Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 348: Daughter of the Tides

What is it, Thorwald?" Eric asked, irritation sharpening his voice.The brute had barged in claiming he needed four thousand men to eliminate some supposed “threat” from his tutorial. Eric, of course, wasn’t interested in such nonsense. Whatever danger Thorwald had faced in that tutorial couldn’t possibly threaten him. Only a Chosen had the power to do that. His priority was elsewhere. Building this base into an unbreakable fortress, layered with enough defensive measures to shrug off any attack. Managing fifty thousand people was already a monumental task, but with the builders, the supplies, and the counsel of his patron, it was achievable, though time-consuming.

The coming system event was just five days away, a brief reprieve since most factions would spend that time preparing rather than launching reckless assaults. So far, Eric had only dealt with incursions, most of which he had closed effortlessly. The only real challenge had been an A-grade faction, disciplined and well-trained. Even then, Eric had never been in real danger, though he had been forced to exert himself. He preferred to keep his strength in reserve, to avoid wasting men unnecessarily. Now, instead of focusing on the event, Thorwald had returned with only one survivor at his side, Joe.

"We never even made it halfway to the base I told you about," Thorwald said, bowing deeply. His broad frame trembled as though the weight of failure bent him further. "One of their hunting parties ambushed us. They slaughtered everyone but me and Joe. We barely survived."

Eric didn’t usually care if people bowed to him, but he disliked Thorwald enough that the sight gave him a flicker of satisfaction.

"Didn’t I tell you not to antagonize them?" Eric’s voice hardened, his words cold as tempered steel. He was young, but far from naïve. Thorwald wanted to use him as a weapon against another camp, that much was obvious. Eric had already consulted his patron about Thorwald’s past tutorial. The god had dismissed the faction there as insignificant, too weak to be worth Solarian’s notice. That alone meant they could potentially be allies, not enemies.

"We didn’t! They ambushed us on the way," Joe interjected quickly, his tone honest, his eyes steady.

Eric trusted Joe far more than Thorwald. The scout’s words carried weight. And if it was true, then this was troubling indeed. Humanity turning on itself in this fragile new world could not be tolerated.

"Do you still have the tracker?" Eric asked, rising from his meditation mat.

"Of course, sir. We only need a few thousand men and my Raha. Then we’ll show them the price of killing our subjects," Thorwald said eagerly, completely misjudging Eric’s intent.

"First of all, they are not your Raha," Eric corrected, his voice low but cutting. "They have sworn themselves to Solarian. They are free to act as long as they honor him." A ripple of his aura leaked out as he stepped closer, heavy enough to press against Thorwald’s chest.

Thorwald’s bravado faltered. "You can’t possibly go alone. Thalion... their leader... he’s a monster in the flesh. He nearly killed me once. It’s too dangerous."

"Then that will be my problem. Now, give me the tracker." Eric’s hand shot out, plucking the token from Thorwald’s grip as if the man’s protests were nothing but buzzing flies. "You’ve lost the men I entrusted you with. As punishment, you’ll chop wood until the system event begins. An axe-wielder like you should excel at that."

His tone left no room for argument. Ignoring Thorwald’s glare, Eric turned on his heel and strode outside. Light flared behind him, brilliant wings unfolding from his back. With a single beat they carried him skyward, and as his skill ignited fully, he became a blazing comet racing across the heavens toward the distant human camp.

<--

The sound of waves crashing against the sandy beach was deeply calming. It was still morning, and the sun was already climbing higher into the sky, painting the horizon in shades of gold. Thalion lay coiled in the form of the Tidecaller Serpent, his scaled body wrapped protectively around the shrunken crystal he had stolen from beneath the leviathan’s nose. In these shallow waters no great predator could appear, which made the place perfect for cultivation and body tempering.

He had discovered that remaining close to the crystal slowly acclimated his body to its aura. That way, when the time came to swallow it, the energy would not tear him apart from within. Until then, he worked on absorbing the smaller crystals he had already consumed. Their aura was fading, almost spent, and his body now felt far more attuned to the water than before. The steady progress alone was impressive—simply swallowing water crystals granted him power without effort, even when he was not in his serpent form.

From time to time Thalion swam further out into the ocean. Not to hunt, but to circle lazily among the reefs and schools of fish, resetting his mind before returning to his training. Soon, he would need to swallow the larger crystal, and that would be a dangerous endeavor. Occasionally, he shifted back into human form when villagers visited him, asking questions. The news that they would soon abandon the camp had unsettled many, and they turned to him for guidance. Thalion could only repeat that body tempering was immensely powerful, even if the stat increases seemed modest.

Annie came and went during those days, often returning from hunts. Thalion, however, declined to join her. Every hour counted and she went to the deeper parts. He had to maximize his training if he wanted to safely consume the massive crystal. The hours bled into each other as his body strengthened, every breath of water around him weaving deeper into his being. Sometimes he hunted with the fish themselves, fulfilling an old dream he had carried from Earth, which was to swim through a living swarm and chase down the flash of silver bodies in a bait ball.

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Here, however, such bait balls were deadly. A single wrong movement could mean being torn to shreds. Yet Thalion reveled in the risk. It was exhilarating, almost childlike, as though he were fulfilling a forgotten dream of boyhood. He cared nothing for experience points or devouring his prey—those gains were insignificant. His focus was on strengthening his body for the coming system event. Hunting alongside marlin, tuna, or even sharks was excellent practice, testing his reflexes and instincts in equal measure.

Body tempering required him to feel the water, to sense its vibrations. In time, he learned to influence the current itself, not unlike how he controlled his own blood. His command was crude compared to that, but enough to give him brief bursts of speed or grace. Most of the time he used it for style, because the sensation of slicing through the water with barely a ripple was intoxicating. For him, movement had become a kind of freedom, a dance with the sea itself.

The ocean changed around him as he moved. Normally, fish were predators that preyed on anything weaker, often even on their own kind. With Thalion, however, they adjusted. He rarely struck at them directly and instead went after schools of smaller fish. In time, many of the larger creatures began to follow him, moving as allies rather than adversaries. It felt like a glimpse of how life in the oceans of old Earth might have been.

Even so, danger remained. The tiny fish schools were akin to piranhas. A distracted predator could be fatally wounded within moments. Thalion avoided close entanglements, usually blasting them apart with blades of water. On rare occasions, though, when a fish was knocked senseless by a tail swipe or drifted unconscious, he snatched it up to taste it. It brought no measurable stats, but Thalion was curious. He wanted to experience it, to know the texture of this world.

This was how he spent the next two days. It felt incredible, almost too good. He could not remember the last time he had been so balanced. Perhaps the closest was the evenings before the system appeared, sitting with his friends on a beach, sipping beer while staring out over the endless ocean. That same serenity filled him now, and in this state his cultivation soared. What once took him two days he now accomplished in one.

He pushed thoughts of the elves aside. They loomed like storm clouds on the horizon, but he trusted in his escape token. He doubted they could chase him beneath the waves. And besides, there was something wholesome in these moments. People often came to thank him for what he had done during the tutorial, expressing their gratitude before leaving. Thalion and the elites would remain behind as long as possible, but even they planned to depart before the elves arrived. Everyone feared the scouts might come early and discover them.

The fish he had hunted with began following him back to the lagoon, circling the blue crystal at a respectful distance. He never expected what came next. One of the long, F-grade, azure fish he had never seen before shimmered, its body twisting with impossible light. Before his eyes, scales melted into skin, fins stretched into limbs, until a tall woman stood in the shallow waters. She wore a dark green tunic reminiscent of ancient Egypt, her body adorned with elegant scales that looked more like tattoos than armor. Water spun gently around her as though obeying her presence.

Thalion, coiled tightly around the crystal in barely ten centimeters of water, was so shocked that he instinctively shifted back into human form. He stared, wide-eyed. What was happening?

Thalassan Level 81

Had that fish just evolved into a woman? She looked human, but from the neck down faint traces of scales shimmered like art across her body. Unlike the rough plates of beasts, they appeared delicate, almost ceremonial. She stood tall, poised, the water swirling as if acknowledging her.

It was at that moment Annie returned from her hunt. She froze mid-step, staring at Thalion and the scaled woman locked in silence.

"Jo… what is going on here?" Annie asked, mirroring Thalion’s confusion.

The woman did not appear confused. Stunned, perhaps, but not lost. For someone who had been a fish moments ago, standing upright with arms and legs must have been overwhelming.

"I don’t know," Thalion admitted after a long pause, his voice rough with disbelief. "The fish just… turned into her."

"Maybe she’s a shapeshifter too?" Annie suggested, curiosity flickering in her eyes. Then she smiled gently and extended her hand. "Hi, I’m Annie. Who are you?"

Thalion almost scoffed. How could she speak? She had been a fish until moments ago. Yet, thinking back, he remembered the rare, high-grade creatures that sometimes swam near him, watching from a distance. His doubts evaporated when the woman stepped forward, took Annie’s hand, and smiled back.

"Hi," she said softly, her voice melodic and slow, like water flowing over stone.

The woman towered over Annie by two heads, only a little shorter than Thalion himself. Her long blue hair gleamed in the sun. Thalion’s mind raced. Did her new form simply come with clothes, or had she always been something more than a fish?

"So you really were a fish before? And now you became… a Thalassan?" Annie asked, her eyes wide as she examined the scaled hand holding hers.

"Yes," the woman nodded. "I evolved into a Thalassan. I hoped you could help me with this new form."

Her words were slow but precise, remarkable for someone who had never spoken before. Thalion thought of his own transformations. When he first shifted into a serpent or an eagle, his body had moved naturally. Perhaps gaining a form also gave you the instincts to use it and some extra information?

"Just to be clear. You couldn’t shapeshift into a human or a Thalassan before, right?" Annie asked, finally releasing the woman’s hand.

"Correct. I could not transform before. This is my E-grade evolution." She turned then, striding toward Thalion, and extended her hand. "Hi. I am Thalassan."

Thalion blinked, taken aback. After a moment, he shook it. "Thalion," he stammered, unusually lost for words. Lately, it seemed such moments were becoming common.

Annie’s excitement overflowed. "Thalassan, do you have water spells? What exactly is your class? I heard from beastmasters that beasts usually only have races, not classes. If your race is Thalassan, then what’s your name? My race is human, but my name is Annie."

"My class is Sea Conjurer," Thalassan answered, her melodic voice steady now.

Annie’s eyes sparkled. "That’s incredible! Come. You have to meet the others!" She grabbed Thalassan’s hand and all but dragged her toward the trees, brimming with excitement.

Thalion only shook his head in disbelief. What an encounter. He barely had time to collect himself before the camp’s alarm bells rang. He looked up to see a streak of bright light tearing across the sky above the treetops, blazing toward them.