Molting the Mortal Coil

Chapter 823: Beach

Using the familiar method of intending to do something in order to see what would happen in the future, Sage probed the sea bed at various places and found surprising results. Not only was that crab under the sand not rare, it was downright common. There was a whole world of creatures living under just a shallow layer of sand. There were large flat fish the size of a city block that appeared to be only a slight dip in the sand. If someone moved into that small depression, which turned out to be the place its two lips met, the huge fish gulped inward and everything near or in the area would be swallowed up in an instant. Mussels as large as a mans shield were everywhere and the soft slow flow of water in and out that was their respiration and feeding method were completely concealed by the water currents. Large worms slithered about beneath the sand, and sometimes distubed a large crustacean waiting in ambush beneath the sand.

There were truck-sized fish swimming through the water and they sometimes darted down into the sand seeking out a large mussel that theyd then crack open with their teeth that looked terrifyingly similar to that of a human. Then every so often one of them would get snatched up into the garage-sized mouths of those house-sized flat fish hiding under the sand. Everytime something disturbed the peaceful blankness of the sea bed, the sand would be stirred into a cloud and a flurry of activity would follow as various predators and prey would be exposed. Crabs would snatch up worms, crack open mussels, or consume the pieces of the fish that fell off in battles. Larger fish swallowed smaller ones whole while some merely relied on their hard shells to protect them.

The most interesting of all these creatures actually turned out to be Sea Snails. They hid under the sand like the mussels did, but they didnt stay stationary. They slowly carved little trenches into the sand, burrowing around in search of prey. The whole underside of their body was like a giant tongue and suction cup at the same time. Theyd wrap around either side of a mussel and peel the two halves open. Then theyd slither inside and consume the poor mussel. The part that made them interesting was actually what they did when confronted with a predator. The Sea Snail didnt hide inside its shell, instead it pushed off the sea bed and expelled a thick viscous slime into a large sheet-like shape. This sheet of slime would then get caught up in the ocean current and carry the snail away.

While it wasnt really a fast way to swim, it was still many times faster than its literally snail-like pace on the sand. With such high defense and remaining on the move without exposing any of its limbs, the Sea Snail now required high speed to be caught, and a high attack power to break the shell. It tried to use speed to escape powerful crab pincers, and a tough shell to keep from being eaten by fish. There was even a similar species, the Flying Sea Snail that instead of releasing a cloud of slimy mucus, had a very long and wide fleshy body. Instead of using slime like a paraglider, it extended its body outwards to form a wing shape. Its large wing-like body was much like a manta ray and it swam through the water with undulating motions of its wings.

Many other fish and aquatic life were present, and Sage spent the next few days and weeks familiarizing himself with the creatures in the local area. In the process he captured a handful of each species, sending them to populate the seas of the Inner World. Prior to this point, they were very odd in that Sage had only used a few dozen creatures to populate them. The Inner Worlds Seas were not empty, but they were not diverse. Over thousands of years, there was a bit of variation from natural mutation, but it was far from the same diversity as he saw in the Depths. He didnt bother straying too far from Deep Shore and instead spent most of his time collecting different creatures and plants. Once he collected everything that was present among the sand bed, he changed direction to swim upward and started to capture the different schooling fish.

With such close proximity to Deep Shore, most of the creatures close by were only at the third and fourth rank. The Depths was chosen for its large number of rank 5 and 6 sea life to battle with, but that didnt mean such powerful sea life was right on the doorstep. Given it was home to so many people, they obviously didnt want such powerful creatures waiting to break in. Instead, the hunting grounds of powerful species were marked on maps and usually located within a dozen miles or so.

The animals in and around the seabed were actually at the lower end, mostly rank threes. Once Sage moved upwards to the shallows he saw many rank fours, but they were still far from seriously threatening him as long as he paid attention. It took him a few hours to catch these species as they were far faster than the bottom dwellers. There was quite a bit of swimming around to catch up to the different groups after they dispersed.

Then Sage swam over to the cliff at the edge and swam downwards. Hidden in the cracks between the rocks and also clinging to them were many more varieties of creatures. Barnacles, Anemones, Starfish, Shrimp, Eels, and many other small creatures now showed their faces, fins, feelers, and tails. The creatures were much smaller along the cliff and between the rocks so they were noticeably weaker. Of course, there were a few that were actually in the fourth rank and Sage sought them out carefully. Given that these things were only the size of cats and dogs rather than trucks and houses, the fact that some of them were rank four was very promising.

With such an abundant number of threats, Sage acted a little more indiscriminately in the rocks. Rather than reaching in with his hand or burrowing into the cracks and tunnels himself, Sage simply smashed his fist into the larger rocks and smashed them into the others. The resulting shattered and blasted rocks would reveal the creatures hiding underneath and between them. By using Foresight to see what was hiding under each rock before he struck it, he was able to collect at least a hundred different species of creature without destroying thousands of rocks.

After a couple weeks getting used to the area in the vicinity of Deep Shore, Sage moved on to what he decided was going to be his first real target. A couple miles away from Deep Shore there was something of a natural harbor that had formed. In this area the vigorous currents were somehow canceled out by the natural rock formations. This placid lagoon was the reason that Deep Shore was placed in this location as it housed a valued fish that had oversized sharply shaped scales. The Arowana was famous for its large scales that gave it the look of a dragon. This lagoon was actually the favored territory of the Armorana, a version of the Arowana that was larger than an oxen that had thick metallic scales that made it look like a fish wearing silvery scale mail. They reached tier five at maturity and so were quite popular as an undersea mount. In addition their scales made an excellent material for Magical Tools, being the perfect size for a buckler or shoulder pads. Their meat was also very delicious and nutritious, which made them into a lucrative species to catch.

Sage was here to give them a try.