The multicolored shell popped out of a swirl of purple light, and a fraction of a second later Henry felt crab legs land on his arms. But only for a moment, before they disappeared again, just to pop on top of his head next. Then on a rock. Then back on Henry’s head.
“[Please stop. You’re going to be out of mana and we might be getting into a fight.]”
Maurice had been using the ability non-stop for the last few minutes. And unlike Henry, he didn’t use up a lot of mana for it. Which wasn’t making him envious at all.
The duo were resting a few minutes away from their targeted cave. This area was similar to the one Henry had woken up in a few weeks ago, with richly populated reefs and clear waters. The difference was, this area was pretty deep and most of the light wasn’t coming from the sun, but from the countless glowing pink jellyfish floating above them.
When Maurice had gotten the new abilities, they’d come to a stop. The crab was about to start the transferring process when Henry–feeling a bit of guilt–suggested they give shapeshifting training another try. That way, he could munch on the discarded limbs instead of a perfectly healthy pincer.
He hoped it wouldn't matter for the Skill transfer, and thankfully it didn’t. The process still took four tries.
Blink had immediately transferred. To Henry’s chagrin, when he tried the Skill he burned through roughly 20% of his mana pool. A monstrous amount of mana. While it barely consumed 1% for Maurice. The lucky little gremlin.
Henry assumed weight had something to do with it.
As for the second ability, he’d begun worrying it wouldn’t work, but it transferred on the fourth try. Henry now had both. Two Skills that had once been in the arsenal of a world-hopping turtle.
Blink (F) - Level 1: Teleport to a nearby location you can see.
Find the Path (F) - Level 1: While focusing on a destination, activating this Skill has a chance to point you toward your desired destination. Chances of success increase with level, proficiency, and clarity of the destination.
“[I could never move this fast before! I’m going to be unstopp–oh? It leveled again!]”
Henry glowered at the crab, and as both a test and a mild expression of his annoyance, he clasped on the crab when he reappeared with Telekinesis.
Maurice was caught in purple pink-hue. His limbs strained, trying to break through the restraints. “[That… won’t… work–it worked. Let me go!]”
Henry hummed. “[Maybe it’s because I’m seeing you. Try using some ink?]”
Maurice stopped trying to force himself out of the Skill and a wave of embarrassment began wafting off the crab. His eyes shifted down as he sheepishly examined one of his claws. “[I… kinda had to remove it. I didn’t have slots anymore! For these? Plus, it’s not great on me. So what if I can hide myself in ink? I couldn’t swim away fast enough.]”
Henry wasn’t sure why the crab felt embarrassed. Slots were limited, and Henry never expected him to keep a copy of everything. Henry himself had discarded a Skill or two already. Still, he couldn’t help but point out the hole in Maurice’s argument as he let go of the crab, letting him fall to the seabed. “[Maybe not in the past. But now you could move fast enough to make use of it. You could pop in and out of ink clouds. You could be a nightmare for whatever we’re fighting.]”
Henry and the crab stared at each other for a moment before the crab covered his face with a pincer.
----------------------------------------
Henry and Maurice came to a stop above the cave entrance and looked down. It was a wide entrance with a smoothed lip. Big enough for Henry–who was at least 30 feet long from head to tip–to comfortably swim in without triggering his claustrophobia too badly.
It was both alarming and exciting. Something seemed to live here. Henry tried to feel for it with his telepathy but he only felt static. There could be something, but it was either hiding deep enough to be out of range, or it wasn’t feeling anything particularly powerful for him to pick up on.
“[Sense anything?]” he asked Maurice.
“[Yes. There’s something in there. It’s sleeping. I think.]”
“[Is it far?]”
“[Nope.]”
Henry looked down at the crab, raised an arm, then nodded toward the cave. “[Want to go down there and take a peek?]”
Maurice slowly looked up. “[Why don’t you be bait this time?]”
Henry chuckled and began activating his defensive Skills in preparation. “[I’m joking. Come on, let’s get to work.]”
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The crab grumbled as he anchored himself to Henry’s extended arm. “[What is it called when someone makes fun of you but only they are finding it funny?]”
“[Teasing. Taunting. Ribbing,]” Henry listed as he touched the seabed. In front of them, their shadows stretched toward the darkness and melded with it.
Maurice looked up at him, and Henry was sure, if the crab’s human-form was here, it would be narrowing its eyes at him. “[Sounds like a scam.]”
Henry leaned backward, preparing to send a Molten Projectile to wake whatever was in there when Maurice spoke.
“[It’s waking up. It sees us. It’s comi–]”
Out of the pitch darkness came the sharp teeth. Then purple skin and elongated body. It took Henry only a moment to recognize the shape, though its size was extremely unexpected.
[Mesmer Eel (C) - Lvl ?]
A familiar hue surrounded Henry, matching the glow of the eel’s four eyes. Henry’s limbs immediately locked up, and no matter how much he tried to force his way out, he couldn’t. The eel’s Telekinesis was like nothing he’d experienced so far, and it made his heart flutter with excitement.
The ability felt like a vice around him. His muscles wouldn’t even twitch, as if the eel’s ability completely and utterly blocked his brain’s signals to his limbs.
The eel loomed above him. Its head was almost as large as his own, and it might even match him in length. Four glowing eyes took him in, its jaw opening and closing as it approached.
A most familiar scene, and this time, no ink was squirted–intentionally or not.
“[Henry. What are we doing? I can’t move. I can’t do anything!]”
Maurice’s emotions were like an ever-roiling blob of excitement and worry, with neither ever gaining over the other. But Henry wasn’t too worried. This was a being with somewhat known abilities and weaknesses. He felt good about this. But before giving the signal, he wanted to do a quick check. “[Just a second, Maurice.]”
Henry looked up at the eel and spoke in its mind. “[Can you understand me? If yes, let us go.]”
In response, the eel opened its jaw wide, and its second jaw poked out of its throat, ready to bite down and start dragging whatever it could down its gullets.
That was an answer Henry could work with. “[I’ll dispel the Telekinesis then hide us in ink, then we rush it. I’ve met these kinds of eels. A weaker version. But it shouldn’t be too different.]”
The eel approached, and Maurice tensed. Then Henry spoke to the crab. “[Now!]”
Henry activated Dispelling Bubble and centered it away from Maurice. The Skill pushed through the telekinetic grasp, but didn’t break through. Another activation weakened it enough for Henry to regain control of his limbs, at which point he filled the space with ink. That immediately taught Henry about a difference this eel had from the one from his first days: this eel’s abilities didn’t need eye contact.
A third Dispelling Bubble broke through the Skill, and Henry rushed forward.
“[Aim for the head and spine, Maurice. Its Telekinesis is really powerful, so I’ll grab on. Hold on tight. It won’t be happy.]”
“[Can it heal?]”
Henry’s first arm barely landed on the smooth, dark-purple skin when he felt his limbs lock again. He used another Dispelling Bubble, lowering his reserves even further, and began activating his suckers. “[It shouldn’t. But it might.]”
Which was when he learned his second lesson: this eel could drain mana.
Henry felt the precious resource begin seeping out of his suckers and arms, but it was too late to back away. They should be able to take this one down, even without mana.
“[It has mana draining! Dang it. We should have worked on those resistances more!]”
Henry bit down and pumped the eel's flank full of venom. It was tough, but not as tough as the kraken. Maurice brought down a large ghostly pincer and tried to snip through it, but the ghostly arm only shoved the eel for a moment before it began losing consistency. Instead, the crab activated his Domain and began summoning Imploding Bubbles on top of the eel’s head, taking great care to aim as Henry’s arm moved him away from the snapping jaws.
“[Maybe this will help us get it!]”
A bubble formed against the eel’s forehead for a moment, but right before the implosion, a purple barrier-like panel shone across the eel’s skin. Once the churning water left by the implosion cleared–there was no damage.
“[Lots of tricks,]” said Henry as he dug deeper with his beak, delivering more venom all the while. “[Seems like it can defend against Skills well, but not so well against physical attacks. Aside from the mana draining.]”
The eel twisted and rolled with rage, trying to get a grip on Henry but thanks to his positioning and his defensive Skills, it couldn’t latch on. Then, as it made another attempt to snap its jaw on one of Henry’s limb and missed–
Its pharyngeal jaw came out.
Maurice was first to react. “[Ugh. What’s that–]”
The fleshy, purple alien-looking thing shot toward Henry’s limb, twisted and pulled, biting down.
A jolt ran through Henry’s body, and his eyes widened. His suckers relaxed. The strength he had been using to grab on and secure himself instantly dissolved, as if his muscles were made of hot air for a moment. He felt himself begin to slide off the back of the eel.
Then Toxin Resistance kicked in. Strength flowed back into him, and he activated his suckers, with great pain. All of his body was tingling, like a limb that had had its blood flow restricted.
The little gross jaw was pulling at his limb, dragging it down to the eel’s gullet. When it stopped, Henry could swear he felt shock from the Eel.
“[You okay? You seem to have gotten… Relaxed for a second. Too relaxed even. It looked nice. Beside the gross little mouth trying to eat you.]”
Panic seemed to be settling over the eel, and it began trying to retreat deeper into its cave. Henry latched on with three tentacles to the walls of the cave. He could activate his suckers, and enough of them should anchor him well. He couldn’t pull the eel, but he was sure it couldn’t pull him off the wall or off its back, and there’s no way it could cause his limbs to tear. In fact, he barely felt them stretch as the monster tried to get away from them.
“[Paralytic agent. Wait, no. More like a muscle relaxant. But Toxin Resistance blocked it from taking over. I’m still tingling all over.]”
It would be a nice venom to add to his arsenal. Along with anything else this predator might have.
“[Alright Maurice, let’s get to work!]”
Two large pincers appeared and slammed down on the eel’s neck, and Henry activated Razor Tentacle. A moment later, blood surged out of the cave like smoke from a chimney.