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SomethingOtherThanRain

Undersea Reincarnation - [Octopus Monster Evolution LitRPG] by calcroissant

1.60: Mana

A note from calcroissant

New monsters MC story up on amazon from Eric Ugland: Master of Puppets

(Makes me think of Metallica)

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Mana was an odd thing. Henry wasn't sure if he could call it matter or not. When he used a Skill, he could feel the cool and slightly tingly energy run down his limb, or collect around his beak before the Skill would trigger. He could feel it spread and diffuse around his flesh when he activated Trickster's Resilience's effect. He could feel it sink into his flesh to make it tougher.

It didn't behave like a physical thing. When he studied the cross-section of one of his extremities, he saw nothing that looked like a mana vessel. He saw veins. He saw nerves and muscle tissue, but no glowy-vessel to transport mana. And when he looked at the stump and activated Arcane Regeneration, he didn't see mana percolate out of his flesh. He felt it move down his arm, sure, but by the time it arrived at the stump, it appeared as a green hue that regrew the extremity of his arm.

But he didn't think that was mana. Not pure mana, at least. It was the magical effect of the Skill. But what did a Skill do, exactly?

That had been the impetus for all of this. When Henry used Krakenbane's Wrath back in the cave, to dislodge the tooth, it had felt weaker. As if the Skill needed to have a kraken nearby to work at 100%. It still had given him a boost, but nothing as potent as the first time he'd used it.

It still ate up his mana, though.

So what if Skills were just… mana that had been told what to do? Somehow?

Arcane Regeneration told it to heal. Krakenbane's Wrath told it to make him stronger if there was a kraken to defeat. So if he was able to tell his mana to do something for him, would that work?

Henry felt that theoretically, it should. Practically though, getting it to move out of his stomach was easier said than done. But he did at least figure out where it was stored.

Through a couple of hours of meditation–after expending a sizable amount of mana–he could feel it build back up somewhere a few inches above his beak and behind his brain, though closer to his stomach and arms.

Getting it to move out of that reserve without using Skill was tough. Why did mana respond so well to his Skills but not to his own will? What were the Skills doing that was special?

Still, he managed to make it move down his arm for a foot or so before he'd lost control over it. The arm had tingled for nearly half an hour after that.

"[Henry. It's your turn. Taking this long doesn't mean you're going to win, you know?]"

Henry glared at the crab in front of him, then moved his knight to defend a rook from Maurice's bishop.

They were playing Chess. Henry had the board projected in front of both of them, flat–like the website and app he used to play on–and Maurice would use his own illusions to draw arrows for his desired movements. After which Henry would modify the board.

Chess was a good exercise for illusion work and for the Octominds that weren't on Blood Clone duty. Unfortunately for him, Henry was a middling amateur at best, and the Octominds couldn't create chess expertise out of thin air. He could visualize the possible outcomes of certain moves better, sure, but Maurice seemed to have a knack for puzzles.

Maybe if Henry used all eight of his Octominds he could force a win. In the meantime, a dreadfully red and giant arrow drew itself on the board. It brought the queen right in front of Henry's king, and it was backed by the damn bishop from earlier.

"[Checkmate. I win! One more?]"

Henry sighed and reset the board to its starting position. This time he played white–not expecting that to matter much, but maybe he could draw. Maurice pulled a handful of kraken roe out of his Maw and began munching. He was annoyingly smug about his win. Both the crab and the human form.

Henry moved his pawn and Maurice drew his response on the chessboard.

"[Are we leaving soon? It's getting boring. I'm not leveling from the ants any more.]"

"[It's barely been a day and a half. We were in the cave yesterday night. The Trickster's fight was two days ago.]"

"[Exactly. I want to see the world. Get stronger. Find more fish roe because you didn't want to store the Trickster's. I'm almost out…]"

Henry's human face shook his head. "[We'll leave in a few hours. I want to figure out something. With mana. You should work on it as well… I don't know how useful it will be, but I'm sure it won't hurt.]"

"[Oh. You mean moving your mana? I can do it already. I can show you.]"

Henry looked down and would have lost his control over the illusion if it wasn't for his Octominds. Maurice grinned and his human persona stepped around the crab and presented the raised claw. It took a few seconds, but before Henry could say anything, the claw began to glow with a soft white-blue light. When he moved, it seemed as if it left an afterimage that quickly faded. "[See? I even got a Skill for it. It's called Mana Manipulation.]"

***

Maurice went to fight some more ants while Henry focused back on mana manipulation. He tried on and off for nearly an hour, and, deciding to take a break, he went through all the upgrades he had available in the Aspect Workshop. Upgrading the ones he could afford left him with around 150 D-Tokens.

"I should assign my stats as well… and start looking into the next stat points I can buy. Actually, nevermind that. If every point's going to cost in the C-Tokens then I should focus on the expensive upgrades first. I probably have to upgrade Alter Physique and Shapeshift Arm before I can get the next six points in any attribute."

Henry looked through the abilities he'd upgraded. Mind Weaver's Tongue's upgrade to E-Rank made his Telepathy into a broadcast instead of single-target. Trickster's Resilience was a D-rank upgrade, and it made his mana consumption spike. But in exchange, toughness rose significantly as well. Henry had to really, really push to cut deeply into his own flesh.

The last upgrade was Mana Nexus, which also became E-Rank, and it was the most noticeable change. His Mana Vision was sharper and seemed to pierce further into the screen of ambient mana, while his reserves felt thicker. If his mana had felt like thick smoke before, now it felt more like a fresh and electric mist.

"And it does respond to my will better. Maybe I'll get Mana Manipulation soon."

It would be nice if the Skill was offered as an upgrade to Mana Nexus instead of a new standalone Skill. Still, he couldn't help the thought that came to him when he thought of acquiring that specific Skill.

If he actually could move his mana, why would he need the Skill?

"Would be real nice to know what Skills are. Are they like… shortcuts? A way to automate magic?"

Henry planned to get some answers from the System the next time he heard from it. It hadn't been around the last time, though to be fair, Henry had been a bit busy, to say the least.

"Maybe the next one. I should prepare my questions. Have a list. That'll have to be memorized because I can't take notes. That actually should be my first question. How to keep notes."

Henry glanced up and saw Maurice already coming back toward him. He guessed they were moving on soon.

"Time to work on my traveling skills. But before Maurice gets here, let's see the gains."

Even his Blood Clones had evolved. Well, the Misdirection had, but that confirmed that with levels he'd be able to send them further. For now, Henry recalled his Blood Clone and took a quick glance at his recent levels.

Shiftiness of the Trickster (D): Level 5 -> Level 6

Misdirection of the Trickster (D) - Level 1 -> Level 2

Arms of the Trickster (E): Level 8 -> Level 9

Arcana of the Trickster (E): Level 7 -> Level 9

"Not a huge list, but that's two Aspects on the cusp of an upgrade and I don't have enough to pay for that…"

Arcana got a good workout though, clearly. Between his heavy use of illusions, Telepathy, and Mana Nexus, the Aspect jumped two levels in two days.

"So many abilities are close to upgrading, and I don't have anywhere near enough Tokens for all of them."

Yeah, it was probably a good call to move on from this place. Henry needed a large prey to afford all of this.

He looked back toward the island and shuddered. Nothing as large as whatever had been in that cave, though. Whatever that was, they weren't ready for it.

Maurice finally reached the top of the slope Henry had settled on and dropped down on his shell. Slowly, reverently, he pulled a claw from within his shell.

In it was a blob of kraken roe.

"[It's the last bite. I'm out,]" said the crab. A human-face appeared above the shell and gave Henry a betrayed look.

Henry stretched his arms and ignored the guilting attempts of the crab. He'd heard too many already. "[Then you should enjoy it. We'll try to find some aggressive krakens on our way.]"

Maurice looked up, the sour mood suddenly gone. "[We're leaving?]"

The Blood Clone arrived and stopped above both of them. "[Yes. Time to move on from this place.]"

Maurice looked down at the handful of eggs, and stored them back in his shell. He nibbled on whatever stuck to his claw, then threw both pincers up. "[Adventure!]"

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"[Can we go on an adventure now?]"

Henry stored the sixth giant tooth in his Maw. He rolled his sore arms and looked down appreciatively at the four joints he'd used in their efforts to crack the teeth out of the monster's jaw. With the simple joint memorized, it allowed him to focus more on the joint's strength and stability instead of worrying about its functionality.

Henry lowered his arms then slowly turned to face the crab.

Maurice, all four feet of him, had his arms crossed and was leaning backward to give Henry the stink-eye. He was growing larger, though he was still comparatively tiny. Henry reached over to pick him up, but not the usual way.

Henry picked Maurice by the top of his shell and held him upside down.

Maurice flailed his pointy feet and claws. "[Wh–put me down!]

Henry brought the crab closer until he was at eye level. Maurice clacked a claw at him, but Henry mostly sensed amusement from the crab. "[Beating me in chess does not mean you get to talk like that, you little gremlin. I will get a rope and tie you behind me while we travel. We'll see how you like that.]"

Maurice froze up. They stared at each other for a second before both spoke up at once.

"[Yes! Fun!]" The crab threw both arms up, but in this scenario, they both pointed down to the cave floor..

"[Yeah, that's too fun to be a punishment.]" Henry let Maurice float back down. "[I know you're mostly joking, but remember what we said about being polite. Especially when we meet others.]"

Maurice fluttered his claws and swam up to his usual perch. Henry sensed the sharp legs landing on his head."[I know. I was exaggerating. Wait, no. I was acting. And I want to see new places, but I know the teeth are good. They're so tough! Do you have enough for your plan?]"

Henry nodded. "[Yes. We're good to go. For real this time.]"

While they'd been resting the previous night and enjoying a peaceful–Trickster-free–evening Henry had been thinking about the buried monster and how tough its teeth were. He started imagining potential designs and weaponized limbs he could create with his current Skill, and they would only get better when he'd upgrade to Partial Shapeshift.

It was too good of a resource to pass up. Especially considering he had no access to metals or any other durable material, aside from what he could create himself.

Henry didn't think he could integrate the teeth into his body, and he didn't intend to, but he could most certainly create claw-like appendages. And the better he got with the Skill, the more complex limbs he'd be able to recreate.

Well, he'd try to work on it as they traveled. Along with everything else.

***

"[Henry?]"

"[Hmm?]"

It hadn't been long since they'd left the cave and island behind. Barely a couple of hours, in fact.

The clear, shallow waters stretched endlessly below. Henry had enjoyed the sights for a while, but within a handful of minutes, he'd left the swimming to a pool of six Octominds that continued to beat his arms rhythmically while he focused on his training.

The daylight fell around him, helping his camouflage as he cut through the calm morning sea. He couldn't be invisible, but a whitish-gray was really difficult to see from below. Henry had opted to swim high, while Maurice kept an eye on what happened below them. Now, Henry was working on his mana control, which he stopped to look at Maurice. The crab who was stuck to the side of his face and was now tapping Henry with his claw.

"[Henry. When are we taking a break? I want to work on my Clawminds as well. I can't keep watch and use my shapeshifting at the same time.]"

Henry continued swimming quietly for a few seconds. Eyeing the topography down below, he noticed the seabed was a bit more raised than it had been ten minutes or so ago. He decided to break the surface and take a look around. Henry's eyes landed on what looked like a mountainous archipelago a bit to the west. "[I see islands, around 20 minutes away. We'll stop then, and in the future we'll do shifts. Alright?]"

"[Okay!]"

Henry adjusted the direction in which the Octominds were taking them, then focused back on his mana.

He imagined it as a ball of light somewhere around the center of his stomach. Picturing the glowing blue mist, he willed it to drift down his frontal arm as he held it in front of him.

A shiver trickled out of his stomach and began snaking down the arm. It felt like he had to push and wheedle the mana down his limb, but it was obeying his will. A soft, barely visible blue shimmer enveloped his arm–but the further down it traveled, the harder it became to keep it stable. To his mana vision the shimmer was much more visible, and it wafted off his arm like steam.

A handful of seconds later, his hold destabilized, and the mana evaporated like a puff of smoke.

Henry hummed. "It's getting easier… but it doesn't feel very useful yet. I guess I just need to keep practicing. And explore the other Skills in depth."

He exhaled, then narrowed his focus on his mana reserve before casting Arcane Arm. It felt like that would be one of the easiest Skills to observe, and to be fair, it didn't cost that much compared to most of his other Skills.

Henry poured all of his attention onto it and pulled in all inactive Octominds to observe the process.

Immediately, he noticed the draw of mana. It was fast and decisive. As if it was coming out of a fire hydrant compared to his own attempt, which felt as if he was pulling the mana with a kinked swirly straw.

By the time he finished registering that difference, the magic had formed a ghostly and familiar blue shape. So Henry dismissed it, and cast it again. And again.

He sensed the mana leave the 'reservoir' and move within him in that fraction of a second before the magical arm appeared. It happened extremely fast, but the sensation was unmistakable.

It was very reminiscent of the sensations he experienced after the last evolution. After what he labeled soul surgery. The large chunk of mana disappeared in there, as if sucked out of his body and into that layer, and then the arm would appear.

That's where the Skill was taking place. That's where mana was becoming magic.

With every try, he got a better feel for the process. So he kept dismissing the Arm and re-casting it over and over, until Maurice tapped him on the head again.

"[You're swimming past the island, Henry! Also, something's coming. What is that? Oh, it looks mad.]"

Henry deactivated the swimming Octominds and looked down just in time to see a lizard-like thing rush up toward him, its large tail swaying as it left a cloud of sand and stone from the sudden launch.

It opened its jaw, sharp and needle-thin teeth shining unnaturally red. Henry cracked it across the face with an arm hard enough to break some of the lizard's teeth and send the reptile careening to the side. Then he took a moment to Identify it.

[Young Sea Drake (D) - Level 54]

"[Drake?]"

Henry thought of an oversized monitor lizard at first, but the more he looked at it, the less that name fit.

The deep-blue scales were larger and shinier. Its maw was wider and longer, with a forked tongue that seemed to be tasting the water as it recovered from the impact. A pair of reptilian eyes warily watched Henry from a distance while he studied it. Its forelegs were thick and muscular, with flexible joints, while the hindlegs seemed simpler but larger, ideal for pouncing. It reminded him of lions and panthers, especially the long claws at the end of its webbed feet as it paddled.

Yeah, this wasn't a normal lizard.

"[Are we fighting it?]"

Henry noticed how the drake kept pulling away. "[I don't think there's a fight here.]"

The drake eyed Henry, then swam up. Henry continued observing the new specimen while his mind buzzed with questions. What kind of being was this? Would it be friendly? And if not, what kind of ability did it have and what did it look like when it was fully grown?

Henry… kept thinking of dragons. It kinda looked like one. Were drakes a lower form of dragons? Was he going to meet something like that?

Also, now that he watched it, he remembered the whales mentioning claws, and he was traveling in the direction they'd advised him to go.

The drake's head broke out of the water–and it screeched loud enough for Henry and Maurice to hear.

"Ah… dammit."

"[It called for help,]" confidently said Maurice.

Henry sighed. He'd just been in the middle of something. He tried to send a telepathic message to the drake, but that only seemed to agitate it, making its screeches more frantic and sharp.

"[Let me fight.]"

Henry paused, then reached over and plucked Maurice off the side of his face to look at him for a moment. Sensing the resolve of the crab, Henry looked up. "[Alright. But there might be a lot of them. ]"

Maurice eyed the drake. In the distance, shapes began diving in from the island, but that didn't seem to deter the crab.

"[I'll keep an eye out. Let me know if you need help.]"

Maurice turned his eye stalks to look at Henry. "[Even if a weak C-rank shows up, let me try first.]"

"[Sure. Let's go lower. I'll camouflage near you.]"

With that, Henry dove and quickly mimicked a large boulder, while Maurice readied himself by making two large Arcane Claws appear above him.

Within seconds, nine D-Rank drakes were circling Maurice, all between level 40 and 70. Then the first one took a sharp turn toward Maurice and opened his mouth.

Henry watched the fight, using half his Octominds to keep an eye out for danger, and worked on his mana manipulation while the sea around him was filled with churned sand and blood.

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