ALL NOVEL 2.02: The dolphins
“Run along, children,” clicked Sundots, the B-Rank dolphin as he led Henry around the city. Simultaneously, he asked Henry about his origin through some sort of telepathic channel he’d created between himself, Maurice, and another powerful looking dolphin by the name of Dancer.
Henry took a moment to respond. “[I arrived in this body because of a turtle I’d been chasing. The Bahamut whales called it a sacred traveler. Since then, I’ve been surviving. Growing stronger. Then I met Maurice here, dealt with a hostile Trickster, then… well. Here we are.]”
They arrived in a space that reminded Henry of public parks. It was a mostly flattened area at the edge of the cave, where plant life was allowed to grow and take over. A handful of dolphins seemed to be taking care of it by gently examining the leaves and taking cuttings to replant elsewhere.
“[I have heard of the sacred travelers. But I’ve never seen them. I believe that’s the shell?]”
Henry tensed–and Sundots clicked with amusement. “[Worry not, Henry. I have no intention of taking your little friend’s shell. It is just… a marvelous thing to look at. Brimming with ideas and foreign concepts. Can you not see them? Either of you?]”
When Henry and Maurice shared a dismayed look, Sundots blew bubbles out of his blowhole and blinked. “[Ah. You have not begun working with Concepts just yet. I forget. You will, very soon. And you will see it then.]”
Concepts? What was he talking about? Was that something related to the next evolution?
“[How were the whales? I missed their passage last season. Who was their leader? I wonder if it’s a group I know…]”
That snapped Henry out of his thoughts. “[Deepcaller, I think? I don’t remember if he was their leader, but he was the one I spoke with the most.]”
Sundots clicked and bobbed his head. “[Yes! I know Deepcaller. Ah… I should definitely meet them next time.]”
Sundots stared down at the coral and let some algae tickle his nose, but Henry was curious ever since he’d seen the bubbles.
“[Do you not need air?]”
“[Hm? Ah. We can make our own. Though it is nice to occasionally see the sun, but as you can see, it’s always bright down here. And safe for our children.]”
The dolphin seemed a bit distracted at times, though Henry bet he was a treasure trove of knowledge.
As if he sensed Henry’s train of thoughts, Sundots gave the kraken a cheeky glance. “[I don’t mind answering questions… but it’s usually nice to offer something for the help of our elders.]”
It was like dealing with the whales all over again.
“[We have meats! We would have had tasty kraken roe also, but someone didn’t want to take them.]”
Henry brought Maurice to eye level. “[Would you just drop that?]”
The crab clacked his claws. “[Find more kraken roe and I will.]”
Sundots clicked in amusement while the second dolphin stayed quiet. “[Sounds like you two had quite the adventure!]”
Henry sighed, then began taking stock. “[Are you interested in shark meat?]”
“[We have shark all the time.]”
“[Kraken?]”
“[Seems insensitive.]”
“[Drake?]”
“[Oh? What kind?]”
“[Sea Drake? C-Rank.]”
“[We would graciously accept,]” said Sundots as he swam away from the park. “[We have a special space for eating. The gardeners won’t stop complaining otherwise.]”
They arrived in a deeper area in the cave that looked like a small, reefy ecosystem. There were small crabs already taking apart some large fish remains, while trigger-fish specimens got busy chewing on the bones.
Henry pulled out a mostly intact Sea Drake carcass and laid it down on the seabed. He still had two–one of which was partially eaten–and plenty of other specimens, so he didn’t mind the small gift.
He wasn’t going hungry any time soon.
Sundots made a couple of calls, and little dolphins rushed into the space and began eating. They ate their fill, and then the adults–those who were interested at least–partook in the Sea Drake’s meat. Sundots seemed to watch over, and after a few moments, Henry felt the gaze of the being land on him.
It literally felt like a physical thing. The attention of a B-Rank.
“[So. Young Henry. What is it you want to know?]”
There were a lot of questions Henry could ask. But he might as well start with what Sundots had mentioned only moments ago.
“[What are Concepts? Is it something that’ll get unlocked in C-Rank?]”
Sundots took a bite out of Sea Drake’s neck. It looked like he just took a bite out of a soft fruit, while the other individuals had to fight the meat to free it from the carcass.
“[Yes. It has been a while since I stepped into the C-Rank, but yes. You will gain the ability to see Concepts. To manipulate them and reforge your abilities with them. It’s a whole new world of possibilities, where the Supreme takes a step back and where you take a larger role in defining who you are. It will all become easier to understand once you get there. This is very good, by the way. Very fresh. I wish we had a storage Skill like yours.]”
Henry listened attentively to the explanation. Even Maurice was quiet. A few pieces began to click in the mental puzzle Henry had been filling up through his mana exercises and through his observation of how his Skills worked. For something like Electric Discharge, clearly, the Skill would take his mana and store it, but converting the neutral mana to electricity was one of the many mechanics that eluded him. This right here might be the answer.
Concepts might be one of the gears that made Skills tick.
“[Do you know how Skills work? Can you imitate Skills with mana alone?]”
“[Yes.]”
Henry stared at the dolphin as he got a bite out of the Drake’s thigh this time. “[Yes to what?]”
“[Hm? Ah. I don’t want to spoil the mystery. Just know that you’ll get your answers very soon. The whole point of the next evolution is so that individuals begin pursuing their own power. What would be the point if I handed you all of the answers now? You’d get there even faster if you helped our hunting parties. Especially if you can store a lot of things in that Skill of yours. Hm? What do you think?]”
The dolphin dipped and cut himself another slice of thigh meat. Henry was almost sure he could feel smugness out of the dolphin as he guzzled down the meat.
It wasn’t a bad offer. He did need to work on his Skills. A few Aspects were about to level–one of which was already at 10–and he needed to collect Cores. Plus, this was a perfect area to hunt.
“[It sounds like fun,]” whispered Maurice.
“[Yeah. I’m thinking the same. We need to get stronger anyway,]” answered Henry. He hoped the dolphin wasn’t hearing them, but if he was, he wasn’t showing it. Plus, they weren’t saying anything bad.
Henry sent his agreement to the dolphin, on the condition that they’d keep the Cores he’d earn, in case that wasn’t the expectation.
“[Great! Let us find you two a room. Get some rest. I’m sure you need it.]”
With that, Henry and Maurice were led to a spacious, dug cavern. It was cozy. Large enough for Henry to fit comfortably, and it opened into a busy-ish space.
“[This place is amazing,]” said Maurice, watching dolphins swim up and down from the room’s entrance.
Henry agreed as he looked out of the room. This wasn’t something he’d ever expected to see. “[It really feels like a small village. Alright. I’m going to do some system stuff. Don’t forget we might not be 100% safe, alright? Make sure you anchor yourself to me when you sleep. Or to the rock, I guess.]”
“[Yeh. I remember,]” said Maurice, then he scuttled in, sat down–Henry saw the anchoring Skill activate–then turned to Henry. “[I’m going to work on my Clawminds. I think I’m close. Then we eat?]”
“[Sounds good. I’ve got points I need to assign, and I’m upgrading an Aspect. We’ll eat after.]”
With that, Henry pulled up his menus and decided to start with the stats, then he’d upgrade his Aspect. Leave the best for last. It had gotten to level 10 only hours ago, but Henry couldn’t wait to see how it’d evolve. It just so happened that the last few hours had been too tense and hectic to stop and play around with his menus. Now though? Now he was going to see how his Octominds were going to evolve.
“But first, stats. I’ve got eight points I can freely assign. I could push Strength past 50 with two points. I could do the same with Constitution or Spirit… but all of those will be rising anyway with my levels. So what do I want to prioritize? Perception and Dexterity are still hanging around 30 points each. Hmm.”
Henry considered his options for a moment. He’d promised himself to bring Dexterity and Perception up, but he’d feel bad if he didn’t give the main three that allowed him to fight and survive something. After a few minutes, he came to a decision.
“Leave Strength for now, but everything else gets two points. That’s fair. Yeah.”
With everything assigned, he pulled his stats. “Looking good. A much higher number than with what I’ve started.”
Strength: 48 [8 Base][20 Class][3 Consumption][17 Purchased] (12 Purchasable)
Constitution: 65 [8 Base][37 Class][3 Consumption][17 Purchased] (13 Purchasable)
Spirit: 55 [6 Base][26 Class][9 Consumption][14 Purchased] (16 Purchasable)
Perception: 33 [9 Base][8 Class][16 Purchased] (6 Purchasable)
Dexterity: 32 [9 Base][4 Class][3 Consumption][16 Purchased] (6 Purchasable)
“Now, let’s see about the Octominds.”