Henry’s clone froze as he recognized the being below him. It took him a second at first, but when he saw the stone-ridge yellow eyes, and when the rock-like arms slowly unfurled, there was no more doubt. And even Identify did not struggle to ascertain the nature of the creature looking up at him.

  [Stoneclad Kraken (B) - Lvl ?]

  The kraken lay quietly below, watching the supposedly invisible blood clone. It didn’t rise in the water. It was content to wait, and from its oddly-calm mind, Henry felt curiosity. Amusement, even.

  Having been made, he dropped the invisibility. With a flex of his will, he made sure to alter his skin so it displayed a clear, neutral pattern that matched the colors of the sand below him.

  The B-rank kraken watched him nonchalantly. Its colors weren’t veering dark, but Henry thought that the kraken’s real skin might be difficult to observe, as while he approached, he realized the being in front of him really lived up to its name. The bits of stone and minerals on its flesh were not a camouflage or some type of mimicry Henry could have come up with. No. Those were real rocks. Literally stone-clad.

  Henry came to stop a few yards away, and now the difference in size between his clone and the kraken was much more apparent. But surprisingly, he was almost sure his newly-improved main body was larger.

  I wonder if it can control its size, Henry thought, then he met the kraken’s gaze. “[Hello.]”

  The kraken tensed. Its arms curled under it as it began to rise, and for a second, Henry felt a swell of magic come from the creature as curiosity was suddenly replaced by wariness.

  “[I don’t mean any harm. Do you understand me?]”

  The kraken stared at the clone for a moment, then the wariness abated. It didn’t fade, but the creature did not turn hostile like the Trickster had in the past. Instead, it reached out with a rock- and quartz-studded arm.

  Henry eyed the limb, then returned the gesture. He expected it to be some sort of greeting, and if there was any danger… Well, this was only a clone. He could make more. And honestly, he was confident in being able to beat this kraken if push came to shove, but if it was as peaceful as it seemed, then he’d leave it alone. Still, he didn’t want to rush things. After all, it was rare for him to meet a non-speaking intelligent species that didn’t immediately resort to schemes or violence. Aside from the ray they’d met on their way to the Current. That one creature was both intelligent and peaceful, but it did not want to engage.

  Their arms touched, with the kraken’s gently tapping on Henry’s for a couple of seconds before it retreated under the creature, only to come back out with something intertwined in its limb. The kraken’s limb unrolled, then a closed, boulder-sized clam fell on the white sand with a puff of dust. Henry looked up, and found the kraken watching him. Its eyes swiveled to the shell, then back to Henry.

  Between them, a fleshy pseudopod came out of the shell and the mollusk began trying to drag itself away.

  [Lithovore Clam (D) - Lvl 62]

  Henry put an arm on the clam, and the creature hid back within its shell. The kraken watched him expectingly, and now, the wariness was mostly gone. In its stead, some sort of excitement at the novelty. Curiosity and, surprisingly, relief.

  That last one was odd. Henry knew this could all be some sort of odd mating ritual, but he was almost sure it wasn’t. The creature in front of him wasn’t running on instincts at all. It was understanding him, and he could sense its emotions. They weren’t a mish-mash of chaotic impulses like he’d expect from non-sapient beings. They were still chaotic, sure, but there was subtlety, and there was some sort of order and intelligence that kept everything in control. For example, earlier, he’d sensed an impulse to attack or leave, but it was soon smothered by curiosity and carefulness. All that to say, the creature in front of him was not at the mercy of its whims. And so, he decided to return the favor.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “What have we got in storage, number 1?”

  Henry quickly parsed through the mental whiteboard of everything he had in storage, but there was one item he had plenty of. And so, with a flourish, he presented one of the Sparkfin tunas to the kraken.

  “[Today’s catch. I hope you like it.]”

  He had to pull out the smallest of the creatures, and even then, he had to use the out-of-body hack to activate his skill or he wouldn’t have been able to extract the carcass, as it was many times his clone’s size. But Henry had had a lot of practice.

  The kraken got up on its many arms and approached cautiously. Its emotions were in a flurry, but if he could reduce it to one word, he’d say it was surprised. Shocked, even. It kept looking down at the tuna, then back to Henry. Even though it couldn’t communicate telepathically, the surprise was turning into such an intense curiosity that Henry believed it was almost about to get a hold of him and shake him for answers.

  “[This is my clone. If you’re wondering how I beat that, my main body’s a bit stronger than this.]”

  Surprise and curiosity, but this time, it was sprinkled with a pinch of satisfaction. It had more questions, but it had also gotten an answer, and so it reached out and wrapped an arm around the tuna before it brought it to its beak and began happily munching on it. Henry looked down at the clam in his arm, then up at the kraken.

  “[My friend’s with me. He is a crab, and he has a shell. Can you promise not to attack him? I can sense your emotions, by the way. You can think your answers and I’ll probably understand you.]”

  The Stoneclad kraken paused, confused for a second, then it continued eating while one of its arms reached out and tapped Henry on his arms. Through its mind, acceptance and contentment shone above everything else.

  This is either the friendliest kraken I’ve ever met, or it’s playing me like a fiddle.

  No matter. It was only low B-rank. If it got aggressive, it wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell to survive. So, while the kraken ate, Henry and Maurice swam with their main bodies to meet this new acquaintance. It didn’t take Henry long to arrive, barely a few minutes, but as soon as he crested a formation of rock and the rocky kraken came into view, it froze, and the wariness spiked once more.

  How does it keep seeing me? Or is it sensing me some other way?

  Henry dismissed the invisibility once more and decided to add it to the list of upgrades, though in its case, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to push it to evolve. For Mana Nexus, he was doing condensing exercises, and for both Domain and Fortitude, he planned on getting in some fights and pushing the abilities then. What was he supposed to do for invisibility?

  “[It’s me, Henry,]” he sent as he landed a few yards away. Now that he was here with his main body, he confirmed that he was larger. Not by much, but he had at least 20 to 30% of height and volume.

  The kraken shied away for a moment, half-eaten tuna still in its arm, then it hesitantly extended an arm in greeting once more.

  “[Hello again,]” Henry said as he tapped the kraken back. “[This is Maurice. He’s smart, almost like both of us. And he can talk as well.]”

  “[Hi! And hey,]” broadcasted the crab, swiping at Henry with a claw before he scuttled closer to the kraken and waved an arm.

  The rock-covered being stared down at him, then at Henry, then two arms extended forward, and Henry tensed up.

  Please don’t do it.

  The kraken, still holding onto his tuna, gingerly picked up Maurice and peered at him from up close, slightly turning him over. Henry felt wonder from the kraken, but he didn’t lower his guard as the kraken turned over Maurice in his arm for a couple more seconds, then he put him down and gave him a gentle tap on the head before it looked questioningly back at Henry.

  “[What is it?]”

  The kraken seemed to think for a moment, then it pointed at him, and a powerful emotion of knowing rippled out of its mind. It did the same with Maurice, but when it pointed to itself, there was a question.

  “[Your name? Do you have a name?]”

  The answer to that was a negative, if Henry interpreted the kraken right. It seemed like it wanted one, but before Henry could brainstorm something for it, the kraken’s head snapped to the side. Alertness. Fear.

  The kraken instantly flew off the sand toward the rocks, but it stopped for a moment to pull on one of Henry’s arms. As they swam away, with Maurice in Henry’s arms, the kraken sent more controlled emotions at him. Both of danger, and ‘us’.

  Henry wasn’t sure if the kraken meant something was dangerous to them, or if the danger was from something like them.

  Click here to join

  If you want to support me and read ahead, there's . I use the new subscription model, so you will not get double billed on the first of the month.