Thomas watched in terror as the massive creature lazily swam towards his shoal. Still on the recoil from his Swift Swim skill, Thomas could do nothing but watch. Closer and closer the creature swam, until it was right near the shoal. Wary of the danger, the shoal began to swim away from the creature, a giant glittering ball of fish. Thomas felt his muscles finally relax, the state of exhaustion over. With all his strength, he pumps his tail, flying through the water. He activates Swift Swim again, desperate to get to his shoal, his family, his one place of safety. With a slam, Thomas connects with the back of the creature's tail, trying to distract it away from his shoal. With a lazy turn of its upper body, Thomas can see the monster looking at him, its eye the size of his entire body. It turns back and flicks its tail to the side, sending Thomas tumbling away. When he straightens himself out, Thomas can see that in the moment the monster had taken to get rid of him, the shoal had gotten a considerable distance away. 'Well, we are built for speed, and this guy is slow as hell. Why was I so concerned?' Thomas thinks to himself, followed by a slightly nervous laugh. The monster sees the shoal getting farther and farther away, and begins to open its mouth. Suddenly, Thomas feels a strange cold current in the water. Despite having lived in the water for many hours now, he was yet to feel any change in temperature in the water. This new cold current doesnt feel like water, but like something IN the water, mixed in. By now the monster had opened its mouth to the max, a horrific bottomless pit where no light entered. Before he could wonder why the mouth was so dark, he began to feel it. The suction. A vortex had formed in front of the monster mouth, aimed directly at the shoal. Being off to the side, Thomas was not affected by the suction much, but could still feel a serious pull, almost dragging him into the monsters mouth. To his horror, the shoal began to move back, being dragged by whatever mysterious force the creature controlled. Before his very eyes, his entire shoal was sucked into the creatures mouth, which quickly shut with a dull thud. Not a single fish was able to escape. Satisfied with its meal, the creature turned to go back to open ocean, slowly leaving the reef behind.
'My.. my shoal…' Thomas was shocked. He had viewed this world as almost like a game, not seriously considering any threats. 'I should've known, we're prey fish.' In his sorry, Thomas slowly felt rage building, the same kind he felt when the mobsters kills his fish back on Earth. 'It may have only been for a few hours, but they were MY shoal. MINE.' Simmering with rage, Thomas waiting for his muscles to work, fled to the reef, now the only place of safety left to him. He hung out on the edge, where the majority of predators ignored. There was plenty to eat further in the reef. Above him, the sky slowly began to darken as the sun set, turning the waters a deeper and darker shade of blue. All around him, Thomas witnessed creatures, real living animals, fighting for life, and realized how foolish he was. 'This life isn't a game,' He decided. 'There's a real chance I could die. I need to get stronger.' The drive to grow and trounce over all had gripped his mind. 'But I'm just a minnow, and without the shoal I have no strength. I can't even fight by myself..' With a start, Thomas remembered the fight he witnessed before the monster that.. that ate his shoal showed up. Searching around, he found the half eaten carcass of the eel, being slowly picked upon by crustaceans and other bottom feeders. They all ignored his approach, unconcerned with such a small fish. Finding flesh that wasn't covered by the eels tough skin, Thomas tore into it. Or at least, he tried to. His small and weak jaw was unable to tear away at the solid meat. He could almost hear the other bottom feeders jeering at him. Swallowing his shame, he bit as hard as he could, and began to thrash back and forth, trying his best to rip a piece of meat off. After several minutes of hard work, he was rewarded with a small hunk of meat, which was promptly swallowed. In his head, Freeman began to speak again;
Fanged Eel Consumed. One Muta point gained. Fanged Eel Abilities absorbed. Fanged Eel Identity Profile created.
This time, there was no alert for Exp. 'Probably because I didn't kill it.' Thought Thomas as he began to tear into the eel again. Willing the page to open, Thomas began to read the Fanged Eels profile.
A common reef dwelling creature, Fanged Eels are one of the smaller species of eel, only measuring to a maximum of three feet at full size. Their oversized fangs, while looking scary, are nothing more than overgrown teeth. They are most often used to scare off/fight with predators, and to attract mates.
'The eel does have an impressive pair of chompers, I'll give it that.' Thomas kept eating until he was full, his small stomach full of eel. He also gained another Muta point, bringing his total to 7. He then went back up to the reef, to find somewhere safe to digest and brows his status. Eventually, Thomas found a dead coral at the edge of the reef, its bottom almost carved out to form a tiny cave. Thomas thanked whoever the previous inhabitants for their work, and settled in. Despite being a fish, Thomas knew he could sleep. Albeit, in a very different way than humans do. It was a state of stillness, while his mind rested, along with his body. Because he couldn't close his eyes, he would be able to respond to any outside threats while still getting rest.
'Let's check the eels Abilities.' The Mutation page opened up, with a new mutation listen under Brine Shrimp Exoskeleton;
Fanged Eel Teeth. 1 Muta Point: The Fanged Eel is known for its impressive set of fangs that hang on the outside of its mouth. Including those, the Fanged Eel has a set of much smaller fully functional teeth, inside its mouth.
Thomas sat and stared at the description. 'If I get these teeth, there's a chance another shoal of my species might not accept me..' Gritting his non-existent teeth, he decided to purchase the teeth. 'I need to get stronger, and I need to EAT. Teeth are needed for that.' Willing the purchase, Thomas watched as his Muta Point count went down by one, and he heard Freeman's voice;
Confirming purchase of Fanged Eel Teeth Mutation. One Muta Point spent. Mutation Proceeding Now.
With those words, Thomas was thrust into a world of pain.