Henry decided to consume both shrimp cores, and use the squid and everything he had remaining for upgrades. With the decision made, he confirmed his choice and basked in the intense magic released by the shrimp cores as they sunk into his powerful body.

  This will get me closer to bringing a B-rank down. I just need one of them, and I’ll be able to afford all of my upgrades.

  As the magic sunk through him, Henry couldn’t help but feel how insignificant one rank’s tokens were compared to the next one. Here he was, trying to budget and get the most out of his C-rank tokens, while a single B-rank one would cover most if not all of his needs. And once he was in B-rank, the same would happen again.

  Though it does seem like getting to A-rank is no easy matter.

  Henry didn’t really expect to see any. So far, it looked like there was a B-rank for every 100 C-ranks in the area, so how rare were the A-ranks?

  Were the Bahamut whales A-rank?

  He doubted that. Henry was thinking they might have been B-rank which… felt surreal. Considering that was the level of targets he was now aiming at.

  I hope I see them again. It would be fun to see how tough Deepcaller’s hide is now that I’ve leveled.

  Watchful Guardian (C) - Level 6 achieved!

  ...

  Watchful Guardian (C) - Level 26 achieved!

  4x Stat points awarded.

  2x Strength Stat points awarded.

  2x Spirit Stat points awarded.

  2x Constitution Stat points awarded.

  Phantomclaw Mantis Shrimp Core (C) contained significant Spirit and Perception stats. 1x Spirit and 1x Perception Stat points awarded.

  Deepflare Mantis Shrimp Core (C) contained significant Spirit, Strength, and Perception stats. 1x Spirit, 1x Strength and 1x Perception Stat points awarded.

  Henry’s eyes and skin burned and itched as his Perception broke through the forty-points mark. He grit his beak and waited for the sensation to abate, wondering what exactly was happening to his nervous system to cause such a reaction. Soon enough it was over, and he converted the squid’s core fragment into tokens.

  I’ll save a hundred to upgrade Fury of the Trickster to D-rank, then everything else goes into whatever I can afford in stat points.

  Consumption Tokens: 189.8 C-Tokens

  With 89 C-Tokens, he was able to get a lot more points than he’d expected, bringing every stat’s “purchased” counter to 20 before he ran out of tokens for a total of 20 points. Henry had to sit down and get through not one, but two more stat breakthroughs; Spirit and Dexterity, the former of which felt like his soul was being exposed to the heat and brightness of a star.

  Worth it, he thought as his limbs twitched and spasmed. When it was over, Henry felt like he’d just been reborn.

  I know I just cracked through C-rank and gained the ability to collect C-tokens faster, but damn that’s a lot of points I’ve been missing out on.

  To finish up the stat upgrade process, there were five unassigned points left from his levels. It just so happened that Constitution was now sitting at a nice 75 points.

  This might allow me to start tanking whatever B-ranks can dish better.

  Henry confirmed the assignation, and endured as lava was poured into and through his flesh and blood.

  Four thresholds breaking in a single day. Feels good.

  Next, he turned his attention to the upgrade of Fury. Before that, he took a few moments to examine the area through his clones. The squids were floating closer to the cave, which was a bit worrisome, but there was nothing problematic that he could see. But just to be safe, he plugged the exit with an arm before triggering the upgrade.

  In the end, the process didn’t take long. Fury of the Trickster moving on to D-rank wasn’t very special, but now that he had a better feel for his soul and Aspect, he could tell the Aspect had become… heavier. Deeper, somehow. As if it might have been a child partially hidden around its siblings before, but now it stood shoulder to shoulder with his other Aspects.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Evershifting Strike—the Aspect’s Core skill—didn’t seem to have changed much. That might have been due to it already being incredibly powerful for an E-rank skill, but Henry would only be sure once he tested it out.

  With all that done, Henry brought up his stats and grinned at the progress. It made him feel a lot better, compared to his sour mood from earlier.

  Name: Henry Dubois

  Species: Trickster Kraken - Reincarnated Intelligence (C)

  Class: Watchful Guardian (C) - Level 26

  Evolutionary Points: 11

  Consumption Tokens: 4.1 C

  Strength: 58

  Constitution: 80

  Spirit: 70

  Perception: 44

  Dexterity: 42

  Unassigned: 0

  Henry breathed out a sight of relief and leaned against the wall. He was about to summon Maurice and Stormsong when he noticed the squids were still drifting toward his cave, and an alarm began ringing in the back of his mind.

  What the heck is happening?

  Confirming nothing was around the exit, Henry unplugged it and was about to peer outside when he felt something through telepathic sense. Something extremely mild, but it ratcheted up his sense of unease in a second. Before he could make a decision, there was a ripple in the water and the light of the current was obstructed by a large, alien, yellow eye.

  [Orthoceras Conductor Squid (B) - Lvl ?]

  From his Octominds, Henry saw the shoal suddenly turn and shoot toward him like a volley of arrows as the giant B-rank squid appeared out of nowhere, looming right next to his cave.

  Henry lunged forward as his sense of danger exploded. He whipped one of his longer arms forward, activating Evershifting Strike while a single thought echoed in his mind: he had to get the hell out of the cave.

  His arm smacked the giant eye with a heavy impact that shook the gravel away from the seabed. The surrounding debris and rocks stuttered upward toward the impact site as magic was released from Henry’s arm, causing a white glowing ball to appear. It dragged everything toward it for a microsecond before everything was thrown back in an implosion that made everything around them shudder.

  Not only mantis shrimps could hit hard. And yes, Evershifting Strike had gotten stronger. A bit more expensive, as well, but that was worth it for the damage.

  The cavitational impact popped the squid’s giant eye like an overripe grape. Blood and gray ocular fluid were sent tumbling as the creature flailed backward, most certainly surprised to be injured by something so much weaker than it was, but Henry didn’t relent. He surged forward just as a high C-rank drove through the cave’s stone like a spear which almost skewered the kraken to the seabed.

  Henry flooded the cave and his surroundings with ink as he rushed forward. A plan was forming in his mind, but it was risky. Maybe even stupid. But he was already surrounded, and even though he might slip away through the chaos, a nugget of greed and hunger was whispering in his ear.

  He might just be able to kill this thing. If he played his cards right. And then he’d get his many arms on some B-rank tokens.

  Shiftiness of the Trickster flowed through his body, making his skin black and white as he latched himself to the conical shell of the B-rank squid while it thrashed from having its eye popped. Henry clouded the waters with ink, flattening himself against the higher parts of the conical shell–keeping away from the squid’s reach–while the remaining shoal fell down on around the conductor like a rain of thrown javelins.

  Henry doubted they’d attack their leader. He just had to remain undetected, as long as possible.

  Another pulse of Shiftiness coupled with Misdirection ran through his body as Henry was reduced to a barely visible bump along the surface of the giant shell. With two of his Octominds, he imitated the turbulent pattern of the squid while he began digging through the shell itself with his radula.

  He needed to dig a little hole toward the softer flesh of the squid; through it, he would slowly envenom the larger predator. If it worked, it would be his most devious take-down to date.

  Pufferfish venom will do great here. Should numb him up pretty fast. Add some tranquilizing cocktail from the Mesmer eel and we should be good.

  Henry’s many hearts fluttered as the large squid flew out of the fog of ink. The monster swam slowly in a circle while the C-ranks dove and impaled anything that moved. The two remaining B-ranks seemed to float a bit higher, not really participating but not allowing themselves to be too isolated from the shoal, either.

  Henry wasn’t sure how the squid had sensed or found him. He thought it over as he methodically carved a hole into the tough shell.

  It was completely invisible, and I barely sensed it with my telepathic senses.

  Considering the squid’s method of attacks and now their ability to turn invisible, Henry suspected a certain Trickster kraken had encountered these beings.

  As the squid continued their assault on the innocent, weaker residents of the reef, Henry broke through the shell. With great care, he administered a small venom-filled bite and stopped. He felt the squid twitch, but it must have barely felt like a small pinch to the giant.

  After all, Henry was barely a tenth of the monster’s size right now.

  Henry was hopeful. He’d still have to figure out what he was going to do once the squid was dead, but his musings suddenly came to a crashing halt.

  There was… a click.

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