Aegaeon grabbed the shark and pulled it behind him as he trudged back to the shelter. He had aches and pains all over but again, his injuries were much less than they should have been. Aegaeon appreciated the chance he had to fight this monstrosity of a shark; given it had almost killed him but it helped him greatly in improving his skills.

He also thought of what he would make out of the sharkskin. He had options sure, but his abilities to fashion it would be limited. He thought clothing would be great but quickly discarded it after a second thought. Maybe something for Clarissa? Aegaeon thought over what her needs were.

The thought struck him when he considered her needs for growth and when he got back to shelter he quickly began working on this idea. Cutting the meat off the skin was easy with the help of Neptune’s Wrath. It left the grey tissue that was tough and difficult to work with. It was extremely durable as well as capable of taking a direct hit from his blade and not even scratching; it took an empowered stab to simply puncture the material.

Working quickly Aegaeon had a difficult time trying to tie the end of the piece together as the skin didn’t adhere to itself. He took strands of sinew from the meat and used that as a form of string and slowly punctured and stitched the outside of the material. It took a long time but the final product looked quite good. Storing it in his inventory and pleased with his craft, Aegaeon dragged himself out of the shelter and worked his way over to were Clarissa was when he left.

Aegaeon figures Clarissa would be stretching but seeing her stretch between the trees with sunlight filtering through gave him pause. This woman was angelic. There were no other words. Feeling immediately inadequate, Aegaeon shuffled over to where she was. Nervousness gripping him like a vice.

At Aegaeon’s approach Clarissa gasped, how had he been beaten so badly?? He looked like he’d been dragged through the forest by his toes and dropped from the highest trees. His hair was a tangled mess still glittering from the lake water and he was scratched and scuffed from head to toe with deep bruises running across his body. He had his shirt off and she could see what looked like massive scars running across his chest.

“What happened to you? You leave for 3 hours and come back looking like you were almost murdered!”

Chuckling to himself and hoping to ease the awkward tension in his chest Aegaeon explained what occurred.

“Well I was swimming in the late and I saw this thing below me in the dark. I tried to focus and figure out what it was and suddenly it attacked me. A massive shark came flying towards me and we fought. I barely lived, and got beaten up quite a bit. If it weren’t for water healing me, I’d be floating around the lake. I was lucky.”

“Well I’m glad you’re okay, you are okay aren’t you?”

“Yeah I’m fine I’m, just tired is all. I made this for you.”

Aegaeon pulled the sharkskin from his inventory and displayed what he’d made. It was a large bag with a spout at the top. It was stoppered with a rope that tied the end. Grabbing the bag the skin pulled at her fingers and felt like it could rip her hands apart. At least it wouldn’t ever slip from her grip.

“What is it for?”

“It’s for you to get enough water from the lake to work on your garden. I guess you could put whatever you want in it, but I thought it’d help you level up.”

“Thanks! This is awesome! I’m sure it will help a lot. Couldn’t you use it though?” “Sure I could, but I wanted to make it for you. I have no real need of it.”

“Well thank you!”

She smiled at Aegaeon and his heart leapt. Why did she have this affect on him? Trying to ignore his feelings Aegaeon announced he was going to get some rest. Wishing her luck on her leveling Aegaeon turned around and walked back to the shelter.

Coming to the shelter Aegaeon was torn between sleeping and going back to the water. It would heal and rejuvenate him and also give him experience. His logical brain decided for him and guided him away from the sleep his mind craved. He had been through a lot and needed time to process everything.

Going over the events of the day in his head he thought of the pain of his ribs cracking and his arm breaking. Even if he was getting more powerful his body couldn’t be this weak. Thinking about his state of being; Aegaeon decided to work on his physical strength. Swimming helped but it would most improve his speed in water and not his endurance or composition.

Kneeling in the shallow end of the lake an idea of how to train his body crossed Aegaeon’s mind. He could do basic workouts in the shallow end of the water and still grow his Water’s Respite level and get its perks. Aegaeon leaned forward in the shallow water and put his hands down and laid down.

About half of his body was covered by water, which was more than enough for Aegaeon. He dedicated himself to doing push-ups until his arms gave out, that way he’d have marked increases in his physical strength. Working up a sweat, Aegaeon began to quiver on his ups. His arms whining at the discomfort.

Aegaeon could hear weird popping and scraping noises coming from his arms as his bones shifted against one another. The pain started to build and Aegaeon started to lose his breath. Grimacing, Aegaeon pushed through the pain.

The discomfort in his arms continued to grow; so too did Aegaeon’s determination to not give in. He continued to lift himself. At some point in all this his left arm gave out, which was probably from it being broken earlier that day.

Falling on his face in the shallow water, Aegaeon collapsed from exhaustion. He laid in the water and breathed it in. He could feel more sand in this water that at deeper levels and it bothered his throat as it glide through his respiratory tract. He could feel the course sand rubbing against his tissues and the pain was extreme but nowhere near the level of pain he just endured. This was child’s play.

Continuing to lay there and deal with the annoyance he felt Aegaeon checked his notifications.

New Skill: Physical Fitness, as you work your body it’s becomes more durable and strong. Level increases strength and capacity to take damage. Lvl 1

New Skill: Pain Tolerance, as you endure pain you feel it’s effects on you less, effect increases with level. Lvl 1

Physical Fitness up 12

Pain Tolerance up 7

Too exhausted to revel in his growth, Aegaeon passed out face down in the water. Waking up in the middle of the night, Aegaeon looked at the moon; it was full and bright, with pockmarks that left a stunning view. Rolling over and gaining control over himself, Aegaeon stood and prepared himself for the tenderness in his arms. Water’s Respite truly was amazing seeing as Aegaeon’s arms felt normal.

Aegaeon cast a cursory glance at his notifications.

Water’s Respite up 8

Water’s Emissary up 4

Sleeping in water allowed you to become more comfortable in it. Getting more acquainted will with water will significantly improve your understanding and ability to utilize it in your travels.

This was interesting. Simply being in water helped him? Was this how it was for everyone? Just simply being somewhere improved you? Aegaeon felt that it was experience he didn’t earn, and that left him confused. He should be wanting all the free help he can from the system right? Thinking about it more, Aegaeon felt that if you didn’t earn it, it wasn’t yours. And he didn’t want his abilities to be owned by some world. That would mean he was owned by some world.

Aegaeon submerged himself into the water once more and felt that breathing in water felt better than breathing air. It seemed that water had more of what his body needed than air did, and that was concerning to say the least. Why was this happening to him? Why was this much adjustment taking place quicker than he could understand it?

Figuring it was part of living in this world or doing something incredibly right, Aegaeon accepted his situation. Better to allow this world to strengthen him than to grow weak out of spite. Checking his Paths Aegaeon quickly poured his PP into Water’s Errant. It excited him for multiple reasons, chief among them being that this path didn’t start with “Path of...” which indicated it was a greater path.

Congratulations on completing Water’s Errant. Straying from the path of least resistance gives you strength and control. As a reward for completing this path you have a choice to make.

1)Combine your Water Skills into one and create a class?

2)Magnify the power of your understanding of water and strengthen your control?

1 or 2?

Aegaeon thought this through. If he selected to create a class and combine his skills into 1 he’d lose a lot of ability to gain PP; but that would probably be worth it considering the potential of a class. Also, if he just magnified his understanding of water that doesn’t necessarily make his skills more unified, it just means they are slightly elevated from now. Given his trajectory of growth, Aegaeon felt the most important option was to create a class and combine his skills into one. Aegaeon selected number 1.

Congratulations, for completing a greater path you were offered a choice and you choose to combine your skills and create a class.

Calculating...

Calculating...

Gathering Energy required...

New Class Created:

Ocean’s Ascendant, you feel the power of water surge through you as you align yourself with it’s overwhelming might. Using water based skills and abilities costs significantly less energy than previously and will continue to cost less with levels. Lvl 1

New Skill: Aquatic Agent, water is your guide, tool, and strength. It heals and empowers you. Water follows your guide and bends to your will. Lvl 45

Congratulations! You are the first o create your own class from this world. As a reward you have received new equipment.

Merfolk Garb has been added to your inventory.

Merfolk Garb, a clothing set that has properties pertaining to water. Merfolk Garb remains dry in and out of water, and can therefore be worn intermittently between the two. Due to water’s cleansing powers, Merfolk Garb is exceptionally resilient to dirt and stains. Merfolk Garb also boosts water abilities while in a body of water. Any rips or tears in Merfolk Garb are repaired in water as a consequence of Aquatic Agent.

Aegaeon equipped the item from his inventory and suddenly he was dressed in what looked like a black kimono. It had a very Japanese style, but felt comfortable and natural on his body. Looking down at his feet, he noticed that by equipping the Merfolk Garb he unequipped his regular clothing and that included his shoes.

Aegaeon figured that if it was supposed to be worn with shoes, some would have come with the set. He felt the water around him yet sure enough the clothing he wore felt normal and dry. Aegaeon liked the style, he thought that Neptune’s Wrath would complement the look and drew his dagger. Pulling it out in the water left a clear ring like a bell.

Sensing movement, Aegaeon looked around. Off to one side there were two creatures just milling through the water. They looked like Eels and were small, about the size of Aegaeon’s arm. They were twining around each other, the longer of the two appeared wrapped around its companion.

Aegaeon’s experience so far with life in water was predatory. He’d fought a barracuda and a shark, and neither seemed friendly. Seeing these to things just enjoying each other’s company was a nice relief for Aegaeon. There was beauty in the life here. It wasn’t just kill or be killed.

Noting this Aegaeon peered past the eels, he was curious how about the quantity of peaceful life here in the depths. Swimming lower, Aegaeon observed the rocks along the lake floor. There was plant life teeming around and even on the rocks. Little fish kept darting back and forth between rocks and swam in lazy circles.

Watching this scene Aegaeon had a feeling that water was both beautiful and deadly. That it was the source of life, and just as easily as giving life, it could take it away. At the end of the day, the beautiful scene before him was accompanied by predators that thrived off of this lower level of life.

It felt wrong to leave the scene and keep swimming around the lake, but curiosity got the better of Aegaeon. He tore his view from the lifeforms that made the base of the aquatic food chain and made his way forward. If Aegaeon wanted to become stronger, he needed to train. What better way than to find a beast that challenges him?

Swimming as fast as he could, Aegaeon tore across the lake. He passed by massive fronds of Algae growing and thought again how life was beautiful. Not finding anything at his current depth, Aegaeon descended further still. Finding the bottom of the lake, Aegaeon searches for other beasts who could challenge him. Another shark would be a great way to test his growth. But what came was nothing short of.... disappointing.

A barracuda approximately half of the size of the first came darting across his field of vision. It tried to cling to the shadows but due to Perceptive Gaze, Aegaeon could trace its every move. It darted towards Aegaeon and he just lazily lifted a finger and blasted it was a shot of water. No longer did he have to utilize a skill to manipulate water but rather it was moved to conform to his idea.

The shot of water did little to harm the barracuda but it sent it spiraling away. Not to be discarded the beast swam with gusto back to Aegaeon’s position. This time he imagined a massive hand of water swatting the gnat away. Immediately the water around the creature swirled into action and slapped the barracuda out of sight.

Aegaeon thought it had left but the nagging little fish wanted him desperately. This time instead of trying to swat it away, Aegaeon looked to crush it. Imagining the weight of all the lakes water crushing down on the barracuda tired Aegaeon. He felt energy rush out of him as the water on top of the thing pushed downward with enough force to smash it flat.

The beast floated around flat, it’s eyes bulged out from the sudden increase in internal pressure and guts were floating from its mouth. It was a gross sight to behold but Aegaeon smiled. His powers were increasing, he’d been able to control water much more efficiently than a few days ago when he started.

The water took the general shape of his thoughts but not quite definite and concrete images. He would have to work more with working water into controlled and exact shapes and movements. Planning his next section of training, Aegaeon felt vibrations through the water. Hoping it was something that would improve him we went towards the source of the movement.

It took him towards the surface and that’s when Aegaeon saw Clarissa throwing rocks into the water. He didn’t want to deal with her right now. His feelings were too mixed up. But here she was and Aegaeon felt compelled to answer. Slowly walking out of the water, Aegaeon received a look of wonder from Clarissa. Then a question formed in her mind that was visible in her facial details.

“Where did you get that?” Indicating his new clothes.

“I created my own class and got this as a reward from the World.”

“Really? You have a class now? What is it? What do they do? How does it feel?”

“It’s kinda weird really. It just made learning water based abilities and using them a lot easier. It also said something about me aligning myself with water. I don’t know it’s all a little much and it’s super confusing.”

“That’s awesome! How do your water skills feel now?”

“Well it’s actually just one now. That was the other thing that happened. All my water skills turned into one that covered them all.”

“Really? That’s awesome!”

Inwardly Clarissa felt that she was letting herself and Aegaeon down by not doing as well as him. It frustrated her that she didn’t know how to level up any faster. She had gained 12 levels in Acrobatics while he was gone but it wasn’t even her idea. It was his. Was he that much better than her?

Looking at her status screen, Clarissa made the decision to spend PP on a path. She had the exact amount needed to finish both her Botanist and Acrobats paths and completing them excited her. This was the path to Aegaeon’s strength right? Accomplishing paths? She received two notifications.

Congratulations on accomplishing the Path of Botanists! Your struggle has been long and you’ve learned that planting crops can be rewarding. Plants that you nurture grow significantly faster as a result.

Congratulations on accomplishing the Path of Acrobats! Through long hours of training, your body has become flexible and quick. Skills related to movement have an increased effect and improve faster.

Okay, so it wasn’t controlling anything with her mind, but Clarissa was happy with the results. These were her first paths and she’d start training to do more.

“Well I’m going to tend to my garden, I’m hoping to level that and open another plant based path.”

“That sounds like a good idea. I’m going to get some sleep. It’s been a long day and I’m ready for bed.”

“Okay, I’ll be up for a bit with my garden and then I’ll probably sleep too.”

“Sounds good. See ya later.”

Leaving from where she had been practicing her Acrobatics, Clarissa walked towards her garden. She was hoping that her plants were growing well and but she wasn’t expecting this much growth. When she turned to look at her garden her eyes grew wide with wonder. Her plants were fully grown.

She went forward and touched her plants checking to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Surprised at their progress she harvested the berries from all the plants and took some of the mushrooms. There was a small mushroom next to the Mushroom of Mass Production and when she studied it, she saw the same name.

It was a sapling Mushroom of mass production. She carefully plucked the mushroom and stored it in her inventory. Turning her attention back to the rest she gathered what she couldn’t plant and stored them for later use. She wanted to play with making potions.

Taking her ingredients back to the shelter, she kneeled in the center of the haphazard branches. This would need to improve or she’d lose her mind. She couldn’t think of how to make it better so she ignored the problems and set to work.

Using her hands, Clarissa ground some of the berries up. She turned them to a past and set them aside. She also put some aside to dry thinking that dried berries might have a different impact on potions.

Turning to the mushrooms she had, Clarissa thought of different ways to deal with them.

Clarissa could take segments of the Mushroom by ripping them off, or she could grind it all up in a paste as she’d done before but another thought entered her rational. She could cut strips out of the mushrooms and have them that way. She wasn’t sure how that would make any difference in potions but she was curious and figured this was the best way to check.

Turning to ask Aegaeon to cut her mushrooms with his dagger Clarissa realized he wasn’t there.... where was he? Why didn’t he stay in the place he had made for the two of them? Aegaeon was confusing, to put it simply, and Clarissa wanted to focus instead of getting lost in thoughts and emotions that didn’t add up.

Turning her attention back to her work, Clarissa decided she would need her own tools in order to make potions. Since that was currently unavailable she figured she’d do the rudimentary work she could for now and improve her level, regardless of how long the process of progression took.

Clarissa took the mashed up berry paste and added it to the mushrooms she had. She then mashed that together until a thick goop was the product. She took this goop and separated it into what looked to be edible portions. These were the same as before and only offered minor healing benefits. Her skills went up though.

Gardening up 2

Potion Making up 4

It was progress, and she’d continue to work hard until she was strong. She figured that in order to get better potions she’d have to have better ingredients. Looking around their camp, Clarissa found nothing. There was grass, some bushes, pine trees, sand, and the lake that Aegaeon was constantly in. But nothing she could utilize.

She’d have to talk to Aegaeon about moving. She was worried since he seemed to be advancing so quickly and she knew he loved the water and wouldn’t want to leave it. She considered her options as far as getting him to travel with her to find a better place for both of them. It would be an awkward conversation she wasn’t prepared to have.

******

Aegaeon left Clarissa to her gardening and went back to the water. He wanted to rest and because of all the perks he enjoyed with water and sleeping in water it would be asinine to sleep anywhere else. He walked comfortably into the placid water disturbing its mirror surface.

The cool water climbed up his legs and his chest until he was submerged. Aegaeon reveled in the feeling of the substance rising up over him. He found a soft spot of sand bar before it dropped to rocks and curled up comfortably for some rest.

Aegaeon woke to small fish nibbling at his toes. The tickling sensation drew him from his sleep as he pulled his feet away from the fish. They were persistent and followed him. Annoyed, Aegaeon raised up and pushed the fish away with water. He didn’t want to deal with them.

Feeling more coming back towards he looked up and saw a school of barracudas coming towards him. He was tired and didn’t want to deal with them either. Moving his hand instinctually at this point he swatted a few away but more came ever onward.

Focusing more intently on the predators coming his way, Aegaeon reached within himself and envisioned the water around him and the fish. He had time before they arrived and figured he’d deal with these creatively to test his powers. Thinking of the water next to the fish Aegaeon reached out.

Feeling the water felt natural as he tried to force the water to cut through the fish. His control wasn’t good enough to completely shred the barracuda to ribbons but it was enough to bluntly cut a long gash from head to tail. It stopped accelerating and drifted slowly forward until it floated in place, the rest of the barracudas advanced undeterred.

Getting a better sense of the water around them, Aegaeon was able to determine there were about 13 left swimming towards him. They formed what looked like a solid spear of movement, with a lead fish followed by each other barracuda in an almost single file line occasionally lapping each other. Aegaeon concentrated on the lead attacker, as he’d done with the barracuda he crushed.

Trying to squish the barracuda with less water than before he focused on compressing the water immediately around the barracudas head. He could feel the pull of energy as the water obeyed his will. It pushed in on the fishes head and collapsed it inward. The body floated away from the goo and drifted backward as though launched from the force. Still the others advanced.

Drawing much closer than Aegaeon anticipated they would he pushed them backward with a blunt shove of water and concentrated once again on the lead. Focusing as much as he could he pulled the water and shoved it back and forth effectively vibrating the liquid around its gills.

Applying more force he felt as the fish struggled to advance. For the most part his efforts were regarded as an annoyance and wasn’t quite a threat to the barracuda. Focusing more intently on the water immediately surrounding the gills of the fish, Aegaeon pushed and pulled more intently. Feeling a tug in his stomach and strain on his mind he felt the water increase it’s ferocity.

The barracuda only had a moment to process the sudden increase in threat level before its gills were pulled from its body. Aegaeon was running out of time before the remaining barracudas arrived. He didn’t have enough time to employ more water tricks and reached for Neptune’s Wrath.

The blade felt cool and comfortable in his grip as it sprung from the nowhere that was his inventory. It felt natural to wield the blade in the face of these enemies. The barracudas grew closer still and the mass was almost upon him. Feeling an odd sense of reason, Aegaeon flipped his grip on the blade so it ran along his forearm blunt edge towards him.

Aegaeon crouched in water preparing to strike, his garb drifting dryly around him. He had the appearance of a Japanese Assassin and it looked good. Aegaeon thought that if it were people before him instead of fish they’d have been intimidated.

Moving Neptune’s Wrath through the water felt natural as he sliced through the first two barracudas in his initial swing. The remaining few dispersed around the gore of their brethren and tried an multi-angle attack. There were about five left and they attacked from what looked like a five pointed star.

On a downward left slash, Aegaeon took out two of them and kicked out the bottom left with a spin kick. This presented his left side from turning to the upper and bottom right fish that attacked and bit into him. Grabbing the fish that bit into his arm, Aegaeon squeezed and killed the barracuda with sheer force.

For the remaining attacker, Aegaeon grabbed the fish and took the knife. He felt where to stab it using Assassin’s Intuition and slowly set the blade into its flesh. It squirmed in pain as he slowly killed the last one. Holding it in his hands, Aegaeon looked at the carnage before him.

Parts and pieces of fish were floating everywhere, already smaller fish were picking at the remains. Wanting to support the peaceful life, Aegaeon left the carcasses and turned to look at the fish in his hands. Why did they come in a school when the others attacked alone? Was there something else behind this attack?

Those answers wouldn’t come while just sitting here. Aegaeon turned to his notifications to see if he grew from this experience.

Aquatic Agent up 7

Assassin’s Intuition up 3

Perceptive Gaze up 2

Dagger Work up 2

Aegaeon was disappointed with how little he grew. It seemed that his growth was starting to slow down, which was annoying to say the least but it made sense. If he continued on that track of acceleration there wouldn’t be anything that he couldn’t handle. Aegaeon considered his Status Screen while thinking over the fish attack.

Status Screen: Aegaeon

Class: Ocean’s Ascendant

Level: 1

Skills:

Sprinting Lvl:10, Deep Thought Lvl:32, Careful Climbing Lvl:7, Dagger Work Lvl:26, Assassin’s Intuition Lvl:4, Perceptive Gaze Lvl:7, Physical Fitness Lvl:13, Pain Tolerance Lvl:8, Aquatic Agent Lvl:52

PP: 28

Paths:

Path of the Racer 0/10, Path of Ideologies 0/25, Forest Traveler 0/20, Path of the River 0/80, Path of the Hunter 0/40,

Completed Paths:

Path of Water 30/30, Path of the Initiate Mage 10/10, Path of Bloodshed 45/45, Path of the Stream 40/40, Water’s Errant 100/100,

Looking at his status screen reminded Aegaeon of his class. Why didn’t that level up yet? Did he not get enough experience from fighting the barracudas to level up? He figured that eventually the answer would present itself to him.