One-Horn

One-Horn was the younger brother of Coral, chief of the Coral Tribe. As one of the lowest-ranking merfolk tribes in the merfolk tribal hierarchy, the Coral Tribe was a small tribe made up of barely more than a dozen Merfolk Warriors, just over a hundred Merfolk Hunters, and over a thousand merfolk civilians.

As chief of the Coral Tribe, Coral had given the tribe his own name. He was already a powerful Merfolk Warrior, and he had led the tribe's warriors many times to repel sea beasts attacking the tribe. With his own strength and a double-pronged trident forged from Ghostly Blue Iron Ore, he protected the tribe's safety.

Though Coral was immensely powerful and had made outstanding contributions to the tribe, One-Horn was despised by every merfolk because of the black horn growing from his forehead.

The black horn caused One-Horn endless trouble. He had tried many times to remove it or smash it with rocks, but the black horn on his head was incredibly sturdy and simply beyond his ability to deal with. Even his brother Coral was helpless before it.

On top of that, One-Horn had been frail since birth and could not serve as a warrior to protect the tribe. To a merfolk tribe that worshipped strength, his existence was undoubtedly a shameful burden. Over time, One-Horn, who lived off his brother, became the fish associated with all kinds of ugly labels: trash, parasite, and more.

"Gah, glug hee-hee! Look, it's that freakish piece of trash!"

"Blurp-doodle! That parasite!"

Listening to the unbearable insults entering his ears and seeing the savage faces of the surrounding merfolk, One-Horn grew increasingly resentful and enraged.

He did not understand what he had done wrong, nor did he understand why he was like this. Although his elder brother had once told him to simply live in peace, promising that he would protect both the tribe and him, One-Horn did not want to keep living in his brother's shadow and under his protection.

He truly wanted to tell the fish around him that he possessed a special ability, but he did not dare. His ability was simply too terrifying, and his elder brother had strictly forbidden him from using it.

Sometimes, One-Horn wondered: if he possessed more strength and more power, would his situation improve? He wanted to enjoy the worship of every merfolk!

One-Horn left the tribe alone, swaying as he went. He made his way by himself into a coral grove. He knew that within this grove lived someone who called himself a merfolk sage, and he wanted to seek help.

Passing through patch after patch of coral, stepping over the shallow seawater and gravel beneath his feet, One-Horn finally reached the center of the coral grove: a massive boulder, and a figure sitting cross-legged atop it.

"You have come, my child."

A kind yet faintly hoarse voice rang out in One-Horn's mind. Yet One-Horn was not alarmed. He merely sat before the boulder with a sorrowful, hesitant expression.

This sage had only arrived near the Coral Tribe recently. With his superb medical skills and words capable of soothing troubled hearts, the sage had become immensely popular throughout the Coral Tribe.

More importantly, although the sage could not speak, he could connect his mind with another fish's mind and communicate that way.

Such a miraculous method had deeply shocked many merfolk civilians, as well as Merfolk Hunters and Merfolk Warriors.

The sage lived alone in this coral grove, but whenever a fish came seeking help, the great and benevolent sage never refused. That was why One-Horn had come here for help. He believed that the benevolent sage, renowned throughout the tribe, would surely understand his pain and lead him out of the darkness to see the light.

"Bajji bajji, glub-wum za-papa-dong. Wise and benevolent sage, I have come to receive the guidance of your wisdom."

As he spoke, One-Horn did not even dare look directly at the great and benevolent merfolk sage, hoping to show his respect. He deliberately lowered his head, his two huge fish eyes fixed on the seawater around the boulder and the two little fish that occasionally swam past.

From an angle One-Horn could not see, the benevolent sage in whom he had placed such high hopes had a violently twitching eyelid. Listening to that unbearable, warped merfolk language, which even made him feel nauseous, Kano felt as if both his body and mind had been contaminated.

Ever since parting ways with Taylor, Kano had embarked alone upon the path he had chosen. He intended to personally cultivate or guide large numbers of greedy merfolk, using their greed and desire for power, material wealth, and the like to lead them into disrupting the entire merfolk system.

He could not influence the upper echelons of power, but he could still plunge the lower and grassroots levels of the merfolk system into chaos and internal strife.

He had come to the Coral Tribe, a place filled with coral groves and coral structures. Afterward, he secluded himself in a coral grove and appeared as a sage, helping those ignorant, foolish fish time and again to win the trust and admiration of the local merfolk.

He knew that these poor, weak little tribes usually watched over and supported one another in groups of three or five. As long as he opened up a foothold in one tribe, he could gradually infiltrate in reverse and erode more tribes, eventually gathering a force of merfolk capable of causing unrest.

Quite some time had passed, and his reputation had spread. After all, there were not many merfolk in this tribe. Through word of mouth, many things he had done had been exaggerated, and he had even been worshipped.

In particular, his ability to speak directly in merfolks' minds through psychic perception made some ignorant merfolk believe that he truly was the sage of legend, capable of leading them toward a better tomorrow.

Heh. Idiots.

As part of the wizard system founded upon mental power, any wizard apprentice who comprehended their own mental space could learn basic techniques of mental probing and mental links. The only limitation was the short range.

After all, he was an independent consciousness, and he even carried a portion of the mental power Taylor had given him.

Kano looked down on these ignorant, ugly, weak lifeforms from the bottom of his heart. Yet in order to better help Taylor earn more merit in this Needle Plane invasion war, Kano could only patiently assist one stupid merfolk after another.

His eyes narrowed slightly. He was now waiting for a merfolk of sufficiently high status to come see him. It would be even better if that merfolk had desires and ambitions.

Today, he had finally found one.

"Take it slowly, my child. Tell me of your troubles and worries, and I will point you in the right direction. You need only answer me in your mind."

He truly did not want to hear that babbling, indistinct merfolk language anymore, as though they had a lump of shit in their mouths.

Hearing the voice in his mind, One-Horn froze for a moment, then cautiously said in his mind, "Benevolent sage, can you hear me saying this?"

"Of course, my child."

Country bumpkin!

The gloom in Kano's eyes grew heavier and heavier. He felt that he was nearly out of patience.

"It's like this, benevolent sage. I am the younger brother of the chief of the Coral Tribe. My name is One-Horn. Ever since I was little..."

Once he understood that the benevolent sage could hear his inner thoughts, One-Horn became like a child who had never spoken a word in his life. In one breath, he poured out all his experiences from childhood to adulthood, all the grievances he had suffered, his hatred and anger toward those merfolk, his yearning for power, and the truth of his origins to Kano.

Kano's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and all the gloom at their depths dispersed, replaced by a radiant gleam. He had finally found someone who could be bewitched by him and whose status was decent enough.