All Henry could sense was pain and roiling rage. The wounds refused to close up, re-opening as soon as he’d healed them. He had to work on them one by one, bringing in his improved focus from the Octominds while simultaneously adding in bits of Vitality Aspect here and there. He knew he could take his time. He’d sensed Zerathstra arrive, and the ape even offered to help, but this was a good opportunity to learn.

  The prick sure packed a lot of Aspect essences in that one attack. But if he keeps waiting for me to die, he’s gonna wait for a long time.

  Henry could sense the mix of impatience, bloodlust, and wariness coming off the man. And the sheer, unadulterated panic of his son. It wasn’t everyday that someone had come for him with the intent to kill, and so far Henry had never had to experience fighting off such a large amount of foreign Aspects. He could sense the mysterious energy, refusing to leave the wounds the spear had opened all over his body. Like some sort of anti-healing gel applied directly to the injuries. But one by one, Henry was nullifying them, and as he did, the cloud that tasted of his own blood began to thin out.

  “[How are you doing, Maurice? Rocky?]”

  “[I’m okay! It wasn’t bad. My claw is already healing, and just like you said, using my own Aspect helped make the healing stick.]”

  Rocky couldn’t speak, but he sent back impressions of relief to signal he wasn’t too badly hurt, but there was no denying the anxiety that permeated the kraken’s mind. Not only had they gotten attacked out of the blue in an area Henry had said would be safe, but now there was an A-rank hovering not too far from them.

  “[Don’t worry, Rocky. That’s Zerathstra. He’s been good to us.]”

  There was a lot more Henry wanted to say, and honestly, he tried to be comforting. But right now, he could feel himself barely inches from boiling over and saying things that could get him in trouble. He was better off focusing on healing until he cooled down.

  Maurice got injured. Rocky got injured. And if I had been any weaker, this could have ended me.

  Henry slowly exhaled and continued healing himself. He held off on regrowing the two missing arms, and focused instead on getting his eyes back as well as healing the countless cuts that covered his body. Thanks to both his recently-upgraded Trickster’s Fortitude and the Guardian Aspect of his class, none of attacks that’d reached his body had gotten too deep, but it still looked like Henry had been thrown in some sort of storm made of razors. As for the two arms he’d lost, they’d been hit point-blank by the spear as it had exploded. The two arms had gotten completely minced at the point of impact.

  Maurice got injured.

  The thought was enraging, and deep down, he could feel part of his soul resonate with the feeling. Fury of the Trickster. It was an odd feeling.

  Usually, Henry considered himself to be on the brainy side. Sometimes impulsive, sure, but by now, he’d say the Octominds, and by extent Thaumaturgy of the Trickster, was the leading Aspect of the bunch. Like a captain, of some sorts, and through it, he used his other Aspects through the lens of this calculating mindset. His clones were scouting, he kept an inventory, he had specialized Octominds dealing with everyday things. Deep inside, he was like some sort of administration. Organized. Efficient. At some point, it had been Hunger who’d been in control, where he went around killing things and copying their skills, using his abilities for hunting and ambushing.

  Right now though, there was a struggle for supremacy deep within him. Fury was chomping at the bit, trying to take over all of his other Aspects Through its lens, he could see how his other Aspects wanted to twist. Hunger wanted to take everything the lord had. His skills. His life. His levels. Shiftiness wanted to create spiky and bony limbs to smash his face in. Misdirection wanted to create shadows and clones to hound him and make his life a living hell, where he couldn’t last five minutes without being ambushed and set upon, just like the Trickster kraken had done to Henry. Thaumaturgy wanted to create haunting illusions while the Octominds used the tools at their disposal to ruin the man. Vitality wanted to grasp and wrench his health away, and Swiftness wanted to pursue him until the end of the planet, never giving him respite. Never allowing him to have a moment of peace.

  “[We can talk about this,]” said Zerathstra, voice grave. The ape almost sounded defeated.

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  By now, the cloud of blood was parting, and one of Henry’s eyes had healed. Looking down at himself, he found that his colors had shifted to a dark brown. Nearly black, in fact, and Henry embraced the change, adding some stripes of yellow for flare. He was very much aware he looked a lot like the Trickster, but if there was one situation that called for war-paint, it was this one.

  “[I was only defending my ho—]”

  “[Not you, Tevarius,]” said Zerathstra, cutting the man off. The water stilled, and all of a sudden, it was as if all of them were being stared down by the monster, even though its eyes had never left the roots that lined up the seabed. “[And if I hear one more word of you, your head is leaving your shoulders for what you’ve done. Tread very carefully,]” he added.

  Even though all of Henry’s thoughts were focused on the rage filling his chest, he felt a thrill of fear at the tone. Now that he’d met a handful of A-ranks, he strongly suspected the ape to be standing at the pinnacle of the rank. Sure, the lobster had felt threatening, and it most certainly could destroy Henry in a fight, but the impression he got from both was stark.

  The ape finally looked up and turned to him, and gone were the jovial smiles and mirthful eyes. Right now, the ape seemed old. Too old and tired to be dealing with this sort of situation, but he didn’t run from it. “[This failing is on me. Henry. I… forgot how short-lived humanity’s memory can be.]” The ape ran a hand on his face. As Henry stole a glance toward the humans, he thought their faces seemed a bit paler than usual, and the veins on their foreheads and necks were standing out. “[I let them have their politics and history. I let them have their freedom, but it seems that in doing so they forgot… many things. This will be rectified. There will be reckoning for this. But for now, you’ve been wronged. In my home, after I personally invited you,]” he said, and in doing so, he gave Henry a solemn nod. “[State your wish on how you want this to be resolved, and I’ll see it done. But please… just talk to me. Don’t judge everyone because of the action of a stupid few.]”

  Henry stared at the ape, then eyed the ruined arm for a moment before he gazed up at the lord and at the cowering young man behind him. His wounds were nearly fully closed, having finally managed to expel and drown out all the foreign essence from them.

  [Human (B) - Lvl ??]

  I guess this means I can take a fully-powered attack from a mid B-rank. Good to know, Henry thought, and when he finally felt like he had his anger under a firm grip, he answered. “[A duel. Just like the one his son offered to Maurice a couple of weeks back,]” he said as his eyes swiveled to the lord.

  The man had been surprised at first, and the surprise slowly turned to a sneer. He seemed about to speak when a quick glare from Zerathstra shut him up. The man’s face grew alarmed, and a moment later, he was clawing at his throat. Zerathstra nodded without looking away from the lord.

  “[He will accept. When do you want it?]”

  Henry considered the question and watched as blood vessels popped in the man’s eyes. A duel in a few hours meant the man wouldn’t have time to recover all of his Aspects, and the kraken was confident he could win. But he didn’t just want to win. He wanted to wipe the floor with the man. He wanted to break him.

  Henry looked up at the quiet crab hiding behind the wraps of his arm, half hidden within his shell, and at the claw softly holding on to the edge of a sucker. He looked up and met Zerathstra’s eyes. “[In a week. Give him a chance to recover,]” he said, then speaking privately to Maurice, he continued. “[We’ll go for levels, but we won’t break for B-rank just yet until we get the fusion lesson. What do you think?]”

  “[Okay.]”

  With the details confirmed, Henry turned away and began swimming away only to stop a couple of seconds later before turning to the ape.

  “[Can you make sure he doesn’t run?]”

  The ape nodded, and once more, it was as if he’d gained another decade. “[He will not go anywhere. Henry, I’m really sorry about this.]”

  Henry shook his head. “[Don’t worry. I don’t blame you.]”

  He blamed many things, but he couldn’t expect the ape to be in control of every single individual under his protection. If the ape had been that kind of ruler, Henry wouldn’t have even risked approaching the settlement. But while the ape allowed those under his protection free will, clearly, it could come with a few issues. But that was life. Now they would all live with the consequences.

  Heading back from where they’d come from, he already knew what creatures he was starting with.

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