2024-11-25 17:59:53The 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 sites were built around magical items of great value, such as powerful mana roots! In a sense, mana wasn’t such a bad thing to worship, as this world revolved around magic, after all. The site which the group was trying to find was rarely visited, and almost forgotten too, which also meant that any seed of mana root had the opportunity to grow there! Tim was counting on that, he was really enthusiastic! However, he also got a bit irritated by now. Half of the stingrays in his team swam very slowly, just about as fast as a stingray could swim, so the one-kilometer trip had stretched for over an hour now. If Tim was alone, he would've gotten here in ten minutes, but for the time being, he simply couldn't separate himself from the rest of the group! "Can't believe that I'd swim that slow too, if my fins weren't magical…" Tim thought to himself. Anyway, they separated from the reef by now, and as the other stingrays were poking their heads in random holes, he felt entitled to advise them for the better. Tim knew from experience that eels loved to live in holes on the sea ground, in holes much like the holes they were seeing here! With that considered, he didn’t want his group members to be brutally pounced on. He yelled out, "Watch your head, flat asses! You wouldn't believe how many animals could hide in holes in the sand." Tim wasn't their leader by a stretch, but he still felt responsible for them! Also, he really didn't want to report any casualties back in the sect, especially since he had the feeling that he'd be the sole survivor, if any real fight occurred! That latter part wouldn't be so easy to explain, without being called a murderer in exchange. He was right to be cautious. Five minutes later, a rather unlovable creature emerged out of one of the holes which were scattered across the sand. It was a blue sea-snake, and it bit a light-brown stingray, right on and over the face! "Holy shit!" Tim yelled out, "I told you to be careful, god damn it!" The unfortunate stingray was killed. He had been a bit bigger than Tim, but he didn’t necessarily have enough endurance to withstand a bite from a one-meter long snake! That one stingray was dead, but it was important to protect the rest of the group, so Tim went into action! He knew that it would take a lot of effort to kill this thing with lightning strikes or fireballs, and he didn’t have enough mana for that kind of an approach either, as the snake was simply too big! Instead, he depended on the next best thing, which was to freeze the enemy's blood. Tim acquired this power only recently, by killing Harold the eel. He hadn't used this magical power all that much, since it was expensive to do so, however, this situation called for drastic, and efficient measures! The snake in front of them wasn't too fast, which was relieving, but if he gave it enough space to attack the group, then it might kill off the rest of the stingrays one by one, and that was less than ideal. Tim didn't want that to happen, so he approached the snake. He approached slowly at first, just to study its moves a little bit, as he didn’t want to rush towards it just yet. Ortana the stingray noticed what he tried to do, so she joined in. She said, "We have to divert its attention, kid, don't do this alone unless you want to get your face chewed off. Listen to me… I may have been a plant before, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to fight!" "We don't need to fight it," Tim answered back, "But yes, we need to confuse it, so swim that way, to the right. Use your extingus breath if you suddenly have to protect yourself, but try to keep your distance at all times! This'll be quick." With that little plan in mind, they approached the snake together, and took two different directions. Ortana approached it first, and got all of its attention, the snake wasn't so smart! Tim found a blind spot, about five seconds later, so that was when he charged forward with every bit of speed he could muster! He used his flaming fins ability to speed up, and the blood freezing ability gave him a bit of a boost too! He approached the target, at 10 km/h! The water itself started freezing up in exchange, as Tim's fins unleashed a steam-like substance, because he had activated the latter ability! Whole chunks of ice started sinking towards the sea ground, and when Tim met with the target, that icy wave clashed on the target and beat it shitless! He froze the snake's blood, quite literally! It was a three second job, and within these three seconds, he managed to paralyze the snake severely! The abrupt halt of blood flow restricted most of its movements, and in return, a bunch of its organs started failing as well. Its heart got damaged the quickest! The system later announced, [You just spent 24 mana points in three seconds, slow down! As of now, 240 points of mana remain in your bodily mana pool.] Tim heard that, but he didn’t care about the expenses right now. He then left the snake alone, and just watched it suffer for a while. In about five minutes time, it died off, and he reaped every benefit that came with killing a far bigger opponent! The system said, [You successfully killed a blue menace sea-snake, and won 350 system points in exchange! This snake is powerless, as it's just a normal sea snake, so you won't be able to steal any magical powers from it.] Furthermore, she added. [In total, you now have 550 system points at your disposal.] Tim was a bit upset that he couldn't steal any powers from this snake, but yet again, he had too many powers to begin with. He didn’t need a new ability, so he humbly started celebrating instead. He thought, "Hah, look at all those points! I didn't even have to use my rotter bite… it was totally worth the mana!"
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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
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 33 - Sneaky Stingray!
The risks that Tim took, came hand-to-hand with advantages. The quality of his mana was greater now, so he managed to pave an escape route for himself as a result. He beamed through the waters at an astounding speed!Tim swam low, pretty close to the sea-floor even, so he managed to escape the danger zone successfully. The sharks didn’t notice the commotion he caused across the waters, and since his mana pool was scarce of points too, they couldn’t smell the mana on him either. The scent on him wasn’t noticeable, not at all.“Peww… I made it. Fuck those sharks, I ain’t fighting them, and odds are that they’ll never find me either.” He mumbled.Tim had reached the coral reef in seconds, and he was relieved. He had swum towards safety, with the aid of his flaming fins ability, which had allowed him to swim at a speed of up to 24 km/h! This part of the experience was intense, due to numerous reasons. The said speed was the reason why he had caused a tiny commotion across the waters a mo
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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
