I'm a Stingray?

Chapter 39 - 382%

[Congratulations, Timothy. According to my calculations, you've had a 382% growth in bodily size. Something that's worth pointing out, is that this increase in size didn't go parallel with your previous bodily statistics. Specifically, a good portion of the growth sprout was concentrated on your body-weight, for balance's sake, you’re pretty heavy now. The crab meat really knew what it was doing.] The system said.

Tim was still feeling an adrenaline rush, so he didn’t process the other's words so carefully, no. He focused on a couple of things only, specifically, the aspects of the upgrade that he didn’t like, and he formed a question based on that.

He asked, “So the crab meat made me really chubby? That's nothing to be happy about, system!”

Slowly and punctually, the system explained. [Actually no, that's not what I meant. The sprout focused on your body weight, because otherwise you would end up looking really weird. You used to weigh a pound only, and a 382% increase in weight isn't as good for you as it sounds, as you'd still end up weighing just under forty pounds, a weight which would not be substantial for and with your bodily length. This is why the increase in size didn't go parallel with your previous bodily dimensions, as you would've ended up crippled, flat, and also very elongated. Statistically, you’re still underweight, even, regardless of how you weigh half a ton right now, so you need to eat a lot! I hope all of this makes sense to you.]

“No it does not,” He admitted, without a dot of shame behind his noggin.

Tim was still feeling excited, so he couldn’t really concentrate much. The system spoke of a lot of things, and he was never good with math to begin with, not to mention any form of geometry, so he couldn’t really catch up with what the other was saying.

Thankfully though, the system was very patient. She came up with another answer, one which may make more sense.

She said, [Okay, well picture this. You could've been 5.73 meters long, but that wouldn't work out for you, because you need to weigh at least 1.3 tons to support such bodily length, weighing just 4 pounds for example, couldn’t have ever been enough to support your current bodily length. With that said, the sprout focused more than half of its powers to help you weigh more, half a ton as I said, and since it focused its powers on your weight, you're shorter and also less wide in exchange. You could've been 5.73 meters long (tail excluded), but you're 3.5 meters long instead, it's a give and take situation.]

“Okay, I think I'm starting to get it, mostly. I'm still pretty fucking huge though, from the looks of it, so I won't be complaining about anything, hehehe.” He followed along.

The silence that followed after was short, but deafening, and it was apparent that even the system was unsure of what to say. On one hand, she didn't want to taint the other's positive attitude, but on the other hand, the situation wasn't as peachy as Tim assumed.

She had to urge him about some important matters, she cited. [You don't have time to complain, Timothy. I suggest you start hunting and eating stuff right away, because you’re still pretty underweight right now. For a stingray your size, you need to gain at least 200 more kilos of weight in order to be strong and healthy! If anything strong attacked you right now, you'd get torn up like a piece of paper. The magical growth sprout only had so many magical quantities to work with, so you need to do the rest of the work by yourself; Eat.]

What the system said made a lot of sense, however, Tim still got really intimidated through her lectures. The danger he was in was imminent, and he had to do something about it, and quickly! His stomach felt like an empty ditch, and that itself was the least of his problems.

There were other things to worry about. For example, regardless of how huge he was, Tim seemed a little bit slender in comparison to other stingrays, as he was only 2.7 meters wide, his wingspan was nothing to boast about. With that considered, he had a couple of staggering physical challenges!

He was long and slender enough to be mistaken for a snake, yet he didn’t have the agility of a snake. His tail was roughly four meters long itself, but that length wasn't enough to work in cooperation with his long body. He couldn’t use the tail's forceful barb itself to puncture prey with it, it wouldn’t be easy, unless he hid under the sand and waited to stab something by ambush.

However, unless an elephant mistakenly stepped on him over the course of the next few hours, then he won't be getting food anytime soon, not in the aforementioned traditional ways, at least. Instead, he had to hunt big animals using his magical powers, and could only hope that the said animals won't be brave enough to fight him back!

…

Tim was on a hunt for food, and at some point, the system showed him even more fresh, new information, which resulted in him being more motivated to hunt. The newfound motivation was fueled by fear, but that didn’t bother him as much as one would imagine, because he was used to feeling frightened more than once a day.

Anyway, the system had specified. [Timothy, since you experienced a rather significant growth sprout, there has been a change in certain bars of yours, including your mana. Specifically, your health, stamina&sleep, hunger and mana bar, have met with significant upgrades. This necessarily means that you need to move more, because first things first, your new hunger bar features 400 points that you have to fulfill, in order to feel full and healthy. Currently, that bar is down to 34/400 points, as the remains of those panzer crabs you ate weren't really fulfilling.]

“The crabs looked really small this time, and I guess that makes sense? I could eat a couple of reef sharks at this rate, and I still wouldn't feel full.” He added.

Then, the system followed along. [Hunger is a challenge for a guy as big as you now, however, these challenges also have tagalong benefits. For example, your health bar went up to 1500/1500 points, so your new body is a lot more durable in comparison to the old one. You can now withstand a few nasty bites from predators, and this health-bar isn't set in stone either, it can go up, the more weight you gain. My point is that your new body truly has its perks, as you can even carry a maximum of 6,000 points of mana now!]

“Wow,” He sighed, “So size is everything out here, huh? I feel blessed, really, but this body feels very new to me. I enjoyed being small and slippery, where the hell am I gonna hide now? I'd be safer on a fucking beach than in the ocean!”

[About that,] The system followed along, [There is a way to alter your body size, if you deem it necessary to your survival. There's an upgrade for that…]