Zerathstra picked up Maurice, who didn’t seem to mind at all, and turned him around, intently examining the crustacean. “[They used to be common throughout the coasts of the Reach. If it’s still being called that. They were fished and hunted to extinction, though. Their abilities are extremely valuable to treasure hunters, and they do possess the ability to copy skills. In a tragic but ironic twist, it was their own skills that led to their extinction. Well. Their extinction from that region.]”

  Henry stared at the crab, recalling his friend’s abilities, and then it clicked. “[Maurice has an ability to find what he considers valuable. Which is how he found the shell.]”

  “[Exactly.]”

  Maurice drooped for a second. “[O,h that’s sad,]” he said, but then shrugged it off and clicked his pincer.“[But at least my species is still safe deep in the Current. So there’s nothing to worry about!]”

  Henry, Stormsong, and Zerathstra stared at the crab, but they all collectively decided not to correct the crab’s assumption. It didn’t matter to Henry anyway. He always expected himself and his companions to be hunted sooner or later. So the fact that Maurice might be a valuable and a regionally extinct species didn’t change much.

  Zerathstra shook his head and grinned, then he floated out of the cave. “[I’ve got to go now. It was nice meeting you all, and I’ll see you soon!]”

  Then he turned and zipped through the water like a needle. Within seconds, he disappeared into the horizon.

  All three watched the disappearing figure, then Maurice spoke up. “[He seems nice!]”

  ***

  “[Are you sure this is a good idea?]” Stormsong sent as they neared the surface.

  After Zerathstra had gone to deal with the swarm he’d mentioned, the trio made their way back to the submerged forest. They fought a couple of purple crabs on the way up, and Henry made sure to keep the cores, just in case he could use them as a currency of some sort. He had some already, but you can never be too prepared. And who knows, maybe he’d find something super valuable that he wanted.

  In the meantime, he had the small wooden bead in his Maw, and he was ready to pop it out and show it to whomever showed up. His yellow eyes turned to Stormsong. “[You said soul oaths are real, and he would never break them, right?]”

  The dolphin gave him a reluctant but affirmative click. “[Yes. They’re sacred. Taboo, even. We rarely used them. But are you sure it was a soul oath?]”

  Henry was pretty sure they had been. And what point did it serve the A-rank to lie? It was an A-rank. It clearly had a mischievous tendency, but it didn’t seem nefarious. At this point, doubts felt more like paranoia than anything else, and soon, they’d know for sure anyway. They just had to show the wooden orb.

  Atop his head, Maurice chimed in.“[I trust him! We’ll be fine! But how are we going to move up there? We can’t swim in the air, right? Can I breathe? Henry! What if I can’t breathe?]”

  Henry bopped the crab on the head, and the crab swatted his arm off. “[What are you talking about? You’ve been to the surface! You can breathe just fine.]”

  Maurice paused. “[I have?… Oh. Right. The Goliath kraken.]”

  “[Exactly.]”

  “[Oh. Well, nevermind then. False alarm.]”

  Stormsong snorted, and Henry rolled his eyes at the crab’s shenanigans then turned his attention back to the dolphin. Even with her caution, Henry could almost taste the excitement coming off of her.

  “[Have you ever seen the surface, Stormsong?]”

  “[…No. What is it like?]”

  Henry’s eyes twinkled as the surface came into view. “[You’re about to see. Besides—oh. Hold on. Someone’s coming.]”

  Two forms plunged, followed by six more. The two B-ranks that had pursued them only hours ago surged toward him, flanked by four B-ranks and high C-ranks.

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  Their eyes were intent, and their spears were ready. Before anything problematic could happen, Henry shouted in their minds and produced the orb.

  “[We’re guests of Zerathstra!]”

  The humans all stopped in their tracks. Some eyes went wide with shock, while a couple altered between panic and suspicion, but all their eyes were on the orb for a few seconds before they turned back to Henry.

  “[See? It’ll be fine. Probably,] Henry sent to his companions.

  ***

  After they all broke the surface, the humans took turn examining the orb, but after half of them found no fault in it, they were forced to accept that it was authentic. Coupled with the fact that Henry both knew the sea king’s appearance and his name, they all bowed and apologized, leaving the two who had given Henry chase to guide them up the tree.

  Zamir and Semea waited while Henry reduced his size until he was nearly as large as he’d been when he came to consciousness, the smallest he could push the skill. Which meant that he was tiny. Even Maurice was larger than he was, and Stormsong could swallow him in a single bite if she wasn’t busy staring up at the canopy and breathing fresh air for the first time. Air she hadn’t had to produce with her own skill.

  But even though it was her first time seeing the surface, she found the time to stare at him. Everyone was, even the two humans atop the little dock. Zamir was grinning, while Semea kept her face neutral. Behind them, wooden stairs led up and twisted around the tree trunk.

  Maurice, now standing atop of Stormsong’s head, gently poked at Henry with a claw, as if he was worried the kraken could be hurt. Which of course was not the case. He might have lost some weight for his physical attacks, but everything else was as tough and powerful as it had always been.

  “[I’ve never seen you this small,]” Maurice said as he poked him once more, and Henry swatted the pincer away.

  “[Almost looks cute,]” Stormsong added.

  Henry was pushing away Maurice’s claw when he paused and looked up at the dolphin, offended. “[What do you mean ‘almost’?]”

  Maurice cackled, but Henry decided to stop engaging and instead focused on his task. The reason why he’d made himself smaller.

  The now tiny kraken channeled mana into Mimicry, and a haze of white and purple spots shrouded his small form. The smoke condensed and began changing. Its texture and coloration shifted, until it settled on his usual skin tone. Hair formed atop his skull, and as he stared at himself through a couple of clones, he shaped his body with his mind. Next, he began working on pants, but as his Octominds—and himself—struggled to mimic the textures through skill, he quickly changed his mind and made them into shorts.

  Adding a clothing layer was surprisingly complicated. He’d need to work on it. Maybe set a couple of Octominds to train the ability. He’d also need to figure a way to cast his skills though the mimicked form.

  I won’t have access to Maw. That’d be a good starting point for the training.

  As he finished up, he set two Octominds to task. One to create a simple white shirt, and one to work on accessing Maw through the disguise without disturbing the skill.

  Gingerly, Henry breast-stroked to the deck while the two humans stared at him, mouth agape, and climbed up the little wooden ladder.

  He stumbled twice, falling back to the water, before he managed to get his feet on the dock.

  It was as if he was drunk and had to control his body remotely. Everything felt off. Swimming had been fine, but climbing and dealing with gravity… a whole different matter. After a couple of minutes of struggle where he had to refuse help a few times, he got the gist of it and finally managed to take a few steps back and forth without tripping over his own legs.

  “Was this what you looked like?” asked Zamir. The man was very excited, and he didn’t seem to be holding any grudge from their previous interaction. Semea, on the other hand, had tied up her hair in a large bun and just watched, an uneasy look in her eyes. When Henry met her gaze, she twitched.

  “Mostly,” Henry said. He gave himself yellow irises, as it didn’t matter to his perception anyway.

  In the meantime, Maurice managed to grab onto the little steps and climbed his way up, awkwardly, which left Stormsong in the water. “[Henry, what do I do?]”

  “[Just a second,]” he said. After a last couple of steps and hops to make sure he had a decent control of this new form, he looked down to the dolphin. “[Don’t resist. I’ll carry you.]”

  “[Wait, what do—aah!]”

  The dolphin lifted off the water, wrapped in a haze of purple. Using a couple of available Octominds, Henry shaped and controlled his telekinetic grip to allow her some moving space. Then he scooped down, and filled the “cup” he’d fashioned with water.

  “[I don’t like this,]” hesitantly said Stormsong after a moment, as she peered down at the three humans and the crab standing next to Henry before she glanced down to the water.

  Henry gave her a grin. “[Why? You almost look cute like this.]”

  The dolphin gave him a blank stare, then with a flick of fin, a spray of water shot at his face.

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