NOVEL NEXT 3.32: The Pod
Henry struck his two bone-sticks one last time before he made sure he was well and truly invisible. He even pushed some extra mana into Mind Shield so his mental signature didn't betray his presence. Then he waited as the clicks grew closer.
Was it the dolphins? Was it another group of dolphins? Was it something else altogether? He couldn't wait to see.
Seconds ticked by as Henry scanned the horizons and as the clicks grew louder, his heart beat faster. They weren't speaking, as far as he could tell. These really seemed to be functional clicks instead of straight up communication, so he couldn't glean much for them. But he didn't need to, because a couple of minutes later, the first shape became visible.
It came out of the blue sea from behind a rock and while Henry tensed for a second, he quickly relaxed when he noticed the lack of spots and the short snout. They were also significantly smaller, compared to the Spotted dolphins Henry had encountered before.
[Nomadic Porpoise (C) - Level 88]
Its back was dark gray, while its stomach was a little paler. It hovered over the outcropping from behind which it came, clicked a couple of times, then cautiously swam forward, and moments later, more porpoises showed up behind it. Curiously, they didn't all look the same. There were some that had different shades and as he watched them approach, he noted they didn't all move the same. Some were shy and cautious, others playful. Some swam in a decisive straight line, while others hopped from one outcropping to another.
No mind shields, Henry noted. He noted wariness, curiosity. Some hunger. And when he opted to drop his camouflage, complete and abject fear spread through them as they scattered faster than he could blink, letting out an eep-sounding series of clicks. Moments later, they recovered from the shock and when they did, they all came to a stop a good distance away. There was no clicking, but he could see head tilts here and there, so Henry assumed they were chatting.
Raised an arm and waving, Henry targeted the highest leveled individual. A larger, mid B-rank one with dark, nearly black coloration on top of its back.
"[Hey there,]" he said, broadcasting his words to all those present.
A ripple spread out of the individual he targeted, and a few shocked clicks followed suit.
The porpoise he targeted approached warily, swimming back and forth as it studied him. "[What are you? I've never seen your kind of kraken,]" said the female voice after a second. Still, she stayed pretty far, but the others fanned out around her. Not to encircle Henry, as far as he could tell, but to make sure nothing showed up from behind them and caught them unaware. "[You lured us here, didn't you?]" she asked.
Henry didn't see any reason to lie. "[Yes. I heard a click, and thought it might be dolphins, whom I have had dealings with. But I've never met you guys, and so I have nothing against you. I didn't notice your pod before, though. I spent some time in this area before, but I've never heard or seen you guys,]" he said, eying the creatures ahead. There were nearly twenty of them, but so far, interestingly, he wasn't sensing any greed or willingness to attack. Just wariness. Which made him think of something.
With a flick of an arm, Henry summoned one of the remaining B-rank tunas, which surprised the porpoises for a second before they all leaned forward curiously, clicking excitedly, though the leader's click seemed to have overruled all of the others and they stilled."[A little gift,]" he added, then with a slow push of Telekinesis, he floated the large tuna closer to them.
The porpoises stared at the fish, they looked at their leader who was still eying him warily. "[You're not the Trickster that used to live here, are you?]"
Was that why they were wary? He could see it. Knowing how that Trickster had behaved, he'd bet it would have hounded the porpoises with its clones if it'd been around. "[No. I… We didn't get along well. But she's gone. We fought before I left.]"
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
A wave of relief spread out through the pod, a few animated clicks echoed as some of them began approaching the tuna, as if hypnotized by its lightning blue fins. Even the leader, with her eyes still on him, had begun floating toward the carcass. "[You've done us a favor, then,]" she said. "[We've been worried about that thing ever since we came back here, expecting one of its clones to show up.]"
Henry waved that away. "[Don't worry about it. And yeah I agree. It was a pest with those damn things,]" Henry said, recalling all of the stalking and attacks the Trickster had put him through back when he'd started his journey. "[But couldn't you have dealt with it yourself? It was still C-rank when I fought it.]"
Henry was a little confused. The B-rank could have wiped the floor with the Trickster. It had been powerful for a C-rank, but as a level 65 B-rank, the leader of the porpoises wouldn't have needed much to dispatch the Trickster.
That made the porpoise freeze for a bit, while the others clicked fretfully. "[We… uh. We don't like fighting. Usually,]" the porpoise said after a moment as she herself approached the tuna. By now, many of them were floating over the large carcass, but none had taken a bite just yet."[Also, I didn't expect it to still be C-rank. It was a C-rank two seasons ago, when I was still a calf. I expected it to be much stronger by now.]"
The porpoises were nearly touching the tuna, but none had a bite just yet. It was a ridiculous sight, if Henry was honest, but before he could say much, the leader of the porpoises asked. "[Why do you offer us this? What do you want for it?]"
Henry shrugged. "[It's a gift. A friend of mine taught me it's always nice to offer gifts. And I want nothing for it. I have a couple of questions I'd love to ask, but even if you can't answer them, I'm not taking the tuna back. Please. Enjoy,]" he said.
"[Awesome! Thank you, stranger!]" she said before she let out a long series of clicks, and out of where they'd came from, around thirty more porpoises showed up, and when Henry saw what was on top of some of their heads, his thoughts stalled and his eyes went wide.
"[Ah sorry sorry!]" quickly sent the leader. "[I was just calling for the rest of my pod to come and eat. My bad,]" the leader added, tense.
Henry almost didn't hear her. He was focused on the numerous little shells sticking to some of the porpoises' heads. Most had differently shaped shells, but the red claws and familiar eye stalks were unmistakable, and identifying one of them confirmed what he was seeing.
[Chimeric Hermit Crab (D) - Lvl 89 ]
Henry was frozen, which was alarming the porpoises, and then he chuckled. "[Sorry! I realized something. No harm done, please, enjoy. And tell me if you need more I've got… plenty of meats in storage. Also… I think I'll also be bringing a friend of mine here, if you don't mind. I think he'll like to meet you all.]"
That seemed to confuse the B-rank, but she then gave him the equivalent of a porpoise's shrug before she tore into the tuna's flank with gusto.
***
Back in Thalis, Maurice had been sparring against Ash and Fabian when Henry had showed up. Fabian wasn't keeping up that well. He got tired fast and wanted to take a break often, but Ash was nearly as motivated and crazy about getting stronger as he was! He liked her. It had become some sort of little game between them to find who'd quit first. Of course, that always ended up being Ash as Maurice could last way longer than she did, considering his stats and levels, but he appreciated how Ash would rather pass out or start bleeding out of her eyes than quit.
He felt that was a healthy attitude.
"[Maurice! I found something you gotta see. C'mere!]" Henry called out as his real body appeared at the edge of the arena and without waiting for Maurice to approach, Henry began channeling his mana. After a couple of uninterrupted seconds of buildup, Maurice knew Henry was transferring them both to wherever his clone was, which excited him. What did Henry find?
He was about to ask, but before he could speak, a red cape fluttered in the corner of his eyes, Maurice glanced up and found Velistraine's grinning face in front of Henry's, a hand on his shoulder.
"Got room for one more?"