Chapter 239 - Sailfish

Frost Orcs were a species of sea dragons, specifically, large species of Wyrms, and they would be useful here in the reef specifically, because they would help bring the water temperature down. Initially Timothy thought that it would be difficult to find such a species and bring them to the reef, or perhaps even impossible, but Genta called him stupid three times before she directed the team towards the planet's North Pole!

Frost Orcs were a rare species that were very picky about which environment they lived in, sure, but considering that they thrived in cold temperatures, the North Pole was the ideal place for them, so in theory, it was easy to find them! Initially Timothy thought it best to go back to Valporovus, and look for Frost Orcs in that micro-universe that exclusively housed dragons, as it would be a shorter trip, but the few dragons at their disposal such as Billy, and Goergie, insisted that there weren’t any Frost Orcs in that universe! The team had to find them the hard way, they had to travel thousands of kilometers to get to the planet's North Pole.

The team did not look forward to this trip, unsurprisingly. They weren't so keen on traveling thousands of kilometers just to start this task, and they certainly didn't want to swim across the deadly cold seas of the North Pole either. If there weren’t that many species of monsters over there, the cold alone could kill them itself! It was not a trip that any smart person or fish would take, but they were to take it for the sake of the project that they were developing across the reef, and that was the main cause that pushed them towards the task.

A Sea Orc alone could lay hundreds of eggs, and therefore have hundreds of kids. Genta insisted that if the team could get just a hundred healthy dragon hatchlings here to the reef, then their project would be safe from the summer heat, indefinitely!

To make this journey less tiresome, Timothy pitched an idea that his friends didn't like. He suggested that they'd all shapeshift into Sailfish, which was a species of Marlin fish, and he gave such a suggestion, because these fish were known for their speed!

Timothy vividly remembered being obsessed with the world's fastest fish, back on earth, so he knew which species to pick here today. Black Marlins were known to be even faster, but they weren't exactly deep swimmers, so he scratched that species off as an option, and went ahead with pitching the Sailfish as a species that they could shapeshift into! Initially he didn’t even know if these couple of species existed on this current planet, but the system confirmed that they did exist, even if not in great quantities.

“Maybe god ran out of designs, and used the same design of fish across hundreds of planets?” Tim joked.

Anyway, the reason why his team were against the idea of shapeshifting into this species, was because they would need to sacrifice an entire level of their mana quality, in order for the shift to work! There was no other way around this, because Sailfish, by figure, were apparently superior to the average goblin!

Sure a mere fish might be dumber than a goblin, but a sailfish had a hydrodynamic shape, explosive muscles, grand swimming speed, and a sail-like dorsalfin to go with it all. They were built for speed, they were superior in that matter, so of course it would require a sacrifice to shapeshift into this species!

This was their best option if they were to travel just shy of sixteen-thousand kilometers just to get to the North Pole. They had to stay in the waters if they were to travel swiftly, and they couldn't bring the dragons along with them throughout this journey, because as agile as they might be, their bodies weren't built for such long, tiring distances! It was best to leave them here, and let them relax on the beach.

Anyway, despite all of these facts, his team was still very hesitant towards his idea, so he hit them with a counter offer. One that they couldn't refuse!

“If you guys sacrifice a level of your mana for this plan, I will tailor a special ability for you guys, which will make you faster swimmers. So, as Sailfish, apart from being able to swim up to 110 km/h through pure muscle-power alone, you'll be able to speed up even more, through the use of magic!” He offered.

It was difficult to refuse such an offer, because everyone could make use of an ability like that! They agreed, and so, he created a single ability based on the mana channel patterns of his Flaming Fins ability, except, he made this ability more efficient, and less expensive, on the count that most of his friends, apart from Arvena, had smaller mana pools in comparison to his. They couldn't afford spending thousands of mana points a second.

Although he didn't absorb the ability himself, Timothy still felt entitled to name it, so he called it the Flameless Fins ability! It was flameless, quiet, and overall more efficient.

With that out of the way, all that was left for them to do was shapeshift into Sailfish, and they did exactly that. This part required them to offer a sacrifice to the gods, an entire level of mana quality, and this required a special spoken-word spell for it to be initiated. As Adept Mages they instinctively knew what to say, as their current mana quality altered their confidence accordingly! They knew the spell.

“My will is but mana, and yet I have to let it go for a greater cause… Hear my request, gods, as I wish to assume a greater form, the form of a Sailfish! Take thy blessings, but replace it with another!” This was the spoken-word spell, and the team chanted it one after the other.

It worked, the five of them shapeshifted into this school of majestic Sailfish! Their purple, sail-like dorsalfin, and the patch of golden scales that were sandwiched between their blue scales, hinted that they shifted into this specific species, who would be known as an Atlantic Sailfish back on earth! Their long, pointy nose was the greatest indicator. They were absolutely beautiful, and with an average eighty kilograms of muscles, fat, and bones to aid them, they were more than ready to stride the seas!

Their work was cut out for them! The North Pole was shy of sixteen-thousand kilometers away, so they were hoping to travel a thousand kilometers a day, without pushing themselves towards death's doorway! They had to do the math along the way regarding how far they could travel every single day.

Timothy was happier than ever, regardless of how tedious the task actually was! Aside from shifting into a Sailfish, which tickled every inch of neurodivergent fat across his brain, he was also very eager to see what else the sea held. As odd as it may sound, he was hoping to run into a bunch of monsters, because this time around, he was capable enough to fight anything that the sea would toss against him, regardless of how he sacrificed an entire level of mana quality a moment ago! He was ready.