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[Mari - ♀️ (Female)]
Ancient Cephalopod (?) -- Level 2 / Ꝏ (Next Level: 16 / 20)
[Humanoid Pursuit] -- 17 / 100 %
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[Total Power]: 41
Composite → Physical: 13 / Magical: 28
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[Skills]
[Camouflage], [Quick Dash], [Ink Spray], [[Life-Essence Administrator]], [Life-Essence Plunderer], [Fast Swimming] Level 1 (16 / 20)
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[Slots]
1: [Empty]
2: [Empty]
3: [Empty]
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´And what in the flaming hell is that?´ Mari blinks, having finally taken some of her precious time to apologize to the window, though she forgot to actually apologize as she got confused the moment she tried to fully comprehend what the information in front of her eyes was.
She moves one of her tentacles to the transparent window in front of her and it slips right through. Now the window has a crack at the place around her tentacle that gives off a slight flickering as if broken. The moment she moves her arm back, the missing part restores instantly and appears as good as new again. She then moves her arm around and behind the screen. It's still clearly visible there, only tinted in a faint blue.
´Weird,´ she concludes, realizing that just accepting it would be easier. Just from this the girl has too many questions on her mind. It wouldn´t be a bad idea to take some time and figure out in which order she should address them all.
But curiosity takes the upper hand so before she needlessly breaks her head about it, Mari gives interacting with the window a go. Maybe she can gain some information out of it that way.
To her surprise, it actually works when her tentacle strokes on the [Empty Slot] part:
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[Slot] is Empty: Please insert desired [Skill] to start the Unlocking Process
She blinks.
´Oh is that how it goes? Then...´ she shifts her eyes up and down her own Status. 'Is that how I got [Fast Swimming] too?' she more ascertains than asks, nodding her head in understanding.
´[Fast Swimming]... This would´ve been helpful a bit... a very bit earlier,´ she complains
´It's because of that... stone from a few days ago, right? Would be nice if I could remember what happened, but it's all just a mess... or actually a black void in my head'
The Squidctopus casts her gaze down, appearing somewhat in distress, then shakes the feeling off and toughens herself up.
´No matter, better later than never. For now I want to figure out how all of this works, because from this point I'll gain Levels that make me stronger, apparently,' she thinks somewhat excited.
'I kinda like the idea of getting stronger'
Saying that, she's found an excuse to go hunting again. Not that she really needed one, but she'll take the extra motivation.
´I also need to understand how I get these upgrades for [Fast Swimming]. Obviously when the number to the right is reached, but how do I gain these points exactly? Moving around definitely got easier, if it's really thanks to this [Skill], then amazing. Maybe if I get it high enough, I won´t even need to use [Camouflage] to sneak up on prey?´
The more she thinks about it, the more she wants it. She realizes that she can continue hyping herself up while searching, so she whips the water with her tentacles and gets a move on.
Before, the girl's sole reason to hunt was to keep her needy stomach full and satisfied. She wouldn't go as far and say this meant she rarely went out, but she also wouldn't claim she hunted often. From this point she feels she'd hunt often.
The first thing the Squidctopus tries is to search for some of those worms in the ground. She wants to find out how many of them actually hide in the sand, the fact she didn't knew stroke a vulnerable nerve deep within her. She also hopes she can get some [Skills] — or... something else — from them.
Though more so she´s curious about the taste. Worms... Snails and other molluscs she had, but she´d never tried worms before in her life, or at least she couldn't remember doing so. She wouldn´t call herself a gourmets or anything like that, but she must admit she enjoyed trying out new things. No matter how odd something looked, it could be amazing at the end of the day, the chance was there. And if it turned out not to her taste, she would at least know. If you don´t try, you can´t tell. That´s one of the principles she strictly lives by, apparently.
Unfortunately for Mari, she quickly had to give up on catching worms. Not because she didn't find any — there were plenty, actually — but because she didn't have the tools to get them out of the sand. Her attempts looked almost comical. With her Squidctopus body she could perfectly wrap around her prey, but she could badly do so when the worm was mostly underground. A single tentacle wouldn´t do either, they had some sticky suckers on them that´s for sure, but the movement she tried to perform was too unnatural for her. She had tentacles, not pincers. Every time she would try to grab the tip of the worm that ever so slightly stuck out of the ground, it would slip right through her grasp and disappear beneath. At first it was only slightly frustrating, but the longer this went on, the more mad she got. At one point she began strongly hitting the ground because it was being mean to her. 'Stress-relieve' is what she called it. Not long after and she gave up. She cursed that she´d never try this ´stupid shit´ again, but she´d probably come back to it later, eventually, maybe.
For now she wanted to go on a normal hunt that she's used to, where success was guaranteed so she could make up for all the lost time. In other words, she started searching for [Deep Tunas] once again.
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´There's no way, did all adult fish die out at the same time or what? How do I only run into newborns? Something´s not right here,´ Mari grumbles, agitated, as she stumbles on yet another group of [Deep Tuna]
It´s a group of 5 this time, though they´re a bit smaller than her last catch, all besides one that especially stands out.
´I know now that they will run as soon as I pop out, so even five of them are no problem... or, at least I hope they will. But still... it just seems off´
The girl can´t be blamed, she did almost starve to death just a few days ago because she couldn't find anything to eat, and now she´s running into group after group of easy prey? She knows she should just gratefully take it, but in the corner of her mind she can´t help but feel tricked, as if someone was playing around with her feelings.
Like usual, [Camouflage] jumps into action and she sneaks up on the unsuspecting prey, but when she gets closer, her eyes almost bulge. In the middle of the group, surrounded by the others, is a sixth fish. What surprises her is that it´s tiny, way too cute.
´Wh- Huh?´ the girl doesn't manage to find her words.
First and foremost, she was right. The [Deep Tuna] weren't as stupid as to leave their off-spring out in the wild waters to survive alone. They did indeed protect them until they were able to manage on their own, or at least swim fast enough so they could flee she guessed.
Secondly: ´So this is a newborn? How can prey be so adorable??´
The cogs in her mind turn. She doesn't quite feel them turning, but they indeed do so
´Aha, ahaha,´ she laughs, or something of sorts.
´Adorable aside, how stupid can I be? I changed? I got bigger, didn't I? A lot at that, those adults were huge, what happened to them- to me?´ she confuses herself
´I didn't grow for what, the last few decades? Why now? How?´
Of course she knew why it happened now, the same reason she got those new [Skills] and ability to Level. That´s why she immediately asked ´How´ after.
´What the heck did I eat back there...´
The [Infinity Stone]
´No you know what, I don't care. I don´t even wanna know´
Well, fine, suit yourself. It's not like I care.
Before she noticed, the [Deep Tuna] were somehow right above her, probably swimming a bit slower than their usual pace because of the little one that was with them
´Should I go for the actual newborn this time? If it really tastes like it looks... No, that´s probably a bad idea. If I understood correctly, I will get more power after eating an opponent with higher numbers, so going for the baby wouldn´t do much. There´s also the chance that they will actually fight back seeing how they´re purposefully trying to hide their young one. Their formation does seem very protective. Now that I know their mouths are strong enough to firmly grip those worms and pull them out, I do respect them a bit more. Maybe it was a good thing I spent so much time with those annoying. long fuckers?´
Mari notices her thoughts going astray
´Anyway, if I go in I should probably go for the strongest again. Kind of a no-brainer, to be honest,´ she sighs while setting her focus on the six fish.
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[Deep Tuna -- 7 / 7]
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[Deep Tuna -- 24 / 24]
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[Deep Tuna -- 11 / 11]
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[Deep Tuna -- 12 / 12]
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[Deep Tuna -- 2 / 2]
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[Deep Tuna -- 9 / 9]
Seeing a 24 has Mari hesitating a little
´He won´t actually be able to break free, right? I didn't struggle with a 12 before, at all even, but twice the number is a bit higher than I thought... It should be fine? Guess I'll have to trust in myself here´
Deep down Mari knows she won´t abandon her hunt even if one of them has numbers over 30, but reminding herself to be careful isn't a bad thing either. She wouldn´t want to get hurt or in the worst case die so soon after her real life finally had begun.
Soon enough, the squidctopus sees an opening in the fishs' formation and takes the immediate advantage:
´Here goes nothing´
With a quick dash, she throws her body around her target and fight from the beginning squeezes at full strength. Better careful than sorry being her reasoning. As the fish begins its resistance, she is glad to have done so. It ravages violently in her grasp, hurling both of them around in the water as a bunch of sand-dust and millions of bubbles form around. Mari has a hard time keeping its movements in check, especially since all the rash movements throw her off-balance, but is still somehow holding out. She is relieved to see that at least the rest of the fish hurriedly fleeing.
´Good, now it´s only a matter of- gah!´
Then the fish bites into her. The pain spreads from the tentacle over her entire body as her opponent won't let go, which makes her flinch. The fish uses the short instance her grip has weakened to almost break free, but the girl won't let it; She shoves her wounded limb deeper down its throat and sprays a thick cloud of [Black Ink] around them as a counter attack. The [Deep Tuna] panics with the loss of vision and a foreign object entering inside it, so Mari manages to reclaim her dominance over the tussle. Eventually, even if the fish is more persistent compared to the ones she had caught before, it runs out of strength and gives up its movement.
´Gotcha, now give everything to me,´ Mari grins in victory after hearing the notification of her [Skill]
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[Life-Essence Plunderer] has been Activated
Absorption of Life-Essence in progress...
The feeling is way more intense this time. The sensation always started weak before, but this time she feels almost the same amount of pleasure that would come after being almost done with her prey. And that means the feeling will only increase from here:
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[Deep Tuna -- 23 / 24]
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[Deep Tuna -- 22 / 24]
´Ohgod, fuck fuckkk, I don´t know if I can take this--´
Empty words. Never would she let go of heaven when she has it right in front of her, but somehow saying that makes it feel only better. 'How is this so good?' she thinks. 'There´s nothing more exciting in this world,' she thinks. To satisfy this desire is the only thing on her mind.
But even as overwhelming as it becomes, the girl wants it to go even more extreme. She feels this isn't enough anymore, she wants the intense feeling to ravage inside her, she wants the fruit of the Goddess to taste even sweeter than it already does.
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[Deep Tuna -- 11 / 24]
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[Deep Tuna -- 9 / 24]
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[Deep Tuna -- 6 / 24]
´More, more more more more even more! Yesyesyes! It´s coming---´
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[Deep Tuna -- 0 / 24]
All Life-Essence has been absorbed in one go. 50% Bonus added!
´Yessssss hnnng!!´
The girl´s eyes roll back as she releases a lot more of the black substance than she's used to. She falls over, down into the sand before she has even the chance to release the bones. One of them slightly pricks into her, but she couldn't care less. Or to be precise, she can't feel it through the numbness, she even momentarily forgets about the wound on her arm that she got during the intense fight.
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36 Life-Essence has been Absorbed!
Level Up! You have reached: Level 3 (32 / 30)
Level Up! You have reached: Level 4 (2 / 40)
Stats have been increased!
Absorbed Life-Essence is compatible with [Fast Swimming]: 36
[Fast Swimming] has reached: Level 3 (2 / 40)
Empty [Slot] has been occupied with: [Strong Grip] (0 / 100)
Absorbed Life-Essence is compatible with [Strong Grip]: 36
[Humanoid Pursuit] -- 34 / 100 %
Warning: Large Increase in [Humanoid Pursuit] detected → Undergoing Forceful Changes
The last message popped into the girl´s mind with more presence than the rest.
´Huh? What do they mean forceful chan- agh!´
Suddenly, an unbearable pain tears her body apart.