Free Origin ARS 3 (Origin A.R.S.) by Scottie Futch

beach. “Well, maybe that’s the problem.”
    Rhea looked over then laughed a little. One of the finnies had flopped onto the beach. The hungry little fish-nugget strove mightily to reach them, despite the fact that it also continually had to stop while it gasped for air.
    Such single minded and sincere devotion should not go unrewarded. Scott hopped up then strolled over to the aggressive little fish. It was smaller than the others that they had fought. Though, smaller was relative. It was still about as long as his arm.
    The man waited until the fish hurled itself into the air with a powerful flop. He performed a flip-kick that caught it from underneath. It flew higher into the air and gave him room to show off a little.
    He performed a powerful jumping spinning upper-cut that finished it off. The overly dedicated little fish had lost health steadily while it was on the shore, and it had absolutely no ability to defend itself outside of the water. The futility of its efforts both disturbed and amused the party.
    Scott idly wondered how the monster knew to continue toward them since they had reached the tent previously. Perhaps it merely suspected that its prey was still ahead of it, and it was determined to reach it? Maybe it was just stubborn and refused to give up even if its prey had disappeared? It was impossible to know the answer.
    Either way, the saga of the little finnie had come to a violent conclusion, though the plot was full of holes and there was no satisfaction in how the heroic fish’s journey had ended. Alas, sometimes the hero simply does not win against the final boss .
    A few seconds after the fish burst into motes of light the music changed back to its soothing and festive island beat. Scott could not help but smile at the tune. Every time he heard it, he wanted to sing the song, Under the Sea .
    A battle report popped up and he grinned from ear to ear. That had been a highly productive hunting session, even if he was dog-tired.
    <<< Battle Report >>>
     
    Victory!!
     
    Your party has defeated four hundred fifty-six razor-toothed finnies! Due to the fact that you defeated so many monsters in a single battle, you will receive additional rewards.
     
    + 0 EXP
    + 37605 Fayth
    +456 Ability Points.
     
    Item(s) Acquired:
     
    Silver Scales X 312
    Fish Eye X 97
    Fish Tail X 456
    Finnie Teeth X 36
    Swim Bladder X 3 [ Rare ]
     
    <<< * >>>
    Scott could not help but feel like he wanted to dance a little. Working in a group had allowed them to easily defeat a larger number of monsters. He could never have fought that many finnies by himself. He would have run out of mana long before he could have killed even a fourth of that number. Actually, if he were honest, without the crowd control effects of the mermaids he would have been devoured.
    He checked his survival lore ring experience and his eyes lit up. “Sweet, only thirteen thousand experience to go!”
    Scott trotted back to camp to tell Rhea the good news but the elf girl was already up and speaking excitedly. “What’s going on Rhea?”
    She whirled toward him then revealed a bright smile. “I just reached level nine!”
    “Really? That’s great! Two levels in a day. That’s really good for you, isn’t it?”
    “That’s amazing for me! I rarely hunt in groups, so I don’t get this sort of chance often.” said the elf girl. She had gotten the lion’s share of the experience since she did most of the actual killing.
    Unlike the battles with the Shar-Shar, she actually earned more experience per battle than Scott did. The finnies were roughly the same level, or slightly lower-level, than Scott. He did not receive the absurdly highly experience bonus for killing them. If anything, his experience rewards would have been slightly lower than normal if they did not kill enough monsters to warrant a small bonus.
    “Great job! Maybe we should stay here until you reach level ten? You would be able to receive your stat upgrades and first tier profession