2024-11-25 17:59:23Tim may be the busiest stingray out there right now, as he wholeheartedly accepted to be part of the blistering mana sect! He was to be very busy soon, because Marlo introduced him to a lot of things today, regarding magic, and he wanted to try out everything that was available!
He wanted to merge his powers together, for example, just so he could hopefully spend less mana on them. That was a good idea, however, Marlo instructed otherwise. He said, "Timothy, let me say that I'm glad you joined our sect, but, please don't rush things. Power merging requires 500 points of decent quality mana, it's really expensive, so don't merge your powers unless you're absolutely sure that you'll need them that way." "Oh, I need them." He said. Tim wanted to merge his flaming fins ability, with his recently acquired, shivering blood ability. Both of them were great individually, but when he used them together, there was a resulting dual effect, which seeped his mana twice as fast! He'd lose eight points of mana every second, and that wasn't affordable whatsoever, especially since he needed a whole hour to replenish about the same amount of points! Bottom line, he needed a loophole, and power-merging may be it. Anyway, he didn’t talk about specifics with Marlo because he didn’t trust him so much. Instead, he asked a couple of one sided questions. He asked, "I need to merge a couple of my powers, Marlo. How long do you think it would take to upgrade my mana quality, huh? I can only generate low quality mana, and that's probably not good enough to merge things." "Oh, it's not. It looks like you haven't even reached the second level of mana quality, which is called rustic mana… and with that considered, you won't be merging your powers anytime soon. However, I can help you get there." Marlo followed along. "You can, huh?" Tim asked. In actuality, he only wanted help from the system, regarding mana, so he didn’t want to adapt any external ideas. However, he was willing to hear out what the other said. Marlo added, "You just need to fill up your mana pool, and then, I'll give you a spell to cast on yourself. You'll either explode as a result, or you'll start gathering up rustic mana! One can never tell, so I hope you're lucky." Tim thought this idea over afterwards. He really wanted to start gathering up better quality mana, however, he didn’t like the idea of simply exploding. No one would like that, as in this world, there were a lot of things to look forward to, rather than just die! He didn’t want to die, so as he nodded along to what Marlo was saying, he also waited for any word from the system’s side. The system did not disappoint, as she followed along quickly, and said. [Marlo is somewhat correct, Timothy. That is one way to upgrade the quality of your mana, however, you can also buy the upgrade from me, which is a far safer option. It all depends if you want to be patient about this upgrade or not, but, if you want to be cheap about it, then you can take the dangerous, spell-casting route, the one that Marlo offered.] He did not answer to that immediately, no. Tim was thinking about his options here, and he was also listening to Marlo as he spoke. The reef shark had a lot to say, and eventually the conversation led to something good; He wanted to introduce Tim to a bunch of other stingrays! He was really enthusiastic about the latter part, because in this new life, he never saw a stingray before. Anyway, as for the mana levels, he made a simple decision! If a mana upgrade wasn’t available in this new set of upgrade options, then he’d choose whatever was closely available! In his head, it was less dangerous to risk an explosion, rather than to spend time gathering up thousands of system points, just to advance towards the upgrade that he wanted. The system didn’t give him the upgrades that he was curious about, no. Instead, she aligned the upgrades based on what Tim needed the most, and in other words, he’d need to work a lot, just to get to the super interesting, rustic mana upgrade! He was not willing to wait that much. Anyway, about ten minutes later, he met a few stingrays. He was happy about this, especially since he noticed that one of the stingrays looked exactly like him! He saw a bluespotted ribbon-tail ray, and he couldn’t be happier about it! Tim eyeballed the said stingray, and then asked. “You look like me… a lot like me, are we brothers?” “You mean am I your sister? I’m a girl.” The other emphasized, and furthermore she added. ”Also, no we are not related. I used to be a stinging nettle plant, erg… about a hundred years ago. I assumed the form of a stingray only recently.” “Gosh, you’re old.” Timothy expressed himself, carelessly. What he said was a bit offensive, but in his mind, he had complimented the lady. It wasn’t easy to survive in this world, and he couldn’t even imagine how a plant could shapeshift to begin with, so what he said was purely meant as a compliment. However, the other understood his words differently. She said, “There’s no need to call me an old hag, sir… yes, I am old, but age doesn’t matter much nowadays, does it? In fact, it is my understanding that age never mattered! There are immortals flying above our heads, after all, so please, don’t be rude.” Tim then bickered with the other for about five minutes, but eventually, they agreed that what he said was meant as a compliment. He didn’t mean any harm, and now, since they put that topic aside, the team of seven stingrays (Tim included), could focus on what mattered the most; Magic! Apparently, this specific team of stingrays were on a mana root hunt, since they too were pretty weak, and needed to be overloaded with mana in order to progress. They were a collection of the weakest members in the blistering mana sect, and it was time to change that! The little old lady that Tim talked to, who went by the name of Ortana, was pretty weak too! Her mana was as weak as Tim’s, it was level one (low quality), and she urged to change that. She had been powerful enough to shapeshift multiple times throughout her life, but that damaged her mana quality quite a bit, and now she was looking to fix that. Collectively, these seven stingrays had a goal now, and they were willing to follow it with every ounce of willpower they got. Marlo gave them the directions of where a cluster of mana roots may be hidden in, and now, they had to follow these directions carefully, if they were to reach the said cluster! Attention to detail was key, if they were to succeed.
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I'm a Stingray? Chapter 25 - Freezing Blood Ability
The team of seven stingrays were on the move. Marlo directed them to a spot, which was a whole kilometer away from the hidden lair, and it was laid out on a stretch of sand. Originally this spot would be really unassuming, but Marlo taught them how to find the good stuff!He told them to follow the edges of the reef, in a very straight line, until they couldn’t anymore. This, in turn, would lead them directly towards the designated area.After separating themselves from the reef, the team were to look out for holes in the ground. The place which may contain mana roots was very well hidden, so they had to check on every noticeable hole on the sea-ground, in order to find the place. Of course, they also had to be careful, because an animal could be living in any one of the random holes, and swimming into them could be dangerous!Marlo described that they should be searching for a shrine-like, hidden temple. Religion was a thing across fishkind, apparently, and oftentimes, religious site
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 26 - God's Punishment Realm
Tim removed a huge barricade from the group’s way, he killed that snake! His work was appreciated by the other stingrays, by those who survived at least. They had one casualty so far, but as far as the main task was concerned, as of now, they could continue to progress!The stingrays searched the area cautiously, as they didn’t want to get pounced on by another snake. Furthermore, they hoped that there were magical mana roots here to begin with, they hoped that Marlo’s speculations were dependable. If there wasn’t anything valuable here, then they risked their lives for nothing! They weren’t sure if any mana roots were here, but odds were that they were going to figure this part out quickly. The stingrays were taking this task even more slowly and cautiously now, sure, but since there were six of them putting in some work, it was only a matter of time until they searched every nook and cranny of this fifty-meter wide area! They were bound to formulate a conclusion at some point.In t
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 27 - Stingray x Stingray battle!
Tim and the rest of the team eventually noticed that a couple of stingrays were missing. When someone was underground for more than five minutes, it was inevitable to notice their absence.Tim got extremely paranoid in response, and guessed that those two stingrays (Bob and Knob) were either dead, or they had found the roots, and were hogging them! His paranoia was valid, as for example, he couldn’t really trust a couple of fish that he had met just moments ago, it wasn't logical.With that said, he began exploring the area more thoroughly, and was amped with anxiety throughout the whole time. He stopped being stingy about mana for once, and charged his tail with both fire and thunder, all for safety's sake! He didn't want to get pounced on, but if someone attacked him, then they'd have to deal with a bit of a rash from his side.The rest of the stingrays were on high alert too, but unfortunately, one of them ran into the main problem. A sudden, soul-shaki
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 28 - Depleted Mana Roots
Tim won the battle, he killed a very dangerous stingray. However, he felt disgusted about this, because in a sense, he felt as if he killed a human being! He felt that this was a horrible thing to do, even if it was for the greater good. Normally he would celebrate for such a tremendous victory, and perhaps he should. He killed a creature that was likely multiple levels above him, in terms of mana quality, which was something to celebrate about, however, he remained idle. Tim didn’t care about the little amount of points he got in exchange, and he didn’t care about the mana points he lost either. He just floated there, almost motionlessly, and continued to contemplate. The system broke his train of thought, as she announced. [You have accumulated a total of 570 system points. Also, 178 points of mana remain in your mana pool.] Tim did not care about all that right now, but the few astounding facts remained erected. He killed a really pow
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 29 - Meditative pancakes
[Congratulations, Timothy, you found mana roots.] The system announced, [This means that you successfully completed your fifth, system given task, and won 100 points as a reward! In total, you’ve accumulated 670 system points.] “Nice,” He thought, though he wasn’t as excited about the points this time around. He was still depressed over the death of so many stingrays, as in a weird way, he considered them human, and such deaths shouldn't be taken lightly. Overall though, regardless of how he had been sandwiches between fireballs earlier on, this had been a pretty decent day. Tim got what he wanted. They found a cluster of mana roots, and although the roots were mostly depleted now, there was still enough mana for him and Ortana to share. They were to play nice about these remaining properties. Him and Ortana were the only remaining survivors within that group of stingrays, and although this part was depressing, it served a
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 30 - 54% survival-rate!
Tim finally filled up his pool of mana. It took him about twenty minutes, because the root was degenerating more every second. He also couldn't concentrate all that much either, which stunted his progress, but the important thing was that he succeeded, even if he did so eventually. His pool now had a full, one-thousand points of mana.With that said, now and onwards, he could decide on two things. He could either save these points up and use them sparingly in the future, or, he could try to upgrade the quality of his mana now, and for good! The latter part seemed more appealing, however it was also the most dangerous option right now!The latter option had a fifty-percent survival rate, as it was said to be physically and mentally challenging, so it could quite likely kill him. He wanted to have better mana, but the thought of death scared him dearly.At some point, he decided to ask the system for a second opinion. She was much smarter than him, so it was
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 31 - Begging the Gods!
Tim helped Ortana get out of trouble. He lifted her away from plain sight, and hid her in some random hole on the ground. There were plenty of such holes surrounding them, and they could hide within any of them, just because they were very small-bodied stingrays. They were safe for the time being, or at least, Tim wanted to believe that he and Ortana were safe. He muttered, “Those fuckers are probably coming after the mana roots, so, if we’re quiet enough, then they won’t bother us.”“They will bother us, Thomas, they will.” Ortana suddenly added. She hadn’t spoken much for a while, as the upgrade session took quite a toll on her. She had been preserving her energy, but now, the situation demanded otherwise. She had to add, “You’re full of mana, so they’re gonna sniff you out, and then try to eat you whole! Your mana is pretty weak, but that doesn’t matter for them; Those sharks will still benefit a lot from eating you…”“Well that’s fucking peachy,” He whispered.Timothy was in da
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 32 - Rustic Mana upgrade
Tim endured various bodily challenges. The mana upgrade session was very tough on his body, as it basically was a painful restructuring of everything that slushed under his flesh. Although the said restructuring wasn’t too drastic on its own, it and its definition was still spiteful against mother nature, and in exchange, mother nature knocked Tim out two times, through raw pain alone! He didn't have fun.The whole process wasn’t easy, not at all, but at last, he was seeing light at the end of the tunnel. The upgrade was nearing its end, and from the looks of it, he survived it, as the gods believed his plea for power, or, supposedly they did. Tim thought that the spell itself had been humiliating, but at the end of the day, he wasn’t one who preached the contents of that spoken-word spell all that much, he wasn’t a worshiper, so he could live this humiliation down eventually! He progressed, and that was what mattered the most.However, he was still really angry! So after a few sessio
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Chapter 180 - +66,040 mana points!
[Congratulations, your mana quality is now at level three! This level is otherwise known as Pit Mana, and it too has a very descriptive name, because now you have a far bigger mana pool to fill, hence it being a pit.] The system beeped, she was very efficient at explaining the levels that he was on.“Let me guess, I need 400,000 mana points to fill this one?” He asked, and he was getting nervous.Instantly, the system answered. [520,000 mana points, actually. This pool is big, it’s way beyond what the common mage is used to. Hence, it's labeled as a pit.]“Well, fuck me! That's a lot.” He sighed, “I guess we won't be getting out of this mana realm anytime soon.”[The pit is massive yes, but still, either of you can accumulate that mana in a month, you can naturally regenerate it, assuming that you won't go through any expensive battles throughout the month.] The system beeped.Timothy did not want to wait for a month or more for another level-up, and he certainly didn't want to endure
Chapter 179 - A gift for Gustav
Arvena finally leveled up! A magnificent blue glow erupted around her as well, and now, she was at level three in the Fintelus Apprentices Realm of mana!It was a spectacular achievement for most, but in this case, this level-up managed to only lessened her overall depression by a nudge. This was a good level to be in, but once she remembered that she had been beyond the Fintelus’ Apprentices realm of mana just a few weeks ago, it became difficult for her to be happy about this level-up.A few weeks ago, within the Forbidden Caves close to the city of Manape, Arvena had sacrificed an entire realm of her mana quality, just to kill an opponent that was stronger than her! She had summoned a Celestial Spear just to kill that dragon Saranax, and although she had succeeded, the loss of such grand mana quality was still gnawing on her conscience. She wasn't happy, and even though they found plenty of mana roots here, it was very unlikely that anyone would cross the Fintelus’ Apprentices real
Chapter 178 - Fintelus' Apprentices realm of mana!
Timothy was absolutely baffled by the fact that he leveled up his mana quality, in mere seconds, without suffering the immense pain that typically came with these upgrades! He didn’t know what to think about it, he did have a flash-upgrade upgrade before, at the library of Rempegana and it too was amazing, but getting flash upgrades at these higher levels was priceless! He was beyond happy.The system noticed his accelerating heartbeat, so after a moment, she described. [Flash upgrades like this are inevitable, on the occasion where your mana pool receives such great quantities. Your mana pool adjusts itself, so as to not to disrupt this ongoing flow of mana that you're receiving, it's very useful. This is mother nature's part of making up for the ‘punishment’ that the average ascending mage goes through, so relax, and let the mana roots do their thing. Please do not tighten your anus any more than you already have, because that can disrupt the flow.]“Right,” He muttered, and did as
Chapter 177 - Bubonic Mana
The mana roots kept growing, the more they fed on the mana pool that the team provided. Their mana pools were eventually emptied, which was alarming, but they still kept at it because they weren't in any direct danger right now.The team kept pouring every bit of mana that they generated themselves, and at this point the roots had grown so big that even Gustav and the dragons who were above the water, were getting every drop of their mana sucked in by the roots! The dragons didn't have many points to spare to begin with, but they lost theirs as well.Each root was as thick as a tree now, as most of them were four feet wide, while their ending tips were six inches wide! They were gigantic, and one could say that it was difficult to find roots like this under natural circumstances, no. The only other root that Tim and Ortana had seen, for example, was tiny in comparison. Eighteen of these thick boys were bound to make their mana quality godly!“Just a few more minutes… the roots should
Chapter 176 - The patches of Mana Roots
After about ten minutes of rolling around on the dry rock they were on, everyone in the team, apart from Gustav, managed to shapeshift! They had been in a sub-liquid-like form all this time, because that was the key part of the process, but this part didn't bother them whatsoever, because it wasn’t painful at all. Having sub-liquid bones and flesh for ten minutes was exceptionally painless, it was even therapeutic actually, because even their light joint pains disappeared during that period.Anyway, once they shifted, they left their backpacks behind, and jumped in the water quite fearlessly! They didn't fear these ancient creatures of the deep, because if their understanding of this time period was correct, then the fish within the sea here didn't have any magical powers at their disposal. The fish were just big, and hungry, which was the main way for them to be threatening, but that was about it.The latter wasn't too big of a challenge for them. Each and every member of this group
Chapter 175 - Dinosaurs?
The team jumped through the portal, and their dragons followed suit! They were very excited to harvest the benefits of the needle universe in front of them, they wanted to get as many mana points per hour as they could!However, once they passed through the portal, they were stunned by the multiple shades of blue that immediately pierced through their pupils. This shade was unexpected, because this universe was as red as a rose the last time they were here. They hadn't seen a single spec of blue within it before, but now, it was all they could see!“What the hell?” Tim blurted, and the rest followed suit with their curses.There was a sea of sorts in front of them, and this was very perplexing, because a one-kilometer wide universe wasn't supposed to have a sea. It was too small, it wouldn't be able to sustain it, nonetheless create it under natural circumstances!“I guess that's why the portal had ‘Aqus’ in its name. This is as watery as things can get.” He muttered, but no one under
Chapter 174 - Boar Meat
Timothy couldn't ignore the sensation he was feeling, he couldn’t turn a blind eye to it. He felt capable of summoning a portal that would lead him to the needle universe of Purpureus Mundi, and moments later, he decided that this was exactly what he wanted to do!Arvena was close to him, slicing through the boar meat, so he had to step away from her, for the sake of not compromising their meat supply with a random portal. It was best to be safe.“Let’s hope that the gods aren't playing tricks on me,” He mumbled.The following steps were purely instinctive, they were natural, and he felt as if he had lived with this ability for a hundred years now! It was a weird feeling. First he put his arms in front of his stomach, and then he got his hands very close to each other, but he didn’t lock his fingers together, he kept them an inch apart. “Purposes Mundi Aqus,” He whispered, partially against his own will.As a result, a tiny, black cloud appeared in between his hands! Its shade was as
Chapter 173 - Gread, Golden Mana
Three hours after midnight, Timothy successfully improved the quality of his mana. He now had the honor to identify himself as a bearer of Great, Golden Mana, and he was very excited about it! Despite the name, this didn’t mean that his mana had a golden color now, it was still as blue as the ocean, but it still was a great level to attain. This sort of mana quality was also known as level seven, and as of now, he only had to pass through another level, the eighth one, and then he'd have the opportunity to escape the God's Punishment Realm of mana once and for good!“Oh… my god.” He grunted, as his spine cracked tens of times while he tried to straighten up, and then he muttered. “Whatever it is like to get chewed up and swallowed by a Demon Beetle, I understand it, this has to be a similar feeling.”Timothy felt like all sorts of things. He felt like he was hit by a big truck, by an airplane too, or any other vehicles really. He felt like he was run down by all of them, and rightful
Chapter 172 - The Tar
Timothy, Skendus, Ortana, Arvena, and Gustav explored Valporovus together. Their target was clear, they wanted to get to the Ruins of Aqumus, with the hopes of accumulating great amounts of mana there! The team has been on the air for a couple of days now, their dragons really came in handy in terms of proper transportation, so it wouldn't take long until they finally reached the ruins, it may take them a couple more weeks. They were very enthusiastic to reach the ruins, though one couldn't say that their progress, regarding mana quality improvement, has been slow. The team was doing fine, and with minimal trouble throughout their flight, their mana had mostly been accumulating!Since their mana accumulated, the weakest members of the team could upgrade their mana quality soon! They could either choose to initiate an upgrade, or spend the mana over a period of time, they had those couple of options. The latter option would be less than ideal, because a better mana quality would do th
