11 Upgraded Stingray!

Once he got out of the new den, the first thing that scrolled through the young boy's mind was. "How the hell can I find sardines?"

The system did not answer such a question. In hindsight, she was obviously underpaid; so it would be illogical to teach the little stingray, everything he had to know about hunting. Knowledge was a luxury that could not be handed out for free.

Regardless of the uncertainty that this boy carried, there were a couple of aspects that worked to his advantage for once. The perks in topic were related to hunger and sleep; both of them were well and replenished.

So in exchange, the boy didn't exactly have any reasons to rush this hunting session. And when one wasn't rushing, proper observation became an option.

Although clear minded enough to observe his surroundings, there was another part of his soul that felt uneasy. It had to do with rage and the captivating urge for revenge, which had the size of a whale. Clearly not befitting a creature of such a small size.

Regardless of what he kept inside, the task was given priority at the moment. So he began swimming and reached out about 30 meters away from his den. What struck his vision, was captivating at least.

There was a cloud-like piece of nature, that stretched further than the eye could see. His vision wasn't capable to comprehend a big and clear sight, but he assumed that this drop of elevation had a massive size ~ far beyond anything he could capture in one view.

After swimming just about 20 more meters closer towards this cloudy mist, he noticed that the flooring itself seemed a lot more darker.

Even a fool would realise that this wasn't the actual ocean floor, well it would be noticeable after a few seconds. The best hint became that this portion of the sea was just too deep.

It was most definitely not suited for this little stingray to explore, considering the limited depth handling capacities he had.

The other greatest hint was, that Timmy had swam far away from the beach right now. Because after giving a peek at the depth here, it was obvious that only grand-level predators roamed this area.

It struck clear that swimming downwards was not a good idea, so he refused to do so. But there was still something that caught the boy's attention. There wasn't just this drop in elevation that created a mist-like effect.

After observing what was in front him a bit more, it was noticeable that there was something else out there. As a few lines that carried a silver-like colour, flickered in random directions but they were all close to each other.

An option was thought out. He could either go back to his den or approach this cloud a bit closer. In hindsight, the latter option didn't portray any danger apart from the fear of approaching the unknown.

So it sounded reasonable to pursue it. He swam towards the cloud, but didn't exactly rush the approach. The sea-disk wasn't the smartest, but for once he did something admirable. He wanted to keep a good track of all surroundings for the sake of not getting lost.

The new den he had found was admittedly good, well at least after looking through its textureless interiors, and he did not want to lose such a home. So even after crossing the border that separated the massive differences of elevation - he was still just about 100 meters away from the new-den.

Noticeably, the weird cloud in the distance, had gotten bigger. But it was still difficult to figure out what it was. The best and most believable hint was that this cloud had animals included in it.

But the question was, how many marine animals were in there? He wasn't a math wizard, but this cloud stretched a couple of kilometers long. It was absolutely massive, even his low-level vision could notice it now.

What became even more confusing, was how a few strings of green-light were sparkling here and there in this same cloud. He wasn't the brightest, but fish weren't supposed to illuminate a green colour. They were tens of meters under-the-sea waters at the moment, so it could not be the sun's reflection.

It was tremendously difficult to figure out just what could be unleashing such a colour, but now was not the time to think about it. Because the prime question became, was the rest of this weird-cloud, dangerous?

He wasn't given much time to think about it, as now the cloud was approaching by itself. And the speed it carried was frightening, enough to make the boy swim towards the opposite direction, just after a quick thought.

Such an attempt proved worthless, because just a few seconds later, he was overwhelmed by the same cloud. At first sight it was difficult to comprehend. But it became noticeable that this cloud didn't carry any direct threat.

Instead, countless small or equal sized fish were swimming around him, typically carrying a mild shade of silver as a body colour. He could see a whole lot of them all around, but it only took a brief thought to realise that there had to be at least a few thousands of them!

After managing to accept the situation, he spotted a fish that seemed small enough to attack, this situation seemed like a good opportunity for self progress.

And such inferiority that the silver-coloured fish carried, gave enough motivation to charge against it. And within a few seconds, he managed to land those little jaws against it.

[Alewife sardine killed, 1 system point has been given to you as a reward]

[Since this was a system given task, you also get an additional point]

[Total system points = 46]

He had enough motives to chew through the rest of this sardine, but it was perhaps a bit rushed? Regardless, the system continued with her spam of information.

[Consuming a full-grown alewife sardine, grants the following effects on your overall state of being...]

[Effect on health, +1 bar]

[Effect on hunger, +10 bars]

[Effect on sleep, non existent]

[Effect on stamina, non existent]

"Oh, this can't get any better." Tim shouted out and charged towards another small sardine, joy was evident in his tone.

He understood that charging against the bigger ones may sound manlier. It did to a certain extent, but killing the big ones would make him feel bloated, a tad too fast. Worse yet, he wouldn't be able to replenish much health that way.

He had raged through the cloud, that carried a massive silver lining, for less than half an hour by now. And the young one had been capable enough to kill the 7th sardine in a row so far.

It felt like a win for sure, but the urge to hurl right now was simply immeasurable, uncomfortable even!

He wanted to feel that this work was all worthwhile, so a question was instantly asked. "System, how is my health now?"

[Health = 84/100 bars]

"Oh now we're talking! I'm finally healing." He celebrated, and at the same time, took a few seconds to stalk a bigger sardine.

Urging to make a good move now, the young stingray questioned for the sake of reassurance. "System, should I kill a big sardine and drag it to my den?"

[That is recommended]

A smile stretched on the little stingray's face, it felt like something new to get the system's approval. Afterwards, he charged directly towards the fish he had been eyeing. This target had to be a bit over a foot long, almost comparable to the little boy's size.

Fearlessly, he took a bite right against the fish's spine, dangerously close to the neck. The boy's jaws were strong enough to take a bite off rather easily. Sardines didn't have thick and strong bones either, so that provided an advantage.

But yet the sardine was not dead. So while taking another bite through the same fish, the blue-dotted stingray swung his tail randomly and landed a few hits: but his prime aim was to end this hunt faster.

Timothy managed to get the upper hand in a matter of seconds, but that's what something bizarre had captured his vision. A toothy creature was spotted in the close by distance, and it was approaching at full speed!

Urgently slapping his fins against the salty waters, he latched away from the sardine and swam a hunch higher! It was enough to escape what could have been a gruesome attack against his body!

Whatever species that fish was, it had barged against the hunt that the little boy had slaughtered, and took it away too! It felt like a loss for a short seconds, but instincts had worked harder than the devil in that moment.

Simply because the sea-pancake, had perked his tail downwards while swimming up. And in exchange, the very tip of his barb had sunk into some foreign flesh below.

From the looks of it, that cut had scared the enemy away. Odd considering that the sea-disk didn't hold an advantage when it came to size. But hey, whatever works.

Shortly after, another big sardine had caught the little boy's attention. So it only felt logical to charge against it, for the sake of hunting the fish down. It can prove as a good food supply if brought back to the den.

...

As he swam through the den that he clearly owned, it took quite a bit of effort to push the over half-a-foot long sardine in it.

It was fair to say that he was proud of the catch, as most sardines out there seemed smaller.

That cloud of sardines had swum away as well, they had gone closer towards what he thought as the shores; which were a kilometer or two, nearby. It proved useful, because after the cloud left, he could see which way to go and managed to locate the new-den.

After pushing the carcass through the meter long tunnel that led to his home, the happy stingray found a sight that he didn't really expect.

A species has invaded his home, but it wasn't necessarily a problem. The point stood that his de was somehow filled with living sardines! They likely had swum down here by accident.

But in this case the little boy spotted a good food supply, along with a few system points. Because there had to be at least 20 sardines here, be it large or small!

...

A good five minutes passed, the enthusiastic stingray had ripped through most of these meals. A few of them had actually managed to get away! They slipped through and fled from the den.

It didn't seem like a big loss. Besides he felt tired now, so it wasn't worth it to chase the ones that had escaped. It was a tad difficult to kill all those sardines, but luckily they weren't bitty.

Feeling a tad more confident now, especially after seeing the bodies piled up on one spot, he demanded. "System, upgrade my jaws!"

[Purchase confirmed]

[45 system points consumed]

[35 system points remaining]

"Oh that's nice, I can buy another upgrade in no time." The happy stingray celebrated, looking rather forward to this upgrade.

[Loading purchase]

"By the name of god!" He had shouted instantly after.

A massive wave of pain had enveloped the boy's jaws, which in exchange had made the ending portions of the sentence, sound more like a mumble.

His fins began feeling sore as well. But worse yet, that's when the system was heard announcing. [Stamina = 0/15 bars]

Such an effect, had instantly pushed the boy down to the sand. The pain was captivating to the point of almost forcing his eyes shut. Death would be a far shot, but unconsciousness seemed plausible.

An abnormal sight cascades his vision, and it was rather impactful; because now, Timmy refused to lose consciousness. Simply because a marine animal had poked its ugly head, through the young one's den.

This fish was fairly bigger in size, at least when compared to any sardines that were just hunted down. The intruder shone in a blue colour and carried layers of black dots as well. But Its face was the most eye-catching, because a row of pointy teeth stuck out of its mouth.

And the rest of this fish' body was oddly shaped, so the sea-disk couldn't help thinking. "What's a pole-fish doing in my home?"

Odd enough, this large intruder wasn't attacking. That and it even shed a sentence of poetry, "We meet again, friend. Which end or cloud will save you from my jaws? I'll send you down to hell."

This was a threat, obviously. And since Tim had never met more than one fish, that looked like a living pole; it was easy to figure out who this was.

The non functioning left eye on the animal's face gave a good idea. This must be the same toothy-fish that the boy had sliced through that sardine storm.

But right now, the sea-pancake's stamina was low and he was also too stiff to talk, nonetheless move a fin. Considering who he had as a visitor at the moment, this was a big problem!

What behaved as a motivation to snap out of this pain, was what the intruder uttered in a slow and mocking tone. "Looks like you made me dinner as well? Nice, very nice."