You weren't sure if it was some sick joke that the system played on you, but that deal it made seemed like you'd probably spawn somewhere you wouldn't instantly die... Like say in the middle of the sea. A lot happened within minutes as you imagined your body would quickly become fish food... in fact before you blacked out you could feel something trying to eat your body as what looked like some ship wreck was moving towards you underwater. Then you blacked out for awhile.
Waking up your first sensations were the rocking of waves on the ship you were on like a cradle being gently rocked, the smell of the briny sea, and then as you opened your eyes you saw a sky with a bunch of fluffy clouds above the sun warming your skin... and it was getting uncomfortable as your skin felt rather dry- water was splashed on you and you sputtered "Huh? Wha?" Your body felt weak but you managed to look to your side and saw... Some sorta mix between a jellyfish and elf. A mixture of an ancient immortal-like being and a squishy, somewhat brainless animal. Your eyes went wide in shock.
Their voice came out weird like they were gurgling a little bit of Jelly but were coherent "Don't worry your safe, and you need to keep your skin hydrated." Your skin? You looked down at your body which was half naked and saw that about a third of your body were finny and scaled with a pattern of a black rim, orange body, and a single white stripe...
"What's this on me?!?!" You sputtered as you tried to take off whatever costume this was, but your right arm was a fin and your left arm couldn't find a seem... well there kind of was, but you weren't able to budge it off.
"A Mer Fish, there's no one around who can remove it before it does it's thing. Welcome to the Mer clans." The Jellyfish Elf said
"Mer?"
"Landlubber..." the elf muttered nearly as a curse "Didn't anyone tell you to be careful near the waves or did some landlocked wizard accidentally zap you into the depths somehow?" He tried to read your expression but since it was pure confusion "Ugh, in the seas fish occasionally eat a special type of magical gem or are infused by some leyline turning them into a semi-parasitic semi-symbiotic magical animal. They cling to any terrestrial animal they can get their hands on and merge. The process can take awhile and the terrestrial animal becomes able to swim better, breathe underwater, and spook most every other landlubber so us Mer tend to stick to one another. Certain prejudices may stick to one extent or another, but whether you were elf or human or a centaur... we're all Mer, and you lucky you found us when you did. You had a feisty Merfish that probably would've consumed your mind if we hadn't found you, and you were also out in very precarious waters... not to mention we happened to be on the way to a major Mer city. You've got the luck of some sorta demon or your going to be unlucky the rest of your life."
You sniffed and asked "Is someone Barbequing something?"
"Dying pique your appetite?" The Jelly-elf asked "Yeah... we were on the edge of surfacing and cooking, and with you popping up where you did we decided now was a better time than any. So this is in celebration of you kid." The spread was... a mixed bag. Something that you would've called Sashimi as fresh as possible, some grilled seafoods some kelp... and then bread that had gotten pretty moldy on the side and... You saw them getting water straight out of the ocean that your mug was filled with. The Jelly-elf smirked and said "Unlike most [Sailors] us Mer can drink straight out of the ocean like a fish. The Mer symbiotes help deal with the excess salt, and we don't have to worry about salting our food when our tongues are coated with it."
You avoided the bread but the rest was delicious... even though you were... very hesitant about the water... Yes some of your body was fish but...
"Drink it or don't drink it, eventually you'll get thirsty and be forced to drink." The Jelly-elf said as he noticed your discomfort "Mind if I asked what you did prior to this Mer life? I'm a [Healer] and somewhat lucked out with this Jellymer. The poison stings and a few [skills] let dull pain and keep patients still while I work on them."
"I... don't have a [skill]" You said
"...Your an older kid kid... and no [class]?" The Jelly elf looked oddly at you but shrugged a bit and said "Well to each their own... and with a shifter type Mer... Well it's just a sex shifter so unless you want to work in a brothel I'd say your more of a general Mer."
"Sex shifter?"
"Oh, guess landlubbers wouldn't know. The fish that bonded with you naturally changes sex from male to female if there are no women around, but there are a few mer of that fish that can do the change manually."
You were glancing around "...There aren't many... girls here are there?"
The Jelly elf chuckled and said "Yeah, we're a male crew and we're still a few weeks out from the Mer city Second Cross. You'll better merge with your Merfish and get to get a feel for your new form... and starting a new life ain't easy. Even trying to secure passage back to wherever some random [Wizard] zapped you from wont be cheap. I might suggest picking up a [class] could make things a bit easier, even if you're behind the curve of someone your age." The [Horny] modifier was something you were thinking about when thinking about what a [class] you could get may be. it wasn't all combat since [Healer] was one but... was there a pop up menu or...
"I think drowning or the magic may have messed my mind up a little. How do you get a [class]?"
"Why kid you just do something related to that class and wish in your heart of hearts that you want that class and... it tends to happen. There are complications but for your first one give yourself a goal, work towards it, and you'll get the [class] or some variation of it. Anything you may have your heart on?"
"I'm not completely sure" you said "...how hard is it being a [Healer]?"
"If you were on land in most cities it'd be a LOT simpler. You'd be mostly dealing with one species. Here though each day you are dealing with a mix of practically all species and they are all intermixed with magical fish making each remedy that much harder to deal with. You'd be surprised how much of a difference being a MerOctopus is from a MerSquid in terms of dosage." You talked with the Jellyelf more and while you weren't sure about putting things into practice... he found your questions were interesting. "If you want to be a [Healer]... I guess I could use an assistant... We'll discuss rates as I see how good you are. Lowest it would be is a roof and some grub assuming you make minimum standards."
Time passed and it was time to submerge again as everyone called it. You were brought below deck as the Jellyelf Jel had you in his office of sorts and said "The first time you do this consciously is going to feel weird." he then touched two spots and said "Your gils are currently around there, they may migrate into your mouth and throat eventually but for now instead of your nose and mouth concentrate on those two spots."
The water came in pretty quickly as it was flooding the ship, and your instincts made you want to try to swim to the top taking as much breath, but you had to assume you hadn't drowned because of this Merfish's gils and... It was odd "breathing" through gills in a way I couldn't describe properly... or at least in a proper way that felt right to say. That was also when I learned a few basic rules of being in the ship. First off we dove pretty deep to the point where there was practically no light from the sun, and there was just some algae that barely glowed to give a little light to work by. Second you only spoke in whispers else you may attract attention from something you didn't want attention from. Monsters, pirates, etc... better off not letting them know where you are. So for the next few days we were eating some rations of fish and moldy bread while I learned about my body and basic healing from Jel... Along with seeing him at work as well as I could with limited light. I was able to see my fin'd arms gain a few "fingers" When I was able to look in a mirror I looked like some abomination in a sense with somewhere between a third and a half of my body taken over by a clownfish, and not in the mermaid way where the upper or lower half was fish. That also said... After the third day I was fully a woman. My dick had turtled it's way into my body, I had some smallish breasts... I even got a little shorter... and then even more importantly was a sweet voice coming to me in the nights.
Class Obtained: [Assistant] Level 3
Skill Obtained: [Lesser Insight]
Skill Obtained: [Clear Communication: Master]
Class Obtained: [Shifter] Level 1
Skill Obtained: [Quickened Transformation]
Your female form felt... a bit more comfortable knowing that if you could master this form... maybe... maybe you could do something interesting with it.