Undersea Reincarnation - [Octopus Monster Evolution LitRPG]

"[I didn't even get to see the new stuff,]" grumbled the crab as they swam about, looking for a few targets the crab could test his new skills on. They were still in the general area of Thalis, though this time they headed west, in the direction they had initially come from a couple of months ago.

Henry was hoping they'd encounter one of those adult serpents, but so far, it was mainly sharks and random, starved fauna that pretty quickly made themselves scarce whenever Henry's massive form approached. With every level that went by, he was becoming more and more like that Draconic turtle they'd seen back then.

"[I couldn't just sit there and let them just bite away at me until you finished your fusion, could I?]" Henry asked the pouting crab. "[I didn't know how long it'd take you. And honestly… it became kinda fun to wipe large chunks of them. Especially with these little guys and with the Shadows.]"

One of the Octominds landed on Maurice's shell, and the crab pointedly ignored it. The Octomind—one that didn't have a dedicated role and so, looked like a normal octopus—extended a hand and wrapped around the claw before it detached from the shell and hung from Maurice's extended limb, its other arms trailing behind as Henry continued his leisurely swim through the sparse algae stalks of the area.

After a few minutes of quiet swimming, Henry brought the crab closer as they arrived in a rocky, reef populated area full of swaying giant anemones and red, tree-sized red corals that looked like giant antlers that studded the canyon-like formations that criss-crossed the area. "[So? What'd you get? Are you ready to start the process? That was your last fusion, right?]"

Maurice chuckled. "[Hah. Not telling. You'll have to wait and see the glory of my evolution. Once we go back up. Probably not a good idea to do it down here. And yeah, I'm ready to start… though I hope it works. No, it'll work! Probably… Should I try to ask the System something if it shows up?]"

Henry poked the crab with an arm, and Maurice swiped at him. "[Fine. You gremlin. Be like that,]" Henry said. He could understand the desire to keep the fusions secret for a bigger surprise later, and he was sure Maurice was on to something, considering the flares up Henry had sensed earlier. As for the rest of the questions and what Maurice should do about the System, Henry's thoughts were straightforward. "[For the System though… honestly? Do what you want. I don't think we'll get more out of it than what we already did, so you might as well try and learn something from it. We got enough leads to work on.]"

Maurice rubbed his claws together. "[I think my new Aspects will be perfect for finding more about the turtle and the orbs,]" the crab said, and Henry let the taunt fly right past him. He could see the eye stalks peering at him, but he acted as if he hadn't noticed.

"[It's because it has 'Seer' in the name,]" Maurice added, tone smug.

"[Oh? That's nice,]" Henry said, keeping his tone casual as he looked around for interesting targets. Maurice stared at him, and Henry suppressed his laughter until the crab started banging his claws on Henry's arm.

"[I'm joking, calm down. It sounds awesome. I promise,]" Henry said as one of his Shadows located a nice target for Maurice's practice. A particularly large triggerfish trying to bully a few oversized shrimps out of their home.

While Henry was confident he could maybe brute-force the path toward the turtle, he had the strong suspicion the crab could out-perform him with less. Especially if he had an Aspect that had the 'seer' word in its name.

Henry couldn't wait to witness the crab's attempt.

***

Velistraine narrowed her eyes at the ape hanging down from a branch above her as she crunched into another apple and slowly chewed. Her two new recruits were gone, reinvigorated by what they'd just witnessed, though even if they hadn't been, Arisia would have dragged them up to the training grounds by their feet. Velistraine had rarely seen her old instructor so motivated, and it was nice to see an all, but the dumb smile on Zerathstra's face was pissed her off more and more by the minute, especially considering the ape refused to give her a play by play of what was happening below the water.

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Not even dipping her feet in Henry's pool was enough to cool her off.

Velistraine would have gone down there herself if she didn't need to stay here, lest some new hostile A-ranks showed up. The ape might not show it to the others, but she could tell the fatigue was starting to add up, especially considering it had barely been half a day since the fight with the Stormgulls and their king, and neither of them had recovered much since.

"How are they doing?" she asked after a moment.

"They're gone," Zerathstra simply said.

Velistraine frowned. "What do you mean, gone?"

"They're out of range of the trees. I can't see them anymore."

The captain grimaced. A B-rank swarm as a freshly evolved B-rank couldn't be an easy fight. While she was a tiny bit disappointed, she was glad the duo knew when to retreat.

"That's fair, I guess. Maybe we've over-estimated the evolution… Are they trying to lose the swarm? I knew that might have been too much for them. In that case, we should go down and clear it. Wouldn't want one of the damn things to trigger a swarm-king evolution."

The ape looked up at her, and his smile somehow grew even more annoying. "Hmm? Oh. You misunderstand, my young and naïve pupil. My tender-brained apprentice. My tragically unseasoned—"

Velistraine picked up her empty coconut mug. "I'm going to hit you."

The ape continued, unaffected by her interruption. "—understudy. No, they're not running away. Not at all."

Velistraine could feel the migraine slowly settle in behind her eyes. Even though it had been months since she'd had any of those. While her rank made her immune to most mundane ailments, pushing herself to the edge could still leave her dazed for a couple of hours. "Zer," Velistarine warningly began as she scrambled for something she could pressure the guardian with. Unfortunately, she came out with nothing. Whatever she said, the ape would figure out a way to twist it and frustrate her even more.

Velistraine bailed on her own sentence as she ran a hand across her face before she looked up at the ape. "Please. Can you just… just tell me what's going on?"

The ape stared down at her from his branch, and sighed, shaking his head at the captain as if she'd just party-pooped his parade. "The swarm's gone. Dead."

Velistraine blinked, and her eyes widened. "Seriously?"

The ape grinned and nodded. "Yup. Vaporized. Electrocuted. Sliced. Henry cleared it out in less than an hour. Most of which Maurice was busy fusing his Aspects."

There was a quiet second in which they just stared at each other, then a cackle escaped out of her throat. "It's a good evolution then?"

"Yup. And you'll be experiencing it first hands. He might not win, but he'll make you work for it."

Velistraine grinned. "Don't threaten me with a good time, Zer. So? This is really happening then? We're doing this?"

The ape dropped down from the branch, and to Velistraine's sense, it almost felt like his whole soul was vibrating with excitement. "I'm calling in all my favors. We're finding those orbs, and we're figuring out what's going on with the System. It's time to get some real answers."

She knew how important this was to the ape. While he rarely spoke of it, Velistraine had snuck her way up once or twice to his cabin, and she'd seen the carefully preserved momentos he had hidden. If there was even the slightest bit of hope for him to find what had happened to his mentors and friends, there wasn't much that'd be able to stop him.

Well… aside from this place itself. "I hate to bring down the mood, but what about Thalis?"

"What about it?" asked the ape innocently.

Velistraine narrowed her eyes. "How are you going to help locate the orbs if you're protecting our home?"

Zerathstra shrugged, a grin on his lips. "I'll be helping… from right here. You, my wayward student, will be locating and bringing the orbs here. Or maybe Henry would, if that teleporting skill of his gains enough range. If he wants to help, of course, though, he seems to be as curious about this as we are. I don't need to uproot our home just so we can locate them. But if I really need to, I'll figure something out. Anyway, I'm taking a nap, say hi to them when they come back up!"

The ape hopped away, swinging from one branch to the other until he disappeared beyond the canopy. Velistraine shook her head as she got up. "Crafty old fossil," she grumbled, a smile on her lips as she stretched her arms above her head.

It's been a while since she'd been on a fetch quest. And definitely none as important as this. It should be a lot of fun, especially if the little cute crab and Henry came along.

"We'll see. As soon as the dumb wave is over."