Yeah, I really shouldn’t try anything until I have a better idea of what he’s capable of. If I can get him talking about himself I can probably figure out the mysteries in his status and the notable lack of a brood in the lake. The Count spoke about it as if it was a force for fighting, so I assume it isn’t these little buggers in the water that have dyed everything navy with his mana, but I can’t be certain until I hear it from the fish himself.

~Wretched! Foul! Ignorant! We have you! We own you! You will be us! We will be you!~

Gretkarn continued his little tirade about me, but I was getting kinda sick of waiting for him to cool his overblown ego on his own so I softly chimed in. ~Hey now, I get it, I get it. You got me, but since you’re having trouble controlling me, perhaps you could answer some questions in the meantime? I mean, is there a better way to establish a connection between us than by building understanding?~

His bubbly blabbering came to an abrupt halt. One of his little whisker tendrils drifted up and swiped across his scales. Then the other did the same.

What’s that gesture supposed to mean? Is he thinking? Is that how he thinks?

I maintained my patience, and in the meantime, turned my attention to the unmoving leviathan. Like me it appeared to be waiting on Gretkarn, simply floating there like a mindless robot, holding me tight, gazing steadily at me with its one massive black eye while occasionally letting out a jet of bubbles from underneath.

Honestly this guy’s kinda… shallow. Like a puppet of flesh more than its own organism. I wonder what Uriel has to say about it.

The buzz came a little later.

Name: N/A

Species: Gretkarn's spawn

Health: 15/15

Mana: 20/20

Endurance: 31/40

Strength: 5

Agility: 60

Speed: 23

Toughness: 1

Spirit: 20

Status conditions: Dominated; United

Titles: Spawn of a False God; part of the Leviathain

Abilities:

Swimming lv: 100

Parasitism lv: 63

Mind over Mind Magic lv:1 (dormant)

Water Essence Magic lv: 25

Regeneration lv: 21

Toxic Secretions lv: 14

Progenitor's Power lv: 100

Sense Sharing lv: 100

Hold up, that thing’s made of a bunch of smaller critters? I’m gonna need to get more info on this!

Just as I was about to query Uriel again the servile squid-thing started to fluctuate the colors in its mostly translucent body, putting on a pleasant lightshow of pink and blue.

What? Did it get bored?

Then Uriel buzzed on its own.

Notice: Hypnotic trance ability resisted with sbility Insanity Immunity.

I frowned. Wow! Are you joking? This is honestly getting pretty pathetic… But it does raise another question: How is my insanity immunity protecting me from mental attacks? It’s not called mental armor or anything, so what gives?

To my shock, the system, not Uriel, answered. Insanity can be classified as one being out of their mind. If another takes over your mind then you would, in effect, be out of your mind, and thus insane.

I narrowed my eyes at the unseen voice. Really? That’s it? That’s your grand explanation?

Of course I didn’t get anything after that, so I sulked a bit.

Somebody, and I won’t name names, needs to look up insanity in the dictionary because nowhere does it have anything to do with mind control! I sighed. Though given the circumstances, I really shouldn’t be complaining. Should I?

With that out of the way, I refocused on searching the leviathan for answers, but Gretty interrupted me this time.

~You resist, but speak of seeking unity? My power seems more effective than I thought. You sway, and offer ways past your own defenses. Am I wrong?~

Completely. But I better play dumb.

I refrained from rolling my eyes, and kept my tone even–like someone slipping into a trance. ~What? I… I’m just asking about you? Shouldn’t we understand each other better?~

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His tendrils flapped up and down like the arms of an excited child while flashing blue and pink. ~Wonderful! Most excellent! So what shall I tell you first? What do you need to know so that you can… understand me faster?~

I tilted my head and pretended to think. “Hmm. Why not start at the beginning? How did you come to be?”

~Ah!~ His lights went out, and tendrils drew close to his body. His mana fluctuated wildly, and the leviathan let out what sounded like an agitated groan.

Cold sweat crept down my back, which was only really possible since my barrier separated me from the water around me. Ah crap, don’t tell me I messed up from the get go.

But then the pressure passed and he said. ~I cannot tell you of how the Great One awakened me, but they elevated my mind from what I was and lifted me to the heights of this world!~

I take it that I shouldn’t pursue that line of questioning, despite how interesting it is… And what are the odds that his unknown title and status condition are related to this ‘great one’? Well, guess I’ll focus on learning his goals and hope it come up.

~I see, I see, and what did you do from there?~

He began to swim slow circles around me, his dark eyes gleaming in what I could only assume was excitement. ~I was nothing. A simple parasite. I was beneath the Great One’s standards, an accident, so I had no choice but to grow. Thus I hid, waited, and fed. Over and over again, learning, breeding, and ultimately dominating.~

I frowned, and added a little vigor to my voice. ~Breeding? Other than this big guy holding me and the eggs all around I don’t see any spawn around.~

He quickly swam in front of me and wasted no time having the leviathan use another hypnotic trance on me, not that it did anything. ~T–that is because they infest all the creatures within my domain, even the very waters! They hide to prevent detection, but at my command they will reveal themselves and do my bidding!~

Yeah, I noticed that the water was kinda sus before I dove in, but to think it’s completely jank. Now I’m really glad I covered myself before plunging in.

I relaxed a bit, but didn’t diminish the strength of my tone. ~But why would you need to hide? This is your domain, you said so, so why the secrecy?~

He gathered mana in his mental voice and grumbled. ~Because. That lord of land dwellers is allied with another mighty being against me. If I am not careful then that she-cat would come and ruin everything.~ Then his tone softened, and he flapped around excitedly. ~But she is silent now, my servants confirm this! Now is the time to strike! The time to rise up!~

Rise up? That sounds dangerous.

~Oh. That makes sense.~ I slumped a little in the leviathan’s grip, and indicated the massive monster with my chin as I asked. ~But what’s your relation to the lord’s daughter? I heard she’s tried to peacefully deal with you through this big guy, so is she an enemy too?~

Gretkarn huffed bubbles out of his fish-host’s mouth. ~She is nothing now. Just another to be conquered. She was to be my host, but you are far superior, so I have discarded that path.~

Oof. That’s a dangerous tidbit. But now it’s time to scrounge up the real morsel.

~And what’s the ultimate plan? How will you rise up? And what role do your servants on the surface have to play in it?~

He swam closer and caressed the thin but sturdy barrier over my cheeks. ~They are hosts, same as the rest. And they have already played their part. The majority of the populace has been infested through the fish and water they’ve consumed, so all that’s left is to unite with you, step upon the land, and awaken my spawn. Then this city and all its inhabitants will be mine! Gretkarn will be all! All will be Gretkarn! And the world shall follow!~

I had to shut my eyes to keep them from widening at this revelation. I’ve delved pretty deep but only now did it feel like the pressure of all that water was catching up to me–that and the claustrophobic dark filled with all his eerie lights. Dude’s got big aspirations, but I’m not about to let that happen. I’ve gotta fight now, so do I gun for a quick takedown and hope it's enough? Or should I be cautious since I don’t know what he can do? Either way I need to deal with this before– Oh crud. Are Calden and the rest infected now since they had fish for dinner? Do I need to go and try to cleanse the city before I fight him? What the heck do I do?