´Hmm, this confirms it. I definitely got bigger again.´
Mari finds herself in front of a small but iridescent corral riff. She recognizes it as one similar to those which she and her school used to call a ´Food Checkpoint´. It really takes her back, it feels like she hasn´t seen one in ages. She finds some snails and slugs – and some other mollusks as well – between the crumbling stones.
---
Serene Slug
The girl grabs it between her newly gained fingers and turns it around in observation.
´I´d need dozens of these to even begin fighting some hunger,´ she sighs. Still, she takes it to her mouth and bites down; The crunchy taste of nostalgia spreads like a wave. She looks up, in thought, seeming not too opposed to the idea of grabbing some snacks every now and then.
She digs through the glossy subaquatic plants that give off a sharp toxic green. The light radiates warmth in these cold underwater depths. Though Mari is resistant and adapted to the temperature of the ocean, the small amount of permeating heat makes her feel fuzzy inside. Some inhabitants hastily run away while she swims over the few stones and organisms that make up the riff. Naturally, she doesn´t intend to spare them.
A few days passed since Mari´s first noticeable transformation occurred. She kept on hunting [Deep Tunas] to still her hunger — hunger on multiple levels — while avoiding other sea creatures. And yet, slowly but surely, Mari was getting tired of the same food day after day. At first, she deeply believed that this fish was the most divine taste her palate could have ever asked for, but soon was forced to find out that the process of getting used to something took very little time. The oddly good feeling she experienced also started to get more underwhelming the more of them she hunted.
´It´s probably that, right? My Level going up. The more it does, the more powerful I become, but at the same time the Life-Force just isn't enough anymore... Well, I just need more then´
Unfortunately, all other fish she came across were still far too big to even attempt fighting. Their enormous amount of Life-Essence too was a sign that she better keep away for the time being.
Fleeing didn't bother her too much. For one, the big guys didn't have much interest in a tiny Squidctopus like her, and if worse came to worst she stil had her [Camouflage] to get away. Not without reason did Mari and her kind survive since ancient times, even if their fighting power was comparably low.
Though that had changed for the squidctopus girl now:
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[Mari - ♀️ (Female)]
Ancient Cephalopod (?) -- Level 8 / Ꝏ (Next Level: 37 / 80)
[Humanoid Pursuit] -- 46 / 100 %
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[Total Power]: 105
Composite → Physical: 49 / Magical: 56
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[Skills]
[Camouflage], [Quick Dash], [Ink Spray], [[Life-Essence Administrator]], [Life-Essence Plunderer], [Fast Swimming] Level 7 (35 / 80), [Strong Grip] Level 1 (144 / 200)
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[Slots]
1: [Empty]
2: [Empty]
3: [Empty]
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´This [Humanoid Pursuit] thingy stagnated quite a lot since it hit 40%,´ Mari pulled the weird [Skill] — if one could even call it that — to attention ´It´s been going up so easily, but now it feels like it didn't budge at all the whole day...´
Mari considered if that was maybe a good thing since she actually didn't want her body to change any further. She now more or less managed with her new form, some aspects of it were even pretty handy, like the fact she could grab things with actual hands. And then there were many more too. But still, was it reason enough to give up her old body?
She didn't know. Looking at it from a neutral standpoint and seeing how much stronger she became since, the benefits surely outweighed the shortcomings by far, but that didn't change the fact she felt more comfortable in her old body. She has lived with it for as long as she could remember — and believe me she could remember a lot — so just giving it away like nothing simply didn't sit right with her. She felt part of her identity being stolen with her former body. Even if she tried to shake it off, it still lingered, it still bothered her. She just hoped she would come to terms with it if enough time passed.
'How do they always say? Time heals all wounds or something.' Mari didn't really know if the saying fit her situation, but whatever, she didn't have the mental capacity to bother with this now anyway.
Far more importantly, she needed more prey. And she was thinking of variety, not quantity. The girl has been trying to not stray too far from her current location — temporary base sort of — for the past few days as it was relatively safe and many [Deep Tuna] were around, but right about now she thought swimming out into the unknown in a straight line might not be such a bad idea. She knew that the unknown came with dangers, but she also knew better than anyone that it also came with opportunities.
For a short second, she was amused by the fact that her old self wouldn't have traded safety for anything. This train of thought didn't apply to her at all anymore.
´If I'd known that there was such pleasure out here, I wouldn't have wasted another second to abandon them...´
Mari — momentarily waking from her day-dream — noticed that she's been standing in one place this whole time and not moving at all. She did that quite a lot lately, and it wasted quite some valuable time. So she reminded herself that she could do both simultaneously, thinking and swimming that is. She made a mental note to get rid of this habit as soon as possible.
-- -- --
Mari told herself that her next meal would be something different from a [Deep Tuna], turns out she isn't the best at keeping her word. Swimming around for what felt like an eternity without any success at finding new prey, she was glad to stumble upon a small school of these fish that she knew all too well by now. She laughed a little at how easy it had become to catch and contain them, especially with the addition of her latest [Skill]:
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[Strong Grip] Level 1 (171 / 200)
Bonus to Grip-Strength: 20% (+ 5% x Skill-Level)
Curently: 25%
Filling up on some energy and washing away her exhaustion — you know how I assume — she continued to drift leisurely through the currents near the bottom of the deep waters. Although she just ate, this was far from enough, so the thought of various delicious prey came with a feeling of excitement in her stomach, as if many small fish were dashing around there.
And so, her search continues.
-- -- --
´Is that...? No way! I finally found something!´
It's been another eternity — well not really, a few days at most, but it sure felt like forever — so Mari wore a heartfelt smile on her face at the unfamiliar fish in the distance. It was a little thinner than the [Deep Tuna], but a good chunk longer, also its nose protruded weirdly from its face, seeming a bit like a deformed needle. But more than its weird appearance, it was something the girl thought she could hunt: Not as huge as all the creatures she had to avoid so far, but not too small to become a boring fight.
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[Lance Shark] -- 59/59
´It has some more Life-Essence than I thought, a bit stronger than I'd like, but I should be able to deal with it with how I am now,´ Mari nodded her big head after giving it some thought. What´s there to lose anyways? She would need to give it a try since the fish didn't see her for now, won't stumble upon something weaker anyways, probably.
Turning her skin's color to that of the bleak sand beneath, she wriggles her way forward, or let's say crawls. It looks more like crawling now in her new form. Thankfully the fish wouldn't move much, or in that sense do much. It was a fish after all, only god knows what's going on in that brain. But its motivation didn't matter, fact was that it wasn't going anywhere. The girl wouldn't dare complain, it helped quite a lot in her sneaky approach, not that she wouldn't have made it even if it was moving though.
She mentally prepared after arriving beneath the unsuspecting resident of the deep waters, counts down from three and is on it in a flash:
When the girl had gotten her new form, she had worried how it would influence her hunts — in a bad way that is — especially now that some parts of her body rearranged themselves or grew out of nowhere.
But her concern didn't last long. Thankfully, the change of body had come with a useful new approach for immobilizing prey, not that it was vastly different from her usual style though:
Her tentacles got longer, yes, but she also found out that she could further extend or retract them at will, which was weird but she'd take it. The range wasn't infinite —far from it — but it still gave her the option to actually see and fight at the same time, now that her eyes moved from where they were previously. She could easily wrap around the fish and hold it some distance before her. When she did so, her tentacles felt more like ropes which she threw at her food, powerful ropes that she had perfect control of.
This brought a negative and a positive worth with it: She could now engage in a struggle with her main body and organs being relatively safe, but it also meant she couldn't start the absorption of Life-Essence until the enemy tired out and it was safe to bring them to her mouth.
Though this time Mari needn't worry about that. It would be too much to say she was overwhelming the [Lance Shark], but she clearly wasn't losing. She knew that if she pressed strongly enough, the fish would eventually lose consciousness, which meant more or less that the battle was won.
She knew from previous hunts that if a creature was missing Life-Essence, it usually meant a weakened state for whatever reason. But if she was the one to do the damage, the numbers wouldn't drop by a single digit. Only if her prey died would it lose all Life-Essence in a single moment and become useless to her. Yes, she had figured that out from testing too.
Now, back to the [Lance Shark] battle. Mari was getting more impatient by the second. She felt it was getting annoying to keep up the pressure on the fish. She wasn't really running out of strength, no that would take a while more, but she also didn't like the feeling of having to strain her body for too long.
´Come on... just a little more!´
The thought of the reward kept her going though. She couldn't wait to find out what 60 Life-Essence would feel like in one go, her mouth began drooling, and soon enough she was given satisfaction as the fish's resistance fell weaker before stopping entirely.
´Finally!´
Mari´s eyes gleamed as she pulled her tentacles in and the [Lance Shark´s] unexpectedly silky body touched the mouth on the back of her head.
What, you thought her tentacles would be sensitive? You'd be right, but Her limbs became relatively stiff to the touch after her transformation. Maybe that was a good thing in some cases, but she couldn't exactly tell specific textures apart with them anymore. The girl remembers even being able to determine her prey's taste through only her tentacles before. She didn't know why or how she lost that ability, but hoped it would come back rather sooner than later.
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[Life-Essence Plunderer] has been Activated
Abosrption of Life-Essence in progress...
´Hwa!´
Mari's mind was ripped away from her useless thoughts about her own boddy and she gasped at the unexpected intensity of the spark that rushed through her body. It felt just like the first ever time when she experienced it. The strength in her legs gave out and she fell to her knees, supporting her body with her hands to keep from falling face-first into the sand.
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[Lance Shark] -- 53/59
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[Lance Shark] -- 46/59
´Hnaa!´
Another bolt of high electricity shot her. The feeling was too much and began leaking out of her body, that´s how it felt. Mari panted heavily, or that´s what she wanted to do, but there was still prey she had to hold on to with her sharp teeth, so she did just that: She bit stronger into the fish and the pleasure bloomed to a new level.
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[Lance Shark] -- 38/59
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[Lance Shark] -- 29/59
The good feeling started accumulating in the upper part of her newly gained body, at the tip of two mounds that slightly stuck out to be precise. They itched, they itched so strong that she had to touch them. The girl felt incredibly hot, the desire kept increasing by the second. Still on her knees, she parted one of her hands from the ground and gave the left hill a strong squeeze. Immediately, she threw her head back
´Hnyaaa!!´ her body trembled furiously
´Wha- what w-was? More!´
She fumbled them, rashly changing from mount to mount as both tingled so intensely but she only had one hand to use
´Here it isssss!´
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[Lance Shark] -- 0/59
All Life-Essence has been absorbed in one go. 50% Bonus added
She let herself fall to the ground, a messed-up expression on her face. The tentacles that were behind her head with the remainder of the [Lance Shark] lost their strength too.
Her heavy panting didn't seize for quite some time after.
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88 Life-Essence has been Absorbed!
Level Up! You have reached: Level 9 (45 / 90)!
Stats have been increased!
Absorbed Life-Essence is compatible with [Fast Swimming]: 88
[Fast Swimming] has reached: Level 8 (43 / 90)
Empty [Slot] has been occupied with: [Poison Resistance] (88 / 10)
Congratulations! You have obtained a new [Skill]!
[Poison Resistance] has reached: Level 3 (22 / 40)
[Poison Resistance]
Your body naturally deals with poison. +50 Resistance (+10 x Skill-Level)
Current Resistance: 80 (weak)
Empty [Slot] has been occupied with: [Concoct Poison] (88/30000)
[Humanoid Pursuit] -- 48 / 100 %
Even in her drowsy state, Mari let the information slowly stream into her mind, the remainder of her mental capacity trying to focusing on it. She had to double and triple-check, but reading it carefully she broke out in a somewhat cold sweat. She raised her body.
´Poison? This guy was poisonous?´ The girl felt herself holding her breath ´Fuck this could be bad´