Henry shot away from the jaws of the eel as it snapped on where’d been and did the figurative button mashing on all of his Skills. “Ink! Escape! Dart!”

He smacked into a wall.

The water was a mess of sand and limbs. The eel was with him in the turtle shell, but it couldn’t see him.

Henry couldn’t see anything either for a few terrifying seconds, then he saw the exit and Darted toward it, releasing Ink Jets whenever the Skill responded to his command.

Henry flew out into the clear water and didn't dare turn back. He cut across the seafloor, trying to create as much distance between himself and the eel as he could. 54%. 50%. His mana percentage, visible in the corner of his eyes, kept dropping with every Skill but he didn’t care.

A few seconds later, what felt like an eternity, he chanced a look back.

He hadn’t gotten that far from his turtle shell. The eel came out of the shell in a flurry a moment later. It went still, its head slowly tilting left and right, then it stopped. The head slowly turned toward him, and the eel began swimming in his direction.

Henry began to Dart away, but his tentacles locked up. Glancing down at them, he saw the sheen of something surrounding them.

“For the love of god Dart. Dartdartdart.”

The eel surged toward him, and Henry screamed inside, letting out another Inkjet to at least give himself a chance. Some cover. And no sooner was he engulfed by the ink, his limbs shook free.

Henry booked it. He kept using Dart, rushing over the sea floor and slinking between rocks, praying that nothing was in them and that the rocks wouldn’t fall and bury him alive. Then his eyes landed on a small cave hidden by a stalk of kelp, and he rushed for it.

“Please be empty. Please.”

Henry dove in and winced in preparation for whatever he might find… but there was nothing.

He turned, scanning the outside of his hiding spot, and remembered his new Skill. He brought forth two of his tentacles and wrapped them around themselves before using Mimicking Tentacles. “You’re a rock. There’s no hole here. It’s a smooth rock.”

He left barely a crack to see through as he plugged the entrance to camouflage his hideout, and waited. His mana was down to 26%.

Seconds later, the eel came.

It hovered up there, a few yards away, head tilting side to side. It swam in a small circle, scanning the area, then its head snapped upward.

A fish swimming by suddenly froze up. Henry saw its panicked eyes flutter about while the eel slowly swam up to it and then it was gone. Swallowed in a single chomp.

Henry gulped. Mentally. Was that why his limbs had been locked up? Telekinesis?

“A freaking eel is using telekinesis?”

The eel then turned and began swimming away. Henry’s stomach sank as he tracked the predator with his poor excuse of vision.

It was swimming in the direction of his shell.

“Get away from my home, you snake,” he uselessly thought.

Henry knew his shell wasn’t an optimal home. It was too big for him. And a hole in the wall–like the one he was currently in–was a much safer den for a small octopus like himself. He knew that. Rationally.

But rationality didn’t prevent the walls from feeling like they were about to fall on him. Or squish him. Or that he wouldn’t be able to move at any second and he’d get stuck in here until he died.

Henry was claustrophobic. Which really didn’t mesh with the lifestyle of an octopus.

He slowly parted his fake wall and peeked his bulbous head out. The eel had just gone around a recognizable outcropping of rocks. It was definitely going near his shell.

Dammit.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Henry edged out of the hole, just enough so the wall stopped bearing down on him, and used his tentacles to form a clump of algae-like leaves on top of him. He hoped it looked realistic. So far nothing was nearby, aside from smaller fish that shouldn’t pose a threat to him. But he still kept an eye on the larger shapes. And prayed nothing was lying in wait nearby.

He knew how many things could camouflage or hide under the sand to ambush their prey. And with his poor, colorless eyesight it was really difficult to see much.

“Would the new stuff help with that?”

Henry carefully scanned his surroundings again, perched on the edge of his uncomfortable hiding spot, then brought up his interface.

Notifications?

Mimicking Tentacles(F): Level 1 -> Level 2

Inkjet (F): Level 1 -> Level 3

“Hmm. Let’s see…”

Henry brought up the rest of his screens and read through them for a few minutes. Now that he wasn’t running for his life, he noticed a few options to customize his interface, but decided it wasn’t the best time to get distracted.

“Alright. Okay. So Skills level by usage, and I gain levels by… consuming Cores. I don’t remember seeing a Core on the fish I killed, though. Did I miss it? Or did it not have enough power to form a Core? Is that a thing? Also, there’s these stats and empty Skills… where do I get those?”

Henry waited, hoping for the interface to answer him, but nothing happened. “Hey System, how do I increase my stats? How do I get Skills?”

You do not have Consumption Tokens to spend.

Henry nodded to himself. “Okay, I need some of these Tokens. And I assume I got Dart from the fish I ate. So would I get Telekinesis if I ate the eel? Can I make a temporary skill permanent?”

You do not have Consumption Tokens to spend.

Henry nodded again. This was starting to make sense. But worryingly, it meant he had to go out there and… kill things? To get their Cores? He could gain levels through those, or exchange them for Consumption Tokens.

Henry glanced around, then up at the tiny swimming fish. Way above, a dark shadow swam through the stalks of seaweed. It was too far to make out with his crappy eyesight, but one thing was clear; he had to stick to his neighborhood until he could handle bigger threats.

He shuddered. What else was there around? Henry struggled to not let his mind conjure gigantic beings and eyes out of the pitch black ocean, trying to bring himself to the present.

“Fish. I should do some fishing. And raise my stats.” Henry brought down one of his tentacles that looked like an algae stalk and reactivated Mimicking Tentacles. The pigments moved and changed, and the skin itself gained ridges and papules to mimic the segments of a worm.

“This is incredibly effective. But I’m still tiny.”

He looked up and around, then shimmied the rest of himself out of the hole. The world opened up around him and his limbs twitched in relief.

“Okay. You can do it.”

There was still an empty pit in his stomach. If it were hunger or anxiety, Henry couldn’t tell. But the fact was, he still hadn't eaten much. Because of that damn eel.

“You’ll pay for that, eel. And I’ll take your telekinesis Skill from you. Somehow. And I need to increase my Perception as soon as possible. I’m far from being able to fight anything bigger than I am, so I better be able to see the danger coming.”

For now, he’d hunt some fish, hopefully get some of those Consumption Tokens, then he should start studying the local fauna.

If he was stuck underwater, he might as well get acquainted with his neighbors.

----------------------------------------

“Ah… this is gonna suck.”

A larger than expected fish was swimming closer, occasionally blowing into the sand in search of food. It was alone. But it was almost twice his size. While he’d been waiting, his mana had gone up to 30%, and his health went up to 94%.

I should measure that later. For now, he had to focus.

It was risky. But fish are dumb. If he played his cards right and brought this one down…

Henry slowly exhaled as he examined the surroundings and braced. He wiggled his worm-leg. The fish paused its sifting, then slowly approached.

“Here goes nothing.” Henry wiggled his worm-tentacle again, and the fish lunged.

“Mother–”

The fish bit and pulled, and Henry was violently yanked toward it. The fish started and darted away, but Henry’s tentacle was still in its mouth. And he’d already made contact with another tentacle.

The fish bucked and twisted, with Henry holding on for dear life. The tentacle in its mouth was pulsing with pain, but the remaining ones worked awkwardly to grip the fish and crawl toward its head.

Seconds later–that could have easily been a full minute–Henry had his beak lined up to the fish’s head. It had finally calmed down. Did it grow tired? Or is it not feeling my weight?

No matter. Henry opened his beak and used Bite. The beak closed down with a mighty snap, taking a chunk out of the fish’s tiny brain and eyes, and it went still.

Henry looked around through the small cloud of blood and viscera. They were thankfully still low, right next to some rocks where running or hiding was a possibility, and as far as his crappy eyesight told him, he was clear.

He felt a notification come in, but that wasn’t what he wanted. He detached from the fish carcass and waited. Barely a second later, the fish gained a hazy sheen that rippled and slowly swirled on itself, shaping itself into a circle. Then the cloud of light lost cohesion, and a gray bead fell to the sand right next to the fish.

Henry picked it up with his tentacle. He wondered what color it was.

1x Goatfish Core (F)

Consume | Exchange for Consumption Tokens [3]

“Yes!”

Henry wrapped a tentacle around the fish’s tail and dragged it along as he went to hide under some rocks, then exchanged the Core for Tokens.

“Let’s see what the menu has for me, then.”