Mature Content Warning: Exploding, burning, fish jerky. Bisexual mermaids. Kissing and such.

Author's Note: Well, here we start the battle-arc for this volume. A little combat set-up and furtherance of the Rhea and Scott dynamic. Expect at least a little combat in each chapter for the next few chapters.

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Chapter 5: I Don't Want to Be Here Without You.

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The sounds of guttural cries and shuffling feet on wet sand and rocks echoed out to sea. The Shar-Shar, a race of beings who resembled several types of predatory fish, but who were bipedal like a man, were celebrating.

Recently they had raided several small finishing vessels and even acquired a bit of interesting cargo. Of course, the thing that they were most proud of was currently held inside a cage along with the rest of their ill-gotten goods. It had almost escaped, but they had caught it and put it to work soon.

The Shar-Shar were separated into several small bands on the island, usually no more than a small few of them were gathered around any single fire. It was something that they had learned long ago, don’t group up. Magic users could completely annihilate them if they did. Of course, that wisdom would prove useless if they became roaring drunk and started to pass out.

Due to their celebratory mood the Shar-Shar closest to the shore did not see the terrors that arose from the deep. Sleek, muscular, and radiating murderous intent, the creatures slipped through the water with ease.

Out of the deep came shimmering blue hair, pouty pink lips, and a frame wrapped in a pink strap. Nearby another dark thing, a creature with blue hair, masculine features, and a tight blue banana hammock that left no room for doubt.

The night-terrors glanced at each other then back toward the drunken fish men. Slow, feral, grins spread across their faces. It was time to get to work.

The duo reached the shore then ran in opposite directions. Scott, the banana hammock clad sorcerer, opened up the battle with a darting of flame. The Shar-Shar were not expecting the attack and the sudden explosion of light and flame took them completely off guard.

The background music, previously a festive steel drum beat, shifted to a dangerous and edgy battle tune. The screams of burning fish men permeated the air.

>>

You have surprised a clan of Shar-Shar. However, your sudden attack has drawn the attention of everything on or near the island.

>>

Neither Scott nor Rhea was stealth oriented. Assassination was not their forte. However, what they lacked in that area they made up for in other ways. Scott, for instance had planned for this eventuality. After the situation in the mine, he had suspected that attacking a single group of the Shar-Shar would alert the whole island.

Chunks of charred fish-man rained down upon the sand. The battle had begun.

“Maghric! Maghric!” cried one of the survivors of the attack. However, he was quickly silenced as thin silver blade slipped neatly between his shoulder blades. He died and turned to motes of light before he ever saw his elven killer.

Scott kept the attention of the fish men by laughing at them and occasionally slapping himself on the ass. Something about the outfit he was wearing really pissed off the Shar-Shar. Was it his chiseled abs? Was it just annoying to be attacked by a man in a banana hammock? It was many things, really.

Rhea spun quickly under the lunging attack of one of the Shar-Shar. She slashed outward at its scaly calves then winced when a bright red number three rose up from the creature. Without the element of surprise, her attack strength was a bit low compared to the higher level monster. She had reincarnated a few times and was easily able to stand against them, but her strength lay in agility rather than raw attack power.

Scott raced forward and laughed at one of the Shar-Shar who was aiming for Rhea. “I’ve fought fish sandwiches that were stronger than you.” His skills as a trash-talker were not superior. His antics still managed to capture the attention of the fish-man.

Several shadows arose further down the shore. A dozen Shar-Shar were on their way to investigate. The duo needed to work faster.

Rhea lashed out with several quick strikes that performed small amounts of damage. However, she managed to position herself well. She ducked under a crude spear strike then slammed the pommel of her blade into the weak shin of her opponent. A loud cracking sound was heard and the beast fell back a little. His chest was completely exposed and Rhea used that to her advantage. She completed her upward movement with a short leap, and then slammed her blade downward with all of the strength that she could muster.

The elven warrior maiden neatly penetrated the Shar-Shar’s rib cage and pierced its heart. It was a critical hit and the beast took sixty points of damage. Unfortunately, even stabbing it in the heart was not enough to kill it, not with the sort of force that Rhea could wield at the moment.

However, the attack had stunned the beast. She stepped her right leg behind the beast, then pressed down. The Shar-Shar was forced to the ground by the expert movement. Rhea put all of her weight into her blade and completely sheared through its heart. The creature exploded into motes of light. That was another one down.

Scott equipped his boomerangs then launched them quickly toward a single opponent. He aimed for the creature’s knees and both of the arcing weapons slammed into the beast one after the other. The Shar-Shar cried out gutturally and fell to the ground.

Rhea spun around then slashed downward. Her blade crashed against the beast’s skull. The attack was followed up by her knee rose up suddenly and slapped against its chin with bone-shattering force. By taking advantage of stuns and critical hits, the elf girl was able to use her slightly lower stats to even the odds just enough to avoid serious injury.

Her guardian angel in a banana hammock continued to draw the more aggressive beasts away. The plan was to allow Rhea to do most of the damage dealing after Scott got their attention. She would receive more experience that way, and she would potentially be able to level faster. Scott had not known that how you fought actively influenced the amount of experience you could earn, but it made sense.

Of course, the bonuses were small for such things. Rhea would still need to defeat far more opponents than Scott to increase her level.

The sorcerer, for his part, was not concerned with his level during this fight. He had chosen to work on his survival ring until he gained those skills. As such he still needed around fifty thousand experience points. Rather, he needed to give up his next four level’s worth of experience to acquire those skills.

“Burn!” cried the man when the wave of newcomers got into range. Fish-men screamed in panic as their friends and comrades burst into flames or exploded in a shower of burning gore.

The burn spell, though a simple class level one spell, had been increased to its maximum capacity through time and training. Scott’s intellect was such that it could do several hundred points of damage to several monsters at once.

More of the beasts came. Despite the deaths of their comrades, they ran full-tilt toward the explosive sorcerer. They held their spears like drunken sailors going to a fish-fry. It seemed appropriate to the man.

Scott’s boomerangs returned to him just in time for him to send them arcing outward once again. This time they caught a Shar-Shar in the wrist and neck. It dropped its spear and began to choke. The sorcerer raced over to it and leapt into the air. The creature threw up a hand in a desperate attempt to block, but the banana hammock clad man unleashed a double-drop kick that tore into its chest with incredible force. Bones shattered, organs were pulverized. The level difference was nothing when you compared he man to the weak Shar-Shar. As far as the sorcerer was concerned, these guys were free experience points.

The Shar-Shar wore little armor and wielded weapons that were even cruder than the weapons that a goblin might use. They had to rely solely on their raw physical prowess. In the sea, they would have been unholy terrors, he was sure of that. On land, they might as well bend over and prepare themselves for what was to come.

Scott neatly spun atop the monster then leapt up. He arched his body to the side and performed a beautiful elbow drop that slammed down with enough force to destroy the remnants of the creature’s chest. It exploded into motes of light with little fanfare.

The Shar-Shar kept coming. Scott lost count of how many had joined the battle. He caught Rhea’s attention and the elven arcane blade nodded. They turned and ran off toward the sea. The Shar-Shar thought that they intended to escape into the ocean and set off in hot pursuit.

However, the creature’s foolishly massed together in doing so. Dozens of the beasts had formed into a group and that was exactly what Scott had wanted when he had laid out his plan to the girls earlier.

Scott and Rhea dived toward the sand then covered their ears. The Shar-Shar kept coming and that proved to be their undoing.

Neira rose out of the surf and stretched her arms out to the oncoming horde. She sang a loud, discordant note. Now that the moon was no longer full, she had regained her proper magic. The power of mermaid magic was in their voice.

The discordant note rose in volume and then shifted into an agonizing shriek. The sand was torn asunder as a trench appeared in front of the mermaid girl. The Shar-Shar had massed together and could not escape the powerful magical assault.

Over three dozen of the beasts were instantly hit with a powerful chaotic stun that caused them to be unable to think coherently.

Scott took advantage of the moment and immediately unleashed several freeze spells in a row, followed by a single burn spell. The Shar-Shar were frozen just before many of them exploded in a shower of gore and light. Fish chunks rained down upon the area as the arcane blade and her sorcerous comrade returned to the battle, such as it was.

Some were frozen, some were on fire. Inexplicably some were frozen while they were on fire. All were thoroughly confused and unable to do anything but die horribly beneath the blade and fists of their horrifying opponents.

After the horde was defeated they waited for the battle report, but nothing happened. The music never changed.

“Are there more of them on the island?” asked Scott. Did they have to find them all?

“Maybe, but there could be monsters in the water. Let’s try going toward the campfire on shore.” said Rhea.

Scott walked over and picked up Neira. The girl did not protest, though she did look over at Rhea briefly. When the elf girl smiled, the mermaid leaned her head against the shoulder of her man-taxi then visibly relaxed.

Ero spoke from inside his mind, “You didn’t need me after all, Scott.”

“We don’t know that yet, Ero.” said the man. It was true. The battle was still ongoing, apparently.

They walked toward the campfire. When the battle music remained in play, they moved even further away. It took a few minutes to reach a point where they had gone far enough to escape the monsters of the deep that had been drawn to the island.

The music changed back to a festive calypso style sound, and the battle report rose up before Scott.

<<< Battle Report! >>>

Victory!!

Your party has exterminated an entire clan of Shar-Shar. For defeating fifty-six opponents in a single battle, you will each receive increased rewards.

+ 0 EXP

+ 42504 Fayth

+ 123 Ability Points

Item(s) Acquired:

Fish Jerky X 26

Crude Bone Spear X 12

Fish Scales X 5

Shar-Shar Necklace [Rare] X 2

>>

Scott’s eyes lit up. They had made out really well and took little damage in the process. It would have been a difficult fight for him alone, but by using their strategy and team work, it had been easy. The Shar-Shar were weaker on land, and that had led to a great result.

He checked his survival lore ring then grinned. His share of the experience had been over fourteen thousand points. If he had defeated the beasts on his own he would have earned three times as much experience, but that was not something he was concerned about. He was finally fighting monsters that gave enough experience to make a dent in the experience requirements for his ring!

“Not bad. Forty-five hundred experience...” said Rhea. Her experience point acquisition was much lower than Scott’s.

Everyone received bonus experience for fighting monsters above their level, but humans were racially prone to far greater experience growth. It was one of their few racial gifts. Elves could live ten times longer and were immune to certain status effects like disease. Trolls regenerated health every second. Humans had a much higher bonus for hunting monsters over their current level. Every race had a specialty.

“Only forty-five hundred?” asked Scott. He knew that he received more experience than she did when fighting beyond his level, but that was ridiculous. If he’d killed them all on his own, he would have earned over forty-two thousand experience points. He could have increased his level four, maybe even five, times.

“Yes, what about you?” asked Rhea. She already knew that he would have received a lot more experience than she had.

Humans were the fastest leveling race in the world if they could overhunt. Of course, that ease of leveling usually meant that humans did not spend as much time on their stat grinding. So, things often evened out in the long run.

“A little over fourteen thousand...” said Scott.

Rhea looked like she was going to be sick for a moment then shook her head. “Such is the nature of humanity.”

Neira looked at Rhea then back up at Scott. The sorcerer had not put her down yet, not that she would complain... “You two, like, get along so well.”

Scott smiled down at the pretty fish girl. “Usually, it’s hard not to like her.”

Rhea’s face took on a slightly pink tinge. “He’s not too bad, either.”

Ero giggled inside the sorcerer’s mind. She was about to say something interesting to Scott about the relationship between her BFF and his elven sort-of girlfriend. However, she was interrupted before she could.

A soft pitiful cry emanated from a wooden pit-cage nearby. “N-Neira...?”

“That voice...!” Neira’s eyes widened in surprise then she looked up at Scott. “Please take me over there!”

He complied with her wishes and carried the mermaid to the source of the voice. It was hard to see in the darkness of the pit, so Rhea helped out by pulling out a torch stone.

The torch stone revealed a dynamic feminine form. The girl in the cage was another mermaid.

“Kiley!” cried the Neira. She immediately thrust her arms down toward the pit but she could not reach it from her position.

“Neira!” cried the girl in the pit.

Rhea unlatched the crude prison then pulled the girl up with ease. Her attack strength might not be equal to a creature that was sixteen to twenty levels higher than her, but she was certainly strong enough to pull a girl out of a pit.

The mermaids clasped each other in a tight embrace. For a moment, Scott thought that they were sisters. However, the sudden embrace soon turned into a hot and heavy series of kisses. Somehow, they did not seem like sisters to the man anymore.

“Wow, Neira. You, like, found Me.” said Kiley with wide and disbelieving eyes.

“Totally!” said the girl. She kissed her friend once more.

Scott glanced over at Rhea then back at the mermaid make out session. “Not to be rude, but... Should I put you down?”

He had been holding her the entire time. Neira looked up at him and blushed sweetly before leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.

Rhea’s eyes narrowed slightly but she said nothing. She did not like the casual way that girl treated her sort-of boyfriend. Of course, she was also not too keen on how she had snuck in a far too sensual kiss earlier when giving her the sea blessing.

“Wow, Neira. When did you find us a boyfriend?” asked Kiley. She smiled sweetly up at the sorcerer then lashed her tail a little.

“He is, so, not my boyfriend. Though, he is cute for a boy.” said Neira. She never bothered to answer Scott’s question about putting her down, however.

“Scott. I think you can put her down now.” said Rhea, casually.

Neira smiled at Rhea then looked up at Scott. “It is fine, I guess. Thank you both for helping me find my fiancé.”

“Fiancé?” asked Scott.

“Yes! We’ve been together for, like, decades!” cried Kiley.

“Shyeah, totally.” said Kiley. She fanned her tail a little then snuggled against Scott. She was a complex creature. She preferred girls, but did not seem to mind snuggling a man clad in a banana hammock.

“Let’s get you girls away from this pit. We can loot this place afterward.” said Scott.

Rhea smiled at thinly, and then nodded. She walked over then gripped Kiley tight. The mermaid girl cried out in surprise when the elf girl slung her over her shoulder in a casual manner.

Neira giggled at her lover’s plight for a moment. However, it did not take long before she acquired a slightly jealous expression. She would have preferred to be carried by Rhea, even if Scott was a nice boy.

They moved toward one of the fires and sat their burdens down next to each other. The mermaid girls immediately began to cuddle with each other and start to whisper back and forth.

Scott overheard only a little of their conversation, but Rhea’s superior hearing allowed her to pick out several ‘likes’ and the occasional, ‘whatever.’

The elf girl smiled at Scott when he walked over to her and reached out his hand. Her smile brightened further when he said, “Milady, would you give me the honor of helping me loot the place.”

“Why, my good sir, I would be delighted.” She curtsied gracefully and he kissed her on the hand.

Rhea’s face darkened slightly, but her smile never left her lips. Scott was being playful again, that was a good sign as far as she was concerned. The man had been moody of late and distant most of the time.

They walked hand in hand over to the various crates and assorted cages. After searching through everything they found a few hundred Fayth and several pearls.

“Hey, did you gain a level from that fight?” asked Scott.

Rhea frowned. “No, I came so close, too.”

“How much more experience do you need?”

She groaned softly then sighed. “Twelve points...”

Scott could not help but laugh at her plight. The girl had come up just a little short.

Rhea pushed at him a little then pouted. “Neira’s wrong. You’re a mean boy.”

“Well, she’s right. You’re a pretty girl.” said Scott, casually.

Rhea snorted at him but did not deny what he had said. If nothing else, the girl knew how to take a compliment.

“So, did you enjoy carrying her around?” asked Rhea after a moment.

Scott turned to the girl and saw that she had turned her head. She now looked down toward the ground. Her hair lightly covered her face, making it impossible to see her expression from his angle. Scott, still excited from murdering so many fish for fun and profit, decided to give in to one of his many temptations.

The man leaned over and scooped her up. Rhea cried out in surprise then started to squirm. “What are you doing, Scott?”

He kissed her softly on the cheek then smiled. “I’m being a mean boy.”

Rhea’s face turned bright red and she looked down. “When do you plan to put me down?”

Scott laughed a little. He was sometimes an unintelligent moron but even he was not clueless enough to miss the subtle way she had said that. She had not asked for him to put her down. She had asked when he planned to do so. “When I feel like it.”

She smiled gently then leaned her head against his shoulder. She closed her eyes softly then released a long slow breath. She breathed in once, gently, and then said “Mean boy...”

“Pretty girl...” whispered Scott. He was not sure where his playfulness was coming from at the moment, but after fighting off that small horde of monsters, and reuniting two lovers, he could almost feel some of the weight on his chest lifting. He had operated under a cloud of fear and frustration for days.

“Am I really that pretty?” she asked sweetly.

Scott leaned her chin against the top of her head. He started to say something goofy, but for once he decided to be blatantly honest. “Yes, I think so.”

“Scott...” Rhea pulled her head back and looked him in the eyes. She could sense the sincerity in his tone.

He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the side of her nose. “I’ve been a butthurt ass of late.”

She shook her head, but did not deny it verbally. Instead, she said. “That was a bad situation, but we can move past it.”

Scott nodded once, slowly. “We... Yeah, we can...”

Rhea’s eyes widened a little. Was, was he actually saying we? “Scott...I...”

He silenced her with a kiss, this time to the lips. Her eyes widened further then slowly closed. She reached her arms around her sort-of boyfriend and held him close. For the first time in days he was taking a bit of initiative and giving her hope for a future where they were together.

They broke apart, but he continued to hold her in his arms. The girl’s eyes began to shimmer as tears started to form.

“I... I love you, Scott.” said Rhea. She had not openly said that since they had first met.

He looked at her for a moment. A series of complex expressions crossed his face.

Her heart began to beat faster due to the tension in the air. She wore a complicated expression for a brief instance when he leaned in like he was going to kiss her. Wasn’t he going to say something?

Scott did say something. He slipped past her cheek then softly whispered into her ear. “I don’t want to be in this world without you, Origin.”

Her face began to heat rapidly. Her entire body began to burn as far as she could tell. He had not told her that he loved her too, but he had used her real name and admitted that he would not want to be here without her! That was an incredibly step forward as far as she was concerned.

Scott kissed her on the ear and Rhea squirmed against him. Her sudden movements caused him to lose balance and they fell back against a sand dune.

The man was hopelessly pinned by her gaze a moment later. The goddess in elf’s clothing looked at him with shimmering eyes and softly parted lips. There were no more words after that. Rhea pressed her banana hammock clad man-candy against the sand dune and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

Inside Scott’s head a single word resounded. “Interesting...” Ero, had born witness to their moment and she was taking notes.