After saying goodbye to Rocky near his usual haunt, Henry and Maurice approached the Otodus sharks’ territory in a grim but still resolute mood. What transpired had been a surprise, sure, but not fully unexpected. Both of them—and Henry to a greater degree—had always been anticipating potshots to come after him or his companion’s life. That was why he’d always tried to keep an eye on Maurice and Stormsong.
Henry had considered letting Stormsong know what had happened, but he believed she’d be just fine with the general populace of Thalis. Plus, now that one of the lords had tried to attack Rocky, Zerathstra would surely keep an eye on her and on them, and he would let her know when they headed back. Maybe she’d change her mind about staying, or maybe Zerathstra would have tightened the leash around his lords.
It wasn’t that he was completely trusting the ape either, but Stormsong wanted to be independent, and he just had to take a leap of faith that the A-rank didn’t want things to deteriorate more than they already had.
A problem for another time, Henry told himself as he looked around for a suitable ambushing spot while his clones went up searching for the perfect specimen. He knew his limits very well, and this week, he had to play to his strengths.
Two question marks is the maximum I should aim for, and even then it won’t be easy. Sure, I managed to one-shot the B-rank kraken, but I’m a natural counter to those, considering Krakenbane’s Wrath. A mid B-rank can do some serious damage to me, especially when empowered with Aspects.
With that in mind, he turned his attention to his navigator Octomind and ordered it to find him more krakens. B-ranks, preferably, and with high levels. If they turned out to be hostile, Henry could exploit his natural advantage. Otherwise, if he ended up finding other friendly, Rocky-like krakens, he’d leave them be. There were plenty of creatures around to hunt.
“[Get ready, Maurice.]”
The first shark was already approaching the crevice Henry was hiding in, coming right toward one of his clones. The Otodus was growing more frantic as the flecks of crushed, freshly caught tuna reached its senses.
Let’s get this done.
***
The next few days went by in a blur of action and blood as Henry and Maurice traveled from one target to another, only taking breaks when they were injured or tired enough to afford it, and thanks to this relentless schedule, the notifications and levels piled up with every powerful creature they struggled against.
Henry tasted blood as he gritted his beak, pulling against an Otodus shark while two of his arms sliced deep into gills. His remaining arms were applying dozens of Bite attacks, injecting the creature with every venom he had at his disposal and preventing it from trying to get away from Maurice’s imploding bubble.
Watchful Guardian (C) - Level 52 achieved!
Hunger of the Trickster (C): Level 4 -> Level 6
Another shark thrashed painfully as a tooth-studded bone club tenderized and tore a chunk off its side. With a pulse of mana, the six leviathan teeth turned black, drinking in the lights around them before another strike cratered the creature’s head, after which Henry took the time to upgrade Swiftness and Fury of the Trickster to C-rank.
Watchful Guardian (C) - Level 57 achieved!
Shiftiness of the Trickster (C): Level 8 -> Level 9
Swiftness of the Trickster (D): Level 7 -> Level 10
Fury of the Trickster (D): Level 9 -> Level 10
Fury of the Trickster (C) - Level 1
Evershifting Strike
D-rank: Whenever you strike, you can apply one or many of the following effects independently. Strike: [Whipping][Accelerated][Unimpeded] Impact:[Cutting][Heavy][Cavitational]
C-Rank: In exchange for a significant amount of mana, one of the effects can be greatly empowered.
Swiftness of the Trickster (C) - Level 1
Blink
Actives:
F-Rank: Teleport to a nearby location you can see.
E-Rank: Range is increased while cost is decreased.
D-Rank: Create temporary anchors. When an anchor is within range, Blinking to it is significantly cheaper.
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C-Rank: Create up to one Recall Anchor. When Blinking to a Recall Anchor, range is dramatically increased. Time of channeling depends on distance.
Henry eyed the upgrades for a moment, then, using one of his blood clones, he cast the C-rank Blink and made the clone into a recall anchor. As he watched the skill take effect, he was tempted to stop and observe it, but he had other things to do right this moment, and so, he went back into the action.
At least I have a way out if things get too hairy.
A Thundermaw kraken slipped by his slicing arm and wrapped two of its arms around Henry’s head before delivering enough lightning to melt metal from its arms and mouth. Even Henry’s Octominds were stunned for a moment, but Trickster’s Fortitude had recently been upgraded to C-rank. With a boost to the ability, and with a pinch of Fury and Vitality, he managed to break through the paralyzing effect and drove the leviathan club into the side of its stomach before cutting halfway through its brains with an empowered, cutting Evershifting Strike.
Watchful Guardian (C) - Level 63 achieved!
Fury of the Trickster (C): Level 1 -> Level 3
The leviathan club hit the metallic crab’s carapace, and the tough shell cracked with an audible ring as the black leviathan teeth completely obliterated the defensive skill of the crustaceans. Unfortunately, landing the hit against the surprisingly fast crustacean had not come cheap. Looking down at the two neatly severed limbs, Henry triggered his accelerated healing skill and regrew them before he went back on the offensive. Too bad electricity didn’t work at all against these ones. Henry would have preferred to fry them instead of having to break through their shells.
Watchful Guardian (C) - Level 70 achieved!
Vitality of the Trickster (C): Level 4 -> Level 5
Henry and Maurice hovered above the seabed while Maurice periodically sent small bubbles to implode on the seabed to annoy their target. Henry rolled his arms under him, still wincing from the venom of the last individual they’d had to deal with, but if he did things right, this should also be easy levels.
The sand below them began to collapse inwardly, then a massive set of mandibles burst out of the ground in a geyser of dust and rocks. Multiple black antennas twitched and undulated until the tiny purple eyes and face of the creature found them, at which point it clacked its mandibles and more of its chitinous black and purple body came out of the ground.
[Voracious Bobbit (B) - Lvl ??]
“[They don’t even taste good,]” complained the crab.
“[Gotta have to agree there. But once we’re back to land, we’ll get some nice fruits to wash out the crappy taste.]”
Watchful Guardian (C) - Level 78 achieved!
Misdirection of the Trickster (C): Level 9 -> Level 10
Swiftness of the Trickster (C): Level 3 -> Level 5
A few hours past the worm territory, the two arrived at a richly populated reef system, but he wasn’t able to approach as no sooner had the territory come into view, they were shot.
[Stinglance Seahorse (B) - Lvl ???]
Henry retreated temporarily, cursing at the pulsing pain running up his arm. When he looked down, he saw the green-hued needle melting and entering his flesh. He considered cutting the whole arm off for a second, but he might as well get some venom training. It wasn’t often that toxins posed a threat to him, nowadays.
“[Did you ask it already?]”
“[Nope. Then again, it didn’t really give me a chance. We’ll head back, I just need to check a couple of things first.]”
“[Okay,]” said Maurice as he pulled out a slice of tuna and began munching.
[Chimeric Hermit Crab (C) - Lvl 71]
He’s progressing well, Henry thought. There was only a day or two left, if his internal clock was right. It should be plenty enough for them to make it back on time to Thalis for the duel, maybe even pick up Rocky on the way if the kraken wanted to tag along.
I hope that rock will still work, though…
Considering the nature of the recall ability and the limit of his clone’s range, Henry decided to switch the recall anchor to a normal looking stone he’d buried in a cave. He had to hide it, as no sooner had the skill taken effect that the object started to glow, and he didn’t need anything to pick the stone up and drag it god knows where.
Alright… Let’s see how far I’ve gotten.
Hunger of the Trickster (C): Level 6 -> Level 9
Shiftiness of the Trickster (C): Level 9 -> Level 10
Misdirection of the Trickster (C): Level 9 -> Level 10
Thaumaturgy of the Trickster (C: Level 8 -> Level 10
Vitality of the Trickster (C): Level 5 -> Level 8
Swiftness of the Trickster (C): Level 3 -> Level 5
Fury of the Trickster (C): Level 3 -> Level 7
Henry was very happy with his progress, and as he gazed toward the reefs ahead, he felt confident about trying out for a three-question-mark creature. If he managed to win against such a powerful being, he could jump all the way to the mid-eighties in level. Maybe even hit the nineties if he got lucky. By now, two-marks barely gave three or four levels each, and as he eyed the oversized seahorse glaring at them from across the water, Henry was very much aware that meant he’d most likely already won the duel, but he didn’t dwell on that.
For now, he had triple-marks to introduce himself to.
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