It took around 25 minutes for Henry to regain 1% of his health back with Accelerated Regeneration.

He had realized that even though he had no watch, he could keep track of time through his temporary Skill. He then waited for another increment to confirm his discovery. Because he’d lost track the first time and had forgotten the exact time when he’d started measuring.

With his health at 90%, he replaced Dart and triggered Hoarded Vitality.

His vision blurred. Henry swayed and had to fight to keep the food in his stomach.

“Urgh.”

10% of his health was gone. Henry looked down at his tentacles, looking for this miraculous spot of stored health, but couldn’t see it.

“With my luck, it’s probably on my forehead.”

Over the next few minutes the feeling of sickness abated, but not his reservations. “I need to find a healing Skill. Or find a way to make Accelerated Regeneration better. If that’s even possible.”

He didn’t want to make too many assumptions, but the rankings right next to the Skills seemed to imply the existence of better tiers of the Skill. Did that have to do with the levels in some of them? There was no menu to make the Skills or Traits better, so he guessed he hadn’t satisfied some condition yet.

The new menus had only showed up when he’d gotten some Tokens. Maybe the upgrade options needed enough Tokens? Or levels?

Henry looked at the Hoard Vitality’s description and shuddered. He had to stock up on health before he went out again. And before its temporary status–which showed 21 hours and 19 minutes–expired.

It was the reasonable course of action. But he still hated it.

“This will take forever.”

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By the time Henry came out of his crevice, he had 100% health and four spots, one of which he could see at the base of his frontal tentacle. The tentacle he’d lost yesterday and had spent the last dozen hours watching as it regrew.

It was eerie.

Also, he realized he didn’t need to inspect his skin to keep track. In between uses, he noticed a new number near the name of the Skill, and saw it update in real-time.

Hoard Vitality (F)[4 charges]: Store 10% of your health on your body to be released on will or when severely injured for a burst of healing. (Time remaining: 29 minutes)

“Too bad temporary Skills can’t level.”

In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a big loss. He would be using this Skill so much that the four uses’ worth of levels wouldn’t matter. But he’d have to find a better way of using it because somewhere around the three-hour mark, Henry was ready to bash his soft brains on the rock from boredom.

He ended up edging closer to the exit and just observed the local fauna, which–even though it helped stave off the boredom–just annoyed him even more.

“I can’t see crap.”

Still, that opened up a new option for him. He could maybe roam around–safely and under a camouflage–and watch his neighbors. See how they lived. What kind of Skills they had. All the while, he’d keep using Hoard Vitality until he found something that healed faster.

It seemed like there was a pattern to Skills though. Healing skill on a starfish. A speed Skill on a fish. His own mimicking Skill, which strongly reminded him of mimic octopuses. Only the eel didn’t seem to fit, with its telekinesis.

“What else is known for their healing abilities? Sea slugs? Jellyfish?”

Henry wrapped half of his tentacles around him and became a rock that slowly inched its way toward a few lazy fish he’d seen swim close by. He wanted to know more about the big shapes he’d seen swimming far above, but he didn’t dare leave this small area. Not yet.

“And I need something better than my legs to catch other fish… like telekinesis.”

That would be useful. But could he take the eel?

No. He knew as soon as the question formed in his mind. He’d need to do a lot more fishing before he could tangle with that thing. Was it even still around?

Henry paused, watching the fish swim away from his little corner of the ocean floor.

He added another tentacle to his disguise and exhaled. Might as well.

Then he slowly rolled toward his turtle shell.

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The turtle shell looked like the refracted light from a diamond.

Even though he didn’t have a clear vision of it, he could still see the incomprehensible colors as it shimmered in the dancing lights coming down from the surface.

Henry marveled. But his excitement was marred by the purple head that poked out of one of the entrances to the shell, which, from this angle, seemed like the posterior part of the turtle.

Did the turtle get stuck upside down? Also… the eel’s purple?

He wanted to be mad at the beast, but he couldn’t contain his excitement at seeing an animal he’d never heard of before.

The eel poked its head out when it noticed a small shoal of thin silver fish swim nearby. A purple hue appeared around one of them, and the rest of the fish scattered while the captured fish was slowly dragged toward the eel’s open jaw.

“Fascinating. I’ll still beat it up and take my shell back, but… fascinating.”

Now that he observed the eel, its ability made a lot more sense. It was mostly opportunistic, and telekinesis fit perfectly with its lifestyle.

“Was it kicked out of its home? Is that why it came after me? Or did it smell the fish I pulverized? Oh. One last thing…”

Henry kept forgetting he had Identify. He narrowed his eyes at the eel and activated the Skill.

[Telekinetic Eel (F) - Lvl 14]

Henry frowned. How had he been able to escape this thing the first time? Was it because he’d startled it in its own home? Or was it the ink?

That… could have ended up a lot worse for him. But at least now he knew where it was.

He would get his turtle shell back. If somehow he made it back out of the water and back home… he still wanted to have it.

Henry couldn’t even muster some humor at such a delusion. “I’m not even human.”

He still wanted to get the shell back… It was the only thing he still had from when he was human. He’d died pursuing that turtle.

Henry looked up and around at the underwater world. It was so… quiet. Eerily lonely and teeming with life all at once.

“Did my friends realize I’m gone? Did my dad?”

He doubted the latter… Not if it’d been only a few weeks. Or even months.

He slowly rolled himself back toward his hunting grounds, keeping an eye on potential dangers.

He needed to get strong. And then…. What?

Henry shook his head. “One step at a time.”

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Henry Identified the third Core he’d harvested since leaving his cave.

[Mackerel Core (F) - 4 Consumption Tokens]

It had been a productive couple of hours. He managed to bring down three fish, all level 1s. One [Common Goatfish] like before, and two [Common Mackerel]. He’d gotten them with the same technique, by baiting them, then Biting the back of their heads. Now as he sat down in his den, he brought up his interface.

He was sitting at 11 Tokens. “Hoarded Vitality and… Strength. Yeah, why not.”

He would have caught more, but he had less than 10% mana. It seemed risky to be out with reserves that low. At least Hoarded Vitality didn’t consume much mana when used. Barely 1% per activation. He could just… relax while hoarding more health. And wait for his mana to refill.

He quickly glanced at his Skill notifications.

Mimicking Tentacles (F): Level 4 -> Level 5

Bite (F): Level 2 -> Level 4

Inkjet (F): Level 3 -> Level 4

Henry considered sitting at the entrance and watching the surroundings, but… he lacked the motivation. He felt tired.

He brought back the menu, not wanting to see the dark and silent rocks around him. To cover the unbearable quiet, he hummed to himself. An old tune from his childhood that his mom used to hum.

Henry wondered if she’d been reborn somewhere else, too.

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When Henry emerged from his cave again, the ocean shook.

Well, not really. But he did manage to beat up a lot of low-level fish. Enough so that he’d had to scamper away when some larger and more dangerous-looking swimmers came by, attracted by the scent of blood.

As he scurried around the rock as a ball of moss, he brought up his upgrade budget and dismissed the level-up notifications of his Skills. He’d gotten a level each, and it seemed like they were slowing down. Probably, considering the ease with which he’d been beating up the local small fish.

“22 Tokens? Not bad… let’s spend this, then. Oh?”

He realized he could buy more than one increase at a time.

Increase Perception: 3 -> 5

Increase [8 CT] | Cancel

Henry considered getting another two points in Perception, which cost 8 Tokens… but he felt like he needed more health. More safety.

“I’d be a lot safer if I could see the danger coming. And small fish are easy enough to catch. Yeah…”

He nodded to himself and confirmed the increase.

The magic–or whatever it was–sunk into his eyes and Henry stilled. He looked around, amazed at the colors and the clarity of the water. Above–further than he expected–he could see the surface, and he could make out sharks roaming just below it. Looking back down and around, he could see the kelp forest, stretching away as far as he could see. It seemed sparser here, but that could be a trick of the eyes. Soon, he might be able to go up and see the surroundings.

“Kelp forests are usually coastal… I wonder if there’s land nearby.”

Endless blue surrounded him. And it was terrifying. But at least he could see. “This is almost like my regular vision. Better, considering I’m not wearing any scuba gear.”

The cost was definitely worth it, and he was tempted to get another Perception point, but he talked himself down. “As soon as it calms down outside, I’ll get back out and hunt some more.”

In the meantime, he raised Constitution to 5 for 6 Tokens, which left him with 8 Tokens.

“Hmm… what else… Yes, that’s perfect.”

With 8 Tokens, he could get a point in Strength, a point in Dexterity, and bring Spirit up to 5. He nodded to himself, and confirmed them as well.

Magic went through him again, and it made him feel more present. Less at the whims of the waves and more ready to face his obstacles.

“Speaking of which…”

Henry came up on a crab. It was… smaller than the specimen he’d seen before, but he recognized those sharp pincers.

“Risky. But it might have a Skill related to those… Something sharp could save my life.”

Henry tried to talk himself into it. He looked up and around, and the coast was clear.

“Gotta take some risks or I’ll never get out of here.”

Henry continued his approach as a ball of algae. He hoped those seven healing charges were ready.