Infinite Evolution: Rise of the God of Metamorphosis

Chapter 5: Fish school; living life on the brink

“T-this…” He just kept stammering as his eyes widened in shock.

“This…, is my family?!”

Before Eliot at this moment, about 60 Chinook Salmon fish swam ahead of him as they seemed to follow a fish that led at the very front.

“Brother! Come! The Chief is leaving!” The fish repeated.

Still stunned but trying to adapt, Eliot finally focused on this fish.

It was a purple Chinook Salmon just like him. Eliot could barely tell the difference between these Chinook fishes at this moment since a lot of them had purple color, with other colors varying among the others.

They all looked similar to him but this guy was different.

He was a tiny Chinook Salmon fish like him but calling him brother built an instinctive closeness between them.

Eliot was amazed. ‘Is this one of the evolutionary traits of a Salmon?’

‘They probably call everyone in their school brother’.

‘It’s probably what keeps them cohesive as a school’.

“Brother! Bonkers! The Chief is leaving!” The now impatient fish repeated.

This time, Eliot focused on the fish’s lips.

His fishy lips moved, he actually said some words but individually, they seemed like gibberish to him but somehow, he was able to understand them.

‘Damn…, is this the legendary fish language?’

“Bye bye…, bonkers! I’m leaving!” The fish turned to leave.

“Wait!” Eliot called.

“Where is this?”

The fish finally stopped, turning around.

“Who are we?”

“Where are we going?” Eliot continued asking.

This Salmon fish’s expression changed into a confused one before he looked at Eliot in a questioning manner as if asking if he was a fool.

“This is our home”.

“We?” He seemed to contemplate the answer to the second question as if he could not understand how stupid this brother was to ask such an obvious question.

“We are family!” He declared.

“The chief is the eldest so he is the chief”.

“We are all brothers”.

“We follow where he leads”.

“We eat where he eats”.

“We survive where he survives”.

“…” Eliot’s expression was unreadable, he was speechless.

This was when he noticed that the school of fish suddenly stopped. Looking, he saw the fish, the so-called chief at the head of the school turn to look at both of them that refused to swim with them previously.

The chief swam closer as Eliot observed him keenly.

The only difference between him and the other Salmon fish was that he looked far older and well…, wiser, he was probably really the eldest here.

The chief’s eyes narrowed. “All fish must die someday!”

“Huh?” Eliot was confused.

The chief just looked at him. “Brother, I saw the current carry you away”.

“It’s a miracle that you survived, I thought you were dead already and was why I decided to lead the school away”.

“I guess today is not your day”.

“Don’t worry though…,” He smiled and somehow, this smile made Eliot to shudder in fear. “Your day will come someday”.

He smiled in a sagely manner. “Afterall, all fish must die someday”.

“Chief!” All the fish hailed the chief for his words of wisdom.

“…” Again, Eliot was flabbergasted.

‘Damn!’

First of all, this so-called chief didn’t even notice that a member of his school was dead and that this was just another Chinook Salmon fish.

That alone was a big red flag to Eliot on the ability of this group to survive.

Second, this guy’s all fish must die slogan was not reassuring at all.

His verdict of this chief?

He was a fish who had no idea what he was doing at all!

“Follow me”. The chief invited with a smile.

“Maybe you’ll get to live a day longer”.

All the Chinook Salmon fish swam after him enthusiastically.

Watching them, Eliot gulped but he had no choice. Though he struggled with it, he managed to swim out and follow them, he swam just behind the first purple Salmon fish that noticed him.

“Hey! What’s your name?” He asked.

The purple salmon did not turn back.

“Bonkers! Name?” He asked in a confused manner.

“I am brother!”

“…”

“Oh…, ok brother, nice to meet you, I’m Eliot”.

“Eliot?” Once again, this fish paid attention to him like this guy was really a weird mother*cker.

And they swam away.

A few minutes later, they encountered a school of Atlantic herring which instantly changed directions to flee on sight.

“Food!” The chief exclaimed.

“Food!” All the other Salmon exclaimed.

“Bonkers! Food!”

None of them hesitated, they rushed after the food and instinctively, Eliot swam thrashingly after them to also hunt, he was hungry already.

[You have killed an Atlantic Herring!]

[You have received XP!]

…

[You have devoured an Atlantic Herring!]

[You have received XP!]

Eliot confirmed something, killing prey and devouring prey gave experience points separately. ‘Damn, if XP is so easy to get why did the support system give me only that as a reward for my first mission?’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Did it scam me?’

…

3 days later…

“Bonkers! Eliot, you still swam like a snail!” He complained.

Eliot looked at this fish with a pitiful look on his face. “I’m sorry brother, you should understand my situation, it’s not my fault”.

“You’re so lazy”.

“…” Eliot felt like crying but no tears came.

‘How am I to explain to this guy that I lived my whole life as a human previously and I am just getting used to living as a fish?’

‘No evidence…,’ He lamented.

It was already 3 days since Eliot discovered this Salmon school and during these days, he was truly initiated into what living in this water entailed.

Well, chief was not wrong, all fish must die someday.

They were literally living their life on the brink every single f*cking day.

On his first day, after preying on the school of Atlantic Herring and other prey, they met their first predator in the form of 3 Leopard Sharks casually swimming.

Eliot almost had a heart attack at the sight, he had no f*cking idea what sharks were doing at such shallow water.

Well, what did chief do when they finally met a predator?

This mother*cker actually screamed and was the first to run.

No strategy, no plan, 6 Salmon died that day alone.

For the next 2 days, they didn’t meet a predator as dangerous as the Leopard Sharks but they met danger once in a while and lost 2 more brothers.

By now, Eliot lived his life daily in terror of predators suddenly attacking.

Living life as a fish was no easy feat.

For the past few days, to survive, he forged a close bond with the Salmon that saved him even as he tried to probe for information.

Unfortunately for him, they knew nothing, not even chief.

All chief knew was that he was born here and he grew up here all his life. He didn’t even know the name of this water body or this region, all he lived for was to hunt and eat prey, run at the sight of predators.

It was such a monotonic life; it was torturous to Eliot.

He was calm though, he dared not be impatient since he was still coming to grips with the swimming of a thing, and brother was now his teacher.

“Bonkers! Shake that booty…, ahem, tail!”

Eliot looked at this fish suspiciously. ‘Where did he hear that?’

“The Chief is leaving! Brother! Let’s follow!”

‘Here we go again…,’ Eliot sighed and followed.

Today though, he noticed something strange. Despite swimming for more than 15 minutes already, they were yet to meet any other fish in this region.

He became suspicious as they swam deeper. “Something is wrong”.

“What do you know? Follow the chief!”

“I feel uneasy brother…”

“Follow the chief!”

“HISSS…!”

“…!” Every Salmon paused in an instant.

They just looked ahead, frozen in shock.

“HISSS…!” It burst out of its hole.

Chief’s eyes widened in fear. “Danger!”

“Run…!”

Chief was already swimming away even before he screamed.

Eliot’s eyes widened in fear. ‘Oh boy!’