2024-11-06 21:35:13Tim 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 feel moodier than that human girlfriend I had, god damn! She was always hungry for some reason.” Tim thought. Just then, he noticed that he was also recalling some of his human memories all of a sudden, which was quite a surprise. He did not want to think about his past, human life right now, as he felt sure that he’d mourn those good old days. Recalling those old days would beat on his conscience viciously, without a doubt! He thought, “Even my divorce was easier than this, new thing… I’m a fish now, god damn it!" Tim was a bit depressed right now, however, as he dances within the lines of depression, he came to a realization. It was still amazing that he could remember fractions of his old life to begin with, regardless of how much it hurt to remember them! He was impressed. The system promised power, and a fraction of the power she promised, was evident at this very moment. His soul had migrated here, all the way from earth, yet he still had the option to remember stuff from his past life, and this fact alone was fascinating! There was a lot to think about, he was stumped for words! However, the system interrupted his train of thought, before these thoughts of his could run rampant, for hours and hours on end. This world certainly didn’t need a stingray who had anxiety right now. She said, [Timothy, hello. I’d like to tell you that each upgrade was a success yesterday, and as for now, you’re experiencing hormonal changes, which come with impulsive urges, and some occasional mood swings. Nothing about this is permanent, it’s just that the rest of your body is still adjusting to your recently restructured brain. It's no easy task.] “That makes sense,” He nodded, and accepted the fact that he just had to be patient, at least for a little while. Moments later, he squeezed himself out of the four layers of red coral, and then had this urge to rush across the sea. This urge of his was equal to that of a feral dolphin, but then he noticed that the sea seemed darker than usual. This scared him, so he didn’t feel so explorative anymore! “I’m afraid of the dark? Glad to see that I still have some human traits… or maybe I'm scared because in this body, I’m just a baby? Baby stingrays are probably scared of a lot of stuff, they gotta be.” Tim asked himself. Right then, the system followed along. [The entirety of what you just said is… debatable. However, do not be sad because of your lost humanity, as you will get back most of it, eventually. Your ‘explorative soul’ ability is the first step to worldly exploration, and eventual shape-shifting; I can help you turn back into a human one day, but you have to be patient.] “Really? Well that’s a fantastic thing to say!” Tim celebrated, “I don’t want to get any of my human friends back, fuck them! I want new friends, and maybe a wife that won’t divorce me, just to run off with her stupid assistant! God, I just remembered how much humans make me sick… maybe being a fish is a blessing, but I just haven't realized it yet?” [Your stances are debatable, but as far as I'm concerned, you can have it all, as long as you try to survive long enough. The magic in this world is extremely developed, so anything is possible, I promise you that!] She said. “Survive, huh? Okay, I probably shouldn’t be out here at night, then.” He said, and then squeezed back into the coral reef. Tim had wanted to hunt just a moment ago, but he couldn’t see anything out here, nothing at all, it was too dark. Predators were dangerous enough during the day, so he didn’t want to run into them at night, not in the slightest! He had to kill a few hours of time, and he may get a bit hungry throughout this period of both waiting and napping, however, this wasn’t a major task. He was safe within this coral, and that was all that mattered. Besides, the system was keeping him company. After all, she had a bunch of other upgrade options which she had to introduce! After Tim settled in some coral, the system got into business right away! She said, [Okay, Timothy. Since you bought every upgrade available yesterday, you unlocked a few new ones, five of them, to be exact. Now, some of them are pretty expensive, but they're really worth your while.] "Let them be expensive, I'm not intimidated by your prices anymore. It's not that hard to get system points, or at least, it's easier than what I had imagined at first." He added. Tim wasn’t cocky, no, but he was very direct instead. Exploration came hand to hand with system-based rewards, and he sure as hell liked to explore, so for that matter, he didn’t care about the prices anymore. The system didn't really expand on this side-topic either, but instead, she started talking about the new upgrades. She introduced, [Your first purchase option is pretty useful, essential even. For 60 system points, you can upgrade your bodily strength and speed, to level two! This is pretty much the cheapest upgrade right now.] "Hmm… yeah, speed is very important. Anything that keeps me away from the mouths of sharks is something worth buying." He muttered. [Well, you can't afford to buy anything right now, but it wouldn't be a bad idea if you prioritized buying that one. Strength and speed are truly essential if you're to improve your chances of survival.] She said. They could talk about stuff like these in detail, for hours if they could, and considering that he had several hours to waste, they just might do exactly that. However, there were four more upgrades to introduce, so the system was prioritizing that at the moment. She said, [Your second purchase option, is what'll link you to your stingray ancestry thoroughly, and for good! For 200 system points, you can unlock the 'extingus breath' magical ability, which would help you deflect most kinds of offensive magic, as long as the opposing caster isn't too strong! This ability is very common amongst your species, and you don't need spells or mana to use it.]
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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
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 20 - 5x Upgrades!
Tim found the panzer crabs he had stashed. It took him a moment to find them, since he was both hungry and disoriented, but he did succeed nonetheless. Without wasting a second, he started munching on them.He got a belly full of crab meat in less than ten minutes, and from the looks of it, he wasn’t going to run out of food anytime soon. Tim was still pretty small, so his belly could only fit so much food. Survival felt a lot easier this way, and Tim guessed that if he killed anything as big as a shark, then he'd have food forever around here!Of course, he wasn't so great at math, so he didn’t consider that meat would rot quickly. There was no such thing as an infinite food glitch, even in this odd world, but it was fun to fantasize about it nonetheless. Anyway, as for the panzer crabs that he had stashed between a crack of coral, he was eating and protecting this stash for a greater reason, as he remembered what the system told him about them. These crabs were p
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Chapter 372 - Pure lava
Garry was led to the burrow of the groundhog he befriended. The burrow was close by, several meters away, and it didn’t quite look appealing from the outside, which was expected, as the burrow only had a couple of holes that they considered entrances.Well, one entrance was a fake one. It led nowhere, and it was used to keep predators busy, such as foxes.The other entrance led to the deep interior of the burrow, and quite frankly, Garry was astounded when he squeezed into it. This was no mere home with weak, dirt walls to hold it up, no, as everything within the burrow was enhanced by a six-inch layer of carved stone! The stone walls within the burrow weren’t placed randomly. They weren’t bumpy, but rather, they were smooth, and had these rows of symbolic words carved into it with a language that he could not understand. Nevertheless, he was impressed.“Woa…” Garry sighed, as he looked at the walls around him.“Why are you loafing about here?” The guiding groundhog asked. “This is o
Chapter 371 - AAAAA!!
As of recently, Garry was at the pinnacle of his life! He became an Arch Mage at a fairly young age, young for a demonic basilisk, at least, and ever since he got to this rank, he had eased up on a lot of his beliefs or principles, and was just enjoying his life.In hindsight, he didn’t care much to progress into the following rank, which was that of an Arch Magus. He figured that such a title was years away from him, if not decades, so he simply didn't think about it much. He wasn't worried that he stumbled into another mana bracket as soon as got to the third level of the seventh realm of mana. He was okay with it.Initially, one of the main reasons he chose to stay in this universe rather than going back to the universe of hell, was because he wanted to help Timothy, his former summoning master, progress. He felt indebted to help Timothy, because he had saved him from deadly wounds back in those old ruins, so he chose to stay.However, he couldn’t help Timothy progress all that muc
Chapter 370 - Dark Moon
“Freedom… it outweighs everything in the world, be it mana or gold.” She thought, as she breathed in the crisp air at the crack of dawn.Fortana was up in the sky, along with her dragon, and she was now about forty-kilometers away from the City of Fik. She decided to leave the city for a short while, for two reasons.Firstly, she and her team were stuck in the city for an undetermined amount of time. Timothy said that they’d be stuck in the City of Fik for around a month, but she figured that they’d be stuck there for several months, and she could not remain stationary for that long. She spent most of her life stuck in the Dungeons of the Old, and now that she had gotten a taste for freedom, she could simply not remain in one place for long, otherwise she would either sink into depression, or suffer through wave after wave of anxiety. She didn’t like it.The second reason why she left the city was primarily related to her self-absorbed need to improve her arsenal. Most Expert Mages ha
Chapter 369 - Bored
The eight-hundred Expert Mages that joined the frontline were quite capable. They were very useful on the count that Timothy and his team spent a few hours nudging them in the right direction, and once they got a hang of what to do, there was no stopping them!Ten more shapeshifted Ancient Sea Orcs had tried to attack the city before sunset, and the Expert Mages, otherwise known as the city's soldiers, had killed them all! They killed them without losing a single man or woman in the exchange of attacks.They discovered that the giant orcs had this odd ability to toss exploding fireballs around almost randomly, but they worked around it. Ten mages shot fireballs at the giants to overwhelm them, essentially blind them, and then twenty mages snuck below the line of fire, and froze the giants solid! This method worked like a charm, and Timothy had helped them develop it, so the mages didn't lose arms and legs during their many fights.The dark giants helped them. Fortana insisted for the
Chapter 368 - 800 Expert Mages
Timothy needed about ten minutes to explain to Cornelius everything that had happened over the past hour. It was quite difficult to explain such a complex matter to a man that did not care, but he got through to him eventually. At the end, Cornelius bluntly added, “I understand. You accidentally killed what, like five-hundred soldiers? It happens.”Furthermore, he added, “But if you want to mask your mistake properly, you best add a couple more frozen giants. You can sell your story easier to the city officials if you say that five giants went neck to neck with the city’s best mages.”“Right,” Tim nodded, and then he communicated with Fortana telepathically, and got the tip across to her, even though she was forty meters away. “Add two more frozen giants. It’ll be more believable.”While Fortana got into work, he turned to Cornelius, and asked, “You don’t care about this city at all, do you? Genuine question. Are you only loyal to yourself?”“I’m only loyal to my pool progression, an
Chapter 367 - Ablutions
“What the hell was that! Aren’t your giants supposed to be under your control?” Tim pressured.Rattled, Fortana answered, “They are under my control. However, if hundreds of people charge at them, they’re gonna defend themselves no matter what I say. Those stupid bastards dug their own grave.”“We have a big problem here,” He said. “Anyone who can put two and two together will think that we killed the soldiers. We cannot afford to be banished from the city.”Fortana was aware of that, and for a moment she felt helpless, however she then came up with an idea that sounded plausible. She swiftly created a giant, one that looked a lot like the Ancient Sea Orcs that they’ve been killing, but she avoided giving life to the giant, and just froze it in place.Afterwards she created two more of these replicas, and placed all of them in front of the soldiers along with the first, frozen giant. By all means, she was trying to fake a battle scene.“There you go,” She said. “The sea orcs froze the
Chapter 366 - 10 Dark Giants x 700 Humans
The barricade of ice that Timothy had created was holding strong. Now the barricade wasn’t much taller than the sea itself, but it was dense, it reached almost at the bottom of the ocean for the most part, so it was a great tool in terms of keeping the Ancient Sea Orcs away. The ice barricade may even last several days, on the count that the temperature around, and within the ice was quite low. The mild summer rays would need days to melt through it.Anyway, Timothy had hoped that the system would inform him that he had successfully killed one of these sea orcs, through the barricade alone. He was hoping that he had frozen one of them solid, but this did not appear to be the case.By all odds, any of the remaining sea orcs who originally planned to walk their way out of the sea, were scared off as soon as the temperature of the water around them dropped significantly. When Timothy thought about the matter this way, he further confirmed his theory that the creatures he was dealing wit
Chapter 365 - Hydro, tainting
Timothy initially wanted to take the battle to the sea, and kill every last Ancient Sea Orc out there. That was his idea this morning, however, they had barely thought about what they would do if the sea orcs brought the battle up here beyond the shores!It was normal that they hadn’t thought about it, because in a normal situation, sea creatures shouldn't walk. It wasn’t natural. Timothy was dumbfounded, however, he also understood that it was imperative that he and the team stayed here, in front of the beach, so as to prevent any remaining sea orc from attacking the City of Fik. They had to stay, until backup arrived.Today, the city had proved themselves utterly unprepared when it came to managing a disaster. It was evident, so the team couldn’t, in good conscience, leave their spot until a bunch of soldiers arrived here on the beach, and manned the frontline. “Don't be discouraged, guys.” Tim tried to motivate his team. “Remember all the gold we're gonna make. At the very least,
Chapter 364 - Timothy Tentacles
The team killed a shapeshifted Ancient Sea Orc a moment ago, and they were proud of it, as the battle had been swift, and their moves were effective. However, they did not expect to see four more of these giant monsters pop out of the sea! They were petrified.“Dragons, cover fire!” Timothy yelled out again.The dragons understood what those words meant now, so they didn’t have to be taught as much this time around in order for them to contribute. They started blasting fireballs towards the giants, and even though it was more difficult to push all four of them away, the contribution the dragons were putting into the battle was worthwhile! If not anything more, it served as a great distraction. Timothy then gathered his team of goblins, and the two giants that were also on his team, them being Garry and Gustav, and then they rushed into battle! The giants were less than forty meters away from them, and they wanted to take control of the situation before these monsters got the chance t
