The fish-men crawled out of the black pool, eyes burning with hatred. Their skin was fleshy in some places, pale and swollen like fish bellies, and covered in hard scales elsewhere. Their gills and facial fins flared as they looked at us, crouching with their spears pointed. They began to creep along the stone, prodding with their shark-took spearpoints.

Species: Bluefish Finfolk (Lesser)

Class: Spearman

Profession: Cultist of Kal’ech

Level: 2.1

His identify skill surrounded the Finfolk in his vision, displaying information about each of them. Both were nearly identical, with one being level 2.3 instead of 2.1.

“They’re low level,” Theo said, “we can take them. Both just above level two.”

Blake nodded to the pool. “More coming up. We’ve got to clear them fast.”

Two more Finfolk rose from the depths, also carrying spears. Theo raised his staff. “Alice, pick them off as they come out of the water. I’ll handle the melee.”

Alice nodded, nocking an arrow. She drew it back, charging it with a fire spell, and then released. The bow snapped, and the arrow flew across the room, slamming into the forehead of one of the finfolk. His head jerked backwards, carried by the arrow, and he stumbled into the pool, dead.

But already more finfolk rose from the depths. They seemed to be multiplying, appearing faster than Theo could count. He raised his staff and sent a volley of thorns and the nearest one. They collided with the creature’s face, and it screamed, scraping at its eyes. Theo watched the poison from the thorns spread, tracing green veins across the fish-man’s face. In a moment, the creature had collapsed, foam forming at its blue lips.

You have defeated: Finfolk (Lesser)

Your Path of Evolution ability has been activated. You have learned the ability Spearcraft (Remedial).

A spear flashed towards Theo, following by a lunging Finfolk. Theo parried the spear with his staff, feeling the impact shake his bones. When the spear met his staff, blue sparks flew and the runes carved along it flashed green. He let his Staff of Nature’s power skill take over, and the staff seemed to almost move on its own. He whipped it around his back, the staff twirling in his hands, then ducked and swept the warrior’s legs out from under him. The creature hit the stone with a smack, and Theo stood, bringing his staff down on the finfolk’s skull. He heard a sickening crack, saw a spray of green blood, and the creature was still.

Theo paused. The creature’s looked so human, in a way. He could have sworn he saw fear on the creature’s eyes.

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You have defeated: Finfolk (Lesser)

Your Path of Evolution ability has been activated. You have learned the ability Fishing (Remedial).

Fishing. He looked down at the Finfolk, laying dead on the floor. Had he just taken this thing’s ability to fish. Shit, his dad had loved to fish. Just how human were these things?

He didn’t have time to wonder, because a finfolk holding a scimitar appeared next to him, sending the carved-bone blade towards his forehead. He raised his staff to block, but the blow never came. Instead, a flaming arrow collided with the finfolk’s head, killing it instantly.

“Look alive, Cross,” Alice said, barely pausing to nock another arrow. She sent another arrow at a finfolk clambering out of the pool, killing it before it found its feet. To his right, Blake had charged his blade with an electricity spell and was slicing through finfolk left and right. Body parts littered the stone floor, coated in green blood.

“Wait… wait, stop!” Theo said, looking at the carnage. But Blake and Alice didn’t hear him over the clamor.

The next finfolk that swung at him, he dodged the blow, then stepped back. He tried to speak, hoping the thing would understand him.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” Theo said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know—“

The finfolk swept at him with a spear, lancing Theo’s shoulder. White hot pain spread through his body.

“Please, please, I don’t want to hurt you — I made a mistake —“ he said.

The finfolk lunged, landing the spear in Theo’s thigh. He screamed, felt hot blood pulse there.

Then Tiberius was on him. The finfolk vanished in a spray of green blood, splattered across the floor, Tiberius on top of him. Theo watched as Tiberius wrenched the fish’s head free from the man’s body, tossed it like a chew toy.

This is horrifying, Theo thought, it’s monstrous.

But another thought came to him, deeper than that, a thought as ingrained as hunger or thirst.

Survive.

He stood. His Durability was working with Nature’s Healing to close the wound on his leg, and so he limped forward, staff raised, and sent another volley of thorns. He made the spray wider, and they landed in a drove of finfolk just crawling out of the pool. Each was hit with only a few thorns, but they still collapsed as they ran, sliding to the floor. He hoped that the poison wouldn’t be enough to kill them, merely slow them down, and was relieved that no notification came announcing that he’d killed them.

A larger finfolk ran at him, this one with a shark’s head and a muscular human body. It held twin scimitars made from bone, carved into wicked serrated blades. The sharkman slashed at him with the blades, and he parried with his staff, wind whipping up around it. He struck the shark man in the chest with his staff, then fired thorn spray. The thorns tore into his chest like mincemeat, sending a spray of blood across Theo’s scale armor. The shark man staggered backwards, and Theo whipped his staff in a circle, cracking the shark’s head across the skull. He heard the snapping of bone, but continued to bring the staff down, again and again. The shark man eventually crumpled to the floor, and Theo received a notification.

You have defeated: Shark Finfolk (Uncommon)

Your Path of Evolution ability has been activated! You have learned: Waterbreathing (Remedial)

Waterbreathing? Theo thought, looking at the notification. That was way better than anything else he’d gotten from the Path of Evolution. He wondered how it would work, if it would take effect right away…

He choked. Coughed. The battle raged around him, Blake and Alice killing finfolk after finfolk. But the only thing Theo could focus on was the pain in his throat.

At first it was just a tickle. Then it was a throb. Then, a searing pain, like someone was cutting into his neck. He dropped his staff, clawing at his throat…

And felt openings.

He blinked. A finfolk raced at him, and he kicked it in the chest, buying some more time as it plummeted back into the water. He felt as his neck, and felt the openings growing larger, like someone was cutting his throat on either side. Then he realized.

Four slits opened up on either side of his throat. Four gills, just like the finfolk had. He tried to suck in air, but the sensation was raw and painful. He gagged, and blood spat up from his lips.

“Theo, what’s wrong?” Blake yelled. Theo tried to call back, but found he couldn’t breath at all. He just kept scratching at his throat, desperate to take in any air. But he knew what he needed to do. He scrambled forward, still wheezing, towards the black pool. And, almost drunkenly, blackness threatening at the edge of his vision, stumbled into the depths.