I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 257

The sea was choppy on that particular day, the salt-laced wind stirring up waves which caused Elias’s ship to buck from left to right. It was a small, sturdy vessel, built from high quality wood that had reached a half-step evolution into a mythic plant before being harvested. It was the best a mortal like him could afford, as mythic plants were reserved for those who had already evolved into the world of immortals. Even if a mortal was rich, he’d have a hard time acquiring anything mythic without some kind of connection to a paragon family.

That morning, Elias had woken up from his small cottage to the smell of cooking. After his wife had passed away three years ago, it had been completely up to his young daughter Elara to pick up the slack. As he got out of bed and gravitated toward the kitchen filled with the fresh smell of her cooking, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh when he saw her in the kitchen in an apron, looking ever the part like her mother.

“Is the food done?” An older boy in wrinkled clothing came out of his room, an impatient expression on his face. “I have some place to be.”

“Brother, sit down for a bit,” Elara said. “I’ll be done in five minutes.”

“Five minutes?” He made a face but sat down.

Elias couldn’t help but throw his son a look. “Finn, what do you need to do so early in the morning? Aren’t you going to help me with the lines?”

“Fishing…” Finn made a face and then spoke quickly. “I have something more important to do today.”

Elias felt a familiar knot tighten in his stomach, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “The tide’s right, and the storm last night should have chased the silverbacks into the shallows. What is more important than keeping food on our table?”

As he said this, as if to punctuate his point, Elara came out with two plates of food, placing one in front of Elias and the other in front of Finn.

“There is a notice on the town board,” Finn said, taking a moment to take a bite of his sister’s cooking before continuing. “Did you hear they’re looking for more guards?”

“Guards? I can’t say that I’m surprised. The bandit situation has been out of control. They’ve done everything but attack the town directly. No one is safe on the roads anymore.” Elias’s eyes flashed. “You can’t be serious? Have you lost your wits, boy? Do you want to throw your life away?”

“What life?” Finn tossed down his spoon. “Scrapping by to survive? Eating fish soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? This world only favors the strong! If I become a guard, I’ll be able to grow and perhaps even get the attention of the Bengal Clan. I could become an evolved guard and change our family’s fate!”

“That’s insanity! Evolve? Do you know how difficult it is to evolve? Why are you so eager to shed your humanity and join those immortals? Do you wish to abandon us? For what? Money? Power?”

“I want to save us!” Finn slammed his hand down causing his bowl of fish soup to spill out of the plate, and stood up. “I’m level seven now. That’s only two levels away from being a peak human. With the help of the guards, I know I can reach it in four years. That will make me twenty-one, and then…”

“And then what?” Elias shot back, “You’ll become one of Bengal’s lapdogs? They don’t care about us. They could wipe those bandits off the map in a day, but they don’t. They’d rather let us live in fear and bleed us dry. You want to be a slave to men like that?”

“Once I’m one of them, I can change things…” Finn stated. “They have the tournament every five years. You know that Podgkin’s kid won the last championship. His family now lives in a mansion. I could…”

“Podgkins!” Elias spoke the name like a curse. “The Podgkins sold their souls for rewards long ago. They were willing to do anything for power. I won’t have you become like them. Your mother would be ashamed.”

“Don’t speak about mom!” Finn snarled, his eyes flashing. “If I had been stronger, I might have been able to acquire the medicine to save her. If you were stronger…”

“If I were stronger, what?” Elias’s voice finally rose. “Do you dare finish that sentence? You may have reached the same level as I, but that doesn’t mean you’re my peer. Show respect!”

“The only respect is power,” Finn shot back as he stepped away from the table.

“Finn…” He couldn’t get anything else in before Finn turned and fled from the room; he then let out a sigh and glanced at Elara who had been quietly watching while holding her apron. “Was I too hard on him?”

She shook her head gently. “He doesn’t want to be a fisherman, Father. He hasn’t for a long time.”

“I know,” Elias murmured, his gaze drifting back to the empty spot where Finn had stood. “I just… I hoped he’d see the value in an honest day’s work. In a life earned without stepping over other people…”

Elara placed her other hand on his arm, her touch a small comfort. “I’ll always be here with you, Father. I can help you with the boat.”

“No!” Elias cried, causing Elara’s eyes to widen, but he quickly calmed himself. “You’re doing fine just here. Stay home for now. I will go on my own.”

“I-I will…” Elara still looked confused, but Elias didn’t have the heart to try to explain it to her.

The bandits definitely had their eyes on the town, and Elara was a budding young woman. The beauty of her mother was starting to come out in full flourish. If she wandered around outside too much, Elias feared that a bandit would see her and decide to take her. Two other girls from town had already been snatched.

The cobbler’s daughter was one of them. Two of the three sons were city guards, and they were able to form a small party of ten to go out and rescue her. Not only had they failed, but none save two of the guards managed to return alive. The bandits had a high-level evolved leader, and there was just no means of fighting against someone like that for a village like this. Suffice it to say, Elias didn’t want to take any risks, even if it meant keeping his daughter like a caged bird.

Boooom!

A sudden spray of water erupted from the ocean. This caught Elias completely off guard. His entire ship shook, and despite his sea legs that had formed over a lifetime, he was thrown to the deck. When he stood back up, the spout of water had already disappeared, but whatever happened had caused all of the fish in the area to panic. They were now moving aggressively, hundreds of fish even bursting from the surface of the water. They were in such an agitated state, some were even landing into Elias’s ship. In another time, this might have set off warning alarms for him, but after a very weak haul the last few months, all he could see was profit.

He immediately began to toss out the nets. It took less than ten minutes before the net was full. He brought it up and opened it out, sending hundreds of fish sprawling onto the deck. Elias couldn’t help but weep in joy. The haul would keep his family fed for quite a while. Better than that, he could sell a lot of these fish and turn a pretty profit. He might even have a kilojoule when he was done. That was, of course, just a thought of fancy. How could a mortal ever afford an item desired by paragons?

Still, by the third net of fish he pulled up, just as full as the last one, he was starting to think that it might be very possible that his money problems would be over for the immediate future. He felt as rich as a paragon family. Although his ship was already full of fish, he decided to try for one last one before calling it and returning home. He knew he couldn’t become too greedy.

When he pulled up the final net, he found the ropes straining a bit more than with the other loads. There was something heavier in this catch. He was afraid, for a moment, that he caught an evolved fish. Although evolved aquatic beasts were too intelligent to ever be caught by a fish’s net, Elias had heard rumors that they sometimes would allow themselves to be caught only to eat the people on the ship. He grew increasingly wary, pulling out his knife as he tried to get a peek at whatever he had caught.

He only managed to get a glimpse of it. It was some large strangely-shaped form. It was covered in a gelatinous substance that shimmered faintly in the dim light. It looked like some kind of deep-sea creature, a blob of translucent flesh he’d never seen before. He thought about dropping it back into the water, but the blob didn’t seem to be moving. It certainly showed no signs of aggression.

He quickly cut down the net and then sliced it open, causing all of the fish to spill out. However, what he thought had been some kind of blob became a very clear shape. As it slid out with the fish. It didn’t appear to be a sea creature at all. Instead, it was a young man. He was pale and unnaturally still, his body naked and unmarked. His features were sharp and aristocratic, and his hair was as black as a starless night. He looked like he was sleeping, a peaceful, almost beautiful slumber that was completely at odds with the violent chaos of the sea.

Elias could only stare in wide-eyed wonder. What had he just caught?