The seals took the hint around five minutes later.

  They’d been relentless. Henry tried for a while to shove them and knock them away, but that seemed to only make them bolder. So he began using a bladed arms and nine cleaved seals later, they called a retreat.

  Henry panted. They hadn’t injured him, but he was tired. And low on mana.

  I’ll upgrade Mimicking Arms and Razor Arm, then I head home.

  He glanced down at the serpent’s carcass. He’d pick up a few samples too, he guessed.

  Henry triggered Razor Arm’s upgrade first, and was surprised there was no options this time. Just a straightforward upgrade. Next, he moved on to Mimicking Arms. He waited as the magic worked for a dozen or more seconds, then it faded and once it did, he gingerly checked the new description.

  Mimicking Arms (D) - Level 1

  F-Rank: Your arms can mimic shapes and lifeforms accurately.

  E-Rank: Temporarily mimic some of the physical properties of recently ingested prey. The charge is available until used or until it expires

  D-Rank: A mimicked property can be remembered permanently, until exchanged.

  Temporary properties: Venomous Spikes, Scales of the Serpent

  Alter Physique: Gradually increase or decrease your overall size and mass over the course of a few hours. Proportions can be slightly altered. Minimum mass of 1 Kg, maximum mass of 230 kg.

  Shapeshifting Arm: Alter and shape the physical form of an arm. When a form is familiar and practiced enough, it can be quickly accessed.

  Henry examined the changes and smiled to himself. The smile froze, distorting as he cursed his luck. He’d just used the Bahamut’s Resilience. He could have kept it permanently.

  Dammit!

  After a series of cursing and cussing, Henry calmed down and tried to focus on the positives. The upgrade had a lot of interesting details, and Alter Physique allowing him to adjust his proportions was welcome news as well.

  I might finally be able to store the shell. Especially with that weight limit. Jeez.

  The ability’s upper weight limit was close to five hundred pounds. And new ability his cornerstone unlocked filled him with hope.

  Shapeshift. It’s limited to limbs for now, but eventually…

  It would be his key to stepping on land. Maybe. But before that, it should allow him to go around many of his limitations. If he changed something physically, would it allow him to gain skills that otherwise would have been incompatible?

  Henry read the skill and hummed.

  Could this allow me to fly? Could I make myself smaller, leave two large arms, and shape them into wings?

  It sounded possible… but difficult. The skill said familiarity and practice were key, and the physiologies and mechanics of biological flight were not easy to mimic. It would be worth a try, once he recovered enough.

  Low health. Practically no mana. And no charges on Hoard Vitals. I shouldn’t be out here.

  Over the next few minutes, Henry collected some meat from the dead seals and a few samples from the serpent. With Razor Arm now in the D-tier, cutting through the serpent wasn’t as difficult as it’d been when the monster had been alive.

  He stored everything in his Maw, then began swimming back home, gliding stealthily along the seafloor.

  As he swam, he looked back at his long arms and considered that he hadn’t pushed his size up for a few skill-levels now.

  If I keep increasing in size, how am I supposed to sleep? Am I supposed to sleep out in the open?

  Technically, if he was large enough, he could. He could start mimicking a large boulder or a reef. But would he keep the camouflage as he slept? He hadn’t tried that yet. He wasn’t sure if it would work.

  Keep the current size, camouflage in the burrow, sleep, then see what happens when I wake up.

  In the meantime, he converted the seal cores into 242 E-Tokens. He’d use that for the upgrades he had available, then every stat point still available. And then, he’d start looking at D-rank, and at D-rank monsters.

  Henry hummed as he approached his small territory. Daylight was refracting strongly near it.

  I wonder what’s going to be offered at level 100. What’s after a mature octopus? And that fight should net me at least two or three Evolutionary Points I’d think. Anything less would be a scam. Maybe… I…

  Henry narrowed his one functional eye. That wasn’t daylight.

  He slowed, landing on the pebbly seabed and shifted his colors to match his surroundings as he carefully approached his burrow.

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  The light was coming from his neighbouring burrow. The one he… stored the shell in.

  Henry flew forward.

  Goddamn it.

  Dust was kicked in his wake as Henry swam hard along the seabed and moments later, he came face to face with a vaguely turtle-shaped ball of light. He tried to reach into it, but the light rebuffed him. He used Identify, hoping it would give him something he could work with.

  [Morphing Hermit Crab (E) - Lvl 100]

  Oh, I don’t like this. What’s happening? “[Hey! Get out!]”

  Henry was torn. He didn’t want to lose his shell, but he didn’t know what would happen if he tried to forcefully interrupt whatever was happening. It might blow up in his face, and he wasn’t in the shape to take that kind of risk.

  On the other hand, he was curious. Incredibly so.

  From the name of the species he was looking at, it seemed to be fusing or evolving by using his turtle-shell. What was that going to create? If he was understanding things correctly, the turtle was from another world. It traveled through realities. And it somehow had carried his soul here.

  He hadn’t been able to bite into the shell, but if something used it in an evolution, would he be able to?

  Henry raised a arm hesitantly. He thought he’d have time to try and get the shell’s ability again. What if this evolution killed that option?

  I didn’t think it was going to get taken over…

  As he considered risking the backlash from stopping the process, the light started to fade. And Henry slowly exhaled. It was done. He knew this could have happened sooner or later. Not that it’d be taken over by a crab, but that he might lose it. After all, he was in the middle of the ocean. Arguably one of the best places to lose important relics in.

  Oh well, he thought as he triggered Identify again.

  [Chimeric Hermit Crab (D) - Lvl ? ]

  He stared at the resulting being. The shell was mostly there, but its form had slightly morphed and condensed to take the shape of a rainbow coloured, scotch bonnet shell of around two feet high and wide. Though this one didn’t contain a sea snail, but a vibrant red coloured hermit crab with two stubby pincers.

  Its black eyes stared at him, then slowly slunk back into the new home it had appropriated.

  Henry narrowed his eyes at it. He reached out, then the crustacean clacked its pincers at his extended limb.

  The audacity of this crab.

  “[You stole my home. Find another.]”

  Two eye stalks peeked out at him, then the crab moved. Henry watched as it fully turned away, then dragged something over.

  It was an empty shell. Shaped exactly like the one it was wearing now, but smaller.

  The crab pushed the shell toward him. Henry looked down at the shell by his arms.

  “[I don’t—]”

  Henry paused. His eyes slowly widened as he looked at the crab. “[You understand what I’m saying?]”

  The crab raised its arms, then lowered them. Its eye stalks twitched, then it rubbed at them with its stubby pincers.

  Oh.

  “[Raise that pincer to say yes, and that pincer to say no. Do you understand?]”

  Henry waited for the crab to move, but it didn’t. He sighed inwardly. What did he ex—

  –The crab raised its right pincer.

  Henry stared at it. “[You understand what I’m saying? Do the gesture twice.]”

  The crab raised the right pincer again, lowered it, then raised it one more time.

  Henry sat down on his arms as he tried to process what he was seeing. Had it always been smart? Was it the evolution?

  “[Did you understand things before the evolution?]”

  The crab hesitated for a few seconds. Then raised a left pincer.

  Henry raised a arm to his head, and the crab flinched, hiding.

  Henry eyed it. “[Are you scared? You shouldn’t be. I won’t hurt you. I’m annoyed you took the shell, but I won’t hurt you for it.]”

  The crab slowly came out, staring up at him. It was large for a hermit crab. But Henry was massive. And he was about to get much larger once he had the mana to push his physicality higher.

  A hermit crab had taken over the turtle shell. Henry chuckled inwardly and shook his large head. He looked down at the crab. “[Do you like meat?]”

  The right pincer shot up.

  Henry grinned, spat out a couple of seal cuts, and put them before the crab. It picked up one and started munching.

  Henry eyed it and its new shell. Whatever magic the turtle had, it was probably still around. Once he was friendly enough with the crab, he’d ask it for a spare leg or a tiny chunk from the turtle-shell. Or maybe it would decide to upgrade one day and abandon this shell.

  “[Do you want to stay with me?]”

  The crab stopped eating and looked up at him. It hesitated, then raised its right arm.

  Henry exhaled, relieved. “[That makes things easier.]”

  He liked the little crab, but he wasn’t letting it roll away with his shell. It was a lease. Until further notice.

  Henry watched it munch on the seal and got himself one as well. He eyed the red meat for a second. Can this give me parasites?

  Henry sighed, then brought the seal meat to his beak. If there were things in the meat, he hoped they would be dealt with by his Constitution. And it wasn’t as if he had a lot of options. What was he to do? Starve?

  Herbivores often carry fewer parasites. But there’s practically none of those in the ocean.

  Both Henry and his new renter sat near the burrow, munching on seal meat. And for a moment, he was able to relax.

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