Chapter 2 - Enemy

"System, I've been waiting for an hour now! Where the hell are those iguana crabs you talked about?" Tim complained, and the attitude he had was fueled by anger alone.

The system didn't make things any easier for him, as she said. [You mean crustacean ignatius, not iguana? Also, you've been waiting for 37 minutes, and guests aren't supposed to lie. Please behave!]

Before he could say anything, the system answered the prior question as well, though she was a bit vague about it.

She said, [You should just continue waiting for a little while longer. Crabs will eventually crawl over here, so stop talking and rustling around, you're gonna scare them away. Don't let 'natural selection' be your worst enemy, please the oceans are already dangerous themselves. Don't do stupid stuff.]

Ironically, right now, the system spoke more than Tim ever did. She distracted him, even, so he was set quite for a surprise, after he felt a couple of doting, hot steps on his soft, fishy stingray back!

"Youch!" He exclaimed.

Then, upon an in-built primal reflex, he swung that dangerous tail of his. Afterwards, he noticed that the barb on the tip of his tail, punctured whatever crawled on his back!

That was not enough to kill the said creature, however. His back still felt very hot, as if he was the one getting stabbed. In a mode of panic, Tim pulled his tail out of the creature, and began stabbing it over and over again!

He had the slightest hint that he was attacking a crab, but throughout these few seconds, it didn’t matter much. Tim fought until he won, arose from the sand he had buried himself in, and then finally got a good look of what he had just killed.

It was a crab, and it didn’t take a detective to figure that out. The crab had colors equal to that of live flames, which explained why its feet had been so heated up to begin with!

But in another aspect, it didn’t make sense. Tim recalled some very bland details from his past life, and before he reincarnated into this fishy body, he had never really heard of flaming crabs. It sounded insane.

Nevertheless, he was happy that he killed the puny crab. It was smaller than him, but the damage it had dealt was insane, Tim had marks on his back now, which may take a while to heal. He did not want to experience that again, the crab's death brought him peace.

He even started mocking it, calling the carcass fat. "Guess that's why they call it an iguana crab, look at that ridiculous belly."

[No, no.] The system was quick to correct him, [It's an ignatius crustacea, which translates to flaming crab. That's why its legs fried your back a little bit, this species is your natural predator and prey at the same time.]

As the system said that, Tim remembered that he had to eat, and therefore felt nauseous. He looked at the crab, and since it was half the size smaller than him, the stab-wounds it had, made it seem all the more disgusting.

Through a mouthful of barf, he asked. "Hmm, flaming crab, huh? Does that mean it's already cooked and ready for me to eat?"

[No, its flesh is actually really wet and chewy. I recommend you wait until the crab cools down, though. However, if you don't see yourself adapting to this lifestyle, death is an option. Though, if you want to die, you have to starve yourself to achieve such a blessing.] The system followed along.

"That doesn't sound any better," Tim said, and then just decided that he was to eat this crab.

His belly was empty, and he'd rather be angry with a full stomach, rather than grumpy and hungry at the same time. This new life already seemed hard, and there was no point in making it harder. The system cooperated with him for once, she went quiet and let him be.

A few minutes went by, and he noticed how the crab's flame died out through every passing moment. He associated this crab with the shocking and sudden pain he experienced, so he was happy to see it die, fully and forever!

"Hehe," He smirked.

Anyway, now that he was more edible, he sunk those small jaws of his, on the crab. It took a moment to break its shell, but once he got a mouthful of its meat, it didn’t taste as bad as he thought it would be.

In fact, he didn’t taste anything at all, as Bluespotted Ribbon-tail Rays didn't have taste buds, apparently! This was a blessing, the more he thought about it. His belly started feeling full, and he didn’t feel disgusted as he finished the crab off.

Moments later, the system informed him. [You successfully killed a flaming crab, so 1 system point has been credited to you. I encouraged you to murder a crab to begin with, so you recieve another system point as a reward.]

Aside from that, she also added. [In total, you have 6 system points in your sum.]

"Thanks for making me feel better about killing and eating my natural nemesis, system." He joked.

The system was quiet for a while, as it seems like she was doing her own thing again. She was analyzing some information, and prepared to talk about a bunch of stuff.

She said, [You ate a full-grown flaming crab, and that comes with plenty of benefits. Your Hunger Bar is at 7/15 points now, but that's not all; You're also amped up with a fraction of the crab's magical powers, at least for a little while, and I suggest you use it.]

"Really? That's badass!" He exclaimed.

However, as he wiggled around in excitement, he shot out the bit of power he had stolen. A tiny fireball shot out of his barb, and just diminished as it arose up the salty waters.

"Oh shit, I messed up, didn't I?" He sighed.

He felt stupid that he lost the only bit of magical powers he could attain, but rather than arguing about it, the system worked with him on this.

She said, [Your bodily conditions are working against you a bit. You can't focus, and with that tiny mind of yours, not being able to focus adds up on your stack of daily problems. With that considered, I recommend that you bury yourself as much as you can, and just sleep for a little while.]

"You don't have to tell me twice," He said.

The meat he ate was finally weighing on his stomach. It made him feel warm, a bit cozy, and surely comfortable. He could use a nap right now!

...

Upon opening his eyes, Timmy spotted a big fishy face right in front of him, that was glaring all the way down to his little soul. Worse yet, this fish carried a pair of terribly shiny jaws!

In response, he peeped a bubley complaint, and demanded to know. "What's that?"

[I recognize some species of shark, but I can't give you any specific information right now. If I am to analyze this thing properly, then you need to bite the shark.] She said.

Tim would rather not do that, and instead, he asked. "Can I outswim it? I don't want to know who its uncles are right now."

The system did not answer to that, at least not immediately. She was carrying out her own procedures, and was quite greedy with any forms of information.

Tim however, didn't have any time to waste. The shark was getting curious, it started head-budding his spine, which couldn't be a good thing at all.

He responded quite primitively, and stung the shark right on the face! This was the best he could do.