Chapter Forty

A white-haired head poked through the surface of the ocean waters. Exhausted but alert, blue-green eyes surveyed her surroundings.

Wrecked boats surrounded a small island. As she looked deeper onto the sandy piece of land in the middle of nowhere, and she saw several buildings but no activity. If anything, the island appeared almost unnaturally quiet.

Despite seemingly abandoned, Sereia cautiously approached with slight flaps of her aching tail. A groan almost escaped her lips as a sharp pain shot through her chest as her pounding core strained to maintain her abused body.

With one last flap, she reached the sandy shore and crawled a few meters before exhaustion took hold. Against her wishes her body gave out, causing her to face plant into the sand out cold.

An unknown time later, sunken eyes cracked open. Cracks sounded as she moved, earning herself agony. A muffled whimper escaped her colorless, dried out lips.

On instinct, she rolled herself back into the water near the tip of her long, scaled tail. The effect was almost instant. As soon as her body submerged under the ocean waters, a warmth spread through her body, filling out her desiccated body back to its previous state.

Now full of energy, she poked her head back above the surface to scout the island once more, finding it the same as before. However, unlike before, she remained in the water, afraid to dry herself out again. Still, she knew she couldn’t keep swimming forever. She was still over 7000 kilometers from her beloved sister.

While eying the several boats, most of which were beached on the sandy shore of the island in various states of ruin, she spotted a fishing boat that appeared at least somewhat functional. Though it’s heavily worn hull didn’t fill her with confidence.

Tentatively, she flapped back to shore, then attempted to stand up. Her body followed her wishes, transforming her long, sparkling tail into two pale legs. Unused to walking after so long, she stumbled several steps before finding her balance.

Now in human form the discomfort of land faded away though the desire to swim remained, but she ignored it for now in favor of approaching the fishing boat tied to a half broken dock.

With a hop she reached the weather worn deck missing several floorboards, but was mostly intact. Just like her father’s old fishing boat. She never understood why he didn’t clean it up. He always said it was meant to be that way.

At the thought of her father she froze, thinking back to the massive wave that crush them both. Following that thought, calm assurance descended on her. Wherever he was, she was sure he was fine. She didn’t know how she knew, but she just did. Elysia was her priority. She didn’t know how her twin lived, but going by her appearance, something similar to her happened to her twin. That meant some stuck up elementals would come after her.

Now extra motivated, she approached the control console and turned the key, already in the ignition. A labored rumbling sounded behind her as the motor turned over several times before roaring to life. Relief flooded through her, eliciting a little happy hip wiggle and a smile.

Afraid it wouldn’t start again, she left it running as she jogged back to the island and scanned the other boats, most of which ruined beyond saving. Still, that didn’t mean they didn’t have anything. Salvageable fuel being the most important thing she needed.

After the countless hours, if not days, spent swimming as fast as she could was any indication she didn’t need food any longer. At least as long as she remained in the water, which she planned to do. She just needed temporary transportation to recover. Just the thought of swimming that long again caused her legs to ache.

She may be some mermaid elemental now, but she couldn’t swim forever. If those snooty elementals had a fleet of ships, they probably agreed with her. Though creating a home under the sea felt tempting. Maybe once she reunited with her sister, they could work out something. Maybe she was a mermaid like her.

A goofy smile formed as her core fluttered in joy, imagining swimming together with her twin.

Motivation somehow escalating even further, Sereia dashed from boat to boat, checking for fuel. She ignored most of the bigger boats knowing they would have built-in tanks and diesel engines, but even then she found a dozen five to ten liter jugs all full.

Her thin arms strained as she took several trips to stash her hoard of fuel on her fishing boat. She now understood why her twin always complained about being weak. Shopping bags had nothing on a jug of gas. No wonder father usually lifted heavy stuff for them.

A peek into the dilapidated buildings looking ready to fall down any minute told her nothing of value was inside. Aside from some chairs at a rickety bar and several broken bottles, there really wasn’t much. This place must’ve been some pirate like hide out. For all she knew it was, but where were the people then? There were dozens of boats, but the place appeared dead.

Though going by the dings she heard in her mind before, maybe this place never had people and was instead a place meant for the player to find and scavenge. She had played enough RPGs to know the signs. A random piece of abandoned civilization in the middle of nowhere was kind of a dead giveaway. Many modern open world games loved to procedurally generate large maps that felt lifeless.

If it weren’t for the bond telling her where her sister was, she might have thought she was transported to a game world.

Sereia froze as a glorious thought came to her. What if they were? Some God might have decided to transport both her and her sister to this new world for an adventure. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. She was a mermaid now after all, and what else had the power to resurrect her twin but a God?

Before her thoughts went too crazy, she shook her head and glanced out at the seemingly endless ocean.

She doubted there was any land in hundreds of kilometers, so it didn’t make sense for a small island with so many boats. It was far from big enough to support that many people, so it might never have supported anyone.

Though who knew? Maybe it was closer to land at some point. She turned into a mermaid so it wouldn’t be crazy for something like that to happen. Despite her best efforts, her mind wandered back to her world transportation theory, but yet again she pushed it down, not wanting to give herself false hope. Though was it really hope? Going by the world so far it seems plenty fantastical already.

For now, she shelved her theories in favor of returning to her boat and plopped on a vinyl bench, finally deciding to check out the notifications, begging for her attention.

System Initialized.

Error race change forced.

Override.

Due really to race change, compatible path chosen.

Congratulation! May you travel far along the Path of Mermaid.

She gritted her teeth, having a choice taken from her. Who decided she would be a mermaid? She understood the race change and was fine with it, but forcing her down a path she had no choice in was a step too far.

She’d rather keep her options open as a simple water elemental and choose her path. Who knew what becoming a mermaid did to her paths long term? She doubted all elementals were mermaids.

Achievement! Mermaid

“May you swim the seas. Just stay away from princes.”

Reward: 5 Attribute points

Achievement! Enemy of the elementals

“How could you be this stupid? In what universe is attacking the heir to the water elementals a good idea?”

Reward: Have 10 Attribute Points for the sheer audacity. You will need all the help you can get.

Achievement! Suicidal Marathon

“Not only did you make an enemy of a powerful race, but you decided to swim through monster infested waters until you about dropped.”

Reward: Again have 10 Attribute points. Please use them on endurance. You might not reach the next island otherwise.

Too angry to focus on the rest of the notifications, most of which were filled with snarky comments from a stupid system. She had no idea why it felt the need to take jabs at her when she did nothing wrong. What was she supposed to do? Play nice with the elementals after they tried to kill her sister? Though the high elemental didn’t seem aware of his heir’s actions.

Still, he was quick to turn on her the moment they found out she wasn’t born as an elemental. Not that she had any idea what that had to do with anything. Even if they didn’t turn on her, she would still rather find her sister. Elysia was all she had left. She couldn’t lose her again. She’d rather die.

After taking several calming breaths, she returned her focus to the new system forced into her life. If there were notifications, there must be a status. At least she hoped there was. How else would she spend all the attribute points the annoying system dumped on her?

As she predicted, the moment she thought about her status, it appeared in her vision. Unlike her sister, she had experience with VRMMOs, so it didn’t surprise her.

Status:

Name: Sereia Arashi

Race: Level 25 Mermaid Water Elemental.

Class: Level 25 Path of Mermaid.

Essence: 2587/5120 (15360)

Attributes:

Available Points: 50

Strength: T2-1

Dexterity: T2-1

Endurance: T2-1

Intelligence: T2-1

Perception: T2-1

Proficiencies:

Affinities:

Tier 3 Level 1 Water

Resistances:

Bonus

+100% Damage while in water.

Skills

Wave Level 1.

Whirlpool Level 1.

Water Bullet Level 1.

Water Shield Level 1.

Rain Level 1.

Mermaid Transformation.

Bonds

Elysia.

Sereia tried to focus on what each part of her status did, but to her frustration, the system left her hanging. Wonderful not only was the system mean, but it was one of those no helping hand types.

As much as she preferred that type while playing games, it was annoying living with one. It could have at least given her a tutorial or something.

Apparently she had skills like a Pokémon now. None of which helped her in her quest to reach her sister. Well, besides Mermaid Transformation.

Should she heed the snarky system’s advice and dump points into endurance? Part of her didn’t want to do it just out of spite, but it had a point.

She didn’t know how good her attributes were, but at least it gave her an even starting point. She’d like to have a more focused build, but aside from swimming as far and fast as she could, she wasn’t sure what direction she would take. As much as she would love to improve her efficiency in reaching her sister, she didn’t want to make herself useless when she reached her.

The first step was only reaching her sister. She still had to protect her. Together, they would crush anything in their path. She was sure Elysia would excel in this new world, so she needed to put her all in keeping up. She couldn’t be the useless sister like before.

Mind made up, Sereia stood, expression hard. She untied her new boat, then took one last look at the island before shifting her boat into drive and pulling away.

A day later, a fleet of ships appeared on the horizon behind her.

Sensing the change in the water, Sereia glanced over her shoulder, stiffening as she slammed the throttle all the way forward. The engine roared, but the fleet of boats kept gaining ground.

Soon the water turned rough, slowing her down further. A large wave crashed down on her from behind, snapping off the roof and killing the engine. Panicked, she turned the key, but all she heard was a click.

Before she could try again, another wave loomed over the front, causing her eyes to widen. Knowing if the wave hit her she would sink, she focused on the wave, hoping she could do something about it. Like the wave that hit their hometown, she sensed something within the wave.

On instinct, she latched on to the feeling and yanked. Exhaustion hit her like a freight train bringing with it a pounding headache, but the wave dispersed like it never existed, allowing her through on her forward momentum from the previous wave.

Unfortunately, another wave came a second later. She glanced the over the edge, tempted to swim for it, but the idea of swimming through water under the control of a fleet of elementals terrified her. But what choice did she have? She couldn’t keep this up.

She dispersed the next wave, causing her vision to blank for a moment as she swayed.

Too exhausted to even think about swimming away, Sereia hid under the console hoping her boat survived long enough for her to recover despite knowing it was futile.

Out of nowhere, the ocean calmed, causing her to crack open an eye. When nothing hit her after several seconds, she peeked over the console to find nothing but a glassy ocean ahead of her.

Confused, she looked behind her, then froze in terror. An absolutely massive wave loomed over the fleet. Each time it weakened from the elemental’s attempts, it only grew larger, reaching to at least double what hit her hometown.

Terror and awe fought for prominence as she stared at the wave, causing a powerful, masculine voice to bloom in her mind. “Go, young elemental! I can’t hold them much longer.”

Not needing to be told twice, Sereia turned the key. This time, the engine sputtered to life. Unfortunately, the moment she pushed the throttle forward, it died. She tried to start it again, but all she received was a click. In desperation, she twisted the key several times until she smelled something burning. A glance behind her, cluing her in to the problem. Several wires were smoking, probably shorted out from the wave.

Left with no choice, she jumped into the water, hoping she had enough energy to swim away. Her worries proved pointless as the moment she sunk below the unnaturally calm ocean, a familiar warmth spread throughout her body, rejuvenating her.

Like last time, she willed her body to transform, morphing her legs into a scaled fishtail. Curious, she peeked above the surface to find the wave significantly weaker, but still enough to stop the fleet.

Before they could follow her, she shot off eastward toward her sister.

Hours of hard swimming later, a different voice this time feminine boomed in her head. This voice felt far more powerful, but also distant. “Hello young elemental. I would like to make a deal with you. In exchange, I will grant your greatest desire.”