A small army of inky clones—eight of which were blood clones—spread out and down, guided mainly by two Octominds: number 3, which Henry visualized as a small octopus wearing glasses, sitting at a navigator’s desk fully decked with maps and pathfinding tools, and number 4, the one sitting behind multi-feed surveillance walls. To those two, Henry gave four more Octominds to bolster their capabilities so they could map out the environment and keep an eye out for danger, leaving only two to himself to be used whenever he needed them. For the first time in a while, there was no one watching over Stormsong.

  Henry had told her he’d be pulling the scout away before they’d headed down, and even though it seemed to make her nervous, she was confident she’d be fine. After all, she intended on staying in Thalis after Henry and Maurice would depart, so sooner or later she’d be on her own.

  When will we be leaving, though? Do I want to stay after the tournament? Do I actually care that much about the tournament?

  Henry considered these questions as his body stretched and grew larger while his sub-minds worked on their tasks. For the tournament, sure. He was somewhat interested, but mainly because it’d allow him to potentially steal a few abilities and put into practice everything he was learning. After having spent months in life-or-death scenarios, pumping the brakes and getting proficient with the tools at his disposal was a priority. He’d also get some good prizes, and in contrast to the last tournament, both himself and Maurice would be the underdogs, so hopefully more participants would be willing to put some nice items on the line.

  All of this so I can deal with whatever the System is up to.

  Henry didn’t know how to feel about that part. That… being had been informative and pleasant so far, but it was clear there was a lot it wasn’t saying, and if he ever wanted to get past A-rank, he’d have to be ready. But for what? A trap? Some sort of impossible test?

  Whatever it was, it made sense for Arisia and Zerathstra to express such a strong desire to see him improve. Though if he was honest, Henry still struggled to picture himself as an A-rank, much less whatever came after. Where would he even find other A-ranks to fight? How long would it take to get to those levels?

  And what then? What happens if I get past the System’s test?

  Henry stared at Maurice as he fought a couple of purple C-rank crabs, then turned his attention back to his interface. He didn’t know what came after, but he was confident saying he was curious. He wanted to uncover this mystery. He wanted to explore the world and then follow the path the weird copper bead showed him. The one that drew a path all the way up to the second planet above.

  Another mystery. One linked to those world-hopping turtles. Was it maybe linked to the System’s shenanigans?

  Henry had no clue, but the answers were all getting closer and closer to his reach. He just had to be stronger to survive the dangers that waited along the way.

  At least the training is bearing its fruits, he thought as he began pulling up his ever-accumulating list of notifications.

  Hunger of the Trickster (C): Level 1 -> Level 3

  Shiftiness of the Trickster (C): Level 3 -> Level 7

  Misdirection of the Trickster (C): Level 4 -> Level 7

  Thaumaturgy of the Trickster (C: Level 3 -> Level 6

  Vitality of the Trickster (C): Level 1 -> Level 2

  Swiftness of the Trickster (D): Level 1 -> Level 4

  Fury of the Trickster (D): Level 3 -> Level 5

  Lots of levels, especially in the Aspects responsible for his clones, camouflage, and Octominds. Henry bet he would have gotten even more levels in Thaumaturgy if it hadn’t become such a big Aspect in and of itself. He assumed it needed a bit more work than the others to progress, which was no problem at all. After all, there was no scenario in which he wouldn’t be using his Octominds outside of training. It was like getting used to multiple monitors at work, then being forced to use a small screen.

  As he eyed the list of Aspect levels, he got curious about his new weight limit. Henry took a peek at Flowing Form’s description and would have absolutely spat out a drink if he’d just sipped from one.

  Dear god. That’s… 162 tons. I nearly ten-folded the weight limit in just four Aspect levels.

  Looking down at his limbs and at his surroundings, he began feeling like the giant tree trunks weren’t as spread apart as they’d been moments ago. He couldn’t even tell the length of his arms at this point, and if his memory served him right, he’d just eclipsed the average weight of an adult blue whale. He considered stopping his growth, but then decided to continue.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  He just had to see how big he could get. He was still nowhere near as large as that Draconic turtle they’d met though, and if he was forced to put a number on it, he’d say his arms were getting pretty close to the height of a condominium. He’d bet that in a few levels, they’d be apartment-building levels of length.

  Jeez…

  It was pretty difficult to wrap his mind around such growth, which was funny considering there wasn’t much he couldn’t wrap his arms around by now. Aside from the giant turtle, of course. But even then, he’d bet he could get a good grip on it before he got his world wrecked.

  Alright, I’ll come back to this later. For now, let’s see the shopping list.

  Draining Touch (E): Upgrade unlocked.

  Arcane Arm (E): Upgrade unlocked.

  Mind Weaver's Tongue (E): Upgrade unlocked.

  Mana Nexus (E): Upgrade unlocked.

  Telekinesis (D): Upgrade unlocked.

  Trickster’s Domain (E): Upgrade unlocked.

  Riptide Rush (E): Upgrade unlocked.

  Mind Shield (E): Upgrade unlocked.

  Telepathic Orchestration (E): Upgrade unlocked.

  Echo Strike (F): Upgrade unlocked.

  So many abilities to upgrade, and not nearly enough tokens to do so considering the cost scaled off the Aspects themselves.

  Henry eyed the list and paused at the last ability. That one had been really easy to unlock, though there was one thing still bugging him as he eyed all of these unlocked upgrades; why didn’t he get something for the remote casting technique he’d learned? It felt as if he should have gotten a passive for it, but so far, nothing. Maybe it had to do with it being an actual technique compared to skills? After all, skills and traits did their thing with magic, while remote casting was more of a willpower, self-control thing. In a way.

  Oh well. Keep practicing and maybe something will eventually show up.

  Still, quite a few abilities hadn’t had their upgrade unlocked, such as Trickster’s Pathfinding, Trickster’s Resilience, or Lightning Discharge, which he would endeavor to push now that he was out and about. They were important skills, and they needed to be upgraded as fast as possible.

  Finally, Henry brought up the last prompt and eyed the couple of levels he’d earned.

  Watchful Guardian (C) - Level 34 achieved!

  ...

  Watchful Guardian (C) - Level 36 achieved!

  1x Stat point awarded.

  The list was not as impressive as his skill levels or unlocks, but these two levels had nothing to do with training or hunting. He’d gotten them just by being in the Current. Or Pillar.

  The process of leveling up just by being exposed to the ambient magic seemed to have slowed compared to the first time Henry had encountered the phenomenon, which might explain why not everyone was a B-rank in these areas. He’d forgotten to ask about that, but he’d do so when he got back up to the surface.

  “[Can we go already? What’s… Whoa… Why are you so big?!]”

  Maurice just got done downing the two C-rank crabs, and had already begun munching on one when he’d deigned to look back at Henry. He gawked at him for a few seconds, then leapt off the edge of a tree trunk.

  The crab didn’t even need to beat his arms more than a couple of times to fall on Henry. He couldn’t miss the kraken even if he tried and as he climbed up the side of his face, the crab came to a stop right next to Henry’s eye and peered at him before slowly raising a pincer up.

  “[Don’t poke me in the eye Maurice, or I swear to god.]”

  “[I wasn’t going to!]”

  Henry narrowed his eyes, which made Maurice almost tumble away. After all, the crab was nearly half as large as one of Henry’s eyes.

  “[I wish I could get big like this…]” he said wistfully.

  Henry glanced down at his arms. He was finally done growing, and the sensation was most definitely odd. He had perfect control of his limbs and all, but it just felt like he could wreck the local wildlife without even trying. Like a giant bipedal lizard walking through a busy downtown.

  “[You can try to pick the skill up. We’ll make some attempts the next time we take a break. For now… You ready to head down? I found an interesting area for us to fight in. With an interesting B-rank.]”

  “[Oh? What is it? Is it a crab? Or a kraken with eggs?

  Henry sighed and told his navigator to try and find them a kraken nest, if that was even possible. “[Neither. You’ll see when we get there. But I can tell you that you’ve seen one before.]”

  With that, Henry dove into the gold-lit depths, hearts beating merrily in his chest.

  It was good to be back.

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