"Water Breath, First Form." I said in a low, serious voice as I waved my sword and used only my breath to control the water.
Because of the initial mastery that the card gave me, I really was able to use this first form as if I'd been practicing it for months!
Sure, it wasn't professional mastery yet, but it was a great start.
When I swung the sword in a gentle arc, the water at the edge of the beach responded instantly, rising like a bright ribbon that followed the blade.
It was so natural, so fluid, that I almost couldn't believe it.
The card had given me mastery of the first three forms, and that movement felt like it was part of me, as if I'd been training for months, not minutes.
I changed my stance, wanting to test the Second Form.
The sword spun in a wider pattern, and I felt the air getting heavier, as if the sea was paying attention.
The water rose again, this time forming a shallow whirlpool that danced around the blade before collapsing with a splash.
I gave a little smile.
'Not bad. I thought, although I knew I still needed practice to make it really powerful.
Then came the part I was most curious to test: the 10% of Percy Jackson I had assimilated.
I closed my eyes for a second, trying to feel the sea as he would.
It was strange... as if the waves were talking to me, not in words, but in sensations.
I opened my eyes, swung the sword again, this time imagining the water as an extension of my arm.
The Third Form came out almost by instinct!
A blade of water cut through the air, and a thin wave, sharp as a metal blade, flew a few meters before breaking up on the sand.
My heart raced. "Wow, that's something," I muttered, feeling a sense of pride that I couldn't hide.
But I hadn't come all that way just to play with the water.
Johnny Cage's 10% was also asking to be tested.
I put the sword away in its sheath with a little more grace than usual, thanks to Cage's experience, and punched the air, imitating his confident manner.
My body felt lighter, smarter, as if I knew exactly where to hit.
I tried a spin kick, remembering an attack he used to do in games, something that old Eric from neither world would ever have dreamed of doing.
I'm not going to lie, I almost lost my balance, but I managed to hold on and land on my feet.
"Okay, that was kind of cool," I admitted, laughing to myself.
The craziest thing was trying to put it all together.
I picked up the sword again, took a deep breath and mixed the Water Breath with what I had from Percy and Cage.
I imagined the water rising as I spun, using Cage's strength to propel the movement.
The First Form came out with an extra touch... the water not only followed the sword, but formed an arc that sparkled against the sun, showing much more grace and control in this attack, which I finished with a low kick, Cage-style, causing the wave to crash down hard, throwing foam everywhere.
I stood there, a little out of breath, looking at the mess I'd made on the beach.
The power of the basic attacks was as powerful as I imagined it would be, but the combination of them exceeded my expectations.
Feeling that I was getting tired, I pulled up the hem of my pants and removed my shoes, standing with my leg in contact with the seawater as I looked at it curiously.
As soon as my leg touched the water, I felt as if my strength was rapidly recovering.
But what surprised me was my eyesight.
Instead of having trouble seeing what was under the water because of the reflection of light and water and other chemical and physical factors, my eyes were seeing everything more clearly than they should because I was a 'Son of Poseidon'!
Even though I was far away, I could still see through the water, fish swimming through the water looking for food, algae floating around as if they were dancing, and most surprisingly, a tuft of red hair that was looking at me curiously.
Beneath the long, straight red hair that floated in the water as if it had life, there was a beautiful delicate face with white skin, blue eyes that blinked with genuine curiosity and interest, a slim and delicate body wearing shells to cover her breasts and, most surprisingly for normal people, instead of the beautiful pair of legs that one would imagine she would have, the girl had a beautiful greenish mermaid's tail.
When our gazes met, she was surprised, but continued to stare at me, trying to understand if I was really looking at her or if our gaze had just met by coincidence.
Thinking of this beautiful mermaid who saved me from death in this second life, and who as far as I can remember sang the most beautiful song I've ever heard while I was passed out on the beach, a smile appeared on my face as I continued to look at her.
Seeing me smile at her, Ariel was even more surprised, but apparently she still wasn't sure if I could really see her.
So I simply nodded at her.
When Ariel actually confirmed that I could see her and waved at her, the girl froze.
Looking around to really confirm that there was no one beside her, Ariel's face turned red as she quickly swam behind a rock while keeping just her head out.
Timidly she extended a thin white arm outwards and waved back at me.
Returning a nod to her confirming that I had seen her wave, I looked down and wondered if I should take off my shirt and go into the sea to talk to her.
With Percy Jackson's card I had received some very useful skills.
One of them was the ability to talk to sea creatures and breathe underwater.
'Wait, didn't Percy also have a strange ability not to get wet?As if the water just ran down his body, so that even if he went into the sea with his clothes on, when he came out his clothes wouldn't be soaked with water? " I asked myself in surprise.
Deciding to test this, I lowered the hem of my pants a little so that they wouldn't get wet, and to my amazement, although the water touched my pants, when I got out of the water the water just ran off my pants, keeping them as dry as they should be.
Realizing this, I turned towards the sea, preparing to enter the water and thank Ariel for saving me, but a voice suddenly called out to me.
"Eric my son, we've finally found you!" My mother said worriedly as she got off her horse and ran towards me. "Eric, you should stay in your room and rest, the doctors warned us that you would need at least a few days to recover from your drowning."
Behind my mother, my father had also arrived, descending from his horse in a firm and graceful manner, which you would expect from a noble king.
"Eric, your mother is right... even though you may have found some way to help our kingdom, it can wait for a few more days, your safety is our priority." My father said in a firm voice, but one that made clear the concern he was feeling.
Seeing their concern, I didn't get angry, on the contrary, it warmed the heart of my otherworldly version who never had anyone to worry about me.
So I explained patiently. "Mom, Dad, I'm fine now, in fact, I'm much better than before the accident."
Hearing this, my parents were confused, so I continued.
"From the moment the ship sank, I felt as if something divine was blessing me... as if I had received a blessing, a blessing that I was now training to use to protect our kingdom!" I said with a smile.
But instead of the astonishment I'd expected from them after hearing what I'd said, they just stared at each other with worried expressions.
Looking at me again, my mother asked. "Eric, are you sure you're all right?"
Realizing that they didn't believe what I was saying, I decided it would be easier to show than to tell, so I drew my sword from my waist and pointed it at the ocean.
"Watch." I said in a firm tone before activating Water Breath.
"Water Breath, First Form." I said as I swung my sword and used all my powers to try to cause as much dramatic effect as possible, even drawing on some of Johnny's expertise as a famous Hollywood actor to make it even more dramatic.
With the movement of my sword, water from the ocean ran up the tip of the blade to the handle while maintaining the cutting motion I was making.
When I finished cutting with the sword, the trail of water that came out of the ocean turned into a sharp aquatic blade, imitating the movement I had just made.
This caused my parents to open their mouths in shock, incredulous at what they were seeing.
But it wasn't over yet.
When the movement caused by the First Form was over, I made full use of my 10% assimilation with Percy to control the ocean water and send out a second wave of power, one less sharp, but larger in size to make the dramatic effect even more intense.
This second attack may not be as lethal, but when I turned around and saw the astonishment on my parents' faces, a confident smile appeared on my face.
Curious about a third opinion, I turned my gaze to the other side of the sea, where there should have been a curious little mermaid, but when I looked there was nothing there.
Disappointed, I turned fully to my parents and asked with a smile.
"See? With this we stand a chance against the monsters attacking our kingdom, and without needing the help of any other kingdom!"
My parents were speechless, not even able to respond to what I said, still processing what they had just seen.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, a small red head popped out from behind the rock she was hiding behind, looking at me with stars shining in her eyes in amazement, but hiding a little disappointment when she saw me leave with my parents.