Tim searched the ft sea-floor for about five minutes, and within this time bracket, he found three urs. Each of them had different colors, one of them was even purple, so without risking his owh in the process, he had to figure out which ur was the bubonie.

  He wao charge towards one of the urs like a barbarian, but he had to resist those fishy urges. The urs couldn’t crawl away, after all, so he didn’t have a reason to rush things.

  He approached one of the urs, and almost took a bite out of it. on sense advised him otherwise, however, at the very st sed. The ur’s spines were spiky, so undoubtedly, it would be dangerous to put his mouth on its spines! It was beyond dangerous, actually, it was stupid.

  “Hmm… ’t trick me!” He excimed.

  Tim debated on how he should approach this ur, and after half a minute, he remembered that his tail ractically charged with thunder! It may be useful against an ur, but only if this shock was a ratack. Otherwise, if he had to impale the ur in order to kill it, then he may get poked by its spines as a result.

  He decided to give it a shot, and remembered to be cautious. His tail could shoot out ten points of voltage a sed, so if he wasn’t mindful about it, he could lose every point of this magical attack almost instantly!

  Tim lifted his butt-cheecks upwards, to aim at the red ur, and then fpped his tail forward. His tail, in response, shot a string of thuowards the target; He didn’t even have to ‘summon’ this thunder, in order for it to dart forward, it shot out naturally!

  An explosioed in respoim was tossed away a whole foot, he survived the explosion, but food moment, he had no idea what went on. He didn’t know what just happened!

  [Health, -10 points.] The system announced, and also added. [Health bar = 65/100]

  “Fug hell, that hurt!” He pined, “I only used like five volts, that was insane.”

  Tim didn’t have the slightest clue regarding how powerful a single volt was, but he figured that it shouldn’t cause an explosion! Nothing made se that moment.

  The system helped make sense of things, as she added. [You successfully killed a sulfuric ur, and got 7 system points as a reward. In total, you now have 65 points.]

  Furthermore, she added. [These urs are a really explosive species, and don’t really offer anything iurn, apart from points ah loss. Your attempt was good, but, B- for caution though.]

  “So I didn’t even find the right ur, huh?” Tim asked, and sighed in disappoi. “Good thing I didn’t bite that bastard.”

  Tim’s belly hurt, it burned even. However, he hadn’t really pleted the task that the system gave to him, so he couldn’t quit now!

  He quickly moved over to the ur he had found, and this time, he kept a distance of oer from it. That red ur exploded on his face, so quite frankly, he didn’t want to know what a purple ur was capable of. This one was a hunch bigger than him as well, whitimidated him even more!

  “Here we go…” He mumbled, and shot ten volts of thunder against the target.

  Thankfully, this one did not explode! He killed it successfully, and split it in half, even. Unfortuhough, this one wasn’t the right ur either.

  The system specified that, as she said. [You just killed a normal sea ur, and as a reward, you’ve received 2 system points.]

  “Two points for that fat fucker? That’s not fair,” Tim said.

  Then again, he couldn’t do anything to reverse this small reward. He just moved onto the st ur in his close perimeter, and shot ten volts of thuowards it.

  This one exploded as well, but in another, special way. Upon the explosion, its spiky spines spread across the waters. Tim didn’t want to be anywhere hose spikes, especially sihey were green, so he swam a couple more feet away from them.

  Afterwards, he asked. “Did I get the right ohis time, system?”

  [Yes,] She said, and then added. [The reward is yours, but this ur doesn’t offer any powers either… Instead, sider this as a unity service, as any sughtered bubonic ur is only a positive tribution to the os. Anyway, in total, you’ve accumuted 92 system points!]

  “Yay!” He celebrated for once, “Mission aplished, huh? Good, I gotta get bae a a shrimp or two, cuz my belly is fug barking!”

  Tim referred to the pain. He pleted the task successfully, and did so without trag a disease, however, he was still hurt in the process. He didn’t feel fortable with his health bar being this low, so he started rushing home, all for fort’s and survival’s sake!

  ...

  Tim got home, and found three more marble shrimp there. He ate them all, and replenished six points of health as a result.

  [Health bar = 71/100 points,] The system notified him.

  “Ahh… that feels kinda better.” Tim said, as the pain on his belly reduced by half.

  He id down on the sand afterwards, just so he could rex for a little bit. This had been a busy day, so he needed a break.

  While he rexed, however, he remembered something important. “I think I’m ready to buy that upgrade now, system.”

  [firmed,] She said.

  In an instant, he felt a rge sensation of pain on his jaws, and around his mouth too. That pain spread out in other ways afterwards, and by now, he could only assume that all of this pain came from the upgrade! It had to.

  He developed a strong headache moments ter, and then, his whole body started ag hellishly! He wao shout once or twice, but the pain muffled his voice. That aside, his body was so numb that he couldn’t move at all!

  He went through a whole minute of soul-tearing pain, until finally, the system said. [gratutions! Your hunting, jaws, and natural camoufge capabilities have been upgraded to level three.]

  [This upgrade ed 28 of your system points, and 64 of them remain.] She added.

  "Finally." The boy sighed.

  The pai away as fast as it arrived, he was gd to survive it even, but it had been terrorizing! Little did he know, the pain he went through had an i reward, one which would ence a ‘shopping spree’.

  [Four new purchase options have been unlocked,] The system announced, and the following options, for once, actually seemed iing rather than daunting!

  [Option number one = Upgrade your barb, and barb venom to level ohis option is priced at 45 system points, expe infinitely useful.] She described.

  “Hmm…” Tim sighed, as he debated if he should buy this upgrade, right on the spot.

  However, no matter how much he wao, he resisted buying it. The system spoke about the rest of the upgrades quickly after, which made him bicker with himself intensively; He didn’t know what to buy!

  [Option wo = Eer pressure for 100 more meters. This option is priced at 75 system points.] She added.

  “What the hell is water pressure…” He bickered with himself.

  He didn’t expe answer, but surprisingly, the system described. [It means you swim 100 meters deeper, without taking damage from the sea’s water pressure. This is essential to your progress and survival.]

  Tim didn't even know that water itself could hurt him, but he was curious about it now, so he asked. "How deep I swim now then, system?"

  [For the time being, your maximum depth durability is 200 whole meters.] She said.

  That sounded good enough, and it was great that there were special upgrades like these, ohat could fight against the effects of water pressure. They were expensive, sure, but he felt safer heless!

  Anyway, the system tinued listing the upgrades out. [Option hree = Increase your personal IQ by 10 points. Upgrades like these are special, so this one is priced at 90 system points.]

  The pritimidated him, but he felt that he didn’t have to buy this ht away. He sidered himself to be smart, smart enough, which fairly was a delusional perspective, but he believed it thhly.

  He even asked, "How huge is my IQ now, system? Gotta be over 16ht?"

  She answered that question very quickly, [Your current, personal IQ is 45 points.]

  That was not what he expected, at all. However, he had enough reasons to be positive today, and in the midst of his numerous active delusions, he found another lie for himself to indulge on, one which he could believe easily.

  He excimed, "Well of course, that makes sense! I'm a stingray now, not a human, so I have a smaller brain, way smaller! I’m still smart though, for a fish at least. Yeah, I’m a genius, e on that hehe!"

  Tim’s point of view was iing, but it didn’t really matter much. The only thing that mattered now were the new upgrades that the system introduced. They were important, but for a minute or two, he fot about them pletely; He still bickered about his own intelligence, which ic that could st for hours, if not interrupted!

  The system interrupted him, thankfully, as she listed the st, new option. [Purchase option number four = Unlock your explorative soul abilities. This option is your birthright, so it's priced cheaply, 40 system points specifically, just so you purchase it easily.]

  Read advanced chapters on my Patreon, here!