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2024-11-04 18:31:55Tim returned to his stingray body, and now, he had a lot of time to kill before he could explore again. The wonders which were sandwiched between the sky enthralled him, so he couldn’t wait to get up there again, a week from now!
Exploring the skies may get boring at some point, but the rewards were plenty! Tim gathered up a bunch of system points while he was up there, for example, and that was the best reward of all. He intended to use those points fully, but he wasn't in a rush right now. Upgrades were expensive, so he hoped to find a couple more critters to kill first, before going on a shopping spree later on! It was a responsible idea. "Ah, this'll be more than boring, it'll be exhausting…" He sighed. It wasn't easy to swim for extended periods of time, but right now, he didn’t really have anything better to do. Tim stretched his fins a bit, and then started exploring the reef! This place was massive, especially since it had complimenting cracks and tunnels within it, which made the reef all the more expansive! So just like that, he got occupied for a solid two hours, within a puny, thirty-meter radius across the reef! He barely reaped any fruits from this labor. There were plenty of fish across the reef as well as other species, ones which may or may not give him points, but he couldn't catch either of them, as they were too fast and very good at hiding! "Bloody hell! Why don't they just give up? They can’t be having fun here!" Tim referred to those fish, he was very irritated. Throughout this time span, Tim only managed to find about seven marble shrimp, and four ignatius crabs. Such a haul wasn't too bad, but these creatures only gave him a point per kill, and that was what made things difficult. He didn’t manage to accumulate as many points as he hoped for, and that aside, he could barely even eat half of these critters either! Tim wasn’t so hungry, and the shrimp would put him to sleep if he ate them, so he only bit their heads off, and left their carcasses to float around. It was cruel, but a bit efficient. Considering the overall results, however, he wanted to call it quits here, and check out what upgrades he could buy from the system. Small-time hunting wasn't getting him anywhere. The system said that he had gathered 225 system points in total, and in hindsight, that amount did seem like a lot. He was eager to use them all, for progression's sake! Tim slipped through a bit of coral, and sought out a comfortable spot to rest on. He wanted to lay down on some sand, and have a layer of protection surrounding him as well. Safety was important, after all. However, it would appear that he slipped in the wrong hole. He swam into a wide place which was quite dark, but yet, it wasn't empty! Tim spotted a pair of light-blue eyes in the midst of darkness, and could only assume that these eyes belonged to some monstrous fish! He was getting stared at directly, and it was nerve wracking! "Hello, I'm Harold. Please, don't leave..." The inhabitant suddenly spoke out. "You can talk to stingrays… so, are you one? Let me see your tail." Tim followed along. Tim didn't trust this one, it was difficult to. That aside, he would only feel comfortable around other stingrays, so if this was another creature instead, then he planned to beam out of here! "I'm not a stingray, I'm an eel, kid. A shivering var-blood eel, to be exact." It said, and then added. "But please don't be scared, I'm not gonna hurt you… I need your help." Tim had tried to position his thunder-charged tail, the moment this thing said that it wasn’t a stingray. He wanted to burn the eel's eyes off, if not kill it, just to protect himself! Then again, a creature who pleaded for help wasn't so easy to kill or attack. He ended up asking, "Help with what? Also, how do you understand me? You're not a stingray… not even close." Harold got a bit irritated there, though he did answer. "I'm an eel, kid, and your language isn't that hard to understand. But please, listen and focus… I'm stuck here, have been stuck for months because this place really managed to fatten me up. I'm not as small as I used to be, and that's what's killing me now." With that being said, Tim was intimidated even more. He barely saw the eel's body, apart from small portions of its head, and yet he was still intimidated. If this thing was as big as it described itself to be, it could kill him in a blink! For that matter, he didn’t really feel comfortable about another eel being loose across the reef. It would be hazardous! Tim's better judgment convinced him to back away, and meanwhile he said. "I can't help you, Harold, sorry. Eat less and exercise… maybe that'll get you out of here?" "Oh, you'll help me." Harold insisted, and his voice sounded quite sleazy now. "You're looking for food, right boy? The sharks went on a feeding spree a few months ago, and they devastated most of the reef… damn, it's why I hid here to begin with, but, I do know where to find good food, special crabs, if you know what I mean…? Help me get out of this shithole, and I'll show you where the blue-clawed crabs are, I promise!" "Oh…" Tim sighed, and he was enthralled by this offer. "Well, how can I help you then?" With a hint of joy in his tone, Harold answered. "Look, sharks are assholes, but I did manage to make friends with a few of them. There should be a shark with flaming fins here, around the reef. Find him, and tell him to come and get me… his name is Drake, mention his name, and he won't eat you." "Shit… I saw that guy. This idea can kill me, Harold, so those crabs better be worth it." He sighed, and then left, by squeezing through a couple of short tunnels within the coral. On his way out, he even asked the system about these special crabs, but she didn't respond kindly. He would have to bite on those crabs himself, in order for the system to talk about said crabs. There could be many species of blue-colored crabs, and they couldn’t make any speculations without seeing, and tasting one of them, first hand. He couldn't cheat his way towards the good stuff. Anyway, Tim was very nervous about approaching a shark, as things could go horribly wrong along the way. He was excited though nonetheless, and couldn't wait to taste these special crabs as soon as possible!
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I'm a Stingray? Chapter 10 - Fish Vendetta
What Timothy was about to do, took a lot of guts. He was about to encounter that big mako-shark, and this encounter could end up badly, but he was simply mesmerized by the idea of ‘special crabs’! He wanted them.He found the shark lurking about fifty meters away from the reef, and then approached him. Tim felt uncomfortable about this plan, but he had to get close in order to catch the shark’s attention."Hey, flame-ass! Harold the eel needs your help, he sent me to find you!" He shouted.However, a stingray’s vocal cords were very limited, so he couldn't make any loud noises. For that matter, he had to approach even closer, and then yell out once more. He called out, “Hey, fish face! Harold needs your help! Can you hear me?”Tim was about ten meters away from the shark now, and this was as close as he could get. If he swam any closer, then Drake the shark may attack, and he surely didn’t want to get bitten today. Thankfully though, the shark seemed to have heard him. It turned aro
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 11 - Upgraded Stingray
Tim's sense of vengeance went down, as soon as he found a place where he could rest at. The hard outlay of coral was his best friend around here, and he used it well, as he hid beneath about four layers of this hardy coral. Nothing could get to him at that point, nothing dangerous at least, he was deep within these natural barricades! He thought, "Harold can't get me here… and fuck that guy! Who tricks a kid by promising spooky crabs? That was borderline pedophilia there, or at least, in the real world he would've gotten in trouble for tricking a child! I'm only like twenty-nine days old, god damn it." Such accusations were way out of line, but this little outburst had a simpler outlay. He cared less and less about either Harold or Drake, the more he talked about them, and as long as he avoided them from now on, he'd be perfectly fine with forgiving them. Forgiving was an exaggerated word, even, as he simply did not care to get involved with them at all
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 12 - Magical Stingray!
Tim woke up after about five hours, and he was fully rested. However, the recent upgrades have tampered with his body quite a bit, so he felt really weird right now. He felt lighter, quicker, and had this urge to explore the seas and hunt anything that moved! This was how he usually behaved, yes, but today this behavior was amped up tenfold for some odd reason! Tim felt powerful and capable, but thankfully, the coral that surrounded him managed to cage his deadly enthusiasm. He couldn’t move much down here, and while he tried to slip out of the coral layers he had hid in, he found the infinite wisdom to calm himself down. Well, his wisdom was very finite actually, but that was not the point. The point was that he could reason with himself a lot more now, it was fascinating! In due time, Tim figured out what was happening with himself; This jolting temperament had something to do with the brain upgrade he had, just a few hours ago, he was sure of it!
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 13 - The great introduction!
Tim was astounded by the concept of magic. The fact that it was available in this world, was the only thing that kept him from being suicidal. This world simply promised a lot! The talk about magic brought back some memories, even, he said. “A protective spell, huh? I think you mean a deflective spell, system. When I was a human, I remember playing a video game of some sort, one about dragons, and it had a bunch of these deflective spells, they were pretty cool.” Tim was feeling nostalgic, it was difficult not to be. However, the system snapped him out of it right away, as she made another promise. [Video games? Oh, they’re available in this world too, in the mildly advanced civilizations at least. This world is very vast, and it’s difficult to get into a good civilization, however, if you do get into one, then you can play plenty of video games there. The highly advanced civilizations have even better games, hyper-realistic ones.] The s
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 14 - Panzer Crabs
Tim was intrigued by the new purchase options. He and the system discussed them for a long time, just so he could pick the best option there was. They came to the conclusion that the cheapest upgrades were the best option, as though they weren't as effective as the rest of the upgrades, they still were the most accessible! Accessibility, on its own, was really useful in terms of ensuring survival. Tim was convinced about what he was supposed to buy, and now, there was only the matter of getting system points, a bunch of them. For safety's sake, he waited until dawn, just so he could see and analyze his surroundings better, as it was really stupid to hunt in the dark, and he simply wanted to avoid getting killed. Tim took a couple of naps, just to kill some time, and when it was finally the break of dawn, he emerged from within the protective layers of the coral reef. Tim swam for a few meters, and then mumbled. "God damn… I am really hung
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 15 - "I hate you, Harold"
Tim searched the reef for any other kind of creature for him to kill. His belly was full, so he wasn't really desperate for food, but he did need to gather up a bunch of points! The panzer crabs he had killed gave him plenty of points, yes, but they weren't enough. Some of the upgrades were really expensive, and if he was to afford them, then there was no benefit in slowing down right now. Tim wanted to hunt for a few more hours at least, and then get back to those panzer crabs afterwards, once he got really tired. The idea was to get points, and then to find a safe spot where he could rest afterwards. He could eat a few mouthfuls of crab meat as well, to encourage his growth sprout. If the area near the crabs was safe enough, then he planned to buy an upgrade or two as well. There were a lot of things on his plate today, but he didn’t mind it. Tim enjoyed working under pressure, it gave him this overwhelming, and constant adrenaline rush
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 16 - Sardines; Deadly, or not?
"Wow…" Tim gasped in amazement.He was astounded by the idea of magical, mana-oozing roots. He guessed that they'd only make him more powerful, but overall, he also got this explorative, adrenaline rush after hearing about them! This world had so much to offer, so he couldn’t wait to escape his current physical limitations, in order to explore things that were beyond, and greater than magical roots! He was desperately eager.Anyway, the system broke his train of thought shortly after. She announced a little warning. [Timothy, pay attention! Before you go near any roots, you need to unlock your mana pool at first, specifically, the most expensive upgrade available right now. Mana roots excrete mana, and in order for you to harvest it or accumulate it, you need to unlock your mana pool. You don't need to rush on about this task, however, you probably noticed that each of these tasks encourage you to explore the world more, so one way or the other, this hunt will be g
I'm a Stingray? Chapter 17 - The Murder Spree
Over the course of a couple of minutes, Tim gathered all the courage he needed to approach this odd and massive cloud. Sure this approach made him a bit nervous, however, he gathered a bit more courage, as he kept insisting that this was a golden opportunity, one where he could reap a lot of system points! If these sardines were easy to kill, then he could just slip between this school of fish, and stab them left and right with his tail. This could turn out to be his greatest, point-farming opportunity yet, and he was aware of it! Tim also noticed a hint of suspicious, green dots within the cloud as well, but decided to ignore that for now, as he didn’t want to back down.He wasn't given much time to think about that either, as now the cloud was approaching him by itself, rather than the other way around. This sudden approach intimidated him a lot, but he wasn't even given any time to think about swimming away from the approachers, no.A few seconds later
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Chapter 65 - Devilish Ants, reborn!
[Before you go mental on those fireflies, you should know that you’ve spent 10 mana points already. That’s a lot for a little guy like you, do I have to keep reminding you? Be careful with how you spend your mana, please.] The system scolded him.Tim looked at the ‘fireflies’ in the meantime, the same ones who soared above the grass, and as he watched them approach, he couldn’t help getting nervous. He also ignored the system entirely, as this was not the time to be greedy or cautious with his points! He had to survive! Tim then looked down at the circle of grassy ashes, the very graveyard-like pit that he had caused. It was a foot away in front of him, and as he looked at it, he couldn’t help but piece a certain puzzle together. He guessed that the intense fire that he caused was what attracted these specific fireflies!It was a firm theory, and it made him really nervous, so he thought. “Look at them go! I’d be damned if they were here to have a picnic, those bastards want fried, s
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Chapter 64 - Devilish Ants!
Tim was in a lot of trouble, for multiple reasons, and on top of that, he also felt incredibly disturbed! He noticed that unlike any other insects that he had seen before, these ants that were attacking him, had feet!Now of course these feet weren't as full and as detailed as the feet of a human's, but it was disturbing enough nonetheless, when he saw that their legs bent outwards near the very tip of their legs, it was odd. These red bellied ants had feet, each and everyone of them, and he didn’t know how to feel about that. On top of feeling disturbed, he was irritated as well.“This is why they run around so fucking fast,” He thought, and then pouted. “Why didn't I get a pair of flappy feet? I need a pair. They sure as hell would've gotten me out of that sand quicker, I almost died there!”There was a lot to think about here, however, he didn’t have the luxury to pause and complain about things, not for long, at least. Tim was still being hunted by these ants, regardless of how he
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Chapter 63 - Spider Wizard
Tim wanted to be a human again, he craved to be one as soon as possible! However, for the time being, he was an itsy-bitsy spider, and like most spiders, he was very vulnerable to all sorts of danger! Aside from that, he also had certain limitations now, power-wise. His arsenal of power had been severely weakened at the very moment when he turned into a spider! The system started getting into detail about the matter, as best as she could. While Tim strode forward and across the sand, she unraveled a bundle of information, in a computersized manner.She called for attention, [I respect your aspirations, Timothy, however, let us get back to reality for a while. Your current statistical, and or arsenal-oriented capabilities are the following…][Health Bar = 32/32][Hunger Bar =11/12][Sleep&Stamina Bar = 10/16][Mana Pool = 120/120]“Well shit! Looks like I gotta go ninja-mode for a while, because at this rate, I can’t risk running into something as little as a cricket, it’s not safe! G
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Chapter 62 - "Scared of Seagulls!"
Tim Was very self-motivated for once. Such a feeling was rare for the likes of him, because he was usually motivated by fear, rather than such an indomitable progressive will. It was a new feeling, and he was willing to chase its euphoric highs for as long as it was physically possible. He urged to do so!Physics may be his biggest enemy throughout the following few days, come to think of it, and the reason behind this conclusion was obvious, he was a spider! Spiders weren't quite heavy, not at all, and Tim was an anorexic spider, too, which although it sounded hilarious in certain contexts, it still served the prior point; He was very light, and perhaps vulnerable too!Now there were certain physical disadvantages when it came to being a spider, even when things weren't going wrong. In this case, things were going very wrong at the very beginning, because Tim was a wet spider! The ocean waves had hit him a couple of times ever since he shapeshifted, and those same waves almost killed
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Chapter 61 - "Three-inch Spider!"
Tim was an explorative guy, by nature, his soul craved it. However, today those explorative senses of his were beaten down and abused. In the search for land, he had been slapped shitless by the ocean waves, who refused to cooperate with him. He was near the ocean shores, which meant that the waves could be more violent once in a while. He was flipped around like a pancake, tens of times, as his body seemingly wasn't designed to browse the ocean surface, out here near the shores, not at all!Things were tough, but at least the trip he took wasn’t entirely bad. The coral reef below him, for example, had softened up the intensity of the waves, at least for a little while, and this gave him some peace. The reef was complex enough to protect the ocean shores from tougher waves, which was beneficial to him, but this itself hadn’t been enough to tame Tim’s scrambled nerves. In fact, other than helping him, the reef also irritated him.The reef was huge, so it had taken a while to cross it.
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Chapter 60 - "I'll never be a Seagull!"
“A fraction? What does ‘fraction’ mean?” He asked. Tim was in no condition to think. It wasn’t easy to escape two deadly threats at once (the other being hunger), and with that considered, it wasn’t a surprise that his mind was absolutely scrambled right now. He felt burned out.The system never felt tired, however. She was far more superior than a computer, and therefore, the work she did was tireless. For that matter, she was quick to come up with an answer, she was sharp!She said, [A ‘fraction’ means that it’s a tiny portion. Specifically, you only absorbed a tiny portion of the shifter’s powers. The shifter was far stronger than you, in terms of mana quality and although you killed a much stronger opponent, it doesn’t mean you’re strong enough to absorb all of its powers, you won’t be able to shapeshift as greatly or efficiently. I hope that makes sense to you.]“It does make sense, and it also doesn’t. How was I able to kill a stronger guy… erg, girl?” He followed along.[Luck,
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Chapter 59 - Fully-automatic Stingray!
The octopus wasn’t as cruel as Tim had imagined. This thing stopped charging at him all of a sudden, for example, which was a really confusing course of action. Then, the octopus just stared at him!Tim stared back of course, and then he asked about what was on his mind. “What the hell do you need fifteen arms for, man? You could kill me with like, four of them if you tried hard enough.”This was not the greatest time to ask such a question. Come to think of it, it never was a good idea to converse with an enemy, when both sides were so close to battling! Yet he did ask questions, quite shamelessly too. Even the bubonic shifter was confused by Tim’s questions, as he appeared overconfident while he spoke! Scared folks weren’t supposed to ask casual questions, it was just the natural order of things. With that considered, the shifter was enthralled, and felt really motivated to converse. This was a unique encounter without a doubt.It said, “I have twelve arms, guy, not fifteen. Also,
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Chapter 58 - Twelve-armed Octopus!
[You have no choice, Timothy, you must fight.] The system said.At first, even Tim second guessed the logic behind her words, but then, she also added. [The ambusher will likely follow you, especially if it’s a bubonic shifter, so it’s pointless for you to swim away. That aside, even if you escape with your life, you don’t really have the privilege to waste another hour. You need food immediately, and it so happens that the ambusher is edible, well, most likely edible. Kill it, and eat it!]With that said, Tim didn’t put up a debate. He heeded the system’s recommendations, and in effort to intercept the ambusher in a safer manner, he made a sharp turn to the right, and then started swimming as fast as he could. He had intercepted the electrical signals behind him, and in order to launch a proper, defensive attack, he had to make some distance away from the ambusher. He had to get a bit more comfortable, if he was to have a fighting chance!Tim used both the flaming fins ability, and
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Chapter 57 - Mouth sensors, and a halved mana pool!
Tim’s sight, scent and overall senses were upgraded to level four most recently, but that may not be enough to battle the utter darkness that the sea possessed. He had to be very attentive, just to have a brief understanding of what was going on around him at all times! It wasn’t fun. However, there were a couple of things working to his favor out here. It didn’t take much effort for him to maneuver through the darkness, for example, which was a good thing, as he technically didn’t have any physical obstacles out here on the open waters. The advantage behind this was that he could focus on heightening his senses, other than sight, as vividly as possible, without having to worry about bumping into something along the way! This was great, and surely, he had to use every advantage there was, if he was to succeed. Tim tried his best to focus, but he was also getting really hungry, yet, there wasn't any food around for him to eat. With that considered, at some point later on, he ended up
