Fishmen Lord Shakeda was very excited. Even though he was trying hard to suppress his emotions, he still found it difficult not to smile.
He had actually long wanted to communicate with the "humans."
As a mixed-blood Fishmen Lord, he had risen step by step to where he was today not because of his rather absurdly huge build. He was a primitive shaman priest of his race, one who worshipped the elements. In truth, he followed a traditional spellcasting profession.
Primitive shamanic worship was a common belief among intelligent beings. It revered basic elements such as light, fire, water, and earth, and was perhaps the most harmless yet widespread foundational faith across countless worlds. In many worlds, faith and will equaled power, so shaman priests naturally became tribal leaders in primitive societies.
Before being led astray by certain beings, Fishmen tribes had mostly been guided and ruled by shamans such as "seers" and "sages." That was their old tradition. More importantly, only these "spellcasting professions" could read and write, and would actively preserve their people's cultural heritage and civilization.
As both a "leader" and an "intellectual," he naturally understood his own people and the state of the world—or at least, he had tried to open his eyes and look at this world.
He had once infiltrated a human city as an ordinary Half-Fishman, spending half a year as a dockworker and experiencing the life of an "ordinary Fishman." He had gained some understanding of this entirely new foreign race.
"A relatively peaceful race, but their average strength is astonishingly high. Every single one of them is actually a transcendent."
*"They have a mature inherited civilization and currency, as well as the technology to alter their own creations according to conditions on other planets. Incredible. Even my life as a lord