NOVEL NEXT 3.35: Play
After dropping off Maurice and Velistraine back in Thalis, Henry retracted a good portion of the clones he'd spread out toward the area by having the furthest clones find the nearest ones and popping them into his Maw. It was like tidying up a bunch of Matryoshka dolls, and when he got most of them, he dismissed the rest and switched himself with one of his clone near Rocky's old territory.
Camouflaging himself out of habit, Henry swam down and made his way toward the crevice that would led down into the ruins in which the lobster lived, and when the submerged city came into view, Henry popped out fifty of his clones and turned toward navigator and scouting Octominds.
"Spread them out. Look through every nook and cranny for anything valuable or shiny. Texts, gold, pearls, and most importantly, anything that might look or be related to the metallic orbs. If you find plates with text on them that you don't understand, store them. Go."
The two projections of the Octominds saluted and disappeared right as all of his clones turned invisible and swam down. Leaving them to their tasks, Henry turned his attention to the tunnel that lead into the lobster's chamber but before he dove in there, he looked around
Just like how he'd left it, a city lay under him. Though to be fair, it might have been abandoned by its original creator, but it sure became a home for all sorts of life ever since. A few home or towers here and there were broken, but in general, the homes still stood about, their construction somehow preventing the growth of algae along the walls. Still, whatever enchantment or material that made most of the construction didn't deter the flora so much, and it managed to grow out of the patches of soil or out of the wall of the cavern, some behaving like trellis to stretch up toward the still standing toward before spreading down toward the roofs of the buildings below.
Looks the same, mostly, he thought. Though he wondered. Who lived here, and why had they left Considering the state of things and the lacks of remains, it looked abandoned. As if one day, everyone just packed up and left. How long ago, he couldn't tell. With magic muddying things, it could have been a dozen years or a dozen centuries.
Summoning a handful of clones and spreading them up and away to secure his retreat, he swam toward the tunnel. Just in case things went bad, he could make a break for it.
I got plenty of healing charges, orbs of healing, mana is full, Aspects are full, he told himself. It was a little scary, facing an A-rank, and as he came to the lip of the tunnel, he paused.
Wait… I should confirm it first…
Sending a couple of clones ahead, Henry saw into the chamber that held the lobster and just like the city, it was the same as he'd left it. It was like a hangar of some sorts. Many large depressions were carved into the walls and front and center, there was a wide, gateway that led out into the water. Glancing around through the eyes of his clone, Henry soon had eyes on the lobster. It was still in the same spot he'd seen it the last time, but while it was mostly still and potentially even asleep, it didn't seem very… happy.
Lightning was already crackling across its shell, but as he spent the next few seconds eying it, it wasn't reacting to the clone. It wasn't looking back toward his real body either.
Was it having a nightmare or something?
Henry pushed the thought away and let out a slow breath. Alright, let's see, he thought as he activated Identify, and just to make sure it didn't fail, he fed it some of Thaumaturgy's conceptual essence. If this thing was in the 30s or 40s or anything higher, he was getting the hell away. But if it were under level 20, then he was taking the shot.
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The spell activated, and the lobster's antennas shuddered as the crackling electricity grew more agitated. It knew he was here, but hiding had never been his intent. And thankfully, his investigation effort worked.
[Stormclaw Bruiser of Tide and Thunder (A) - Lvl ?]
That puts it under level 25, Henry deduced as the lobster's presence fell on him. He swallowed, a shiver coursing through his clones as the creature's antenna twitched about before pointing toward Henry's real body, at which point the crackling grew wilder. Bolts flew out of its back, ionizing the water around them.
Oh boy.
Excitement welled in his stomach. This was the scariest and most vivid part of the fight. The calm before all hell broke loose. The lobster might be a little stronger than the limit he'd set himself, but if he didn't push his own limits a little, how was he supposed to survive what was to come? How would he adapt to whatever the System was preparing? He had to take some risks. He had to force himself out of his comfort zone. After all, what was life without a little spice?
With that in mind, Henry activated his second Skill.
Switching places with the clone right outside the chamber, Henry waved his giant arm at the lobster as he made his own lightning crackle across his limbs. It looked much weaker, but lightning wasn't his specialty so it wasn't a fair comparison. Henry had considered dwarfing the creature with his sheer size, but he also didn't want to give it too much surface to lay into him, so he opted for being just twice its size.
"[Come out and play]," Henry sent the lobster as he backed away and he let out a slow breath. Best case scenario, he wins and gets himself an A-rank core and a bunch of Aspect levels. Worst case? No core, but he gets a bunch of Aspect levels. He didn't think it could kill him, now that he had all of his defensive Skills working at a 100%, and unlike the fight against Velistraine, Henry wasn't pulling any punches. He was going to generously dip into his reserves of Conceptual essences. Though as he watched the creature lumber out of the hanger, lightning crackling out of the glowing pattern that appeared over its shell, Henry thought of something, and after considering it for half a second, he sent the order through as he spread his limbs around him and continued to create some distance away from the ruins.
Gotta make some space for the clones to work, he thought. Henry was ready. And he was about to send another word to the lobster, only to see the truck-sized monster blurring in his vision and by the time him and his Octomind could make sense of what he was seeing, the glowing blue claw of the lobster was all that he could see.
The punch was like a bomb had gone off right on Henry's face and aside from having it be literally mushed in, it was followed up by a pulse of muscle-seizing, nerve-frying and mind-melting discharge of electricity that nearly winked out his consciousness then and there. Or it would have if Henry hadn't recently evolved. Or if his abilities haven't recently upgraded.
Actually, all things considered… it's not that bad, he thought as he let the momentum propel him back and as he Blinked some distance further away. The lobster stared at him, his presence pressing down on Henry, but it didn't feel too bad. At least, his own Aspects were pushing back enough for the pressure to be only a little stifling. Still, his face still hurt like hell, but it was a pain he could ride. His nerves screamed and his skin smoked from the residual electricity, but Henry had dealt with worse while much weaker.
This should be fun, Henry thought as the floating Octominds began crackling with mana, one of which latched on to him and began healing his burnt skin. With a flex, Henry summoning 30 clones and as the lobster glared, pincer clacking, eight leviathan teeth appeared on the tips of all eight of his limbs.
"[My turn,]" Henry said as his form crackled before he blurred forward himself with an activation of Lightning Dash, wondering if this lobster was the originator of the Skill.