Chunks of charred fish man rained down upon the blood covered sand. Ero cried out as a piece of burning ribcage nearly hit her on its way up, but then laughed a little when it went flew down to land in the sand. It was a slowly burning reminder of a life destroyed. “That’s what you get!” she cried.
Scott ignored Ero’s aggressive outcry and took a moment to check the area. More of the monsters had begun to move out of the surf. They needed to finish off the current group quickly.
Between the efforts of everyone involved, at least two dozen of the Shar-Shar had been killed out of the current wave. But the constant reinforcements meant that there were actually slightly more of them on the beach now than there had been when he had last checked.
“Time to do something stupid...” he unleashed a slow, feral, smile. Stupid was something that he was good at. His track-record spoke heavily of his skill in that regard.
The man pulled out a fairy’s cure then chugged it down. He needed to partake of a little health and mana restoration even if it was a minor amount. During the battle he had expended roughly half of his mana. It was time to blow his load, so to speak.
He ran forward and shouted. “I’m going in! Watch yourselves!”
“What? Scott!” cried Rhea.
“That’s not my name right now!” cried the man excitedly before he leapt into the air and thrust his hand out toward five tightly grouped Shar-Shar.
He shouted, “Burn!” and unleashed fiery hell upon his fishy foes. They exploded with ridiculous ease. The power of magic versus something with little magical resistance was quite overpowering. The burn spell was devastating due to its force, though it did require the fish men to be grouped together and at a good distance in order for it to be used with maximum effectiveness.
“What should I call you then?” called out Rhea, before she ducked under a spear thrust then slammed the pommel of her sword up once more to crack the weak chin of her opponent.
Scott turned to another knot of fish men. “LEEROY JEEENKINS!” he screamed, before he raced off at high-speed.
Rhea resisted the urge to laugh. She was currently in a four way battle with her own little group of Shar-Shar and needed to devote her attention to the fight. Still, that was an Earth human joke reference that she had not heard in quite a while.
“Burn! Mothafuckas!” cried Scott in a demented but strangely happy manner. The fish-men exploded in a shower of fire and light. His high intellect, technically anyway, combined with the attack power of his spell and the weakness to magic that his opponents possessed, made it easy to destroy them when they grouped together.
Soon, the Shar-Shar realized just what a terrible thing it was to group together when fighting these people. The semi-deranged sorcerer began to rapidly spin in place like a demonically possessed Dreidel, or perhaps a simple spinning-top, he was not Jewish after all. As he turned quickly in place, he spammed his burn spell in any direction that he saw more than two Shar-Shar grouped together.
His mana emptied rapidly, but the Shar-Shar were heavily demoralized by the sudden onslaught of explosive fury. Several of them threw their spears away and raced toward the surf. A few others fell to the sand and started to cry.
<<< Message >>>
Your actions have severely demoralized the attacking army of Shar-Shar. Their status will decline accordingly.
<<< * >>>
After the sand and smoke cleared, less than a dozen of the monsters were left on the beach. No more of them seemed interested in climbing out of the surf. Rhea finished off her opponents just in time to see her man-toy casually glance over at the remaining fish men then raise his hand.
Two more of them cried out in panic and tossed their spears away. They raced toward the sea. One of the remaining creatures suddenly clutched his chest and cried out in pain. He exploded in a shower of light despite no outward sign of attack. Scott was curious about that for a moment until a message popped up that informed him of what had happened.
<<< Message >>>
Your recent actions have struck fear into the heart of the Shar-Shar warriors. Due to your uncompromising display of magical might, one of the defeated Shar-Shar suffered a panic induced heart attack. It died from fright.
With his dying breath, the Shar-Shar has named you Grooshkillirgwt ergfrtuuuo.
<<< * >>>
A soft ding penetrated the air and a new message appeared. Scott blinked at what he saw then started to laugh. His sudden laughter caused the remaining Shar-Shar to become even more frightened. Most of them threw down their spears and ran away. Only one remained on the beach now, and he was currently embroiled in an attempt to dig a deep hole.
<<< Message >>>
Congratulations! You have earned a new title!
Translated from the Shar-Shar language, your new title means: “Burning Terror.”
You will do an additional 5% damage to aquatic opponents when using magic.
Aquatic denizens you are on good relations with will respect you more. Those who you are not on bad relations with may court your favor.
Whenever you use attack magic in front of an attacking aquatic monster you will have a 3% chance of inflicting a powerful fear effect. If this effect hits three times in a row, while they are still under the effect, most attackers will die instantly. The chance of success increases to 5% if you use a fire spell.
<<< * >>>
Scott turned towards Rhea. “Did you know that I strike fear into the hearts of fish men everywhere?”
Rhea squinted at him then quirked her right eyebrow. “No, I did not.”
He trotted merrily over to the fish man who spent the last several minutes in an attempt to dig to the other side of the planet then casually punched him in the back. The Shar-Shar jumped up, looked at him and then screeched in fright.
Scott started to punch him again, but the fish man flailed his arms around rapidly. Several items appeared in the air and dropped to the group. A loud *ding!* echoed through the air.
<<< Message >>>
A Shar-Shar warrior has offered you all of his worldly possessions if you will spare his life.
Do you accept his offer? Yes | No
<<< * >>>
Scott looked at the random items casually and then back at the fish man. He mentally accepted the offer but pointed at the frightened fish. “Go. Tell others about what you saw here today, and let them know the true face of terror.”
He had regained a little mana so he wasted it in order to emphasize his point. He casually pointed to the side and unleashed his burn spell. When the fiery explosion went off the Shar-Shar screeched in fear once more then turned around and ran toward the sea at all possible speed. He waved his arms in the air in a spastic manner while a trail of strange and foul smell liquid trickled down to the ground from between his legs.
Scott laughed at the ridiculous scene then leaned down and collected his new treasure. Several interesting items appeared in his inventory.
“Neat, a new skill ring...” He eyed the soul of the fisherman ring carefully.
He turned to call out to Rhea but the battle music ended and the cool island beat returned. A battle report appeared before him. His eyes opened wide as he realized exactly what he saw before him.
<<< Battle Report >>>
Victory!!!
Your party defeated a contingent of 312 Shar-Shar warriors in a running battle! Due to the number of opponents that were defeated your party will receive additional rewards.
+ 86890 EXP
+ 61000 Fayth
+ 624 Ability Points
Item(s) Acquired:
Fish Scales X 246
Coral Spears X 7
Cracked Coral Spears X 112
Shar-Shar Tooth Necklace X 5 [rare]
Special
Torrent Spear X 1
Soul of the Fisherman X 1
Coral Armor X 1
Fayth X 234
Medium Pearl X 1
<<< * >>>
Scott noted the specia
l items that he had received, but realized that it was just a list of the items that the last Shar-Shar had bribed him with before he had fled to the sea. What really excited him was the message he received immediately afterward.
<<< Level-Up! >>>
Your acquired experience exceeded the necessary remaining requirements to master your equipped lore skill ring. The remaining experience has been applied directly.
You have gained five levels at once!
Level 13 -> Level 18
<<< * >>>
“Holy Shit!” exclaimed Scott. That battle had been insanely profitable for him. Due to the fact that the battle report and rewards never came until the battle was completed, most fights dragged on for a while and involved many different opponents. The overall level of the Shar-Shar had been nearly twice his current level, but they were weak against magic and their status dropped a bit on land. In short, the battle had been long but worth it.
“What happened?” called Rhea. She ran over to Scott, a concerned look upon her face.
Scott grinned at her. “Finally finished with my survival ring and gained five levels at the same time.”
She laughed at him then shook her head. “Of course you did. Humans and their bonus experience...”
“How did you make out?” asked Scott.
“I gained more than half a level’s worth of experience for that fight. If we grind a bit more, I could probably make it to ten before midnight.” said Rhea.
He nodded to her. Her obscene experience costs greatly slowed her leveling speed, but she made up for it with ability point scraping and extra stats after reincarnating. If it were not for his leveling speed he would not be able to keep up with her. At the same level, she would no doubt be much stronger than he was.
Helping her reach level ten was important. It would keep them within a decent range level-wise, but it would also allow her to access her higher-tier skills again. She had already mastered them, but she still had to reach a proper level to use them. Reincarnation was odd that way. Though, it did mean that someone who had reincarnated could spend their ability points on new skills or they could build their stats instead of relearning old skills.
“Do you know what this does?” asked Scott. He held up the soul of the fisherman lore ring for Rhea to examine.
She eyed it carefully then nodded. “It’s probably one of the items that we have been looking for all of this time. I got one earlier, but I have not been learning it since I am in need of gaining experience to level.”
“I see. I’ll put it on and work on developing it. We can see if it is worth your time after I learn it. It only needs twelve thousand experience points after all.” said Scott. Unlike the survival ring, it was not special. It could be filled with experience after a few good battles.
“Sounds good. By the time you learn that I should be close to leveling, since you aren’t going to be gaining as much experience fighting the monsters around here as you were earlier.”
“Rub it in why don’t you.” said Scott, before he stuck out his tongue.
Rhea laughed at him softly. “Sure, any time. What’s a girlfriend for, right?”
Scott pulled her close and gave her a warm hug. “This, I think.”
“You’re right.” she murmured softly and pressed against him. “This is exactly what a girlfriend is for...”
The light danced softly in her eyes as Rhea looked up at him. She could feel a gentle, yet powerful, warmth building inside of her. This was the sort of moment she had longed to be a part of for quite some time.
Chapter 7: Accept Your Fate
The light of dawn shined down upon the sea causing a gentle interplay of light and foam that created a beautiful and mysterious vision. The music of the world, a soft calypso beat, picked up in volume as the vibrancy of the world at dawn intensified.
Atop a rocky outcropping a lone figure stood staring at the sea. He was a mighty fisherman. So mighty, in fact, that the sea had gifted him with the fins of a fish so that he could hunt the waters with far greater skill and precision than any normal man might achieve.
Scott looked out at the water then raised his left arm. Instinctively he opened his forearm fin and smiled. It was the true power of the Soul of the Fisherman. When he had the effect activated he could fight and maneuver in the sea like a true denizen of the ocean. The last few days on this island had been spent to acquire a few useful items, but this was the one that was most necessary.
The aquatically upgraded man lifted his coral spear and began to whirl it around with expert fashion. He had gained the spear-wielding skill when he had become a mighty fisherman. Technically, he had spear fishing skills, but that translated to decent overall spear wielding skill anyway.
He whirled his spear faster, faster, and then it became nothing but a blur in his hands. When he sensed that the movements of his weapon had reached the peak of his current abilities he cried out. “Howling Gale!”
The coral spear flashed brightly for a moment and Scott whipped it down and forward in one clean movement. A blast of tornadic wind raced outward from the tip, howling like a deranged freight train. The gentle and mysterious sea was momentarily ripped apart by the violent winds.
“Looking sharp.” said Rhea from nearby.
Scott looked back at his companion and smiled. Her scales were far less noticeable than his at present. If anything she looked like her body had been covered in glitter. She had light blue fins that matched her hair, and a sweet smile upon her face.
He hopped down to greet her with a warm hug. They shared a sweet kiss that caused the fin on the back of his head to flare open and become fully erect.
She giggled around his lips then pulled back. “So, how do you like it?”
“I always like kissing you, silly.” said Scott in a playful manner.
“Not that you goof, the new skills!” said Rhea. Her face had darkened several shades and the bridge of her nose had become tinged with a pink shade. He always seemed to know the best way to make her feel embarrassed.
“Ah, those are wonderful! I never knew the reason for the special effects when I used my spells.” said Scott.
“Yeah, synchronicity is great.” said Rhea.
After Scott had gained his survival skills and developed the soul of the fisherman, he had finally learned the answer to one of the mysteries in his life. The reason that he could freeze someone directly with his freeze spell, and cause other random effects when his spells were used in specific ways, was synchronicity. Basically, skill and spell combinations that had nothing to do with the skill tree!
He had used those abilities naturally when he fought barehanded. It was a part of the sorcerer class, after all. However, after gaining the synchronicity skill through his survival skill-set he could now synchronize his spells to other learned weapons. He could not combine every spell with every type of weapon, but he could perform fairly intricate effects if he trained in their usage.
There was no system assistance for gaining skill through synchronicity, well none outside of the synchronicity skill itself. That was one of the most common methods for high-end players and locals to differentiate themselves from the others in their class. Everyone could learn to synchronize, but only dedicated training would allow someone to develop their ability to synchronize into the creation of unique abilities. That was the general thought process, anyway.
“Why didn’t you tell me about it sooner?” asked Scott. He’d had a great deal of fun learning to use new spell effects with his spear skills and creating new methods of using his unarmed combat skills now that he could use the true form of the synchronicity ability.
“It wouldn’t have mattered. You needed to develop your survival skills, first. At least the ring you used is a divine level artifact so you’ll never lose your skills.” said Rhea.
“Yeah, that was the reason for why it took so damned long to learn them...” Scott was glad that he would never lose his survival skills, or boomerang skills, but eighty-thousand ex
perience points was a lot for a Noob to lose!
“It’ll come in handy when you reincarnate. When you master divine-tier skill rings they stay mastered, remember?” asked Rhea. She kissed him sweetly once more.
Scott stopped thinking about the situation for a moment and spent his time enjoying the sensation of holding Rhea in his arms. He had acquired the experience necessary to acquire his Soul of the Fisherman abilities, Survival Skills, and even the Goblin Soul ability. Though, he’d had very little reason to use the latter ability.
They broke off their kiss and smiled shyly at each other for a moment. Their relationship was a work in progress, but sometimes they had moments like this when everything just felt like it worked.
A short amount of time passed and they separated. Rhea sighed softly, “Scott, I’ll be back this afternoon.”
He nodded to her. “I’ll try not to be abducted by any beautiful perverted fish people, or accept any confessions of eternal love while you are gone.”
She poked him in the chest. “You better not!”
He grinned at her then kissed her on the nose. “Go do fish-girl elf stuff. I need to finish spending my ability points anyway.”
She kissed him on the chin in response. “Right, I’ll be back soon.”
They hugged each other tenderly for a moment then Rhea leaned back slightly and sighed. Kiley and Neira were not nearby so she chose to log off right there. Scott caught the unconscious form of the elf-goddess and lifted her up. He carried her to their tent like she was a fairy tale princess and gently placed her into her bedroll. He kissed her softly on the cheek then pulled her blanket over her.
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