“We’re back, folks! I, Verixia, will be once more your announcer. Have you enjoyed the small break since the last tournament? Have you enjoyed the little teaser from a couple of days ago? Then I hope you’re ready, because this time the high C-rank tournament is going to be special! This time, we have more guests whose abilities we know nothing of! Suspense, folks, and surprise! Who knows what’s gonna happen? Not even our betmasters have any clues, considering the odds they’re setting! Especially not for this first fight, and what a fight I’m sure it will be! Our second guest, the mysterious Trickster kraken going by the name of Henry, will be facing one of the newest and youngest members of the tree-guards! One of the top-3 of last month’s tournament. Our very own warrior, Heyor!”

  Henry listened through the clones he had stationed atop Maurice and Stormsong’s heads, and through his main body, out of which he watched the opponent standing in front of him. The young man seemed clearly confused by the slowly growing kraken before him.

  Henry didn’t intend on going giant, but just big enough so his limbs had some good range. What might also be confusing the tree-guard was that he hadn’t bothered lifting himself off the ground just yet.

  [Human (C) - Lvl ???]

  I wonder if I can win this fight without moving, Henry thought. He didn’t intend on being insulting, but he just didn’t think the young man could do much to threaten him. Then again, if he kept his abilities to a minimum, he could hold on to the element of surprise a bit longer.

  It sucks that this is a nice, polite dude… It would have been better to get one of the nobles Zerathstra spoke of. At least they had treasures to put on the line.

  While the announcer went on, Henry took a look at the latest notifications and realized he was due to head back to the water soon. He had a few upgrades unlocked thanks to the intense training Arisia had put him through, and plenty of skill levels, but he couldn’t afford much at the moment. And in any case, his training was nowhere near done, so he’d still have plenty to upgrade.

  I’ll get around to it… once this tournament’s done, and before the B-rank one.

  Henry had already enrolled himself in the next event. Apparently, if you didn’t have the levels for the category, you had to have someone vouch for you. In his own case, Semea and Zamir were enough to allow him entry, and if he was fine entering the B-rank tournament, he was fine entering this one. As for Maurice, his performance a few days ago was plenty for him to enter.

  Plus there’s bound to be better prizes for the next tournament.

  Surprisingly, Stormsong didn’t want to enroll. She said she’d watch, but she seemed a lot more interested in spending time with the kids and their teachers than participating in tournaments and duels. It was hard to reconcile the snappy dolphin to the patient and friendly creature she’d become around kids. Somehow, there was always one or two of the tykes around her, which was forcing Henry to move his clone away from his chosen spot.

  Alright, time to focus, he told himself as the announcer began calling the countdown.

  Henry lifted off the ground, carried upward in a nimbus of pinkish-purple while he made sure his arms were free to move. The young man’s eyes widened for a second, then he gave Henry a salute of some sort before he raised two fists in a pugilistic stance.

  The kraken tilted his body forward to return the salute, then waited for the countdown to finish.

  “Fight!”

  The human instantly went on the offense. Heyor’s fist shone with a deep green light, and he punched, sending a green echo of his arm rushing at the kraken.

  Henry kept floating, staring at the oncoming attack as it flashed through the air toward him. At the last second, he lifted an arm and intercepted the magic.

  The ghostly arm dug into his skin as if he’d just been hit by a metallic fist. It stung, and Henry felt the magic seep into the flesh, numbing it for a second before blood flowed back into it. Looking at his arm, he saw a bit of discolouration, and a light swelling, but nothing else.

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  Outside, the crowd went quiet, while Verixia continued her comments.

  “That’s it? That’s all it took to stop a Lifebane technique? An arm? Damn. I wouldn’t want to be in Heyor’s place right now.”

  Henry tuned out the announcer and peered at his arm. The swelling was receding, but it was still tingling. Still, inwardly, he grinned.

  I kinda want this. Not the Lifebane stuff, though I wouldn’t say no to learning more about it. But sending attacks like this without having to whip out an Arcane Arm? This sounds amazing. I can already picture the barrage I could create with eight arms. It’d be like a gatling gun.

  Henry lowered his arm, and the young man took a step back as the yellow eyes tracked him. The man began slowly moving in a circle, reassessing, while Henry considered which limb he should try and get a bite of. This was a battle after all. No one would be offended if he took a small nibble, right? He could even heal his opponent himself.

  Alright. Let’s get this over with.

  Henry whipped an arm forward, but the young man had been expecting it. Heyor dodged the first arm easily enough. But two more were on the way. He punched one, ducked on the second, then five arms fell on him.

  Heyor needed to perfectly dodge eight arms to escape the Hug of Death, as Maurice would call it. Henry just had to land one.

  Not even using Telekinesis here. And I could have electrocuted him when he punched me, but that’s overkill.

  Heyor went all out. Punching, kicking, summoning panels of green lights that made Henry’s arm feel numb, but one of his many arms managed to wrap around a foot, and that’s all it took.

  Henry applied Bite on Heyor’s calf with a dose of tranquilizing venom, and made sure he got a good sample through Voracious Grip. Before the young warrior’s back hit the ground, Henry laid an arm under him so he wouldn’t hit his head.

  Wait… He’s C-rank. Falling on his head wouldn’t do shit to him.

  “That’s it ladies, gents, and friends! The first match of the tournament comes to a quick and uneventful conclusion, with a show of absolute dominance from our guest. Just like our new favorite crab, Henry the kraken didn’t even sweat to finish off his opponent, and it looks like he didn’t even need to use more than a couple of abilities to secure his victory!”

  Sound came through the golden barrier once more, and Henry pushed a pulse of Arcane Regeneration into his opponent before releasing his grip. The young man jumped up, flustered, then slowly relaxed his fists and bowed.

  Henry returned the gesture, then floated out of the arena so the next fights could take the center stage.

  Now, what did I get here?

  Magic Mimic: Lifebane Touch (F) was copied temporarily.

  Magic Mimic: Echo Strike (E) was copied temporarily.

  There didn’t seem to be any property his three cornerstone abilities could copy, which Henry found curious, but it wasn’t a problem at all. With these two copied skills, he could explore the abilities soon, especially since Arisia was going to start him on some theory lessons that would touch on skills manipulation and creation.

  Lifebane could be a facet of Vitality, I bet. If I balance it right.

  Henry wasn’t sure, but his instincts told him such a property could weaken his Aspect, but he was in no rush to commit to anything. He just wanted to learn and understand this world’s magic better.

  Henry landed on a bench by himself, arms pooled around him. Feeling the stares of the crowd, he considered using Mimicry to make himself a body, but he forced himself not to.

  This is what you look like. This is who you are.

  Henry reminded himself that he could don his disguise whenever he wanted to or felt like it, but it should never be because he was uncomfortable in his real body.

  He took a deep breath and looked up. A new fight was beginning, and taking a look around, he quickly saw Maurice scuttling toward him, claws holding up a wallet.

  Henry frowned and looked past the crab to see a small stand with a crowd in front of it.

  “[Henry! I just gambled and I won! Can you believe how easy it is to win tokens?]”

  The crab looked down at the fight, slowed his claw-rubbing, then peered back at the stand. “[Maybe I should have bet on this fight… It’s clear that the woman’s going to win… Okay! I’ll be right—]”

  Henry pulled the crab off the ground before he could go develop a gambling problem. They were waiting for the next fight anyway, so he might as well put the crab through a quick improvised course about the dangers of gambling.

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