I'm a Stingray?

Chapter 6: Health -10

Charging towards a detected urchin had to be the best part while hunting such a species, simply because they can't dash away. These small things crawl really slowly.

Originally he wanted to stalk for just a few seconds. But considering that in these surroundings he was constantly exposed to danger, the best solution was to get this over with. So he finally reached close enough to take a bite of the spiny sea-creature.

Satisfaction flew far away from Tim's disposition, because a few of the black arms that surrounded the urchin's body, scratched the little boy's chin. Which in exchange had forced a bit of blood to break out.

Although he had bitten through most of the creature with a single bite, the damage it delivered was still there. And the little one feared for the worst although aware that such small sea-critters couldn't be too dangerous.

[Health -10 bars]

The system declared and it got the sea-pancake a tad scared. But such a small quantity of health loss, didn't feel exactly drastic. So instead, he mainly focused on the burning sensation of pain under his mouth.

Although clear minded, his ego was damaged more than health. So the boy charged towards what was left of the urchin and ate it whole. That managed to give out a hint of satisfaction, but it wasn't enough to tame all the damage that was caused to self esteem.

[Purple sea urchin killed. 1 system point has been given to you as a reward]

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

[Total system points = 54]

[Effect on health, -10 bars]

[Effect on hunger, non existent]

[Effect on sleep, non existent]

[Effect on stamina, non existent]

Pissed beyond prepare, Timmy couldn't resist shouting. "You brought me here just to take 20 points of my health!?"

[Speed has been upgraded to level 5 for 1 hour]

"Wait really?" He instantly questioned, this didn't exactly feel believable. "What level was my speed at before?"

[Level 2]

"Amazing! This is a great cheat!" The sea-disk celebrated and began swimming in circles, enjoying the more than doubled natural speed!

[Health -1 bar]

"Oh shit! This is because of the wounds, isn't it?" The little one questioned while hurrying towards the red portion of the coral reef that he called home.

[Yes]

"I need to find more of those leggy crabs! What were they... the ones that give health?" He queried with a bated breath, due to swimming through a distance of 30 meters in just a mere 5 seconds.

[Marble shrimp]

Not caring much about the name and remembering that the system won't in any way help locate one, a mumble was unleashed. "Yes those. I hope there are a few in my den!"

...

Reaching that little hole he called home, Timothy felt astounded that more of these shrimps were dumb enough to come back here. A few shrimp legs were scattered around the den due to the last feast, and these newcomers ignoring those hints now gave a hunch of just how dumb they were.

But regardless of this opportunity that represented a new feast, the effects won't really be drastic since there were only 4 marble shrimp crawling in the den. The circumstances began feeling even worse when the system notified, [Health, -1 bar]

Motivated from the attempt of avoiding death itself, he hollered. "You leggy crabs can't get away from me!" But of course that thunderous tone just caused a couple of bubbles.

Once reaching the shrimps at the bottom of the hole, he bit through the closest one's back and carried along the chunk with him thanks to the built up momentum. Swallowing the bite, he turned around and dashed towards another living shrimp, biting through it like thunder. Killing these critters was easy considering that a single bite could rip one of them in half!

After the raging stingray finally killed all 4, the system declared. [Total system point = 58]

[Your wound has been tamed by the salty sea waters. Guest will no longer suffer any slowly decreasing health because of the recent injury]

[Health bar = 80/100]

"Pew..." Murmured the little one as he laid fins on the sand, trying to relax a tad bit although not exactly sleepy.

Having the option to think a tad more clearly now, due to the recent wound healing. He could demand, "Let's upgrade my hunting."

[Confirmed]

And in an instant, he started feeling a large sensation of pain on his jaws, around his mouth too. That pain continued by giving a strong headache which followed along with the entire body aching like hell. The system was right in terms of orientation, this is almost unbearable for such an inferior life form.

Wanting to shout, but his mouth feeling far too stiff to do that, all the sea-pancake could do was circle around for a while to let out such rage.

Half a minute of soul torturing pain later, the system finally uttered. [Hunting capabilities have been upgraded to level 2]

[28 system points consumed]

[30 system points remaining]

"Finally." The boy sighed, laying down on the sand and taking his precious time to let stamina regenerate.

But there was one thing the young boy forgot! Well he was forgetting about a lot of things but that wasn't the point here. Buying that upgrade came with the ability to progress even further, and the system made it transparent.

[3 purchase options have been unlocked]

[Option number 1 = Upgrade jaws to level 3]

[Price = 45 system points]

"What a rip off!" The young one instantly complained, obviously not liking these bizarre prices but still had to put up with them, since survival itself was a compensation for all this hard work.

[Option number 2 = Endure water pressure for 10 meters more]

[Price = 75 system points]

"What!" He shouted, again thinking that the price was crazy but then got intrigued by the fancy title. "What does it mean?"

[It means you can swim 10 meters deeper without the sea pressure crushing you]

A tad scared since he didn't think that the sea could do anything like that, he questioned. "How deep can I swim now?"

[200 meters]

Well regardless of the fact that he wasn't aware of sea pressure, it was nice that there were upgrades to go against it. Although it was painfully obvious that it would take a lot of work to buy any of these options.

[Option number 3 = Increase personal IQ by 5 points]

[Price = 90 system points]

"This has to be a joke." Well at least he understood what IQ stood for. But regardless, these prices just sound far too high for his standards.

Feeling tad offended by these prices and wanting to make himself feel better too, he asked. "How big is my IQ now? Gotta be over 160..."

[Your personal IQ = 45]

Dumb apparently but smart enough to notice another fact, he thought out. "Of course... well wait of course. I'm in a stingray body so I have a smaller brain!"

...

It was made clear that he couldn't really buy anything right now. And his health was [80/100] so before the urge for slumber overwhelmed the little stingray, he decided to go for a hunt through the big coral reef that was attached to his den. The aim was to find and chomp on any marble shrimp.

Unwilling to expose himself towards that big shark that wanted to kill him hours ago, it was decided that swimming high over the corals wasn't the best idea. Instead, he slipped and squeezed between various colors of coral.

After a while he found a decent looking tunnel and didn't really pay attention to his surroundings since he could barely fit. But out of a sudden, a semi-sharp pain poked on the middle back. The prime problem was that this place was far too snug to escape the pain.

And so the system declared, [Health, -1 bar]

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