Day 4
Such a pleasant morning. The sky is a beautiful pink with the dawn.
The urge to have a delightful snack of my new favorite meal is strong. No warnings coming from the good ol' sixth sense about sharky and people.
No over-sized sharks circling the reef. Good. A reflective plate of polished ice beneath my door gives me a good angle to see the rocks I live in and any predators in ambush. There is a difference between trusting a sixth sense and blindly accepting it as a universal truth.
I exit my subzero isolation chamber and enter the open ocean, feeling the warmth with a shudder. I wonder when I'll see the shark again; I wanted to try a few tricks and see if I could tame the beast. She is unable to break my ice, it shouldn't be hard to rein her in...
I don't really feel much of anything for the shark any more... there should be some apprehension.
Hello, sixth sense? Are you broken?
Well anyway, time for some delicious barrier crayfish again. If I had lips and a tongue I'd lick them in anticipation. I am a squid of simple, yet refined tastes...
I jet off to my 'ranch' with a happy attitude. There is nothing much in sight that poses a threat, a few baleen whales in the distance, sea birds paddling above. I move a little to avoid a slow falling present from on high. Damn birds, treating the ocean like a toilet... when I do it I have no choice! Don't make it worse for those of us down here! I shake my tentacles at them like they were dirty kids playing on my lawn.
The ranch is a welcome sight; for all of three seconds.
Why are there holes in the wall made of my unbreakable permafrost threads? Why are my crayfish floating around as tiny pieces of armor? Why is a monolithic shark floating belly up like a goldfish?
The sixth sense kicks in with a vengeance.
Oh crap... isn't this the worst kind of situation for me? I do everything with that ice... better leave, pronto!
I see an unusual set of eyes pop up and a very colorful creature notice me from the floating corpse of Momma shark.
It looks... alien and insectile. It is only about my size. Only. Look in those eyes and tell me you aren't freaked out. That thing will murder you for the heck of it.
http%3a%2f%2fi53.photobucket.com%2falbums%2fg62%2fTi...3d3ccb.jpg [http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g62/TigerQuoll/Oceanic/239_zpsd23d3ccb.jpg]
It watches me like a spider would a wasp, a zenomorph a Ripley, a mantis shrimp would a squid. Oh wait the last one was exactly correct.
Mantis shrimp: if you want to talk about a creature that puts rivals to shame, this is it. This is the king of boxers. The average sized version smashes bigger crabs like they were candy coated with a chocolate center. Whatever this rainbow clad nightmare was, certainly was not 'average'.
Not one to take chances I jet for my life...
The damn thing is following me, watching where I go. You're tracking me, aren't you? It skitters across the sea floor with a decent pace, just enough to keep up.
I can't allow that. My home is the only safe spot I have.
I jet charge, trying to pull away.
Then for a moment I have a flashback as I'm struck with some kind of heavy impact. Sonic boom. Flipper? Is that you again?
Mantis shrimp senior is the source. It lowers a blunt arm and skitters closer as I'm still trying to work out what all these stars are doing flashing in my eyes. Once again I am thankful I have no bones.
Grim Resolve activated~
Oh, so that is what that one does... it clears my head.
The mantis giant (how can anything so massive be called a shrimp?) swings again, sending a shock-wave at me as I'm stunned. Seemingly. I avoid with a quick jet to the side. The shock-wave passes me but I can feel the raw energy in its wake and even see sparks of light and feel heat from it. I'm only able to avoid due to my honed squid reflexes; that was like a bullet.
Is that how it broke the ice? Holy shit. Wait... that was just one arm... oh no, oh no, oh no!
I evade tightly as I come under rapid fire attacks. What is this a machine gun?! Who are you, Vegita reincarnated?!
I can't keep up! One clips my side and another scatters one of my legs as mince.
Damn, this is bad.
Reflection Field activated~
The bullets jar the barrier around me but don't do much worse. Phew. Things aren't as bad as I thought...
Mantis king lands on the barrier. Oh shit... evacuate!
I slide out the far side as he directly strikes my permafrost barrier. With a tinkling sound it shatters, spraying shards everywhere.
Damn you, over-grown centipede!
Squid Ink activated~
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Jet Charge activated~
I slide through the cloud and try to hit him from behind and below.
Permafrost Spear activated~
The snap was not what I wanted to hear as he spun on his tail fin and broke my spear.
You saw me through the ink, you monster?! I tried to freeze touch him but received a counter instead to the face. Hey, my eye... I'm blind in my left eye...
I jet up and narrowly avoid a lethal blow.
Am I really going to die here? What do I do, what do I do...!?
My arms... are white? I'm terrified?
No. No way in hell am I going to say when the devil asks me why I died a second time: 'Shrimp'. Unless of course it includes 'overeating' and 'tainted'.
So you monster, you want to fuck with me?
Permafrost shards from the surroundings move at my demands.
Lesser Cryokinesis rank up to Cryokinesis~
Now. Die.
The sharp edged splinters fly in at the shrimp from multiple directions. Impacting simultaneously as the shrimp reels and bleeds. It isn't down yet, but it isn't unscathed either... It has only one good arm and a shard hit it in the snow-globe it calls an eye. Eye for an eye, bitch!
It tries to stun me with another shock-wave.
That is not going to work a second time.
Reflection Barrier activated~
The blast deflects harmlessly. The mantis hesitates to attack directly, instead sending a second, stronger blast at me, hoping to shatter my shield and stun me.
I reinforce my barrier with cryokinesis and this one is also rendered harmless.
Well then what shall we do Shrimpy? Oh, I know what this situation calls for...
Permafrost Spear activated~
Permafrost Spear activated~
Permafrost Spear activated~
Permafrost Spear activated~
Permafrost Spear activated~
Permafrost Spear activated~
Shrimp skewers!
With all the force I can muster I send my frozen javelins at the crippled invertebrate.
The sand is thrown up under the impact. As it clears I can see the Mantis slumped over, impaled from multiple directions and in multiple places at once.
If I could laugh at the sight, I would. As it is I settle for a nice bite of shrimp for lunch, before dragging my sorry carcass via jet to my cage and sealing myself into my invitingly cold home to rest.
Lesser Icicle Squid Alpha has obtained Blessings of the Frozen Sea God~
You have exceeded the minimum necessary level required to evolve.
Special requirements [Cryokinesis] [Permafrost Sorcery] cleared, [Rank Up] to [Greater Icicle Squid] now available~
Special requirements [Cryokinesis] [Permafrost Sorcery][Grim Resolve][Blessings of the Frozen Sea God] cleared, [Rank Up] to [Squid of Frozen Aqua] now available~
Possible paths:Greater Icicle Squid: Unique VariantSquid of Frozen Aqua: Unique
Um, help function? What benefits do they have?
“...”
Damn. Not epic enough for you yet? I'll show you, mysterious writer of notices!
Sigh. I guess being unique is better than being a variant...
Squid of Frozen Aqua selected.
Okay, hopefully the tables and image worked correctly... only one more chapter before I take a break for the weekend.