Book 1: Chapter 67

Aqua The crocodile and stingray continue to fight it out between themselves as I watch with more than a little excitement from the side. Because it’s the first time I’ve seen a battle between monsters this close. Plus both of them were very close to killing me. The stingray probably could’ve crippled me with a single sting, even if I could probably easily kill it with one blow as well. And the crocodile probably would’ve snapped my spine in two with a single chomp if I didn’t dodge at the last second. So seeing the two fight each other is satisfying. Of course, I ignore the chat which is calling me cute and adorable. It’s not my fault I’m excited to see this. Anyway, I continue watching the two fight. With the stingray struggling against the crocodile because its scales are too tough for its stinger to make it in and the croc seems largely resistant or even immune to electricity. Leaving the stingray stuck trying to sting the crocodile’s eyes and inside of its mouth. But the crocodile isn’t letting any of those attacks get through. It even almost chomps down on the stingray’s stinger once. Which I’m certain would snap the thing off. If I remember correctly from one of those miner idiots back on Equeter – a guy who used to be a diver on another planet apparently – stingray stingers are literally just their spines pretty much. And that crocodile absolutely has enough force to snap a bone in two. So I feel my hands clenching in fists as I nod in excitement every time one of them gets close to crippling the other. Whether it’s the stingray almost managing to sting either the croc’s eyes or inside its mouth, or it’s the croc almost chomping down on the stingray’s stinger. Although despite no crippling injuries having been made yet, the croc has at least injured the stingray a bit besides that. What with it being stronger than the stingray in general strength. And a stingray isn’t exactly the picture of constitution. Not that I’m one to talk since I’m back here because of that very same reason. On another note, all the baby stingrays are dead at this point. Having been crushed, stomped on, and eaten by the crocodile. Which seems to have pissed the momma stingray the hell off. I’m not even sure if she realizes I’m here anymore. The two continue fighting as I watch for several minutes before the croc finally manages to chomp down on the stingray’s stinger. Breaking it in two and making the stingray begin convulsing all over. But before the croc can celebrate its impending victory, something goes wrong. And I can clearly see what from here. Venom seems to be leaking out of the broken stinger, filling the water around the stingray and the crocodile. More importantly though, the venom is entering the crocodile’s mouth. And I’m starting to wonder if it’s venom or poison. Or if it even matters. Because the crocodile instantly freezes up before it can even open its mouth fully again to chomp down on and finish the stingray. Following which I see necrosis literally withering away its teeth and some of the inside of its mouth. Meanwhile the crocodile slowly seems to grow paralyzed. I watch from the entrance as both of the monsters I was just fearful of kind of stop moving. Then, with a nod, I begin to swim over to the two before clapping my hands in front of them both with a smile. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. “A wonderful battle,” I state, my smile growing wider by the second. “Now to take the spoils.” And without hesitation, I grab my trident while avoiding the poison floating in the water before stabbing it into the crocodile’s eyes. Then into what I’m hoping is its brain. All while using several large tentacles to crush the stingray without any struggle now that its stinger is down for the count. [She just swooped in and stole both kills after the fight...] [Shameless...] [Are you new here? Our Aqua has always been shameless.] [This is the woman who walked in and dumped hundreds of corpses on overworked harvesters.] [And the woman who cleared out a broken dungeon of monsters before casually ‘forgetting to mention’ that to her tour guide when he was going to show off to her by killing monsters in said broken dungeon.] [Don’t forget the many times she’s blamed things on us out of nowhere.] [Oh, and remember the many times she’s started crying and just said that something got in her eye?] I stare blankly at the chat with my mouth agape as they all point out one series of events after another – none of which are my fault without a doubt – until I purse my lips and cross my arms. “How rude, there’s no proof so none of that happened,” I state with a nod before reaching out and pulling the monster corpses into my storage ring. All while glancing at my System Messages. [You have killed a level forty-five Brinewretch. EXP has been granted accordingly.] [You have killed a creature underwater. Apex Predator of the Depths has been activated, increasing your REGEN stat by one.] [You have killed a level forty-four Deep Dark Croc. EXP has been granted accordingly.] [You have killed a creature underwater. Apex Predator of the Depths has been activated, increasing your REGEN stat by one.] [Congratulations! You have now reached level 40! As the current First Ranker of Oceana, your total free points have increased by three, and your mana stat has increased by ten. Allocate the free points whenever you please. Additionally, you have now unlocked your seventh skill.] [Congratulations! You have now reached level 41! Your total free points have increased by two, and your mana stat has increased by ten. Allocate the free points whenever you please.] Yeah, that’s about right. The System didn’t give me quite as much EXP as I normally would’ve gotten from killing those two since I didn’t do much work. They pretty much disabled each other before I came in and finished them off. I probably got half or maybe sixty percent of the EXP taken away by the System from killing them. That’s fine though. Two levels is plenty for me. Especially when I get a new skill for level forty. I glance at the chat again. [Young lady, we have plenty of evidence.] [Look all over the news! You’ll find proof of your misdeeds and shamelessness all across the internet!] [Don’t ignore reality young lady!] [Just because you’re cute doesn’t mean you can get away with everything!] I stare at them for a few seconds before nodding my head and stating, “If you don’t show it to me directly, then how can I know there’s any proof? No proof shown to me, no shamelessness. Nothing happened.” The chat blows up again. “Seriously though, how could you blame something like that on an innocent girl like me?” I ask while folding my arms under my chest and shaking my head. The epitome of innocence. They blow up even more. [Aqua, please stop ignoring reality.] [Is she okay? I think she may have hit her head during that fight.] [And she says she’s not shameless...] How rude. Anyway, I hum to myself as I swim out of the broken dungeon with a wide lazy smile on my face. Ignoring the chat along the way. But I get a rather unexpected surprise when I’m about to make it out of the castle. One in the form of a notification from the System. System Notification Congratulations! You have been given a Special Custom Sponsorship! In order to check this Special Custom Sponsorship, please open your Sponsorship System menu at any time! This Sponsorship has no requirements attached to it! Huh? I stare blankly at the notification as I stop swimming and humming at the same time. Confusing the chat that was just calling my previous actions cute when I suddenly stop. The whole humming with a smile on my face thing. Who in the Alliance would waste trillions of credits just to send me a Special Custom Sponsorship? It can’t be one of my grandparents, right? No... maybe Rhett? I’m honestly not sure. And it says there are no requirements. I continue to stare for several seconds before eventually shrugging and going to check my Sponsorship System menu. Nothing will happen just staring at the notification. Time to see what it is. And who gave it to me.