I only had time to see the surprised face of a bandit as I found myself falling. For a moment, I was convinced I was dead. However, when my eyes landed on the water below, I tried to move my body into a position for a dive. Hitting the water, it still was a pretty heavy blow, and the water exploded around me as I plunged into the depths of the water. Bubbles were everywhere as the water churned against the rocky shore. I lost track of which way was up, and then I realized all of my armor was also weighing me down.
I struggled, kicking wildly as I ran out of breath, but it wasn’t until my hands hit sand that I realized I was in real trouble. I had been desperately swimming in the wrong direction, having got turned upside down. I was also deep enough that I couldn’t see light under the shadow of the cliff. Hoping my hands were touching the ground and not the wall of the cliff, I put my feet down, ready to kick off.
It was at that moment that I saw a glowing light. Despite the fact my lungs were burning for a breath, and I didn’t have seconds to spare, my eyes instinctively turned toward the source of the light. That was where I saw a beautiful blonde woman floating there. She had a perfect body, with a moderate but pleasantly plump chest, and supermodel-like good looks. It was then that I noticed her lower half was a fish-tail. She had long scales that reflected gold and blue. The light seemed to come from a pearl she was holding in her hands that shone like a light orb.
I tensed as I realized she was a mermaid. Naturally, as a man, there were many fantasies about mermaids. Admittedly, the siren in my dungeon was also a fish girl, but there was something more alluring about mermaids, even though they technically didn’t have the lower parts necessary to fulfill any of that allure.
However, I also knew as a fantasy monster, mermaids could be quite vicious and borderline murderous. I was in her domain, so trying to fight her would be nearly impossible. I watched her warily, but she only looked at me curiously, like she was just as surprised I was there.
“Mmm!” I let out a noise, almost taking in a breath.
I had forgotten I was underwater for a moment as I looked at her, and I had also wasted all of my time. Just as I was about to panic, the mermaid lunged at me, and her mouth met mine. I felt her cold breath breathing out. I sucked in the air, and with our lips together, we exchanged breath back and forth. Even though we were exchanging the same breath, every time I inhaled, it felt fresh. I supposed she had gills or something that was doing the gas exchange.
After my breath recovered, she pulled away, a sweet smile on her face. She reached out and grabbed my hand, and then she started to swim. The speed she moved was extremely fast, and I nearly lost the breath of oxygen I had just regained as she floated to the surface and then skimmed along, moving as fast as a dolphin, perhaps even faster. When she reached the edge of the lake, I could see some of my men running back and forth, shouting.
“He fell in the lake!”
“The monster is in there!”
“It’ll pull him to the bottom like the others!”
“Ah! I see it! It’s coming!” One of the men pointed at us and shouted.
“Stay fast men, it’s weak out of water. Just stay on the shore!”
“What’s in its hands? It’s Boss!” One shouted. “Quick, the arrows!”
“Stop!” I cried out as the men started to pull out their bows. “I’m fine. She’s mine!”
The mermaid had stopped before coming to the shore and the lake water was shallow enough, I could put my feet down. I immediately grabbed her, wrapping my arms around her protectively. After all, she had saved my life.
{You have tamed a mermaid.}
“Eh?” I cried out as I noticed her looking up at me with a red blush on her cheeks.
“Boss… you did it! You tamed such a powerful monster!” The men started cheering.
Thinking back, I had tamed the giant by colliding with her nether regions. I had tamed Elaya by having her in bed. Somehow, it seemed easier to tame females of a species. Why did it feel like I was better at taming women than monsters?