With Maurice safely tucked in his arms, Henry started going through his notifications. And there were quite a lot of them.

  Class assignement completed.

  Species evolution completed.

  Mature Trickster Octopus (E) evolved into Juvenile Trickster Kraken (D). All base stats increased by 5.

  Congratulations. The Aspects have been successfully formed and integrated.

  Future Aspect additions or alterations will be significantly easier.

  Class Skill and Trait upgrading disabled.

  Aspect Workshop enabled.

  Warning: Some Aspects lack a cornerstone ability. You will need to set a cornerstone ability before having full access to the Workshop.

  Warning: Some Aspects are overloaded. Abilities will be weakened. Consider fusing abilities in the Aspect Workshop.

  Henry eyed the notifications for a moment. He wasn’t really in a celebratory mood, but it was clear; this evolution was way more impactful than the last, and it all revolved around this new paradigm: Aspects. A grouping of thematic abilities–both skills and traits

  Henry loaded up the Workshop, and was immediately assaulted with a prompt.

  Vitality of the Trickster does not have a cornerstone ability. Please select a cornerstone ability before proceeding.

  Henry quickly looked through his newly formatted stat page and couldn’t help his surprise.

  The most noticeable thing was the freed up class slots. Nearly everything got moved into the new Aspects, which was good news considering the slots he’d lost in this upgrade.

  Seems like the first skill into an Aspect is the cornerstone… which means I have two new ones: Assistance of the Octominds and Summon Illusions. I remember getting a notice about both of them when I selected the evolution.

  Henry quickly read the description of the two new skills, noting the new tags here and there, then leaned back.

  Holy crap. This is huge… It’s gonna take a minute to get used to this but I like it. As for the new skills, I’m going to need to test a couple of things. Now for the cornerstones, I need to select one for Vitality?”

  Henry studied the list of abilities under Vitality of the Trickster and froze.

  Does that mean the ability I’ll select will become as good as Bite and Mimicking Arms?

  That would be incredible. And from the list he was seeing, it was clear what he wanted to pick.

  Easy. For Vitality, it can’t be anything but Regenerate. Though any of the others could become significantly better if it upgrade even nearly as well as my original cornerstones.

  Arcane Fortification might see its defensive abilities soar. Accelerated Recovery–if it’s possible to select a trait–might become extremely efficient and quick as well. Henry hummed and shook his head.

  Regeneration’s hard to beat. And it might allow me to heal Maurice in the future.

  Henry looked down at the crab. He’d stopped using his healing ability and seemed to be finally sleeping.

  Yeah. I’m selecting it.

  As soon as he did, he felt something twist and swell within him. He braced, terrified that the same atrocious process was about to start over, but it never really got bad. He only felt his soul swell with power and re-adjust, and then the feeling faded. As if he’d just cracked a sore neck he didn’t know he had.

  That’s new…

  Henry was familiar with the effects of upgrades and changes, but this was the first time the process felt as vivid.

  Regenerate has been set as the cornerstone of Vitality of the Trickster.

  Henry loaded the new status and pumped an arm in excitement.

  Good. Excellent. Now, what’s this about fusions?

  He wanted to get the organizational stuff out of the way and start testing his new abilities. Especially the Octominds. He could feel them in the back of his mind. Like miniature extensions of his own brain. They were supposed to boost all skills related to cognition.

  Was that why the Trickster had such powerful Telekinesis?

  One more thing to test. For now, Henry pulled up the Aspect Workshop and started browsing. After a few seconds, he came to a conclusion.

  This is amazing.

  It seemed the Aspect Workshop had two main functions. It would allow him to fuse abilities–which cost Evolutionary Points–and it brought back the ability to upgrade skills and traits individually–like he’d done with Telekinesis and Arm Whip.

  An Evo point per fusion is a lot though… and there’s three overloaded Aspects. And what’s the maximum? There’s no slots specified. Hmm.

  Henry studied the Aspects that didn’t have the overloaded tag and quickly found that the most skills one Aspect had without earning itself the overloaded tag was four abilities.

  The limit is four or five.

  Henry focused on Hunger of the Trickster first and promptly got a pop-up.

  Bite, Magic Mimic, Nothing is Lost, and Venom Production are compatible.

  Spend 1 Evolutionary point to merge?

  Yup.

  It felt very similar to the process of turning Regenerate into a cornerstone, although this time he felt some parts move and shift within him.

  Bite, Magic Mimic, Nothing is Lost, and Venom Production successfully merged into Bite of the Trickster.

  Oh… that’s good. It’s not going to cost a fortune if it grabs everything in one go.

  Next, Henry moved to Arcana of the Trickster.

  Universal Tongue, Telepathic Message and Telepathic Sense are compatible.

  Mana Sight, Mana Conduit, Condensed Mana are compatible.

  Spend 2 Evolutionary points to merge?

  Dang it.”

  Two points was a lot… but he’d just earned some and could always re-gain them. And he did have a target that should earn him a lot pretty soon. Can’t afford to have weakened skills either. If all it takes is fusing things, I’ll do it. Saves me the space.

  Universal Tongue, Telepathic Message and Telepathic Sense successfully merged into Mind Weaver's Tongue.

  Mana Sight, Mana Conduit, Condensed Mana successfully merged into Mana Nexus.

  With that done, the overloaded tag was gone.

  Five abilities is the new maximum? Alright…. Now for the last Aspect. And then it’s done.

  Regenerate, Accelerated Recovery, and Hoard Vitals are compatible.

  Arcane Fortification, Slick Coat, and Toxin Resistance are compatible.

  Spend 2 Evolutionary points to merge?

  Regenerate, Accelerated Recovery, and Hoard Vitals successfully merged into Arcane Regeneration.

  Arcane Fortification, Slick Coat, and Toxin Resistance successfully merged into Trickster’s Resilience.

  Henry waited for the changes to take place as his eyes studied his surroundings.

  Done. Now, let’s see the results.

  Name: Henry Dubois

  Species: Juvenile Trickster Kraken - Reincarnated Intelligence (D)

  Class: Krakenbane Wanderer - Level 1

  Consumption Tokens: 319 E-Tokens

  Evolutionary Points: 4

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Strength: 33

  Constitution: 50

  Spirit: 32

  Perception: 25

  Dexterity: 20

  Unassigned: 3

  Hunger of the Trickster (E) - Level 6

  Bite of the Trickster:

  Passives:

  Magic Mimic: By sampling the tissues of a magic-empowered being, a skill or a trait can be temporarily copied. Only one of each can be remembered at a time.

  Nothing Is Lost: On death, a being’s power is condensed into a core. The core is automatically collected from any being that succumbs to your deathblow. Such cores can be claimed, consumed, or exchanged for Consumption Tokens at any time.

  Venom Production:The salivary glands can now produce venoms after sufficient exposure. Available venoms: Spasmodic of the Sea Serpent.

  Actives:

  F-Rank: Your bite inflicts more damage.

  E-Rank: Temporarily gain a property of your target's bite. The charge is available until used or until it expires.

  Temporary properties:

  Bite of the Echo Seal, Bite of the Riptide Shark, Mana Draining Bite

  Maw of the Trickster (E)

  Store anything you can fit in your maw in a private storage dimension. Total volume: 490L

  Shiftiness of the Trickster (D) - Level 3:

  Mimicking Arms:

  Actives:

  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: Scales of the Serpent, Resilience of the Stoneskin Kraken

  Alter Physique (D):

  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: 390 Kg.

  Shapeshifting Arm (D):

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

  Misdirection of the Trickster (E) - Level 5:

  Inkjet

  F-Rank: Shoot a jet of ink to confuse your pursuers and hide yourself.

  E-Rank: Quantity of ink shot is increased. Ink can temporarily have properties of ingested foods.

  Temporary properties: Poisoned Ink (Sea Serpent), Dispelling Ink, Pyroclastic Ink

  Ink Clone (E):

  Create short-lived Ink Clone with a simple command. Maximum duration: 2 minutes.

  Arms of the Trickster (E) - Level 1:

  Assistance of the Octominds (Weakened):

  Passives:

  Improved Cognition: Your mental faculties are improved by the individual brains in your many arms.

  Actives:

  F-Rank: Amplify the effects of a Skill that can benefit from increased cognition.

  Razor Arm (D):

  Summon a razor-sharp blade along the edge of a single limb.

  Arm Whip (D):

  Strike out with a fast and heavy blow, creating a sonic boom that can stun the target.

  Arcane Arm (F):

  Summon an arm made of mana.

  Arcana of the Trickster (E) - Level 1:

  Summon Illusions (Weakened):

  F-Rank: Summon an illusion within 20 feet of yourself.

  Mind Weaver's Tongue (F):

  Passive: Can understand and be understood by all intelligent beings. Sense mental signatures in your vicinity.

  Active: Send a telepathic message to a nearby target.

  Mana Nexus (F):

  Perceive natural mana by focusing. The mana running through your being is more concentrated, and travels through your body more efficiently.

  Telekinesis (E):

  Remotely assert a kinetic control over of a perceived target or area.

  Identify:

  Get basic information about an examined being or object.

  Vitality of the Trickster (E) - Level 1:

  Arcane Regeneration (Weakened):

  Passives:

  Accelerated Recovery: Recover from injuries and ailments faster. While meditating, health and mana recovery are sped up further.

  Hoard Vitals [0 Charges]: Continuously store a small portion of your health and mana to be released at will or when severely injured. This ability does not affect your total health and mana.

  Actives:

  F-Rank: Spend mana to restore your health and recover from ailments.

  Trickster’s Resilience (E):

  Passive: Enhance resistances to toxins.

  Active: Consume a small amount of mana to reinforce your flesh and create a thin magic film to reduce water friction and to disperse incoming physical attacks.

  Ephemerals: (0/2)

  Class: Krakenbane Wanderer (D) - Level 1

  Skills (4/10):

  Toxic Ray (F) - Lvl 1: Shoot a ray of corrosive, toxic energy

  Imploding Bubbles (F) - Lvl 1: Shoot a beam of bubbles that implode on impact.

  Molten Projectile (F) - Lvl 1: Shoot a lump of molten-hot material.

  Dispelling Bubble (F) - Lvl 1:Summon a bubble that disrupts Skills in your vicinity.

  Traits (1/10):

  Inner Furnace (F): Increase you resistance to heat while empowering heat-based skills.

  Henry had to lean back as he took in the literal pages of skills and abilities he now had. He’d come a long, long, way from the little octopus darting out of the turtle shell to escape an eel, and he couldn’t help but feel proud of how far he’d come.

  He liked these new Aspects. He liked how things were organized, and now, he had to take care of a few remaining problems.

  I assume the weakened tag has to with the warning I’d gotten before this all started. I’m sure it’ll go away with time.

  Henry read through the new and finalized page. True, he still had to decide on assigning the remaining stat points, but he wasn’t going anywhere. He still needed to recover a bit.

  And now I don’t have to actively build up Hoard Charges. I can just meditate and it'll happen by itself. That might finally tell me if there’s a limit for them. I assume I can’t just have five thousands of the things. At some point, I’d either run out of space or they’ll start deteriorating. I guess we’ll see.

  He already liked how things were laid out. And this meant that next time he evolved, he’d be able to transfer most–if not all–of his copied abilities into his own Aspects.

  Just need to have enough Evo points to create the new Aspects and fuse abilities.

  He’d been leery at spending so many of the achievement points at first, but now that the process was finished and everything was organized, he had no regrets. None.

  Every achievement I got. Every bit of blood and risk I took led to this.

  His abilities felt stronger, and somehow, closer to who he was. It was as if he’d been wielding power through a tool but now, it all felt integral to him.

  And I need to keep challenging myself to improve my Aspects and create new ones.

  Henry let himself sink into a meditative state. It happened much faster than usual and somehow, he didn’t lose track of his surroundings. One of the new boosts from the Octominds, he assumed.

  Easily one of my strongest new abilities… depending on how it will evolve.

  Time went by as Henry let the passive Arcane Regeneration do its work. His health and mana ticked up, and tuning into the process, he felt how the mana filled his soul with every minute that went by. Below him, he noticed a few sharks going into a feeding frenzy around the Arcane and Goliath krakens. A few crabs were working on the Stoneskin’s flesh, along with a few smaller fish.

  I should store some of those meats. And they did have some abilities I haven’t gotten, like Molten Projectile. Actually, maybe I should look into collecting projectile skills next time. I can probably spin up an Aspect for them… the Serpent’s ray, Maurice’s bubbles, the molten projectiles of the Stoneskin…

  When his mana was back to full, Henry created a few shells for Maurice. He needed the crab to get Mana Nexus. Or whatever the equivalent of it was. After three shells were created, as Henry mused about how to grow his powers, he felt Maurice poke his inner arm.

  Henry lifted the arm in question, and Maurice scuttled out.

  He looked up at Henry. “[Oh, you got larger?]”

  Maurice’s injured limbs had regrown, as did his missing leg. The shell looked spotless, as it’d always been.

  Henry picked the crab up and grinned. “[Yup. Even got some new neat abilities. Here. Maybe you’ll get one or two,]” said Henry, pushing his freshly created shells in front of Maurice.

  The process had been a lot easier than before. The Octominds were really going to change everything.

  Maurice looked down at the shells and Henry felt the crab’s excitement soar right before a blanket of shame smothered it.

  The crab rubbed his pincers together. “[You don’t have to give me all of this… At least I should return the favor.]”

  Henry chuckled and gently shoved the crab with the tip of his arm. “[You watched over me while I was evolving, which in and of itself is worth me thanking you with these. And there’s a saying where I’m from.]”

  Relief washed over the crab, and his eyes stalks peered up at Henry. “[Oh? What’s the saying? Actually, what’s ‘a saying’? Is it–nevermind. I’ll ask that later. What’s the saying and what’s a saying?]”

  Henry was surprised at the self-control. He quickly explained what sayings were, and then, pushing the shells closer to the crab, he added, “[The saying is: friends don’t count favors. So, first, do your thing, and then we’re going to take some time to prepare. We’ve got a big kraken to kill.]”

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