Chapter 170 Meropis
Coralia helped her subordinate that was stabbed by Mira up, summoned a small pool of water, and tossed her into it.
The mermaid's injuries started healing at a rate visible to the naked eye and around 10 minutes later she was fully healed.
"We mermaids gain additional benefits when we are in water such as increased speed, strength, rapid healing, and various other things. While when we are on land, our tails form into legs and we gain a bipedal form that allows us to walk on land. You can probably guess the benefits for living on dry land compared to the sea." Coralia explained when she noticed Mira's group looking at the once injured mermaid with interest.
"I see. Those are some nice buffs and yes, I can guess a few things. Like making weapons and armor, safety, and other things that might be more difficult underwater." Celaine answered in understanding.
She understood it a bit better than the other two since she can live underwater much better than Mira or Maria can. If they are able to live on land without trouble then it would be much better in the long run for them.
"Correct. Now, why don't I take you to where I currently live and can talk about the City on the way." Coralia asked and the three of them agreed.
She stored the tub of water and told the other 4 mermaids to go back to their posts and wait for further orders.
Coralia then led Mira's group towards the city. The closer they got to the city, they could tell how advanced their society was.
In the center of the City was a large white castle with a golden roof and golden pillars. The height of the castle nearly reached the top of the massive sea creature's stomach which was at least 100 meters tall.
Not only that, but the castle itself took up almost half of the entire space inside the beast. Mira didn't even want to call it a castle since the building itself is almost a city in itself.
But what made Mira impressed was that this massive castle was surrounded by water and had many bridges connecting the castle to other parts of the city. The architecture and design for these buildings weren't much different than the castle itself as they were white with gold roofs.
The buildings looked like they were made of marble, but Mira knew that this wasn't the case. Whatever it was, they had to be much stronger and durable than something like marble.
As the four of them made their way towards Coralia's house, they started to take note of the inhabitants. The interesting thing they found was that there were no men, at least they couldn't see any. Only beautiful mermaids.
What was interesting about these mermaids was that some of them had different hair and leg(tail) colors. Some had green hair and legs while others had pink, blue, red, purple, or even black.
"The city that you see here is called Meropis and the massive castle that you see in the middle is where our current Queen lives along with much more. The castle isn't just a place where our Queen stays, it's also a school, research facility, smithy, residential area, training grounds, and various other things as well. The Queen of our race is really just whoever is the strongest mermaid."
"The Queen herself has a group of Ministers that help with her rule and they are usually the strongest people in the City, second only to the Queen. These Ministers are the leaders of Chiefs of things like our army, school, smithy, and the other professions."
"The layout of the Meropis is rather simple, the stronger you are, the closer to the Queen you live. There's also another way to live in the castle and that's if you have a job there."
"The jobs themselves don't require strength as much as they do talent and knowledge. Though if you do live in the castle then you'll get more cultivation resources so your strength will eventually catch up to your peers. The strongest of each division are also those who have the most knowledge along with being the strongest."
"The people that live in the residential areas outside of the castle aren't just sitting by doing nothing either. They have to work as guards or patrol outside the giant beast we live in. Some even serve as search parties that travel outside to look for resources. Any questions so far?" Coralia briefly explained the inner workings of their society which impressed the three of them greatly.
For the most part, it was a society that wasn't solely based on strength other than the top positions, but even those positions require a massive amount of knowledge and talent, rather than just strength, in their fields to become the leader.
They could also tell how peaceful it is in this city that it made them a bit envious. If only the human cities were like this then maybe they'd be able to advance in certain areas quicker.
"What about the different colored mermaids? Are they different species or hybrids?" Maria asked curiously, looking at a mermaid with pink hair and legs.
"Yes and no. Some are different species, some are hybrids, while sometimes it's just genetic. So you can't really base what species they are based on their hair color as there are many different types nowadays. Oh! Just in case you're wondering, we don't discriminate against any species or color since most of our society is strictly based on strength and knowledge. After tens of thousands of years, the variety of mermaids has become a part of our culture. As I said, we are generally a peace-loving race, but we understand that strength is necessary to survive." Coralia explained.
"How do you procreate if there are no men?" Celaine asked which caused Coralia to blush.
"There are a couple of ways for us to give birth. One is to sacrifice part of our life and cultivation and create an egg in our womb, but this isn't used as much anymore now that there are so many mermaids."
"We mermaids have actually evolved to the point where we don't require a male to impregnate us as we can even use a female's fluids in order to get pregnant as well. But the reason that you see only female mermaids here is that mermaids can only birth females. No matter what species we procreate with, we will always give birth to a female. Even if the woman in question is only 1% mermaid, she will still only birth females." Coralia explained while sneaking glances at Mira.
Coralia was sure that if she gave birth to Mira's child, then that child would certainly end up being the future Queen, leading their race towards greatness. Mira already possesses the temperament and aura of a Queen, no, even greater than a Queen! Her beauty is also unparalleled and Coralia was sure that their child would be even more beautiful!
Mira noticed Coralia glancing at her and felt a chill run down her spine. She just ignored her and looked at the mermaids in the city.
What she saw was rather weird as she could see mermaids greeting each other with makeout sessions or others were basically having sex as they walked into their homes.
'What the hell is wrong with this race?! Even a succubus wouldn't greet other succubi like this!' Mira thought to herself watching how crazy mermaids are.
What also caught her attention was the strength of everyone she saw. She hasn't seen anyone below the Foundation Realm, in fact, most are around her level or higher. Also, around 20% of the people here in the residential area outside the castle were in the Core Formation Realm!
Mira's noticed over 200 Core Formation Realm experts that would only be qualified as mere guard captains outside of the castle! What about the strength of those in the castle? They'd all be in the Core Formation Realm or higher!
All they'd have to do is send 1 person from inside the castle to Lunar Fox City, and that'd be more than enough to annihilate them! What the hell is up with this battle prowess! What the fuck is wrong with this Secret Realm and why are the weakest beings she's found already around her strength or stronger?! Isn't this supposed to be a test for the younger generation?!
Mira had so many questions as she felt like this place is should have a minimum requirement of Core Formation Realm or higher. Or maybe she's just incredibly unlucky and keeps stumbling across places that aren't meant to be found by people around her strength.
"We're here! This is my house and you are free to sleep here for the duration of your stay!" Coralia interrupted Mira's thoughts and stopped in front of a beautiful house.