Henry followed the B-Rank dolphin as he led them around the cave they called home, warily noticing how the children that had been swimming around them were keeping their distance, watching from their half-hidden caves or behind clumps of algae.

  None were willing to approach.

  As they swam, Sundots—the B-rank—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, and with the help of his Octominds, Henry kept his thoughts from straying past his awakening in his new body, just in case these dolphins were as proficient with telepathy as the whale had been, though so far, it didn’t seem to be the case.

  No matter how hard he tried to project disturbing images or imagined himself blowing up and vaporizing the cave, not a single dolphin so much as twitched.

  “[I remember going to sleep one day, and then I woke up in this body. I am—was human. Since then, I’ve been surviving. Growing stronger. I met the Bahamut whales, then I met Maurice here, dealt with a hostile Trickster, then… well. Here we are.]”

  Henry kept the details to himself. He didn’t need to mention other worlds, and he didn’t need to mention the mysterious turtles or the System’s interactions. Not unless he was forced to.

  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.

  “[And you said you found that shell there? I’ve never seen the likes of them,]” the dolphin mused, and Henry tensed. Noticing his silence, Sundots clicked with amusement. “[Worry not, Henry. I have no intention of taking your little friend’s shell. It is just… a marvellous thing to look at. With some hints of interesting ideas and foreign concepts. Can you not see them? Either of you?]”

  When Henry and Maurice shared a confused 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 might see it then, though it will take some experience to discern the different energies.]”

  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.]”

  Henry was still wary, and it seemed that Maurice was content to listen and watch his surroundings as they swam around this underwater garden, but as Henry watched as the large dolphin blew a few more bubbles as he let a stalk of spongy blue coral scratch under his rostrum, he thought that maybe he should try and make conversation. Plus, he had to admit that his curiosity was getting the better of him every since he’d first seen the bubbles.

  He was about to ask about how the dolphins were getting their air, considering he knew they needed it, but that might tip them toward the fact that he was familiar with their physiology. So he reworded his question a little better before he sent it. “[Where is that air coming from?]”

  “[Hm? Ah. You’ve been to the surface, then? While it is nice to occasionally see the sun, the journey up is dangerous, so we evolved to make our own. Plus, it’s always bright down here. And this cave is safer for our children.]”

  Henry eyed the powerful dolphin and wondered what knowledge he could get out of him. At least before he and Maurice made their exit. After a short moment of hesitation, Henry asked.

  “[What are Concepts? Is it something that’ll get unlocked in C-Rank?]”

  The dolphin continued rubbing his rostrum for a moment before he gave the kraken a cheeky glance. “[I don’t mind answering questions… but it’s usually nice to offer something for the wisdom of one’s elders.]”

  Henry blinked, then shrugged as he began sifting mentally through his storage while Maurice finally seemed to focus on the conversation instead of trying to taste the random bits of sponges and coral he managed to get his pincers on.

  “[We have meats!]” the crab proclaimed before he gave Henry the stank eye. “[We would have had tasty kraken roe as well, 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 listing what he had available. “[Are you interested in shark meat?]”

  “[We have shark all the time,]” Sundots answered airily.

  “[Kraken?]”

  “[Seems insensitive.]”

  “[Drake?]”

  That made the dolphin stop twirling about. “[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.

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  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. From a distance, he noticed some dolphins watching from their home. Adults. But none came out to partake.

  Sundots stood to the side, watching as his people at their fill, 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, and which Henry had asked about before he got told to make an offering.

  “[Same question as earlier. What are concepts?]”

  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.

  “[When you step within C-rank, you will gain the ability to see concepts. Your Aspects—what holds your skills—will start producing them. They are… like concentrated mana that’s very good at applying the powers of your Aspect. You will be able to manipulate them, empower your abilities and evolve them with these concepts. It’s a whole new world of possibilities where the Supreme takes another 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 forming about this world’s magic. Between the System’s messages when the Aspects had formed, his mana exercise, and through his observation of how his Skills worked, he’d been slowly progressing his understanding of the magic of this world, and this little explanation just pushed that understanding a little further.

  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.

  Conceptual energies might be one of the gears that made Skills tick.

  “[Do you know how Skills work? Can you imitate Skills with these concepts 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 bloodied piece.

  This could work. I could use one of these outings to slip away, Henry thought as he considered the dolphin’s angle. This, in a way, made him worry a little less. Knowing they wanted to use him in a specific way meant that they didn’t intend on killing him in his sleep. Plus, 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 and considering the heightened energies of the area, this was a perfect area to hunt.

  “[It sounds like fun,]” whispered Maurice in his mind.

  “[Yeah. I’m thinking the same. We need to get stronger anyway,]” answered Henry. He still hoped the dolphin wasn’t hearing them, but again, if anyone was listening in on them, they didn’t show it. Plus, it wasn’t as if they said anything compromising.

  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… interesting,]” said Maurice, watching dolphins swim up and down from the room’s entrance.

  Henry noticed the bit of reserve from the crab, but while he agreed, he didn’t dwell on it. The plan was still the same. Hang out a bit, carefully, and slip away when the time was right. Still this place had not been something he’d ever expected to see.

  “[It really feels like a small village,]” Henry said, eyes roaming the street-like stretch of the cave, and his eyes lingered on the few hiding dolphins still in their caves before he looked away. “[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 a few 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. He’d leave the upgrade to Arms of the Trickster for last. It had finally gotten to level 10 only hours ago thanks to his continuous use of the Octominds, and 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 three points I can freely assign. I could push Constitution closer to 70, or I could start working on pushing any of the others to the next threshold. So what do I want to prioritize? Perception and Dexterity are still hanging at 30 points each. Hmm.

  Henry considered his options for a moment. He’d promised himself to bring Dexterity and Perception up, and while he’d feel bad if he didn’t give the main three that allowed him to fight and survive something, detecting threats before they managed to sucked punch him might save his life. So after a few minutes of considering it, he came to a decision.

  Give them to Perception. Three of the others are being boosted by my class anyway, and I’ll send some love toward Dexterity soon. Especially once I’m able to afford C-rank stat points.

  With everything assigned, he pulled his stats and nodded appreciatively. They were much higher than they’d been back when he’d been a wee little octopus trying to fish with a worm-like arm.

  Name: Henry Dubois

  Species: Juvenile Trickster Kraken - Reincarnated Intelligence (D)

  Class: Krakenbane Wanderer - Level 54

  Strength: 50

  Constitution: 63

  Spirit: 50

  Perception: 33

  Dexterity: 30

  With that done, Henry turned his attention to his Aspect notifications. It was time his Octominds got a little boost.

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