W2 (5)

It was a nerve-wracking ride.

Dina wondered throughout the entire thing if this was how protagonists felt when they were warped through portals, if Genad was feeling this, or whether she was the only one suffering as a side character while his protagonist's Halo shielded him. If so then could he at least share some to his fucking ride at least?!

‘AHHHH!!!! My entire body feels like it's tingling! The boss can’t keep up!!’ Dina complained internally, she felt like her body was being flooded by various sensations all at once, her nervous system was being messed up really bad and she wasn’t feeling good at all.

“Boss?” Zero questioned, he had determined his best to better his relationship with his host, not that he was curious or anything.

T/N: Zero being tsundere~ [‘B-baka!! Not that I want to know about you or anything… hmph’]

“When we were taught about the nervous system about the brain being the receiver and interpreter of nerve readings I kinda envisioned it as an office with the brain as the head or CEO or something like that. It made the topic easier for me and stuff….” Dina explained.

“Guess so, are you feeling any better?” Zero asked.

“Well, apart from my body’s senses being assaulted from all angles, and my brain being shaken up from the sheer pressure it’s on, am fine,” Dina muttered with a sick face.

She was never one who loved rides, sure, on a nice road where one could zip through she was cool but even those get hectic and suffocating when it goes on for a long time. The worst types though were bumpy rides, the ones that shook you up and made you feel like you’re being turned inside out, she hated those with passion.

If the smooth yet long journey at least gave a chance to sleep, these ones never did and if you did manage to sleep off as a heavy sleeper, you’ll be on the borderline between reality and the dream world with all the shakings of the vehicle due to the bumps.

Now how did she feel teleporting with a portal in comparison?

It felt like she was in an insane vehicle speeding over a very bumpy road at high speed, not the normal kind of speed, but the type that kinda builds up to form electricity. Ya know the zip, zip ones Sonic and Flash create and stuff from sheer speed. Yeah that type, imagine a vehicle with that kind of speed on a road.

Well, a simpler way to define her situation was to use the almighty, most sufficient word that helped explaining any situation, fit any context, and even transcended through space to worlds it shouldn’t be in.

The almighty F word.

‘I feel like FUCK’ Dina muttered right in time for the journey to finally stop “AHHH!!!”

“UGH!”

SWAOSH!!

The impact of a big fish, her, falling right into the lake was huge as water splashed from all sides of the lake unto the forest-like area they were in, flooding it a bit.

Dina felt like vomiting and if she was in her human form maybe she would have.

“Don’t tell me you’re already at your limits with this little warping?” Genad said as he got down from Feral, now fish’s back, diving downwards with his tail into the lake.

Bobbing right up again with his head partially immersed in the lake, he arose from the pond while dramatically flipping his hair backward causing it to float through the air for a while before finally cascading onto his back.

If Dina was still in human form and could see him clearly she would have thought he was being overdramatic.

Dina: Like, must you really inform that aquatic demons had awesome hair? Proud much? Ugh.

But what happened next shocked Dina, suddenly she could hear the sounds of footsteps, as something or somebody dragged itself out of the lake. She panicked, was there a third party? Where was Genad? Don’t tell her he invited some of his fishy friends for a little picnic with her on the menu!

That’s just unfair, this is cannibalism no matter how she looked at it!

Before she could get any more worried, she, as Feral felt a strange warmth envelope her, it was cozy and affectionate, made one want to sleep but at the same time brooding, the kind that made alarm rings take off in your head as soon as it lands. Yeah, one weird combination.

And just in a minute, Feral finally felt his body shrink, he was normal again!! However, before he could rejoice any further he noticed something off about him, and he just couldn’t shake off the feeling.

Feral frowned in annoyance as he tapped his feet underwater…. or so he thought he did.

‘No no no no no!!!’

With a shaky body and trembling lips, Feral slowly raised what he thought was still his legs…. and what he saw made his jaw drop.

A viridescent colored scaly tail with hues of red, a long fluttering iridescent anal fin, and two pelvic fins that were greenish with sprinkles of iridescence that changed their colors with every light movement of the tail. Scaly hands with long fingernails that had hues of iridescence and just like his tail glittered a different color at a slight change in light reflection.

Scaly yet pointy ears that faced backward, pupils that had turned iridescent with a green border surrounding them, and lastly- flowing black hair, which had gotten darker than usual and so long that its length was unknown.

Feral was too stunned to talk as he looked at his reflection, tail, and hands whilst feeling up his ears repeatedly, however, he wasn’t the only shocked one as Genad was just as stunned.

A mermaid’s/ merman’s tail was a feature based on the ability they possessed, an example was his that was light purple and highly transparent which signified his transformation abilities. Naturally, the human who also gets to change into a mermaid when his master turns into a human per the slave contract had their own unique tails not depending on their master but on the unique ability they possessed.

But there were special cases- Iridescent Tailed Halflings. Halflings were a term for humans who turned into mermaids/mermen.

Halflings with this color of tails were known as ‘mistakes’ and considered bad news to be killed instantly due to the fact they weren’t humans.

The main reason mermen chose humans as sacrificial lambs for the coming-of-age ceremony was due to the fact that using another race was detrimental and could cause a soul injury when absorbed due to the clashing of innate abilities of both races. Only humans who had ‘mana’ alone as their source of power could be used since mana was natural and thereby wouldn’t cause any harm when the human is absorbed.

And as for slave contracts, it was even more dangerous as it awakened the halfling's innate ability due to the stimulation by the mermaid’s magic by the bounds between the master and slave.

All this was a rare case that had happened only five times throughout history. He would have been stunned by this but not enough to have his jaw drop but what had stunned him most was the fact that-

Feral was a half-elf.

An existence supposedly incapable of existing, as bizarre as a half-demon, half-angel child existing. Both were as impossible as a myth, yet here was Feral a half-elf! Although his second race was unknown, his existence was still something incomprehensible, and if found, people wouldn’t like to let go of.

Before he could think more about it he had a splash from the lake grabbing his attention and making his eyes widen as his feet moved involuntarily towards Feral who was now inside the lake.

He had fainted from shock.