I could make the move around, but I could hold things and still pull my tentacles into me. The problem was that the dollar was right below...HEY!
'Get back here you little shit! At least take my tentacle wrapped around you so I can have a chance to save you!'
Grace was crawling towards the dollar, but stopped and looked back at me with a scowl, but I would redden her ass later to make up for it. She was like having a child around, but she only rolled her eyes at me and crawled back. Grace let my tentacle wrap around her small frame, but she made a grossed out expression as I did, and then part of me hoped I had to pull her back in to teach her a lesson.
I smashed that idea down immediately, there was no reason to be salty, just remember Dave, in two days you can have her over your knee again to make her pay...I think or maybe it was just a symbiotic relationship. She frustrates me so I take it out on her backside and everyone's a winner?
Suddenly, I was focused on Grace as she picked up the sand dollar. I felt her body tense as she did, but there was really nothing to do but watch this trainwreck of trap go off. As Grace picked up the sand dollar, the sand started to move and a very large stingray popped up and was slammed into the whole by the air pressure.
Wow, that had to be the stupidest trap I had ever seen. when I got to the other side and was able to float more in the middle of the cave I turned back to look. I noticed that there was a part of the cave that didn't look like it belonged. Yes, and I was the one lecturing Grace, but the experience had cowed her a bit and she stayed silent and crawled back inside of my tentacles without any prompting.
[2/20]
That alone was worth its weight in gold, but I didn't sit on the idle thought. Instead, I turned back around to look for the next dollar but was confronted by two approaching small sharks.
[Scan]
[Scan] Skill has increased to level 6
Name: Sand Shark
HP: 85/85
Skill:
[Bite]
The sharks were coming straight for me but the two looked like they didn't have the cents to share between them and I also had to remember about the trap behind me. So, with maximum effort on my part and screaming and squirming of Grace yielded spectacular results.
[Blue Ringed Venom Strike]
[Blue Ringed Venom Strike]
[Blue Ringed Venom Strike] Skill is now level 4
With a rather casual lift of my tentacles and quick stabs, I was able to dodge idiot one and idiot two. Both went headfirst into the deadly jet spout and spun off in different directions. I wasn't about to wait for them, they were dead. The octopus venom was way too strong and I wondered how long it would continue to be so overpowered?
'Let me go get the dollars at least!' -Grace.
[Rank C+] Achieved!
[Rank C++] Achieved!
I was distracted, and Grace got away from me, but after a quick look around, I declared that it was safe and let Grace collect the Dollars as I looked through my menu. My health was starting to increase greatly, but only my strength went up by two. Maybe it was getting ready for something big with my next evolution.
That would be nice, maybe a man like body? With my luck, it will have the physique of a four-year-old boy. That was my kind of luck and with MainFrame chomping at my bit for being a cheater, did not make anything look easy for me. Suddenly, I was pulled out of my thoughts by Grace's voice.
'Uh, Dave...help!' -Grace.
I was already moving through the water towards her and my eyes fell on the massive shark in front of me. I rammed the thing with no concern and wrapped my tentacle around the beast.
[Scan]
[Scan] Skill is now level 8
[Grab]
[Grab] Skill is now level 6
[Constrict]
[Constrict] Failed
The construction failed and it almost broke my grab, but I quickly gave it my signature stab.
[Blue Ringed Venom Strike]
Name: Bull Shark
HP: 111/135
Skill:
[Bite]
[Chomp]
The scan info came up but I barely had time to read it as the shark sunk its teeth into me.
[Bite]
[-25] 50/75 Hit Points remaining
Blood filled the water but I didn't let go. I couldn't let it get to Grace, no matter how stupid she might act sometimes!
[Chomp]
[-45] 5/75 Hit Points remaining
Oh boy, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, I was about to die.
Wait, no, I will live another day! The shark disappeared out of my grasp and I felt my body sink down to the sand and the world closed around me in darkness.
Chapter 183: I Fucking Dare You
I opened my eyes as I was being shaken, and Grace yelling into my mind to wake up, but something was different...I felt different.
'Are you okay?!' -Grace.
I could hear the panic and fear in her, so I patted her on the head to reassure Grace that I was...okay, I just patted her on the head...with a webbed hand not all that different from a wraith hand.
What the shit was going on here?
That was when I noticed a blinking icon, but I held off on opening it.
'I am okay, more than okay it seems since I can pat your head.'
The relief was evident on Grace's face and she came and cuddled into my arms after I pushed myself back up against the wall. She was like a small child in my arms, so that meant I was full-grown man-size now. I wasn't sure If that meant that I would stay the same size or if it would mean that I would be forced into some massive grotesque…
That was when I finally really looked down and was...well, I couldn't have it all it seamed. My lower half was still the mass of tentacles, and I ideally reached down into the mass and felt around with disappointment. What would I do with the thing anyway? Grace was a child and it wasn't like there were local brothels.
I would just have to wait for the next mating session, not like that wasn't going to be more than enough fun, but what happened if Iona wasn't the one to show up? Well, no point in trying to decide that route until it was a trainwreck with no options left but to sit back and enjoy the ride. Perfect plan, another less than impressive notch in Dave's belt of poor decisions.
'I'm sorry.' -Grace.
That caught me off guard and brought me out of my idiotic thoughts.
'It's fine, I just don't want you to get hurt.'
Grace stayed silent after that, so I took the time to look over my new stats. I was surprised by the title change to [Hunter Killer] and my new species of Sharkdapus, but my skills were all the same besides the levels I had earned. I was also Rank D+, woohoo for me, but seriously, I almost died, and that would have been it, end game, and all the girls that are waiting for me are scattered to the wind.
'Grace, we need to…"
'I know, I was being stupid and it won't happen again. You almost died because of my selfishness and not taking your words seriously. I will be good until we are ready to mate, but then I can't promise anything but a good time.' -Grace.
She looked up at me with another one of those double winks that were becoming more and more unsettling. I was hoping evolution would weed that on out, which it probably would. Dan the game designer for these worlds always seemed to have the girls in mind, which I didn't mind most of the time, but now I had a chastity belt that only came off once every three days.
Bah! This line of thought was getting me nowhere. I let Grace go after kissing the top of her smooth head to reassure her I wasn't upset. I just didn't want her to get hurt, and it was the same for all the rest of my Harem. Ha! Now even I was calling them my Harem, well, when in Rome.
'That must have been the boss for the cave, there shouldn't be other monsters in here, but there could be traps. So, let's be careful and look around.'
I got up, but Grace stuck close to me, and I didn't argue the point. This is what I wanted anyway, but I was always a pleasant shock when things tu
rned out the right way. Things hardly ever worked out this way, so I had to briefly revel in the bliss of it, but it was time to get back to work now.
The two of us searched the cave and ended up finding the last sand dollars with very little trouble. They were all sticking out of the sand and easy enough to spot once we knew what to look for. Luckily there were no more traps, but Grace didn't stray far or wander, each time even looking up to me before racing over to grab one of the rose-colored discs.
[20/20] MISSION COMPLETE
MISSION REWARD IS 1 FREE SKILL EACH FROM THE LIST BELOW.
{Propulsion(passive)}
{Bone Blades(Trait)}
{Bipedal(Trait)}
{Detection(passive)}
{Demon(Trait)}
I looked over at Grace with a shocked look to find that the same expression was plastered over her face. And we only got to pick one each...but they were all good choices. Grace now had a screwed up expression and I could tell that she had come to the same conclusion as me, and was now trying to think of a choice. Each one was useful in its own way...kind of.
Okay, the Bipedal was more of an aesthetic, but then there was the rest. The first three were pretty self-explanatory and we could use each one. Then, there was the last choice, the good old demon choice.
This was the obvious choice, like come on demon equals power, am I right? But I was not so quick to select it without thinking. The random world had a demon system, but it had also come with the sanity stat. There was no guarantee that Dan would have put that into this one, but there was nothing to say he didn't, that was, after all a smash of all the game worlds.
'Have you chosen yet? There are so many good choices, I am having a hard time picking.'
'Not yet, but I think I will go with Detection. What about you? Have you decided on anything yet? You are not going to pick the demon trait are you?' -Grace.
'It had briefly crossed my mind, but then I remembered what I put everyone through before, so I think propulsion is a safe bet. All thought, the Bone blades are in a close second. Both are useful, but I have my venom strike, and even though I almost died, I wasn't thinking clearly.'
'I think you should go with the propulsion passive skill, then we can get around better and I will take detection so I will be able to detect things so we don't get into another situation like that.' -Grace.
'That is very sensible of you Grace, I'm glad you are starting to come around to the idea of this being a little more than just a game.'
'Mmmm, I was just letting some of the old Grace poke through, don't think this will change your fate tomorrow!' -Grace.
'Tomorrow?'
'You were out for an entire day.' -Grace.
'What? You stayed with me?'
'Are you stupid? Of course, I did! Where could I go if you died? Would the game even continue after that? I wasn't going to just leave you after you saved my life, plus I like your hands and I would have missed them…' -Grace.
She let her thought trail off and I was happy to know that some part of me was liked. Both of us made our choice and headed back to the entrance to the cave. We made sure to pass under the jet stream on our way out, but there was something that was itching at me.
If I was out cold, how did I evolve? If I didn't…
'I overrode the System and made the choice for you. Sorry, I thought…' -Tequila.
'Nope, one-hundred percent okay by me for saving my life. Thank you, Mom, you are literally a lifesaver. I might not have made it if you hadn't made that decision, and you and I both know what that would have meant, everyone, scattered.'
'I picked a shark as your evolution choice so I wouldn't go around showing off your smile to anyone you like. You also have a fin on your back to help you with turning now that you can use propulsion.' -Tequila.
'How do I use it?'
'It will activate when you want to move fast.' -Tequila.
'Are you two done talking?' -Grace.
Holy shit that scared me. Grace had touched my back and spoke at the same time making me almost ink myself. I turned around and scowled at Grace, but she just put her hands up and gave me a cute smile.
'Sorry, couldn't resist! I knew you would have forgotten that I could hear Mom too, hehe!' -Grace.
'You are such a troublemaker.'
All that got me was Grace turning her little backside to me with a wicked grin. Her mouthful of jagged teeth made me wince. I had the mental image of the vicious little dog in the same pose baring its teeth with an expression that said, I fucking dare you.
'That is an all too scary smile, you should try and use it to scare off the next shark we come across, BWAHAHA!'
Grace gave me a mock look of indignation that made her mouth turn into the shape of an O. This time I really did physically wince like I had been hit, the mental image was more then my brain wanted to take. But that didn't stop my brain from letting me have a brief mental image of a sexual encounter with a blender.
QUEST ACTIVATED
Rescue the tsundere maiden in distress! Free female Spiny Dogfish from Electric Eel Stronghold!
GUIDE SYSTEM ACTIVATED, FOLLOW TO QUEST LOCATION
Chapter 184: Sixty-Five Percent Chance Of It Working
'Rescue a damsel? Spiny Dogfish?' -Grace.
'I know, right? And I don't have a good feeling about the electric eels. Do you have any ranged attacks?'
I had Grace in my arms as we shot forwards; not at incredible speeds, but it was about thirty times as fast as my slow paddling gate from before. Now I was able to constantly blow the water out of a jet in my mass of tentacles, but the whole image was a bit comical. Like one of those cartoon heroes that eats lots of beans to create a propulsion system not too different than my own.
'No, can we just pick a different mission?' -Grace.
'We didn't pick this one or the last one so I think we have to do it. How much Health do you have in total?'
'Fifty-four, why?' Grace.
'Well, we might have to rely on you leveling up to keep you alive. Each time we go up a rank, we fully heal, and since you're still at Rank C+ you will level fast, so I need you to make the killing blow on them. I will catch them and weaken them, you attack and finish them, okay?'
'But, won't you get shocked?' -Grace.
'Yes, but now I am a lot stronger and I have over two-hundred and fifty health, so I should be able to absorb a lot of damage. We don't have much choice, there has to be some risk involved, but I would like to try and minimize danger as much as possible.
I could see the...large sandcastle, yes an actual sandcastle. It looked to have the same sturdiness as one built by a child on the beach, and the place was crawling with eels. I counted about twenty of them and I'm sure that there would be some kind of boss waiting for us after. Ugh, these dungeons were always so streamlined and the same, it would be nice if we could do something other than killing everything.
At the same time, watching the eels go back and forth made me think that I wouldn't get much in the way of conversation with these guys. Maybe diplomacy didn't have many places in this game, but I was going to find a better way to deal with these games. Killing things was fun, but it wasn't the only way, it was just the way the game wanted.
'Ready to go kick some ass?'
'Mmm, I'm ready to get some! So let's hurry up!' -Grace.
This woman, now I was excited to kill these all but there was no rush.
'We still have some time left, right Mom?'
'No, you can mate now, Grace is mature enough to activate the mating skill so you can save your activation.' -Tequila.
'Woohoo! You hear that Grace? Grace?'
Fuck! I looked and she was storming towards the eels and they were converging on her. Great, talk of snu snu and all brains are mettled with this woman, she was worse than a man.
No time to think, just go! I shot forward, but I was amazed when I noticed the nail on her hands grow longer. Instantly the two forces met, but I stopped to watch in pure amazement.
Grace was tearing them apart like they were paper. Any that touched her wasn't even noticed as she flashed and changed almost as fast as she killed the eels. Now, after three flashes, her body was more of a young girl rather than a child, but now she had a blade coming from each of her elbows. Her curled tail was now smooth like an eel and I could see a current crackling under her skin.
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