“[I’m not bait!]”

  Henry cackled at the incensed crab.“[It was a joke! Relax. Of course I won’t risk your life just for bait.]”

  That barely mellowed the crab down for a moment. Before Henry added, “[Unless you want to?]”

  The multicolored crab exploded at him, tiny pincers shaking, slamming down on Henry’s arm while the kraken chuckled. Turning his attention to the dolphin, Henry asked, “[I’m still new at using concepts and stuff. How long does it take to recharge? Is there a way to make that faster, or to have more of it?]”

  Stormsong glanced at him, a bit surprised, then she bobbed her head before continuing to stare outside. “[I forget that you didn’t have a mentor to teach you the basics.]”

  I guess the System’s introduction doesn’t really count there. It was just a bit of theory anyway, Henry thought, deciding to not mention the System’s mini-lesson. Stormsong backed away from the exit and floated in front of him.

  “[It’s pretty simple. Higher ranks and levels in the Aspect will result in more essence available. To refill it, you just have to wait. It really depends on how close and in tune you are to the Aspect. It can be anything from a few hours to a couple of days. You can also recover essence faster while meditating on the specific Aspects. You need to try a few things to find what works for you, and you should always be frugal about it. It’s often a last resort.]”

  “[Essence is the conceptual energy, right?]” Henry confirmed.

  Maurice scooted closer, still nibbling on something he’d gotten from his own stores as he listened.

  “[Yes. Some call it essence, or aspected mana, or conceptual mana,]” Stormsong explained. “[It’s the same thing. When it’s not mixed with mana, it’s called raw concepts. Or concept shards. Or concept gems. Usually they don’t last long outside, but I guess you can store them. That should give you an advantage… Maybe you could even save conceptual shards to use in an emergency. You won’t be able to refill your own reserves with what you have stored, and they won’t be as efficient as you will lose a little efficiency, but it’s better than nothing in a pinch. Definitely learn how to be efficient with your own essence, though.]”

  Henry listened attentively, noting how his plan to stockpile shards to use later with his own skills, while still valid, might not be as efficient as he hoped it’d be. He didn’t let that put a damper on his mood though, and instead, he inquired about the last part. “[What do you mean, be efficient, exactly?]”

  As someone who’d just gotten the ability to use this new resource, he was sure he could be doing a better job with it, and now was a great time to get a few tips and pointers from someone who knew best.

  “[You should control how much essence you infuse into your skills. Sometimes just a little bit is enough to give you an edge. Using every ounce of essence will give you a powerful effect, but you’re often better off using just a bit. You never want to be out of essence. This is a lifeline, and you having enough conceptual essence will be the difference between life and death, so make sure you always have some on hand. Especially now that predators are better at using their.]”

  At that, Maurice chimed in. “[Is that why we haven’t seen that many users of Aspects in C-ranks?]”

  “[Depends. Either they already used their reserves, or they haven’t figured out how to use them well just yet. C-ranks have access to essence, but most only start using it later in the rank. Though all B-ranks will be using essence, and they will be good at it. Plus, at that rank, their Aspect reserves will be a lot larger than yours or mine.]”

  Henry listened closely, taking in the new information and adding new tasks to his ever-growing to-do list. Once Stormsong was done, she said she needed to rest, so Henry was left with Maurice. After a short moment, the crab whispered.

  “[I need to get to C-rank.]”

  Henry glanced down at the crab and used Identify. “[You’re pretty close. Only one or two more C-rank cores and you’re there. We’ll try to do something in a few hours.]”

  Maurice looked up at him, then nodded. It was awkward. Unlike the human illusion the crab usually used, his real form didn’t have a neck, so he just bobbed with his whole body.

  “[I think I’ll take a little nap too, then. Do you need help?]”

  Henry grinned inwardly and patted the crab on his head. “[Get some rest. I’m going to make some clones so we can lure something nearby. We should be able to get you to C-rank by the end of the day.]”

  Maurice went down and settled on a rock, then disappeared within his shell. Henry began listing everything he had to do.

  Upgrade the expensive Skills. Make blood clones and work on a plan to lure C-ranks nearby… without alerting the squids.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Henry would have loved to upgrade Shiftiness of the Trickster, considering it had just hit level 10 in D-rank, but he didn’t have a B-rank token.

  Just need to down a bunch of C-ranks. Or just a single B-rank. How hard could that be?

  Henry enjoyed the quiet for a second. He could feel Maurice, still awake and anxiously ruminating. Stormsong’s thoughts and emotions were blocked behind a shield Henry couldn’t peer through, and all around, he could feel a few minds swim past them. Some were alarmed. Some were hungry or tired.

  Life went on, in the ocean. Uncaring of their worries or goals.

  Henry shook himself out of his contemplations and focused up. Time to get some work done.

  He began with the blood clones. A deep pain stole over his body as a haze of red and black smoke surged out of him, and over a couple of seconds the smoke coalesced into the first blood clone. After a moderate break and some healing magic from his Hoarded Vitals, he created a second one, then a third, and surprisingly, a fourth after. The new levels Misdirection had earned had allowed him another blood clone, which was a welcome addition. After creating another handful of ink clones, he let them all out of the cave while he channeled Arcane Regeneration.

  He assigned all of his Octominds to his four clones, giving each clone two before he had them camouflage and scout. In case of emergency, he could pull some of them back anyway but for now, it was good training for them. Or more accurately, it was good training for the Aspect that enabled them.

  Arms of the Trickster was at level 7 already, and in a few more levels, it’d be hitting C-rank as well, which meant his Octomind should be getting a powerful boost again pretty soon.

  Next, he turned his attention to the upgrades for Alter Physique and Shapeshifting Arm. It wasn’t that long since he’d defeated the Trickster kraken and copied these two abilities, and back then he couldn’t afford them. Now he had enough for both, after the rush to C-rank. Without further ado, Henry activated the first upgrade and waited as his soul was bathed in the potent energies the process had summoned, and when that was done, he pulled the new description.

  Partial Shapeshift (C)

  Alter and shape the physical form of a larger portion of your body and limbs into more complex forms. When a form is familiar and practiced enough, it can be quickly accessed.

  [Form: Spiked-Flail][Form: Hinge Joint]

  More complex forms?

  Henry immediately triggered the Skill. This he had to see.

  The Skill activated, and Henry’s mind sunk into the ability’s special mindset. He’d been curious to see if the Skill’s innate assistance had gotten better, and it turns out that it had.

  Holy crap, Henry thought as a deluge of information threatened to bury his consciousness, and he braced, sensing the strain the ability was subjecting his overworked nerves to.

  Henry didn’t have an easy way to describe how the skill worked, but a good example that came to mind was comparing your local neighborhood library to the city’s largest. While he’d struggled with a simple hinge-joint in the past, he could now see and instinctively understand the intricacy of a ball-and-socket joint, and easily recreate them. He could see organs. Nerve clusters. Wings and eyes. The amount of options, configurations and different kinds of organs he could now recreate was staggering, and so was the cost of maintaining the Skill.

  Henry cut off the Skill and found himself panting. Slowly bringing his breath under control, he shook his trembling limbs and closed his eyes, the muscular folds around his eyes providing a little relief to the budding headache that was settling in. Henry felt dazed and drained, especially as he was still recovering from the creation of the clones.

  This is so much more powerful. And it's starting to make sense why Maurice was struggling so much to create his own version of the Octominds… He needs this upgrade to be able to create nerve centers, Henry thought as he stared at the Skill’s description. He’d be spending more time with it, but not now. Not yet.

  It just took much to run, so for now, he glanced at the crab, then went back to the upgrade menu. The crab was asleep, and he’d tell him later. For now, he triggered the second upgrade.

  Flowing Form (C)

  Gradually increase or decrease your overall size, mass and proportions over the course of a few hours. The state penalty of lower sizes is greatly reduced. The process can be greatly accelerated in exchange of mana. Minimum mass of 5 Kg. Maximum mass of 14300 Kg.

  Henry chuckled as he read the description.

  14 tons. Am I ship-size yet? I know blue whales are about 120 tons. Not there yet, but I’m on my way.

  He didn’t hate his ever-increasing size. There was safety in size, though right now, stealth might be preferable and thankfully, he could still keep a low profile. 5 kilograms was pretty small as far as octopuses went.

  And I get to keep most of my stats. That explains how the Trickster’s strength didn’t change when it grew in size.

  Henry liked the flexibility this upgrade would give him. He wasn’t sure growing larger was good at this point, as that’d just only make him more appetizing to the powerful predators that surrounded him, and he didn’t have the strength to contend with them just yet. He needed to be stealthier. He could use a smaller form and keep a couple of arms large for reach. A bit like those squids. Then he’d work his way up the food chain. Once he was safe from this area’s strongest beings, he could push his size upward again.

  These are great upgrades. And with them paid for and done, it only leaves the Aspect itself to upgrade. Whenever I can afford to. I wonder how Mimicking Arms’s going to change next, he thought to himself as gazed through the eyes of one of his clones at the squids.

  He wondered if they were sapient. Because if not, they might end up being his next targets.

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