Eo remained motionless, his body subtly shifting as he studied Ozure in return. The kraken’s presence was immense—not just physically but in how it felt. The abyss itself seemed to bend around it, as if acknowledging its existence as a force rather than just a creature.

  But despite its overwhelming size, Ozure hadn’t attacked. It had spoken.

  Eo found that fascinating.

  "You watch to see if I will reshape the world or be devoured by it," Eo repeated. "Then tell me, how many have you seen before me?"

  Ozure’s tendrils curled slightly, as if reaching into its own memories.

  "Countless. Beasts that ruled the depths, thinking themselves unchallenged. Swarms that devoured all in their path. Hunters that thrived in the dark, only to be outlived by something more patient."

  Its voice carried a weight of time far beyond Eo’s understanding.

  "And you?" Eo asked. "Are you one of them?"

  Ozure’s body remained still, but a slow, deep hum resonated through the water.

  "I was once."

  That answer piqued Eo’s curiosity.

  "Then why are you here now, watching instead of devouring?"

  Another pause. Then Ozure pulsed something different—something almost… thoughtful.

  "Because the greatest strength is not in devouring, but in knowing when not to."

  Eo considered that. He had spent his existence learning, adapting, fighting when needed. But choosing not to act… that was an approach he had never truly explored.

  "Are you testing me?"

  "I am learning what you are."

  Eo flexed his form instinctively, his outer membrane rippling as he rebalanced his body’s structure. His thoughts moved quickly now, analyzing.

  "And what have you learned so far?"

  Ozure’s tendrils shifted, its massive eyes focusing on him more intently.

  "That you are something that should not exist. And yet, here you are."

  A statement, not a threat.

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  Eo processed the words. The kraken did not see him as prey, nor as an enemy. It saw him as an anomaly—something outside the natural cycle.

  That realization sent a shiver through Eo’s core.

  "Then tell me…" Eo pulsed, his form stabilizing into something sharper. "What happens to things that should not exist?"

  Ozure remained silent for a long moment.

  Then, with slow certainty, it responded.

  "They become something greater… or they are erased."

  ---

  Eo drifted upward, his form adapting seamlessly to the shifting water pressure as he left the gorge. The weight of his conversation with Ozure lingered like an unseen force pressing against his mind.

  "They become something greater… or they are erased."

  The words echoed through him.

  Eo had always known he was different. From the moment he first gained awareness, from the first time he fought, adapted, and evolved—he had walked a path unlike any other creature. But hearing it stated so plainly by a being as ancient as Ozure solidified something within him.

  His existence was unnatural. An anomaly.

  That did not frighten him.

  It intrigued him.

  As Eo moved beyond the gorge, the terrain shifted. The ocean floor stretched outward, marked by deep, jagged trenches and towering rock formations that looked like the ribcages of long-dead behemoths. Strange, alien creatures lurked in the shadows—things that had never seen the light of the surface.

  Long, eel-like predators slithered between crevices, their bodies lined with pulsating, bioluminescent patterns. Gigantic tube worms anchored themselves to hydrothermal vents, releasing bursts of shimmering, heated mist into the water.

  Eo took it all in, his senses expanding as he observed every movement, every muscle twitch, every chemical reaction happening around him.

  The abyss was alive.

  A vast, intricate ecosystem of survival, death, and rebirth.

  Before Eo had departed, Ozure had spoken once more.

  "You are unlike any I have seen. That is both your strength… and your greatest risk."

  Eo had listened in silence.

  "I am not the only one who has carved a domain in the deep. There are others—ancient, territorial, and far less patient than I."

  "Creatures that do not tolerate trespassers."

  "If you wish to explore, know this—some waters are not meant to be entered."

  The weight of those words pressed against Eo now as he scanned his surroundings.

  How many beings like Ozure lurked in the depths?

  Would they see him as an anomaly to be observed… or a threat to be erased?

  The thought sent a surge of awareness through him. He flexed his form, shifting slightly, experimenting with the stability of his structure as he propelled himself forward.

  "The strongest creatures are not those who devour everything, but those who know when not to."

  That concept was new to Eo. He had spent his existence fighting, killing, consuming, and adapting. It was his nature. His very survival depended on it.

  But choosing when to act, when to evolve, when to strike—that was different.

  That was control.

  And perhaps, in that control, there was something greater.

  Eo reached the edge of the trench and rose higher, the water growing slightly clearer as he ascended. The pressure remained immense, but he adjusted instinctively, his body refining its density.

  He passed over a massive coral-like formation, though it was unlike any coral he had seen before. It pulsed faintly, as if alive, excreting thin threads of mist-like substance.

  Interesting.

  He moved cautiously, scanning the surroundings. Here, the ocean floor sloped upward, leading toward what appeared to be a plateau of jagged black rock. Strange structures jutted out from the ground—natural or artificial, he couldn't yet tell.

  Something lived here.

  Eo slowed his movement, feeling a faint ripple in the water. Something was approaching.

  His senses sharpened.

  Would this new encounter confirm what Ozure had said?

  Would he become something greater… or be erased?