2 I'm A Fish??

'AM I A FISH??' Thomas flailed back and forth, trying to see the rest of his body. However, he soon realized his body wasn't in segments, and he could only see a silvery tail behind him. Thomas wiggled and twisted to see his body, until he was near exhaustion. Only then did he stop, and look around his surroundings. Around him was a rocky coral reef, akin to the Great Barrier Reef on Earth. He could see colorful coral all around him, with many different looking fish. They're were Angelfish, Butterfly fish, clownfish, all sorts of normal fish that lived on a reef. He could also see fish that completely destroyed his idea of how fish looked; there were fish with two sets of jaws that would snap up anything that swam too close, fish with three tails that sped by, even one that looked like an eel with oversized fangs hanging out of its jaw. Thomas was lost in the wonder of the moment, before he felt movement in the water behind him. He turned, and saw the open ocean. Above him was a massive algae bloom, the kind that would cover the ocean for miles. Strangely, it was thicker in some parts, while other parts were barren, allowing sunlight to light the ocean for him. Below it, he saw an ever growing mass of fish, that looked strangely like himself. With a jolt he realized that they were one in the same, that they were the same species. The same instinct that told him how to swim was urging him to join the safety of the shoal, before something came around and ate him. With a powerful swish of his tail, Thomas swam as fast as he could to join the shoal. Upon entering, he felt a sense of safety and security, one that he had never felt before.

'If I am a fish..' He began to think as he swam with his shoal. 'Than I will be the best fish I can be!' With that thought, he eagerly began to study his fellow fish, to get a better idea of what his species was all about. After all, instincts could only tell you so much. He noticed that his species was a dark silvery color, on average with normal shoaling fish. The silver helps to reflect the sunlight, which makes it harder to pick out individuals in a shoal. He couldn't tell how large he was, but Thomas knew that shoaling fish are usually small, otherwise they wouldn't need safety in numbers.

'No teeth in the jaw.' He noticed. 'We probably eat shrimp and the like.' Satisfied with his observations, he looked at other members of the shoal. Many were hatchlings like himself, similar in size, but there were a few adult fish that were nearly 3 times his size! They looked nearly identical, slightly fatter, but much larger than he was.

'How long will it take for me to reach that size?' He wondered as he swam. The shoal swam near the reef, picking up any late hatchlings and adding them to the ever growing mass of fish. Soon, Thomas could feel an emptiness in his stomach growing, and his instincts once again began to whisper to him, to hunt. All of a sudden, he could feel a shift in the mood of the shoal, as they had come upon prey. A haze had appeared in front of the shoal. As they swam closer, Thomas realized it was a massive group of shrimp, that was feeding on algae that floated near the surface. Immediately, the shoal split up to attack. Thomas was left behind for a moment, stunned at the sudden movement, before diving into the shrimp as well. In a flash, he had one in his mouth.

'It's not bad' He thought as he crushed the tiny shrimp. The blood was a bit metallic for his taste, but the crunch was satisfying, and the meat was pretty good too. A few jerks of his head, and the shrimp vanished down his throat. Before Thomas could move on to another shrimp, he heard an electronic ding in his head, followed by words spoken by someone very familiar to him;

"Brine Shrimp Consumed. One Muta point gained. Brine Shrimp Abilities absorbed. Brine Shrimp Identity Profile created. Experience gained."

Thomas was nearly paraylzed from shock as multiple announcements went off in his mind, all with a voice very familiar to him.

'M-Morgan??'

It was a few momentes before Thomas could properly move again.

'That was fucking Morgan Freeman, are you kidding me??' His thoughts ran rampant with all that he had just heard. Why was he hearing Morgan Freeman talk in his head, what's a Muta point, and what the hell is going on?? He started to get frantic, panicking.

"Alert! Mental state of Migrator deteriorating due to shock, implementing Countermeasures!" Thomas once again heard the voice of Freeman, and suddenly his mind calmed down, and he was able to think logically again. Or at least as logically as he could is his bizarre situation.

'So, this is like those webnovels I've read online about ants and flowers? I have a system or something?' Thomas was still bewildered, but not nearly as much as he was moments ago. 'So does that mean I have to say the magic word? Status!'

With a soft bell sound, a thin leather bound book appeared in his consciousness, and flipped open to reveal a page titled 'Status'.

Name: Thomas Marrow

Race: Silver Baitish (Minnow)

Level: 1

Skills: Swim (Level Max)

Mutations: None

Strength: 2

Agility: 5

Fortitude: 1

Will: 15

Intelligence: 25

These values were clearly displayed to Thomas on a pristine white sheet of paper in his mental book. Slowly taking in all of this information, Thomas realized his name was embroidered in gold on the cover. Surprisingly, Thomas was calm as he read the information, whatever Freeman had done was still in effect.

'I know I'm a minnow, so I accept that I would be weak, but why the hell is my Will and Intelligence so high? Is my species hyper intelligent?' He turned to look at his brothers, who were still attacking the shrimp around them. After watching one fish almost bite another's tail, he decided that they were not that smart. 'It must be because I have a human mind' Satisfied with his conclusion, Thomas started to wonder about the stuff Freeman had said, like the Muta Point. He willed in page to turn in his mind, and it flipped over, to reveal a page with an empty list on it. The top was labeled with 'Possible Mutations.' The list was near empty, with only one thing on it. At the very top, 'Brine Shrimp Exoskeleton. 1 Muta Point' was listed, along with a description of the skill;

Brine Shrimp Exoskeleton: As crustaceans, Brine Shrimp naturally have an exoskeleton. For the tiny and unevolved Brine Shrimp, it gives little to no defense, as it is more often than not swallowed regardless. However, further mutations on shrimp of other species have shown increased toughness that is difficult to compare in the Deep Sea.

On the other page, the name 'Biography' was listed, and on this page Thomas could see the information of the Brine Shrimp;

An extremely common sea creature, the unevolved Brine Shrimp make up the largest food source in the ocean. Any creature that lives in the sea has more than likely eaten at least one Brine Shrimp in its life, intentionally or not. These basic organisms has almost no offensive or defensive means, and only their massive population saves them from being eaten into extinction.

Thomas listened to Freeman speak, totally absorbed in his words.

'It's just like home, huh?' Thomas remembered buying Brine Shrimp by the pound for his fish store. 'Wait a second, I have a level right? Does that mean I could level up, just like in a video game?'

Thomas began to swim again, eating the shrimp with even more gusto than his other fish brothers. The notifications that he had gained EXP continued to go off, until he heard just what he wanted to hear;

"Experience gained. Experience Cap reached. Level up! 1 Skill Point awarded, 3 Stat Points awarded."

'YES!'