Reincarnated as a Land Shark???

Chapter 14: Bid the Sea Adieu

Little Shark thinks I'm some sort of villain who ate its friend! Quick, how do I show it that I'm still me? Crap, I can't tell her my name, and have no way to communicate it in the first place! Not to mention I wasn't even lv MAX when I saw it last so it doesn't know I ever became able to evolve! What do I do? I don't want to fight Little Shark, so I hope it runs...

Little Shark, however, has other plans. It charges forwards with fangs bared. I thrash my body, twisting around its bite and let it shoot past me into the cave. It twists and aims a powerful strike at me with its tail, which I also move myself away from.

What do I do? Should I just run?

No, it'll take a minute to wiggle out of the cave entrance, especially with my oversized fins. Little Shark will be able to use that opportunity to tear me up. That means I have to either calm it down or restrain it until I can leave.

No way is Little Shark calming down now. I shift out of the way of two swipes from its claws, ducking under a bite. That means I have to restrain it somehow.

I slam my paws down on top of Little Shark, trying to pin it to the ground. Little Shark spasms and jerks, and my heart wrenches in terror as I watch its Hp go down. I did that much damage just from that?

Little Shark twists, biting at my leg and wriggling free. I manage to avoid its teeth, but it is undeterred. It launches itself at me again, grazing my back with its claws. I jerk in pain, accidentally twisting the wrong way and slamming Little Shark against the cave wall. I turn, eyes wide, and look at its Hp.

Already 40/60! I'm doing that much damage to it without even trying? At this rate, I'll kill Little Shark just by defending myself! What do I do? Think, what can I do to prove to Little Shark that it's me?

My mind flashes back to when we met, and how I identified it and greeted it time and time again over the short time we knew each other. I don't have a name for it, I don't even know what gender it is, but it feels like we've known each other for a while. Come to think of it, I haven't even been in this world for that long...

But all things considered, it's been almost as long as I've been alive in this world. Little Shark is like a little sibling... and not in the way that shit I shared a house with in a previous life was. If he attacked me I'd definitely rip him a new one, misunderstanding or no.

But Little Shark doesn't know any better. It's scared, angry, and grieving and even if it means getting bitten up a bit, I'll resolve this without hurting it anymore.

So for my next move... I grapple onto Little Shark. I'm careful not to use my claws, and Little Shark thrashes about, jaws snapping down on my forearms. Owwowwoww! Shark Bite is no joke! Still... I can't let this get to me!

Acquired Pain Resistance lv 1

I hold on tight to Little Shark, then reach up and start petting it on the head, trying to comfort it. Slowly, the struggles cease, and Little Shark's eyes stare both blank and wide up at me.

It's okay, Little Shark. I'm still me.

I let go of Little Shark and it swims back, staring at me as if it can't comprehend what just happened.

In any case, if Little Shark attacked me, it's highly likely that other Nanaue will do the same. I picked a really shitty evolution after all, didn't I?

I turn away from Little Shark and wriggle out of the cave, turning back as Little Shark tries to follow me. It freezes when my eyes land on it, hesitating.

It's okay, Little Shark. You don't have to worry about me anymore.

I'll be just fine on my own. You stay here with the rest of the Nanaue, get stronger, and make lots of new friends okay?

I turn and swim away swiftly so it can't follow, feeling my heart wrench with guilt. Looks like I'm going to have to leave Little Shark on its own...

I hope it's not too upset about what happened. It wasn't Little Shark's fault... but it's not exactly like I can explain, now can I?

I'm leaving a pretty obvious blood trail behind me. I'll have to try and stem the bleeding as soon as I make it to shore...

No, it's gotten worse than that at this point. The other Nanaue will likely attack me if they find me onshore. I have to be gone before sunset or I'll be torn to shreds!

But where do I go? Aren't I stuck to the coastal regions?

I flip open my status screen and examine all of my new skills and titles. Looks like I have a new title skill named omniaquae... That seems to be a mash-together of two latin words: all and water. Right, the very reason I picked this evolution in the first place is because it was a euryhaline organism - capable of survival in both salt and freshwater. That means I'll have to head inland and look for rivers. A river will generally lead inland too, which means I'll probably be headed out of reach of the Nanaue.

Well, I certainly hope I will be.

The shore gradually gets closer and closer, and I slow my pace as I go.

Will Little Shark really be okay without me?

No, the more accurate question would be whether or not it would be safe with me. The Nanaue attack anything that isn't in their species, and if it tried to defend me from them... It's not like I can take it with me anyways. It needs the saltwater environment in order to survive, so unless it chooses to evolve into something that can travel farther inland when it reaches level cap, it won't be able to reach me.

If it survives to reach level cap. It goes out with the swarm, and there aren't a lot of high leveled sharks that survive those swarms. It's definitely at the higher end in terms of levels now, and I can't exactly protect it from an entire swarm of Nanaue.

I just have to have faith in its ability to survive from here on out without me.

A feeling of sadness balls up in my chest. What the heck is this? It's not like we even knew each other for that long. So why does it feel like I'm kicking a loyal lifelong companion to the curb like this? I don't even have a choice about leaving but it still hurts!

A familiar chime makes its way into my head and I honestly want to rip whoever made it sound so happy to bloody shreds.

The warm sand finally brushes the tip of my fin. It's sooner than usual, but that's probably because of how much larger a Tiger Shark is compared to a Nanaue. Not to mention the proportions on my fins are bigger as well... much bigger. When I fold them in to walk on my foreclaws instead, I almost feel like a pterodactyl with just how large they actually are.

I surge out of the water, blasting water out of my airway, and stride out onto the sandy beach. My arms throb when my full weight goes onto them, reminding me of the bleeding cuts and bites all over them.

Well, they're not bleeding anymore, but they're definitely still throbbing. It looks like they closed up on their own when I was swimming.

I take a few more steps, clearing the distance to the sand beyond the waves more quickly than I thought I would. The footprints of the Nanaue are all too clear.

I try and slot a foreclaw into one of the footprints, but instead of fitting in the size eclipses it, replacing it with my own.

It looks like the first chapter of my new life is over.

I look around taking in the sight of the shore, listening to the crashing waves. My head turns and I raise my eyes to the horizon, to the glittering ocean water behind me. In the distance, I almost swear I see the leviathan's huge back breaking the water, but at this distance who knows if I really saw it or if it was only a mirage.

I guess this is goodbye.

I don't know whether or not I'll ever return to this place, but I'm sure that if ever I do, it will be a long, long time from now.

I turn myself back towards the treeline, take a deep breath, and make my way into the woods.

The only way left to go now is onwards.