Henry and Maurice finally came out of the kelp forest into a gently swaying field of golden algae that Henry immediately recognized.

  On top of his head, Maurice gasped. “[So pretty!]”

  The kraken swam high and looked around, trying to reorient himself. Still, he paused for a moment to take in the familiar scenery. Unfortunately, one thing was immediately noticeable.

  It was empty.

  Not of all life, of course. He could see furtive shapes hiding in the tall algae. He could see some roaming Whipcrack sharks here and there. But the large shapes he used to watch and listen to weren’t around anymore.

  “[This is where the whales had been.]”

  A while later, Henry came to a rest atop the reef he’d used as perch in the past when he’d first watched the whales.

  “[I’d like to see them some day,]” said Maurice after a bit. He’d already detached and began exploring the reef, moving himself up and down by scuttling around and beating his claws here and there whenever he needed to get to a higher spot. Henry kept an eye out for predators, but it seemed like everything around knew better. Riptides, Whipcracks, eels… everything kept a wide berth from the giant kraken and the oddly-colored crab, which made it a it a small challenge for Henry to catch the Riptide he was currently munching on.

  Sorry, buddy. I need your skill. And I got snacky.

  Henry stored the remaining half of the shark in his Maw which, he realized, had become some sort of meat fridge. Having done a quick inventory following his skill upgrade, he now had some C-Rank Goliath, some Arcane and Stoneskin kraken cuts, and even some older—but still fresh—serpent meat. Along the way here, Henry had thrown in a couple of lionfish for later.

  I should keep some samples. Would be nice if I could put them in little boxes and label them.

  With his enlarged storage capacity, he assumed his little hoard would only grow. At least everything was easy enough to retrieve, so long as he remembered what he had. Though the more he threw in there, the less effective that’d become. He needed a notebook or some other way of cataloguing and keeping track of what he had. Otherwise, he’d have to take a moment and focus to detect what he had hidden and forgotten about. As if he’d walked into a pitch black pantry and had to blindly feel around for the contents of the storage space. But once he had a target or knew exactly what he wanted to retrieve, a quick flex of his will would bring the desired item out of his mouth or straight into his grip. Though unfortunately the cuts were often… messy. To say the least.

  Henry’s musings were cut off a few moments later by Maurice, who peeked up from behind a rock.

  “[It’s here, Henry. It’s above us.]”

  Henry nodded, confirming the crab’s alert. “[I sense it.]”

  The clone was stalking them, as always and as expected. It was getting on Henry’s nerves for sure, and the reason he was putting Riptide Rush in his class skills was in case they needed to run from whatever was living in the dark trench Henry had once seen.

  Henry could picture the clone antagonizing the being living there to get them killed, so… extra reason to have an escape plan. Plus, he really wanted the mobility-themed Aspect. He might as well start leveling the ability. Unfortunately, that meant Henry had to let go of one skill, and after eyeing the list in his class, he decided to part with Imploding Bubbles.

  Even after having experimented a bit with it along with Toxic Ray and Molten Projectile over the last few days, he just didn’t like them much. They ate up his mana, and his aim was awful.

  Henry didn’t really have to do any of this, but he was curious to know what lived there. He wasn’t that worried about his own survival, and he needed a challenge. Unfortunately, it was growing difficult to find threats in the surrounding area.

  Once the kraken’s dealt with, we’ll move on.

  Henry looked up at the mostly invisible shape and frowned. He could move on right now, actually. The stalker’s clone must have a range limit. They could lose it.

  Henry could be the bigger person and walk away.

  There was no illusion up he could use to reflect his emotions, as they needed to save their mana, but if he had it’d be glaring daggers at the barely visible shape floating above.

  Nah. Screw you.

  The image of Maurice, claw severed, bleeding, and barely conscious flashed in front of Henry’s eyes. The ambushes. The different krakens and the clones supporting them.

  This kraken had started the hostilities, and Henry was going to finish them. Plus, Henry enjoyed the challenge. And if the journey was going to be as dangerous as the whales had implied, he could use the training.

  Henry shot a glare upward.

  And I bet you’ve got a few useful abilities hoarded. You just wait–

  A barely visible movement caught his attention. A few paces to the right, Henry noticed another slightly opaque patch. Glancing around, he didn’t pick up on any other, but the extra clone was alarming enough.

  Henry narrowed his eyes. “[Maurice. There’s more than one clone. I think it’ll probably try something, so keep an eye out. We’ll still do what we came to do, but things could get explosive so I’m going to do some preparation. Give me a couple of minutes, and see if there’s stuff you need to do as well.]”

  “[Okay!]”

  Henry then turned his attention to his interface and started by pulling a few items out of his Maw.

  First, a slice of serpent meat, which he shoved up his beak, followed by one more slice of Arcane kraken. He’d thought about it the last few days, and it was time to make full use of his abilities. He couldn’t continue waiting for the perfect property to copy and make permanent for Bite and Mimicking Arms. He had great ones already. And hopefully, he’d get more slots in the future. A burning sensation filled his beak and skin for a few beats, and then the notifications arrived.

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  Bite of the Trickster: Draining Bite has been preserved.

  Mimicking Arms: Scales of the Serpent has been preserved.

  A permanent Draining Bite would allow him to steal mana, and fast. Much faster than Draining Touch and when combined with Voracious Grip, he should be able to outlast anything. As for the Scales, that was a gut decision. Henry was plenty resilient, but that ability felt like a badge of victory. It was his first real triumph. The first big fight he picked as a challenge. Not out of desperation or because he was forced, but because he’d embraced this new life and his new class.

  His first real win.

  Plus, it’s nearly as effective as the Bahamut’s resilience, if not more.

  Next, Henry paid off for the two upgrades he had available, bringing Draining Touch to E-rank, and Telekinesis to D-rank.

  With this, I’ll be ready if the Trickster does anything.

  Henry eyed Maurice as he nibbled on a spiky starfish, then back up at the two mostly invisible shapes, and he noticed a third, he wasn’t even surprised. But there was a trill coursing through his limbs. Not of fear. But of excitement.

  This little saga was coming to an end, and Henry looked forward to what would come after.

  Bring it, you bastard. Let’s get this over with, once and for all.

  ***

  With his larger size, and without the need to hide and scurry between rocks, the trip to his old neighbourhood had barely lasted a few minutes while in the past, it had nearly taken Henry an hour to navigate through the many reefs with his empty turtle-home shell in his arms. After both took a second to look down at the little area he’d come to consciousness in, Henry crested the hill-like formation that would lead to space the large being lived in.

  He was finally about to learn what that thing had been.

  Henry peered over the edge and realized that back when he’d first been in this area, his Perception had been in the single digits. No wonder he’d been terrified. He must have not seen anything. Not to say Henry was seeing much right now, of course. He expected a large shape to move or surge up, but all he could see was dark blue waters, and a barely visible darkness deep below that made his limbs shiver.

  “[Do you ever think of going back to your old world?]”

  Henry paused his observation and gave the crab a sidelong glance. “[This is a bad time, Maurice.]”

  “[Why? Nobody can hear us. We’re speaking in our miiiinds.]”

  Henry scanned the stretch ahead. He saw some movements from small schools of fish here and there, but nothing else. Aside from the ‘invisible’ clones creeping behind them. He brought the crab closer to his face.

  “[It’s distracting.]”

  “[Don’t you have many little brains to help you stay focused? I’m focused and I don’t have a second brain.]”

  Henry would have pinched the base of his nose if he had one. He gave the crab an annoyed look, then breathed deep. The worst part was that the crab wasn’t wrong. Henry could–no, should–be using his Octominds in such a manner. But all his mental faculties—including the Octominds—were laser-focused on keeping track of the Trickster’s clones, on picking up sounds, movements, or smells through his arms when he should have kept some of his Octominds free or assigned them to watch for threats. Or even have them watch out for the local inhabitants.

  He was already using the Octominds to stay focused, but it was slightly annoying that they weren’t enough. He needed more Octominds, or he needed them to get more powerful. But maybe he should let them carry a heavier part of the stress so they could level faster and in any case, a little chat shouldn’t be that distracting.

  “[Fine. You’re right. But first, do you sense anything?]”

  “[Nope. Only the three clones behind.]”

  Henry grit his beak. He was really tempted to just go and get it over with the Trickster. “[Fine. What was the question?]”

  “[Your old world. Do you wanna go back?]”

  Henry eyed the depth ahead. They’d have to swim down, but getting out should be easy. He’d just Riptide Rush in a straight line out. If needed.

  Whatever was down there couldn’t be that dangerous. Right? If it had been, he might not even have survived when he’d been dragged here weeks ago. Henry brought Maurice closer as if he was going to whisper, then caught himself.

  Right. Telepathy. “[I’m not sure, to be honest. Not that worried about it much. It can’t be that easy to get from one world to another. But would I want to go back?]”

  Henry took a second to put his thoughts in order. He’d had time to consider a few things during the many days and nights he’d been alone. Or when he meditated. Or when his thoughts wandered before he fell asleep. He just hadn't had to put them into words yet.

  “[I wouldn’t want to go back there permanently. I don’t know much about worlds or if there are more out there, but if I find a way to travel between worlds, I’ll want to visit. I would like to see some people. Say goodbye to my friends. Maybe see if some of them want to travel to another world. Plus, I can’t go back like this. I’d have to, like… figure out a way to not scare people away.]”

  Now that Henry started putting his thoughts into words, he found it difficult to stop. “[Even though being here was terrifying at first, I like the new options I have. I like feeling… this. This sense of power. Control over my life. Fighting the battles I choose. Well. I didn’t choose the earlier stuff. The dying and being reincarnated into an octopus part. But everything since? Surviving. Growing stronger. Making new friends. I’m proud of that.]”

  Maurice was quiet, and Henry suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment. He’d said too much. Before he could attempt a joke to make things less awkward, movement caught his eye.

  Henry stiffened. “[Movement. Down below.]”

  Using Identify didn’t give him anything useful, but to be fair, he was only seeing a dark, large shape far below. He couldn’t make the details out. But it looked…round.

  “[Ready to get close?]”

  “[I can’t even see it. I don’t sense it either, it’s too far.]” Then, a beat later, Maurice’s voice reached him again. “[Let’s get closer.]”

  Somehow, the emotions coming off the crab reminded Henry of standing in line for a rollercoaster for the first time. A mix of excitement, fear, and hesitation. A mishmash that reflected his own state of mind.

  They could always turn around and shoot out of this area. Riptide Rush was a very fast Skill.

  “[Alright, let’s see it.]”

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