Reincarnated As A Dragon With Cheats-Chapter 14: A Dance

Chapter 14: A Dance

Pandora Fish were a peculiar species.

They could survive both in water and on land, thanks to their modified gills. It was a rare advantage in the cave ecosystem.

Yet that advantage was deceptive.

On land, they were nothing more than trivial insects, easy prey for anything with claws or fangs. In water, they were not particularly dominant either. Other aquatic creatures could easily replace them.

So what made them special?

Their minds.

They were not geniuses, but compared to the other creatures in the swamp, they possessed a higher capacity for thought. They could plan. They could cooperate. They believed in strength in numbers.

It was exactly that belief that had kept them alive for years.

Unfortunately, even intelligence could not save them from arrogance.

And they had chosen the wrong enemy.

Pebbles had never been merciless.

If anything, he had been kind. Kind enough to save Nightstone.

But they had poked the wrong hole.

Two hundred grams of powdered poison dissolved silently into the swamp.

The powder had a slight yellow color, like the plant, but when it mixed, it was simply colorless.

It had no smell either and it simply spread.

The fish, being the self proclaimed intellectuals of the cave, saw him pour it in.

And they laughed.

"Hahahaha, look at that bozo! He thinks that plant can hurt us!"

The smug fish added loudly, "Why do you think those idiots drink water after eating the weed? Because it negates the effect! Hahahaha!"

Pebbles did not react.

He picked up a small stone, dragged it forward, and sat on it as if it were a throne.

Then he folded his legs into a lotus position.

And waited.

The Stone Spiders already knew what would happen.

They waited too.

They didn’t make a single sound and the only noise in the cave was that of those Pandora Fishes.

A few minutes passed and the fish grew bored.

"This is lame."

"He is not even reacting."

"Maybe he is just stupid."

They were about to resume their insults when...

Splash!

One of the smaller fish suddenly shot out of the water.

Then another.

Splash. Splash.

They landed awkwardly on the rocky edge. Everyone looked at them as their bodies flopped violently.

"Oi, what are you doing!?" one of the Pandora Fish shouted.

The smaller fish writhed.

Their mouths opened and closed rapidly.

Blurg!

Gulp!

Blurg!

It was a weird question posed since centuries... do fishes drink water?

Well, at least, they were vomiting now! And they were drinking on their vomit too!

"Oy... why are they jumping out?"

"I do not know..."

The smaller fish began to twitch harder.

Their gills expanded and contracted violently.

"Water... water..."

Their tiny eyes bulged.

Inside the pool, the poison had already begun its work.

An unbearable dryness crawled down their throats. It felt as if their insides were turning into sand. The more water they swallowed, the more it burned.

Their nerves screamed.

Their mouths felt like they were filled with ash.

One fish plunged back into the water and began gulping frantically.

But that made matters worse. They felt immeasurable amount of pain due to the excessive bulge of their tiny stomachs!

But they couldn’t stop.

The fishes were jumping out and then were jumping back inside.

They were simply... thirsty.

They drank.

And drank.

And drank.

"Ha, funny that they’re swallowing water like that..."

"But why?"

The smug looking fish looked annoyed.

"Hey! Stop wasting water!"

The smug fish frowned again and again.

But all he could hear was, "Water. Water. WATER!"

"This is stupid. Stop overreacting!"

Then he paused.

He looked towards the mang fishes that were outside the small pool and had already died of suffocation.

"...Wait."

He swallowed once a small amount of saliva, but also quite a bit of water thanks to all the splashes.

His throat felt strange.

It felt extremely dry.

He gulped again, this time slowly however it did not help.

His eyes twitched slowly.

He opened his mouth.

"Water..."

He dove his head under the surface and began drinking.

One gulp.

Two gulps.

Ten gulps.

The burning intensified.

It felt as if invisible claws were scraping his throat from the inside.

"What is happening!?" another Pandora Fish shouted.

"My throat..."

"It burns!"

"Drink more!"

Their instincts screamed and they only drank more..

The poison spread deeper into their bodies.

Their gills dried from within. Their internal moisture evaporated unnaturally fast. The more they absorbed, the stronger the reaction became.

Fish began colliding with each other.

Splashing.

Panicking.

"I cannot breathe!"

"Why is the water not helping!?"

"It is getting worse!"

One Pandora Fish leaped onto a rock, thrashing violently.

His body convulsed.

His eyes rolled back.

"Water... I need... more..."

His skin began to crack faintly from dryness.

Then...

There was silence.

He stopped moving.

Inside the pool, chaos erupted.

"Get out!"

"No, stay inside!"

"It hurts!"

"I am thirsty!"

"I am drinking!"

"Why am I still thirsty!?"

Pebbles was completely unmoved by the scene.

He simply watched.

Every heartbeat inside his chest echoed like a slow drum. Every ten seconds, a drum beat mixed in with the chaos like a music was being played.

Boom.

Another fish leaped out, writhing.

Boom.

Two more began floating belly up.

Boom.

The smug fish surfaced halfway, his body trembling violently.

He stared at Pebbles.

"You... what did you..."

His throat spasmed.

He coughed.

Nothing came out.

He tried to speak again.

Only dry clicking sounds escaped.

He dove again.

Drank again.

And this time, his movements slowed.

The once arrogant fish floated upward slowly.

His fin twitched.

Once.

Twice.

Only his eyes enlarged as it stared at Pebbles.

Pebbles simply stood up and then moved his right hand forward.

Then he moved his left and then kicked his right leg up...

Then he started stamping his feed hard to the ground.

Following that he hit his tail on the hard ground which caused many more sounds mixed in.

And then he danced...

"SAVE ME!"

He danced, moving both his arms forward as if striking a pose of wanting tk be saved.

"MOOOM! I’M... MY THROAT! WATER... AIR... WATER...!"

He twirled around and then took deep breaths in, showing he could breath.

Then he jumped left and right and then hopped on one leg.

And then he stopped.

And when he did, the sounds echoing in the cave stopped.

The swamp grew still.

One by one, the Pandora Fish floated lifelessly.

The survivors tried crawling out, desperate for escape, only to suffocate under a thirst that water could no longer quench.

"The more you drink..."

Pebbles finally spoke softly.

"The thirstier you get."

Behind him, Nightstone trembled.

She had seen her master use the voices of his prey as notes of music to dance to...

Her master had just massacred her foe...

He hadn’t simply massacred... he had tortured then to death!

And hence, a tiny amount of fear did rise... but more was the feeling of awe.

Ding!

[You have killed Pandora Fish Lv.3]

Ding!

[You have killed Pandora Fish Lv.5]

Ding!

[You have killed Pandora Fish Lv.4]

Notifications flooded in.

And Pebbles simply stared.

Ding!

[You have gained the title: The Merciless One.]

Ding!

[You have gained the title: The Dancer]

Ding!

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have...]

[Lv.4 -> Lv.5]

"..."