Gray floated above a scattered pile of corpses.
Vermilion Bandfish lay in pieces across the seafloor, their bright stripes already fading to dull grey. Nearby, the pale, broken bodies of two Lure Anglers drifted half-buried in the sand, their glowing lures dark and lifeless. The water still carried the faint, bitter taste of their toxins.
The system had already confirmed what he’d felt settle into his core.
[Trait Complete! Toxic Resilience will be available as an evolution option at Level 30.]
[Trait Complete! Mental Fortitude will be available as an evolution option at Level 30.]
[LEVEL UP!]
[You are now Level 31.]
[20 Stat Points available for distribution.]
[2 Skill Points available.]
’With this... I can finally hunt other monsters,’ Gray said with satisfaction.
Cindy’s voice came, teasing. "Aren’t you going to eat them?"
Gray glanced at the pile of toxic fish and angler corpses. His feeding surface tightened at the memory of that bitter, rotten taste.
’Are you serious? I don’t want to taste that again.’
"I just thought... since you killed so many..."
’They’re not worth eating.’
He turned away from the corpses and pulled up his status, scanning the trait list.
’Next is Reflective Skin,’ he said. ’They’re easy to find.’
Cindy’s voice sharpened slightly. "You want to hunt again? Aren’t you tired?"
Gray drifted forward, his serrated bell cutting through the water.
’Better to keep moving,’ he said. ’I want to get out of this damn ocean as soon as possible.’
"...Alright. But at least rest a little first," Cindy said with a sigh.
Gray picked up speed, his streamlined bell slicing through the dark water with barely a ripple.
’Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.’
He pulled up his status mid-swim and allocated his points without slowing.
[20 Stat Points used]
[SPD: 183 → 193]
[ATK: 97 → 103]
[DEF: 79 → 83]
[HP MAX: 830 → 870]
[2 Skill Points used]
[RIPTIDE SLASH — Lv. 2 → Lv. 4]
Cindy’s voice slipped into his thoughts, thoughtful now.
"I’ve noticed something. You always hunt specific monsters. Why is that?"
Gray watched a large fish pass in the distance, its dark shape gliding between the rocks.
’Because each one gives me something specific,’ he said. ’Essence that can make me stronger.’
"Hmm... so it’s like your evolution yesterday? Your essence had reached its limit, which is why you evolved?"
’Yeah. Like that.’
He angled toward a cave mouth in the volcanic rock and slipped inside. The darkness within was thick, but his senses mapped the walls without effort. He emerged on the other side, back into open water.
Cindy spoke again, her voice full of wonder.
"Scientists once researched monster evolution... how creatures could grow stronger by consuming each other. I never thought I’d see it with my own eyes."
Gray tilted slightly, scanning the water ahead.
’Don’t you have monster tamers? Or summoners?’
"Those exist," Cindy admitted. "But it depends on the user. Most summoners aren’t that strong, honestly. Taking care of monsters is difficult. They require food, training, trust... most people can’t manage it."
Gray glided past a cluster of glowing shrimp. Their tiny lights scattered as he passed, like stars stirred by a current.
’That’s strange,’ he said. ’In my opinion, summoners should be able to become strong easily.’
Cindy let out a quiet, amused chuckle.
"That’s what everyone thinks at first. But reality is cruel. Monsters don’t obey just because you ask nicely." She paused. "And if the summoner is weak, the monster becomes the master."
Gray looked ahead and spotted the fish he’d been searching for, a Razorwing Ray drifting alone near a stretch of pale sand, its reflective body flickering faintly at the edge of his perception.
’Yeah, that makes sense too,’ he said, answering Cindy’s earlier thought. ’A stronger monster could easily dominate its master.’
Cindy, who had also noticed the Ray, spoke carefully. "Are you going to attack it directly?"
Gray studied the area around the fish. The water was quiet and above the Ray, the sand shifted in patterns that didn’t match the current.
’I might try to lure them closer first,’ he said. ’I feel like something’s hiding under that sand.’
He fired a Riptide Slash from a distance.
The crescent wave cut through the darkness and slammed into the Ray’s flank.
[RAZORWING RAY — HP: 368 / 450]
The fish jolted, its reflective skin flickering as it tried to flee.
And then the sand erupted.
Three massive worms burst from the seafloor at once, their circular mouths gaping as they swallowed the wounded Ray in a single, synchronized strike. The fish vanished into their jaws before it even had time to scream.
Cindy’s voice rose. "What are those?!"
Gray’s tentacles spread wide, his serrated bell already angled for battle.
’I was right,’ he said. ’They were waiting under the sand.’
The three worms sank back into the sand one by one, their segmented bodies coiling downward until the seafloor grew still again.
’Those are Glimmerworms,’ Gray said. ’They hide under the sand and attack from below. You can’t sense them until it’s too late.’
Cindy’s voice came, quiet and wary. "Do you want to fight them?"
Gray’s serrated bell tilted slightly as he scanned the seafloor, reading the faintest shifts in the sediment.
’Yeah,’ he said. ’I’ve fought them before. But not three at once while they’re already on guard.’
He drifted higher, putting distance between himself and the sand.
’I need to force them out. Once they’re in open water, their camouflage is useless.’
He charged Cavitation Pulse and fired directly into the center of the sand field.
The superheated blast struck the seafloor and detonated. Sand exploded upward in a boiling cloud, molten glass and steam billowing through the water. The shockwave rippled outward, tearing a crater in the sediment.
Then the sand erupted.
Three segmented bodies burst from the seafloor at once, their pale forms twisting in the boiling water. The heat had flushed them out — their perfect camouflage now useless in the churning cloud of molten sand and debris. One had a scorched flank where the blast had clipped it.
[GLIMMERWORM — HP: 402 / 420]
’There you are.’
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