They all shot up, passing by the reefs, where they had hunted earlier that day and in no time they were back on the boat. The boat was livelier than before as more people had returned from their hunts and relaxed on deck.
"Holy shit, that was so cool! I want to go again," Annie said, excited, the pain already forgotten. "How often have you defeated that snake?"
"Only once before, and I lost one soldier in the fight," Seraphina said. "I would have never expected to see such a powerful beast so far up."
"Awesome! Can we go again tomorrow?" Annie asked hopefully.
"No, you're strong enough to farm beasts on your own now," Seraphina said calmly. "You’ll progress much faster that way."
"Captain, how many are still in the waters?" Seraphina asked a man lying in the sun.
"We're waiting for two groups. Should I send someone to fetch them?" the captain asked with a small bow.
"No, we can wait. It shouldn't be long anyway," Seraphina said, sitting down and working on her insights.
Thalion used the time to get back in the water, transforming into the Tidecaller Serpent to test a few things. The speed of the long snake wasn’t as great as the marlin, but the power that coursed through his body was on a different level. With that, it was settled for him, and he transferred the two passive skills his marlin form currently had to the serpent. Immediately, he glided effortlessly through the water.
There was one more thing he had to do before he could discard the marlin form. The snake didn’t have any fins—not even the end of its tail had a fin or was flattened like most water snakes. To change that, he used Morphic Adaptation and transferred all the marlin’s fins to his snake body. The marlin had two fins on its back: one tall one behind its head and a smaller one near the top of its tail. There were also the two pectoral fins, and behind them were four smaller fins placed in regular intervals until the tail began. At the end of the tail was the caudal fin. Thalion moved them all to his snake body and then discarded the marlin form. It would be useless anyway without any skills or fins.
Thalion tried a few more maneuvers with his altered body, and the difference was like night and day. He could now accelerate at speeds that even surpassed the marlin, and the long body allowed for faster turns. The only issue he had was with the length of his body, it was difficult to keep track of the whole thing.
Status:
Name: Thalion Walker
Age: 30
Length: 6.10m
Level: 40
Race: Legendary Tidecaller Serpent (F)
Health Points: 1.510/1.510
Mana Points: 1.950/2.130
Stamina: 780/810
Experience points: 0/91.852
Stats:
Strength: 74
Agility: 97
Endurance: 81
Intelligence: 175
Wisdom: 309
Dexterity: 64
Perception: 71
Toughness: 41
Vitality: 151
Fate: 51
Skills:
Acquire form (Exalted), Shapeshift (Exalted), Identify (Common), Echoes of Worlds (Common), Morphic Adaptation (Rare) , Arcane synergy (Exalted), Tidal Surge (Epic), Camouflage of the Depths (Epic), Aqua lance (Legendary), Water shield (Exalted), Waterslash (Exalted), Tsunami Breaker (Legendary)
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Titles:
Guardian's Remnant
Form:
Umbral Predator (Mythic) Level 40
Human (Exalted) Level 40
Wind Eagle (Epic) Level 41
Bloodline:
none
Thalion reviewed his newly acquired abilities, certain that the serpent's stats were more than sufficient, especially in wisdom. It was time to read through the skills before testing them.
Aqua Lance (Legendary)
The Tidecaller Serpent focuses its energy, unleashing a concentrated beam of water that slices through the battlefield like a spear. The pressurized water beam is so intense that it can cut through stone and steel, dealing devastating damage to all enemies in a straight line. Anything caught in its path is thrown back by the sheer force.
Water Shield (Exalted)
Summoning the depths to its aid, the serpent forms a spiraling shield of living water around itself. This shield absorbs damage from all sides and pulses with power. The regenerative waters are also healing the serpent.
Waterslash (Exalted)
With a swift flick of its tail, the Tidecaller Serpent summons a cutting wave of water that rushes forward like a blade. The water, sharpened to a lethal edge, slashes through anything in its path, leaving behind a wake of destruction. The force of the slash is strong enough to tear through armor and scales alike.
Tsunami Breaker (Legendary)
The serpent calls forth the force of the ocean itself, creating a shockwave of water that radiates outward in all directions. Everyone caught within the initial impact is not only sent flying but torn apart by the force, sustaining massive damage. The residual energy of the shockwave lingers in the air, slowing the movements of those caught in its wake.
“Damn, those skills are unbelievably strong,” Thalion thought, noticing something peculiar about his new body—he couldn’t unlock his jaws like regular snakes. "Yeah, whatever."
"So, how much time do I possibly have left before the boat leaves?" Thalion wondered while swimming back to the boat.
"Hey, how long until the others return?" Thalion asked the captain as he jumped back on deck in his human form.
"They'll be back any moment," the captain replied.
"So, how's the new form?" Seraphina asked with interest.
"Just amazing. Thank you for the help. I hope I can make it up to you in the future," Thalion said ignoring that the woman probably had enslaved many humans from earth. It was clear to him that the princess didn’t do anything without a plan, but she didn’t have to help them personally today.
"Maybe you'll have that chance in the future. I just wanted to find new allies," Seraphina said calmly.
"On that topic, I’d like to meet you two later to speak about some important political figures," Seraphina announced.
Annie and Thalion, of course, accepted. It didn’t take long until the last two groups arrived back on the boat, and they started their journey back to the palace as the sun slowly sank, casting an orange light on the water.
<--
"This night will be even more glorious than the last one!" Kargul roared, holding his mace in the air.
Vorlok made his typical gasping sound, and even Evelyn cheered from Vorlok’s back.
The others wanted to join them, but Kargul rejected everyone—this was their special bonding time—and they shot into the jungle. Evelyn had spent the whole day eating at Lars' inn with Vorlok, but the turtle’s appetite seemed insatiable. At least she was now Vorlok’s favorite human after feeding him all day.
She had worked hard to always smile and stay happy; otherwise, the turtle would start vomiting on her. Currently, she and Vorlok were scouting ahead, with the turtle flying about fifteen meters high, cruising between the trees at high speed. It took some time until they found their first beast. Beasts were rare this close to Kael’s base, as so many people hunted them, so they had to travel some distance to find something worthwhile.
When they spotted a pack of black wolves, Vorlok turned around and flew back to Kargul so they could attack together. Kargul turned into a true machine once he began body tempering. His body was as hard as steel—no, even harder—and his stamina recovered faster than he could use it, even with his boosting skills. So, it was no trouble for him to run after the flying turtle once Evelyn told him they had found a pack of wolves around level 47.
Kargul roared as he sprinted at the black wolves, which didn’t seem to fear him. They even dared to attack him—bad idea. He swung his mace in a wide arc, instantly killing three wolves as he pushed forward. Evelyn helped by creating a wall from a tree branch she jumped on, while Vorlok dive-bombed the wolves at the edge of the pack, which were easy prey since all the attention was on Kargul. It didn’t take long for all the wolves to be dead, and Vorlok happily gobbled up the corpses before Evelyn or Kargul could put them in the spatial ring.
"Why didn’t they flee, Evelyn?" Kargul asked, deep in thought. This was very untypical behavior.
Evelyn walked between the bodies when she heard a low whimper. "Oh no, please don’t let it be cute little puppies," Evelyn thought in fear. Maybe they hadn’t heard it—if she was fast enough, she might be able to distract them.
"That was awesome! Let’s keep going!" Evelyn loudly cheered, jumping on Vorlok’s back.
"Just a moment, Eve. I think I heard something," Kargul said, walking through the clearing.
"It probably was me," Eve tried to distract the orc.
"Ha! There you are!" Kargul shouted, ripping a leaf aside to reveal five wolf puppies.
"Oh, they are so cute!" Evelyn said, but before she could add her wish to leave them alive or take them back as pets, Vorlok shot forward, and Evelyn fell off his back, landing hard on the ground.
When she sat back up, she saw the last of the puppies being swallowed whole by Vorlok as they whined in fear.
"What is it you wanted to say?" Kargul asked as she didn’t continue.
"Nothing… I just thought they would be cute pets," Evelyn stammered in horror.
"Ha! You’re funny. Why would we ever take those puppies as pets? Flying turtles are much better!" Kargul laughed. "Come on, Eve. Now this glorious hunt can go on."