The system got into work quickly. She initiated the couple of upgrades that she promised, or differently known as rapid 'evolutions'! This in turn, spent all of the Blood, and Bone Essence points that George had collected so far! He didn't spend his last, remaining Mana Essence point, however, because these upgrades were targeted at his physique, and IQ, rather than his magical abilities.
By now, he had a decent understanding of how these essence points worked, and how they were spent. The Bone Essence points for example, were used to alter his bones, as the name suggested. He could feel a few of his bones moving around as soon as the upgrade was initiated, and although it wasn't painful at first, it was very uncomfortable, and later on, the pain increased exponentially!
The pain hit its peak when he felt that a few of his bones were, in a word, over-extended! His left side felt heavier at that point, so he started swimming in circles, and this brutal part of the process lasted for a few minutes, until a couple of awful snaps brought his bones into place!
However, as much as he might want to, the process didn't stop there, so he eventually got knocked out because of the pain! Fainting because of pain was a horrible experience, but at least he slept the rest of the pain away, which was the only benefit he got out of the fact that he had fainted.
What felt like an eternity later, he woke up, and mumbled. "Is it over?"
[Affirmative, however, the IQ upgrade hasn't finished being implemented.] The system beeped.
"What? Why not? I've probably slept for eight days now! That's two whole weeks!" He complained.
[No, you've only been asleep for ten minutes. Also, for your own sanity's sake, we can't rush the significant IQ-upgrades.] She explained.
"Oh, so I'll be super smart? That's okay then, I can wait. Question… Why does my butt feel all opened up, though? Did an anglerfish take advantage of me?" He asked.
Almost instantly, the system explained. [No, no! That's part of the upgrade. I've expanded your skeleton earlier on, and necessarily your whole body too! You look like a three-foot long dragon now, so you're rather good looking! Thanks to the added muscle tone, the faded, pinkish features of your scales will slowly adapt a richer color. You’ve become beefier.]
"Dragon… I don't know what that is? If I'm bigger, then I'll be targeted by the big guys now, though. You just made me a flashier, beefier target, system woman.” He added.
Such a comment was surprising coming out of him. What he just said was rather smart, and calculative, so perhaps the intelligence boost was kicking in already! This was a good sign.
[You are a bigger target now, yes, but this is the ideal body for you if you want to escape the first, magical barrier that you mentioned before. The Bone Essence points that you've accumulated, came in handy.] She answered.
Then, she also added. [I think I have a good idea of how the barrier works, and I'm certain that a heavier body such as the one that I shaped for you, will help you go through the barrier! So, it's time that you try to cross it, George. Furthermore, I also made your skin a bit tougher, and with it, you're more likely to survive the dangerous dungeons within the magical barrier!]
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Oh right, the barrier has dungeons…" George sighed, and he wasn't as enthusiastic now, and at some point he even drifted out of topic. “At least I have an even bigger mouth now, so, anglerfish beware, hehehe! You'll never be able to take advantage of me again!"
After that, he simply started swimming upwards. He was smart enough to understand that the barrier was not on the seafloor, so he just swam upwards, and hoped that the IQ upgrade would be finished by the time he got there. He didn't feel any pain in his head, perhaps because his head was very empty, but nonetheless, he understood that he needed every advantage he could get if he was to cross the barrier, and its dungeons! For that matter, he didn’t rush, as to give the IQ upgrade more time for it to complete.
Thirty minutes later, the system beeped. [Upgrade complete! Your IQ score has been upgraded, with the aid of your Blood Essence, and its score is at 25 points now, congratulations!]
“Oh…” He grunted, and got dizzy, so he couldn’t quite celebrate.
The last bit of the upgrade settled a moment ago, meaning that his brain had been altered beyond recognition at that point! It was a lot for a mere cusk-eel like him to take.
George had started out with a single IQ point just a couple of hours ago, so unsurprisingly, he had a bit of trouble adjusting to his upgraded intelligence! He got so dizzy, that he started swimming in circles again!
The system showed no respect to his vulnerable state, however, and she continued to explain. [You're officially the smartest member of your entire heritage now, George, regardless of how little you worked to achieve the number one spot, so congratulations again! Since you can understand me now, it's time for me to introduce myself properly.]
Afterwards, she added. [I'm your new, inbuilt, Essence Harvesting System, George. My creator is a rather brilliant man, who isn't even part of this universe, and he has sent me out here, in the deep seas, as a part of an experiment. I'm to help a weak creature, such as yourself, ascend to power, that is my duty, and I will be with you until you die!]
George was still dizzy, but he could keep up with what the system said. He listened to her as carefully as he could.
“You'll be with me forever, huh? That's good, then, because otherwise I would've wasted my life away as a fart-filled Assfish.” He expressed, and it was fair to say that he welcomed the system wholeheartedly.
George didn't bother asking her any more questions, because to begin with, he didn’t understand what an experiment was, nonetheless a universe. He didn't want to have a headache, on top of being dizzy, so he was quiet, and felt content with the fact that the system was here to help him progress. He felt beyond lucky!
The dizziness stopped eventually, and since the IQ upgrade was done as well, he started rushing towards the magical barrier that was somewhere on top of him. He put his newly honed muscles into use, and got to the barrier in no time! He swam for about eight-hundred meters, at three kilometers per hour, and thus he got to his destination!
George had never swam up here before, because he had been too scared to do so. However, he cursed himself, and his cowardice for not coming here earlier, because this barrier was absolutely beautiful! As soon as he saw it, he forgot all about the fear that he felt towards it.
The barrier stretched as far as the eye could see, and it bore a beautiful, purple color! A vast amount of purple gas boiled out of the magical barrier, thus giving it a one-of-a-kind, galactic look, an unimaginable beauty! His admiration for the barrier sky-rocketed, and he had never admired anything as much as this barrier before in his life!
After ten minutes of admiring it, he then snapped out of the euphoria, and sighed. “Okay… time to cross it!”