Henry eyed the text on his interface and hummed.

  You have reached your limit of class skills. If you wish to replace a skill, be warned that you will lose all levels and progress made with the replaced skill permanently.

  Replace Telekinesis by Riptide Rush?

  Henry canceled it and dismissed the skill menu, then eyed his remaining 25 Tokens and sighed.

  Why can’t I use these for levels?

  Nothing answered him. So Henry loaded his Stats and stared at them.

  Strength: 5

  Constitution: 8

  Spirit: 6

  Perception: 6

  Dexterity: 5

  Fine. Let’s see… Every stat aside from Perception and Constitution costs 20 Tokens to upgrade. Which means stats from cores don’t count against the purchase cap.

  Henry considered his options. Strength seems worth it. It helped me keep control of the crab and the eel. And it allows me to hang on to the sharks when they get crazy. On the other hand, some skills are getting expensive mana wise. Like Telekinesis. Or Razor Arm…”

  Henry hummed to himself then nodded. Yeah. I’m getting the last point in Spirit.

  With that purchase made, Henry turned his attention outward. He wanted to hunt some more sharks, but couldn’t risk being flung into the middle of nowhere along with them. Was there a way he could trap them? Could he immobilize them with Telekinesis enough for them to bleed out?

  Worth a try when my mana refills.

  In the meantime… he could do some fish-watching. And add more charges to Hoard Vitality. Like a responsible person. Especially if he was going to keep taking risks.

  Henry sighed, then got to work.

  ***

  Henry’s second Riptide Shark floated on its back, blood clouding the water around it.

  Telekinesis worked well on them to keep them immobilized. Though in this second fight, his mana had been brought down so low Henry felt he was close to passing out and even minutes later, he still had a splitting headache. Whenever the shark had tried to flail or move, Henry had to burn through his mana to keep them still. Whenever they tried to force their skill through, it clashed with Henry’s Telekinesis and he paid dearly for it.

  It had been perfect to level up Telekinesis. The skill just hit level 5. Razor Ar, gained a level as well, but progress there–like most other skills–had slowed down.

  Henry retreated to a nearby hidden cave, then consumed the red core.

  Undecided Marine Biologist - Level 14 achieved!

  …

  Undecided Marine Biologist - Level 16 achieved!

  1x Stat point awarded.

  Riptide Shark Core (F) contained significant Spirit Stats. 1x Spirit Stat point awarded.

  Nice. But Spirit again? I guess it makes sense, considering how ungodly expensive to use their skill is. And that free point also goes to Constitution.

  Spirit: 6 -> 7

  Constitution: 8 -> 9

  Henry waited an hour or so for his mana to refill while recovering from another use of Hoard Vitality. Somewhere along the way, both his health and mana had begun to recover faster. Maybe it was due to Constitution. Maybe it was due to Spirit. Or both. He wasn’t sure just yet, but he assumed it’ll get clearer as time went on. For now though, it was time to go exploring.

  But not south.

  South was the deep water where the huge thing lived. West was the kelp forest, east was more shallows and reef, and north… he didn’t know. He hadn’t explored that area much.

  I wonder if I can make myself invisible with Mimicking Arms.

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  Maybe. Eventually. Though for now it wouldn’t work. He could camouflage, but if he wanted to do the chameleon thing and constantly shift his colors to blend into his environment, he’d have to recast the skill over and over, and his mana reserve could never.

  For now, a humble moss boll or a simple boring rock would have to do.

  Henry looked around, trying to memorize his surroundings. He didn’t want to lose this spot and lose his turtle-home.

  Should I start carrying it with me? Like a hermit crab?

  Worth considering, honestly. Though its shine might attract too much attention.

  I’ll stay close. And I’ll keep the kelp forest in sight.

  And with that, Henry went to explore. He had to admit, he was pretty excited.

  ***

  Henry discovered that he could travel for a while along the kelp forest. The reef went on for close to an hour as he carefully made his way north, eyes peeled for predators and dangers.

  I must have been at the edge of this territory…

  Which had been a good thing. Because Henry was noticing more and larger sharks. Riptides and others. Eels, rays, larger crabs and more aggressive fish.

  He’d had to ditch the algae disguise after the third butterflyfish came to nibble on him and then got mad when it turned out he wasn't edible.

  He was now a rock.

  Henry finally reached the edge of the reef and as he finally saw what was beyond it, his breath caught.

  A field of golden stalks stretched endlessly ahead of him. It was the same odd glowing algae he’d been encountering for the last few minutes, but he never expected to see so much of it all at once.

  It was a whole plateau of the things. The ground seemed to slope downward, going on until the glow was overpowered by the briny sea.

  Then he saw movement.

  High, high above the field of golden algae, there was a whale.

  Whales…?

  There was more than one but they were too far, and when a familiar call reached his ears, Henry decided this trip had been well worth it.

  He wanted to get close, but as he eyed the field of stalks swaying ahead of him, he knew it’d be suicide to swim above it. It was a prime venue for ambushes, and he didn’t know what lived there. He could see fish hiding in the field, popping out from time to time. But if there were fish, then there must be predators.

  Also, it’s not really guaranteed that they’re friendly whales.

  Henry sat on the edge of the reef, as a rock, staring at the vista ahead, and time passed.

  He saw what he believed to be some variants of tuna, too far away to Identify. He saw a terrifyingly large shark that immediately turned tail when the whales noticed it and blared an aggressive tune.

  At some point the whales had gotten closer, and Henry saw calves.

  This is their calving ground…

  Henry watched silently, occasionally listening to their sing-song calls, and decided that things weren’t as awful as they seemed.

  He would have never experienced something like this back on Earth. He would have needed to find the site, worn scuba gear, and made all sorts of other preparations, but now?

  He could just wrap his limbs around the ridge of a stone and watch. He still had to be careful, of course. He was in an environment infested by predators and other dangers he knew nothing about… but he was growing in strength.

  On his second or third day, the eel would have absolutely killed him. But barely a week later, he was able to dispatch it with minimal injuries. And the punctures healed within the hour.

  He was killing sharks. As a foot-long octopus. Give or take a few inches. He couldn’t measure himself very well. His whole perspective was messed up.

  Henry glanced down at camouflaged arms. Would he ever be able to get his old body back? Would he even make it to safety?

  He shook his head. He should focus on surviving for now. And getting stronger.

  It’s odd how most creatures have a single Skill so far, he thought as he eyed a passing Riptide Shark. The starfish did have two though… Does it have to do with how the System does things? Or is this why the System said I was lucky? I did start with handful of skills. Or maybe because everything was lower level?

  It’ll be difficult to find the right answers by himself. Though he’d find out eventually. Just gotta live until then. There was hope. Maybe he’d someday find a way out of the ocean and–

  Henry’s thoughts slowed.

  One of the whales was swimming in a wide circle which should soon put it within Identity distance in a few moments. Henry excitedly primed himself to see what he could glean from this interaction.

  The whale was growing larger. More defined as it approached.

  Blue whale? No… larger. Sorta resembles a gray whale in shape though. Are those horns?!

  The whale swam closer, and Henry triggered Identify again. This time, it worked, but it didn’t give him much.

  [? (?) - Lvl ?]

  That… was concerning. That was the same output he’d gotten from the monster in his backyard.

  Henry flattened himself against the stone below him as a shiver coursed through his body. Maybe he should have watched from further away. He was… too close.

  Yeah… wait for it to move on, then leave. That’s enough for today. I have a trek home anyway.

  The whale’s movement slowed. Henry shivered.

  It’s just a coincidence, it’s just–

  The thought came to halt as he saw the large eye trained on him as the whale kept moving. Henry swallowed. He felt his arms tremble.

  I’m disguised… It can’t see me. It’s a coincidence.

  Then, to his relief, it fluked its tail then picked up speed. Henry watched it move away, and his limbs relaxed. He hadn’t noticed how tense he was.

  Damn. That was scary. What–

  “[What… are… you?]”

  The voice rang his head, overpowering all thoughts.

  Henry froze. He slowly tilted his head upward, and came eye-to-eye with another whale.

  It was closer to the surface. But close enough that he could see its eye. No, eyes, as there was a smaller eye above the large one, and it was looking at him as well.

  A mountain was hovering above him. Seeing through his disguise. It had asked him a question.

  Henry, almost unconsciously, used Identify once more.

  [Bahamut Whale (?) - Lvl ?]