Chapter 207: My Fish!
Shuri had already swum back after being swept across the battlefield, and she was collecting fish again.
Now that the water had calmed down, dozens of them floated among the wreckage. Some had been stunned by the Sea Dragon Monster’s attacks, while others had been dragged up from deeper waters by the violent waves.
For the Shark Mermaid, the battlefield had turned into a treasure hunt.
Shuri slid across Ao Tenshin’s broad shell, pushing herself along with one hand and powerful sweeps of her tail while the other arm pinned a pile of fish against her enormous breasts. Their tails slapped against her chest, shoulders, and chin as water streamed down her body, but none of that slowed her down. The serious look on her face made the whole task seem far more important than it had any right to be.
One fish slipped free, and Shuri gasped as she dropped to her hands. She lunged after it before it could slide over the edge, catching it by the tail at the last second. Unfortunately, the sudden movement sent the rest of her collection tumbling from her arms and scattering across the shell.
For a moment, she sat in the middle of the mess with her cheeks puffed out.
Rias looked over, and Shuri immediately began gathering the fish again while pretending nothing had happened. A smaller one wriggled between her arms and slapped her across the chin, making her freeze long enough for it to smack her a second time.
Martin pressed his lips together, but a laugh still escaped him.
Shuri slowly turned toward him with narrowed eyes. Her annoyance lasted only a moment before confusion took its place. She studied him more closely, then slid nearer and leaned forward until her face was only a short distance from his chest.
Her nose twitched.
Martin raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
Shuri sniffed again, her gaze lingering on him as though she were trying to see beneath his armor.
"You smell like fish..." She tilted her head. "Or maybe a Beast?"
"I’ve been swimming in the ocean."
"Umu..." Shuri took one final sniff. "That’s not it."
Before Martin could ask what she meant, the fish twisted in her arms and slapped her across the face for a third time.
Plume made no effort to hide his amusement. "Hahaha! Fierce little fish, isn’t it?"
Shuri hugged it tighter and glared at him.
Even Rias’s lips twitched, while a soft rumble rolled through Ao Tenshin’s shell. Martin could have sworn Angel was laughing too.
"Umu! You guys are so mean!" Shuri complained.
She gathered the scattered fish and quickly slid toward the growing pile near the center of the shell. After placing each one beside the others, she began arranging them by size. Martin watched her move the largest one to the front, push herself back to inspect the pile, and then switch it with another fish before studying the result again.
Apparently, presentation mattered.
Once satisfied, Shuri nodded proudly and returned to the edge of Ao Tenshin’s shell. She leaned over the crystal ridge, her shark tail curling behind her for balance as she waited for another fish to drift within reach.
A silver one passed beneath her. Shuri reached down, but the fish darted away, so she stretched farther just as Ao Tenshin shifted beneath a passing wave.
Her arms windmilled for balance.
Before she could tumble into the water, the end of her tail slapped flat against the shell and stopped her. Shuri quickly straightened and glanced around, only to find everyone watching her.
Her face reddened, and she immediately pointed toward a completely ordinary plank floating nearby.
"Oh! Look at that."
Martin decided to spare her and looked where she pointed.
Shuri was working hard, but he could not stop wondering what she would do once he told her they had to leave. She had to live somewhere within the Academy of Endless Rain, perhaps in a hidden underwater settlement, a cave beneath the canals, or another place outsiders had not yet discovered.
He could at least help her carry the fish home. Anything beyond that might complicate the situation, especially after all the attention he had already attracted, but leaving without explaining anything did not sit right with him.
Shuri caught another fish with both hands and lifted it over her head. Water ran down her smiling face as she celebrated the catch.
Martin would figure something out once the loot had been distributed.
Meeting a level-sixty Shark Mermaid NPC should have felt like a huge discovery. Shuri could have come from a hidden culture or an unexplored part of the academy, and she might know more about the ocean than any player currently in Endless Rain.
Plume had accepted her presence almost immediately.
Then again, it was difficult to treat Shuri like a mysterious representative of an unknown civilization while she crawled around a Dragon Turtle’s shell chasing fish with both hands.
The cannon fire suddenly stopped, and silence swept across the sea.
Smoke drifted over the water while the last waves rolled beneath the ships. Thousands of droplets fell from the Sea Dragon Monster’s shattered scales and broken fins as it lifted its head one final time.
Its long neck rose above the surface. The creature opened its jaws, but no roar came out. A crack of blue light spread across its chest, followed by another, while glowing lines raced beneath its scales and the last of its health disappeared.
The light faded from its eyes, and its colossal body collapsed into the ocean.
The impact sent a broad wave racing across the battlefield. Ao Tenshin rose with the swell, carrying everyone high before sliding sharply into the trough behind it.
Shuri threw herself over the fish pile, while Plume bent his knees and laughed through the entire motion. Rias’s footing slipped as the shell tilted, and Martin caught her around the waist before she could fall.
Her back pressed against his chest as water crashed over the front of Ao Tenshin’s shell.
"Still had it?" Martin asked near her ear.
Rias planted one hand against his arm and regained her footing, but she did not rush to pull away. "That one didn’t count."
"Of course it didn’t."
She glanced back at him with a competitive smile. "Next wave, I’m catching you."
"I’d like to see you try."
Ao Tenshin pushed through the following swell without losing her balance, although water broke against the front of her shell and sprayed over everyone standing on her back. Martin released Rias once the surface steadied beneath them.
A moment later, the same wave slammed into Storm’s ships. Their hulls groaned, ropes pulled tight, and players stumbled across the decks.
Then the notifications appeared.
The Sea Dragon Monster was dead.
Every ship erupted into cheers loud enough to threaten the world with a second tsunami. Players raised their weapons, embraced one another, and pounded their fists against the railings, while someone fired a spell into the sky and created a burst of light above the fleet.
"And that’s another one!" Plume shouted as he thrust one fist toward his guild.
Their response nearly drowned out the last echoes of the cannons.
Martin smiled. "Let’s see the drops!"
"Yeaaah!" Plume cheered.
Shuri lifted her head from the fish pile, and her eyes widened.
The loot had just become the second most valuable treasure on the battlefield.
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