The two concentrated bubbles flew at Henry one after the other, and now he knew Maurice could alter their trajectory with a flick of a claw. This time, Henry was using the Octominds, which opened a couple of alternatives for dealing with the projectiles.

  “Seven and eight. Intercept them with Telekinesis.”

  The two Octominds jumped to action, and a hue of purple flashed around the oncoming projectiles. The bubbles detonated, and Henry felt the Octominds recoil at the violent backlash of their skill being torn to shreds, but Henry himself was unaffected, which confirmed his theory.

  The Octominds were really a cheat. He had refrained from relying on them these last few days, focusing on training his own skills, but now that he was really engaging them, he could feel the difference. They felt potent. Powerful and much more capable. “Number six, you’re on levitation duty. Follow my thoughts and move me.”

  A nimbus of purple appeared around Henry, and his limbs lifted off the ground. With a thought, he flew forward and was shocked at how easily the Octomind was handling the projected casting. He wasn’t as fast as he’d hoped, but the flight was smooth.

  They really do get better if I’m better.

  Maurice Blinked away when Henry made it halfway through, but that wasn’t an issue either.

  “Five and four. Lock him up when he reappears.”

  Henry considered turning invisible, but he refrained. There was a bigger tournament coming up, and he didn’t need to reveal every single one of his skills.

  Maurice popped above him, and before Henry’s eyes could focus on the crab, two minds gripped him with Telekinesis in a cocoon of pinkish-purple. With another thought, Henry rose in the air as Maurice thrashed. His shell glowed, and Henry felt the crab’s Domain spread once more, but now with his hands being figuratively free, he could easily detect the oncoming attack. He only needed to will himself to move aside for the submind carrying him to move out of the way.

  The crab broke one of the telekinetic grips, but Henry just threw in two more subminds to secure his opponent, and the purple prison grew thicker. Maurice had his Mind Shield up, but even through it, Henry could feel the despair, and it left a sour taste in his mouth.

  This isn’t fun, he thought as he extended two arms to surround Maurice. “Number three. Dispel when we release Telekinesis.”

  Henry, with his arms ready, released Telekinesis right as Maurice spat out a stream of bubbles, but the dispelling pulse instantly destabilized them, and they imploded with a series of pops. When the pulse reached Maurice, the flow of bubbles stopped. Henry wrapped his arm around the crab tightly, activating his suckers, and lifted Maurice until he was at eye level.

  “[Surrender?]”

  With the crab in his grips, there was a lot Henry could do, and he wished he wouldn’t have to. He could use venoms. He could use the new skill he had in his class, Lifebane Touch. He could electrocute the crab. Drain whatever mana he had left. He could even forcefully shove him in his Maw until the judge called the win.

  “[I’m… still awake.]”

  Henry stared down at the crab, then with one of the suckers in contact with a pincer, he activated Voracious Grip and started with Draining Bite to pull every drop of mana that remained in the crab, which wasn’t much. Next, the small teeth within his suckers bit and pierced through the tough pincer shell. Once he tasted blood, Henry injected a good dose of tranquilizing venom.

  Maurice struggled for a moment, but within seconds his movement slowed until he finally drooped and went still. Henry put him down on the ground and counted to three, then pushed a good dose of Arcane Regeneration at him.

  The crab jumped to his feet, but quickly stumbled.

  Henry looked down at his companion, and extended the tip of an arm toward him. “[I win.]”

  Maurice looked up at the kraken looming over him, looked down at the extended arm, then tapped it with a pincer. “[Next time, I’ll win.]”

  ***

  The commentator was still talking as Henry and Maurice waited for their winnings to be brought to them. Well, Henry’s winnings. But he wasn’t intending on keeping them to himself anyway, and while he waited, he poked the still surly crab.

  “[Those dark bubbles are something. They tore through everything. When did you learn that?]”

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  The crab’s eye stalks tilted up, the back at the ground.“[It’s my C-rank upgrade for Bastion. The bubbles are my cornerstone there. They’re strong, right?]”

  Henry nodded. “[Terrifyingly so. That was without an Aspect boost, right? I can’t imagine the kind of damage those things could do with something like your Bastion or my Fury. We’re gonna tear through B-rank without breaking a sweat.]”

  “[You think?]”

  “[A hundred-percent sure. Unless you want to hunt on your own, of course…]”

  Henry let the thought dangle, and he was glad to see the crab perk up. “[Okay! When are we going? Do you think Stormsong would come with us? Should we invite her?]”

  “[After this whole thing is over, maybe. We need some levels and some practice for the B-rank tournament. As for Stormsong, we’ll ask her. If she wants to come along, she’s welcome to.]”

  Henry was happy to see Maurice engage.

  “[What are we doing after the B-rank tournament? Are we leaving?]”

  Henry didn’t know, and he was about to say so to the crab when there was a flash of golden light, and a barrel full of golden, fragrant apples popped in front of them.

  “[The second barrel’s a secret, I’ll drop it off later,]” Henry heard, recognizing the voice of the ape. He looked around and stretched his senses, but the A-rank was nowhere to be found. From the air around them, the announcer’s voice picked up once more.

  “And that’s one of the prizes, folks! A full barrel of Ambercrisp apples. I already see some of our merchants huddling to come up with a tempting trade to present our champions! I wouldn’t mind making an offer either, but, and this might surprise you, there’s not a lot of money in being a commentator! So if any of you—ah. Sorry, dear guests. I was just told I was being inappropriate. Moving on! The next and real prize, dear champion and guest, is not ready! Because it will be custom-made for you. Ladies and gents, the skill-reward will be picked by the champion themselves. A catalog will be presented to them in the next few days, then our experts will endeavor to prepare the skill potion. Free of charge. An incredible, expensive honor. It must be nice to win one of these tournaments, maybe I should enroll in the next one myself…” she grumbled.

  ***

  The celebration for the tournament didn’t take long. There was food, music, a few handshakes and jokes, and an uncomfortable amount of offers for the barrel of apples. After an hour of mingling, Henry slipped away to the quiet pool of his guest home, and soon enough, Maurice appeared. For a simple and obvious reason.

  “[Can I have three apples, please?]”

  Henry eyed the crab suspiciously. “[You already had five. Why three?]”

  “[These aren’t for me. Merchant Bezier said he could get me kraken roe for three apples. A whole barrel, he said.]”

  Henry dipped back down into the water. “[That sounds like a scam, Maurice. These things are supposed to be valuable. I don’t think kraken roe is that difficult to find.]”

  The crab gave him a pointed look. “[I haven’t found any. I would have some, if you’d stored some for me. But you wouldn’t.]”

  “[Are you ever going to let that go?]”

  Before the crab could retort, there was a pulse in the air, and a heavy presence fell upon them before retreating, right as a pair of bare, furry feet slapped against the wooden floor.

  “Hey, you two. Congrats on the win,” said Zerathstra, and a second barrel of apples appeared and slammed on the floor. Maurice scuttled toward it, but Henry was faster and quickly wrapped an arm around the treasure, instantly sending it in his Maw. The crab glared at him, and Henry wiggled his arms.

  “Did I interrupt something?”

  “Nope. All is well,” said Henry, still meeting the crab’s eyes. Maurice slowly approached the water, pincers clacking in annoyance, then came to a rest at the edge of the water. Still maintaining eye contact, Henry summoned three apples, which made Maurice perk up, only for the kraken to throw one to Zerathstra, one to Maurice, and one he pulled underwater toward his beak.

  “[You’re mean.]”

  Zerathstra caught the apple and bit into it, dipping his feet into the pool while Henry answered the crab. “[I’m just teasing you, you gremlin. I’ll give you some in a bit. Just don’t get ripped off. You could get a lot more than a single barrel with three apples. Right, Zerathstra?]”

  “[What is he buying?]” telepathically asked the ape.

  “[Kraken roe,]” said Maurice, crunching into the apple with his mandibles.

  “[Hmm. Well… krakens nests aren’t that easy to find, so a barrel per apple is fair, I’d say. You could also try to find some with that pathfinding skills of yours. You have a month until the next tournament, after all.”

  Zerathstra chewed thoughtfully for a moment as the crab began to vibrate at the prospect. Henry finished up his apple, taking the time to enjoy the incredibly sweet and fragrant taste, right as the ape finished his and clapped his hands.

  “[So. What are you two planning after the tournament? If you’re staying, we could use the help. But if you’re leaving, you might need to head out right after the tourney. A day or two at most.]”

  Henry and Maurice shared a confused look then looked up at the ape, and Maurice asked,“[Why?]”

  “[Well… you’ll be stuck here for a couple of months if you don’t.]”

  Henry paused. Stuck?

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