I'm a Stingray?

"It will help me heal," Timothy spoke lightly.

Afterwards he tried to nudge forward to approach the barracuda carcass, but couldn't exactly do so. A sharp pain managed to strike him right across the fin, which ended up strictly limiting his movement!

The pain was quite unbearable, that was for sure. Only a few individuals could handle this, as it wasn't easy to endure numerous broken bones!

Timothy barely had enough power to withstand this brutality. If it wasn't for the system's intervention, he would likely be a goner by now.

However. After his friends noticed that he couldn't move much, their eyes darted right towards the carcass; and they mostly carried the same thought at this point, but only Osira acted upon it.

She used her big patty lips, to drag the carcass a bit closer to her friend. And thankfully did so just in time as well.

Even though the strong conversation they had earlier, helped the hero stay awake, its effects were spreading thin by now.

The comfort that his friends unleashed until now, had helped him calm down quite a bit. Which was nice and dandy in any normal situation, but right now it could be recognized as deadly!

Simply because he was too comfortable. And under such circumstances, it would only take a moment until he fell asleep for good!

Such facts can all point towards the conclusion, that this barracuda's carcass was a life saver. Osira can be considered a saviour, she really was.

The hero didn't exactly shy away, and began taking one bite after the other to reap any benefit there was!

He could already feel bits of his consciousness, slowly returning.

And tens of bites later, he began thinking that it might not have been so bright, to eat that many shrimps just earlier on. Sure they brought health, but they also had a tiny negative effect on sleep and stamina.

One or two of those critters wouldn't cause any problems, but he ate tens of them! And in such a situation where slumber could equal to permanent doom, it was just a dumb idea to solely eat those shrimps.

But Timmy wasn't too rough on himself for that mistake. That decision has been made due to desperation. Apart from that, he was half-conscious when he asked for those shrimps.

So surely, the actions of a sleepy boy should not be taken too seriously.

And after taking a few more bites of this barracuda, that mistake can be forgotten for good. Because this species, only brought positive effects on sleep and stamina as well.

So as he chewed through this carcass, health was not the only thing that replenished; he reached the pique of energy for today as well.

And after this point, it would be difficult for this notorious pain to take charge once more. The odds were slowly growing in his favour.

But eventually, he became a bit too full to eat ~ and rightfully so. Half of the barracuda's carcass had been consumed already! It was difficult to ponder that such a little stingray could eat that much food!

But regardless of the fact that he felt full, the results seem plentiful already.

And the system assured it so, by reciting a few notifications of her own.

[This feast has given you fifteen points of health,]

[Total health = 59/121]

Such a number itself seemed progressive, especially since it had been below thirty just a few minutes ago!

But in actuality, it was barely enough to remove just another quarter of the pain. So technically, the hero just had a smaller chance of being knocked out cold.

This health-raise might not have done much work on the broken bones either. He was not sure of the specifics regarding that matter, but didn't want to put his fin to the test either.

After all, the health raise was minor anyway and he really didn't want to experience any additional pain right now.

But he could still ask questions about the matter, "System, did any of my bones heal already?"

He wasn't sure regarding how helpful the system could prove in such a matter, but it was truly worth a shot.

[Neither of them managed to heal, but they are in the process of doing so. So the last thing you want to do right now is move around]

[Three of your fin-bones are broken in eleven places, and cracked on about thirteen other spots. You don't want to know how it feels like, if any of them moved right now]

"Oh hell no, I won't move for a year if it's necessary. Don't worry!" He spoke out loud, and wholeheartedly assured at the same time.

"So, how are you now?" Gerlach was the first to ask, as his emotions wished for this boy to survive.

"My bones are healing, but I can't move or else it will hurt worse than hell fire." Timmy swiftly explained, as a bit of worry enveloped his noggin.

But at least he was a bit energetic right now, so it was unlikely for the boy to fall asleep anytime soon. In other words, he had grasped quite a bit of control.

"Should I bring another barracuda?" Osira offered, and was quite ready to follow such a task.

This fine grouper could notice that her friend has improved after consuming such a carcass. So naturally, she was even more motivated to fetch another bag of blue flesh.

And Timmy was quick to agree with it, "Yes, I'll need another one soon."

Before this good friend could have beamed towards some random direction, the sea-pancake prevented her from doing so.

By simply offering, "Stay and eat first, that battle was exhausting. I'm full right now, so go ahead and eat."

After that moment, he peeked at Gerlach and encouraged. "You can eat as well, don't starve yourself."

As for the skeleton lady, she couldn't exactly eat. So she steered away from the food, and slowly but surely began pondering her own burdens.

Dana was a skeleton now, and would likely remain so. She didn't need food to survive but was this really a blessing? This fine woman can't even live a normal stingray life.

Of course she didn't blame anyone for this fate, but also wished for things to be different.

Marvelously, Timmy managed to notice her discomfort for once. And decided to interrupt her train of thoughts, before they could weigh her down a bit too much.

He slightly yelled out a demand, "Dana, stop being sad!"

And afterwards stated, "We will find another gem, and it will make you more powerful."

In an attempt to comfort this lady, he also expressed. "You probably won't be able to eat, but who knows what powers that space worm can give you!"

"Yeah, I guess." She followed along, and tried to cooperate.

Timmy didn't want her to feel alone, so he requested. "Now come stay with me, no need to be alone."

A few minutes later, it seemed like the couple of other friends were done eating. Gerlach was just a four-inch long shrimp, so he didn't exactly eat much.

But Osira managed to eat most of the carcass. She was the biggest fish here, stretching over two-feet long, so naturally she needed more food to function properly.

Regardless, food wasn't really a problem. Because the black-grouper just started swimming towards the east, in order to find another barracuda to feed on.

It seemed like the entire group enjoyed such a meal, and it helped Timothy a lot as well; so she was quite motivated to take another one of those bastards down!

And while she was at work, the hero had a bit of time to toggle with what options he had under disposition.

Unsurprisingly, he firstly chose to expand the third-person-view map. Curiosity overwhelmed his other senses, even though he felt uncomfortable to look at his own body.

And once his focus landed across the wounds, the view turned out to be acceptable enough. His fins still carried those several holes that the shark's bite had left behind as a gift, but there were other details that proved themselves satisfying.

At first he noticed that the small and short cracks that used to be near every stab-wound, had entirely disappeared!

Such a result was great, but perhaps they had disappeared a while ago, yet he forgot about them? Regardless, it was pleasing to the eye.

Apart from that, he noticed that the inner layer of his skin had been sealed up quite well. Which ultimately would not allow any more blood to drip out.

Sure a few more health points would be required to seal the wounds entirely, but that wasn't a problem whatsoever.

And with the inner skin regenerated, it would be easier for the bones to heal, as there would be literal tissue enforcing the procedure.

So overall, this view managed to bring him a few strings of joy ~ he was happy, even though he still felt uncomfortable with all of these recent changes, that his body had undergone.

Anyway. After his curiosity had been tamed, he began toggling through a few options that had been ignored a little bit.

Upgrades! A few of them had unlocked before the battle, but he had been confident enough to start the fight, without even looking at these options.

Perhaps that might not have been the best idea, but there was no fixing that now.

And of course he could not buy any of these upgrades at the moment. It would be a horrible idea, as most of these procedures tended to cause pain; and he was experiencing enough of that already for the day.

Yet he still lent quite a bit of focus to the three upgrade options. Especially towards the first one, which stated.

[Purchase option number one = Upgrade your jaws to level four]

[Price = four-hundred system points]