Without the turtle shell slowing him down, Henry swam at a leisurely pace, brushing against the kelp stalks. Occasionally he ripped a few when they got entangled in his limbs as he spread them around to push himself forward.

Henry was now around 25-feet long, from head to tentacles. His thick, long limbs easily made 80% of his size, while his head, stomach, and beak took the rest.

He crested over the surface and glanced at the volcanic island, still far away. He lifted his forward tentacle to let Maurice see.

“[That’s the island I mentioned. The seals are probably there. And hopefully more.]”

The hermit crab shook both pincers in excitement. Henry had him cupped in a forward tentacle, with a couple of suckers sticking to the shell for extra safety. Maurice was a bit slow, so Henry had decided to just carry him. That way Maurice could see everything, and Henry could see the crab’s gestures and signals. Right now, he didn’t need to see Maurice’s wonder. He could feel it through Telepathic Sense.

Right before leaving the burrow, Henry had asked the crab if it was okay with him sensing his emotions and intentions through his Traits. He needed to practice with the Trait, having seen what the whales were capable of. But it somehow felt intrusive–even though it hadn’t when the whales had done it–and he’d feel better after asking permission.

True to form, Maurice couldn’t care less. It seemed exciting to him, even. Henry assumed because it would let the crab get his points and questions across much more easily.

Henry dove back down, scanning the rocky and dark seabed for a nice spot to land. He watched Riptides scramble away, and even saw a few lionfish eye him as he passed, but they didn’t take shots.

“What a nice change of pace.”

A few interesting-looking reefs caught his eyes, so he dove and landed on the seabed, kicking up a large cloud of dust and small rocks.

Henry put down Maurice, and both examined their surroundings.

Sunlight filtered through the green-hued waters, casting a dazzling array of patterns on the vibrant coral formations. Multicolored fish darted in and out of the crevices, their scales reflecting the light in a mesmerizing dance. Anemones swayed gently with the currents, their tendrils waving like delicate fingers.

Henry glanced down at Maurice, who was already approaching a familiar-looking starfish.

“[Let’s see if we find interesting specimens. I assume you’ve got good defenses?]”

Maurice raised his right pincer twice.

“[Good. Do you have a way of signaling me? We should still stay close. But just in case.]”

Maurice seemed to think about that for a moment, then stepped away from the coral covered rock and faced upward. The space around his mouth shone blue, then a small bubble floated slowly. It flew, seemingly unaffected by the water, and when it touched a stalk of kelp it imploded with an audible thud.

Maurice looked up to Henry, held both pincers above his head, then spread them.

“[You can make big bubbles? Will they be loud enough?]”

Right pincer.

“[Gotcha. Okay, stay safe, and signal me if there’s trouble.]”

Henry swam up, eyes still on the curious hermit crab, then took in the surrounding waters.

“Any time now.”

He was being followed. He knew he was. Whatever thing had been roaming around him the last few days was still nearby. He had detected it as he was swimming, furtively popping into his radar then disappearing.

Henry’s eyes roamed, then he swam low. He kept an eye on Maurice, just in case the crab was attacked, and decided to run his test. Now was as good a time as any.

Henry saw a foot-long blue and white dotted fish swim out of one of the countless crevices of the reef formation. It panicked when it saw Henry looming there like a sea monster, but before it could make a break for it, he gripped it with Telekinesis.

Stolen story; please report.

[Blue Grouper (F) - Lvl 6]

“I’m almost sure you’ll be fine. But in case you’re not… well. Sorry. I guess.”

Henry brought the fish to his maw, and it disappeared.

“Now we’ll see if you’re still alive after a few hours.”

Henry looked back toward Maurice and quickly found the rainbow shell slowly climbing over the reef, stopping from time to time to sample the yellow and white corals.

He wanted to make sure he could carry the crab safely, mainly because he didn’t want it to get hurt. As for his shell… He felt conflicted about that.

Maybe someday the crab would let go of the shell for something bigger, as hermit crabs are known to do. But if it didn’t? Well, Henry wasn’t about to rip his new companion out of its new home.

It was smart. Insightful. Even funny. But it also felt like a child, and forcefully tearing it away from something it had bonded with was cruel.

Plus, it seemed that Maurice had a Trait similar to Henry’s. “I can just wait for it to lose a limb or molt, and I’ll get whatever it gets from the turtle shell.”

It was simple, really. There was no need to–

Something pinged him through Telepathic Sense.

Henry slowly turned. He was 99% sure their stalker was close. And behind him.

Sparse stalks of kelp undulated as far as he could see. Small fish swam around. Some by themselves, some in schools that darted and dipped whenever something moved toward them.

Henry’s eyes tracked every single movement. His significantly improved perception helped as well. He tried to detect any taste with his limbs as he scanned the empty waters behind him.

Then he saw it.

A large patch in the water that was barely more opaque than everything else.

Henry’s skin crawled. Something invisible?

The patch began to move, and he tracked it with his eyes. Identify returned only as a question mark. The same way it had done with the flatfish’s illusions a while ago.

Henry activated Telekinesis in the general area of the barely visible shape. Thanks to Telekinesis’s new upgrade, he needed less precision. And he could lock a space, instead of a single target.

The spell took hold of something, and Henry felt like he just got punched in the temple.

He grimaced. His head pounded, but he didn’t let go. “Late E or D, most probably.” Anything higher would have broken through already. He was confident he could fight off whatever this was, or run from it.

He wasn’t keen on fighting, per-se, but this thing–whatever it was–had been stalking him for a while now and he was frankly sick of it.

This might scare it away, at least.

Henry poured his mana into Telekinesis, readying a strike. He couldn’t use Telepathy without a target, but what he did instead was push himself off the reef with his limbs.

Then his target decided to drop its camouflage.

The being appeared as if an invisibility cape was ripped away from it, and Henry started. He recognized what it was.

He used Identify anyway.

[Juvenile Trickster Kraken (D) - ?]

It was rust-red and almost twice as large as he was, though its arms were thinner. Henry believed they’d weigh about the same, or he might be a bit lighter, but not by much. Its skin was rippling and flashing with deeper shades, a behavior he’d read about in a past life. An intimidation tactic.

Henry released Telekinesis. He couldn’t hold it for much longer, anyway.

The giant octopus stared down at him, then the alarm he sensed from it began to mellow. At the same time, the colors began to fade and lighten. Instead of the deep red, there were now blue deep blue stripes that reminded him of zebras. It hovered, examining him as well, then it began to approach.

Curiosity again. This was the stalker.

Henry backed up.

It followed.

“[Back up,]” Henry warned as he darkened his skin.

The kraken froze and its color began to deepen as well.

It didn’t seem intelligent. Well, not exactly. It was smart, but not sapient. Not like Maurice or himself. So whatever this kraken wanted, Henry was pretty sure he wasn’t interested.

There weren’t a lot of reasons why an octopus would pursue another. Either it wanted to eat him, or worse.

Henry backed away slowly. He wasn’t sure he wanted this fight. He had barely a handful of Hoard Vitals charges. And this thing could literally throw anything at him. Especially if it evolved like he did. It would have all sorts of Skills and Traits he wasn’t ready to handle.

“I guess I know what my next evolution might be though–”

A thud. Not too far behind him.

Maurice.

Henry swam toward the sound, eyes still on the kraken, and he cursed when it followed him.

It wasn’t being aggressive. Still worrying, but not the highest priority. Henry turned and swam quickly toward the sound.

He crested a reef and saw Maurice hiding in his shell. Multiple limbs wrapped around the hermit crab's shell as the predator tried to get to him. Another predator that was oddly similar to the stalker still pursuing Henry, aside from its massive size.

It was easily twice as large as him.

A bubble flew out of the shell’s entrance and hit the overside octopus point-blank. The flesh tore out of the monster’s limb. Then Henry watched it re-knit itself as he rushed toward them.

Henry had a single thought as he readied a sharp tentacle.

“Looks like my prayer for healing Skills is finally answered.”

[Juvenile Goliath Kraken (D) - ?? ]