Lith assumed the odd creature was a female due to breast-like bumps on her chest and because her build was slender than those who looked like males. Her voice sounded as if she spoke while gurgling water, giving it a funny sound.
All of them had webbed fingers ending in small claws that, due to their bright colors, were clearly venomous and fins coming out of their spines and hips.
“You can’t conjure water if the air is too dry and not all creatures feed on red meat or vegetables. Fish are necessary to add variety to our food stockpiles and to help humans to grow properly.” At those words, Lith opened his eyes wide open in shock.
He would have never expected an evolved fish to feed their kin to other races with a smile on their faces. Protector snarled every time he saw a wolf fur and even after he had evolved from a deer into a Kirin, offering venison to Lifebringer meant looking for a beating.
“By the Great Mother, why are you looking at me so funny?” She giggled again, but now the gurgling had almost disappeared, allowing him to hear a pleasant, feminine voice coming from her mouth.
“What kind of Emperor Beast are you people?” Lith tilted his head in confusion.
At those words, the blue-scaled individuals looked at Lith as if was dumb, blind, or both. Some even laughed, calling him names.
“We’re not Emperor Beasts.” She shook her hair, making Lith wonder if its seaweed-green color was due to the life in the deep or to her affinity towards mana.
‘I probably sound like an idiot to them already. In for a penny, in for a pound.’ He thought.
“Werepeople, then? Also, do your green hair have a meaning?” He asked.
The crowd erupted into laughter, but this time there was no contempt in it, just hilarity.
“Man, I thought you were some kind of a rude prick, but you’re just as ignorant as a baby. From what hole have you crawled out from?” A lean man with flaming red hair offered Lith a big fish in what he assumed was a peace offering after the earlier rude treatment.
“I wouldn’t call the Garlen continent a hole, but I must admit I’ve never seen your kin earlier.” Lith gave him a small bow as a thank you and stored the fish inside his pocket dimension.
Whatever his guests were, they stared in awe at the phenomenon, looking at Lith with newfound respect and admiration.
“Are you really one of the children of the Great Mother? I mean, your merspeak is flawless.” A man over 2 meters (7′) with shoulder-length purple hair named Zhen asked.
“No, I’m not blood-related to Tyris, but I live in the Griffon Kingdom.” Lith replied, making them burst into laughter again.
“That’s what he meant, silly. I’m Khalia and I’m glad to be your first merfolk.” She placed her hand on his shoulder while sweeping her hair in a way that spelled trouble.
Lith had no idea that the combined effect of Leegaain’s pin that made him able to speak like a native of the ocean, his seemingly draconic appearance, and the casual flaunting of magical items made him quite attractive to most species.
“I know it sounds like a stupid question, but what’s a merfolk?” Lith smiled with his eyes since his mouth was still covered in scales and gently took her hand off his back.
“Fish people? Sea dwellers? Mermaids? I’m sure that even in the Kingdom they have plenty of tales about us.” Khalia stepped forward, entering Lith’s personal space.
“I always thought they were just legends. On top of that, in those stories, you are depicted as creatures with the upper body of a human and the lower half of a fish.” Lith said.
“Well, humans always like to tinker with the truth and we usually prefer to stay away from them.” Said another woman with a friendly voice, sky-blue hair, and a plump appearance.
“We are a proud race, but our magic sucks. It’s the reason why we aren’t considered one of the main races nor do we have a seat in the Awakened Council.
“Aside from water and light, we cannot use any other element while underwater. Air would either create bubbles or zap our friends, fire and earth don’t work, and darkness attacks even water so it disappears after a couple of centimeters.”
“Nice to meet you. My name is Lith and I’m a hybrid. What is exactly your role in the community and where do you live?” He said.
“A long time ago, the elves ruled the earth, the beasts the skies, and the merfolk the waters. Over time, however, the elves’ inability to Awaken and their low fertility made them lose their supremacy to humans.” A short man named Mal said.
“Awakened mages can multiply their numbers both by breeding and by taking disciples whereas each dead elf is an unreplaceable loss. By the time the two species clashed for resources, the humans won the war by attrition.
“Because of that, we lost our spot on the surface. We’re not like magical beasts whose bodies are so strong that normal weapons inflict them no harm. Unlike elves, humans were afraid of our appearance and were unwilling to trade with us.
“Underwater it’s impossible to mine crystals or extract metals, so our only source of such materials became sinking cargo ships. That until dimensional amulets and gates were created.
“After that, our need to come to the surface to train and the lack of resources forced us to hide underwater and emerge only in safe zones protected by the few beast allies we managed to make.” Mal scratched his purple hair in embarrassment.
“The problem is that we don’t have much to offer to the beasts so until the humans disappeared from Jiera, the only ones who helped us did it out of the goodness of their hearts.
“Now, however, there’s plenty of space above. We act as scouts for Reghia, following the migration movements of the monsters, and provide our allies with plenty of food and natural treasures from the deep.
“In exchange, they are trading magic and minerals with us, giving our people a place to stay. We are the first to move into this district, but soon others will come.”
“I’m sorry, but aren’t there plenty of uninhabited islands? Why not just live there?” Lith asked, noticing that something odd was happening.
As his hosts dried, their scales disappeared, turning into the whitest soft skin he had ever seen. Soon all the merfolk turned in a bunch of stark-naked albinos with red eyes and hair of bright colors.
‘Well, at least the little mermaid’s lower body is good for more than just fried fish. One thing’s for sure. Even if after they dry up they look like humans, the merfolk have no way to blend among humans without shapeshifting.’
He thought as two of his eyes stared at Khalia’s face while the other two explored the rest of her lithe body for academic purposes.
“That’s what we usually do to practice magic, but high tier spells like dimensional magic require labs to be safely experimented. On top of that, even to perform the simplest crafts with Forgemastering or teaching our youths, we needed tons of materials.” Khalia said.
