"But dad always said that magic is superior to physical fighters?" Shelly asked me, a genuinely confused look on her face. Dear God, this girl has a serious case of parent worship.

"Dear, your dad isn't always right. I understand that you want stronger magic, but just as my mother used to say, a strong mind can only come from a strong body." I lectured. She looked at me weirdly, and asked, "Your mom said that?"

"No. I made it up. Now shut up and do as I say." I dully responded. This little bitch was hard to deal with when she decided on something.

She puffed up her cheeks and looked away. "Fine." She finally relented, dumping half of her points into her constitution and strength, and the rest, however, she felt like.

The effects on her were hardly noticeable, but I could still tell that she'd bulked up at least a little. "Good," I said approvingly. "Now, follow me."

I brought her over near the exit into the open oceans above. She tried to activate her light spell, but a light swat of my tail stopped her concentration.

"None of that. I don't know how magic works, and I likely never will be able to, but you need a better spell than that. Try focusing your magic on your eyes or something. That's how I got my own dark vision ability."

"Oh..." She said, looking blindly and worriedly around her. Her hand that was holding onto a scale on my body tightened, whether it was in fear or something else, I didn't know, nor did I care.

I'd been driving her to the limit for the past couple days. Of course, what I could do to help her was very limited, but I still brought her free experience every now and then. Furthermore, I was in her cave for only around three or four hours a 'day', with the rest of my time spent focusing on my own growth.

Still, she'd at least grown a bit. Not physically, mind you, but she at least didn't seem to cry every time she got a scratch anymore. She was more... mature? No, that wouldn't be the right word. Determined, perhaps. Focused.

"So, did you get it?" I asked after around half an hour of waiting. I think I also grew in this week spent on her. Only, my growth wasn't determined by how bright my light spell was, but by how many meters I gained. Also, I felt as though my patience had been stretched thin so many times now by her incessant nagging and childishness that I might as well have become the new buddha.

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... Alright, fine. I wasn't being fair to her. She's only nine, and apparently, mermaids take even longer to come to age than humans do. Still, it's hard not to get frustrated with her sometimes.

"N-no. Not yet." She said after a brief silence, sadness in her voice. Oh well, I suppose magic wasn't all that easy.

"Keep trying, then. I'm going to go hunt for an hour or two. Remember to hide where I told you if you feel someone coming and it's not me." I said, pulling myself up and getting into the heavy waters above.

I'd come up with an ingenious solution to the problem of monsters popping up in 'our' cave. She'd just hide in a small hole and wait for me to come back. Furthermore, she'd know it was me because I had a 'password' that consisted of three consecutive thumps of my tail, a pause, then two more thumps.

I felt like a caveman and considering I'd lived in at least 5 different caves so far, that might be accurate. Still, I suppose this week had been a lot more fun than my dull and repetitive months alone. Still, some time alone would be appreciated.

Which was why I was focusing so hard on tracking down the reef yet again. I felt as though I was very close to finding it, too. I'd almost searched every place, and I felt as though I'd be able to find it soon enough.

I swam around the area for a couple of hours, sniffing around to try and find something worth swallowing up. Eventually, I found one of the large sea slugs, which at this point, they had honestly become too weak compared to me to put up any meaningful resistance. Hence, it was quickly and tastily shoved into the abyss I call my stomach.

Then, as I spent the next few minutes happily digesting my newest meal, I felt it. A smell coming from our cave.

Ugh. Hopefully, she remembered.

I quickly swam my way back to the cave, having done my best to remember where it was. Two minutes later, I was there.

I jumped down and quickly felt the smell coming from further down the cave, to Shelly's room. I rushed my way over, and when I arrived, I saw a large crab attempting to shove it's far too big claws into a far too small hole.

I didn't feel anger at the scene, and yet... How else can I describe my actions but with the words 'righteous fury'. I descended upon the crab that dared to try and threaten my cave and try to eat my companion in loneliness. I snatched it from behind and violently threw it against the wall, and before it could right itself, I was upon it once again, coils wrapped around it.

It's shell violently shattered under my coils, and it's squishy insides suffered more from it's own shell digging into it than my attack.

I was feeling especially merciless, though. So, instead of immediately killing it, I swallowed it up instead. Alive.

Only after the deed was done did I stop to consider my own actions, and to remember that a certain mermaid was still there. Watching me.

Shit.