I'm a Stingray?

Chapter 217: Explosive diarrhoea

As they began swimming towards the very border that gave the definition between shallow waters and however deep the dark mist was, a ray of thoughts had enveloped the little stingray.

And since Dana was well aware of the system's existence, or at least the idea that there was a lady living in her friend's head, it seemed reasonable to ask questions to the system out loud.

That's why he spoke, "How come I didn't get any points? Those battles were stupidly dangerous."

[Well you didn't really kill anything. Because the collector had committed suicide and the fish it had given birth to, was killed by your friend there]

After such a sentence was uttered, it was easy to see that the stingray-skeleton was swimming with a bit more pride. Obviously, she was proud of her own work.

Yet before the hero could have unleashed a bundle of complaints, the system shortly added. [But...]

And then continued, [Since you did fight those weird creatures, and evidently contributed into their research one way or the other, I can reward you]

[Note that these types of rewards are rare, since you didn't actually kill those enemies. You are mostly being rewarded for surviving near the enemies long enough for me to observe them. Since these are new discoveries, the rewards are even bigger]

[So you have attained 500 system points as a reward]

[Total system points = 632]

Such a notification had forced him to leap out thanks to shock, which was followed up with joy just a second later. Initially he wanted to complain his way to a hundred extra points, but this was just over the line!

And for once in a while, he was competent enough to express gratitude. "Thank you!"

[Use them wisely]

...

Eventually they arrived at the border, but had spent a bit of time looking for the skeletons. Timmy aided towards finding them, since he had a map that functioned in a third-person-point-of-view.

It was easier to spot anything when a map was glanced at. But their success didn't necessarily lead to satisfaction. As the bones of their friends were shattered, broken and spread across the sand.

Little memorisation was required to figure out that a stingray's bone was used to nail the hero against the sand, and send him close to death. So this could explain how the bodies weren't in one piece.

So the joy of victory he had experienced earlier, was swiftly replaced by grief and rage as it was certain that these innocent stingrays were stripped out of life, while they simply tried to battle a great evil that could have plagued the reef!

It was difficult to swallow the concept of death when it happened to someone he considered as friends. But Dana seemed to be more easy going towards the whole situation.

And it was body parts that she valued a lot right now, so she thought it as a good idea to do a favour for these deceased friends.

She vocalised the idea too, "I think the best we can do for these stingrays is to dig a grave for them."

[Although typically I wouldn't care for such a matter, it is a respectful gesture to hide their bones from scavengers]

It took a little bit of thinking to agree upon such an idea. They nodded and began cooperating for the sake of getting this task done quicker. Dana was using her rows of fin-bones to rake through the sand, roughly enough to dig for the sake of creating a decent ditch.

While Timothy was gathering up all the bones in one spot, close to the hole that was being dug so it would be easier to push the parts in afterwards.

It felt a bit odd to hold the lifeless skeletons of his dear friends, it was even more uncomfortable to hold them with his jaws ~ but life can be weird like that and there was little to nothing he could do about it.

After a while, they managed to bury these skeletons a couple of feet under the sand. It wasn't certain if such a quantity was enough to ensure that their carcasses wouldn't be scathed any further, but right now they could only hope for the best.

Now it was time to leave these diamond stingrays to rest forever, but it felt reasonable to say a word or two to their lifeless bodies.

So Timothy floated above the grave and began yammering, "Uh, you three and me didn't really have enough time to know each other better, but I know for damn sure that you all were fearless allies to me and the reef."

"One of you had even saved my life, I can never forget that. But it's sad how I couldn't return the favour, that bastard killed all of you and it was impossible to do anything about it." Evidently the speech was sinking deeper now.

It was noticeable that the young boy was speaking his heart out, increased emotional intelligence helped for such a matter. He could actually feel a connection with these deceased diamonds, which was an occurrence as rare as a smart fish.

But he sealed the speech up by adding, "The reef is safer than ever now so your deaths aren't without a reason, and we won't forget you."

That was when his stomach flinched in pain, strongly enough to inspire explosive diarrhoea. But his anus begged to differ, it was burning as if boiling water was thrown against it.

And he didn't fail to express it in front of the graves and the lady who had helped him dig them, by shouting. "My ass is on fire!"

Within a moment later, he began swimming in circles for the sake of escaping the pain, but it was barely effective as the stomach was still doing what it planned to do.

Eventually, a chunk of poop that stretched just a couple of centimetres wide, made its way out and fell on the sand. It was rather heavy as it had caused a dust cloud.

As for the chubby sea-pancake, he began feeling relief and could notice that his stomach was stabilizing and working like a clock.

That was when actual diarrhoea kicked in, it sprayed across the water like an out of control fire-hose. What was even more bizarre, struck out as the system's claim.

[Your length and width have increased by exactly 5-centimeters]

[Now, your size is the following...]

[Body length = 21 centimetres]

[Body width = 13 centimeters]