I didn’t know how we were going to fare against this monster that was a good four times bigger than me. I focused that energy into my hands and noticed the moisture level was rising in the air, making it easier for me to breathe.

The stream had reduced to a trickle, lightly wetting some smooth round rocks before connecting to the lake. I saw little drops of water merge together around my palms, turning into spheres. I was reminded of a certain ninja’s special technique.

But, instead of wanting to get close and tear the turtle a new one, I tried morphing the spheres into cones or spikes. It took a while, and I was quickly draining energy for no good reason but I was onto something. I replenished my energy with the plant jerky and started again.

This time, instead of ‘sharpening’ the spheres, I tried ‘stretching’ the spheres in one direction. I tried to maintain that spiral of motion, similar to a whirlpool and noticed the little spike began spinning like a top. No, more like a drill. I willed the water to converge on that one point and to spin as much as possible.

What greeted me was exhaustion. Thankfully, we were just outside the turtle’s area and had all the time to prepare against it. I snacked some more, aware that I only had about two more strands of the plant. I noticed my energy was refilling quicker after eating it.

This time, the motion was quicker and stronger. Not wanting to waste more energy, I waited and decided to rest. I had spent several hours and the sun was beginning to approach the horizon. I couldn’t just say that was West, so I could only say that was the direction where the sun set.

I was ready and noticed my siblings were too tired. Apparently, they were practicing alongside me! I completely forgot about them! Looks like I will have to rely on my bigger…why are they asleep as well?!

Fine. I’ll wait. Let me slowly practice more of this Water Drill spell. Yeah, I figure this is magic. I don’t know what specifically it runs on, but hopefully after becoming more humanoid, I can learn from the intelligent species and get stronger.

I could see the glowing eyes of the turtle looking at me. They were a magnificent yellow, which surprised me. Could it have something to do with what it was guarding? Was it actually guarding anything?

Without waking my brothers and sisters, I slowly approached the turtle. Out of nowhere, a great voice softly spoke to me in an unfamiliar yet understandable language.

“Little Jumper, you seem to be quite smart for a freshling. What is it that made you this way? Could it be the magic kelp on your shoulder? Or could it be the strange power that flows through you?”

‘Who?! The turtle?!’

“Haha, indeed. Once you reach my age, nothing is impossible. Unfortunately, I’m not as old as others can be. I am only something like a Guardian for this lake. If you aren’t strong enough, I would suggest you return to wherever you came from.”

‘But we have no home to return to! It’s too small for everyone! There’s not enough food!’

“Hoh? Then why not just make a new home? Surely with your intelligence, you can lead your family to do great things. If you remain here, the fleshies will hunt you and your family. They will compete with your hunts. They will take all the food they possibly can.”

‘…Senior Turtle has a point. But how could I possibly build a place? I am so small and weak.’

“Hur hur, Senior? I am merely 150 years old. My father should be called Senior. Just call me Mr. Black. Besides, you can use that special magic of yours to easily gather enough water in one place, right? Try doing something like that.”

‘Thanks for your words of wisdom, Mr. Black. If I can, I will definitely return to thank you after the fact as well.’

“Hur hur, there is no need for that. If you tried to live here, I would only be sending you to your death. Even if the fleshies didn’t hunt you down, the inhabitants of this lake certainly will.”

‘Thanks again. Once my siblings wake, we will return. I don’t have any token of gratitude save for some of this glowing plant we found.’

“Hur hur, that little thing won’t do any good. I have here a 1,000 year old Water Rose that will keep me company. A little petal here and there won’t hurt it and I gain a great increase in my abilities. Be safe, and work hard, Little Jumper.”

‘Thanks again.’

I give a bow to the old young turtle and wait for my siblings to wake. I relay what happened as best as I could, but the faces of my siblings don’t change. I guess they are fine with whatever I do. We head back to the pond and drop off the little frogs that followed us and go upstream to see where the source of the water comes from.

I keep up my practice, on one hand I’m doing my meditation, focusing on my body and its basic pathways, on another I’m performing my rotations and becoming more developed as a humanoid. I also try and squeeze in some magic practice.

Mr. Black mentioned that my magic was weird so that must mean most people don’t do it this way. Is there some sort of incantation I should say or rune I should draw? Whatever. I will stick with what I barely know for now. If I wait until later, it might be too late.

My three humanoid siblings are getting more used to their training and can now easily run around and summon those Water Drills. The way I make them appear looks like they are coming right out of my palms. This attack is more for piercing and not for slashing or smashing. My bigger siblings kept up with their basic training which didn’t need days of rest in between.

In fact, they were really big. They were easily now the size of Mr. Black. You know, why was he so small if he was 150 years old and feeding off of a 1,000 year old plant? Well, I can’t focus on that for now. Let me keep learning the stuff I already have on my plate.

We ended up coming across a little marshy area that was blocked by sticks. Not haphazardly like after a storm, these were placed with precision. One wrong move would have the whole dam fall apart.

It wasn’t beavers, since they pack their dams with mud. What creature would pick up sticks and place them so as to make this place retain water? It wasn’t that bad, and I could see many little frogs jumping here and there. This was definitely little frog heaven. Unfortunately, we were still pretty big compared to them.

We walked around admiring the view and noticing the frogs were looking at us expectantly. Hm? They wanted something from us? I look at my siblings and they just say that they would be okay with whatever I pick. Really, guys? Grow a backbone. Oh wait. Three of them did.

Anyways, we were led to a place that had fallen logs all over the place. There was a massive hollow dead tree there amongst the wreckage that had a small hole under the water. Luckily it was big enough to allow all of us through. What welcomed us was a massive area that felt like a city of frogs.

We were led through the crowd of happily chirping and ribbiting frogs to a massive frog that was bigger than all my siblings and I combined! In front of him were four large frogs about twice the size of my biggest sibling, my brother. I guess I could call them Big Brother and Little Brother. Little Brother was the one who completed the rotation with me.

I stared at the massive frogs before me and noticed all the other frogs were looking at the ground. Then, I heard another voice, kind of like Mr. Black’s, but this time it was booming and unrestrained.

“Hello, travelers! I see that you are strong. Have you a need for living arrangements? Perhaps you need food?”

I could feel his gaze wasn’t directed at me, but at the two little kelp jerky I had left. I see, he planned on stealing from me. I don’t even care that we originated from here, if you plot against me, I won’t take kindly to it. I learned that from my last life.

‘I am sorry, but we were just passing through.’

“Oh, that is no problem! We can easily give you a place to rest for the night.”

It was noon. This guy was sketchy. I only met him for five minutes and already knew I didn’t like him.

‘My apologies, sir, but we have somewhere to be.’

“Now hold on a minute. Surely you are not wishing to offend me, the Great Frog Arthur?”

All the little frogs around us were staring incredibly hard.

‘No sir, we had no intention of offending one as great as you. We were just looking for a place that could house several hundred of our family. We were running out of space and food. If that is alright with you, I would be honored to accept your hospitality.’

“Gulp…Eh, of course! Bring them all! We definitely have room! Yes!”

Hehe, jackass. What a moron. Fine. You wanted this. Let’s go get our siblings. I also plan on eating the rest of this just in case. I can’t stand someone taking my things.

By the time we all returned with all of our family members, mothers, fathers, and grandparents included, the moon was already high in the sky. It was definitely bright and close. The moon was practically right next to the planet! Seeing such a dazzling image inspired me to make a new spell. Waves!