I'm a Stingray?

Chapter 296: Overwhelming ego!

"Tim! Are you alive?" The black-grouper mumbled through a question.

She was witnessing her stingray friend in a foul condition, this was certainly a scene that she never expected. In many ways, the former blue-dotted stingray was in a horrible state right now.

There was an unhealthy amount of his blood oozing across the waters, dripping in quantities that can be considered as plentiful; one would think that there wasn't an ounce of blood left in his body!

Considering the effects that blood-loss can inflict against an individual, it wasn't a surprise that Timothy was slowly losing his grip of reality.

A moment ago he was able to fully comprehend the battle that had been going on, but right now his entire world was a blur that featured numerous colours.

All he knew was that Osira floated nearby. It didn't take much effort to figure out that she could prove useful, that was why he began trying to utter a sentence.

But yet the result proved itself as simply gibberish. The causes behind it were easy to pick apart. Inability to focus was one of them, but his mouth also felt extraordinarily dry!

It felt thawed out, even though he was underwater... The effects of blood-loss were truly astounding. And at this point he almost was sure, how an ancient dried out corpse felt like; as he was a few steps away from becoming one.

The system didn't prove to be of any help whatsoever in this dilemma, apart from reminding him that death could be very close.

[You have lost another three points of health, due to the continuing blood-loss that's running out of your fin]

[Which is why you only have thirty-one out of one-hundred-and-twenty-one health points remaining,]

[Your condition has become more dire than ever! I urge you to keep your grip of consciousness and seek foods that can raise your health]

The hero has only acknowledged half the words of which the system uttered out. But he could still understand what to do right now. The options were clear, he could either put up a fight or simply die.

And naturally, he chose to fight. Because from all the predictions of death he had made, being killed by a shark was one thing, that his unhealthy ego would never allow!

That was why he finally managed to force out a mumble, "Leggy... uh, marble crabs. I need marble crabs..."

"Ok, ok! I will get them!" Osira followed along, while still being covered with pure panic.

She had spent a good few seconds of her time, to peek at the stingray's wounds. And she was almost lost in her thoughts, because of the details that surrounded this major blemish.

The hero's fin had a few cracks in it, quite literally even. It almost seemed as if the enemy had bit through stone rather than flesh. Utterly perplexing for sure.

These cracks had a few small and isolated branches on them, similar to what a rock would have after suffering from an external impact. Which only made the scene even more confusing!

But whatever the upgrade of bodily durability had done to this good soul, it had been enough to save his behind in this battle.

After thinking about how his skin had withstood a bite, from a half grown great-white shark, only the wisest could guess what the next upgrade of this kind would bring next.

Regardless of how stunning those details were, this simply was not the time to ponder them over.

Osira rushed across the waters to find what the young man had demanded. She knew this stingray longer than most here, and easily understood what species of shrimp he was asking for.

Which has made the whole searching process just a hunch easier. And thanks to all of the blood in these waters, she managed to cover a wider area in the search for those critters ~ simply because speed was by her side.

But what managed to slow her down a little bit, was how this sea-floor had been naturally carved.

There were many bumps, holes and small tunnels in this area's flooring. Any small critter could hide in those.

Meaning that she had to check any remotely hidden place, and could only hope to find the death defying critters.

Timmy was suffering quite a bit in those same seconds, especially since the system informed that another couple points of his health had been drained away.

The loss of health had managed to make his wound hurt even more. Well at least it ached for a minute or so. But then the situation developed to become even worse, yet it also brought a bit of comfort.

His entire body began feeling numb, especially around the fin where the entire wound was located. This had admittedly made him feel a bit more comfortable, because most pain had fiddled away.

But what exactly was to be expected next after this severe numbness? Death most likely. He even felt sure that these remaining bits of health points, would not be of any use if he lost all the blood in his body.

Consciousness was steering away by the passing second, and now he even began witnessing a few illusions.

Any normal individual would see loved ones, since these could be considered his final moments.

But Timmy was anything but normal, or stable so to say. His illusions didn't feature any loved ones, but the enemy shark itself.

That specific creature had met death as well by now. But the image of that bastard landing a bite against Timmy, began replaying in his mind.

The hero saw the memory that featured the wretched bastard, landing a deadly bite.

This scene replayed for a few times, and managed to weigh on his conscience. It did, until the little stingray decided that this was enough!

And through that little head of his, the hero took a hold of this grand illusion and shifted it to his will!

The memory of being bitten by the shark, had been re-molded by an image of him, beating the enemy into submission.

Now, he could see himself literally slapping the shark away with his bare fins; and this slap was the base move that later developed to several stabs, each of which had been fueled by rage.

This new illusion re-played a few times, until he actually managed to get a grip of reality!

So ultimately, the young hero had forced himself awake with impure waves of willpower!

He had fully awoken with the aid of rage, and swam in a pool of his own ego. This emotion was differently described as a pride, which would never allow death to be brought by a simple shark!

And as he regained this consciousness, Tim noticed that Osira had arrived with a small mountain of marble shrimps!