Henry ended up going with the sharpness option. He relied too much on the flexibility of his limbs when he fought bigger creatures, and he worried that the first option would make his transformed limbs too rigid to use. In any case, it would be available to him… whenever he’d saved up the ungodly amount of Tokens to get the second option.
Razor Tentacle (E) - Level 1: Summon a razor-sharp blade along the edge of a single tentacle. [+Sharpness]
Which left one point to assign. “More mana. Get Spirit through to 10 as well.”
There were no twitching tentacles or spasms this time.
It was as if he’d just eaten the most weed-laced brownie in existence. And it wasn’t pleasant. It lasted barely for a minute, but Henry was now dreading future threshold increases. He hoped they weren’t every 10 points.
“I need to rest anyway…”
Henry found it really easy to fall back asleep. He hoped he’d get to upgrade Hoard Vitality soon. And was definitely going to keep an eye on other animals with regenerative capabilities. He needed something to recuperate faster.
----------------------------------------
Henry canceled his plans to go see the whales today.
They’d said they would be around for a few cycles, so he assumed he had plenty more time to talk with them and ask questions. In the meantime he was a rock, sitting on top of a reef outcropping.
He’d come up here after checking in on his turtle home. He would have gone exploring or even hunted more actively, but he was low on Hoard Vitality charges–or more accurately, he only had one charge–and he needed to build a larger safety net before he took big risks again.
His eyes followed the unwitting soon-to-be victim as it swam by.
[Riptide Shark (F) - Lvl 26]
Being safe didn’t mean he couldn’t take the occasional shark when they brought themselves to his doorstep. And he was staying away from the larger specimens until he felt better.
At least until he was more confident in his upgraded Skills.
Henry waited patiently for the shark to swim close. When it got as close as it would get, which was around 15 feet away, Henry surged up.
Telekinesis gripped the shark in an unbreakable grasp. It activated its dash ability, which Henry felt slam into his Telekinesis.
He barely felt the backlash.
Henry wrapped a tentacle around the throat of the frozen shark. He activated Razor Tentacle, and pulled his tentacle back.
The shark throat was cut three-quarters through, as if he’d just sliced through jelly.
He backed away, letting the shark bleed out for a few seconds, then collected the Core before heading back down to his perch and disguising himself again.
“78% mana. That was cheap.”
The shark’s corpse slowly sank until it came to rest on a bed of corals 20 feet away. Henry watched its brethren come out of the dark waters, attracted by the smell of blood.
“I wish I could collect some samples. Of everything.”
He looked up at the water surface, far in the distance. “Do you hear me, System? Something to carry my things in would be really appreciated. Just think about it, alright?”
Henry watched the sharks begin tearing into the carcass with a renewed hope. He’d got his ass beaten, true. But both his main Skills were just upgraded, and they were much more efficient at taking down prey.
“I’ll be able to go up to the surface soon. Once I have enough charges. I could go explore the kelp forest as well. Or go further in–”
Something new appeared.
A greenish snake-like thing came out of the kelp forest, slithering toward the frenzied sharks at a placid pace.
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It was at least 40 feet long.
Henry’s eyes were about to pop from his head. “What is that?”
The sharks, even through their frenzy, dispersed when the newcomer opened its mouth and screeched.
[Juvenile Sea Serpent (E) - ??]
“That’s juvenile?!”
The words of the whales were beginning to make sense. What kinds of monstrosities were around?
Henry examined the being as it picked up the carcass and swallowed it in one go. It had shiny green scales. Ridges and fins along its back and thick plates along its stomach. Yellow reptilian eyes, and what he believed were back-swept horns?
No gills that he could see, though. Or any obvious weakness that he could use to his advantage.
When it finally turned away and swam back from whence it came, Henry exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
“Holy shit.”
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“[You wish… to acquire… our abilities?]”
“Yes, to communicate with you. And other intelligent beings.”
This time, three whales had come to greet him. Tideweaver, Deepcaller, and Wavecrest–the one who he’d first interacted with.
They’d told him to wait as soon as he approached the fields of golden algae, as if they didn’t want him to get too close. They had had a strong reaction to his form a few days ago. Maybe they didn’t trust him around their calves just yet.
Or maybe it was for his own good. For some reason or another. He found it rude to ask, so he kept it to himself and tried not to think too hard about the fact that they might be able to sense his thoughts. In any case, if they did, they showed nothing of it.
“[A worthy… pursuit. The gift… of words… through thoughts.]” This one was Deepcaller. He was the nicest one so far.
Wavecrest spoke next.“[How… would you… acquire it?]”
Henry stood straight–as far as his soft body allowed–and thought clearly. “A small bite is enough. The smallest bit of flesh from you would allow my Trait to copy it.”
There was an uncomfortable silence where Henry hoped he wasn’t about to be squished. It was immediately broken by the trilling sounds of their laughter.
“[If you… manage to pierce…our flesh,]” said Deepcaller, “[you are… welcome to… it.]”
Henry looked up at the three whales, who seemed pretty smug all of a sudden. “I’m not getting anything, am I?”
Another trill of laughter.
Deepcaller raised a flipper. “[Try… here. It is… softest.]”
Henry wanted to argue that maybe their tongues would be softer, but that sounded like a good way to have his brains turned to mush.
He swam for a few seconds to reach Deepcaller, and landed on the extended flipper.
Their skin was smooth to the touch. A dull blue-gray with no barnacles in sight, but more scarred than he could have imagined. One couldn’t swim a couple of feet without finding teeth or claw marks. Some scars were closer to craters or deformities.
Weren’t they supposed to be tough?
Well, he was about to learn for himself.
Henry started with his beak, slowly trying to work it through the skin. He twisted around, tried to grip a bit of skin, but nothing would give. He would have had more success biting through a sheet of steel.
“Holy shit.”
Another trill of laughter.
Henry activated Razor Tentacle and pressed it against the smooth surface. Nothing.
“This is incredible.”
“[Your wonder… is appreciated,]” said Deepcaller.
“Can I try one more thing?”
“[Of… course.]”
Tideweaver watched silently. She hadn’t said much since telling him her name.
Wavecrest spoke. “[We will be here… for a while. You will… have a chance to try… again. We see… that you have already… grown in strength. You might have… an infinitesimal chance… of getting through… our flesh… by the time… we leave.]”
Encouraging. Also condescending. And probably right.
Henry swam to the extremity of the flipper and found the smallest part of it. He had enough Tokens to finish getting the last two stat points. He bought the sixth points for Strength and Dexterity, waited for them to sink through, then wrapped a tentacle around the flipper and exhaled. He activated Razor Tentacle and slowly pulled with every bit of strength he could manage.
He felt his limb stretch and burn, and he might have been a second or two from tearing it off his body, but for a moment he thought he was getting through.
Then the Skill failed.
When Henry unrolled his sore tentacle, there was no mark on the flipper.
Nothing.
It took him a second to process that. Then he looked up at the giant eye that was giving him an amused side-eye. “I have ideas. I will be back. You’re lucky I don’t have hands any more.”
Henry swam away from the flipper. He needed something sharp and something to act as a lever. Which might be impossible for him to get.
Dammit.
“I guess I’ll go train with some sharks.”
“[Good fortune… in your… hunt… Henry.]”
They were preparing to leave when Henry had a thought.
“Wait. How do you grow in strength? Do you also hunt?”
They kept swimming away. “[The Great Current… feeds us. We do not… need… to hunt.]”
Henry watched them swim away in awe.
“What an incredible sight. I wonder if this Great Current is made of magic krill.”