Races: Online (VR Smartphone App)

Chapter 229: Something Left To Be Desired (Odele)

Vast seas of blue that stretched beyond what one's eyes could see. Yes, even if Tom stood on his tiptoes at the edge of the rocky cliffs, the very tip of the island, and tried to look at how far the waves would take him if he took his wooden raft and go on an adventure—he would end up going farther than what he himself would have prepared for.

He hadn't fought enough Coconut Monkeys to have enough fruit to take on such a long adventure that could possibly go on for days.

Possibly even months.

In the end, the young boy would be found by his mother and dragged back to their village. Neither of them would catch the individual staring up from beyond the sharp rocky slopes underneath the cliff, and neither did they catch the splash of water and the strong flick of a green tail as the Mermaid plunged back into the cool waters below.

Odele could have been said to be the Queen of the Oceans.

… She had the Class for it.

And yet for the young Mermaid shy of two hundred years of age, all of this had only been possible with the offer of the Creators that created this world. She burst through the shallow and precariously rocky waters and into the more free depths. Back on earth, she was nothing but one of the many merfolk in the oceans, residents along with other undines, and yet as she stared at the beautiful anemone and coral that covered the seabed, these waters were paradise.

Pristine and clear—a dolphin escaped out from one of the kelp forests and swam towards her. A joyous squeal in its greeting.

Odele's lips curled into a smile and she reached out a hand to pet its snout. Only to have a purple ray of lightning come in between them. A squeak escaped the creature and it fled back to the sanctuary, leaving her to the presence of the sea monster. Where had it come from? She searched left and right only to be hit by another blast.

The attack threw her down into the sands, a cloud of dust erupting and scattered away little hermit crabs and crustaceans from their home. She narrowed her eyes, scouting the entire ocean only to find nothing. Not a sign. And so she was facing an invisible sea creature. It was nothing new with the depths providing one to evolve and mold with the darkness—she released a note.

Shimmering like bubbles reflected by the sun, the note exploded and sent ripples across the still waters, the waters vibrating, but she caught the flicker in her right. The illusion faded away. In lieu of the current bubbles of water was a cross between what seemed to be a stingray and an angler fish, flat and yet with the horrific bulbous barbs on its head and sharp teeth.

A singular barb on its forehead showed a sizzling spark—Odele dove away, the bolt of lightning hitting the corals behind her. The blast on the coral reef caused a fury of explosion, the structure's destruction that pelted her skin with its stony assault.

Odele could have avoided this.

Alas, the reversing conch shell that she had brought on land had already wasted away to ashes during the Wyvern's assault. She hadn't exactly prepared herself for a war back then. She didn't think that a special Event would occur when all of them were together. If it weren't for her resistance to lightning then she would have already been stunned.

But could she harm another life?

Despite its fearsome appearance, its intentions were surely not horrible wasn't it? It was lost. She clenched her fist and held back from an attack. This creature was supposed to be under deeper deeper waters, oceans where even she hadn't traveled to. She concentrated and stared at the creature's glowing eyes. Animal communication.

The disoriented and agitated creature paused its attacks.

Bouncing and flickering images were sent through her mind of what lay in the abyss. The dark blue waters turned into a nasty shade of green that glowed eerily despite the darkness and depths. Sunken architecture of old, perhaps even far older, grander and terrible than when time had granted the first merfolk to appear. A shock of electricity ran down her spine, not of the creature, but to who exactly had decided to stay in those waters.

Odele looked at the creature, a sigh escaping her lips. "You poor thing, frightened by something worse than a kraken's mouth or triton's beard." she glanced at the rest of the sea creatures that had hidden away from the fish. The meaning in their gazes were obvious, 'that is untrustworthy! It'll eat us!' This deep-dweller didn't fit in these waters where the sun still managed to reach it with its rays. Now it made sense as to why it had gone invisible in the first place. 

Before she could open her mouth—a shimmering blue ripple appeared in front of her.josei

[ Human Wants To Connect With You ]

Odele's lips parted in surprise, her green eyes studied the message in front of her. 

The Mermaid enthralled with the screen that she hardly took note of the angler-ray chasing another fish behind her. She could recall what had happened on land, in the Veiled Continent, but she didn't think… 

[ Human known as 'Han' Has Sent You A Message ]

All of the people in her home would reprimand her for considering such a thing. The state of the planet earth today was borne out of Human's endless desire for greed and had left most of its previous inhabitants to go away into other realms. And even some disappearing all together. But this was 'Races: Online'—a project supposed to fix and nurture the relationship between those of differing races.

She accepted the message.

A frown crossed on her lips as she read it and it did not change even as she reached the last bit of the letter. And it really could have been a long-winded letter, exchanging pleasantries and such, it kind of differed from what she assumed the young man to be when the two of them had briefly met at that time.

He was supposed to be the one that commanded over their positions at that time. And Odele had listened because it was the Wood Elf that had recommended they follow after him and perhaps it was because Humans had always learned how to adapt and overcome their surroundings.

Han the representative of Humans might do just that.

There surely had to be a reason that out of all the nearly seven billion people—it was he who had been chosen. Humans who had gone to distant lands through vehicles for skies and waters, men and women who reached the peak of icy mountain caps and traversed the heat of the harsh deserts with their own perseverance and undogged resilience. A race that had gone to the distant moon and stars with nothing but sheer tenacity and technology.

Yes, Odele had high hopes for the Human unlike those of other Races more concerned with their own… but she was afraid that the person might end up being an Icarus who flew too close to the sun. But even that was far too early to tell.

The contents of the letter was a bit presumptuous.

It was incomparable to the person that she had briefly met when they had been on land. And yet unlike the constant and unchanging Elves and other olden Races that stuck to tradition, Humans were fickle and changing.

"Desiring pearls… in exchange for something on land?" the thought was enough to make her scoff, "Did he think that I was born yesterday? I know how much these things are prized to them." Odele shook her head and looked around her ocean paradise. In this realm, the water treasures one could gain were plenty even if she had to fight and struggle with other competing Races for the resources. But back on earth, and that was where he had wanted to trade in, such resources were heavily guarded.

It may be a glimmering item to them that was used as trinkets, expensive ones, but… Odele turned to her satchel and checked for the remnants of the Dark Sage Grass she had traded with the Shadow Elf. So far their cultivation was worth every minute she spent on land. But the Black Pearls, and even those of other colors were a prized component.

Magical properties.

Elemental properties.

And even their essence was something that could lengthen one's lifespan and maintain their health. And she knew how important it was when the oceans, yes, all of the oceans back on earth that had seemed so vast and large—all of them were being polluted.

They changed the land, sea and air… and their innovation, it might just be their undoing. Odele hadn't been around when the Fae and Elves used to be on Earth, but if the Elementals hadn't been friends and kin to the world they had lived in—well, perhaps they would have already been in another realm by now.

Somewhere close to the paradise that the Creators had made, a place where she and her people could truly roam free without fear.

'And yet…' Odele chewed on her bottom lip. The man promised to give her something in exchange didn't he? Something available on land for her to acquire. As hypocritical it might have sounded, despite all of the lectures and stories bestowed to her by the elders, there was indeed something that she had desired.

If he could get it for her then she would swim through bog and mire.