And the pearl. That damn pearl still glowed within the clam’s shell, tantalizing him with its promise of power.

Arthur made a split-second decision.

As the Kraken lunged at him again, Arthur darted toward the clam, using his new Aquatic Swiftness to outmaneuver the creature. He could feel its tentacles reaching for him, but he was faster now. Just fast enough.

He reached out, claws extended, and snatched the pearl from inside the clam’s jaws. For a brief moment, the world seemed to slow. The pearl pulsed in his hand, and a surge of energy flowed through him, giving him the strength he needed to escape.

But it wasn’t over.

The Kraken screeched in fury, its tentacles lashing out wildly as Arthur pushed himself forward, fleeing from the enraged beast. His limbs burned, his chest heaving with effort, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. The Kraken was close behind, its rage palpable in the water around them.

Arthur’s heart pounded as he swam faster, his body screaming in protest. The Kraken’s tentacles scraped at his tail, but he pushed harder, the pearl’s energy fueling his escape. He could feel his strength waning, his body on the verge of collapse, but he couldn’t afford to stop now.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Kraken gave up the chase, retreating back into the darkness with a final, furious shriek. Arthur collapsed onto the ocean floor, gasping for breath. His body was battered, his carapace cracked in several places, but he had survived.

The pearl glowed faintly in his hand, its energy still pulsing softly. But Arthur didn’t feel victorious. He had barely escaped with his life, and the fight had been far more difficult than he’d anticipated.

His ego, once swelling with the confidence of his recent victories, now felt bruised. He had underestimated the dangers of this world—again. And this time, it had almost cost him everything.

He stared down at the pearl, its light reflecting in his eyes.

This world is unforgiving.

And Arthur knew now, more than ever, that he had a long way to go before he was ready for whatever lurked in the deeper parts of the ocean.

Arthur floated near the ocean floor, his body still aching from the battle. Every movement sent sharp, burning sensations through his muscles. He could feel the cracks in his hardened carapace, the toll the Kraken’s furious attack had taken on him. But he had survived—barely. The memory of the Kraken’s tentacles wrapping around him, dragging him toward its jagged maw, played over and over in his mind. That fight had been too close, too chaotic.

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As the tension of the fight slowly drained from his body, he allowed himself to think about everything that had happened since waking in this alien world. For so long, he had been focused purely on survival, on reacting to the threats around him. But now, as he drifted in the stillness, he felt something else creeping in: the realization that this was no nightmare he could wake from.

This is real. I’m really here... wherever this is.

Arthur’s mind wandered as he scanned the dark water around him. This world, these creatures, the system—none of it felt familiar, yet there was a certain strange logic to it all. It was a brutal, raw place where only the strong survived, where each kill brought power, and evolution was a matter of life and death.

But what had he been before this? A human. That much he knew. He had been something... different. Something that didn’t belong here. His memories were hazy, scattered like the fragments of a dream he couldn’t quite piece together. He had lived on Earth—that much was clear. The taste of familiar foods, the feel of pavement under his shoes, the sound of cars... all those little details flickered briefly in his mind before slipping away, just out of reach.

What had happened? Why was I here? And why couldn’t I remember more?

Think, damn it. He clenched his teeth, his claws curling into the soft seafloor below. He was certain of one thing: his life as a human had ended. It wasn’t a death in the conventional sense—he could feel that—but it was an end nonetheless. He had been taken from one reality and thrust into another, without warning or explanation.

Arthur sighed, though the action felt strange in his new body. The dull pain in his limbs reminded him he had no time to dwell on the past, not when survival demanded his full attention. But the questions lingered.

Earth is gone. That’s all that matters now.

Shaking off the fog of those thoughts, Arthur turned his attention back to the pearl. It lay cradled in his claws, still glowing faintly from the battle, though the light had dimmed slightly. He could feel the pulsing energy within it, the same primal force that had drawn him to it in the first place. But now, there was something else. An instinctual understanding—a knowing—that this was more than just a pearl.

This was a Soul Core, but not like the ones he had absorbed before. This one felt ancient, volatile, compressed with far more power than the core of the Speedy Fish or the crab. As he stared into its glowing surface, a strange truth dawned on him.

This isn’t just any core... this came from something much greater.

Images flickered through his mind. Visions of fire, of molten earth and searing heat. A great beast wreathed in flame, towering above the primal landscape. He couldn’t see its form clearly, but the sense of its power was overwhelming. It was ancient, far older than anything he had encountered before. A direct descendant of the Titan of Fire, once a ruler of this brutal world, now reduced to a shimmering pearl clutched in his claws.

Arthur’s grip tightened around the pearl. He knew what he had to do.

Without hesitation, he opened his jaws and devoured the pearl.

The moment it passed his lips, a surge of heat exploded within him. It was nothing like the warmth he had felt with the previous cores—this was fire, pure and unrelenting. His entire body tensed, muscles seizing up as the energy coursed through his veins. The heat burned, consuming him from the inside out, threatening to tear him apart.

Arthur gritted his teeth, riding out the pain. He had felt this before, in smaller doses. The moment of change, the moment when his body reshaped itself under the influence of the Soul Core. But this time, it was more intense, more violent. His bones ached, his muscles screamed, and for a brief moment, he feared he wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

Then, the system spoke.