Chapter 151: The Prismatic Water Core

“A Golden Carp? What kind of fish is that?” Marcus asked, leaning closer as Lily reached into her inventory. “Is it actually powerful?”

Instead of answering right away, Lily smiled and pulled out a small, star-shaped creature. “Look at this first. This is a Prismatic Starfish.”

The starfish rested in her palm, its center a clean, snowy white. Each of its five points glowed with a different color, red, black, blue, purple, and yellow, the hues so vivid they almost seemed alive, faintly pulsing as if breathing.

“They’re born completely white,” Lily explained, clearly enjoying his curiosity. “Every hundred years, they shed a layer of their outer shell, and one point changes color. It takes five hundred years for them to reach this stage, where all five points have transformed and formed this full star pattern.”

Marcus carefully took the creature from her hand. As soon as he did, a familiar prompt appeared in his vision.

Prismatic Starfish

Lore: A creature of the deep that gazes at the night sky with longing, desperate to join the stars above. It constantly rotates its body to shift its colors, hoping to achieve flight. If one could survive for fifteen hundred years, it would evolve into a Mythic Beast capable of soaring through the heavens. Unfortunately, their natural lifespan is capped at six hundred years, leaving their celestial dreams forever out of reach.

Effect: High-grade alchemical ingredient. Can be used for potion crafting or as a primary ingredient in high-level gourmet cuisine.

Marcus raised an eyebrow. “So it’s basically a high-grade herb,” he said. “Interesting lore, sure, but what does this have to do with the Golden Carp?”

Lily didn’t drag it out. “Golden Carps evolve from ordinary carps, but they can’t do it on their own. They need these starfish. More specifically, they need the discarded shells.”

She continued, her tone turning more serious. “If a carp is lucky enough to find and consume the shed shells of at least five different Prismatic Starfish every century, it gains a new color. After five hundred years of repeating that process, it finally becomes a five-colored Golden Carp.”

Marcus frowned slightly. “That sounds… absurdly specific. Is it really that hard for them to find the shells?”

“Extremely,” Lily said without hesitation. “Prismatic Starfish are solitary creatures. You’ll rarely find more than twenty in an entire stretch of water. On top of that, their discarded shells are considered a delicacy by almost every predator in the sea.”

She shook her head. “A common carp has to compete with entire schools of fish just to get a single fragment. Surviving long enough to eat five shells per century, and doing that for five centuries straight, is basically a statistical miracle.”

“And after that?” Marcus asked.

“After that, it still isn’t over,” Lily replied. “Once it becomes a Golden Carp, it has to survive another five hundred years, a full millennium in total, before it can face the Fate Trial. If it survives that, it evolves into a Prismatic Divine Fish.”

She paused, then added quietly, “Another thousand years, another Trial, and it becomes a Divine-tier Prismatic Dragonfish. At that point, its power is… legendary.”

Marcus let out a low breath and shook his head. Two thousand years of survival, layer upon layer of impossible odds, just to reach the pinnacle. The sheer scale of Dominion’s worldbuilding was enough to make his head spin.

“So,” he said at last, looking back at her, “you actually managed to catch one?”

“I did,” Lily said, a faint flush rising to her cheeks. Pride softened her expression. “They’re incredibly elusive. Normally, you’d need an Advanced fishing skill just to have a chance, but with the South Sea Jade Rod and the old man’s guidance, I managed to land an eight-hundred-year-old Golden Carp.”

She laughed lightly. “It pushed my fishing skill right to the edge of the Advanced tier.”

Marcus’s eyes lit up. “Can I see it?”

“Well… not exactly,” Lily said. She opened her palm instead, revealing a single pill that radiated a soft, five-colored glow. “The old man helped me process it. He added a few rare herbs and refined the carp into this.”

“A Prismatic Water Core.”

Marcus took the pill, and the familiar flood of text appeared before his eyes.

Prismatic Water Core

Classification: Divine-grade Alchemical Item. Requires Grandmaster Alchemist to refine.

Upon consumption, Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Focus are each increased by 10 points. Provides 20% resistance to Water-element attacks. Grants the passive skill: Fish-Walk.

Skill: Fish-Walk (Passive)

Max Level. The user moves through water as if it were solid ground. Removes all movement and combat penalties associated with being underwater, allowing the player to exert 100% of their strength regardless of depth.

Marcus stared at the description, his grip tightening slightly. The stat boosts alone were impressive, but the skill made his heart skip a beat.

Fish-Walk.

In Dominion, the world was divided between sky, land, and sea. Land was easy. The skies were dangerous but manageable with the right tools. The ocean, however, was a nightmare. Even without a breath meter, the crushing pressure and constant resistance of deep water crippled most players’ combat effectiveness the deeper they went.

With this, he could move on the ocean floor as if it were solid ground. Train there. Fight there. Dominate a part of the world most players avoided entirely.

“Lily,” Marcus said slowly, looking up at her, “this is incredible. You should keep it.”

She shook her head immediately, her expression gentle but unwavering. “No. You’re the one fighting on the front lines. If you’re stronger, you can protect all of us better. I want you to have it.”

Before he could argue further, Amber spoke up from the side. “Marcus, it’s a gift from Lily. Don’t be a jerk and turn it down.”

Marcus looked between the two of them, then smiled. “Alright. I’ll take it.”

He swallowed the pill, and a crisp system notification rang in his ears.

Ding! “Congratulations! You have consumed a Prismatic Water Core. All basic attributes increased by 10. Water resistance increased by 20%. You have learned the passive skill: Fish-Walk.”

“I almost want to run straight to the coast just to test it,” Marcus said, laughing.

“Not so fast, Hotshot,” Amber teased. “Where’s our stuff? You promised us high-tier gear.”

“Right, right,” Marcus said. “Let me check the vault.”

With the latest update, players who owned housing could access their storage vaults directly from home. Marcus opened his interface and began scrolling through his collection. As he did, a faint pang of embarrassment crept in. Despite his reputation as the top player in Dominion, he realized he didn’t actually have that many items perfectly suited for Lily and Amber.

’I really need to step up my game,’ he thought.

Still, what he did have was undeniably top-tier.

For Lily, he pulled out the Rage of the Berserker skill book he had found in Black Rock Spire, along with a Level 20 Skeleton Staff.

“Once you hit Level 20, you can have my Skeleton Set,” Marcus said. “Most of the pieces are Golden-tier. You’ll be able to grind Level 30 mobs with me without any trouble.”

Amber’s share came next. He handed her two Golden-tier weapons, the Level 10 Wolf’s Edge and a Skeleton Bow he’d looted after the fight with the Shadowfall squad. It wasn’t a complete set, but for her current level, it was absurdly powerful.

“Marcus, these are all Golden-tier!” Amber exclaimed, her eyes shining as she equipped Wolf’s Edge and tested the bowstring. “The stats are insane!”

Lily was no less excited, immediately learning Rage of the Berserker. The two of them quickly fell into animated conversation, comparing gear, theorycrafting builds, and planning their next grinding session.

While they talked, Marcus pulled out one last item from his vault. It was a deep purple gemstone he had snatched during the chaos at Black Rock Spire. He’d almost forgotten about it, mostly because the identification fee at the time had been absurdly high.

He rolled the gem between his fingers, preparing to use his own Basic Identification skill, but the flash of purple caught Amber’s sharp eye.

“Whoa, Marcus,” she said, leaning in. “That stone is gorgeous. Is it a jewel? Can you make a necklace out of it for me?”

Marcus chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Let’s slow down a bit, kiddo. I don’t even know what it is yet.”

He raised the gem. “Let’s find out first.”

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