Chapter 16

The both of us started heading upstream.

As expected, his swimming speed is very slow because of his low agility, so I adjusted my pace matching his.

It's been a few hours since I confirmed our skilsl, but prey still doesn't appear.

It just a suspicion, but there must be something in this river.

Otherwise, it would be strange that there are no fish so far in such a beautiful river.

"Ouren-big bro. How far are we going?"

"Ah~ how to say it. It's hard to get experience points without any prey. I'd like to hunt them, but… I can't do that if there're no fish to prey on like our previous areas. I think it's strange that there aren't so many fish, and I'm wondering if there's something wrong with it, so I'm heading upstream for the time being. "

"Now that you mention it, there were few fish there."

Until recently, Reizen was worried about how to call me.

Ouren-san(Mr.), Ouren-aniki(big-bro), Ouren-dono(more respectful than -san), Ouren-sama(Lord Ouren) … Well, etc.

And in the end, he settled down on 'Ouren-big bro'.

(E/N, wtf, basically Ouren-Ouren-aniki)

But please pardon me if he used suffix '-sama' or '-dono', I think that was too much for me.

It didn't matter if he didn't use any honorific to address me, but it seemed that Reizen wanted to add something.

Well, I don't feel bad being called big bro, so I decided to accept that if he want to call me that.

Hehe, what a strange boy.

"Ah, how many times has Reizen evolved?"

"Evolved? Only once. "

"Hey hey… So it'll be me who gets to land first? If you want to follow me, you have to do your best to evolve."

(F-n: Mc is such a teaser and a bully I think? that's quite adorable tho)

"Waaa… what was I even doing for the past month… Ah, I'll do my best! I'll definitely follow you!"

(F-n: *headpats)

"Do your best then"

I'm currently at my 4th evolution.

Even though the number of evolutions increased, I still can't see the possibility of going ashore.(still a fish)

It seems that we still have to evolve in order to go ashore. The path is so long.

Reizen has to get stronger, and I have to get stronger too.

It doesn't matter if you can reach your final evolution or not, if you aren't able to protect yourself first, you'll just die in the wild.

It seems that Reizen suddenly became motivated when I talked about it gradually, and in this way we searched and hunted together at the same time.

...This place is really empty. Before I reached this pond, there was a horde of maletanago and acid-gill, but I don't see either of them here.

Is this river so vast… or is it just that there are no fish…? Or is there something else?

In any case, it's difficult to stay still and prey on plankton alone.

I know I can LV up, but the growth rate is very slow.

I don't know how many years it will take to get to the ground in this pace!

I want to graduate from life in this river early! I want to interact with humans as soon as possible! I'm wondering if I can transform into a human, but… Let's see what I can do in the future.

I'm not very familiar with this, but most of the creatures in anime and manga could turned into human figures.

"Ouren-big bro"

"Hmm?

"I've reached level MAX"

"Seriously! You did it!"

[You have gained experience points. LV has reached MAX]

"...me too"

I've been swimming for so long, so it's no wonder that my level goes up.

It's better to swim rather than idly stay by, and now I'm swimming upstream.

Because we did that, are levels went up quickly this time.

Goodbye RainBass…. It was a short relationship. I'll never forget you.

Alright, let's check the next evolutionary path.

I was a little sentimental, but when I thought about it, I realized that it didn't matter, so I decided to evolve quickly.

I didn't have any particular feelings about it, it was just a stepping stone to achieve my goal.

I called on the voice of heaven to confirm my evolutionary path information.

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―Evolution path―

>Rain-Kings<

>Clay-Carp<

===============

I'm sorry to have said that I will never forget about it! It evolved and its back! Absolutely Rain-Kings is a high-ranking species of RainBass!

Something that seems to be strong again came out … So, Clay Carp …? Clay and carp? Even though it's a fish, I may be able to use earth magic.

It's in English. Or will the voice of heaven be transformed according to our will?

No, it wouldn't do that. It may not be strange if words with completely different meanings come out.

Let's learn how to read when we can go out to the ground and interact with people.

Well, my evolutionary path is… That's right. Is Rain Kings okay?

I don't know which one is stronger and which one is weaker.

Clay Carp will be a race change evolution, so it would be better if I evolved normally for a while. I hate pain.

"How about Reizen? What is your evolution path?"

"Ah, yes. I think I'll chose to be a rock fish, It seems that I can become a fish called Bedrock"

Bedlock? bedrock? It means that bedrock… is that okay? I think He couldn't move if he chooses it…

"Reizen. You will see the Evolutin information and read it for me. We will think about it together after you read them. "

"Yes!"

Reizen seemed to hear the details from the voice of the earth. Should I check mine as well?

===============

>>Evolution path information<<

-Rain Kings-

The leader of Rain-Bass. It has a strong body and jaw, and it is said that whoever gets eaten as mere prey has no choice but to escape at the expense of part of their body. The ecosystem is destroyed because it eats anything with a considerable gluttony.

It has been designated as a top priority to kill it due to the absolute destruction it places on the ecosystem, and the national government has designated it to be reported if any of them are found.

-Clay Carp-

A slightly elongated fish of multiple colors. Most of them are left as they are, thought they mostly have been thrown away as poor antiques(collection?) because they rarely move, but some are sold at high prices as living antiques.

===============

... I don't think I'm happy no matter which way I evolves.

It's nice to be out of the high-end ingredients category, but the Rain-Kings are definitely a target to be killed. Humans are scary.

When it comes to Clay Carp, it's a living antique. Humans, look at reality. Isn't it just some fish?

(F-n: wait till he know how much high-end price 'some' fish can be)

... How about Reizen?

===============

>>Evolution path information-Reizen<<

-Rockfish-

A high-ranking species of blockfish. It has rock-hard scales, but its mass is not so great. Large rock fish are useful as processed armor.

However, since it is a fish, it is mostly used for ornaments and necklaces.

-Bedrock-

A fish with the nickname from rock stone. It emits an incense that attracts prey without moving at all from it's spot. The way to hunt Bedrock is to eat the invited fish in one bite.

However, since the incense drifts from the place where Bedrock is to the vicinity of the downstream, all the fish will go upstream. This species is designated as a priority subjugation fish as a fish that causes the destruction of an ecosystem.

===============

No, Bedrock… If you have the nickname "Rock stone", use it actual name. BedRock.

(F-n: the species name is written in katakana ベドロック{Bedorokku}, mc complained that it using a wrong katakana, it should be ベッドロック

{Beddorokku})

...Hmm? Isn't that? Hol'up a sec, isn't it that? The reason why there are no fish is because of this!??

Well, because there are no fish, and if this guy is upstream and spreading incense, all the fish downstream will go up, right?

If that's the case, it make sense!

"Hey Reizen! Please tell me the explanation of Bedrock earlier!"

"Yes! Well, rock stones … "

"Just read the second half!"

"Because the incense drifts from the place where Bedrock is to the vicinity of the downstream, all the fish will go upstream. It has been designated as a priority subjugation fish as a fish that causes the destruction of the ecosystem …. "

Absolutely this one. If this description is correct, there should be a fish called Bedrock upstream.

It's a different world… There are some ridiculous fish.

I wouldn't know about Bedrock without Reizen. GJ Reizen!

If the influence of this ability has come so far, its possible that there are no fish anywhere.

Perhaps my ancestor, Blue Fish, was also invited by the incense of Bedrock to head upstream.

There were so many bluefish eggs in the place I was born, but… maybe they aren't there anymore.

Our ancestors is the one who will defeat the enemy.

I think they are brothers, not ancestors, but they can't be called brothers because they have evolved and their races have changed.

If so, the Bedrock subjugation operation must be carried out.

I will have Reizen evolve into rock fish inevitably.

There is no point in evolving into Bedrock. It doesn't seem to work.

I choose Rain-Kings as my Evo path.

I don't know how hard Bedrock is, it also known as stone rock.

However, the description of the Rain-Kings said, "It is said that eaten prey must escape at the expense of meat," and if you are lucky, you may chew.

... It's like a halberd and a shield.

Because its Bedrock, It is evolving at an unusually slow rate.

The river here is like my neighbourhood, and it's annoying that a certain fish tring to destroy it.

...If I can interact with people, I wonder if I should make them to take care of it…

When will it be?

"Okay, Reizen. We will subdue Bedrock and solve this river problem! "

"...How did you know that Bedrock was there?"

"…"

Eeeh. Don't tell me is his head is actually screwed?