Passing time

No one in astera so much as blinked an eye at the scene other than those from the fifth fleet who were not used to Alex just yet. Zain felt even worse about his actions when he saw this since it meant his thoughts couldn't have been further from the truth when he attacked Alex. After a three hour nap Alex woke up and walked over to the nearest person he could find and had them take the children back to their parents. Yawning lazily Alex walked over to the docks and slid into the water below which stimulated his foggy mind into fully waking up.

Swimming out to the reef Alex was relieved that some of the usual inhabitants and calmed down enough to stop hiding. This included the octopi of the area that Alex needed for his [enhanced heart] trait of which he only needed twenty more to unlock. Alex's plan was to eat nineteen of the things before saving the last one for after he completes the [enhanced life span] ritual since he had a sneaking suspicion that they might stack if he did. This theory was because of the fact both had something to do with the heart.

The biggest problem Alex had with hunting the cephalopods was that they all had this terrible habit of finding the nearest hole and stuffing themselves into it when they felt threatened and thanks to their suction cups removing them from said hole was a pain in the ass. The solution to this Alex created was to place his claws at the entrance of the hole and inject his toxin into it. More often than not the poison would force the creatures from their holes in an attempt to flee only for Alex's waiting maw to devour them whole.

Alex had taken inspiration from the swat and military teams that existed on earth that used a similar tactic to force their enemies to flee cover letting them safely handle them. Sure if the enemy had a gas mask this didn't work but last time Alex checked octopi tended to not have access to tech like that. Today was a fruitful trip for Alex as he nabbed five of the things within a few hours out at the reef after which he headed back to astera. The sun had began to set when he set foot back on the dock and there was very little people there as most were headed up to the feast at the canteen.

If Alex joined in the celebrations then there would truly not be enough food for everyone since he could eat the entire great jagras by himself. Sure he didn't NEED to eat that much but the thing about parties is that they tended to remove one's ability to limit themselves if they truly intended to take part. Rather than intrude on the festivities Alex slinked through the ever growing shadows until he was at his temporary nest outside the front gate of astera.

Alex's absence was noticed at the party however by a few people who had expected him to be there. These people included the commander , the head chef and the head of the second fleet who was also in charge of the smithy. They each shared a look between them when they realized that Alex wasn't coming , concern. The head of the second fleet found an opportunity to slip out of the party unnoticed and made his way to Alex's temporary nest. When he arrived he saw Alex laying down watching the sun fall over the horizon calmly.

"Aye , reckoned I'd find you over here sid , mind if i keep ya company?" He asked with a smile but didn't wait for an answer before sitting on the ground nearby. Alex eyed the dark skinned man and wrote on the ground "you are missing the party". The man scoffed "bah , there'll be others , 'sides the same could be said of you." he said casually. Alex shook his head and wrote "not enough food for everyone if I went" on the ground. The man clicked his tongue when he read that "you are too damn thoughtful sometimes you know that" he said honestly.

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