Path of Dragons-Chapter 18Book 8: : The Allure of the Sea

If there was one thing Elijah already knew about his new form, it was that it was big. Very, very big. Considering that the world leviathan was in the description, that shouldn’t have been surprising, but even if he’d briefly experienced the transformation once before, he was still shocked by its incredible size.

Even as he pushed out to sea and into deeper water, Elijah estimated that the form was around fifty feet long and about two thirds as wide, not including the tail. Before, he’d used Soul of the Wild to establish the basic shape in his mind, and he really wasn’t surprised to find that it had characteristics that put him in mind of a primordial sea turtle.

With a hardened but sleek shell festooned with three distinct rows of spines, it certainly resembled those sea-going reptiles. However, there were a few other notable differences. First was its size. The largest sea turtle in existence was only about ten feet long, and Elijah’s new form was at least five times that size. He couldn’t be certain, but he expected that the new shape weighed almost as much as a blue whale.

The second difference was the powerful tail, which extended the total length by at least thirty more feet. Thick and rippling with muscle, it featured prominent spines that would render it an effective weapon as well as a means of propulsion.

Then, there was the head.

Thick-skulled, with various bony ridges and a powerful, beak-like jaw – it was like someone had taken a look at a snapping turtle and said, “More. Much, much more.”

Finally, the form featured long and powerful flippers that Elijah had already established could help propel him forward at incredible speeds. In short, the shape was a sea-going tank of immense proportions, and it had the attributes to go with it. Once he was fully submerged, Elijah took a look at his status:

Name

Elijah HartLevel

146

Archetype

Druid

Class

Primal Lord

Specialization

Connection

Alignment

N/A

Strength

490 (290)

Dexterity

476 (276)

Constitution

499 (299)

Ethera

292

Regeneration

304

Attunement

Nature

Cultivation Stage: Expert

Body

Core

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Mind

Soul

Iron

Drakyn

Jade

Student

He had purposefully left all of his other equipment behind, even foregoing his morning coffee so that he could get an easier sense of the form’s base capabilities. And looking at his status, Elijah was more than a little impressed. It didn’t take a mathematical genius to conclude that Shape of the Sea gave him a massive increase of two hundred points to his physical attributes. РäℕỒᛒΕs

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However, he was disappointed when he climbed onto the beach and experienced a wave of incredible weakness. That was supported by another look at his status, which told him that he’d not only lost the two-hundred-point increase, but he’d experienced a further fifty point decrease. That tracked with the spell’s description, which said that he’d be weakened on land, but the degree to which his attributes had fallen was more than a little troubling.

It was clear – despite the form’s obvious power, it was only intended for use in the sea.

After a little more experimentation, Elijah found that there were loopholes, though. For one, the increased attributes would last for almost a second and a half after he exited the water. That would allow him to use his powerful jaws to attack creatures on land, much like a crocodile. More importantly, that decrease wouldn’t occur unless he fully left the water. So long as he had even a bit of his tail in the sea, he would maintain the increased attributes.

All good things to know, but at the moment, he was far more interested in putting Shape of the Sea through its paces in its natural environment. So, he quickly left the beach behind and swam to deeper waters.

And he was absolutely floored by how easily the great leviathan could move. With only a flick of his flippers, he could propel himself forward with immense speed. If he’d had to guess, he would have estimated it at more than a hundred miles an hour. Not surprising, considering the sleek and aquadynamic shape, as well as his incredible attributes.

Idly, he considered that he could now swim faster than the fastest sea creature on Earth – at least from before the World Tree’s touch. But then again, that wasn’t anything new. On land, he could run faster – even in his human form – than a cheetah, and in the air, he could fly at speeds approaching that of a cargo jet. Still, it was a striking realization, and it put into context just how much the world had changed in recent years.

Of course, the second he reached deeper water, that minor realization was supplanted by awe. It was the same every time he went out to sea, and this time was no different. The only change was that he felt secure enough in his new form that he didn’t fear anything he might find.

Or that might find him.

He’d felt most of the nearby creatures, and he knew that none of them were large or deadly enough to truly threaten him. Yet, that didn’t mean he was invulnerable. He was only a few miles out to sea, and already, the local wildlife was dense and varied enough to give most people pause. What would he find further out, or in the deepest places of the world?

He longed to find out.

Yet, as enamored with the idea of exploration as he was, Elijah didn’t give in to his wanderlust. Instead, he swam around, enjoying the sense of freedom he felt in his new form. Shape of the Sky came with something similar, but Elijah had never been quite as interested in the air as he was in the sea.

So, he spent far longer than he’d planned, just flitting through the dense forests of kelp and riding the powerful currents further out into the ocean. Along the way – and in only a few hours – he saw plenty of wonders. Huge coral reefs spread across the ocean floor, populated by so much sea life that the mere sight would have given a nature photographer a seizure.

Elijah saw hundreds of species of colorful fish he couldn’t identify, as well as plenty of other sea creatures that had never existed on Earth before it had experienced the touch of the World Tree. Some – like a giant octopus with limbs at least fifteen feet long – seemed curious, but others fled the second they detected him.

But most just ignored him, going about their lives as if he didn’t exist.

That was the effect of his nature attunement. For whatever reason, it had always elicited such a reaction in the wildlife. That allowed Elijah to move through the wilderness mostly unobstructed, which was far from the experience of most other travelers. Like everything else that came with being a Druid, Elijah very much appreciated that aspect of his archetype.

He also threw himself out of the water more than once in an attempt to emulate a whale. It worked out well enough, but it soon became abundantly clear that turtle-crocodile-dragon hybrids weren’t really built for such a maneuver. Still, it was fun, and at the moment, that was more important than the move’s viability.

Eventually, though, Elijah noticed that the sun had begun to set, so he decided to stop playing around – which he told himself was testing the form – and returned to the island. Along the way, he pushed himself as hard as he could, and he discovered that he’d only scratched the surface of just how fast he could go. His previous estimate seemed more like a jog in comparison to a sprint.

The result of his rapid pace was that he soon reached the island’s shore, sending a collection of giant crabs scurrying in fear as he crashed onto the beach. For a long few moments, he lay there, just basking in the waning sunlight. Finally, he initiated the transformation back into his human form before rolling over, then sitting up so he could appreciate the setting sun.

“Today was a good day,” he said to himself.

And he meant it. For all that he enjoyed travel and adventure, those activities usually came with significant danger. He rarely got the chance to just enjoy himself. Of course, that usually wasn’t the point – most of the time, he was trying to save people’s lives – but the jaunt into the ocean still highlighted the fact that he needed a little fun in his life if he wanted to keep from going crazy.

Sadie helped with that, but the fact that he wasn’t entirely sure where he stood with her left an undercurrent of uncertainty that he found difficult to ignore. Were they in a serious relationship? Would she go back to Hong Kong after recharging her batteries a bit? Did she love him? Did he love her? It seemed extremely premature to broach that particular subject – despite his joking poems from before – but he knew her well enough to recognize that he was on the doorstep of such feelings.

But could either of them truly commit to that?

Every instinct told Elijah to keep her at arm’s length and avoid lasting entanglement. But fighting against those instincts was everything he admired about Sadie. Not only was she a good and honorable person who always tried to do the right thing, but she was also one of the few people who could keep up with him. In a world where his power set him so far apart from everyone else – especially regarding potential longevity – the fact that she had already ascended meant more than he really wanted to admit.

She was also one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, and he very much enjoyed her sometimes-prickly company.

In short, she was just about perfect for him, and it was easy to imagine a life spent adventuring together. Yet, Elijah wasn’t so naïve that he expected that to come true. Sadie had responsibilities, just like him, and the specter of Hong Kong hovered over her like a malignant spirit.

The reality of the situation was that there was no easy answer, and neither of them would know for certain what the future held until they got there. So, the only real solution was to keep going and hope for the best while appreciating what they had while they had it.

With that in mind, Elijah picked himself up and headed inland to the grove. There, he saw Sadie once again going through her sword forms. As he’d noted with Miguel, it seemed that her body cultivation centered around martial activities, so Elijah could feel the ethera swirling through her with every slash, thrust, or sword stroke. Still, she had a long way to go before she made a breakthrough of any significance.

By comparison, Elijah had plans for his own cultivation. He’d been working on it at least once a day since returning to the island, but it was nearing the point where he would need to devote more focus to the matter if he wanted to truly progress.

Once Sadie sensed his presence, she wound down her activities. Upon his approach, she asked, “Where have you been? You smell like the ocean.”

“Testing out my new form. It’s…big and very specialized, but I think it opens up a lot of possibilities,” he answered. “And just so you know, I think you smell wonderful.”

“I smell like sweat.”

“That’s what I said,” he responded. “I like the way you stink.”

“Ugh. Let’s just go to the hot tub.”

And they did. One of the interesting facets of soaking in that nearly boiling water was that the combination of heat and dense ethera did a number on the body’s impurities. So, sweat and odor disappeared even as they relaxed in one another’s company.

“A month doesn’t seem long enough,” Sadie murmured, leaning back, with her head resting on the lip of the pool, just above the water.

“I know,” Elijah acknowledged. If he’d had his way, they’d spend a year or more just relaxing and improving.

Even as that thought crossed his mind, Elijah knew it wasn’t true. His swim in the ocean had reminded him just how much he enjoyed the thrill of novelty and exploration. So, in the back of one facet of his mind, he understood that he would never again be happy just lazing about the island.

And he suspected that Sadie harbored a similar sentiment.

For now, though, they both enjoyed their brief respite, dreading and looking forward to the not-so-distant day when they would be forced back into the real world, with all its problems and wonders.