I'm a Stingray?

[The soul reaping attribute is as the name describes it,]

[You could reap an enemy's soul with this attribute, and permanently densify your soul in return]

[Like every soul-oriented attribute, this purchase can only be strong if your soul has been densified, with past similar upgrades]

[Meaning that although you could take a sardine's soul, you can't do much against a big shark]

"Ah that scale... okay it sounds easy enough to remember." Timothy followed along.

And that cooperation allowed the system to continue with the upgrade that remained on the list.

[Upgrade option number three = Unlock the soul boost attribute]

[Price = four-hundred system points]

"I think you already guessed that I don't know what that means," Timmy pointed out.

[Indeed, and I'd be happy to oblige your informational needs]

"Thank you," The hero gestured.

[The soul boost attribute is stronger and more dangerous, especially in comparison to the other similar upgrades you saw so far]

"Really? How does that work?" He questioned as he tried to fully grasp the concept.

[You can draw portions of souls from any creature nearby, and in exchange this will boost your soul and attributes related to it]

"That's pretty powerful!" The sea-pancake complimented.

[It is, but note that this boost is temporary, and it can drain your friend's souls too]

"They'll be fine..." He stretched out those few words.

And then recited, "I don't want to hurt any of them anyway."

[Good, so which upgrades would you like to purchase?]

"Uh... I'll buy all of them I guess." Timothy requested.

And then excused, "I feel okay anyway, so why wait around for nothing?"

[Confirmed]

As that sentence was uttered out, the hero expected quite a few waves of pain to strike.

It seemed logical to be prepared for the worst, especially after he considered the past pain he went through, after he purchased upgrades.

But in this case he understood once more that his memory wasn't the best. Simply because he forgot a few key concepts about soul upgrades, they don't hurt.

He didn't feel drastic pain which could render him immobile. Instead he just felt a little tingle across the tip of his tail, but that was specifically related to the venom upgrade.

In other words, the soul upgrades haven't caused him a single ray of pain.

And finally the system confirmed, [All upgrades are successfully completed.]

[Eight-hundred system points consumed,]

[Fifteen-hundred and thirty-three system points remaining.]

"That was expensive..." The hero lightly complained.

[You bought all three of the upgrades all at the same time, of course they were expensive]

"Fair enough," He swiftly brushed the thought away.

And then pitched, "Let's find some fish I can test these powers on!"

With such a strut of confidence, he dwelled deeper into the thin tunnel he had entered, and hoped for the best to present itself soon.

It surely felt nice to rely on powers, and he once more felt happy to have such a system which helped him progress.

That aside, he hoped to find enemies that weren't too troublesome. But after the overall circumstances were considered, that thought seemed more like wishful thinking.

...

The hero has dwelled about two-hundred meters in this one tunnel so far.

It was difficult to understand why anyone would build a tunnel which was this long, and thin all at the same time; but in this situation it seemed beyond useful.

Sure the tunnel was long, but it still was just one straight path. So this was better than anything maze-like.

Simply because if there wasn't anything to see at the end of the tunnel, he could just head back.

The tunnel itself seemed well-constructed. Timothy swam confidently, as he felt sure that a collapse wasn't in his future around here.

Sure the carved stone-walls of this tunnel were covered with moss, but they still had a strong stability that shone with their name.

This entire place was over two-hundred thousand years old, according to a few claims.

So since these tunnels hadn't crashed all this time, surely they would stand stable for a couple more hours?

Yet this trip still felt a bit tiresome. Not physically, but boredom struck the hero instead.

He wanted to fight something or at least idly talk to anyone, but he was all alone at the moment.

And just as he wanted to rush through this tunnel a little more, something unique captured his eye. Something shone about twenty-meters away, but he couldn't quite make up what it was.

A few moments after he figured out the origin of this item, as quite a bit of familiarity surrounded it.

"Oh this is another space worm shard..." He spoke out.

And then questioned, "Am I supposed to touch this thing?"

[You mated with the radioactive lady, who consumes these same type of crystals]

[Clearly, this bit of stone can't hurt you]

"Even if it did, it would hurt less than this so-called mating that you mentioned." Timmy hardly joked.

And then could feel that one of his holes flinched a few times. Surely the past mating scene still remained memorable.

But such a statement was a base to another decision, he found it fair to bring this shard back to Dana.

That was why he wanted to grab this thing with his jaws, and swiftly carry it back towards that big door they left behind.

Even if the stingray lady wasn't around, she would recognize the crystal once she took a peek at it.

But before Timmy could have touched this unique item, the darned thing actually moved for a couple of inches.

The naked eye could capture such a shift. At first Timmy thought that his decently sized fin-span caused such a scene.

That thought was swiftly proven wrong, as the same item suddenly beamed through the tunnel's route!

It travelled towards the same path that the sea-pancake had covered so far.

And its speed was simply marvelous, as even the waters whistled to the little shard's bidding!

"Is that supposed to happen?" He mumbled through that little question.

And expected an answer from the system, but the lady in his head has seemingly decided to remain idle.