“[We don’t need to go back. I don’t feel anything more of value there. But maybe you want to dig out more bones? Also, can I look at the pearl again?]”

Henry swam after the trail of gold dust, out of the cave. The path created by Find the Path extended forward and upward, heading to the surface.

“[I’ll get the pearl once we’re back down on the seabed. I don’t want us to lose it.]”

With Maurice secure on top of Henry’s head and the metallic sphere in his arm, the duo swam up to the surface.

It was night out when Henry breached the water into the cool air. The planet above was mostly dark, aside from the five pillars of light connecting it to this one.

Well. Five pillars and a thin, barely visible trail of gold that only Henry could see.

“[What do you think’s up there? Do you think there are other crabs like me? Pretty shells? Treasures?]”

Henry brought his arm up and looked at the metallic sphere. The path had disappeared when he’d stopped touching the mysterious ball, so now that he knew where the Skill pointed, it was time to do a quick test.

Henry gave the metal bead to Maurice. “[Can you try it and tell me what you see? Careful not to drop it.]”

A few moments later, Maurice confirmed that the Skill worked for him as well.

“[So. Using the Skill we got from a rare, world-hopping turtle, on a metallic ball that we found in the stomach of a monster that killed a similar turtle, we see a path toward another planet. Also, both turtles died within a couple of hour’s swim from each other.]”

“[Mysteries. Adventures.]”

Henry smiled inwardly, but decided not to rain on Maurice’s excitement. He realized, for once, that he didn’t want to dwell on this matter.

Obviously, something had happened. Whatever took place here didn’t feel like an innocuous series of natural events, and frankly, he wasn’t equipped enough or knowledgeable enough to even begin to tackle this.

Would it improve their odds of survival? Or worsen them?

He had no way of knowing, so why worry about it?

Henry took in the quiet night for a moment before dipping back in. “[Let’s hide that one as well, alright?]”

Maurice was quiet for a few seconds, but Henry felt the question coming. His own mood must have been pretty obvious to the crab. “[Are you not curious?]”

Henry grinned as the glass-covered lava river came into view. “[Oh, absolutely. It’ll keep me up at night. But I’m okay with not dropping everything to figure this out. There’s a lot we don’t know, and it’s a lot harder to finish a puzzle when more than half of the pieces are missing. So I’m okay to wait until we know more. About this world, about its magic, and about those turtles. You know, Maurice, there’ll always be mysteries to figure out. Discoveries to make. Something new to learn. You just can’t do it all at once. So for now, I’d like us to grow stronger and survive our travels.]”

Maurice seemed to sense what Henry was planning.

“[Oh? What are we doing? And what’s a puzzle?]”

“[Puzzles are something either you’ll absolutely love or absolutely despise. I’m not sure. But it would be a good illusion exercise for me. I’m nowhere near as good as the Trickster kraken had been. So. While you work on your resistances to mana-drain and lava, I’ll work on making illusory puzzles for you to solve. Among a couple of other things. How’s that sound?]”

***

Henry watched a singular Imploding Bubble meet the oversized projectile with pinpoint accuracy and confirmed a suspicion he’d had for the last few hours.

The crab was a natural-born sharpshooter. He still missed quite a few shots, but he was landing too many for it to be coincidental.

The projectile destabilized and blew up long before it could reach the crab’s range. The hail of glass shrapnel rained down on a swarm of weaker ants, killing and injuring a few, but that wasn’t enough to stop the enraged insects.

Henry eyed the ant soldier. This one was a bit stronger than what they’d met the first time they encountered the ants, and soon enough more of them would show up.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

[Lava Ant Soldier (D) - Lvl 8]

He wasn’t worried, though. Henry wasn’t sure if Maurice had gotten a heat resistance Skill yet, but his own variant of Arcane Fortification was nothing to scoff at. Plus, it must be leveling.

Henry looked further back. More ants lay dead or dying, while some smaller members of the colony carried their bodies back toward one of the many entrances. Sometimes, those poor ants would get ambushed by tiny, barely week-old Tricksters.

[Trickster Octopus (F) - Lvl 34]

“Damn. They’re leveling fast.”

Henry didn’t mind them. He let nature do its thing. Though considering their number, maybe it would be worth it to save a specimen or two?

That made him feel uneasy. Was he going to keep them stored indefinitely in his Maw? Was he going to keep them as pets? What if they naturally grew up to become aggressive and hostile?

Henry dismissed the idea. That sounded like a can of worms he didn’t really want to deal with. He was more interested in them within their ecosystem. What would be the point of keeping them captive?

A notebook to jot down his observations would have been nice, though. Along with a notebook for everything else he’d been putting in his Maw.

“I already have so much junk though… Why isn’t there a note-taking app on this interface?”

He’d already been collecting samples, but getting stuff out of his Maw once he forgot about it was a pain.

The octopuses finally brought down one of the half-dead ants. It was sort of interesting, though. The octopuses that hunted in this area would most probably become Stoneskin krakens–if they survived. Those who traveled to the area of the jellyfish–another specimen he should keep some samples of–would become Arcane krakens.

“What other adaptations could they evolve into?”

He remembered a few choices he’d gotten in his own evolution. Like Blightbringer and Mesmer. But he’d bet there were more out there.

“I hope they won’t all be hostile.”

Henry didn’t have high hopes for that. But he’d give it a shot. Otherwise, he wouldn’t mind some interesting Skills or Traits.

Which reminded him. He should look into filling those Traits slots soon.

“Anyway. Break’s over.”

Henry slowly exhaled. He was tense. His Octominds were ready. Then he opened his eyes and mana rushed out.

His own image materialized around him as he pulled his arms closer. As much as he awkwardly tried to push his mana out faster, it still took a few seconds for the Skill to finish.

That was one of the things he’d have to work on. Though it would have been nice to have a guide or a book to figure how this mana stuff worked.

“Alright, let’s see how this looks.”

Thanks to the three-part Octomind cluster he’d assigned to the Blood Clone, he could close his eyes and see through the clone’s senses. He could always feel the connection, but the Octominds kept him somewhat informed of what was being perceived by the clones. At any time, he could close his eyes and share their senses. If he added another Octomind to the cluster controlling the Blood Clone, he could get even more details, and any less than three made everything slower.

It reminded Henry of the picture-in-picture features of his old phone. He could have a video playing while browsing, and at any time he could look into the corner and see what was being displayed.

This time, though, Henry needed more control. So he tugged on his connection to his Blood Clone and felt his senses warp as his awareness snapped into the clone above him.

Henry opened his clone eyes and took in the illusion he’d crafted around himself as he swam around it. It was eerie, seeing himself like this. Still, it didn’t take long for him to know he had failed.

The illusion itself looked alright, but it and his real body were overlapping, which confirmed his theory that the kraken had been crafting the illusion just as it turned itself invisible.

“Its illusion would have to appear instantly though… mine still takes a few seconds to fully form. Maybe it’ll get faster when it upgrades. It’s getting pretty close.”

Henry snapped back to his own body, then willed the Clone to move back toward its maximum range. Keeping track of it while it was far was taxing, which meant it would allow both his Octominds and the Skill to continue to level.

“Maybe I should push it further. It’s not as if I’m going to need the Octominds right now…”

Yeah. Why not?

Henry added two more Octominds to the cluster controlling the Blood Clone. His awareness of the clone’s surroundings spiked, then, as the clone went further, it weakened again. At its edge, a hundred yards or so away, Henry would need to seriously focus to get detailed information out of the clones. If he sent it further, the Skill would fail and the clone would dissolve into mist.

“It’ll come with time. The Trickster could do it. The skill should level soon… and then I’ll know if levels extend the range. I mean… they must. Right?”

With him hitting a roadblock when it came to reproducing the Trickster’s illusory technique, and with Maurice busy fighting and surviving an army of ants, Henry decided to turn his attention to one of the most important facets of his abilities that he’d been neglecting so far. Well, until yesterday, that is.

Mana. And his practically nonexistent ability to directly control it.