'Exactly, I think, I really don't know, but it sounds right, and frick, we deserve it! Kierra is going to be the one to reap the benefits from this one first, so we sound go find some prey for her to level with.'
The three of us agreed and headed out on the dome interior of the shabby sandcastle. On the way out, Mom mentioned something to me that made me groan inwardly.
'You know MainFrame is not going to like this.' -Tequila.
She was right, but that ship was already long gone, time to move forward, I want to see what this new skill was going to do! After getting outside, three lines were heading in all different directions, the same as the green one that guided us here. The difference was the lines were all different colors, orange, purple and red.
'What are these?' -Kierra.
'Guidelines, they will take us to areas to grind I would assume. This world has been pretty basic and boring so far, so I would assume it will just be scarier and stronger enemies.'
'What one do we choose? Not red, and purple looks like trouble, royal colors and all.' -Grace.
'Orange it is then! I agree with you, Orange sounds like the safest bet.'
We couldn't go that fast, at first. Within five minutes of putzing around, we found a school of fish. Grace acted cutely and swam with them playfully until they were all circling around her. Suddenly, Grace released a blast of electricity that stunned all the fish.
Kierra darted in and started to rip the fish into black particles, and she got through a good number of them before the rest were able to move and flee. Kierra looked satisfied and I could see she had reached Rank C+++ With all her feeding frenzy. This was really good since the finish was red snappers of a high level, so It was a quick power level for her.
I watched as Kierra floated and moved slowly, then suddenly flashed, and she was...The fuck, Mecha Dolphin? Shut the front door, but another flash lit up my view...but nothing had really changed, or so I thought.
Kierra shot twin lasers from her eye, and then transformers into a human-like girl, with a metal coating. Okay, this was a drop of your ice cream moment, because you just crushed the cone and came in your pants. Wow, that was fucking cool.
'What the hell?'
"I said, lasers and transformation, so I picked that one, and the Mecha Dolphin before that. I think you were right."
'And you can talk using a normal voice, and you have a lower rank than us! Ugh, I need to go find something to kill! I wanna level up!' -Grace.
'Yes, yes, we will Grace, chill out. We will find a school of fish for you to kill.'
'No! I want something big! I am too high of a level now to get anything from basic fish. Let's go see what we can find up ahead!'
Grace grumbled bubbles, but she came to me and Kierra shifted back into a Dolphin, man that was cool. I understood why Grace was so itchy to go, but we would have to still be careful. I took Grace in my arms so we could move fast with my propulsion, but Kierra gave us the dirtiest look a mechs dolphin could give.
Grace stuck out her tongue at Kierra, the image was ghastly. Picture a tunnel of teeth with a snake coming out of it, sheesh! Kierra's dirty look vanished and her optical sensors fully opened, making her look away and give a little body shiver. Yup, that was the proper reaction to that face, wow, Grace really did need the evolution!
I jetted off to follow the orange line and Kierra swam beside me as we made our way. We were in open water, but we were slowly descending, and it was starting to get darker. This was actually good for us so we could start hunting.
Suddenly, I could see a light in the distance; it was in the same direction as the orange line we were following.
'What do you think that is?' -Grace.
'I don't really know, there aren't many things that would glow like that this deep that wasn't manmade.'
As we got closer the Image of a town appeared, but it was in a bubble dome. Though as we got closer, we could see that there was water inside. So, it's a shield of some kind, but I guess that makes sense, if they didn't want people in the town they would have to protect from all angles.
'Finally civilization! Ugh, now there will be other people to talk to, you two are like sticks in the mud!' -Grace.
"Not all of us need to hear the sound of our own voices!"
'Girls, Girls, let's keep it civil as Grace said, we will be among people soon or something like people. So, let's get our shit together!'
I let Grace down and Kierra shifted beside me, we were standing in front of two solid metal guard looking statues. I tried to step forward, but both of the statues moved to block my path.
"YOUR RANK IS BELOW E. YOU MUST BE RANK E OR HIGHER TO ENTER THIS SETTLEMENT."
The monotone made it clear there would be no bribing or asking to let us in just this one time. It wasn't like we had any money anyways. Okay, Mom, where is the closest place for us to go and grind some experience?
'Located the closest congregation of monsters...Tracking line is set.' -Tequila.
The line appeared and after finally scooping up Grace, who now didn't want to leave when she was so close to civilization. She was either up or down, first, she wanted to kill everything and now she doesn't want to leave. The area that the green line led to was a cave, and I groaned inwardly, there was no mission, but this had dungeons-r-us written all over it.
I looked into the cave and it led deep inside, but there was the telltale Lumimoss lining the walls. Yup, this was a dungeon, but Grace was already squirming out of my arms, and once she was free both she and Kierra swam to the dungeon entrance. These two showed no caution, but I couldn't hold their hands the entire time, plus I needed some experience as well.
So, if I didn't hurry up, I was going to be stuck in the last place and those two would lord over me. That wasn't going to happen, not a chance, I was the leader! Well, that's what I keep telling myself. Funny how none of the girls seem to think the same.
I chased after them, and as soon as I was through the cave entrance, it closed over. The girls were already fighting...yup, mecha fish, MainFrame is pissed. I swam to help but they weren't having any trouble, so I pushed past them and swam ahead.
[Scan]
Name: Mechacuda
Health points: 120/300
Skills:
[Mecha-Bite]
[Razor Fins](Trait)
They were more than fine, but I kicked myself the second I entered the cave ahead of the girls, and bars dropped down, separating us. Damn, I tell them to be careful and what happens, dumbass, ugh. I turned back around and froze.
[Scan]
Name: Mecha White Shark
Hit Points: ????/????
Skill:
[???]
[???]
[???]
[???]
[???](???)
[???](???)
[???](???)
[???](???)
...This was one of those moments when it's just to bend over backward and kiss your ass goodbye.
Chapter 187: Glowing Green Stuff
'Why did you go in there alone!' -Grace.
*Crash*
I narrowly dodged, the metal shark and I slammed into the wall as I jetted out of the way. This thing was fast and deadly, I had already lost a third of my health with a single cut from a fin, plus my venom had no effect. Luckily, it was stupid, and it was doing more damage to itself from smashing into the walls than I could ever dream of.
I had its health bar down to a quarter now after that last face plant, and the Mecha White Shark was in rough shape, but it was a boss. The eye's started to glow red and I assumed it was about to laser beam me or some shit, so I gave it barely a thought and dodged. That saved my life.
The shark rammed straight for me, but at impossible speeds and I was just able to avoid a direct hit, but then it exploded.
[-150] 28/258
[Rank E++++] Acquired!
I was tossed across the cave and was about to smash into the wall, but I activated my evolution, and time slowed.
{Snapper}{Shark}{Eel}
[Or You Could Pick That](Passive) Skill Activated!
{Dragon}
Sold! I picked the option and time started again, and I hit the wall, but it did no damage to me. I slowed myself, so it was more of a bump into the wall, and I was able to right myself with no problem, I was a snake now...dragon? I decided to look at my sheet, but I was shaken silly by both Grace and Kierra, making it impossible to see.
I tried to put an arm up, but I only had short legs, then I suddenly changed into a man covered in blue scales. Ha! Now, this is what I am talking about! I looked down but decided not to get mad that my anatomical area was about as defined as a manikin's lower parts, but now I was able to fend off the girls and look at the screen.
7.Current Evolution: Blue Sea Dragon
Title: [Mecha Kin Killer]
Rank: E
Experience: 78%/100
Size: [Medium]: 370 cm
Heath Points: 1233/1233
Speed: 15
Attack: 18
Sight: 12
Mobility: 20
Current Skills:
[Grab] Level 6
[Claw] Level 1
[Bite] Level 1
[Tail Smash] Level 1
[Scan] Level 8
[Mating] Level 3
Passive Skills
[Propulsion]
[Underwater Mobility] Level 5
Mating Skills:
[Squid]: Large Load: Increase initial stats +2
[Octopus]: Packet Delivery: Increase Harem Member summoning chance to 50%
[Seal]: Mammal Mating: You will not die from Mating
[Shark]: Clasper: Increase Mating chance to 100%
[Dragon]: Incubation: Mating partners start at Rank E
Oh, I'm a beast now, but I still think I might have a hard time with that shark I just faced, MainFrame must have a serious hard-on for me. I finally gave the girls my attention And was surprised at the beautiful women in front of me.
"Girls? You two look amazing!"
"I was able to pick Naga, so will still need a ride, but now I have a stare that will stop them dead in their tracks!"
Grace had a sexy serpentine form that left her almost completely bare-chested. The arm blades were out of sight, but that didn't mean they were gone. I looked over to Kierra with interest, and she looked a bit embarrassed, but I thought she looked dead sexy.
Whatever Kierra picked, She was now looking like a sexy schoolgirl with the cow print. The cloth that held her breast, also pushed them up and out making her look like the perfect pin-up. I moved over and took her into my arms, and Grace headed back into the other cave.
"So, what did you pick? I didn't see you take down any sea cows, so what with the dalmatian print?"
Kierra kissed me passionately before answering, but I had half expected it, unlike Grace, Kierra wasn't bursting with confidence and might need extra attention. So this was my extra attention, I didn't mind complying, and I was about to use my mating skill when Grace yelled at us to hurry up.
"I picked Killer Whale."
"Woah! That's pretty cool! I kind of thought that the patches were pretty big, but, Killer Whale? We are making a good team here! Well, time to head back to the town, let's go see what was so important that we had to go level up before entering."
I transformed and so did Kierra, but my water dragon was nothing like the majestic looking Mecha Killer Whale form she had now. Grace swam onto my back and then wrapped her tail and arms around me, and once she was good to go, I signaled for Mom to set a point for us and we headed back to the settlement.
The trip wasn't long and soon we were all standing in our human forms. The guards don't look like they were going to give us a hard time, but we took our time entering. I would hate to get axed just because we forgot something or there and another thing we had to do, but we passed without incident.
"That was easy enough, I can't wait to see what the inside is like! Maybe they will have some stores and Dave can find a job to buy us things!" Grace exclaimed.
"Hey! We will all be working if there are jobs here! None of us has anymore, so that will be our first priority, after that, I really don't know.
We couldn't really see inside and now we were walking to a closed door in a sealed tube. I started getting a bad feeling about the place and I noticed there was someone glowing on the ceiling and I groaned out loud. This caused both girls to stop and look at me with questioning looks.
"What's wrong, Dave?" Kierra asked.
"Look up, see that glowing green stuff? That is Lumimoss, and it only grows in one place, dungeons."
Chapter 188: Capiche?
We entered through the door and out into a town filled with people walking around, a market stall. People were a bit of an overstatement, they were fish humanoids, but no one seemed hostile. I looked at the girls, but Grace was already stepping forward.
"So, we will find a place to sleep and you will find work to make money, capiche?"
I wave the two girls off, but Kierra looked like she didn't want to go with Grace, but I said it would be safer for them to travel in pairs. Kierra looked unconvinced, but decided to play along, and followed Grace down the street. I took a good look around, it wasn't that bad of a place, but I wasn't sure where I could find a job. Mom, any tips?
'Head to the tavern and there will be a bounty board with jobs and bounties posted.' -Tequila.
'Thanks, Mom, you're the best.'
The town wasn't very big, so it was easy to find the tavern, The Rusty Hook. I went inside and found only one Fishman and a crab bartender in the place, but after a quick look around I located the so-called bounty board. Walking up to the board, I immediately noticed a bounty for the Mecha White Shark, and I turned around to the bartender.
"Hey, I defeated this shark here, but I don't have anything to prove it, can I still claim the prize?"
The crabman looked at me and then motioned for me to come forward. The reward was one thousand coins of some sort, and I figured I might as well try. I did kill the damn thing, after all, It would be a shame to have to try and do it again.
"Hello! So good of you to stop by my fine establishment! Welcome to The Rusty Hook!"
The crab's voice was high pitched and very happy, it kind of weirded me out. Almost too happy for comfort, but then I remembered that this was just an NPC with a designation. I would just have to play along and see if I could still get anything.
"Thank you! I defeated a Mecha White Shark, can I collect the reward?"
"OH YES! Here is your reward, you can now choose another mission!" The crabman practically shouted at me and shoved a bag of money at me, but it disappeared when I touched it.
I was shocked at first, but then I got a message saying I now had one thousand coins. Well that was close working, but now I had to get something for us to do, I would assume that there were a certain number of missions that we had to complete before we could leave to the next place, or risk getting obliterated.
I walked back over to the board and looked at the missions. There were four choices, each ranging in difficulty, but the rewards were stuff we could use.
Rank: E(Orange)
Mission: Rescue Stolen Shipment
Reward: Random Items
Rank: H(Red)
Mission: Kill Demon Barracuda
Reward: Random Weapons
Rank: I(Red)
Mission: Escort Coral Collection Crew
Reward: Random Armors
Rank: J(Purple)
Mission: Kill Dark Shark Mark
Reward: Free Skills
So, stolen shipment it is; I turned back and got what I needed from the crabman, but that was basically nothing. He said ok and I got a notification that I could minimize, waiting to activate it. Now that I was done with what I had to do, I headed out of the tavern, time to find the girls, and see what kind of trouble they have gotten themselves into.
Thoug
h, when I got outside, I was drawn to the shop stalls I had seen where we first walked into the town. I walked over to go check them out, but I was also thinking about the Lumimoss in that tunnel. What was it in there if this wasn't a dungeon, or maybe it wasn't yet?
None of those were good options, but what was the alternative? It was part of the game and trying to avoid it would just make it worse. Head on, The girls and I would figure it out, but speaking of that, I had made it over to the first shop and there was a variety of necklaces and rings.
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