´Being me is awesome´
´How did I never think about it? I always only thought about the well-being of my school, but fuck that! I live for myself, why have I ever shared my food with them? Having more food is amazing, I´m never sharing again!´
´But seriously this [Deep Tuna] earlier was incredible, especially because of that feeling...´
´I have to find more of them, but this is gonna be difficult.´
´I got lucky with this one, it was probably just a newborn. But all the others are way too big, I´ll never stand a chance...´
Mari was letting her body be carried by the deep underwater-current. She was bathing in her newly acquired ability to think and plan and dream, and the infinite freedom that came with it. Nothing made her happier than understanding she was an individual that could go, do, eat, see and feel whatever she pleased. So she did just that. But unfortunately, freedom came with many desires, and many desires couldn´t just be fulfilled by the snap of your finger. Take finding another [Deep Tuna] as example.
Mari didn´t quite know what to do, where to proceed. Or where to even begin. She didn´t even know where she was, this hasn't changed. Hence the carefree following of the current.
´Ok, first I will seriously try to find another one of these fish´
´[Deep Tunas] are my best bet, especially since I know now that their newborn are no match for me. Everything else is way too dangerous´
´Though what if the small ones stay with a group of adults to be safe of predators like me? Maybe the last one was just an exception and they normally are protected?
´I don´t know´
´If three or four of them fight back, it could get tricky. That would also explain why I haven´t seen any other smaller ones on their own although there are quite a few bigger ones´
´Well, I got lucky once. Why shouldn´t there be a second time then?´
'Yes, that attitude's better'
With that sorted out, the squidctopus picked up her speed. For some reason, it felt easier to move through the water than usual. Though she couldn´t rejoice long as her hunger was good on its way to come back again. Why? She ate just a bit ago, and quite a lot at that. She didn´t remember being such a glutton.
Well, nothing she could do about it, anger would only make her hungrier so she focused on the far-off, blue distance and tried to pick up any movements
-- -- --
It didn´t take long for her to find another mini-school of [Deep Tuna], counting three of the fish. When she saw them, she couldn´t believe three newborn would be swimming all by themselves.
´I guess I was wrong in assuming their newborn were protected by a group. I didn´t expect to find them so soon though. Either my luck is of the charts right now or I was extremely unlucky to not find any before´
Realizing that her food would simply swim away if she continued standing still, she quickly ended her daydreaming and made her way toward the juicy prey.
She still didn´t know if three of them would pose a danger to her as she could only really lock down one at a time. It didn´t look like the [Deep Tunas] were intent on separating any time soon either.
Guess she would find out, because there´s no way she would let this opportunity slip.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
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[Skill: Camouflage -- Active] (4:55 Minutes left)
Thankfully, the three fish swam at a leisurely pace, meaning it was almost too easy to sneak up on them. Still, with her experience as a predator Mari knew that she couldn´t go in for the kill immediately. The risk of her missing was too high. She could dash a short distance, but never would she be able to outswim them in a fair race. Timing was key, so she patiently waited for a moment when their guard was down.
After about 3 minutes had passed, one of the fish stopped near the ocean floor before Mari, it then intently watched her in the eyes.
´No way, did it see me? I´m confident I hid perfectly´
The [Deep Tuna] floated on the spot without moving much, then, suddenly, bit into the sand a little to the left from the hiding hunter. Mari could only see a cloud of dust from the sand at first, but then realized that it grabbed something with its mouth and was fighting to pull it out. A worm! The worm was relatively thin, but compensated by being about three meters in length.
´Incredible, I didn´t know that. There was so much food in the ground? How stupid were my school and I to never notice before?´
The [Deep Tunas] were all fixated on their meal for the day, meaning it was the perfect opportunity to strike
´Let's go for the strongest one of the three. If the [Deep Tuna] really try to attacking me, I´d have at least locked down and hurt their leader´
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[Deep Tuna -- 8 / 8]
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[Deep Tuna -- 6 / 6]
---
[Deep Tuna -- 11 / 11]
´This one,´ Mari marked the third one with her black eyes, the one which was also responsible for finding the worm. This was good enough, it wouldn´t see an attack coming at this very moment. She needed to take the shot as her [Camouflage] was about to run out anyway.
In a swift swing of her limbs, she pushed her body from the sand and shot at her prey. It happened just as she envisioned, the [Deep Tuna] released the worm from its mouth and fell into a panic as it was firmly bound by her eight tentacles. The two that came to help also immediately dropped the meal they already began chewing on and it floated through the water to land in safety and burry away. Though opposed to Mari´s expectations, the [Deep Tuna] didn´t think twice about abandoning their comrade and swiftly fled from the horrifying scene.
´Huh, so you´re just like the rest? Maybe I overestimated you just because you lived in this dangerous place. Well, not that I'm complaining, makes it easier for me then´
Although the [Deep Tuna] in her grasp should be stronger than her first catch according to numbers, it felt easier to contain. It didn´t even come close to a struggle. After a bit of wriggling around, the fish gave up just like his predecessor and Mari´s [Skill] came into action:
[Life-Essence Plunderer] has been Activated
Abosrption of Life-Essence in progress...
´Ahng! here it comes again´
The pleasure she had been craving since her first experience grew through her body again. She thought it wouldn´t be so overwhelming as she knew what to expect, but oh how wrong she was. It was too much. So too much, it made her body go numb and tingly. She wanted to cry out to the ecstacy as to distract herself before she went crazy, but she couldn´t. She had no organs that were capable of making a sound, so she just hoped she would keep her sanity.
---
[Deep Tuna -- 6 / 11]
---
[Deep Tuna -- 5 / 11]
It´just as she remembered, the longer the [Life-Essence] kept filling her body, the more intense it became. She felt something accumulating deep inside her, ready to be released soon. It kept building up and up and up. She unconsciously tightened her grip around the [Deep Tuna]. She didn´t even notice how its body couldn´t withstand her strength, and she didn´t care. At the moment, she didn´t care for anything in the world but a single thing.
---
[Deep Tuna -- 1 / 11]
---
[Deep Tuna -- 0 / 11]
All Life-Essence has been absorbed in one go. 50% Bonus added!
´Here it comes---!´
Mari felt her brain go blank. Her body twitched as she released the bones that were left from the fish. Then she saw the black plume of her own in follow up on that.
She let her body sink to the sand and lied down, unmoving
´Haaa, Haaa. Ohmygod i think I´m addicted. There´s no way I lived without something so amazing all this time´
The girl breathed heavily and took some time to recover. She hoped not to be interrupted by anything right now, but of course, her wish wouldn´t be granted:
---
16 Life-Essence has been Absorbed!
Level 2 (16 / 20)
Absorbed Life-Essence is compatible with [Fast Swimming]: 16
[Fast Swimming] Level 1 (16 / 20)
[Humanoid Pursuit] -- 17 / 100 %
´Arrgh what´s up with this dumb window?! Can´t you see I want to be left alone for a bit?!´ she complains
The window closes and disappears from her vision
´Huh, Uhm- eh? Uh, thanks?´
Oh and now you suddenly feel bad for lashing out on it?
Well, deciding to worry about it later as she earned — and needs — some well-earned rest, Mari closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
´Yeah, later. Later is good´