2024-11-30 21:35:05Tim 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-shaking explosion hinted so! The explosion was muffled by the waters, but its quake and little shockwave was still noticeable. Everyone closeby felt it, and now everyone was clearly in trouble, regardless of what the source of the explosion was! Tim was just slightly relieved, however, he said. "Thank god that explosion didn't happen around my ass! I don’t wanna be deep fried, it's not a manly way to go! Or maybe it is? I don't care, they can call me a woman if they want, but I will do whatever it takes to survive!" His feelings were in a bit of a twist, more than a pair of underwear would ever be, he was stressed. However, the main issue remained; Something exploded! It only took a moment to locate the source, as it was hard to miss something so harsh. Tim spotted a gust of stirred, sand-dust, and figured that it was where the explosion came from. He was correct. What scared him shitless afterwards, was that a stingray swam freely within the dust. Judging from its agile movements, that stingray was the culprit behind this explosion! Its confidence also suggested so. Regardless of how it was the culprit, Tim did not want to approach it. He had handled tougher opponents before, yes, but this situation was different, as he could be in greater danger. Tim was almost sure that this confident stingray had found the mana roots, and went absolutely insane as a result! That aside, it was difficult to predict just how powerful the stingray was right now, and it was also a dumb idea to experiment with this question. He didn’t want to fight. Moments later, he heard Ortana's voice from behind him. She yelled out as much as a stingray could, and tried to guide Tim for the better. It was difficult to ignore her. She yelled out, "Let's get out of here, Thomas… erg, Timeeth? Whatever your name was, let's fucking flee!" "No shit, I'm right behind you." He muttered. Afterwards, he took a sharp U-turn, and started swimming away. Speed was to his advantage, thankfully, as with the flaming fins ability alone, he could swim up to 6 km/h! Tim outswam Ortana in mere seconds that way, because she didn’t have any speed-amping abilities. He did not want to look back after this point, but seconds later, he heard a couple of other explosions, which then forced him to decide between two options; He either had to turn back and preserve what was left of the group, or, he could use every point of mana to flee! Survival suggested the latter, but within this pocket of seconds, he decided to pick the former. He had to help those few stingrays, because they couldn’t help themselves, as they were practically powerless! It was cruel to leave them behind. Tim turned around, and faced the dangers head on. He didn’t want to be heroic, but instead, he depended on his abilities quite a lot right now, and knew that he could buy everyone some time. However, as he turned around, a couple more explosions erupted, a few meters in front of him. That aggressive, power-amped stingray had not been shooting randomly, no! Rather, it had targeted and shot at everyone in its close sight! With that said, most of the group of stingrays had been wiped out already, which meant that Tim had turned around to face the dangers, for nothing! The murderous stingray had tried to kill Ortana as well, but she was on the better side of luck. She swam through the aftermath of the recent explosions, and once she saw Timothy swimming the opposite direction, she couldn’t help but panic! She yelled out, “Where the hell are you going, Terence?” Ortana never really got his name right, but this was not the time to bicker about it. Once he assessed the situation properly, Timothy thought of yet another plan, right on the spot, which may help save both him and Ortana. He knew that this lady couldn’t swim fast enough, and judging from the explosive powers that the opponent was flashing, Tim wouldn’t be able to swim that far either. With that considered, he headed directly towards the threat, and aimed to eliminate it. By doing so, he believed that he was also protecting the rest of the blistering mana sect, from a power-mad stingray! Every aspect of this situation forced him to be heroic about the threat at hand. Tim maneuvered through the dust, in a way where he used it as a cover. He hid within the sand-dust for a while, until he got very close to the destructive stingray. He found the target’s blind spot, and aimed to use it, however, the said target suddenly turned around, and started shooting! All of a sudden, he saw a water-resistant fireball heading towards him! Tim’s response was instant, he swam directly upwards, and just like that, he evaded the one-meter wide fireball! His evasion was effective, however, he did not want to wait around for another fireball to sizzle the waters, no. Tim charged directly towards the target, and used two of his powers to speed up. His flaming fins ability helped him speed up, and his blood freezing ability did the same, but its icy attributes also helped bring some balance within the boiling water! Tim had a safe-ish little trip! “I don’t care what level you are, you’re going down!” Tim muttered. He reached the target in a blink, and despite how expensive it was, he decided to use many kinds of magic all together, in order to deal as much damage as he could! Tim decided to use his rotter bite. He managed to bite the target right across the back, and since the target was only a bit bigger than him, the bite turned out to be effective, and expansive! He also managed to freeze the target’s blood, throughout that short, split second. With both of these attacks combined, the target died off just moments later! Then, the system announced. [You just spent 62 points of mana, just to win 20 system points in exchange… I have to agree that it was worth it, since you killed a power-amped stingray, but it was expensive.] “Yup, I killed a stingray… one of my own kind. It's nothing to be proud of.” Tim muttered, he felt terrible about that.
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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
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[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
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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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I'm a Stingray? Chapter 35 - Slithering Plague
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“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
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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
