I dove down and swam between the colorful coral reefs. I had all my tails out again and the 3 that kept me alive were also tracking ocean currents this time. So, I need to find a solution to the eel problem. I’m not going to find it and try fighting it but if I can’t use lightning I will be at an offensive disadvantage. Fire is obviously a no-go. Wind and water are left. I used [Tempest step] and started to float toward the surface. I sent out a kick and it sent out a wind blade that didn't go very far. I cancelled [Tempest Step] and went back to my original depth.
So that doesn't work. I went for [Wind Dragon Dance] and this worked quite well. It took a lot of effort to keep it in my desired trajectory because it had a tendency to float up. So as long as I’m ascending wind works quite well, for descending I probably need to use water. [Waterfall] worked surprisingly well, not just for attacking but also movement. I accidentally knocked out a giant squid, which was going to be my snack. I go in my bubble, cut it to pieces with [water blades] and fried what I would eat and then it dawned on me. Why don't I use water blades, I only use them to prepare fish… I can even make the water dragons shoot out water blades or make their claws more water-blade-like. And I can apply it to the water [Dragon] if I really need it. One of my 3 tails picked up a change in the current. It seemed quite artificial so I dove down and followed the disturbance.
Was I acting like a fish now? Reacting to the smallest disturbance. My tails were also paying attention to electrical signals so that I don't get ambushed by that stupid eel again and I’m picking up a lot of weak signals. All the fish and creatures here are sending out weak signals but these are a bit stronger.
I found the source. I was witnessing a very strange battle. A group of mermen and mermaids were fighting against a group of water nymphs. The mermaids and mermen were the ones giving off the weak electrical signals. I observed while hiding behind some coral. I could learn a lot from how they moved and fought underwater. One merman seemed very strong, he threw super-fast punches and this created bubbles that popped fractions of a second later and did a stupid amount of damage. The nymphs that got hit by it instantly got disintegrated but they reformed later.
I tasked a tail to start simulating that. I have the speed to pull that off.
The rest was mostly fighting with weapons made out of ice or dense water. And relatively strong water attacks. Neither side seemed to be making progress. These nymphs and merfolk used evasive maneuvers to counterattack.
The water they displaced while moving around got sent to their attacker. Who needs an underwater combat school when you can learn from deep see residents?! I saw some lightning attacks but most were water-based and they were effective on each other, it was just that the nymphs could reform and the merfolk had 3 healers. I always thought that sea creatures would have a high-water resistance but it seems I was wrong. It made sense as no water creature could defeat another water creature if that was teh case.
I slowly started to pay less attention to their battle and started to wonder why they are fighting anyways. Nothing I can see here was worth fighting for, was it a territorial dispute? The nymphs got reinforcements but they didn't seem to help much. Until some started to sing. The song rang in my head and my tails warned me. I created 5 illusion layers and shattered them to get rid of the effect. I made my bubble extra thick to block out the sound.
Most of the mermen and some mermaids got captivated by the song and mindlessly swam to the nymphs that sang this song and got slaughtered. Oof this is brutal. It seemed to be a charm-based attack. No wonder my tails warned me. Even though its effect was supposed to be weak at this distance, I still almost took the full effect of it. The merfolk found a way to counter it but their numbers were severely reduced so they retreated. The nymphs seemed to be happy with their victory. My tails sent out another warning. It seems some nymphs have discovered that I was spying on them. I decided to do nothing stupid and just stay still and not make any suspicious movements. I’m completely defenceless against charm attacks.
3 nymphs came close and inspected me. Their hostility dropped when they saw my tails. Do I get a free get-out-of-jail card because of my race? They communicated with each other but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I made the bubble thinner and found out they used weird sounds to communicate. One of the 3 nymphs approached me and made some vaguely recognizable sounds. Was that Kaledonian? The water surely didn't help much. I heard a ring in my head.
-”Are you lost? Shall we bring you to the surface?”- I tried to send a telepathic message back but this is hard to do to people you don't know. I tried to communicate with gestures. One nymph touched the bubble and passed through it and got into my bubble. Whoa!
“We will take you up to the surface, don't worry!” Oh, that's nice of you but I'm here by choice. The nymph looked very confused. I seem to be confusing a lot of people lately.
“But isn't this environment unsuited for you?” I looked at her dark blue watery body. Well, yes, but that's why it's perfect for mastering my water techniques. The nymph was making weird noises again, probably communicating with those outside the bubble.
“Do you mind coming to our settlement then? We are quite curious about those that live above,” Uhm sure, I have a question though…
“Ooh you have a question for us?!” She made more clicking sounds and the other 2 also invaded my bubble. Hey! Easy! There is no point in making a bubble if you’re all going to fill it with water!
“What question do you have for us?!” They all spoke together and I started to become dizzy. I wanted to ask if you could tone down lacing your voice with charm magic…
“Oh! Sorry!” the nymphs giggled and I had to shatter more illusions to get rid of these charm effects. Maybe I should've just run away. Why do I keep finding bad matchups? I knew the ocean was dangerous but this is ridiculous. This just proves that I shouldn't attempt to get better at earth Dragonvein.
My biggest weaknesses are Charm and Earth magic. If I get unlucky and I need to fight an earth dragon it’s game over. The only worse thing is a charm dragon. I don't know if those exist but its a good thing if they don't exist. I do have to watch out for races similar to mine or these nymphs. These like to lure in humans or other races living on land because they are curious but most don't seem to be as knowledgeable as these and causing them to drown.
They brought me to a colorful reef. A lot of other nymphs joined them while going to their home. They all seemed curious and tried to squeeze into the bubble.
Hey come on can you not see that this isn't going to work?! I went into veil mode and they all got kicked out of the bubble. They seemed disappointed but were now curious about the water veil around me. They could poke it all they want because this was sturdy enough.
One got close to my spinning tails and got sucked up and flung away. She seemed to enjoy it and other nymphs started to do the same. I wanted to complain that I’m not an attraction but I couldn't communicate in this state. We neared a very small opening in the coral and they all went in and squeezed inside. I hope they realize they can do that because they’re made out of liquid and I hope that they understand that I’m quite solid. The nymphs gestured for me to enter. I made gestures that this isn't going to work. They tried to push me through the small hole. These nymphs might mean well and be innocent but they must have killed a lot of humans. I saw crushed bones close to the entrance and I shuddered. I located a space behind the coral walls and teleported to it.
I found myself in a completely enclosed cave which only seemed to have 3 extremely small entrances that only they could squeeze through. The cave was spacious and it contained an underwater village made out of coral and other ocean stuff. The nymphs seemed to be extremely happy to see that they finally got someone inside. I could already feel myself getting tired, anticipating the conversations I would have with these creatures. I got pulled through a big hollow coral and got introduced to what I guess is the nymph queen? Of course, she was radiating charm magic. This place is so Agnis unfriendly! I had to keep shattering illusions and try to keep a straight face to try and be polite. A nymph probably told her that I need a bubble to communicate. I can't tell these apart from each other, they all look slightly different but it’s subtle, the only one I could identify was the queen because she was a bit bigger and ehh quite beautiful.
-”Can you make the bubble again so we can squeeze in? The queen is curious!”- I recognized that voice though. Since I was in an enclosed space, I could use wind leyline here. I made myself sink to the floor of this space and took up my stance and used an improvised technique that I had to name but I made air swirl around me and expand. It pushed the water out of the structure. The coral trapped this big bubble and I could finally move around and breathe normally. I accidentally pushed some nymphs out of the building but they seemed to enjoy it and they all entered the bubble.
“Oh my gosh, I can finally communicate with a two-footer! Wait how do I talk to him? How do I address him? It is a him, right? They aren't limited to one gender, right?” The queen seems a scatterbrain. Uhm, I’m Agnis, I am a ‘He’ indeed. I guess I’m what you call a two-footer but ehhm, you guys also have 2 feet. I’m not sure if you’re referring to a race, multiple races look similar.
“Ooh, what is your race then? Or wait is that rude to ask? I didn't know your ehh race could do all these things!” Well, I’m not of the same race as those you see often.
“Oh, you do look alike though although maybe not.” The queen got awfully close.
“You smell nice! The others stink!” Wow so blunt, so what do I smell like then? Is it another race that’s responsible for maintaining the world? I guess something has to maintain the ocean, I’m actually not sure if there is a tailed beast that deals with water and I’m not sure which other race helps out.
“You smell like fish!” I guess I was wrong. I did eat fish quite recently so that makes sense. Right, so most of the creatures you encounter are humans.
“Oooh! Yes! I remember they are called humans! So, you're a human too?” No, I’m a nine-tailed spirit fox.
“Nine... tails, but you only have eight tails, so aren't you an eight-tailed spirit fox?” Uhm well, I’m still young and inexperienced so I have yet to get my 9th tail.
“Ooh, I see so eight-tailed spirit foxes turn into nine-tailed spirit foxes!” No, no look, we can control how many tails we show! I hid 5 tails and only left my hard-working tails out.
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“Ooh, you changed race! You turned into a three-tailed spirit fox!” I started to get a headache. No, listen, only the maximum amount of tails we can use decides our race, I’m still a nine-tailed spirit fox!
“So, there are no three-tailed and eight-tailed spirit foxes?” Nope.
“So, humans aren't zero-tailed spirit foxes?” No, they are just humans, completely different.
“Ooh, thank you!” The nymphs seemed to be excited to learn the difference between a human and a nine-tailed spirit fox. Right, I have a question for you.
They became excited again. Can you tone down the charm magic?
“Oh, you don’t find us charming?” I do and that's the problem the charm magic flying around is doing a number on me…
“Ooh, how do we turn it off?” That! That’s a good question, just not use it, I guess? I surely hope it isn't a passive effect because if that’s the case I will die here.
“Noo don't die! We finally got someone here!” They started making the weird sounds again. And the nymph that I think met first seemed to instruct them how to turn down their passive charm. I could finally stop shattering illusions to prevent myself from becoming a mindless lovestruck zombie or slave. Thanks, also another thing, those entrances to this city… unlike you, we’re not made out of liquid, we can't pass through there.
The queen looked at me as if i spoke Hourai. “What do you mean? You got here, right?” I teleported… come here. Poke me.
The queen poked me and seemed surprised that I was solid. Now look what happens when I poke you.
My finger went into her body. See the difference?
“Ooh so if we poke them, they can get here?” I facepalmed. This queen doesn't seem so bright but I can understand that they are not used to how most other species work. Ok, let me ask you, why do you live here where it’s almost impossible to get to unless you're a nymph?
“To stay safe from those merfolk!” Right and why are you safe here from Merfolk?
“They are too fat to get here!” I tried to hold in my laugh. Well, humans and nine-tailed spirit foxes are also too fat to get here, most other races are actually.
“Ooh.” The queen kept poking me.
The smart nymph approached me and poked me too. “Ooh, I understand.” she made the weird noises again and all the nymphs started to come to a realization, the queen too even though she indicated that she understood. Why isn't the smart nymph the queen?
“I’m sorry there are many things that are easier to explain in our native language than in Kaledonian.” Uh, that's fine, can you be my tolk?
The smart nymph nodded. “Sure!”
The queen posed a question while still poking me. “Hey, why are your bodies made mostly out of water but you live on the land?” Uhm… we like adventure? Questions to which I didn't know the answer started to roll in. Most seemed to stem from curiosity but seemed quite philosophical or existential.
“Why do you spend years learning to walk to then avoid walking with those surface floaters and those boxes that carry you all over the place?” Uhm walking is still important besides those forms of transportation.
“Hey, why do humans throw so much junk in the ocean.” Ehh, because a lot of humans are assholes, not all of them though!
“Hey, why are you down here if you can't breathe underwater or can't take the pressure?” To get better at this! I showed off some water leyline skills.
“Ooh, can we help?” Uhh, I don’t know but I’ll be fine, just continue doing your ehh nymph things.
“My name is Jhea, not nymph!” No, I mean your race, not your name. The smart nymph translated.
“Oh, but we're curious! We want to help!” all the other nymphs chimed in. This whole exchange drained my energy. Uhm then can you save me if I drown and show me a place with not-too-fierce creatures that I can fight? I shouldn't have said that…
“Ooh! Yes! You can fight the merfolk! Let's go!” No wait! I don’t have anything against the merfolk!
The nymphs cheered and started to get ready for battle. “We made a special entrance for you! Your 9 tails will fit through it too!” Huh? The queen picked me up and went out of the bubble.
Wait! Are you trying to kill me?! I made a water veil just in time as the queen brought me outside of the bubble. I couldn't talk to them anymore because we were underwater… These nymphs… made an opening that matched my silhouette with 8 tails, they had added another tail to the hole but it looked quite shitty. I wanted to tell them that I don't need something shaped like me to pass through but wasn't sure they would get it. They started to gather more nymphs. I created a bubble and was looking for the smart nymph. A nymph invaded my bubble.
“Hi!” Can you tell everyone that this is a misunderstanding? I didn't mean to fight the merfolk.
“Ehh, I would like to but I already tried telling them that you probably didn't mean that but they’re too excited, they want to see how you fight them.” How come you are way smarter than the others?
“Smarter? I got zapped when I was young, I’m not as smart as the others.” … I give up I have no idea how you guys work.
“I’m sorry but we're just so excited to finally drive them out of our old city!” They took over your city?
“Yes! And they killed a lot of our sisters!” And what did you guys do to piss them off?
“We didn't piss them off! I think… maybe we tried to get 2 or 3 of them into our city and turned them into paste trying…” So, they busted your city open and took revenge? Not sure who is at fault, you guys for being ignorant or for them to be unable to read your nature. Ugh, don't tell me I have to mediate… At least I appreciate your intelligence, dealing with nymphs would be a royal pain in the ass otherwise. 2 other nymphs squeezed into the bubble.
Hey, come on what did I tell you about this? I kicked them all out and made the bubble thicker. They found a group of merfolk and started harassing them.
Bring me to your leader! I struck a cool pose but I don't think anyone heard me… The queen was giggling like a maniac though… The merfolk spotted me and seemed to become quite upset.
Uh oh, do they think I got kidnapped? Contrary to nymphs, merfolk help humans whenever they're lost at sea. They probably think they're planning to drown me or something. I broke loose from the giggling queen, went veil mode, and swam to the merfolk. I created a bubble around us so we could talk.
Right, you guys might be as surprised as I am but you need to run, these nymphs are going crazy and want to wipe you out. I think there is a misunderstanding between your races and I might be able to help but that's not going to help if they kill more of you.
“Whoa, you’re a weird and interesting human how about you visit our ci…” Not now! Get out of here! Bring back an army or something but don't attack yet and bring your leader, I might calm them down, please don't make this harder for me… The merfolk seemed understanding and I kicked them out of my bubble and they swam off. I made another huge bubble to talk to the queen.
Alright, stop! We’re going to play a game!
“Ooh, a game!” The other nymphs started to make noise.
“Ooh, what are we going to play?!” The nymph queen said while getting excited like a child. It’s a staring contest! We’re having a staring contest against the merfolk!
“Ooh! We have to win!” So, I’m the judge. The game starts when the merfolk arrive but! They might not know the rules so I have to explain the rules to them but that doesn't mean that the game hasn't started yet! So, can you guys stay here and stare at them when they appear?
“Ha! They're fat and also dumb! They don't even know the rules to a stare contest!” Yes, show them who’s better!
“We will destroy them!” Well, that was easy… I hope they keep their promise. I’m so tired… I came here to train and here am I mediating between 2 races. I connected with the smart nymph and she made sure everyone understood. Now to wait for the merfolk. I think I will just go to the surface after this and rest, I’m too tired to train after all this bullshit.
The merfolk came ready to fight and they had their merman king with them. I moved to them with the bubble. Good morning, sir ehh merman king.
“Hey, guys, this isn't a funny human, it’s a nine-tailed spirit fox! Ugh, it seems our education system is failing… I’m sorry, I’m Shidar the Third.” I’m Agnis, the uhm first? What happened with numbers 1 and 2?
“The first stepped down and the Second got turned into paste…” He looked over at the nymphs who had started the staring contest. I refrained from making a fish-paste joke. Right, I think I understand why you’re upset with the nymphs but hear me out. I explained their nature to them.
“Hmm, so the average nymph is dumber than Billy?” Who’s Billy? The merman king pointed his spear at a big bulky merman that just ate a rock and was choking on it. … I’m sorry some might be smarter than him.
“I see, then we might have indeed overreacted. It doesn’t change the fact that they turned some of us including the previous king into paste but it makes more sense now.” The humans have a saying that goes something like: don't attribute an action to malice when it can also be attributed to stupidity, or something similar. I’m not a human after all.
“Hmm, I will take it to heart. Thank you.” So, I need you guys to help me with a problem… I convinced them that you're holding a staring contest because I didn't want them to attack before I could talk to you.
“Are you sure it's a staring contest and not a glaring contest? But that explains why they’re quite behaved.” So, I want you to talk to the queen, just a warning, she’s extremely dumb but I have a nymph that can translate. I hope you can work out this misunderstanding. The king gestured and 2 mermaids joined him and 2 mermen went to help Billy because he was still choking on a rock.
“We have to be careful about their charm attacks. These 2 are experts in charm magic, they will protect us.” Right… let’s go! I moved the bubble and kicked out the nymphs we didn't need out of the bubble. It was just the merman king the 2 mermaids, me, the nymph queen, and the smart nymph in the bubble. I again explained the situation and how and what. The smart nymph translated and we had to tell the queen the same thing in different ways till she got it.
“Ohh! Then why didn't you say up front that you were fat!” I facepalmed.
“We are more aware of your race's… ehhm quirks now, so we will keep that into consideration. Thank you, Agnis. Is there anything we can do for you?” Can you bring me to the surface? I need a bed…
“Oh, how about you rest in our village?”
The nymph queen got upset. “Hey! We found him first!” You got to be kidding me.
“We don’t want him to turn into paste, our village is more hospitable…” The merman king explained.
“Ha! Fat and stupid! We made a hole shaped after him so only he can enter our village!” I facepalmed and circulated nature energy to combat my headache. The merman king looked at me and understood the stupidity.
“Uhm excuse me, why doesn't he spend one day at our village and then a day at the nymph village?” A mermaid spoke up. Ugh, fine, can I spend a day with the nymphs first? I have a feeling I can rest at your place so I want to rest after dealing with these…
“Haha! Yes, he wants to go to us first! He likes us more!” the nymph queen said, not understanding that I want to get past the pain-in-the-ass encounter first.
“Did you not hear what he just said… you know what never mind, we will be awaiting your visit Agnis and uhh don't turn into a paste.” The merman king left and took his army with him. Why was Billy swimming upside down and backward?
“Yes! Let's go back!” the nymph queen grabbed me again and was about to leave the bubble. Oh, for fucks sake not again! I made my water veil on time before getting dragged away.