Nathan was a lot of things. A fisherman. A former gamer. A deadbeat college dropout.

  And now, apparently, a water elemental, whatever that was.

  “Holy shit, where did all this water come from?!” Chad shouted.

  Emi’s eyes darted around, pupils narrowed to pinpricks. “Nathan, where are you?! Just call my name, I promise I’ll find you!”

  I’m right here!

  Unfortunately, as a water elemental, he apparently lacked a mouth or any ability to communicate.

  Bjorn stared at the racing water and frowned.

  “It couldn’t be, could it?” he said.

  The Mother System’s tentacles dived forward at Chad.

  Nathan stretched his body. A blast of water slammed into the Mother System and blew it off course. An infernal cry echoed out in response.

  Chad’s jaw dropped. “No way, it’s—!"

  Yes, yes, yes, you’re almost there, Chad!

  “—Nathan’s controlling the water!”

  So close, yet so far.

  It’s okay, Nathan, Lily thought. I still know you’re there.

  Gee, thanks. Nathan paused and realized the obvious. Wait, why don’t you just tell them that I’m here?

  Before Lily could respond, a dozen tentacles raced toward Emi. Nathan moved fast and redirected his body into the sky and down into the tentacles. They crashed into the ground with a loud thud.

  Vines crept from the side and wrapped around the tentacles, holding them in place. They pushed and stretched, but were unable to get out.

  Emi held out her hand. A blast of flames crashed into the tentacles and fried them.

  “Who’s cooking calamari?” Chad asked.

  “Priorities, Chad,” Bjorn said.

  “Oh yeah, right.”

  Chad raced forward and swung his sword. A blast of wind cut through one of the tentacles with a loud meaty slicing sound.

  Two tentacles raced toward him only to get caught in midair by Mara. She squeezed them both with her giant robot fists and they exploded into a mess of pulped flesh and blood. She grinned, black liquid splashed across her cheeks and a wide-eyed look on her face.

  Nathan had forgotten she was a little bit crazy.

  It wasn’t a big deal. Priorities and all that.

  The tentacles pulsed. There were still way too many to take out. The Mother System still wasn’t taking them seriously.

  I need to find the core of this thing and take it out!

  If there was one thing he’d learned in his time as a survivor of the apocalypse, it was that there was always a weak spot, always a chance. Always a shot.

  If there wasn’t, then he was screwed anyway, so he might as well go out swinging, right?

  He swung out in the direction the tentacles seemed to be coming from. His amorphous form flew through the air, unimpeded by anything except for air resistance.

  One or two tentacles came up to try to stop him—

  His body bent and weaved around them with ease. One smashed into him. Bits of water fell to the ground, then quickly floated back up and rejoined the whole.

  He was unstoppable.

  He came to a stop in midair.

  There you are.

  A pulsing black ring, about the size of a trashcan. The tentacles were streaming out from a circle below it, extending like hair.

  [Basic Inspect].

  A system window flashed into existence in midair.

  [▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓] - Lv. UUUUUUU

  A mass of limbs incorrectly arranged around a center that will not stay centered. Its surface appears to be flesh until counted. Counting fails at seven. Further attempts are discouraged.

  A headache. Nathan didn’t even have a head. How did he have a headache?

  He ignored the window and looked back toward the monstrosity.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Nathan sent a blast of water toward the ring. Dozens of tentacles turned back around and formed a shield around the ring, covering it with their body.

  Okay, so that won’t work.

  He needed something small, thin, yet sturdy. Something he could maneuver into the gaps while he made a distraction with his body.

  A gust of wind hit his form, drawing his attention. A spinning object at high velocity.

  He caught it out of midair and cradled it within his watery grasp. A long, blue metal rod with a string attached.

  A fishing pole.

  He looked back in the direction of where it had come from.

  Chad had his arm outstretched like he’d just thrown a baseball.

  “Lily, I’m still not sure why you wanted me to do that—" He reequipped his sword. “But if you say it’ll help Nathan, then anything goes!”

  Nathan’s form wavered, a ripple running through it.

  I have the best friends in the world, he thought.

  The water solidified with intent and wrapped around the fishing pole like a pair of hands.

  He lined up the cast. The motion was familiar yet foreign. He’d done this thousands of times. Never with a set of water hands, though.

  At the same time, a blast of water came from the rear. The tentacles moved around back to stop it.

  He swung the fishing rod forward.

  The hook flew through the air.

  It slid in between the cracks of the tentacles and hooked onto the ring with a clang.

  Nathan pulled back on the rod. The tentacles moved to try to stop it, but it was far too late. The black ring flew into the air. Nathan dropped the fishing pole and grabbed two ends of the black ring and pulled.

  The black ring snapped.

  And the world went white.

  When the light went away, the tentacles had all dropped to the ground, dead and pale.

  Nathan floated to the ground.

  Right.

  Now he just had to turn back to normal.

  …how exactly was he supposed to do that?

  Okay, my mind hasn't gone. I'm still a human.

  A bitter internal laugh.

  That's a lie. I'm not a human. I know that. I can't deny it any more. Even the system knows the truth.

  The thought was vaguely depressing but also kind of cool if Nathan didn't pay too much attention to the deeper existential ideas floating around in his skull.

  He forced the water into the rough shape of a humanoid.

  Okay, human mode, go.

  Nothing.

  Let's try that again. Human mode, go!

  Still nothing.

  Damn it. Was Nathan stuck like this for the rest of his life? That would make integrating back into human society after the apocalypse a little bit difficult.

  “Woah, when did a water dude join us?!”

  Chad had stepped forward, his eyes squinted as he stared at Nathan's water body fascimile.

  “Is it just me or does that guy look kind of familiar?” Chad said.

  “You're right.” Bjorn circled Nathan like a vulture. “It reminds me of someone, though I failed to place the name.”

  “Maybe this thing knows where Nathan is!” Emi said.

  She walked over and clasped her hands in front of Nathan. “Please, do you know where he went?”

  Yes, I'm right here!

  The only thing that came out was an odd gurgling sound.

  Lily wandered forward, her roots acting like wheels to carry her flower over between Nathan and the group.

  “That's Nathan, you idiots!" she said. "Are you all that blind?”

  Emi gasped.

  “Nathan!” she shouted. “You're made of water!”

  Wow, no kidding? he thought. I hadn't noticed.

  Chad stepped over to Nathan and poked his shoulder. The water rippled like a wave.

  “Is this permanent? Because it's gonna be a little bit difficult to go back to normal society if you're a giant blob of liquid.”

  Yep, I'm aware, he thought.

  “Nathan,” Bjorn said. “Regardless of whether this is your permanent form or not, we will accept you no matter what.”

  Nathan's nonexistent heart warmed.

  It was a cheesy line, but it was probably the right thing to say under the circumstances.

  “Oh my gosh, flesh!” Chad pointed at Nathan's hand.

  Nathan's senses locked onto the area where Chad was pointing to.

  Just as Chad had said, his formerly water fingers had turned into a meaty skin and muscle.

  He concentrated on the sensation and forced it up to his forearm. More flesh snapped back into place.

  After he'd been without sensation, suddenly feeling temperature and air was a bit of an unusual experience.

  One by one, each part of his body returned. He focused, and in one burst of light—

  Oh shit don't forget about my clothes!

  He quickly extended out what was left of his liquid form and grabbed his clothing off the ground before the light dimmed.

  He blinked his eyes.

  “Oh, thank goodness, you're wearing clothes,” Emi said. “How are you feeling, Nathan?”

  Nice. That worked.

  “Like I'm an imposter in my own skin,” Nathan shrugged. “Other than that, I'm doing pretty good.”

  Nathan ran his hands along his arms. It was so easy to take for granted the ability to feel and have flesh and to touch things. It wasn't something Nathan intended to ever take for granted again.

  “So, like, is your other form a power up or like, your true form, or what?” Chad said.

  “I'm pretty sure I'm still a little bit human,” Nathan flexed his fingers. “That's the reason I was able to turn to this state. But my stats don't list me as a person anymore. I'm currently classified as a water elemental.”

  “Is that good?” Chad asked.

  “I have no idea what it is. Honestly, I'm still pretty confused, all things considered.”

  “Great, we're all in the same boat.”

  Nathan looked over at the dead tentacles. “So that's it, huh? We didn't even beat her at the Ninth Circle.”

  “Were you expecting to beat her there?” Emi tilted her head.

  “Would it have made a difference?”

  “I guess not, but…”

  Too easy—?

  The thought popped out in his mind, rebellious and terrifying. Not the sort of thought he'd want to spread around.

  He didn't want to destroy the mood. They'd just won against a creature that was supposedly invincible.

  But it had been way too easy, hadn't it?

  Like, way, way too easy. Nathan had taken a gamble with that weird dark ring in the center and that had just… worked?

  Granted, it was beyond the realm of possibility that he might just perfectly guess the Mother System's weakness, but…

  Something about the situation just rubbed him the wrong way.

  Nathan walked over toward the center of the tentacles. He focused on his hand and caused it to turn into water. If need be, he would turn into a blob of water in an instant and hopefully avoid whatever surprise attack was waiting for him.

  When he reached the center, he noticed a golden shine hidden underneath the tentacle.

  He reached underneath and pulled it out. He turned over the object in his hands.

  It was a key.

  It flashed in his hands and Nathan felt a wave of energy hit him.

  “What the hell was that?” He muttered.

  It happened in an instant.

  Faster than he could react.

  One second, he was in a black void.

  The next, he was standing in front of a podium composed of yellow brick.

  [Final Quest of the Sixth Circle] – Activated