Interlude - Reefy 2 [ Patreon Exclusive ] (Patreon)

Interlude - Reefy 2

The [Shark Commander] and [Fish Scavenger] were both quite good at what they did, but Shark Commander still wasn’t strong enough to challenge the big fishes. 

According to Land Coral, apparently, there was always a bigger fish in the sea. 

That didn’t make sense to Reefy. Fish grew until they stopped growing, so they should be the biggest fish ever. 

Somewhere. A very huge fish. He’ll call it the hugest fish. 

The artificial souls, as land coral referred to them as were interesting in their own ways. They retained language, apparently a feature of the [system], and seem to know words that Reefy did not. 

“Maybe you need something with a powerful light.” Land Coral suggested, as he spoke about the tremendous darkness in the depths. There was no sun. There was no light. There were no glowing corals to mark the way home. 

But [Shark commander] was only level 40. It was not strong enough to challenge the big fishes. Monsters. Leviathans. Words that should have meaning, but in Reefy’s eyes, they were just really really big fish.

“Oh, Reefy, if you ever meet these guys, don’t attack them. They are friendly.” Land Coral shared images. Memories. Turtles. 

They looked like turtles with islands on them. Corals that grew on their backs and carried entire cities. Zaratans. 

“They are friends. Not foes. Not food.”

“Not food. Not foes.” Reefy repeated. [Shark Commander] and [Fish Scavenger] received the memories as well. “But why friend?”

“They can send you to other worlds.” Aeon, the Land Coral said. “Well, and generally they are nice. They teach magic.”

“Teach magic?” Reefy felt the sensation, memories of magic flooded his constantly growing reef-brain. He was aware of magic for some time, some of the fishes could use them to a limited degree. Some fish had basic magic [skills]. 

“Yes. They are friends. Or if you do not want to be their friend, you can just send them to me. I’ll deal with them for you.” Land Coral offered, and it was nice. 

Could Reefy create magic fish? 

[Fish Scavenger] assembled some of the explosive rocks gathered from the various magical warships that sunk into the ocean over the years. The great wars of the landpeople left many wreckages with still-intact equipment.

Reefy didn’t understand them. 

“Oh, these are tools used in warships. There are many types.” 

Reefy didn’t understand the schematics and guides Land Coral sent over. 

“These are weapons. Magical harpoons. They were fired so that enemy warships couldn’t escape.” 

Reefy still didn’t understand it. 

Then Land Coral sent images. Dreams. A series of scenes of how they worked, and it clicked in Reefy’s mind. These were like the tongues of certain predatory fishes! They caught smaller fishes. Only, they used these harpoons to catch big fish, and with many small fishes, they pulled in the big fish!

Ah. It could be done!

But he would need many of these harpoons. 

***

[Fish Scavenger] managed to find many of these harpoons, these gigantic weapons could not be used by fishes, but Reefy realized he could use them.

It wasn’t difficult for Reefy to modify corals such that they grew around a harpoon and turned it into an anchored turret. So, the next time the big fishes came to raid the corals and eat up the small fishes, he would be ready for the big fishes. 

After modifying a few corals, he even got a skill for it!

[[Coral Type - Harpoon Turret] unlocked!]

That made him happy. Reefy enjoyed the pleasant buzz every time he learned or obtained a new skill. It motivated him to try new things. Just like how killing enemy fishes gave him a pleasant buzz too. The burst of energy and sensation from gaining a level was intoxicating.

“More.” He commanded [Fish Scavenger].

“You should name your artificial souls. It helps to give commands and makes it easier to differentiate different creatures.”

Reefy didn’t get that. He knew instinctively which shark was his [Shark Commander], and which wasn’t. The scales, the color, the feel of their flesh, and the waves created by their movement in the waters were all different. 

Maybe Land Coral couldn’t tell them apart, but Reefy definitely could. 

***

Bombs. Fish Scavenger found bombs, and Reefy activated them. They exploded, but the way they exploded underwater was a little different from how they exploded above water. The way the explosion rippled through water, the magical blast that followed, the sudden heat burst all behaved differently above water and underwater. 

That was one of the first things Reefy noted. 

“Ah. That is a good point. Bombs do work differently under water. Perhaps you should consider elemental bombs, instead. Like electrical charges, instead of fire. Heat-based explosives don’t work well in water, since all that heat just gets soaked up.”

The sudden burst of heat vaporized the water into steam and created this huge bubble filled with hot vapor. But the immense water pressures in the depths of the sea meant that huge bubble collapsed just as quickly. 

It was quite effective at ripping apart flesh, but the size of the explosion was much smaller than Reefy expected. 

So, he looked at his [Fish Scavenger] and commanded it to keep looking.

***

One day, a big fish came. 

It was a long, slithery creature, filled with steel-like scales and it had sharp teeths. It was like a gigantic eel, only terrible. 

It was hungry, and it wanted to eat some of the smaller fishes. No, not some. It wouldn’t be a problem if it only ate some.

But these big fishes were voracious and wanted to eat every fish. A leviathan of this size emptied every coral patch it attacked, and Reefy wasn’t going to let it happen. No it’s not. This time, he had some additional tools in his skillset.

Land coral taught him a few skills.

[Inspect!]

[ Gigantic Mutant Steelscale Eel - Estimated to be Level 64 - Huge, hungry sea creature. It’s highly metallic scales can be used to make armor and weapons. ]

The Eel charged towards the largest group of fishes. Every area with corals had a symbiotic relationship with the fishes and other sea creatures that lived there.

[Shark Commander] quickly moved, together with a small fleet of big sharks to intercept the gigantic mutant eel. The creature was large. Huge! Shark Commander was the size of a big rock, but the Gigantic Mutant Eel was bigger than the warships that sank into the sea!

The shark’s various teeths glowed, their jaws expanded through the [Shark Commander]’s [Ferocious Bite] ability. 

They sank their teeth into the mutant eel’s tough body, but they were still too small. Nothing compared to the eels’ gigantic size. 

The eel was slightly wounded by their bites, but all it took was a strong wriggling of its body for the gigantic eel to shake off the much smaller sharks. Then, it turned around and ate his sharks.

Cursed. Reefy thought. The Eel was here for food, and the sharks were food. 

It was a good thing he had many of such sharks. More than enough to give the creature a tough fight. But if he wanted to win, he had to try something else. He commanded [Shark Commander] to try to guide it elsewhere. Closer to his [Harpoon Turrets] and the few scavenged explosives. 

The sharks and eel battled it out, and bit by bit, the battle brought the eel closer to his array of harpoon turrets. 

Reefy commanded his sharks to attack the eel’s eyes, but the eel had more than a single sense. It also had some kind of wave-sense and could detect their movement even without sight. 

An ambush wouldn’t work. Not with his sharks. Maybe he needed some kind of hiding [skill]. 

The constant harassment by his sharks seemed messy, but it served its purpose.

The eel was near his array of harpoons.

The sharks mounted a coordinated strike, this time, the bite wasn’t meant to harm, but to slow. The sharks quickly bit into the gigantic eel’s scales, and held on tight. The sharks flailed their fins and tails furiously to slow the eel down. 

One shark wouldn’t make much of a difference.

But a [shark commander] together with ten sharks slowed the eel down enough.

The harpoons fired and pierced the eel’s scales. The chains were linked to the turrets and anchored the chains to the corals. 

Now, the eel realized Reefy’s scheme, and furiously twisted its body to shake off the harpoons. 

[Fish Scavenger] hauled a few of those bombs and brought them close to the gigantic eel.

The bombs detonated, and the explosion’s shockwave ripped through the steelscales of the gigantic eel and exposed its inner body. 

But it was so tough! It wasn’t dead yet. It was injured, but not dead!

Reefy couldn’t let go of this chance! Another set of harpoons fired, and pierced the exposed flesh of the eel. The eel weakened.

The sharks charged in and now ate the exposed flesh of the gigantic eel. The steelscales fell onto the seafloor, but more importantly, Reefy watched as the sharks bit deeper and deeper into the gigantic eel.

More of its meat was exposed. Eaten. Ripped apart by the sharks. It had soft flesh under the scales. Reefy could feel the taste of its meat. Yummy!

Land Coral said some land people ate eel for food. He wondered whether land coral ate eels for food. 

The eel’s struggles began to fade.

And eventually, stopped. 

The eel died. 

[Reefy gained four levels. Reefy is now Level 72! Reefy gained the following skills!]

[Reefy learned - Explosive Corals]

[Reefy learned - Heavyweight Sharks]

[Harpoon Turret’s strength upgraded!]

Reefy’s little army of sharks grew bigger, and they looked more muscular with scarier teeth! Ah. Wonderful. 

***