I woke with a headache, sore from sleeping on the sand, and another notification stream punctuated by commentaries from Loki.
> Loki has bestowed you the curse: Twinkle Little Star (unique): The attribute caps for rank zero are all set to one.
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> Loki has bestowed you the curse: Major Feeble Soul (ultra-rare): The Attribute cap for your spiritual Attributes is 20% of the maximum.
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> Loki has bestowed you the curse: Major Decrepitude (ultra-rare): The Attribute cap for your Physical Attributes is 20% of the maximum.
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> Loki has bestowed you the curse: Major Feeblemind (ultra-rare): The Attribute cap for your mental Attributes is 20% of the maximum.
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> Loki has bestowed you the curse: Major Magic Deficiency (ultra-rare): The Attribute cap for your Magic is 20% of the maximum.
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> Let me explain one thing you didn't seem to understand yet. The Attribute cap now scales with the Rank. Once you Rank-up, it will become forty instead of twenty. Also, there's some sort of combat changes between ranks. Attacking someone of a higher rank is almost suicide now. Take care!
>
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> But back to the reduced cap. That's why the custom curse only sets them to one on rank zero. Reach level forty and your Attribute Cap will soar. Once you level past one-sixty, it will be a hundred points as usual, but you're cursed. YMMV as you Earthlings so like to say. But bear with it. You'll regain your former power and more, I assure you. I'm going to remove these {Pinnacle of...} Perks you can't use. I'm letting you keep the {..of Ego} one because it has a unique addon for being the world first. And with all that, I have enough energy to give you some blessings.
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> Loki has bestowed you the Perk: Don't curse my homies! (unique): The cost to erode curses bestowed upon you after receiving this Perk is reduced to its square root. Even those from [Loki, Asgard].
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> This is what I can do to make you trust me even a bit. Now even I can hinder you with curses anymore. I mean, anyone can but these curses will be ridiculously cheap to break. I'm talking to from hundreds of billions to tens of thousands. I strongly recommend you don't break these Attribute curses, though. Gather those {Surpasser} levels. They pay for themselves, eventually. It's up to you anyway, it's your life. Lives. Do what you want. The curses allowed me to give you some Attribute Points to give you a headstart. Ding!
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> Loki has bestowed you 150 Attribute Points.
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> Attributes above the cap. Withholding Points. 100/100 Points withheld.
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> You gained the Perk: Surpasser XVI (unique): Increase the cap of all attributes by 160%.
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> Attributes above the cap. Withholding Points. 100/100 Points withheld.
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> You gained the Perk: Surpasser XVII (unique): Increase the cap of all attributes by 170%.
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> Attributes above the cap. Withholding Points. 100/100 Points withheld.
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> You gained the Perk: Surpasser XVIII (unique): Increase the cap of all attributes by 180%.
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> Attributes above the cap. Withholding Points. 100/100 Points withheld.
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> You gained the Perk: Surpasser XIX (unique): Increase the cap of all attributes by 190%.
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> Attributes above the cap. Withholding Points. 100/100 Points withheld.
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> You gained the Perk: Surpasser XX (unique): Increase the cap of all attributes by 200%.
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> You gained the Perk: Ultimate Surpasser II (unique): Class levels count for your Surpasser bonus.
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> You gained 9 Attribute Points.
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> Attributes above the cap. Withholding Points. 91/100 Points withheld.
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> Yeah, why not complete that one for you? It's on the house, Ariel. Don't go all sad and turn into sea foam because of me.
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> Loki has bestowed you 9 Attribute Points.
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> Attributes above the cap. Withholding Points. 100/100 Points withheld.
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> You gained the Perk: Surpasser XXI (unique): Increase the cap of all attributes by 210%.
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> You gained 1 Attribute Point.
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> Attributes above the cap. Withholding Points. 1/100 Points withheld.
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> That blasted glitched bug of a System ate your Attribute-bestowing Perks. It added the bonus to the main value, instead of adding to the bonus field as it should. Why was it... oh, it was disabled before. Tsc, Wyxnos, what a mess! I'm re-applying these Perks. That's a bunch of freebies for more than a hundred points. I just need to remove and re-add them, this stupid System won't subtract the Attribute Points. But it should do the math correctly after I re-add them. And look at this, the T'ai chi ch'üan Skill was also bugged. It wasn't affecting your HP regeneration. I'm going to remove it to fix and then re-add.
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> You lost the Perk: Fairy Goddaughter.
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> You lost the Perk: Enhanced Attributes X.
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> You lost the Skill: T'ai chi ch'üan.
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> Loki has bestowed you the Perk: Fairy Goddaughter (very rare). You have a protector fairy. You gained +2 Dexterity, +2 Endurance, +2 Mind, +5 Luck. Other fairies will recognize you have this perk.
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> Loki has bestowed you the Perk: Enhanced Attributes X (unique): Unlocks all Attributes. You gain +10 bonus points to All Attributes.
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> Loki has bestowed you the Skill: T'ai chi ch'üan (unique) Master 79. Improve body recovery rate, reduce the duration of debuffs, and increase your lifespan by Rank x Willpower x 0.01%. Increase all physical Attributes by +3.
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> I think I got your Skill rank wrong. Was it sixty before? Oh, well. Comes easy goes easy. It's free energy you gave me from fighting the "God of Butts" anyway. Great quip, by the way. Guess you fucked that Asshole good. God-Hole? Who cares? Look, don't tell anyone I did what I'm about to do for you. People will think I'm going soft but I can't see that 1/100 and do nothing. It's getting on my nerves.
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> Loki has bestowed you 99 Attribute Points.
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> Attributes above the cap. Withholding Points. 100/100 Points withheld.
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> You gained the Perk: Surpasser XXII (unique): Increase the cap of all attributes by 220%.
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> You gained 1 Attribute Point.
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> Attributes above the cap. Withholding Points. 1/100 Points withheld.
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> Dammit, can't keep the bleeding thing at a nice round number (...) Hey, what if I set this flag here to {True}? And make it into a Perk to keep it from flipping back?
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> Loki has bestowed you the Perk: Forgotten Pinnacle (unique). Attribute bonuses from Perks count for reaching the Pinnacle of an Attribute.
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> Good news, I found a way to make these Perk bonuses count for the {Pinnacle of...} Perks. That's the limit of what I can do to soften the impact of the previous changes and still fly under Wyxnos' radar. Gotta go, he's already coming. Stay sharp.
>
> Loki out.
I pulled my Status.
> Level 29
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> Strength 3+18 / 3 - Dexterity 3+20 / 3 - Endurance 3+20 / 3
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> Mind 3+17 / 3 - Willpower 3+15 / 3 - Charisma 3+15 / 3
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> Magic 3+15 / 3
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> Ego 3+15 / 3 - Luck 3+20 / 3 -Soul 3+15 / 3
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>
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> HP 189,002 (37 HP/s)
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> MP 56,232 (15,904 MP/h)
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> SP 31,185 (5,782 SP/h)
Motherfucker of a giantess' bastard. He somehow managed to nerf me even more and replace the curses...
I swallowed my indignation. I didn't want to snap at her.
That was... suspiciously kind of him? I mean, Nenandil can now have Professions! And carry some of her traits over. It's not all of them, though. But seeing the fairy so excited mellowed me out. I asked her to share her status with me and I checked. Yes, the important Perks were all marked to carry over, including the {Enhanced Attributes X}. He did the same to her, removing and adding the Perk again so she gained the bonuses. And now her Status was hidden just like mine. No more gauging my level by using {Appraise} on my fairy.
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"Pick [Physician] as one of your professions, please. You might be able to help me operate my hands." I raised the welded stubs I had. "The bone structure is there. If we separate the flesh and regrow the skin, I might have functional hands again."
"Okay," She said. "Done!"
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But our stream of deific visitors wasn't over yet. The "Armani Guy" showed up. Wyxnos, God of you-know-the-drill, graced us with his presence.
"Loki..." He looked around. Then he found me.
"Oh. LIly. Or what's your name now?"
"Arista. So, Loky dropped by to say 'hello, I'm sorry you lost fifteen hundred Attribute Points'," I stated bitterly.
Wyxnos went on the defensive, "It was his idea. I'm still not sure why he did that."
I sighed and groaned. "Yes, Loki came here to gloat. How he is 'delighted to see this mortal suffer' from his Realm in Asgard," I lied, mocking Loki's Nordic accent as I delivered the fake quote.
Wyxnos eyes went wide, "Did you say you lost fifteen hundred Attribute Points? What's your {Surpasser} level now?" He quickly messed up with some things in thin air, I guess System windows. Then he glared at me. "So. What's your {Surpasser} level now?"
I shook my head, "C'mon. Make an educated guess."
Wyxnos erupted. Almost figuratively. For the first time ever, I saw the God of Logic lose his temper. I hastily threw a shield to protect my still-asleep mother and Nenandil helped me making one out of ice. The God's outburst washed over us, breaking the shields as if they were wet silk paper. Fortunately, he didn't convert it from the divine to normal energies, or we would be dead. Maybe because he didn't bother to create an avatar as Bundeus did. The wave of Divine power coming our way was entirely siphoned by me.
"Hey, watch out!" I shouted angrily. "Are you going to kill my new mother too? You know what happened to the last guy that did it. And now Loki knows he got you, because of the siphon."
He frowned and scrunched his face as if he was concentrating or preparing to drop the mother of all deuces.
"You are correct," He grumbled with a sigh. The God's face was still red with anger. "It is beneath me to lose my temper. What's done is done."
"I actually have one thing to talk to you. [Calamity] was still available. Shouldn't it be gone, now that we are all friends?" I wiggled my eyebrows at him.
Wixnos gave me an appraising stare before he spoke, "Hardly. I'll admit you did more good than harm. But you killed one of us."
"Some of you deserve to die," I said staring at his eyes. "On other news, I have something to negotiate with Galbarar."
"He's busy restoring the Sun. This dimension does not follow the same laws of physics as yours. The Sun is not just a star. It's a magical construct that's now malfunctioning most of the time due to negligence of a certain deity."
"Gotcha," I said to cut his apparently long explanation. I didn't need anyone to tell me this world was fake and I was plugged into a VR pod somewhere. I didn't even have my VR edgelord fidget spinner trenchcoat yet.
Wyxnos looked away as if he was having a conversation in his Bluetooth headset. He didn't have one, just the idea. He turned back to me, "I can negotiate on his behalf. He gave me permission."
"Good. I have another Bundeus-Core."
Wyxnos did a double-take. The God guy looked very stressed. "You WHAT?" It should be impossible!"
"When the Broodmother used {Reverse Fate} on him. It created another body with a core."
Wyxnos was feverish, babbling while he was clearly absorbed in thought. He was talking to himself, it felt as if I wasn't even there, "No. The God's soul is in the core. It shouldn't be possible to make another. Unless... Let me see it!"
"Yeah, no. I give it to you and then you go away with it. As you said, we are in a sort of a truce. No trust or love lost between us. Make a quest, give me and Nenandil another ten ranks of {Enhanced Attributes} and the core is yours."
He glared, leered, glowered. I knew the God was seriously considering smiting me. But even if it worked, he'd lose my trail as I got reborn and he would lose Bundeus' core. After a few minutes of thought and probably some God-IM exchanges, he was ready to negotiate.
"I cannot grant you that. They're ten, twenty unique Perks. The burden the System would put on me would be dangerous. I'll give you each a hundred Attribute points, how's that?"
I puckered my lips, "That's too bad. See, we are now burdened by this ridiculously low Attribute Cap. We need things that break through that."
"This is important, Arista. Hundred-fifty and I'll come back to tell you what I found," Wyxnos tried to appeal to my curiosity.
"Three hundred. They'll be lost otherwise."
"You're accumulating {Surpasser} ranks... That's not good. Not good at all. Hundred-seventy-five."
"This baby here can cut the 'Age of Eclipse' length by a few centuries. C'mon, Wyxnos. Two-fifty."
"Two hundred. I'm grasping at straws here. Accept and I might bring you some news about our mutual friend."
I raised an eyebrow, "Loki?"
"Is he your friend?" He asked, a bit offended at the thought he might be friends with Loki.
"I don't think he's anyone's friend but himself."
"That's correct. So. Two hundred and my promise to do something about a cheater."
The quest prompt appeared. I accepted it and gave him the Core. Another two hundred Attributes (more like two stacks of Surpasser) for Nenandil and I. We'll get back there, I promise.
> Wyxnos rewarded you and your familiar with 200 Attribute Points each.
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> You gained the Perk: Surpasser XXIV (unique): Increase the cap of all attributes by 240%.
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> Wyxnos rewarded you with the Perk: Administrator Hotline (ultra-rare): You can send messages to the System Administrator and vice versa. This does not reveal any of the parties' location.
While I saw my Points tick up, Wyxnos was studying the crystal heart of the dead God. He didn't like what he found out. "There's no soul in here! And this was supposed to be the first one! This meant the other one didn't have a soul either! The Broodmother... Damn, that sleazy lizard."
I snorted. 'Sleazy Lizard'. But if Bundeus' soul isn't in the core and the cores have divine energy, where did it go? Fuck it, not my problem. Let Wyxnos sort this shit. I have too much on my plate now.
"What happened?"
He just sneered, "None of your business, mortal."
"Hey!" I protested. Was I mortal? Surely not for a lack of trying."
"Sorry," he apologized unapologetically. "I have to go. This is too important. As our agreement, I'll keep you notified."
And he was gone. Not even a wave as if the water had to rush to fill the gap left by him. Nothing. I was left alone with my mother.
After all this System-crunching gymnastics, My Attributes ended up on average, thirty each. I thought about eating a dragon's core but shelved that until we rank up and have a higher cap to accommodate those points. I'm afraid there will be a rubber-banding effect every time we are reborn as the cap will be lowered again but there's no need to rush things. We can make use of the Attribute points until we die.
And I might not be overpowered as before, but I was still stronger than someone my level. My HP regeneration reached the three-digits per second. Still better than Apricot's.
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No use crying over a sunken cost. What's done is done. I gently stirred my mother awake.
"Arista? What happened?" She asked, confused. No wonder, she had a huge shock before she went to sleep.
"You were attacked by the fishes, mom. Some friendly mermaids came and fought them back, but they were captured. I could take you away from them and hide down here in the sandbank," I lied. "Then my water fairy friend healed you. Mom, this is Nenandil. Nenandil, this is Eathelin, my mother."
Nenandil curtsied, "Nice to meet you, ma'am."
Mom couldn't believe it. She quickly bowed, "Honored fairy, I thank you for befriending my daughter."
"You're most welcome, Mrs. Eathelin," Nenandil beamed. "You can call me by my name, no need for honorifics."
"I ask you to do the same."
"It's a deal," The fairy squealed. "Arista is my best friend. I want to ask for your permission to stay with her."
"It would be our honor, Lady... Just Nenandil, right?" Mom laughed awkwardly.
"Sure thing, Eathelin!" Nenandil grinned. She took a bunch of bananas from my item box. "Now, you should eat some fruit. Here."
Mom took the bananas with awe, "Surface fruit? This is a bounty!"
"Mom. You should eat the bananas. Give me two. Nenandil gave them to you, not the village."
My starved mother quickly ate the bananas, peel, and everything. Things were dire for the mermaids. I had to do something but I had to be careful. Revealing just Nenandil was already a liability. I was weak now. And I didn't trust Leviathan's Herald, that slimy serpent in the sunken ship. I had no idea what he'd do if he knew about me.
We swam back to the reef after checking on the farmers. Mom was worried the 'fishes' had attacked them while she was out. They didn't or I'd have sensed them. She didn't give away that she was unconscious either but one thing she said worried me.
"We need to mount a squad to go and take back our friends from the 'fishes'!" She said with burning determination.
My lies would put the mermaids in trouble. I held a hand to make mom stop.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I lied to you. Our friends died in the attack along with the 'fishes'. Nenandil has bodies. I just didn't want to worry you," I lied again. Yay, one lie to cover the other, snowball anyone?
"Show me!"
Getting Nenandil the ability to use my item box was a genius idea. She showed the mermaid's bodies and the water quickly mixed with the still-warm blood. Nenandil retrieved them and cleansed the water.
"Damn," mom whimpered, "Gallit and Kalia."
A flare of anger washed over me as mom grieved for these traitors.
"Come with me, Arista. We need to report this to the Herald."
We swam the rest of the way to the reef. I raised a sound barrier in a bubble behind us as I gave Nenandil the command to hide the knife wounds on the fish-mermaids by striking over them with ice and chilling the bodies. We needed to fake the fight. Everyone knew I had my bracer, but the mermaids thought of it more as a tool than a weapon. Its base damage was crap. It was the skills and perks of the one wielding it that mattered.
And without the ability to see my Status, nobody would think I had an emergency activation. Which led me to wonder why Lakerta was unable to have one. The only thing I can think of is that some deity found out I'd survived the attack and marked me. But that was irrelevant. They couldn't do that anymore. I had no way to contact them until my System activated, and vice versa.
Nenandil was received with great respect and a huge expectation. A thousand starving mermaids looked at her as if she was some sort of divine envoy. Nevermind the actual semi-divine envoy lurking in the sunken ship and doing nothing. At least that I knew.
At first, I would tell her to go wild, but there were political implications of nourishing the mermaids.
Our grudge. Because I was one of them. Here in this shit bucket of shark chum, fighting a proxy war for the delight of deific beings that didn't care whether we live or die.
Nenandil gave food to the mermaids, earning their empty promises of eternal gratitude. Mom stood by my side as we watched the scene. Some mermaids didn't eat the food Nenandil gave them right away. They took the food to the sunken ship.
That was another problem. The devotion to Leviathan was too ingrained in mermaid culture. The Herald could be useless, but the sea serpent was the spiritual focus of the community. I couldn't go 'Death Princess' and kill him because the impact on the mermaids' morale would be huge.
The only solution I could think of would be if that heart-core reached Galbarar's hands and He used it to increase the sunlight from three to five hours each day. That would increase algae activity and food production.
As we watched Nenandil finish handing out food, the mermaids that went to the sunken ship returned.
"Eathelin, Arista, the Herald wants to see you."
I recalled Nenandil and we swam to the ship, the fairy floating next to my shoulder. I deftly avoided the barnacles as we moved inside the tilted cargo hold. At the bottom, the coiled Herald of Leviathan awaited.
"Ah. Warden Eathelin," the serpent hissed. "We heard you've found a rare fairy. Yes. Let us see her."
I fired an {Appraise} his way.
> Herald of Leviathan
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> Level 87 male sea serpent [Demigod Avatar]
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> Strength ~60
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> Dexterity ~40
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> Endurance ~60
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> Mind ~50
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> Willpower ~60
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> Magic ~60
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> HP ~7,000,000
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> MP ~2,000,000
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> WARNING: This creature is two ranks above you. Higher ranked creatures are exponentially stronger.
It confirmed my worries. It was completely suicidal to attack him, political complications, or not. Also, he was a [Demigod Avatar], meaning he might not be an entirely separate creature from Leviathan.
Could I kill him? Fifty-fifty depending if I could get an {Assassinate} strike on him. I knew I could activate both {Avenger's Wrath} and {God Slayer} on him. Was it wise to do so? Not at all. I would wait and see. Now, if this idiot tried to take Nenandil, he would be in for a world of hurt. I might've been nerfed but I still had my Perks.
"Greetings, mighty Herald," Nenandil curtsied. She sent to me. "I'm Nenandil, daughter of Doris, the Elder Water Fairy."
The serpent froze for a moment. "Your Highness. How's your mother? Give her our regard, on behalf of Leviathan and Meheia."
I fought to not snort,
She slimed at the serpent, "I accept their greetings in the spirit it was granted, Herald. I bonded with this mermaid here. I'll be in your care as I live alongside her in your community. I have some food and magic which may help you grow food, but my bonded and I won't get involved in this conflict, as we do not want to unbalance things and displease Kraken."
The serpent's gaze shifted to me. Its eyes glowed green for a moment and some divine energy washed over me.
"I see. Arista, you were regarded as defective by your sisters. I wonder what mysteries you hold to earn the favor of Her Highness Nenandil."
I lowered my head, "That's up to the Princess to disclose, Herald. I do not feel comfortable talking for her."
"As you should. Princess, you gave me a lot to think about. We welcome you to our community and give our many thanks for your generosity. Eathelin, Arista, you are dismissed. See that Her Highness has adequate accommodations."
Mom bowed. "As you command, Herald."
We swam out of the ship and surfaced to breathe. On the surface, the starlit sky greeted us. Not a single ounce of land around us. Even in the lowest tide, the sandbank that separated our territories wasn't visible. I could sense two moons up in the sky but without a sun they couldn't shine.
The mermaids that betrayed and attacked us avoided Eathelin and me. But even with their betrayal, they showed to me that cooperation between the two tribes was possible. They needed the right incentive... What could it be? Food for thought. One hurdle was gone. Leviathan wouldn't do anything to us for fear of angering the elder fairies. And having Nenandil here would greatly benefit our faction. I was sure the only reason he didn't do anything harsh was that he couldn't {Appraise} her. He couldn't fathom how powerful or how weak she was.
We needed to keep things that way. With that many envious mermaids, it would be quite the challenge.