply because their bites aren''t so powerful, and the stingray''s bodily durability is tougher than aluminium! But down here, it didn''t feel like these conscious sharks were as harmless. So he wanted to be prepared, especially since he felt that this debate could elerate for the worst. That was why he began focusing on what they were screaming about, and tried to push away any other distractions. "How many times do I have to say this? We need to inform the silver god about this intruder!" One of the sharks yelled out, his jaws pping through the process. "No we don''t! That will just get us killed, this stingray isn''t important!" The other shark contradicted, seemingly trying his best to stay alive. Clearly fed up to an extraordinary extent, the other answered. "This intruder had killed a guard eel, you moronic bastard! What makes you think that he is normal?" That was when Timothy became quite fed up of this entire situation. These enemies had knocked him out cold, dragged him here to some unknown location of the cavern; and as if that wasn''t enough, now these sharks were trashing his name. With all those reasonsbined, he had enough motivation to begin floating and shout his thoughts out. "I am more powerful than both of you!" Such a statement was more of a rough guess, but it felt properly timed to yell out such an uncertain sentence. And unsurprisingly, it attracted all of the attention of these reef sharks. At the same time, these enemies began charging towards him; and it took one peek at their eyes, to figure out that their intents weren''t holy. They wanted blood! What shocked these enemies more, was how Timmy didn''t swim away in any direction for the sake of evasion - but charged directly towards them instead! Such a decision had confused the enemies, but didn''t slow them down in any way! And regardless, it would only take a couple of seconds for the two parties to collide. But, as a way of fighting these enemies with a higher chance of sess, he decided to use a move that could quite likely turn the tides of battle! Chapter 253: Piece of the puzzle Chapter 253: Piece of the puzzle Before the sh, the hero began spinning through the waters and activated an attack-move, with the aid of a simple thought! One spin wasn''t enough to cause an attack that would be considered drastic, but the salty-waters still began shifting to his will! It was clear to see that the blue-moon-ability was being used once more! Because an air tunnel had opened up, and it just stretched a few inches in width! Obviously it couldn''t kill any of these sharks, but it did manage to inflict its effects against one of these bastards! The reef shark had entered the air tunnel for a quick second, and then had drastically shifted directions and smashed against the hard, sandy ground. This crashed moron was not bleeding in any recognizable way; but the delusional properties of the power-move, had affected this enemy so much that his eyes were still spinning around. It was evident that this shark won''t be able to attack for a little while. This turn of tides in battle, had given Timothy the opportunity to solely focus on one enemy for a short moment! He had shed with the enemy who wasn''t touched by the blue-moon, but this collision didn''t necessarily work to the hero''s disadvantage. Because the sea-pancake ended up simply slipping across the enemy''s skin. He was in the midst of the spin when flesh had met with another bit of flesh, so it made sense how the hero had slipped across the enemy''s back. But he still understood that these reef sharks weren''t average, so he didn''t want to allow the enemy to figure out how to attack the second time! That was why he turned around swiftly and followed the fish who was still charging forward. And that five-miles-per-hour speed, helped him reach the maniac in an instant! His fins attached on the enemy''s back for the sake of attaining a bit more bnce, and afterwards his barb worked its magic for the sake of settling in! Timmy instantly stabbed the shark''s lower back, and noticed how the rushing animal''s tail movements reduced by half! He was used tonding more than enough stabs in a matter of seconds, so he continued to bash that marvelous barb against this fish ~ and wasn''t so sparing with the venom either! After he felt like the damage he had dealt was enough, the herotched off this bag of flesh and made some distance away from it. Since the stabs had beennded near the tail-bone, where normally a lot of nerves were located, the reef shark was paralyzed in pain. It couldn''t move, not to mention attack in any way possible: so it felt like the opportunities have grown advantageous. Especially when he took a peek at the other attacker, and noticed that it had begun rolling across the sand as if it was a beached sea-snake. Most definitely unbenefiting for a shark. He did not think that it would be so easy to win against a couple of sharks who might or might not have powers, but this felt like a good time to get answers. So he approached the paralysed enemy a bit more, and asked. "What''s happening around here? Why is this ce covered in silver?" The other side of the stick did not want to talk at first, but after focusing on his friend who was rolling on the sand like a crazed seagull, he had motivation to chirp. So while trying to subdue the tail-pain, he recited. "Because the silver good deemed it so, we are just following hismands." "Who is the silver god, and why is he mind-controlling so many fish?" Of course Timmy had picked up many hints and patterned them all together, but it still felt like more information could be obtained. The shark was still hesitant to give out any useful information. But after allowing the burning sensations of pain to move in, he figured out that death was close by anyway. That was why he mumbled through a sentence, "The silver godes from the far depths, and he''s controlling minds because he needs a lot of fish to work for him and obey him." After pondering that information for a quick second, Timmy figured out quite a noticeable headline. "Why aren''t you under mind control like the others?" "Because I''m too big, he can''t mind-control big fish." And since such an answer was given without thinking, it felt believable. These pieces of information he had obtained seemed very valuable. It gave the great sense that treasure was hidden between these caverns, but it likely wasn''t the good kind. After pushing aside the fact that these silver god worshippers, had attacked him a few times: Timothy began contemting moral standards. This silver weirdo seemed powerful, but is it really worth it to put up a fight against him? After all he was just making these fish work in a cavern, could that be considered too evil? Plus, the hero had not seen a full holy-tar pool in these caverns, so will this powerful fish ever spread the destruction, of which the holy-tar sect had sworn their souls to? These questions hit him like a truck, and information regarding this whole topic was stillcking, so he couldn''t make a firm decision. Uncoincidently, it led to developing a prime question. And this shark might be informed with the matter enough to give an answer, that could bebelled as solid. So his mind returned to the scene, and he could focus on the dying shark again. With a bit of hesitancy, he queried. "What''s the silver god nning to do, tell me now!" The sea-pancake managed to quickly notice, that the other side of the stick wasn''t willing to give out any information regarding such a matter. Evidently, the shark''s eyes were unyielding and were a nted seed that sprouted nothing but anger. Timmy wanted to threaten the enemy, but didn''t think that it would be worthwhile. As he decided what to do next, the sea-disk had suddenly felt a sharp pain that coated most of his right fin! It was unshakeable to say at least, but not deadly either. For once more in his life, he felt incredibly stupid for being so clumsy! [Health, -20 bars] [Total health = 101/121] Chapter 254: Bloody wound Chapter 254: Bloody wound He had managed to swiftly slip away from the danger, and self-insured that the attacker was indeed the other shark! It made perfect sense for such an enemy to attack, because after all Timothy had caused them pain and humiliation! Regardless of how the situation ended up with losing twenty points of health, it still hurt worse than a hundred needles! He did not expect for a shark bite to hurt like this. And likewise, he wanted to return the favour. That was why he decided to face the enemy head on. They were a few feet away from each other, because the hero had leaped forward due to pain before. But now that gap was swiftly filled, and the hero began spinning for the sake of attaining an advantage in battle once more! It was supposed to work like a charm, but this shark proved itself tremendously fast! So Timmy ended up just crashing against the fish''s head, while being half way through a spin! Thankfully he didn''t end up suffering another bite, but he got dragged along the waters instead; because obviously one body was heavier than the other. A tremendously bad trait that these sharks had, was that they just continued to charge forward even after the sh - regardless if they seeded through thatmotion or not. So this gave the sea-pancake an opportunity to simply roll away from trouble. He pped a couple of times, and just leaped a bit upwards; which in exchange had forced him to crash against the enemy''s dorsal fin! Such an impact, had not caused any pain that the system registered, but it was still troublesome. Because Timothy ended up being disorientated for a few seconds, as the crash had made him spin across the salty-waters, quite like a disk. Once the hero had regained the slightest control, the enemy had already crashed against the little cavern''s dirty walls. Normally, the dust cloud that such a crash would cause, could spook any random perceiver who saw everything happen. But Timothy wasn''t scared! On the opposing contrary, he saw this as a golden opportunity and immediately charged towards the enemy. Within a blink, they collided again; and the hero didn''t n to hold back in the slightest. Because although he was fighting in a strategic way right now, rage had still enveloped most of his consciousness! Hetched on the reef shark''s back, bynding his fins over it; and then began forcing this opposer into submission, by making that marvelous barb work harder than the devil! A couple of stabs were enough to piss the shark off beyondprehension, and a couple more were enough to slow down that burning battle intent ~ and before this marine animal could retaliate from the attack, enough stabs had beennded to embrace paralysation! The battle was quite over after that portion. Both of these opposers had been paralyzed, and rendered fairly useless for anything else in life. As a way of recovering from this fight, Timothy began moving his right fin a bit more for the sake of stretching any pain away. That helped to a certain extent, but it didn''t get rid of the problem. He was bleeding a little bit too, which was never a good thing in ces where other predators resided. He could be attracting many other enemies. After a bit of contemtion, he decided that these sharks had no use to him any longer. They don''t have any new information to give, and not to mention, one of them had caused him so much pain! After pondering those key-points, he approached the shark who had caused him to bleed, and cited. "Bet you didn''t expect me to win now, did you?" If the shark could speak, it would likely have said anything stupid, but it couldn''t thanks to paralysis. So Timmy just went on with it, and killed this opposer with a simple strike against the head. The other shark faced the same fate afterwards, but death felt like a good relief for that one; because he had been paralyzed for a bit longer, and to receive the gift of death was satisfying. After these couple of ughters, the system came along with a handful of information that solely revolved around these kills. [You have attained eighty-system-points from these couple of kills] [Total system points = 100] It felt like a little reward after considering how difficult it was to kill these things, but it also made sense. This species only grew half a meter long, and wasn''t chubby either. However, what he was the most focused on at the moment, was what these couple of fish could provide as carcasses. So of course he waited for the system toy out such information. [Eating a full-grown shark of this species, can cause the following effects...] [Effect on health, +5 bars] [Effect on hunger, +100 bars] [Effect on sleep, +40 bars] [Effect on stamina, +120 bars] Such statistics definitely seemed new, and unusual to say for the least - but in this situation they proved quite useless. Because as a start, they would practically prove useless in terms of raising health. He cussed out a couple of times, but then an idea ran across his noggin. "That eel I killed earlier, could help me heal." And with such a thought, a n was decided upon. But he couldn''t focus enough because of the bleeding pain on his fin. As if the situation wasn''t bad enough, another problem revealed itself. He had no idea where he was at right now! Sure he was in the cavern somewhere, but this whole structure had many tunnels and smaller caverns that make the thing whole! Such a fate, had managed to cause him quite a headache right now, which made it a tad more difficult to think of a solution. Unapologetically, the system began a whole different topic right at that moment. [Although hurt, you are in a state good enough to start the next task] [Task twenty-two = locate and kill a yellow-tail barracuda] Even though his headache was advancing, he could still notice what stuck out like a sore thumb. Something did not feel right. And of course, he instantly asked about it. "Isn''t it early to hunt barracudas? I''m supposed to do small kills right now." [But yet you just killed two reef sharks, you will be okay] [Besides, this species of barracuda is the smallest type of which I have discovered. They barely grow two feet long, and you will have it difficult to tell it apart from a needlefish] Chapter 255: The beam Chapter 255: The beam "I''ll decide to trust you, but know that I will never touch anything radioactive for you again." It felt a bit random to remind such a case now, but trust had gone through his head when he had cited that sentence. And unsurprisingly, the case where he had gotten cancer had gone through his mind; it made sense. The system didn''t have much to say about that, she knew that Timothy had toplete the task one way or the other. So she just decided to remain silent, and just let the boy vent out a little bit of anger. Because after all, he had skin cancer right now and one of his fins was bleeding thanks to the most recent event. It took a short moment for the stingray to forget about the task, because his main focus itched to be health rted. For the sake of finding that big fat eel he had killed, the hero found the exit of the little cavern that he had been stuffed in - and unsurprisingly, he had to cross a big tunnel in order to sessfully leave this portion of the structure. What proved as quite a convenient result, was how easily he found the main cavern that pieced everything together. Sure this ce had many tunnels, but they seemed to be short as the main focus remained on the biggest portion of the cavern. This helped to avoid getting lost in the semi-natural structure, but he still didn''t have the slightest idea of where the eel carcass was. At least he didn''t for a little while, but the surroundings began making sense after he had rejoined the masses of fish, thatmonly crossed paths through the middle of therge cavern. The cavern he was in, wasn''t shaped like a sphere so that helped a lot in terms of orientation. As the structure was shaped just like a short and fat stick: a bit wide, but also abruptly long. After recalling a bit of memories, he remembered that the eel carcass was on one end of the cavern; for now he just had to figure out which end was that. Luck was by his side for once, as the first corner of the cavern that he had checked, indeed contained the eel carcass! The fact that no one had bothered to move the body, gave a good hint of just how horrible the governing or managing team of this cavern was! Obviously this ce had ranks, and seemingly anyone in a slightly upper position here was either clueless or just didn''t give a damn! Because it wouldn''t take much work to justmand ves to pick up the body and store it somewhere, yet no one did so. Anyways. After he had contemted such a detail, he began preparing to eat this eel. The other fish around here were minding their own business too, so this can be considered a feast where he doesn''t have to look out for enemies. What worked as an advantage, was the fact that he was quite hungry before re-finding this carcass. So he managed to eat a bit more, and necessarily gain a couple more points of health. [Health bar = 111/121] If we look at this feast in a statistical point of view, his rise in health was not drastic. Because he had gotten just ten points of health out of this, and he felt bloated like a balloon due to the feast. Most of the eel carcass was still unscathed, so in any demanding situation he coulde back, and feast upon this body for the sake of health. But right now, he expanded the third-person-view map for the sake of observation. He felt how a decent portion of his pain had fiddled away, but also wanted a more visualpression regarding such a topic. And the scene he managed to witness, was satisfactory to say for the least. His wounds on the right fin were mostly closed now, and this was good enough even though a bit more blood was dripping out of it. After he observed the wound a bit more, it was easy to notice that it wouldn''tpletely go away even after his health bar was fully replenished. Meaning that he would have to get hurt somewhere else, eat health raising foods again, and allow the fin wounds to heal. It was quite an endless and vicious cycle, and it was weird how the system worked in such a matter; but at least the pain was more bearable now. So with those statistics, he began inching out of the tunnel again and tried to develop a good n. It was difficult to think of anything useful right now, as handling this overall situation would require an advanced pace of thinking. Even though he was a creative genius, logical aspects were stillcking so he couldn''t put anything stable together. Well apart from the idea of stalking this area longer. He didn''t feel confident to n anything right now, it would feel easier to be prepared if he had more information. That was why he headed towards the main cavern, and noticed something that was strong enough to capture all of his attention. There was some random fish, who was just over a foot long and was a little chubby as well. This fish was rushing in all directions, screaming something in gibberish. It didn''t take much thinking to figure out that this marine animal was freaking out, but what was the reason behind it? Any individual could not be scared for nothing. Before this situation could have beenprehended better, the unthinkable exploded in this scene! Well it was not an eruption that would bring the cavern down, but it was equally terrifying! A thin and elongated beam of light, which carried a thick grey colour ~ had shot out from somewhere in the cavern, and had hit the panicking fish with admirable pin-point uracy! However, that was not the most terrifying part. Because what happened next, was what Timothy had considered strictly impossible! The fish who had been hit, was instantly transformed into a heavy chunk of silver! The scene was so instant, that any observer could just see the stone-like body of the fish; instantly falling towards the cavern''s flooring! Chapter 256: The globe Chapter 256: The globe After witnessing such a bizarre scene, the first thought that ran through Timothy''s mind, was to get the hell out of here! He wasn''t a coward, but could notice when an opponent was far out of his league. In any normal situation, a stingray wouldn''t battle a blue-whale;mon reason would advise against it. Such an example could be used here as well. He wasn''t fighting a whale, but the opponent was far too powerful! It was easy to see that one beam of silver would be enough for the stingray to meet with death. Since the circumstances were like that, he didn''t want to take any chances. Instead, he just tried to fit in with these other fish, for the sake of not standing out like a sore thumb. His pride had been swallowed quite a lot, that could not be ignored; but he still piled up a bit of bravery to calmly swim towards the spot, where that random fish was turned into a silver chunk. Anxiety managed to rise faster than it could be controlled, because paranoia was creeping in after he thought of a possibility. What if this superior being, had an advanced way of spotting any fish that wasn''t under mind control? It seemed like a reasonable thing to be scared about, but he still continued to swim forward, even though his entire body told him otherwise. Eventually he had reached the spot where that panicking fish had been shot, and it was fair to say that the scene was anticlimactic. There wasn''t a massive fish who could shoot silver out of its mouth or ass. That didn''t seem to be the case. In fact, he couldn''t see any fish that would resemble a powerful superior. Everything about this scene said otherwise, so it became difficult to puzzle this situation together. A few minutes after, he managed to spot the very fish that had been victimized just a moment earlier. It was a bit difficult to find the carcass at first, because the silver wasn''t shining like anywhere else in the cavern. For some reason, when a fish gets struck by the silver-beam, the aftermath features a metal-covered body that''s at least twice as dark in colour! He couldn''t imagine the slightest reason regarding why that happened, but it was an interesting detail to pay attention towards. Timothy had not noticed it, but he had subconsciously approached the silver-body a bit too close. Ever since spotting it from above, he had slowly inched towards it for the sake of further observation. This was helpful in terms of attaining new information, but it still didn''t make up for the fact that he stuck out like a sore thumb! Unsurprisingly, that was when he heard a shout that echoed behind him. "Hey, ve! Why aren''t you working?" It felt as if his heart had sunk down to his tail after that shout reverberated! His first thought was that the silver god had found him, and was about to shoot him dead. For once after a long time of various difficult situations, he felt tremendously scared for his life. But that was when his recently upgraded, creative intelligence decided to bash in. He had managed to figure out some behavioural patterns in this cavern, and formed a n based on it. The n was as simple as calmly swimming towards the other group of fish, and that was exactly what he did. He simply swam away from the threat, like an emotionless zombie. It was easy to see that the little sea-pancake''s movements were easy-going, he barely had any reaction; which was great in terms of avoiding any unwanted attention. What helped him unleash a sigh of relief, was the fact that no silvery beam was shot towards him. It was as if a stamped guarantee that a battle wasn''t going to break out, he was safe. He survived the encounter, but the previous problem still remained as tall as a tower. He had no idea who the silver god was, neither did he fully understand what was going on here. And so he began to dig out a former motive, and decided to follow it for the sake of victory. Timothy wanted to explore now, as his hopes were hanging by a thread. He desperately believed that exploring this ce more, will help make sense of everything. He also acknowledged the thought of just leaving this cavern. The silver god has not harmed him, so there was no reason to hold a grudge. But the fact that green-bricks were found here, didn''t allow him to part ways with this structure; his consciousness just didn''t allow it, because the situation was always dire if the holy-tar sect was involved in it. The hero didn''t understand what they were doing here, he didn''t know how to stop them either; but one thing was known for sure, a superior fish had to die soon and there was no escaping that idea. With motives recounted and refined, the blue-dotted menace continued to stroll through the structure, and managed to find a ce that piqued his interest. He found a tunnel, those were quitemon here so it wasn''t exactly a surprise to find one. However, this portion of the contraption was interesting because it seemed abnormally ced. It was located on the ceiling of the cavern''s middle area. He wasn''t an architect, but it might have taken quite a bit of work to build a tunnel up there. It could be naturally generated of course, but all and all it was quite unique. Timothy didn''t hesitate to swim towards it, but he was a tad more careful this time ~ because in situations like this, it wasn''t easy to predict what was on the other side. And as he dwelled further towards the tunnel, what he saw was not an enemy but an ufortable scene instead. In the end of the tunnel, there was a silver globe. It was transparent but yet it seemed very sturdy and dependable, even though it''s outeryer was super thin. What were trapped inside this globe, were a bunch of silver-coloured worms. They were long, and for some reason had their tail waving upwards. What made this scene a bit more disturbing, was how these worms were standing a few inches away from each other, making them seem like some weird grey grass! Chapter 257: Its use Chapter 257: Its use He wasn''t quite sure how to feel about this discovery. From everything that was expected toe out of this cavern, silver worms was not one of them at all! Yet regardless of the disgust he had towards them, curiosity was an emotion that dominated any other; so likewise, he approached the globe even closer for the sake of observation. And after checking them out for a couple of minutes, he was only sure of a couple of things. These worms creep the hell out of him, and he has no idea why they even exist - not to mention what use they could have. For the sake of understanding this situation more, he decided to turn towards the system since this seemed like thest option. With a swiftly built up sentence, he asked. "What are these worms for, system? Can you figure them out, like you did with the green brick that gave me cancer?" [From this position, unlikely] [You would need to touch these worms, after that I would be able to give you an advanced grasp of what they are] [However, touching these things is a horrible idea. Not only because you could end up dead, but also because I still wouldn''t be able to understand what use these worms have, in this cavern] "I''m no fan of touching weird stuff, don''t worry." He assured, and quite meant it. Because just the sight of these worms manages to creep him out, touching them was out of the question! But after pushing such difort away, other thoughts began rolling in ~ and they all revolved around one question, why? These silver worms seem different for sure, but how much are they rted to the holy-tar sect? When such an opposition was considered, his anxiety spiked up quite a bit. Because it raised branching questions. Such as, are these worms a new method of domineering the oceans? Are these worms a retro tool that was used out of sheer desperation, or are they somethingpletely new? Such questions weighed over him like a boulder, surely too much for a small little sea-pancake. He didn''t know what to do with these emotions, or with this cavern either. But after a few minutes, he decided to just follow the original n; which was to explore for the sake of building up a paternal panel ofprehension, and of course, a n. Such a decision had managed to cut his anxiety in half, surely reasoning worked better than emotion. What aided this decision further, was the idea that the silver god has to be killed. He had to fish out more information, for the sake of figuring out how to kill this silver-sting maniac, a bit easier. Because since the holy-tar sect is included in this situation, then the souls of these hundreds of fish would likely be sacrificed in any manner. Timothy couldn''t care less about these marine animals, but the thought of what this cloud god could be doing with all those souls, was terrifying on its own. So it''s best to destroy the silver god, and whatever they are building with the holy-sect. It''s best to rupture every root now, so it doesn''t develop to a bigger problem in the future. After those grand decisions were made, he heard quite a noticeablemotion that wasing from the other side of the tunnel. It wasn''t necessarily a fight of some sort, neither were there guards rushing to fight the hero, but it was noticeable that several fish had entered the tunnel. He could even smell some of them too, but their fragrance wasn''t exactly strong so to say. Regardless, thismotion was a grand hint that he needed to get the hell out of here! That wasn''t exactly possible, so he had to hide instead since the actual motive was to hide. With his full speed, the stingray barged towards the tunnel''s ceiling, and felt blessed that his level-five camouge could be put into great use. The tunnel was a bit roomy as well, so this worked as quite an advantage when it came to hiding. Shortly after, the group of fish arrived here. They seemed quite calm and were casually talking over some topic, but Timmy couldn''t make sense out of what they were saying; simply because thenguage these fish were speaking, was one that he wasn''t fluent in. However, theck of information from their conversation, refused to be a long-term problem because these fish began giving a visual presentation of what they were here for. One of them had swam the closest towards the globe of silver worms, and most of the other fish were just floating behind ~ apart from another fish, who was floating above the orb. Before the sea-disk could fully understand what intent they had, the fish whom was floating above the globe, had tail-pped the very same piece of silver-work! And that was when entertainment arrived. One of these silver worms that were trapped in their unique home, had actually shot out towards the fish that was floating in front of the globe! This was an insane scene to say at least, but the physical contact at the end, was rather anticlimactic. Because the worm had not pierced through this foot-long blue fish, at a pace that arge hole would be left as an aftermath. No, that was not the case. The worm behaved much like a beam made of light, instead. It just touched the fish in question and swiftly disappeared. The marine animal that just had been struck, didn''t see this procedure as a big deal. Instead, it just began casually swimming out of the tunnel. That was when the fish that was floating above the globe, called out for one of the other fish that had entered this tunnel. Meanwhile, the hero wanted to create theories of what was happening down there, but he didn''t want to lose a single nce of the enemy''s procedure. But... that was when he heard a strongly noticeable crackling sound! Chapter 258: Numb Chapter 258: Numb Before he could fullyprehend this rather new sound, the situation developed to a strongly unfavourable position. It reached to the point where he wasn''t allowed to think anymore, as hostility was dripping from above. He had to rely on other things instead, like pure instinct. It was this perk that had made him swiftly swim forwards, for the sake of avoiding whatever trouble was trying to poke its ugly head. Thanks to the burst of energy, he had reached the very end of the tunnel; and smashed against its dirty wall a little bit, but thankfully that did not cause him any health loss. The situation had developed for the worst in a matter of seconds, even though he was yet to understand how it happened. Confusion regardless, the situation was still dire because most of the ceiling of this tunnel had fallen down! It had enveloped the little structure with dirt and rocks alike, but there was something else to it. Timothy was pretty much stuck! His instinct had helped the hero get away from death itself, but it didn''t help him topletely evade trouble. All he could see in all directions was dirt. Thankfully neither portion of this chaos was directly crushing him, but he couldn''t move around much either. There were just a few small pockets of space, and that was why he could move a little bit. But that space was limited, all he could move were those dependable fins. However, after coughing up a bit of dirt, he had a few seconds toprehend this situation. And the main question smashed against every wall of his consciousness, it was reverberating like a broken bell; Why did this happen? The tunnel seemed stable before, even though it was unusually ced. There weren''t any drastic movements that would force a tunnel to copse, so how could this happen? It was difficult to understand the root of this dilemma, but after a moment he managed to catch up. Earlier on, Tim wasn''t given much time to observe the whole tunnel, but there was one detail that he managed to recall just now ~ there were not any patches of silver in this tunnel, prior to the copse! So that helped achieve a firm definition of what could have happened. There wasn''t a plot against the hero, there wasn''t anything weird behind the copse; just raw bad luck. This was the one thing he could make the most sense of. After such particr thoughts could be put behind, another one began blooming at a faster pace. And it was yet another grand question he had to ask himself: how to get out of here?! A tricky thing to figure out, that was for sure. But unfortunately, he wasn''t given any time to think it over right now, because another dilemma came knocking. In the midst of darkness that this copse forced upon his eyes, a bright light began to shine, but that wasn''t necessarily for the better. It took a few blinks to push away the burn that this light caused to his eyes, but right now the hero wished that he was blind. Because a thin and elongated creature was invading his personal space. After looking at the silvery features, it was easy to determine that this was one of those weird worms! And before he could have done anything in particr, even if it was something minimalistic like moving a fin; the unfavourable happened. Although a lot more sloppy inparison to how fast they were before, this worm beamed towards Tim and entered his body! It didn''t give the slightest damn if he approved it or not, but the topic of consent was not the most terrifying part of this sour fate. He could feel that the worm was doing something weird inside his body, but the little stingray could not quite figure out what exactly this worm was doing. Before the hero could understand even a tenth of what was going on here, another anxiety spiking situation revealed itself. The very dirt walls around him, began shattering in all directions. And within a second, he could see light breaking in from several directions! That and, his back began enduring pain as countless bits of dirt and rock were crashing against his spine. But thankfully it wasn''t anything too extreme to handle. [Health, -7 bars] [Total health = 104/121] After pushing through the dirt for the sake of escaping this madness, he noticed that this copse had taken many other fish as a victim. Some weren''t as tough as he was, it was noticeable because a few bodies didn''t show the slightest sign of movement! And as he gazed towards the ceiling of the cavern, it was easy to notice that trouble wasn''t limited to what he had just experienced. Because, another portion of the ceiling was falling down and it managed to cover a fourth of this whole cavern! That and, it had taken tens of fish as a victim. The chances of surviving such a copse were rather low, for fish who couldn''t get bodily durability upgrades. However! Since such a ruckus had struck the entire structure, it was easy to predict that higher-ups will storm the area just a few momentster. And thest thing he wanted to do right now, was to face every important enemy that this ce had to offer. His entire body felt numb, so chances were that he couldn''t even face one of the enemies right now. So the only idea that appealed him was to get the hell out of here, and hide. He would only emerge when he felt ready to face these grand enemies. But there was one simple and yet horriblyplicated problem, he could not move! It was as if a curtain had surrounded his brain, which carried textiles that were impossible to break through! In other words, all of his senses felt incredibly numb and it felt impossible to break out of such aftermath! And worse yet, a group ofrge eels were flocking the scene right now! Chapter 259: Numb (2) Chapter 259: Numb (2) Timothy used up his entire mental and physical force for the sake of escaping the paralysation, but had no luck around such an attempt! His anxiety managed to spike more every time he tried to escape from trouble! And worse yet, the eels were getting closer in all directions. One of them had gotten close enough to swim right above his head, but thankfully the elongated creature didn''t n to cause any trouble worth mentioning. Because these eels weren''t searching for any marine animal in particr, and it seemed like they were just as panicked! Timmy was covered in a bit of dirt, so he was mostly camouged from the naked eye; safe so to speak, but not exactly calm towards this whole problem. He witnessed the panicking eels, using brute force in order to reap information out of these fish! They had killed several of them already, but the attempt that came from the higher in position, seemed quite like a pale attempt. Because not only were these hundreds of fish, clueless. But they are also not the kind that would talk, this weird mind control that they are suffering with, likely had to do something with the inability of speech. The scene was too cruel, even for the hero''s taste, but at least these fish were absent-minded enough to barely even notice their own deaths. This was sad and convenient at the same time. What managed to finally be effective, was the boy''s constant attempts to wiggle around from the spot. He did not make fast progress right away, but it was still worth mentioning. The hero just lightly moved his fin once, and that result had managed to spread wider, the more he put effort into it. Eventually, both of his fins began pping enough to escape the dirt that had covered his back. Such progress had managed to make him a bit happier to say at least, but most of the movements were quite limited. That and he only managed to swim a couple of feet before crashing again! He was thankfully still conscious, but felt more tired than he had ever been in this new life and possibly in the previous one as well. [Can you hear me, guest? This is the thirteenth time I call you] "I can hear you now, what''s happening?" Timmy asked with a simple thought, because he didn''t have enough energy to speak up. [It''s difficult to exin...] The system tried to specify, but that was when she lost connection with the hero again. Such a sour fate felt tremendously scary! Because he wasn''t losing any health, neither was he losing the system as a whole; but his senses just felt too numb to process! His entire brain felt numb, that was why the sea-pancake couldn''t hear most of what the system said - portions of his brain just refused to properly work. They refused to function, but yet he still could feel one deep emotion, such as grief. He had managed to swim just a little bit a moment ago, but now all that progress went to the drain because he felt paralysed again! This grief weighed heavier than a boulder, and managed to tamper with his other emotions: such as confidence. It led him to feel more helpless than ever, and it was quite a hit on the ego regarding how such an insane situation had been caused by a single worm! Timothy could feel his consciousness slipping away, along with his ability to move. But the more he thought about that silver worm, the angrier he became! This hate had started with a handful of seeds, and irrationally exploded into tens of roots! Afterwards this root had been cultivated to a huge tree that no metal could cut! Surely, this was far too much hate and anger for a little boy. It was as if the salty-waters themselves that were near him, began heating up by the shere anger he instantly developed towards that ursed worm! He began regaining consciousness bit by bit, all because of this rage that solely grew bigger thanks to one thought: why should a mere worm make him lose so much control?! His ego wouldn''t allow that to happen! And although such an emotion was assertive at a massively toxic level, he did not want to give it up! Because it was this extreme stubbornness who is giving him strength. In half a minute, he managed to move enough again to swim a little bit. And this time, he managed to get all the way towards one of the cavern''s walls and hide in one of the cracks, which stood nearly thirty meters away from his former position! This was a great sign of how much he had just achieved, just with the aid of anger! And the progress did not stop there, as he even began hearing the system again. Although it might sound like a far shot, the system''s vocal projection had given signs of intense worry. She was genuinely scared for Timmy''s life, which was tremendously odd itself. Especially since she was a sixteen-hundred year old system who had thousands, if not millions of guests before - she shouldn''t be having this much care towards a mere stingray! However, what the system had said right now was far stronger inparison to anything else. [You have been poisoned with an unidentified substance!] [This poison is very stubborn and won''t let me analyse it. I think it somehow is a conscious attacker, the worm that has attacked you can think!] After hearing out what thedy had to say, his motivation was damaged severely. Which ultimately led to him losing a bit of control against the attacker that was raining havoc in his body! But a dim light of hope still shone in his noggin, so he asked. "Tell me that there is a way out of this?" [Oh definitely,] The system assured with a tone as firm as a mountain. And then continued, [The poison won''t let me understand it, but it can''t fight me no matter how strong it is] [Your toxic ego has just saved your life, but now prepare for the worst part yet] Chapter 260: Desperate measures Chapter 260: Desperate measures When such a sentence was uttered out by the system, Timothy truly had no idea what to expect. His mind was filled with ego for the sake of keeping his sanity intact, but the effects that came along with such a pace of thinking were strong as well. The grand example was that he could not use his brain for anything else, because all of that mental energy was focused on ego. That was why he couldn''t really build up a theory of what to think. Regardless of what he was capable of, the system still continued to work at her pace. And before he knew it, a sharp pain erupted from one portion of his body. This was quite constricting but also felt like a huge relief. Because although stubborn, he had been slowly losing grip of sanity, the more he tried to fight the worm that was unleashing havoc in his body! And to have the system do her work right now, it felt like a true saviour had suddenly arrived! What he struggled to understand however, was the pain. Sure it was strong, but he couldn''t really understand where it wasing from. At first he thought that it was rted to the fact that he couldn''t focus right now, but the situation was heavier than that! There wasn''t a specific body part that hurt, that was not the case. Instead, everything physical that he possessed, was hurting as if to hell and back! It felt like he was being stabbed with tiny needles, through every bit of skin that he had. And what came along with such pain, was a sensation of burning! It was as if he had fallen inva and couldn''t do anything to escape it! His fin-muscles began twitching, and it felt like the bones that held them together, could crack anytime soon! The young hero was so close to cking out for good this time, but that ego still had a little bit of stubbornness to reap motivation out of! He refused to lose any grip of reality, and that was just enough to push him through this dilemma; because right now he just began coughing up a mouthful of blood. And then the sea-disk coughed once more, but the blood seemed darker in colour - it seemed as if that blood was boiled in the stingray''s body, and then a was spat out through this exit! Timmy coughed up a final mouthful of blood, and this one was filled with silver that had a very light-grey colour. It was hard to figure out why the silver had such a colour right now, but he was surely happy that it had left his body! Relief began striking one side of his body, and spread out through the rest of the portions like an instantly growing tree who had limitless branches! Such relief gave him a good feeling about cking out right now, for the sake of rxation and energy regeneration; but he didn''t feel too safe here. So with a bit of effort, he continued to stay conscious and tried to assure himself that this poison could not bring along death. Before he could form a sentence that surrounded the topic, the system already beat him to it. [Most of the silver worm that had attacked you, had been pushed out of your body] His senses began returning inch by inch, but he had forcefully encouraged them to return. Regardless of the measure that was taken, it was good to have them back. That was why he managed to notice a very strong headline, of what the system had just said. "Most? What do you mean, most?" He tried to yell through such a sentence, but theck of energy said otherwise. [This poison is too strong, so I couldn''t quite eradicate all of it] [And since this darn poison actually has a conscious, it managed to make a decision which would help it hide in your body] Although it was a stupid question to ask, he still did so. "Where is it hiding?" [If I knew that, the poison would have gotten out of your body already] [However, it has somehow transformed itself into imitations of blood-cells, for the sake of escaping capture so it''s almost impossible to locate it] Such information felt like a stronger hit than what damage the poison actually did a moment ago. He had it difficult to understand all of this at first, but everything began slowly making sense. That was why he was finally able to form a stable question, "What can this little poison do to me? Can it control my mind?" [Unlikely but yet not impossible. As I said, the venom simply wouldn''t let me analyse it] [However it was still weakened, that was why I was able to kick it out of your body] [My guess is that after it''s globe-shaped home was shattered, the worm desperately looked for a victim to take refuge in. Since its home was destroyed, my guess is that it became a lot weaker] [So this time, pure luck had helped you escape insanity as we know it] "And bad luck had almost made me go insane," He followed along, even though that sounded quite a pessimistic thing to say. The system did not answer to that, so this allowed the hero to focus on the rest of the disaster. This bit of poison that was left in his body, could not be figured out anyway, so why waste time thinking about it? Instead, his eyesnded on the rest of the cavern. The ce he was floating in, wasn''t exactly hidden ~ in other words, he had a clear view of what was happening on the other side. The situation seemed calmer, so to say. Guard eels were not killing off ves at a set of rage anymore, and it seemed like they had taken a different approach as well. These massive four-meter-long eels were slithering across the waters, and putting in manualbour as well. They were far more capable of carrying dirt or rock, and could cut the working time in half for sure. Timmy guessed that this whole cavern was behind schedule already. So after this additional copse got their fins full of work, desperate measures had to be taken. Chapter 261: Plan Chapter 261: n That was what these several guard-eels were working on right now, their higher ups have likely demanded it so. And since tens of fish died in this copse, these eels will be needed now more than ever. Overall the management power in this cavern quite stunk. They had hundreds of fish who could have put in work, yet the stability of this big cavern was still weak; but at least this time, they have made a good decision. After putting those numerous details aside, Timothy felt more and more sure that every higher-up in this cavern, had to be ughtered! One would think that the problem he had just experienced with the poison, would slow him down and force him to give up on the overall motive. But no, that wasn''t nearly the case. He was angrier than ever, and wanted these enemies to be victims of his anger that is destined to unfold! That was why he tried to think of a way for all of that to happen. Sure he craved revenge, but a simple guard here was four-meters-long! He can''t even imagine howrge the silver god was. With those circumstances, it was difficult to muster up any n that made sense. But, thankfully it didn''t seem like he had to think anymore. Because in the far distance, he saw that an eel was desperately trying to pull something out of the rubble. It was one of those gems that provided illumination through this cavern. And what gave Timothy an idea, was simply linked to the aftermath that this gem had brought. The eel''s disgusting teeth, had punctured through the gem''s outeryer that was normally very thin! Now that alone, wasn''t enough to give him an idea, but what happened next was inspiring! The inneryer of the white-coloured gem, had shot out some kind of beam that thankfully didn''t have a silvery colour! This beam was strong enough to simply blow the eel''s head off! A bloody mist was all that was left from that long animal''s body. Such an explosion of power, had forced the other eels into quite a bit of shock. They were enveloped in panic, but at the same time they were afraid to approach the carcass! What helped these bastards escape panic, was a little red crab who was swift to join the scene. It had likely heard the loud explosion, and gotten here right away; hoping that another copse hasn''t struck this ce. This crab carried quite a bit of authority for sure, because the seven remaining eels lined up close to another and floated around stiffly. They didn''t even move a muscle in front of this crustacean. Timmy refused to pay attention after that point, because he felt sure that such a crab will be destroyed soon. This was likely the crab that had knocked him out cold, so his ego refused to let him pay attention towards such a tiny creature. Instead, he fully focused on the n that he had just created. The base of this idea was total destruction, which helped understand half of what he was nning. However there of course was more to it. To bring the nned destruction, he wanted to use the same gem who had just killed one of the eels. He nned to use such power, to bring the entire cavern down. Because there wouldn''t be a silver god here, if the entire damn cavern was brought down to nothingness! Of course he had considered the couple hundred remaining ves here. And it was fair to say that he cared about their lives even less now. Not because they have done anything wrong, but because he understood that there was no saving them from mind control. The poisoning worms that had been used on these fish, were just too powerful. After all, it took a tremendous amount of work to prevent such substance from pushing the sea-pancake towards insanity! He was sure that it was impossible to save these fish now, their minds are far gone by now. So the best gift he could give them, was death. This allowed to embrace the idea of blowing up this entire cavern, it was an inevitable method. However, right now he still felt weak to do anything. All of that effort to spit out the venom, had drained most of his energy. So the best solution was to wait a little bit, so the bottom bars could replenish. This gave him the option to observe the whole scenery here a bit more. He was trying to figure out where each of these illuminating gems were, because it was best to have a sense of orientation before putting the n into motion. ... About an hourter, he felt more ready than ever to put up a tremendous battle! He felt replenished and almost forgot about the poison in his body, because it didn''t even have any effects on him. Most of the eels that were tens of meters away before, had stopped working to tame the aftermath that the copse had brought. They had put in enough work and simply avoided tiring themselves out any longer. Terrible managing to say at least, since there was a lot more dirt and rock to move; but their absence worked quite as an advantage, simply because Tim could move around more freely now. He began eyeing another white-gem that was attached on the ceiling, and began recounting his thought out methods of cracking it. Surely he didn''t want to be blown into bits by whatever power the gem''s inneryer had, so this attempt should not be taken lightly. He approached the gem after a minute or two, thankfully no one attacked him on the way there. Afterwards, he began thinking even more regarding a way of breaking this marvelously powerful item. That was when something caught his eye from below! There was another gem that had fallen towards the cavern''s flooring, when thatrge copse had enveloped the vicinity. Thanks to spotting this detail, all of his past ideas were scribbled out and a new one had reced them. It was fair to say that this idea was far more dependable! Chapter 262: Eruptive idea Chapter 262: Eruptive idea With that marvelous little barb, he began digging around the white-gem that had been imnted in the ceiling. Well he was mostly scratching the dirt, but it was useful anyway. His tail wasn''t strong enough to break the gem, so that was one thing less to worry about while handling this idea. Because he won''t be blown to bits in the process. The prime n was to loosen up the gem''s inverted foundation. If he dug enough dirt around the gem''s corners, gravity would help bring this heavy thing down. It took quite a while to achieve minor progress, but it was fair to say that he had motivation to continue with this n. One detail that he noticed, could bebelled as quite ufortable. It was anxiety raising at least, because it was solely rted with his own safety. The very ceiling that he was working on, was unleashing a crackling sound that didn''t interject the root of any good news. Thest time when he had heard such a sound, a great portion of the cavern had utterly copsed! But what motivated him to work further, was the fact that the cavern had not copsed yet; so since it didn''t, there wasn''t a reason to stop. This procedure continued for a good, long and tiring hour! The progress he made was tremendous, even though the crackling sounds between all that bit of work, were countless. Timothy was exhausted for sure, but he wasn''t demotivated in any recognisable aspect. Especially since no enemy had approached him so far, that had managed to build his confidence bit by bit. He didn''t have the slightest clue of where all those guards were, and why did they suddenly disappear, but it gave the advantage of peace. And now, with a few more swipes against the ceiling, he managed to hear thergest crackling sound yet! His anxiety spiked up higher than ever before, and he easily expected for the whole ceiling to fall down; but a different result came along instead. The white-gem that he had been working to loosen up, began falling towards this cavern''s flooring with speeds that should not be taken lightly. It only took a second for the gem to reach the floor, which gave a good hint regarding weight! Once this gem had collided with the other that was underneath, an ear piercing sound erupted! It was enough to make Timmy leap backwards, as he expected for unbearable pain to follow along! But, the finishing result was quite anticlimactic. The gems just shed against each other, unleashed that loud sound but that was about it. And since the n ended up like that, his throat felt a bit tight; because any n that he managed to build up an hour ago, wasn''t as good as this one. But... that was when he heard a soul shattering crack! It didn''t take much effort to figure out where it came from, his eyes instantly darted towards the flooring; right where the two gems had shed. The scene there was once more unfulfilling. Those gems were still standing still, so he didn''t really expect anything from them. But that was when he heard the same cracking sound erupting through the waters! And it wasn''t just one crack, but several of them who broke out instantly one after the other. It felt like something was piercing the hero''s heart, by every ticking second thanks to that high pitched sound! And finally, another scene broke out that surely showed greater importance. A te of white-light broke out in all directions! It was thin, so it didn''t exactly manage to target every fish that was swimming around here. However, it did manage to hit a few and the impact was strong enough to slice a handful of them, in half! The blood that came along with such a result was graphic to say at least, but what happened next managed to draw the most attention! That same thin light, managed to hit the cavern''s walls, each of them! It was difficult to understand how a simple gem could unleash light that reached so far, but its use was swiftly proven! Because once it managed to hit the walls, a truly heart-shaking rumble erupted across the whole structure! His eyes instantly darted towards the exit that had brought him in this cavern to begin with, it was obvious that the time to leave was now! What gave him motivation to head towards the exit, was the fact that these same gems unleashed another ear piercing sound! And this one was stronger than ever! For a second he wished that he was a stingray with human arms, just so he could cover his ears! But that could have proven useless so to say, because his entire body shivered along with the screaming rupture! By the time thismotion had exploded, he was already halfway there towards reaching the exit; so he didn''t have a chance to turn around and observe the details. That was why it was impossible for him to predict the waves of light that were heading his way. Perhaps it was a good fate that he didn''t see them whatsoever, because the scene was terrifying as much as it was amazing. Especially after yet another crackling sound broke out! But this time, it was more of an explosion than anything else. Because the gems had cracked enough to dig into each other, and for whatever reason that was difficult to understand, the eruption became stronger because of it! For a second, Timothy was a tad unaware of just what was happening behind him. But right after, he could see waves of white-light shing in front of him. Some bits of light were curling, some seemed sturdy and sharp. While half of the portion of this white-shade, had mixed up with the cavern''s colours; so ultimately, he received a once in a lifetime scene. Yet the prime question was raised, will there be a life to experience after this tremendous explosion? Chapter 263: The confrontation Chapter 263: The confrontation Apparently life was an option thanks to an unhealthy amount of luck! The explosion had hit everywhere except against Timothy. He was at a pocket of water where the light didn''t hit. It had specifically gone around that pocket, therefore allowing the hero to escape unscathed! This streak of lucksted for a good second, but it felt quite like an entire millennia because the scene was just too beautiful. Timothy had utterly underestimated how many shades the white colour could have! The scene was so magnificent, that he forgot to be stressed or scared about this whole dilemma. Those emotions had gone quite below the sand. The hero felt as if his soul had been ripped off his body, in quite a nice andforting way so to say. It was an odd result at least, but thankfully he was still alive - so that was one thing less to worry about. However, his marvelously good luck met an end. Because although the explosive light had painfully failed to send him towards the afterlife; there were other aspects that attained a good footing in this disaster. The best example, was what the explosion had done to these cavern''s walls. They were shaken to the core! And in exchange, they had created a massive dust cloud that had managed to be blinding, in a split of a second! Since these walls were shaken beyondprehension, it wasn''t a surprise how no amount of silver patching, would be enough to keep this ce in tact! Shortly said, the entire cavern was copsing and there wasn''t nearly a thing anyone could do about it now! Vision was something he didn''t posses right now due to the numerous dust bits that had covered his eyes, but he still could hear. Likewise, it wasn''t difficult for the hero to hear a tremendously loud crash! It was located about thirty-meters away from where he was rushing, and the grumbling sound that came along with it - made sure that arge portion of the ceiling had just copsed! Right after that crash, he heard another misfortune that was far louder inparison! It sounded like a squealing whale at first, but then developed a thicker sound that would shake a living being''s organs! This gave a good hint that another white-gem had exploded! The thick-brown atmosphere that was surrounding the hero, was swiftly reced by ayer of white light that was equally painful to his closed eyes! This eruption wasn''t strong enough to shred him into pieces, likely because its original source was tens of meters away; but it was strong enough to flip him like a pancake a few times! He was tossed over ten-meters from his original position, and right now he simply waited for death toe. Sure his attempts to destroy this ce were firmly rooted to good-will, but sometimes that wasn''t enough for one to preserve their life. He felt absolutely certain that the afterlife was near, because right after: not one, but two more explosions reverberated through what was left of this cavern! Which had directly led to young Timmy, hearing anotherrge chunk of dirt falling right near him! And within a moment, more dirt had fallen as well! Ultimately, all of thismotion had managed to envelop him worse than a body bag! And of course, quite unapologetically, the system decided to add a few of her notifications at the worst time possible. [You are indirectly rted to precisely one-hundred-sixty-seven deaths right now] [Thanks to that, you will get a reward that solely features system points. But since the method of massacre is indirect, your reward is reduced by thirty-percent] [Four of the numerous species in this pile, were task rted and werepleted all in those few seconds. So those tasks are marked as done and you get rewards from them as well] [These additionals will be included in the total sum of rewards] [Calcting...] "I really don''t care about points right now, system!" Timmy yelled out, feeling absolutely certain that death was just around the corner. Yet regardless of that firm grounded statement from the stingray, the system continued her own work. [From these kills, you have received a reward of 2,358 system points] [Total system points = 2,458] After hearing out such numbers, even throughout this tremendous chaos, he calmly cited. "Oh really? I''m rich!" Before this joy could have been fullyprehended, he felt a shocking pain that took his head hostage! At first, it was difficult to figure out where this infliction wasing from; but then he figured that some heavy rock had just stricken his head. [Health, -11 bars] [Total health = 93/121] And before anything could have been done about this fate, his world went entirely dark again! ... "Ah you ugly creature, you''re finally awake." A heavy tone was heard, and Timmy could guess that the fish who said it, was quite close by. Of course the hero had taken thisment as a wild offense, so he swiftly leaped up and tried to seek whom had let out such a foul phrase. His eyes met with a round looking creature that had silver coloured skin. Now this skin wasn''t spotless, as there were countless pointless bumps that surrounded the creature. This thing made it certain that it wasn''t just a silver statue, by moving around a little bit; which had given a good sign of life. He easily figured that this was just some dumb guard, and therefore became ready to unleash a mouthful of foulebacks. And the first thing the sea-pancake said, was. "You''re thest one to talk about beauty, metal ass!" After such a mock had been set loose, he expected for the enemy topletely freak out. That was why he braced for battle, and stretched his tail a few times for the same sake. And just now he had noticed that the surroundings here were quite different. They were surrounded by a one-pieceyer of the same gems that had brought the whole cavern down a moment ago! It was easy to say, that seeing nothing but white-light no matter which direction he turned towards, was disturbing. But thankfully the enemy helped him lose focus towards such an unskippable detail. Because a thick male tone from that same round-shaped fish, echoed. "How dare you offend me, the silver god?" Chapter 264: Confrontation (2) Chapter 264: Confrontation (2) Timothy heard such a strong sentence very clearly, but right now he was in a mental border. One side encouraged fear and the other required tremendously heavyughter. He was mostlyughing at himself, because the silver god that he desperately tried to avoid through his whole time of being here, was just a mere pufferfish. It was easy to notice that the entire situation had been heavily exaggerated. And now after he gave another peek at this silver devil,ughter took over and he began vocalising such emotion; this enemy just seemed too ridiculous! Especially since this pufferfish wasn''t even massive, he was barely as big as the hero! It was easy to see that the enemy was bing more pissed off by the passing moment. He likely wasn''t used to gettingughed at. Considering all the power he carried, it was easy to notice that all the marine life in the past cavern had feared him deeply. And now to hear a little stingray utterly mocking him with hardyughter, it just wasn''t good on this man''s unhealthy ego. Likewise, the silver god released a holler. "Stop that, this instance! I''m trying to savour your death." With that mentioned, the sea-pancake''sughter was cut in half; mostly because a question was raised in his head that he needed an answer too. He took another nce of these surroundings and questioned, "What is this ce anyway? Is this the afterlife? I didn''t think that heaven would be this empty." Seeing this as an opportunity to mock the menace, the puffer recited. "This isn''t heaven you swimming rock! And why do you think heaven would even ept you? All my ves are gone along with the cavern thanks to you." This definitely had not answered the prior question that the stingray had asked; however, it did manage to raise other thoughts that surrounded social responsibility, and self-revolving psychology at its finest. Little did this enemy know, the little sea-disk had already pondered over every aspect, of what''s good and bad in terms of handling the past cavern''s contents. So he simply replied with, "I did them a favour. Who would want to be a ve to you and anything you were nning with the holy-tar sect?" With this topic cracked open, Tim also added. "That''s right, I saw the pool your ves were making." It was easy to notice a hint of astonishment in the enemy''s eyes; a prime example to such amazement, was that both of them were supposed to fight right now, but yet they have forgotten too. Once again in this new life, Timothy had made a statement that required a lot ofplex pondering. But after a moment, the silver god questioned with a firm tone, while invading all personal space as well. "So you are aware of the holy-tar tribe? That''s quite a surprise." Seeing this as offensive, the hero instantly asked. "How is it a surprise?" "Although mighty in many ways, that sect''s dominion is tiny. They are insignificant inparison to what the rest of these oceans have to offer." Thetter answered without the fear of confidentiality. And afterwards, this silver devil tried to assert the idea that the stingray was stupid. Therefore he continued, "In simple words that even a moron like you could understand, they are but a small drop in the ocean. So it''s a surprise how you even know about them." This had encouraged the thought that these oceans were massive, but the blue-dotted boy didn''t want to think about that right now. So he helped the enemy stay on track, by citing. "--, big oceans and tomatoes, whatever." Such a sentence had managed to cause a massive wave of irritation towards the other side of the stick, that was for sure. But the sea-disk didn''t stop there, "Are we going to fight now or what? Bet I can beat you even though you kissed the sect for powers, or something like that." The urge for ughter grew stronger than ever across the pufferfish''s head right now, but he still felt an urge to exin himself to this tremendously annoying stingray. So firstly he stated, "I did not kiss the sect for powers, you salt for brains!" And then continued, "They tried to enve me, but I escaped their foul grip! Now, I''m using their tools to create an army of my own!" "This army was supposed to grow bigger than anything the holy-tar sect has achieved. But thanks to you, I have to start all over again!" Anger was evident in this pufferfish''s tone, the more he spoke. It was easy to see that ughter was craved now more than ever by this side of the stick, only the great divine could understand why the silver god was holding back; but it sure managed to build up tension between the two. Timothy tried to ponder all of this new information. Everything made sense right now, but there was one thing that he still had it difficult to understand. And he didn''t intend to save that question to the grave, that was why he asked. "Okay, so are you good or evil?" This was a question that could quite likely figure out if a battle should erupt soon, or if it should be avoided. It was easy to see that the silver pufferfish was contemting that question as well. And a smirk grew in his face, the more he thought such a question over. And finally, the self proimed god managed to answer. "I am evil and I am good as well, perhaps a living paradox so to say." And afterwards the same pufferfish proved that his emotional intelligence was massive, by reading himself out as if an auto-biography was on his disposition. By simply continuing, "My will-power is pure, but I don''t have borders and aim to achieve each and every one of my goals, regardless of what or who I destroy." At this point, the other side of the canvas was utterly lost in curls of confusion. Tim''s tail was swinging from left to right, as if it was deciding how the rest of this situation should y out. A lot more intelligence would be required to ponder whatever the enemy had just stated, but right now he could still muster a proper question to ask. He turned towards the silver god, and asked with a firm face. "You want to destroy the holy-tar sect, right?" Simply and directly, the other''s tone shone as he chirped. "Correct." With quite a bit of confidence, the sea-pancake pitched. "Then I don''t have to kill you. Just tell me how to get out of here and we will call it even." Thetter''s face drastically softened, but this self proimed god''s words, proved contradictory to visual expressions. "I respect your good-will, dumb little stingray. But you destroyed everything I worked hard for, these damages shall be punished." Chapter 265: Crack Chapter 265: Crack Timothy had for once fully understood what the deal was; but yet he still aimed to irritate the enemy, especially this one whom he simply failed to take seriously. That was why he followed along with a simple question, "Oh yeah? Who''s gonna get punished then?" Towards such a question, thetter couldn''t say anything due to the sheer amount of irritation, and just decided to unleash a heavy sigh instead. The conversation had been cut short without a doubt, one side had no motive to continue it; and the other side didn''t know how to drag it along. That was why, the only thing they could do now was battle it all out! One of these marine animals was more impatient than the other, and simply barged towards battle without the slightest consideration of strategies or tactics ~ that swift someone, was the silver god. His short tail was torturing the waters left and right, as he lunged forward like a defective torpedo! Timmy was for sure a noticeable dumbass in many situations, but putting up a good fight was a throne that strictly refused to hang by a thread! So unsurprisingly, even though he was given little time to react against this attack; he still manages to find a way. By simply pping his fins against the salty waters, and lunging upwards - ultimately getting out of the way! The little menace had upgraded his bodily strength quite a while ago, so such a quick reflex wasn''t surprising. The silver god ended up simply smashing against one of this room''s white walls. Such a result was surprising, since more bnce was expected from someone who referred himself as a god; but in this case it was advantageous. Because even though Timothy was astonished by how one gem was cracked, thanks to the pufferfish''s crash, he still continued to use this opportunity. By simply following the enemy, and managing to deliver a message with his grand quill that was dipped in venom! His barb swiftly met with the enemy''s seemingly boneless back, and the result felt quite adequate. Since the little sea-disk had managed to puncture through the enemy''s back and belly, by using the bumble-bee-formation! The battle felt quite anticlimactic at this point, because the silver god began twitching thanks to the devouring pain - which ultimately meant that death was close for this pufferfish. That was why Tim swiftly pulled back and awaited for the venom to beat this man down. Just now he began thinking that the enemy''s power was far over-estimated. Because after a bit of thinking, he figured out that the enemy''s skin wasn''t even tough! The prime example was that a simple stab was enough to make this puffer weep in pain. For someone named after silver, this didn''t feel right; it should have been tougher to puncture. However, since this enemy was close to proving if there was an afterlife for marine animals, Timmy felt like this was the best time to exchange some words. And he decided that it would be good to reap some benefits out of this as well. So quite casually, he questioned. "Okay since you''re going to die now, do you mind telling me how to cure the silver worm poison?" One would think that the question itself would be a bit heavier, since this could be thest exchange of dialogue between these two. But no, that wasn''t the case whatsoever here. The silver god felt quite conflicted at the moment, because he couldn''t decide what to say. There were a couple of thoughts in his mind - one was a statement and the other was a question. Curiosity managed to win, that was why this puffer decided to ask. "You actually survived a silver worm''s poison? That''s impossible!" The little man who projected such a sentence, felt quite sure about such a fact. Because even though his energy was drifting away thanks to the massive stab-wound, he still attained enough power to yell. And such difort from the other side of the stick, managed to give the stingray a lot of confidence. Because he seemed to have survived what was considered as an impossible task! He felt tremendously cocky, even though he understood that the system did all the work before. That was why he decided to answer with, "Yes I survived it, now tell me how to puke the rest of it? You''re dying anyway so you don''t need to keep it a secret from anyone anymore." A mumble was heard from thetter afterwards. It was difficult to understand it for a moment, but then Timmy understood that one word was being repeated over and over. "Fool, fool... fool!" That was what the pufferfish uttered, and it managed to build quite a bit of difort. Because a thought began creeping in the little boy''s subconscious, what if this poison didn''t have a cure? What if it carried dangers that were yet to show themselves? These thoughts were quite frightening, but since the other side was refusing to give any important information, the hero was getting ready tond another blow. It would be better if this enemy died now, because the dilemma could be forgotten after that point. There wasn''t nearly a good reward in these caverns, apart from these couple thousand of system points; so why bother to stay down here any longer? After all, there was a group of great-white sharks to kill anyway. That was what they had travelled far from home for anyway, and he wanted to focus on that task again ~ anything would be better than this madness. But yet this pufferfish still continued to mumble, and the hero wanted that to cease right now, because it was bing a tad frustrating. However, that was when the sea-pancake''s attention was overtaken by a crackling sound that came from right in front of him! It took no effort whatsoever, to figure out that one of these numerous gems had cracked! A ck and very thin line was spread across it at first, and then countless branches spread near that same line. This was the same spot where this ursed silver god had crashed against, just earlier! Chapter 266: Azelaq Chapter 266: Azq And the massively unsettling sight simply continued to unravel itself quite unapologetically. It did, until a faint ray of light broke out of it with a limited pace. But right after that, came an explosion from the very same source of problems! The gem''s entire outeryer hadpletely shattered; and whatever substance was caged in the inneryer, exploded forward andtched itself in cooperation with the silver god''s skin! This white-light was growing stronger in radiance! It''s shine was piercing through the hero''s eyes, he had to keep them closed for the sake of soothing the burn! Such a tremendously confusing procedure continued for a good half minute, and Timothy had utterly no clue of how to handle this problem! He wanted to approach closer in order to stab the enemy once more, but that seemed like a bad idea. Especially after considering that the light was only growing stronger by every passing second. This same light had cut through other fish before, with evident ease. It cut through them as if slicing air, their bodies were utterly ignored by the sheer power of this light; and that was what the hero feared, he didn''t want to suffer a simr fate. So the best option was to just wait and be ready. Whatever dilemma this eyesore would bring, he felt ready for it. But finally and thankfully, the light was dimming down right now. However, what he did not expect was the enemy''s emergence. This darned pufferfish was floating above the gem flooring, as if nothing had happened. His deep stab-wounds werepletely gone, and there was another detail that became difficult to skip. The silver god''s skin and aura was more radiant than ever. It would make one think that a true divine had fallen from the sky, and right into this pufferfish''s body! His silver skin was sparkling and the stare he carried was enough to suppress the simple sea-pancake, which made it even more difficult toprehend this whole emergence! Thankfully, the painful silence was broken by the enemy''s side, who yelled. "Fool! You have no idea what power you are messing with!" The hero''s anxiety was through the ceiling at this moment, especially since waves of white-light were still circling around the enemy''s body, even though its colours were several shades of transparency. But he refused to let this self proimed god gain the opportunity, to see him scared or worried. That was why he answered back, "I killed you just a minute ago, I''ll do it again." Such a sentence was uttered casually, but he didn''t feel fulfilled with just that. So he had to add another thing, "No creepy light will be enough, you aren''t a god as long as you can be stabbed." For once, Tim managed toe up with a goodeback. It''s root intent was to irritate the enemy, and such a goal was utterly achieved; because the other side of the stick was simply fuming with rage. Suchck of control from the enemy''s side, was not something that the sea-disk hoped for. But he had spotted this detail and decided to use it as an opportunity, that was why he got ready to initiate another attack! But... it seemed like thetter had another idea, one of which mainly circled around the unexpected. At first, the pufferfish said. "A god ha? I''ll give you a god!" And then a holler reverberated through the same animal''s jaws, "Come to me, Azq!" The hero was utterly lost after that point, because this was the first time he heard of such a name, but the puffer didn''t fail to drag attention away from that same name; as the scene that happened next, was far more thought provoking! Not one but four gems, had their outer wallspletely shattered in an instance! And afterwards, every bit of light that was stored between these meter wide gems, were flying towards the silver god! Before that scene could have been fully understood, another six gems had broken loose and had their light source utterly drained! In the devastating meantime, the pufferfish kept shouting. "Bind with me, Azq! Bind with me!" And afterwards, the fifteen other gems that remained in this room, had been broken down into thousands of pieces! Their source of power had been drained greedily, as not even a string of light had steered loose in the salty waters! After such a tremendous scene, the hero managed to open his eyes a little bit, and noticed that this same light was still circling around the enemy. These countless branches of roaming light, were getting closer towards the pufferfish in an inch-by-inch behaviour. Until finally, these branches had cooperated enough with each other to form a tremendously dependable mimicry of a pufferfish body! Timothy got the displeasure of seeing a transparent, white-coloured form of a pufferfish, that was ten times bigger inparison to the silver god! In other words, there was a two-meter long, and round-shaped fish in front of him. The cloud god himself was quite smaller in size. And he was hiding deep within this projection of a pufferfish! Since this monster that surrounded his body was transparent, it was easy to see the actual pufferfish who was hiding between these walls of light. However, the hero didn''t have time to focus on such details. Because once more, he genuinely feared for his own life. This monster just seemed too powerful! The enemy''s vocal tone was different as well right now. Before it was thick and gravelly, but now it was strong and echo-like. It was as if the pufferfish was screaming in a huge cavern, which allowed an echo to return; except here, this bastard''s tone sounded stable andforting. It was quite disturbing to be seduced by a tone, who''s owner craved murder but this was a situation that he had to handle right now. However, the first thing that this monster had said, was. "Behold, the powers of Azq!" Chapter 267: Azelaq (2) Chapter 267: Azq (2) A few seconds after the conversation wasn''t allowed to continue. Because the massive and transparent pufferfish body that hid the silver god, opened its mouth wider than ever ~ and that was when more trouble had followed along! Because a massive amount of white-light, that was thicker in colour than ever before, had shot out from the same enemy''s big mouth! And within a blink of an eye, it reached Timothy, coated him entirely like an over-sized nket and just continued to explode in size! This light was so powerful, that when it crashed against one of this room''s walls: that portion ended up beingpletely blown away! A huge hole had been ruptured through that same spot, and it stretched about seven-meters wide! However, even though this girth was astonishing, after considering that the silver god''s outer-body was just over half a meter wide ~ there was another aspect of this explosion that stood far greater in importance! This white-light was so powerful, that a massive hole continued to be dug through by that same st! And since the light spread wider the further it flew away from its original position: what was being formed through this rock and dirt wasn''t a tunnel, but a massive doorway! In other words, this eruption of light had managed to blow away tons after tons of dirt and rock! Its relentless powers had reached so far, that it actually managed to blow an entire portion of the border! This portion was located high above from where the silver god had taken the shot, which made the copse far greater! In other words, this meant that a massive quantity of debris was simply falling towards soul crushing depths, all thanks to that eruption of light! However in between this tremendous disy of powers, it was easy to overlook one specific detail: Timothy had been right in front of the st, when this monstrosity of a holler, had unravelled itself! If an underwater mountain-side''s amount of debris, wasn''t enough to suppress this explosion of light, then how lucky could a small little stingray be? Death seemed certain, and its cause felt quite petty at the moment; especially since one side of this stick, practiced murder as a method of vanquishing someone who stood barricade to his ns. In simple terms, this death didn''t seem worthwhile, no sane mind would truly approve of it. However, the unexpected was quick to make itself blindly radiant. It felt even more overwhelming how this scene came right after an earthquake. The silver god could see a tiny lifeform, submerging from the dust cloud with a grand determination, that seemed even more domineering than whatever the explosion could achieve! It took a second to formte a picture of a te-shaped fast swimmer, but a full image of this swift approacher could not be imagined. Simply because the silver god wasn''t given enough time to do so! That was the root reason behind it. Because right now, this over-sized pufferfish had to deal with the creature, that had approached far too close. Right after, a strong gasp had been unleashed by the silver menace himself. Not only because a sharp pain had taken his belly as a victim, but also because he managed to get a clear view of who this attacker was. The extrayers of protection that this silver-god had, were far gone by now. Simply speaking, the transparent imagery of a pufferfish that surrounded him earlier on, was gone. Thoseyers had left this silver devil to fend for himself, and that fact hurt more than the actual pain that he was feeling around the abdomen. After these results, the puffer could only mutter a mouthful of words. "It can''t be... this is impossible!" By now the silver god was absolutely sure, that the sole target of which that tremendouslyrge explosion was dedicated against, was well and alive! Timothy, had survived the massive attack! It was difficult toprehend this scene, and right now it was seemingly impossible to understand. This fact just could not be pondered, it hurt worse than the actual barb that was bashed against the silver god''s chest! "How, how... how?" The pufferfish repeated, utterly uncertain how to feel about all of this. And like how it went in the beginning, one side of the stick was unwilling to hold a conversation right now: however this time, Timothy was the unyielding one! One stab was seemingly enough topletely turn the tides of battle, but countless other stabs were necessary to put this silver menace down for good! So the hero pulled out his barb from the enemy''s abdomen, and then initiated another stab. He didn''t have any venom left over, but that could not bebelled as a problem. Because the stingray just continued to stab, over and over,nding countless strikes in a matter of seconds! Such shots were lethal! And since the silver god did not have any external shields that would save him from such a foul state, the only option was to embrace the afterlife. The pufferfish was giving out its final twitches, the fight was close to being over. Timmy was utterly confused by this whole situation, but he did understand that the opponent had no chance of escaping! However, what didn''t aid to tame confusion whatsoever, was the fact that a silver colour was taking Timmy''s tail as a hostage. The sea-pancake''s body was being used as a canvas, by this light grey colour which had quite a few sparkling details into it. In just a few seconds, his entire body was coloured by this specific shade of grey; he could see everything happen from the third-person-view map... However, the main question emerged and was easy to find in the midst of this madness: why was this silver colour surrounding his body? Before this question could have been pondered over in the middle of this chaos, something new began happening. The same sparkling silver colour disappeared under a few quick blinks, and began making themselves heavier at a specific point; his jaws! He couldn''t see it from the in-built-map that was on his vision, but could easily feel his jaws getting heavy and a bit difficult to move - all thanks to the noticeable detail of silver that was dedicated to it. It was odd how this colour limited its territorial grasp only at that specific little body-part, but what came next was the strangest amongst strange. A heavy, loud and doubleyered female tone was shouting in his head. It wasn''t ying the me game in any way possible. Instead, it seemed to be making an introduction. Such an asion was so distracting, that the hero didn''t even notice how the pufferfish''s body had simply vanished from existence. This weird tone took its time as it deciphered, "I am Azq, the most feared goddess in this ocean''s depths!" Tim was used to listening to someone without actually having to see them, so he could take part in this conversation attentively. There was just so much that he didn''t understand right now, this was the best time to listen to what the other had to say. And as expected, this self proimed god continued to shout. "You are now the bearer of what powers I can bestow upon this mortal realm!" Chapter 268: Azelaq (3) Chapter 268: Azq (3) Such a tremendous situation, typically would have it easy to scare a mere child; because too many things had exploded, and now another voice in his head was shouting with all of its power! These circumstances should bring him difort, but still utterly failed to do so. On the contrary, Timothy was feeling more excited than ever! That was why he directly questioned, "Cool! What can these powers do? Can I shoot silver?" Such a query sounded stupendous at first, but it gradually made more sense. There were many examples that embraced the idea of him getting silver-rted powers, and this self proimed god just stated that this simple sea-pancake, became the new bearer of such responsibilities. So all and all, the question made quite some sense after it was pondered over by the slightest. Thankfully this marine god wasn''t so stingy with information, but still had some type of weird habits to yell out every sentence. "You will shoot out silver, yes. But it won''t be nearly like what you saw that fool of a pufferfish generate!" After such a statement had been yelled out, the stingray became quite a bit demotivated. But he wasn''t given the chance to speak out about such difort, because Azq continued to shout. "Those powers were too unstable, but I did bestow something new upon your irrelevant soul!" Before a question could have been made regarding such a matter, the strange entity continued to exin. "Silver screaming, that is what I have blessed you with, mortal! Go ahead, try it out!" Such a name felt a bit difficult to ponder, but it didn''t fail to make sense. It was just a scream made out of silver, there shouldn''t be more to it... So he didn''t hesitate to try it out. And while thinking about such powers, he found some new memories! They specifically deciphered how he could unravel such a scream. He aimed towards one of the walls that was far away, and began thinking of silver before screaming. "Azq''s scream!" It was weird how his mouth didn''t mention silver in any way, but the power itself still activated. A weird grey-wave shot out of his mouth, and it was strong enough to push him behind just a little bit. This silver travelled through the water''s density with a grand speed, and managed to reach the wall in no time whatsoever! The impact itself had managed to cause a dust cloud, but thankfully another copse has not been inflicted against what was left of this little room. After the small dust cloud disappeared, he noticed that a portion of the dirt wall was developing a patch of circr-shaped silver. It was quite interesting, because branches of silver spread across one another quite like a rapid disease. And the patch that was against the wall, wasn''t quite small either; it stretched a good four-feet wide. That was when the marine god began yelling in the sea-pancake''s noggin again. "You saw my great power? Oh what it can do against any fish, I''ll leave that for you to discover!" "But know this, you are wielding my powers so all the souls that will die when you use this ability, will be handed over to me!" The female god deciphered with that never ending yell. But then also had to assure, "You can keep that little soul of yours, I have no use for it! That silver worm in your body is troubling enough, you don''t need more problems!" "Thank you, I need my soul!" Timmy followed along the conversation by yelling out as well. "But how do I kill this worm? I don''t want it in my body!" After this point, this new voice in his head began screaming louder than ever. "Why in the heavens would you want to remove it? You have managed to beat its poison, and even merged the silver-qualities with your blood! It managed to save your life against thatrge st!" "Really? I didn''t know that a disgusting worm can be so powerful!" He celebrated, andpletely erased the idea of removing this worm. With an unhealthy amount of pride, the female divinity stated. "They are my mortal descendants, I made them! You''ll understand how to use my babies eventually, don''t worry my warrior!" But before such a weird topic could have been explored, Azq jumped right back to the main topic. "These powers are barely a seed of what I can give to you! If you wish to unlock the full potential of these powers, seek my shrine through dead-stone''s path!" These couple of sentences alone had managed to raise a boatload of questions, but unfortunately this self proimed god wasn''t one to cooperate. She simply disappeared without a single trace, and didn''t give any answers no matter how many times the sea-pancake called out. He had no clue where this dead-stone''s path was, and nearly didn''t know what other powers to expect. This ability to coat walls, and likely other fish as well, with silver seemed quite powerful on its own. He could not imagine anything more powerful that surrounded this topic, but he surely had enough motivation to seek out Azq''s shrine! Apart from that, he felt quite sure now that all of this trouble and pain was worthwhile. Sure he suffered a lot and didn''t manage to save anyone in particr out of that cavern, but these new powers cane in handy. The wins and losses could use a bit more time to be pondered over, but the system brought him back to reality by making quite a strong statement. [Depth damage is slowly creeping in against you, I rmend that you head for the surface right away!] Receiving depth damage was something that he did not want to experience whatsoever! So the young man instantly headed towards therge opening, that had been blown into bits by the silver god. And after that point, it took little effort to head towards the surface with the aid of all of his speed! But by now he began developing another worry, what if that massive explosion had harmed or killed his small group of friends? Chapter 269: Look what I can do! Chapter 269: Look what I can do! That thought alone was enough to bebelled as terrifying. He didn''t want to think about such a topic any more, but his little noggin disagreed! For a moment he hadn''t even noticed any of the pain, that sea-pressure was inflicting against him! However, as time passed this same pain grew higher in volume to the point where it begged for attention. [Health, -2 bars] [Health, -3 bars] It made quite a bit of sense how the losses here were just a bit big. The young man was over four-hundred-meters below water, so normally the damage was higher. He did not have the chance of upgrading his depth durability recently, due to the numerous events. If he did, receiving damage right now would have been almost impossible. However he was just tens of meters away from escaping any pain that came from these crushing depths, so this dilemma can be forgotten quite soon, it wasn''t too serious. [Health, -2 bars] [Health, -1 bar] It was a bit hrious how sea-pressure was one of the only things that managed to cause him health loss. A moment ago, Timothy had faced the silver god who managed to blow up tons above tons of debris, yet that same puffer had not been able to cause any damage. Anyone who would be given the chance to hear about such a fate, would crack their libs inughter; but right now the little sea-pancake could not think of anything else apart from his friends. This strong worry that made his heart feel as if it was bearing rocks, made him recount a few values. He was slowly but surely, valuing his friends the more he knew them. At the beginning it was difficult to click with anyone, since he didn''t really know any fish here for a long time; but now such emotion was slowly growing its branches. It made him ignore pain once more, because he was swimming upwards at full speed for the sake of finding his friends! [Health, -1 bar] [Total health = 84/121] After that point, he had escaped any damage that water pressure could give. The system indirectly confirmed it by not informing about any health losses. Well that was one worry to forget about after this point, but his anxiety still experienced a few spikes. The travelling felt like it took forever, but he eventually managed to reach the very high border that split shallow waters from the deep ones. With a nce to his left, he noticed the sunken ship about forty-meters away. It was close to sinking towards the depths of these marvelous oceans, and it didn''t take much thinking to figure out the reasons behind it. The copse that came from the st, had managed to shake that contraption to its core ~ even the silver coating it had, seemingly proved useless in terms of savouring the ship''s position. He wondered a little bit why all that silver was wasted on a ship to begin with, perhaps it was to attract any random fish? It was something interesting to ponder over, however right now he was heading towards that ship at full speed. He was lucky enough to appear tens of meters near it, that cavern was quite expansive, not to mention its tunnel. Right now, the young stingray hoped with all of his heart, that his friends were smart enough to move away from the ship, after such an explosion had erupted across the waters, far below them. Any normal fish would do so, Gech likely enforced such a decision; but the hero still couldn''t help but feel that something had gone wrong, maybe his friends haven''t proven smart? Before he was even half way to reaching the ship, it had already fallen towards the ocean''s bottom. Following it was a dumb idea due to obvious reasons, but he still wanted to reach the spot where the sunken object used to reside on. And just before he was about to reach it, a familiar figure popped up in front of him! It took little effort to realise that it was Osira, as her dark features were impossible to miss in the midst of these blue waters! Following the gooddy, was another splendid woman that carried nothing but bone with her. Surely, that was Dana! And where these twodies were, it was easy to predict that Gech would be a part of them ~ everything was proven to be exactly so, right after they finally re-met! Osira ended up head-budding the hero a little bit, but thankfully it didn''t cause any damage. She was just too happy that Tim was alive! And so were the other friends, they were bustling with joy and almost meowed like cats, because they couldn''t really find a full sentence to utter out. They all were just unleashing high-pitched, half words that made absolutely no sense but still allowed them to fully understand each other. From all the odd behaviours that the sea-pancake usually had, this was not one that he expected to experience, at all. The amount of joy between all of them was tremendous, even Gech had broken many of his self-set limits! But eventually, they managed to calm down. They were all good and healthy, although the hero was more injured than most; so there wasn''t anything to worry about. The group whom had been stuck up here through all of themotion, surely had a ship-load of questions. Not only because their friend was gone throughout most of the day, but also because arge damn explosion had shaken half of the big ind that was a few kilometres away! But Timmy didn''t answer enough questions, and even created a bigger one by deciding to bring up a valuable discovery. He yelled a bit more as well, for the sake of gaining the most attention. "I''ll tell you everything soon, but look what I can do!" Chapter 270: Pointless and bottomless Chapter 270: Pointless and bottomless And without any further description, he aimed towards a portion of the sand flooring, where no life was roaming at - and decided to firmly demonstrate his discovery. "Azq''s scream!" He hollered with all of his power. And afterwards a slightly dark shade of transparent silver, shot out of his mouth with the aid of speed that could not be under-estimated! Its size only grewrger the more it traveled, but since the ground was closer this time: the patching of silver ended up being just two feet wide. Still it inevitably managed to stun everyone that witnessed it! Not only because the silver became lighter in colour after it hit the ground, but also due to how it was spreading its branches in between that two-foot-wide patch! It almost felt life-like, no human technology could ever develop anything that seemed so advanced and pattern-oriented. It simply was amazing, even though it was just some metal! Timmy nced back at his group, and noticed how all of them were pushed to utter shock! From everything that could have happened, this was something that they did not expect! They were rendered speechless! But Gech was one who could oftenmunicate with effortless ease, so he was the first to speak. He locked eyes with the hero and congratted, "This is indeed amazing! How in the heavens could you have acquired such a capability?" Most of the group had already figured that it was somehow linked to the explosion, but they were utterly failing to put everything together - because they were not witnesses of whatever happened down there, there aren''t examples for them to use. But thankfully the hero could tame a bit of this confusion, by answering. "A god gave them to me! She called herself Azq or something." "Interesting... I wasn''t sure that such a thing existed, but you proved me wrong just there; of course all that silver should have been rted to anything devine, it''s sad how I didn''t think about it." Half of those sentences were self contemtive from the old man''s side, but at least he was able to follow along. "You know about her?" The sea-pancake asked, craving to know more. While the rest were listening, the old man recited. "Yes actually. A few of her worshippers had passed through the reef before. I thought it was a bunch of nonsense, but they seemed to have carried reason." And the conversation continued to go on and on like that, it took the hero a full couple of hours to exin everything important about this weird trip towards power ~ but thankfully they were all caught up now. The rest of the group didn''t seem to have fared badly either, they simply had waited in the sunken ship and no other marine animal had bothered them. It had been quite peaceful for this group, even though they felt quite bored until recently because there was nothing to do; but at least they were together now. And since dusk had just passed, they found a small little hole to sleep into. It was located near the borderline and it was difficult to get into, so they should be safe for a long while. Most of the group were not tired whatsoever, but they understood Timothy''s extended exhaust so they didn''t hesitate to give himpany; even though they wouldn''t be talking to each other now, but were just going to slumber all together. The hero was tired enough, that he didn''t even remember about an upgrade that could be purchased right now. It went out of his mind, but he also didn''t feel like experiencing intense pain right now when he was so tired. Those couple of reasons cooperated to send him towards slumber, that was heavy enough to make one think he had gained weight. Peace and sleep was something that a lot of individuals could link together, and the young man mostly did so as well. But this time, the wheel began rolling towards another direction. In other words, the little sea-disk began dreaming about something that was quite ufortable. It was mildly scary, but also inspired other foul emotions; such as confusion that was coated with a bit of irrational paranoia. Apart from that, he also felt multipleyers of fright. Neither of them were enough to make him feel like he was suffocating, but they worked together to cause him quite a bit of mental stress, even through unconsciousness. Theseyers of fright, featured the fear of the unknown as a primary source. Not to forget, he continued to be spooked by the visual portions of these dreams; because what he was seeing, proved itself weird and disgusting at the same time! Apart from those specifiedyers, he also began fearing any physical touch. He could constantly feel that something was touching his skin and disappearing right after he paid attention to them! But at the same time, that physicalfort also seemed to be bugging him from within! It was tremendously difficult to understand, but Timmy was close to sweating buckets - even while under the sea! However, these descriptions were just a portion of the foul emotions he was feeling right now. All of these diforts were not exined, because they were both numerous and difficult to understand. But, visuals could be described a bit easier. In one of his dreams, the hero saw a human body that was sitting on a lush green field. It took little thinking to decide that this human in one of these weird dreams, was supposed to be him. It was confusing to understand why he felt so, but that was how the dream was unravelling. It was weird how he saw that human from a third-person-view, but it seemed more useful. It was useful until he tried to analyse his own face, through this wretched dream. Chapter 271: Pointless and bottomless (2) Chapter 271: Pointless and bottomless (2) Not only was it impossible to get any facial details out of this observation, but he also met with a weird sight instead. The facial features were covered with a void-like coating, and this same patch managed to generate weirdness after weirdness. At first, the intense focus on this void; had somehow led to the rest of this human''s body, suddenly turning red. That wasn''t so disturbing alone, but after he continued to focus on this void-covered face, other oddities began to happen. Because for a start, a human foot began poking out this man''s face. It was even more difficult to ponder this, after recalling that he saw himself as the human. But the bizarre situation didn''t halt there. Simply because one foot was followed by the other, and then he could see a full pair of legsing out of the void, that had been spread across the human face. These legs ended up turning into a full body, and once this body was whole, the same void appeared across the human''s face. Afterwards a foot would generate out of that void, and the same procedure was continued. This seemed like a constant cycle of rebirth, and it had happened a couple hundred times until now! But that was when another wave of weirdness had struck his noggin. Since he was in a lush green-field, it wasn''t surprising how roses were just nted around here and there. However, these fine flowers did not behave like normal ones are supposed to. Instead, their roots were somehow slowly pulled out of the ground. And Tim could see every detail that there was to see in this process, even though he was not underground. The procedure of roots being pulled off the dirt, felt like it took years to achieve! It felt as if he was withering away while waiting for these roots, but it was impossible to understand why exactly he was waiting for them. However, once they got pulled off the ground; all of those flowers began charging towards the body that Timothy considered as his own. It was tremendously odd because it was as if these roses were using their roots to run, that was the only conclusion he could get out of them. But once they reached this reactionless human body, the hero began seeing blood in this dream for the first time! These roses were somehow jumping off the ground, and bashing their roots against the human body that was sitting on the lush green field. This human did not have any physical reactions to such a painful process, but the good young man wasn''t as lucky. He began freaking out, not only because blood was exploding in every direction, but also because he could feel every bit of pain to the furthest detail! The pain and wounds of this human, belonged to Tim as well! It was tremendously difficult to understand how that worked, but the pain went away for good after a few moments. Because these flowers turned into arge lifeless tree-trunk, necessarily meaning that the living body had also turned into such a dried out piece of nature! This trunk was about seven feet tall, and it continued to lose its brown colour as it further embraced the darker side. Within a moment, it shattered into thousands of pieces! And that wasn''t the worst part yet, these little shards of wood began wiggling around, all of them with an individual attempt. But their results ended up being the same. These pieces of wood grew bigger, and turned into ck-coloured worms! These worms continued to grow in size, and began developing human features until they each turned into one! And what was even weirder, was how these thousands of humans all carried the same void across their faces. However that was not the worst part! These humans began fighting each other, and embraced a tremendously bloody battle! It was disgusting because every organ and body part that a human could have, were spread across the fields! But eventually, everything went quiet and that lush green field returned again. But it took little time to figure out that this silence wasn''t for the sake of peace, it had been developed all for the sake of allowing something bigger to move in. And unsurprisingly, seventy-seven tentacles had slowly emerged out of the ground! Timothy did not count them whatsoever, he just knew their exact quantities with absolute uracy for some weird reasons. Anyway, these tentacles were dark and blue in colour, with asional small white dots. Their countless pods continued to puke out some weird green goo, and it was sometimes mixed with red - all and all, it was tremendously disturbing. But worse yet, these tentacles were somehow pulling the hero towards them. The odd part was that they didn''t have anything solid to pull. The body that the young man saw as his own, had long disappeared, it could not be grasped. Instead, these tentacles were somehow dragging down Tim''s point of view. It was as if they had grabbed a hold of his conscious! And while they were dragging him down, these weird tentacles were whispering something in gibberish. It became easier to understand their wordy, the closer he got towards the ground, and eventually he managed to understand a full sentence that came from this oddity''s side. It had elongated every word with a gulping whisper, "Dawn dawn broken eye, broken thigh, dwelled root." It absolutely failed to make any sense whatsoever, but those were the only bits of full words that he could pick up. These weird bundles of tentacles, didn''t seem to repeat themselves either, or perhaps they did? He wasn''t sure of that particr detail, because all of this strange world suddenly disappeared. He woke up, and noticed a few friendly faces staring him down. And excitement struck through their faces, and one of them even began yelling out of joy. That one was Dana, and she eximed. "He''s awake!" Chapter 272: The phrase Chapter 272: The phrase The overall morale in this small room spiked up for the better, as these friends continued to vocally celebrate. Their aura was simply too radiative! Timmy took his time to speak, because he was still trying to ponder everything that just had happened. He wanted to make sure that this scene wasn''t another weird dream. Dana eventually became the one who made him speak, by asking. "Are you ok? Can you see me?" "I''m okay," The hero assured and had an urge to ask. "Why are you so worried?" He felt absolutely sure that the massively weird dreams he experienced, were simply limited to what was going on through his head - the rest of his friends, shouldn''t be able to share the same nightmare. Gech managed to bring in quite a bit of shock, after he simply informed. "You''ve been asleep for six days, we had to force feed you or else things could have turned out bad. You could have died." This bit of information did not exin the whole weird dreams, but he did manage to link both of them together. Surely these dreams appearing right when he was forced through a six-daya, couldn''t be a coincidence? He was at a loss for words right now, everything was just too confusing and he did not know what to think. So all of his hopes began weighing towards the system, as he spoke out thest few words that he experienced in thest portion of those weird dreams. He spoke out loud for everyone to hear, "What does ''dawn dawn broken eye, broken thigh, dwelled root'' mean?" The sea-pancake could remember those words with absolute uracy, since they were practically imprinted in his head. "I don''t have the faintest clue what that means," The mantis shrimp was the first to answer, since he was seen as the most knowledgeable amongst this group. The old man continued this same topic by asking, "Why do you ask about that all of a sudden?" "The seventy-seven tentacles told me so, they were the ones that didn''t let me wake up." Perhaps that wasn''t as true as described, but it felt well put. Aura was one thing that was under countless conflict here, and this time its foundations were messed with again. Because they were all concerned over the little boy''s well being, they didn''t know what to do. But there was a thought that they all began developing, even though neither of them mentioned it for the sake of hope; they didn''t want to believe it. Yet Timothy was the only one that proved brave enough to speak about such a topic, "What if Azq has put a curse on me?" "Well I don''t know about a curse, since it doesn''t seem like a godly thing to do. But maybe your nightmares are rted to your powers, rather than anything Azq could do against you." The old man was just throwing theories around, but this made sense. And he continued to pitch an idea by reciting, "Maybe your grasp and capability to understand, is far limited inparison to what these powers demand?" "That''s a sweet way of calling me stupid," The sea-disk answered, and then began moving a little bit for the sake of stretching. What he craved the most, was the system''s thought right now. And thankfully the gooddy in his head, didn''t fail to provide a thought. [There are countless theories that surround this matter, but I didn''t have enough time to analyse your head] While his friends were chattering amongst one another, he questioned the system. "So you don''t know anything about this either?" [I don''t. Because even I can''t see what goes on in your head when you''re asleep] [I managed to analyse your brain, but could use a few more weeks to build up a stable theory we can head towards for the sake of fixing] He didn''t want toin, but several weeks just seemed too long of a wait. Who knows what could happen until then! That was why he tried to pressure the other side, "I thought you were fast and super intelligent. Why can''t you give me an answer right away?" [Even your slightlyplicated brain takes weeks to analyse, you currently bear around three-billion neurons, it takes time to check each and every one of them for problems] [And besides, there are other things to check apart from neurons in your brain] After pondering over most of the circumstances, he could only unleash a heavy sigh. This situation was bizarre, but it seemed that its odds and ends will unravel with time. So he forced the team to evade this topic for a while, by demanding. "Everything will be okay. Let''s focus on finding those sharks that killed my family." The geezer''s eyes sparked after that sentence wasid out, and he instantly stated. "That might not be too big of a problem." When it came to such a task, this was certainly the first time that any of his friends were so confident about sess. So the sea-pancake was tempted to ask immediately after, "What do you mean by that?" "While you were forced to slumber, me and Osira have been stalking the perimeter, and we got a good lead of where to look for those menaces to our underwater society." Perhaps the sentence was a bit too long, but this little shrimp certainly had managed to embrace excitement. Within an instant, Tim ordered. "Let''s go then! No time to waste." Afterwards he headed out of the little hole, for the sake of taking in some fresh water. He trusted that Gech knew the way, so the only task was to follow his directions after they head out to seek the targets. What came in as an evident shock, were the effects that struck the little boy, right after he left the hole. For a second he thought that those seventy-seven tentacles were emerging out of the deep oceans; but everything was blurry so he couldn''t exactly gain a fullprehension of the sight. After a few blinks, those tentacles were swift to disappear; so he decided that this was just some slight illusion that came due to that strong and bizarre dream. Chapter 273: Visual Chapter 273: Visual His friends left the hole one after the other, and they began travelling towards the spot where these enemies are supposed to be. Contrary to all expectations, they didn''t end up heading further towards the west; but headed towards the north instead, towards more shallow waters to be precise. The conversations on the way there eventually became plentiful, because Gech noticed all the worry in between the group, and ran his mouth nonstop until they all joined. Such a result had given the hero enough space to explore a topic that he had indirectly evading for a little while, upgrades. He instantly cut to the case, by sounding out a question in his mind. "What am I able to upgrade? I can''t remember anything about that." [You currently have only one avable option, and it is the following] [Increase depth durability by a hundred-meters deeper] [Price = 270-system-points] "I''ll buy it, if I can?" He questioned, feeling quite confused and unable to recall details. [You can. It seems like those nightmares have shaken you up quite a bit] Towards such a statement, he could only weigh in. "Yeah I think so... but it will pass, don''t worry." [Confirmed] And right after, his spine was blessed with quite an amount of pain. For a second it felt like he was struck with a warhammer against the back, but that wasn''t the case. These upgrades were always painful, but it was troubling how pains only became stronger the more he upgraded. The young man felt battered and bruised. Constant pain was difficult to handle, even for a battle prodigy such as himself. The pain continued across his bones, it especially did some work against the fins; but he didn''t slow down whatsoever so his friends didn''t get worried again. And thankfully, he didn''t have to fight anymore as the pain went away in nothing but a blink. And the system brought in a bit more information of her own. [Upgradeplete] [270-system-points consumed] [2188-system-points remaining] [You can now withstand sea-pressure of up to three-hundred-and-forty meters deep] "Thank god! I do not want to feel more back pain, so you better not bring me more of it." Such a statement felt like a rough demand, but that wasn''t the case. He was just kidding with the system to lighten up the mood. Both of them were aware that the upgrade options onlye like the system chooses for them to be. [Well you won''t be having any back pain soon, that depends on how eager you are to buy these upgrades] [Speaking of which, three new ones have been unlocked. Would you like to hear them out?] He took a peek at his surroundings, and didn''t exactly notice any big marine animals. So he figured that the enemies were still far away, there was a bit of time to spare. That was why he agreed simply by requesting, "Let''s hear them." [Purchase option number one = Upgrade sex appeal to level-one] [Price = 30-system points] Such an upgrade had managed to make him feel a bit embarrassed. One because he still wasn''t old enough to use such an attribute, and two because such appeal was being mentioned by a system, who admittedly sounded like ady. This little talk wasn''t easy to handle for a moment, but at least the system didn''t hold on to the topic and continued with the rest of what she had to say. [Purchase option number two = Increase bodily durability by thirty-points] [Price = 700-system-points] Such an upgrade option was staggering for sure! Not only because it was expensive, but also because he understood how valuable it can be! These types of bodily capabilities could easily make the difference between life and death! His flesh was already tough, but this upgrade offers more than twice of what he already has! After he bought such an attribute, it would make him resistant even against various shark bites! Perhaps not against a great-white, but it was still a powerful upgrade! Timothy almost decided to buy this thing, but then the system came along with something that sounded a bit more interesting. [Purchase option number three = Visual and informational tabs] [Price = 800-system-points] And so, his entire focus was thrown towards this upgrade. It seemed tremendously interesting, but there was one thing he wanted to ask first. And the little boy didn''t shy away from it either, "Will this thing hurt after I buy it?" [Not at all, it''s quite painless] "I''ll buy it then!" He thought out with quite a bit of enthusiasm. The little hero had no clue regarding what this thing was; since his memories were a bit fussy right now, he couldn''t really base this upgrade on any past words or events either. But it sounded important, and he was supposed to buy it eventually anyway. Yet after he uttered out the request for purchase, he feared that his system points would be insufficient ~ he thought so even though the system mentioned the amount of points he had. Thankfully the system went quite contrary to expectations, Timmy had racked up over two-thousand system points over a week ago, there were quite a few to go around. [Confirmed] [Purchaseplete] [800-system-points consumed] [1,388-system-points remaining] Before he was given the chance to focus on any other upgrades, something rather odd appeared in front of the hero''s vision. Aputerised tab had shed right in front of his view, and took a good spot in the middle. It was square shaped, and had quite a few beautiful colours within it. Most of it being red, with hints of ck here and there. The section he was currently viewing, showed all of the upgrades he had bought and what level they were at. There were also other options to choose from, as on the side of his vision there was something to choose; it wasbelled ''consumption effects''. Upon choosing that one with the aid of a single thought, he began seeing high definition projections of various fish. He recognized a few of them, but little did the fuzzy-headed boy know, these were all creatures that he had killed before. Chapter 274: Massive changes Chapter 274: Massive changes He toggled with these visual options for a few minutes, and managed to observe most of their contents in the process. It was worth mentioning that he managed to memorize a few of them too. But such a grade of understanding had nothing to do with his overall intelligence. The information in those dashboards, were simply easy to understand; and he had already known some of them from before. What seemed helpful through this overall upgrade, was also how a clock had appeared in the top right corner of his vision now. This clock was bright red, and seemed rather digitized because it just showed a handful of numbers ~ which pointed out that it was just after midday right now. Such a feature would surely help him keep track of time a little bit better, so it was a win. It was convenient, but he couldn''t help notice that the purchase seemed just a bit limited so far; it could use more features but it was still surely interesting. The hero didn''t regret buying it whatsoever. However, since they were still travelling, Timmy thought it was the best idea to buy those couple other avable upgrades. They were going to fightrge sharks anytime soon, so it wasn''t a bad move to be a bit more prepared. He didn''t want to waste any time either, so impatience coated the little boy''s noggin, and that was exactly why he made a bold decision. But there was a specific detail that should be paid attention towards, which unsurprisingly came along with this impatience; since his memory was still a bit fuzzy, the little boy couldn''t even remember what the two upgrades were about. This of course meant he didn''t even know that one of the upgrades, would prove useless in the face of danger. Not to forget, the other one was quite painful although it''s use glowed far more radiant! However, it was toote now as the system had already put the request into motion. [Confirmed] Before he knew it, a sharp bit of pain struck him right against the skull! It was tremendously strong and he almost felt like the entire ocean''s weight had gathered up, right at that point. Thankfully such a pain went away in a matter of seconds, but then it unapologetically spread across other body parts. His fins ended up undergoing the most pain possible through this process, simply because there were far many more bones located there. If that wasn''t enough of a reason already, it felt like the upgrade was pushing each and every one of those bones, deeper towards pain! Such a horrible experience continued to assert its dominance, right against the line of the little sea-pancake''s backbones! And such tremendous pain only began slowing down, once the upgrade began working its way towards the outer skin. At this point the hero felt like the upgrade, was breaking and healing his bones under the same process - and due to that volume of work that was being inflicted against his body, the other team members had noticed that something was going on! It was difficult to miss such a sight, because he had stopped swimming and slowly crashed towards the sand as well. Dana was the first to notice that, simply because she was the best at picking up vibrations through the waters. That and she had managed to decipher what the system had said; therefore she was the first to try and make an excuse. Timmy was barely moving because of the tremendous pain, so he too depended on the skeletondy to prove of aid, just once more. "That long nap you took has tired you out, you''re having trouble moving again?" Dana expressed with the best amount of causality she could muster up. At this point, the group had surrounded the hero to see what was going on, so it was a good idea to loosen up the pressure a little bit, by weighing in a thought towards the dilemma. What didn''t help the gooddy whatsoever, were the bodily changes that began striking next. They could all easily see, that Timothy''s back was slowly shifting its form and colour! At first, his back had bulked upwards just a little bit. It seemed as if he was bing fatter, but it was easy to see that the situation was different. His back was forcing a bunch of muscles to develop, and such a procedure began spreading across the fins as well; they were bing a tad bigger in size as well! Yet the change did not stop there! The sea-pancake''s skin was embracing an upgrade as well. Before, his skin had been mostly yellow with a few small blue-dots spread here and there ~ but now, that noticeable yellow colour was shifting towards a darker tone! It kept up such a pace, until these external bodily features turned pitch ck! Such a result had made most of them think that the process had ended there... but no, there was more to witness! A few lines of which were solely dark-grey in colour, were spreading across his back now as well. These lines seemed more like burn and stretch marks, their form simply embraced such an idea. But right now it didn''t seem like the hero was in pain, so that shouldn''t be the case; these were not wounds. Tim''s pitch dark skin, continued to change just a little bit more, until it embraced a very dark shade of grey - but thankfully, that was when these changes had finally met an end! His small blue dots hadpletely disappeared by now, thanks to this tremendously impactful upgrade. Such a result felt quite weird, because his species'' name was partially named after those same dots; but the overall results were quite pleasing to the eye. [Upgradesplete] [You have forty-points of bodily durability now,] It always felt a bit confusing to understand these points, but it was noticeable that this type upgrade became more dependable, the further away it steered from zero. So even though it was confusing, the idea of that number rising, feltfortable and radiated like a good achievement too! [730-system-points consumed] [658-system-points remaining] Such an upgrade was sure a hell of a painful rollercoaster, but the overall results didn''t seem so shabby. Because right now he looked like a bulky, te-shaped volcanic rock, who could swim. Any fish would be intimidated by such a form, and a lot of them would likely crave the idea of looking like him. But that was not the main thing to focus upon right now. His friends were carrying many perplexing looks on their faces, and were desperate to grasp what was going on here; even if their level of understanding revolved around the low levels. Gech was the first to break the ufortable silence, as he questioned. "I dare you to tell us everything about yourself. Because I don''t think that any marine god, would help you transform into a whole other species..." After a moment, it was proven that the old man had made a splendid point. Because after the little stingray began stretching his fins, it was noticeable that he wasn''t as tiny anymore! The system came along and chattered about that same topic. She gave exact detail regarding every aspect. [You''ve met with another growth-sprout. It doesn''t have to do anything with the upgrade though, it was just lucky timing] [However, the upgrade has made you heavier though. You currently weigh nearly four kilos] [Apart from that, your bodily length is about forty-centimeters now. That is, if we don''t include the tail or barb in this measurement] [And not to forget, your body width has increased a little bit as well. It stretches exactly thirty-centimeters long now] [You are a bit bigger inparison to other stingrays of your species, who are still juveniles] [But it isn''t exactly an extreme size. Besides, I don''t think that anyone will be focusing on how big you are] "We''re waiting for the truth," Gech helped bring the boy back to reality, as he had been focused on the system a bit too much. Chapter 275: The secret Chapter 275: The secret "Uh... what did you say?" Timothy followed along, feeling genuinely confused. "You aren''t telling us something about yourself, something important. How did you just turn into a different stingray?" The old man weighed in that grand and head-scratching fact. He wasn''t trying to put pressure against the sea-pancake, but just wanted the truth. That and he felt genuine concern; the little menace had not been the same, ever since he came out of that unique cavern. The entire group grew even more concerned, once they noticed that the hero was absent-minded even towards such a heavy conversation. It was as if arge boulder was weighing over most of his conscience, that forced the stingray to give up on normal functions: such as holding a conversation. That was why the only thing he could answer, was. "Huh... I changed my species?" The fact that he was utterly unaware of such tremendous shifts of forms, had managed to push the group towards stronger worry! Dana had heard the whole request for an upgrade that the hero had made earlier, yet she still was worried half to death. It was fair to say that pressure was rapidly building its foundation, in this group conversation. However, for the sake of fact-checking, the little menace expanded the third-person-view map, and was swift to notice that his skin had truly changed most of its original details! Such a discovery had forced him to grasp over just a little bit of focus. Which unsurprisingly led him towards catching up on the whole conversation too, and he managed to find a way of replying. The response was proper, although he was still avoiding the truth. "It has something to do with my new silver blood, probably? There is a weird worm inside me so this isn''t a surprise." "Actually it''s a big surprise," The mantis shrimp contradicted, but also felt a bit happy that Timmy could reply properly. But then he also felt it important to remind, "Worms aren''t supposed to turn you ck!" Before this conversation could have developed further, the system pitched an idea that wasn''t expected whatsoever. Be it now, or any other day! [You are allowed to tell them that you have a system, it isn''t such a big deal] "What!" Timothy shouted out in utter shock,pletely forgetting that his friends had hearing senses. As most of them gazed towards the boy in utter confusion, the system began exining herself. [There are quite a few reasons, regarding why my guests couldn''t openly speak about me] [One of the reasons was discretion. I specifically preferred for most marine life, to be unaware of my existence. It makes my work easier] [Second, it''s highly difficult for most fish to understand what a system is, so it''s less troubling to not inform them about this topic] [But your friends seem capable of possessing a grasp of understanding. Not to forget, they are genuinely worried about your well-being, and have proved useful to aid your survival so far] [Tell them] Such a rmendation had definitely barged forward as a strong shock, but it sounded like a good idea; each wording from the system, had been coated with tremendous reasoning! This group of friends was worth sharing a secret with. And it was a noticeable truth, that he couldn''t find any proper excuses any longer. Finding ways of exining these abnormalities, will only be more difficult over time ~ ease was non-existent. A lot of the upgrades tend to bring along extreme pain, and it was no secret that such a feature will only get worse over time; so it was best if they knew about the system now, rather thanter. And as the little boy returned his attention towards the conversation, he decided to cut to the case right away. "Okay, so I have a system in my head." The silence that weighed in after that point, was heavier to handle than a bone-crushing boulder. He did not know what reply to expect, but this tension was surely forcing him to be far more focused, so at least it was a win in one way. Surprisingly, Osira decided to continue the conversation for once, by questioning. "What does that mean?" He felt utterly d that his friends wanted to know more, so he deciphered. "There''s a voice in my head that has helped me survive so far. It also lets me upgrade my body, you saw that with your own eyes." "Okay, he has gone insane." The samedy who asked the question, followed along. And her eyes directly locked with the rest of the team, because she was utterly desperate at this point, and hoped that they could provide any solution if was fair to say, that the ck-grouper was yet to understand the whole concept, of what the little stingray had just said! "Actually he isn''t crazy," Dana decided to intervene in this conversation. She had been mostly staying idle until now, but also felt an even stronger sense of attraction towards the hero ~ so she didn''t want to let anyone scorch his name. That was why she also pressured a fact, "You know how my vibration senses are very strong now?" "Yes?" The ck-grouper agreed, utterly clueless regarding where this conversation was heading towards. Thankfully the nice skeletondy was eager to exin, "Well, I can kinda hear some of your thoughts. It''s easy, because I only need to focus on your head vibrations." It was difficult to understand the whole concept at this point, but Dana did not stop there. "I can guarantee that there is a voice in Timmy''s head, and I talked with it as well." "This is... quite interesting." The geezer decided to mumble. "This is insane," The ck-grouper softly contradicted. "It is insane." Timothy decided to agree for once, but thankfully his focus was grand right now due to the situation. However, he also wanted to add. "But this system helps me be stronger, we need it to survive." Osira heavily liked the word ''we'', but she didn''t want to openly admit that. Instead, she just decided to nod in agreement with the boy, and stretched a healthy smile too. "I wouldn''t mind a system chattering in my head," Gech added with absolute certainty, although such a statement had the aura of a joke. "Uh, I don''t know if you can have one." Timmy pointed out, and waited for the system to have a word on this. [I''m not epting any guests for a long while. I need to re-evaluate what goals and aid I should provide to any future guests, for the sake of increasing their survival rate] "Well there we go, she just answered me. You can''t get a system in your head." The hero assured, and decided to head towards a sub-topic. "Okay so all of you know about my secret now. I have a system in my head, and it will help me be much stronger in the future. Nobody else knows about this, so please keep it a secret." Such a sentence had tired the boy out, but he could see that the group were carrying soft smiles across their faces. Gech decided to speak for everyone, by stating. "We won''t be telling anybody, we''re friends after all. And other fish can be dumb, we can''t risk them chasing us just to get a system as well." "Yeah, we will keep your secret." Osira decided to weigh in her thoughts as well. She didn''t want to be on bad terms with her friend, so she expressed. "Sorry for calling you crazy," The peachy aura of which the entire group radiated, was strong enough to make him speak out. "It''s okay. Now let''s go kill those sharks... my head is starting to hurt from all these emotions." Chapter 276: Tail Chapter 276: Tail Due to various reasons that had been counted so far, Timothy had it a tad difficult to catch up with everything that this day had to offer. If the logical aspects weren''t mentally consuming enough, the emotional aspects had begun seeping mouthfuls of his concentration, too. In other words, he didn''t yet know how to feel about his friends acknowledging the system''s existence. It wasn''t a surprise how he felt utterly lost when thinking about such a topic, especially since the conversation itself had moved on quite quickly. He told them about the system''s existence, they attained a good grasp of the concept, and the conversation ended there. It was convenient how they didn''t bring any trouble whatsoever, after finding out about his little secret - but the young hero still needed time to ponder over the whole conversation, that happened moments ago. Normally he wouldn''t have any trouble perceiving any aspect of this situation, especially since his emotional intelligence was above average; but the situation was a bit different right now. His brain felt heavily fuzzy, clouded so to say. So no one topic could be focused on with absolute concentration. It was difficult to figure out the reason behind thisck of focus, but its root will surely reveal itself soon, there was no avoiding it. However, since the chattering amongst this group was thinning by the passing second, the little stingray was allowed to utterly lose any grasp of focus, and embrace a few other thoughts instead. There was still a bit of time until they would meet these killer sharks, at least that was what Gech had specified once more ~ so Tim used this opportunity to check out the new upgrades. Unsurprisingly, the system was quick to urately describe what options there were. And this time, a tab appeared right in the middle of his vision, for the same reason of exnation. He was quick to recognize this board after acknowledging its red features; this was one of the new upgrades he had bought just a few minutes ago. This tab began listing down three upgrade options. And it briefly described what level each capability was at. Such a screen was tremendously helpful, especially now when it was so difficult for the sea-pancake to focus; it allowed him to ponder over decisions, even through this mental burden. However, the system did begin describing these options vocally as well, even though he could see what each upgrade offered. She started by bringing back one of the first upgrades that this brave boy had bought. Even he, was able to recognize this detail, it was difficult to miss it. And once he noticed it, the hero''s heart tingled a little bit; as seeing this upgrade felt heart-fulfilling to a limited extent. [Purchase option number one = Upgrade hunting capabilities to level-three] [Price = One-hundred-and-sixty system points] It sounded a bit expensive, but its use can be far out-stretched, especially by Timothy who was so capable in terms of creativity. Every hunting instinct that the system would bash against his head with this upgrade, can and will be modified for better use! That aside, he could still feel a bit of satisfactory emotions after hearing about this upgrade. This option revealing itself again, meant that all of the primary options had been upgraded at least once; they had basically revolved once right now. So even throughout this chaotic mental draft, he began feeling a bit emotional. Because an upgrade like this, dated back to the very beginning of this reincarnation, when life was much simpler. At that time, the only goal was to survive; it was a difficult task, but its root was simpler than an empty piece of paper. But these days, he had to withstand the inevitable effects of adventure, and the burdening discoveries that came with it. It was perplexing to think about, but right now he wanted to focus on what should be upgraded first; and of course the system helped, by repeating what she had said earlier. [Upgrade option number two = Unlock the grey-tail ability] [Price = Seventy-five system points] Now such an ability most definitely sounded interesting, but it was difficult to perceive what values it had. He was trying to ponder what its uses were, and just how powerful this upgrade could be; but the other options were distracting as well. So he wasn''t yet capable of making a decision, regarding when he should buy any of these upgrades. But of course a lot of that indecisiveness can be pushed aside, once he purchases a single option ~ as it would be easier to choose between two of them. So no question was asked about that new and unique-sounding capability, which allowed the system to repeat thest option. [Purchase option number three = Upgrade eruptive heat by one-hundred-degree-celsius more] [Price = two-hundred system points] Right now, he didn''t nearly remember how powerful this ability was, but also avoided asking any question surrounding the topic. If it can be upgraded to that extent, it will surely end up being dependable soon anyway. However, after a forced attempt of pondering and consideration had been implemented, he decided that it was the best time to ask about this grey-tail ability. It''s name was surely interesting, but what use it had and what exactly it could do, was aplete blur at the moment - more information towards this power was quite craved right now. So he simply asked, "Can you tell me anything about this tail upgrade thing? I''m confused." [The grey-tail ability, is quite a different closebat attack move] [It has that name, because a grey-coloured light can manifest around your actual tail] [This light can quickly transform into a tail, the name rmends it so] [But the key feature here, is that this transparent grey-tail, bes three times bigger inparison to how long your actual tail is] [And the damage it can cause... well you''ll discover it after purchasing it, this is all the information I can give you for now] [However, it is also worth noting that this upgrade will give you morefort in battles. Because although this grey-tail is used for closebat battles, its size helps keep afortable distance] Chapter 277: Pointy bones Chapter 277: Pointy bones It took a bit of contemtion to figure out what to do next, but eventually he managed to make a somewhat good decision. The young hero nced at the purchase options and what prices they had. After paying the briefest attention to those, he peeked at the three-digit number that was located on one corner of the dashboard. These numbers specified that the hero had quite over six-hundred system points! The sum seemed decent, which was a surprise after considering the expensive upgrade that he had bought just earlier. However, after eyeing the three purchase options once more; he felt confident that the quantity of system points he had now, would be enough to buy everything that was avable. But he still wanted to be absolutely sure, so that was why he asked with the aid of a thought. "Can I buy all of these?" [Oh most definitely, you''d even have quite a few system points left over] It took him a moment to absorb that fact, but it eventually ended up feeling convenient. For a second he couldn''t quite figure out where all these points came from, but the dominating cloud in his mind had ironically helped him remember. All these points were almost directly linked, with the mental burden he was experiencing right now. Hundreds of fish had died in that cavern because of him, which in exchange had provided a splendid reward! The bad aftermath that was directed against him, wasn''t expected ~ perhaps it was karma in a way, because of all those innocent souls that had met death? It was perplexing to think about, but right now he had no other option but to deal with this burden. That was why he put those thoughts aside, and tried to focus on the upgrades. Thankfully he had just enough mental rity to call out for his friends, for the sake of informing them. Through a mumble, he recited. "I will be uh, yes upgrading, yes that thing. Protect me because this will probably be painful, the upgrades that is." Such an expression was almost fully understandable, so they could catch up on what the hero meant. But the group also began feeling a bit nervous. Especially since moments ago, they had witnessed his skinpletely change in a matter of minutes! So their impressions towards these upgrades, were that their impact could not be underestimated. It wasn''t a surprise how they felt that way, as this wasn''t amon situation either. And while the group peeked at each other now, trying to figure out how to express themselves, Gech beat them to it. He managed to break the ufortable silence, by asking. "We''ll be here, but why are you rushing with these... so called upgrades? Your skin seems tougher than a rock, whom are you fearing?" It took the hero a moment to reply, but he managed to get a slightly proper sentence together. "Big sharks. I want to kill them very fast when we meet them, can''t risk their bites. They can kill you all if I''m not strong." "I doubt that," Osira contradicted, while putting in efforts to sound casual. She was carrying half of the ego in this group, and such a sentence from the hero had surely managed to cause a bit of damage. He was unwilling and incapable of continuing the conversation, and he didn''t n too - regardless of how the group would feel about it. That was why Tim simply stated, "Okay I will be upgrading now." And then spoke out loud once more, "System, I want to buy all those options." [Confirmed] Once that sentence was uttered out by the system''s side, the sea-pancake expected intense pain toe along ~ it was no secret that difort will strike stronger after every purchased upgrade, simply because each body-part became far moreplicated after any little change. Yet contrary to that believable expectation, the first bit of pain that he was able to feel: was located right in the inner portions of his brain, and it wasn''t exactly strong. It felt weird how he could pin-point with exact uracy, which specific portion of his brain ached, but it sure felt unique. The pain itself was more like a light pinch, so it wasn''t anything worth worrying about, especially since it went away as quickly as it arrived. Furthermore, his brain felt bombarded with new information that solely surrounded hunting. He could imagine and understand new methods of ughter, they seemed a bit advanced too. These hunting techniques included thebination, of attacking with both tail and jaws; such as the method of inverted stealth hunting. This method advised the hero to dig himself in the sand, but his belly would be facing towards the surface, which was quite an inverted way for a stingray. And once a critter got close enough, his tail would fling upwards, and he would also crunch to bite the prey in question - which in exchange would deliver the ultimate blow! It sounded like a unique trick for sure, and there were a few new other ones to experience, but now was not the time. Especially since actual pain began creeping in! This pain was specifically isted around the fins, and it was fair to say that the level of pain was new in both procedures and difort! Timmy felt as if the meat of the ends of his fins was being ripped off! It was tremendously painful to say at least, but the insanity didn''t stop there! It continued to set its root of wild pain, by forcing the young boy to flinch and shiver! He couldn''t control these outbursts whatsoever, and only hoped for all of this pain to be over soon. And thankfully after half a minute, most of the pain fiddled away. However he could still feel a weird sensation around the very edges of his fins. It made Timmy expand the third-person-view map, as it could give a swift and urate description of what was going on. He was surprised to see that his body carried minor new features now. There were exactly three pointy bones sticking out of his fins, they were a few inches away from each other, and were slightly curled forwards. After seeing such a weird sight, the hero panicked for a quick second, but then swiftly calmed down. Because he noticed skin and tissue generating around those same pointy bones, at a rather fast pace. In the end, only a small bit of these bones had been left exposed to the environment, those were the very tips. These bones were just a couple of inches long, each; but their tips seemed quite deadly. And since the hero carried three of them on each fin, it was no secret that they can be fully considered as new weaponry. When paired with his dark-silver coloured skin features, he looked quite like a dissolved torpedo; uneasy to the eye but quite intimidating too! The pain thankfully stopped there, and no new waves of difort had made themselves visible, so the best guess was that no pain would be striking anytime soon. [All three purchase options have been bought, and implemented in your body] [Calcting...] [435-system-points consumed] [223-system points remaining] Well the system was right regarding currency. This quantity still seemed ratherrge, another upgrade could be likely bought with it. The perks of obtaining over two-thousand points seemed extreme at this point. However, the topic was brought back to the main route, as the system asked. [Would you like to see statistics about your eruptive heat ability?] Such a question was a bit oddly ced, especially since new powers were introduced earlier, but Timothy still felt rather curious. So he swiftly and shortly agreed, "Yes." Chapter 278: Straightening things out Chapter 278: Straightening things out [It might feel like this kind of upgrade had been left behind, since this is only the second time you had the chance to upgrade it; but rest assured that all upgrades, are listed for the sake of aiding the chances of your survival] [A good example, is that your eruptive-heat-ability can now reach a grand temperature, of one-hundred-and-fifty-degree-celsius] [It is also worth pointing out, that you haven''t paid any extra system points this time. Well at least inparison to the first sum you had given, for the sake of unlocking this ability] [So the sum isn''t too expensive now, just because you had spent many points to unlock this ability, long ago] It felt a bit odd how the system was spamming such information right now, but at least she was willing to share such valuable details. After a bit of thinking, he remembered that one of the recent upgrades, had a hand in this expansion of information ~ so this situation began to make sense. A good example was that the visual dashboard he had, solely featured details regarding what he was capable of. So it wasn''t really a surprise, that the system gave more information about any new upgrades now. Before this little volcanic-pancake was about to respond, this good system added just a few more words of her own. [There is a bit more news. You can activate the eruptive-heat-ability three times a day now, instead of one] After hearing out such a detail, Tim couldn''t help growing a little smile across his ashy face. This ability had proven useful before in terms of delivering an extrayer of damage; and now, it will likely prove quite a few times more effective! Therefore he was eager to use it in the near future. However, right now he couldn''t quite build up a sentence around this same topic. Earlier on, the hero might have been able to say something, but that thought had been utterly forgotten by now. So instead, he began focusing on one of the most impacting upgrades of the day! And without bothering to inform his friends that he was okay, Timothy simply asked out loud. "Why do I have spiky fins now, system?" [The new hunting techniques that have been implemented in your mind, can give you a good idea of why you need them...] [But apart from that, you simply have reached the criteria of having your fin-bones exposed to the elements, and having them categorized as weapons] [The bodily-durability upgrade you had bought, will help you avoid breaking those bones in the long run, which proves another point about criteria] [In other words, you are entering categories of upgrades that are considered quite strong. You are slowly bing a true force to be reckoned with] After pondering over this information a little bit, there was no other option but to agree. Right now he seemed quite like a swimming volcanic rock, and could be categorized more deadlier than ever! So the system carried a few strong points. But yet for a second, he began thinking that all of this effort might not have been worth it. He got skin-cancer in this process, and that was quite intimidating on its own. If that wasn''t enough of a memorable fact: he was also experiencing a massive cloud in his mind, whose foundation was yet to be discovered! Such results proved a point that pain came along with progress, and its intensity increased the more he advanced forward. However, the thought of this mental cloud had ironically made him think just a little bit better; or at least enough to form a question, that originated this topic. With a bit of a mumble, he asked. "Is there a cure, for uh? Head-emptiness? You know, the weird thing that happened to me after I fell asleep?" [I don''t have any solid fact yet, because your brain is quiteplex now due to the numerous upgrades] [Throughout these few days, I have managed to analyse a tenth of your brain; and I might be getting a lead of what the problem is, but the analysis is far from being over] "Oh," The hero shortly answered, feeling just a tad demotivated. [Don''t worry about it too much. Ten gods wouldn''t be enough to kill you, if I say otherwise] [You are one of the few blue-dotted ribbon tail stingrays who made it this far. Only eleven-percent had reached this stage to be exact] [My point is that I won''t let you die that easily, not now when you have so much potential to be stronger ~ you are a good research tool as well. So no, you won''t die] Even though he was yet to catch up with what the system had just said, he couldn''t help smiling a little bit. Such an expression from the system''s side felt quite pleasant, even though it had many odds and ends. So he only nodded towards those statements, and turned his attention back towards the group. Two of them were craving to know just what Timothy had discussed with the system, but he felt too cloud-minded to notice a detail like that. Instead, he made a decision for the whole group. "Let''s go kill those sharks, I''m ready." Such a statementing from Tim, felt quite heavy. Because apart from all these uniqueyers of difort, he had more system points to spend. Meaning he could have stopped here and spent those points for the sake of being more prepared, yet he didn''t! It showed such a grand level of confidence, and the system had arge influence towards such confidence ~ this whole great-white-shark headache was close to being dealt with! So they continued to swim towards the taken direction, and began mentally preparing for the battle; it shouldn''t be too difficult to kill some sharks, but they still felt a little bit nervous. Gech noticed this difort amongst this small little team, so he tried to loosen up the overall tight aura, by specifying how exactly he got a firm lead of these sharks. The geezer was quite a chatter mouth too, so the other group members were only given an option to listen. "While you were forced to slumber by some weird god or whatnot, I had spent quite a bit of time stalking the perimeter." "Well, Osira has travelled with me, but you get the idea." He continued to describe, unwilling to let any details slip. With a bit of pride, the geezer began counting another portion of his work. "Eventually we had found a perimeter that seemed to be quite plentiful with life, stingrays included. This had given a grand hint of invisible borders." That didn''t make quite a lot of sense, so he of course had to borate. "Or in other words, the plentiful amount of stingray species in that perimeter, gave us a hit that the sharks we are looking for, were not in that area." "So we followed a variety of patterns that led away from any stingray species, which had ultimately led to a spot where there wasn''t anyone of your kind there. Simply because the sharks had eaten them all." That was quite intelligent indeed, but it still was a bit of a blur regarding what this old man wanted to say. Chapter 279: Whistling salt Chapter 279: Whistling salt Gech was a thorough man, so naturally he managed to notice that the whole team had submerged into confusion. Even Osira, who had taken the journey with him earlier on, was utterly baffled. So he loosened up all confusion, by reciting. "It''s reasonable to look for our enemies, in ces where stingrays aren''t living at. That''s how I managed to find them, they openly talked about eating stingrays too." "I''m impressed," Timothyplimented whole heartedly, after finally managing to catch up in the slightest. "Of course you''re impressed. This wasn''t an easy task, I can say that." The old man followed along. Thatst bit of exnation was so to the point, that even the young hero could understand it enough. [Your shrimp friend there, has a set of high intelligences. I''m not sure if the tar had something to do with it, but such levels are surely efficient] [It''s best that you keep any rtions steady with this man, you''ll need him for survival] It took Timmy a bit of time to build up a sentence, but he eventually managed to speak out. "The system says that you''re smart, Gech. It''s apliment and stuff." Perhaps this wasn''t the best form of expression, and understandably so after considering the situation; but he still managed to deliver the word. Feeling a bit prideful thanks to such apliment, the geezer expressed. "Oh is that so? Well that''s one thing to brighten my day. Thank you!" The conversations had slowly fiddled away after that point, as the group only talked about light topics that solely surrounded the task, like travelling orientation and such. They travelled for about twenty minutes more, before Gech urged them to be a bit more cautious, as they were anxiously close to the categorized battle-zone! The old man had managed to remember the exact spot, where these sharks had been floating over before, that kind of memory was quite convenient. But of course those enemies wouldn''t be swimming in one ce forever. So the group, had not exactly found any of those murderous bastards just yet. However, they had to be here somewhere around here. Finding them was only a matter of time. But as they continued to put efforts towards such characteristics, other problems began revealing themselves bit by bit. For example, it was quite difficult to look out far in the distance. Simply because these waters continued to be thickly saturated. And this colour continued to be darker, the deeper they went. A deep shade of blue covered most of these waters, and illumination itself wasn''t at a favourable state; since the sun''s rays themselves, had it difficult to reach all the way down here. The group had only dwelled about one-hundred-meters deep, but that was enough to cut a sizable portion of the overall illumination here. Osira had the best eyesight inparison to her other friends, but her capabilities couldn''t be considered as too dependable. Because she could only see around one-hundred-meters ahead, such a distance wasn''t exactly clear-sighted either. But she could still build theories, regarding just what was approaching in the far distance. So all-and-all, this good woman could help them achieve some efficiency in this task. It was fair to say that the team did their best to progress towards the task at hand, but peace was something that they allcked. The reasons behind that fact, can be easily defined. For example: in any normal situation, they barely cared about what surrounded them, especially while travelling. But here, they were looking for big and obviously dangerous enemies; such circumstances required top-level perception, which in exchange had built up a tower of anxiety. Once again, the mantis shrimp was efficiently able to sense all of the stress in this group; so he put in an attempt to break the silence. And the main topic surrounded the confrontation itself, "Who will protect Tim through this glorious battle?" Although the young man proved utterly clueless a few times, such a sentence had forced him to be focused. And unsurprisingly, he had taken offense from such words. That was why he utterly refused, "I don''t need protecting!" "Yes you do," The ck-grouper joined the conversation, and spoke lightly. Her statement was more of amand, and she wanted to make sure that it was properly asserted. "You''ve been asleep for a week, and you can''t even focus on a conversation right now. I doubt that you will be able to kill a shark, don''t be dumb." Noticing what this good woman wanted to say, the sea-disk decided to agree. "Uh, yeah probably you''re right. I don''t even remember what a shark looks like." Such a im was tremendously impactful! It had managed to push the group towards inevitable worry, because forgetting how an apex predators of the oceans looked like, seemed almost impossible! Every member of the group, had a question of their own to ask after that point; but neither of them knew how to project their thoughts that quickly, especially now when their anxiety had reached above the waters and headed towards the mountains! However, regardless of how many questions they wanted to ask right now ~ such a luxury had been yanked away from them! Because Osira managed to notice a specific feature in the far distance, and shouted. "Shark ahead!" And when the group heard her call for attention, their eyes dotted towards what she was looking at. In exchange, they were quick to notice a fat animal charging against them! It took no effort to notice that this was a great-white, but its size was still overwhelming inparison to what they had seen before! Most of the group had synced into a bit of shock, but one of the most powerful warriors was still ready for battle. Unsurprisingly, that someone was Osira! The skilled ck-grouper was already eyeing the target in question, and tried to pick the best time to attack! It wasn''t difficult to understand that this bastardous marine animal, had no good-hearted intent behind all of that energy; the craving for ughter was visible in its bodynguage! And once this god-forsaken enemy had gotten a bit less than twenty-meters close, the youngdy decided to spring into action. She swiftly generated a ball of ck-light, right in front of her forehead. This was the biggest one she had ever made until now, and was quick to st it against the enemy! Unsurprisingly, this marvelous and simple looking bit of transparent light, pierced through the waters with grand speed! A naked eye could barely catch it. And its seemingly bigger size that stretched three-feet-long, managed to put quite some pressure against the waters! It reached to the point where the fabric of water itself, unleashed a shortsting whistle! It was quite loud, and slightly hurt the ears of all present ~ but it was pale inparison, to the holler of collision! Chapter 280: Polite bastards Chapter 280: Polite bastards Collision, in this situation was another word, for a crackling sound! Its strong vibrations felt more like a crash, rather than a sessfully hit target! Such an impact gave out quite a good hint, regarding just how powerful Osira''s attack could be! In the close distance a bloody mist had erupted. And it didn''t take much thinking to figure out that this crimson colouring, came out of that same shark! The scene became even more horrific, when a massive shark had begun slowly creeping out of that cloud. It''s mouth was hanging open, and a bunch of its teeth were missing too. Not to mention, the creature''s face seemed quite mis-shaped right now, and there was a round wound across its nose! With these circumstances considered, it was no secret that Osira had managed tond a direct kill. Such a result helped to understand just how powerful she was! The carcass continued to float forward for a few more meters, and this was when they managed to have a firm peek of just how big this shark was. Although it felt odd to discover anything like this, this massive beast''s body was about fifteen-feet long! Tremendous for sure, and its fatty features made the bastard seem even bigger. Thinking about it now, it felt highly illogical for a small little grouper, to cause such deadly damage with a single shot! Crazy without a doubt, but now was not the time to nce in amazement, or ponder the means of fair y - because another shark was approaching from the far perimeter. It took a bit more effort to recognize this shark, because it was smaller inparison; but the threat it posed, managed to make itself visible. This shark had approached them from behind, which made this situation slightly difficult to understand, because this smaller beast came from the opposite direction of the first carcass! Such a scene managed to raise a grand question: does this shark belong in the same group? That was forter to decide. They could ask Gech of course, but the enemy was approaching quick and its rapid bodynguage, gave a great hint what this wretched marine animal aimed for! Before the ck-grouper, who respectively was the strongest in this team, could have done anything to humble this new attacker ~ the smallest critter in this little circle of friends, decided to grab this battle by the horns! And that was Gech! He leaped offdy Osira''s back, and directly charged towards the enemy, who was already just ten meters away! Since the sheer amount of power that was stored in his leap, wasn''t something that could be under-estimated ~ Osira ended up kissing the sand, in a split of a second. She was always the one who carried this old man around, and often became a victim to his leaps; but his tremendous power could only be appreciated in this situation. Because within a blink of an eye, he managed to travel five meters forward! And since the enemy was swimming at top speed as well, it took little to no effort for both of them to collide! And the crash was quite noteworthy, as it too managed to cause a cloud of blood to erupt and spread in every close-by direction! What the geezer proved better at, was stealth. He was tiny, and the only attack move he could inflict was quite strong too! The grand example here was that he had managed to utterly blow the enemy''s brains off; yet only an insignificant thud was heard from the actual collision! Deadly for sure, but Osira felt that this attack was unnecessary - the old man could have sat this one out. Simply because it shouldn''t have been too difficult for the young woman to kill a smaller shark, right after killing a big one. She still had energy to spare. However, it might not be the best time to debate now regarding who should attack and when, because other aspects craved attention. There weren''t any threats in clear sight, but there was another issue that managed to steer out a bit of trouble. After Osira arose from the sand that she had been bashed against, a specific urge of hers began revealing itself! Blood! She craved blood! It was no secret that a shark could bleed a lot, especially after such fatal shots were bashed against them. And once these ounces of blood, began mixing with the salty sea-waters, her sniffing senses spiked up and recognized nothing but this substance! It was a bit spooky, because she was behaving like a hyperactive vampire, but it was a problem that they had no option but to deal with. Their life in these waters often led to ughters of this kind. So now they had to deal with thedy swiftly pacing around in circles, because she was just bustling with energy! Her energy was certainly difficult toprehend, but it didn''t exactly pose any threats right now. So they could only lie in wait here. Dana had been the calmest through this ughter, because her worries solely revolved around the very boy she had a fancy for, rather than any other trouble that this ce could offer. With a bit of effort towards speech, she encouraged. "See, you don''t need to fight. Our friends can handle sharks any day." And to encourage this thought even further, she also added. "Take your time to heal... however the system can help you with that? We got this." Such a conversation failed to be continued, as most were preupied with the minor aftermath, that came from killing a couple of sharks. So the best option was to continue waiting here, all of this blood should attract other targets eventually. And unsurprisingly so, in a matter of minutes they saw a group of three sharks, approaching from the far distance ~ these ones seemed calmer, so the team didn''t exactly rush towards an attack. It was best to observe for now. Upon further inspection, it was easy to notice that these great-whites were bigger inparison to the seven-foot-long shark, that Gech had killed a moment ago. And once they got close enough, their cumtive size was overwhelming, to the point of causing difort even. These potential enemies didn''t even have to do anything special, in order to pose a threat. But confusion had struck the group''s side, which led to an uncertainty regarding just how to approach this situation. Because these great whites had reached so close, that they were just a few feet away. And yet they showed no sign of hostility. And what struck as even more surprising, was how one of these sharks, pointed one fin towards the carcasses and calmly recited a query. This massive fish had simply asked, "Can we eat these things?" Chapter 281: Negotiating tool Chapter 281: Negotiating tool The team of friends were absolutely stunned, after such a question had been asked from one of those sharks. They didn''t know how to reply, neither did they know how to approach this situation. But utter confusion covered each corner of their consciousness instead. Why would big bad sharks ask for permission, before chomping on a carcass? Was this some kind of joke? Or have they noticed just how powerful, this group of small marine animals actually was? If so, would some random flock of sharks be capable of critical thinking? They could have just tried their luck anyway. Most of this group of friends, had slowly pondered over half of those thoughts; which was why they were at a loss for words. It was a stunning situation for sure, but Gech was the quickest to get over it. And he decided to talk in the name of everyone. With the aid of a slow nod, he agreed. "You can of course. As you might have noticed, we have no trouble whatsoever finding another meal." Such a sentence was uttered out, for the sake of putting pressure on the other side of the stick. That way, these neers would get a proper hint, regarding how powerful this group of small marine animals, actually was. That and the team wasn''t exactly hungry, so why shouldn''t they put in effort to use these carcasses as a negotiating tool? To their utter surprise, the biggest shark decided to assure. "Oh we are aware, that''s why we asked permission." And since a bit of dialogue was already exchanged between these groups, the sharks began chewing through the carcasses; which meant that the conversation had stopped there. Afterwards, it took a little bit of observation to figure out that neither of these new sharks, were the targets that this team was looking for. Such a detail could be figured out, once one would give a peek at these shark''s pelvic fins. Neither of their front fins were missing, and it seems like the carcasses had those same specifics. So ultimately the team had killed a couple of sharks, that weren''t even supposed to be targets! Regardless it wasn''t exactly a waste of time; since those first couple of attackers, were the ones who seeked trouble to begin with. The only option was to either kill those sted fish, or wait to be killed by them. However, this situation had another opportunity hidden within it. And of course Gech was the quickest to catch up with that fact! He took a full glimpse of all these surroundings, to figure out if they would be attacked by any neers any time soon; and it didn''t take much effort to notice, that there wasn''t anyone new around. So he went ahead and spoke out a question towards these cooperative sharks, "There is something you can help us with, that will bring you quite some benefits as well." After ripping through and swallowing a twenty pound chunk of meat, for the sake of taming hunger... The biggest great-white shark here, followed along. "I''m listening," "See we''re looking for these stupid great-whites. They have to die soon, but we''re yet again having a bit of trouble locating them." Such a handful of words, had the prime intent of setting the base of this deal. And since the other side was listening, it was appropriate to continue. "They''re missing a front fin, do you know any sharks that looks like that?" It was noticeable that the other side of the stick was still pondering over this question. Either that, or their motivation to cooperate had spread thin. With that possible dilemma considered, the geezer decided to save this deal by revealing the best portion of it. With a firm and vocal voice, he assured. "If you help us find those sharks, you can eat their carcasses too. Well at least after me and my friends are done with them." A noticeably shocked expression grew on the other side''s face after that point. Their eyes jerked wide a little bit as well, which managed to show waves of emotions at once, even though they had not said anything yet. After a bit of pondering, the negotiative shark queried. "Are you sure that you can kill them though? There are plenty of them in their group, and each shark is big too." "Well this is some sticky coral," The old man followed along, after hearing that critical bit of information. And then thought this situation through a little bit, before answering. "We can handle them. How many sharks does their group have?" The other side of the stick had grown quite sceptical at this point, but a bit of motivation was still wavering through their conscience. It was enough to answer with the aid of a sigh, "Not sure, but there are at least twenty of them." "Hmmm..." Gech was forced towards a bit of thought again, as he tried to take this dilemma realistically. And after a moment, he decided to assure. "Okay, we will be able to kill them." After that point, he weighed in with a question. "Tell us where they are, and you can simplye and clean the aftermathter on." At first he had been in doubt. But the old man felt tremendously confident, after recalling that Osira had managed to kill hundreds of sharks before, all by her own! Ultimately meaning that this two-foot long ck grouper, was truly a force to be reckoned with. The n itself continued to sprout seeds of sess, when the negotiating shark revealed. "Keep swimming this way, it will be hard to miss them." "Thank you kind miss," Gech expressed, he had understood from the beginning that the biggest shark here was ady. It was a good detail to remember, when it came to showing a bit of etiquette. However, after that point these couple of groups split ways. The team had enough motivation to continue forward with this task, since they were close to achieving what they hade here for, to begin with. But necessarily, anxiety came along with such optimism. Because the idea of having to deal with over twenty massive great-whites, portrayed itself as a suicidal thought! Chapter 282: Laws of physics Chapter 282: Laws of physics The team only had to travel for twenty or so minutes more, before they noticed a few details that they had been looking for. At first they had only seen somerge and fat shark, that was just calmly swimming across a body of water. There wasn''t anything too interesting about that, but any great-white could be the said target; so of course they had to pay attention towards such an animal. And since this potential target was over fifty meters away, they had to swim closer towards it for the sake of making out any details. This had led them directly towards the second step, which was the discovery of more big sharks! It didn''t take much thinking to realise, that these menaces could most likely be the targets, of which the group had been looking for all this time ~ but they still had to get closer, for the sake of assurance. Timmy and his friends craved the idea of being unnoticed as they approached. Because if these sharks weren''t the ones they were looking for, it would be pointless to exhaust their painfully limited fighting power. So the group approached these potential targets, by using the sea-floor and its many twists and corners, as tools to remain hidden. These bodies of water didn''t have a sea-floor that waspletely t, so such an aspect proved as quite an aid, in terms of remaining hidden. Eventually, they got just under ten meters close to this group of sharks, and managed to make a bit of detail out of them. It was even more useful, how these opposing sea-animals didn''t just float in one ce, but continuously swam around instead. Such behaviour helped make detail out of several sharks, instead of just one. Which led to figuring out the grand and seeked for detail, that these sted sharks were all missing a pelvic-fin! It was still odd how all of these sharkscked such a feature, but in this case it was tremendously helpful. And now, it felt like a huge burden had been lifted off their backs. Because the team understood that even though they had to fight some big sharks; there wasn''t another goal toplete after this battle. Well at least, there wasn''t exactly a task in this area. Most of the work had been done already, and now what remained was to massacre these evil bastards and just head home with a strut of confidence. Considering how important the situation had swiftly be, Timothy actually began getting a grip of reality. A tiny portion of the overall absent-mindedness which weighed him down, had been pushed away and reced with focus. So he was able to pitch an idea that could quite likely increase the odds of task-oriented sess. He slowly recited through a whisper, "I should attack them first with Azq''s scream." This idea wasn''t exactly an ego game. His aim was not to deliver the first blow, for the sake of boasting about itter on... but he wanted to make a big contribution instead. That was why he swiftly continued to exin, "This scream can scare all of these dumbasses, so we will have more time to attack them." "I''m impressed," Gech the mantis shrimp,plimented. Thest thing he expected out of this day, was for the little stingray to prove useful in this battle. The situation was not normal right now, as the hero was battling with some weird brain problem. With that considered, much of his help had not been expected. That was why, thepliment that had been given out just a moment ago was truly heartfelt, and the rest of the group agreed with it too ~ even though they did not say a thing. "Thank you," The sea-pancake lightly expressed. But then continued pitching a n, "After I attack them, all of you will try to hit as many of them as you can. This will help us kill them all faster." At this point the entire group was utterly surprised. Because even while carrying such burdens, the young man could still use his creative intelligence quite swimmingly. Although they didn''t quite understand the concept of creative intelligence, they were utterly happy that the hero had such traits. So after exchanging a few nods and agreements, the group felt ready to finally face these bastardous creatures. With a bit of effort, Timmy slowly slipped out of the little hole they had entered before for the sake of stealth, and began targeting one of the biggest sharks that this body of waters had to offer. He had not yet tried Azq''s scream against a living being, so he was utterly clueless regarding what the result would be; but there wasn''t a better time to try it out than now! So with nothing but the aid of a thought, he activated such a scream, and shot it out against the notorious enemy! The scream started out as nothing but a small and pole-shaped portion of transparent light. But then it''s dark-toned, and silver features; swiftly turned lighter in colour and exploded in size, all at the same time! It''s size growth was note-worthy, but it was still quite limited, as it only grew four-feet wide. However, the scream''s actual shape was swift to transform, into a geometrical short-tailed cone. Such swift change, truly managed to prove intimidating. Apart from that, the loud scream that came along with this attack was powerful as well! Timothy had hollered while unleashing it, that''s for sure. But it also sounded like the light itself had a scream of its own. Because the further it expanded in size just a moment ago, the louder it became. And once it reached a full size, the sound it made was more like a loud whistle, that was also heavy in tone. Such a couple of characteristics were contradictory against each other, and beat the point of an actual whistle - but it sure managed to prove creepy, and impactful at the same time! The transparent-looking silver itself, swiftly travelled towards the chosen target, and managed to deliver a shot that was almost impossible to believe! Because the ray of silver light, managed to break thews of physics itself! As once it striked against the enemy''s belly, arge chunk of bodily flesh had been ripped out of that same spot! But that wasn''t all. The rays of silver, had managed to relocate a great portion of the enemy''s body! And those body parts had been transformed into nothing but silver, that had been nailed against the ground! Ultimately meaning that there was a spiky, and narrow mountain of silver; that had the enemy''s body parts trapped in it. It was quite some art, but the disturbing view that came as an aftermath, managed to push away any appreciative thoughts! Chapter 283: A helping hand Chapter 283: A helping hand Sure a four-foot tall pile of spiky silver, had been nailed against the ground, and it was surely a tremendous sight on its own. But there was more of this scene to discover, things that the average eye wouldn''t be able to capture in the first few seconds. Above that mountain of silver, floated the remains of that great-white that had been shot dead, just earlier on. A carcass itself wouldn''t exactly be terrifying enough, but other details that came with it as a aftermath, managed to make the scene utterly disturbing. For example, a great portion of the target''s abdomen had been entirely blown off! But that wasn''t all that this scene had to offer. The carcass'' abdomen had been entirely covered with silver right now, a thickyer so to speak. It was better than seeing blood, flesh and organs, dominating the sea floor; but still, the utter unfamiliarity was difficult to ponder over! Especially since a few more thin and silver-coloured branches, were quickly spreading away from the original wound. These lines headed for different areas of this carcass, and then those very same singr lines, spread several branches ~ in order to cover more of this shark''s body parts. The procedure was bold and rapid! It only took a few blinks, for the great-white''s remains to be utterly covered with the sameyer of thick silver! This coating seemed so wless, that the sun''s rays managed to bounce off it, even though the collision was happening around a hundred meters under water! It was insane for sure, but the hero did not want to pay too much attention towards this odd scene - especially since there were a lot more sharks to kill! So without the slightest hesitation, he targeted another enemy, and wholeheartedly hollered. "Azq''s scream!" Unsurprisingly, another bit of silver-coloured light, generated and shot out from the hero''s forehead; before exploding in size, and forming quite like a cone again. Once this rapidly moving light, managed to hit the said target, its transparent form fiddled away swiftly. And then it was reced by a solid coating of silver, which was quite ruthless in terms of spreading across the target. This enemy had been struck right across the head, so the results that came along as an aftermath were quite familiar, but yet seemed utterly different. For example after a bit of observation, the hero figured out that this enemy''s head was supposed to be blown up in many pieces... but that was not quite what happened. Instead, a great portion of the enemy''s upper body had been split into four main pieces. And those portions had curled backwards a little bit, before beingpletely transformed into silver. So ultimately, this massive great-white shark''s carcass, seemed more like a peeled banana with silver skin; rather than anything else that could be considered logical. Thews of physics had been broken again, thanks to this god gifted power; but a few otherws had to put their work in. For example, this second ughtered shark had be far too heavy, and simply crashed against the sea-flooring ~ which in exchange had caused a noticeable thud. It wasn''t exactly troubling, nor did it do anything to halt the wretched battle, but it did manage to make this situation more intense than it already was! Nevertheless, now was not the best time to observe the results of each attack, there were far many more enemies to ughter. That was why he began eyeing another massive fish, and wanted to attack this bastard right away. There was no point in putting effort to properly aim, because the scream spread four-feet wide in its full form. So if one target has not been hit, another one will be. Which was why Tim had no hesitation whatsoever, to attack. But an admittedly new issue revealed itself right after, he couldn''t unleash the said deadly attack! The reasons behind that could be plentiful. He still had quite some trouble to entirely focus, but the best hint was that his powers had been already exhausted. This felt quite anticlimactic really, especially since he almost died a few days ago, by facing anything that the silver god''s domain had. The trouble through that past journey, made him feel that these new powers would need more time to burn out ~ but that was proven as a wrong train of thought to follow. However, that was not the main problem right now. Because since the targeted shark had not been hit, it necessarily meant that such a massive enemy, was still alive. And right now, the same wretched shark was charging towards Timmy at full speed! Its jaws were pping, and craved the bite-sized stingray as a snack! Perhaps his recently upgraded bodily durability, could have proven useful in normal situations; but it couldn''t exactly do much against the crushing force that such a monster''s bite could provide! So now, the hero was in the midst of a self-debate. Specifically regarding just what the next move would be, in order to handle this situation. Boldly fighting through this dilemma seemed like an option. It could perhaps bring along some results, but was it actually a good idea? In the currentmotion, even after a couple of brutal kills, this group of sharks still counted over twenty, that was most likely... So this wasn''t exactly a battle he could hope to break even with. The chances of survival would grow tremendously thin, if he tried to fight with the aid of less powerful weaponry. So this ultimately became a tough decision. And it was even more difficult to ponder over it, with such an overwhelming cloud that held his head hostage. But one way or the other, a result from any decision had to erupt! Especially since the enemy had swam fast enough, to be just a couple of meters away by now. Its mouth was wide open, and had an aim to deliver one of the most ugliest bites that these waters have seen! But that was when a loud thud reverberated right near the hero! After that thud, the same rushing shark had drastically changed its route for some reason. The wretched enemy swam just a hunch more upwards, which ultimately meant that Timmy escaped unscathed. Yet that wasn''t the oddest result of this situation. A cloud of blood had somehow appeared, right after the enemy changed its route. Worse yet, all of that blood ended up sshing against the tough sea-pancake face, and necessarily on every other body part that this crimson cloud could reach. It almost seemed as if this quantity of blood, had suddenlye out of the thick waters themselves, without a logical exnation whatsoever to back it over. But afterwards, the hero witnessed Osira raging a couple of meters below him! She was swimming upwards, and then beamed towards another enemy, with the main aim of delivering utterly devastating damage; that and, for the sake of pure spite! With her appearance in this battle, it didn''t take much time to figure out, just what happened to the shark who attempted murder. Chapter 284: Void Chapter 284: Void The grouperdy had simply unleashed a ball of ck-light, and had struck this wretched bastard right underneath the gills! Such detail helped him understand, just why that attacking shark had suddenly changed routes just a moment ago; it simply had no other choice. However. Since the gooddy was charging towards this battle, and will likely aid in terms of turning the tides for her group''s advantage - Timmy was given a bit more time, to observe this eyesore of a scene. And unsurprisingly, his eyes dotted straight towards the first shark, that he managed to obliterate with such a raw and godly scream. It felt like a perfectly timed decision. Because just now, the silver-coated carcass had begun shaking for some unknown reason! Which was a rather extreme urrence, after considering that this thing is supposed to be dead! Carcasses aren''t supposed to shake or shiver. But a few seconds after, the hero genuinely wished for the carcass just to continue shaking... because what happened next was far more shocking! After just a simple blink, all of the silver that had contributed to this one shark''s death: had swiftly turned into a thickly red colour! One would expect that no horrid scene could shake their souls after that point, because the situation was confusing enough. But the bizarre pace did not stop there! Every bit of red silver that covered, or was near the carcass ~ were suddenly enveloped by thousands of rivering cracks! Those same cracks, just continued stretching out in size and eventually became quite wide too! Which ultimately led to all those bodies of crimson silver, to absolutely shatter into thousands of pieces! And such a result, had somehow caused a massive blood cloud, which expanded in size faster than any eye couldprehend! The cloud itself was big enough to envelop Timmy between it, but its total span stretched more than that. It was over ten meters wide, and shaped much like a sphere! A simple shark was not supposed to have that much blood, so where exactly did such a resulte from? It was even more bizarre how such an amount of blood had erupted, right after that same carcass was covered with silver! It was no surprise for anyone to think, that a victim''s internal organs would be turned into silver as well, once they had been struck by such an attack - so with that considered, just where did all that bloode from? Regardless of how tedious that question was, Timothy had not been given any time to even briefly ponder over it. Because after these quantities of blood had fully spread across the waters, a dark void began appearing for some unknown reason. It too seemed like some weird cloud, that prevented the hero from observing his surroundings. This void managed to cover most of the surrounding waters in a matter of seconds! All of the blood that mixed with this ocean''s salt, was forced to be tiny inparison to whatever was happening now; it was almost as if the blood was forced to sumb, disappear! And afterwards this void... began attaining many different shades of ck, if such a thing was even possible? These shades began attaining even more diversity, after they embraced other colours; like darker shades of grey. And afterwards within those seconds, these different shades began swirling in a circle. Their speed was rapid, but Timothy was not exactly touched by its power, if this void had any. But the scene itself was absolutely marvelous. Big chunks of soft, and dark clouds were dancing in front of his eyes. Considering that over a hundred shades of the same colour were present, he could even make out random shapes, out of these rapidly spinning clouds. Such a marvelously terrifying sight, continued to spiral for a few seconds... but afterwards, hints of red began spreading here and there. These details had swiftly made themselves visible, by turning into long singr lines ~ and spinning by the void''s will. And as more of these bloody lines made themselves apparent, Timothy and everyone else in the surrounding area, could hear a thundering tone reverberating; with its source quite unknown! "A soul has been sacrificed to Azq!" That strong female voice shouted only once, and managed to shake the hearts of everyone present. That sentence was only hollered one time, and then it went away as if nothing ever happened. Unsurprisingly, the void that had surrounded Timmy from every direction until now, began disappearing as well. It went away after a few seconds, and all that remained was the cloud of blood, that was slowly dissipating across the waters - but also asserting dominance against the void. Timothy gave a peek towards the actual battle, and noticed that the entire collision that was developing earlier, had been struck silly. Both sides of the stick were quite dumbfounded. Timothy could see that a few sharks had their heads nailed against the sand; he could not figure out the reason behind such a scene, but it seemed convenient. Other details of his view, helped him understand that most of the living sharks were utterly shocked and disoriented. It was difficult to understand what was going on here, so he called out for his friends. "What happened here? I was only gone for a second!" "You were. But a ck-cloud has shaken our shit!" Osira yelled out from a few meters away. Afterwards she willingly crashed against an enemy, and took a mouthful through the same process! Such damage wasn''t enough to kill a massive shark, but it could be categorized as progress. Before these enemies could retaliate, Gech decided to show them his arms as well. Within a split second, he leaped off the sea-grounds that the void had tossed him against, and elegantly pierced through a shark''s chest! With such damage delivered, this was sure to be an instant kill - but it also had bought the team a bit more time. Even a second could make arge difference, in such battles where they had to face againstrger numbers. However. That thought can be put aside right now, because other details began setting a firm foot. It came in as quite a shock, really. But right now, Timmy was achieving a decent amount of concentration in a very short time! It was difficult to link any recent asion to such a result, but it was tremendously convenient. Because half of the cloud that upied his mind, had disappeared as if it had never caused any burden to begin with! Insane for sure! But he didn''t have much time to appreciate this blessing, because the system decided to inform him about quite some unexpected information. [Great-white shark killed, seven-hundred-system points have been given to you as a reward] [But since this form of ughter, isn''t entirely based on what I as a system can provide... you''ve lost three-hundred of these same points] [Total system points = six-hundred-and-twenty-three] Such a deduction felt unfair up to a certain extent, but his focus was steered away from a possible tantrum, because another shocking scene began unravelling itself. A few minutes earlier, he had killed not one but two great-white sharks. One of them had exploded into a darn bloody mist, and the other one had remained idle even after the void decided to assert some dominance. But now, that same carcass that remained steady, began shaking at an ufortable pace! Chapter 285: Triple-combo-torture Chapter 285: Triplebo-torture [Great-white shark killed, seven-hundred-system points have been given to you as a reward] [Since this form of ughter isn''t entirely based, on what I as a system have provided... you''ve lost three-hundred of these same points] [Total system points = one-thousand-and-twenty-three] Since the system assured that yet another shark had been ughtered, it only made sense that the same soul-draining void had appeared again. The void itself had re-appeared when the sharks remains were shattered into thousands of pieces. It was as if this overwhelming darkness craved blood above anything else; but no, what it came for was the soul of any victim. The scene itself was amazing to witness for sure. He''d be absolutely staggered by its visual characteristics, regardless if this was the second or thousand time he witnessed it. But right now, something else was affecting the boy, and it was far more noteworthy. A great portion of the burden, that had been enving his mind through these past few days, had suddenly been lifted. Such an effect was impossible to ignore! The young stingray, could feel every ounce of his concentrationing back at an almost overwhelming pace! Since the shifts between such mental powers was drastic, he could pick up a noticeable grand fact: this level of concentration had not been achievable in the past, even before he conversed with Azq! Yet it was still confusing to figure out, just why had his abilities to focus suddenly spiked up for the better? The battle''s need itself could not influence it. Hours earlier he was almost absent-minded enough to be considered paralyzed. Just how could this shift be possible? Overall this was quite a weird effect. Especially after considering that a little portion of his mind, was still carrying that burdening cloud. Unsurprisingly, it made the situation more difficult to understand. Because if the cloud was still present in his mind, then how did the heros concentration grow more honed than ever? The math did not add up. Such a severe question would likely require quite a few hours of pondering, but that was a luxury that he didnt quite possess right now. Simply because the multiple shades of the dark void, had been quick to dissipate after the sharks soul had been ripped off its body! Which necessarily meant that Timmy had to face the battlefield right now. The thought of fighting, managed to make him feel nervous right away. A battle like this, didn''t fit any usual petty fight and could quite likely end up killing the entire team. However. After he managed to get a good glimpse of the whole battlefield, he noticed a few details that were disturbing, but at the same time proved quite convenient. There were a couple of great-white sharks that had been utterly ripped in half! Timmy did not remember delivering such damage. And no one in their team was strong enough, to obliterate such a thick body in such a gruesome manner! So for a second, it was difficult to puzzle this scene together. Just what could have caused such colossal damage? His question was answered after he noticed, that these sharks were quite close to where the dark void had expanded itself a moment ago. Ultimately meaning that these carcasses had been too close to the void. And in exchange, they had been ripped in half! Insane for sure. And he did not know if Azq had imed these souls or not. But right now these couple of carcasses were a problem less to worry about. So instead, Tim put in a bit of concentration to try and locate his friends. And the firstrade he noticed was Osira; mostly because she wasn''t one to stay idle. The ck-grouper was pacing from one side of the battlegrounds to the other. She was mashing against various enemy necks, and ripped off as many bits of meat that she could. Such actions were all done within a handful of seconds. Such sess was likely rted to the crave for blood, but it was quite convenient in terms of turning the tides of battle! At the moment, it seemed like the gooddy was doing quite enough to assert dominance through thismotion ~ but Timothy had to start contributing as well. Simply because there were still, nearly twenty living enemies in this battlefield - and the ones that had been struck silly by the first void''s power, had mostly recovered by now. So without the slightest hesitation, Timothy eyed one of the biggest sharks here and instantly charged towards it! His speed usually topped at five-miles-per-hour, but the adrenaline rush that was setting its deep roots in his heart right now, aided to achieve just a little bit more speed! Which ultimately led to the hero, reaching this foul enemy in a matter of seconds, even though the said target was over ten-meters away. And to greet this enemy, the sea-disk put in quite some muscle work, for the sake of pushing his barb forward. It was a tedious procedure that required him to almost swim upside down, but it was worthwhile. Especially since it has aided to inevitably form the bumble-bee-attack! The enemy was anything but a fan of such a delivery. Especially since the hero had managed to stab this bastard, right across the noggin! It caused quite a reaction that was solely pain influenced, but that wasnt quite a surprise. The great-white violently shook its head from left to right, for the sake of shaking off this underwater-bee-mimicker; but it was an attempt that can bebeled as poorly timed. Because Timmy had strategically unleashed a second attack, in the same second that his marvelous barb had pierced through this bastards head. Apart from every bit of tail-venom that he had, the hero also activated the eruptive-heat power move! It was quite abination! Because not only was this target supposed to deal, with the internal pain that a venomous stab provided; but this fat-beast had to deal with external factors as well! For example, the infliction of such heat, had managed to fry a te-sized but of skin, across the enemys face! It wasnt enough to kill this bastard that weighed a few hundred pounds, but it did manage to cause quite some irritation. Timothy had been tossed a few meters away from the actual collision, but that wasnt necessarily a problem to worry about. Because the massive shark had simply swam a few meters, instead of trying to deliver any attacks. It was convenient, as the little stingray could focus on any other target, instead of trying to desperately kill this one. So he began eyeing another shark, and swiftly swam towards it for the sake of delivering a gruesome attack! But what he did not know was that another one of these numerous predators, had simr devilish thoughts. A foul enemy was approaching from the left side, and had already opened its jaws wide for the sake of ripping through Timothys flesh and bones! The only thing that kept the two of them apart, was the sea-waters themselves creating a minor resistance. Chapter 286: Whats fair and what isnt Chapter 286: What''s fair and what isn''t Timothy remained clueless of the swiftly approaching threat. The result of such ack of knowledge, only had a single route towards a devastating result! But right before the shark got close enough tond a bite, that straight route it had taken, was forced out of the tracks! Because a foul attack had struck this enemy, right underneath the chin! Considering the method of infliction, one would think that Osira has noticed this bastardous shark and caused yet another bloody-mist, by striking around the neck. But that was not the case. Instead, an elongated tail had ruptured a hole through the enemy''s neck; and had impaled narrowly enough to reach this massive fish''s brain as well! So ultimately, an instant kill had beennded in this bloody battle; and the inflictor didn''t have to do much work in order to achieve it! That someone was Dana! She sensed the threat, and unsurprisingly had put in quite a lot of effort, all for the sake of saving her friend. She saved the boy from what could have been a devastating blow, a foul doom! Timothy has sessfully escaped from those jaws. Not because the bonydynded a blow that was heavy enough, to push the enemy away from the prior direction. But because the damage was strong enough to force the shark into a reaction, that was solely dedicated to escape the pain! This shark has tried to nudge away from such a burning sensation, which firmly meant that this beast''s mouth had been closed and moved to the left. And since this great-white was still big and strong, Dana ended up being dragged a few meters through the waters! Her tail was longer than that of Timothy''s, so it wasn''t a surprise how she was stuck in the enemy''s neck for a little while. It was a little sacrifice that didn''t really cause any damage. She managed to retaliate after a second, and Timmy was already fighting some other shark; utterly unaware that this good skeletondy had saved his life. What came as a bit of an attempted heart stab, was how the same stingray that she had just saved ~ was fighting some other shark, in cooperation with the ck-grouper. It wasn''t the best time whatsoever to have such emotions. But, it still felt a bit unfair. Dana was the one who just risked her life, to save her friend. So shouldn''t she be the one, to have a date with Timothy; even though that actual date featured bloody ughter? It was quite a tough thought to contemte. However, those emotions had to be stuffed in a bag for now; because this battle needed more of her attention! Likewise, she aimed for another shark that was a few meters away, and began charging towards it at full speed. In the meanwhile, Timothy was trying to pick apart the best time, to attack one of the sharks with the aid of quite a useful power-move. Him and Osira had managed to punch a few wounds against one shark, but it wasn''t enough. This sted enemy was not going down, and more of these sharks were recovering themselves by the passing second. Sure those couple of dark voids had shaken their shit, but it had only managed to damage most of them, rather than killing them. So ultimately, the odds were swiftly steering away from this little team''s favour. It was difficult enough to kill one of these bastards, without the aid of superior powers; it would be horrific if they had to kill all of these sharks, with the aid of these other limiting powers! And right now, the hero felt a bit rushed to act as fast as possible. He had waited for the best time to attack, and now may be that moment! Because the massive great-white, was paying the most attention towards the ck-grouper, rather than having a good eye around all surroundings. Such a clumsy decision, had no other fate but to backfire. Because Timmy began following this foul enemy from behind, and found the best second to deliver a plentiful blow. Hetched right in front of the enemy''s dorsal fin, quite near the head ~ and then bit through the opponent''s flesh for the sake of holding on. Just to get more stability, he also stabbed this shark near its rough spine, with the aid of his tail. Now, he felt ready to unleash the prime attack. At the moment, his tail didn''t carry any drop of venom; but that wasn''t necessarily a problem, he didn''t want to poison this bastard. Instead, he simply shouted. "Eruptive heat!" And without a doubt, this tremendous power move was swiftly activated! His entire body heated up in a blink of an eye, and reached a deadly result of one-hundred-and-fifty degrees celsius! Now normally this would be the best time to escape the scene, because the water itself would heat up and cause him quite a burn too! But no, that was not what the hero nned. The burn he inflicted was only hot enough to fry the enemy''s skin towards a darker shade, but it also brought another result that the naked eye could miss. The attack itself had managed to soften the enemy''s head-flesh. Well, at least around the area where the wound had been inflicted. Which ultimately meant that this specific spot had be more vulnerable, than ever to any other external attacks! Such a result was rather useful, because a shark''s skin normally tended to be tough. But now, this enemy couldn''t do anything, to resist the stabs that were swiftly being inflicted against its head! Timothy didn''t even want to put a second in vain. His tail went up and down, as he stabbed through the enemy''s flesh quite a few times in a matter of seconds! Such an amount of pain was quite overwhelming. Especially since the attack continued to be around the same ce, it was even more stressing how nothing could be done to escape this pain! For a few seconds, the shark wished that it had thumbs and hands, for the sake ortching off the parasite that was causing so much pain against the noggin! But that was quite impossible. Escaping the barb was difficult enough, but escaping a battle strategist was even harder. Chapter 287: A grey clash Chapter 287: A grey sh Within a handful of seconds, Timothy had managed tond over thirty stabs against this foul enemy already! This unfortunate shark was shaking its head from left to right, fairly desperate to achieve any favourable results, but it was a futile attempt! Because the hero has beentched right in front of this bastard''s dorsal fin, with a sess rate higher than any leech could ever achieve! The spikes that Timmy had recently grown on the end of his fins, aided to cling on this enemy; so right now there wasn''t anything this victim could do, to escape the vicious pain! However. After a few seconds, Timothy decided to loosen his death grasp against this great-white. But that could be considered anything but good for the victim, because Tim had voluntarily let go of this howling bastard! Suchbinations of decisionsing from a highly strategic boy, can only mean that the damage that was dealt, could be considered quite plentiful! As he peeked at the spot where all those wounds had been inflicted, it was easy to notice that the scene was anything but pretty. The shark''s head has be like a warzone. It was torched ck as a start, and blood was breaking everywhere thanks to the many stab wounds... It wasn''t easy on the eye, but this shark was not dead yet, and it might take more effort to deliver a killing blow. So Timmy aimed to contribute a few more strikes. All for the sake of making sure that this shark wouldn''t be a big problem, through the rest of the expansive battle. With a few ps against the waters, he slowly built up a fast swimming pace; and began calcting the best way to initiate this attack! Within a second, he decided to head for the enemy''s belly, which was a target distance that took little to no effort to achieve. Simply because thisrge marine animal was still trying to retaliate from thest attack, it was not easy to recover from numerous head wounds; but here it allowed the hero to approach without worry. Any normal individual would show a bit of sympathy in such a situation, and simply spare the enemy; it made quite a bit of sense to a certain extent, for the stingray to be merciful. Especially since it was tough to see arge opponent suffer like this, it didn''t feel right when put on the scale of power. But this good little boy was not one for feelings. He has killed many fish before, and will do it again. Allowing an enemy to live, could likely lead to his own death ~ this was a bloody battle, and it should be treated as so. Which was why his tail whistled against the water''s, furry stood as itsst name! And the prime aim became to activate a power-move that was quite foreign, because it was new and still unused against any target so to speak. He managed to activate this power, with the aid of an urging thought, that recited. "Grey-tail!" Such a firm decision forced a bit of light to generate, right where the power''s name itself, suggested. This grey light itself, swiftly molded itself towards quite a noteworthy transformation ~ it has be a transparent tail. This marvelous weaponry, perhaps stretched just about a meter long. Such a size was three times longer inparison to his actual tail, truly marvelous! For the sake of attaining bnce through such a power, the light itself had fully surrounded the hero''s tail. It was convenient. Especially because this light, didn''t form a tail that was any thicker or thinner than the original weaponry. A grand expression can be used here. The power-move simply fitted like a glove, in perfect cooperation with the hero! While this power-move took a few seconds to activate, Timmy had managed to swim right underneath this foul enemy. The n was to deliver a blow, that would take quite some effort to retaliate from. He did not know just how powerful this attack could be, but now was the best time to find out! His marvelous grey-tail flicked upwards upon will ~ and the very tip of it, managed to crash against the enemy''s skin! In exchange, a loud snap reverberated across the waters! One would think that a bone had just been broken, all thanks to the high pitched sound of this result; but no, that was not the case. The impact itself was a bit too strong, which in exchange had caused a p-like sound to erupt! It was noteworthy to say for the least, this power-move could prove tremendously useful in the future. But now was not the time to focus on an aspect like that. Instead, he focused on the actual damage that had been dealt against this struggling bastard! The collision itself had managed to open up a short-lengthed wound against the enemy''s belly! It was a deep cut, and the wound itself was puking out a lot of blood at the moment; which ultimately gave a great sign that the very tip of this grey-tail, was a true force to be reckoned with! However. The wound itself wasn''t exactly a long devastating cut, as one would expect from such a thudding impact. The actual result was a bit difficult to ponder. The tail''s tip had managed to open up a deep wound against the enemy, but that was about all of the damage that had been delivered. It was interesting to say at least. Because it firmly meant that the transparent grey-tail had disintegrated, right before it could have inflicted a truly deadly cut! Yet thankfully his actual tail was still in one piece, but this result still seemed bizarre. So after he swam just a bit away from the enemy, this situation had led to generating a question. This head scratching theory, was quick to set a strong foot-hold on his consciousness. He dotted attention towards the system, and questioned. "What happened?" [The cloud in your mind has probably forced you to forget, but the tail disappeared for a reason] [This power was a one-time purchase, meaning that I won''t be giving you any upgrades that further improves the ability] [You need to learn how to use and improve this power, all by yourself] [That was why the tail disappeared too quickly. Apart from the shark''s skin being tough, you don''t have any mastery whatsoever over this new power] There were quite a lot of reasons behind those statements, thankfully the hero could follow along through the whole thing; he understood what the deal was. And through the same seconds where he was putting in effort to understand, the young man was also swimming towards the same enemy he had attacked just a moment ago. This bastardous menace was a bit too battered and bruised to deliver anyebacks at the moment, ultimately bing great for target practice. Chapter 288: Slapped into submission Chapter 288: pped into submission Within a moment, Timothy managed to once more swim right underneath the enemy''s belly. Since this specific portion of the body can be as important as the brain itself; it should mean that the damage delivered here, should be worthwhile. However. Even though a highly advanced strategist, Timothy could not think forward too far thanks to the othercking branches of intelligence. Meaning he had swam here, just so he would have an easier target to hit; for the sake of training these new powers. He was being strategic in a way, but the root intent was not to hit a weak spot. And now was the best time to put in a few swings. So once he got close enough, the next step would be to activate this power with the aid of a thought. Likewise, that was why his little noggin urged that thought. "Grey-tail!" After such a demand was put pressure on, the only option was for this unique tail to generate. In fact, he wasn''t quite sure what this tail was made of, since it appeared as if out of the thick waters ~ but now was not the time to be curious. Making this transparent tail materialise, was something that took no effort, he could do it upon will. One would think that generating the weaponry was aplicated process, especially since it stretched a meter long. But in actuality, theplicated process wasnding an attack that was worthwhile! He didn''t know how to properly do that, but that was what training stood for, he will learn. So after the tail stretched itself out a little bit, and whistled against the water a few times with the aid of a few swift movements, the hero felt ready to try this again. So the marvelous weaponry, flicked upwards and managed to directly make contact with the enemy''s skin. This marvelouslyrge bastard, was still retaliating from thest few attacks; so it was fair to say that no fight had been put up to avoid this attack. Water was forced to whistle, flesh had no option but to rip, as the impact once more reverberated as if it was an exaggerated p! The hero managed to inflict another slice, and was a bit more curious about the results right now, because this move felt a bit more sessful. So after swimming a few feet away, he turned around to face the enemy and swiftly peeked at the wound. Quite a bit of confidence had bashed through his consciousness, and he was eager to fully acknowledge the damage. But as he peeked at the training shot, there were a couple of details that were impossible to miss! First things first, the cut that had been inflicted just now, was just a bit longer in length. It was perhaps just over a foot long, which itself felt more plentiful inparison to whatever he delivered the first time. But, there was a noticeable issue that came along with this so called sessful slice. Blood was refusing to puke out! Well a few drops of it were making themselves apparent, but it wasn''t really anything worth bragging about. It made this attack feel quite like a fail, because this shark could not have ran out of blood. That should not be possible, especially after considering that they had only been conversing in battle, only for a few minutes. The system acknowledged this baffling train of thoughts, so she decided to add a few of her words in the topic. [The enemy isn''t bleeding, because the cut you have made was not deep enough] [Keep training, you''ll get there] "Oh," The hero followed along, trying his best to process that failed attacks were indeed possible. While he was putting time towards such effort, it was an inevitable fact that attention was not paid towards other problems. Likewise, it made sense regarding how he did not manage to notice another shark, rushing towards this partially secluded battle scene! Most of these sharks had put in their precious time to handle Osira, that was why Timothy had a few moments of freedom, to deal whatever damage he pleased. But now, one of these sted sharks were approaching, and it had quite a bit of motive to rip the sea-pancake into shreds! Its jaws had been opened wide, and the enemy itself was resisting the urge to p them together; this sted great-white, was strategically waiting for the best time to try and inflict a bite. Which necessarily, has made this situation a bit more dangerous than it already was. Fighting a shark was one thing, but dealing with one that was self-aware was a whole new page! But... in thest second, Timmy managed to sense this rushing bastard. And the first thought became to simply try and get out of the way. Because facing a charging one-ton animal, was quite a dumb decision. Because once they reached the point of collision, one would be able to crush the other. It isn''t difficult to understand just who would the odds favour. That was why Tim was putting his strength into use, to p against the water''s will itself. His fins were putting in desperate efforts to move out of the way. Swimming directly up seemed like the best solution, since it wouldn''t require more than one movement. Within a moment, the hero managed to do exactly so, but the pace still felt a bit slow and the shark had approached closer than ever; being just a meter away. So the sea-pancake put in just another effort to thrust upwards, both of his fins were urged to put in the most effort possible. He could even feel his muscles twitching throughout that same attempt! And just as he floated a couple of feet higher, the shark passed underneath the hero like a runaway bus! The momentum that such a sted enemy brought along, managed to drag the sea-disk behind a little bit. Any bit of effort to maintain bnce, was swiftly losing its foundations thanks to all the friction this fast beast caused against the waters. And before the stingray thought that things could not get worse, bnce-wise... the shark''s dorsal fin pped right across his face! Chapter 289: Spiraling out of control Chapter 289: Spiraling out of control Such a fin p, had managed to utterly flip the sea-pancake a few times! The result was annoying, but it didn''t exactly cause any damage worth noticing, he was still as fit as a newborn baby. But it still took quite a bit of effort to recover from the blow. His orientation and concentration had been utterly shattered by the blow, especially since he flipped a few times. So now Timothy was putting in an effort to shake away those after effects. It required specific attention to progress towards concentration once more. But there were other aspects that forced him to spike up concentration for the better. Simply speaking, the situation was growing severe so he needed to make every second count. What managed to put pressure on him, was the fact that most of these sharks were recovering from the numerous attacks that had been done in the beginning. More than half of them were chasing Osira, trying to slow her down as she was considered the main problem. And it was fair to say that she was getting tired. Her ck-light powers had been exhausted, they would likely need hours upon hours to replenish. That aside, there wasn''t enough blood across the waters to motivate and give her powers too. So ultimately, the strongest warrior in this little team, was slowly losing the advantage in this battle. Meaning that the entire team was close to a copse. Because it would be chaotic if the workload was evenly spread, as these friends were not equals in power! This frightening realisation, has given Timmy a bit more motivation to contribute further into this battle. He did not want to die, neither did he wish for the group to share any simr fate. So the little stingray began pping his fins, for the sake of charging towards a shark that was the closest to reach! It wasn''t the time to get revenge on the shark that tried to kill him, such hate had to be buried for now. As he was approaching this target that was just several meters away, he thought about using a power-move that was new as well, but it might pack quite a punch. It was the best time to use any power that was to their disposal, the tides of battle need to be turned to their favour again. So his fin muscles began putting in quite some extra work, so he could spin like a barrel and continue to swim forward at the same time. It was a tedious effort, because every muscle on his fins had to be put into work to make it happen. His spine was the bncer in this process, and his foot-long tail yed the same role. After managing to spin a few times, the hero thought that now was the best time to activate the actual attack. That was why he openly shouted, "Blue-moon!" Such a directmand, began shifting the water against its utter natural will. The waters were pushed aside in all directions, all for the sake of allowing a thin and long air tunnel to open up between it! This tunnel had a prime intent of spinning any enemy, for the sake of inflicting disorientation. Normally it would be effective. But since the enemy weighed over half a ton, it would be quite impossible for the tunnel alone to spin this bastard. However, there were other portions of this power move that could prove as quite effective, and they were swift to be boldly apparent. The air tunnel began dragging in thousands of fractions that featured the colour blue. These bits were dragged out of the water walls, and swiftly began delivering the effect that it was supposed to do. A misty cloud of blue-particles, were swift to crash right against the enemy''s face! And the actual effect began revealing itself. The greatest hint was given, once the shark drastically changed directions. Initially, both sides of the stick were preparing to crash against one another. But now, the massive great-white had simply crashed against the ground. It was easy to notice that the power-move, has forced this enemy''s eyes to roll a few times, which exined the heavy crash. But the shark was also a bit spooked. Because in the sight that this wretched enemy could ponder, Timmy had disappeared out of the thick waters. That was what the illusional portions of this power-move provided, and it proved quite effective. The hero felt quite satisfied with the result, so he began targeting another enemy. This crashed fool needed a bit of time to recover from the blue-moon''s blow, so there was no need to focus on an enemy too long. Instead, the hero was charging against another great-white who too had decided to try and ughter the little stingray. In this case, it hriously was convenient for an enemy to directly attempt murder. Because for the blue-moon ability''s illusional effects to work, the enemy had to witness itsplexing power. So the hero spared no second, and was swift to activate this power again with the aid of a shout. It was convenient how this attack could not be exhausted. He could use it thousands of times a day if he pleased, and each use would help attain its mastery. However. Once this enemy shed with the air tunnel and all of the blue-particles that came along with the collision, the finishing result was almost predictable. The great-white lost utter control of its orientation, and could only crash against the ground after only a short matter of time. But since the twobatants were already too close to each other, even before the attack had been sessfully delivered; it was inevitable for them to physically crash against another! Such a fate had demanded grand reflexes from Tim''s side. Because no one could guarantee that this out of control shark''s jaws, would notnd against the hero''s skin. Chapter 290: Gerlachs pep talk Chapter 290: Gech''s pep talk Through this collision, the actual fate was still a bit uncertain since they were still a second away from crashing. But regardless of where today would lead, Timothy was optimistic to try his luck. That was why, even throughout theck of control he attained because of the several spins, the hero put in effort to activate another power-move! With the aid of an absolute scream, he demanded. "Grey-tail!" And without hesitancy or doubt of sess, that marvelous long tail swiftly generated. Its transparent features were exactly spectacr. They weren''t a great sight to view, as it just seemed like a grey poleing out of a stingray''s ass; but this raw weaponry could still prove effective. Luck had surprisingly been on the hero''s side for once. Because as this tail fully materialized, the shark''s utter disorientation had brought a favourable result! The shark managed to crash right before they were about to crash against one another. This massive beast smashed against the ground, its head had been dug a couple of feet below the sand thanks to the sheer power! But ultimately, the momentum that this beast had brought, managed to force the hero to lose his grasp of orientation. He flipped across the waters like a pancake a couple of times, but this also meant that his meter-long tail was flicking around in a ramped manner as well. It reached to the point, where the very tip of the tail met with the enemy''s skin. And thanks to the abruptions of momentuming from either side of the stick, Timmy ended up identally embracing the bumble-bee-manoeuvre! The marvelously long weaponry, pierced right through the enemy''s back! And within a second, the hero noticed that the grey-tail had disintegrated. Not because of the shark''s meaty features itself, but because the very barb had actually pierced throughout the shark''s body and had touched sand! Even though sand had a soft texture, it would only take a few inches before one would need brutal force to punch through it. That was why the grey-tail had disintegrated. But it wasn''t a problem worth worrying about, because the dealt damage was alreadyrge! And what came in as quite a surprise, was the system following along with some notifications. [Great-white shark killed. This carcass wasn''t exactly full-grown, so you''re only getting five-hundred system points out of this ughter] [Total system points = One-thousand-five-hundred -and-twenty-three] Such a result was fair. This shark was just around seven feet long, although it was fat. But that wasn''t the main thing to focus on right now. Instead, the hero was lending attention towards the fact that he killed a whole damn shark with a single stab! It was even more bizarre how this kill was utterly idental. Such a win was almost difficult to ponder, it felt unfair but also tremendously convenient in more than a few aspects! He has be quite rich right now in terms of system points. And not to mention, this was one enemy less to worry about. So he used those streams of optimism, to swim away from thended kill and began focusing on any other close by targets! His vision locked with Gech the mantis shrimp. He was crawling just a few meters away, and all of these enemies don''t really seem to be noticing him. That was convenient, because he could move around quite freely. And just as another shark had gotten too close, he pounced on that bastard and managed to deliver quite some noticeable damage! A line of blood erupted across the waters, and it could onlye from the shark, whose belly was facing towards the water''s far surface right now. Ultimately meaning that the powerful mantis shrimp hadnded yet another kill! And he seems quite aware of the whole battle, rather than just charging around randomly. That was why he shouted, in order to put a bit of pressure on his own team. "My powers are exhausted right now! I can only depend on my natural abilities, but that can only help so much." Right after that, he began eyeing another target and wanted to attack it. But first, he wanted to demand. "Try to kill these foul beasts faster, we can''t afford to make mistakes!" And after that point, he jumped off the shark''s carcass and jolted towards another enemy who was swimming below. He managed to strike another fat beast, right against the head. But the impact was smaller, simply because the actual jump itself seemed less powerful and just a hunch slower. If the targeted fish had been any further away, then the old man would not have been able to deal any damage. But thankfully, this other shark had been shot dead too! For a small little critter, the mantis shrimp was a true force to be reckoned with. It was no secret that he specifically had aimed to puncture the enemy''s brain! However, the entire group had acknowledged the prime problem. They were a bit aware of it before the old man''s word, but now they werepletely motivated to deliver more and more killing blows! At this point, Timothy thought that the very beginning of this attack, had been a bit too rushed. Maybe they could have taken out these enemies one by one, instead of trying to kill all of them at once. He wasn''t quite thinking straight at that point, but it could not be regretted now. Thest thing they needed was a negative emotion to weigh them down. No no. They have to feed that glorious ego to attack just a little bit harder, all for the sake of standing true to their decisions! That was why he headed for another one of these enemies, and wanted to try a move that was quite retro, but could still prove useful if mixed with the new abilities. He charged directly towards one of these sharks. It had noticed Timothy''s fast paced approach, and was unsurprisinglying forward with the same pace! Chapter 291: A foul fate Chapter 291: A foul fate Any viewer would think that they will collide head to head, but that was not what the hero nned. And just as they got close enough to each other, Timmy''s back muscles flinched for the sake of taking a dive! He swam just a couple of feet downwards, and shouted. "Grey-tail!" And of course, such marvelous weaponry instantly generated and graced the waters with its stunning length. With the best of his abilities, the young man began focusing for the sake of attaining more control of this tail... And with a flick upwards, the sharp and transparent barb met with the target''s flesh. However. This time, a loud p had not sounded out across the waters. Instead, the hero''s tail was sliding right through the enemy''s belly. And when it began sinking deeper through that flesh, he was ready for another portion of the n. With the help of a holler, he demanded. "Eruptive-heat!" Necessarily, this splendid power move activated itself and aided to deliver one of the deadliest moves yet. At the beginning, Tim was just being optimistic and mostly hoped for the best; but now he figured that such desperate positivity was paying off. Because the grey-tail itself, lost its original colour for a quick second and shifted towards a fire-like shade! Such a transformation has aided to deliver an attack that can not be underestimated. The hero''s tail had already been dug half a meter in the shark''s belly. But, when such a result was linked with a stunning heat that went up to a one-hundred-and-fifty degrees celsius, the enemy was quick to find itself in a deadly situation. Because at this point, this attack was no different from being sliced with a darn heated sword! It was an excruciatingly dangerous situation to be in, even though the actual long-tail managed to disintegrate, just a blinkter. Layers afteryers of blood began puking across the waters afterwards, and that was no surprise. It was no secret that some of the target''s vital organs had been fried, and such fate only had one destiny. [Great-white-shark killed. This one was not a full grown carcass, so you only get six-hundred system points as a reward] [Total system points = Two-thousand-one-hundred -and-twenty-three] [Mypliments on the kill, you''re really forcing that creative intelligence of yours to work over time] "Do I have another choice?" Thetter unleashed a bit of sass, as he swam away from the carcass. [Well you don''t, so better not make a bad move] "No shit!" Timothy expressed, having it very difficult to hold the volumes of sass back. Afterwards he wanted tond any other attack, but also began worrying about his friends a bit more. So ultimately, his eyes rolled around the battlefield for the sake of finding an ally that he hasn''t seen enough through these past few minutes. Dana! He found her on quite the other end of the battlefield, she was putting in quite some work to ughter one of the smallest sharks here. It was fair so to say? Because even though she was bigger inparison to the rest of the group, the gooddy did not have any powers. She was just a swimming, and surprisingly living skeleton that was held together by purified radiation. Perhaps she could give cancer to an enemy, but that would take too many business days. However. These details helped everyone understand that she wasn''t the strongest here. It was already a strongly brave gesture, for her to be on the battlefield... But she doesn''t seem to be struggling. Her many exposed bones aided tond numerous scratches, and her long tail could help deliver the most damage. Timmy wanted to help reduce the stress on that side of the battlefield, so he began swiftly swimming towards the splendid skeletondy. His confidence was over the moon at this point, thanks to the kills he has beennding against enemies that are many times stronger. So even though waves of anxiety were almost forcing him to poop across the battlegrounds, he still felt confident to lend a hand. So within a few seconds, he reached the only other stingray in this group. And it was fair to say that once Dana acknowledged his presence, she was almost forced towards a blush. If this swimming skeleton had any skin, they would turn a bit red in excitement! But since her focus was suddenly dedicated to the neer, she began ignoring the grand threat that was behind her. It was a surprise for her to be unaware of surroundings, because her senses are supposed to be super high! But right now, before anyone could even blink, the team became spooked with quite a horrible scene. Dana had been bitten by one of the biggest sharks here, who decided to simply get rid of this troublesome skeleton! And if that wasn''t enough, this same shark began shaking its head violently from left to right. So the actual bite became even more dangerous! So when this beast eventually decided to let go, Dana ended up being a pile of glowing bones that had been tossed a few meters away... Her green features were swiftly dimming in radiation, and only the divines of the waters knew where some of her bony-parts had been tossed towards. "No!" Timmy shouted out with all the power he could muster up, and began swimming faster towards the scene. Osira had no clue what was going on. But streams of fear had stricken her heart, because she thought that the friend of which she knew the longest, had met with a sour fate. She genuinely thought that Timothy had walked into a situation where he was close to death. And such a thought had almost shocked her to the point of losing willpower. Her eyes dotted towards the direction of where the scream came from. And all she could see was the same little boy, charging towards a shark at full speed! Chapter 292: Burning heart Chapter 292: Burning heart Although radiating rage was close to overwhelming his entire conscience, the strategic portions of the hero''s brain, still refused for him to lose the grasp of his self-control! That was why he managed to lunge towards the enemy, with the n tond a blow that could not be taken lightly. His fin muscles and upgraded strength, began putting in their work to assert dominance across the waters. The hero pped them a few times, to swim just a small hunch upwards. Which in exchange, allowed the hero''s tail to swiftly poke forwards. Such a procedure would normally take away a lot of his bnce, but right now he was forcing all of the surroundings to produce a different result. All of the hero''s back muscles twitched and stretched for the sake of embracing the attack that was being unleashed. And once the little boy''s barb had been punched forward enough, he decided that it was time to continue with the second step of this move. Right now he was sliding across the waters, both upside down and backwards; it was an effort that took quite some energy, but the n was going swimmingly up until this point, all thanks to rage. So he felt confident to shout, "Grey-tail!" And thanks to such amand, a few bits of light were swift to generate a long, transparent, grey-tail around the original weaponry. Just as this fine tool finished building up, the two of thesebatants had crashed against one another! Without a second to waste, the young boy understood that now was the best time to screech out another demand. "Eruptive heat!" This was thest time he could use such a power-move today, so the young hero wanted to make it count. And what better use can such a brutal power have, than being struck against such an enemy who killed his friend? The opponent had been clumsy enough to leave its head exposed to danger. Perhaps seeing a stingray swimming in reverse, was utterly confusing. However. At the moment, Tim''s meter long tail had punctured through the enemy''s brain in quite a horizontal angle. Meaning that not only had this fat fish''s brain been punctured through and through, but other internal parts had suffered a vicious stab too ~ such as anything that was located around the neck, and all the way down to the liver! But what made this attack the most brutal and otherworldly dangerous, was the fact that the eruptive heat move had been activated too. So ultimately, the enemy''s brain suffered a smoking hot burn along with anything else that was close to the glowing tail! Necessarily meaning that this bastard''s brain had been burned down, in the most literal way possible! By now, the hero''s transparent tail had been broken down, all thanks to the impact - but that was not a problem whatsoever. He had delivered the blow and began swimming away from the enemy right now. Unsurprisingly, the system came along with a couple of announcements. [Great-white-shark killed. Although big, this shark was not full grown. So you get another six-hundred system points] [Total system points = Two-thousand-seven-hundred -and-twenty-three] [Mypliments again, this was a splendid kill. One more ughter like that and you will get a rare bonus reward for creativity] Timmy became even more agitated right now, it was irritating how the system was thinking about points so much. Although the number of points now seemedrger than what he ever achieved before, his little mind was entirely focused towards Dana. Likewise, he directly swam towards her remains and felt his heart be heavier by the passing second. The concept of death was something that he understood. But he didn''t think enough about how to feel, if a genuine friend got killed - no kid should reach a point of thinking about those. As he reached the good-willeddy''s skeleton, his heart was close to trembling in utter sadness, because the scene assured that this friend was gone! Right now, her body was dismantled, cracked and broken in more ways than he could count. Simply said, she had just be a pile of bones right now and there doesn''t seem to be anything that could be done in order to reverse this sour fate. Her bones were still surrounded by that green-glow that usually just floated an inch away from her body. But right now, that same glow was slowly losing its power; this hinted that such illumination should soon disappear forever! Timothy could not help but curse himself. Just how would this youngdy''s fate be if they never met? As a start, she definitely would have not turned into a skeleton to begin with. And right now, she would not have died either. It heavily felt that all of the bad luck that Dana suffered, was because of him. Such a train of thought was quite a strong strike against the noggin. His chest was huffing and puffing in anger, as he craved blood right now more than ever since he had upied this stingray body! The shark whom had caused such a death to his dear friend, had suffered through a cruel ughter. But that didn''t feel fulfilling enough, he wanted more bloodshed. These sharks must all die! So within an instant, he began eyeing another shark that showed bold bravery. Such confidence gave a great hint that this foul enemy, was happy that the weird floating skeleton had met its demise. A thought of that sort, managed to give the sea-pancake another ray of rage that heavily outpeted the base of all negative emotions that he had. So without any hint of hesitancy, he began charging towards the enemy who was too, heading his way! The hero swam almost twice as fastpared to the usual, because his heart was burning with willpower! His entire soul was at a great march forward, as a massive wave of reassurance motivated him to inflict brute pain against the opposing force! ... Author note! I am writing and publishing a new story, right here on Webnovel! If you''d love a story that''s simr to the one you''re currently reading, then be sure to check out my new novel - I''m a Frog? ... Chapter 293: Osiras contribution Chapter 293: Osira''s contribution It only took a few seconds for the couple ofbatants to reach one another. They had gotten so close, that one would think this situation would transform into some steamy romance! But that wasn''t quite the case here. Timothy swiftly crashed against the enemy, and this time he refused to be strategic. The volumes upon volumes of anger that he was experiencing, managed to muffle any logical thoughts to be spoken of. He craved to ughter these enemies, and wanted to achieve such a goal in the worst way possible! And after they collided, the hero began embracing methods of attacks that were admittedly new, but weren''t thought out whatsoever. The sea-pancake was given such a golden opportunity to attack, because the enemy had been a bit too clumsy. This fat-head did not try to inflict any bites prior to the collision. In exchange, the sea-disk ended upnding right on this big fish''s nose! And now, the hero could unleash quite a bit of havoc, even though this shark''s momentum proved as troublesome. It proved to be a problem, because the enemy was farrger inparison. So in exchange, the smaller fighter ended up being dragged across the waters! It was a noticeable issue, but it did not stop the hero whatsoever. His heart was simply burning with a crave for blood! That was why the little boy used the spikes that had grown at the end of his fins, to brutally dig into the enemy''s facial area! Not only was he using every bit of strength in his original disposition, to rip through this bastard''s skin. But he was also breaking boundaries of strength, all for the sake of embracing savage-like ideas! Chunks of the enemy''s flesh were flying off here and there, and blood was coating the waters at quite a rapid pace too, thanks to those very same ideas! The enemy began suffering even more, when Tim started using every bit of his weaponry to deliver every bit of damage possible! He was biting off chunks off the great-white''s head, but also used that marvelous tail to inflict several stabs by the passing second! It was fair to say that at this point, the sea-pancake had be barbaric! But after considering how elegantly he had ughtered enemies before, none of his friends exactly expected such barbaric behaviour to suddenly erupt; so what remained of the team, were growing noticeably concerned. At this point they didn''t even consider these seven remaining sharks as a problem. Instead, they mostly feared that such a fine individual stingray would finally go crazy! Osira understood that the situation was growing severe, so she wanted to make sure these enemies met with death as fast as possible. Because after that point, her friend would likely not have a crazed urge to kill, any longer. So she deliberately followed along the blood trail that her friend had just caused. Simply because this ck-grouper understood, that blood gave her quite some powers ~ and that was exactly what she needed right now. Of course she still had it difficult to understand, just how was it possible to draw power from blood itself, but now was not the time to be cautious. Osira followed the blood trail for a few seconds, and this time she managed to notice that the blood itself, had slightly moved across the waters, just to join with her skin! Such a sight felt quite new, or perhaps it was already there from the beginning, but it had not been noticed until now? That portion wasn''t quite easy to figure out. Because through the first time when she discovered these blood-embraced powers, she was already bathed with the blood of her enemies! However, this was forter to think. Right now she felt strong enough to continue the fight. But just then, she noticed that Gech had attacked another one of these enemies. So she swam towards that spot, for the sake of draining out the portions of blood that were flickering across the waters. After that point, she felt absolutelyfortable to fight ~ but also noticed that quite some difort was slowly developing across her gut. What started as slow-growing difort, had somehow swiftly developed into several sharp pains in the same abdomen area! It was strong enough to feel like a deep stab! Such pain has managed to stop thedy on the spot, and just now she began noticing another hint of this sudden dilemma. There was a thing... perhaps a feeling or something physical itself - trying to project itself out of Osira''s stomach, and all the way through her mouth as well. She did not know how to process such a tricky feeling. But one thing was for sure, this difort wanted to get out of her body! And just a few secondster, her guts began working over-time, and swiftly pushed a heavy substance forward! This substance made its way out through herrge mouth, and shot out towards a close by shark! It didn''t take much effort to figure out that this shot, was some kind of weird light as well. However. The major difference in this situation was that this light: proved itself far different, inparison to anything she had generated before! This weird bit of dim illumination, carried both a dark and red colour! These beautiful shades mixed with each other, as if one side tried to assert dominance and steer the helm alone! If those characteristics themselves weren''t interesting enough ~ the shape of this shot proved itself quite unique too! This raging quantity of illumination was shaped almost like a fat pole, rather than just some ball. And this pole-shaped light, spiraled across the waters as if it was solely made of fire! However, such a marvelous scene could only be adored for a couple of seconds. Because it didn''t take too long for this weird shot, to reach the enemy that was boldly swimming towards Osira! And by the love of all fish kind. When the light collided against this shark, the horrific scene right after; would make one think that hell had broken loose! Chapter 294: Guilt Chapter 294: Guilt The amount of blood that had spread across the waters, was trulyrge. It was no secret that this weird new light that Osira unleashed, had managed to cause such tremendous damage. And at this point, the ck-grouper was happy to be clueless regarding just where all this power came from. Because regardless, this result was just amazingly powerful! However, there were a couple of other details that no sane animal would be able to ignore! The shark''s head... well, it had arge hole in it. This hole was perhaps a foot wide, but that wasn''t the most important portion to focus on. Simply since the other details of this wound, were far more horrific! This hole that had been punctured on the shark''s head, was two feet deep! And if enough thought was given towards the overall result, such a wound shape urately matched, the fatty pole-shaped light, that Osira had shot out of her mouth! Which only managed to make the situation feel more amazing, although it still proved heavily horrifying! These details pointed out that this new-light was tough enough, to effortly punch such a hole against the enemy''s head. But at the same time, the impact wasn''t powerful enough to blow up that same head! The thought of such brutal elegance could put anyone into self-confliction! All-and-all, this result was certainly one that no one ever expected; be it from this team, or the opposing one! They were all utterly baffled, and weren''t quite sure how to feel about this. Well, apart from Osira. She was quite satisfied with thended attack, and her aura was for once blooming with joy! But the utter confusion and pain that came along with this weird shot, was quite difficult to ponder. Just why should it hurt so much? Regardless of how confusing this whole situation was, there still stood a detail that only managed to make this situation more difficult toprehend. In other words. Right after the bloody mist had fiddled away across the salty waters, another grand detail could be noticed on the carcass. The body seemed entirely dried out of blood! As if thousands of leeches had attacked at once, and fled once their wishes had been fulfilled! There wasn''t even a drop of blood near or around the shark''s wound. No no, the whole beast had been reaped out of such crimson substance! It was an interesting scene indeed. Because these great-whites naturally seemed pale already. But with the influence of such reckless power, the shade of pale was almost iprehensible! However. While most were staring at the carcass with either surprise or worry, Timothy had done his work against another shark that he hadtched on a bit earlier. And one would say that the scene he had managed to cause, was almost as horrid inparison to what the ck-grouper had just inflicted. The shark''s nose had many holes in it, its eyes were poked out too,pletely rendered out of use. And there had to be at least over a hundred stab wounds across the whole facial area, a third of which were inflicted against the target''s brain! Blood had coated every wound to be spoken of, and the barbaric stingray was as well covered with this crimson painting. Through this kill alone, the hero had been able to release every bit of stress that his heart carried. And right now, he felt quite exhausted. The grief he felt for Dana was immeasurable, but rage itself had managed to leave his conscious thanks to the collision itself. But due to all the panic that this shark had gone through, they ended up swimming nearly a hundred meters away from the battlefield! So Timmy began feeling a bit of guilt thanks to that. Because his team was already out-numbered, before and after attacking these sharks. Necessarily, him leaving the battlefield only meant that the rest of his friends, had to carry along the burden of this bloody battle on their own backs! Which was why he began swimming as fast as he could towards the battlefield. The hero pushed forward even though his stamina was spreading painfully thin! Yet regardless of everything that was going on, the system still found her little pocket of time, and used it to assert a few notifications. [Thanks to the great-white-shark that you have just killed, you''ve received six-hundred system points as a reward] [That carcass wasn''t exactly full-grown, so naturally that was why you got tens of points less] [Total system points = Three-thousand-three-hundred -and-twenty-three] [Your creativity streak had been broken, so you won''t be receiving a bonus for tricky kills. Control yourself next time] Even though anger had fiddled away from his noggin, just a moment ago. Sentences like this had managed to bring a tenth of that rage, back here to grow. He wanted to yell at the system, and probably unleash a few curses against it for the first time as well. But that felt quite exaggerated. So the sea-disk simply continued swimming towards the battlefield, and wholeheartedly hoped that his friends were okay. Just a minute after, he reached the very ce that his fins had been working beyond bounds to reach. And the scene that he met with here, had only managed to make him heave out a sigh of relief! What remained of his group, were quite healthy and still forceful towards the dilemma. They seem to have handled themselves well, and right now there were only two-living sharks in the battlefield! Perhaps three would have remained, but Gech had leaped against one of these fat beasts and caused an instant kill. Such a result was quite impressive. Because currently, this old man was not using the powers that an unfinished version of the holy-tar had given him. Instead, the geezer was just inflicting damage with the aid of the natural strength he was born with! However. Now, since there were only two more enemies to ughter, Timothy managed to build up just a couple more points of stamina in order to charge forward. What gave him motivation a bit more, was the fact that over twenty enemy carcasses were littered across the underwater battlefield! It truly managed to raise his ego, he almost forgot that one of his friends was nothing but a pile of bones right now. And within a moment, he reached the enemy and was just about to collide. But one problem began unravelling itself, thanks to the very same confidence! The carelessness that came with it, has ultimately led to a vicious bite, that had been inflicted by the very same enemy! This shark was only five-feet long, but was quite fat as well; so just how much damage could this wretched shark inflict? Timothy''s right fin was the portion that endured all of this damage. And it became even worse, after the enemy shook the hero a few times across the waters, before tossing him a few meters away! Chapter 295: Spooked fatty Chapter 295: Spooked fatty [You have lost fifty points of health] [That and you only have thirty-four points of healthy remaining, out of your total bar of one-hundred-and-twenty-one] As Timothy tried toprehend just what happened right now, the only thing he could acknowledge was the massive pain that enveloped one of his fins! All of his concentration had been taken hostage by it. And it wasn''t any easier on his consciousness, once he realized that the same fin couldn''t quite be moved. He was tossed against the sea-floor just a moment ago, and noticed that the waters themselves had been coated, with blood that likely belonged to him ~ which alone managed to describe how severe the situation had be. Definitely against his favour, that was certain. As if losing a friend wasn''t hard enough on its own, now he had to deal with escaping death for himself. That was why he tried to get a good glimpse of the battle. He wanted to prepare a counter attack, against the wretched shark who had inflicted such tremendous damage. Timmy understood quite well that the enemy won''t have mercy. One bite had not been enough, to send this sea-pancake towards the heavens. But another strike would likely do the job. That was why the good hero wanted to prepare, but couldn''t quite do so thanks to the wound itself. Sure he could wiggle around a little bit, but any attempt ended up burning worse than swimming in boiling water! So it took little thought to figure out that he was in no position to fight, no one would be able to do so, under these same conditions. But it didn''t seem like his immobility mattered too much at the moment. Because as he peeked at the battle, he could notice that Osira was putting in work against the same shark who inflicted such foul damage! It was easy to see that the finedy was boiling in anger, she likely thought her friend was dead. Simply because a bite from a great-white could not be underestimated! And the first form of attack that she embraced, was to crash against this bastardous enemy''s neck! Considering how much blood had been spilled across the waters today, she had quite some power to attack in such a way. And for the enemy, it felt as if a one-ton beast had attacked! The sh was truly extraordinary. Not only had the same enemy begun bleeding, but a loud crack has echoed across the waters as well! Due to the fact that the actual sh was isted over the neck area, such a thud could not be taken lightly! That point was proven when the ck-grouper, turned around to crash against the enemy once more. She swiftly noticed that the shark had stopped moving! Apart from that, it was easy to see that the enemy''s neck had been permanently tilted to the left. It was as if the impact had molded this shark''s neck bone, and it would likely take quite some power to push the head back in ce. The result was truly frightening but yet it was expected. Especially after considering just how much power, she was putting behind a single attack; it was no luck that the resulting crash could turn dire. And at this rate, generating ck-light wouldn''t quite be necessary in order to win a battle. However, since this shark had been bashed into submission, the grouper headed for the only other great-white that had remained in the battlefield. And once this beast saw that all of its allies had been shot dead, a rough male tone was unleashed by the same shark. Fear was the key feature of this reverberating scream. But he also demanded an answer, "Why are you doing this?" Osira was not one who could hold up a conversation, but such a sudden question did manage to stun her. She slowed down and observed the shark. For a second she began thinking that they might have attacked the wrong group. But that thought swiftly fiddled away once she took a peek at the enemy''s pelvic-fins, one of them was missing. Gech approached the scene afterwards, and weighed in. "Your little group has killed the wrong stingray family. As you just witnessed, such mistakes only came back to bite you in the behind." "But I never killed a stingray!" Thetter stated, hoping that such a im would get him out of trouble. Understanding that such a im can be a lie, the mantis shrimp sighed. "Don''t lie to me, son." Determined to live, thetter contradicted. "It''s true! I only joined this group two days ago! They promised me power and strength, but I didn''t get any of that." Quite swift at picking up social patterns, and able to form a theory regarding this dilemma, Gech decided to put an idea to the test. That was why he asked, "These sharks promised you power?" By now it was easy to see that this remaining shark was quite cowardly, but that wasn''t necessarily a disadvantageous situation. Specifically, since this scared bastard had information to share. And this fat beast specifically continued to do so, "Yes! Well they promised me... and this olddy, a mantis shrimp just like you! She promised me great power, but I don''t even know what kind of power that is. No one in our group even had it!" Spotting that there were many holes in that exnation, the old man pointed out. "Either you''re a horrible liar, or your entire group was incredibly stupid." Anger arose across this shark''s mind, as he began feeling sure that death was near. That was why he began shouting even louder, as panic knocked in a bit too. With a hurry, the enemy stumbled upon a few words. "I can take you to her! That will prove my words." To further prove a point on this topic, this fat fish continued. "She told us that the secret to unlocking this power, is hidden behind killing a few stingrays and..." "And?" The old man attempted to pressure. That was when this spooked shark developed a bit of hesitancy; he didn''t want to answer in the first few moments, but also understood that these little marine-animals meant quite some business. So the great-white mumbled, "She said that we could find this power easier, if we give away one of our fins..." "What kind of bizarre method is that? It never fails to surprise me just how dumb your species can be! It''s tricky for me to figure out if you''re lying, that''s how stupid you are!" Gech wasshing quite a bit right now. He had many rights to do so. The geezer might not have had a deep connection with either Timmy or Dana, but he felt quite a lot of sorrow for what fate they were suffering today. And as he continued to debate with this shark, the ck-grouper had already swam towards the little stingray, who suffered quite some damage a moment ago. Chapter 296: Overwhelming ego! Chapter 296: Overwhelming ego! "Tim! Are you alive?" The ck-grouper mumbled through a question. She was witnessing her stingray friend in a foul condition, this was certainly a scene that she never expected. In many ways, the former blue-dotted stingray was in a horrible state right now. There was an unhealthy amount of his blood oozing across the waters, dripping in quantities that can be considered as plentiful; one would think that there wasn''t an ounce of blood left in his body! Considering the effects that blood-loss can inflict against an individual, it wasn''t a surprise that Timothy was slowly losing his grip of reality. A moment ago he was able to fullyprehend the battle that had been going on, but right now his entire world was a blur that featured numerous colours. All he knew was that Osira floated nearby. It didn''t take much effort to figure out that she could prove useful, that was why he began trying to utter a sentence. But yet the result proved itself as simply gibberish. The causes behind it were easy to pick apart. Inability to focus was one of them, but his mouth also felt extraordinarily dry! It felt thawed out, even though he was underwater... The effects of blood-loss were truly astounding. And at this point he almost was sure, how an ancient dried out corpse felt like; as he was a few steps away from bing one. The system didn''t prove to be of any help whatsoever in this dilemma, apart from reminding him that death could be very close. [You have lost another three points of health, due to the continuing blood-loss that''s running out of your fin] [Which is why you only have thirty-one out of one-hundred-and-twenty-one health points remaining,] [Your condition has be more dire than ever! I urge you to keep your grip of consciousness and seek foods that can raise your health] The hero has only acknowledged half the words of which the system uttered out. But he could still understand what to do right now. The options were clear, he could either put up a fight or simply die. And naturally, he chose to fight. Because from all the predictions of death he had made, being killed by a shark was one thing, that his unhealthy ego would never allow! That was why he finally managed to force out a mumble, "Leggy... uh, marble crabs. I need marble crabs..." "Ok, ok! I will get them!" Osira followed along, while still being covered with pure panic. She had spent a good few seconds of her time, to peek at the stingray''s wounds. And she was almost lost in her thoughts, because of the details that surrounded this major blemish. The hero''s fin had a few cracks in it, quite literally even. It almost seemed as if the enemy had bit through stone rather than flesh. Utterly perplexing for sure. These cracks had a few small and isted branches on them, simr to what a rock would have after suffering from an external impact. Which only made the scene even more confusing! But whatever the upgrade of bodily durability had done to this good soul, it had been enough to save his behind in this battle. After thinking about how his skin had withstood a bite, from a half grown great-white shark, only the wisest could guess what the next upgrade of this kind would bring next. Regardless of how stunning those details were, this simply was not the time to ponder them over. Osira rushed across the waters to find what the young man had demanded. She knew this stingray longer than most here, and easily understood what species of shrimp he was asking for. Which has made the whole searching process just a hunch easier. And thanks to all of the blood in these waters, she managed to cover a wider area in the search for those critters ~ simply because speed was by her side. But what managed to slow her down a little bit, was how this sea-floor had been naturally carved. There were many bumps, holes and small tunnels in this area''s flooring. Any small critter could hide in those. Meaning that she had to check any remotely hidden ce, and could only hope to find the death defying critters. Timmy was suffering quite a bit in those same seconds, especially since the system informed that another couple points of his health had been drained away. The loss of health had managed to make his wound hurt even more. Well at least it ached for a minute or so. But then the situation developed to be even worse, yet it also brought a bit offort. His entire body began feeling numb, especially around the fin where the entire wound was located. This had admittedly made him feel a bit morefortable, because most pain had fiddled away. But what exactly was to be expected next after this severe numbness? Death most likely. He even felt sure that these remaining bits of health points, would not be of any use if he lost all the blood in his body. Consciousness was steering away by the passing second, and now he even began witnessing a few illusions. Any normal individual would see loved ones, since these could be considered his final moments. But Timmy was anything but normal, or stable so to say. His illusions didn''t feature any loved ones, but the enemy shark itself. That specific creature had met death as well by now. But the image of that bastardnding a bite against Timmy, began reying in his mind. The hero saw the memory that featured the wretched bastard,nding a deadly bite. This scene reyed for a few times, and managed to weigh on his conscience. It did, until the little stingray decided that this was enough! And through that little head of his, the hero took a hold of this grand illusion and shifted it to his will! The memory of being bitten by the shark, had been re-molded by an image of him, beating the enemy into submission. Now, he could see himself literally pping the shark away with his bare fins; and this p was the base move thatter developed to several stabs, each of which had been fueled by rage. This new illusion re-yed a few times, until he actually managed to get a grip of reality! So ultimately, the young hero had forced himself awake with impure waves of willpower! He had fully awoken with the aid of rage, and swam in a pool of his own ego. This emotion was differently described as a pride, which would never allow death to be brought by a simple shark! And as he regained this consciousness, Tim noticed that Osira had arrived with a small mountain of marble shrimps! Chapter 297: Hope Chapter 297: Hope It took a few more seconds for Timothy to gain a better view of his surroundings. But one thing that he understood for sure, was that these marvelous shrimps could help raise his health. That was why he put in a little attempt to swim forward. Such effort managed to move him just an inch, but the pain that came with it, stung worse than a thousand bees! It did hurt, but also managed to wake the hero up just a little bit more. Which was convenient, because he had to be somewhat conscious in order to chew. That was when the system decided to acknowledge that the situation was even worse than expected. [Through the few moments when you were almostpletely unconscious, you have lost another three-health-points] [Total health = 26/121] [I advise you to eat those marble shrimps right away! Your condition had never been this bad] And he began doing exactly as the system rmended. Even though it took a lot of effort, for the dark-grey stingray to chew through just one of these critters. It was not that these shrimps were big, they seemed even smaller now, thanks to the fact that Tim had a few growth sprouts... But the overall numbness that still enveloped his body, made it difficult to chew; even through a small creature, that could be easily swallowed if not instantly broken apart. But yet regardless of this difficulty, progress was still progress. Even though the first meal didn''t prove to be effective, he began feeling a few tiny benefits from the second one. The difference was still small, since crunching through these couple of little critters only gave a single health point, but a tiny bit of progress was better than nothing. Pain began making itself present, after he crunched through the fourth meal. Such a result felt a bit contradictory, since pain was supposed to go away when health raised itself; but this result still managed to make sense, due to that very reason. Massive amounts of pain had managed to make him numb and drowsy just earlier. But now, that numbness was going away, because technically he was healing right now. So ultimately, the reduction of pain allowed the most massive difort of this wound, to slowly unravel itself. Such levels of pain will likely be there for a good few hours, as marble shrimps could only do so much. But the options were to either deal with this situation, or sumb to it. And he wasn''t exactly one who gave up, so eventually he ate the entire small mountain of marble shrimp. It was a tedious process really, especially since he had it difficult to chew. But a few good after-effects came along thanks to this effort. Apart from his health rising a little bit; the sharp pains that continued to unravel themselves, had almost entirely woken him up! That was why he could think a little bit straight now, and ultimately managed to make a n for Osira to follow. It wasn''t exactly aplex idea, but still had its own unique value. He began ordering and praising at the same time, "You did great, now find me more of these marble shrimp. As many as you can." It was no secret that the ck-grouper was ready to oblige. She was happy about the tiny bit of progress, and managed to gain a bit of hope here thanks to the same reason. So the gooddy was ready to beam in many directions with such a goal, but Timmy had more to say. He tried to speak normally, but the pain made him give out a low-toned mumble. "After that, hunt for a great barracuda... it should help me move my fin again." "Okay, don''t worry I got you!" She shouted a little bit, for the sake of assuring. And then she dashed towards a close by spot, where she suspected for such critters to be in. While she was putting in all of that work, the hero was trying to keep himself sane and stable. The pain didn''t exactly cloud his mind in any way, but the pain itself was too much to handle. At this point he felt sure that a few bones of his were broken. Because simply any bit of movement, managed to cause quite a few sharp pains! Once Tim tried to move, he ended up jumping instead. Which might sound good to a certain extent, but it simply meant that the pain was too plentiful. Broken bones in the midst of these seas did not sound good whatsoever; and he feared that it could bring along a lot of other problems. So after a desperate sigh that solely featured pain, he asked. "System, can my bones heal? I don''t want to live like this forever." [It will take a lot of effort to heal them, especially since you have numerous bones broken in several ces] [They won''t heal entirely, even if your health-bar fully replenishes] [So you will need to purposely lose health in the future, just to replenish it again so your bones can heal] "First cancer, then that weird mind silver thing... and now this?" Heined, even though his sentence was halted a little bit due to a sharp spike of pain. This might not be the best form of self-expression either, but it still managed to make sense to a certain extent. Life in these oceans is bing far tougher than he expected. And as he waited for Osira to arrive, it seemed that the best way to kill some time, was to ask about health. So after enduring a few more waves of pain, he asked. "How many points did those shrimp give me... the leggy crabs?" [You have eaten exactly eight-teen of them, so you have attained nine points of health] [You''ve also lost two more health points due to your bleeding] [Total health = 33/121] [The good news is that those shrimps barely took any space in your stomach,] [So at this rate, you could eat three more rounds of the same quantities, and you would still have a little bit of space left in your gut] Such a handful of sentences had managed to give him quite some hope, even though it was stated that health was still being lost. Regardless, he also began understanding how important it was toplete tasks. Because due to the milestones he had achieved on tasks, his primary bars had been upgraded by a tenth, each time. Its use proved quite important, especially in this dilemma. Because now he had a higher survival-rate, simply because his gut could fit more food that raised health. Which was why he made a reasonable goal, which featured him chasing more of these tasks. The chances of survival seemed heavily depended on them, so this idea seemed more like a necessary goal. As for now, curiosity had made Timothy open to the third-person-view map. He wanted to look at the wound. Chapter 298: Tiny progress Chapter 298: Tiny progress Once he expanded the map for the sake of it to cover most of his vision, Timothy made it zoom-in just a little bit more, so he could have a proper peek at the wounds. And it was fair to say that he was both happy and sad. The wounds didn''t seem drastic, thankfully his fin had not been utterly obliterated or pulled out of its socket either; but quite a bit of damage was still there. This dilemma especially began feeling ufortable, once he noticed that the wound was shaped quite like a cracked rock. Reincarnating into an animal''s body was difficult toprehend on its own. But now he was practically turning into a swimming rock? Just what was this darned fate leading him towards? This whole life felt just like a bizarre dream that never had an end. He didn''t know what his purpose in these seas was, and he most definitely didn''t know what tomorrow would represent. All Tim knew, was that he died once and doesn''t want to die again. For such a goal to be fulfilled, he had to embrace survival and every aspect that encouraged it. The whole idea of what this life carried, seemed like a loophole of never ending sorrow ~ but right now, embracing survival seemed like the best option. There was no other way to change these circumstances, without suicidal ideas. However. Since this map managed to give him a bit of depression, he decided to stop looking at it. And after removing the big map, he realised just how long he had been thinking about this life. What helped Tim get back on track was the fact that his friend, had returned with yet another little mountain of marble shrimp. It was quite amazing regarding how quick she was at finding food. Such efforts required skills, even though this species of sea-critters often tended to crawl in groups, and were easy pickings. But right now, the hero didn''t want to waste any time, he could simply thank and praise this good friendter. So the sea-disk peeked at the food for a second, before he inched close to them and began crunching through one of the carcasses. It took him a few minutes to eat all of these shrimps, but thankfully he gradually became faster at feeding. Especially while eating thest few of these shrimps. And it was noticeable that a little luck was by his side as well, simply because he didn''t lose any health points this time. This might have something to do with the recent health raises. But regardless of what its root was, the blood-loss slowing down was nothing but an advantage. Due to these noticeable little wins, he began conversing with the system for further details. But Osira had already headed to find and kill a barracuda, she didn''t want to waste even a single second! She felt confident to carry on such a task. Because even if the gooddy didn''t find such a fish right away, the quantity of shrimps she had brought, should be quite enough to help the hero survive. As for what the stingray was conversing with the system about, he had asked about health. And the system was happy to oblige the request. [You''ve eaten twenty-two marble shrimps, so you''ve gotten eleven points of health out of those] [Total health = 44/121] These results seemed fine. And it was fair to say that he began feeling just a little bit morefortable too. The sharp pains that often struck him, were reduced by at least a quarter right now. Such a result was good enough on its own. But he also gained a bit of guts to open up the third-person-view-map again. After putting in some efforts, to push away some deep emotions that carried grand perplexity, he gave a peek at the wound. The most noticeable detail that he paid attention to, was the fact that a few tiny branches of the wound have disappeared. These branches had been located near the bite-marks. They''ve been quite small, and their length was isted near every individual wound. Regardless, they contributed into the blood-loss before, one way or the other; but now those same little branches were as good as gone! The bleeding itself might not have been stoppedpletely, especially since the actual bite-marks were still there and flourished - but this progress could still be recognized as decent. So as a bit of confidence began to take root in his soul, the hero put in an attempt again, to move a little bit. He wanted to test out just how mobile that damaged fin was right now, as simple curiosity here could point out just how much the bones had healed. And as he tried to move the damaged fin, a sharp pain struck him right through that same second! It forced him to leap up a little bit, which was ironic after considering how immobile he was right now. But it still gave a good example of how much pain he was under! After curiosity managed to beat him to submission just a moment ago; Timmy became quite convinced, that it wasn''t the best time to move around right now. At least not until a great-barracuda had been brought to his disposition. Such a blessing of health might take a while to arrive, but at least there were other ways to kill some time at the moment. For example, Gech the mantis shrimp was approaching at the moment, and it seemed like he had quite a bit of information to tell. And the first thing that this old man asked, was. "How are you holding on, boy? Are these meals treating you well?" "They saved my life... that''s for sure, but I have many broken bones." The sea-disk followed along, answering with quite enough honesty. Thetter became a bit stunned after that point, which was why he pointed out. "I thought your bones could not be broken! You look as tough as a rock." Such a sentence stung a little bit, and the hero didn''t shy away to point it out. "I''m no fan of looking like a rock either, but enough about that. Tell me what that shark said. Where is he?" "Oh, I killed him." The geezer answered quite honestly. Timmy squinted his eyes as he felt rather confused right now. Such a decisioning from the old man seemed quite drastic, especially since that shark proved cooperative. Death for that fish seemed unfair at this point. This was why he questioned, "Why did you do that for? That shark was innocent enough." Thetter''s face turned quite sour thanks to that question. It almost seemed like his grand intelligence had been challenged, but he was quite prepared to answer. That was why the geezer managed to answer instantly, "Was he really innocent though? That moron didn''t kill a stingray, but he was going to do so eventually. I think everyone should get their fair share in life, based on the decisions they have made." To seal off such an in depth view, the old man also added. "No one forced him to join this little cult of stingray hunters. He wanted to be a part of it." Before such a perplexing topic could have been pondered, Gech decided to stick to the main topic. That was why he swiftly shifted words, "That aside, our work is not done yet. There is a mantis shrimp we need to kill, she has formed this entire group of sharks that we just fought." The sea-pancake''s brain felt overwhelmed by all of this recent information, and he didn''t quite know which aspect toprehend at first. That was why he expressed after a sigh, "Let''s slow down a little bit. I need to heal and we need to dig a grave for Dana. We can''t just let her bones get picked on by any random jackass." But then, that was when a familiar tone unleashed a tease. "Oh that''s so sweet of you..." Chapter 299: Straightening down emotions Chapter 299: Straightening down emotions As they gazed towards the left, it was fair to say that both of these fine males were rendered out of words! After a moment of trying to find the best form of expression, Timothy was the first to speak. But he could only lightly shout, "What the fuck!" "Why are you yelling? This isn''t so weird," That same female tone questioned, as she felt a tad irritated already. The old man decided to hold the conversation by the horns after that point, and he softly described what most would struggle with. He simply reminded, "Dana, we saw you getting killed... Of course this is weird." It was easy to figure out why these couple of friends were utterly baffled. Dana floated near them and conversed quite a bit too, that should not be possible! And it seemed like her ashes and countless bones, had been put back together as well. They have been merged with one another in such grand perfection, that not even a blemish could be told apart! In other words, she was back in one piece. This scene seemed bizarre in quite a few definitions, but thankfully this fine bonydy decided to remind them of an important detail. Through a small stutter she exined, "Purified radiation is holding my soul and bones together... I don''t really feel any pain." "And it looks like that same radiation has restored your body," The geezer helped her fulfill the exnation. Timmy began feeling quite excited, so he began yelling a thought out. It was a detail that he managed to pick up, and he craved an answer. Regardless if such an out-burst, spooked the others or not. He shouted, "Does it mean that you''re immortal now!" After giving the hero quite a bit of a stare, Gech sighed and began pondering those few words over. Which allowed him to reach such a realization as well. Which was why he followed along, "Hate to say it, but the boy might have a good point." "Oh, I''m not immortal." The skeleton assured. And then continued to exin, "Radiation holds me together, but that attack has weakened it a lot." At this point she realised that her words didn''t make much sense. Which was why she stopped talking, all for the sake of pondering over her own dilemma. And after a moment, she sealed the exnation by adding. "I think this radiation has a life-force too, in some weird way. Now half of it is gone... so I have to be more careful." Due to being quite quick at catching up, the old shrimp managed to add thoughts of his own. "Taking damage like that again, could actually kill you. Now I kinda understand how you''re alive!" These friends were mostly confused right now. And they were trying to push away the shock of the skeleton''s return, by trying to understand just how she managed to survive. Knowledge wasforting to a certain extent, so they craved it. [Your friends are quite right. Half of the radiation she carried before is gone now. As if that same radiation, had withstood all of the damage] [Dana, if you can still hear me; I encourage you to look for another crystal that can give you powers. I think it can increase your radiation quantity, meaning that you''d be able to handle more damage in the future] "I can hear you very well, system." The finedy ensured. Yet her bony-features turned into a frown, and she didn''t shy away to remind. "I have no idea where to find those crystals. It''s difficult to find a single shard of that weird worm''s body. Feels like looking for a drop of water in the ocean." "We will find one, don''t worry." Her stingray friendforted. He tried to be of aid, although it was easy to see that the young boy was half-conscious right now. So such a statement could either be considered wishful thinking, or uttered out while being half conscious. Perhaps all of this excitement had not treated the hero so well. Too much emotion while under a severe injury, didn''t seem like a properbination. Dana noticed that her friend''s eyes were moving upwards a bit too much, so she got closer for the sake of putting up an attempt to help. This finedy wasn''t sure what was going on, because she had been knocked out for quite a while. But the sight of the wound that this boy carried, helped understand that the battle did not unravel to their favour. As for now; Dana was quick to understand, that it wasn''t the best idea to fall asleep, while under the influence of such a wound. Which was why she first shouted, "Stay with me, Timmy!" And afterwards uttered something that might help him pay attention, "I need you to survive, hold on! Do you want to know, why I got bitten by that dumb fish so easily?" It didn''t seem like the young man was present, so she had to continue speaking rather than waiting for an answer. So with quite a bit of honesty, she added. "I got distracted, because I wanted to prove myself to you." "What?" The sea-pancake suddenly questioned, as his pupils returned and expanded quite a bit. Embarrassment struck the finedy rather heavily, as she realised what just came through her mouth. But there was no going back now, this topic had to be talked about; especially since it proved effective to keep the hero awake. So even though she was hesitant, Dana found motives to slowly continue. "I really want to look important in front of you. It''s difficult to pick what I should feel..." Afterwards she realised that her words barely made any sense. So she decided to seek the very root of these emotions, and break it down into definitions. A momentter, she decided to remind him. "You saved my life that day we met, so I respect you a lot. So I don''t mind being by your side, for a really long time." Thedy was quick to understand that she had be a bit creepy, so she wanted to bail herself out by allowing the boy in topic, to speak. It was easy to give him some space to chatter, as she only had to ask. "Uh... all of this is very confusing, isn''t it?" Such stunning words had truly captured the young man''s focus so far. His eyes twirled around in all directions, as he tried to make sense of this conversation; but this confusion also managed to bring quite a few flowery emotions. Eventually, he became self-aware enough to answer. "Yes, this is confusing; but I kinda understand you. This is how I feel about my siblings, although they didn''t save my life..." After spotting that this talk was bing tooplicated, Gech decided to intervene. "The emotion you two are talking about, is loyal friendship. Both of you appreciate each other, and want to help one another as well." To end this form of conversing, he also had to add. "You two are young right now, but these emotions will make sense as you grow, don''t worry." Yet regardless of how much he wanted to push this conversation away, the skeletondy still had a few more things to say; which was why she tried to express another aspect of this friendship. Even though it took a bit of effort to find the right words, she still managed to recite. "Our shrimpy friend is right. I want to be here for you, and share the pain as well. I owe you a lot, you saved my life after all." At this point Timmy became a tad angry, and urged to assure the value this woman had. "You just died to help me, that''s too much already! You don''t owe me anything, stop worrying about that." "Maybe you two aren''t so young anymore," Gech added, as his lips rested on one another. He felt proud of knowing this couple of stingrays. Not only did they prove powerful before as individuals ~ but they''re also able to straighten out their emotions, even after such a tremendous battle. Normal children might not be able to do that. However, Dana decided to take the lead of the talk by adding. "Thank you... erg, friend. You think we are even now, that means a lot to me..." The hero wanted to assure that she won''t endure such damage again, due to distraction. So it was best for such a topic to be faced directly. That was why he chirped, "We are equals, so maybe you should stop trying to prove yourself. You''re a skeleton now, because you backed me up in battle against that collector." Once such a day had been reminded, it was important to add. "If anything, I owe you a lot." "We don''t owe each other anything. Let''s all try to keep our own asses safe." Another female tone interrupted the conversation. And just then, a long fish dropped near them. It was a carcass so to say, and its skin carried different shades of blue. Osira appeared near them afterwards, and advised. "We should only help each other in bad times like this one, or else it''s every fish for themselves." "This girl is exaggerating, but she''s right." The geezer decided to weigh in, so every emotion could be straightened out. "I guess," The ck-grouper agreed for the sake of pushing this touchy topic aside. And then she had an urge to ask, "I got you the barracuda you asked for, Tim. This should heal you, right?" Chapter 300: Recovering from the disaster Chapter 300: Recovering from the disaster "It will help me heal," Timothy spoke lightly. Afterwards he tried to nudge forward to approach the barracuda carcass, but couldn''t exactly do so. A sharp pain managed to strike him right across the fin, which ended up strictly limiting his movement! The pain was quite unbearable, that was for sure. Only a few individuals could handle this, as it wasn''t easy to endure numerous broken bones! Timothy barely had enough power to withstand this brutality. If it wasn''t for the system''s intervention, he would likely be a goner by now. However. After his friends noticed that he couldn''t move much, their eyes darted right towards the carcass; and they mostly carried the same thought at this point, but only Osira acted upon it. She used her big patty lips, to drag the carcass a bit closer to her friend. And thankfully did so just in time as well. Even though the strong conversation they had earlier, helped the hero stay awake, its effects were spreading thin by now. Thefort that his friends unleashed until now, had helped him calm down quite a bit. Which was nice and dandy in any normal situation, but right now it could be recognized as deadly! Simply because he was toofortable. And under such circumstances, it would only take a moment until he fell asleep for good! Such facts can all point towards the conclusion, that this barracuda''s carcass was a life saver. Osira can be considered a saviour, she really was. The hero didn''t exactly shy away, and began taking one bite after the other to reap any benefit there was! He could already feel bits of his consciousness, slowly returning. And tens of bitester, he began thinking that it might not have been so bright, to eat that many shrimps just earlier on. Sure they brought health, but they also had a tiny negative effect on sleep and stamina. One or two of those critters wouldn''t cause any problems, but he ate tens of them! And in such a situation where slumber could equal to permanent doom, it was just a dumb idea to solely eat those shrimps. But Timmy wasn''t too rough on himself for that mistake. That decision has been made due to desperation. Apart from that, he was half-conscious when he asked for those shrimps. So surely, the actions of a sleepy boy should not be taken too seriously. And after taking a few more bites of this barracuda, that mistake can be forgotten for good. Because this species, only brought positive effects on sleep and stamina as well. So as he chewed through this carcass, health was not the only thing that replenished; he reached the pique of energy for today as well. And after this point, it would be difficult for this notorious pain to take charge once more. The odds were slowly growing in his favour. But eventually, he became a bit too full to eat ~ and rightfully so. Half of the barracuda''s carcass had been consumed already! It was difficult to ponder that such a little stingray could eat that much food! But regardless of the fact that he felt full, the results seem plentiful already. And the system assured it so, by reciting a few notifications of her own. [This feast has given you fifteen points of health,] [Total health = 59/121] Such a number itself seemed progressive, especially since it had been below thirty just a few minutes ago! But in actuality, it was barely enough to remove just another quarter of the pain. So technically, the hero just had a smaller chance of being knocked out cold. This health-raise might not have done much work on the broken bones either. He was not sure of the specifics regarding that matter, but didn''t want to put his fin to the test either. After all, the health raise was minor anyway and he really didn''t want to experience any additional pain right now. But he could still ask questions about the matter, "System, did any of my bones heal already?" He wasn''t sure regarding how helpful the system could prove in such a matter, but it was truly worth a shot. [Neither of them managed to heal, but they are in the process of doing so. So thest thing you want to do right now is move around] [Three of your fin-bones are broken in eleven ces, and cracked on about thirteen other spots. You don''t want to know how it feels like, if any of them moved right now] "Oh hell no, I won''t move for a year if it''s necessary. Don''t worry!" He spoke out loud, and wholeheartedly assured at the same time. "So, how are you now?" Gech was the first to ask, as his emotions wished for this boy to survive. "My bones are healing, but I can''t move or else it will hurt worse than hell fire." Timmy swiftly exined, as a bit of worry enveloped his noggin. But at least he was a bit energetic right now, so it was unlikely for the boy to fall asleep anytime soon. In other words, he had grasped quite a bit of control. "Should I bring another barracuda?" Osira offered, and was quite ready to follow such a task. This fine grouper could notice that her friend has improved after consuming such a carcass. So naturally, she was even more motivated to fetch another bag of blue flesh. And Timmy was quick to agree with it, "Yes, I''ll need another one soon." Before this good friend could have beamed towards some random direction, the sea-pancake prevented her from doing so. By simply offering, "Stay and eat first, that battle was exhausting. I''m full right now, so go ahead and eat." After that moment, he peeked at Gech and encouraged. "You can eat as well, don''t starve yourself." As for the skeletondy, she couldn''t exactly eat. So she steered away from the food, and slowly but surely began pondering her own burdens. Dana was a skeleton now, and would likely remain so. She didn''t need food to survive but was this really a blessing? This fine woman can''t even live a normal stingray life. Of course she didn''t me anyone for this fate, but also wished for things to be different. Marvelously, Timmy managed to notice her difort for once. And decided to interrupt her train of thoughts, before they could weigh her down a bit too much. He slightly yelled out a demand, "Dana, stop being sad!" And afterwards stated, "We will find another gem, and it will make you more powerful." In an attempt tofort thisdy, he also expressed. "You probably won''t be able to eat, but who knows what powers that space worm can give you!" "Yeah, I guess." She followed along, and tried to cooperate. Timmy didn''t want her to feel alone, so he requested. "Nowe stay with me, no need to be alone." A few minutester, it seemed like the couple of other friends were done eating. Gech was just a four-inch long shrimp, so he didn''t exactly eat much. But Osira managed to eat most of the carcass. She was the biggest fish here, stretching over two-feet long, so naturally she needed more food to function properly. Regardless, food wasn''t really a problem. Because the ck-grouper just started swimming towards the east, in order to find another barracuda to feed on. It seemed like the entire group enjoyed such a meal, and it helped Timothy a lot as well; so she was quite motivated to take another one of those bastards down! And while she was at work, the hero had a bit of time to toggle with what options he had under disposition. Unsurprisingly, he firstly chose to expand the third-person-view map. Curiosity overwhelmed his other senses, even though he felt ufortable to look at his own body. And once his focusnded across the wounds, the view turned out to be eptable enough. His fins still carried those several holes that the shark''s bite had left behind as a gift, but there were other details that proved themselves satisfying. At first he noticed that the small and short cracks that used to be near every stab-wound, had entirely disappeared! Such a result was great, but perhaps they had disappeared a while ago, yet he forgot about them? Regardless, it was pleasing to the eye. Apart from that, he noticed that the inneryer of his skin had been sealed up quite well. Which ultimately would not allow any more blood to drip out. Sure a few more health points would be required to seal the wounds entirely, but that wasn''t a problem whatsoever. And with the inner skin regenerated, it would be easier for the bones to heal, as there would be literal tissue enforcing the procedure. So overall, this view managed to bring him a few strings of joy ~ he was happy, even though he still felt ufortable with all of these recent changes, that his body had undergone. Anyway. After his curiosity had been tamed, he began toggling through a few options that had been ignored a little bit. Upgrades! A few of them had unlocked before the battle, but he had been confident enough to start the fight, without even looking at these options. Perhaps that might not have been the best idea, but there was no fixing that now. And of course he could not buy any of these upgrades at the moment. It would be a horrible idea, as most of these procedures tended to cause pain; and he was experiencing enough of that already for the day. Yet he still lent quite a bit of focus to the three upgrade options. Especially towards the first one, which stated. [Purchase option number one = Upgrade your jaws to level four] [Price = four-hundred system points] Chapter 301: Expensive upgrades Chapter 301: Expensive upgrades "That looks he expensive...mon, it would only get me to level four." Timothyined after spotting what seemed fairly odd. He mumbled through those few words, and his friends heard a portion of that sentence. But they didn''t ask any questions, as they understood that the little man was conversing with the so called system. [Technically, it is a bit expensive inparison to what you are used to; but this upgrade will feature bone re-molding] [It will be incredibly painful, that''s for sure. But you''ll also get a new pair of jaws,] "Wow! Really?" He was quick to follow along. Excitement began taking root in a massive portion of his brain, and such emotion only managed to release a positive aura. His friends could notice his excitement as well, and they felt quite pleased to see him happy. The hero has suffered long enough after that gruesome shark bite, so witnessing such a radiant smile across his face, was refreshing to say at least! [Yes, really] The system assured, and it was slightly noticeable that she too began sharing strings of enthusiasm. Although she had more control, on an emotional scale. And then she continued to exin, [This upgrade, will make sure that your jaws deliver a nasty cut against any enemy] [In other words, they will have no other option but to heavily bleed] The hero grew an urge to buy this upgrade now, but he understood that it would likely sign his own death certificate. More pain was something that he did not need right now. Instead, he decided to openly express. "I need to heal faster then! Hope Osiraes back soon with that food." [I rmend you to heal every bone before buying anything. Upgrades like this can make you twitch and shiver, which can hurt your wounds even more] [Anyway. I need to remind you that upgrades will only be more expensive, especially the primary ones] "But why?" Timmy questioned, but he didn''t exactly n toin. [In the beginning, it was mandatory to make the upgrades cheap for you, as it aided survival] [But now, you can afford to spend more on an upgrade, because there''s a little amount of sea-creatures in this area, who could kill you] [Survival isn''t too big of a problem at the moment, and you''re also capable of killing bigger prey. Which leads us to another fact, the prices rise as you be more self-dependent] [And of course the prices also rise, because of the level differences themselves. You can''t expect the price of a level-three upgrade, to be equal with a level-four one] After taking a moment to ponder this information, he could find many hints which helped consider everything reasonable. In another way, bigger prices encouraged bnce; as he would know when to slow down, rather than trying to bite more than he could chew. Meaning that he would be patient in terms of piling up points, instead of urging to buy everything avable. This realisation helped the boy nod and agree, "You''re right... Yes, that makes sense." After noticing that the guest embraced an open-minded view, the system felt it appropriate topliment. [You shouldn''t worry too much about upgrades right now. Because up until this point, you''ve bought thirty-five of them] [Most of my stingray guests, could never achieve such a stunning result, under such a short period of time. In other words, you are a prodigy; so it''s best to slow down a little bit] Before Timmy could properly ponder the concept of a prodigy, the system simply continued to decipher the rest of the avable purchases. [Purchase option number-two = Increase your EQ for twenty-points more] [Price = four-hundred system points] [Your current EQ is at seventy-five points] Now that was a name that he hasn''t heard of for a long time, he almost forgot about it even! Which was odd enough, because he had bought such a purchase twice before. For a moment, Timmy had trouble remembering what this type of intelligence was about. But one of its letters helped figure out, that it had something to do with emotion. In all ways, such a purchase should be useful; especially in terms of finding inner-bnce. A perk of that sort, can help evade death itself. Simply because he would be able to think about any situation a bit more thoroughly, before making any decisions. Once he attained such capabilities to think deeper, he wouldn''t need to rely on an unhealthy amount of ego, to push himself out of any trouble. His enthusiasm remained firm-ish after hearing out this option, although it did manage to drop just a tiny bit. Simply because he understood that an intelligence upgrade, could either bring a massive headache or knock him out cold. Unsurprisingly, he didn''t want to experience any of that. But he also understood that it was an inevitable fate to purchase it. So right now he wanted to push it to the back of his mind, which was why he allowed the system to introduce the third upgrade. [Purchase option number-three = Increase depth durability for two-hundred meters more] [Price = five-hundred system points] [You can currently swim three-hundred-and-forty meters deep, without taking damage from the ocean''s crushing force] "I really need this one," He mumbled a tad bit. And was under the impression that this upgrade, wouldn''t fail to cause intense pain. It was too big of a risk to buy it right now. But the crave for it was still strong, especially when put together with reasoning. "If I can sink half a kilometer deep, then maybe we can figure out more about the holy-tar sect." [That sect shouldn''t really be your concern right now. As Azq said, the sect was only a drop in the ocean] [There are a lot of other things to explore, a bit too much perhaps?] [I hate to say this, but there could be things out there that even I have not discovered] [As a start, I had no information about any god of the seas] [Either they don''t interact with fish kind, or my knowledge isn''t thorough enough] [Anyway, don''t consider the enemy sect as your main priority. You need to follow the quest that Azq has appointed for you] [Seek her shrine, in dead stone''s path. Wherever that ce is? Maybe she can help you remove this mental cloud as well] "I have no clue where to find it," Timmy pointed out right away. "To find what?" Gech broke down the long conversation with the pure aid of curiosity. Since he didn''t have a need to hide anything, the hero instantly answered. "This ce that''s called ''dead stone''s path." "Oh yeah, that thing... hmmm, maybe someone on the reef has heard of it?" The geezer added, as he tried to seek out a solution. To aid that idea, he had to continue. "We''ll go back home after we kill this crazy shrimp. Someone must have heard of this odd spot, they can''t all be clueless." "You''re right," The dark-grey stingray assured, as he tried to tolerate the ongoing pain. And after that point, a firm-ish n had been fully set. They barely had anything else to do, so it was a good idea to head back home and search for information there. It should be a good starting point, because that same reef had been struck with many oddities before; the chances of them knowing anything about some weird ocean-god, wasn''t too thin. However. Right now the hero was bing more and more focused towards the pain, that managed to take refuge in his fins. The wound''s effects were bing more radiant by the passing second, which managed to bring along confusion itself. He had eaten food that raised health, so pain should reduce rather than increase. This didn''t make sense for a while, but then he remembered how numb his body had been because of the same staggering pain. Perhaps that numbness was going away entirely right now, which allowed every bit of pain to unravel themselves? Regardless of the whole reasons behind it, this dilemma shouldn''t be too big of a problem ~ because they could see Osira in the close distance, and she was dragging a long slender-fish that stretched a whole meter long! Eventually she got close enough to bless everyone with her presence, and dropped the carcass right near the teammate who needed it the most. The fact that she could take down barracudas this quickly, gave a good example of how powerful she has be. For a two foot long ck-grouper, she was really proving herself capable. However. Now the sea-pancake had to munch through this feast, for the sake of replenishing health; but he really wasn''t feeling like eating another few pounds of meat! Timmy''s metabolism had truly grown fast due to the constant swimming, and hunger-bar upgrades, but right now he felt bloated like a balloon. Yet that was when he felt a great portion of his stomach, putting up quite a battle which was encrusted with rumbles! A few moments after, he blessed the salty waters with aicallyrge dunk. He unleashed a poop that stretched half a foot wide! Definitely arge quantity for a little stingray. The system noticed his concern, and therefore she advised. [Don''t worry about it. Your wounds are consuming every little bit of benefit from the food] [Which forces the metabolism to work far faster than usual. If you had not upgraded temperature toleration before, your body would have over-heated by now; because your metabolism is pacing a little too fast] [That aside, your hunger bar is down at the moment] [16/43 to be exact] [And it will continue to drop rapidly because of your wounds. So go ahead and feast on this carcass] Chapter 302: Precious maniacs Chapter 302: Precious maniacs It didn''t take much convincing for the hero to munch on this carcass. The system rmended it so, and his belly felt less bloated by the passing second. In every way possible, he was ready to eat again. So he began taking a few bites off the carcass, and slowly felt its positive effects. Thanks to the growth sprout he had a few days ago, every bite he took wasrger now; well at least inparison to the past. In exchange, the positive effects managed to arrive a bit quicker thanks to that very reason. And it proved useful in another aspect as well. For example, a full-grown barracuda gave only thirty points of health, if consumed whole. He only had space through those guts, to eat half of the carcass once more. But that''s where the jaws came in. He didn''t have to take hundreds of bites in order to reap a few health points. Instead, the efforts were reduced in the tens ~ which was quite convenient, especially timewise. Eventually he managed to eat to the point where he felt full, and thankfully the system came with good news this time. [You have received fourteen-points of health from this feast,] Such a quantity felt a bit smallerpared to what he should have gotten, but this barracuda wasn''t exactly full-grown, so this made sense to a certain extent; either way, Timothy was pleased. [Total health = 73/121] Such a number itself, necessarily portrayed itself as plentiful. And rightfully so, as it could not be considered critically low whatsoever. Apart from that, it began getting rid of the major issues. [One of your fin-bones has almostpletely healed,] [The little cracks have been sealed up, but the portions where the bone waspletely broken; need a few more health points to heal] [The bone itself is fully attached now, but the former broken spot has lines of cracks at the moment. But it''s not a major problem in any way] [As for your other couple of bones, they are in the process of healing] [The broken portions aren''t fully attached at the moment, but that can be fixed eventually] [Blood-loss won''t be a problem anymore, and it can''t risk your life either] [Muscle and tissue has regenerated through this feast. This will aid in terms of permanently stopping your bleeding] "I can feel that," Timmy assured, as he put effort to feel the wound itself. And then he continued to exin, "My fin feels tighter now, I almost want to try if it can move." [Moving it is definitely a bad idea, so avoid it for now] [The muscle and tissue will help keep your broken bones in ce. So if you identally move, the chances of causing further damage is low] [Necessarily, every gained health point will be more effective now, in terms of regenerating bone health and muscle mobility] "You''re a really powerful system!" The sea-pancake had an urge topliment. Who would have ever thought that severely broken bones could be healed this quickly? [That, I know] [But right now I rmend you to slumber,] [The pain can''t kill you anymore, so it''s safer to sleep. However, I do rmend that your friends transport you to a hidden spot] [That way, no predator would have a chance to hurt you] "Understood," He agreed after pondering these words for half a minute. He understood that any bit of movement would hurt more than hell itself, so he didn''t exactly want to risk it. But safety came as a priority, so he had to put in effort for such a matter, and embrace it with many bits of strategy. He peeked at Osira, and noticed that she might not be the best option for this idea. This finedy was a bit too tough, and tended to be rugged in every form of action she performed. Not to mention, it would be difficult for her to pick the hero up. Afterwards he lent Gech a gaze, and was quick to figure out that he wasn''t the best option either. Sure the old man was tremendously powerful, but not in an aspect of moving any heavier object, without utterly obliterating their skin tissue. It didn''t take much thought to figure out that he wasn''t the best for the job either. And finally, he gave a quick peek at Dana; and swiftly decided that she could prove the best of aid in this predicament. Even though she was only a skeleton, her body was te shaped as well; so it wouldn''t take much effort to climb on her back. Without aiming to waste any time, he locked eyes with her and stated. "I need to climb on you," "What?" Thetter instantly asked, as she felt a little embarrassed. Clueless regarding why she had such a reaction, the sea-disk exined. "You heard the system,dy. I need to sleep in some hole, to be safer." "Oh, that..." The eagle-ray skeleton was quick to catch up. Right after, she agreed. "I guess that''s fine," But the samedy was quite clueless at the moment, so she had to ask. "So, how do we do this?" Thankfully the grey menace was always a step ahead when it came to ns, so he was quick to build an idea. "Erg,ey in front of me here." He was bing aware of just how awkward these sentences were. Yet he still failed to build up any better word y. Pain was barely an influence that clouded his mind right now, he legitimately was not capable of expressing himself in any different manner. Yet thankfully Dana was cooperative, and did as she was told ~ while at the same time she tried to make sure that her long tail wouldn''t hurt the hero''s wounds. "Better not get any funny ideas," The old man could not help but tease for once. "Gech!" The skeleton shouted, as waves of embarrassment struck her pale face. "Alright alright, my apologies." The culprit loosened up the tension instantly. Although, it was easy to see that half a smile was still painted across his small shrimpy face. Thankfully Dana had not moved away due to the strings of embarrassment, so the next step of this n could be taken. The hero thought through this process a little bit more, before he could firmly make a decision; thankfully those few moments were not put in vain, as the n began portraying itself as wless. He requested, "Gech, I need you to slip under my wound." "Howe?" Thetter questioned right away, as he didn''t want to cause any damage. With quite enough patience, the young man could exin. "I need you for bnce. My other fin works well, but if I try to use it, my wounds will rub through the sand." "And that would burn," Thetter was quick to catch up. "A lot," Timmy nodded in agreement. As he began crawling towards the wounded warrior, the old man said. "Done deal then," And sessfully managed to dig underneath the wounded fin, without even being noticed. Those tough arms that this shrimp possessed, were surely useful in many aspects. Finally, Tim took a peek at the woman who was quiet until now ~ and was patient enough to slowly describe the rest of the n. This woman was the ck-grouper of course, and she was the perfect teammate for this particr portion of the n. So the sea-pancake slowly exined her duty, just so no details were overlooked. "I need you to slowly push me over Dana''s back, but don''t rush at all, I really don''t need more pain right now." After the n had been carefully deciphered, the whole team began putting their behind into work, although one more literally than the others. Slowly but surely, the hero inched over Dana''s back. To speed up the progress just a little bit, he had put the functioning fin into use. This fin helped, even though the ps were very light; such efforts were all made for the sake of attaining a bit of bnce, while lessening friction at the same time. The whole n went almost wlessly. Timmy felt a little bit of extra pain, but it was nothing inparison to the sharp stabs he felt, when he tried to move the wounded fin in the very beginning. Dana began lightly swimming after that point, but was quick to notice that her movements only damaged the wounded stingray. So she put in a little bit of effort to swim higher, and that was when Osira swam underneath her and began carrying both of them; at a slow pace of course, because she had considered the strategist''s words from earlier. "Perfect," The sea-pancake expressed as he could feel the tension on his fin, loosening out. And then he could order, "Find a hole we can hide in, but avoid the ces that are too snug." As that order was adapted, Gech was left behind a tad bit; but that wasn''t a big issue as the team was swimming away slowly. While he followed the bunch, he eventually expressed. "Can''t believe that I''m spending my old years with these precious maniacs..." Chapter 303: Azelaqs realm Chapter 303: Azq''s realm Eventually they found a nice little spot to rest on, and managed to unload the hero in a way that would not cause him anyrge pain. It was fair to say that most began feeling a bit more rxed, but that too began portraying itself as a problem, because they felt too rxed... Inevitably, they became extraordinarily bored. Sure they were happy that Timothy was getting better, but there wasn''t anything else for them to do. They had to face some weird shrimp soon, but that doesn''t seem like an option at this very moment, as the sea-pancake would need to swim in order to face that foul enemy. Of course the rest of this group, could go and face that enemy alone, in order to get this procedure over with; but it didn''t feel like the right thing to do, especially since the same boy''s family had faced the consequences of some sea-critter''s crazy ideas. So they ended upying around in the three-foot wide hole they found, and allowed conversation to spread thin by the passing moment. Gech was the most talkative amongst this entire group, and it was fair to say that he spoke a lot! But most of his dictating, included theories and thoughts regarding this whole situation. It was interesting for the group to listen at his visionary thoughts, but eventually it became confusing as the group could only catch up with half of what this old man rambled across. Eventually, Timmy began losing his energy as well. His fin was throbbing in pain, which managed to drain a few portions of his energy; but it was nothing that he couldn''t handle. In other words, he could finally fall asleep. Because the energy-raising perks of that meal he ate, were thinning by now. After a moment or so, he was knocked out cold. And at this point it felt like a relief, because at least he could escape pain for a little while. And the friends that surrounded him, managed to give the boy quite a bit offort; as he trusted them wholeheartedly. But there was one thing that he had entirely forgotten about, there was anotheryer of difort that wouldn''t resist to haunt his slumber! Almost instantly after he fell asleep, great portions of mental strain began enveloping across his puny brain. Its effect was strong and began to shed some familiarity, he had experienced it before, and could recognize it even while being unconscious! And after acknowledging this strain, he expected a variety of weird dreams to strike stronger than a charging whale! But contrary to everything that was expected, that same mental strain filtered itself out, right at the moment when he entered a dream. For a second, there used to be a dark void that showed no life whatsoever; but it got swiftly reced with a pr opposite rtive. Light! His vision was enveloped by nothing but light, and its gentle rays didn''t cause him any difort. Perhaps illumination in dreams had an entirely different visual effect? However. After that portion, a luscious green field appeared in front of him. And there were a few short trees here and there as well, but they were spread scarcely across the mass of imaginarynd. Such a scene seemed tremendously familiar, but at least this time he did not feel utter difort due to this very sight. At that moment, he heard a familiar female tone thundering across the air! It was impactful for sure, but such an asion became overshadowed by what blessed his vision next. A stunningly beautiful woman, appeared out of thin air and approached with a gentle pace. She was wearing a white dress, whose back portions slid across the grass without being stained by various shades of green. This woman, did not have the most curvy body inparison to what could be considered normal amongst the masses. She was a bit underweight even, but that failed to reduce her stunning beauty. Because it seemed like this body-shape suited her best, and her strut of confidence would convince anyone to share the same thought. Her hair carried a light-grey colour, signifying silver and shining with brilliance. Such hair was short and quite straight, but it perfectly cooperated with her slim edgeless face. Thedy''s left arm was covered in a silver colour as well, while the rest of her body truly signified that of a human''s. Such a scene was confusing as much as it was stunning, but familiarity itself began unraveling, the more this woman spoke. "So you have returned to my realm, new believer." The samedy questioned with confidence to her aid. "Azq?" The hero questioned, as he tried to be sure that this was indeed the self-proimed god. "Indeed it is I," She assured. After acknowledging who she was, the first thing that the young man wanted to do, was point out. "First of all, I am not following any religion you have." "Fair enough," She gently nodded, oddly cooperative. But then she revealed the patterns behind her peace, "You surrendered two souls to me anyway, that''s what matters." Such a context was difficult to ponder over, so Timmy didn''t exactly answer it in any vocal way. This gave the finedy enough space to question, "Why did you set foot in my realm, young one?" "I just fell asleep, didn''t know that you would visit my head or whatever." The hero followed along, he was unapologetically direct with the exnation. "So you identally entered my realm? I''m not even sure how that could be possible..." The beautiful silverdy specified, as her face curled due to perplexion. "This isn''t a dream?" He asked, as he had it quite difficult to catch up with this whole context. "Definitely not a dream, your soul has entered my realm. And your body... well it''s back in the ocean." Such information was truly shocking, but it had to be included. "Uh," He muttered, unsure regarding what kind of fear he should feel right now. "Don''t worry," Thetter assured with the wave of a hand. And then added, "I can get you back to your body anyway." Before such information could have pondered thoroughly, she chose to steer the conversation to another direction. "Anyway, I may be in need of your assistance..." Chapter 304: Azelaqs realm (2) Chapter 304: Azq''s realm (2) "Aren''t you a god? You shouldn''t need any help, you''re supposed to be able to make problems disappear." Timothy was swift to remind. It was easy to notice a bit of difort on this silverdy''s face, and she was quick to excuse herself. "It''s not that simple. I am powerful, but not to the point of being able to create or destroy an entire. The context of that volume is often stereotyped." Able to catch up, the young man questioned. "So you''re not a god. Just some overpowered ghost?" "A bit like that," She finally agreed. But felt inferior too, so she had to add. "Butpared to most mortals, I definitely am a god." "No you''re not," The young man boldly disagreed. After noticing that he could not be convinced, Azq decided to move along. "I will not have this conversation with you. Will you prove of aid to me or not?" His sense of superiority had grown bigger, so he urged to assert. "What will I get out of it?" As an ufortable smile spread across her face, the fine beauty asked. "You love the silver screaming power, don''t you?" As his eyes bulged open in excitement, he agreed. "Hell yes!" That was when this self-proimed god felt morepetent. She felt sure that power itself could be used as a tool to leverage. So such an advantage, was slowly converted to her use. "How great would it be to unlock another secret that unapologetically surrounds this power, and more..." "More?" He questioned, feeling utterly clueless. "Yes, I can give you other powers." The silver woman assured, with a slow nod. Timmy felt convinced enough, so he could agree. "I will help you then," Since he agreed, the silver goddess herself, could swiftly shift towards the deal. "Okay. You may have not noticed, but my very existence is cursed. And you can do something to fix that." Judging from the aura of such a sentence, the only thing he could figure out was not rted to anything peachy. And he didn''t exactly shy away in expressing such a train of thought, "You want me to kill you? Stingrays can''t do that, right?" "You can''t kill me," She instantly stated, as hope began fiddling away from her mind. "Oh," The young man followed along, partially disappointed. With a string of hope, Azq decided to point out. "But you can free my soul." "What do you mean?" He had to question, because he felt quite puzzled. This decent woman understood that it would take a lot of effort to exin the whole context. So she halted for a moment, and picked out way after way regarding how to decipher this topic. Eventually she found a usible point to start at, but it surely turned the conversation towards another direction. "See, at a certain point of time. The earth was far different." With quite a bit of excitement, he yelled. "Like, there were dragons and stuff?" "No," She stated, and felt almost hopeless at this point. "Oh," Timothy sighed, as he dwelled in disappointment. "The world was far dumber back then, primitive even. But there were far more opportunities to achieve tremendous powers," She added, as exining such a portion seemed appropriate. Right after she decided to assure, "And I did exactly so. But some people disagreed with my ways, and wanted to lock me up forever." With a few strings of emotions attached, she sighed. "Eventually, they won." Such a statement needed more context, and she was quick to provide it. "My body is hidden underwater right now, locked beyond reach." Right at this moment, the hero had to intervene with a question. "When did this happen?" Confusion struck thetter, and she began mumbling. "I don''t know. It may have happened yesterday, maybe it happened tomorrow? Or ten thousand years ago? Maybe it didn''t happen at all..." Tim became even more confused than her after that point, so he had to be sure. "So did they really lock you up, or not?" After trying to recall key memory points, thetter could only answer. "They probably did, or they should have at least." And then it was important to get to the main point, so she slightly shifted topics. "For a very long time, I had no idea how to free myself from these shackles." To prove that point, it was important toy another foundation of information. "There were countless cults of humans who worshiped me, a very long time ago." And such a statement had to cooperate with a few other key exnations, "They even built me a shrine near my prison, in dead stone''s path. That ce lies in ruin now, and it''s over-encumbered by the sea waters." After pondering this information over, the hero managed to figure out a key detail that was hidden behind this history. And he boldly asked a question with the aid of that same detail, "Your shrine wasn''t in the sea that long ago?" "No, it was in drynd." Thetter answered, utterly unbothered for such a fact. As shock managed to strike his conscience, the young man had to shout. "You''re like a million years old now!" Such a statement felt partially offensive, so she had to lightly contradict. "Maybe not that much, but I am old..." Before the thought of age could be added morements on, she swiftly shifted towards the main topic. By simply exining, "Anyway. I figured out how to free my soul, but I can''t do it without someone''s assistance." Eager to seek power for himself, Timothy had to ask. "What am I supposed to do?" "Kill as many fish as you can, in my name..." thetter demanded, her tone striking strong once more. But most importantly, she used that same tone to unleash anothermand. "And seek dead stone''s path, I will give you the other instructions after you find my corpse..." Of course such a location was utterly unknown. And he had no clue where to even start looking for it, all he knew was that such a location was hidden under water. But before he could even ask anything regarding such a topic, he witnessed the entire luscious green field disappearing by the passing second; along with his mental rity. Chapter 305: Progression Chapter 305: Progression Within a few moments, Timothy''s eyes opened up, and he began witnessing a few portions of his surroundings. A few secondster, he noticed that his friends were slumbering on numerous spots in this hole; which gave a great hint that night-time has enveloped the horizon. It seemed a bit rude to wake them up, so he decided to consult with the system instead. Although the developing headache was burdening enough, he still had another worry to consider. And that was what the topic swiftly became, "How long have I been asleep?" [A bit over a day, so to say. Such a slumber is a bit overdone for a stingray, but at least you didn''t suffer aa this time] As the young man was pondering over that information, the finedy in his head steered the topic towards a sub-direction. She questioned, [Did you consult with Azq?] "You mean... talk?" He questioned, because he felt quite baffled. "Yes I talked with her, but she didn''t help me in any way." Eager to figure out more, the system pressured. [So she just... didn''t do anything?] A headache across his noggin was bing stronger, and brought along a mental cloud as well; so it became difficult for the sea-pancake to follow any conversations. So the system had to repeat her question a couple of times, before the guest cooperated. "Azq wants me to help her, and said that she could give me more powers." [That''s all?] The system continued to pressure. "No," Thetter answered, as he used every bit of his ability to focus even for the slightest. And then he finally continued, "I need to kill other fish, with the scream she gave me. That will help her somehow...?" Of course this didn''t prove as understandable information either. So he and the system continued to converse for a few minutes, before they could finally catch up on everything. It was fair to say that thedy in his head was utterly staggered for once. The existence of some sea god, or even a weird entity that strode the waters, was beyond her grasp of information. Such a discovery gave a hint that theserge seas, carried more than just in fish. There was a lot more to discover, and such a fact made the powerful system dwell in difort! She wanted to know more, but her ego was hurt because she didn''t know everything about the ocean. Or at least arge percentage of information regarding what the waters carried, she simply didn''t have such quantities of knowledge. Such feelings were conflicting, but it was not like mortality was chasing her from behind. If one guest died, she could just bounce over to another. The death-rate on earth wasn''t minimalistic, so it was easy to snatch a human soul and barge it into some random fish. However, the system understood that the little stingray, was in no position to thoroughly follow a conversation at the moment. So she just encouraged him to eat the barracuda''s carcass, that had beenid down near his face ~ and just discuss further detailster. It was easy to notice that Osira had put in extra efforts earlier, to make sure that her friend could eat; even if he woke up when everyone else was asleep. Such a gesture was rather kind and detailed. If the sea-disk could think thoroughly, he would have surely appreciated her hiddenyers of kindness. But now with just half a conscious, he was simply chewing through the half-carcass at a slow pace. Bit by bit, he could feel portions of his energy returning; it was no mistake that this meal had something to do with it. It was weird how he didn''t have much energy, especially after considering how long he had slept. But after acknowledging the wound, it began making sense. These broken bones were reaping every bit of energy, just to heal themselves faster. Which meant that most bars were being continuously depleted at a rapid pace! Such realisations proved quite frightening, but he didn''t want to think much about it, especially since he had friends who refused to let him die. However. Eventually he managed to eat what was left of the barracuda carcass, and managed to notice its positive effects bit by bit. Tim''s stomach felt a bit bloated in the first few moments, but his speeding metabolism didn''t exactly allow for such difort tost. After a few moments he even began feeling slightly hungry, but still wanted to take time in order to process half of the barracuda carcass he had just eaten. It was no secret that the most important part of this meal, was strictly rted to health. So Timmy asked about such an aspect, and of course the system didn''t shy away with the details whatsoever. [That meal you just ate, has given you thirteen points of health] [Total health = 86/121] [I also want to assure you, that one of your bones has beenpletely healed] [That and, the couple of other broken bones are in the process of patching together] [Now is the most crucial time to avoid any movement. In fact, don''t even try to speak too much] [No, use your mouth to eat only. So the chances of muscle strain reduce] Such information had managed to give him quite a bit of hope, so he could only agree to the system with the aid of a thought. His mental rity was a bit better now, so of course he could heed these demands with ease; as the system''s chatter didn''t sound gibberish anymore. There was a cloud that stood present in his mind, but it wasn''t as overwhelming inparison, to when he first felt it before therge battle. As such advice was being thoroughly pondered, the system decided to unravel a bit more information. [At the time being, I rmend you to purchase the emotional intelligence upgrade] [The worst it can do is knock you out cold, but that isn''t really a problem right now. Sleep can''t kill you anymore] As a little soft smile spread across his face, the hero muttered. "Then we shouldn''t waste time, I want to buy that intelligence thing. Hope that this time I don''t sleep for a week or something." Chapter 306: Definition of madness Chapter 306: Definition of madness [Confirmed] [Loading purchase...] It barely took a second, for the inevitable effects of the stunning upgrade, to make themselves present. Most purchases in particr, tend to bring pain as a subordinate; but when an upgrade had to do with intelligence, it proved certain that the branch of pain would be unique. In this case, the word ''unique'' was just a fancy title that sugar-coated a sour experience. For Timmy, it felt as if a one-ton rock hadnded against his head and ripped his flesh open. The pain wasplex as much as it was ufortable. One portion of the upgrade had numbed a lot of his senses, which should reduce pain reception. It should, but yet it didn''t. Because the branches of pain were isted under the skin ~ right in the hero''s brain. The difort had nothing to do with muscle strain of any sort, but was solely isted around the nervous system portions, that were located near the brain; along with the brain itself. Specifically, since neuron cells were both increasing in number and letting out their branches through his brain, in order to create a stronger density; which in exchange, honed intelligence. Typically this shouldn''t be painful whatsoever; but his brain had gone through enough upgrades already and developed quite aplexion. Now since that perplexity was literally ripped open in order to increase intelligence, this process had no other option but to be incredibly painful. When this procedure was looked at from another angle, this upgrade literally re-molded Timothy''s head! In all ways, this tremendous pain was adequate to knock the young man out cold. But luck may have been by his side, perhaps? Because he was still up and partially observant. The purchase itself wasn''t greater in volume whenpared to the creative intelligence upgrade, but it was still plentiful. One''s best guess would be that the meal he just had, didn''t allow Tim to lose consciousness; perhaps the amount of energy he had right now, wouldn''t quite allow for pain to take over? Regardless of the sole reason, it proved to be a good advantage right now. Who would want to be knocked out cold? It wasn''t a pleasant experience and most avoided such a fate. As for pain itself, it was noticeable that the worst part was over. And at the moment, billions of glia cells were showering the sea-pancake''s brain! These cells specifically cooperated with the previous ones. Their intent was to embrace bnce, especially for the new neuron cells that had merged with his brain, just a moment ago. In exchange, this gracious bnce was enough to steer pain away; difort reduced by the passing moment. And thankfully, the system could acknowledge that sess itself had just been achieved. [Upgradeplete] [Your emotional intelligence has been increased by twenty-points,] [Your current emotional intelligence is at ny-five points.] [Four-hundred system points consumed,] [You have twenty-nine-hundred and twenty-three system points remaining] "That''s a lot of points," He managed to add, even while he was experiencing the aftermath of the great upgrade. [Most definitely, it will take a while for you to deplete them all] [However, you shouldn''t be focused on points right now] [It is my pleasure to inform, that thanks to this upgrade, your brain has reached aplexity wide enough tobel you a genius] [So, you''re officially a genius now] As the hero pushed away other portions of the headache, he was able to understand just how important such a statement was. And after a moment, he questioned. "So I can outsmart all of my enemies now, right?" [I expected you to ask about that, but we are in the relentless seas so such brute thoughts are eptable] [As for your question... yes, you should be able to outsmart a lot of enemies] [But I advise you to be wary of how you use your intelligences in any situation] [Your creative intelligence is above any other, which has helped you to reach the title of a genius, much sooner than expected] [And since your creative intelligence isn''t nearly equal to your other ones, imbnce can ur] [For example, what creativity deems necessary in any situation; emotional standards could beg to differ] [In exchange, you could be highly indecisive; in the sea world, that can dig your watery grave] Timmy was still under the influence of a throbbing headache, so he could only understand half of the system''s words at first ~ but he fully caught up only after pondering the information for a couple of minutes. And afterwards he finally managed to express, "I understand what you mean, system." [You should. It would be hrious if you didn''t understand a thing, even after so many intelligence upgrades] "Don''t mock a beaten man," He felt the urge to pressure. But just then he noticed exactly what he had said, and almost shocked himself at the same process. Sure his request made sense, but did it fit in the dictionary he usually embraced? For a quick second, he thought that Gech had spoken out all of a sudden. But little observation helped figure out that those words were Tim''s instead. And while he tried to figure out the root of such influence, the system was swift to intervene. [Quit worrying about what you just said. Your emotional intelligence can highly affect what kind of vocabry you use] [So as this type of intelligence increases, you will only use more sophisticated words] With a little smile, Tim was excited to ask. "Oh... so I will literally sound smarter?" [Most definitely. But that''s not all,] [Emotional intelligence also affects how you view the world, how you see other individuals, or social situations as well] "So basically, I can trick enemies easier?" He questioned right away. The system was a bit irritated at how he linked any thought to battle, but didn''t want to say anything about it. Instead, she chose to embrace another topic. [You''d have more chances to trick dumber fish, yes] [But there are hazards you should be cautious towards,] [A typical route for guests who upgraded emotional intelligence several times, was craze] [They fully understood their ce in the universe, and just didn''t take it to well] [Those same guests, ended up being mentally paralyzed although there was nothing wrong with them whatsoever] Timmy instantly decided that such a fate was something that he firmly wanted to avoid. And of course, the strategic portion of his noggin, urged to set a base n that he could follow. Which was why he asked, "Can you give me an example of craziness? So I know what to avoid." [The examples are endless and it would take a lifetime to exin every aspect, but there is a specific quote that would fit in well here] [This quote was made by one of the smartest guests I ever had; and indefinitely, this was the craziest fish of them all] [However. Sayings of this sort, can help you figure out what thoughts to avoid] "Let''s hear the quote," He requested. [Our ce in the universe is small and irrelevant. Nothing we will do would be considered enough,] [We are pressured by every-day-life to embrace ignorance, for the sole purpose of evading the prime thought; our lives won''t contribute towards anything, apart from the never-ending death toll] [In this earth, we will eventually be counted as just another death, between the billions who have died already,] [While inparison to the whole universe, our existence is nothing but a small tiny spec ~ irrelevant and almost non-existent] Chapter 307: Truly his own Chapter 307: Truly his own "Uh, so I should avoid thinking like that?" He had to ask, just to be absolutely sure. [Yes, it''s best to avoid it] Through a passing moment, he craved to express. "But... that quote is making a lot of sense though," [It does make sense] [But why bother thinking about anything that can''t be changed?] "You''re right," He agreed after a bit of pondering. Considering all of the intelligence upgrades, it only became easier for Timothy to understand anything; at this point it would be hrious if he couldn''t. However, the topic was swiftly shifted to the prior one after the upgrade. He began focusing on health solely. A prime goal was to heal what bones remained broken, simply because he couldn''t do anything with such a wound. But it became once more apparent that this goal required patience. Apart from his belly feeling a bit bloated, he had to wait for Osira to wake up. She was the only one who could find, kill and bring back a barracuda in a short amount of time ~ so it was logical to crave her help. Since Timmy wasn''t nearly close to dying, he didn''t want to interrupt the gooddy''s slumber, as simply there was no intense need to rush. But of course she had to wake up eventually, even though that happened nearly over four hours afterwards. Regardless, she instantly headed out upon response and seeked a meal to ughter. Her sess rate at hunting was stunning as always, so she easily managed to bring back the required meal. Since the whole team was a bit hungry, they enjoyed the food together. Osira ate a great portion of it, in quite a short amount of time. But that wasn''t necessarily a problem, as she felt full already. So the rest of the meal was left over to Gech and Timmy. The little shrimp only ate a few grams of food, so ultimately the hero''s recovery wasn''t dyed. The sea-pancake slowly munched through what was left of the carcass. He ate slower, because he noticed a greater benefit of doing so. The gain had a small impact on its own, but it proved better when it was constantly practiced. For example, his body could process the food faster, if the quantity he ate was manageable; necessarily, if the quantity was small and wasn''t bashed down his throat all at once. Paired with a sped up metabolism that craved to reap every bit of energy possible, a great point of bnce had been found. The food he ate barely managed to raise his hunger bar, but the benefits of the meal were still great and present. A sign of approval regarding this method, was the fact that his hunger bar was only half-way filled, even though he just ate several kilos of meat and bones! Considering those circumstances, it was clear to see that he could devour another barracuda within this day; so Osira went out to hunt another one, although she was a bit irritated by this procedure by now. Regardless, the benefits were still there and the system didn''t fail to reveal specifics. [This meal has given you neen-points of health] Total health = 105/121] Such a number seemed tremendous on its own; in the early stages of this new life, he had struggled a lot to keep his health above ny, so this definitely felt like an achievement. Inplement to this raise, Tim''s wounded areas began feeling a lot better. It took one view at the map to figure out that all of the tiny holes on his fin, had disappeared by now. That aside, he felt better than ever right now although technically he did notpletely heal. Towards such an aspect, the system could give a bit of information as well. [Your two broken bones are in the process of healing. They have mended together, but there still arerge cracks on various potions] [These cracks would need at least thirty more health points to properly heal. Meaning that you would likely need to lose health somehow, just to replenish it and heal your bones in the process] [However, there are better news as well] Such quantities of information were surely difficult to follow along, but he was in a great state right now so he onlygged behind for a second or two, before fully catching up. Which was why he was able to ask a question, "Tell me the news!" It was fair to say that he began feeling a bit of excitement, as he recognized that the next bit of information would be rather important. [The dense durability that your skin tissue and muscles carry, will behave like a cast for your healing bones] [Meaning that you can swim, without hurting your bones too much] [You''d likely need to be carried by a friend through most of the time, but your fin is usable] Just to be sure, Timmy had to control his levels of sudden excitement, in order to ask a question. And this query was quite oriented too, "Okay so, I can swim without hurting myself more?" [Yes, but you need to be cautious; take it slow] "Then this is great news!" He lightly shouted, careless that his outburst could spook his friends. Right at that moment, he put in just a little bit of effort to move that very same fin of his ~ and managed to notice that progress truly had been achieved! There wasn''t any sharp pain who threw his effort to the ground, no that didn''t happen whatsoever. Timothy could move his fin without being greeted by pain that would shake his ancestors! Of course there were several restrictions. For example his fin wouldn''t move like it did before, and sometimes entirely refused to move at all; but the results now were far better inparison to the beginning. With sess like this achieved, Timmy wanted to eat one more time so his health fully replenishes. Afterwards he could swim a lot better, and get back on what was left of the big task. As for now, he softly expressed. "Man I missed this! My fin finally feels like my own again." Chapter 308: Flatness Chapter 308: tness Just a bit after mid-day, Timothy managed to consume yet another whole great barracuda. In exchange, his entire health bar had been replenished. Of course as expected, his bones did notpletely heal due to this achievement; but his mobility has increased quite a lot. Apart from strings of continuous pain that surrounded his fin, there weren''t any other problems worth considering. He was healthy and could swim without assistance. Of course he couldn''t swim for over a kilometer at a time, but half of such an amount could be achieved ~ which itself was rather insane, especially after considering that it only took a few days to almostpletely heal three broken bones! Thanks to these achievements, the whole group could finally move forward with the mission. The prime goal at the moment, was to face the crazed mantis shrimp, who supposedly convinced all those sharks to specifically hunt stingrays. Finding that crazed woman should not be a problem, as Gech had reaped enough information out of thatst shark. In other words, they knew exactly where to go. And it only took about three hours to reach the destination, they could find the exact spot simply because that shark had been very descriptive. Chances were that they could have reached the spot even sooner, but the hero needed time to rx. It was best to slow down sometimes, so his bones wouldn''t head towards bing a bigger wound. But now, as they stared at the spot where this shrimp was supposed to be at; the whole group had been stumped for words a little bit. Because they were witnessing something that wasn''t exactly insane, but proved itself familiar enough to radiate value. They were looking at a big anchor, it likely belonged to a ship before. The group wasn''t sure regarding why the anchor had been separated by the ship, but neither did they care. Because this rusty piece of metal carried another valuable item. This thing could make life easier for the entire group, but it proved especially valuable for a specific individual. In other words, the very top of thisrge metal tool, carried a green crystal that unleashed quite a bit of illumination. It could capture the attention of any passer by, as it was literally out in the open waters. Such a fact managed to raise a prime question, just why had not such an attractive gem been snatched by any bigger fish? A question like that was surely thought-provoking, but the group didn''t want to focus too much on this ~ instead, they acknowledged the fact that this crystal was familiar, and could surely prove as a valuable tool. Dana was the first to notice this item''s presence, as her senses wildly tingled due to its lucius radiance! And after they approached the item a bit closer, she had to ask. "That''s a green crystal, right? A body part of that space worm?" Strings of joy grew through her consciousness, so she had to pressure. "Please tell me I''m right," "Yup that''s gotta be a worm crystal," Timothy assured after using his upgraded sight to get a better view. "Indeed," The old shrimp weighed in a confirmation of his own. With such assurance, it seemed reasonable for the skeleton to n out. "I need to go get it!" "Who dares nce at my treasure!" A strong female tone suddenly echoed across the sea-waters. Before the scream itself could have been fullyprehended, they noticed a small creature leaping out of the big rocks, specifically where the anchor was wedged in. It took little observation to figure out that this critter was a shrimp. And a few seconds were required to figure out, that this creature was almost an exact copy of Gech; well, at least in appearance. This enemy''s appearance was quite fascinating, even though size was not to this creature''s favour. However. Hriously enough, the crystal had distracted the team to the extent, that theypletely forgot about the tiny enemy they had to ughter. So it took them a few seconds to mentally acknowledge the critter, which managed to make the situation ufortable for both sides. Gech was the one who broke the awkward silence, and he even began focusing on the prior idea. Unapologetically, he questioned through a little shout. "Are you the crazy shrimp who told sharks to go and eat stingrays?" Without the slightest fear, thetter answered. "Yes, I am the wise genius who managed to build up my own shark servants!" The old man got a bit offended by such confidence, so he had to dim the other''s ego. And what better way to do that, than to embrace sympathy. "Your dumb little crave for power, has ruined many families!" "Those are the words of a man who doesn''t understand power," The enemy was swift to follow along. "Oh I do understand it," He contradicted right away. And was about to start a thorough debate as well, but Timothy decided to cut the conversation short by adding a few thoughts of his own. With quite a bit of irritance in his tone, he slightly yelled. "- shrimpy powers, whatever. We didn''te here to talk with you all day, olddy." After his presence proved radiant, he also added. "We''re here to kill you and get on with our lives," Since irritance grew stronger on both sides of the stick, the olddy decided to finally embrace some saltynguage. To do so, she simply needed to ask. "So you''re the little t-fuck who lost his family?" "Yes," The sea-pancake instantly answered. But then realised what he agreed to, and had to shout. "No!" With the urge of correction growing stronger, he began yelling. "I''m not a t-fuck, but you will die today!" "Well, go ahead and try to kill me then." The other side encouraged. This sted enemy''s tone was far lower now, so it only made sense that her confidence for such a matter wasn''t really low. And of course without thinking about it twice, the hero instantly charged towards the shrimp; and aimed tond a bite against its noggin, in order to embrace an instant death. But what managed toe as a great surprise, was the barricade that managed to stop the hero on his spot! He didn''t exactly crash against anything, but the impact was still strong enough to absolutely stagger his pace! Such a result was extremely odd, as he didn''t make any physical contact whatsoever ~ he was still just floating across water! Chapter 309: Perplexing anticlimactic scene Chapter 309: Perplexing anticlimactic scene And that wasn''t even the worst part. This crash against the noggin has made him quite a bit dizzy, such an aspect would likely make the battle a bit more difficult. What came in as a cherry on top of this bad omen, was what the system notified right next. [You just lost five-points of health,] [Total health = 116/121] "That''s not good," He swiftly added, and then slowly swam away from the anchor. "You fool," the olddy was quick to scold right after. And then she weighed in, "Those promises I gave to those sharks were not empty. They were just ipetent, and so are you!" "That old hag actually managed to use the crystal''s powers!" Gech added, as he grew increasingly amazed. Before the rest of the group could have been intimidated by those types of capabilities, Dana decided to interrupt this nonsense. As a bit of confidence struck her, she lightly spoke. "The crystal is doing all the work, she is just hiding behind a radiation shield." "Radiation shields exist?" The sea-pancake asked, while he tried to grasp the full concept. "I guess so... they look really messy but they work." She added, while eyeing the old little shrimp. It was easy to see that the enemy grew a little bit nervous, and her expressions proved that point. "How the hell is your bony-ass seeing the shield?" "Don''t call her that!" The hero shouted out. He instantly noticed that such an insult dug its roots deep on Dana''s soul. Even though she didn''t have the ability to be the most expressive, the little boy could figure things out. "It''s ok," The skeletondy added after a moment, to break down the tension. The enemy breached what could have been a debate, by shouting. "No matter, neither of you could kill me even if you spent an entire winter here." "Oh really?" Dana decided to indulge this time. Waves of confidence were slowly over-encumbering the skeletondy, especially after the enemy hollered. "Really!" "We''ll see about that," The bonydy recited, and then sprung into action. She swam towards this so-called ''invisible force-field'' and carried an idea in mind, that might prove quite handy. The gooddy somehow understood, just what to do when near a green crystal; it was as if inborn information was bashed in her consciousness, as she understood some new things by instinct! After she got close to the force field, the wretched enemy instantly became a little bit nervous. The old woman has witnessed confidence from fish before, but their methods were mostly blunt and arrogant. While Dana, she was more cautious! And the same bonydy''s words were proven correct even further, once her head slowly broke through the force field! If this crazed mantis shrimp had pants, she would shit in them ~ because no other fish had managed to break through the barrier with such ease. After Dana noticed that the barrier barely even held her back, she didn''t shy away whatsoever and simply barged deeper. In exchange, she sessfully passed through the invisible barrier! The enemy was going through a lot of emotions right now, but the main feeling circled around fear. With a soft tone, the same old hag spoke out. "Just spare me, young mistress. I apologise for offending you." "She actually made it in there," Gech lightly shouted, congratting from a distance. Due to confidence being ever present in her consciousness right now, the skeletondy found enough effort to tease the bastardous enemy. She was in an upper position right now, there was no shame in using its perks. Which was why she pressured, "Oh, you don''t have any more powers left? Your attitude is big for someone who just hides behind a shield." And as thetter''s face grew sour, the conversation became inadequate. The olddy simply shouted, "I''m the one who created this shield, bony-ass!" And all of a sudden, she leaped towards Dana; which in exchange led to quite a collision! Considering how fast a mantis shrimp was once it leaped up, it only made sense that damage should be plentiful. And it was! Dana suffered a hole that went entirely through her spine. Such damage could easily immobilize practically any fish who had bones, the crash was too powerful! But, the waters flew differently this time. The mantis shrimp managed to poke a hole through the finedy, but the damage simply wasn''t enough. The bony-woman was simply staggered a foot or so upwards, but then continued to lightly swim again; swiftly regaining orientation. As for the enemy, that old hag swam just a bit too high andnded right against the force field. Which in exchange, caused a little light show that was worth giving an eye towards. Once she crashed against the invisible barrier, the rest of the team were suddenly given a preview of how this field looked like. Only the divine would know how this weird shield was created, and it seemed like this old hag identally made it impossible to study its roots. Simply because the same green barrier was breaking down in all directions; through that process, it showed quite a few branches and sub-branches, which really gave a hint of howplex this creation was. As for the little shrimp that had been behind all of this trouble, well she suffered a sour fate. For some odd reason, the collision against the green shield did not do her so well. In more descriptive words, she had been blown into bits - stripped out of life for sure, which made this situation a bit morally perplexing. Admittedly, killing all those sharks proved far more difficult than killing this little menace. But yet thisdy was considered stronger, which made it tricky to understand this scene. As for the group, they were watching from thefort of a few feet away, and became noticeably irritated that killing an enemy who was behind so much destruction, was that easy. Towards such aprehension, Timmy recited. "That was anticlimactic," "Do you think that this shrimp would have died anyway if we just let her grow older?" Gech felt pressured to add. "Probably," The other added with a light sigh. He too felt that this entire trip was a waste of time. Sure they wanted to support their friend, but most of the group had suffered a little torment through the process, if not a lot. Paired with the fact that they couldn''t blow out steam on this prime enemy, it just felt emotionally conflicting. While the team was consulting the concept of death, the skeleton made her way towards the very top of the anchor. The damage she had taken was barely any damage at all. As the tiny bone shards that had been thrown across this area, simply flew their way back towards her skeleton. In the most literal way possible, purified radiation was holding her together, and did so in a noticeably efficient manner; it was a nice tool to possess. However. In a matter of seconds, she managed to reach the very top of the anchor, and began eyeing the green crystal which glew ever so brightly. Chapter 310: A new journey awaits Chapter 310: A new journey awaits A few weeks ago, this same tool from another universe, managed to super-charge her senses and provide ayer of green light around her body. That same light had made her immune to radioactive shields, at least that''s what she guessed a moment ago. With powers like that considered, just what could this weird crystal give next? Thoughts of such a pace would weigh down geniuses, not to mention anyone with a lower intelligence; so she just decided to stop thinking, and simply swam closer towards the same crystal shard. This shard was bigger inparison to the past one, it stretched half a foot wide to be exact; a size like this, managed to make thedy even more nervous. Regardless, she just approached closer and finally touched the gem with one of her fin-bones. Within a blink of an eye, the gem rattled a little bit and then shot upwards with grand speed. After looking at such a pace, one would think that the item would eventually break the water''s surface, and head for the sky. But regardless of what one would predict, this other-worldly shard acted as if upon will. After a short moment, the item had taken a sharp turn to the left and simply beamed towards that same direction, before itpletely disappeared beneath the sea-waters. As for thedy in question, well, she was embracing quite some changes. No one understood how exactly those weird gems worked, but they surely deliver an impact! A prime example was, thatrge rays of light suddenly generated around Dana. This illumination appeared, even though the gem was long gone by now! The scene developed quite high in intensity, that was for sure. Especially since the illumination that expanded around the skeletondy, was intense enough to force everyone''s eyes shut! It was impossible for them to keep their eyes open, so of course, it wasn''t easy to witness what was going on. This grand light continued to make itself present for a few seconds more, but then it disappeared even quicker. As the whole team tried to tame the stinging pain in their eyes, they eventually got the opportunity to witness just what changes their dear friend had encountered. And it was fair to say that the scene proved itself as astounding. Simply because a prime portion of identity that this finedy carried before, was no longer visible. In other words, it would be weird to consider her a skeleton at the moment; as such a portion of her characteristics could not be caught by the naked eye anymore. There was an ever-glowingyer of light all around her. This light had transformed into a more solid, and unclear version. In other words it behaved a lot like skin. The only difference from a normal animal was that this fake skin, carried a dark-green colour; most definitely unusual. But the whole thing seemed highly befitting for ady of her kind. And it was easy to notice that this light bended around in every direction, just to create an urate mimicry of an eagle-ray body. This fine illumination has surrounded her entire skeleton, and would surely provide quite a lot of protection as well. However. Dana has gotten the opportunity to speak now, as the rest of her friends were simply stumped for words; such a scene wasn''t easy toprehend. And the first thing she wanted to mention, carried a bit of beauty between it. "Guys! I can see again!" She celebrated. A bit sceptical, the geezer questioned. "Couldn''t you see before?" "I could, but everything looked green and blurry ever since I lost my skin..." She was quick to specify, and pondered her own words in those few moments. Which was why she was able to weigh in, "Now everything still looks green, but I can see all of you clearly; maybe even better than before I got turned into a skeleton!" As joy and morale continued to grow within the group, Timothy was the first to approach thedy; and he found it appropriate to bash himself against her fake skin. And it proved to be a great idea as well. Because his friend enjoyed the gesture, and there weren''t any bones who poked him in the process either. She returned the gesture until they almost began cuddling, it was easy to figure out that the nyondy enjoyed this closeness more than the other. And they were alone for a little while too, until Osira bashed into them in order to embrace the same joy ~ but the fine ck-grouper was bigger and more powerful, so she flung the couple of friends a few feet away. Regardless of such a motion, joy was evident between the group andughter broke out. Gech wanted to join the snuggles, but he feared that these sizes and powers just don''t match with each other, so it could turn disastrous. Instead, he just clung on a little harder to the ck-grouper who was carrying him; to represent his own method of hugging. And after the cumtive joy took a bit of time to bnce itself, the group was given the opportunity to think just a little bit more clearly. And therefore, they were swift to decide that the best idea now, was to head back home to the coral-reef where they have all met and partnered. It was a good idea to do so for various reasons. Apart from having the blessing of seeing old friends and family again, they could reap information there. Dead stone''s path was yet to be found, so any bit of help could be great. And besides, every enemy that this current area had to offer, had been ughtered off ~ so there truly wasn''t a reason to stay in this environment. No no, they could simply head back home and handle a new journey. As for Timmy. These couple of days have helped him realise, that these friends weren''t just useful in terms of aiding in battle. When he got those fin-bones severely broken, every member of the team had used their own method of showing either care, stress, or sympathy. With friends who were capable of such emotions, he felt a bit more safe. Because regardless of just how bizarre the situation could be, these friends didn''t have cowardice in their name; his soul and body could depend on them thoroughly. Chapter 311: Volume three Chapter 311: Volume three It took a few hours for the team to orientate themselves, but eventually they got on the right track. The best navigational tool that aided them, was the long border that separated the drastic differences of under-water elevation. Once they found that border, they were quick to understand that they only need to follow it, in order to reach the reef they call home. Timmy had an inbuiltpass on his vision, but it only yed little in value ~ instead, the borderline could drastically help them. The travel itself has taken them a handful of weeks, especially since they were over a hundred kilometres away from home. But even though it was tedious to travel that much, the group had at least kept productive ~ Timothy especially. It was a fact that he had quite a few things to deal with, health issues were one of them. But eventually he managed to heal every bone in his body. The prior collision they had with those sharks was truly impactful, but the team has fully recovered ~ not to forget, they have survived as well. The healing process was a bit tedious. For example, Gech had to pinch extra wounds on the hero''s other fin, just to cause health-loss. And when those health-points were replenished afterwards with the aid of certain foods, the sea-pancake''s bones healed just a little bit more. The process was nerve-wracking, but at least it eventually proved helpful. Gech''s arms were powerful, so he tried to be especially careful. Because thest thing they needed was for another bone to crack. Osira could have been of aid through this process, but she was shy to fit an entire stingray in her mouth, andnd a soft bite through that same gesture. Such embarrassment was a bit odd, but it didn''t really matter. The hero waspletely healed, which proved especially useful in terms of having to travel tens of kilometres. Throughout the long journey, the sea-disk managed to handle a few other mandatory dilemmas, such aspleting the system given tasks. He managed to handle all four of them, and umted a total of thirtypleted tasks. Such a number felt excruciatingly small, especially after considering how long he had been in this new body, but progress was still progress. And in exchange forpleting all of these tasks, the system has blessed the young man with a boost in his primary bars. The upgrade wasn''t exactly massive, as the bars only increased by a tenth of the previous numbers, but it could most definitely prove useful. A few days ago, he was quite excited when the system gave out an urate overview of how these primary bars looked like, right after they were increased. He could still remember most of what the system had said, and that little recent memory aided to make him a little happier, from time to time. [Since you''vepleted thirty tasks, your bars have upgraded and are now the following...] [Health bar = 133/133] [Hunger bar = 21/21] [Sleep bar = 47/47] [Stamina bar = 21/21] At this point, most of these stats didn''t matter quite enough; as they were just looked at when the hero was feeling tired or hungry, but it was still nice to see them increase. Such gains led back to the original thought, this group had surely been productive one way or the other. Dana was one of them. Ever since she touched the crystal shard, her sensory capabilities felt a lot more tamed. Her senses were strong before, as she could even sense tiny vibrations that any brain made, in order to inevitably read the minds of other fish! Such a capability would definitelye in handy. But prior to touching this big shard, she was inflicted by sensory overloads; especially if she swam close to massive groups of fish. She would get knocked out cold, because she couldn''t really control when or where her senses worked ~ which proved a problem from time to time, because these senses never stopped working! But now, after what could be considered an upgrade that was given from the shard, she had quite a decent control over her senses. Not only did she have the capability to control these attributes, but they could also be improved now as well! Which was why she had been very productive. Throughout the trip, she managed to figure out paternal procedures that directly led to more control. The greatest method that she managed to figure out, was to have a grasp of control regarding where the purified radiation travelled, and how dense it was around her body. It was true that radiation was keeping her soul attached to what remained of her body, but there were more uses to this same invisible substance. For example, it could be flung around in random directions ~ well at least a few meters away from the dark-green stingray. And once it was expanded upon will, she could sense what the waters carried, even if she couldn''t exactly see in all directions all at the same time. Such a method proved especially helpful in terms of locating prey that hid in various holes. But the overall idea of being able to control when or where to unleash these senses, was simply useful. However. At the moment they have almost reached the coral-reef. In fact they were just a few hundred meters away from it. Noticeable senses of joy managed to grow across the group, as they truly felt happy to get back to the ce they called home. But... There were specific details that managed to unleash strings of worry across their hearts. Necessarily, these beams of difort eventually managed to suck the joy out of their conscience. The reef seemed darker than it used to be. Originally that should not be a great concern, since they were literally hundreds of meters away from the aimed location. But still, the reef seemed too dark. Timothy tried to make sense out of it by focusing his eye-sight towards the same location, but he couldn''t really figure anything out. After a moment, Osira questioned. "Is the reef supposed to be green?" "I don''t remember. But everything looks green to me." Dana reminded. And as they got tens of meters closer towards the location that they had been eyeing until now, the team began noticing that the very sand around them, has begun taking a deep-dark colour! Chapter 312: Bodies on top of bodies Chapter 312: Bodies on top of bodies "What happened here?" Timothy mumbled after they got close enough to the reef. "I don''t know, but it looks bad." Gech followed along, pointing out the obvious. The naked eye could notice that the area had been coated with wide-spread darkness, along with asional long and thick lines of green. In some aspects it was pretty, but the thought of not understanding how all of this happened, proved truly terrifying. The hints of green helped the team make a swift theory of just what could have happened here. It was a theory that managed to make sense, but had poor effort put into it. Subconsciously, they have all guessed that the holy-tar sect had something to do with all of this. How the sect gained enough power to achieve such coloration changes, was beyond them; they still haven''t understood how the tar-pools were made, let aloneprehend such drastic shifts of a massive piece of underwaternd. The best idea that the team managed to think of, was to head closer to the reef, and find any friend in order to reap information out of them. There seemed to be other fish in this area, but most of them simply swam away at the sight of the team, they were too scared to cooperate. Cornering random strangers seemed like a bad idea at this point, so they had to settle with something else, like locating the hidden-tribe that carried various small sea-animals. Most of the group had quite some memories with those good souls, and managed to form bits of connections with them as well; if not for anything else, those small fish there were a pleasure to be around. Locating this hidden-den however, proved really tricky. Sure the team had brief photographic memories that aided them to find the spot ~ but that proved useless here. Simply because as it was mentioned earlier, the whole ce was covered in a wide colour of darkness. The reef was painted with it, so it was difficult to make any details out of any area, even if they swam skin-close to the reef''s portions. So the team put in quite a bit of effort to orientate themselves through this madness. And eventually, they managed to get close enough to one of those long, green lines. Their size was a bit underestimated, seemingly. Because now that they got close to one, it was easy to see that the line was over ten meters wide! Apart from that, it stretched at least a few hundred meters long! Just what could have been so capable, to simply spill such arge chunk of green-coloration, both across in sand and above the coral-reef? The entire team were still clueless of the whole situation, and weren''t able toprehend even a fraction of what was going on. Gech was indefinitely the most informed, when it came to information that surrounded the holy-tar sect; but in this case, he was as clueless as a newborn baby. So inevitably, the entire group was wholeheartedly hoping that they could find the hidden-den ~ as there simply was no other way to make sense out of this madness. About an hourter of excruciatingly irritating workter, they managed to find a small hint of the location they were looking for. In the process, the whole team put in effort to avoid these odd colorations, simply because they had no trust towards them; what if it was coated with some type of radiation? Such a risk was something that they truly wanted to avoid taking. Especially after witnessing the very thing that gave them a hint of where the hidden-den was. In more descriptive words, they have spotted what was solely described as a dungeness crab. Its bulky-te-like features were difficult to ignore, not to mention its half-meter size. Necessarily, they got a hint that the den was close, because this species of crab behaved like guards in that very location. But the sight of this dungeness crab carcass scared them. Apart from the scary thought that something was capable enough, to kill these underwater tanks ~ there was another detail that scared the team deep into their soul. This crab was coated with nothing but a ck colour as well. A crab like that doesn''t seem so odd, because nature is truly diverse. But the team knew a dungeness crab body when they saw one, their features were truly unique. And in this situation where everything was covered in the same colour, it gave a hint that everything was rted to the mystery. However. With a bit of effort, they managed to find the entrance of the hidden den. And their hearts tingled with nervousness, because they truly didn''t know what to expect. Timmy and Dana had the most trouble to pass through its tunnel. The mental impact of this area wasn''t the thing that forced them to be hesitant; but these couple of friends had just grown too big. Even though they were individually different, these couple of stingrays have truly met with some growth-sprouts. Dana especially. She was nearly halfrger inparison to her friend, simply because eagle-rays were typically bigger inparison, to the bodily limitations that blue-spotted ribbon tail rays faced. But regardless, they eventually managed to slip through the tunnel with enough rough-handling; and finally, they attained a glimpse of what this ce carried. And it was fair to say that the sight was anything but easy to the eye. It was true that this tribe has gone through a couple of massacres before, but their number still stood in the tens. And at the moment, the team were trying to ponder the horrid realisation, that this entire tribe had been coated ck! There were fish bodiesying across the area. Most of them were intact and some of them were ripped in half, but overall the scene seemed simply terrifying! A few hints helped them realise that a minor battle had broken out here. Fear struck the entire team''s heart, as they understood that all of these fish were carcasses; all of them were simply gone, dead, and never to return. It was difficult toprehend the concept of death, when it was inflicted against so many allies ~ the team didn''t know how to feel. But eventually, Timmy noticed a fish that heavily stood out inparison to the others. This fish was small like most of these carcasses, but was covered with ayer of green skin. Such a colour heavily stood out in a spot, where nothing but darkness covered most of the ce! Chapter 313: Building quick theories Chapter 313: Building quick theories Considering how severe the overall situation was, any small hints that made sense out of this chaos were widely appreciated. Likewise, the team slightly rushed towards the fish that was covered with such a thick-green colour. Once they got close to the carcass, the scene was swift to be a bit anticlimactic. The naked eye could not find anything special at first, so the team had to heavily focus on this dead fish. And after they did so, the team eventually captured a detail that could surely prove useful; well at least in terms of reaping information. The fish was covered in some green-colour, that has been well established by now ~ but there was another detail that piqued their curiosity. This carcass'' skin began quite literally, sizzling. It seemed as if the fish was being boiled, along with termites in the same pot. Now it was difficult to figure out how much rtion, this detail had to the overall dilemma; but at least this was some basic information to start out from. Yet overall it was still tremendously confusing. The team had many questions, but most of them didn''t quite know how to form one. Apart from Timothy who mumbled, "What the hell..." Just a few moments afterwards, the mantis shrimp decided to add a few words of his own. He had been observing the body perhaps longer than anyone else, so he had a bit more to say. After an attempt at word collecting, he theorized. "This green skin almost looks like holy-tar. Maybe this fish was just some weird new mutation." "That makes sense," Dana swiftlyplimented. As the team pondered over that idea, and tried to figure out how such a small creature could bring any destruction; the scene itself slowly advanced. Overall, this fish was quite average looking. It was just a plump fish who stretched a foot long. Most definitely, the only special part about this carcass was the green colour it carried. So it was difficult to fully theorize what could have happened here, and how much this fish was linked to the massacre. And now it was still difficult to figure things out, but at least Gech''s theory slowly proved a bit more solid. Simply because the green-fish began rapidly deteriorating! The weird substance that its body was coated in, vanquished every bit of skin and bone that the fish carried! Within a handful of seconds, the entire fish transformed into nothing but a heavy pool of the green substance. It was frightening to a certain extent, but it also proved difficult toprehend. Most definitely, the team was yet to fully acknowledge what happened. "That really looks like tar," Danaplimented once more. Rather than focusing on how great his observation skills were, the old man swiftly moved to the uing topic. He inevitably managed to raise more questions, but it should prove eventually helpful. That was why he followed along, "Indeed it does, but still. How could a small fish like that, kill an entire tribe?" "What do you mean? Of course it can, who else could have done this?" Timothy decided to weigh in. "Yes but if it managed to wlessly kill everyone here, then why did it just die?" The old man pressured, and caused quite a head-scratcher. Surprisingly, Osira had somehow caught up with these conclusions and even formed a proper theory! Maybe because it was rted to battle? However, she lightly eximed. "This fish was a victim too. That big green-line outside has probably hit it somehow, and turned it into this weird green thing." "That''s actually genius," The geezer lightly shouted out. Before hispliment could have been fully pondered, he swiftly moved up towards another topic. There were too many things that they needed to figure out, so it was wasteful to stick to one lone theory. After a few thoughts he blurted out, "Maybe something strong has unleashed this whole darkness. The ck portions killed everything in its path, and the green lines have probably infected a lot of fish." "Which would create a lot of tar pools," The ck-grouper once more spoke out. Since he felt a bit dumb right now, the sea-pancakeined. "Howe you became a genius all of a sudden?" "Just a thought. I would use the same strategy if I had that much power, and was like... evil?" Well such a sentence managed to make sense of her thought process. But right now, it would be a waste of time to focus on her sudden bursts of intelligence. Instead, Gech managed to filter out the unproductive seconds, by sealing up what theory they had in their possession. He lightlyplimented, "Our friend here is right. Perhaps the enemies came here with a different approach, after they figured out that their previous attacks did not work." "So they have only sent their weak fish before? I lost my body to their spare troops?" Dana questioned after she caught up with everything. "Seemingly so," The old man assured, he was quite unapologetically direct. While the young woman fumed with strings of anger due to such realisations, Gech focused his attention towards the hero. The entire group understood that he was the most powerful here, simply because he could upgrade his own body without any prior attempt or exercise. Such a perk was truly useful, and that was what became the main topic. The old man advised, "You need to upgrade as much as you can now. We don''t even know how powerful the enemies are, it''s best to face them while being prepared." "I was thinking the same thing," The hero followed along. And then he began looking through the system, and tried to pick which upgrade he should focus on at the moment. Throughout the journey they had taken to get here, Timmy didn''t buy any upgrades for a couple of reasons. The first one was that he didn''t want his purchase options to lock. And in order to do that, he had toplete the few system given tasks, in order to umte a total of thirtypleted ones. Such attempts had taken a bit of time. And when it was paired with the second reason, most of his time had been taken away. Of course he also avoided upgrades due to health. He had broken a few bones before, so it seemed like a bad idea to buy any upgrades while in the process of recovery. However, now he could finally buy the couple of upgrades that remained. And it was indefinitely the best time to do so! ... Author note! Please consider voting with your power stones, as it can really affect the update-rate, and can bring asional bonus chapters! ... Chapter 314: Snake-fangs Chapter 314: Snake-fangs Timothy felt absolutely ready to go through a few upgrades right now, he was as healthy as a newborn baby. But of course, memorisation was one attribute that he still didn''t possess; so it was best to ask questions rather than buy in a clueless manner. So necessarily he asked, "System, can you remind me what marvelous upgrades await me?" He wasn''t yet used to such forms of expressions, but they are bing moremon thanks to the emotional upgrade. These types of sophisticated words didn''t envelop his entire dialogue, but they asionally came in as a spike. Typically he would be proud of sounding so smart, because who wouldn''t be? But now as his brain was equal to that of a genius, he had be a bit more able to reflect andprehend. Although this dialogue change seemed minor, Timmy grew a paranoia that he was being stripped out of his identity. Surely such an aspect would spook anyone who could absorb hints. However, such a minor dilemma can be put aside by now, as the system reminded which upgrades remained. [Confirmed] [You currently have two avable upgrade options. Afterwards you''ll be introduced to what could be categorized, as a different era of upgrades] "Wow!" The hero instantly celebrated. Simr to a child who found a shiny marble. And then he questioned, "Will they make me a god or something?" [These upgrades aren''t necessarily stronger than whatever you possess now, but they surely can prove lethal in time] "Oh," Thetter sighed, he was a tad disappointed. [Enough about that, let me tell you about the current options] [Purchase option number one = Upgrade jaws to level-four] [Price = four-hundred system points] His eyes lit up right away, as he felt a bit of joy after hearing about such an upgrade. The boy''s memory had been chaotictely, due to Azq''s influences; but he remembered that his jaws would face quite some changes, the system acknowledged it so. Therefore he wasn''t even eager to hear out the other option, his patience descended towards theck of existence. So he instantly demanded, "Uh that! Upgrade my jaws now, yes!" Such an outburst might not be the most intellectual, but he wasn''t ashamed of it whatsoever. In a way, expressions like this helped the hero stick to his characteristic roots, it feltforting. And of course without the slightest hesitance, the system obliged with the demand of which the other made. [Confirmed] Just a momentter, he acknowledged the aspect that was ever-so-present in every upgrade; pain! A sharp stab struck him right across the jaw! It felt as if another stingray had struck him through the mouth, and managed tond a foot-deep wound. Such pain could certainly not be considered kinky. And obviously he was still young to fully acknowledge kinks, as he was only five-months old. However, all-and-all the entire procedure was incredibly painful. This difort spread across his entire head, and it began to feel more like a burn rather than anything a sharp stab would represent. Yet it was durable inparison to what pain this young man had suffered before. The current upgrade didn''t have any luck whatsoever, in terms of knocking him out cold. No, he was still up and kicking. Necessarily, he continued to do so until the whole effects of this upgrade wore away ~ which itself only took less than a minute, but surely felt longer than that. And finally the system could announce, [Upgradeplete] [Four-hundred system points consumed] [Twenty-five-hundred and twenty-three system points remaining] "Uh, these points are flying off like crazy," Tim lightlyined. But he also understood the concept of expenses growing with progress, so he didn''t pay much attention to it. Instead he put an attempt to peek at his jaws, but it was quite tricky to do so. Because he had to flip upside-down in order for the third-person-view map to capture the changes. He opened the map and then of course zoomed-in on it. Joy grew stronger upon every bit of view he attained on these little choppers. They truly had changed, just as the system had informed before time. And these changes seemed quite worth it, the pain felt pale inparison now. Because first things first, his jaws had grown big enough to escape his t marine lips. A couple of sharp and thick upper-jaw teeth, curled out of his mouth and lightly touched his lower lip-skin. These jaws looked a lot like that of a dangerous snake''s, but there was more to it! Upon further focus, he noticed that these curls behaved more like saws. They were carved simr to tiny stairs, and of course they would prove quite lethal as well. Truly magnificent, and he was eager to test out how well they would work against actual skin; perhaps there will be a lot of enemies to test them on? Regardless. At the moment, he thought that it would be the best time for his friends to understand just why he was floating upside down. The team was a bit spooked by such behaviour. Because usually, only dead-fish faced their belly towards the ceiling. He faced them with a little burst of energy, and lightly shouted. "Look at my mouth!" "Sure," Dana expressed, she was the most enthusiastic about such a request. And after acknowledging why he called for attention, she celebrated. "Wow those jaws look great!" "Right?" He followed along with the same enthusiasm. "They''re alright," The ck-grouperplimented, and tried to ignore the fact that she barely had teeth. Gech might have a word to say about such an upgrade, but he was currently observing the tens of bodies, and desperately tried to make sense out of them. Sure the theory they built up was good enough, but it was convenient for this dilemma to be thought over more thoroughly. It was better to be more prepared. However, after the team celebrated the upgrade that Timothy went through, he asked the system what the remaining one was. And of course the finedy in his head instantly obliged, [You have one more purchase option remaining, before new ones open up] [Purchase option number one = Increase your depth durability by two-hundred meters more] [Price = five-hundred system points] "Oh my points, my beautiful points..." He lightly sighed, and felt that his heart lightly tightened. It took a disaster and a half to obtain such arge amount of points. And it felt odd to let them go so swiftly, even though they were tossed towards self improvement. Chapter 315: Soul snare Chapter 315: Soul snare After a bit of dramatic mumbling, Timothy finally ordered the system to simply go ahead with this upgrade. And of course that request was instantly obliged. [Confirmed] Hriously, the hero almost always forgot that upgrades tended toe with pain. This was another one of those moments. He simply did not expect for a sharp pain to strike against his back. But when it did, the darn thing hurt worse than hell and whatever was below that realm. The hero almost felt like his back had been broken in half, but the actual pain was worse than that. Because it spread across every other bone in his body, rather than isting itself on the spine area. The pain weighed pressure on his fins the most, before moving towards his tail. As for how ufortable the process was, well words were capable of describing it. It felt as if his bones were being pressured from all directions, and he could swear that they were just a flinch away frompletely shattering. The hero almost thought that the ceiling had fallen over his head, the pressure was simply crushing. But every bit of pain came with a reward, and thankfully he was conscious enough to enjoy the moment of this process meeting an end. The system notified, [Upgradeplete] [Five-hundred system points consumed] [Two-thousand-and-twenty-three system points remaining] Well it surely felt like these finances were drastically depleting, but at least he became more capable by the passing moment. But he still had over two-thousand of these points, so overall this aspect was quite peachy. And what made this sess feel more worthwhile, was when the system brought along a few more details. [You can now withstand up to five-hundred-and-forty meters of oceanic depth] "Hell yeah," He lightly celebrated. Such an achievement was truly worth bragging for, as he could sink over half a kilometer underwater now, without getting his soul crushed. Surely that seemed like a valuable attribute. And the fact that humans didn''t possess such an ability, was pleasing; it felt like an additional win. For a long time he had felt trapped in this new body, but now he slowly considered himself superior to most creatures, which all-and-all was a great pride to cling on. He lent a few minutes to his friends, so they could understand what he was so happy about; and it was fair to say that they swiftly shared the same joy. Such collective happiness helped him feelfortable that he had friends like these around, their joy was truly genuine and that was what he needed. However, the system helped the hero remain on track by reminding him of a worthy detail. [Three upgrade options have been unlocked, would you like to hear them out or see them?] Such a question forced the sea-pancake to contemte for a little bit. Sure these new upgrades sounded painfully attractive, but they would likely take a lot of time. Especially since he was healthy and wealthy enough to buy everything avable. He wanted to approach these decisions a bit more strategically. That was why he peeked at Gech, and noticed that he was still analysing the tens of carcasses. Surely his observation process could take a little while longer? So with that considered, the hero found it truly appropriate to spend some time to analyse these upgrades, if not buy them. That was why he agreed, "Tell me more about these upgrades, system. Why do you call them a different era?" [Second era to be more precise,] [Well they are very different inparison to any upgrades you have had so far. Of course they fall under the secondary category, but they can prove themselves lethal] [And since you had undergone enough upgrades so far, you can withstand these purchases without lowering your survival rate] [The prior upgrades were necessitates, these ones are deadly additions] "This sounds important," Timmy followed along, as his eyes widened in excitement. And of course he instantly demanded, "Can I know what these upgrades are? Like, exin my options." [Certainly,] The system cooperated with no hesitancy whatsoever. [Note that primary upgrades are always included, no matter what era you''re in] And that was when a red-tab opened up in front of the hero''s vision. It began slowly typing out exactly what the system was talking about. [Purchase option number one = Upgrade barb to level-two] [Price = two-hundred system points] "I haven''t upgraded my barb in so long, that I don''t even know what this upgrade does." He expressed, and didn''t quite expect an answer. But the system decided to bring along some specifics, and it was fair to say that every word of hers made sense. [Barb upgrades usually affect the tail muscles, as much as they affect the actual barb] [The tip of your barb would be sharper, tougher and pointier] [While your actual tail would develop better muscles, so you could stab faster under the one-second-bracket] "That sounds pretty good actually," He added, and smiled quite like a happy young boy. It surely sounded like a good attribute. Stings of any volume proved crucial whenunched against an enemy. And if it can beunched inrger quantities, its value was truly immeasurable. But before such a skill could have been pondered on thoroughly, the system moved on with what else should be shown. [Purchase option number two = Unlock the soul snare attribute] [Price = Two-hundred system points] "Now what the hell is that?" Timmy asked. Such a name truly managed to stun him. [The era I told you about, is primarily rted to soul powers] He didn understand the context, so he had to ask. "So, my soul will be upgraded or something?" [Technically, yes] [The soul snare attribute for example, is a one time purchase] [You won''t need to spend more points on it, but yet it can be stronger] "How?" Thetter queried, he was rather lost at the moment. [There are plenty of other soul-rted upgrades. And the more you buy them, the stronger your soul bes] [Necessarily, every soul-rted upgrade grows equally stronger in the process] Chapter 316: Deaths stare Chapter 316: Death''s stare "That sounds very strong," The heroplimented. Quite used to conversing with this talkative little boy, the system simply continued. [Indeed, that''s why an entire era is dedicated to such upgrades] After a bit of pondering, Timmy decided that it was the best time to experience these oddities. Which was why he requested, "I want to buy the soul snare thing." [Confirmed] And for once the hero actually expected pain to arrive, rather than ying clueless. Perhaps the most recent torture-like upgrade helped him remember? The sole reason didn''t matter either way. Because contrary to all expectations, he didn''t experience any pain whatsoever. Sure his chest tingled a little bit, but that was about it; that tingly feeling itself could even be confused with in anxiety! And before he could even ask a question regarding the matter, the system swiftly came along with notifications. [Upgradeplete] [Two-hundred system points consumed] [Eighteen-hundred and twenty-three system points remaining] After that point, it seemed like it was the best time to ask proper questions. And he did exactly so, "Okay so now what? The upgrade didn''t even hurt." [It''s not supposed to,] "Really?" He happily shouted. And his eyes sparkled with quite some joy. These soul upgrades seemed great alone, but they would truly prove favourable if they could be obtained without any pain through the process! [It''s a bitplicated. But we can use the brainplexity concept here, to build up a proper example] [Your soul is weak now. Necessarily it isn''tplex whatsoever] [Pain will eventually appear and grow stronger, the more soul-rted-upgrades you buy] [That''s because your soul will develop aplex density upon every upgrade,] [And where there is density, it bes difficult for an upgrade to be thrown and sown over it] "I understand," He added after half a minute. Surely his intelligences were proving useful, he could also see additional values towards this aspect. The upgrades will hurtter on, but they aren''t doing so now. Which was why he remained positive and aimed for blissful feelings, these moments should be enjoyed. This was why he managed to shift topics, "Can you tell me what this soul snare is about? I still don''t understand." [Certainly,] [The soul snare attribute, links your soul with that of a target''s] [Although such a move won''t bond you in marriage with some enemy, the attribute itself can prove useful] With quite a bit of honesty the hero followed along, "I still don''t understand." [Okay so once you link with another soul, you can slightly control their movements] [This is like mind control, but you aren''t actually touching any portions of a target''s brain] [In a situation where you have to fight against many enemies, you can use the soul snare attribute, to push or pull an attacker towards another direction] [This is a crucial tool, especially since it can help you buy a few extra seconds in battle] "That sounds amazing actually," He shouted out like a baboon, joy was evident in every corner of his tone. Even though his friends were slightly spooked by that scream, he still continued to converse with the system. He directly asked, "How many times a day can this snare thing be used?" [It''s limitless. Your soul can''t deplete so you don''t have to be savvy] [However. Considering that your soul is weak, the power-move itself won''t be so strong] While Timothy pondered if he could handle a sardine with these powers or not, the system continued with her agenda. [Purchase option number three = Unlock the death''s stare attribute] [Price = Two-hundred system points] "Eh, that''s cheap." He expressed, without much worry. And he instantly wanted to ask a few questions regarding such an upgrade. But the system acknowledged this curiosity, so she just began exining it without being requested to. [This is another soul upgrade. The whole concept of its strength can be understood, I gave you examples] [With this power you can simply scare away some fish, through the aid of a direct stare. That''s all there is to it] Timmy''s childish characteristics kicked in after that point, he simply categorized this upgrade as quite great. And didn''t shy away to express himself, "That will make me look so badass! One day I can probably scare sharks too!" [Eventually you will be able to, but focus on some shrimps first so you can attain bits of familiarity] "Yes, okay." He agreed instantly. Just so he could order, "I want to buy this creepy stare, oh and that tail thingy as well!" Of course his demand was instantly taken under consideration, the system simply had no reasons to reject his requests. [Confirmed] He felt quite a few tingles afterwards. It started out from his heart and then spread across his entire body. Pain was non-existent through that short second, so such an aspect could surely be enjoyed. But that was when actual pain struck, but it wasn''t quite rted to his soul though. Instead, the young man''s tail was going through quite a bit ofmotion. His tail flinched several times under a second, and shared an overall burning sensation of pain. It wasn''t a drastic amount of difort, but his tail did feel like it was being lightly boiled. And apart from the muscle twitches, there wasn''t any other bit of pain that was worth mentioning. [Upgradesplete] [Four-hundred system points consumed] [Fourteen-hundred and twenty-three system points remaining] "Finally!" He celebrated with the aid of a few tail swings. Well this marvelous weaponry certainly felt stronger. And he felt more prepared than ever to face whatever threat awaited them. Considering how much finances he had under disposal recently, there were quite a few upgrades that he was yet to thoroughly experience. For that same matter, the system decided to give a bit of advice. [Three more purchase options have been unlocked, but I advise you to avoid buying them for now] [Soul upgrades are very new for you, and you need to be more familiar with every power you have] [Such effort will heighten your survival rate,] "Okay fair enough," Timmy agreed. Afterwards he peeked at the old man and yelled, "Gech, are we ready to get out of here?" Chapter 317: Teamed up Chapter 317: Teamed up The old man gave out quite a deep sigh, it was easy to see that he had been quite annoyed since his thought-process was interrupted. But thankfully his etiquette had high standards, so he managed to push irritation away and embraced logic. Necessarily he answered, "Yes, we are ready. I can''t figure out anything out of these bodies. We need to find someone who survived, they could probably help us." "Alright then let''s leave," Timmy spoke out a slight request. Most here were quite motivated to get out of here, as this den felt like it was filled to the brim with death, not quite peachy to be exact. Yet after they slipped out of the den, Timmy was the first one to notice quite arge fish which swam just tens of meters away. At first the team was pushed under quite a bit of stress, as they expected for a battle to break out soon. But senses of familiarity revealed themselves, the closer this fish got. By now it was easy to figure out that the approacher was a shark. What stood out as important in this confrontation, was the smaller species that swam in cooperation with the shark. It only took a bit of observation, to figure out that this smaller marine animal was a stingray! Considering how rare stingrays were in this area, it was often wonderful to spot one. But in this case, the entire team knew who this stingray was, and necessarily they recognized the shark as well. This disk-like fish was Snoopy, he was the hero''s sibling! It was surely nice to meet a friendly face around here. Hints of joy broke out from both parties, and they all grew a few smiles once they got closer to each other. "Is that really you?" Timothy was the first to question, once they got close enough to each other. "Yup, we''re back." Thetter answered. The hero felt quite lost all of a sudden, so he had to ask. "Uh, back from where?" "How don''t you remember your own n? You sent us to kill a colossal squid!" The new-arrival instantlyined. Such a statementing from family, helped the hero assure that he truly had sent these couple of fish to handle some squid. So he didn''t want to question this conclusion, as it would take too long to exin just why he didn''t remember. Instead he asked with quite a few rays of excitement, "You actually killed a colossal squid? Those things are supposed to be huge!" "They are... but I just ripped through its head a few times. You do remember what kind of powers I have, right?" Snoopy questioned once more, as he tried to figure out just how much his brother remembered. It was not that he cared about such sentimental values, but he figured that there was something going on around here. As a golden start, the hero was coated with a dark-grey skin colour. This detail was very rming, especially since he had left the reef before with blue-skin. Due to that matter Snoopy also had to question, "Did something happen to you?" The sea-pancake hung on to that question for a little while, and eventually he could exin. "I just met with some weird water goddess, or was it a ghost? Not sure but I did lose a lot of memories." "And your skin turned grey?" Thetter questioned. "Oh yeah, that too..." The hero lied with the aid of a mumble. He just didn''t want to exin the context of what a system was right now, it would take too much time. With hints of honesty thetter cooperated, "Okay then. You are my brother for sure, I could smell you since a little while ago. But I just wanted to make sure that you''re okay." "I''m okay. It''s just my head... uh, it won''t get fixed until I meet that weird goddess again." The sea-disk exined. And it was fair to say that this talk, managed to throw mental burden against his noggin once more. A short while ago he was okay, but such a topic still managed to weigh him down. He had killed a few fish through the journey they took to get back back home, with the aid of Azq''s scream. The goal was to surrender a few souls to the same self-proimed goddess, and get benefits in return. But these benefits were nothing more but mental rity, which tended to fade away if he didn''t kill enough fish. Snoopy had no clue what his brother was talking about, but he managed to pick up that the hero was bing overly-stressed. So he simply stated, "Don''t worry, we will cure you somehow." And then he questioned, "What happened to this ce though? I don''t remember the reef being this dark." "That''s what we''re trying to figure out. The entire tribe has been killed too," Osira forced herself into the conversation. "What!" The new-arrival shouted. And then instantly asked, "Are our siblings okay?" "I don''t know, they aren''t down there at least." The sea-pancake answered, right after he gave the ck-grouper a slightly angered stare. "We have to find them!" The other urged, it was easy to see that concern grew greatly across his tone. So the hero instantly nned out, "They probably survived the attack, whatever this attack was; so we can just look for them in the reef and try to figure things out." And so they slowly ventured deeper into the reef for that same reason. Safety was one thing that they all embraced, so the entire team steered a few meters above the reef. The dark and green ground itself had not given them any trouble, but it was best to be cautious. As for just how they were supposed to handle this situation, the whole team was clueless. This destruction of life was rather wide-spread, which made the hero slowly dwell in anger. Before he had done so much work to revive the reef, yet this darkness had destroyed all of it! Such a fact surely had an impact against his conscience, as he understood that the promise he had made to that old sea-snake had not been fulfilled. That aside, every member of the group swam with wishful hopes; neither of them knew what the future carried. Chapter 318: Unnatural enemies Chapter 318: Unnatural enemies Through the time-span of an hour, the entire team had sunk deeper towards the reef. They wanted to explore more in order to build up a rough assumption, regarding what happened around here. But so far they didn''t find anything worth observing. There were quite a few fish that swam anywhere in the area, but they weren''t cooperative. Apart from that, those types of fish didn''t seem corrupted by anything that had attacked this reef. No. They just seemed like normal fish, who likely swam around here randomly. Chances were that most of them were clueless regarding what happened, as they too might bete arrivals. The overall reef continued to prove itself creepy. Not because of the actual couple of shades that captivated the ce, but because they were used to the numerous colours that the reef used to have. Now everything seemed just... dead. That and it appeared quite intimidating. The members of this team were all powerful individuals, but right now they were quite happy that a great-white shark was by their side. Even though this fish wasn''t full grown, his contribution against any possible dilemma could be heavenly. Once they swam through the reef for over an hour, Dana was the first to notice quite a disturbance in the waters. She wasn''t quite sure where these vibrations came from, but they were there and her senses could pick them up. Typically her attention to detail wouldn''t be rming, considering just how strong her senses became ever since that crystal-worm had saved her life. But now it was especially disturbing to sense anything, as she has more control over her own senses. And through these moments, she had chosen to limit them just so she didn''t feel overwhelmed. Mental rity was the main goal behind it. But that was where the main problem stood. Her senses were intentionally limited to a few meters, yet she could feel a disturbanceing from over two-hundred meters away! After she picked up the severity of this situation, the young miss didn''t want to waste any time whatsoever. So of course she had to warn, "Something''sing for us!" And such a statement couldn''t be more true. She could wholeheartedly sense that the team was being approached by... something? "What is it?" Gech was the first to question, as he wanted to make instant preparations. "I don''t know but it smells alive, painfully alive..." She slowly blurted out. But at this point she didn''t even understand herself. The approacher was simply tooplex toprehend. After a half minute, most of the team managed to catch a glimpse of several green and ck dots, that circled just tens of meters away. In a matter of seconds, these dots proved themselves to truly be some living creatures. Unsurprisingly, they were fish of some sort. Even a fool would realise that these weird fish were up to no good, their dramatically violent bodynguage helped figure that out. And a quick count helped the team figure out that these fish counted over thirty! A number like that was truly rming, but at least most of them seemed just over a foot long; they were more than half smaller inparison to Timothy. Speaking of this grand hero, he didn''t exactly n to wait for these foul creatures to cause havoc. He instantly separated from the team, and directly headed for these new enemies. Unapologetically he decided to unleash, "Azq''s scream!" Almost instantly, a silver-coloured light shot out of his mouth and headed towards the aimed target! Surely this attack couldn''t envelop all of the enemies, since it only stretched four-feet wide at its pique. But it still proved to aid, as at least ten of these targets had been struck; and inevitably their skin shifted towards a silver shade! These fish fell towards the reef''s surface as if they were heavy rocks. There wasn''t any hope for them now. As for the rest of the enemies, well quite a lot of them have remained alive. They were pping those tails against the water quite violently, and they surely wanted to kill the stingray who swam against them! Unfortunately for these fish, battle is one thing that Timmy was tremendously great at! Before these fish could have gotten any closer, he decided to unleash another attack that wasn''t quite honed yet. He locked eyes with one of these fish, and put in quite some attempt to spin through the waters. Through the same second he shouted, "Blue moon!" Such an attack proved difficult because he had to swim forward and spin at the same time, but he managed to push through. And as expected, a thin and long air-tunnel pierced across the waters in no time! The spiral itself managed to affect just one of these enemies. The effect was strong on its own, it forced the opposing fish to swim in random directions, and even crash against some others! As for the enemies who had been captivated by the illusional effects of the attack, well they faced a simr fate. This thin, air-filled tunnel that he created was just the base of this power-move. It advanced once the hero''s fins steered across the air-tunnel''s walls a few times. This particr portion of the maneuver, dragged in quite a bunch of blue-coloured particles from the surrounding waters. Which ultimately created a meter-wide blue mist. This result proved helpful in terms of utterly disorienting anything that was close enough! Some enemies crashed against each other, while others simply headed towards the ground. But overall the whole pack of these attackers had been disoriented, they lost the battle before it fully began! But as the sea-pancake peeked down, his vision was blessed with quite a bit of confusion. He had struck a few enemies just earlier on, with the aid of Azq''s scream. And typically these corpses were supposed to embrace a bloody-red colour by now, before their souls were permanently surrendered. But yet contrary to expectations, these bodies lost their recently afflicted silver-colour and slowly turned pitch ck! Chapter 319: Under-water dust Chapter 319: Under-water dust This whole scene that captivated the entire reef, didnt fail to prove itself as weird and difficult toprehend. But what Tim witnessed now simply broke the barrier. Although the scream that Azq had bestowed upon him, proved to be a pain in the ass in some aspects, it had been dependable before. And now it was difficult to stomach that this same strong move failed to hold the enemies at bay! Ten of these bastardous fish had been struck with the scream, yet seemingly all ten of them chose to rebel instead of surrendering to the attacks sheer force! Which itself shouldnt be possible. Only death should await anyone who had been struck with such an intense amount of silver, and yet these enemies still wiggled! These fish decided to rebel by turning pitch-dark in colour, even though they had been enveloped by silver a moment ago. But that wasnt the worst part yet! These same enemies showed signs of life again! Whatever solid material was used to keep them at bay just a moment ago, failed to do what it was supposed to. Every bits of material that had entrapped these foul fish, were swiftly riddled in cracks now! And it didnt seem like such a rebellion could be halted! Eventually these fish managed to break free of their former silver shackles, and they wiggled even more violently than before. In an aspect these bastards seemed quite mindless. But right now, it was noticeable that they mindfully mocked any bit of power that Timothy had inflicted against them. But regardless of just how confusing this scene was, the hero still felt ready for battle. These fish could break out of silver and put up another fight, but just how tolerant they were against tens of stabs? That aside, they surely couldnt tolerate being ripped in half either! So surely the sea-pancake felt quite ready to show these bastards just what he was made of. But that was when the system decided to give out a bit of information of her own. [You just killed ten fish who dont identify with a species or gender,] [Such a result is fairly new so I cant give you an extremely valuable award,] [As a reward you have received forty-five system points] [Total system points = Fourteen-hundred and sixty-eight] After he evaded one of the enemies who was brave enough to charge head on, he wanted to point out quite a detail that surrounded those notifications. What do you mean I killed them? Theyre trying to kill me right now! He slightly shouted. This scene was abnormally frightening. And it was fair to say that the sense of uncertainty was a grand contributor towards such fear! And the system wasnt proving quite understandable either, [I can see that theyre trying to kill you] [But theyre actually dead. I dont recognise a soul in their body, they dont identify with any species either] [They exist but they are empty, these things dont have any organs either] [In shorter words, they are no different from swimming gravel] By the love of Azq! The young man screamed, as if he truly recognized thatdy as a goddess. Such an expression sounded fairly random, but he simply couldnt find a better way to react against this severe bizarity! That aside, he didnt want to stick around and find out just how powerful these ursed creatures were. So half-strategically, he shouted. Kill all of them as fast as you can! Of course his friends had to be aware of unknown dangers, so he specified. They are just some weird gravely-fish. Be careful! After such detail had been made clear, it was fair to say that the entire team carried quite a bit of concern across their faces. This grand concern was riddled with confusion. But neither of them knew how to back out of a battle, their ego simply couldnt allow it! Gech was the quickest one from the rest of the team, and he was quite curious regarding just how enduring these foul enemies could be. So he leaped right off Osiras back and beamed towards the closest bastard, with the aid of grand speed! His leap managed to spin the finedy due to sheer power, but she chose to carry the old geezer around regardless. So there were two individuals to me for this difort. However. Once the old man bashed against one of these weird enemy bodies, the result was quite thought-provoking The target had been punctured directly against the head, but that wasnt the puzzling part of the aftermath. This fish simply transformed into a misty cloud of gravel. Under-water dust would be the best way to describe them. And Gechs bullet-like impact was so strong, that he managed to pierce through and through the one-foot long fish! That and he crashed against yet another fish, which led to a simr result; the enemy simply turned to a small dusty-cloud. Like punching sand ha? Gech questioned with a mumble. And then he shouted, They are easy to kill! Just hit them as hard as you can! Of course the team became quite motivated thanks to such a im. Osira had to spend a few seconds to regain orientation, but she was surely ready to inflict her own kinda damage. She eyed not one, but three of these foul tiny beasts. And then she slowly generated a type of weaponry that would surely tell them who was dominant! Simr to what colours these enemies had, a dark-shaded, transparent light generated right in front of her forehead. This fine light stretched nearly a foot-wide although typically it didnt have a solid geometric shape to fully describe it. Within a blink of an eye, this marvelous light shot towards the enemies and managed to deliver a blow that was definitely worth white! The first target had been wholly terminated by this blow, to the point where even a dust cloud could not have puffed up! As for the darkened light, it continued to st forward until it slid another opponent''s head off! With such a result witnessed, it was fair to say that the ck-grouper became quite confident! But what she did not expect whatsoever, was for a sharp pain to strike right at the bottom portions of her tail. This difort struck stronger than a spear, and she could only guess that one of these bastardous creatures had gotten lucky! Chapter 320: IrritationaI pain Chapter 320: IrritationaI pain The fine grouper was swift to turn around. And obviously she didn''t shy away from asserting her own type of dominance. She charged towards the enemy who bit her, but this time she didn''t n to use her powers. Instead she bashed her own head against the enemy''s. Which in exchange forced a dust-cloud to puff up. The grouper was truly a tough woman, so such a result wasn''t exactly shocking. Her explosive speed was of true aid as well. Osirapletely obliterated the enemy with just a head-butt, and was eager to chase another one of these bastards down. But yet the pain that was isted on her tail, continued to grow irritable. It felt as if something stabbed her over and over, and each tick of pain surely forced thedy to flinch. She did not know what to do about this dilemma, but it was the best idea to ignore it for now. There were quite a few more enemies to kill. The entire group had joined in the battle, and surely the great-white shark in their team was the one who delivered the most damage! He charged from one end of the battlefield to the other, and bit through every enemy that stood on his path. Half of his targets managed to slip away due to size differences, but this young shark still managed to contribute enough. As for Timothy, he actually bit through a couple of these enemies thanks to pure spite! Such a gesture was perhaps over-done, but it was not like these enemies had any feelings. And from the looks of it, it was impossible for them to have pain-receptors too. So the young hero continued to rage across the battle, and figured that it was the best time to try out the new abilities that he had bought. His eyes locked with an enemy who boldly approached from his left side. Such braverying from the opposition had to be tamed, it would be good if it was shamed even. So Timothy focused on this particr green-fish and felt ready to shout out amand. "Soul snare!" He hollered quite like a wet sea-dog. And that was when he expected quite a show to pop up in front of his eyes. The term ''soul powers'' seemed beyond fancy, so necessarily he expected such an aura to be visually appealing too. But contrary to expectations, he just felt a strong strike against his heart. Its impact was strong enough to be confused with pain, but no he wasn''t under any difort! Instead the hero acknowledged that he had gained a brief control over the enemy''s soul. The knock-like effect from earlier was caused once their souls linked together. It was perhaps dramatic, but at least it proved assuring. After the hero gained control of the enemy, he decided to unleash some torment. He forced the enemy''s body to take a sharp turn upwards. This change in direction was quite violent, so naturally it had a few tag-along effects. The first one was disorientation. The enemy''s tail stopped working due to the sudden shift, so necessarily its body just twirled across the waters like a defective boomerang! And as it roamed across the waters for a few meters, that same enemy''s body slowly shattered. Unsurprisingly that same body eventually turned into a dust-cloud. Yet Timothy was still a bit confused, so he mumbled. "How are these fish that easy to kill? This is fun!" [You almost broke that one in half. It''s no surprise that gravel-like fish don''t have a spine to support such rough turns,] "Aha!" He sighed loudly, because for once he fully understood what the system meant. Afterwards he celebrated, "This soul power thing is stronger than I thought!" A blinkter, he eyed yet another enemy and chose to follow along with the same procedure. The joy of battle got him captivated to the extent where the boy became clueless of most surroundings. An enemy got painfully close to the boy, and Timmy only acknowledged such a bastard''s presence once some damage had been dealt! One of these dark-coloured fish had bitten him right on the top-end of his left fin, and surely the pain was worth focusing over! There wasn''t a wound to be spoken of, and the system didn''t notify about any health-loss either; yet the pain would shake even the toughest soldiers awake! Just what was going on stood beyond him, but the hero didn''t n to be so merciful either. He peeked at the enemy, and put his reflexes into work just to inflict his own type of damage! As he curled backwards like a spooked elderly person, the young man''s tail pushed forward. Such struggle has helped him further escape from the enemy''s toothless jaws, but the counter attack wasn''t done just there. The hero hollered with all of his power, "Grey-tail!" And that was when his two-foot long tail, tripled in size and swung right against this bastardousbatant. Although the grey-features of this power move behaved like a club upon first impact ~ this marvelous weaponry eventually punctured through the enemy''s chest! At first nce a one-foot long and slightly chubby enemy, seemed like enough of abatant; but this fool was simply powerless to resist. Timmy''s marvelous tail forced this bastardous creature, to transform into nothing but a cloud of dark dust! Now all he had to worry about was the irrational pain that enveloped his fin... it was surely difficult to understand the concept behind such difort. But it did not render him immobile, so he targeted another one of these foul fish, and charged towards them with a noticeably faster speed. Ironically, pain made him swim faster for once; and he sure as hell aimed to be a hunch more violent than usual towards the opponents! That aside; his friends had put in an equal amount of work, if not more. They caused dust-clouds left and right, so necessarily it was only a matter of time before this battle ended for good! Chapter 321: Task thirty-eight Chapter 321: Task thirty-eight The team eventually managed to clean up every enemy that was brave enough to oppose them. Although these foul creatures unapologetically inflicted quite some violent pain, they were overall easy to handle. This team was the definition of overpowered in a battle like this one. Themotion was simply too easy for them, as one hit was enough to crumble any enemy into dust. At a certain point the team even began messing around, rather than taking the battle seriously. They simply tried out trick shots against these mindless fools. However. The main point was that this battle proved itself swift and easy. The only thing that had slightly tampered with the teams momentum, were the numerous sharp pains they experienced. Every member of the team, apart from Dana, had been bitten by one of these gravel-like fish, and suffered the aftermath due to it. Although the team was confused how a woundless aftermath burned that much, they were quick to forget about it once the pain entirely faded away. Conversations grew dim between these friends, especially after they lightly bragged about the kills they hadnded. That aside, they simply enjoyed the silence. Peace was necessary if one wanted to be observant! They headed even deeper into this depressing reef, so it only sounded reasonable for the team to be on their top performance. No one was even sure what trouble awaited one-hundred meters from here, not to mention any further. No no, top performance was a must. But it was fair to say that the entire team partially contemted their most recent encounter, there were just too many details that didnt make sense whatsoever! They wanted to figure everything out, as curiosity would affect even the dumbest fish in the ocean. Timmy was the most contemtive of them all for once. A great portion of his ego was hurt, regarding why a weak fish managed to cause him such arge amount of pain. Surely now he wanted to inflict even more damage, against every other enemy that would stand in front of their path; but his ego continued to grow damaged. Especially after he remembered that those fish escaped the death-ensuring effects of the silver-shout. Such a thought made him shiver. Simply since it meant that these fish had a soul, but yet they didnt have one at all! Something helped them move, but only the divine knew what that was. It proved even more staggering, once he remembered that those same enemies were extremely easy to kill; he just couldnt wrap his head around all of this. And it became even more confusing, once the system announced a bit of information of her own. [Those fish you just killed dont identify with a species, so there is only one category I can put them under] [They can only be considered as a finished, system given task,] [Of course we all are clueless regarding just what you have killed, but take this as a kind gesture] [Your proximity to these different creatures is quite risky, so of course such effort has to be rewarded] [As I said, these kills will fall under the system-given-task category, so you have eight tasks marked asplete] [In total, you have thirty-eight tasks marked as done. A couple more kills and your primary bars will increase again] This is well better than I thought it would be, Timothy expressed with the aid of a thought. But the system didnt exactly stop there. No, she had a few more things to say. [Youve killed exactly eight of those fish, so youve received thirty-system-points as a reward] [But you won''t be receiving bonus points for taskpletion, that would he pushing it to far] [Total system points = Fourteen-hundred and ny-eight] I feel spoiled now, He added jokingly. [These rewards are fairly measured. Risk for knowledge should be rewarded, and you weregging behind with tasks anyway; so this is a win for both of us] While the little boys ego healed by a hunch, he assured. Ill kill as many gravel-fish as you please then, fine systemdy. Well such expressions still felt quite new, but right now it felt like a good way to follow the conversation - it didnt make him feel ufortable either for once. Yet before these two could have dwelled into the odds and ends of these gains, Dana decided to inform of some possible trouble that lied ahead. I can sense a lot of movement, She lightly shouted. And then she put in a bit more effort on focus, just to inform. Something is over forty-meters away Are theying to attack us? Gech was the swiftest to ask. No they are not fish. The green-coloured stingray swiftly corrected. Since this type of expansive sensing was exhausting, she had quite a bit of trouble to keep up even with the slightest questions. The headache that came with all of this didnt help either. Thankfully they were all patient enough to let her express a few points, Its something. Definitely not alive, but its like some stream of water. A stream of water... underwater? The great-white shark by their side pressured. That does sound weird. Lets just fuck around and find out, Snoopy added, and instantly felt a few res dotting towards him. And then he had to debate, What, yall dont cuss now? With little patience, the whole team continued to swim towards the very source that was causing all of these small vibrations. So necessarily, Snoopys question had not been answered. But that wasnt exactly a big problem, as he was equally curious to figure things out. And within a minute, the whole team managed to reach the very source that tickled their curiosity. It was fair to say that most of their mouths instantly hung open, because the scene they swam into stunned them a bit too much. Because as a golden start, there was a thirty-meter wide hole spread across the reef! It seemed like this hole was bottomless, as they couldn''t get a proper view of what lurked down there. However the hole itself couldn''t give any vibrations on its own, no. The thing that seemed life-filled was therge amount of green-goo that circled around this massive opening! Chapter 322: Under-ground cooperation Chapter 322: Under-ground cooperation This whole scene was difficult toprehend. Therge hole itself wasn''t too breathtaking, as they understood that many powerful things could have ruptured it. But the question that surrounded this topic, bugged them the most. Just who or what has created this hole? The team had many conclusions, but they couldn''t exactly build a proper theory of how it happened. There was quite an amount of some green-substance, which circled around the same hole. For a second it seemed as if some group of fish tried to create arge holy-pool, but it somehow melted through the ground! It almost seemed so but it couldn''t be the actual case. Simply since this green-substance wasn''t sizzling through dirt and rock. It was just thick and heavy. Apart from that, it dripped and streamed downwards the hole, and headed towards god knew where? To a certain extent it seemed sticky too, so it proved difficult to create a proper theory, regarding what this heavy liquid was. As for now, Timothy broke the silence. "This is the fish you felt?" A tad irritated, the stingraydy whipped the hero against the bum, and was eager to give a proper correction. She slightly shouted, "I never said that I sensed a fish!" Unwilling to let go of such tease, the hero continued. "Good, cause this would be the weirdest fish I ever saw..." Gech decided to break what could have been an hour-long senseless debate, by unravelling a grand question. "Are we going down there? We might need to explore it." The old man specified. Although hesitant Timothy slowly agreed. "I guess so... but it looks kinda dark in there." "Doesn''t matter," The geezer instantly replied. And then weighed in, "This hole might help us understand what happened around here, we can''t waste this marvelous opportunity." "We''ll go down there then," Osira became the third to encourage such a n. It was clear that the entire team was eager, even though they weren''t exactly happy to carry along with this swift n. So the hero decided to go with the flow. But since he too was willing, he saw it appropriate to add a bit of creativity to this n ~ safety became a prime goal. He peeked at the great-white shark that worked with them so far, and didn''t shy away to build up a request. The hero slowly exined, "We don''t know what''s down there, but we don''t need any of those weird fish to follow us." And after that he demanded, "I need you to stay here and kill any gravelly-fish thates near this hole." "No problem. I owe Snoopy a lot so this is the least I could do," Thetter slightly grunted. The waves of gratitude from this shark were staggering, especially after he considered the usual stiff attitude; such a promation was simply refreshing. "Thank you," Timothy expressed. He could care less of the rtionship his brother had with this great-white shark. But in this case such arge beast proved useful, and that''s all the hero thought about. Afterwards they slowly headed towards the depths of this hole, and felt their anxiety gradually shift for the worse. The hole itself was around thirty-meters wide, so obviously they didn''t have to worry about space. But the thought that various dangers might lurk around such darkness, well it surely proved nerve-wracking. They stuck close to each other, as such presence made them feel safer ~ so if an enemy was to attack, they could fight back all together. But it was fair to say that fear fiddled away, the deeper they headed towards this massive hole. The sole reason behind suchfort, was the fact that they still could see as clearly as ever! Darkness did not envelop them. On the contrary it was pushed aside by numerous light sources! This light had been a bit hidden, because apparently the hole was not a bottomless abyss. It just took a sharp turn to the left, and the massive tunnel gradually sunk deeper underground after that point. But overall, such crude architectural details didn''t prove extreme. The team could easily manoeuvre through the tunnel, and illumination was listed out as a problem. It was difficult to understand the source behind this illumination, but eventually it made a bit of sense. As a golden start, this tar-like green substance somehow glowed! And it was difficult to understand the sole reason, behind such a feature. This tar-like thing was everywhere in the tunnel, and it cooperated with something else that made dirt walls, whole. There were various gems spread across the massive tunnel. They seemed more like crystals, as they had cube-like heads and were very tall. These crystals had various colours, but a good portion of them were light-red. Such marvelous pieces of nature were truly a magnificent sight to witness, but they were also perplexing. The crystals and the tar radiated light at a tremendously equal amount. There wasn''t one side that generated more illumination than the other. Such detail raised the conclusion that the tar and crystals, somehow cooperated with each other. The team was sure of it actually, as a few gems weren''t enough to spread that much light on their own. These tall crystals usually towered at least forty-meters away from each other. Even such valuable minerals couldn''t be powerful enough to fully illuminate a massive tunnel, at least while theycked in number. "What are we looking for here, these are just a bunch of gems?" Timothy finally managed to break the silence. "Anything, literally anything can help us figure things out." The mantis shrimp added, he was a tad irritated. As for the team, they weren''t exactly scared anymore. This entire scene was beautiful to a certain extent, but the tunnel seemed endless; so their sense of discovery dimmed down. They swam at least over a hundred meters under the sea-ground now, but they haven''t seen anything apart from tar and gems... Chapter 323: Unlucky shrimp Chapter 323: Unlucky shrimp The team grew slightly impatient of this search procedure, but thankfully something popped up that piqued their interest! They witnessed a little doting towards them, from the lower portions of this tunnel. Such a dot seemed small enough, especially when it waspared to this tunnel''s overall size. But this same dot swiftly grewrger, simply since it had swam up to meet with the team. Yet this didn''t seem like a meeting that would allow everyone to embrace intellectual debates, no. On the contrary the method of conversing already projected itself as crude. Simply since this expanding dot, eventually proved itself to be another weird fish! The approacher''s bodynguage deciphered just what intents it could have, every tail-p against the waters was simply too violent. "I am not touching that fish!" Timothy was the first to yell out. Such a sentence seemed dramatic to a certain extent, but he had every right to behave like a spoiled teenage girl; as this new enemy simply seemed gross! "You don''t have to touch it," Osira assured. The enemy fish was dark in colour, but was also covered with a lot of thick, green patches of tar. This same substance sizzled the enemy''s dusty flesh quite a bit, which managed to create a horrid scene. When this enemy opened its mouth, the whole group could see quite a few pounds of this tar, actually circled and sprayed around its mouth! The team figured such details out in just a few seconds, simply because this weird approacher was big and fat! A rough guess could help figure out that this fat beast was at least eight-feet long! So neither of them wanted to get close to such an odd animal. Of course the best solution was to assert a form of dominance. Osira generated a portion of ck-light right in front of her forehead, and swiftly sted it towards the enemy before it got too close! Most of the group was almost sure that such damage would be enough, but the enemy seemed to have other ns... Within a blink of an eye, arge chunk of tar shot out of therge gravel-fish''s mouth, and the results were surely unfavourable! The tar was two-feet wide and bashed through the waters quite quickly! And this insane manifestation of power, crashed against what Osira had unleashed. But then it simply kept going! Necessarily, this shot of tar had absolutely swallowed the whole power-attack that the ck-grouper unleashed! And this unholy substance echoed across the waters at grand speed, and headed directly for the team! For a second they all felt that they would get enveloped by such an attack, but thankfully most of the team was mostly decent in size. Apart from that they were swift with their fins, so they could swim away from the scene in just a corner of a second. The shot simply swung across the waters, and eventuallynded through the tunnel flooring. Of course they all felt ready to unleash a counter-attack, each member of the team was individually prepared to put up a battle. Timmy was the quickest between all of them. Not because he managed to swim near the enemy, but because he could unleash a ranged attack. Likewise he quickly shouted, "Soul snare!" And then felt another stun across his heart, it managed to shake him a little bit but it wasn''t necessarily hurtful. Timothy firstly tried to break this gravelly freak of nature in half. He found it easy against the first simr enemy he fought, so he was confident enough to try again. But as expected, his soul power wasn''t exactly strong enough; so he could barely even move the attacker. The snare that Timmy had leashed around the other''s soul, was only strong enough to affect tail movements! So obviously he used that only opportunity, and forced the enemy to swim directly downwards! This managed to buy the team a few seconds to prepare for another attack. Because although the enemy did not crash against one of the tunnel''s walls, it did swim far enough to give the group some space. As for the soul snare power-move, it had been shattered for quite a valid reason. The enemy proved to be a hectic opponent; and had enough brute strength to actually swim away from the snare''s reach. So now even though the enemy escapedpletely unscathed, at least the group had another chance tounch a counter-attack; and surely this time they aimed to be more careful. Timmy was the only other member who couldunch a ranged attack, so he locked therge enemy as a target and felt prepared to assert some dominance. He even swam towards the charging enemy, just to grasp the opportunity of a better shot. Eventually he got close enough, and felt ready to unleash an attack that should prove at least slightly effective. "Azq''s scream!" He hollered with quite a bit of effort. And a thin bright-light swiftly shot out of his mouth, before it exploded in size and shaped itself quite like a cone! The four-foot wide piece of silver light, travelled towards the enemy at grand speed ~ the naked eye could barely capture it! But yet the opponent proved quite faster inparison, and shot out yet another chunk of tar out of its mouth! This chunk pierced through the silver light, and was about to strike the hero right against his face! But luckily he proved to be swift. Thanks to the couple of body-strength upgrades, he managed to p the water hard enough to bounce upwards! The silver-light ended up bashing against the fat enemy! It was weird, especially since the tar had travelled through the attack, but a win was a win. While Timmy slightly celebrated this victory, he did not notice that Osira swam behind him as she nned to unleash an attack of her own! She was swift enough to dodge the uing tar, but the old little man on her shoulders, was swiftly riddled with bad-luck through that moment... The violent turn that Osira made, forced Gech to slip away from thefort of the other''s back. So ultimately he lonely floated across the waters, and couldn''t do anything to escape the two-foot wide, chunk of tar that headed right towards him! Chapter 324: Strategic slaughter Chapter 324: Strategic ughter Cursed with bad luck would be the best way to exin the fate, of which this geezer suffered. Gech was the smallest creature of the group, as he only stretched around four-inches long; yet he was the only one who got struck with all of that green-tar! Certainly unfair to some extent. But what other option did the tiny old man have? He could only deal with this misfortune. He could feel a great portion of his skin, sizzling to the point of madness thanks to all the difort! The old man could feel that most of his legs broke off already, as if the chunk he was entrapped in carried nothing but direct spite! So understandably the process was anything but peachy. Yet the rest of the team didn''t even realise what the oldest was going through. Osira didn''t exactly notice the other''sck of presence. And the rest couldn''t notice such detail either, since the old man was simply dragged along by the patch of tar. Now, he headed directly toward the tunnel''s flooring, simply because the chunk of tar proved itself too heavy. He was entrapped in this chunk, and crashed into an evenrger quantity of tar. At this point his fate seemed rather apparent. But as for the rest of the group, they truly put in quite some effort to harass the enemy. Of course their prime goal was to kill the bastard in several ways, but it proved difficult. If the enemys size wasnt enough of a problem to deal with, that same fish proved difficult in other aspects. Such as speed, agility and strategy! The team tried tond deadly blows of their own, or anything at all really; but this enemy was highly analytical, swift and efficient. One wouldnt expect such precision from a fish who seemed barbaric from the outside, and certainly acted so to an extent But this situation helped them understand once more, that the naked eye could often lie! We need to corner it, Timothy shouted out as his eyes followed the enemys movements. Is that even possible? Dana criticized. Until now she had been mostly staying idle. The stingraydy couldnt approach this enemy without harming herself, since she didnt have any ranged attacks. So the only bit of damage that she managed to deal, were a few stabs that were forced out of her just to fend the enemy away. That same bastardous opponent dwelled in quite a bit of sticky tar right now. It was the same type of green-tar that was located in thisrge tunnels walls. At first it was difficult to understand the paternal reasons behind such behaviour, but eventually the team managed to put two and two together. This enemy, went there anytime it was attacked by one of the team members. So obviously the creature dwelled in the tar to replenish any received damage; however the hell that worked? Timothy stalked the enemy once more, and put his little noggin into use just to develop a proper n. He understood that it would be difficult and eventually dangerous to fight this bastard. So he tried to figure out how to deliver massive damage all at once. The hero was especially spooked, once he remembered that the enemy easily withstood a silver shout! Sure a chunk of tar had pierced through the quantity of silver light, but the silver shot itself had actually hit the enemy, just a tad earlier. Yet that same shot swiftly disappeared between the enemys skin, as if nothing had happened at all! Azq''s scream, was supposed to be power which was descended from an actual god of the seas ~ so he simply didn''t understand how some random gravel-like fish, would effortlessly withstand it! Necessarily such a staggering detail forced the boy to develop some paranoia, if not pure fear itself; he urged to take this enemy down And at the moment Timothy felt like he had developed a proper n, for that very same matter! He peeked at both Dana and Osira, afterwards he put in quite some effort to get their attention - a few shouts were enough for that matter. Once they got close enough to hear what he had to say, the hero deciphered the little n that he managed to muster up. Timmy peeked at the ck-grouper first and then stated. Us two need to attack this dumbass together! We cant let it hide in the walls again! Before the enemy could have thought of a counter attack, the heros focus swiftly aimed towards Dana. And that''s when he shouted, We need you to lure that bastard away from the walls! The fine stingraydy was a bit nervous towards such an idea at first, it didn''t seem like the best idea to boldly approach such an enemy. But afterwards she simply nodded to themand, and headed towards that ugly, tar-covered creature! Her courage was admirable. Every portion of her being told thedy to stay away from this enemy, yet she still pushed forward! Eventually she reached the opponent close enough, and tempted that bastard to leave the tar-infested walls! The chubby fish was quick to chase Dana, and obviously she didnt just wait around for the enemy to approach and obliterate her. She simply swam away instead. After a short moment this same eight-foot long fish was greeted by the rest of the group! Osira was the first to unleash herst bit of power towards this wretched creature, and she most definitely made sure that her shot counted! She has used her powers a few times ever since they entered this darkened reef, and now she unleashed herst shot. It would take a while for her powers to replenish, but it was certain that her shot was worthwhile! Even though she generated a ball of ck-light that only stretched half-a-foot wide; the damage she inflicted was precise and crucial. It had struck the enemy right against the side of its big, pointed head! And the team could see several pounds of gravel falling off the same target! Somehow the enemy regenerated that same portion where the damage had been inflicted, but it was noticeable that the same foul creature was a hunch smaller in size now. Regardless of such a detail, it was the sea-pancakes turn to deliver a message of his own! Chapter 325: Changes, sometimes they can be good Chapter 325: Changes, sometimes they can be good At first Timothy noticed that the enemy swam a bit lop-sided. Such an approach ruined the little calctions regarding what attack he wanted to deliver; so of course this problem had to be fixed. Likewise the hero shouted, Soul snare! And almost instantly, his soul linked with that of the enemies. The hero endured the tiny shock that came along with this power-move. The adrenaline he attained from his own ideas was more impactful inparison! With the aid of nothing but a thought, he managed to control the enemies movements to a limited extent. This creature wasrge so hisck of full control was reasonable at least. And he only needed a little control anyway, so this situation was convenient. Thanks to the soul-snare attribute, he could force the enemys tail to change directions just a little bit. It was enough to force this foul creature, to swim directly towards the hero! Such an idea sounded wholly suicidal, especially since this fish proved itself stubborn and strong! But strategy was one characteristic that the hero nevercked, he was well prepared to face this freak of nature! While the enemy approached, the hero found that it was the best time to unleash the second portion of his n... So he pped the water with his fins once, just to push his entire body backwards by a hunch. And then he yelled, Grey-tail! Necessarily, a six-foot long tail generated within a blink of an eye. So the hero felt prepared to deliver the attack he had nned for! Anyone would realise that it was a bad idea, to crash against a fish who was simply covered with green-tar; Timothy was one of those aware individuals. So he pped the waters with his fins one more time, and used his upgraded strength as an advantage. All he wanted to do was to position himself, right under the enemys belly right now... As that foul fish flung right above him as expected, the hero used this marvelous opportunity to fulfill his ns! That marvelouslyrge grey-tail struck right across the enemys belly, which was enough damage on its own. But then the sea-pancake inflicted yet another swipe across the gravell-fish''s abdomen! So ultimately, Timothy had carved a cross right through this opponents dried out stomach! The damage seemed most definitely plentiful, but he wasn''t so satisfied yet. So he swung against thisrge fish one more time, before it entirely swam over his head! Technically a tail shouldnt be used like a de. But the grey-coloured transparent tail did exactly so ~ it was simply a marvelous attribute. However, by now the tail had disintegrated. Sure the sea-disk had gotten tens of swings of this weaponry, through his journey back home, but he was far from mastering its use. In fact he was surprised that the tail evensted that long As for the enemy, well it had suffered more damage than the team expected! The cuts had been deep and thorough enough, to actually split this bastard in three pieces! And Osira was swift enough to deliver her type of blessing, right after the heronded thest cut! In the same second that the gray-tail broke, she reached the scene and crashed right against this bastardous fish! Logically this would be considered suicidal, as she could have crashed against the tary-portions that this opponent carried. Which itself could have been hazardous. The team didnt even understand what this green substance on the fishs skin was. Obviously they had no idea what effects it could bring. Yet thankfully she escaped unscathed. And she managed to ram the enemy so hard, that therge fish truly ended up in threerge pieces! Sure she wouldnt be powerful enough to do that alone, the stingray heros cuts did most of the work. But her contribution was crucial, especially since this foul fish couldnt retaliate from such a grand attack! Those three body-parts simply fiddled across the waters for a few seconds, before they crashed against therge tunnels tar-filled ground! One would expect that the enemy would rise again now, since the tar itself helped it replenish wounds before. But such a thing was far from happening. The team could finally heave out a sigh of relief, they could finally rx and focus on their prior ideas - as this foul creature had met an absolute end! The team felt peaceful for a quick second, but that was when the ck grouper realised an important detail. After a few mumbles she shouted, Where did Gech go? Tell me that I didn''t drop him! You did, A familiar tone reverberated from afar. What the hell Timothy mumbled after he briefly caught up with what was going on. From the far distance they witnessed a tiny creature getting closer. But that soon proved to be confusing. Because that same marine-animal seemedrger, the more it approached. Typically this wouldnt be a problem but this same creature was Gech! And at the moment he seemed a few timesrger inparison to earlier on! The old man was at least two feet long now! And it seemed that his four-pairs of legs that were stretched along his abdomen, behaved more like thin fins now! Such a perspective was proved correct once the teamprehended, that this geezer swam at a good speed now! Although quite casually, Gech swam about two-miles-per-hour at the moment. It wasnt a drastic number, but it was far better inparison to before when he couldnt swim at all! Once the old man got close enough to the rest of the group, he peeked at Osira and found it the best time to tease the ck-grouper a little bit. Which was why he recited, Id appreciate it if you dont drop me again, fine miss. I just had quite a swim through that tar. Wow youre huge now! Dana broke into the conversation and pointed out the obvious. As for thedy that this geezer talked to, she was quite stunned for words right now; she couldn''t follow along in the same conversation. But after a few seconds she still managed to ask, How do you feel? You look so different now. I feel powerful actually, Gech was swift to point out. And then practically he talked to himself, I dont know what that thing down there is, but its surely rted to the holy-tar somehow; this is some valuable information indeed. It was tremendous how he considered knowledge more important, than the fact that his body had changed right now ~ but such a characteristic was refreshing at least. After a moment he continued, My entire body has improved, and I can even sense that my impure thoughts have gone away. My brain feels sharper than it ever was before... Chapter 326: A blissful cube Chapter 326: A blissful cube Curiosity grew rapidly across the entire group. And it was fair to say that most of the team members shared a simr thought. But Timothy was the most unapologetically shameless one to bring it up. He peeked at the old man and asked, "Can you still attack anyone though? You know, with your signature speedy move?" "That, I do not know." Gech was swift to admit. And then he casually spoke out, "But we can figure that out rather easily, don''t you think?" Since she grew a bit nervous, Osira decided to state. "I''m not letting you get on my back. It was annoying before but now you could probably kill me!" "Don''t worry about that, I feel that my legs are capable on their own to follow along with this little test trial. But thank you for making things clear." The old man lightly teased. And afterwards he turned away from the group, and narrowed his vision towards some nk portion of water. To try out his signature move, the geezer had to swiftly p his legs against the water, all at the same time! In exchange this created an effect that pushed the two-foot long shrimp, straight forward with the aid of grand speed! He travelled over a distance of fifteen meters, in almost a whole second! Truly powerful, and he didn''t even have toy over a chunk of sand in order to achieve such results; he could only guess how powerful his jump would be, if it was done so. As for now, the transformed mantis shrimp felt sure, that he had be more dangerous than ever. He felt sure that any target would be obliterated if he crashed against it! And considering what this tunnel greeted them with so far, such a powerful leap would definitely prove useful! Afterwards he leaped towards the group with that same speed, but of course he didn''t want to harm them in the process ~ so he managed to slow down quite smoothly. "Wow! You''re like a shrimpy torpedo now!" Timothy shamelesslyplimented. "I have no idea what a torpedo is, but I''ll assume it''s something powerful. That would be the most agreeable thought, I almost feel like a god!" The geezer chattered. The team were mostly used to his expansive expressions, so neither of them really minded it. Instead one of them encouraged, "You are very strong now, it should help us leave this ce alive." Of course that fine individual was Dana, she never truly struggled to p for someone else''s progress. But Gech unsurprisingly had other thoughts in mind, "I don''t n to get out of here before we figure out what made this hole, fine girl." And afterwards he pointed out, "It would be exaggerated to flee right now! I can handle any enemy that crosses our ever beloved journey." "I don''t love this journey so far," Timothy pointed out. "Hey guys sorry I''mte," Snoopy''s tone illuminated a few meters away. Afterwards he questioned, "Did I miss... wow! You''re huge!" Of course his attention was dotted towards the geezer. This sight would pique the curiosity of strangers and allies alike. "Yes you missed a lot but that''s not important," Gech swiftly brushed the topic off. As for the stingray that joined them just now, well a moment before they met with that monstrosity of a gravel-fish, this young man was sent to check on the great-white shark. They just wanted to feel safer, and such thoughts encouraged the procedure, of assuring that they weren''t being followed. Now that Snoopy had rejoined the team, the journey down this perplexing hole should be even safer. But of course this whole recent fight had forced other topics to open. And this time Osira felt that she should be a bit more social. At least enough to theorize, "Maybe another fish like that can make me stronger as well. I mean, both of our powerse from simr tar-pools anyway." "No no no," The oldest surprisingly disagreed. But then he rained a bit of sense across this objection, "I likely just have gotten a bit lucky, but you''re apletely different species." "So?" The younger questioned, as she couldn''t exactly catch up. Quite effortlessly Gech described, "So what helped me, could kill you. It''s favorable if we y it safe, until we figure out more regarding this tar-infested madness." Even though the whole team hated to admit it, this old fart made a rather firm point. So only a few nods were necessary for all of them to be on neutral terms. And with the grand n considered, the team continued their journey towards the deeper portions of this tunnel. Just a bit earlier on, they had been taught that this ce was not to be underestimated, the dangers really proved radiant. So necessarily the whole team was on their highest senses. They wanted to be ready just in case another foul enemy crossed their path. But once they dwelled a couple hundred meters under the sea-ground, they ran across quite a different scene. Unsurprisingly most of them expected to battle yet another fish, but the scene in their disposal was utterly different inparison! They''ve met with an eye-catching crystal... Now on its own that shouldn''t be exactly amazing, as they''ve seen a bunch of crystals in this tunnel so far. But as mentioned a little earlier, this particr crystal was special; and necessarily more important. Dana was the first to notice this unnatural piece of shining stone, and of course she decided to barge towards it for that very reason! This crystal was another body-part of that green worm they''ve met in the close past! She could practically smell the gem, and it was no surprise considering just how much such a stone was linked to her own body! However, the prime reason why she dramatically rushed this time was because this crystal was huge! Well not as huge inparison to what they''ve seen in this tunnel so far, but the crystal was still huge. It was block shaped, as if someone had put in specific effort to carve it in such a matter. As for dimensions, it stretched around half a meter on each side! This is why Dana was so excited. She had attained powers from such green crystals before, but they were nothing but tiny shards. And yet this shiny stone here was a few hundred timesrger inparison, and she was eager to figure out what the result would be! Chapter 327: Danas prime evolution Chapter 327: Dana''s prime evolution The show didn''t exactly start, before the fine green-skinned stingray touched the crystal block. Firstly this same crystal moved away from its spot, and simply dashed towards the tunnel''s exit in the far distance. That wasn''t exactly a surprise, as the team had seen a couple of simr scenes before. But their main focus dotted towards Dana instead, and whatever the gem had done to her upon contact! It only took a few seconds for a massive light to suddenly explode around thedy. The green features were blinding and most definitely fascinating. But thankfully this light could not do any physical damage. Dana was going through a transformation of her own right now. But of course the team could only guess that she suffered through it, as they simply couldn''t see anything. The bright green light was strong enough to out match, whatever illumination this whole tunnel provided. It wouldn''t be a surprise if the rest of the team remained blinded for a good hour! Perhaps it was for the best that they couldn''t see anything. Dana was going through the toughest transformation of her life, and it was no secret that the crystal gem''s sheer size had everything to do with it. So of course a sight like that would be tough on everyone''s conscious, there was just too much going on under short moments. Originally, Dana only hid bones between that thickyer of green light, just a moment ago. She didn''t have much of a body, yet every bit of her whole being ached right now. She could feel that all of her bones had been broken in half, re-molded and then shattered again for the very same purpose! The pain was most definitely otherworldly, and she wanted to scream with all of her might to let a bit of the frustration out; but that didn''t exactly work out. She couldn''t make a single sound regardless of how hard she tried, such an emotion of helplessness felt horrific! Thankfully the transformation moved to another phase, right after it broke her bones about seven times. And now her body swiftly faced a variety of changes. These differences were a lot morefortable, in fact there wasn''t any pain to be spoken of whatsoever. But she did feel that this process was weird, and ufortable to a certain extent. It was weird because she felt this difort above her bones. Which meant that there finally was a sensual reception in her body, which could pick up such odd feelings! This was most definitely bizarre, and she felt simr weird senses throughout the entire process! These weird small sensations of difort couldn''t be counted in one hand, but stretched in the hundreds instead! Most of these bad experiencessted a few seconds each, so it wasn''t fair to say that thedy suffered. As for the whole transformation itself, everything started to calm down after more than two hours! Noticeably, this was the biggest transformation that Dana faced, so it was no surprise that the whole process took this long. The rest of the team could see almost clearly now, and thedy in question could move a little bit as well. So ultimately the whole group could finally meet with one another again, and observe the changes! Of course everyone''s prime focus surrounded Dana, she truly seemed different now! "Wow... you look badass!" Timothy was the first to shamelesslypliment. Of course the finedy enjoyed such apliment immensely, especially since it came out of the boy she cared about so deeply. Emotions aside she was utterly clueless regarding what her friend meant. She couldn''t peek at herself from above, and neither did they have a mirror around here. So after a wide-spread smile she had to ask, "How do I look? I have no idea." Regardless of how incapable he was with descriptions throughout most of the time, Timothy still was the first one to speak out. He even yelled thanks to rays of joy, "Uh... you have these crazy ass fins, on your fins." "Are they asses or are they fins?" Thedy asked, even though she didn''t want to use such a phrase. With every bit of effort he could muster up, the hero described. "No, there are these fins who look pretty good. But they are smaller fins, which have popped up on your bigger fins." "Yeah that doesn''t make any sense at all," Dana admitted after she pondered the words over a little bit. But then she stretched her muscles a little bit, and could practically sense new body-parts around those very fins. She managed to understand in depth now, regarding what her friend met. But Timmy did not know that, and he urged the stingraydy to understand. So after a lot of brainstorming he exined, "You look like a ne!" "I don''t know what that is," Thetter answered honestly. "Enough about that," Gech interrupted. He sensed that such a descriptive debate could go on forever, so he wanted to dim down such possibilities. That and there was a more important detail to point out. And the old man didn''t shy away from doing so, "Dana, you''ve got your entire body back." "Really?" She screamed, as joy enveloped her entire consciousness. With a perplexing look on his face, the oldest cooperated. "Yes, you seem whole now... and your skin has changed as well." "What does my skin look like?" The other was quick to question. Timothy decided to bash himself in the conversation again, and it was easy to notice that he brought along a lot of positivity too! With half a shout he described, "Your skin is ck like before, with a lot of tiny white dots. You look pretty good!" Before that particr gain could have been enjoyed thoroughly, Gech felt an urge to let the other know about another important detail. So he swiftly described, "Yes, that and your skin is covered with many green branches. They look like veins... but judging from the patterns, they seem wless." "Those green ones are because of the crystal," Dana briefly pointed out. "We all know that," The oldest followed along. Afterwards Dana noticed where the misunderstanding stood, so she searched for the best words to describe what she initially meant. Eventually she could mutter, "No there''s something more to these veins... I can feel something different out of them." Chapter 328: Red-haired snake Chapter 328: Red-haired snake "Can you exin what that different thing exactly is? I almost want to make a deal with that space worm myself." Gech followed along half jokingly. But then he wholeheartedly added, "All of this power... it feels assuring." Dana put in another attempt to exin herself, but at this point she was almost as clueless as the rest of the group. So she had to admit, "I don''t even know what I''m sensing, on my own green-veins right now. So it''s hard to describe anything." "You''re probably just getting used to these changes," The geezerforted with the aid of a cold fact. And then had to weigh in, "Eventually you''ll understand yourself from one end to the other." "Or hopefully as fast as you," Danaplimented jokingly. "Unlikely!" The old fart yelled. And after he noticed the atmosphere that he created, he came up with a solution that should ease tension. With a casual tone he swiftly described, "I''ve created and studied mathematical equations out of scratch, when I was just thirty-days old." After that point he had to add, "It''s fair to say that my adaptability is far strongerpared to the average fish, all thanks to the prime intelligence that I carry." "Wow thank you," The stingraydy pouted. And Gech finally understood what he truly had said, and for once he felt dumber than the average fish. His actual intent was to give assurance to the stingraydy. Of course he used himself per scale, for the very effort offorting the other ~ but yet his intent was highly misunderstood. So he had to hurriedly exin, "My point is that you should give yourself some time, fine miss. Your situation is moreplex than mine." "That I can understand," The youngdy cooperated. And that was when Gech heaved out a sigh of relief. He didn''t exactly want to anger ady who gained power out of purified radiation. After such a heavy discussion had been put aside, the team decided to head deeper towards this tunnel. That was their initial intent, and could help to make sense out of this bizarre ce. But as they ventured deeper, Timothy identally opened a whole other branch of conspiracy theories. It was a simple thought but it still packed a punch once he expressed, "I wonder why there was a green crystal all the way down here?" "What do you mean?" The mantis shrimp questioned, as he tried to process those thoughts. This was when the hero blew the theory wide open, "That space worm has exploded years ago. And this big hole was ripped open just two weeks ago, maybe?" "Meaning that this crystal was either there before, or aided the very creation of this tunnel..." Gech instantly followed along. And so the team had lightly fiddled with such a topic, but it was fair to say that the conversation was mostly neutral. Because neither of them knew what they were talking about, and could just theorize. The best conclusion that they got, was inevitably rted to powers that they simply couldn''t understand. The space worm had been massively powerful, before it fell from the sky and shattered. That and whatever has dested this reef was powerful too. So it was no surprise how the whole team thought about such involvement, or cooperation of massive power. Even if the space worm had nothing to do with this, that block of crystal was powerful enough to create such a massive hole; it sounded reasonable. But neither of them were exactly sure. Most of them were likely wrong anyway. However. Their thought process was utterly shattered, once the team met with yet another danger that this massive tunnel featured. What crossed their path now, was rather different inparison to what they have seen so far! Most of the team were spooked out by a figure, that seemed tremendously elongated in physique. Their first thought was that they were being attacked by some massive sea-snake, but this creature seemed a bit moreplex than that. The gravelly features were as noticeable as this opponent''s size. There was no doubt that this creature, was a spawn of the overall disaster. But there was another feature on this beast, that managed to spook the team a bit harder than in a normal case. There was a line of red light which ran across the usible enemy''s spine! This light seemed almost transparent, and behaved like short horse-hair. Paired with the fact that this enemy stretched nearly fifteen-meters long, it just wasn''t a sight that would be easy toprehend. After a few mumbles between the whole team, Timothy was the first to actually talk with this tremendous creature. He separated from the group for a few meters and shouted, "Big snake thing. Can you talk?" The team had decided that it was a bit too dangerous to fight such an enormous bastard, so they hoped to find a way around it for once. A simr holler thundered from the gravell-snake''s side afterwards. It''s tone was simr in texture to its skin, but it was also thicker than the average monster; it sent shivers down the whole team''s spine. Through that shout the beast questioned, "I can talk! But what are you underlings doing in my home?" The stingray hero initially wanted to cooperate even if it was for just a little bit. But the other''s im just seemed too dramatic. So he had to taunt, "Home my ass. This hole is probably just seven days old." The hero noticed that the other became swiftly irritated by such a statement, but the hero still didn''t want to back down. Likewise he also weighed in, "What are you doing in our home? Why did you destroy our entire reef?" "Nonsense!" The other side of the stick hollered. And then it firmly stated, "I''ve been down here ever since the sea filled these tunnels with water, tens of millennia ago!" "No, you''re just high on tar juice." The hero proved difficult once more. And then he readied himself for battle. This beast of an opponent wasn''t proving useful whatsoever, so there was no use found in cooperation. Chapter 329: Red-haired snake (2) Chapter 329: Red-haired snake (2) "You dare oppose me, mortal?" Therge snake shouted out right after. And regardless of how terrifying that scream was, Timothy didn''t really n to back down. Instead he continued to taunt, "Yes, sir sea worm, I oppose you." "Then taste my power," That same gravelly voice thundered. And before the hero could fully grasp his surroundings, a fire-like light shot out of the worm in an instant. Unsurprisingly it reached and surrounded the hero within an instant, and he could fully feel the burn that came along with this shot! The attack of which this massive enemy had unleashed, seemed like simple light which generated a fire-like view. But it couldn''t be actual fire, because the team was underwater after all; so it wouldn''t be possible for fire to generate in this environment! As for the actual shot, Timothy could guess that the attack spread nearly four meters wide! So necessarily he couldn''t escape that opposing force whatsoever. He was in the eye of the red and orange storm, and had to withstand every infliction that came with such fate. [You''ve lost twenty points of health,] [Total health = 113/133] After the system gave out such a notification, the ze-like attack had already dissipated. But the problems had not exactly halted there, specifically since the enemy''srge body violently slithered across the waters! And it was easy to notice what this opponent craved, he wanted this whole small group of fish to embrace death. So of course this was the best time to fight back, Timmy certainly didn''t want to stay idly by while this bastard attacked. For a second the sea-disk thanked his bodily-durability upgrades for enduring all the damage of that shot, and then his fins put in work to tame this battle. He pped the waters as hard as he could, just to fling a meter or so behind so he could gain more space. The enemy charged forward as if there was no tomorrow, so an extra second was always good in such a matter. In the process of dashing backwards, the hero decided to try his luck once more, with a specific powerful attack. So he hollered with all of his strength, "Azq''s scream!" And of course a small bit of silver light, shot out of his mouth and instantly expanded, as it headed towards this foul enemy! Timothy hoped for the impact to be strong enough, to entrap this bastard in a wholeyer of silver ~ such a result would help them out big time. But the silver shot simply crashed against the enemy''s head, and disappeared in that very same second. This had left the hero in a sour situation, where he had to escape the enemy''s ashy jaws! The only problem was that the opposition was just a few meters away, and approached at speeds far faster than Timmy could achieve. But the hero didn''t n to be target practice for some overgrown worm. No, he wanted to fight even though he was utterly terrified regarding how this enemy, effortlessly resisted his most powerful attack! So as an attempt to fight back, the hero pped his fins against the water a couple more times, just to escape the opponent''s route. At that same second he shouted, "Grey-tail!" And of course a transparent tail of the mentioned colour, appeared out of thin air and attached itself to the hero''s physical tail. With enough desperation, the sea-pancake managed to fling the three meter long weaponry, right across the waters and towards the enemy''s abdomen. This move was especially useful, due to the fact that he floated upside down right now. His strength had been upgraded a couple of times, so it was no surprise that the sheer amount of raw strength forced him to swim in reverse. But as it was mentioned, in this case his strength proved useful, because he could properly attack this enemy right across the belly! In the process he saw small portions of the enemy''s gravell-like skin, falling across the waters. A great portion of that rubblended against the sea-pancake''s face in the process, but it didn''t seem to cause any recognizable damage. So Timmy slid against the enemy''s body until his grey-tail degenerated. Afterwards he swam away once he found an opening. It only took one nce to figure out that the enemy had reduced in size, even though the difference was less than a tenth per scale. Such a result was weird, because he only attacked the enemy across the abdomen. So it was odd how the result equaled to therge snake''s body length shortening down! But the hero felt satisfied and wanted to attack again, but it seemed like the team beat him to it. Snoopy joined the battle, and he seemed to have analysed the situation enough, because the attack he embraced seemed tremendously dangerous! He was bold enough to face this fifteen-meter long snake, head on! The both of them embraced collision, and of course therge opposition tried to scorch this stingray alive! But Snoopy had met with quite a mutation, long ago. He was the definition of a floating chunk of rusty metal! So of course the fire-like attack had no effect against him! At the same time this brave stingray shapeshifted himself into a cone-shaped chunk of metal, and felt ready to finally collide! Therge enemy pped its body up and down across the waters, much like a sea-snake ~ but in this case such instinctive movements, signed its own death certificate. Because once Snoopy crashed, and punctured through thisrge snake''s dark head, he could continue to sink deeper into the enemy. As a portion of the opponent''s body jerked upwards, he could rupture through its stone-like skin and make his way through another portion. So ultimately he pierced through this overgrown worm, multiple times before he met with its tail! A great amount of gravel fell towards this tunnel''s tar filled ground, and the result after it was truly difficult toprehend. The team nced once more towards this enemy that proved to be a true challenge, and noticed that this beast had drastically shrunk in size! And at the moment it was only three meters long! Chapter 330: A kiss from their mother Chapter 330: A kiss from their mother I really love this kid, Gechplimented the metal-coated stingray. The whole team had plenty of reasons to be blissful. They didnt quite expect for such a massive enemy to be taken care of swiftly, no it almost didnt add up. Necessarily they were happy to obtain the greater advantage under such a short period of time, and they felt ready to send this three-meter-long enemy towards death, however the hell these things died? But before the team could have done anything rash, the gravelly-snake decided to interrupt their train of thought. He had even made an attractive offer, Dont kill me I can lead you to powers beyond imagination. Such a pitch did sound interesting, but the old mantis shrimp decided to decipher the paternal w behind this concept. Likewise he pointed out, If there was any great power, you would take it for yourself. Smart, Dana peachelyplimented as a smirk grew across her face. That great power isnt in my home, I wouldnt be dealing with you right now if it was under my possession. The gravell-snake boldly specified. Okay that sounds honest enough, TImothy decided to swoop in this conversation. And then he questioned, Where is this great power, oh long one? His question was half of a tease, but he was eager to explore possibilities. Irritance was evident in the others tone, but the opposer could still inform. Its in another tunnel, far greater than my home here that you have invaded. And why didnt you go there already? Im sensing this is all just a big fat lie. Gech decided to point out the ws once more. This time the red-haired snake decided to shout a little bit, Ive been down here for thousands of years you fool! Who would be hot-headed enough to leave home after such a long time? Makes sense, Timothy decided to intervene once more. And then he questioned, What is this great power you keep talking about? Why its the blessing of our mother herself, The opposer revealed. What? The hero wholeheartedly questioned on behalf of the entire group. And quite shamelessly, the other described. A blessing from our mother will grant you great power. My strength has faded away over time, and I need another one of her kisses to restore all of my capabilities. And thats why you were so easy to beat? Timmy tried to help make sense out of this. Yes. My body isnt purged with the impurities of this tunnel, I do not draw power from these dirty walls. Well this definitely opened another topic. And the sea-pancake didnt shy away from expanding it, Do you mean the green-tar, its been down here all along? Yes, The overgrown worm answered. And then continued, This tar had been here ever since my kind migrated to these tunnels. We dont know if our beloved mother has anything to do with it, but every pure brother and sister of mine avoided this vile substance. Why? The hero weighed in as he desperately tried to catch up. It can turn the purest soul dark, The snake partially exined, but that chatter had met with a halt. Primarily because a little old man had attacked with such power, that the worm itself disintegrated wholly! Such a reaction definitely wasnt expected, but the team wasnt mad about it. Yet they were still curious. Which was why the hero asked, Why did you do that? He was giving out information for free! It was all just a bunch of mrkey, Gech excused himself. And then exined, How could this powerfuldy be their mother, if they were the ones who migrated here? Fair point, The hero decided to agree. After that point the conversation dimmed down. The key points were discussed a few times, and the team still felt that Gechs reaction was too dramatic, but neither of them paid too much attention towards such an aspect. Instead they decided to sink deeper towards this very same tunnel, as they all had a sense that there was more to explore down here. Apart from that, a side goal had dawned within the group. They didnt fully trust that gravell-snake, but they got the impression that there was an even bigger tunnel to explore, which was separated from the one they were currently in. They werent sure regarding how true that could be, but they were willing to explore the possibilities once they fully explored the current tunnel. But now they met with yet another halt, even though they havent met with an actual enemy. This pause solely surrounded Osira, and she decided to be quite direct about it for the sake of safety. I dont feel so good, She briefly described to get their attention. And once gazes were allured towards her, she revealed. It feels like something wants to crush me, I don''t know what it is though. Before anyone could theorize regarding the overall reasons, Gech was swift to properly inform what could be going on. Its the water pressure, He slightly shouted. And then weighed in, It would be bad if you fight it, you could quite likely die. So I should turn back and flee? She questioned as her ego was slightly hurted. We will, The old man corrected. And then properly exined, The water pressure is hurting me as well. You and I will turn around and wait for the rest up there. Everyone knew that the ck-grouper would boldly disagree, and the team expected an argument to break loose for the very same matter. That was why the hero decided to encourage, Thats the best idea. Trust me, heavy water like this can crush the shit out of you. Timothy was fairly the most experienced of them all in any field of pain. Sure most of the team was older by age, but he was the one who explored the sea the most inparison. So of course the fine grouperdy could only agree, If you die down there, we wont be friends anymore. Literally right? Dana cracked a joke in the midst of this strong scene. But the heros emotional intelligence had been upgraded a few times already, so he could understand the paternal reasons behind the ck-groupers behaviour. So of course he figured out a way to ease tension, You wont feel alone again in this life, dont worry. Afterwards thedy smiled softly which admittedly pointed out towards sess. The heros memory was still fuzzy, but he still remembered where he found Osira in the very beginning. She had been surrounded by halfly crazed fish of her kind, who embraced abuse and a rough way of living. Osira was the only one between them who could think outside of the box, and figured out that many innocent fish were being killed without a reason. So ultimately she felt alone between that little tribe, because she was the only one who had a sense of justice. Timothy was the hero who put an end to those bastardous groupers, and proved that he shared the same sense of justice as her. But at the moment he also understood that the ck-grouper didnt want to be alone anymore, she didnt want to feel lonesome in a den full of fish. That was the prime reason behind her fear, she didnt want to lose the bundle of her friends who mostly embraced a sense of justice and equity! Chapter 331: Could crystals blink? Chapter 331: Could crystals blink? After the few friends exchanged their kind gestures, the couple of fish who could not withstand water pressure made their way upwards for the sake of survival. Timothy continued to dwell deeper into this tunnel, with the couple other allies that remained by his side, and he felt a bit ufortable through the process. Sure he hadplete faith in his brother and Dana too, but the thought of being less in number was a bit intimidating. He hoped that this journey wouldnt unravel any more threats, and gave benefits instead such as valuable information. But regarding how this day would y out, what remained of the team could only make their best guess; and of course it would be worse if they cancelled the exploration expedition, so they had to keep going. At the moment they were nearly four-hundred meters under the sea ground! Typically such depths would crush the life out of most shallow-water fish, but there were a couple of aspects that worked to the teams advantage. Simply said, they arent average fish whatsoever. Each team member had gone through some voluntary or involuntary changes in the past, and these changes made them powerful and enduring. Gech and Osira had been mutated as well, that was rather clear at this point - but their depth endurance simply seemed weaker, that was everything that made them turn back. Apart from individual endurance, the way that this tunnel was structured aided the rest of the team to be more enduring. Therge tunnel for example, curled tens of times so far, which aided to derive sea-pressure quite swimmingly. That aside, the team endured the pressure that came out of the thirty-meter tunnel, not the whole sea. So necessarily each of them could sink deeper than usual, as there was less pressure that could take their lives. As for how much they could endure before they are forced to turn back, neither of them were sure. Their best option was to continue their exploration attempts, and of course they did exactly so. What they did not expect however, was that the overall scene of this tunnel would drastically change after just two-hundred more meters of swimming. The whole team was quite used to witnessing a whole amount of tar through this tunnel, so it almost felt unnatural when they noticed that the deeper portions werent filled with tar! They didnt quite understand how the tar stretched this deep underneath the surface, so obviously they wouldnt understand how that same substancecked in quantity down here. Their eyes could only capture a bunch of crystals now, and it was fair to say that they were dumbfounded! The whole portion of this tunnel was covered with crystals and gems, and each of them simply shone with illumination! Such grand details raised the conclusion that the entire tunnel was covered in gems, rather than just a portion of it; but were covered in tar for some reason? The conclusion would make sense, as after all it would be easier for the taller crystals to stick out of the tar, and for the short ones to be coated by that same substance. This theory raised another conclusion, and Timothy was the first to point it out. He cleared his throat and expressed, I think that big worm told the truth this ce really was his home. Nah he was just filled with a load of bullshit, Snoopy was the first to disagree. Dana sought reasons to agree with the hero, but she barely had any idea what the other meant. So she saw it as the most logical to be quiet. Come on man, would the holy-tar sect cant fill this entire shit with gems in three days. The sea-pancake weighed in with reasoning. But of course his sibling was naturally sceptical too, so he had to question. What do they have to do with any of this? I dont know, but theyre probably not behind this at all Timothy tried to exin. His sibling swiftly caught up this time and cooperated, Which means that something else has sted this hole open either that or this ce was down here all along? Exactly! Timothy shouted, and felt happy that his thought was fullyprehended by a second teammate. And we made fun of that snakes mother Dana pointed out the sadder side behind their previous actions. Snoopy was the prime reason behind that same snakes demise, and he didnt feel quite happy about it once they made these slight realisations. So he wanted to push those thoughts aside, which was why he pitched an idea. That so-called mother is what we should be looking for, maybe she can help us figure things out. Maybe we can find her down here, Timothy expressed but was mostly wishful. Unlikely, Snoopy firmly disagreed. And then reigned logic across the conversation, That worm wanted to head for another tunnel to look for his mother, so I dont think we can find anything important down here. We went this far, so we will go deeper. The sea-pancake insisted. Of course the team could only follow that idea now, so they sank another hundred meters deeper below. They couldnt help admiring the whole scene that enveloped this deeper portion of the tunnel. Since tar was entirelycking in this portion, they could only see a massive variety of gems and crystals. Since the grand illumination in this portion did not hurt their eyes at all, the team was given the opportunity to admire another aspect of this scenery. There were tens of colours in this portion of the tunnel. A good half of them were different shades of red, but there were many crystals of other colours. So in a way, the team felt like they were heading towards a beautiful death. In this situation it was no surprise that beauty coulde hand to hand with the stunning unknown. What had not been discovered yet could prove dangerous. The view here was beautiful enough to be considered a once in a lifetime scene, but the team sure as hell hoped that such a term wouldnt prove itself literal. In addition to such an aspect, the team met with a scene that proved itself both intriguing and possibly dangerous. At first it was even difficult to acknowledge the possible danger, but once they did, their hearts almost went through their stingray tails! It simply wasnt easy on the conscious to have crystal blink at them That was why the team had it difficult toprehend, that there was some bizarre version of crystal-fish locking eyes with them! Chapter 332: Crystal fish indeed blink, and more Chapter 332: Crystal fish indeed blink, and more Timothy decided to swim forward and interact with these odd fish, as he hriously was the most talkative one of what remained in this group. With enough of a casual tone, he spoke to them. "Hello crystal creature thing... Do you understand me?" "Well of course," One of them answered softly. But the team instantly managed to notice a weird thing about that answer. Simply put, this odd fish didn''t move its mouth whatsoever. Yet it still spoke! It was tremendously difficult to understand however the hell that worked, but the team were lightly spooked already. They tried to collect their thoughts enough to give a proper reply, but these motionless fish had concerns of their own. Likewise one out of this bundle questioned, "Who created you? We haven''t seen anything like you before." "What do you mean who created us?" Dana decided to intervene, as she was quite curious. Through a bit of hesitance, one of these crystal fish described. "Who''s your mother... do you have a big mother like us?" Timothy was the first to catch up on what these fish meant, and he decided to cure all confusion out of this situation. That was why he boldly revealed, "We have mothers, yes... but we weren''t born in this big tunnel of yours sir shiny fish." "You came out of one of the sister tunnels? How''s that even possible? The gate had been sealed since... forever." One of these odd fish yelled thanks to perplexity. "Your home isn''t sealed off anymore," Timothy pointed out casually just to push such a topic aside. And before that concept could have been fully pondered by the others, the young man decided to extend a simr topic for the sake of reaping information. Likewise he asked, "Do you have any idea what could have blown the gate open?" After a moment one of these crystal fish answered, "We don''t know... you probably should ask the source." "Who''s the source?" The hero instantly asked. He felt positive that they could finally get a lead regarding what happened around here, simply since a source sounded rather useful. Through a mumble one of these fish specified, "The source is like a, uh... very weird fish with skin." "Don''t all fish have skin?" The hero pressured. But the other didn''t answer and simply mumbled through the topic, "She''s the one whomands this entire tunnel, and could be powerful enough to open the gate after so long..." "Okay to the source we go then. Can you tell us where we can find her?" The young man asked as hope enveloped his heart. "Uh... we don''t know," One of these odd fish admitted. Afterwards the same one offered, "But our mother knows, would you like toe and ask her?" "Long as you don''t kill us," Dana intervened with a joke. She had been feeling a lot better ever since she got her body back. So unsurprisingly, her true personality could unravel itself as there wasn''t much to worry about. So far she seemed and sounded quite peachy. These weird fish lightly giggled to that joke, and afterwards they all swam towards one side of the tunnel and gestured to be followed. At first the small team of stingrays were hesitant, but then Timothy exchanged a nce with them. Dana could literally read the young man''s mind, so she felt confident to proceed with such a task. As for Snoopy, his intelligence was always rather high so he could intercept bodynguage quite effortlessly. And with that confidence they followed the bundle of crystal fish, and made their way towards some small tunnel. The area here was coated in a dark-red colour, and these weird creatures were mostly yellow and red by skin. So now the team of stingrays couldprehend just how these oddities looked like. The best way to describe them was that they gave a retro vibe. Sure they seemed like wless diamonds, but they barely had any texture on them and literally did not move while they swam! In a short note, they just seemed like floating shiny stones; they weren''t exactly incredible, but their existence alone was thought provoking. Thankfully they were just a foot-long each, and weren''t so chubby either; otherwise Tim felt nervous about fighting any of those if the situation developed in such a matter. The tunnel they entered right now was short lengthed, as they suddenly met with another opening. Unsurprisingly they were surrounded by more gem-encrusted walls, as this portion of this whole underground society featured only such details. But the aura that this portion gave was equal to the sense of home. The ce seemed more like a cavern, and was less spiky inparison to what they left behind. In other words, one couldy over this ce''s flooring and feel at ease. The cavern-like structure was about fifty meters wide, so obviously that was quite convenient as well in terms of calling a ce home. The teams attention was instantly captured by other fish of this same species, they counted in the tens in number. Such numbers didn''t exactly seem massive, but that was understandable. Since apart from this odd species being real, the massive tunnel behind them was supposedly sealed away for thousands of years. Such circumstances could end any civilisation, so the existence of these fish was an amazing oddity itself. These fish mostly had a red colour, so they could be easily told apart from this cavern, which had a rxing light-blue colour coating most of the area. After a moment the few fish that befriended them, led the team to a bigger crystal creature. It took little thought to figure out that this massive, seven-feet wide fish, was their mother. Thismunity probably worked simr to ants, they all had one mother. And considering that every crystal fish was like a copy of the other, such a perception made quite some sense. But for a moment the team was a tad confused regarding why they were being led towards thisrge crystal fish. They couldn''t quite catch up, until one of the smaller ones decided to speak out on behalf of their name. Sorry to bother you mother, but these new fish are seeking your help. I assure you that they too have important information to give you. That same smaller fish recited. It was difficult to understand why such a diplomatic form of expression was embraced between them, but at least this tiny fish proved useful. After a few grunts, therge fish thatid across the crystal caverns flooring, mumbled. New? What do you mean new fish? Chapter 333: Blinking crystals can be irrational Chapter 333: Blinking crystals can be irrational Considering the previous question that had been asked by this massive crystal fish, the whole team expected that it would take a good half hour to provide proper exnations. Its difficult enough to exin how the team got down here, surely it would be even more perplexing if these crystal fish tried to exin their entire origin. Theye from the outside world, mother, the gate has been unsealed. One of the smaller fish of this odd kind, repeated. What? Therger one shouted with all of her might. And that was when the team expected for a lot of doubt to be unravelled by the other. This civilization of fish was isted so they likely wont believe that a whole world waited for them on the other side. But contrary to all expectations, this mother whom these fish likely considered as a prime leader, decided to shun doubt away and embraced quite a different outlook. These new fish are intruders, they want to take our home you damn fools! Therge fish shouted out. As the heros face curled sour he contradicted, Hell nody! I couldnt care less about your home. But it didnt seem like the other one nned to listen. Instead she encouraged quite a crude solution. Attack them! Kill them before they shout for their own dirty kind toe here and invade our home! The massive old woman demanded with the aid of the loudest holler yet. And it didnt seem like these smaller fish would prove themselves as difficult towards their mother. They instantly heeded the demand regardless of how crude the idea sounded. The only fishes of this kind who portrayed hesitant and slow movements, were the very few fish who led the group to this cavern. It was evident that they did not want to fight, but it was also obvious that the pressure these crystal creatures received from their mother, was weak inparison to the pressure that was inflicted by the entire tribe! Yet it was unimportant regarding who in this tribe wanted to put up a fight. As Timothy and his friends were simply ready to battle, that was what mattered the most. The whole team was eager to gain their foothold in this battle, but Snoopy proved the fastest here inparison! He charged directly towards this big mother of theirs that controlled the entire tribe, and aimed to deliver as much damage as he could in a few seconds! Within a blink of an eye he crashed right against the said enemy, and managed to indulge himself between that same opposing body! SImply because his skin was as tough as metal, if not more durable? And when that was paired with a cone-like formation that he shape-shifted himself towards, the result was simply marvelous. He crashed against this big mother-fish, and created quite a view for all of the spectators in this cavern. The enemy simply exploded in all directions, and even a moron could figure out that the impact yed the main role to such a result! Such a devastating result pushed this entire enemy tribe towards quite enough shock. Neither of them were sure how to handle this situation, but it was certain that fear and anger clouded most of their emotions! And some of these crystal fish insisted on proving themselves enemies, they allowed their rage to be channeled towards action. A handful of these menaces decided to attack Timothys group! Such a number itself didnt seem massive inparison to the whole tribe, but every team member had to deal with at least three of these bastards! As for the rest of this tribe, they simply dashed towards many corners of this massive cavern. It was easy to see that their courage was broken thanks to the death of their beloved mother. That thought aside, such overall behaviour gave thebatants quite a big battle-ground to p their tails towards. And Snoopy was once more the first who initiated into close contact with these opposing enemies! He crashed right against one of these crystal fish, and managed to reap enough results since this enemy simply was far smaller inparison, it stretched only a single foot long! So while the young stingray boy confidently faced the other enemy, the rest of the team were trying out the effectiveness of their own powers against this species. Timothy was the second to prove himself as a worthy opponent. That wasnt a big surprisee to think of it, as his ego refused to allow any soul to prove troublesome against him. And when that type of ego was paired with a ridiculous amount of willpower, it simply worked out well. He didnt use any special powers to handle the first opponent, instead he embraced a method that had not been used after he attained more powers. Simply, he used brute strength to absolutely destroy one of these opponents! A blink after he collided with the first enemy, the hero brutally pped that same target with one of his fins! The result proved itself shattering, literally. The enemy ruptured and had its body spread around into a thousand pieces! The method was surely worthy enough to handle the actual problem. But in actuality he used such a method out of pure spite. The fact that this entire reef above their head had died, weighed above his t shoulders enough already. These crystal fish were most likely not rted to the overall disaster, but they could still be used as a tool to vent anger out. That was why he used the pointy bones at the end of his fins, to crack and stab the first enemy of this sort that he collided with! It was no secret that he would use a simr method towards the other opponents that challenged him, Timothy simply trusted in his literal strength to handle this raged argument. As for Dana, she didnt exactly want to fight. Especially since most of these crystal fish were angry and scared that their mother died. But this situation simply demanded her to fight, and it seemed like this was a good time for thedy to try out just how powerful that green-cube had made her! She sensed a lot of power channeling itself throughout the same green-veins that had grown around her skin recently. So undoubtedly, she decided to unlock the secrets that these very veins urged to reveal! Chapter 334: Five points, and the grand spiral Chapter 334: Five points, and the grand spiral At first it was difficult for thedy to understand her own veins. Sure they raged with some sort of power, but it was tricky to figure out just how to unlock these marvelous abilities. This aspect baffled Dana ever since she touched that crystal cube. But since this situation demanded crude action, her understanding of these veins was forced towards a boost! First things first she picked up that these green-veins worked together, to create five key points where all this power could be projected. That type of information was important. And it became even more useful once she figured out how to channel all those powers, towards the same five key points. It became apparent that her long andplex veins weren''t just for show; they entirely behaved like a bridge instead. It was difficult to grasp the definition of that detail, but she managed to break through. These green-veins acted like an extension of her own nervous system! Such a realisation, helped make sense regarding why it was difficult to grasp the patterns of these recent changes. And once she put these new veins into use, the stingraydy picked up one more grand detail! There apparently were five key-points, which could interject her powers to the outside world! And Dana was sure that her new green-veins acted as a bridge, which helped channel her power towards those key-points. That fact aside, all of this power seemed to have a source as well! This base manifestation of power was hidden deep within the youngdy''s body. Why this power behaved in such a matter was beyond her. Pure radiation wasn''t a context expansive enough to give a proper exnation, so that couldn''t be it. Yet right now she didn''t want to worry about that. Instead she focused on asserting dominance, against the three attackers who wanted her dead! That was when a few thin streams of green-light ruptured out of her body and wiggled their way towards battle! At first Dana was a bit confused regarding the exact location of these five key points, but now she was absolutely certain. The light itself popped out of specific spots of her green veins. Two thin streams erupted right on top of her head, right from those bumps that behaved like ears! That aside, a single stream of light also made itself apparent on the fine eagle-ray''s tail, from the very tip to be exact. And the final two elongated portions of green-light erupted from thedy''s two fins! Her fins had a triangr shape since birth, and considering the rest of the process, it wasn''t a surprise how the key points were located at the very tip of those same fins. Now these details aside, all of this effort to break some light out of her body, was not just for show! These streams of power, headed towards the targeted enemy, as soon as they escaped from Dana''s body! But before any collision had been made apparent, these powers decided to prove themselves fascinating one more time! These streams of light connected with one another as they went forward. And afterwards they shaped into a small, but violent spiral! This spiral behaved a lot like some tiny tornado. But in this situation it moved horizontally, and had specific targets to terminate! The one foot long spiral crashed right against one of these crystal- fish, and the result proved itself beyond expectations! Upon collision, everyone nearby could hear a loud thud! This crash-like sound mixed with an ear-piercing sound, which was equal to the vibration of shattered ss! Before practically anyone could have analysed what just happened, the spiral delivered its final portion of this grand attack! The very crystal fish who wanted to attack the finedy, had suffered quite some unusual pain... Its body had been ripped into thousands of pieces, which ranged from tiny to whole chunks in size! And then the spiral spilled those very same portions, across all of the surrounding directions! It was no secret that the target had beenpletely obliterated after that point. This result hinted that the attack of which Dana unleashed, was confusingly powerful! Sure the team had seen plenty of situations, where various light-based powers had destroyed enemies in some brutal ways. But what thisdy had unleashed a moment ago, was far more perplexing. Simply because that enemy had not exploded in such a manner, from brute strength alone. No, there were other factors that contributed towards the whole result! Specifically speaking, the spiral itself had prated the enemy at first, and then unleashed many vein-like branches all across the same targets body! And when those veins thickened within a blink of an eye, the crystal fish had no other option but to explode! Dana was uncertain if she could attain the same result against an enemy who had flesh and bones, but surely the future could give her the opportunity to figure things out. As for now she had to deal with a couple other enemies, which didnt back down regardless of the vile scene they just witnessed! Timothy on the other hand had quite a bit of fun. He already finished off thebatants that opposed him. And it was fair to say that the methods he had used were quite crude. Of course most of his power-attacks featured brute strength, but in this situation he literally pped these enemies to death, all for the pure sake of spite. The battle was over before it even began, and the system decided to give a few notifications regarding this matter. [Youve killed three of these crystal-coated species of fish,] [Its extremely difficult to understand if they are dead or alive, since they dont have any organs and cant particrly move either] [But they canmunicate, fight and reason. So its a good idea to reward your efforts] [Since this battle wasnt exactly difficult for you, its best to scale this reward with thirty-five system points in total] [As for the contribution you made towards the discovery of this new species, you get three-hundred system points as a reward] I should have discovered weird ass fish long ago, The hero lightly joked around. But then he thought about another enemy that these tunnels had provided. Almost instantly, a few realisations regarding that matter made the boy a little greedy! Chapter 335: Peace isnt always well-intended Chapter 335: Peace isn''t always well-intended Likewise the hero pressured, What about that big snake we saw and uh that big gravell-fish too. Pretty sure I killed that one! [Technically Osira killed that fish in thest second, so you wont get a reward for that kill] And just before the sea-pancake unleashed endless waves ofints, the system continued to chatter. [As for the aspect of discovery, you get a total of five-hundred system points due to your efforts and risks] [Total system points = Twenty-three-hundred and thirty-three] Woohoo! Im getting rich again and all I had to do was smack some fools! The hero loudly celebrated. No stranger could quite understand what he was talking about, so such an outburst wouldnt really bring any problems. Besides, this tribe of odd fish were more worried about the ughter that went on here. The system found a pocket of time again so she decided to notify, [Theres one more thing] [These crystal fish you killed, dont fit in any of the species I already know about, but they still need to fit in any category] [So Ill push them to the tasked ughter category, which will mark three more tasks asplete] [In total you have forty-one system given tasks, considered asplete] So my bars will upgrade again! Timothy instantly celebrated. Todays wins seemed like too much. And at this point the hero felt sure that the chase towards the unknown, was quite rewarding! Now he felt motivated to put himself out there even more! [Correct,] The system assured. [Your new primary bars are the following] [Health bar = 146/146] [Hunger bar = 23/23] [Sleep bar = 51/51] [Stamina bar = 23/23] [I think you are aware of the benefits thate with these bars?] Uh The sea-disk mumbled as he tried to recall. [This increase will thicken the overall density of these bars, they arent just bigger numbers] [Every point in those bars is more capable now, and can give you quicker benefits upon replenishing] [We can take the health bar as an example. Your wounds can heal almost half as fast now, inparison to when you first got this body] "I don''t know how that works, but..." Timothy went through a mumble. [The density of your health has increased by forty-six points, so naturally this bar is more powerful now when ites to healing wounds, if that makes sense?] Uhhh The hero felt quite dumbfounded. He had to ponder over this information for quite a bit, but eventually he managed to catch up with most of this concept. This increase in primary bars was certainly a great benefit, and he was almost eager to get hurt in order to try out the density. But he didnt want to focus on that right now. Instead he gave a bit of attention, towards a sensation that indirectly whispered in his mind. This sensation was more of a feeling instead of a thought. It primarily demanded souls, so the hero managed to figure out what the issue was. He had not sacrificed any souls to Azq for a while. Sure these odd fish around here were kible, but it was almost as if they did not have a soul! This created a minorplication. Because for some reason, the heros mind remained sharp only if he sacrificed a whole soul to that self-proimed god, with the aid of the silver scream. It was still difficult to understand the whole concept behind that, but the hero figured that if he dyed such a procedure any longer, his mind would be clouded again. And such a fate would be difficult to handle. Because apart from all of his senses turning numb, he would lose most concentration and cognitive functions as well. In short words, he wouldnt be any different from a swimming zombie, as he nearly wouldnt have a mind of his own. The idea of such a fate was terrifying already, so he aimed to avoid it at all cost. He had to find some normal fish to kill and soon, but for now his attention steered towards the actual battle. Timmy noticed that most of his team had already killed every crystal fish that opposed them. Such a scene wasnt exactly a surprise. Every member of this team was individually powerful, and these enemies could barely be considered an opposition. But what proved odd instead, was Danas motivation to build up peace between the two parties. It was ironic after considering that she too killed a few of this tribes fish just a moment ago, yet her motivation seemed firm. Her eyes dotted towards a few fish that hid around a boulder-shaped chunk of crystal. She could see them quite clearly due to her superior senses. Towards that little group she shouted, Dont be afraid, we never came here to harm any of you. It seemed that those fish were a bit convinced already, they surely aimed for peace too. Perhaps their courage had been broken after they witnessed several of their kind, exploding in a matter of a minute. Regardless of the sole reason behind their cooperation, Dana intended to milk such behaviour as much as she could. Likewise she decided to remind these odd fish, We wanted help from your mother but she tried to have us dead! If she asked us to leave your home, we would have left. But the rest of you never chose to attack us. Most fish would consider you cowards, but Im willing to look at all of you as peace lovers! She hollered so the entire cavern could hear her out. And the final portion of her speech guaranteed, Me and my friends dont want to kill you, pleasee out so we can all have a peaceful talk. Actually Id love to kill more of them, Timmy interrupted, he was quite reward-oriented with that im. But afterwards he got quite a rough stare, from the samedy who tried so hard to build up peace. To make it worse Snoopy had to express, Id kill them too really. Theyre the ones who lured us in here and tried to kill us after. Okay my friends are just mad, but they wont kill you without a reason! Dana shouted once more, as she tried to replenish her shattered efforts. Chapter 336: What made a brave lady nervous! Chapter 336: What made a bravedy nervous! Eventually it appeared that Dana''s efforts were worthwhile. As these crystal fish simply chose to cooperate, right after they embraced a bit of logic. At first only a few of these fish were brave enough to approach the same stingrays, who ughtered members of their tribe a moment ago, but that eventually became beneficial. After the majority witnessed that these few crystal fish weren''t being attacked, the others simply were motivated to swim forward. This created a domino effect. The entire tribe became convinced that this little team of stingrays were hostile, only if they were attacked. Some of these odd fish feltfortable, and some were still doubtful; but the overall peace between the two parties had drastically replenished. After tens of sentences that guaranteed assurance, Dana decided to put the team''s main task in front of everything else. That was why she calmly asked, "Okay so we''re all friends now, great. Now do any of you know where we can find the source?" Neither of the team were exactly sure regarding what they should expect from this... source? They were even clueless regarding how connected this source was, with the overall disaster up on the reef. They couldn''t quite puzzle things together. The team even assumed that this massive tunnel didn''t have anything to do with the overall disaster. But it was these exact uncertainties that pushed the team forward. If this so-called source had useful information to share, then the team felt pressured to figure things out. Contrary to what the stingraydy hoped for, the tribe members shared an aura of silence. Neither of them answered Dana''s desperate question, and at this point it almost seemed like these creatures hid something. So she had to pressure once more, "Really? Neither of you know where we can find the source?" "We don''t know..." A crystal fish lightly answered. And then urged to add, "But there''s this big fish who probably knows," "Okay then where can we find that fish?" Timothy decided to intervene. "It doesn''t like being interrupted, so it''s a bad idea to send you there." Another one of these odd fish decided to point out. But then the hero assured them with a cocky smile, "That''s okay. We can fight it if that''s what it''s looking for." "That''s a bad idea," Another crystal fish between these tens, advised. But before a long debate could have broken out that solely featured ego, Dana decided to advance this exchange of information. "Can any of you take us to this big fishdy?" She questioned. "Yes," Several fish answered all at once. With a small sigh the stingraydy expressed, "Problem solved then." "Actually there is one more thing," Another one of these weird fish broke into the conversation. "What is it now?" Dana asked, as her patience swiftly spread thin. That same fish who spoke out earlier, now revealed. "Your friend killed our mother. Now we need to find a new one or our entire tribe will die within a week." "What does that even mean?" Timothy mumbled from a distance of a few feet. Before any sub-topics could have unfolded, Dana advanced. "Okay and how can we help you find a mother?" "We don''t need to find a mother," A crystal fish corrected. And then added, "It''s easy to make a mother, either of us just needs to eat a Gantap crystal." "And just what the hell is that?" Timothy intervened once more. "It''s a crystal," The other answered, unintentionally sassy. And then continued, "But it''s guarded by a me-haired snake, so we can''t get one alone." Snoopy could put two and two together, enough to figure out what kind of species these fish referred to. He had actually almost killed what could have been the same type, so of course he felt confident to face another one. That was why he stated, "I''ll go find this crystal for them, you two just go meet that big fish or whatever." It felt fair for Snoopy to handle this extra situation, as he was the one who killed this tribe''s mother to begin with. "You want to split up?" The stingraydy questioned for the sake of pressuring the other. With a casual tone the other assured, "Yeah, it shouldn''t be dangerous so it''s not a big deal." The idea itself sounded good enough, as it should help the whole team progress a few steps forward, even though they were working individually. But all the finedy could think of, was. "I''ll be alone with Timmy?" The idea made her already nervous, and she could feel herself bing awkward from this point even. For a minute she was frozen on her spot, and wasn''t exactly talkative either. She did not notice that Snoopy had already left with a handful of fish, for the sake of soughting that weird crystal. And the hero was in front of thedy at the moment. He kept waving his tail for the gooddy''s attention. It took her another half a minute to break out of that trance-like state, but now she could at least cooperate. She also heard her friend stating, "We''re ready to go meet that big fish. Are you doing alright?" "Uh I''m good," The stingray woman answered all honestly. And after a light sigh the hero expressed, "Thought that your powers paralyzed you or something." And before the other could have fully analyzed the surroundings here, the hero gestured for her to follow along. They slowly swam out of this cavern, and found themselves in therge tunnel that they originally had travelled through. It was confusing how these fish made their way around in this area, as every wall was just coated with crystals, so naturally it would be difficult to make any details out. But yet these odd fish were oriented enough to swim in a straight line, and were still aware of where they were headed. Eventually they swam towards a small tunnel that resided on the other side of thisrge main route. And of course they followed this rabbit-hole deeper, to meet what they swiftly traveled for. Chapter 337: Dark void, and its relation towards infinity! Chapter 337: Dark void, and its rtion towards infinity! When the team headed to meet this proimedrge fish, they had quite a few expectations regarding how their meeting would y out. Their best guess was that such a fish would either prove cooperative, or hostile; either of those scenarios sounded reasonable. But what they did not expect whatsoever, was to be covered in a whole load of tar, right after they passed through a snug tunnel! Considering a few situations in the past, the couple of team members expected to turn into some powerful monsters now. It clearly was a bad fate to be touched with tar, throughout most asions at least. That was why the team of two panicked, and tried to figure out where all these substances came from! A second ago they were solely surrounded by various crystals, so the sudden appearance of tar was especially shocking. They peeked around for a second or two, but couldn''t quite find the reason behind this entrapment. Timothy wiggled his fins a few times, and noticed that it was quite easy to move around. It was because the tar here was far more liquid-like inparison to what the team had seen before. The texture of this tar was no different from slime,e to think of it. The only difference between it and water was the green colour and the slightly thicker density. Dana picked up on these details as well, so she too sunk into quite a bit of confusion. But since the slime itself was not forcing them towards any changes, they only saw it reasonable to swim around this area until they found cleaner waters. The crystal fish seemed to have made a dash out of here, perhaps this sudden eruption of slime had spooked them in some way? This fine stingraydy, dwelled towards a bit of anger right after she noticed the disappearance of their escorts. Those odd fish didn''t mention any tar whatsoever, so it almost seemed like they wanted to send these couple of stingrays to their death! She was angered for a moment, but that rage swiftly faded thanks to a firm distraction! They have swam away from the slime and entered clean waters. These friends were seemingly unscathed too, so the slime was one problem less to worry about. As for what had distracted the couple of friends, it took little effort to put it into brief words. Yet a whole series would be necessary just to describe the depths of this scene! Their eyes captured arge fish, but the situation was far more advanced than that. They did see a fish, but at the same time they didn''t see any solid animal. It was apparent that the creature in front of them was real and in one piece, but that term failed to live up to its name. The fish in front of them, somehow separated and connected over and over ~ this procedure was in a constant loop! Thisrge thing circled and twisted around itself, and created quite an illusion. Timothy thought that this was just a weird fish that was shaped like the number eight, but that number seemed horizontal. So necessarily this fish looked like the infinity sign! As for Dana, she saw a solid representation of a fish. Perhaps she could see more clearly since all of her senses were heightened? Regardless of the prime reason, the scene that their eyes were blessed with, was truly like nothing they have ever seen before. The fish itself was around twenty meters wide, but no one could tell the exact measures. As for this creature''s actual colour, it seemed quite dark in shade. And when that fact was paired with this species'' continuous body-movements, the scene in front of them had little difference from a void. Chances were that this thing actually was a void. It had no solid shade, illusion was one of the many things that it embraced, and its visual representation featured the infinity sign. There was no true way to describe this creature, and the couple of stingrays were almost frightened to ask for details. Timothy gave a small peek at the massive cavern they were surrounded with. It had to be at least one hundred meters wide! And there undoubtedly were crystals in every portion of these walls, whom provided illumination. Once either of them nced down, they could see a massive pool of slime residing across the entire lower portions of this cavern. This overall scene was quite beautiful, and these friends would need quite a while toprehend its whole contents. But the creature in front of them begged for attention. Although it spoke extremely slowly, it still managed to push its meaning through. "You seek the source my dear friends, that I have picked up before you even knew what to look for." The creature recited. It''s tone was deeper than anything these stingrays have heard of before. But yet this same voice had an extremely smooth texture within, so no word could bebelled as gibberish. Contrary to the topic of which this thing embraced, Timothy decided to question about an rming matter. "If you knew that we wereing for you, the hell did you poop on us for? I don''t want to grow a pair of legs because of your tar, I''m a fish you know." The hero ranted. "But my pool has only purified you, young one." The weird creature assured. And then slowly described, "Both of you carried over ten diseases. They could have ended your lives in seven years or less; I cured you." The hero was sceptical at first, but then he remembered the countless times he had been close to radiation. So ultimately he figured that the diseases of which this creature talked about, could have been several variations of cancer. So he found it fair to state, "Thank you... apologies for my doubts, lord big fish." In this case he didn''t want to be sarcastic whatsoever, and aimed to actually thank the creature in front of them, but that was the bestbel he coulde up with. "It''s quite alright," The being excused, as anger was practically non-existent in its tone. Afterwards this same weird animal aided to bring the main topic back, "So you seek the source of this tunnel? What can you do to show a sense of gratitude towards my help?" Chapter 338: A deal, that would bound the masses towards a truce. Chapter 338: A deal, that would bound the masses towards a truce. "What can we possibly give you?" Timothy questioned. For once he didn''t aim to be sassy, but was just utterly confused instead. This fish almost seemed like a descended god, so the hero doubted that a shrimp for a snack would do the trick. "Ah well look how fate meets with opportunity, lucky souls you two are and so am I." The darkened fish recited. Before the hero could have said anything stupid, Dana decided to take charge of this portion of the conversation. Shortly she questioned, "Can you tell us what you mean?" "You seek the source, correct?" The other questioned just to remind. To that the couple of stingrays simply nodded, they wholeheartedly agreed. The void''s tone thickened deeper as it described, "I can tell you where to find the source, but you shall aid me with a light task to show your gratitude." "Of course..." The hero criticised with a mumble. And then Dana instantly cooperated, "What can we do to help you?" "The gates have been unsealed, yes? But that only came with many problematic blessings for my kind..." At this point it seemed like the main topic was avoided. But questions could not be asked as the void simply continued, "The very slime that feeds and gives life to civilisations upon civilisations, has met with a halt." "Why did that happen?" The stingraydy questioned after she put quite some effort to catch up. Slowly but surely the other described, "Earthquakes... there were a mouthful of rumbles once the gate was blown up, and that has clogged our channel." Before a proper deal could have been made, the young man decided to intervene in the conversation once more, because he made a staggering realization! He impatiently questioned, "So you''re the one who makes tar?" "If you mean my holy slime... then yes, I am indeed the creator along with tens of my kind." The void assured. Although he could feel a strong gaze from thedy, the hero still continued. "Does this slime puke out to the outside world?" "Indeed... every excess slime blesses your wretched world with grand healing properties." The dark creature described. After that point the hero figured a lot of things out. He guessed that this slime erupted somewhere deep under the sea. With that considered, he figured that an illuminous enemy sect from the close past, had somehow used this slime for their purposes. That was why he decided to point out, "Your slime is stolen by others, lord spooky fish." Before that expression could have beenprehended as either sarcastic or serious, the young man continued. "A sect is adding some weird ass bricks and balls to your slime. And they''re making these small pools which brainwash and mutate other fish." He informed. And then expected an explosion of anger from the other, as it had quite a few reasons to be pissed off at the moment. But yet this creature didn''t seem to have emotions at all. It wasn''t either happy or sad, but maintained extreme neutrality instead. It''s tone was deep like that of any true void''s, it simply did not budge. "So our healing slime has eventually been corrupted by the outside world... we expected that quite long ago." It softly revealed. And then it guaranteed, "But since this so-called sect is proving troublesome to you, then perhaps there''s an extra gift I can give to you. That is, if you prove of aid to me now?" "We will help you," Timmy assured. And then instantly questioned out of curiosity, "What''s this gift you were talking about?" "If you help clear our canals, me and my kind will be bound to reduce our slime to the outside world." The void assured. "And you will tell us where the source is?" Dana moved in the conversation again, just for the sake of efficiency. "Indeed," The other assured. "Okay done deal." The hero agreed hurriedly. He was simply filled with bliss. Because if the enemy holy-tar sect actually corrupted this healthy slime, then a sudden halt in supply would give them a devastating blow. By now he was sure that the same sect had not destroyed the reef above their heads, but an effort like this would assure that they could not deliver an equal blow in the future. Just before he could celebrate thoroughly, this dark infinity-shaped void reminded them of the deal they made a moment ago. And didn''t shy away from the details, "You shall now enter our slime canals and must use a special soul technique to unclog them." "Soul what now?" Dana questioned. At this point she became sceptical, and thought that they had made a deal of which had no lively return. That was why she continued to pressure, "What are you going to do with our souls?" Oblivious to the light scold, this void used its soothing tone to bless the couple of stingrays with more details. "Me and all the members of my tribe, will send their soul energy towards you two." The other revealed. And then weighed in, "Once this energy is merged with the slime''s assertive properties, it will create a cleansing remedy that will force the canals to clean up." "But...?" Timothy helped the other keep on track, as he noticed there was more to this. The same infinity-shaped fish described, "The souls of you two brave creatures, will momentarily bind to push our effort forward. The willpower you two carry is beyond grand, there wouldn''t be better candidates who could prove of aid to us." And it sensed that there were hints of scepticism within the couple of stingrays, so it added another detail before any other questions could have been asked. "This soul binding technique will require an extreme amount of intimacy from the both of you, otherwise all efforts will go in vain." The odd creature described casually. Although Timothy practically hated this situation, he couldn''t help but to unleash his sarcastic side towards the dilemma. For that matter he expressed, "So I will lose my virginity while dipped in slime... what a perfect first-time for everything." After it sensed this misunderstanding, the void instantly corrected. "There''s no such fate with soul binding, believe me." Dana caught up with what the actual topic was, and she instantly synced towards unbearable levels of embarrassment. Sure this idea of intimacy sounded great in her head, but this opportunity seemed like it came out of the blue, it caught her off-guard. So she couldn''t really say anything, her mouth simply shivered in embarrassment. As for biological restrictions, the couple of stingrays were both old enough already. Dana was just ten days younger inparison. The void insisted that virginity wouldn''t be lost either, but if fate led towards that direction, both of them would at least be bodily ready to embrace the dilemma! Chapter 339: Bound between souls, all for the sake of progress... Chapter 339: Bound between souls, all for the sake of progress... After that point, the couple of stingrays were led towards some portion of the cavern. The weird void had assured them several times, that it and its kind would be in constantmunication with these heroes. Such a guarantee wasforting in one aspect and absolutely embarrassing at the same time. Sure this void would behave as a proper guide through the journey, but wouldn''t they be witnesses to the intimacy of which these stingrays would go through soon? Dana thought about those facts and felt beyond embarrassed already. Usually she wasn''t a discreet stingray, but in situations of intimacy she was beyond shy. It didn''t help her feelfortable, once the void-fish reminded that tens of its own kind, would witness the couple of stingrays getting at it. This was why she had been quiet through the short travel, she simply did not know how to approach this situation. They''ve been directed to a portion of the cavern, which led to a far smaller tunnel. This specific tunnel seemed to be just a couple of meters wide, it certainly smaller inparison to the main route they''ve left behind. But now they at least understood why these massive fish had not taken care of this situation themselves, they simply could not fit. The couple of stingrays had a pretty good view of what surrounded them, since this ce was covered with luminous crystals as well. And upon first nce they confirmed that one side of the tunnel, specifically the one that led downwards, had its route blocked by what seemed to be a copse. This blockade consisted of nothing but gems, which assured how plentiful this area was with that type of rock. If humans figured out a way to mine down here, the world would be a tenth richer. However, they recognized the problem and felt ready to deal with it for the sake of progress. Timothy called out for the void and asked, "Okay what are we supposed to do now?" Almost in cooperation to what the hero asked about, they could hear a deep tone that slightly shook this small tunnel''s walls. This voice asked, "Are you two ready to bind your souls?" The sea-pancake did not answer that question. Instead his focus darted towards Dana, as he wanted to figure out howfortable she was with all of this. Likewise he pressured, "Are you ready? Do you feel like you can handle all of this?" Thedy on the other side of the stick, seemed to have been quite deep in thoughts. She barely recognized the boy at this point, and was almost clueless regarding what he had asked about. But eventually she caught up and answered, "What other choice do we have....? I''m ready." Towards that expression the hero''s face softened, the stingraydy''s embarrassment was as adorable as it was heavy. Afterwards he faced the fully green-coloured crystal walls, and assured the void that they were ready, with the aid of a simple and short shout. And before this couple of stingrays could have settled with the idea of intimacy, they heard louder screams which coated every side of the tunnel. The depth of these hollers could change thews of gravity themselves, so it was fair to say that the little team''s attention had been conquered! But yet these voices weren''t exactly uttering in gibberish, their words had quite a lot of meaning, even though no new soul would understand the origin of this value. Thenguage that these voids used sounded ancient. But the stingrays could guess that this procedure had something to do with the soul binding technique. As for details, these loud shouts seemed to repeat a handful of words over and over. "Hakiitum azhamz lipuzakima Aresmqaal." "Hakiitum azhamz lipuzakima Aresmqaal." "Hakiitum azhamz lipuzakima Aresmqaal." Only god knew just what the hell that meant. But its effects proved apparent once that same sentence had been repeated for the tenth time! The team of two could sense their own bodies shaking violently at first. But this shiver was almost soothing, it behaved much like a massage! A split secondter they could somehow see their own bodies from above! As odd as it seemed, those same bodies swam out of the tunnel and headed towards that big cavern. But the main problem was that the views of these stingrays were stuck in the small tunnel! Such a scene was absolutely stunning, no normal pair of eyes would be able toprehend it fully. And at this point these friends hurriedly looked around, and managed to get a solid view of one another. Timothy could see a light-grey cloud generating in front of him. Through the process this same cloud shifted towards a dark-green colour, and built up a form which was simr to a feminine human''s. It took little effort to realise that this was Dana''s soul. This confirmed that the ancient soul-binding technique has been put into motion. And the details that grew with this fate were simply astounding! The hero witnessed this finedy''s soul transforming into a specific figure. She shaped towards the form of a naked human woman! In depth details weren''t exactly expansive, as she was slightly coated with a thin, green misty cloud. But the hero could spot enough spots, to figure out that Dana''s soul had formed into that of a light-weight human''s. She did not have an extensive amount of curves, but there was a unique beauty illuminating itself through this figure. And Timothy had transformed into a practically cloned shape. The only difference was his gender and the dark-grey colour that he carried. Now colour and shape regardless, these couple of souls grew increasingly allured towards each other. Perhaps this was the technique''s bit of work? They weren''t sure. But every bit of emotion had been stripped away from these couple of souls, and what remained was the pure crave for romance! Timothy floated forward and ced his hands around thedy''s waist. With a bit of work he pulled the other''s lower body towards him. And then he could feel that thedy purposely leaned forward, enough until their phantom-like chests touched with each other. Afterwards the couple locked themselves closer than ever, with the graceful aid of a kiss. Their soul-textured lips touched each other''s, and that was when another portion of the technique made itself apparent. These two souls could notice that their individual figures, mixed with one another more than ever! And that term could be used quite literally now. Their figures deformed just to link with one another, to the point where the procedure seemed almost forceful! Within a moment they transformed into a floating sphere, which twisted and turned quite rapidly. Through those rough movements, the shades of both these souls showcased across the tiny tunnel. These couple of friends could guess that their efforts were being put into use, as the crystal walls around them lightly shook! Chapter 340: Worn out like a couple of rags! Chapter 340: Worn out like a couple of rags! At this point the couple of stingrays were rather clueless of the world around them. They simply enjoyed one anothers presence, and every second felt as if it was a decade! It was fair to say that they were having the time of their lives, and almost werepletely hesitant to get back to their day-to-day lives. Whatever this soul bounding technique was, it sure granted the soul that ever desired pleasure for romance! If these good friends werent almost unconscious, they would figure out just how well their contribution was working out. The blockade of which insulted the canal, had been struck by an incredible force which gave this structure no option other but to clear up! These stingrays floated at the front part of this whole procedure, and their souls simply bashed any part of the blockade wide open! Their incredible strut continued downwards the canal, as they simply broke down anything that stood in their way. One detail that managed to add beauty to this whole bit of work, was how ayer of thin, white-light followed along wherever the heroes had cleaned up. This thin light was attached to the tunnel''s walls, and behaved like an extra precaution of security. If the cleaned tunnel nned to copse again due to all of thismotion, then this extra precaution would behave like a barricade, which prevented disasters. It was easy to figure out that one of the voids was releasing this kind of light, either one of them did so or all of them at the same time just for the sake of efficiency? Regardless of the details, this n simply worked like a charm. The couple of heroes remained clueless of the whole scene, but that wasn''t a big problem. What also blessed these tunnels was an incredible amount of slime. It dashed through the structure at any spot which the prior light had covered. So it was no secret that every bit of force that was used to clean this long tunnel, were in perfect cooperation with one another! Whatever these void-fish were and however they obtained all of this power, this scene proved that they truly were a true force to be reckoned with! As for the couple of stingrays, they truly were on a honey-moon that they likely wont experience again for the rest of their lives! They could feel such an immense amount of pleasure, that they simply were ready to give their souls over just so they could live like this for an eternity. Anyone could assume that the voids would be able to grant that wish, but that was not the deal. And the other side of the stick were certainly eager to finish their end of the bargain. So after these couple of souls met with what seemed to be the end of the blockade, over five-hundred meters away from their initial starting point, the voids felt like it was the best time to break apart the technique. And they did exactly so. It took less than a blink of an eye to aplish such a thought! The stingrays simply saw themselves in that same cavern again, when they least expected it. It felt odd for sure, but these friends were partially happy that those odd fish did not trick them. Timothy peeked around for a little while, and found the void that resided in thisrge cavern. This sight helped acknowledge that the whole ruckus had been fixed. He felt relieved but there were other emotions that caught his attention more. Likewise he expressed it, Oh damn I feel so sore! Are you sure that I was the man in this battle? My ass feels drilled. Soreness was only expected, young heroes. So dont worry about such a setback too much. A thick tone assured them. Surely this was the void of which they had dealt with earlier. And for once it sounded like this creature carried a small hint of joy in its tone. Dana ignored that massive fish and simply peeked at Timothy a couple of times, and then she became incredibly shy. Sure they almost gave away part of their soul through that romantic process, but she still felt embarrassed regardless of how close they were a moment ago! So she refused to speak and simply tried to avoid eye contact with the boy. As for Timmy, he simply didnt care about the moral parts of that wild moment they experienced. And he even darted his focus towards this void instead. For that same matter he asked, We helped you clean all those slime holes, now youre supposed to help us. I helped you already, The odd fish corrected. What do you mean oh, oh damn yes I understand now. The hero mumbled. His mind was bashed with what felt like a newly formed memory. This memory featured a direct route towards the so-called source of the massive tunnel. The route itself seemed highlyplicated, so he felt lucky to have met this void. Before he could have given a proper thanks, the sameplicated species cutted the conversation short. It slowly recited, You have proven to be a great aid to us, young fish from the outside world. So if your lives are long enough for us to meet again, know that you are the most wee here. And before these friends could say anything, their eyes blinked once and their surroundings astoundingly changed! They could see a bunch of gems once more. But judging from how this ce was shaped, they were in the massive tunnel again. The same one of which behaved like a main route, to everything this downwards path was connected to. Timothy tried to figure his way around here by checking out a few details. And judging from a few crystals that stuck out as taller, inparison to most of these shiny stones; he could figure out that they were at least two kilometers away, from the aimed destination. But that was the fun part about it. They didnt need to head straight down towards this main tunnel, in order to find the source. No no, what awaited in front of them was a series of perplexing routes. As for the source itself, neither of these stingrays could actually imagine what it looked like, but at least they knew how to find it. So after a few words of care-orientedmunication, the couple of stingrays felt ready to swim a bit lower to properly start this journey. But it still felt like they were forgetting something... Chapter 341: Fish and architecture, how much are they related? Chapter 341: Fish and architecture, how much are they rted? "There you are!" A familiar tone echoed from a distance. It took the couple of stingrays, just a moment to realise that this man who shouted, was none other than Snoopy. He approached these friends with quite a bit of a strut, and his exaggerated behaviours gestured strong signs of relief. So of course Timothy had to ask, "The hell are you rushing for? We haven''t died or anything." "I was almost convinced that you two actually died," The other expressed. And then specified, "I''ve been looking for you, for over three days now!" "What do you mean?" The hero questioned, as he tried to figure out if this was some joke. "I was going to ask you the same thing," Snoopy followed along. And then weighed in, "Where have you two been for the past three damn days?" These couple of stingrays grew increasingly confused, and of course the most talkative one was the least shy to express against this blurt. "We''ve only been gone for like half an hour at most, did those crystal fish make you eat some type of weird gem?" The sea-disk joked around. With a firm look on his face, Snoopy once more insisted. "I am extremely sure that you''ve been gone for a long time." "Well damn. We actually fucked for that long?" Timothy asked. For once he did not try to joke, but was tremendously curious instead. Dana strictly avoided eye contact after such a topic had been opened up, and she barely spoke. This was certainly a topic that she was not ready to talk about. But regardless of that fact, her much beloved friend was much more talkative. He exined to Snoopy what had been going on ever since they separated, and it was fair to say that the other was simply amazed. The context of intimacy through souls, was tremendously interesting and hrious at the same time. It was mostly funny because Timothy felt like the one who got drilled in that three-day sprint, and eventually thedy got augh out of that as well. But jokes aside, they have truly made tremendous progress already. They knew exactly where to go in order to find the so-called source, and that fact simply gave them hope. The reef above them was dead, so of course they wanted to figure out how exactly such a disaster unravelled. And although it seemed like an unrealistic wish, they hoped that the reef and its animals could be restored. Neither of those wishes could be confirmed at the moment, but this was the same reason why they aimed to find the source. And they began following that n along after catching up with all details, their fins simply worked the waters to progress towards this destination. The memories of which had been imprinted in their minds, advised that to find their target they had to swim about two-hundred more meters deeper. Thankfully the sea-pressure was not getting to any of them, but that itself might not be something to worry about at all right now. Because after they sunk a couple hundred meters deeper, they had to make a sharp turn in order to follow the memorized route. This sharp turn featured a small tunnel, which led them to one of the oddest structures they have seen yet. These friends were used to seeing gems and tar in this whole undergroundmunity, but now their surroundings had drastically changed! Their eyes captured quite a bit of stones, but there was something immensely unique about them. These stones were extensively carved, they simply gave hints that a lot of work had been put within them. The cavern they had swam in wasn''t exactly massive, it stretched just about forty meters wide. But it was stillrge enough to pull attention away from these carved stones, so the team almost missed them. However they eventually figured out that they were entirely surrounded by carved stone! This structure was evenplex enough to have decorative values. As in, there were about three bridges that the eye could capture, which ran across the cavern from one end to the other. Apart from that they could see a few columns, which had their remains scattered across the flooring, and were simply coated with moss. There were a couple of other columns that seemed intact, and their size was astonishing! They stretched for over fifty meters tall, in order to keep the ceiling above their heads steady. And the girth of each column was over five meters wide, such a size was most definitely interesting. As for the overall texture across this carved cavern, the colour grey covered more than half of the vicinity. Apart from that shade, moss itself coated the other half of this whole cavern. Since it was spread randomly in a patch-by-patch pattern, the scene itself was quite memorable due to this extended beauty. "I''ve never seen anything like this before," Snoopy was the first to speak out. And then continued, "I didn''t know that old fish could do this to stones." "A fish literally ripped our souls out of our bodies for three days, so this ce isn''t a big surprise." Timothy followed along. "Yes but still, this ce is impressive." His sibling insisted. And so the team of three stingrays dwelled deeper towards this odd cavern, and tried to make a bit of sense out of this entire structure. This ce carried a bunch of tunnels, but they did not seem so stable since they weren''t coated with gems whatsoever. In fact it was still difficult to understand how they could see around here, since there weren''t any sources of illumination. But overall this entire ce seemed unstable, so the team didn''t feel the need to explore every corner. They just followed the route that had been imnted in their mind. Although the cavern was about forty meters wide, its length was far bigger inparison. So the team swam for a hundred meters, before they noticed that this ruined cavern started leading downwards. This detail made these friends peek towards the structure''s flooring a bit more. And that was when their eyes captured quite an odd statue! It seemed abnormal at first, but then they noticed that this same statue looked a lot like a stingray! Chapter 342: Dirty fish, and the ruins it called home. Chapter 342: Dirty fish, and the ruins it called home. It was fair to say that the team had simply dwelled quite deep in confusion. Sure it wasn''t a big surprise to find a statue here, since this entire ce was an oddity of nature itself. But this piece of stone featured a detailed form of a stingray! The details were just beyond urate. A fish couldn''t have carved such a masterpiece, and even a human wouldn''t stand a chance. Timothy tried to figure out how this thing was made, but his focus was reaped by a slight movement. Something wiggled on the corner of the hero''s eyes, and it simply begged for attention. It was no secret that this entire cavern lied in ruin. So obviously there was a lot of sand and dirt, which covered a massive portion of this structure. A portion of that same bit of mud, jerked up from the ground! Before the team could understand what happened, this same bit of dirt formed itself into a one-foot wide ball. This ball seemed wless and polished, but that was not the oddest part of the sight. As that same floating bit of dirt, swiftly transformed itself into what seemed like the figure of a fish. So undoubtedly this scene seemed extraordinary, even inparison to what they''ve seen so far. "I''m getting sick and tired of these weird ass fish," Timothyined. And then shouted, "Is this entire ce magical? How can dirt turn into a fish!" Although his expressionist points were crude, the young man made quite a bit of sense. Every species that they have met here, doesn''t share a rtion with anything that the outside world offered. Sure the team wanted to understand how all of this was possible, but everything just seemed too fictional. This odd formation of dirt seemed to disregard the stingray''s banter, as it simply chose to approach this confrontment differently. Itunched itself towards the sea-pancake, and changed in form through that process. Just a moment ago, this darned thing seemed like a one-foot long, in brown shaded fish. But now its size had quadrupled, and it had transformed into arge mimicry of a toothless mouth! Although Timmy wasn''t nearly ready for a battle, he could easily figure out a way to get out of trouble. All it took was a p against the water with the aid of his fins. The boy propelled a meter upwards within the blink of an eye! In exchange this enemy could only kiss some salty water for a second or two, before it picked another target! Snoopy was the least aware in this situation, so he ended up shing with this darned weird fish. His first instinct was to charge towards the enemy. Such a reaction made sense, as his skin was literally made out of dependable metal ~ bold aggression seemed reasonable. He wanted to pierce through this opponent, but met with a different fate instead! This representation of a dirt-coated, four-foot wide mouth, swallowed the stingray whole! Now it would be impossible for this stomachless creature to eat the boy, but the actual result was not less horrific! Once this creature swallowed Snoopy whole, it leaped away from his body and left a solid aftermath. In other words, the brave stingray''s skin had been turned into stone! And from the clear looks of it, he wasn''t quite able to move either. So this situation has undoubtedly escted away from their favour. Timothy tried to figure out a way to attack this thing, but he didn''t feel confident with the options he picked out. Azq''s scream had not worked against even a single creature, ever since they entered the massive tunnel in the beginning. So such an attack wouldn''t prove of use in this situation. That was why he had to rely on other ranged shots. It clearly was a dumb idea to touch this darned enemy, so he tried to figure out a way around that aided survival. He peeked towards the stone statue of his brother which had crashed against the ground, and a worry struck against his skin. Timothy surely hoped that his brother was okay. But if a metal-coated fish couldn''t break out from, what seemed to be ayer of rock? Then this situation could spiral far beyond their control! So he locked eyes with this enemy again, and tried to figure out the best way to assert dominance against this ancient, psychopathic piece of dirt. He pped the waters a couple of times, and flung himself backwards just to buy himself a bit of space. And then Timmy charged towards the enemy, once he noticed that it was heading his way as well. Since the battle yed out to his favour for a quick second, the hero smirked and felt ready to deliver his end of the bargain. So after a bit of a clench, his body spiraled across the waters, which as always required a lot of muscle work. His tail acted as a tool he could use for bnce, as it was both long and could move around upon will. That fact made the hero feel like a tiny ne, but at least he had bnce through this horizontal spiral-charge! The waters in front of him embraced a small spiral, and within a split second he managed to create a thin air tunnel. The air trapped within this tunnel, reaped blue-particles out of its watery walls, in order to build up the key portion of this attack! A light-blue mist erupted out of the thin, air-tunnel afterwards! But this time it was bigger than anything he had achieved before. The mist spread like a shiny void, at about three-feet wide! Unsurprisingly, the enemy ended up swallowing most of the mist; and in exchange allowed the hero to escape unscathed. Timmy managed to fling himself out of the way, but felt happy that his attack was nothing less but a direct hit! This illusion won''t kill the enemy, but it aided the team since it gave them a few extra seconds to think. As even magical-looking dirt shouldn''t prove itself hazardous, if it twirled around in ce like some drunkard. Yet contrary to all expectations, this darned thing swam away from the mist for a second, and then changed its route. There were no hints of disorientation in its fast-paced swim, and that fact was simply terrifying! The hero felt as if he was stripped out of options at this point, and for once wanted to depend on his friend for help. Dana seemed to have figured that wish out. As under a mumble she assured, "I figured you out now, dirty fish." Chapter 343: The most literal breakthrough Chapter 343: The most literal breakthrough Dana felt confident that she had achieved the upper hand in this battle, even though she had not attacked until now. She did not contribute so far, but at least now was the perfect time to do so. So she blinked a couple of times, and obtained a full view of the enemy. Any naked eye would see just a bunch of dirt in this situation, but this finedy could see deep within the enemy and figured out a few key facts. That was why she managed to halt the enemy on its spot, with the aid of nothing but a thought! And afterwards she reaped a few microscopic shards out of the enemy. These shards had a light-green colour, which helped figure out a lot of this darned creature''s nature! Once these thousands of tiny shards had been taken out of the dirt-bodied enemy, the opponent itself simply crumbled and crashed on the floor. By now it was apparent that these tiny shards had held the enemy together, as what remained of that odd creature was nothing but a pile of dirt! As for Dana, she took all those thousands of green bits, and flew them across the waters until these pieces crashed with one another. While they crashed and squeaked, they eventually connected with each other, and were formed into a marble-sized green crystal. The stingraydy locked eyes with Timothy afterwards, and cited. "That enemy has somehow mixed with crystal shards, which belonged to the space worm we met before." She didn''t wait for a reply afterwards and just forced the marble to swim towards her, until thedy''s skin touched with this crystallized collection of shards. Her green-veins illuminated extensively through the process, and exploded in volume after a bit of contact to the skin had been made. This bright light shone for a few seconds, and then dimmed down. The gooddy seemed normal afterwards. She benefitted from that crystal for sure, but her changes were almost non-existent. Her new green-veins have expanded by a tiny bit, but it was nothing that the naked eye could notice. Timothy wanted to theorize regarding how some space crystal shards got all the way down here; but other worries reaped his attention. His focus darted towards Snoopy, and now he desperately wanted to figure out a n. If his brother was simply trapped in ayer of rock, then it shouldn''t be impossible to break him out. At least that''s what he wished for. But before he could have approached the remains of his brother, the situation itself escted beyond expectations. Theyer of stone that coated his sibling, shattered in all directions under the blink of an eye. Before that scene itself could have been fullyprehended, a figure darted out of the statue''s former spot, and circled across the waters a couple of times. "Darned dirty bastard," A familiar tone mumbled. A moment after the team figured out that these lightints, were sted out by someone they knew well. This was Snoopy without a doubt, and his irritability shone stronger than the actual oddity that this scene represented. "Where is that bastard? I''ll punch a million holes in it!" The same boy shouted. "Dead already," Timothy pointed out. And then expressed, "I was pretty sure you died in there, man." "Nah, I just couldn''t move." The other stingray exined. Before the couple of siblings could have caught up in order to decipher the full details of that odd situation, something else happened that captured their attention even further. They heard quite a few crackling sounds. This tone was so rugged, that these few friends thought that their own skulls cracked! Most certainly unique, but they already had a feeling regarding what could happen next. Their eyes instantly dotted towards the only other statue that the naked eye could capture, and they were right to look towards that direction. That very bit of fine looking stone, was riddled with thousands of cracks, which exined the former ear-piercing sound. This journey had taken the team towards the most bizarre odds and ends, so right now they expected to battle some ancient stingray that roamed this area. Most of the species around here have proven hostile, so the team was right to ready themselves for the worst. Yet contrary to all expectations, the creature they saw was nothing less but a familiar face. These friends simply could not believe what their eyes captured. Brother? The creature which broke out of the statue, mumbled. Timothy was sceptical at first. But the more he looked at this stingray, the more familiar this face seemed. So eventually he had to mumble, Haze? How long was I trapped in there? Thedy instantly asked. I dont know, we just got here. The hero exined. And then found it as the best time to ask, What happened around here? Whys the reef destroyed? Thats what Im trying to figure out, She admitted. And then continued, All I heard was a big explosion, and then a dark cloud came out of nowhere. I thought that the holy-tar sect destroyed the reef somehow, Timothy held once more on to that little theory. But Haze contradicted as she described, They didnt do all of this, no. That explosion killed the entire reef and that big tunnel somehow caused it. How did you survive? This dark-cloud thing, probably killed everything in sight. Snoopy intervened this time. After a bit of hesitation, their sister decided to admit. Ive figured out my powers a lot while all of you were gone. And then she exined, I ripped the fabric thats hidden within water, and hid there until everything was over. I have no idea what that means, Snoopy admitted. And then most of the team remembered that this finedy, was perhaps one of the most advanced species that this ocean had ever seen. She had nine-dimensional vision, could control small particles to her will, and had an IQ that counted in the hundreds! It was no surprise that she figured out a way to rip open the oceans fabric itself. Haze did not follow along with the prior conversation, and focused towards something else instead. I have this ce mostly figured out, She revealed. And then briefly exined, This ce is ancient, over one-hundred and seventy-thousand years old, ording to some gem particles that I have broken down. Such a conclusion left all of their mouths open, but this intelligentdy had more to say. Likewise she recited, Theres a source of power that keeps this entire ce alive. Although most of these species are unaware, this source of power is the actual mother of everyone and everything here! Chapter 344: A virtually impossible dilemma Chapter 344: A virtually impossible dilemma We kinda have all of that figured out already, Timothy was the first to break the news. How? Haze questioned as she shook her head. She was quite in a bit of shock. After that point the hero briefly followed along, We talked to a lot of fish around here, and they told us about a bunch of stuff. You talked to them ha? I didnt think of that. His sibling admitted. It was almost hrious to hear such a statement, from the samedy whose IQ was perhaps thergest in the world. But even super geniuses make mistakes. She even went far enough to describe, Ive been analysing a bunch of particles, before that dumb mud-fish attacked me. I didnt think that talking to these odd civilisations would do the trick. Such a sentence came out as a bit strong, but the other stingrays could mostly understand what she meant to say. And Timothy broke tension down as he advised, Talking is good sometimes. The fish around here arent geniuses, so you can figure a lot of stuff out. Haze pondered over those few words for a moment, and then nodded in agreement. She had been a bit clumsy but nothing about her conscience was unreasonable. After that point the whole team had spent a bit of time catching up with the odds and ends, regarding what happened ever since they were separated. Although a few sentences had been awkward, mostly from thedys side, these stingrays were truly happy to see each other again. At the end they all carried a peachy smile, and felt a bit rxed. This overall dilemma had racked their nerves up so far, so it was nice to experience something that gave them legitimate joy. Timothy has built up half of a bond with his siblings already. Sure he had difficulty connecting with them, since he used to be a human with an entirely different life But these stingrays showed genuine care for him, and they tended to express it in many indirect or awkwardly direct ways. So it was difficult to avoid such a grand aura, and at this point he didnt want to prove difficult against it either. Regardless if he liked it or not, his soul had been bashed in a stingrays body. So these few stingrays, apart from Dana, were his siblings by blood. That fact was difficult to avoid, so the hero adapted towards this reality bit by bit. However, after they caught up with every odd and end, the team figured that it was the best time to continue the initial task. Their arsenal of powers has buffed up now, since Haze rejoined their team. So the journey through this wretched underworld should be a lot easier. They followed this ruined cavern, and continued to dwell in amazement, the more details they picked up. This ce truly had a lot of architectural work, and the team was still clueless regarding who made it. But ording to what Haze pointed out, these carved bits of stone that coated most of the cavern, were perhaps the oldest construction around here! ording to some particles that she had ripped out of these walls, and thoroughly analysed afterwards; this cavern was at least over two-hundred-thousand years old! Such a detail pointed out that this ce was the oldest structure so far. But another theory grew as that concept was analyzed further. As a start, Haze could easily figure out just how old any fish civilization was around here. All she had to do was break a few of their particles, and analyse what little DNA circled on each species. This helped figure out that most civilizations theyve seen around here, were tens of thousands years younger than what age this finely carved cavern had. So this raised the conclusion, that most of these odd fish that lived throughout the massive tunnel, had arrived in this ce thousands of years after this stone-work had been carved. Such a gap truly baffled the team. But this theory itself was wobbly as neither of these odd fish, had enough DNA for Haze to analyse. Nheless, the team still unravelled a bit of their geeky side, and gazed in amazement at this well preserved, ancient structure. Typically their senses to figure things out wererge, specifically since the problems they tried to fix were oftenrge as well. But in this case, they observed their surroundings even more, due to scientific curiosity. Yet such urge was soon put to a halt, as they met with what seemed like the end of the cavern. The only problem was that everything about this halt, proved that the team had met with a strong dead end. A stone door was in front of them. Its features were quite radiant, with many curves and such. But in this case, this door halted their progresspletely, as a simple push wouldnt do the trick either. Specifically because this door was huge! It stood seven feet tall, certainly befitting in this sizable cavern. Okay this looks bad, Dana was the first to point out. Necessarily she broke the silence, so the rest of the team uttered a few words in agreement. After a moment, Timothy pitched. What if we try to blow it up or something? We dont know how to, and we dont need to do that either. Snoopy intervened. Afterwards his metal-coated skin, shape-shifted until his entire body turned into a two-foot long cone. Within a blink of an eye he charged towards the stone door. A strong thud reverberated right after, upon contact. Quite a bit of dust blew up in the process, so the team felt sure that this massive door had been blown open. Which was why they rushed backwards for a few feet, as they didn''t want to get crushed by some heavy chunk of stone. But as the scene cleared up, they could see that the stone door was mostly unscathed. There was a pearl-sized hole in the middle of it, but there wasnt any other portion of damage to be spoken of. I was afraid that this would happen, Haze spoke out afterwards. But her brother was quite insistent, which was why he stated. Maybe I should try again. No no, that wont work. The highly intelligent stingraydy stated. After that point she described, The door is four feet thick. It has an incredibly strong and advanced density. Its virtually impossible to break it down. Chapter 345: The sea-pancakes insecurities. Chapter 345: The sea-pancake''s insecurities. "How are we supposed to find the source then? My memories say that we need to go right through here." Timothy lightlyined. He wasn''t particrly mad at anyone, but since there weren''t any other ideas visible, he would prefer to bash this door a few times until it shattered. "If you waited a little bit more, I would''ve told you the solution already." Haze followed along. And then she revealed, "This door is unbreakable, but it can still be moved." The hero sighed and for once put his ego aside. Afterwards he tried to find the best phrase which would feature cooperation. He could feel that a cloud creeped into his mind already, so he had to put in extra effort just to focus. At the end he questioned, "What can we do to open it?" His sibling smiled lightly afterwards, and then chirped. "Do you see those four holes, right in the middle of the door? That''s how we will move this thing." "Huh... you mean those holes can move the door?" Timothy asked. He had it difficult to catch up with the whole concept. As regardless of the intelligence upgrades he had before, this door seemed beyond his current understanding. Thankfully Haze remained cooperative. She noticed the hints of effort, so she became more than happy to continue. "Yes and no. Those holes need some type of globes in them." She pointed out. And then continued, "There''s an extensive amount of branching tunnels right in the core of this door. These branches are as thin as e vein, but there''s an advanced cooperation between them." Atst she sealed this concept off by reciting, "If my theory is correct, then some sort of energy will pass through those veins. This energy should trigger the door''s mechanics enough to move them." Most of the team was quite dumbfounded after that point. Yet they already felt faithful towards thedy, just because everything she said sounded intelligent. Most of the team understood that thanks to the fact that Haze had nine-dimensional sight, she could easily see through objects and people. Paired with an extensively high IQ, she could formte a base of understanding, around the very thing she observed. So she most definitely knew what she was talking about, that was why the team trusted this fine woman. But yet they still had it difficult to understand what she just said. Haze picked up those signs, and decided to make everything seem easier. Likewise she requested, "Just look around and see if you can find some orbs. You know what orbs are right? They''re like circles but three-dimensional." "We know what they are," Snoopy cooperated. In an instant the geniusdy continued, "Okay then let''s all look for them. These orbs shouldn''t be bigger than us." After that point the team went ahead to fulfill the odd request that thedy had made. And from the looks of it, there was a lot of work to be done. The prime example was that tens of small tunnels stood steady around them. These tunnels had carved stone supporting them, which aided to make these grey features look less scary. So with barely any hesitation, the team spread across various tunnels right away. They wanted to get this over with already, so neither of them wanted tog behind. But since the quantity of tunnels was too many, all four of the team members split up so they could cover more ground quicker. Timothy had the same intent, but this time he wanted to be more prepared. So as soon as he dwelled a few meters in one tunnel, heid across the sand in order to consult with the system for a little while. "System, I think it''s time to buy a few soul upgrades." He uttered. [But you barely tried out the soul upgrades you already have, you''re rushing into this] Within an instant he argued, "Am I? Pretty much everything here almost killed me. I can''t do anything if I''m too darned scared to swim." In this case the boy made a lot of sense. On the outside world he was perhaps one of the toughest creatures in existence... But down here, he would have been severely hurt if these friends and siblings weren''t around. [You have a point there, but I still advise you to approach these soul upgrades appropriately. Or else you''ll be in further danger in an actual battle,] "I hear ya," He cooperated instantly. And then assured, "I''ll be careful. But more powers would help me a lot right now." Such an idea wasfortable and Timothy was insistent to head towards suchfort. Simply because he felt insecure. As for once, ego wasn''t enough to push through a dilemma. He couldn''t use such stubborn motivation to rough-handle any intense situations. As even though it didn''t seem befitting, lessplicated creatures were more capable around here. Most creatures in the area they''ve seen so far, could use every bit of their power to assert dominance in a battle. Timothy was extremely creative, but he simply couldn''t find enough solutions against these opponents. So this was ultimately a paradox of odd battle scales, it was never easy to figure out who would kill who. However, the system fulfilled the hero''s wish and listed down what she could offer. [You currently have three avable purchase options,] [Purchase option number one = Upgrade barb venom to level two] [Price = one-hundred and fifty system points] "I forgot all about that thing," He muttered. And such a statement felt reasonable at least. He didn''t have any reason to use his barb throughout the journey back home itself! Not to mention once they entered the massive tunnel behind them. No, venom simply wasn''t enough against these odd enemies. Nheless he felt happy to purchase such a primary upgrade. As it necessarily would toughen up his bodily arsenal. But before he could properly focus on this upgrade, the system captured his attention with another upgrade. [Purchase option number two = Unlock the soul reaping attribute] [Price = two-hundred and fifty system points] "Now what the hell is that?" Timothy was swift to question. Chapter 346: What aided to tamper confidence Chapter 346: What aided to tamper confidence [The soul reaping attribute is as the name describes it,] [You could reap an enemy''s soul with this attribute, and permanently densify your soul in return] [Like every soul-oriented attribute, this purchase can only be strong if your soul has been densified, with past simr upgrades] [Meaning that although you could take a sardine''s soul, you can''t do much against a big shark] "Ah that scale... okay it sounds easy enough to remember." Timothy followed along. And that cooperation allowed the system to continue with the upgrade that remained on the list. [Upgrade option number three = Unlock the soul boost attribute] [Price = four-hundred system points] "I think you already guessed that I don''t know what that means," Timmy pointed out. [Indeed, and I''d be happy to oblige your informational needs] "Thank you," The hero gestured. [The soul boost attribute is stronger and more dangerous, especially inparison to the other simr upgrades you saw so far] "Really? How does that work?" He questioned as he tried to fully grasp the concept. [You can draw portions of souls from any creature nearby, and in exchange this will boost your soul and attributes rted to it] "That''s pretty powerful!" The sea-pancakeplimented. [It is, but note that this boost is temporary, and it can drain your friend''s souls too] "They''ll be fine..." He stretched out those few words. And then recited, "I don''t want to hurt any of them anyway." [Good, so which upgrades would you like to purchase?] "Uh... I''ll buy all of them I guess." Timothy requested. And then excused, "I feel okay anyway, so why wait around for nothing?" [Confirmed] As that sentence was uttered out, the hero expected quite a few waves of pain to strike. It seemed logical to be prepared for the worst, especially after he considered the past pain he went through, after he purchased upgrades. But in this case he understood once more that his memory wasn''t the best. Simply because he forgot a few key concepts about soul upgrades, they don''t hurt. He didn''t feel drastic pain which could render him immobile. Instead he just felt a little tingle across the tip of his tail, but that was specifically rted to the venom upgrade. In other words, the soul upgrades haven''t caused him a single ray of pain. And finally the system confirmed, [All upgrades are sessfullypleted.] [Eight-hundred system points consumed,] [Fifteen-hundred and thirty-three system points remaining.] "That was expensive..." The hero lightlyined. [You bought all three of the upgrades all at the same time, of course they were expensive] "Fair enough," He swiftly brushed the thought away. And then pitched, "Let''s find some fish I can test these powers on!" With such a strut of confidence, he dwelled deeper into the thin tunnel he had entered, and hoped for the best to present itself soon. It surely felt nice to rely on powers, and he once more felt happy to have such a system which helped him progress. That aside, he hoped to find enemies that weren''t too troublesome. But after the overall circumstances were considered, that thought seemed more like wishful thinking. ... The hero has dwelled about two-hundred meters in this one tunnel so far. It was difficult to understand why anyone would build a tunnel which was this long, and thin all at the same time; but in this situation it seemed beyond useful. Sure the tunnel was long, but it still was just one straight path. So this was better than anything maze-like. Simply because if there wasn''t anything to see at the end of the tunnel, he could just head back. The tunnel itself seemed well-constructed. Timothy swam confidently, as he felt sure that a copse wasn''t in his future around here. Sure the carved stone-walls of this tunnel were covered with moss, but they still had a strong stability that shone with their name. This entire ce was over two-hundred thousand years old, ording to a few ims. So since these tunnels hadn''t crashed all this time, surely they would stand stable for a couple more hours? Yet this trip still felt a bit tiresome. Not physically, but boredom struck the hero instead. He wanted to fight something or at least idly talk to anyone, but he was all alone at the moment. And just as he wanted to rush through this tunnel a little more, something unique captured his eye. Something shone about twenty-meters away, but he couldn''t quite make up what it was. A few moments after he figured out the origin of this item, as quite a bit of familiarity surrounded it. "Oh this is another space worm shard..." He spoke out. And then questioned, "Am I supposed to touch this thing?" [You mated with the radioactivedy, who consumes these same type of crystals] [Clearly, this bit of stone can''t hurt you] "Even if it did, it would hurt less than this so-called mating that you mentioned." Timmy hardly joked. And then could feel that one of his holes flinched a few times. Surely the past mating scene still remained memorable. But such a statement was a base to another decision, he found it fair to bring this shard back to Dana. That was why he wanted to grab this thing with his jaws, and swiftly carry it back towards that big door they left behind. Even if the stingraydy wasn''t around, she would recognize the crystal once she took a peek at it. But before Timmy could have touched this unique item, the darned thing actually moved for a couple of inches. The naked eye could capture such a shift. At first Timmy thought that his decently sized fin-span caused such a scene. That thought was swiftly proven wrong, as the same item suddenly beamed through the tunnel''s route! It travelled towards the same path that the sea-pancake had covered so far. And its speed was simply marvelous, as even the waters whistled to the little shard''s bidding! "Is that supposed to happen?" He mumbled through that little question. And expected an answer from the system, but thedy in his head has seemingly decided to remain idle. Chapter 347: Repeating a family trait! Chapter 347: Repeating a family trait! At the end, Timmy decided that such odd behaviour from the shard''s side, shouldn''t be taken too seriously. After all, it had beamed closer to his friend who drew powers from such an item. So sudden movements like these weren''t inconvenient. Instead he traveled deeper towards this long tunnel, and hoped to find something else to do. Sure it was peaceful to just swim through a long tunnel, but he felt beyond bored! His wish was seemingly granted once more, as he met with a few more gem shards of the same kind! They counted several in number and wereid across the tunnel''s flooring. At first he thought nothing of this. Sure these gems were useful for one team member, but he coulde back anytime to carry these shiny stones. So he just continued to swim forward and hoped to see anything else, but the floor of this area put up a fight. As simr shards grew in quantity, they wereid all over the ce! And before he could ignore them once more, the situation shifted for the worst! These countless pearl-sized crystals arose an inch or so above the tunnel''s ground, and then surrounded themselves with quite some quantities of dirt. For a moment he thought that these walls came to life, but that was just half of the case here. Once these gems disappeared in the chunks of mud that coated most of this tunnel, disaster itself was swift to unravel! As several piles of dirt formed themselves into the shape of a fish! With those detailsprehended, it took Timmy little effort to figure out what went on here. Likewise he protested this situation and dashed towards the side of the tunnel, that seemed less crowded with these gems. But once he got a good view of the direction he headed towards, it took little effort to figure out that such a path had been sealed! A gem shone in the middle of what seemed like a tilting wall, so it was no secret that these enemies were tactical. Timmy turned his back on that wall, and faced the rest of the dilemma. There were about fifteen fish which were made either entirely out of dirt, or with hints of stone as well. Undoubtedly, the situation had swiftly developed beyond his favour. Earlier his group almost perished as they fought one of these darned mud-fish, so it was no secret that such a number of enemies was deadly. Regardless of that harsh fact, he didn''t want to budge. Instead he dwelled in his head, just to figure out the best attack against these creatures. The old power-moves had proven useless to a certain extent until now, especially against an enemy of this liking. But the few new powers were still unused, and this seemed like a proper situation to try them out! "Soul boost!" He was quick to shout. The sea-pancake remembered the effects of such a soul oriented power, and he intended to figure out just how powerful they were. Within an instant, these odd fish were forced towards a sudden shift. They moved half-a-foot away from their spot, as this soul attack was stronger than expected! Throughout those same seconds, multiple beams of green light ruptured out of these enemies! And these portions of light, all twirled their way towards the hero! It took no time whatsoever for all those portions of green light to enter the sea-pancake''s body. And once they did, he could feel a drastic difference. He had likely shaved a tiny bit from each enemy''s soul, but darn these creatures were powerful! Timmy felt as if the world had shifted entirely towards his control. And his confidence unsurprisingly spiked as well, he felt ready to take these monsters down. Likewise he once more shouted, "Soul boost!" The same procedure was repeated, and all of this soul energy made the hero feel even stronger. But this time he didn''t intend to weaken these muddy-fish anymore. Instead, he wanted to try out a battle-move that his sister embraced. Haze to be exact. A few months ago when she attained her powers, she had a specific cruel attack; he wanted to mimic such raw strength! So he hollered, "Soul snare!" The sea-disk did not intend to trap just one of these enemies, but divided his soul power towards all of them. And it seemed like the effort had proven useful, as he felt a strong tug on his heart. It felt as if his body was suddenly dragged in all directions all at the same time, which proved that he had attained control of the entire tribe of enemies! He didn''t n to fiddle their muddy tails until he could swim away from this mess. No, the power he had obtained from the souls of these enemies, has boosted his power-moves of that same branch. So he necessarily was strong enough to fully control these opponents! The method of battle dominance seemed cruel, but it was pale inparison to what he nned to do next. "Crumble you bastards!" He hollered. And then with the aid of a fewmands that he gave out with his mind, the hero forced these darned species to twist towards an ufortable direction. He forced all of them to face upwards, but in this case that was all these monsters could do. They continued to look up, until their muddy backs couldn''t take it anymore. Within a few seconds they all snapped in half, and crumbled into a little mud pile on the tunnel''s flooring. He didn''t ''fold'' these enemies out of existence like his sister could, but this was good enough. Since these odd creatures were forced to submit to the hero''s bidding, he decided to end their humiliation. That was why he yelled, "Soul reaping!" Unlike the previous attack which boosted his soul temporarily, this method would chip a portion of the enemy''s soul and make it his own, permanently. It was a method he could use to densify his own soul, and in this case it was more than worth it, as these opponents were beyond powerful. If Timothy had not been agile enough to use their own souls against them, any other effort would have proven futile! Chapter 348: Rubies and rewards! Chapter 348: Rubies and rewards! After he repeated the same attack a few times, these odd fish were forced to meet the end of their route. They could not withstand Timothy''s reign of terror, so the only option for them was to join the afterlife, wherever the heck such creatures went after they died. Once these enemies died, the crystals that they loved so dearly, shattered into thousands of pieces. They did so, before all fifteen of these individual piles, joined together and formed into a half-foot wide, wless ball. He still wasn''t sure how pieces of shiny stone could behave like that, but the ball itself didn''t prove hostile in any way at the moment, so he didn''t want to prove difficult either. As expected, therge ball headed towards the route which the hero had taken before. But seemingly due to size differences, this ball didn''t travel at record-breaking speeds but slowly rolled through the tunnel instead. "I still have no idea how a crystal can work like that," Timmy mumbled. [I might have figured it out,] The system interrupted. And then unapologetically continued, [Those shards were each filled with a strong soul. The space worm''s souls can''t possibly be in these shards, so those lifeforms probably belonged to other creatures.] [Now whichever original animals those souls belonged to, I think that they have somehow figured out how to use these powerful crystals] [They used those shards to store their own souls in them, and the muddy fish they formed themselves into, was primarily achieved with the aid of the crystals they''ve trapped themselves in] The hero needed an unhealthy amount of time to figure out what the system said, but eventually he caught up. And once he did, the sea-pancake almost found enough reasons to appreciate all that effort these darned enemies put in. Yet he was still confused towards some certain aspects, so he had to clear out such conclusions all for the sake of curiosity. "You''re saying that some ancient souls, have waited for any powerful crystals so they could rise back from the dead?" He questioned. [That would be the proper definition, yes] [I advise you to reap such souls as much as you can, your soul density has permanently tripled even though you just stole a fourth of their souls] "Well damn..." He mumbled. And then expressed, "It would be stupid to let these souls escape either way, so you have a point." [Now there''s the matter of the reward,] The system interrupted the other''s train of thoughts. "There''s a reward?" He screamed. [Yes,] [You technically killed fifteen enemies a moment ago. For that you received one-hundred and twenty-seven system points as a reward] [Now since those souls aren''t a part of any species that I recognize, we can only push them to the tasked-kill category] "Again? Damn this ce''s making me filthy rich." He celebrated quite loudly. [Indeed,] [However, at the moment you have fifty-six tasks marked asplete. Naturally, your primary bars have increased once more] "This has to be a dream. I''m not stuck in that mating-cycle am I? All of this isn''t a delusion?" Timmy pressured. It was no secret that he joked to a certain extent, all of these gains simply seemed too much. [This isn''t a delusion,] The system answered. And then continued, [Your primary bars are now the following...] [Health bar = 160/160 points] [Hunger bar = 25/25 points] Sleep bar = 56/56 points] Stamina bar = 25/25 points] "Never thought that I would see these things upgrade this early," He admitted. And then weighed in, "Now I''m actually happy to see weird fish like those ones." [There''s always a reward in the path of discovery,] The system assured. And then reminded, [Speaking of that matter, you''ll also get a reward for putting your life on the line to get close to these odd creatures] [Two-hundred system points have been given to you as a reward,] [Total system points = eighteen-hundred and sixty] For that matter the hero lightly celebrated, "Good enough, but I''ll probably buy more upgrades soon." [Get used to these new ones first,] The system encouraged. He needed a moment toprehend everything that just happened. But once he grasped a good understanding, he only found it reasonable to continue this journey. Luckily the sea-disk met with the end of the tunnel soon after, and was blessed with a scene that proved itself both expected and yet stunning! His vision was once more captured with a lot of crystals, but they didn''t share a green colour. All he could see was a bloody-red shade instead. So the best assumption was that these gems were rubies, rather than crystals. The amount of material here would make a whole country rich! As a whole one-hundred meter wide cavern was filled with them! Every inch of this ce was covered with the same expensive stone, so it became a bit difficult to manoeuvre his way around this ce. Sure there were tall and thick gems, along with short-looking fat chunks, which all together added detail in this area; but that wasn''t much help. It was so confusing to swim around here, that he forgot what tunnel he came out of once he swam twenty meters away from it. He peeked at the cavern''s walls and noticed that there were several holes on it, which likely led to expansive tunnels. Such an aspect had no other option but to be a problemter on, but he didn''t want to think about that at the moment. So he dwelled deeper into the cavern, and hoped to advance the team task he had been given. He was supposed to find some kind of orb around here. So now he wanted to figure out if there was an item in this area, that represented such an exact form. A momentter he met with what seemed like a pool. It was the only thing here that didn''t have a crimson red colour. Instead this pool was coated with a light-blue type of liquid. As for what this darned heavy substance actually was, Timmy did not have the slightest clue. Chapter 349: Soul trampling powers! Chapter 349: Soul trampling powers! Theck of knowledge didn''t stop the hero of course. He approached this odd pool and was curious to observe its contents. But even though such a tiny effort had been pushed forward, he didn''t really make any progress. It didn''t seem like the orb he was looking for, lurked anywhere in this blue substance, so by now it felt useless to stand close to this odd liquid. For that same matter he now nned to back away. He was appealed by another idea, which featured the exploration of anything else that this gem-encrusted cavern had to offer. But before he could do so, his attention was captured by something else. A tiny light shone across the same pool he nned to get away from. Now this detail was especially important, as this thing shone more than anything else in this cavern. Such an aspect said a lot, as everything in this structure shone more than the naked eye couldprehend. So of course it was beyond unique if a specific light could capture his attention, which was why his eyes dotted directly towards the pool. But before he could get a proper nce of what went on, the same substance exploded! Not in a literal manner, no. But the blue liquid did ssh around in all directions, as something arose from underneath which put pressure against the pool! The hero didn''t need to think much, in order to figure out that this was a bad situation. Whatever arose from this pool seemed assertive, so he wanted to avoid collision at all cost. Which was why he pped the waters as fast as he could, and propelled himself upwards for a whole meter. Such a reaction was perhaps god sent. Because as he nced down once more, he noticed threerge spikes! They wereid across the portion of the pool, where the sea-pancake had floated above just a moment ago. It was no secret that he would have been dead by now if he didn''t get out of the way. These spikes seemed deadly and were almost a meter tall each! Any collision would have ended him for good, yet the problems did not stop there. These thick, crystal spikes brought along more trouble after the initial attack. Their tips broke off and shot upwards at grand speed. If he hadn''t been careful enough to move out of the way in time, three bullet-wounds would have been through his chest. Now he could only yell, "What the hell''s going on here? Darned gems aren''t supposed to act like this!" Before he could properly finish that sentence, what remained of the spikes underneath him, broke into thousands of pieces! They crashed into the blue pool, before they arose again. But this time they were more prepared than ever. These gems hovered over the pool, and twirled around in an astounding speed. They worked together in order to form what seemed like a crystal fish! Unlike the ones he had seen before, this fish was riddled with lines which signified the shattered portions, which were all stitched together! That and there was a certain hostility to this green crystal fish''s movements, it didn''t seem friendly. This sight made the hero nervous, so he muttered. "You better stay still..." Contrary to what he demanded, the other side went ahead with what it initially nned to do. It headed straight towards the hero at its full speed! Upon reflex, Timmy pped the waters once more and bounced another meter higher. This procedure had pushed him out of the way, so the enemy swam a few meters forward before it realised what went on. By that time, the sea-disk had faced the opponent and put an idea into action. His aim was to assert dominance. Which was why he shouted, "Soul boost!" And of course this attack had forced a portion of the enemy''s soul, out of its body. But in this case, several streams of light burst out of the same target. This necessarily meant that several soul powers had been ripped off the same fish! And once these streams entered his body, the young man felt incredibly powerful! He had reaped quite some soul power from the previous enemies, and although the effects were temporary, they still went on due to the small pocket of time. So now he was even more confident to face these enemies! The collection of opponents had a portion of their souls ripped off just a moment ago, but they were still mostly unscathed. So unsurprisingly, they charged towards the battle zone with grand confidence. But the hero had gathered up all the power he needed, which was why he could unleash a counter attack! "Soul snare!" His tone reverberated. And within an instant, his soul had been locked with the collection of fighters in front of him! Afterwards it only took a thought for him to halt this crystal fish on its spot! He had attained full control of the enemies, but this time he didn''t exactly intend to kill them. Instead he questioned, "Can any of you understand me?" The opponents that were gathered up to form the crystal fish, did not answer. So he once more had to yell, "Do any of you speak my stingraynguage?" Once more this opponent did not answer, but at the same time that wasn''t a big surprise. Timothy wanted to reap any bit of information out of them, but it doesn''t look like these odd creatures were useful for such a matter. So instead he decided to reap their souls bit by bit, just so he could permanently strengthen his own. But that was when disaster broke out from another side! Two more crystal fish emerged from the pool, and these ones seemed a bit more agile. They didn''t even use up a second in order to attack the hero! But luckily he too felt ready, and unleashed the best counter attack that came into mind under that short moment. "Soul snare!" Hemanded with a scream. And then felt a strong thud across his chest, as his very soul connected with both of these crystal fish. But in this case he could sense that his heart was about to copse. Regardless if such an organ had any rtion with his soul, the young man felt beyond overwhelmed! Timothy''s vision darkened and he could feel himself slipping away. It was no surprise, as these countless crystal shards had to feature at least fifty souls in them! He almost lost grip on reality, but once more he decided to do something smart. "Soul boost!" He demanded. And so, tens of streams came out of all three crystal fish. These green bits of light all made their way towards the hero. Once they struck him, he felt immensely powerful once more, and felt confident that he could force the tides of this battle to his bidding. Chapter 350: How stubborn could old souls be? Chapter 350: How stubborn could old souls be? Considering the circumstances, he now felt beyond superior. So it seemed reasonable to follow the initial n. At first, he forced these fish to swim close to each other. In order to achieve that, all it took was amand that he gave out through a thought. These enemies were under a soul snare anyway, so of course he could control their movements to his bidding. Now he bought himself the opportunity to once more question, Can any of you understand me? Contrary to what he wished, these souls didnt utter a single word. So he decided to approach this situation differently. He used the soul-connection he had forced against these enemies, in order to figure out just how capable they were. Sure he could sense that these souls were beyond powerful, but could he use this snared connection to figure out more about these creatures? Timothys prime intent was to figure out if they could speak, that was why he tried to sink deep in what consciousness remained in these souls, he wanted to figure things out. But these enemies proved troublesome once more, they deliberately didnt allow the hero to analyse them. Although they couldnt move, they used some type of energy to push the sea-pancakes lurking assertion away! So you can understand me ha? You creepy little bastards! He cursed. And then within an instant he shouted, Soul reaping! Once more, green-coloured waves of energy were reaped out of these enemies. This time these streams were once more used to permanently densify his soul. The difference he felt was massive, although smaller inparison to the soul boost ability. Nevertheless, he now had enough power to force just a tiny bit of his assertion against these souls, who held resistant so far. This time he felt quite motivated to taunt these opponents, and this crave was reasonable at least. Because apart from proving themselves hostile, these creatures had not helped him to the slightest. Can you talk now? He teased. Timmys insult was based on the inferior position these creatures held, he understood that such ament would shatter any kind of ego this odd species had. One of these crystal fish finally mumbled through something, but such a result was only achieved because the hero used his soul power to force any words out of them in the process. He managed to move their jaws a little bit but this certainly wasnt enough, as anything one of these fish said, sounded utterly gibberish. Before he tried to force a word out of them once more, one of these numerous souls decided to speak. We can understand you! One of them yelled. Neither of these crystal fish moved their jaws in the process, but that wasnt exactly odd. As after all, many souls worked together just to form one green crystal fish. With a smirk across his face, the hero celebrated. d that we can finally talk to each other. Afterwards his first question was directly linked to curiosity itself. Whats this blue thing that all of you hid at? He pressured. Neither of these enemies wanted to answer, and the young boy could figure out the resistance they carried. That was why he forced these gems to slowly separate from each other. It took quite some effort, as they were linked together as if with super glue; but his efforts still were worthwhile. He split one of the crystal fish in half, and put pressure on the other two with simr but less effectivemands. At the end he asked, Whats this pool all about? It keeps our souls from fading away into nothingness, One of these crystal shards finally answered. Oh, fair enough. The hero followed along. He had no idea how such a concept even worked, but neither did he n to be explorative for once. The only reason why he was so curious was because this blue substance seemed almost exactly like a holy-tar pool, which was half way towards creation. Now since that little hassle could be put aside, he found it as the best time to push the actual team task forward. Which was why he pressured, Im looking for some kind of orb. You know the one Im talking about for sure, me and my friends need to open that big stone-door on the other side of those tunnels. Theres no orb here, One of the souls yelled. Youre not telling me the entire truth, He taunted. Timmy felt sure of that statement, as he could feel hints of hesitation behind the same soul who had uttered out such a sentence. So now he put literal pressure against that same soul. He tried to break that specific shard in half, with the aid of other crystals that were close to it. This soul was less resilient apparently, as it instantly shouted out in cooperation. Its trapped underneath the pool, The same soul uttered. At this point that voice trembled through the process, which was a sign for the hero to halt the pressure he inflicted. Afterwards he could only demand, Good, now tell me how Im supposed to get it. An outsider like you can never get to it, Another soul shouted out. And then it offered, If you leave us be, we will pull the orb out of this crystal ground for you. The hero analysed such an offer for a little while, and found enough reasons to believe them. Sure these shards were beyond stubborn, but by now they have understood who was the superior in this cavern. So Timothy decided to break his snared grip he had with all fifty of these souls. After that point, he watched what remained of these three crystal fish, shattering into a million pieces once more. They all piled up on the ground, and gave out quite an exhausted aura. Thanks to that fact, it seemed reasonable to not expect any hostility from them. But yet these creatures instantly arose from the ground and smashed against each other at top speeds, Timothys vision could barelyprehend what happened! A few seconds after, these enemies formed themselves into a type of weaponry which would most definitely prove lethal! Chapter 351: Menaces, and the fate which they had to face. Chapter 351: Menaces, and the fate which they had to face. These countless gems had all formed themselves into one, big spike. Considering that the orb was supposed to be under this caverns floor, he expected that this fat, meter long spike would just crash against that same ce. But these gems proved once more that they were enemies, as they directly charged towards the hero at full speed instead! It was definitely odd to see a spike float around that fast, as there simply was not a bigger creature that tossed it But regardless of the whats and hows, he understood that it was a stupidly bad idea to stand in front of this spikes path. So he relied on the one and the most dependable reaction which often dug him out of trouble. He pped his fins against the waters once, and instantly flung himself not one but two meter upwards. Therge spike whistled underneath him afterwards, so he could clearly understand by now that these creatures did not intend to be helpful. That was why the hero wanted to get back in control. He had been tricked by these darned things, but at least now he fully understood that they were beyond stubborn. For simr reasons the hero wanted to attain control over these troublesome opponents, and he had a short n which enforced such a goal. Inplement to that idea, he shouted. Soul snare! His soul still felt strong enough to halt these enemies on their spot, as the energy he had absorbed from these same enemies was beyondrge. But contrary to all expectations, he did not feel that strong thud which urred after he forced a soul connection. He felt nothing, and the big spike in front of him continued to roam free. Thanks to that same matter it charged towards the hero once more! Timmy managed to move out of the way again, thanks to the fact that his speed and strength had both been upgraded a couple of times. But that fact regardless, he still felt terrified. Just what could these shards have done, in order topletely deflect a soul-oriented attack? He waspletely clueless regarding the matter, but he surely didnt want to allow such arge spike to swim around loosely. Likewise he screamed amand before these enemies could get too close. Soul boost, He pitched. And awaited to absorb an unholy amount of energy from these enemies once more. But contrary to what he wished for, such a thing did not happen! The meter long spike swam towards him, and it was apparent that this time this darn thing aimed to be more hostile. Timothy did not know what to do for a few seconds, but an idea was swift to envelop his head afterwards. Looks like I cant use soul powers anymore, He mumbled. And after that point he swam towards the same spike, but this time he nned to unleash quite a different attack. Timothy put in effort to spin across the waters as he swiftly swam forwards. All of this effort was put in just so he could yell, Blue moon! In response to the n in question, the waters around him twisted just a bit more. At least enough to create a thin and elongated air-tunnel in front of him. The opposing spike entered that same tunnel as it bashed its very tip forward. And within that second, blue particles were reaped out of the air-tunnels watery walls, before they were turned into a meter wide blue mist! Such a direct attack had forced the spike to change its course of action. Even though it seemed like one solid force to be reckoned with, the creatures who formed this thing were still a bunch of souls who cooperated. They could get dizzy of course. Which was why this fat spike headed directly towards the ground. Its route had been changed. But even though this felt like a win which would feed the heros ego, something expected was swift to happen. The spikes fat tail, which was located at the very bottom of this odd contraption, pped itself forward. Such a result didnt initially look like arge problem inparison to the other possible disaster, but it still was sure to pack a punch. Likewise the hero had been hit by the same tail, right against the head! He was forced to flip a few times while the same spike made its way towards the pool of that blue substance. Thankfully he had undergone enough bodily durability upgrades through his other journeys, so the actual impact didnt really cause any damage worth considering. As for the decent quantity of enemies, their crash against the pool was strong enough to generate an ear-piercing sound! It was loud enough to make him think that he truly would lose his hearing senses this time, but thankfully such a fate didnt envelop him. Tim shook his head a few times to push the dizziness away, and now he had the opportunity to analyse what that loud crash was all about. He was shocked once he witnessed that the very flooring which had been underneath the pool, had literally split open! Such a scene was beyond stunning, but he didnt n to be clumsy once more, this was not the time to observe details. Likewise he approached the three-meter wide crack with caution, and embraced another method as a safety measure. Soul snare, He whispered. The actual hope was that these enemies had roughed themselves up enough to be conquered once more. But Timmy became disappointed as he didn''t feel a connection with these tens of enemies. Such an aspect raised his anxiety up more than he could handle, but he did not back away. By now he expected that countless gems would bounce out of the crack to put up a fight, but such a scene did not happen. The system decided that it was a good time to point out, [I cant sense any souls, theyre probably permanently dead by now] How would you know that? These things are menaces. The hero rightfully debated. Chapter 352: Suicide, and the variations surrounding it. Chapter 352: Suicide, and the variations surrounding it. It was fair to say that curiosity won over the young man, so he approached therge crack a bit closer. He tried to be especially cautious through the process, as he understood that any little mistake could get him killed. Sure those enemies were perceived as dead by now, but it never was a bad idea to be careful in such situations. Eventually he got close enough, but then felt a bit unfulfilled; as there wasn''t much to see down in that hole. Sure there was ayer of that same blue-liquid, it wasid across the bottom portions of the crack. But apart from that, there wasn''t anything else to witness. The adrenaline across his veins slowed down after that point, as he acknowledged that the risk factors had died down; and now he could only talk to himself. "No more weird souls ha? That''s good I guess but where''s my reward?" The hero questioned. He felt convinced that all of that effort should be paid one way or the other. Every portion of the prior battle could have gruesomely ended his life, such risks weren''t supposed to be sealed off without a reward. But yet the system was quick to contradict, [You technically didn''t kill any of those souls, their deaths fall under the categorization of suicide] "Really?" Timmy asked. For once he didn''t want to put up an argument, but he actually felt sad over the fate of those same opponents he wanted to kill. [It almost was suicide. Some of those souls wanted to crash against the ground, some didn''t; but they all were sick of this existence either way] "How could you know all that?" He questioned once more. It was not that he was sceptical. In fact he wanted to figure out the process behind such conclusions, as he wanted to develop such skill. Thankfully the system was happy to answer, [I handled thousands of guests and was present in millions of social interactions in this sea life. I have a good sense of behavioural patterns thanks to such experiences,] [In this case, those souls all felt beyond tired. I could tell all the hints of pain that they hid behind their stubbornness,] The hero''s heart softened beyond expectation after that point. And all he could say was, "I feel sad now. Maybe it was a bad idea to kill them?" [No, you did them a favour. Those souls have long left their original bodies, and in some way they didn''t entirely die and had their souls trapped here] [This necessarily led to a fear that they would permanently disappear, if they lost the source here which kept them from fading away] "That does sound very scary honestly," Timmy followed along. [Such a fate scared them beyond measure, but at the same time they were stuck here] [This sticky blue pool somehow kept these souls in tact, but it didn''t offer them a permanent solution either; they couldn''t leave this very ce that gave them energy] [Such aspects had led them to a permanent repetitive and bleak existence, they were all beyond depressed] [So yes, you did them a big favour] In an attempt topliment, the hero recited. "Wow... sometimes I forget how smart you can be, system." [Thank you,] In a rted note, the hero also felt a little depressed after he heard out the details of such fate. So he wanted to push such a nagging feeling aside, which was why he thought about the team-oriented task. Specifically, why he got here to begin with. Such a thought was embraced once more after he figured out what suddenly popped out of the blue, heavy slime that was underneath him. It was an orb of some sort, it undoubtedly was the one he came here for to begin with. Before he could properly observe this item''s details, it bounced upwards right away! But that wasn''t the weirdest part of this scene, the oddity advanced as this thing continued to rise upwards. By now the hero figured out that this shiny stone, had features that were really simr to diamonds! This thing was perhaps that exact type of mineral, as it had a discoloured shade of grey. It was difficult to figure out the exact details, regarding how such a gem was trapped under the cavern''s floor. In fact a lot of things in this odd world did not make sense... But in this case the hero felt happy that he could progress with the quest. He wanted to grab this two-foot wide spherical diamond, and had enough motivation to do so; even though he understood that he likely had totch on this thing with his fins. Such a procedure could consume a lot of his time, but he didn''t want to slow the task down over a silly reason of that liking. So he lunged towards the diamond and tried to stop its rise towards the cavern''s ceiling, but his efforts were quickly proven worthless. As the same item charged towards the other side of the cavern, and it had quite some speed behind its name. The hero couldn''t nearly understand how a diamond could move in such a matter, but now he slightly understood why this thing had been trapped underground. If the idea was to keep this shiny stone away from that big door, then it seemed reasonable to trap this item in a ce where it could not move. This only solved one pattern out of the tens, but this situation proved useful at least, regardless of its odd ends. And at this point the hero had no other option but to chase the same item, even though it seemed impossible to do so. The tasked item pierced across the waters at a decent speed, but the hero was still fast enough to follow along. Timmy noticed that the precious gem was at least one hundred meters away from him, but he simply had to try his best to follow along. The task was one worry, but he also didn''t remember the tunnel that he hade out of earlier. So if this expensive mineral truly headed towards that big door, the hero understood that it was beneficial to catch up; as it would solve one possible headache. Chapter 353: Self awareness, and its relation to ego. Chapter 353: Self awareness, and its rtion to ego. Timothy felt sure that he would crash soon, his stamina had depleted rapidly through this chase. Now he didn''t swim over hundreds of kilometres all at once, but there was another aspect that tired him out. He had to swim at top speed for over three hundred meters so far, and that simply didn''t treat his body so well. Yet the hero didn''t want to stop, as one second put into waste would force him to lose sight of the fast-travelling diamond. The thought of losing track was nerve wracking, so he pushed forward regardless of how his body disagreed with such an action. A stubborn pace of that liking had only one fate, and it was expected regardless of how tough the young man tried to act. At first he couldn''t take a proper sharp turn across the tunnel he swam through. One of his fins struck at one edge of the thin tunnel. The impact wasn''t painful but he lost a bit of orientation. Paired with the fact that he felt dizzy already, this sudden fate could only lead him towards the ground. And in this case he had spun like a disk a few times, before he met with the tunnel''s floor. The hero could feel that his stomach sharply ached on one side, and his fins almost felt disconnected from his body, all thanks to exhaustion. In all ways possible, he had been overworked more than ever, well at least in terms of stamina. It took a few moments for the hero to let go of his ego, but this time he had a good reason to do so. In any normal case he would keep going regardless if it killed him. But at the moment he understood that it was pointless to continue, the diamond was long gone from his sight. Such a wave of logic kept him healthy at this point, because if he continued then he would probably knock himself out cold. [Stay here until your stamina replenishes, or else you will suffer damage on your vital organs] Such a warning had been repeated a few times so far, but of course the hero only listened now when he had no other option but to abide. At the moment he felt too worn out to speak, so he had to embrace this conversation with the aid of a thought. My organs will get hurt either way, I havent eaten anything since like forever. He pointed out. And the system was instant to remind, [This hidden encirclement of various civilisations does not have a food source, so youll likely starve for a long time] Yeah no kidding, He joked. It took the sea-pancake nearly an hour to replenish his entire stamina. Normally the procedure wouldnt take so long, no. But he had overworked himself so much that his stamina-bar had gone below zero. And that itself took more time to recover from. While he had lied in wait, the hero had the chance to think his choices over. Since his emotional intelligence had been high enough, he managed to figure out the reasons behind his resistance. Timmy figured out that his stamina went that low, all because he had been too egoistic to back down. Now this aspect could be confused with will power, but his emotions were hurt thanks to the fact that he couldnt keep up with the fast diamond; and such emotion pointed out towards ego. He figured out that detail, and now the sea-disk wanted to figure out a way to push such hot-headedness away. From a brief perspective, it would take a while to control this over productive emotion. Yet his self awareness was the first step towards fixing such a w, the system assured such an aspect too. However, this problem could be pushed aside for now, it was a problem that he had to work through, over time. As for now he continued to follow the snug tunnel that he had crashed in. It took Timmy a moment to orientate himself, especially since he had spun just an hour ago; but he managed to find his way out. After just a few minutes of travel, he reached the end of the tunnel and met with the same big door he had witnessed earlier on. This time however, the dark-grey door seemed quite different inparison. Sure its darkened features were still evident, but there was another detail that made this scene both unique and pleasing to the naked eye. In simple words, the entire top left corner of the door had shifted its colour. A fourth of this big door was coated with the same colour which the diamond carried. More specifically, it had a discoloured shade of light blue. And it didnt seem like the door was affected by some sort of light either, it had genuinely changed in colour in some odd way. The big diamond itself was in one of the four holes, the same ones which lied in the middle of the door. Its spherical form fit perfectly in that spot, so the hero had no doubt that he had gotten the team one step closer towards progress. Dana was close to the door for some reason, and it was clear that she was attracted by the diamond. Once the hero approached the gooddy, he asked. What are you doing here? Couldnt you find anything? Yes and no, She followed along. And then specified, The crystals you found brought me back here. Oh so you were the ones who made those things swim? Timothy asked. In an instant the other specified, Yes, you yell a lot so it was easy to figure out what you were excited about. The hero didnt want to ask more regarding the matter, as he understood that this finedys senses were beyond marvelous. She didnt seem any different in form either, so it felt pointless to waste time with too many questions. Instead he shifted the topic towards the group task, Tell me about the diamond sphere things, did you find any? I found something that seems like what were looking for, but this thing is somehow causing illusions that are too strong for me to see through. Dana revealed. Chapter 354: Ego, and its results towards illusion. Chapter 354: Ego, and its results towards illusion. I cant help much with those illusions I could barely figure out what that fish was, the one that made our souls breed or whatever. Timothy admitted. Thedy by his side was in the process of embarrassment after that point, but she pushed such emotion away as she embraced the prior topic. I dont need someone with a godly vision, Thedy stated. And then exined, I have a n, but you need toe with me or else I cant figure anything out. Oh, sure then. But you have to tell me what to do, or else Ill be useless. He admitted. The couple of friends travelled through a tunnel on the right side of the carved cavern this time. They headed towards the spot where one of these precious diamonds is said to be. What stood different in this vicinity, was the fact that this tunnel was shorter inparison. They had to swim for about thirty meters before they met with what seemed like the diamond. These two friends werent surrounded by a huge cavern this time, no. The scene itself seemed anti-climactic actually. As this spot was just a dead end, there wasnt an extravagant scene to cover the area. The concept of such an approach confused the hero quite a bit, as he did not understand what stood as a barricade. Likewise he pointed it out, The darn thing is over there, we just gotta go and grab it. Thats the problem, The fine stingraydy tried to exin. But her friend was sure that he would seed, for that matter he swam directly towards this precious diamond. He even thought of ways to grab it. If this spherical gem doesnt float like the other one, then he aimed to grab and lift it with his muscle-coated fins. But yet just after he felt sure that he reached this diamond, the boy''s vision altered towards the unexpected. He could see both the spherical gem and his friend, all at the same time. This was especially odd after considering the fact that he was in the middle of these two points. It almost felt like he had eyes at the back of his head, and such a concept was beyondprehension. "What the hell''s going on?" He muttered. And then he tried to back away from this nonsense, but at the same time he didn''t have any recognized sense of direction. Such an fate forced him to crash on many sides of the tunnel, as he simply had no idea where he headed. Eventually he got far enough from the diamond, and could see things clearly once more. "I tried to tell you, this thing does weird stuff to your eyes. What part of ''illusion'' didn''t you understand?" Dana lightly scolded. After the young boy pushed panic away, he could only recite. "That was my bad, my mistake alone." Sure this felt like something he usually would not say, but ego had to be tampered with one way or the other. "You should be fine though. It''s an illusion, not poison." The fine stingraydy assured. And afterwards she revealed, "I might have figured out how to break this illusion, and get this shiny gem for us." "How can I help?" Timmy tried to cooperate. But he still was beyond dizzy and couldn''t quite shake such a dilemma away. Thankfully his friend didn''t prove difficult, and was quick to properly carry this conversation. She started it off with, "I''ve heard you and the system ying around with soul powers, right? We can use that to break this illusion." "How?" The hero asked, as confusion coated his consciousness. Do you have a soul attack, that can drain someone or somethings soul? She was swift to ask. Within an instant the hero answered, Yes actually. But how will that help us get this diamond? It will help trust me, The stingraydy assured with a mild tone. And then she encouraged, Try it out on the diamond sphere thing. Timmy was too confused in order to be objective. He didnt have the slightest clue regarding a soul-movement like this one had to do with the diamond and its illusions. But he also understood that his fine friend was able to see patterns that the naked eye couldnt capture, so he found enough reasons to trust thisdy. That aside, he wasnt in a good shape so it was hard to be argumentative. Okay Ill trust you with this, He mumbled. And thankfully he was present enough to remember an important detail. He didnt shy away from its expression either, But the soul reaping ability of mine is deadly now. You need to get out of here, or else Ill identally take your soul too. Fair enough for me, Dana expressed. And as she slowly swam away, she reminded the boy. Aim for the diamond, it can help us figure this out. It took less than a minute for this good stingray to swim above fifty meters away, and by that time the hero felt slightly more capable. That strong dizziness he suffered had fiddled away, enough for the hero to understand what he was supposed to do right now. So Tim peeked at the illusive diamond for a few seconds, and afterwards he shouted. Soul reap! What he expected next was for a stream of light toe out of the diamond in front of him. Sure the young man was sceptical regarding if that was possible or not, but he still hoped for the better. The result he got instead was both progressive and confusing at the same time. A stream did burst out of the spherical diamond, that was for sure. But this one single stream of light pierced and circled around that shiny stone, and towards Timothy all at the same time! The worst part was that this same one end of the stream somehow pierced through the diamond and entered the heros body too! This light wasnt long, so technically it didnt even feel like the sea-pancake and this gem were connected. It felt like one short stream circled around the hero, and the gem in question as well, without actually separating itself to attain such a result! Chapter 355: The concept of death, and its plausabilities. Chapter 355: The concept of death, and its usabilities. The main concept behind the soul-attack which the hero had unleashed was easy to understand. He was supposed to drain this diamonds power, with the aid of the soul-reaping attribute. This concept was easy in theory but in this case, its use had a few instabilities. Prior to a few days ago, the heros soul was weak, so he didnt have a full understanding of how this branch of power worked. But at the moment he felt advanced enough to tell apart a grand problem, an issue that only grew in value. He wasnt the one who drained energy from the diamond, in fact this situation went the other way around. The diamond consumed the heros soul right now, and such a pace was beyond frightening! Whats going on? He shouted. Through those same seconds he tried to think of a way which would counter attack this odd situation. But he was fresh out of ideas. The amount of soul attacks he had were painfully limited, and they couldnt be used in this situation whatsoever. By the time when the hero had grasped such a realisation, this darned shiny crystal had already consumed half of his soul! So thanks to such luminous reasons, Timmy felt sure that this was the end of the road for him, death wiggled around the corner. As this opposing object gained power, the heros illusions grew stronger by volume. The sea-pancake could see several versions of himself. It felt as if a bunch of clones had circled around him. The oddest part was that each one of these clones carried a different skin colour. These details were too specific, as these shades were past versions of his own skin. He didnt have the slightest clue regarding how some old shiny stone was able to do that, but this scene was the least of his worries. It felt like there was just a drop of his soul left, and a fish without a soul was just a carcass, so the fate that awaited him seemed beyond scary. Just then, he saw an arrow-shaped bit of light which flew above his head. It pierced through the waters at grand speed, and headed directly towards the diamond. Timothy couldntprehend its entire form, as it simply moved through the waters too swiftly. But neither did he care regarding what went on, as he truly awaited death to strike. Sure this type of ughter seemed anti-climactic, but death was death regardless of its shapes and forms. A moment after he felt something explode. Some strong waves smashed against his body, and tossed him all over the ce! Didnt know that death can explode like that He uttered. But then he realised, Ghosts can talk? Uh thats kinda weird. It took the hero a few more moments to realise what went on, but he eventually attained a grasp of the situation. All of the illusions were gone by now, and the big diamond just stood idly by on its spot. His vision here was far too clear, so it was difficult to believe that he had died. But at the same time he felt an incredible sense of power that strode across his veins, and inner body. The boys mind also cleared up more than ever, to the point where he absolutely enjoyed this situation. He even expressed, If ghosts live uh, unlive like this then this aint bad at all. [Youre not a ghost. An incredible amount of soul-energy has entered your body and densified your soul] Really? He answered after he heard the system out. [Yes. Regardless of how this was possible, the diamond has unleashed a stream of energy towards you] [And since the soul-reaping attack was active in that process, your soul has been permanently densified thanks to this collision] Really? Thats amazing! I can break my enemies in half now! The younger ones celebrated. Surely it sounded odd how his first thought was battle-oriented, but this environment has proven once more that he should focus towards survival. And a densified soul of this liking would definitely aid survival. A familiar tone chirped in the corner of this area afterwards, and the hero could only guess that this was Dana. It was her and she uttered, Youre wee for all of that power. What happened, Timmy questioned. By now he was sure that he was alive, but this didnt mean that anything of the prior disaster made any sense. This diamond had a lot of power in it, it still does. Thedy briefly described. And then continued, But there was an illusion barrier that tricked us, and it was fueled by this same diamond too. At the end she sealed this exnation off as she added, I figured out that this illusion barrier was at its weakest, when it was fully active. The soul draining power you attacked it with, forced those illusions to work over time. And that way you could attack its weak spot, The hero followed along. He had barely shaken away all of that difort from earlier, but at the moment he was present enough to figure things out. Thedy by his side confirmed such an aspect as she agreed, Correct, we practically broke that powerful illusion. A momentter she softly said, Sorry that this thing almost killed you though, I did not expect that reaction. Its okay, The hero excused. And since these couple of friends more than liked each other, he found it reasonable to make her feel better. Which was why he embraced, You did a great job, that arrowy light you shot was amazing! I can shoot those things out of my mouth now, She revealed. Such information came out as a shock, but Tim remembered that this finedy had consumed a few green-crystals earlier, so such changes were only reasonable. That was why he once more celebrated, Thats so cool! We should get you more of those space gems stuff. Dana was almost shy thanks to those outbursts, but she was also appreciative; her friend genuinely seemed happy about the upgrade that she had went through. So for once she swam close to this good friend and rubbed her head right against his. Through a mumble this finedy uttered, Thank you for being you. Chapter 356: The return of the... Chapter 356: The return of the... The definition of which covered the name of a blockade was easy to understand. This team had their path blocked by a door until now, and required some type of diamonds to unlock it. Thankfully they managed to achieve just that in a matter of an hour, just because they split up and managed to handle a few situations, mostly individually. After Timmy almost died while they broke that illusion spell, they swam back towards the main door to see how the situation was. Two of the diamonds had been merged with that same huge, stone door. The most recent one had flown across the tunnel, it did so while the two stingrays traveled through it. Admittedly, the scene was interesting. However, after they got a hold of two diamonds, the couple of friends were eager to push their progress forward. For that reason, they went to look for the rest of the team. Yet it was inevitable for them to float towards a couple of problems, that was the curse of curiosity. It was battle oriented, and at this point the details were nothing the team had not seen before. Thanks to that perspective, they handled those issues in no time; they simply had a brief understanding of what to expect from this odd underworld, and how to handle what it threw against them. These rays of experience led the team towards inevitable sess. So now, all four diamonds were embedded with the big stone door. It seemed so astounding to have all of these expensive looking gems collected, but now another problem emerged. The team did not know what to do next! The indestructible door did not move after the diamonds embedded with it, the door did not slide away as the team magically expected it to. "Now how the hell do we use all these diamonds?" Timothy questioned. He felt a bit impatient at this point. He got hit by some massively powerful light earlier on, so surely anyck of progress felt beyond irritating. Of course that same light has given him a lot of soul power, but the signs of pain were still there, and they slowly crept in to form a bigger mess. The impact from earlier had simply been tremendous. "Maybe one of them is broken," Dana theorized through a mumble. And before the conversation could have gone through various odds and ends, Haze decided to take the lead on this topic. "We can''t do anything about this," She weighed in first. And afterwards she described, "The channels of energy that go through this door, are all leading to one single point in the middle. It''s as if we need to put a diamond on that spot as well." "So do we need to p the door in the middle, or something?" Timmy interrupted. "No," Thedy shortly answered. She wanted to point out every corner of her brother''s stupidity, but at this point it felt quite a time-waste to do so. That was why she just described, "This small point is on the other side of this door. So even if we could do anything about this, we would need to be on the other side." In an instant, her expressive brother pointed out the obvious. "Oh hell, that''s bad." "What was your first clue?" Snoopy breezed across the conversation, undoubtedly with a load of sarcasm. The team grew increasingly frustrated, so such sassyments were only expected. Dana wanted to interrupt this bleak bickering phase, as she picked up a hint that was beyond important. But her word was cut short by one of the other stingrays, who didn''t hesitate toin. Snoopy looked at his sister and weighed in, "You said that these four diamonds would be enough. Why did you make us deal with weird ass crystal fish, just to let us wait like idiots here at the end." "As if this is the first time you looked like an idiot," Haze snapped. And of course she had furtherments regarding her brother''s ipetent sides, but she decided to move towards the vitally important topic instead. Before she could have gotten interrupted, she specified. "This door hid that important point on the other side. Everything was clear once these diamonds gave a bunch of energy streams throughout this door." "So we had no way of knowing ha," Timothy leaped in the conversation again, and he tried to loosen up the tension as well. In an instant, his sister confirmed. "We had no way of knowing." The siblings fell silent after that point, they truly did not know how to approach this delicate situation. Timothy might have chances to figure something out, especially since his creative intelligence is otherworldly; but in this situation, he would need to fully understand the door''s mechanism in order to figure anything out. Those facts aside, the silence and the unholy tension that grew with it, had given Dana a pocket of space to finally express what lurked across her fishy head. "Guys," She first called out for attention. And afterwards she weighed in, "Since this point... or lock, whatever it is? Since it''s on the other side, then maybe we aren''t supposed to even go inside." "We both have a vision of where we''re supposed to go," Timothy followed along. And then he pressured, "I''m pretty sure we''re supposed to go through here." "Our vision shows us where to go, not what lives in it." The eagle-raydy finally expressed. And that''s when the team came to a sudden realization, they all caught up with what this fine woman had to say. Unsurprisingly, the entire team sunk under a wave of nervousness, but they still didn''t want to back down. That was why the hero insisted, "If we have to fight some fool, we''ll do it, this is not our first fig..." Such a sentence could not have been finished, as in that moment, a screeching sound erupted across the atmosphere. Subconsciously, the entire team knew exactly where to look. Their focus darted towards theplicated stone-door, and their heart was forced to skip a beat! The team noticed that a one-foot wide hole had opened up, this hole was located right in the middle of the door. It was no secret that this hole revealed what was on the other side, but the team could not make anything out of such a scene. Instead, their focus was reaped by what floated in front of them. This view was simply difficult to absorb, as what floated in front of them was an exact representation of a small bodied, hairy, adult human! Towards such a sight, the hero could only express. "What in the ever loving fuck?" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!