Henry’s thoughts whirled as the B-Rank dolphin approached. Its presence was heavy, and the kraken found it hard to look away. Even though Henry could detect no Concepts or mana around Sundots, that only made him feel nervous.

Like the calm before the storm.

“[Where is Seasong, kraken?]”

The pleasant tone he associated with the dolphin was gone. If Henry had alarms bells, they’d be ringing about now, which was why he dismissed one of his blood clones and pulled in the two Octominds piloting it.

He needed brain power.

Henry moved his consciousness back to the cave and reinforced the connection to his relay. Through the clone, he answered.“[Hello to you as well—]”

The water around the clone immediately churned.“[Do not waste my time, kraken. Where. Is. Seasong.]”

While that cheerful conversation was taking place, Henry urgently spoke to the duo near him. “[Sundots and six dolphins are looking for you. He’s pissed. We have seconds. Plan?]”

Maurice froze, and the dolphin was no better. She stared at him, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. Henry gave her a moment as he considered his options as well.“[Called me kraken twice now. Not liking how he’s saying it either, so we’d better skedaddle. Will he follow us into the Current?]”

That shook Stormsong out of it. “[…Maybe? Not for long. And not too deep either… But we wouldn’t be safe. There’s—]”

Henry cut her off as he picked Maurice up and swam in front of her. “[We’re not safe now, Stormsong. Your people can track me even through my disguise. Any clues about that? Anyway, we’re moving. Feel free to follow.]”

Henry honestly didn’t mind if she followed or if she stayed. She might be safe with her pod, but he didn’t think he nor Maurice would be. The kraken triggered Riptide Rush and shot out of the cave, toward the wall of golden light. A mile or so away, his clone deflated and spoke to Sundots. “[Alright. Follow me.]”

Clone-Henry put the Current behind him and began swimming away, but quickly noticed that the dolphins weren’t following. He stopped and turned. “[Do—]”

He barely had the time to see a wall of green and gray move, then the connection to his blood clone cut off.

“[Welp. That didn’t work,]” he said to the dolphin who’d just caught up with him. “[Hope you’re all ready for the Current.]”

“[Adventure!]” shouted Maurice as he threw both claws up. Stormsong ignored him.

They were seconds away from the Current. His two remaining clones were trailing, and gaining as well. Each of them could use Riptide Rush, it turned out, so they were booking it toward him as he tried to get eyes on the dolphins through them.

The bright sea was getting close. An expanse of giant algae with stems as thick as trees stretched ahead, and Henry’s many hearts fluttered. It was earlier than expected, and they’d have to be extremely careful and keep a low profile, but it would be a new world of opportunities.

He would have loved to get better with his new skills before taking on this challenge… but that wasn’t how life worked. You couldn’t pick and choose your obstacles or when they showed up. And in any case, he was getting into the Current sooner or later.

Stormsong cursed. “[They’re close. And about your question, our clicks can detect mental signatures. If you’re around and thinking, you light up like a jellyfish to our sense. ]”

“[Good to know.]”

Seconds later, Henry heard the clicks. They were coming in faster than they’d been earlier, which meant his group might already be on the dolphins’ radar. Henry pushed more mana into Riptide Rush, and a few seconds later they entered the current. He dove down in a straight line, expecting to see a seabed he could glide along. Instead, he saw a wall of stone and coral that kept stretching downward until he couldn’t even see it. The sea was clear and bright, but visibility still took a hit after what looked like a half a mile.

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At least he could still keep going at full speed. If something came at him, he’d have time to react. Whether he could do anything about it was another matter. Still, he did his best to match the patterns of the growth he was swimming next to, calling out to the dolphin. “[Stormsong, can you camouflage?]”

“[I can’t.]”

Damn.“[You’re too conspicuous. Do you mind if I put you in storage? You too, Maurice.]”

Stormsong was quiet for a second while Maurice firmly objected as he anxiously stared at the new surroundings, one eye sat firmly watching behind them. Then she asked, “[Is it safe?]”

Henry’s heart hammered in his chest. There was always something unnerving about deep dives, especially when you couldn’t see what was waiting at the bottom.“[It is. Maurice has been in there multiple times. And Maurice, you should be setting a better example, you gremlin. If we’re attacked, I don’t know if you’ll be safe. You’ve seen what’s in this place.]”

That made the crab pause and drop his claws. “[… I’m sorry I can’t help more.]”

The dolphin’s eye flicked to him then back toward the depth and said nothing. Henry tapped the crab on his head and chuckled. “[Don’t worry. You’ll be there fast enough. Alright, both of you. In you go.]”

The frustrated crab was first to go. Next, Henry slowed enough to wrap an arm around the dolphin. He felt a light resistance when he tried to store her, but it quickly faded and the dolphin disappeared as well.

“Not as heavy as I expected, and I couldn’t even feel Maurice’s weight. Levels do matter, I guess,” Henry mused as he continued his dive. The clicks were still approaching, while the surrounding seas were as bright as they’d been since he’d gotten in. “Stubborn shits. Just leave already.”

Henry changed trajectory and approached one of the mind bogglingly tall stalks of algae while quickly shaping his arms into matching leaves. It was easy enough to hide his bulk along the stalk. The thing was literally the width of a giant tree trunk.

“Mental signature, huh…”

Henry continued swimming down—and didn’t let the death of one of his blood clones distract him. It died to the dolphins, but no matter. He could remake them, and he had work for his Octominds, anyway.

The kraken turned his attention to his Aspects, specifically the one responsible for his elusiveness. “Concept empower, right? What if I empowered my mimicry with Shiftiness? How about Misdirection as well?” Pooling four Octominds to help him, Henry pulled on the Aspects, praying it would work, while having the two remaining Octominds watch his surroundings and keep swimming down.

The clicks were getting closer.

Henry visualized the two mana types and pictured them merging together. This was all unfamiliar territory. He was running on instinct, and expected the two different mana types to fight him, but they didn’t.

They seamlessly merged into a new type of mana that captured the essence he was going for; Stealth.

Henry triggered Mimicking Arms once more and willed it to use this new pool of mana he’d created, and the skill did as he wished. The mana was siphoned away, and in return his skin rippled. For a second, Henry was confused as he came to a stop near one of the clumps of algae leaves.

For a split second, his mind was tricked into confusing his own arm with algae.

Henry refreshed his disguise and stuck himself to the algae tree while the enhanced skill hid him. With what remained of the new mana mixture he willed Faint Presence to be used as well, and then he waited.

He hoped his Octominds won’t reveal him. But then again, he didn’t think he was completely defenseless, either. The only threat was Sundots. The C-ranks had no chance of putting him down.

Henry waited while the clicks grew louder. His Octominds were busy moving his arms to match the surrounding flora while he had an eye half open. He breathed slowly, kept calm, and waited.

Sundots appeared five seconds later.

He was alone this time. It seemed like he didn’t want to risk the others in the Current, which made sense, considering the B-Ranks around. The dolphin came to a stop a bit below Henry. He clicked a few times, angling himself left and right. As he kept at it Henry’s excitement grew, but he put a lid on it.

“Mental signatures. Keep calm.”

Still… Henry couldn’t help having a thought; What would happen if the dolphin found him? Would this become a fight to the death? Or just a beat-down? And if it was the latter, which side would be inflicting it on the other?

Henry was nervous, sure. But he was confident in his offensive capabilities. He would absolutely take a thrashing from a B-Rank, but he doubted Sundots was capable of one-shotting him like he did to the clones. And he doubted the dolphin could tank everything Henry was capable of.

Far above, Henry’s remaining clone approached and moved deeper into the current. Sundots’ head turned toward it, but it seemed like he knew it was fake.

“Smart little shit.”

The dolphin tilted its head a few more times, clicking all the while. After a few seconds, one of the clicks registered as words to Henry’s hearing.

“I know you’re here, kraken. Show yourself.”

Henry kept still. It was a decent bluff, but he knew the dolphin couldn’t see him.

“Still… How long will he stay? And how long will my empowered camouflage last?”

The dolphin began roaming the area, clicking, and Henry wondered who was going to flinch first.