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2024-11-04 21:36:02Tim's sense of vengeance went down, as soon as he found a place where he could rest at. The hard outlay of coral was his best friend around here, and he used it well, as he hid beneath about four layers of this hardy coral. Nothing could get to him at that point, nothing dangerous at least, he was deep within these natural barricades!
He thought, "Harold can't get me here… and fuck that guy! Who tricks a kid by promising spooky crabs? That was borderline pedophilia there, or at least, in the real world he would've gotten in trouble for tricking a child! I'm only like twenty-nine days old, god damn it." Such accusations were way out of line, but this little outburst had a simpler outlay. He cared less and less about either Harold or Drake, the more he talked about them, and as long as he avoided them from now on, he'd be perfectly fine with forgiving them. Forgiving was an exaggerated word, even, as he simply did not care to get involved with them at all. He had a life to live. Here, deep within the coral, he found a few marble shrimp and ate them. They were about to put him to sleep, but he got four more system points out of them, and thought that now was the best time to put them into use. The system had announced, [You've accumulated a total of 233 system points. It's a decent sum for you, especially since you've only used this stingray body for a day now.] "Well, thank you. Getting into trouble all the time has its rewards, right?" He joked, and at this point he was half asleep. [High risks do have high rewards, yes.] The system agreed, and then said. [Anyway, your health bar is looking better too. It's at 79/100 ~ It could be better, but you won't be feeling anything more than a headache from now on.] "Yeah, shrimps help… but I'm falling asleep, system. Can you tell me about the stuff I can buy?" He followed along. [Certainly,] The system said, [You can upgrade your barb, and barb venom as a start. This is the cheapest option available, and you'll need your barb in the long run.] "Okay, let's go with that." He said. [Confirmed,] The system followed along. Almost immediately after, Tim felt a sudden sharp pain on his whole tail. This took a toll on him, as the pain spread like the plague, it was simply unbearable! He didn't understand why upgrades came hand-to-hand with intense pain, but it wasn't fun whatsoever! About two minutes later, the pain stopped, and the results seemed decent. The system said. [Congratulations! Your barb and barb-venom has been upgraded from level zero, to level one. In exchange, 45 of your system points have been consumed.] "That's nothing… the pain consumed me entirely, though." Tim joked. Anyway, in regards to the barb, he wasn’t really able to see it, because his eyes didn't roll that way, but truthfully, his tail was really looking better. It was fatter, sharper, brighter and had the capability to store more magic in it now, as well as utilize the magic all the more efficiently! In this world, Tim's tail was his main weapon, and he was happy that he could upgrade it so cheaply. His barb and barb-venom had been at level zero before, and now that its level was higher, he was hoping that the venom could deal some decent damage, against anything that moved. He did understand, however, that it wasn’t strong enough to kill any monstrous fish whatsoever, just small ones. He moved on quickly after, and asked. "Okay, let's keep the fun stuff going, system. Tell me about that intelligence thing? Can I afford it, and do you think I should buy it?" [You can afford it, I priced it at 90 system points. Considering your recent blunders, you definitely should buy it… ten points go a long way when you're a fish.] She said. "You are very… right." Tim added, "Okay then, spray me with brain juice or whatever!" [Confirmed,] The system said. Immediately after, she added. [Congratulations, your IQ successfully went up by 10 points. In exchange, you spent 90 system points, because as you know, upgrades like these are a bit expensive.] Tim didn't care about the price right now, no. Instead, he was offended by how quickly this upgrade was implemented into his brain, it only took a second. Tim's little headache remained the same too, he didn’t feel anything new whatsoever! "I guess I'm too dumb to feel brain pain," He sighed. The system didn't care to console him about that. There was just one other upgrade available, and she was quick to re-introduce it to him now, rather than talk about feelings. She explained, [Okay, do you care to feel a little bit more pain? I want to tamper with your organs a little bit, hollow them out by 10% maybe? Here and there, tit and tat, it'll only take a moment, and you can afford it.] "As long as it'll knock me out, I want to sleep for a while." He said. [Confirmed,] The system added. She didn’t fail to deliver. Tim started feeling weird right away, as if there were bugs running around his blood vessels! It wasn't quite painful, but along the way, he got more freaked out than ever, and even started twitching a little bit. A medieval peasant would consider this procedure to be necromancy, but in actuality, the system was doing some work that would need both a doctor, and a scientist to perform! She was optimizing Timothy's body, so he could endure water pressure for about 50% more! This was no simple task. She was quick with it too! The upgrade only took about five minutes, but Tim got knocked out half way. The system did her job thoroughly, and announced things, regardless of how Timothy was fully unconscious. She said, [Congratulations! You can swim up to 300 meters deep now, without receiving any damage from water pressure. This'll aid your explorative nature greatly, for every next adventure to come… I'll tell you about this, again, after you wake up. This upgrade cost you 75 system points, which is a bit hefty for a beginner such as yourself.] Furthermore, she added. [At least math isn't your trump card, though, you probably won't notice that you only have 23 system points left, after all the upgrades. These three upgrades cost you 210 points all together.] Afterwards, the system started talking to itself. [Eh, he'll be a little bit mad, but he'll get over it once I tell him about the new upgrades… Besides, he's making great progress already, the explorative soul ability he used a few hours ago, will have him inching towards humanity soon enough. Free-flying is the first, essential step to shape-shifting…]
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I'm a Stingray? Chapter 12 - Magical Stingray!
Tim woke up after about five hours, and he was fully rested. However, the recent upgrades have tampered with his body quite a bit, so he felt really weird right now. He felt lighter, quicker, and had this urge to explore the seas and hunt anything that moved! This was how he usually behaved, yes, but today this behavior was amped up tenfold for some odd reason! Tim felt powerful and capable, but thankfully, the coral that surrounded him managed to cage his deadly enthusiasm. He couldn’t move much down here, and while he tried to slip out of the coral layers he had hid in, he found the infinite wisdom to calm himself down. Well, his wisdom was very finite actually, but that was not the point. The point was that he could reason with himself a lot more now, it was fascinating! In due time, Tim figured out what was happening with himself; This jolting temperament had something to do with the brain upgrade he had, just a few hours ago, he was sure of it!
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 13 - The great introduction!
Tim was astounded by the concept of magic. The fact that it was available in this world, was the only thing that kept him from being suicidal. This world simply promised a lot! The talk about magic brought back some memories, even, he said. “A protective spell, huh? I think you mean a deflective spell, system. When I was a human, I remember playing a video game of some sort, one about dragons, and it had a bunch of these deflective spells, they were pretty cool.” Tim was feeling nostalgic, it was difficult not to be. However, the system snapped him out of it right away, as she made another promise. [Video games? Oh, they’re available in this world too, in the mildly advanced civilizations at least. This world is very vast, and it’s difficult to get into a good civilization, however, if you do get into one, then you can play plenty of video games there. The highly advanced civilizations have even better games, hyper-realistic ones.] The s
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 14 - Panzer Crabs
Tim was intrigued by the new purchase options. He and the system discussed them for a long time, just so he could pick the best option there was. They came to the conclusion that the cheapest upgrades were the best option, as though they weren't as effective as the rest of the upgrades, they still were the most accessible! Accessibility, on its own, was really useful in terms of ensuring survival. Tim was convinced about what he was supposed to buy, and now, there was only the matter of getting system points, a bunch of them. For safety's sake, he waited until dawn, just so he could see and analyze his surroundings better, as it was really stupid to hunt in the dark, and he simply wanted to avoid getting killed. Tim took a couple of naps, just to kill some time, and when it was finally the break of dawn, he emerged from within the protective layers of the coral reef. Tim swam for a few meters, and then mumbled. "God damn… I am really hung
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 15 - "I hate you, Harold"
Tim searched the reef for any other kind of creature for him to kill. His belly was full, so he wasn't really desperate for food, but he did need to gather up a bunch of points! The panzer crabs he had killed gave him plenty of points, yes, but they weren't enough. Some of the upgrades were really expensive, and if he was to afford them, then there was no benefit in slowing down right now. Tim wanted to hunt for a few more hours at least, and then get back to those panzer crabs afterwards, once he got really tired. The idea was to get points, and then to find a safe spot where he could rest afterwards. He could eat a few mouthfuls of crab meat as well, to encourage his growth sprout. If the area near the crabs was safe enough, then he planned to buy an upgrade or two as well. There were a lot of things on his plate today, but he didn’t mind it. Tim enjoyed working under pressure, it gave him this overwhelming, and constant adrenaline rush
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 16 - Sardines; Deadly, or not?
"Wow…" Tim gasped in amazement.He was astounded by the idea of magical, mana-oozing roots. He guessed that they'd only make him more powerful, but overall, he also got this explorative, adrenaline rush after hearing about them! This world had so much to offer, so he couldn’t wait to escape his current physical limitations, in order to explore things that were beyond, and greater than magical roots! He was desperately eager.Anyway, the system broke his train of thought shortly after. She announced a little warning. [Timothy, pay attention! Before you go near any roots, you need to unlock your mana pool at first, specifically, the most expensive upgrade available right now. Mana roots excrete mana, and in order for you to harvest it or accumulate it, you need to unlock your mana pool. You don't need to rush on about this task, however, you probably noticed that each of these tasks encourage you to explore the world more, so one way or the other, this hunt will be g
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 17 - The Murder Spree
Over the course of a couple of minutes, Tim gathered all the courage he needed to approach this odd and massive cloud. Sure this approach made him a bit nervous, however, he gathered a bit more courage, as he kept insisting that this was a golden opportunity, one where he could reap a lot of system points! If these sardines were easy to kill, then he could just slip between this school of fish, and stab them left and right with his tail. This could turn out to be his greatest, point-farming opportunity yet, and he was aware of it! Tim also noticed a hint of suspicious, green dots within the cloud as well, but decided to ignore that for now, as he didn’t want to back down.He wasn't given much time to think about that either, as now the cloud was approaching him by itself, rather than the other way around. This sudden approach intimidated him a lot, but he wasn't even given any time to think about swimming away from the approachers, no.A few seconds later
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 18 - Drunk Stingray
Tim was quite speedy. He swam three hundred meters deep, under the sea, and completed the task as a result. He didn’t get hurt either, as at some point he swam really slowly, just so he wouldn’t cross any physical bounds. His disk-like body was upgraded to endure three-hundred meters of ocean depth, specifically three-hundred, and he wasn’t willing to try his luck on the matter.The system confirmed his success, the moment he hit the mark, she said. [Okay, that’s enough. You’re 300 meters deep, so we can mark the task associated with it as complete. Congratulations!] Furthermore, she added. [As promised, you just got 30 system points as a reward. In total, you’ve accumulated 500 points, which isn’t bad at all for a guy your size! Good job, Timothy, very good.]“Thank you,” He said, “You deserve most of the credit, though, for getting me out here. I got a hell lot of points, without working much for them… and I guess that’s why I need you as a guide in thi
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 19 - Vengeance, exacted
Tim was severely drunk, however, he did eventually find his way to the reef, and even closed in to the den, where Harold the eel was living in. He had spiraled like a WW2 warplane for a while, but at least he swam near the spot that he had aimed for. He was as confident as a drunkard could be, so at some point, he shouted. “Harold, get outta there and face me, you retard!”Tim’s intent was clear, and some may even think that what he was doing was suicidal. However, regardless of how dangerous his idea was, he didn’t plan on backing down! Anyway, since his vocal cords were very limited volume-wise, Harold didn't hear him whatsoever, he wasn't in trouble. This gave him a bit more freedom to attack, and he did exactly so! Just moments later, in that drunken state, he came up with an idea that was both crazy, and perhaps effective. He simply rushed into the snug den, and aimed to bite anything in immediate sight!Harold was still in there, in the de
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Chapter 65 - Devilish Ants, reborn!
[Before you go mental on those fireflies, you should know that you’ve spent 10 mana points already. That’s a lot for a little guy like you, do I have to keep reminding you? Be careful with how you spend your mana, please.] The system scolded him.Tim looked at the ‘fireflies’ in the meantime, the same ones who soared above the grass, and as he watched them approach, he couldn’t help getting nervous. He also ignored the system entirely, as this was not the time to be greedy or cautious with his points! He had to survive! Tim then looked down at the circle of grassy ashes, the very graveyard-like pit that he had caused. It was a foot away in front of him, and as he looked at it, he couldn’t help but piece a certain puzzle together. He guessed that the intense fire that he caused was what attracted these specific fireflies!It was a firm theory, and it made him really nervous, so he thought. “Look at them go! I’d be damned if they were here to have a picnic, those bastards want fried, s
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Chapter 64 - Devilish Ants!
Tim was in a lot of trouble, for multiple reasons, and on top of that, he also felt incredibly disturbed! He noticed that unlike any other insects that he had seen before, these ants that were attacking him, had feet!Now of course these feet weren't as full and as detailed as the feet of a human's, but it was disturbing enough nonetheless, when he saw that their legs bent outwards near the very tip of their legs, it was odd. These red bellied ants had feet, each and everyone of them, and he didn’t know how to feel about that. On top of feeling disturbed, he was irritated as well.“This is why they run around so fucking fast,” He thought, and then pouted. “Why didn't I get a pair of flappy feet? I need a pair. They sure as hell would've gotten me out of that sand quicker, I almost died there!”There was a lot to think about here, however, he didn’t have the luxury to pause and complain about things, not for long, at least. Tim was still being hunted by these ants, regardless of how he
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Chapter 63 - Spider Wizard
Tim wanted to be a human again, he craved to be one as soon as possible! However, for the time being, he was an itsy-bitsy spider, and like most spiders, he was very vulnerable to all sorts of danger! Aside from that, he also had certain limitations now, power-wise. His arsenal of power had been severely weakened at the very moment when he turned into a spider! The system started getting into detail about the matter, as best as she could. While Tim strode forward and across the sand, she unraveled a bundle of information, in a computersized manner.She called for attention, [I respect your aspirations, Timothy, however, let us get back to reality for a while. Your current statistical, and or arsenal-oriented capabilities are the following…][Health Bar = 32/32][Hunger Bar =11/12][Sleep&Stamina Bar = 10/16][Mana Pool = 120/120]“Well shit! Looks like I gotta go ninja-mode for a while, because at this rate, I can’t risk running into something as little as a cricket, it’s not safe! G
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Chapter 62 - "Scared of Seagulls!"
Tim Was very self-motivated for once. Such a feeling was rare for the likes of him, because he was usually motivated by fear, rather than such an indomitable progressive will. It was a new feeling, and he was willing to chase its euphoric highs for as long as it was physically possible. He urged to do so!Physics may be his biggest enemy throughout the following few days, come to think of it, and the reason behind this conclusion was obvious, he was a spider! Spiders weren't quite heavy, not at all, and Tim was an anorexic spider, too, which although it sounded hilarious in certain contexts, it still served the prior point; He was very light, and perhaps vulnerable too!Now there were certain physical disadvantages when it came to being a spider, even when things weren't going wrong. In this case, things were going very wrong at the very beginning, because Tim was a wet spider! The ocean waves had hit him a couple of times ever since he shapeshifted, and those same waves almost killed
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Chapter 61 - "Three-inch Spider!"
Tim was an explorative guy, by nature, his soul craved it. However, today those explorative senses of his were beaten down and abused. In the search for land, he had been slapped shitless by the ocean waves, who refused to cooperate with him. He was near the ocean shores, which meant that the waves could be more violent once in a while. He was flipped around like a pancake, tens of times, as his body seemingly wasn't designed to browse the ocean surface, out here near the shores, not at all!Things were tough, but at least the trip he took wasn’t entirely bad. The coral reef below him, for example, had softened up the intensity of the waves, at least for a little while, and this gave him some peace. The reef was complex enough to protect the ocean shores from tougher waves, which was beneficial to him, but this itself hadn’t been enough to tame Tim’s scrambled nerves. In fact, other than helping him, the reef also irritated him.The reef was huge, so it had taken a while to cross it.
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Chapter 60 - "I'll never be a Seagull!"
“A fraction? What does ‘fraction’ mean?” He asked. Tim was in no condition to think. It wasn’t easy to escape two deadly threats at once (the other being hunger), and with that considered, it wasn’t a surprise that his mind was absolutely scrambled right now. He felt burned out.The system never felt tired, however. She was far more superior than a computer, and therefore, the work she did was tireless. For that matter, she was quick to come up with an answer, she was sharp!She said, [A ‘fraction’ means that it’s a tiny portion. Specifically, you only absorbed a tiny portion of the shifter’s powers. The shifter was far stronger than you, in terms of mana quality and although you killed a much stronger opponent, it doesn’t mean you’re strong enough to absorb all of its powers, you won’t be able to shapeshift as greatly or efficiently. I hope that makes sense to you.]“It does make sense, and it also doesn’t. How was I able to kill a stronger guy… erg, girl?” He followed along.[Luck,
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Chapter 59 - Fully-automatic Stingray!
The octopus wasn’t as cruel as Tim had imagined. This thing stopped charging at him all of a sudden, for example, which was a really confusing course of action. Then, the octopus just stared at him!Tim stared back of course, and then he asked about what was on his mind. “What the hell do you need fifteen arms for, man? You could kill me with like, four of them if you tried hard enough.”This was not the greatest time to ask such a question. Come to think of it, it never was a good idea to converse with an enemy, when both sides were so close to battling! Yet he did ask questions, quite shamelessly too. Even the bubonic shifter was confused by Tim’s questions, as he appeared overconfident while he spoke! Scared folks weren’t supposed to ask casual questions, it was just the natural order of things. With that considered, the shifter was enthralled, and felt really motivated to converse. This was a unique encounter without a doubt.It said, “I have twelve arms, guy, not fifteen. Also,
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Chapter 58 - Twelve-armed Octopus!
[You have no choice, Timothy, you must fight.] The system said.At first, even Tim second guessed the logic behind her words, but then, she also added. [The ambusher will likely follow you, especially if it’s a bubonic shifter, so it’s pointless for you to swim away. That aside, even if you escape with your life, you don’t really have the privilege to waste another hour. You need food immediately, and it so happens that the ambusher is edible, well, most likely edible. Kill it, and eat it!]With that said, Tim didn’t put up a debate. He heeded the system’s recommendations, and in effort to intercept the ambusher in a safer manner, he made a sharp turn to the right, and then started swimming as fast as he could. He had intercepted the electrical signals behind him, and in order to launch a proper, defensive attack, he had to make some distance away from the ambusher. He had to get a bit more comfortable, if he was to have a fighting chance!Tim used both the flaming fins ability, and
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Chapter 57 - Mouth sensors, and a halved mana pool!
Tim’s sight, scent and overall senses were upgraded to level four most recently, but that may not be enough to battle the utter darkness that the sea possessed. He had to be very attentive, just to have a brief understanding of what was going on around him at all times! It wasn’t fun. However, there were a couple of things working to his favor out here. It didn’t take much effort for him to maneuver through the darkness, for example, which was a good thing, as he technically didn’t have any physical obstacles out here on the open waters. The advantage behind this was that he could focus on heightening his senses, other than sight, as vividly as possible, without having to worry about bumping into something along the way! This was great, and surely, he had to use every advantage there was, if he was to succeed. Tim tried his best to focus, but he was also getting really hungry, yet, there wasn't any food around for him to eat. With that considered, at some point later on, he ended up
