Brock was a weathered man, with tanned skin from working at sea. He was a hardworking and dedicated fisherman, but that was two years ago. Brock had a broken nose due to many bar fights, something that had become routine in the town of Sal marina, plus his blond hair was carelessly battered. Although Brock was a stocky, hardworking man, he wasn't very friendly with anyone, he was either greedy or had become that way thanks to the disaster two years ago.
The man was on Black Beach, so-called because of the tragedy caused by the Spartan ship when it collided with a reef and dumped all its oil into the sea. The beach was never the same. It was as black as the most sinister night, nobody went there anymore. Except for Brock that night.
A full moon.
"If you want to find gold
You must dive in the dark.
Go to the black beach
and find the graveyard,
the full moon will guide you.
There they will be waiting for you;
waiting for those who sing in the sea,
those who delight in the darkness.
There they will covenant what is to be covenanted."
Those were the words of old Ginger, a lady who was 120 years old in the village, although she was bedridden, alone with no close relatives. Relying only on a servant who served her by family tradition. Mrs. Ginger, many years ago, made the same pact that Brock was going to make that night.
He wanted money, he couldn't stand living in misery any longer. He was sick and tired of being used by his bosses for the dirtiest jobs at sea. Fishing was not the job he wanted. What he wanted was to rule, not the town, but something more transcendental.
And as Brock went deeper and deeper into the beach, until he was waist-deep in water. The strange book the old woman possessed came to his mind. For the only time in his life, he had wanted to read a book, even if only to examine the pages, because he could not read. And so the man was plunged into perpetual darkness.
The moon was shining, but as he went deeper, it was losing its brightness. This did not prevent Brock from seeing the ship's graveyard. At least 10 ships from different eras were there waiting for him, covered with algae and corals, but without fish, without life; or so it seemed at first glance. Because when Brock's body was only a few meters away from the first boat he could visualize a huge silhouette fading into the periphery.
He felt no fear, he had come to give up his soul for a bargain. Just as 120 years ago Mrs. Ginger had done, freeing herself from the slavery of the colonists, gaining the power to found that town in the far reaches of civilization.
But Brock wanted more than that, he didn't want a town, he wanted an army.
Then it happened, a large mass rammed the guy and crashed him hard against one of the ships. Brock let out enough oxygen and felt the need to rise to the surface, but the mermaid-like creature had a tight grip on him.
The mermaid was horrible, it was like looking at a monkfish. The light blinded Brock for a few moments, but he felt the fierce lips of the thing in his mouth, noticed the acidity of the blood, and then perceived the voice of the being.
"What do you want, human, do you wish to die at my hands?"
Brock tried to speak, but bubbles came from his lips, still, he was no longer choking.
"Speak your mind, human, What do you want?" the newt, since the voice in his head was male, shook him hard again.
"I want power!"
The fisherman took a close look at the creature. It possessed a fishtail, but its torso was that of a humanoid, a being full of scales and with a horrible face populated by sharp teeth with an appendage that acted as a headlight, even its hands were sharp claws capable of cutting him.
"Stupid human, I'm not a lamp genie, I'm a seasalt" Brock couldn't perceive if that being possessed eyes, apparently he didn't need them "You give me something and I give you something".
One thing about Brock was his stubbornness.
"I want power!"
With a violent force, the fisherman was thrown, breaking in the process the old wood of a boat, remaining inside. However, before he could move, he already had seasalt on top of him.
"Did you not understand stupid human?"
There was greed in Brock's eyes, something the creature picked up on too late, but he didn't hold back. He knew how to take advantage of it.
"What kind of power do you want? I can give you enough gold to find your village."
Brock shook his head, however.
"I just want enough power to rule the world!"
The Seasalt smiled at the stupidity of that human. In his eyes, he glimpsed the misfortunes of the simple fisherman, the mistreatment he had suffered as a child, the hunger he had gone through since he became unemployed, and the hatred he had for superior people.
"In exchange for that power. You have to give me offspring" the creature turned away from the fisherman.
Thousands of lights materialized in the stomach of the death ship, they were thousands of aquatic creatures identical to the Seasalt.
"Your seed will give us the offspring we need to expand."
The shoal of monsters pounced on Brock without waiting for a response. Bite received the poor fisherman, several of those things took a chunk out of the man but stopped short of killing him, only leaving him dying.
He would live, as long as every beast that had tasted his flesh would be in a state and give at least a hundred more creatures. In return Brock would have his wish, he was given the knowledge to seize whatever he wanted. If he was able to withstand the pain, he would be reborn much smarter than he already was. His intelligence would take him far, but he would still be a despicable person. And he would be immortal, just like Ginger.
Seasalt watched from the darkness as Brock floated to the surface. He would return, and he would be the first human to do so.
As the fisherman ascended, he could hear the ominous chants of the seasalt.
