A few of the men didn't want to take part in the inter-species "Meet and Greet". Yes, let's go with that. Meet and Greet. The vast majority of them jumped at the chance of banging some mermaids without getting eaten. Which was the ongoing belief among the landlubbers. Mermaids ate the sailors after they were done with them.
That wasn’t true, though. Mermaids didn’t eat people, they abandoned the men after they mated, and the landlubbers drowned on their own. The girls confessed to me that after the act, enraptured in the sheer bliss of a good fuck, they often forgot to renew the water breathing Perk effects on the men. I creased my eyebrows. How could they get so engrossed with their own pleasure to forget the basic safety of their mate? Because he was an outsider, maybe?
It was the constrictor lamia orgasm breaking the guy's bones all over again. These non-human single-sex species needed to learn some manners, education, and finesse, for crying out loud.
Some of the men, the most physically attractive ones didn't even come back after just one go, the mermaids that wanted that particular hunk were lining up for their turn on the sandbank. Such virility.
I was afraid of the ecological damage. Thankfully, the currents pushed the sand back on the bank, or they would've destroyed that landmark with all their... proclivities.
The sandbank actually reformed too fast. I suspected some divine intervention was in place but that would mean I had to admit that the Heralds were pulling their weight and actually helping. Gasp!
For an entire week, I had sent several messenger birds to the whole royal family of Virturia and several noble houses. There was no way all of them were intercepted. No answer came from any of them and that’s because the King must’ve put a tight lid on the case.
They weren’t interested in talking about the ransom.
‘A communications disruption can mean only one thing,’ Qui-Gon Jinn wisely said. ‘Invasion.’
I once loathed to quote the prequel trilogies but if there’s one thing that makes a bad movie look good, it’s an even worse one in the same franchise coming after that. Hell, I’m even nostalgic for Jar-Jar Binks’ racist accent.
That's when I got another bomb dropped on my lap.
----------------------------------------
“Mom! You can’t be serious!” I retorted furiously.
“But I am, daughter. Think about it. If I do it, your sister will have a claim to the throne of Virturia.”
I felt my temples throb. There was exactly one mermaid out of the thousand-ish reef inhabitants that wasn’t into men, and that mermaid was me. Every single other mermaid, be them fish or dolphin, young or old (I was the youngest, by the way) wanted to get some piece of the action. Be it hotdogs, wieners, or bratwurst, they wanted to increase their meat intake.
Including my mom. However, no mere pepperoni was good enough for the queen of the Mermaids. She wanted exotic blue-blood Virturian kielbasa. In commoner’s terms, she wanted to bang the prince.
I had no words to describe how repulsed I was by the idea. I had to admit, it was partly because I couldn’t imagine my mom with a man, but mostly because I didn’t want prince Rhenius putting his hands on her, much less his dick.
“The Heralds think this is a good move too,” Mom continued. “We can gain an ally on land, and the chance they annex us is close to none. Now that you know how to disable their ships’ enchantments against attacks from below, they wouldn’t dare attack again.”
“Mom, I know how they think!” I shot back, a bit baffled by her naivety. “They don’t we can disable their vessels’ protection against sea creatures. Even if they did, that wouldn’t stop them. Foolish hubris led our would-be conquerors to the belief they could somehow ‘deal with it’. Mark my words, we are months from getting another invading fleet, a bigger one this time.”
“What gives you so much certainty, daughter?” Eathelin asked, clearly distracted by thoughts of… eww.
“Adding up all my lives, I’m about three hundred years old, mom. And I remember every single moment. Rhenius’ fleet was sent to test the waters and as a gauntlet for Marlowe. With the prince either dead or captured, the King has ‘just cause’ to fund a real incursion.”
“Okay, okay,” she dismissed my worries. “But if they come, we can deal with them, right? We have lady Nenandil, you, and the heralds!”
“Fine! Do as you must, your Majesty!” I said, pouting. “Praised are the sacrifices you make for the sake of our people!”
I gave up on arguing further. And on second thought, if she gets pregnant my sister will be the heir to the throne. I left her to her daydreaming and went for a swim around the reef. Alone.
If the king of Virturia was willing to throw his own son under the bus, he would never recognize his mermaid granddaughter. It made mom’s argument moot. She wanted to bang the prince because he was hot. She wasn’t motivated by politics at all.
I swam away from there, eager to kill something. I swam out of the lagoon and toward the depths. Once I reached a spot where I detected no sentients around, I settled at the sandy bottom of the ocean.
Time to get me some sweet upgrades.
----------------------------------------
I needed to stop picking new Classes at the worst moment possible. I had the [Spell-Singer] Class ready for a rank-up but I hadn’t picked a single Perk for it.
[Spell-Singers] were related to [Bards] but without the entertainment and rogue elements. They used their song to modify and enhance their magic. It usually came at the cost of longer cast times which for [Wizards] could be fatal, but I was a [Sorceress] and wasn’t bothered by casting time. I usually needed none at all.
The other drawback was the lack of subtlety. Unless your enemies were deaf, they would hear you sing your spells. But the power behind the spells more than balanced that out.
Third, you had to start casting with {Spell-Song} or not at all. You couldn’t start with conventional spellcasting and then switch to singing. Finally, since my Class latched onto my {Elven Spell-Song} Perk, I had to use the elven vocal cords. But that was a non-issue because I could keep my bronchi shifted all the time at no cost or nuisance. Only if I had to undo all the chimeric shapeshifting in my body at once would I have to spare a moment to get them back. I could always fall back to normal spellcasting, though.
I pulled the Perk list and browsed it. The overlap with [Bard] was even bigger than I thought. The bardic songs that came as Perks were all available. The only one I had the chance to pick was [Song of Peace] when I was a banshee. Now that I recalled it, Bards also had some of these Perks as well.
After browsing the list and crossing out the ones I still didn’t have the requirements for, I made my choice. For some Perks, like {Chord}, it was only possible because I could sing more than one note at once. I didn’t have to spend points on them.
> Glissando (rare, situational): Increase the pitch of your spell-song to increase effect and maintenance MP cost.
>
> Fortíssimo (rare, situational): Double the cost and the spell-song volume to double the effect or damage.
>
> Pianissimo (rare, situational): Double the cost and lower the spell-song volume to a whisper to cast stealthily. Subtract your Charisma from the perception test to detect your spellcasting.
>
> A Capella (very rare, situational): Pay (X^2) MP per second to increase one physical Attribute by X. You can fight and move normally while using this spell-song.
>
> Adagio (rare, situational): Slow down your spell-song’s pace to halve MP maintenance cost, reduce damage by half and double the duration.
>
> Staccato (very rare, situational): Pulsate the spell-song to fast-cast the same spell as many times you want. You must pay the cost of each spell.
>
> Chord ( very rare, situational): Sing in chords to mix the effects of two different spells on the same target. You must pay the cost of each spell.
>
> Arpeggio (ultra-rare, situational): Sing the chord notes in sequence to chain the linked spells’ effects.
>
> Song of Enrapture (very rare, situational): Your song can entrance listeners, causing them to stop and listen. Any act of aggression breaks the effect and makes them immune to your non-offensive songs for a few hours. Resisted by Charisma and Ego
>
> Reprise (very rare, situational): Repeat the previous spell-song but pay three-fourths of the cost.
>
> Ritornello (ultra-rare, situational): When using Reprise more than once, lower the cost by a tenth with each repetition to a minimum of one-tenth of the original cost. You must pass an Endurance test to repeat more than twice. The difficulty increases with each repetition.
I was very excited to test my new Perks. Too bad they all had that {Situational} modifier slapped on them. It meant that once Arista died, all this would be lost. Unless I had some way to remove that from them.
A lot of empty species Perks slots were sitting on the side, doing nothing. Maybe I could get an upgrade for my {Past Life Memory} unique Perk that allowed me to pick situational traits to carry along with me. Yeah, tough luck of that happening. Even if Wyxnos hadn't locked them up just to mess up with me, I had a ridiculously low chance of getting that. However, the way the System worked when a human Perk pick failed was to go down the same “family” whatever that meant. I would get something out of that, useful or not, it was worth a try.
I didn't think i could cheese this one. “System, give me {Improved Past Life Memory}, allows me to pick situational traits to carry over with me.”
> Your attempt failed. Unique traits have no family. Selecting a random Perk.
>
> You gained the Perk: Weapon Witchcraft (ultra-rare): You can perform a ritual during a night with a full moon to bind a weapon to you. That weapon can be used as the focus of your spellcasting. When wielding it, you can cast a spell simultaneously with a weapon attack.
What the fuck? Thanks for the ultra-rare Perk, but where am I going to find a full moon pray tell? This shit is called the Age of Eclipse for a reason. We had no full moon, only new moons, for the last three centuries since Rosewise dueled Bundeus and the fool was too weakened to hold the Sun domain.
At least the were-kin were-thriving. Without a full moon, they didn’t need to worry about going berserk.
Back to my Perk spending. The “Unique traits have no family” message summed my chances up. And they were zero. I couldn’t cheese that one. If only Wyxnos stopped messing up with the System…
Seven to go. The next one was obvious. {Third Path} for the win.
> Third Path (uncommon): You can have a third Path. All rules regarding paths apply.
Now, what should I pick for the third path? Something martial? Some crafting Class? I did it just for the Attribute points, though. Anything was fine. Lying still on the bottom of the ocean, I waited for an hour before I could change out of my current Path to select a new one. This “charge time” instead of a “cooldown” was dreadfully boring. Maybe I could do something about it. I bet the App store… I mean, System could have a Perk for that.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
> Warrior (uncommon): A man-at-arms of many talents, the warrior has no magical power but lots of physical talent.
>
> You gain:
>
> +1 to Strength at every level.
>
> +1 to Dexterity every even level.
>
> +1 to Endurance every odd level.
>
> Nothing, then +1 to Willpower, Nothing, and +1 Mind at every level, alternating.
>
> 9 (+4) HP per level.
>
> 1 (+4) MP per level.
>
> 1 (+2) SP per level.
>
> 1 Perk every 3 levels, with one bonus Perk at level 20.
I paid the Exp to level it up.
> You reached Warrior level 20.
>
> Ultimate Surpasser granted you 12 Attribute Points.
>
> You gained +20 Strength +10 Dexterity +10 Endurance +5 Mind +5 Willpower
>
> You gained 260 HP, 100 MP, and 60 SP.
>
> You have 7 Warrior Perks.
>
> A Class Rank-Up is available.
>
>
>
> You ranked up into Feral Warrior (rare): Feral Warriors are experts at fighting with fang and claw.
>
> You gain:
>
> +1 to Strength at every level.
>
> +1 to Dexterity every even level.
>
> +1 to Endurance every odd level.
>
> Nothing, then +1 to Willpower, +1 Charisma, and +1 Mind at every level, alternating.
>
> 10 (+4) HP per level.
>
> 2 (+4) MP per level.
>
> 1 (+2) SP per level.
>
> 1 Perk every 3 levels, with one bonus Perk at level 20.
Thirteen billion of my forty-three and we have another maxed Class...
> You reached Feral Warrior level 20.
>
> Ultimate Surpasser granted you 12 Attribute Points.
>
> You gained +20 Strength +10 Dexterity +10 Endurance +5 Mind +5 Willpower +5 Charisma
>
> You gained 280 HP, 120 MP, and 60 SP.
>
> You have 7 Feral Warrior Perks.
>
> A Class Rank-Up is available.
For the second rank of this path, I had one prominent choice. Not that it mattered right now. I was doing it just for the {Ultimate Surpasser} bonus Attribute Points.
> You ranked up into Shifting Warrior (very rare): Shifting Warriors fight with many shapes.
>
> You gain:
>
> +1 to Strength at every level.
>
> +1 to Dexterity every even level.
>
> +1 to Endurance every odd level.
>
> +1 Luck, then +1 to Willpower, +1 Charisma, and +1 Mind at every level, alternating.
>
> 12 (+4) HP per level.
>
> 2 (+4) MP per level.
>
> 1 (+2) SP per level.
>
> 1 Perk every 3 levels, with one bonus Perk at level 20.
I upgraded it to level ten only, for two billion Exp. Since I was on the second rank, I also paid two billion Exp each to bring my professions to level forty-nine each. That would leave enough Exp to bring my [Spell-Singer] path to level thirteen of the second rank. I wouldn’t use this [Warrior] path much as I wanted to play with song magic.
> You reached Shifting Warrior level 10.
>
> Ultimate Surpasser granted you 6 Attribute Points.
>
> You gained +10 Strength +5 Dexterity +5 Endurance +2 Mind +3 Willpower +2 Charisma, +3 Luck.
>
> You gained 160 HP, 60 MP, and 30 SP.
>
> You have 3 Shifting Warrior Perks.
This {Third Path} Perk gave me thirty Attribute Points for one Perk and fifteen billion Exp. Not a bad trade. I didn’t bother selecting the Perks now. I wanted to rank up my [Spell-Singer] Class. I waited for another hour to switch Paths.
Before the hour was over, I had an idea. I didn’t see a {Fourth Path} anywhere in the twelve [1] racial Perk lists I had access to. That didn’t mean it didn’t exist. I burned a human Perk using the “booyah, you can’t be a [Demigod]” exploit and asked the System to give it to me.
> Fourth Path (rare): You can have up to four Paths. All rules regarding paths apply.
The wording changed. That meant there was no {Fifth Path}. I tried anyway. Maybe I could get lucky. The promise of more Attribute Points on the same life was too alluring.
> The Perk you want is locked. You are granted a Perk choice from the same family with equal or lower rarity to which you have the prerequisites.
The list of path-related Perks was brief and a lot of things were locked to me. I couldn't even see what they were, just that there was more options I didn't have the requirements for. But I found some things that interested me a lot.
> Path Fusion I (rare). You can fuse two Paths that are at the same rank and level. The resulting path rarity goes up one rarity category. The improved rarity cannot be more than Ultra-Rare. You can only have one fused Path. You get to pick which traits from each path remain, up to the limits of the improved rarity.
The description left me with a question. Did the fused paths use up two slots or one? Like, if I fuse {Warrior} and {Spell-Singer}, will I be able to get another Class?
I had to try it. And no, I wouldn’t ruin my new Path. I picked [Gardener] then ranked it up into [Landscaper], and finally [Greenskeeper]. Level ten like the other one and we got another thirty Attribute Points in the bag.
Finally, I took the two Paths, [Warrior] and [Gardener], and fused them. They mixed up into [Nature’s Avenger] with a rarity of {Ultra-Rare} on the Second rank. And no, I couldn’t pick another Path. The fused path used up two slots. No cheesing that one. I kept it physically-oriented with lots of HP. Since I didn’t pick the Perks, the amount just remained the same. If I had, I would need to discard about half of them.
The final result was as follows:
[Nature’s Avenger] (ultra-rare) Rank 2, level 10
Strength +50 (Capped at 90), Dexterity +25, Endurance +25
Mind +15, Willpower +15, Charisma +8
Magic +3, Luck +8, Soul +3
HP 750, MP 330, SP 150
7 Rank 0 Perks, 7 Rank 1 Perks, 5 Rank 2 Perks
I didn’t have a feat to break through the limit of ninety Strength. Even if I did, it wouldn’t reach one hundred. It was expensive getting that but a stronger path was worth much more than two weak ones.
I pulled the Exp allocation menu and selected the fused path. As expected, it cost double the Exp to level up. On my Paths listing, I still had four entries.
> Active Path: [Nature’s Avenger] (fused)
>
> [Wayfarer]
>
> [Arcane Singer]
>
> [BLOCKED] (fused)
I couldn’t select a fourth Path because the fused one was using two slots. It cost double to level up, so I hoped it would also give me double the Attribute Points from {Surpasser}. Fingers crossed. If it did not, lesson learned, no more fusing stupid Classes I won’t use. If it did, maybe I should fuse all four into one. The Perk {Path Fusion II} opened up but I didn't pick it because of that. I needed to know if I had lost Attribute Points or not before I went down that rabbit hole.
I still had several species' Perks left. Before I burned them on stupid stuff, I set them aside to switch Paths again and ranked up [Spell-Singer]. The choices were only three. [Spell-Minstrel] that invaded further into the [Bard]’s territory, [Arcane-Singer] which allowed further modifications of spellcasting through musical technique, and [Spell-Siren] that went away from traditional spellcasting to use mind-influencing and beguiling songs.
While the third choice fit the stereotypical mermaid singer to a tee, I didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole. Using magical influence to mess with people’s minds sounded very disgusting to me. [Arcane-Singer] it is. I picked it and instantly raised it to the max level.
> You reached Arcane-Singer level 20.
>
> Ultimate Surpasser granted you 12 Attribute Points.
>
> You gained +5 Strength +10 Dexterity +10 Endurance +10 Mind +10 Willpower +10 Charisma +20 Magic +10 Ego, +10 Luck, and +10 Soul.
>
> You gained 140 HP, 320 MP, and 200 SP.
>
> You have 10 Arcane-Singer Perks.
>
> A Class Rank-Up is available.
Adding my base Attributes and the Class bonus, my Magic Attribute went all the way to ninety-two. It seemed the System considered me as having already performed the feat to go over the ninety-barrier already. Ranking up and leveling the new Class would allow me to reach the pinnacle. You’d get all of them back, Arista. Slowly, but surely.
For my Current Class rank up, I only had one choice. [Arcane Diva]. Considering my dolphin voice could reach notes as high as C-12, I think I could break any crystal flute I wanted with sound alone...
> You became an [Arcane Diva] (ultra-rare).
>
> You gain:
>
> +1 to Magic at every level.
>
> +1 to Charisma, Endurance, and Mind, every even level.
>
> +1 to Dexterity, Willpower, and Soul every odd level.
>
> +1 to Strength, Endurance, Ego, and Luck at every level, alternating.
>
> 4 (+4) HP per level.
>
> 13 (+4) MP per level.
>
> 9 (+2) SP per level.
>
> 1 Perk every 2 levels.
I messed up the Exp calculation. I was one billion short of level thirteen.
> You reached Arcane Diva level 12.
>
> Ultimate Surpasser granted you 7 Attribute Points.
>
> You gained +3 Strength +6 Dexterity +6 Endurance +6 Mind +6 Willpower +6 Charisma +12 Magic +3 Ego, +3 Luck, and +6 Soul.
>
> You gained 96 HP, 204 MP, and 132 SP.
>
> You have 6 Arcane Diva Perks.
You gained the Perk: Pinnacle of Magic (very rare) All MP costs are halved. No external effects can damage or drain your MP.
> PLEASE WAIT. Scanning Status...
>
> ERROR. An invalid Perk was detected.
>
> A special case was found. Rebalancing...
>
> You lost the Perk: Pinnacle of Ego (ultra-rare). You do not meet the requirements for it.
>
> You gained the Perk: Pioneer of Ego (unique): As the first-ever creature in the System to reach a hundred points in Ego, you gain a 50% bonus to your maximum HP, MP, and SP.
>
> Reporting to admin. Failed. Reporting is blocked.
It scared me for a moment. But the System prized its “balance” above anything else, including Wyxnos wishes. It kept the special addon to {Pinnacle of Ego}. Any increase in the Resource pools also meant an increase in the regeneration rate. Halving my MP costs also meant the curse erosion would now progress at twice the normal rate.
I checked my Status. I was twenty points away from hitting the global Attribute cap, then all the permanent points would go to the {Surpasser} accumulation. But I was already level nineteen in my current species. I would probably increase the level cap by ranking up before I gathered another twenty Attribute Points.
> Level 111 Veiled Dolphin-Mermaid / Arcane Diva
>
> Strength: 30+25 (55) / 40 - Dexterity: 30+40 (70) / 40 - Endurance: 40+35 (75)
>
> Mind: 40+40 (80) - Willpower: 40+38 (78) - Charisma: 26+38 (64)
>
> Magic: 40+64 (104)
>
> Ego: 40+25 (65) - Luck: 40+40 (80) - Soul: 40+38 (78)
>
> HP 12,610,181 (4,926 HP/s)
>
> MP 13,588,566 (1,017,076 MP/h)
>
> SP 7,401,750 (318,767 SP/h)
I looked at my current species Perk list. The [Veiled Dolphin-Mermaid] was meant to cross into this side spiritual dimension
Class Perks, class Perks! What do they hold in store for me?. The list wasn’t that big, a hint that the Class wasn’t old or very used. The System usually created more Perks as people did strange and new things with their Classes. Another hint was the rarity. It was artificially high for the power of the Perks. They weren’t weak but also not game-changers by themselves.
First the Arcane-Singer Perks.
> Coloratura (very rare, situational): Change the key of your song to alter the element of your ongoing spells.
>
> Falsetto (very rare, situational): You can sing one octave above your normal vocal range. Your spell-songs have a chance to deal critical damage.
>
> Major Chord (rare, situational): Chord now mixes three spells, with double the MP cost and cast time.
>
> Allegro (rare, situational): All your spell-songs are twice as fast but cost 50% more and lose 25% potency. You gain a 50% movement bonus and a 25% dodge bonus. The allegro ends if an enemy lands four attacks in a row.
>
> Sonata (very rare, situational): Select two spell-songs. One offensive and one defensive or support. You can cast them alternating during your sonata at half the MP cost and double the efficiency. The sonata ends if you cast a different spell.
>
> Adagio (very rare, situational): All your spell-songs take twice as long to cast. You move at a quarter of your normal speed. You take 75% less damage and have a 50% dodge bonus. You learn one random piece of Status information of an enemy every time they attack you. The adagio ends if you move faster than a quarter speed or when an enemy lands four attacks in a row.
>
> Minuet (very rare, situational): When fighting a single enemy, you move twice as fast and take 50% less damage from all attacks. Your attacks and spell-songs are twice as fast and 50% harder to evade. The minuet ends if you attack a different target or when the target lands four attacks in a row.
>
> Scherzo (very rare, situational): When fighting several enemies, you move twice as fast and have a 50% dodge bonus, but take 50% more damage. Every time you evade an attack, the enemy loses 10% accuracy, cumulative. The scherzo ends if you drop below 50% HP or if a single enemy lands four attacks in a row.
>
> Fugue (rare, situational): You forfeit any offensive action. You move twice as fast when going away from your enemies and have a 100% dodge bonus. You take critical damage if an enemy lands a blow. The fugue ends if you are hit or if you perform an offensive action.
>
> Rondo (very rare, situational): Select one spell-song. You alternate between this spell-song and others without repeating the intercalated spells. Each spell after the first in a rondo is 50% stronger. The rondo ends if you don’t cast the main spell after a secondary or if you repeat a secondary spell.
The Diva Perks were just awesome. A Diva was meant to be the centerpiece, whether on a battlefield or stage.
> Fermata (ultra-rare, situational): Hold a note or a pause in your spell-song for up to SQRT(Endurance) seconds. If you hold a note, the spell cannot be countered or broken during the fermata but deals no damage. if you hold a pause, you cannot move or cast spells but all attacks on you deal 90% less damage. This defense cannot be pierced.
>
> Diva’s Presence (very rare, situational): When performing, people within Charisma meters that are not engaged in combat will be enraptured and prone to watch your performance unless attacked if they fail a contested Charisma test. Modified by your positive or negative reaction modifier.
>
> Roar of the Crowd (ultra-rare, situational): You gain a tenth of the resource regeneration of the spectators affected by your {Presence} that aren’t engaged in combat, regardless of disposition toward you. The targets do not stop recovering resources.
>
> Standing Ovation (very rare, situational): When you score a critical hit, you regain 0.1% of your maximum resources for each spectator your {Presence} affects, up to a maximum of 25%.
>
> Aria (ultra-rare, situational): When performing alone, your solo song has a chance every minute to convert a combatant into a member of the audience as per your {Diva’s Presence}. An enemy that resists three times cannot be affected further. Affected enemies drop out of combat. This does not work on enemies perceived by their peers as leaders.
>
> Center Stage (ultra-rare, situational): Enemies cannot target your allies unless they win a contested Willpower plus Charisma test against your Charisma plus Ego. They can target your allies if they score a hit against you.
How many free Perk slots I had?
> [Veiled Dolphin-Mermaid]: 9 species Perks
>
> [Nature's Avenger}: 7 basic Perks, 7 Rank I Perks, 5 Rank II Perks
Too bothersome to wait for an hour to change Paths to something I don't want to use. Besides, I didn't want to keep staring at lists of Perks right now. Leave those for later. I was ready to fight. I just needed to change my name to Hibiki Tachibana now. Nah, too much trouble and I didn't have a magical girl armor. [2]
----------------------------------------
[1]: Not counting her current species, the MC can pick Perks from the Human, Mermaid, Dryad, Sylph, Spriggan, Fire Fairy, Water Fairy, Silk-People, Beast-kin, Were-kin, Star Elf, and Rainbow Lamia lists.
[2]: The answer you seek is one Google search away.