Chapter 6 - Health, -10

Tim searched the flat sea-floor for about five minutes, and within this time bracket, he found three urchins. Each of them had different colors, one of them was even purple, so without risking his own health in the process, he had to figure out which urchin was the bubonic one.

He wanted to charge towards one of the urchins like a barbarian, but he had to resist those fishy urges. The urchins couldn’t crawl away, after all, so he didn’t have a reason to rush things.

He approached one of the urchins, and almost took a bite out of it. Common sense advised him otherwise, however, at the very last second. The urchin’s spines were spiky, so undoubtedly, it would be dangerous to put his mouth on its spines! It was beyond dangerous, actually, it was stupid.

“Hmm… can’t trick me!” He exclaimed.

Tim debated on how he should approach this urchin, and after half a minute, he remembered that his tail was practically charged with thunder! It may be useful against an urchin, but only if this shock was a ranged attack. Otherwise, if he had to impale the urchin in order to kill it, then he may get poked by its spines as a result.

He decided to give it a shot, and remembered to be cautious. His tail could shoot out ten points of voltage a second, so if he wasn’t mindful about it, he could lose every point of this magical attack almost instantly!

Tim lifted his butt-cheecks upwards, to aim at the red urchin, and then flapped his tail forward. His tail, in response, shot a string of thunder towards the target; He didn’t even have to ‘summon’ this thunder, in order for it to dart forward, it shot out naturally!

An explosion erupted in response! Tim was tossed away a whole foot, he survived the explosion, but for a good moment, he had no idea what went on. He didn’t know what just happened!

[Health, -10 points.] The system announced, and also added. [Health bar = 65/100]

“Fucking hell, that hurt!” He complained, “I only used like five volts, that was insane.”

Tim didn’t have the slightest clue regarding how powerful a single volt was, but he figured that it shouldn’t cause an explosion! Nothing made sense at that moment.

The system helped make sense of things, as she added. [You successfully killed a sulfuric urchin, and got 7 system points as a reward. In total, you now have 65 points.]

Furthermore, she added. [These urchins are a really explosive species, and don’t really offer anything in return, apart from points and health loss. Your attempt was good, but, B- for caution though.]

“So I didn’t even find the right urchin, huh?” Tim asked, and sighed in disappointment. “Good thing I didn’t bite that bastard.”

Tim’s belly hurt, it burned even. However, he hadn’t really completed the task that the system gave to him, so he couldn’t quit now!

He quickly moved over to the next urchin he had found, and this time, he kept a distance of one meter from it. That red urchin exploded on his face, so quite frankly, he didn’t want to know what a purple urchin was capable of. This one was a hunch bigger than him as well, which intimidated him even more!

“Here we go…” He mumbled, and shot ten volts of thunder against the target.

Thankfully, this one did not explode! He killed it successfully, and split it in half, even. Unfortunately though, this one wasn’t the right urchin either.

The system specified that, as she said. [You just killed a normal sea urchin, and as a reward, you’ve received 2 system points.]

“Two points for that fat fucker? That’s not fair,” Tim said.

Then again, he couldn’t do anything to reverse this small reward. He just moved onto the last urchin in his close perimeter, and shot ten volts of thunder towards it.

This one exploded as well, but in another, special way. Upon the explosion, its spiky spines spread across the waters. Tim didn’t want to be anywhere near those spikes, especially since they were green, so he swam a couple more feet away from them.

Afterwards, he asked. “Did I get the right one this time, system?”

[Yes,] She said, and then added. [The reward is yours, but this urchin doesn’t offer any powers either… Instead, consider this as a community service, as any slaughtered bubonic urchin is only a positive contribution to the oceans. Anyway, in total, you’ve accumulated 92 system points!]

“Yay!” He celebrated for once, “Mission accomplished, huh? Good, I gotta get back home and eat a shrimp or two, cuz my belly is fucking barking!”

Tim referred to the pain. He completed the task successfully, and did so without contracting a disease, however, he was still hurt in the process. He didn’t feel comfortable with his health bar being this low, so he started rushing home, all for comfort’s and survival’s sake!

...

Tim got home, and found three more marble shrimp there. He ate them all, and replenished six points of health as a result.

[Health bar = 71/100 points,] The system notified him.

“Ahh… that feels kinda better.” Tim said, as the pain on his belly reduced by half.

He laid down on the sand afterwards, just so he could relax for a little bit. This had been a busy day, so he needed a break.

While he relaxed, however, he remembered something important. “I think I’m ready to buy that upgrade now, system.”

[Confirmed,] She said.

In an instant, he felt a large sensation of pain on his jaws, and around his mouth too. That pain spread out in other ways afterwards, and by now, he could only assume that all of this pain came from the upgrade! It had to.

He developed a strong headache moments later, and then, his whole body started aching hellishly! He wanted to shout once or twice, but the pain muffled his voice. That aside, his body was so numb that he couldn’t move at all!

He went through a whole minute of soul-tearing pain, until finally, the system said. [Congratulations! Your hunting, jaws, and natural camouflage capabilities have been upgraded to level three.]

[This upgrade consumed 28 of your system points, and 64 of them remain.] She added.

"Finally." The boy sighed.

The pain went away as fast as it arrived, he was glad to survive it even, but it had been terrorizing! Little did he know, the pain he went through had an indirect reward, one which would encourage a ‘shopping spree’.

[Four new purchase options have been unlocked,] The system announced, and the following options, for once, actually seemed interesting rather than daunting!

[Option number one = Upgrade your barb, and barb venom to level one. This option is priced at 45 system points, expensive but infinitely useful.] She described.

“Hmm…” Tim sighed, as he debated if he should buy this upgrade, right on the spot.

However, no matter how much he wanted to, he resisted buying it. The system spoke about the rest of the upgrades quickly after, which made him bicker with himself intensively; He didn’t know what to buy!

[Option number two = Endure water pressure for 100 more meters. This option is priced at 75 system points.] She added.

“What the hell is water pressure…” He bickered with himself.

He didn’t expect an answer, but surprisingly, the system described. [It means you can swim 100 meters deeper, without taking damage from the sea’s water pressure. This is essential to your progress and survival.]

Tim didn't even know that water itself could hurt him, but he was curious about it now, so he asked. "How deep can I swim now then, system?"

[For the time being, your maximum depth durability is 200 whole meters.] She said.

That sounded good enough, and it was great that there were special upgrades like these, ones that could fight against the effects of water pressure. They were expensive, sure, but he felt safer nonetheless!

Anyway, the system continued listing the upgrades out. [Option number three = Increase your personal IQ by 10 points. Upgrades like these are special, so this one is priced at 90 system points.]

The price intimidated him, but he felt that he didn’t have to buy this one right away. He considered himself to be smart, smart enough, which fairly was a delusional perspective, but he believed it thoroughly.

He even asked, "How huge is my IQ now, system? Gotta be over 160… right?"

She answered that question very quickly, [Your current, personal IQ is 45 points.]

That was not what he expected, at all. However, he had enough reasons to be positive today, and in the midst of his numerous active delusions, he found another lie for himself to indulge on, one which he could believe easily.

He exclaimed, "Well of course, that makes sense! I'm a stingray now, not a human, so I have a smaller brain, way smaller! I’m still smart though, for a fish at least. Yeah, I’m a genius, no debate on that hehe!"

Tim’s point of view was interesting, but it didn’t really matter much. The only thing that mattered now were the new upgrades that the system introduced. They were important, but for a minute or two, he forgot about them completely; He still bickered about his own intelligence, which was a topic that could last for hours, if not interrupted!

The system interrupted him, thankfully, as she listed the last, new option. [Purchase option number four = Unlock your explorative soul abilities. This option is your birthright, so it's priced cheaply, 40 system points specifically, just so you can purchase it easily.]