Nila has a point; having a group of Legendary Quality Kraken wandering around the ocean when you're in a sentient species territory likely wouldn't go over well in pretty much any scenario, so Cain cancels the summons and decides to assign an extra puppet to watch duty, checking for shadows or movement in the water as a warning that they might be under attack.
"Alright now, back to the chef. Why don't we try an Ancient body? Yours has a hand and Tentacles that should be perfect for grabbing things from the cabinets and holding them while the ship rocks." Laura suggests getting back to her favorite topic: food.
"You really want me to cook dinner for you, don't you?" Cain jokes.
"I mean, it would be different. Since you can always Summon something to do the cooking instead of doing it yourself."
"Alright, Ancient chef, it is." Cain decides, and a vision fills his mind of an alternate Ancient form. It is more humanoid than his, but with a shroud covering most of the body, including the face. Instead of wings, shadows extend from the back, and Cain realizes there are four additional arms hidden in them.
The wings themselves are an ability [Solid Shadows] that Cain can easily add, so he creates the body with his eyes closed, focused on getting every detail of the vision correction.
[Modify] and [Solid Shadows] are added, and Master level cooking. With two remaining skills available due to his increased secondary ability levels, Cain decides to make the chef a defender for the ship as well. [Horrific Perfection] Increases its stats to match his own and [Balance] gives the chef both damage and healing capability.
Once it is created, the Puppet moves over to place a hand on Cain's face, and he could swear the Puppet was smiling at him under that shroud. The actual head under the shroud is much Iike his Ancient face, with Tentacles as an upper lip and large black eyes, but more slender.
[Dinner will be ready soon.] A childish female voice Echoes in everyone's head, and Cain realizes someone had been messing with him again. Of course, following the vision exactly led to a female creation.
The meal made from the supplies on board turns out to be sweet oatmeal cakes with fruit filling and a side of fried ham. A simple sailors meal, but with enough sweetness to make Laura happy and enough meat to keep Nemu and Vala happy.
For a few days, dismissing the Kraken is enough to keep the peace, but one day out from the Southern Continent shoreline, their luck breaks, and the watch reports a pod of Demon Whales. That's exactly what Cain had been hoping for though, since they are said to be Legendary and work well together.
By pattern, they would have been called Orcas in Cain's previous life. They're almost an identical match, with only the glowing red eyes to give away the difference.
It's not a small group either; over thirty of them are circling the ship, mainly at Epic Quality, but led by one that is Legendary and twice the size of the others.
"Do you think we could ride them if I came up with a water-breathing spell? Just strap a harness around them, like a rodeo horse?" Cain asks, making Vala smirk.
"You know they can hear you and understand you, right?"
Cain nods his head; of course he knows. But that doesn't change the fact that it looks like it would be a lot of fun to ride a Demon Whale.
"Evil Being, come away from the ship and meet with us if you dare." The voice of a merfolk male calls from near the Legendary Demon Whale.
"Evil Being? Well, that's just rude and uncalled for. But if you want to be sociable, I can come to visit." Cain agrees, jumping into the water and changing into a full-sized Ancient Form before anyone can stop him.
Surprisingly, he finds that he has no problem breathing in the water. The moment his face entered the water, the instinct to breathe differently came to him, so Cain just went with it and found this body had no problem processing water. It is also surprisingly agile, using the wings to move through the water the same way it flies through the air.
The Merman seems utterly shocked when Cain appears in front of him, unarmed, and then stops.
[You did say you wanted to meet. My name is Cain, and I am leading my friends to the Southern Continent on an adventure to trade precious metals and crafting goods. At the same time, we are looking for an activity that will trigger the fourth advancement awakened System Class.] Cain mentally projects as the Ancients form can't speak any better underwater than it can in the air.
[I don't know what to say. Everyone attacks when we show up and challenge them. Nobody ever got in the water to introduce themselves before, and I haven't read that part of the training manual.] The merman explains.
Cain does his best to hide his amusement. [Why don't we visit someone more senior? Maybe they will have practice talking to outsiders, and we can come to some agreement that doesn't involve spending large amounts of energy attacking each other every time I pass between the Central and Southern Continent?]
That seems to be a good enough explanation for the Merman, but Cain is pretty sure that the way the Demon Whales are flipping their tails as they swim down deep into the water is their form of laughing at him.
The whales aren't gone long, though, they come back with an older man with the lower body of a Demon Whale, and now it's Cain's turn to pretend everything is normal. He is doing pretty well at the polite introductions so far, and starting with insinuations of the man's father bedding whales isn't going to help anything.
[Greetings, I am the Ancient Cain, headed from the Central Continent to the Southern to trade with the Youkai.] He greets the elderly Merman.
[Welcome to Merfolk territory, Ancient. The whales say you have members of the forbidden species with you that shouldn't be passing through our territory.] The elder responds.
So they weren't talking to or about Cain when they said 'Evil Being' then? That's new.
[Which species do you mean? I've got a Seraphim, a Demon, a Dragon, a Wave Rider, and a Beastkin with me on this trip. They are my summoned Companions, utterly loyal and amiable if you give them a chance.] Cain explains.
[Demons, Dragons, and Seraphim? How did you even make it this far with an intact ship? None of them are welcome in Merfolk territory after the war. For an Ancient, we can make an exception, but please keep them below decks when passing this region in the future.] The elder speaks it as a demand, with only a hint of civility between his request and outright hostility towards other species.
[I can agree with that. But more importantly, I can see a fantastic city below us; what are the chances of a tour?]
Sure, it might be a bit too forward and blatant, but Cain wants to add more merfolk to his collection.
[I'm sorry, the city is off-limits to outsiders. Even Merfolk from the other Clans aren't allowed in the Sacred City.] The elder declares with a note of finality.
Well, that's no fun, but the bit about there being multiple clans gives Cain hope for the future. All he needs to do is take a different route home, and he is bound to find another Merfolk clan, maybe a less guarded or more friendly one that he can explore.
The elder is about to swim away when he stops and turns back to Cain. [Ancient, what might your Class be? Or do you predate the system by too much?]
[I am a Flesh Crafter and a First Generation transfer. Before arriving on this world, I was not Ancient.] Cain offers, wondering if the older man will change his mind about that tour.
[Flesh Crafter? Damn you; you want to clone us all as your puppets to experiment on and fight your battles, don't you?] The younger merman accuses.
What's the polite way to say only the cute and powerful ones? It seems like an outright denial would be too obvious of a lie.
[Not ALL of you. Though a few skilled merfolk would be a welcome addition to any aquatic environment, wouldn't they?]
The Elder snorts in amusement, shooting a jet of water mixed with a bit of ink like a squid.
[Even when they are transfers, Ancients don't change, do they? Take a long way around; thirty Kilometers will move you safely clear of the city. You've collected the two of us and the Whales; that is enough for one day.]
With that, they swim away, and Cain returns to the ship, swimming straight up and then flying over to pass on the requested detour route.
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