Chapter 15 - Growing
The next morning, Nexha became irritated when he saw Krahs using his obsidian stone on the tip of his spear. His cheeks puffed up, and his small face turned red with anger. Krahs, unable to resist the adorable scene, pinched the chubby cheeks of the angry little baby before leaving to train, leaving the two alone.
With his cheeks still sore from the pinch, Nexha sighed, crossing his arms.
— Maybe I’ve been a little stingy...
Not wanting to dwell on it for too long, he opened the shop and bought another obsidian for 5 MD. While waiting for the crabs to climb up the nesting pool, he was startled by Lilay emerging from the water. The shock was so great that Nexha nearly jumped back.
— What...? — Nexha's eyes widened as he saw that Lilay had tripled in size overnight. Before, they were practically the same size, but now Lilay looked like a four-year-old child.
Without wasting time, Lilay yawned and, with a sleepy smile, jumped onto Nexha, crushing him in a tight hug. The unexpected strength pinned Nexha to the ground, making him grunt in pain. Luckily, he had thrown the obsidian onto the sand beforehand.
— Get off! — Nexha shouted, trying to push him away.
— Little brother is so grumpy. — Lilay murmured, laughing.
— I'm not grumpy! — Nexha protested.
— Yes, you are.
Before the argument could continue, Nexha froze as he realized something.
— Wait... You understand me?!
Lilay blinked in confusion.
— Yes.
— Since when?!
— Today?
Nexha was speechless. For the first time, someone in the world understood his words! However, before he could celebrate, another question arose.
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— And how did you get so big?!
— I don’t know. You're small and big too.
The answer didn’t make much sense, but Nexha decided not to insist. Looking at his hands and tail, he began examining himself. He grabbed one of the pool cleaners and noticed that he had indeed grown as well. Not as much as Lilay, but he was visibly larger.
— Little brother, I'm hungry! — Lilay declared, shaking Nexha eagerly.
With no other choice, Nexha bought a full bottle of milk for another 10 MD. He sighed as he watched his balance decrease once again.
— Maybe I should care less about money... — he murmured to himself.
As Lilay enjoyed his milk, the first crabs of the day began to climb up the pool. Nexha quickly grabbed one and, using his new obsidian, pierced it, feeling a wave of satisfaction at the sweet sound of XP gained.
He reflected on the sudden growth of Lilay and came to a conclusion: it was probably because of the crabs. Determined not to fall behind, he decided to eat as many as possible to grow too.
Unfortunately, after just five crabs, he already felt full. Lilay, on the other hand, even after drinking the milk, managed to devour fifteen.
— Is your stomach infinite?! — Nexha exclaimed in disbelief.
Lilay simply licked his fingers and tossed the shells into the growing pile beside him. Without an answer, Nexha opened his status screen:
[Crystal-Scaled Mermaid]
Name: Nexha.
Age: Baby
Status: Normal
Lv: 2 XP: 0/40
HP: 30/30 MP: 15/15 ATK: 3(+1) DEF: 22(+1) INT: 12(+1) LCK: 7 B: 30
Title: First of Many
Abilities: Analyze, System Shop Access.
Nexha's eyes widened.
— Tomorrow, I'll have to kill 40 of these things?! If this keeps up, I'll wipe out all the crabs in this place...
As he ground the shells into powder with the ease he had learned yesterday thanks to the system, he pondered a sustainable method to gain XP.
— Maybe killing just ten per day is enough...
— Hey, what about me? I'm gonna starve like this, little brother! — Lilay protested.
— Eat Krahs' fish.
— But they're not as tasty as crabs... — Lilay pouted, clearly displeased.
He then shook Nexha forcefully, trying to make him change his mind. The sudden action made Nexha miss a strike with the stone and, to his horror, shatter the newly purchased obsidian.
For a moment, he stood still, feeling his rage build. Without thinking twice, he grabbed a handful of crab shells and started throwing them at Lilay.
— YOU EATING MACHINE! YOU BROKE MY STONE!
Lilay retaliated with equal enthusiasm.
— IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU’RE A STINGY CHEAPSKATE!
— YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!
— YOU SAID IT BEFORE, SO IT MUST BE IMPORTANT.
And so, a shell war began. Laughter and shouting echoed through the nest until both, exhausted, collapsed onto the sand, falling into a deep sleep.
Later, Krahs returned with some large fish and found the nest in complete disarray. In the middle of the chaos, two little ones slept, covered in crab shell remnants and red dust.
Krahs’ gaze hardened.
— These two...
And so, that afternoon, the brothers were sentenced to cleaning the nest as punishment.