2024-11-28 21:16:23Tim 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 the meantime, Tim encouraged the utmost caution, as he yelled out. “Take care of your asses, guys, please! We don’t know what’s sleeping around here. Also remember, if you see a fish or a snake that you can’t fight yourself, just swim away, don’t be a hero, because we don’t need any more casualties! Be safe.” What he preached was good and noble, however, a couple of stingrays weren’t so fond of it. They hadn’t contributed much to this task, and yet, they got a bit edgy when Tim micro-managed them. Two stingrays, named Bob and Knob, searched the area together as a pair, and chatted with one another in the meantime as well. They were not happy. Bob said, “Who put him in charge? We’re the biggest stingrays here, so we should command the group! It’s only fair.” Knob agreed with him, he said. “Yeah! What you said! We should be the ones getting stingray vaginas, not him…” “That’s not what I said at all,” Bob followed along, but their little chit-chat dissipated after that point. Neither of them could confront Timothy about this topic, so their rage right now was just as soft as their bellies. They couldn’t fight well, and they definitely couldn’t lead anyone, but yet their ego was hurt! Such issues were common amongst teams, but as far as details were concerned, they were to follow Timothy’s guides to the letter. They had plenty of reasons to be obedient. Bob found himself in a hole that turned out to be a tunnel. It stretched five meters below the ground, and there, he discovered what the entire group was after. He saw a bulge, or more specifically, a knotty collection of glowing roots, sandwiched and overgrown between a few slabs of neatly carved stone! It would make sense for these things to be underground, as they were called roots, after all. Anyway, as Bob looked at the marvelous blue lights which the roots emitted, he couldn’t help but get greedy all of a sudden! He wanted the roots all for himself, and this urge of his defied all logic. He didn’t care that there were other stingrays around him that could find the roots as well, at any given time, no. He was willing to guard this magical treasure with his life, and believed that the roots would reward him with a bunch of mana in exchange for such loyalty! Knob had followed him, so he also found the roots, moments after. He was amazed by how wide, huge and maze-like the roots looked, much like the roots of a fallen tree! He was mesmerized, and indefinitely distracted. Bob used the other's stunned, distracted state, to his own advantage. He pounced on his friend Knob, and with the aid of his tail, stabbed the poor guy several times, and ended up killing him! This was an act of mindless greed, and it was apparent that either his own greed, or the roots themselves, had influenced Bob's mind somehow. He killed a good friend, after all, which was beyond brutal! "Mine… her majesty is mine!" He muttered, and then he floated away from Knob's carcass. He wanted more mana! Bob's body had absorbed quite some mana by now, about two-hundred points of them so far, and yet he urged to reap more of them. For that matter, he swam closer towards the cluster of roots, and then just laid down, right over them. The roots were very effective, especially when one was this close to them. Bob was filled up with another thousand points of mana, under ten seconds! He was as stuffed as a Thanksgiving goose! However, Bob couldn't withstand this flow of mana any longer, as it beated on his body like a hammer. With that considered, he started shouting out an effective, spoken-word spell. He shouted out, "My will is but mana, and mana is life! I call upon the gods to bless me with purity, even if punishment is the means to my end!" Purity was an ironic word to use right now, considering that he just murdered a friend, but then again, purity was used as a formality in this procedure. He wasn't spiritual, rather, he was just casting a spell, and understood that mana responded well, when the gods were mentioned. Mana and its quality came in realms, and each realm had several levels. The realm everyone in the group was currently in, was called the god's punishment realm, and it was called that way, because the dangers within each upgrade were pretty high. Any creature could die while leveling up, and this was said to be a punishment which was reigned down upon the lowest ranks of mortality, by the gods themselves! Bob wasn't the most prepared stingray in the world, but he at least was aware of those few legends and formalities! He knew some spells. Just like that, the quality of his mana leveled up! He had low quality mana before, and now, his mana was officially rustic! That name didn't sound so great, but in actuality, rustic mana was four times stronger than the former! A mage of any species who possessed rustic mana, could in theory, easily kill anyone below this level. Bob wasn't looking to attack anyone right now, however. He was still greedy about the mana, and wanted to absorb more of it, so he laid down on top of the mana roots again, and greedily absorbed tens of points from it, every second! This bundle of roots was far more powerful than anyone here had expected, and he wanted to reap every point of it right now, before anyone else got the chance to do so!
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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
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 34 - "Who gonna drown me?"
Timothy wasn’t the brightest fish in the world, not by a stretch, but under any hostile circumstances, he knew what had to be done. He listened to the system, and bought the upgrade that she recommended. Since he could afford it too, there was virtually no reason for him to avoid this upgrade.The extingus breath upgrade, was implemented into his arsenal of powers in a snap. It was quick and painless!The system confirmed, [The extingus breath upgrade, has been implemented into your body successfully. You can now shield yourself from a certain degree of elemental powers, which in this world, is a very good attribute to have, congratulations.]Furthermore, she said. [The upgrade cost you 600 system points, so now a total of 70 points remain in your sum. The upgrade was expensive, admittedly, but that's only because you recently upgraded the quality of your mana also. I have adjusted the upgrade and it's power-volume, for it to fit that said, rustic mana quality.]Tim liked the sound of
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Chapter 100 - "Eighteen-hundred log bolts a day!"
The second check-point that Arvena so treasured, wasn’t as easy to get to. It had these perplexing issues behind it, and the main issue was that they had to reach a portal of some sort, in order to get to this said second check-point (or location).It wasn’t easy to get to the portal, as they had to pay for their transport, in literal gold coins. This was perplexing for them, it was the main issue, because the team had to get actual jobs in order to afford the means of their transportation! In other words, they couldn’t fight like cavemen any longer in order to progress, as it wouldn’t work as often in a civilized society. It was true that they usually got what they wanted through such fighting and slaughtering, but they couldn’t behave like that this time around, no. They had to pay twenty-five gold coins each!Now in any universe, that amount of gold was pretty sizable, it was expensive. The average goblin family had to work four months straight in order to accumulate around twenty-
Chapter 99 - Flash-fix
Arvena had gone through a portal, no doubt about it. Timothy wanted to go after her to make sure that she was okay, but then he realized how a terrible idea that was, he realized that it would be too dangerous to follow her, and that was what made him reconsider things! Arvena had read those scrolls for hours before she opened that portal, she was prepared in other words, and Tim feared that if he charged into that portal ‘heroically’, then he might get vaporized one way or the other because he was severely unprepared. It was simply stupid for him to go in there. Tim even looked at the scrolls close by, to figure out what was going on, but it was hopeless. He couldn’t make out a single word out of them, and with that said he simply backed off, he couldn’t get involved.“That crazy bitch wasn’t up to anything good anyway,” He tried to console himself.It was great that Tim backed away, because moments later, that portal started generating a suction of some sort. It tried to suck the t
Chapter 98 - "100 points of mana an hour"
The quality of Timothy’s mana was flash upgraded to level three, he bore decent mana now, that was its literal name. He was still shocked about how it happened, it had been painless and quick, hence it being a flash upgrade, but despite being shocked, he was also really happy! This was the easiest mana quality upgrade that he had ever gotten, his friends were congratulating him quite a bit too, they were excited! Well, everyone congratulated him, apart from Arvena, who was fixated on her scrolls.Anyway, then things got even better! The system came with a great announcement.She cited, [Congratulations, Timothy. Apart from all the benefits you got from that flash upgrade, your mana pool has also expanded. As of now, you can accumulate up to 3,000 points of mana in your pool, in this goblin form! As a stingray, however, you’d be able to accumulate a maximum of 8,000 points, that is, if you chose to swim in your full, gigantic size! You have great options overall.]“Eight thousand point
Chapter 97 - Flash upgrade!
The team had made it to the ancient library of Rempegana, which was amazing, especially since they made it here in one piece! Now the dilemma was that the elevation drop in front of them was too intimidating, it was concerning. They could quite literally fall to their death because it was a twenty meter drop, and in a world full of magic, this may be one of the most embarrassing ways to die. It would be tragic!For that matter, Tim asked. “How do we get down there, Araduli? I think your friends stole all the ladders from here.”“The ladders withered away, they were made out of wood I presume. I believe that’s what you call it, wood? Besides, you don’t need any ladders today, because I’ll just cast a light-wing spell on the lot of you. It’s very effective, you’ll be flying.” He answered.“That sounds useful, cuz you don’t hear much about flying goblins out there! You must be a pretty powerful guy then, Araduli?” Tim asked, he was a bit curious.“Yes, I would say so. Calidum mana lets u
Chapter 96 - The Molten Dwarves!
It wasn’t easy to get to the ancient library of Rempegana. The tunnel that they found was pretty, yes, but it also featured a lot of danger! Danger in this case, was no different from a textbook barricade, as no one would willingly engulf themselves in the utter darkness that the tunnel featured.Apart from this path being poorly illuminated, there were other issues to it as well. Some kind of creatures lived here, and this part was pretty predictable, however, these creatures were especially dangerous because they had a genetic advantage, they were mammals!After the team swam about ten-meters forward, something swam past them, right within the tunnel! Aside from the initial scare of being spooked in the dark, Timothy also picked up on a very important detail.“Was that a fucking foot I saw?” He asked, and their guide just nodded.That’s how they discovered that they were entering mammalian territory. With that said, what was to follow was bound to be a challenge, because even though
Chapter 95 - "The obsidian towers"
Timothy wasn’t going to buy a mana quality upgrade anytime soon. He couldn’t afford it, first of all, but that wasn’t the main reason behind his decision. He didn’t feel like spending them due to various reasons, so he’d rather accumulate any and all system points for now, and spend them later on, perhaps on more sensible purchases. Since the quality of Tim’s mana was at level two now, he felt like his normal self again, he felt confident! He was powerful enough to do plenty of damage, independently, and that was the second, more important reason behind his prior decision. He didn’t feel the need to upgrade the quality of his mana again so quickly, he wasn’t in a rush.Despite the main reason why they’ve entered this micro-universe to begin with, which was to improve the quality of the individual mana they bore, he wasn’t in a rush. Level two was plenty for a crafty rascal such as himself.“I went through thick and thin with this rustic ass mana, and most important of all, I survived
Chapter 94 - Stingray ink
Timothy and Arvena hunted the whistling mana-muncher eels. It was evident that the team reigned victorious in this battle already, the enemies were fleeing, but if they were to assure their personal safety even further, then it was best to kill these sneaky, potentially invisible eels, they couldn’t spare them. It would be stupid to let these few vengeful munchers roam free, as they could come back for revenge in any given time later on! It was safer to kill them!Arvena ended up doing most of the work. The fireballs she shot out from the front of her forehead were massive, hot and dangerous! She managed to scorch an eel whole with a single shot, and this spoke volumes of the amount of power that she bore! It was understandable how she was the main contributor here. In the meantime, Timothy managed to kill a single eel, purely by accident. He had spammed lightning-bolts and fireballs against the enemies, and it so happened that he hit one of them at the same time when Arvena had stru
Chapter 93 - Whistling mana munchers!
“A demon? Hell no, I don’t want to meet a demon! The gods hate me enough already.” Timothy refused, he joked partially, then again he was really curious about the matter. Arvena helped maintain his curiosity, as she added. “It’s a caged demon, so don’t worry. Your gods have punished this demon a long time ago, so I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you talking to it.”“Oh shit! You’re serious, aren’t you?” He followed along, “I thought you were talking about a statue or something? I didn’t expect a living, er, unliving demon!”After that part, they swam towards the bottom of the pool without much of a debate. Considering that this demon somehow illuminated a big area, the team expected to see a huge beast, the thing of nightmares, even! They expected a lava-encrusted monster, and rightfully so, but that wasn’t nearly the case!When they got there, the team got really disappointed, Timothy especially! He noticed that the ‘demon’ didn't even have any horns, so it was inappropriate to call it a
Chapter 92 - 0.12 ton Stingray!
Arvena and the team started shifting. It came to them as a bit of a surprise when she asked them to shift, because they were very deep underground right now, so it simply was the worst place to turn into a fish! Their utter confusion was mostly Arvena’s fault, because she hadn’t been too specific so far, regarding why this pool of water would be helpful to them. She didn’t explain it to them yet, but just told them that their visit here would be a great check-point in their journey to mana quality ascension! It might be a great check-point, however, they were yet to discover the pool’s contents.The team was cooperative, but then the most annoying part about her idea was that they had to disrobe first, in order to shapeshift afterwards! This was really uncomfortable for them, socially speaking at least. As goblins, neither of them wanted to walk around naked in front of their friends, even if it was for just a minute, so they dimmed their torches while they took their armor off, for t
