14 Panzer Crabs!

After he dipped into the waters, the massive risk around here aided to create a prime thought.

His mind and body encouraged the boy to decide, "I need to get back home!"

And of course when home glew as a topic, he meant the new den that he had recently possessed. That place wasn't like a palace, but still served its purpose.

However, what still proved as a barricade was the large sardine storm underneath him.

They still raged in all directions, and only good knew what they were up to around here.

It would be impossible for the little boy to find his home under these conditions. If Tim tried to do so anyway, he would aimlessly wander around instead.

Perhaps his opportunities wouldn't be so dry if his tail wasn't hurt, but with a sprained tail it simply was difficult to swim around.

All odds were against him at the moment. Yet again if he just waited here, that could attract quite a few predators which he could not fight off.

So he finally decided, "I have to do this, I have to find my den."

And afterwards he began the journey once more, towards this cloud of fish.

Sardines kept bumping into him, but that was nothing serious in comparison to the past situation. These creatures were just fish who wandered around randomly after all.

The only sardines who proved difficult were the ones, that were slightly bigger than him.

He had to swim a bit more in order to avoid those fat-fish, which in exchange created a rough effect.

The prime example was that such a procedure tired him out, he felt restricted thanks to all the pain. It even felt as if his stamina had been halved.

Worst yet, the extra movements he had to make in order to avoid those fish, forced him to flinch thanks to pain quite a few times.

However, as he sank lower; he could hardly spot what seemed like freedom. It was dark but at least there weren't many sardines around there.

Such a scene spiked his motivation for the better. So he darted forward with higher speed, but then instantly felt a crackling sound across his tail.

Towards of which he reacted, "Ouch ouch! I'm too young for this."

[You just lost two-points of health,]

"Okay, okay I need to slow down." Tim spoke to himself.

And then he fiddled across the sea water in a way that shouldn't allow his tail to move so much.

The darkness in front of him was quite attractive, especially since the groups of sardines lessened around here.

It took one glance to figure out that most of the sardine cloud was over thirty-meters above his head.

As excitement grew across his consciousness, it was no surprise that he mumbled through a few words.

"Okay, this is progress. Okay now where is my home?" He muttered.

Once he asked himself such a question, a relative train of thoughts helped reach a conclusion.

And he expressed it right away, "This is nowhere near my home."

Such a conclusion forced him to think of another plan. But the system broke that newly founded train of thought, as it violently informed.

[Danger!]

[Danger!]

[Danger!]

[You're currently two-hundred and twenty meters underwater, this is beyond the ocean depth you can handle!]

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Tim shouted and desperately swam up.

[The sardine school above your head, reduced the water pressure. That's why it took longer to receive depth-damage]

"Ouch!" He slightly yelled.

This sudden rush pushed the boy into quite a bit of pain, his tail simply crackled in protest!

[You just lost another two points of health,]

At this point it seemed like the best idea to return into the cloud of fish, and his efforts were certainly enough to fulfill such thoughts.

But yet he still couldn't help a few mumbles, "Is this the end? I was just getting used to this body..."

[You lost two more points of health,]

"I'm trying my best!" Tim shouted.

And he was about ten meters away from the targeted location at the moment, but that wasn't enough to halt all of this pain.

[You lost another point of health,]

After that moment he fulfilled that hastily built up plan, and the system assured him so as well.

[Safe depths reached,]

[Due to the recent damage, your current health is; 42/100 bars]

"This is bad... System, help me find my home!" Tim insisted.

But at this point he was mostly wishful. He expected something good from the system, but also knew that this thing in his head was quite greedy.

Since the options were limited, he had no other option but to beg the system. Thankfully this time she seemingly proved cooperative.

[Hazardous situation detected, safety protocol activated]

[The protocol will end once the guest is safe,]

[Your options now are to either heed my command, or let me take over your movements]

[I command you to swim fifty meters upwards,]

[Then you are to swim towards the left, until you find the borders that separate shallow waters from the deep ocean floors]

"You mean that big dark place, the one near my home?" Tim questioned.

He tried to understand the advice, and in this case he was more than convinced to oblige.

[Yes exactly. Your surroundings will make a lot more sense once you reach that border,]

He inevitably soared through the sardine cloud once more, but this time he wanted to be a lot more careful. As the last thing he wanted to face right now was a predator.

Yet paranoia still struck against the young man's noggin. He expected for the worse to happen, and such tainted thoughts weren't surprising; he was under a lot of pain after all.

But thankfully he eventually found what seemed like a border, but was still a bit sceptical.

That was why he questioned, "Am I close to my den? Help me system."

[System can't pinpoint the den's location but you are progressing. Search this area for your home,]

[Avoid the deeper waters that are on the other side of this border, your den can't possibly be there]

Tim could see the border and felt confident that he would find that little den.

But health grew as a concern, so he eventually had to bite on another sardine, even though he felt bloated like a balloon.

He ate the tiny sardine, and the system gave out a few notifications in exchange.

But he mostly focused on the fact that his health increased by a single point.

One point wasn't enough at all, so he thought that it was the best idea to eat another fish.

Timothy tried to bite a chunk off another sardine, but kissed a bigger fish on the forehead instead.

Surprisingly, this bigger fish could speak the stingray language, and uttered quite an odd collection of words.

"I come in peace," The fat-headed fish cited.

And right after, it dropped a few sardines out of its mouth. They were all bitten in half already but surely served a purpose.

Since this fish did not seem hostile, the young man requested instead. "My tail is hurt, help me find my den."

The situation was indeed hazardous so far. Tim increased a point of health just earlier, but it wasn't enough to soothe these aches.

On the contrary they have become even worse. His tail was as numb as ever, and his fins felt stiff now as well.

This fish seemed like it could help. From the looks of it, this fat animal was a shark of some sort.

Certainly smaller in comparison to what he was used to. This species was less than half a meter long and had a pointier nose too.

Details aside, this shark offered a grand solution. "Do you have dead things in your den, by any chance? I can smell a few of them close by!"

"Yes that's my place. Take me there and you can have my food!" The sea-pancake offered swiftly.

"I don't need food," The other deciphered.

And then pitched, "Sink your jaws on my back, and I'll help you get back home."

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