With his color matching the sandy slope, Henry let himself slide down until what he felt was halfway down the bottom of the crater-like formation at which point he paused and examined his surroundings. His mental image of the crater zoomed out, and he realized what this formation was. It was a nest. For the largest creature Henry had yet to meet since the whales.

  [Colossus Stonefish (C) - ?]

  It was definitely larger than the whales, but not necessarily as dangerous. Though its level must be pretty high for Identify to not even give an approximation.

  The fish looked like a miniature brown and green splotched mountain that occupied half the sandy depression. It was partially buried, with dunes of sands covering parts of its face and body, but its mouth was open. Smaller–though seemingly as large as Henry himself–stonefish were swimming in and out, sifting through the surrounding sand before rushing back to their progenitor’s safety every few moments.

  Maurice was dumbstruck, and so was Henry. Now that he knew what he was looking at, though, a question kept replaying in his mind on a loop.

  “[How is this thing even sustaining itself? There’s not nearly enough food down here?]”

  Maybe there were things living in the sand? Or was it the fingerlings that were bringing it food? Did it have something to do with mana?

  Henry stared down to the sandbed hoping for hints. Mana seemed a bit more turbulent and intense here, with gold and brownish colors mixing with the ocean green. Did that have to do with how the stonefish was sustaining itself?

  Keeping some of his Octominds on monitoring duty, he relaxed his posture which caused him to slide down the slope a bit–something he immediately regretted.

  A boulder-like eye jerked toward him, and the dark iris fell on him as he froze. A deep, bone-shaking rumble echoed, making the sand around Henry shudder and slide. The fingerlings rushed into the stonefish’s mouth, which didn’t close after them. A few adventurous ones kept swimming and out and then–

  Nothing.

  The eye of the giant stayed on them, but it didn’t move. After a tense handful of seconds, Henry began to relax.

  Maurice was first to speak. “[How is it only C-Rank? The Goliath didn’t feel as scary as this thing.]”

  That was a good point. Henry’s whole body wanted to turn and get out of here, but that question was puzzling him. How did this thing feel so much more threatening than the Goliath? They were of the same rank… though maybe this one was closer to the next.

  Henry told Maurice that. The crab looked down at the monster, then back up toward escape. “[... do you think the Trickster’s going to be closer to this one’s level or to the Goliath’s?]”

  “[Hopefully the latter. But whichever it is, this might be a bit too spicy so let’s back–]”

  Atop the head of the stonefish, a spear-like spine rose up in a fraction of a second. Henry noticed with great alarm how sickly green light instantly filled the sharp organ and, through his mana sight, he saw a laser-like line of green shoot up along the sand.

  Henry surged upward. Below him, a lance of pale green stabbed up, barely missing his stomach and head. The sharp magical spine punched into an arm with tremendous force, sinking in a couple of inches before it broke–enough to deliver a nice dose of venom.

  It was like he’d been stabbed by a hot poker that released acid in his veins.

  Henry struggled to ignore the incredible pain, but his Octominds helped. For a moment he considered severing the injured limb, before changing his mind and activating Regeneration. The damage was limited, and it wasn’t about to kill him. After the initial shock, he could feel his Constitution and Toxin Resistance already beginning to neutralize the venom, so no need to waste too much mana and this would be a good practice for his traits.

  Unfortunately, he just noticed one of the opaque shapes had somehow gotten close to the stonefish. The Trickster was making its move.

  “[We’re out!]” screamed Henry in Maurice’s mind.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The Octominds were watching for a new attack from the stonefish and Henry was about to trigger Riptide Rush and shoot out of this place when, form the corner of his eyes, the clone shed its camouflage, right over the stonefish’s mouth.

  An arm whipped down, then another, then a third, and before Henry’s escape skill triggered, three of the stonefish’s progeny were dead. The clone’s limb cut through their soft heads like butter.

  Henry processed what was happening in an instant. He felt Telekinesis begin to settle on him, but he’d been ready, and he tore through it with Riptide Rush like a fist through wet paper.

  Water rushed around Henry, pushing on Maurice who he felt activate his anchoring skill to stabilize himself and within seconds, both shot out of the stonefish’s territory like a comet.

  Behind, the ocean shook from the stonefish’s roar.

  ***

  Henry released Riptide Rush and kept swimming. Above, a gleeful clone was following them, its camouflage gone to display a striking red and yellow palette.

  Something easy to see. And follow.

  Behind, the world shuddered as the dune of sand exploded like an erupting volcano. Out of the cloud of sand and debris, the giant form of the stonefish appeared.

  It wasn’t fast. But it didn’t need to be. It had a very visible target, and nothing could stop it. Reefs broke and toppled in the giant fish’s path, as if they’d been made out of clay.

  Henry pumped his arms and considered his options.

  “[Are we running, Henry?]”

  Henry didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he looked up at the Trickster’s clone.

  “[I think it’s gonna try something else. So we’re keeping our distance from that thing back there until we know what the Trickster has in store.]”

  “[Need me to do anything?]”

  “[Keep an eye on the clone–]”

  Henry saw a line of green fly past him then explode toward his face. The envenomed spine had punched out of a reef he was just about to crest over, but he was able to dodge at the last second before swimming up toward the surface.

  Imploding bubbles flew at the shapes above, but Henry couldn’t focus on them and instead, he made sure to watch the stoneskin and dodge its attacks.

  The seabed shook as the Colossus Stonefish bulldozed through another reef formation. Henry kept swimming. Tense, but not too worried. Far ahead, he could see the golden fields.

  “[We’ll stop in the whale’s territory. Any success with the clone?]”

  Henry could see the damn thing. It was close enough to broadcast their location, but far enough to be safe from attacks. When Henry tried to rush it, the clone managed to keep pace; when he tried Telekinesis, it dispelled it.

  Henry could force the issue, but there was a giant on his heels. In any case, they were about to get to a terrain Henry could work with. There would be no reefs or terrain the spears of venom could impale him from. As long he swam up.

  “[It keeps dodging. But something’s weird about it. It feels… angry. And happy?]”

  Henry gave the clone a dark look. “[It’s preparing something. But we’ll be ready.]”

  The two crested over the last reef and into the fields of golden algae. After a few more beats, he turned toward the Trickster. This time, he held nothing back. Locking it with Telekinesis, Henry rushed the clone. The fact that it didn’t dispel the skill this time was something he picked up on. A first warning.

  The second warning was the emotion he felt from the clone as he approached it. Anticipation. Glee. It reminded him of himself when he’d lure small fish early on. That moment right before they bit the tip of his arm. Right before he caught them.

  The third warning was the unnerving feeling of not being alone. An unfamiliar, oppressive sensation that permeated the area. As if there was a presence looming right over his shoulder, looking down on him.

  Henry heard Maurice shout in his ear right as he looked down in time to see the golden algae disappear underneath a black-and-yellow-striped form. He didn’t have the right sense of scale from this height and this angle, but he was almost sure that this was the largest kraken he’d seen so far.

  Its arms spread, and its black beak shone green for a moment before a thin ray of green light shot up and punched right through Henry’s stomach.

  The C-Rank Trickster Kraken had finally left its nest. As Henry used a chunk of his mana to heal the fast-spreading toxin of the ray, ignoring the nervousness that seemed to laden his limbs, he had one thought as a green pattern of luminescent scales spread across his skin.

  At least he won’t have to go look for the kraken.

  [Trickster Kraken (C) - ?]

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