Undersea Reincarnation – [Octopus Monster Evolution LitRPG]

 

“The Skill is what draws the mana. What if…”

Henry hummed. Instead of pushing the mana out or trying to order it like a limb, what if he made his arm pull the mana, as if it was needing it. As if it was inhaling it.

“Could it be that simple?”

A quick glance ahead showed him an angry crab swatting drakes away left and right.

A storm of ghostly pincers and implosions kept the drakes away. Maurice’s attacks weren’t fatal, but the drakes’ tough scales were struggling with the violent implosions, both from Maurice’s projectiles and from his Domain–which Henry could clearly see through mana sight.

Interestingly enough, there was no mana in the dome surrounding the crab, outside of the glowing shape of the dismembered Arcane Claw. None of the usual teal-colored ambient mana. And whenever a drake got into that mana-less sphere, smoke-white mana would snap into existence and implode, scaring and forcing the drake to retreat.

Henry had no clue how that Skill worked. If Arcane Arm was one of the simplest Skills in his repertoire, then Domain might be one of the most complex, along with Shapeshifting Arm. And Blink. And Find the Path.

Actually, most Skills seemed really complex, and Henry didn’t even want to get started on his charges of copied properties. Did those behave the same way as independent Skills? Or were they some sort of modifier? Maybe the temporary charges were like photographic filters, using the main Skill as a base to apply their effect.

Henry sighed. He couldn’t tell. He assumed Arcane Arm was simple because it looked like shaped mana that he could control outside his regular limbs, but that one could be complicated to recreate as well.

Maurice ducked into his shell as a drake snuck up on him and tried to snatch him by his face. Then he came out and slammed both claws down, making a stream of bubbles escape from the drake's open jaw. It quickly swam away and up to get air.

There wasn’t a lot of blood from the fight. Henry wasn’t sure if Maurice was actually trying to kill the drakes, but it most definitely looked like an intense exercise.

Leaving the crab to it, Henry focused back on his own task.

“Alright, let's test this theory. The arm needs mana. It inhales the mana.”

Henry moved his awareness to his frontal arm, then, as he inhaled, he imagined the arm doing the same, pulling deep from his mana reserve.

Mana surged out of his stomach area and down his arm. Henry’s eyes widened at the sensation, and at the glow could see from his extended arm. Even a drake seemed to have noticed the glow and jumped away in alarm.

“So that’s the trick? A switch of perspective?... Why?”

Henry wasn’t annoyed. He was genuinely intrigued. He wished he had a way to examine these Skills and what made them what they were… but this was a step in the right direction.

It was still less mana than what Arcane Arm pulled out, but it was much better than anything he’d been able to do so far. It also felt more… stable. Though he still lost control of it after a few moments, as if, once the mana knew he had no use for it, it didn’t want to stay.

“More to work on and explore, I guess. Would I be able to create my own Skills if I managed to make my mana do stuff? Oh. And would you look at that.”

A Mana Nexus upgrade had been unlocked, and a quick check into the upgrade menu showed him it was effectively an upgrade related to mana control.

“I guess I just needed to crack the problem to have it unlocked. Though this doesn’t answer my question. I can bring mana into my arm, but how do I do anything with it?”

Well. Maurice was still fighting, so Henry decided he might as well try some other Skill and try to see through their mechanism.

 

***

 

In the end, Henry and Maurice spent nearly three days around the drakes’ archipelago. Henry worked on his mana control and explored the mechanism of Skills, while Maurice spent his days fighting drakes until they’d run away. And hours later, he’d do it all over again. A couple of times Henry had been forced to intervene when C-Ranks showed up and Maurice had stubbornly refused to call for help, even when things began to look dire–which was going to be an issue they’d have to address.

The two larger drakes had been vicious–and very hostile–and they might have had the toughest scales Henry had encountered as of yet. Unfortunately for them, the scales’ durability didn’t matter when it came to electricity. Especially when he’d let them get a good bite in before he discharged the Skill straight into their mouths.

Henry hadn’t gotten any interesting Skill from the Drake, but he got a new anticoagulant venom, as well as some Constitution and Strength points from one of their Cores. He also stored their meat for easy access to their toughness through Mimicking.

He needed to collect C-Rank Cores for his Skill upgrades, but he couldn’t pass on potential free stat points. And in any case, he soon realized that those drake Cores would be easy to replace.

As Henry and Maurice traveled toward the thinnest point in the pillar of light, they began to encounter C-Ranks more and more often. Sharks, large drakes, and even a handful of C-Rank kraken who immediately went on the offensive as soon as Henry noticed them.

The only being who actually backed away when Henry had tried to communicate was a Bladefin Ray who had stopped its slicing attack, circled Henry and Maurice once or twice, then turned away and left and in that same day, Henry and Maurice arrived at the wall of light.

This area wasn’t in the shallows anymore. Maurice and Henry were deep enough for the surface to be barely visible, no matter if it was day or night. But as they’d come to discover, that didn’t seem to matter in the Great Current.

“[...How?]”

His blood clone saw it first, moments before Henry and Maurice got there. Henry couldn’t look away. He barely heard Maurice–who was also struggling to make sense of the surreal vision ahead of them.

It was… as if barely ten yards away, a new world began. A bright, clear world where the sea stopped obscuring their sight. A world full of light and life and growth. A deep valley stretched ahead, and even though he couldn’t see its depth from this angle, Henry could only describe this place as the equivalent of a tropical forest.

Algae and almost tree-like vegetation of all colors covered every inch of surface, creating green pillars of flowy leaves out of which swam deceptively small fish. They looked a bit like leafy seadragons, but somehow showed up as C-Rank when Henry identified them. Above, where the greenery wasn’t as thick, the largest Riptides Henry had ever seen roamed around, waiting for an opportunity to get an easy lunch.

Everything was C-Rank. Which meant, Henry and Maurice had better be careful and be ready.

“[It’s so pretty,]” said Maurice, after nearly a minute of them taking in the breathtaking vista.

Henry could only nod. Or try to. This might be one of the most impressive sights he’d ever seen, but as he was quick to realize, it wasn’t the safest.

Out of the depths, a flash of blue light suddenly zipped upward like a flicker, and then the world lit up with dozens of deep blue spears that seemed to emerge out of nothing, matching the speed of the lead predator. Instantly, nearly half the school of Riptides was stabbed, impaled, and bisected. A breath later, more shapes rocketed out of the depth and tore into the remaining Riptides. Henry quickly camouflaged himself and watched, his heart hammering with thrill and alarm. Scanning the largest specimen, a shiver ran down his arms.

[Slipstream Swordfish (?) - Lvl ?]

Henry and Maurice watched in silence as the school of C-Rank Riptides was torn to shreds over the course of a few minutes before the school of C-Rank Swordfish swam deeper into the bright valley ahead. Their B-Rank leader–Henry was guessing–swam ahead, trailing a light of blue that seemed to make the rest of the school faster.

Henry was first to break the silence. “[We should hunt more C-Ranks, then come back.]”

Maurice rubbed his claws together and immediately agreed. “[Yes. I think this might be a bit too dangerous. Plus we’ve met a lot of C-Ranks. We could just move back for an hour or two and get some levels.]”

“[Deal.]”

Henry had done a lot of training over the last few days–and so had Maurice, who’d gained many more Skill levels than Class levels–but B-Rank?

The kraken’s arms kept still as Henry propulsed himself with his siphon. “Too big of a difference. Too dangerous. We need more–”

Just as he began planning his priorities, a sound filled their ears.

Clicks. No, not just clicks. A series of clicks and squeaks that were approaching rapidly.

Henry came to a stop as he recognized the sounds, and immediately morphed himself into a mossy boulder and stored his Blood Clone into his Maw. “[Shit. Maurice, keep quiet and don’t move.]”

Maurice seemed surprised, then concerned. “[Even–]”

“[No Telepathy. Quiet.]”

Henry waited as the sounds approached and, to his alarm, they were approaching from every direction.

They had been detected. Soon enough, the clicks became close enough that Mind Weaver’s Tongue kicked in.

“It’s trying to hide. Hah. Skimmy, go above. Sunleap and Whisper. We circle. Moonwake, wait for the signal. We’re eating kraken tonight, gang!”

Out of the darkness came white and black-patterned dolphins. Easily 20-feet-long each, they looked like lean killer whales more than anything. Their rostrum was narrow, and they zipped around incredibly fast.

Henry eyed the largest specimen and decided to drop his disguise. He wasn’t fooling anyone.

[Spotted Dolphin (C) - Lvl ???]

“[I’m not a kraken,]” Henry shouted telepathically in a radius. “[Well, I am, but that’s not how I was born. I was born human. I mean you no harm.]”

All dolphins immediately came to a grinding halt.

Henry and Maurice stared back at the dolphins, then the crab lifted a claw. “[Hello! I’m Maurice. Are you new friends?]”