Undersea Reincarnation - [Octopus Monster Evolution LitRPG]

The rocks of the seabed made Henry reminisce about warm, fluffy beds. His eyes felt heavy and his insides felt sore from all the mana expenditure, which was made worse as it had taken nearly an hour to get rid of the damn stonefish.

The Colossus either really wanted to capitalize on the weakened winner of the bout it'd been watching, or it was offended Henry had dared to take the corpse away from it.

Either way, it wouldn't stop following him, and it had been surprisingly fast for such a large specimen but Henry had finally managed to lose it with a combination of camouflage and Ink Clones, which had also finally pushed Misdirection to its tenth level.

Hunger of the Trickster (D): Level 1 -> Level 4

Shiftiness of the Trickster (D): Level 3 -> Level 5

Arms of the Trickster (E): Level 6 -> Level 8

Misdirection of the Trickster (E): Level 7 -> Level 10

Arcana of the Trickster (E): Level 5 -> Level 7

Vitality of the Trickster (E): Level 4 -> Level 9

Domain: Level 7 -> Level 9

Lightning Discharge (E): Level 1 -> Level 6

Unimpeded Arms (F): Level 4 -> Level 7

Amplified Impact (F): Level 3 -> Level 7

Riptide Rush (F): Level 1 -> Level 3

Krakenbane's Wrath (D): Level 1 -> Level 3

His dream of a projectile-themed Aspect would have to wait, as he'd decided to replace Molten Projectile with Lightning Discharge mid-fight. It was a lot easier to use–and much more powerful, considering the skill was copied as an E-rank ability. He considered replacing Domain, but even though he didn't use it often, the skill had potential, no matter how awkward it felt at times. As for Krakenbane's Wrath, it seemed to have created a slot for itself.

Same for the Sense Foe, I guess.

Worth it. The whole fight had been worth it. Henry would have loved to bask in his victory if it wasn't for the incredible soreness and the pouting crab a couple of feet away.

"[Stop pouting, Maurice. Just eat, I'll join you in a few minutes.]"

The crab's illusory image crossed his arms and stubbornly refused to look at the large arm Henry had cut from the kraken before putting the carcass back in storage. Henry was hungry as well, but he just wanted to lie for a few seconds. Maybe recovering some mana would help him feel better.

"[I can't eat first when I didn't even help take it down. Plus, we always eat at the same time. It feels bad to eat alone. And you're tired anyway, so you should be eating. Come on.]"

Henry groaned, sighed, then propped himself up.

"[Alright. Let's eat.]"

His head was still buzzing. Was it because of the mana?

"[How was it? Did you get something good? Was it difficult? How long did it take? And do you think I can get that ability too? The one that makes your shine all red? It would match my colors.]"

Henry wanted to roll back to his corner and sleep.

After telling Maurice to slow down, he began recounting the events as they worked their way through the kraken's arm. When he was done, Maurice rubbed his claws together.

"[You gave it the Hug of Death. I used to call it Death's Embrace, but I like the first one better.]"

Henry paused mid-chew. "[What?]"

Human-Maurice grinned. "[Get it? Hugs are supposed to be nice, right? Calling it Hug of Death makes it funny. I came up with it by myself! Much better than Death's Embrace. That one felt too serious. Do you like it?]"

If Henry had cheeks, they'd be red right now. That first was actually good, but the second sounded so… lame. Henry didn't want to hurt Maurice's feelings, though. He could still feel his guilt at not having participated.

"[That's a really good name,]" said Henry, specifically meaning the Hug of Death and nothing else and then, to change the subject and not make his own thoughts too obvious, Henry brought up an issue he'd noticed. "[It doesn't look like I got the invisibility skill, though maybe I got the one for the skill-using clones, but… I'm not sure. I did get some upgrades for Shiftiness, though. Two of them. I also didn't get whatever it used to control the other krakens.]"

Magic Mimic: Superior skills analyzed.

Shapeshifting Arm -> Partial Shapeshift upgrade unlocked.

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Alter Physique -> Flowing Form upgrade unlocked.

Ink Clone -> Scouting Clone upgrade unlocked.

Shapeshifting Arm: Form: Spiked-Flail memorized.

Shapeshifting Arm: Form: Hinge Joint memorized.

Mana Nexus (F): Upgrade unlocked.

Mind Weaver's Tongue (F): Upgrade unlocked.

Trickster's Resilience (E): Upgrade unlocked

"[I think the Trickster had the same three Aspects as I do, but at least one was a C-Rank. Which is why both Flowing Form and Partial Shapeshift are so damn expensive to upgrade. Them being C-Rank abilities is the only way the 100 C-Token price tag makes sense. But for the rest, either we don't have any more skills in common, or there's something else blocking me from gettings more out of Magic Mimic and out of the Trickster. Not that I'm complaining, I've gotten plenty, but I wand to understand what's happening a bit better…]"

Sense Foe softly rang in his ear, and Henry's eyes flicked toward the kelp forest behind them. A shadow slowly swam through the stalks, but it wasn't coming toward them. It was just minding its own business. A kraken.

Henry turned his attention back to his notifications, while Maurice picked up another piece–one with a sucker–and started munching. "[Odd. Maybe you have something like it already?]"

"[Maybe. Maybe it's like Voracious Grip. I need to have the ability first in order to upgrade it. Maybe Invisibility and the other abilities are something new that will unlock on the next Aspect upgrade. Or maybe there's another variable at play? What if the kraken's invisiblity was low ranked? Could that affect the odds of its transferring? Maybe it's not even a seperate skills and it's altering its camouflage in real time. I don't know… it could be anything.]"

Henry considered the options for a few more moments, then sighed and shrugged. He'll figure it out eventually.

"[I guess we'll see. For now, I can upgrade Misdirection and see what happens. That should clarify a couple of things, maybe. We'll be able to confirm how some of this stuff works.]"

"[Okay! Let me know! I'm curious.]"

Henry exchanged half of the cores he had from the D-Rank krakens and watched his balance increase until it got to 1 C-Token, at which point he triggered the upgrade for Ink Clone, brining it up to D-rank, and quickly followed it by upgrading Misdirection of the Trickster.

The waters roiled around and grew cloudy, as if some of his ink had seeped out of nothing. Sand pushed away from him, and after a few moments it was done.

Misdirection of the Trickster (D) - Level 1:

Inkjet

F-Rank: Shoot a jet of ink to confuse your pursuers and hide yourself.

E-Rank: Quantity of ink shot is increased. Ink can temporarily have properties of ingested foods.

D-Rank: A mimicked property can be remembered permanently, until exchanged.

Temporary properties: Poisoned Ink (Sea Serpent), Dispelling Ink, Pyroclastic Ink.

Scouting Clone (D):

Create an ink clone that obeys a simple command. You can maintain a mental connection to dispel the clone, or to take control of it and perceive the environment through its senses.

Blood Clone (D)(Limited):

By expending 30% of your health and mana, you can create a Scouting Clone with access to your abilities. Limitation: Only one Blood Clone can be maintained.

Henry leaned back and popped a bite of kraken into his beak. "[There it is. Blood Clone. An ability that didn't shown up in my notifications. This doesn't confirm it, but it's an argument for the theory that I can't get a skill I'm already 'scheduled' to get… Which means maybe I already have it but it's dormant. A bit like what had happened with Krakenbane's Wrath and it being part of my class. Or maybe it's all random and Magic Mimic does whatever it wants, whenever it wants…]"

"[So that's what it's been using to stalk and attack us?]"

Henry stretched his arms. Maurice was right; he was feeling a bit better thanks to the meal. Or maybe it had been the Aspect upgrade. "[Yes. The Trickster used a combination of Scouting and Blood Clones, which allowed it to use them as a projection and use its skills through them. Though it seems like the skill will only allow me to control one at a time… I'm pretty sure the Trickster controlled multiple at once. That might be why it says it's limited.]"

Henry thought about it. Was it an upgrading issue? A level thing? Considering the nature of the skill and what would be required to control two clones at once… "[Maybe it's limited by the Octominds. That one's still in E-Rank and it would fit. Plus, it's not as if I can control and see through the eyes of two clones at once.]"

Maurice eyed the remains of the kraken's arm. "[I should really work on the Ink Jet skill… you're getting a lot of cool abilities out of it. Imagine how easy and less dangerous exploring is about to become? You can send a clone into a cave and not worry about finding something terrifying in there. I won't need to be bait anymore.]"

Henry chuckled and took another bite. He chewed as he considered a pattern he'd been noticing. "[You know Maurice, I'm not sure it would work that way. I mean, if you start training and upgrading Ink Jet, it might become like mine. But it might also evolve in a whole different direction.]"

Maurice paused and scuttled closer. He expected disappointment, but only felt curiosity. "[Why do you think that?]"

"[I'm starting to get the feeling that some of my Aspects–and probably yours–are… pre-programmed. Somehow. At least the core ones. Yeah. For example, my three first and main skills–Bite, Mimicking Arms, and Ink Jet–now have their own Aspects, right? Well, I noticed that only those Aspects got a new skill when I evolved them. Not the others. And those same Aspects, both me and the Trickster had them. So I feel like the clone stuff might be a species thing, more than a skill thing. Same way how your Imploding Bubbles are stronger, and how you can create them on top of a target instead of launching them. It's like… my thing revolves around being a trickster, while yours is about controlling your 'space'. I don't know… It feels like there's something there.]"

Maurice rubbed his pincers together as he thought.

Henry, feeling like he might have discouraged the crab, quickly added, "[I mean, you can always train it and see what happens. But it seems like there's some kind of logic behind our abilities and all.]"

"[Another mystery to crack]," said Maurice's illusion with a grin, and Henry summoned his own form and laughed.

"[Absolutely. Now, let me see what I'm getting out of the kraken's core. Next, I'm gonna get some rest, and then we can go check the kraken's den.]"