Darkness stretched endlessly around Eo, the vastness of the underwater gorge pressing in on all sides. The kraken-like creature loomed before him, its massive, coiled tentacles shifting subtly, each movement sending delicate pulses through the water.

  Eo remained still, his body tense yet adaptive, every strand of his being analyzing the beast before him. It was unlike any he had encountered—its sheer size was overwhelming, but its posture was oddly relaxed. No immediate hostility. No killing intent. Yet, the weight of its presence made the surrounding pressure feel heavier.

  The moment he had spoken, he had felt a shift in the creature’s demeanor. Its many eyes blinked in slow succession, the bioluminescent veins running along its form pulsing in a strange rhythm. A response, perhaps?

  Then, a sound reverberated through the abyss.

  Not through words, but something deeper—a frequency beyond human hearing, a vibration that rippled through the very water itself. It wasn't just sound. It was meaning.

  Eo didn't comprehend it. Not yet.

  The creature tilted its massive head slightly, studying him. Then, another pulse of vibration.

  A question? A statement?

  Eo’s body reacted instinctively, his adaptability triggering another shift. His neural structure flexed and reshaped, minute filaments within his form adjusting. He wasn’t just listening. He was decoding.

  The frequency pulsed again. This time, Eo understood.

  "What… are you?"

  The weight of the question pressed against him. It wasn't just curiosity. There was something deeper in the creature’s tone. Wariness? Interest?

  Eo had never needed to define himself before. He had only known existence through survival, through battle, through discovery. But now, something within him urged a response. A solidification of identity.

  His voice emerged again, raw but certain.

  "Eo."

  A silence followed. Then, another pulse.

  "Not a name. A being. What are you?"

  Eo considered the question. He was no longer just a water polyp. No longer just a shifting, mindless predator. He had become something. A unique fusion of mist, bloodlust, and instinct.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  "I am… myself."

  The kraken remained motionless for a moment, then exhaled—a slow, deliberate release of bubbles rising toward the distant surface. A low hum followed.

  Approval? Disbelief?

  "You are unfinished," it finally pulsed.

  Eo’s form tensed.

  Unfinished? What did that mean?

  He had evolved beyond what he once was. He had harnessed his own power, shaped himself into something beyond the natural order. And yet, this creature, this ancient presence, regarded him as incomplete.

  Eo narrowed his gaze. He wanted to understand. To push further.

  "Then… what are you?"

  The kraken-like being shifted, its massive form undulating as it considered the question. Then, for the first time, it responded not just in vibration but in something closer to speech.

  "I am an echo of the past," it said. "A remnant of an age that has long since drowned."

  Eo’s mind churned with the weight of those words. There was more to this world than he had yet grasped.

  And this being held knowledge he did not yet possess.

  For the first time in his existence, Eo felt something beyond survival.

  He felt curiosity.

  The kraken-like creature observed Eo with a mixture of intrigue and amusement. It had seen many things in the abyss—massive beasts, ancient predators, the husks of fallen titans—but never something like Eo. Never something that changed so fluidly, so effortlessly.

  Eo’s body still trembled slightly from his rapid morphing, but his form stabilized. The moment of adaptation was complete. He had successfully translated the kraken’s communication into something understandable. His first words in this strange frequency had already left his mouth.

  "Eo… my name is Eo. Who are you?"

  A long silence followed. The kraken's massive eyes remained locked onto Eo, its tendrils slowly undulating, disturbing the fine layers of sediment on the ocean floor. Then, the deep, resonant pulses of its communication came again.

  "I am… called many things."

  Eo twitched slightly. He didn’t like vague answers. It reminded him of how creatures in the mist tried to deceive their predators.

  "Then which name do you prefer?" he asked.

  The kraken gave a low hum, as if amused.

  "I have not needed a name for longer than you have existed."

  "Then I will call you something."

  The kraken's tendrils slowed, its massive body shifting slightly.

  "You wish to name me?"

  "You are the first of your kind that I have met," Eo stated. "And I am the first of my kind that you have met. Names make things distinct. If I am Eo, then you should be…"

  Eo hesitated, thinking. The kraken was something vast, ancient. A being that lurked in the deepest abyss, observing instead of destroying. Then, instinctively, he pulsed a single word in the deep-water frequency.

  "Ozure."

  The name hung between them in the dark depths.

  For the first time, the kraken—Ozure—stilled completely. A long, slow pulse resonated through the abyss.

  "Ozure." The kraken tested the name. "This is… acceptable."

  Eo tilted his head slightly. He wasn’t sure if the kraken was truly pleased, but it accepted the name nonetheless.

  "Now that we know each other’s names," Eo continued, "why are you watching me?"

  Ozure’s tendrils shifted again, this time more deliberately.

  "Because I have lived long enough to know that when something new appears, it either reshapes the world… or is devoured by it."

  Eo processed the words carefully. The kraken saw him as something new, something unnatural. But instead of fearing him, it studied him.

  "And which do you think I will be?"

  A pause.

  Then, Ozure pulsed something deep, something slow.

  "I do not know yet. That is why I watch."