[Time since leaving dungeon: 1 week, 3 days]
I've been swimming for DAYS.
Non-stop.
Using Pulse Burst to propel myself across the ocean surface like some kind of demented flying fish.
[MP: 28,000→22,000→16,000→12,000]
My MP is draining, but I'm making DISTANCE.
"Are we there yet?"
Yamato's voice echoes in my mind.
"For the fifteenth time today: I DON'T KNOW."
"But you SAID...'
"I sensed a CURRENT DISRUPTION. That MIGHT be land. Or it might be a big rock. Or a sea monster. I don't KNOW."
"Cranky. Someone needs a nap."
"I'M A JELLYFISH. I DON'T SLEEP."
"Well, TECHNICALLY you sleep when you—"
"DON'T. Just... don't."
[Day 9 of ocean travel]
In all my years of living in an ocean I have never entertained the thought of me being sea sick. Well I am... How? You might ask. I still don't know.
[Day 10]
The water is changing. Getting murky. Brownish.
[Sixth Sense detecting: Shallow water ahead]
[Depth: 50 meters→30 meters→10 meters]
LAND! ACTUAL LAND!
"YAMATO! I SEE IT!"
"FINALLY! I was getting SO bored—"
The shallow water becomes marsh. Trees—weird, twisted trees—rising out of muddy water. Fog everywhere.
[Environment identified: Swamp/Wetland]
A swamp. I found LAND and it's a SWAMP.
Of course it is.
I pulse forward until the water becomes too shallow to swim properly.
Then I just... crawl.
Using my tentacles. Like a really inefficient octopus.
This is humiliating.
[You have left water]
[Status Effect Applied: DEHYDRATION]
[HP: 2000→1990]
Oh no. OH NO—
[Constantine Lv.2 activated]
[Converting dehydration damage to MP cost]
[MP: 12,000→11,990]
[HP: 1990→2000]
Oh. It's... it's not a problem?
As long as I have MP, I can survive on land?
That's... actually really useful!
But moving is PAINFUL. I'm seven inches across. Crawling through mud and grass.
It's taking FOREVER.
"Okay. Time to try the human form."
"YES! FINALLY! I want to see!"
[Activating: Polymorph Lv.1]
My body SHIFTS.
It's not painful. Just... weird. Like being poured into a new container.
Limbs extending. Torso forming. Features sculpting themselves.
[Transformation complete]
[Current form: Human]
I look down.
HANDS. FEET. LEGS. ARMS.
I'M HUMAN!
I flex my fingers. Wiggle my toes. Take a breath—actual BREATHING, in and out.
This is AMAZING!
Then I notice... other things. I don't know if I've been a jellyfish too long but, I don't remember by chest being this heavy.
I look down at my chest.
When did I get—
"Oh wow, you look GREAT! I knew you'd eventually hit puberty."
"Shut up."
I look down into the water and I can somewhat see my reflection.
My body is definitely MY body—my face, my general proportions—but everything is just... More defined? And yes, definitely bigger in certain areas. I look less like a stereotypical anime fan.
The system gave me a GLOW-UP?!
I stumble closer to the nearest pool of water—clearer than the swamp—and look at my reflection.
Blue eyes. Check.
My face. Check.
Hair that's... transparent?
MY HAIR IS TRANSPARENT?!
Not white. Not blonde. TRANSPARENT.
Like it's made of glass or water. It flows and moves normally, but I can see THROUGH it.
And I'm...
I look down again.
Completely naked.
Right. Polymorph doesn't include CLOTHES.
Of course it doesn't.
"YAMATO! I'M NAKED!"
"Yes? And?"
"AND I NEED CLOTHES!"
"Why? You look fine."
"BECAUSE I'M IN A SWAMP! IN AN UNKNOWN LOCATION! AND I'M NAKED!"
"Prudish."
"I'M NOT PRUDISH, I'M PRACTICAL!"
I look around, trying to orient myself.
Fog. Everywhere. Trees. Marsh. No obvious signs of civilization.
Great. Just great.
Something moves in my peripheral vision.
My sixth sense just finished calibrating to this new body.
[Sixth Sense activating]
Too slow.
They're ALREADY here.
I spin around.
LIZARD MEN.
Dozens of them. Green-scaled. Bipedal. Wearing crude leather armor. Holding wooden spears.
Surrounding me.
[Appraisal activated]
[Target: Lizardfolk Warrior - Level 15-20]
[Hostility: HIGH]
Oh no.
I raise my hands immediately. Universal sign of peace.
"I mean no harm! I'm just—"
They ATTACK.
All at once.
Spears thrust forward from every direction.
[HP: 2000→1400]
[Constantine activated]
[MP: 11,950→11,350]
[HP: 1400→2000]
I look down.
There are SPEARS sticking out of my body. At least a dozen.
Through my stomach. My chest. My arms.
And I'm... fine?
No pain. Just... pressure. The spears are stuck in my body, but my Constantine skill is healing the damage instantly.
The transparent goo—my jellyfish mass—oozes around the spear wounds, already regenerating.
The lizardmen look SHOCKED.
They pull the spears out.
And stab again.
[HP: 2000→1500→2000]
[MP: 11,350→10,850]
"Wait! Stop! I'm trying to—"
Stab. Stab. Stab.
They're not listening!
"I COME IN PEACE!"
"UMMM.. TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER."
They don't understand. Of course they don't understand.
[Opening Skill Shop]
[Search: Translation]
[Universal Translation Lv.1 - Cost: 5 Skill Points OR 10,000 MP]
I don't have skill points!
[Emergency purchase available using MP]
[Confirm?]
YES!
[Skill Acquired: Universal Translation Lv.1]
[MP: 10,850→850]
[Warning: Low MP]
My MP just TANKED. But now—
"I COME IN PEACE!"
The lizardmen FREEZE.
One of them—larger, wearing a bone necklace—speaks.
"You... you speak our tongue?"
It's working!
"Yes! I learned."
"From who.."
"Would you believe me if I said Du*lingo? No? Okay, look, I don't want trouble. I just got here. I'm just trying to find my way..."
"LIAR!"
The bone-necklace lizard points his spear at me.
"We can FEEL Your POWER! You are no mere wanderer!"
My power?
"Oh. Right. You're basically a mana reactor at this point. Every creature can sense that."
YOU COULDN'T HAVE MENTIONED THIS EARLIER?!
"You are like the others!" Bone-necklace continues. "The human adventurers! Come to slaughter us for your QUESTS!"
"What? No! I'm not—"
"We will not let you reach our village! Even if we must die to stop you!"
They attack again. Renewed fury.
[HP: 2000→1200→2000]
[MP: 850→350]
My MP is DRAINING!
I just... stand there. Arms folded.
What else can I do? I can't hurt them. They're just defending their home.
They stab me. Again and again. For HOURS. My MP regenerates slowly but its enough to keep constantine active.
I watch the sun move across the sky through the fog.
[MP: 350→150→50→25]
This is the WORST first day on land ever.
Finally, as evening approaches, I've had ENOUGH.
I'm cold. I'm tired. I'm NAKED IN A SWAMP.
I stand up straight—the lizardmen have been taking turns stabbing me while I sat—and they FREEZE.
My aura—which I've apparently been emitting this whole time—FLARES.
[Warning: Low MP causing unstable aura emission]
The lizardmen take a step back.
I take a step forward.
"I," I say slowly, "have been lying in this swamp. All day. NAKED. And it's FREEZING."
They stare at me.
"I need. CLOTHES."
Bone-necklace stammers. "I-if you needed clothes, why didn't you bring them when you came to conquer us?!"
"I'M NOT CONQUERING ANYONE!"
She is about to explode with frustration when she tells herself "Calm down Yuki, you're cute now, you have an image to uphold don't crash out."
"I just need clothes."
I activate my Sixth Sense, scanning the area.
There. A settlement. 500 meters northeast.
"Do you have clothes at your village?"
"Y-yes, but—"
I start walking.
Toward the village.
The lizardmen PANIC.
"NO! STOP HER! DON'T LET HER REACH THE VILLAGE!"
They attack with renewed desperation.
[HP: 2000→1500→2000]
[MP: 25→15]
Low. TOO low.
But I keep walking. I don't hit anyone. Don't fight back.
Just... walk.
Through the marsh. Through the fog. Toward the village.
The lizardmen stab me with every step.
This is fine. Everything is fine.
The village is small. Maybe fifty huts built on stilts above the marshwater.
All the warriors are HERE. Stabbing me.
Which means the village itself is undefended.
I walk into the center of the village.
Civilians—smaller lizardfolk, children, elderly—scatter in terror.
"CLOTHES!" I announce. "I NEED CLOTHES!"
They attack again.
Enough.
I move.
With SPEED I didn't know I had.
[AGI: 1500]
In less than a second, I SNATCH every single spear from every single warrior.
And drop them in a pile.
The warriors stand there, weaponless, staring at me in shock.
"Clothes," I repeat. "Please."
An elderly female lizardfolk—shaman? Elder?—slowly approaches.
She holds out a piece of leather clothing. Simple. Crude. But CLOTHING.
"Thank you!"
I put it on. It's more of a dress. Rough. Uncomfortable. But at least I'm not naked.
Progress!
The warriors immediately pick up their spears again.
But this time, the tips are PURPLE.
[Appraisal activated]
[Poison-tipped spears]
Are you KIDDING ME?!
They stab me again.
[HP: 2000→1300]
[Status Effect Applied: Venom]
[Constantine negating status effect]
"Calm down Yuki.. You're cute now, cute girls don't commit mass extinction of a species... right?"
They stab her again
"Right?"
[Status Effect Applied: Venom]
[Constantine negating status effect]
[HP: 1300→1400]
Okay. That's IT.
I move again. Faster than before.
I grab each warrior—one by one by their shoulders—and PUSH them into the marshy ground.
Not hard. Just... firmly.
Into the mud. Up to their necks.
Only their heads sticking out.
Unable to move.
[STR: 1200]
Super strength is USEFUL.
They yell. Insults. Threats. Pleas.
"DEMON!"
"MONSTER!"
"SPARE OUR FAMILIES!"
I sigh.
"I'm NOT going to hurt your village. I just wanted CLOTHES. And maybe directions to a human settlement—"
Movement.
My Sixth Sense picks up NEW signatures.
A LOT of them.
Different from the green lizardfolk.
These are... blue? Grey?
[Appraisal activated]
[Target: Bluescale Lizardfolk - Level 18-25]
[Hostility: EXTREME]
[Territorial conflict detected]
A voice—harsh, guttural—echoes through the marsh.
"THE GREENSCALES ARE DEFENSELESS! ATTACK! TAKE THE VILLAGE!"
Oh no.
I just immobilized an entire village's defense force.
Right before they got attacked by a rival tribe.
The elder lizardfolk—still standing, not stuck in mud—looks at me with TERROR.
"Please... please don't let them—"
The Bluescales emerge from the fog.
Dozens of them.
Armed. Armored better than the Greenscales.
And they're heading straight for the defenseless village.
The Greenscale warriors stuck in the mud are SCREAMING.
"NO! LEAVE THEM ALONE!"
"TAKE US! NOT THE CHILDREN!"
I stand there, in my ill-fitting leather dress, surrounded by chaos.
"Well," Yamato's voice echoes in my mind. "This is awkward."
AWKWARD?! THIS IS A DISASTER!
"What are you going to do?"
I DON'T KNOW!
"You could let them fight it out?"
THERE ARE CHILDREN HERE!
"You could defend the village?"
WITH WHAT MP?! I HAVE 10 MP LEFT!
"You have super strength?"
...
The Bluescales are getting closer.
The Greenscale civilians are hiding in their huts.
The warriors are stuck in mud, helpless.
And I'm standing here like an IDIOT.
This is my fault. I did this.
I have to fix this.
The lead Bluescale—massive, covered in scars, wielding a metal sword (actual METAL!)—points at me.
"OUT OF THE WAY, HUMAN! This doesn't concern you!"
"Actually," I say, "it kind of does now."
I take a step forward.
Putting myself between the Bluescales and the village.
"You're not attacking this village."
The lead Bluescale LAUGHS.
"And who's going to stop us? YOU?"
I activate what little aura I can muster with my depleted MP.
Something SHIFTS.
The air becomes HEAVY.
The fog THICKENS.
And every single Bluescale warrior FREEZES.
Because they can FEEL it now.
The weight of a LEVIATHAN'S SOUL.
The lead Bluescale's eyes go WIDE.
"What... what ARE you?"
I smile.
Not friendly.
Not kind.
Its the I'm going to bury you smile.