"So... Mind explaining to me just what you did while I was off, dear?" I asked her in a voice as soothing as I could possibly make it after having her establish a connection. Shelly ignored me though, and instead kept idly munching on the large (for her) fish in her hands. It was still unsettling seeing a humanoid devouring something raw so eagerly, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers.

Seeing her reluctance, I inwardly sighed annoyedly. She was being such a brat, honestly. "Look, kiddo. I'm planning on returning down to the deeps tonight, and it might be over a week before I return."

She stopped eating immediately and looked up at me, eyes wide and a small trace of panic in her eyes. "Y-you're leaving again?"

"That be so. I'm very close to reaching my second stage, and that should be very helpful." I said off-handedly. And, as I expected, she fell for my bait.

"N-no! Please don't leave me here again!" She cried out, reaching out to grab at one of my scales in an attempt to stop me from leaving... although I wasn't moving.

I tried to roll my eyes, failed, and settled on a deep sigh. "... Shelly, dear." I said in an authoritarian voice, looming over her.

"Y-yeah?" She asked, now a bit intimidated. Her eyes were wide, and I could see her trying not to touch the various purplish bruises and cuts spread across her body.

"I cannot protect you forever. I promised you I'd help you, and I did. However, I cannot always be with you. I don't want you to become reliant on my protection." I spoke. Hopefully, my speech skills didn't match those of my previous life, or it'd be... embarrassing.

"I saw your magic while you held off those bast--- fishes. Now, I want you to use that magic on me." I said.

"W-what? Why?" She asked, confusion visible on her face. "Because I said so," I answered curtly. I was confident enough in my tough body to know that she couldn't harm me, but I wanted to ascertain she could kill weaker creatures.

She looked hesitant for a moment, but after a fierce stare from my serpentine self, she clumsily did her thing. The water around her began to move weirdly and using my aura manipulation, I could feel a strange power in that water. However, it was faint, and I could barely feel it.

Well, something to look into, I suppose.

Then, the water around Shelly exploded with a deadly fury. Dozens of thin 'blades' of pressurized water shot out at lightning speed and impacted my sides.

Disappointingly, they failed to leave even a scratch, but I still felt the impact, which was still impressive overall. At this point, only hits strong enough to shatter boulders and easily dent metal could hurt me, and although her attack wasn't up to that standard, I could see why those fish had chosen to siege her out instead of attacking directly.

"... Impressive." I commented honestly. She smiled hesitantly at the comment, looking worriedly at where her attack hit. "Dear, don't worry. You can't quite hurt me, but I'm sure that if you train some more, you soon will be. "

"..." Shelly looked at me with at first a weirded out expression, and then, that expression turned into one of pure anger. "Why would you want me to hurt you!? I don't want to hurt you!" She screamed at me.

"That's not the point, dear, and you know it," I said it, instinctively shaking my head in exasperation. "You're powerful enough to handle anything that doesn't live in the Killzone. Hence, focus on staying away from that area while you train... Oh, and when I return, I expect the next attack will hurt a lot more." I added.

"N-no! Please don't leave again!" She begged, but that wasn't negotiable. "I have to, dear."

At this point, she looked on the verge of tears, hands clenched hard enough to draw blood. "Why... Why are you so obsessed with training? Dad always said training comes second, and he was the strongest person I knew!"

Her dad said that? Well... "Then your dad was a fool. Anyone has the chance to become a god in this world, through sheer effort and mass genocide. I fail to understand how this world's inhabitants fail to understand tha-... Why am I telling you all of this. You're too young to understand." I said bitterly.

Perhaps I was trying to project myself onto her, but I truly had the best interests for her. Coming from a world where your death was a predetermined fact of life, and arriving in a world after said death with the chance to become a literal god amongst godlike beings... How could I not wish to reach such heights?

In my old world, I lived a life of constant work, little pay, no gratification, and very little chance to climb higher the social hierarchy. Now, having been born a fingernail-length noodle snake, I became the overlord of an entire reef, powerful enough to crush ships and terrorize monsters. And this was all done in less than a year, and my lifespan was probably much longer than normal humans.

"... I'm sorry." I finally said after a long moment of silence between us. I was being unfair to her again, but I refuse to relent on my insistence on her training. I'd promised her I'd help her out, and I would do so. I was no saint, though, and just like a certain man of steel once did, I would either turn her into a great power, or she would die trying.

She didn't answer, instead choosing to look away. I moved my large head closer to her, and in a pathetic attempt at showing my 'affection', I rubbed my scaly cheek against her own.

She giggled slightly at my clumsiness, taking the action for what it was: An apology, but also a request. For the rest of the day, I hanged out around her, bringing her all over the reef to show her all of its hidden wonders, while also occasionally demanding for her to murder some of its inhabitants, which she did with some hesitation and, depending on the target, quite a bit of trouble.

Finally, the sun was setting above, I bid farewell to her, told her not to get herself killed, and headed off into the abyss once more.

Just like her, I too would rise to the stars, or die trying. I refuse to accept a middle ground, for haven't I lived and died a mediocre life already?