Henry brought the Skill levels he’d been accumulating up and grinned.

  Boy oh boy. Hard work does pay off, huh.

  He had to admit. While his own levels might have not been affected much ever since the Trickster’s fight, his constant training, along with his heavy use of Octominds and the frequent clashes with wildlife had done his abilities a lot of good.

  Hunger of the Trickster (D): Level 4 → Level 5

  Arms of the Trickster (E): Level 9 → Level 10

  Lightning Discharge (E): Level 6 → Level 10

  Unimpeded Arms (F): Level 7 → Level 10

  Amplified Impact (F): Level 7 → Level 10

  Riptide Rush (F): Level 3 → Level 8

  My storage capacity is now… 85 cubic meters. Nearly an extra 30 cubic meters for just one level. That’s an above average room. Soon enough, I’ll have an Olympic pool’s worth of storage.

  Henry stretched his arms. It was difficult to wrap his mind around such a large volume, but he couldn’t deny his excitement. It felt nice to be able to carry and store anything he might want to. He remembered how limiting the Skill had been at first, barely allowing him to keep a few pieces of meat back then. Not even the turtle shell could fit, back then, but as soon as he evolved past his octopus form, the Skill’s capacity had exploded upward. And it just kept growing with every level.

  Alright, let’s evolve the Octominds and see what I’m getting there.

  Henry paid the modest cost, leaving him with around fifteen C-Tokens. While the haul from taking down the weak C-rank beasties on their way here had been decent, it wasn’t anywhere near enough to unlock the upgrades he’d acquired from the Trickster.

  But that would be his nextt priority.

  Light surged around him, kicking off some small rocks and making the algae dance for a few moments as it sank into his flesh and soon enough, the process was over. Henry excitedly brought up the new description.

  Arms of the Trickster (D) - Level 1:

  Assistance of the Octominds:

  Passives:

  Improved Cognition: Your mental faculties are improved by the individual brains in your many arms.

  Actives:

  F-Rank: Amplify the effects of a skill that can benefit from increased cognition.

  E-Rank: Multiple Octominds can be temporarily pooled to provide a more efficient and substantial assistance.

  D-Rank: The Octominds are capable of activating Skills.

  Razor Arm (D):

  Summon a razor-sharp blade along the edge of a single limb.

  Arm Whip (D):

  Strike out with a fast and heavy blow, creating a sonic boom that can stun the target.

  Arcane Arm (F):

  Summon an arm made of mana.

  Yes! Henry exclaimed as he pumped an arm.

  In the past, he’d noted how the Octominds could help him trigger and maintain Skill, but they could never do it by themselves. Now though… Now he could have an Octomind on permanent healing duty to top him off whenever his health got low. Whether Henry was asleep, passed out, or busy fighting, the magic would still kick in, ensuring he would always get a chance at survival no matter how addled he might be.

  This opens up so many option, Henry thought. A healing arm. An emergency escape arm that would cast Blink whenever he got too low. Automatic illusions. Telekinetic projectile defense. Maybe even some sort of training? Could he have some Octominds doing mana-exercice non-stop?

  That ability in itself wasn’t an active Skill per se, but he didn’t think that would be a barrier to the new and improved minds in his arms. They seemed more… potent. Sharper. More present.

  I’ll have to test this all out soon.

  Over the next hour or so, Henry upgraded Unimpeded Arms, Amplified Impact, Lightning Discharge and Arcane Arm. His heavy use of the last Skill through his recent testing seemed to have unlocked the upgrade–or it might have been the Aspect leveling. Either way, it was time to bring it up to speed.

  Summoning the magical arm, Henry focused on trying to modify it. To his astonishment, he could. He could add joints or spikes. He could create a razor-edge along the limb, but he couldn’t make a crab pincer or a human arm just yet.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Maybe he had to be familiar with the form before he could morph the Arcane Arm into it? That would explain why he could add joints and spikes to it. If he managed to create a human arm with Shapeshifting Limb, would he be able to summon a magical human arm to punch his opponents with?

  It would certainly be interesting to see.

  And that’s all for now… Though the next batch of upgrades should be here soon. I should also focus on getting Mana Nexus to upgrade. That Skill practically doubles mana reserves whenever it goes up a level, and mana is everything. More of it won’t hurt, and that should allow me to use Blink without going broke.

  Looking out into the dolphin’s settlement, Henry watched. Soon, they’d get a chance to head out. To be part of the hunting parties. He’d have to watch his back, but maybe that’d be their opening to run.

  Otherwise, he wouldn’t say no to some exercice.

  ***

  Henry swam out of the tunnel system and scanned his surroundings.

  Immediately, his eyes found the wall of golden light, a couple minutes’ swim away. All around were rocks and reefs with large multicoloured growths. As he looked down at the exit he’d come out of, he noticed the clearly carved pattern in the reef, drawing a wide circle around the entrance, cutting through reef, plants and sheer rock. Clearly, the entrance markings were maintained; it made sense, considering how easily the entrance could be lost.

  Above, Moon–the leader of the hunting party–was already emitting clicks, scouting the area for anything too dangerous for them to deal with. Which left the fourth member of this small hunting party to come out of the cave entrance in a huff, bumping Henry’s arm on the way out before giving him a challenging glare.

  Maurice shook his pincer at the new, smaller dolphin.

  “[He’s rude! I said hi and he glared at me,]” complained Maurice.

  Henry eyed the smaller dolphin. Though Moon was much larger, this new individual was still nearly the size of a small sedan in length.

  “[No clue what their problem is, but let’s keep a low profile. It were rude. You weren’t. Don’t worry too much about it,]” Henry said as he eyed the two dolphins with them. He was happy it wasn’t a big pack. This way, there was a bit less to worry about.

  They swam away for a couple of minutes, with every click sending the smaller fish to hide deep in their little nests.

  “Alright,” Moon clicked. “The goal is to bring you three up to speed. It will be good to see what you two are capable of, and it will be good experience for Seasong here. Once–”

  “It’s Stormsong,” clicked the younger dolphin as they glared at the side, somehow managing to inject a lot more attitude in the clicks than Henry thought was possible.

  Moon slowly turned to face the dolphin, then his eye flicked to Henry. “You will be working with Stormsong here because she’s incapable of getting along with any other pod. Over the next weeks, we’ll be working on formations, but don’t worry too much about it today. For now, we’ll be taking things as they come. I need to make sure none of you get in trouble and I need you to listen when I call for a retreat. Understood? Good. Follow me.”

  Henry pumped his arms, following the two.

  “[It’s like they think we’re never leaving. We’re still leaving, right?]”

  “[Yup,]” said Henry. “[But they don’t need to know about it.]”

  Henry kept pace with the dolphins, and he couldn’t help but feel amused when the second dolphin began shooting smug glances at him, twirling and taking the time to swim side to side once it was clear Henry had to work a bit harder to keep up with the sleek dolphins. He could activate Skills and whatnot, but clearly these beings were more built for speed than he was, and well, he’d rather they didn’t think him fast. Would make it easier to create some distance later on.

  Still, as they swam, Henry sensed that there might be something else under the young dolphin’s smugness. Her glances were lasting a bit longer than they needed to. As if she thinking about something. As if she was studying him. And as Moon clicked, she glanced at the larger dolphin eyes narrowed, and he could swear he felt something flit through the telepathic defenses of the dolphins.

  “[Did you get that, Maurice.]”

  “[Yeah. She feels… very angry. Like… she’s preparing something. But against her friend and not us?]”

  Henry hummed. This Stormsong might actually help with their exit with whatever she seemed to be plotting. So long as Henry got the timing right.

  “[Let’s keep that to ourselves,]” Henry sent to the sightseeing crab.

  They swam vaguely away from the wall of light, with Moon occasionally clicking and changing directions. Henry patiently followed until all of a sudden, the dolphin dove and signaled for both Henry and Stormsong to follow.

  “[Target near,]” sent Moon telepathically. “[Eel. Pretty large, but thankfully isolated. Who wants to take care of it?]”

  Henry and Maurice shared a look. “[We can do–]”

  Stormsong ignored them all, swimming up and over the rock outcropping, forcing a resigned click out of Moon. The dolphin swam after her, and Henry quickly followed, where they all got to watch a pretty even fight.

  The green eel seemed to be specialized in venoms, reminding Henry of the serpent he’d fought a while back. It kept trying to bite Stormsong, making its needle-like teeth glow and waft greenish-looking clouds, but the dolphin was incredibly fast. She didn’t seem to mind the venom, zipping back and forth non-stop, continuously landing painful looking head-butts that made the eel squirm and screech with pain before it could retaliate.

  The whole thing took around three or four minutes until finally the dolphin landed the final blow, blurring with great speed before she snapped the eel’s spine right behind its triangular head. It had spasmed for a few more seconds before it laid still, at which point Henry threw the thing in storage.

  “Let’s see you do better, kraken,” said the dolphin, somehow again managing to hit one of his arms on her way back.

  Henry and Maurice shared a look before the crab threw both arms up. “[Why is she so mad at us?]”

  “[I think she’s mad at everyone, Maurice. Don’t worry about it.]”

  Minutes later, Moon flagged another target.

  [Hammerrock Crab (C) - Lvl ?]

  The large crab was slowly picking at some carcass, uncaring of its surroundings. It had spikes all over its body, and one pincer was significantly larger than the second.

  Expecting the dolphin to try showing off again, Henry saw her looking sideways at the crab, then back at Henry before she turned away.

  Moon turned to him. “[Can you handle this?]”

  Henry eyed the crab as he stretched his arms. “[Yeah. We’ve just got something to check real quick, but we’ve got this.]”

  “[We’ll see who’s the best crab,]” said Maurice as he clacked his pincers. “[I’ve never tasted crab.]” When Henry looked down at him the crustacean added, “[As long as it’s not a friend, of course. Wouldn’t want to eat a friend. Unless it gives me it’s own arm?]”

  Henry shook his head at the crab’s shenanigans before he swam toward the Hammerrock. The monster immediately turned and clacked its oversized pincers at them. “[We’ll try talking to it, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be friendly.]”

  Maurice clacked his pincers. “[Craaaab!]”

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