NOVEL NEXT 3.10: Small Crisis
With every hour that went by, the energies sufficing the Pillar—or what the whales had called the Great Current—built up a little more. At first he couldn't tell that well, having gotten used to being in the rich environment for months, now. But by now, he could feel it, and it reminded him of the first time he'd been subjected to it, all the way back when he'd been invited into the dolphin's space and had met Stormsong.
The slow increase of energy was, in a way, like watching a sky full of dark, low, and grumbling clouds, ready to unfurl a torrent of rain and thunder upon the land below it.
In this scenario, it only made predators more active. Already, Thalis' handful of trade ships have been hauled out of the water. Those who had an ability to store theirs already did so, as more and more B-ranks came out of the depth, most likely attracted by the high number of prey the trees were hiding, both below and above water.
Henry wasn't too worried for himself and Maurice. It's been two days since he had fused his Aspects, and with that out of the way, he had turned all of his focus on the next stop before he officially moved on to B-rank. Skill fusions. He'd already fused a couple of skills and was right now working on integrating Invisibility within Mimicry, which involved him trying–and often failing–to activate both from the same spell-nexus. It was pretty much a brute-forcing approach, but it worked. Unfortunately, his current session was interrupted when one of his many scouts caught something below the waves.
And he had to act fast.
Triggering Recalling Blink toward the scout in question, Henry began pouring mana into it as he opened his eyes and took in training grounds. Maurice had been working hard, listening to Arisia's instruction while the two young ones from Velistraine's ship sat next to the crab. As for Velistraine herself, she had been pouting, trapped into creating concept shards for Arisia to pay for… something.
It seemed like the captain had accrued a lot of debt with the instructor.
Now though, all of them looked up and abandoned what they had been working on, sensing the large built-up of power coursing through and around him. Maurice shook his claws. "Henry! Where are you going?"
"Anything fun?" asked Velistraine as she hopped away from her seat, eyes shining.
"I'll be right back," Henry said. He had no time to continue explaining, as the skill had had enough mana already. After all, he wasn't teleporting that far.
The location was only a half-hour swim away without skill. At most.
Henry was swallowed into a current of dark purple and reappeared under water, a hundred or so yards above a vista of craggy and jagged rocks. Immediately, he dove toward one of the three creatures chasing after a panicked and terrified kraken that kept chucking rocks behind him, shuddering whenever one of the ear-piercing clicks slammed into him, trailing blood from two missing arms as he tried to find a hiding spot that the whales couldn't just obliterate like they've just done twice.
[Crimson Cachalot (B) - Lvl 5]
[Crimson Cachalot (B) - Lvl 42]
[Crimson Cachalot (B) - Lvl ???]
Do I go for the kill or try to negotiate? Henry wondered as he closed in on the three whales, body inflating as he burned mana to reach his maximum size. The largest of them, a giant with scarred, blood-red skin was nearly thrice as large as his maximal size, which he should reach in a few seconds.
550 tons. I'm in literal kaiju territory at this point.
Rocky dove into a crevice, desperate to escape the three hounding sperm whales when the largest of them turned and looked up at the oncoming Henry.
Henry was at his maximum size, easily crossing the 250 feet mark. He'd be longer if he'd put less weight in his arms, but he needed those to hit hard.
Without slowing, he shouted at the three cachalots. "[Hey there. Mind letting the kraken go?]"
A couple of clicks from the largest one were his answers. Orders, Henry assumed. Because right after, the second largest came up to intercept him, while the strongest began head-butting the crevice in which Rocky had disappeared. "[No. It's our hunt. And you will be next,]" the newcomer said, its telepathic voice terse and shrill. Then it clicked.
Henry's brains shook, and he even tasted a little blood in his beak. But that was it.
With a sigh, he pulled on all of his Octominds—even those who had been on mana-refilling duty—and put their might behind one single action.
To freeze the oncoming B-rank.
These were intelligent creatures. Maybe dick-ish, but he would rather not kill them if possible. If this show of force didn't convince them, then he wouldn't mind some more target practice.
Henry activated the skill and braced as a prodigious amount of mana was instantly siphoned away while a nimbus of purple materialized around the giant creature.
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Now comes the hard part.
Of course, a level 42 whale was not easy to pin down. It furiously bucked its powerful body and clicked, and if Henry had been alone, it would have already broken the skill. But he wasn't alone. And he still had plenty of resources at his disposal to make sure the predator went nowhere and that the truth he was trying to communicate landed.
Between him and the cachalots, Henry was the real predator.
Henry pulled on his new Aspect, Predation of the Trickster, and even added a dash of Thaumaturgy before channeling both to the skill nexus currently maintaining his grasp on the whale. The nimbus of Telekinesis swelled instantly, becoming almost tangible, and Henry even believed the magic was starting to look like seeking arms wrapping themselves around the whales.
A flurry of frustrated clicks echoed out of the impotent creature, attracting the stronger individual's attention while the youngest and smallest watched.
"[Now that I have all of your attention, I'd rather you leave. That is my friend you have hurt. I'd like not to have to kill all three of you. Last warning.]"
Unfortunately, Henry's mercy was swiftly ignored as the largest blood-red sperm whale cut through the water, enraged. It didn't say anything as its pointed head shone for an instant before the most powerful click Henry had ever heard exploded out of it.
Henry's eyes burst, and so did many of his veins and arteries, while the water around him literally boiled.
But that wasn't enough for him to let go of his grip on the second whale. After all, he could still perceive it through a handful of clones watching from a distance, though the concept-empowered click almost broke his skill. But it seemed that one concept was not enough to win over two. Not even when the cachalot's Aspect was B-rank.
Likely because it's not about disrupting other magics…
Grimly, Henry blinked forward as his flesh and eyes instantly healed toward the largest of the three, arm pulled back. A sharp-edge materialized along his limb as he activated the C-rank ability of Evershifting Strike. More mana poured into the skill, greatly empowering the cutting, unimpeded, and accelerating effects, then he added some conceptual energy from Predation for good measure.
"[No!]" blasted the one still trapped into his Telekinesis as it thrashed more violently.
Henry's arm came down in a blur toward the cachalot. The latter had been fully intending on biting into him, unworried about the damage Henry could do to it. Its body was engulfed in a red-hue as it accelerated, and Henry's arm met the tough skin and blubber of the whale and cleaved right through.
Unlike some other beings Henry had beaten in this manner, the cachalot was much larger. And tougher. Henry was pretty sure he bisected its brains, as his arm had sliced pretty deep into the creature's head. But the notification didn't show up.
Ever since Tevarius and that week Henry had spent fighting B-ranks, he didn't feel threatened by them anymore. He still needed to empower his skill with concepts to bring them down, and not engage when he was out, but they weren't a danger anymore.
He didn't see himself losing to any other B-rank. Unless it was someone like him, that is. Someone with plenty of synergistic skills and fused Aspects.
The cachalot's body was twitching, blood pouring out of the meters-deep cut in its head. But it was healing. Slowly. It had a chance of recovering before it bled out.
Henry considered finishing it off right here and now, but he was not gonna level from it. Well, he might, but he didn't need the core. Not really. And in case the smallest one was the child of these two, he wouldn't mind passing on murdering one of its parents in front of it.
He would if he had to. Henry… didn't feel so averse against putting down an intelligent creature that stubbornly came after him or his loved ones. Intelligence wasn't a pass for any creature, human or otherwise, to be a threat to him or his friends.
Turning to the one still trapped, Henry asked."[How about now? Will you leave the territory and never come back?]"
"[Yes. Yes, I promise.]"
"[How about this one,]" he asked, reaching out to the one still twitching and bleeding, causing a sense of panic to swell from the one he had trapped. The third was still frozen in shock. That one made him feel bad, a little.
Looking back at the one still in his telekinetic grip, he continued. "[Is it going to abide? Or do I need to finish it off?]"
The trapped whale shook. "[I will drag him away. We will not come back. I swear it on the Absolute.]"
Henry sighed. "[It didn't have to come to this, you know,]" he said. Releasing the cachalot, he whipped down and cut a slice out of its twitching flipper, which he swiftly threw in storage before he swam down toward Rocky's hideout.
"[We're done here. Get moving,]" he said, not even bothering to look behind him as he swam past them.
***
With his arm on the kraken's head, Henry channeled Arcane Regeneration into the still shaken Rocky as they watched the three cachalots disappear into the distance, with the two smaller ones pushing the still unresponsive one by nudging its side.
Henry turned to Rocky. "[So? Still want to stay down here?]"
Rocky shuffled uncomfortably, then its arms deflated, resigned. "[Okay. I will… come. With you and Maurice,]" his voice answered, deep and echo-y.
Henry chuckled and tapped the kraken's on the arm. "[It'll be fun, I promise. And no one will give you trouble. You have nothing to worry about. You'll see.]"
With this little crisis resolved, the two made their way back to Thalis. Henry was looking forward to how Rocky was going to handle being in a city.
And I need to hurry and finish the fusions before the waves started in earnest.
He'd have plenty of levelling to do. After all, how else was he supposed to locate the turtle and find the other mysterious orbs?