Henry’s thoughts whirled as the B-Rank dolphin approached. Its presence was heavy, and the kraken found it hard to look away. Even though Henry could detect no concepts or mana around Sundots, that only made him feel nervous.

  Like the calm before the storm.

  “[Where is Seasong, kraken?]”

  The pleasant tone he associated with the dolphin was gone. If Henry had alarms bells, they’d be ringing about now, which was why he dismissed a few of his ink clones and pulled in the two Octominds piloting them.

  He needed the brain power.

  With his eyes still on the B-rank, Henry’s consciousness split. It was a bit rough, but he could almost see the scene develop in two places at once. In the first, he answered Sundots with a little bow as he prayed he could stall enough. “[Hello to you as well—]”

  The water around the clone immediately churned.“[Do not waste my time, kraken. Where. Is. Seasong.]”

  While that cheerful conversation was taking place, the second part of Henry’s focus was in the cave, where he was speaking urgently to the duo near him. “[Sundots and six dolphins are looking for you. He’s pissed. We have seconds. Plan?]”

  Maurice froze, and the dolphin was no better. She stared at him, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. Henry gave her a moment as he considered his options as well. At the same time, he bit the bullet and channeled every free stat point he had at his disposal into Constitution. It was about to get uncomfortable, but survivability was of the utmost importance right now.“[Called me kraken twice now. Not liking how he’s saying it either, so we’d better skedaddle. Will he follow us into the Current?]”

  That shook Stormsong out of it. “[…Maybe? Not for long. And not too deep either… But we wouldn’t be safe. There’s—]”

  Henry cut her off as he picked Maurice up and swam in front of her, beak grit as his flesh burned and twitched from the energies seeping through them. If it hadn’t been for the severity of the situation, he suspected he would have been feeling a lot worse right now. “[We’re not safe now, Stormsong. Your people can track me even through my disguise. Any clues about that? Anyway, we’re moving. NOW. I’m heading where they can’t follow. Feel free to come with.]”

  Henry honestly didn’t mind if she followed or if she stayed. He didn’t know how bad things were with her pod, and while she might be safer with them than in the Current, he didn’t think he nor Maurice would be.

  But as long as she’s with us, they’ll keep tracking us. They’ve come this far already. Days’ worth of travel. I don’t think they’ll stop if we keep travelling in safe waters, Henry thought as he triggered Riptide Rush and shot out of the cave, toward the wall of golden light.

  It was a mile or so away, but while his real body rushed toward the dangerous waters where he could disappear, his clone affected a nervous demeanour and trembling, he spoke to Sundots. “[Okay, okay. Would you let us go if I get her to you?]”

  The B-rank stared him down, and Henry felt the blood clone begin to unravel under the dolphin’s glare.

  “[Alright. Follow me,]” Henry said after two heavy seconds. Clone-Henry put the Current behind him and began swimming away, but quickly noticed that the dolphins weren’t following. He stopped and turned. “[Do—]”

  He barely had the time to see a wall of green and gray move, then the connection to his blood clone cut off.

  “[Welp. That didn’t work,]” he said to the dolphin who’d just caught up with him. “[Hope you’re all ready for the Current.]”

  “[Adventure!]” shouted Maurice as he threw both claws up. Stormsong ignored him.

  They were seconds away from the Current. His two remaining blood clones were trailing, and gaining as well. Each of them could use Riptide Rush, so they were booking it toward him as he tried to get eyes on the dolphins through them. Ahead, his ink clones were clearing the way. Or more accurately, making sure they weren’t about to come face to face with something they couldn’t deal with.

  That’s about to become a common occurence, I bet, Henry thought right as the magic finished reinforcing his body.

  While Henry knew that diving in this new territory might be excessively dangerous, there was nothing better to quickly gain power. Plus, he was well equipped to blend in the background.

  This was going to be a dangerous journey. But it also could be a windfall.

  The bright sea was getting close. An expanse of giant algae with stems as thick as trees stretched ahead, and Henry’s many hearts fluttered. It was earlier than expected, and they’d have to be extremely careful and keep a low profile, but it would be a new world of opportunities.

  Stormsong cursed. “[They’re close. And about your question, our clicks can detect mental signatures. If you’re around and thinking, you light up like a jellyfish to our sense. ]”

  “[Good to know. Would have appreciated this information a bit sooner, though,]” Henry said as he swam lower, kicking up a trail of disturbed sand and hiding flatfish in his wake.

  Stormsong kept pace easily enough. “[It wouldn’t have made a difference. The only thing we could do is keep our distances. Which we did. Even if I had given you the mind-shield ability, you wouldn’t have been able to practice and push it enough to slip the detection of the like of Sundots. Not even I could hide from him.]”

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  That was fair enough.

  Seconds later, Henry heard the clicks. They were coming in faster than they’d been earlier, which meant his group might already be on the dolphins’ radar. Henry pushed more mana into Riptide Rush, and a few seconds later they entered the electrifying lights of Current. But he didn’t take any second to enjoy the feeling and instead, he dove down in a straight line, expecting to see a seabed he could glide along. Instead, he saw a wall of stone and coral that kept stretching downward until he couldn’t even see the end of it. The sea was clear and bright, but visibility still took a hit after what looked like a half a mile.

  At least he could still keep going at full speed. If something came at him, he’d have time to react. Whether he could do anything about it was another matter. Still, he did his best to match the patterns of the growth he was swimming next to, calling out to the dolphin. “[Stormsong, can you camouflage?]”

  “[I can’t.]”

  Damn.“[You’re too conspicuous. Do you mind if I put you in storage? You too, Maurice.]”

  Stormsong was quiet for a second while Maurice firmly objected as he anxiously stared at the new surroundings, one eye sat firmly watching behind them. Then she asked, “[Is it safe?]”

  Henry’s heart hammered in his chest. There was always something unnerving about deep dives, especially when you couldn’t see what was waiting at the bottom.“[It is. Maurice has been in there multiple times. And Maurice, you should be setting a better example, you gremlin. If we’re attacked, I don’t know if you’ll be safe. You’ve seen what’s in this place.]”

  That made the crab pause and drop his claws. “[… I’m sorry I can’t help more.]”

  The dolphin’s eye flicked to him then back toward the depth and said nothing. Henry tapped the crab on his head and chuckled. “[Don’t worry. You’ll be there fast enough. Alright, both of you. In you go.]”

  The frustrated crab was first to go. Next, Henry slowed enough to wrap an arm around the dolphin. He felt a light resistance when he tried to store her, but it quickly faded and the dolphin disappeared as well.

  Not as heavy as I expected, Henry mused as he continued his dive. And I couldn’t even feel Maurice’s weight. Levels do matter, I guess. The clicks were still approaching, while the surrounding seas were as bright as they’d been since he’d gotten in.

  Stubborn shits. Just leave already.

  Henry changed trajectory and approached one of the mind bogglingly tall stalks of algae while quickly shaping his arms into matching leaves. It was easy enough to hide his bulk along the stalk. The thing was literally the width of a giant tree trunk.

  Mental signature, huh…

  Henry continued swimming down—and didn’t let the death of one of his blood clones distract him. It died to the dolphins, but no matter. He could remake them, and he had work for his Octominds, anyway.

  The kraken turned his attention to his Aspects, specifically the one responsible for his elusiveness.

  Concepts empower, right? What if I empowered my mimicry with Shiftiness? How about Misdirection as well?

  Pooling four Octominds to help him, Henry pulled on the Aspects, praying it would work, while having the two remaining Octominds watch his surroundings and keep swimming down.

  The clicks were getting closer.

  Henry visualized the two mana types and pictured them rushing into the activation of Mimicking Arms. This was all unfamiliar territory. He was running on instinct, and expected the two different mana types to fight him, but they didn’t. They were too focused on following the trail he’d left them, and the skill inhaled the aspected mana Henry was channeling toward it, agreeing to the idea he was urging.

  He needed stealth. He need to really blend in with the greenery. And he needed his ‘mental signature’ to match.

  His skin rippled. For a second, Henry was confused as he came to a stop near one of the clumps of algae leaves as as the skill seeped into his body and mind, for a split second, his eyes was tricked into confusing his own arm with algae.

  Henry stuck himself to the algae tree while the enhanced skill hid him and for good measure, he channeled some more conceptual essence from Shiftiness to Faint Presence, anxiously noting how the tank had begun to feel light.

  No anxieties. Now… quiet, he told himself. For extra assurance, just in case, he also cut off all of his ink clones and only left one blood clone far above.

  He hoped his Octominds won’t reveal him. But then again, he didn’t think he was completely defenceless, either. The only threat was Sundots. The C-ranks had no chance of putting him down.

  Henry waited while the clicks grew louder. His Octominds were busy moving his arms to match the surrounding flora while he had an eye half open. He breathed slowly, kept calm, and waited.

  Sundots appeared five seconds later.

  He was alone this time. It seemed like he didn’t want to risk the others in the Current, which made sense, considering the B-Ranks around. The dolphin came to a stop a bit below Henry. He clicked a few times, angling himself left and right. As he kept at it, Henry’s excitement grew as he realized his camouflage was working, but he put a lid on it.

  Mental signatures. No strong emotions. Keep calm.

  Still… Henry couldn’t help having a thought; What would happen if the dolphin found him? Would this become a fight to the death? Or just a beat-down? And if it was the latter, how bad was it going to be for him?

  Henry instinctively felt that he couldn’t really beat the creature in front of him. He was confident in his own offensive and defensive abilities, and while he was sure the dolphin could trash him, he strongly felt that Sundots shouldn’t be capable of one-shotting him like he did to the clones. At the same time, he knew he could inflict enough damage if he had enough time, but he was sure the dolphin would make him pay dearly for it.

  We leave. This is too soon for such a fight.

  Far above, Henry’s remaining clone approached and moved deeper into the current. Sundots’ head turned toward it, but it seemed like he knew it was fake.

  Smart little shit.

  The dolphin tilted its head a few more times, clicking all the while. After a few seconds, one of the clicks registered as words to Henry’s hearing.

  “I know you’re here, kraken. Show yourself.”

  Henry kept still. It was a decent bluff, but he knew the dolphin couldn’t see him.

  Still… How long will he stay? And how long will my empowered camouflage last?

  The dolphin began roaming the area, clicking, and Henry wondered who was going to flinch first.

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