14-58. Creature of the Sea

Elijah dove deep, moving so quickly that the light from above soon faded into an inky blackness. Often, his various forms came with unspecified benefits. For instance, with Shape of the Scourge – and all its precedents – he was blessed with all the instincts and senses of an apex predator. And all of his other forms featured similar understated but essential traits.

So it was with Shape of the Primordial Deep, which allowed him to see in the near-total blackness of the deepest parts of the sea. Not as well as in the light of day, but it was more than enough for him to make out the details around him.

Sealife on the draconic planet was very different than it was on Earth. Most of the fish showed reptilian traits, and there were very few mammals around. But the flora was similar enough that Elijah could almost convince himself that he was swimming through the ocean around his island.

But the biggest difference was the sheer scale of it all.

Huge strands of kelp rose hundreds of feet from the seafloor, almost like living skyscrapers. Enormous stands of coral formed submerged mountains that, in turn, created habitats for thousands of species, big and small.

Elijah swam along the bottom of the sea until he found himself amidst a forest of lights. Upon closer inspection, those balls of illumination looked a lot like jellyfish, though they were attached to plants. Only the briefest contact with the tentacles drifting along in the current told Elijah that they were incredibly dangerous, though. His flipper went immediately numb, only stopping when he cast two instances of Wild Resurgence.

And that was with his much-increased constitution attribute.

What would it do to a normal demi-god who lacked the enhancement of Shape of the Primordial Deep?

Doubtless, most people would succumb in moments.

Elijah let out a sigh, sending a cascade of bubbles toward the surface. Briefly, he considered using the odd plant-jellyfish creatures as a body cultivation aid, but after only a little consideration, he determined that it wouldn’t fit his style very well. Going numb would be unpleasant, but it would take months before he felt any real damage.

No – he would need something far more immediately dangerous than a forest of jellyfish plants.

Still, they were interesting and, so long as he kept his distance, oddly calming. Elijah floated a few dozen feet above them, just enjoying the ambiance.

Then, suddenly, he felt something biting his right-most front flipper.

It didn’t hurt, but it was more than a little annoying. So, Elijah waved his flipper, only to see that a creature had latched on. Narrowing his eyes, he recognized that the beast in question was not a beast at all. Rather, it was a young dragon with blue scales. And the thing clearly lacked any sort of survival instinct, because it felt barely more powerful than Sara had the first time he’d met her.

Not wanting to throw the dragon into the jellyfish plants, Elijah lazily ascended until he was certain he wouldn’t put the annoying creature in undue danger. Then, he vigorously shook his flipper.

To its credit, the dragon held on for three full shakes before it ripped free and tumbled away into the darkness. Sighing again, Elijah swam away, pushing himself to his top speed.

And considering his massive attributes, he could cover quite a lot of ground in a short amount of time.

Soon, he was miles away.

The encounter did remind him that the entire planet was a dragon spawning ground. After all, there was a reason that most people didn’t venture into the wilderness, and it wasn’t always because of the inherent danger. Young dragons were meant to find their own way without any influence from the civilization that the strongest among them would one day join.

As far as Elijah was able to discern, the dragon life cycle followed three major phases. The first was the Culling, which lasted from the moment they hatched until they developed enough intelligence to approach sapience. After that, those surviving dragons were taken in by people with specialized classes that helped them acclimate to their rapidly burgeoning intelligence. It was during this period that Elijah had first met Sara, though most young dragons were never given the chance to explore newly integrated worlds.

Apparently, Kirlissa had broken a few rules there.

In any case, the third phase of a dragon’s life began once they achieved true sapience. This usually coincided with the attainment of an alternate form. Most chose something humanoid, though Elijah hadn’t learned the reason behind that. Maybe they just found it aesthetically pleasing.

Whatever the case, that was when they were considered true dragons.

Only one in thousands ever reached that point. Most of them died during the Culling, but some few ended up never developing true sapience. That was where most wyrms came from, though some true dragons ended up backsliding as well.

Drakes were the ones who never developed a dragon core, and as such, lacked the shapeshifting ability required to alter their forms. Instead, they generally settled into one of three types of bodies. Tetradraks, like Dolo. Those like Birk, huge and hulking but bipedal. Or the ones like Tura, who were comparatively smaller but tended more towards non-combat or spellcasting archetypes.

Regardless, it was a brutal form of child-rearing, and it required an unwavering commitment to the survival-of-the-fittest mentality. Elijah wasn’t sure he could ever abandon his children like that, regardless of the prevailing culture.

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Not that he intended to have children anytime soon. Or perhaps ever. He was a little too selfish for that. Maybe that would fade in the future, but as far as he was concerned, he had thousands of years to decide.

While he considered the draconic life cycle and the possibility of children, Elijah swam around, enjoying his newly increased attributes and the freedom that came with them. Along the way, he sensed plenty of powerful beasts and even a couple of guardians protecting their natural treasures. But he moved along before he drew their ire.

Eventually, he reached a relatively unpopulated stretch of the sea. Once he was sure that his actions wouldn’t unduly disturb any of the local wildlife, Elijah decided to test the most interesting ability he’d attained with Shape of the Primordial Deep.

The instant Elijah embraced the ability, he knew it was different.

Letting it do what it wanted resulted in just what the name implied – a localized whirlpool that surrounded his body. The effect was more powerful than he could have expected though, and it sent the surrounding waters churning at hundreds of miles an hour.

But it was when he really focused on the spell itself, using the lessons Tura had taught him, that he recognized the ability’s potential. With enough concentration, he could manipulate the sea, creating rivers of momentum that could – and would – pulverize any creature that found itself in its way.

To a point, at least.

Deities and other demi-gods probably wouldn’t be destroyed, but anything below that? It would be like a mortal getting hit by a speeding train. Not a pretty image.

Regardless, Elijah’s efforts disturbed quite a bit of the local wildlife, so he ended up needing to climb to the surface and fly away before he found himself facing an angry deity-level creature.

For a while, he just flew above the sea, enjoying the wind on his scales as he considered the implications of the ability. Could he use it to give himself a little extra speed? It didn’t have to be a weapon, after all. What’s more, Whirlpool could serve to distract enemies. Or a hundred other uses he probably hadn’t thought of yet.

A versatile spell, the limits of which he was very eager to test.

Soon enough, he outpaced the response to his first use of the spell, and he dove back into the sea. This time, he didn’t use Whirlpool. Instead, he embraced the next ability he wanted to test:

What he found was that it allowed him to shrink considerably, though he couldn’t push himself past the size of a sealion. In the other direction, he couldn’t grow more than a few feet more than the default expression of Shape of the Primordial Deep. Either way, there were more than a few instances where the ability to be much smaller would have come in quite handy.

Finally, Elijah retreated to land so that he could test the last ability that came with the form’s evolution:

Upon using the ability, nothing happened.

It wasn’t until he consciously chose to dive into the earth that anything changed. The ground itself wasn’t any different, but Elijah cut through just as he would through the ocean.

But what really surprised him was that it didn’t preclude the use of Whirlpool.

Whatever efforts he’d taken to minimize his impact on the world, they were thrown completely by the wayside when that happened. Tremors went everywhere as the earth swirled. Trees went flying, and animals fled.

When the dust settled, the whole area looked like a bomb had gone off. During a hurricane.

With a sigh, Elijah shifted into his human form and went to work repairing the damage. Thankfully, he hadn’t used the ability to its full extent, so the area of effect was only a couple hundred yards wide. Still, that was a lot of trees and a ton of angry beasts.

Overall, it took almost an entire day to put things back the way they were, and even then, it wasn’t completely effective.

But it would have to do.

Before he did any more damage, Elijah took to the skies and returned to Tura’s hut.

She greeted him with crossed arms and a stern expression.

“What’d I do?” Elijah asked innocently.

“Strange that you immediately leap to guilt. Something weighing on your conscience, eh?”

“You’re glaring at me like you want to beat me with your cane.”

“Is that so? Come closer. Let us see if your expectation is valid.”

Elijah didn’t dare. Instead, he kept his distance as he asked, “How did you know?”

“About the devastation you wrought? I am a Druid, boy. I am connected to this grove. Of course I felt it. As did every other Druid on this planet.”

“Oh.”

Suddenly, she appeared in front of him. The cane lashed out, smacking him in the shoulder.

“Is that an artifact or something?” he asked, rubbing his shoulder. It shouldn’t have hurt nearly as much as it did.

“Never mind that. You must think, boy,” she chided. “That new form of yours, do you believe your next opponent won’t know about it, eh? Never mind the destruction. At least you tried to put that right. The real mistake was to show your cards.”

“It’s just my water form,” Elijah argued. “Probably the weakest one I have.”

“So you say,” she murmured. “I should lock you away until your next fight. But sadly, you must attend a function. Until tomorrow, I expect you to remain in this area.”

“Uh…or what?” Elijah asked. He didn’t intend to disobey, but if the penalty wasn’t too ridiculous, he might sneak away for a little while.

“Do not test me, boy,” Tura said, leveling her cane at him. “You will not enjoy it.”

Elijah reconsidered that idea. “What kind of function?”

“A celebration,” she answered. “Everyone who made it through the first phase of the tournament will be honored. A feast. An opportunity for you to mingle with your peers. This is the sort of occasion where lifelong bonds are formed and true alliances come into being. I expect you to be on your best behavior.”

“Uh…sure? I guess. What should I do until then?” he asked.

“I don’t care. But if you travel more than a mile away from this hut, I will be very upset with you.”

Elijah sighed. “Alright. That’s fair,” he admitted. The last thing he’d wanted to do was to cause problems. And he undoubtedly had. “I guess I’ll just go train, then.”

“Good. Channel some of that destructive energy into something constructive.”

Shaking his head, Elijah left the hut and followed the familiar trail to Birk’s cabin. The big drake wasn’t around, but that didn’t mean Elijah couldn’t get some work in. Besides, he still had a long way to go before he considered himself even remotely proficient as a fighter.

So, he got to it.