NOVEL NEXT 3.27: Pestering
While Maurice slowly trailed after them, still getting used to walking on two legs as they made their way up the spiral stairs that led up one of the many trees of Thalis, Velistraine shoulder-bumped Henry as he pointedly refused to look at her. He wished avoiding her gaze would be effective enough, but just like a pushy saleswoman, that didn't dissuade her any less from continuing to pester him. "Come on! I'll take it easy on both of you! We have to celebrate! And see what this new rank can do."
That made Henry blink, and without stopping his climb up the stairs, he gave the captain a sidelong glance. "How is beating us up part of a celebration?" he asked, a small frown on his brow. To be fair, Henry was needling her a little. And sure, he was playing up the cagey-ness a bit. While he definitely wanted to measure himself against the captain, he didn't want to do right this second. Which was what she was arguing for.
Still, it was as if the captain had finally gotten a bite, and she didn't wait to make her pitch. "You two managed a crazy evolution! Look at you. Look at him," she added, pointing at Maurice as the teenage-looking crab had come to a stop and instead was swinging his head left and right, making his red-corded hair swing left and right as he giggled.
[Wanderlust Hermit (B+) - Level 4]
Henry's lips curved into a smile and he looked ahead as he continued the climb. "Well… It turns out that it was just about having only fused options before B-rank. You mentioned that A-ranks can't be realized without having all of one's Aspect at B-rank minimum, so maybe that's the key. One either needed to have all of their Aspects at B-rank, or they could have fused C-ranks Aspects. That should be able to handle the class fusion. Whichever it is, now more enhanced B-ranks can be created. Plus, as you said, we just got the class and species fusion done ahead of schedule. At the end of the day, it's not that big of a deal."
Velistraine shook her head and tutted. "We're gonna have to do something about your weird sense of expectation. Fine, it's not that big of a deal, but it's not a small thing, either. This wouldn't have been that easy to discover, just because there aren't that many people pushing past B-rank. Do you think that many people choose to pursue that kind of power? And you're underestimating what something like this costs. In cores and in tokens. You have the whole ocean as your training grounds and you're crazy enough to risk your life on the daily. Not that many folks around have that same drive," she said, eyes scanning the small crowd that spread in front of them as they reached the grounds of the arena which had again been made into an open-aired mess hall. "That's the difference between us and them," she said, nodding toward a table full of tired-looking tree-guards. "They fight to keep their city safe. But if given the choice, four out of five of them would rather get a plot of land somewhere and farm and be safe. Well, safer. At least usually you can see the monsters come from afar, on land. You never know what's gonna pop out at sea. Do you see yourself doing something like that?"
Henry hummed, and after a couple of seconds, he shook his head. "Farming can be fun, and so can other low-risk professions and hobbies… but I think I'd get antsy after a few days without a good challenge."
While he wouldn't have said the same thing over the first few days he'd been reborn in this world, Henry could recognize that he'd always had the itch to move around and discover new sights. It was why he'd pursued the explorer's life, hopping from one boat to the next. He couldn't sit still for that long. He needed action. And that action had somehow turned into him picking fights with sea monsters. Sure, at first it had been out of fear and for survival, but ever since he'd gotten to Thalis and had gotten a taste of safety, he found himself craving those battles and struggles. There was just something special about pitting his might and will against the monsters of the sea. So he wouldn't mind it if he ended up picking up a peaceful hobby of some sort so long as it happened to be right next to some pretty dangerous seas so he could go and stretch his arms every now and then.
"Exactly. We can't stand still anymore. We need the next challenge. The next thrill," Velistraine said, slapping him on the shoulder. "So when are we sparring?"
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She's relentless, Henry thought with a sigh as he found an empty table and sat down while Maurice did the same. "Let me get some rest, and we'll spar. How's the wave going, by the way? How much of it is left?"
Velistraine hummed and waved at one of the waiters before she scratched under her chin, a small frown on her face. "Honestly… anything between two days or a week. Usually the spike lasts for only two or three days, but this wave built up for longer than usual, and showed up earlier as well, so it might last longer. Hard to tell, frankly."
Maurice pushed his hair back and leaned forward. "When are we trying to find the orbs? How about the turtle shell? I think I can try again. What do you think, Henry?"
Henry scratched the back of his head and actually got distracted for a moment. Hadn't felt that in a while, he thought with a grin before he turned to Maurice. "I think… for the orbs, there's no harm in trying. So knock yourself out there. We want to find the others anyway. For the turtle… maybe let's wait?"
Maurice tilted his head, then his mouth opened up as realization dawned on him, while Velistraine nodded, likely understanding where Henry was coming from.
"The turtle cut off the connection pretty fast the last time," the captain said. "It knows it's been searched for, and trying to divine its location without us being able to move fast would just result in it being more prepared to fight off our attempts. We don't want it to get used to our attempts. To yours and Maurice's Skills."
"Exactly," Henry said as he eyed one nearby young girl who'd been chasing one of his Octominds. She was barely five years old, and already at D-rank, but even then, it didn't take much work for the Octomind to evade her attempts.
"After some rest, I'll start working on a network of Shadows," Henry said, making the Octomind turn around and chase the girl instead, which made her squeal with joy. "I'll send around as many clones as I can manage, and see what my limits are. How much ground I can cover."
"Speaking of plans," said Velistraine, looking up from her plate of appetizers as a wide grin stretched across her face. "How about you two come with me? I'm going after the orbs as well. And while sure, you two are almost caught up and will soon be getting ready for A-rank, I bet I can still teach you a thing or two."
Maurice gasped, and his head began turning from the captain to Henry, back and forth as he eagerly waited for a response. Henry eyed his friend and smiled. While he hadn't been expecting the subject to be broached today, he wasn't too surprised. The plan had always been to locate these orbs and see what happened then. While spreading out seemed like it could be the more effective method, Henry wasn't really that limited by distance anymore. He could travel along with Velistraine, start with the orb they knew was with her acquaintance, and Henry could slowly trawl the seafloor with his own clones and look for leads.
It might be time to try and get in touch with Deepcaller again. Maybe he knows something, Henry thought as he turned to Maurice. "What do you think, Maurice?"
Honestly, Henry was surprised the crab hadn't blurted out his agreement already. It was oddly disarming, seeing Maurice actually being patient and diplomatic.
"Yes! It sounds like fun! Let's do it," the teenage-looking crab said, practically vibrating on his chair while his corded-hair kept falling into his eyes, much to his visible annoyance.
Henry turned to Velistraine, and found her sporting a wide, shit-eating grin as she held her fork aloft. "This is going to be so much fun. A krakenbane and a kraken on the same ship. People are gonna tell stories about this," she said. Then her features sobered up, and Henry's eyes sharpened as the next words came out of her mouth. "But there's one problem."
Maurice and Henry looked up, and seeing her sparkling eyes, Henry felt himself get annoyed already.
"When people join my ship, I have to personally test their skills. You two are fighters, so we have to duel. Today, preferably. Them's the rules," she said with a shrug.
Henry just stared at her, and at her bold-faced liar of a face.