I'm a Stingray?

Chapter 234: Sore fins

"How am I so smart?!" Timothy shouted once more, for the sake of grasping information.

[I did not have the option to check your creative intelligence, since it had been unlocked as an upgradeable option, just now]

[But it seems like you had this intelligence, ever since you reincarnated into this stingray body!]

"So, I was smart ever since the beginning?" He instantly asked, feeling more and more comfortable about this.

[Yes]

[Either the stingray had a large creative intelligence, before you occupied its body, or...]

"Or?" The hero instantly followed up, desperate for more information.

[Or you had a great creative intelligence in your former human body, and it managed to follow your soul]

Trying to reap even more motivation out of this, he cited. "Oh... I don't know how to feel about that, but at least I was a genius from the beginning. I love this!"

[Correct]

[Well at least you are a genius when it comes to creative intelligence. But the rest of your mental capabilities, are still below the bracket]

"I'll be smarter one day, no rush." He expressed, because the levels of satisfaction were already high. It made it difficult to be mad about anything.

It was noticeable that upgrading creative intelligence was tremendously expensive, but he didn't want to let that aspect weigh him down. Because they were in an environment where dangerous creatures lurked in every corner, system points shouldn't be too big of a problem.

Instead, he began focusing on what he could upgrade. "I want to buy that temperature thingy, please."

Well such a kind request was nice to hear for once. Even the boy could feel himself behaving nicer, and such self observation was a great sign that his emotional intelligence was being put into use.

As for upgrading temperature toleration, it seemed worthwhile. Although the boy had not thought about it yet, the ocean carried a lot of different temperatures.

Most of them were the opposite of hell, soul shiveringly cold so to speak. And not to forget that this world still had seasons, regardless of the fact that he was a stingray. It was better to be prepared.

[Confirmed]

Within those seconds, a sharp pain had struck the boy's fins! It managed to stop Tim's pace, he could not swim forward for a quick second.

But then the pain spread away from the tip of his fins and launched towards the boy's spine. It was paralyzing to a certain extent, and Dana was the first to notice such commotion through the waters.

Likewise, she turned around and began planting seeds to a believable lie. The system had to be maintained as a secret, even towards close friends.

That's why she asked, "Are your fins feeling too sore again?"

Osira turned around and gave the sea-pancake a bit of attention. But considering what the described problem was, she didn't give much concern towards the situation.

They had travelled over forty-kilometers so far for the sake of this journey, it made perfect sense that their bodies were sore.

But Gerlach was paying a bit more attention to detail. And when he noticed that the sea-disk was uncomfortably flinching and shivering thanks to the pain, he managed to pick apart that something wasn't right.

He wanted to ask a question, but it felt difficult to form a proper sentence in this case, even for such an esteemed creature such as Gerlach. Therefore he just let it be and hoped that the pain would go away quickly.

[Upgrade complete]

[80-system-points consumed]

[194-system-points remaining]

That was when all of that unbearable pain, had loosened its agitating grasp of the boy. This result provided a sense of relief to a certain extent.

But he also felt really sore, yet thankfully every attempt to swim aided to send the aftermath away.

[Current temperature toleration capabilities = 30-points]

He still did not understand how this temperature thing worked, but since just a couple of upgrades were dedicated to it, chances were that the ability was still considered below average.

Now, it was time for Timmy to grant a sense of relief to his friends by answering. "I feel better now, don't worry about it."

That managed to dispel the concern, before it could have transformed into an annoying debate regarding health. And now this group could focus on the main task.

So they continued to swim west and hoped to find a shark that was missing a pelvic fin.

...

The team managed to travel for a kilometer more towards this dangerous territory, and they unsurprisingly managed to find just what they had been looking for!

A shark with a missing front fin could be seen, just thirty-meters away from them. And the first thing that ran across the group's mind was the urge for murder!

But thankfully most of them met the minimum intelligence criteria to think before attacking. Likewise, they began bickering for a decision.

The enemy was large, so that became their first concern, and Gerlach indirectly pointed it out. "It would be the best idea if we all attack this great-white at the same time."

"That's stupid, we could hit each other." Osira decided to add even though such a sentence came out as rough.

As they were debating, Timothy had observed the situation more than them although such a thing seemed unusual. He was eager to use his upgraded vision to its maximum, and this was a good time to do so.

It aided him to figure out a big problem, and he shouted it out without shame. "That bastard is coming for us, so think of something quickly!"

Osira was the second quickest to give attention towards the charging enemy, aiding the good lady to properly aim.

It led to generating a foot wide, black-light in front of her forehead and it only took a second to shoot it out.

Which was convenient to say at least, because the enemy needed just a few seconds to swim through a distance of twenty-meters!

The marvelously powerful light, had struck the enemy against the head. And considering the emotion that was put behind this shot, it ended up with the shark having a foot wide hole through its noggin!