Henry started with his new ability slots.

  Still can’t use that new trait slot but now I have a spot for Arm Whip.

  Henry purchased the skill without a second thought. It was a synergetic Skill and he wanted it in his arsenal. He then dismissed the level-ups, quickly putting his new point into Strength.

  If I’m ever getting through whale skin, I need Strength. Now, for the main course.

  Henry pulled up the first skill upgrade and immediately noticed the difference.

  No options this time?

  There was no options or choices to make. He just had to pay for the upgrade and accept it, so he did.

  His mind and body buzzed in a familiar manner when he approved the upgrade. Once the process was over, he finally had access to the updated description. Henry started reading, and his mouth dropped.

  Holy shit.

  He had been hoping for something good, but what he got was much better than anything he’d expected.

  Bite (E) - Level 1

  F-Rank: Your bite inflicts more damage.

  E-Rank: Temporarily gain a property of your target's bite. The charge is available until used or until it expires

  Maw of the Trickster (E): Store anything you can fit in your maw in a private storage dimension. Total volume: 5L

  So this is how a cornerstone skill upgrades…

  Henry had to say, this was a lot better than he expected after his talk with Deepcaller. He even got a new skills, and it slotted itself right under Bite, as if it was part of it.

  Re-reading the new skill’s description, Henry knew his cheeks would be hurting by now if he only could smile. True, he still couldn’t store his turtle shell, but everything else? Cores? Samples? Anything he found interesting? Into the vault they’d go.

  The volume limit seemed fair, and he hoped it would get better as the Skill levelled and if it did, he’d eventually be able to store the magic-turtle shell. Maybe.

  Just gotta be optimistic.

  Henry immediately triggered his next cornerstone skill upgrade, hoping to see something as impressive as Bite’s upgrade. He wasn’t disappointed.

  Mimicking Arms (E) - Level 1

  F-Rank: Your arms can mimic shapes and lifeforms somewhat accurately.

  E-Rank: Temporarily mimic some of the physical properties of recently ingested prey. The charge is available until used or until it expires

  Alter Physique: Gradually increase or decrease your overall size and mass over the course of a few hours. Minimum mass of 1 Kg, maximum mass of 5 kg.

  I might be able to store the turtle shell after all.

  Henry sat down and re-read everything new he’d gotten.

  This changes everything. I need to take my species’ abilities a lot more seriously.

  Henry triggered Alter Physique. It gave him some small feedback, and he felt like he could vaguely set his desired size, so he tried pushing it as much as he could.

  He just wanted to know how large he could get. Weight meant mass, and mass meant more exerted force. Plus, he could always reduce his size again.

  I hope it’ll increase fast with levels. Same with Maw.

  The Skill began slowly feeding off his mana, and a slight tingle went through his body before fading away.

  Henry still reeled at his new abilities, then he eyes sidled to Inkjet. What about that one? Was it going to be just as good when it upgraded?

  He was looking forward to finding out and for that, he needed to start working on Inkjet as well. He glanced outside, and even through the excitement at the new skills he could feel fatigue creeping in.

  And Deepcaller and the whales are going to leave soon. I’m going to be alone.

  Henry shook his head. Every day that passed, he was getting better and better at braving this ocean and surviving within it. He was adapting.

  Eyes on the prize. Once I’m out of the water, I can worry about everything else.

  Henry looked around his turtle-home and out into the reef. He nodded to himself.

  A quick nap. To rest, and so Alter Physique can finish its work. Then back to hunting.

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  ***

  Henry looked down appreciatively at his thicker and longer arms. Even though five kilograms might not seem like much, he was easily around 30 to 40% larger than he’d been. He hadn’t thought of taking measurements before going to sleep, but when he woke up, he noticed how everything seemed tighter around him. It wasn’t enough for to trigger claustrophobia, but it was enough to make him feel slightly uncomfortable in his turtle-shell home.

  So, he thought to himself as he stared out into the lively reef around him. What’s the plan?

  He could go and explore the reef a bit further. He might encounter those Whipcrack sharks and whatever else lived in that area. Or he could head to the kelp forest.

  The serpent lives there… and that thing’s venom is terrifying.

  Henry paused. The new E-rank ability of his Bite would allow him to steal the serpent’s bite. But would he survive chewing on that poisoned meat? How would he even bring that creature down? It was clearly still too early for that.

  Also, shouldn’t I have some ability to resist poisons? Aren’t octopuses in general good with this sort of thing?

  He examined his abilities for a few minutes.

  ‘Accelerated Regeneration: Recover from injuries and ailments faster.’ That should help with venoms and poisons. Maybe it’s time I start acclimating myself with venoms and poisons. Just like last time the last trait I’d gotten, it could probably net me a poison resistance ability and if not, at least I’d have an idea about my limits and what I can heal from.

  Henry considered it. He could start with weaker toxins but before he tried anything strong, he should make sure he had enough Hoard Vitals charges.

  Maybe I could find that starfish again. It hadn’t been too powerful. I should start slow.

  Henry nodded to himself. The reef should be perfect for this.

  I’ll do some exploring there. Work on Inkjet… and see what I can find. Also collect some cores and max every stat point that costs less than E-tokens.

  And if he found something interesting, he could chuck it into his Maw.

  Henry was still giddy about that skill. How much would he be able to fit within it?

  One way to find out…

  ***

  The Riptide Shark turned belly up as the bleeding finally began to slop. Though it was still alive considering Identify could still show its levels.

  [Riptide Shark (F) - Lvl 61]

  This one’s probably the last one for the day. But damn is it massive.

  Finally, the shark trembled one last time, and its core fell to the side. Henry picked it up, moved it to his beak, and the core popped out of existence and somewhere in his soul, Henry felt a bead drop with its soft weight.

  Henry swam away from the fully decapitated carcass. Whipcrack sharks were already descending from the surface, and it was time to make himself scarce. He’d ambush one of them, but the damn things were never alone.

  Henry swam away, leaving them to their meal. He slowly navigated through the reef, squirted ink in the face of a Telekinetic eel that tried to stop him, and dove down when he saw a starfish.

  [Spike-crowned Starfish (F) - Lvl 6]

  Is this like the crown-of-thorns starfish? It has a few levels… Well. One way to find out. I should have enough health charges in case anything goes wrong.

  Henry put an arm on the starfish. Before he could force one of the thorns through his skin, the pointy bit exploded outward.

  But it didn’t pierce his skin.

  Henry looked down at his arm, sighed, then brought the limb up to his beak.

  Ah, this sucks, he thought, and bit his skin open. Next, he lined the wound to another spike and pressed. When the mechanism triggered, it barely stung but a second or two later, he felt a familiar burning sensation settle in.

  Henry activated Mimicking Arms, becoming a ball of algae, and waited.

  Let’s see what happens.

  He watched the local population while the venom struggled to work its way up his limb. It felt a bit numb, but so far he didn’t feel much aside from the local wound, so he wasn’t worried. There was no nausea, no tremors or shivering. Nothing.

  Henry picked one of the venomous spikes and crunched it with his beak.

  Hmm.. no skill.

  His mouth tingled as he watched the surroundings. This area seemed to have some dangerous denizens. There were the Whipcrack sharks, all of which were E-Rank. There were larger Riptide sharks. The crabs were present as well, and definitely larger, and the Telekinetic eel he’d seen was the third he’d found in the last hour.

  I was probably lucky to wake up near that monster’s territory. It seems like most locals knew the area was bad news and stayed away.

  The venom stopped burning after a few minutes. When Henry examined the area in question, it was spotless.

  I guess I do have some mild resistances. Or I can only be poisoned by something with a high enough level.

  Henry considered making another donation to the serpent to lure it out, but it might have gone elsewhere. And what were the odds that he’d be able to instigate another fight between it and the sharks?

  Probably better odds if I just go there and try to track it. Plus, there isn’t much around here other than Riptides that I can easily kill. Maybe there’s something good to hunt in the kelp forest?

  Henry hummed, watching the Whipcrack sharks roam far above. They’d already finished swarming over the Riptide, and nothing was left.

  Barely 5 minutes and they cleaned it up, Henry thought as he eyed the sharks. If I can get on one of their backs, I could use the usual trick. The problem is getting out of there after.

  He shook his head. They were swimming too far up.

  There must be an easier target around.

  Henry kept his algae disguise and began swimming back home, keeping an eye out above him and on his surroundings. Halfway through, he noticed a peculiar spot he must have missed earlier.

  He slowed down, and would have frowned if he’d had any eyebrows. It was a soft patch of sand, but no fish were around. Neither big nor small. Then someone stepped out from behind a rock at the edge of the patch and Henry’s blood froze in his veins.

  “Henry?” the voice echoed out of the luminescent figure. “Is that you?”

  His mother smiled up at him and opened her arms invitingly. “I missed you so much.”