Undersea Reincarnation - [Octopus Monster Evolution LitRPG]

Was he up for it?

Henry smiled as he watched Maurice scuttle away to grab some of the displayed appetizers. The commotion of them experimenting with the shells had been mostly forgotten by now, with everyone having gone back to their own corner of the celebration. Drinks were had, meals sampled, and Henry, even though he had a lot to think about, found himself enjoying the company.

It reminded him of his celebrations with his friends when they would finish up a school year, or the last time when they'd made a discovery while out at sea. Back then, the food had not been that great, to be honest. Mostly whatever they managed to catch and preserve, but that night, as they laughed and talked while the boat swayed and rocked was one of Henry's most cherished memories.

If we crack the mystery of what's going on here, I might be able to go and say hi.

Henry wasn't necessarily keen on going back permanently to his world, but if the option was on the table and if it was easy enough to hop between worlds, he wouldn't mind.

For that, the fusion of certain skills can't be botched.

Henry considered everything he had to do, but after a few minutes, he decided training could wait a couple of hours. For now, it was time to enjoy the moment.

The party lasted well into the night and by the time everyone shuffled—or been carried— to their quarters to get some shut-eye, Henry found himself back in the pool, with Maurice soundly asleep at the edge of the pool.

As for Henry, he was wide awake. And he had work to do.

***

As days went by, the energies of the Pillar sufficing the air grew more potent. It was mild and easily missed at first, but what it caused was easy enough to observe.

The monsters were growing more agitated.

Henry and Maurice spent their days training and hunting. Sure, Henry wasn't getting much out of the fights aside from practice, but he could always save up the cores he was earning for later. Once he fused his skills and Aspects, he was going to have to pay for a bunch of upgrades and anything else that was spared would be used for a few levels.

It was a bit frustrating that he wasn't gaining Aspect levels considering his were capped at C-rank, but that won't be an issue for long. After all, he was pretty close to his goal already.

That inefficiency was about to change.

Glancing down at the three orbs displayed in front of him back at the edge of his pool, Henry took a moment to enjoy his hard earned success. It had taken days upon days of non-stop meditation and practice to fuse the concepts of his Aspects, and even when he had unlocked the fusion option in his interface, he refused to stop until his vision of the resulting concept was spotless. And now, three perfect conceptual orbs were resting in front of him.

Misdirection and Swiftness had not taken a lot of work to perfect, ever since he managed to create the impure fusion. It took… maybe 14 more tries to get it right? Then 10 more to make sure he could do it consistently. The other two had been a bit more challenging, though. Just at first, as he struggled to find the right perspective. But once he did, the rest came through easily enough.

For Shiftiness and Vitality, Henry had focused on constant regeneration and renewal. After all, he could camouflage, change his form, and even alter his physiology to match his vision. Why couldn't he affect his injuries in that same manner? What were wounds, after all, but disruptions to what he had created? He should be able to close a wound just as easily as it was to morph an arm into a club. Plus, with having access to this healing force, his shifting should be empowered. It should be easier to access forms and capabilities he hadn't managed before. Taking a real human shape should not be out of the ordinary, and shifting back to kraken should be just as easy.

When he had gotten that part down, the fusion of both concepts went seamlessly.

As for Hunger and Fury, he had been mostly focused on curbing down Fury. That concept, in and of itself, was almost contagious. It so easily got out of hand and changed Hunger into something ravenous and mindless. But Henry would not accept it. He would not allow Fury to dictate what he wanted of his Aspect.

Even though he got pissed on occasion, Henry was often calculated. He thought things through. Usually. There would be aggression in the resulting Aspect, sure. Hunger, absolutely. But it had to be measured. Calculated. Like a stalking predator. Hungry and savage, willing to take what was his, but not a mindless, ravenous beast that couldn't distinguish friend from foe.

The three orbs of crystallized concepts in front of him reflected that. The first, a deep, blood-red thing with jagged, almost tooth-like edges gave him the eerie feeling that he was being watched. That something was salivating to get its fangs around his neck. That a predator had its sight on him.

The second, a shifting thing of purple and inky black, wanted to slip his sight whenever he looked at it. The space rippled about it. As if at the least movement on his part, it would just disappear, dipping away into a fold of space to appear somewhere else.

The third was a simple, soft green orb whose surface changed. Sometimes showing crystalline flat edges, sometimes scales, or tiny, barely visible hair-like strands.

The Aspects themselves were ready to fuse. Ever since he had perfected the first one, the option for "Unassisted Controlled Fusion" had been unlocked in his interface. And now, he was ready to move to the next step.

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Once this is done, I can put my whole focus on the skills.

Henry had already started on fusing skills, but right now he was still practicing with the smaller ones. The class skills, mostly. He wanted to be much more comfortable before he got to the cornerstone skills and in any case, using the concepts from his fused Aspects should help conciliate both skills much more easily.

Arisia had repeated that multiple times when he'd voiced his concerns about not doing both at once.

To confirm, Henry navigated back through his interface and found the fusion menu.

Upgrade Skills and Traits

Incorporate Class Skills and Traits in Aspect

Merge Skills and Traits

Create new Aspects

Fuse Aspects

Back when he'd gotten this menu, he couldn't do any of these operations without the system's assistance, but by now, he had a good grip on a few. He still needed to learn how to upgrade his abilities and Aspects by himself, but he could figure that out at a later time. Same went with creating an Aspect from scratch, though he wasn't sure he was going to go that route in the future.

At the moment, he wanted to reduce the number of his Aspects. Not add to them.

Moving on to his target, Henry clicked on Fuse Aspects and read through the option.

Assisted Controlled Fusion

Unassisted Spontaneous Fusion

Unassisted Controlled Fusion

Back then, that last item had not been available, but thanks to his hard work, he could now fuse his Aspect by himself. Of course, spontaneous fusion had been available, but he wasn't letting such an important decision be affected by chance.

He would do it by himself. And it would be glorious.

Probably.

Henry grinned. It's really happening, he thought as he took a look around, then above at the swaying trees. He wanted to get it done here. It might take a few hours, and he'd rather be in a safe area.

"Well. Let's get started then."

As soon as he made his choice, he was asked which Aspects he wanted to fuse. Of course, Henry started with the first one on the list. The one that had empowered him the most ever since he arrived in this world.

Fusion of Hunger of the Tricksters and Fury of the Trickster beginning…

Henry closed his eyes and focused on the two Aspects as he felt a barrier separating them begin to weaken.

"Let's do this," he said to his Octominds. He was pretty sure he felt them cheer.

***

Henry was vaguely aware of the time going on around him. He felt the heat of the sun alternate with the cold of night at least thrice. He even felt a couple of familiar presences a couple of times, but he didn't let his focus lapse. Fusing Aspects, just like fusing the two conceptual energies, required intense focus and in practical terms, he was doing mostly the same thing as creating the conceptual beads but hundreds, if not thousands of times. With a material that was a bit less responsive than the energies themselves. It was as if he was talking rocks into incorporating into each other, instead of liquids. And every time he convinced one tiny portion to fuse just like he wanted it, he had to move on to its neighbors and do the same. He had to do this for the entirety of the two fusing Aspects, and considering he had three fusions to work through, it took a while.

He failed a few times. Naturally. His focus would falter, and an unnatural feeling of wrongness would grip his heart, but he didn't let it distract him lest it ruined more of his work. A few failed portions here and there could heal, so long as the vast majority had fused seamlessly, and thankfully, it had gone well.

When he opened his eyes, feeling the churning inside his soul abate, Henry deflated like a balloon who'd been robbed of its air.

Makes sense that this crap costs so much with the System's assistance, Henry finally thought as he saw the stars beyond the treetops. How many days had it been?

"[Henry? Are you done?]"

Ah. Maurice.

Henry inwardly smiled, and with a momentous effort of will, he ordered one arm to move and wave. It defied him, ignoring his orders for a while, but in the end, it complied.

"[Oh! Congrats!]"

Man, I'm tired, Henry thought. He just wanted to pass out and sleep. Even his Octominds seemed a bit out of it. Still, he answered the crab. "[It went well. I'm gonna take a nap now.]"

As he spoke, he loaded up the final message and grinned stupidly at it.

Predation of the Trickster (C) has been created.

Renewal of the Trickster (C) has been created.

Shadow of the Trickster (C) has been created.

Unbothered, the crab began scuttling off. "[Okay. I'll tell you what I did later, then.]"

Henry's eyes shot open.