Henry considered his options for a few minutes, but it didn’t take him long to realize he relied too much on the flexibility of his limbs when he fought bigger creatures. A bladed instrument would have its advantages, but it would also limit his movement and in any case, he had no joints to use something as rigid as a blade. Once he could use such, he’d have the upgrade still waiting for him, potentially, so for now, he made his choice and after another quick outing, paid for the tokens required.

  Razor Arm (E) - Level 1: Summon a razor-sharp blade along the edge of a single arm. [+Sharpness]

  With that done, Henry had one item on his task list left to deal with, which was the point he’d earned from passing level 30.

  I’m having trouble with my mana… or whatever it is that the skills use. Is it linked to Constitution, or is it Spirit? I can’t tell… but I could put this point in Spirit, and that’ll put the stat at 10 points. If it’s anything like the 10 points in Constitution, the change should be intense, and I’d be able to confirm if mana is linked to Spirit.

  That sounded good to him, so without any further delays, he assigned the point.

  This time, there were no twitching arms or pain in his muscle and skin. Instead, it was as if he’d just eaten the most weed-laced brownie in existence. It lasted barely for a minute, but even though it was unpleasant, if the improvements were as good as they’d been for his Constitution, he’d look forward to them.

  Henry sighed and leaned back against the sharp rock. He wrapped an arm around a rock, just so he did not drift out of his hiding spot, and began let his mind drift.

  I need to rest anyway…

  Henry found it really easy to fall back asleep. He hoped he’d get to upgrade Hoard Vitality soon, and he resolved to keep an eye on other animals with regenerative capabilities. He needed something to recuperate faster.

  ***

  When he woke back, Henry decided to cancel his plans to go see the whales today.

  They’d said they would be around for a few cycles, so he assumed he had plenty more time to talk with them and ask questions. In the meantime he was a rock, sitting on top of a reef outcropping.

  He’d come up here after checking in on his turtle home. He would have gone exploring or even hunted more actively, but he was low on Hoard Vitality charges–or more accurately, he only had three charges–and he needed to build a larger safety net before he took big risks again.

  His eyes followed the unwitting soon-to-be victim as it swam by.

  [Riptide Shark (F) - Lvl 26]

  Being safe didn’t mean he couldn’t take the occasional shark when they brought themselves to his doorstep. And he was staying away from the larger specimens until he felt better. At least until he was more confident in his upgraded skills.

  Henry waited patiently for the shark to swim close. When it got as close as it would get, which was around 15 feet away, Henry surged up.

  Telekinesis gripped the shark in an unbreakable grasp. It activated its dash ability, and the purple hue of Henry’s skill flared, but after a couple of seconds, the red glow of Riptide Rush faded, and the shark found itself still locked in place.

  Henry barely felt the backlash as he briskly wrapped an arm around the throat of the frozen shark before he turned into a blade, then he whipped the limb back with as much force as he could muster.

  The arm came back with swirly of stark red blood. The shark throat was cut three-quarters through, as if Henry had just sliced through jelly and he watched, backing away, as the shark thrashed weakly against his psychic grip while its blood filled the waters around it.

  A few seconds later, Henry collected the core before heading back down to his perch and disguising himself again.

  I didn’t feel that used a lot of energy. I can still go again a few more times, so I’m pretty sure Spirit is the stat for mana.

  The shark’s corpse slowly sank until it came to rest on a bed of corals 20 feet away. Henry watched its brethren come out of the dark waters, attracted by the smell of blood.

  I wish I could collect some samples. Of everything.

  He looked up at the water surface, far in the distance and spoke in his mind. “Do you hear me, System? Something to carry my things in would be really appreciated. Just think about it, alright?”

  Henry watched the sharks begin tearing into the carcass with a renewed hope. He’d got his ass beaten, true. But two of his skills had just been upgraded, and the difference was night and day. He’d be much more efficient at taking down prey and it would only get better from now.

  The man in octopus body watched from his perch as the sharks swarmed the dead specimen. Further away, the stalks of the kelp forest continued to sway as always, like a wall he’d eventually need to cross. But at least, there’d be cover enough he’d be able to swim up to the surface.

  Once I have enough charges I might be able to take a peek over there. Or maybe go east instead and see if–

  A hissing sound reached him and Henry stilled, then slowly turned back to the kelp forest.

  Out of the wall of green, an emerald snake-like thing came out, slithering toward the frenzied sharks at a placid pace.

  Henry stared, beak slack, while his eyes threatened to pop from his head.

  What is that?

  It was at least 40 feet long, and the sharks, even through their frenzy, dispersed when the newcomer opened its mouth and screeched.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  [Juvenile Sea Serpent (E) - ?]

  That’s juvenile?!

  The words of the whales about the dangers of the Current were beginning to make sense if this is what could be found in the ‘safe’ areas. What kinds of monstrosities were around?

  Henry examined the being as it picked up the carcass and swallowed it in one go. It had shiny green scales. Ridges and fins along its back and thick plates along its stomach. Yellow reptilian eyes, and what he believed were back-swept horns?

  No gills that he could see, though. Or any obvious weakness that he could use to his advantage. When it finally turned away and swam back from whence it came, Henry exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

  Holy shit. It’s an E-rank, too…

  How many levels and what kind of abilities could he get from something like that?

  ***

  “[You wish… to acquire… our abilities?]”

  “[Yes. So you don’t always have to do the mind thing, and so I can talk with other intelligents beings if I ever meet them.]”

  “[It is called… a mind-bridge.]”

  This time, three whales had come to greet him. Tideweaver, Deepcaller, and Wavecrest–the one who he’d first interacted with.

  They’d told him to wait as soon as he approached the fields of golden algae. Over the next few minutes, the calves faded away in the distance, but Henry didn’t take offence. Considering how wary they’d been when they’d seen him at first, he could understand them wanting to be cautious.

  Still, what could he even do to those calves? They must be higher-level than he was and in any case, Henry thought it’d be rude to ask, so he had kept the thoughts to himself and hoped they weren’t picking on his thoughts and instead of letting himself spiral about what they sensed from him and about what they were thinking, he started asking questions. At first, it has been about Identify and the question marks, and he was very much glad he’d gotten a clear answer for it, as it might have taken him a while to figure out. Next, he had asked them about getting their skill.

  “[A worthy… pursuit. The gift… of words… through thoughts,]” said a second horned whale. This one was called Deepcaller, and he was the nicest one so far.

  Wavecrest spoke next.“[How… would you… acquire it?]”

  Henry stood straight–as far as his soft body allowed–and, taking a deep breath, he sent back. “[A small bite is enough. The smallest bit of flesh from you would allow my trait to copy it.]”

  There was an uncomfortable silence where Henry hoped he wasn’t about to be squished. It was immediately broken by the trilling sounds of their laughter.

  “[If you… manage to pierce…our flesh,]” said Deepcaller, “[you are… welcome to… it.]”

  Henry peered up suspiciously at the three whales, who seemed pretty smug all of a sudden. “[I’m not getting anything, am I?]”

  Another trill of laughter, then Deepcaller raised a flipper. “[Try… here. It is… softest.]”

  Henry wanted to argue that maybe their tongues would be softer, but that sounded like a good way to have his brains turned to mush.

  Oh well. Worth a shot, he thought as he swam up for a few seconds until he reached Deepcaller’s extended flipper.

  Henry landed on the giant limb and gripped the edge with a couple of arms. Their skin was smooth to the touch. It was dull blue-gray with no barnacles in sight, but more scarred than he could have imagined. One couldn’t swim a couple of feet without finding teeth or claw marks. Some scars were closer to craters or deformities.

  Weren’t they supposed to be tough?

  Well, he was about to learn for himself.

  Henry started with his beak. He lined the sharp points and slowly tried to work them through the skin. He twisted around, tried to pull or grip anything, but nothing would give. He would have had more success biting through a sheet of steel.

  “[Holy shit.]”

  Another trill of laughter.

  Henry activated Razor Arm and pressed it against the smooth surface. Nothing.

  “[This is incredible,]” Henry said, more impressed than mad.

  “[Your wonder… is appreciated,]” said Deepcaller.

  “[Can I try one more thing?]”

  “[Of… course.]”

  Tideweaver watched silently. She hadn’t said much since telling him her name.

  Wavecrest spoke. “[We will be here… for a while. You will… have a chance to try… again. We see… that you have already… grown in strength. You might have… an infinitesimal chance… of getting through… our flesh… by the time… we leave.]”

  Encouraging. Also condescending. And probably right.

  Henry swam to the extremity of the flipper and found the smallest part of it, then turned his attention to his interface. On his way here, he’d downed a couple of sharks so he had enough tokens to get some stats points. He bought the sixth points for Strength and Dexterity, waited for them to sink through, then wrapped a arm around the flipper and exhaled. He activated Razor Arm and slowly pulled with every bit of strength he could manage.

  His limb thinned from the intensity of the pull, stretching and burning. Henry might have been a second or two from tearing it off his body, but for a moment he thought he was getting through.

  Then the skill failed, and the gray line of magic the ran along his arm dissipated into motes. When Henry unrolled his sore arm, there was no mark on the flipper. Nothing.

  It took him a second to process that. Then he looked up at the giant eye that was giving him an amused side-eye.

  Henry narrowed his eyes and hopped off the flipper, swimming back down. “[I have ideas. I will be back. You’re lucky I don’t have hands any more.]” He needed something sharp and something to act as a lever. Which might be impossible for him to get at the moment.

  Dammit.

  “[I guess I’ll go train with some sharks,]” he said, landing on his chosen perch at the edge of the field fo golden algae.

  “[Good fortune… in your… hunt… Henry,]” said Deepcaller.

  They were preparing to leave when Henry had a thought.

  “[Wait. How do you grow in strength? Do you also hunt?]”

  They kept swimming away. “[The Great Current… feeds us. We do not… need… to hunt.]”

  Henry watched them swim away in awe.

  What an incredible sight. I wonder there’s magic kill in this Great Current.