Infinite Evolution: Rise of the God of Metamorphosis

Chapter 12: Training [1]

“…”

“…”

“…..!” Eliot was speechless.

He was stunned as for a few seconds, he just looked at chief.

‘Holy sh*t, that was fast!’ He thought.

All the fish of this school watched everything that happened, still stunned as their tiny eyes kept on alternating between the 2 fish at the center of attention.

Eliot and chief were quiet throughout as the fish looked at them.

They looked at chief one last time.

Then they looked at Eliot again.

“Chief!” They roared.

“New chief!”

“New chief!”

“New chief!” The school of fish started celebrating on the spot.

‘Well, that works’. Eliot felt awkward being at the center of their attention but he was ready to take it having experienced the reality of this world already.

Brother swam closer to Eliot the next moment, he looked across him.

“Bonkers! What will he be called now?”

“Brother?”

“No”. Eliot looked at the largest fish of this school.

Then he looked at the other fish. “Call him ex chief”.

“Ex Chief!” They roared.

“…”

…

A few minutes after the inauguration of the new chief.

“Chief, orders!” They demanded restlessly.

“Should we follow?”

“NO! Hell no! Follow me where?” Eliot was frustrated.

“Stay put and wait for my orders!” He glared at them.

They were dejected but they obeyed. “Yes, chief”.

Instantly after his inauguration, the first thing that Eliot did was to lead the school of fish to a location of the reef that was close by and he already marked.

Almost all the survivors of the fish school at this moment were either purple or blue-green on the back and on the top of their head with silvery sides and white bellies, Eliot’s first priority was to stay hidden with his new followers.

The current location of the reef mostly matched the color of the Salmon fish.

There, it was far easier for them to blend into the background.

[You have activated skill: Camouflage!]

Instantly after activating this skill, light seemed to bend around his body as some parts of his body became darker with other sides becoming lighter.

After the transformation, he literally became invisible as he was able to blend in.

This was a skill that Eliot already learned its utility over the past 2 days of independence away from the fish school, it was very important to stay hidden in this world when they were nowhere near being the apex predators here.

“Follow my lead, use your camouflage skill and blend into the background”.

“Yes, chief”.

They complied but just 5 minutes later, they began demanding for new orders and was why Eliot had to snap at them to get his peace back.

After the fish quietened down, Eliot looked at ex chief.

“Follow me, we have a talk”.

This large Salmon smiled carefreely before following him.

After going to the edge of their current location where the other fish could barely hear them, Eliot turned to look at ex chief. “Why did you give in so easily?”

“It almost seemed like you had an ulterior motive for doing it”.

His eyes narrowed. “Are you planning on secretly killing me?”

“…” For a few seconds, ex chief was stunned at the question.

Then he sighed. “You misunderstand me, chief”.

“All fish must die someday”. His voice was so annoyingly pessimistic.

“I’ve lived through 3 different fish school, I saw all my old friends die one after the other, I gave up on competition long ago”.

“I’m simply too lazy to engage in a challenge”.

“It doesn’t matter”.

“Afterall, all fish must die someday”.

“…” Eliot was flabbergasted, he never thought of this.

“Umm, ok…, I guess I misunderstood you then but…,” His eyes narrowed again. “You said you’ve lived through 3 different fish schools?”

“Yes”. Ex chief smiled as his fishy face scrunched up in nostalgia.

Eliot’s eyes gleamed. “Tell me about it, everything”.

“I want knowledge about this reef, I want to know things”.

“Is magic real?”

Ex chief smiled on hearing that, then he smirked as he entered story-telling mode. “Chief, that’s not right, who listens to stories without booze?”

“…!” Eliot’s eyes widened as wide as saucers.

“There’s booze in this world?!”

Ex chief laughed. “You’re so weird”.

5 minutes later, floating above a coral reef were 2 Salmon Fish, chilling while going through the memory lane as they sipped on booze that was stored inside the empty shell of a dead snail.

Eliot saw a brand-new look to living as a fish.

‘Damn! With booze like this, life as a fish is not so bad afterall’.

Ex Chief confirmed it, this region was called the Thunder Reef.

According to the Salmon though, he didn’t know the name of this sea.

According to him, he was born in the era of the greatest ancestor of the Chinook Salmons, Chief.

“…!”

Eliot was disappointed, he should have expected this considering the horrible naming sense of this fish school.

According to ex chief, he was just a small Salmon then when Chief reigned. This was the only Salmon in the history of the Chinook Salmon to unlock magic.

According to ex chief, then, Chief led the school to great heights as he even contended for supremacy against the now reigning Electric Eel. Then, the Piranha brothers were just some harmless toddlers with only aggression and no strength.

Then, the fish school had more than 200 Chinook.

It all started spiraling to destruction when Chief revealed the incredible ambition that he wanted to go to the deeper sea.

His top elders did not approve but Chief was a free spirit, no one could change his mind as one day like he boasted, he just straight up left the fish school.

That day, the Electric Eel kickstarted his ambition and preyed on the school.

Over 30 Chinook Salmon died on that day.

And on that day, the sea snake also crossed over from the other reef to establish himself alongside the Electric Eel as the new top dogs of the Thunder Reef.

The eldest then, one of the top elders of Chief became the new chief as he led the fish school but under him, the fish school was nowhere as strong.

Consistent attacks from the Electric Eel trimmed their numbers till they became a measly 100, and one day, that elder was also killed.

Months later, after dozens of more deaths, the fish mated again as new Salmon were born, starting the 2^nd generation since ex chief’s existence.

The start of the new generation barely changed anything as their miserable life continued. With time, ex chief witnessed more and more fish dying until one day, he suddenly discovered that all his old friends were gone.

He became the eldest in the school.

That day, it started. “All fish must die someday”.

Months later, a new generation started which was Eliot’s generation.

Having learned from the mistakes of his predecessors, ex chief refused to die and was why instead of standing heroically, he always escaped first.

This was the only reason that he had lived for so long.

By the time that ex chief was done with his story, Eliot had so much in his mind, he just learned so many new information at this moment.

‘Speaking with ex chief was the right decision afterall’.

‘So there’re other reefs out there…, I should have expected it’.

‘I wonder how big this reef is overall’.

‘Heck, I wonder how big this sea is even’.

‘Damn, so many wonders to explore!’ Eliot felt hyped.

“What will you do with the school?” Ex chief suddenly asked.

Eliot looked at this Salmon. “At the moment, we’re too chaotic”.

“We have no retreat strategy in the face of danger”.

“We have no proper hunting strategy either”.

“Heck, we don’t even know our individual strengths and weaknesses”.

“We need training”.

He looked ahead at all the impatient waiting fish. “Training is what we’ll do”.

That day, training under chief Eliot started.