As we left the Carak Tribe's enclave, I got used to my now more than doubled stats from before.
As I coiled and flexed my tentacles I really do have to admit, I feel like I could totally take on all three crabs with me right now.
Of course I would never! But that doesn't mean that I was incapable of doing it!
As we swim through the rocky terrain surrounding the crab's home, the scenery gradually changes until more and more coral appears within our view.
One of the only downsides to my new size is that I can no longer sit atop Shelton's head, at least not with him struggling to see and move with me on him, so I am forced to swim and crawl along side the rest of them.
The main reason why I preferred to take a ride instead of crawling and especially swimming is because I tire out easily ok?
I can manage to crawl, but propelling myself through the water using my siphons is super tiring as I'm pretty sure one of my hearts literally stops beating during it.
I wish I had paid more attention to biology, or at least that I knew more about the octopus because I'm sure that there is still tons of stuff about me that I don't know about yet, but It simply wasn't one of my interests at the time.
Eventually however, our hunting group is brought to a more open section of the coral reef with no, eels, crabs, or fish schools relatively close. At least none that we can detect.
Jayce speaks up, "Alright, since we're hunting in the Sharp Reefs today, I think that we should split up instead of working as a 4 man team."
I raise my tentacle in the air, "Aren't you two supposed to stay with me?" I ask, still confused how they go about "guarding" me.
"That's only for inside of the enclave, we have no real reason to watch you outside of it." Jayce replies again, "And this place is known for having smaller places to fight in, so hunting in massive groups is commonly inefficient compared to splitting up since some people won't be able to help very much if a fight breaks out."
Shelton nods, agreeing with Jayce's words apparently already having known and having hunted here before as we split up into 2 groups. Me and Shelton, and then Jayce and Ponto.
Apparently they had originally planned for Jayce and Ponto to be paired up with each of us rather than themselves, however with the appearance of my totally orange ranked self, they decided that me and Shelton would be fine together.
Of course with my powerful self I also thought we would be fine, but according to Shelton he has also leveled up his state of existence a bunch from that last hunting trip and should also be close to evolving to the orange rank.
In that case, if I was to guess what level Shelton would be based on my system... I would say he's probably about level 19-ish, maybe?
This is based on the assumption that the orange tier evolution occurs at level 20.
I know that the unranked to white rank evolution is at level 5, and then the white to red rank evolution is at level 10... so if we assume that each evolution doubles.
Orange should be at level 20. Something about that doesn't seem right though...
Since I'm now a red rank, I should be getting 20 stat points I can distribute every time I level up, but if Shelton truly was level 19, then should he have supposedly received at least 180 stat points? Even if you combine all of my stats at this very moment! I wouldn't have higher stats then him, and that's not even mentioning his previous stats before you add onto it!
So theoretically I should be much weaker than Shelton... however that is obviously not the case. I could easily thrash Shelton right now, and I know that I also have the mutation advantage over other creature's, but they wouldn't make that much of a difference!
[You have activated Advanced Camouflage!]
As we both traversed the reefs near one another, to an outsider viewing us, it would merely look like a lone giant crab crawling alone, followed by a equally large mass of what appeared to be a rock a little ways behind it.
Eventually, we came across our first enemy.
As both me and Shelton stared at the striped orange eel who was hiding within a crack, I scanned it using its system, relieved that I could see all of its stats.
However this relief was quickly replaced with shock as I noticed the substantial difference in stats between us!
This creature was 4 levels ahead of me you know!
If you assumed that it got 20 stat points for every level up it should also be known that this eel would have had a total stat point pool of 34 before it evolved!
There's no way in hell!
This confirms to me that not only are my stats truly not on par for my rank, but also that my level ups, or as Shelton calls them, increasing my level of existence, I get a much more substantial increase in my stats than other creatures do.
"Oliver" Shelton speaks up, "You can do the honors, I can see that you're excited about your new form." he says as he notices my excited glint in my eyes.
He's not necessarily wrong, but I'm just excited to see how much more powerful than I am of a being of the same rank.
[You have activated Density Manipulation!]
Turning my entire body much lighter than before, I launch myself using both my siphons and my spring shaped coils directly towards the eel, resulting in me appearing in front of the eel's face in less than a second.
[You have activated Density Manipulation!]
Activating the opposite side of my ability, I turned two of my closest arms of the eel as heavy and dense as I can possibly make them before suddenly...
BAM!
SPLAT!
[You have killed a level 14 Slim Tiger Eel!]
[You have gained experience!]
Suddenly a cloud of red enveloped my face.
'Huh? Haha. HAHA!'
Turning to look at Shelton, I yell out "Did you see that?".
He looks at my grey form as the cloud of red behind me flows and gradually begins to disperse with the water current before snapping out of his daze.
"Y-Yeah! That was powerful!" He says, although he doesn't seem as excited as me.
But I don't care! I just punched like a f*cking meter tall mantis shrimp! You know, those things which are said to have the deadliest punch out of all animals to ever exist!
The ones which vaporize water and kill their prey from sheer shockwaves?
Yeah! But I'm an eight armed, mutated, monstrous sized octopus!
Hahaha! Oh my god, and I'm only a red tier!
I'm gonna turn the ocean a little more bloody today!
...
(Shelton POV)
...
What. The. Hell.
'WHAT WAS THAT???' Shelton struggled to keep his calm facade as he and Oliver ran around looking for and killing just about anything in sight that they could find.
'I just told him that he could attack first! I never thought he would one shot the thing!'
'I think he could probably kill Jayce and Ponto already! Heck I don't even know if the three of us fought him we would be able to beat him!'
Shelton shivered as he replayed the scene in his mind.
Immediately after Shelton gave Oliver the get go, he had suddenly nearly disappeared from Shelton's sight before appearing right in front of the eel. After that all he saw was two of Oliver's tentacles flying towards the unsuspecting eel before it exploded into a red mist.
Shelton, glanced, at the octopus who was now a bright red color, as all the blood from their kills still littered around in the water.
They've killed so many creatures that Shelton actually thought that they might have to change location from the sheer amount of blood around them.
This was because it would not only scare away any prey but it would also... lure in... predators...
Shelton paused as he thought about it. 'Maybe we should try fighting some predators instead?' Not only will they increase their existence faster but they could also get even more food...
Shelton glanced over at Oliver and made up his mind, 'With Oliver here, I doubt that any orange tier creature should be able to threaten us.' He then glanced downwards, looking at his pincers, 'and I need to become stronger. I'm already close to evolving and I won't be left behind this early.'
"Oliver!" Shelton called as the octopus finished squeezing the life out of a poor blue tang which happened to get too close to him.
"I've got a plan..."
...
Meanwhile, back at the Carak tribe's enclave...
Many of the tribe's crabs had gathered in the middle area of the main cavity as there was going to be an announcement by the Elder's today.
While most crabs would indeed come to hear an announcement from the elder's, today's announcement was the most crowded one since the new of the flood.
This was due to a rumor going around the tribe about a certain octopus who was spotted the day before, and naturally the crabs had come to see what was going on with their own eyes.
As the crabs mingled about in the center area, grabbing food or talking with friends, a large green shelled crab crawled up to a make shift stage which had been dug out in the cave.
Elder Carn cleared his throat as he began to speak, "I won't take up much of your time today, however I do have a quick announcement to make." He spoke as the crabs around quieted down.
"As of today we have a new member of tribe. I expect each and every one of you to treat him with respect, and believe that he will do the same. Unfortunately he is not here right now, but he is out already helping the clan by hunting, so as of this moment I officially recognize Oliver as the first octopus to become a member of our Carak Tribe."
"Thank you for lis-" Elder Carn was was cut off by the uproar of crabs, and other smaller creature tribe members alike as they all talked to one another in boisterous tones.
"That octopus here yesterday came to join us?" One crab said excitedly to his friend as another spoke up.
"I heard he was an envoy from one of the higher creatures tribes!"
"I think they said he was a red ranked?
"I hope he isn't weird..."
Those were just some of the opinions of the crowd as they dispersed.
Elder Carn watched, satisfied that the crabs hadn't been angry or doubtful about his induction.
'It would have most certainly been better if he was actually here but I don't mind him wanting to hunt already' Elder Carn smiled inwardly as he thought about the octopus.
'Plus it's good that he's friends with Shelton, it's always nice to have connections.' He walked away from the stage as he remembered his impression on the octopus from before.
'Not that he should have trouble making friends in other places, but something is definitely off about Oliver, and frankly it seems to be in a good way.'
However disturbing his thought's once again, a frenzied crab rapidly approached him, showing his role off as a guard with both his intimidating yellow ranked mass and spear in one pincer.
"Elder Carn!" the crab said in agitation, "We've received word from one of our hunting teams that the Synok Tribe has begun to hunt in our territory!" The crab nearly shouted before elder Carn used his plant magic to surround them with seaweed.
"Shush your voice young man! Are you trying to send the tribe into panic?" Elder Carn berated the crab as he inwardly frowned.
'The Synok Tribe... as a tribe primarily made up of snakes, we're definitely on the weaker side here, however that doesn't mean we can't fight back.', the elder dispersed his dome, before sending the soldier off back to the gate and thanking him for delivering the message, albeit nearly causing mayhem.
'It look's like these next few weeks will be fairly hectic...' He thought to himself before sauntering back to his chambers...
...
[You have killed a level 13 blackfin piranha!]
[You have levelled up to level 12!]
[You have gained 20 stat points!]
Squeezing onto the decently size but still much smaller than me predator, I hear the system speak in my head again, notifying me of my exploits.
Level 12? Already?
We've only been hunting her for what, a few hours at best? This is speed running!
Instead of continuing to hunt smaller prey creatures like we had originally came out here to do. We had followed a plan that Shelton made, which focused on killing the predators who smelled the blood in the water from our victims.
Turn's out, that this was a phenomenal idea! Unlike us who are intelligent, most of these guys are fairly clueless and continue to rush towards us when they smell blood, never questioning why there is so much blood in the first place!
Because of our undoubtedly get rich quick scheme except for strength, Ive managed to level up twice!
It makes sense that I would level up more than Shelton would, given the fact that he is simply a higher level than me, but I still do feel kind of bad that since he probably only needs 1 level to get to his next evolution, that he still hasn't gotten it.
"Oliver! Oliver! I did it!" Shelton scurries over to me, carrying another similar yet orange colored fish in his pincers as he waves the poor corpse around, causing parts of it to be torn and peeled off from the vigorous motion.
I stand corrected in that case, I no longer feel bad because it would appear that he did in fact level up!
"That's great Shelton!" I say excitedly, "Are we going to head back then?"
"Yep! We accomplished our goal both for leveling up and we're also basically out of room to carry all of this food back.
"I'll take you up on some of that then." I say as I snatch the fish out of his pincers and begin to devour it greedily.
One thing I had learned after my initial frenzy from eating at the feeding cavern, was that it gave me no Mutagen Points! I don't know if it was because I wasn't included in the killing of the meat, or maybe if it was too low of a level, but I refuse to exchange good food for power!
Especially when I can just have both. This just means though that I still need to eat while out in the field, and it's not a bad thing. I mean... the prey doesn't taste... bad, per say, but it certainly isn't as good as the spiced and cooked meat which is readily available.
We began to eat some of the prey around us which we determined we wouldn't be able to bring back due to size or lack of room, I can see Shelton looking at his pincer's and clicking them happily.
Ha! I guess he really is excited about finally being able to evolve, I kind of do wish though that I could... view his... status...
A thought creeps into my mind as I realized that I've never actually tried to view status of Shelton nor any of the crab's that were intelligent.
'Am I an idiot?' I think to myself, before asking the system to show Shelton's status.
As I begin to look through his status, my brain almost immediately freezes as I not only see that Shelton has a title, but also what that title is.
'Newborn Tide Candidate? Shelton's a tide candidate? Does he know?' I look at the crab still happily munching crab and shake my head, 'No way in hell, I'm sure if he knew he would have bragged to me first thing once we were alone, and it's also probably a relatively new status considering it has the word newborn in front of it.'
As I continue down the rest of his status my mind both reels in shock, and in realization. 'Well yeah! He has to be a f*cking tide candidate! Look at these numbers!' I think to myself increduously as I compared my own stats to his. His vitality, strength, and endurance are all substantially higher than mine!
Especially his vitality, sheesh. I guess he really is suitable to be a tank with both those numbers and his shell mutation to help with defense.
'Expand?' I think to myself as I notice that his title also has that located next to it.
Suddenly a screen popped up in front of me.
Ah! It shows me the effects of the title, and oh boy those are certainly some effects. I mean like seriously? 500% Experience gain? That's insane! Also the increased evolutionary potential, and that 100% increased chance of mutation! Doesn't that mean that Shelton is guaranteed to get a mutation every time he evolves now?
Also what the hell are unique skills? System?
I received no response in regards to the last questions however I simply sigh and ignore it for now.
As I look at his status I also notice his level. It's only level 15.
'Doesn't this mean that the orange rank evolution happens at level 15? So white is 5, red is 10 and orange is 15... does that mean that yellow is going to be at 20? Doesn't this seem a little too fast?' I think as I rack my head around an answer.
Especially if we consider that some of the elder crabs are only at the Yellow tier despite having been alive for years which according to this would mean that they wouldn't have passed level 25 by then!
That just can't be right!
I ignore the evolution level problem as I look at the rest of his status.
However comparing everything else for stats I can see a serious abnormality.
Why are my stats still so high though?
If we compare total number of stats, Shelton does indeed have just a little bit more overall than the current me. However this is only by about 15 stat points, and it should be noted that I currently have 40 saved up from the 2 levels I had just gained today!
Also, even though our stats are relatively similar despite the level disparity between us, I can still absolutely thrash Shelton at the current moment.
'Why?' I think to myself before thinking back to my original three rules for this world.
'Even if we have similar stats, the one which is a better creature will be stronger...'
So is this just a species difference then?
I'm just stronger because of the race I was born as?
In that case, I feel kind of bad... with how hard Shelton's been working only for me to simply be stronger because of my race.
No! Don't think like that! Plus Shelton's a tide candidate right? That means he should have his own advantages that you don't have!
My final thought is in regards to the relationship part at the bottom of his status.
'Is this because he's a creature with intelligence?' I wonder, as both the relationship part and remark, have never been there before when scanning a creature.
'Well at least I can confirm that he thinks of us as friends.'
As I wipe away the thought's from my mind, we both finishing eating and begin to walk back to the tribe's enclave, both backpacks stuffed absolutely to the brim with fresh meat.