Aegaeon looked towards the shouts and couldn’t see anything, they were simply too far away, even with his increased vision, he saw nothing. Walking towards them, Aegaeon prepared himself for a battle as he advanced across the sandy bar. With palm trees and tropical forest to his left and an expansive ocean to his right, Aegaeon moved towards the commotion, hesitant only in worry that he’d been the source of their cries.

Ahead of him lied a hill that only slightly rose upwards from the otherwise for beach, and by the sound of the shouts, whatever was here was on the other side. Pulling his sword to his right hand, Aegaeon moved across the sand as stealthily as possible, his black Merfolk Garb contrasting heavily with the bright sand. Peering over the edge of the hill, Aegaeon was shocked at what lay before him. Spread out below seemed to be a battlefield of opposing forces.

From the ocean came people that looked slippery and scaly. They were probably the Merfolk from which his clothes were named. Many of them were adorned with similar black clothes and ornate swords that moved like rivers or streams as they rippled through their enemies. From the forest came a group that looked plant based in nature. Probably Nymphs?

They had leaves and random branches extending from their bodies, these were utilized as weapons and it appeared as though they could manipulate their own body growth to create arms or armor. Thick wooden plates covered many of them and sharp sticks or thick spears dominated the weapon type of the nymph group. And from the sandy beach further ahead of him were people that looked like average humans. Their skin the color of the sand and their garb a mix of brown shades. They had crude swords and shields as armament as they advanced pushing against the others.

Aegaeon was content to simply watch their battle had it not been the fact that one of the nymphs spotted him on the hill and launched a wooden spear in his direction, already growing a replacement from his hand. Aegaeon had only a moment to duck as the spear went sailing by with speeds that whistled through the air. He could barely see the spear and was lucky to evade the attack. Focusing himself he stood back up and continued watching. Noticing that the same nymph was persistent, Aegaeon dropped from the hill.

Sliding down the hill with one leg in front of the other was surely the sight and goal that Aegaeon had, it would have been significantly better however if it lasted more than two seconds. With his balance uneven, Aegaeon’s front foot dug too deeply in the sand sending him catapulting over himself down the hill. His only luck came from dodging another thrown spear, this time from another source. Rushing towards the first nymph to attack, Aegaeon swing his blade in front of him, still adjusting to the elongated weapon, and completely missed his mark. He was just able to raise the blade before the first nymph finished forming his spear and swung it towards Aegaeon with precision and skill that came with experience.

Catching the brunt of the attack with his sword sent Aegaeon sprawling through the air. The force he was hit with made the Amemasu Shark look like a child playing, or at least that’s how Aegaeon felt as he was launched away from his attacker. Who was he, who had no land experience fighting and no sword experience at all, to challenge a veteran tested by battle? The Nymph advanced slowly, twirling the wooden spear in front of him as a display of power.

It was working and Aegaeon froze with fear as he considered his folly in attacking. The nymph felt all too assured in this final strike as the tip of his spear stopped spinning around him and started descending in front of him. This moment was only stopped by a primal scream as a Merfolk fighter flew towards the nymph and slashed through his body. The nymph simply crashed down, cut cleanly through as the Merfolk Warrior glanced down in shock before asking, “who are you?”

Ignoring that for now the Merfolk grabbed Aegaeon and simply tossed him across the battlefield. He felt like a rag doll being thrown around all too much today as he slammed uncomfortably into the sand once again. This time in the middle of the Merfolk forces. Some of them glanced quickly towards him but most payed no mind as their attention was on the ongoing war breaking out. The tensions between these races obviously coming to a boil in this moment.

One of the few that looked at his prone body had shock on their face, after all, what was a human doing wearing ceremonial Merfolk clothing? And why was he on their side? The one that looked with shock was dragged by the war to keep moving forward as the Merfolk Warrior that originally threw him across a battlefield stepped forward towards his location.

“Who are you?” The Merfolk Warrior said menacingly as he advanced toward Aegaeon with a look that held him fast on the ground. “A-Aegaeon, sir.” Worry clutched him as the figure above loomed ever closer. He was out of his league, by miles. “Why are you here?” The deep voice of the Merfolk Warrior has a slight rasp to it that only seemed to make it more imposing.

“I-I don’t know. I was on the s-sand a ways that way,” pointing towards the sand dune he slid down,” and heard fighting. I f-figured I’d come and see what was going on.” Aegaeon felt like a child who got caught being naughty, about to be scolded by his parents. This was in sharp contrast to what he thought of his abilities after fighting the Amemasu Shark. Maybe it was the introduction of stats? The warriors of this world had probably been training and leveling skills under stats gains for years. He had just shown up today. Maybe that’s why he was so outclassed? Thoughts jumbled around Aegaeon’s head as he stared at the Merfolk Warrior.

Actually looking at him for the first time was quite illuminating. The Warrior before him was a far but taller than himself, and had a head reminiscent of a fish, combined with a humans head. He had the general structure of a humans body but the skin wasn’t more leathery with occasional scales glinting across him. He had an elongated face that sharpened his features with gills covering his neck. It seemed they could breathe both air and water as they weren’t struggling on the beach. His skin was a mix of blues and greens that swirled and blended together across his body.

He was caught looking at the clothing the Merfolk wore as it had a totally different style than that of the kimono/garb that Aegaeon possessed. The style of the clothing was tight and conforming to the body of the Merfolk. It was a combination of black pants and shirt that seemed meshed together, almost like a jumpsuit with a black strap of fabric tied across the forehead. There were multiple areas where daggers or swords could be attached to the clothing. And in contrast to what he wore, there were wooden sandals that adorned the feet and completed the look.

*****