Hydie put a hand on Shirzik's arm, and the creature began to change. I don't know if Hydie could read my mind, but I was looking at Aquaman on the Juice once she was down.
[Designer Reality Merge Fluke] Acquired! ??
{5% chance for Experienced Designers Touch to become physical and tangible, not just an illusion.}
"What is this?" Shirzik asked as he touched his handsome face.
Wow, I might have to get Hydie to give me a touch-up after; The Ugly Fucker was looking better than me! I was the Ugly Fucker now!
"You are the lucky winner in this draw, it looks like, and now you are stuck like this," I said with a grin.
"You're kidding me, right? I even sound better! Even the ones of us that are average are leagues above the Barracuda men now! BWAHAHA!" Shirzik laughed out in joy, and the other Sahuagin joined him with cheers.
They would no longer have to cry out the horrible howls, but this was only half the battle. The other half was getting the women back, and the Barracuda men weren't likely to want to do that without a fight.
"Do you or the Barracuda use weapons?" I asked, but Shirzik shook his head no.
"We use our teeth and claws, and so do they, but they are much faster than us," Shirzik explained, and I nodded; that was a good sign.
The Sahuagin had large, awkward hands that were filled with webbing. They kept them open most of the time, so I would have to think this over.
I gathered everyone up and convinced them to follow me with Shirzik, but most of them looked worried. We made everyone collect something that was strong on our trip, and Hydie moved around and created spears for everyone.
This was the best kind of item I could think of for them to hold since Shirzik was the only one that had his hands more human-shaped. He still had the webbing, but it was more flexible and contracted when he closed his hands.
The one thing that surprised me was the fact that Hydie didn't increase in level after making all the weapons. However, it was evident as she had created a barrier around me, she had been completely exhausted.
"Thank you for doing this for them. Now, I think that we might be able to get the women back without a fight. There are a few fewer Barracuda men, so I am hoping that showing up with an armed force of handsome men will make them think twice," I said once I was able to use the stale air to talk, but it was no longer stale.
"No problem, but all the weapons are more than likely to break after a couple uses. The materials like coral and shells are strong. The problem is with the level of skill that I have right now. All the weapons are already cracked or fragile, but the spears are round, so they will cut the water. I think if I had made swords or maces, they would create drag, and then just snap on the first swing," Hydie explained to me, and I nodded.
"Yeah, I thought the same, but hopefully, there is no need for the fight. I think that we can just overwhelm the Barracuda with a show of force," I said, but then I noticed a glow in the distance that was coming up.
"We are getting close, and they will come out to meet us before we can get close," Shirzik told me, and I could see shapes starting to appear in the dark water swimming towards, and then I blinked.
"They had fins for arms?" I asked in disbelief as the four-armed Barracuda herd gathered haphazardly in front of my group.
They were tall and did have decent-looking faces, but the rest of them were just long and stretched out. They also didn't have legs, just a fishtail.
"Wow, the girls really didn't move up the food chain very far," I said as I looked over the creatures.
"What do you want? You had better leave, or we will tear you all to shreds!" The biggest of the fishmen called out to us, and I sighed.
"So much for your show of force," Hydie muttered off-handedly, but I had somewhat expected this.
These creatures were brave enough to come in and steal the women, not like they were going to give them up that easily. The problem was that I didn't want to have to kill them all.
I could clearly sense the power levels of the creatures around me now, unlike when I was running from the ones stronger than me. I had only been able to tell that they were strong, but not how much stronger.
Now I could tell that this would be like shooting fish in a barrel, no pun intended, but good jokes always raised the scales. I let go of the Water Spinx Totem, and floated forward, and activated my Earth Tsunalily Totem, and started to expand rapidly.
To my surprise, the stubborn Barracuda men didn't even flinch, but I started to feel that something wasn't right. There was something else big near here, and it was hiding.
"Fine, then I challenge one or all of you for the Sahuagin women and Princess Missy back!" I called out but nowhere near as loud as I wanted, but the Leader heard me and nodded.
"Sure, she has been waiting here for three days for you! If you can beat her, then we will return the women. We never wanted to take them in the first place, and now our women are angry at us! It is just fun for the young ones to go and mess around with them, but now they are causing problems between spouses! I didn't know you wanted the girls; I thought you would have brought the Sahuagin, but they are cowards, so I am not surprised!" The Leader of the Barracuda laughed, but Shirzik floated up beside me.
"You want to say that to my face, Fish Stick? It is I, Shirzik, and I have come to fight you…." Shirzik started to say, but a deep, old, and otherworldly voice cut him off.
"No one cares about your squabbles. I have not waited here for three days to listen to you argue about who is uglier!" The voice said as the biggest and angriest looking octopus I had ever seen slowly started to take shape from the dark as it moved closer.
{bonus chapter! thanks for voting!}
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