We arrived at what seems to be a Kingdom. At first I thought it was a Settlement, but when we got inside, I saw the Beautiful Castle, surrounded by its incredible kingdom.

As we walk around, I notice that there are a lot of Red Banners being set up, no Symbols on them, just Red Banners. The People setting them up are decked in red colored Armor. The only coordination really is the red colorings. Even the Older Children are gearing up in shades of bright red. Everyone seems excited.

People are greeting Aribelle and Gabdin as they walk along, teasing them over coming home so early. My newfound Friends tell them that they found something even more valuable than Boars, and everyone takes a look at my Bowl. They look confused and disappointed about there just being a bowl of Water. Aribelle explains to them that I’m some sort of ‘Living Water’ and tells them they’re taking me to be appraised and get a better idea on what kind of Creature I am.

A Teenage Girl adorned in Red Armor runs up, mentioning that She’s actually heard of Creatures like me. She tells them to bring me to the Kingdom’s Elder, saying He should have a better idea on what I am.

I’m surprised people even know about us, I was thinking we went extinct a long time ago.

Maybe we did, and there were Stories written about our Species.

And with that thought, the Teenage Girl speaks up again while bringing us to the Elder. “I believe Mr. Gradabor said these Creatures have 3 stages to their Lifespan: Puddle Kid, Pond King, and Great Lake Elders.” Aribelle and Gabdin nod as we continue walking, with Miraha still clinging to Gabdin’s back. “I see~, do you think it might be the same Species?” Aribelle says, as She thinks to herself. Gabdin begins to get worried, and continues Aribelle’s thought. “Wait, does that mean it won’t be worth as much?” As Gabdin starts looking sad, the New Girl starts again. “No... It would probably be worth even MORE Money because you’ve rediscovered a Species that was previously considered extinct, Mr. Gabdin.” Gabdin begins to get excited again. “Well we gotta’ hurry up then!” Gabdin began running faster until Miraha donked him on the Head, and She crawled off of him, waking up. “Are we there yet?...” Miraha speaks sleepily, rubbing her Eyes.

It’s pretty interesting how everyone seems to have accepted that Ms. Miraha sleeps like this..

Yes, to be honest, this entire Kingdom actually seems to be pretty tight knit, it’s amazing really, everyone seems to know and love each other.

It’s truly amazing to see something like this, this is definitely not a Small Kingdom by ANY stretch of the word… Imagine if America was like that…

It must be thanks to the Second Conscious. I can remember the Name and Face of everyone we meet.

As I discuss this with my other Minds, the Teenage Girl stops everyone. “Wait, stop, we’re getting close to Blue Team Territory, we might have to go around.” Aside from that, Miraha has decided to walk on her own. “Isn’t the Mock War still 3 Days away Norala?” Norala pulls out a Map, and continues. “Well you see, I’m participating in the Front Lines, so it would be cheating if I ventured in their area before the actual Mock War Event begins.” I analyze the Map as Norala explains her problem. It’s a Map of the entire Kingdom, it’s actually a lot larger than I thought. Norala runs her Finger across the Map, outlining the Front Lines of both Teams. Norala shows us a Path through the outermost district into the inner part of the Kingdom, and to the actual Castle. “I admit it’s a bit out of the way, but if you go through this Direction, you won’t have to go through those Dirty Blues.” Everyone giggles at that, and they agree to go with Norala’s Directions.

Well, this ‘Mock War Event’ seems pretty interesting, I want to learn more about it.

It must be an Annual Event in their culture, 2 sides of the Kingdom pick up Arms for a Pretend War for some fun.

Now I want to participate, It sounds like fun!

Oh, hey, we just got a Quest!

For real?!

Awesome!

Yeah, we’ve gotta’ surprise a group of People. There’s no fail conditions this time, but if we use Telepathy the Reward gets boosted.

What? For real? That’s awesome!

Yeah, since we’re already developing a Telepathy Skill, we can get the Reward Boost too!

Well, what are we waiting for?! Let’s get cracking on this new Skill!

Alright then, haha, let’s see, the first Skills we’ll need are: Mana Sense, Mana Field, Mind Sense, Brainwave Detection, and Mana Linking.

That’s a hot few. Is there anymore?

Yeah, this is sadly the first step of the 3 Step Roadmap. As I said, this Skill is complicated. Thankfully though, when you’ve developed all of these Skills, it’ll make other Roadmaps easier. Since you have already developed Mana Manipulation, and Mana Conversion, we’re already able to create Mana Sense and Mana Field, which are both area Detection Skills.

I see. That should be really useful when developing Skills on the fly later on.

Welp! I best get to working on these Skills!

About 20 Minutes later, we arrived at the Castle, and I finally finished Mana Sense. What I did was I used Mana Conversion to create a Mana Light that only bounces off Mana, and phases through everything else. So now I have a low cost Skill that can tell me where anything with Mana is.

As we approach the Castle, a Guard opens the front Door, welcoming us in. We enter into an absolutely massive Room with a gorgeous Golden Throne, beautiful Red Carpet, Golden Statues of each King with their Name written on Obsidian Plaques. Overtop of us is a massive Golden Chandelier. There’s Doors leading to many different Rooms, and I watch People entering and exiting them. Now that I think about it, Gold seems to be the main Decoration in this Castle, even the Pillars are decorated with Gold.

When I’m brought closer, I notice the King isn’t in his Throne, I guess He can’t just be in that one place all day anyw- “Mr. Gradabor! Hey, we have something to show you!” Norala calls out to him, and he walks over, he looks a little tired. “Ah, Norala, what is it that you need? I’m a little busy, turns out the Genesis Research Facility was attacked last night. I’m currently trying to help the King get into contact with the Prince so He can deal with it. We’re hoping he can rescue the Children before the Assailants do something horrible.” Everyone’s expressions fall when he explains what’s happening, but Norala continues. “Ah, I see, I’m sorry, it won’t take long, I just need you to take a look at this Creature we found.” Aribelle shows me to Gradabor, and he raises an Eyebrow. “I don’t see anything… Let me use that Mana Sense Skill-” As Gradabor activates the Skill, his eyes begin to widen. “Wait, this can’t be… Alright, the King can handle this on his own, come with me everyone.” Gradabor guides us through the Castle, and into his Personal Study. “Alright now, place the bowl on my Desk.” Aribelle places me on the Desk, and everyone looks at me. “So, what is it Mr. Gradabor?” Asked Norala, as She kept looking at me. Gradabor raises an Arm and flicks it through my Body, and pulls out a part of my Water before I could detach the Mana. My Body erupts into a flurry of relentless Spikes, until Gradabor puts water back into my Bowl.

“As I thought, it’s a Puddle Kid… Who found this?” Gabdin raises his Hand. “M-Me, Sir. I found the Puddle Kid.” Gradabor nods, and looks back at me. “It’s a good thing you found it when you did, you might have just prevented a World Disaster.” Everyone but Gradabor is in shock, as he continues. “Once we’ve killed this Puddle Kid, I’ll order a Wide Spread Search for any more possible Puddle Kids. You see, Puddle Kids have no Natural Predators, and when they become a Pond King, they can separate into multiple Puddle Kids, depending on the size. And then Great Elder Lakes can just produce Puddle Kids forever until they’re killed.”

Are you kidding me?! I’m not a creature, or an Animal, I’m a Monster!

Everyone’s eyes are wide open. Gabdin’s eyes are wide open, and he speaks up. “W-wait, what? Why does it have to die?” Gradabor looks at Gabdin, and his Eyebrow raises. “These Creatures have caused the Extinction of more creatures than anything else. Because they grew quickly, had no natural predators, and ate anything organic, they soon ate through 1/4th of all creatures in the Ocean. If you walked too close to a Lake, you would get grabbed and crushed to death, then eaten. These Creatures would have gone on to rid the World of all life if Prince Arigold hadn’t wiped them out.”

Wait, PRINCE Arigold?

Everyone is watching me with a newfound Horror, everyone but Gabdin. “But- Is there really nothing else we can do?” Gradabor strikes Gabdin in the Chest, sending him flying into the Wall, making everyone back away. “I have seen these damn things crush Ocean Kings to paste you idiot! They’re not even self aware, the only thing they know how to do is Kill, Eat, and Reproduce! These things only know how to Kill, the fact that you were able to get it in a Bowl is amazing to begin with.” Gabdin stares at Gradabor with stress and fear. “But what if it was aware?! It sprayed water in my face when I first found it, it didn’t attack me!”

Yeah, Gabdin’s right, I didn’t attack him, I’m no Monster…

How do you plan to prove that?

The only way I know how: Terrible Party Tricks!

I decide to use some of my Mana to produce some water, then I start compressing it into a Fountain. Everyone stares at me, they calm down a little, even Gradabor. “See? It’s not evil, it wouldn’t be doing that if it was. They’re aware!” Everyone looks at Gabdin again, he’s got the spark of Determination in his eyes. “They’ve got to be, they would have attacked me! I promise, they’re not dangerous.”

After everyone has calmed down, I decide to test out my Vocal Ripple Skill, and I start making simple Clicks, they ripple out of my Body and it gets transmitted to the Air. Everyone listens as I try to reproduce a Song I liked with Blips and Beeps.

Gradabor sits down, and lowers his hand to my Body. I stop singing. I compress my Body, and he lays his Hand on my Surface. “It’s cold.” He pushes his Hand into my Body, molding it. “And Squishy..” I move my body around his hand gently. “And Gentle…”

Gradabor’s face muscles decide that they need a break, and He looks at me with Regret, removing his hand. “Maybe… Maybe I was a bit too hasty. You don’t have to kill it. I’ll go inform King Valigold of the rebirth of the Living Water Species, and then I’ll give out an order to investigate the area you found this Puddle Kid.”

Wait, did He just say Valigold?!

He has to be, he must be the father of Arigold...

They must have promised Mother that they would give Genesis Haven protection, then they betrayed Her!

Miraha raises her Hand. “So, um, uh.. Should we take the Puddle Kid with us to get Appraised? I’d like to know how intelligent they really are, and see what’s going on with them.”

Gradabor rubs his Chin, and speaks up again. “Yes, I’m actually an Appraiser, before I gave out the Order, I was planning to appraise the Puddle Kid. I guess I can go ahead and do that now.” Gradabor closes his eyes, and I feel Mana press up against my Body.

Be calm, Chamber, he’ll probably read your side to find out what’s really going on with us.

BAD TOUCH BAD TOUCH BAD TOUCH STRANGER DANGER!!!

I fight back the Jet Spikes as Chamber’s Will starts trying to activate my Fight or Flight response. “Alright, let’s see, Names… Charlotte- What name is that? Chamber? Mr. Fear- What the hell??? And Demitallis, I’ve heard that one before...” The Name Judging Jackass lightly rattles off my Names and begins to go over my Skills. “Oh wow, they’ve already begun to develop Magic Skills, and- Involuntary Developmental Breakdown? Is that an HDR-” His eyes widen with realization to me unlocking control of my IDM. Gradabor’s face pales and he begins to sweat. “Holy shit… It’s unlocked it’s Hyper Developmental Reflex…”

Oh, is that what they call it? That actually sounds better…

No way, I like your's way more dude!

Gradabor leans against the wall, places his hand on his head, and just stares at me with Fear. “Mr. Gradabor, what’s a uh- HDR thingy?” Gradabor looks over at Norala with the same expression for a moment, then calms down. “The HDR is… It’s a Function found in all creatures. It’s rare, but it’s most likely to activate when the Creature is Young, and put under mind shattering Stress.”

Everyone looks at me again, trying to figure out what I must have gone through. “You know, it’s funny really, Puddle Kids aren’t born with Thoughts or Emotions, they’re like living machines, they don’t get stressed, they just eat, or die…” Gradabor rests his face in his Hand, and starts to laugh. “The best part is, this one knows our Language too, it’s awake, it’s fully aware, she probably had no idea how horrible her own species was until I revealed it to her…”

…

Are you okay, Charlotte?

I’ve been waiting for this day, for like, 1 and a half days! I’ve finally been referred to as a Girl!

Yes, your long awaited dream, it’s been fulfilled, I’m so happy for you.

How about the rest?

Oh, what? Nah, Idc, I’m my own Puddle Kid who doesn't need no bowl.

Oh really now?

Dude, don’t, She might try something bad.

Fine.

“So wait, you mean to say, everything we said around it- them- Her- She heard it?” Gabdin seems incredulous, so I make a Click. Gradabor’s calmed down and now he’s just got a Deadpan. At the sound of my Click, he makes a ‘Told ya’ so’ face, and refers to me with a simple gesture of his Hand. The other 4 are just shocked, they just stare at me. “She’s actually only a Day and a half old, if you can believe that. And she’s already developed 14 Skills. On another note, they actually hid their Titles, Memories, and Stats. I guess they didn’t want me to see that bit.”

There’s another silence, and Aribelle finally speaks up. “Hey, uh-” Gradabor cuts in. “Call them Demitallis, or Demi.” Aribelle thanks him quickly. “Um, Demi, 1 Bloop for Yes, 2 for No, and 3 for Maybe. Did you by chance come from Genesis Haven?”

Oh. I didn’t think She’d figure that one out.

I make a simple Beep, and their Eyes widen. “D-Did you escape the facility when it was invaded?”

I beep once more. “Was there a woman named Grandelaver-Genesis-Egress?”

I pause for a moment, then make another beep.

Oh boy.

“Did She die?”

“Beep”

“Thank you, I’ll… I’ll be going.”

Chapter: 7 “Now that you know, how will you handle it? How could you?”

Thank you for reading.