When Jericho swallowed the core; multiple notifications appeared before him.
[You have swallowed a pure souless water elemental core. Body has become destabilized and is transforming into a lesser water elemental. Once the transformation is completed, an NPC will take over your character and you will re-spawn back in town as if you had died.]
[Gemini Lilies detected. 1/18 consumed. NPC will no longer take over your character. You have gained the skill 'Form-shift' This ability does not have a skill line. You can switch between available forms. Current forms available: Lesser water elemental, Human.]
[You have become a lesser water elemental. You have gained the monster skill line Water elemental rank 1. Your elemental form will grow as you rank up the skill line. The skill line Water (water magic) has been absorbed into the elemental skill line. Future water magic learned will also be absorbed into this skill line. You have learned Aqua slash, Swift swim, Water walk, Merge/separate, Command water and Mutable body. Because of skill absorption, your water elemental skill line has acquired The Storm, Water's tears, and Aqua bullet (evolved from aqua shot). More water elemental skills will be learned at higher ranks.]
[Form-shift: Shift between known forms. Current forms and explanations: Human form: Able to use all 'human skills' at 100% proficiency, able to use water elementals skills at 50% proficiency except for skills that overlap. In human form, you need to eat, sleep, and breathe. Lesser water elemental form: Able to use all water elemental skills at 100% proficiency, able to use human skills at 50% proficiency. In water elemental form you do not need to eat, sleep, or breathe however, dehydration will harm you. In this form, you possess all the innate traits of a water elemental. In this form, you are considered an in-game creature; you will be subject to npc rules while in this form including, but not limited to, combat agro rules. Form-shift will update as forms update. To use Form-shift, focus on the valid form and think about switching between the two. Saying Form-shift aloud may help with focusing on the shift.]
[As you are now considered a water elemental, you will be welcome as a friend at most water elemental settlements and some other elemental settlements.]
The first thing Jericho noticed was that his vision seemed strange. Despite being in the middle of the lake could see through the water all around him. The sights of the water elementals and fish swimming in the lake were clear. Slowly, normal vision and water vision overlapped.
Jericho tried moving his morphic blobby body. He looked up at Llyn and Glawio. {I'm so small,} he said realizing they both towered over him.
Glawio came forward. {As you are now one of us, I will accompany you to help keep you safe at least for now.} The human height water elemental formed a small ball of spirit water and placed in into the now small Jericho the lesser water elemental.
A notification appeared before the bard. [Glawio the elemental has given you his elemental essence. You have gained a tier 3 water elemental companion, level 10. The elemental will join you on your adventures. Because you both share merge/separate Glawio can store itself inside of you. Unlike pets, companions will do what they want despite traveling with you. You can set a nickname for your companion.]
{Glaw} Jericho the lesser water elemental replied. {It's easier to say and remember.}
The lesser and small elementals swam towards the center of the lake and started chanting happily. {{One of us! One of Us!}}
Jericho inwardly sighed at the tiny elementals he was the same size as. He would have outwardly sighed if water elementals had lungs to sigh with. He decided to have a little bit of fun since he knew this was a game. {{One of Us! One of Us!}} He joined in the chanting.
Llyn was pleased by the sight of Jericho embracing the change better than he expected. He slid forward. {It may take some time to get used to being one of us. But once you grow and become a small water elemental or something you call a 'rank 2' water elemental, you will have the power to bring water to that human village you came to ask us to help.}
Another notification sounded. [Special quest update: As a water elemental, you can save the village that has requested aid in restoring water to their home. Elevate your monster skill line to rank 2 to unlock the necessary skills.]
Jericho pushed the notification aside and floated to the lake surface. He pulled out the violin which was now slightly bigger than his body size. He tried playing it only to fill the acoustic chamber with liquid. A frown appeared on his wet face.
Llyn approached the lesser elemental Jericho. {You have a mutable body; use that to create a fake version of that tool. Also, I should warn you. Don't let most mortals see you transform between human and elemental. Most will not take kindly to it.}
{Ah!} The elemental bard replied. He logged the warning in his mind and tried out the suggestion. He formed a miniature violin and bow out of his own body and tried playing it.
After a few dozen attempts, Jericho figured out how to make the water replicate the vibrations of the violin strings.
Princess's background dancers started dancing to the music since they currently were not summoned by her.
Jericho hopped in excitement.
[Mutable body has leveled 1/10 beginner.]
He sent a message to Shiarra and Princess. [I may be at the lake for a while. I got a special skill that needs to reach tier two so we can save the dry town. I will be grinding here for a while.]
Shiarra frowned as she received the message. [Fine; hopefully someone won't complete the quest while you are practicing. We will keep looking for other potential quests.]
Princess smiled as she received the message. [Okay! See you at breakfast!]
Jericho returned to practicing being an elemental as it would help him with his music skills later. He practiced some of the racial skills and repeatedly played The Storm part 1 and Water's tears with his small water violin. The consistent rainfall felt very refreshing and invigorating to his elemental body and the empowerment he felt with water's tears was amazing.
[Command water has leveled 2/10.]
[Aqua bullet has leveled 2/10.]
[Aqua slash has leveled 2/10.]
[Water's Tears has leveled 5/10.]
[The Storm (Rain) part 1 has leveled 9/10.]
[Mutable body has leveled 7/10.]
Jericho was pleased by his rapid progress in the beginner stages of water elemental skills. Morning came and he sent a message to Princess. [Moira, time to get breakfast and head off to school.]
After logging off and eating breakfast Jericho walked his sister to school.
Moira hummed happily. "Big sister Shiarra is awesome. I approve of her!"
Jericho turned to his sister in confusion. "Approve of her for what?" He asked concerned she was going to make it awkward.
"She will make a good wife for you. She is strong, protective, needs someone like you to cook for her, and she is really nice."
Jericho sighed. "I will admit, her in game character is naturally beautiful despite her larger stature. However, I met her just before you did. Before we talk about marriage, she and I should get to know each other as friends first."
"Of course! I am curious, what did the elementals want to give you secretly?" She rapidly changed the topic.
"It's currently a secret, so you can't tell Shiarra yet, okay?"
She nodded vigorously. "The water elementals asked you not to tell people?"
"Kind of. The reward they gave me was the power to turn into a water elemental. However I need to get stronger before I can use the water elemental power to help the village."
"Wow! Cool! Do you look like the two bigger ones?"
Jericho shook his head with a laugh. "Currently I look like those tiny ones that liked to hang around you. Later I will look more like the larger ones."
Jericho logged back into the game while his sister was at school. He continued practicing his skills and playing with the other elementals by the shore. The bard became quite familiar with how the elementals moved, walked, attacked, and lived.
Llyn and Glaw kept watch as they didn't want their new sibling to run into trouble too quickly.
Jericho heard human voices nearby and turned to see who had come.
"Hey! The boss has spawned! Perfect, we need its core for our quest!" A random player shouted.
Jericho the lesser water elemental saw the group of adventurers charging towards Llyn.
A notification sounded in front of Jericho at that very moment. [Greater water elemental Llyn as used the spell, Summon Water Elementals, Mass. Due to your high luck, you have been randomly selected by the spell and summoned.]
© J Eranoth