Ten meters. Thirty meters. A hundred meters. She couldn't push off the surface very hard with her back glaive, but she was making steady progress into the fog, skating past the first wreckages on her left. Her back muscles ached at how much she had to bend over just to keep her body weight low, but she couldn't stand up straight for the Silent Step. The idea was to skitter slowly along the surface almost like a crab, and thankfully, she'd seen the children on the island do that enough times to know what she should look like.

It wasn't pretty by any means, but the way she was slowly skating across the sea—the giant remipede's shadow still lurking beneath her—felt quite 'graceful' to her.

She trusted the technique would keep her safe.

She wasn't as afraid as she should be.

I got this.

Mama's techniques… are invincible.

Just gotta… keep this up… for about thirty more minutes.

The shadow of the giant remipede writhed and contorted, circling deep beneath her. It probably knew something was standing above it, but it didn't know exactly what. If it decided to surface and 'check', she'd be found out instantly.

Why does it care so much about a tiny little human, anyways? she thought, biting her tongue. How am I possibly worth its time and energy? Can't it go eat something bigger?

[It is abnormal behavior indeed, and one I have no explanation for.]

It seemed like the giant remipede was just staring at her from below, too. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe her imagination was running wild, and it hadn't noticed her at all.

But could she create her own ripple and lead it elsewhere, buying time for her to skate out of its shadow?

I ain't got anything on me that I can toss far enough to create a ripple.

Maybe there's some debris floating right under me that I can pick up?

Moonlight was present, but sparse. She didn't have a firefly lantern or candle with her, either, so she narrowed her eyes and focused on the senses at the tip of her glaives—was there anything under her she could fish out and toss somewhere else?

Come on, come on, come on.

There's gotta be something I can–

[There is something.]

[Your hydrospines can vibrate to create a thin water-repelling barrier around your body, remember?]

… And I suppose now's as good a day as any to use the rest of the points I've been saving up?

[Correct.]

What do I put them in?

The Archive mused for a moment. [Try leveling your 'Basic Hydrospines' to level five.]

Got it.

A status screen popped up next to her head.

[Basic Hydrospines Lvl. 2 → Basic Hydrospines Lvl. 5]

[Aura: 444 → 642]

[Points: 202 → 4]

But then a second status screen popped up below that, and this one had a few more words.

[First Branch Mutation Selection' available for T2 Core Mutation 'Basic Hydrospines']

[First Branch Mutation Option: Attracting Hydrospines]

[Brief Description: Your hydrospines can be vibrated to make thin films of water cling to you instead, allowing you to camouflage yourself with water shimmers]

[Second Branch Mutation Option: Repelling Hydrospines]

[Brief Description: Your hydrospines can be vibrated even harder than before, allowing you to repel water even if you are not in close proximity to it]

[Third Branch Mutation Option: Adaptive Hydrospines]

[Brief Description: Your hydrospines can now repel liquids of other viscosities such as oil, mud, tar, and honey et cetera]

The Archive wasted no time hopping onto the status screens, tapping the words with its little legs.

[As a reminder, every five levels of a mutation, you can select one of three branch mutations to further enhance your core mutation, that being 'Basic Hydrospines' in this case,] the Archive said. [These are the first three options. Remember: just like your class selection, you cannot undo your decision after you have picked a branch mutation, so think carefully about which one you prefer.]

[Though, rationally speaking, I would choose—]

'Attracting Hydrospines' can let films of water cling to me, thus camouflaging me in the shimmers of water, she recited, but instead of making it so I can maybe sneak over the remipede's nose, wouldn't it be better if I could send ripples away and drag the remipede's attention elsewhere entirely?

The Archive shrugged. [There are uses for 'Adaptive Hydrospines' as well, which is quite the versatile mutation. What you decide in your First Branch Mutation Selection will affect your Second Branch Mutation Selection options, so while you may think 'Repelling Hydrospines' is the better option all around in this situation, the Second Branch Mutation Selection options for the other two branch mutations may also be more useful in the long run.]

I'm a Sand-Dancer, Archive.

I don't live in the future.

Right here, right now—give me 'Repelling Hydrospines'.

[Understood.]

A status screen popped up next to her head again, confirming her decision.

[Basic Hydrospines Lvl. 5 → Repelling Hydrospines Lvl. 5]

[Brief Description: You have grown microscopic spines that you can vibrate to create a thin hydrophobic barrier across your skin. You can also repel water from a distance if you vibrate your hydrospines even harder. Subsequent levels in this mutation will decrease the stamina drain from vibrating your spines]

[... Now, with your water-repelling hydrospines, try imagining a ripple travelling away from the tip of your glaives,] The Archive said.

She looked down at the Archive worriedly, a bead of sweat threatening to fall off her brows.

This better work, Archive. I could've put two hundred points into more speed.

[There is a one hundred percent chance it will,] it said confidently.

She took a deep breath and imagined the hydrospines on her fingertips shaking, vibrating so fast they made her hand slightly blurry, and then she flicked her hand out to the left.

Lo and behold, a ripple on the sea's surface immediately shot towards the left, and the movement was loud and sudden enough that the giant remipede immediately chased after it.

… It works!

I can repel water just by vibrating the hydrospines on my hand and flicking them in the direction I want the water to move!

[You do not technically need to use your hand. You can vibrate the hydrospines on your glaives and kick in the same direction as well.]

Half-grinning, she didn't dare turn to look as she heard the giant remipede surfacing to devour the wreckage she'd sent the ripple towards. She simply began moving once more, dragging one glaive before the other at a Sand-Dancer's crawling pace, moving one meter forward at a time.

Just keep sending ripples away, she thought, repeating what she did to the first wreckage every twenty or so meters, throwing the giant remipede off whenever it got close to her. Surely, at some point, it would realize it was being toyed with, but maybe she was giving it more credit than it was due?

What were the chances it was just a big, dumb bug?

[Very likely.]

Really?

[Really. Just keep doing what you are doing.]

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

With newfound confidence in her heart, she heeded the Archive's instructions and kept on skating while sending ripples away, slowly getting the hang of how to control her ripples.

… You know, about my unknown Art… has there really not been a single bug-slayer who chose the Water Strider Class? she asked, having a bit of attention to spare on not focusing on skating. Back then, you already knew the mutations of the Water Strider Class were difficult to use and control. That means someone before me must've picked it before, right?

[Correct.]

How many bug-slayers are there with the Water Strider Class?

[Historically? Four.]

What about right now?

[One.]

The Archive's curt answers were throwing her off a little, and she felt like snapping at it to give more detailed responses–

[The other three died gruesome deaths because they could not control their own speed,] the Archive said plainly. [They managed to unlock up to their tier five mutations and died, quite promptly, during a training exercise with the Whirlpool City's Harbor Imperators. Six years of training and resources spent on them, and in the end, they did not even figure out what their Arts were.]

How does that happen, anyways?

[How does what happen?]

Why don't I have access to my Art?

[... Do you know how systems and classes are made?]

You know I don't.

[Ninety-four years ago, the 'Swarm' descended from rifts in the sky and brought bioarcanic essence into the world,] the Archive began. [The Swarm were numerous. They were fast to reproduce. They were fierce, relentless, and their flesh and blood was bioarcane. Human swords and shields may have worked against Critter-Class and Giant-Class bugs, but the Mutant-Classes and Insect Gods who wielded biomagic were practically untouchable.]

Year Zero, she thought. 'The Day the Dark Stars Fell'.

[Correct. By Year Ten, the Swarm led by the Insect Gods had conquered all but one continent in the center of the world. Humanity was on the verge of complete extinction. It was the same year that a small family responsible for weapons production in the northeast started tinkering with the carcasses of giant bugs. They figured that if humanity's swords and spears could not defeat the bioarcane, they had to try—no matter how seemingly impossible a task it was at the time—to steal the biomagic and mutations of the Swarm for themselves,] the Archive began. [In Year Eleven, they succeeded. The first bioarcanic implants known as 'Symbiotic Systems' were forged by combining biometals with the crystallization of the Swarm's bioarcanic essence.]

[If a skilled craftsman were to kill a water strider, they would be able to extract its bioarcanic essence and craft an implant that would give a person the Water Strider Class. Their Art would be exactly the same as a water strider's Art, and the core mutations they could unlock would be based on the core mutations exhibited by water striders. They would also be able to choose between branch mutations and eventually branch classes as well, because bioarcanic essence is very prone to spontaneous mutations, so the system would allow the person to pick which traits they want to exhibit themselves. Are you following so far?]

Uh-huh.

[In essence, every single system in the world is made out of a dead bug. The status screens, the points, and the levelling systems are just mechanics humanity carved into the implants using complicated bioarcanic engineering to help you progress in a healthy, non-lethal way,] the Archive continued. [Because if you unlocked all five tiers of mutations the moment you got a class, most likely, you would just die. Your body's eleven biosoma systems need time to adjust to your enhancements and mutations. You need to consume bioarcanic essence, gain points steadily, and have your biosoma systems become more and more biologically compatible with the mutations of your class by slowly working your way through the tiers. Still following so far?]

Yeah?

[There are no records of a water strider ever being observed using their Art,] the Archive said abruptly. [There have been observed water striders before, yes, but they have always been a rarity, and then they were all wiped out and made extinct in the old war nearly thirty years ago by the first generation of Hasharana. Not a single water strider has been observed anywhere in the world in nearly thirty years. They were deemed very powerful bugs back then, so the Hasharana made sure to wipe out every last one of them in the Deepwater Legion Front. Because there are no records of a water strider actually using their Arts back then in battle, I cannot tell you what your Art is right now.]

[In order to unlock your Art, you must 'realize' what it is through total synchronization with water strider bioarcanic essence—and that is something no Water Strider Class user before you has managed to do, no matter how many mutations they unlocked or how many years they spent with the Water Strider Class. The three people with the Water Strider Class who died before you certainly did not 'figure anything out' by themselves,] the Archive said. [And it is because of the third user's unfortunate death that we, the Archives of the Altered Symbiotic Systems, no longer recommend the Water Strider Class when there are plenty of other water-based classes that can be just as effective on water. You will always be at a handicap compared to warriors with other classes who have immediate access to their Arts.]

She pursed her lips. Not to sound cruel, but… they're just three deaths. I hear the Attini Empire in the south loses thousands of soldiers every single day. Are three deaths that significant to you—

[They were Hasharana. The elite wandering bug-slayers of the continent. To become a Hasharana, one must have the aptitude to pass the Hasharana Entrance Exam that is hosted only once a year, consisting of three stages with an average fatality rate of ninety-eight percent. Only around twenty people pass the exam and are registered with Altered Symbiotic Systems every year. As of this year, there are only two hundred and fifty-five registered Hasharana.]

Then the Archive stared up at her pointedly, looking strangely sad.

[This is Year Ninety-Four. Ninety-four years since the Swarm invaded the world and pushed humanity back to a single continent. The Six Swarmsteel Fronts demarcate the six sections of the continent's borders where the battles against the giant bioarcanic bugs are the fiercest, so we can only assign thirty Hasharana to each Swarmsteel Front to reinforce the local warriors. Now, imagine losing ten percent of the Deepwater Legion Front's forces to accidents easily preventable by simply picking another class with instant access to their Arts.]

…

[Antonio Saranno's death was a fiery one. I did not mention this to you because it was not relevant back then, but it was not a single F-Rank Giant-Class fairy shrimp that attacked your fleet. It was fifty-two F-Rank to A-Rank Giant-Class fairy shrimps that attacked all at once,] the Archive said. [By himself, he managed to slay all but the weakest of them before getting mortally wounded, and even then, he managed to die on his ship so he would not sink, taking the Altered Symbiotic System down with him. He died so he could implant me into your nape, giving you a chance to survive. He was an immensely powerful Hasharana to the very end, and he has served the Worm God faithfully for over two decades—so please do not look down on the death of any Hasharana.]

[Antonio Saranno was my previous user.]

[As an Archive of an Altered Symbiotic System, my capability to empathize with my users extends only so far as to ensure perfect synchronization in and out of battle. I cannot afford true 'companionship' as humans are able to do for each other. My voice can never be given physical form, and to establish sentimental connections with my users is fundamentally impossible given the nature of my design parameters.]

[Even still, I… cannot help but wonder what I would 'feel' should you die because I did not resist your decision to choose the Water Strider Class.]

Marisol looked at the Archive in a way she'd never looked at it before, and among the catalogue of the little water strider's 'expressions' that she'd created in her head, she couldn't form a conclusion as to what the Archive could be thinking now.

It could read her thoughts, but she couldn't read its thoughts in return.

… Are you sure you can't afford true 'companionship' to me, Archive?

[No,] it repeated. [There is a one hundred percent chance that it is fundamentally impossible given the nature of my design parameters.]

On her face was cold sweat and exertion, but on her lips was a soft, knowing smile.

I see.

You'll just have to keep taking responsibility for my safety until the very end, then.

And wouldn't you say that, of all the historical Water Strider Class users, I'm the most biologically compatible with the bioarcanic essence of my class?

[Oh, but that much is… certainly true. The water striders the Hasharana made extinct three decades ago were all born-and-bred speed demons,] the Archive muttered, [and you, much like them, seek thrill like no other. You enjoy speed like no other. If even you cannot 'realize' what your Swarmblood Art is by completely synchronizing with water strider bioarcanic essence, then I cannot imagine anyone else ever figuring it out.]

Right?

So trust me.

This class isn't a mistake.

I guarantee my Swarmblood Art is gonna be super cool.

[I certainly hope so.]

[Do keep an eye out on any strange, tingling sensations with your blood from here on out. After all, every last Swarmblood Art in the world uses bioarcanic essence as a resource, and bioarcanic essence is most concentrated in blood. If you feel anything weird with your hemasurge system—your circulatory system, that is—do not pass it off as a mere trick of the wind and mention it to me.]

Gotcha.

In any case, though… you said all systems are made by infusing biometals with bioarcanic essence, and the classes you offer depend on what type of bioarcanic essence you're infused with, right?

[Correct.]

What the hell are you supposed to be, then? You called yourself an 'Altered' Symbiotic System. What's up with you?

[I am a special type of system designed by the Hasharana for the Hasharana. In short, the main difference between Altered Symbiotic Systems and Symbiotic Systems is the presence of the Archive,] it said, sounding almost proud as it pointed at itself. [I am an artificial intelligence capable of assisting my user in… well, everything. Normal Symbiotic Systems do not have an Archive that can just talk to their users and give them information about the world. Furthermore, we Altered Symbiotic Systems can give our users any class that has ever been crafted and recorded into our database before. Thus, if there is someone with potential biological compatibility with the bioarcanic essence of the Water Strider Class, we are able to give them the Water Strider Class despite not being infused with water strider bioarcanic essence ourselves.]

I see, she thought. So how is it that you Altered Symbiotic Systems can just give us completely different mutation trees and Swarmblood Arts?

[That is classified information. I cannot answer that.]

What bug's bioarcanic essence were you infused with?

[That is classified information.]

Are you saying there's a bug out there that has the ability to mimic every other type of bioarcanic essence in the world?

[... That is classified information.]

She sighed softly. The Archive hummed in what could be worry or amusement, but she was getting so, so close to the wreckage she was aiming for. Just three hundred more meters and she'd reach what looked like the silhouette of a fully-functional rowboat—it must've survived the destruction of its original ship. If she could just climb on board and survive until dawn, maybe she could even row it all the way to the perimeters of the Whirlpool City.

Maybe I don't even need to row it, she thought. If I can get a rope and tie it around my waist, I can skate and drag the boat forward during the day, then rest in it during the night. For food, I guess I can just try to… fish?

[Freshwater might be a little difficult to come by, but I believe you can manage somehow.]

You know, you could at least try to sound a bit more… confident.

Her thoughts trailed off for the second time tonight as she caught a glimmer of silver light on the left. She turned to see what looked like an empty husk of a man standing on the water with his back turned towards her, facing a set of half-sunken shipwrecks.

It looked like a 'ghost'.

Then, all of a sudden, a sharp crack splintered the air and made the husk of a man sink into the sea—revealing a pregnant woman lying on her back on a single piece of wooden debris. She held up a bright red pheromone flare that sputtered a column of smoke into the sky.

Marisol blinked.

What's she doing?

She's gonna attract the—

She didn't get to finish her thought. The sea rumbled, and the shadow of the giant remipede immediately began charging straight towards the pile of wreckage the woman was lying on.

… Shit.

A surge of anger rose inside Marisol when she realized, for a brief second, that her very first emotion was 'relief' at knowing someone was distracting the giant remipede for her.

In the next second, she abandoned the Silent Step and charged full speed ahead at the woman, determined to make it there before the giant remipede could.

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