Deciding to go all out, Henry channeled all of what he had left in the Predation Aspect, empowering the injection of his venoms and mana with all the destructive essence he had at his disposal. He was sure the lobster could still take it. He could have used Dancing Shadows and Thaumaturgy as well but… that might be overkill, and the fight wasn't over. And once it was, he couldn't afford to be left empty handed. Just in case something else happened to show up.

The lobster screeched, enraged, and it finally realized that keeping Henry's shapeshifted lance in its guts was a bad call and as it angled its pincer down, Henry braced and activated his teleportation right as he finished dumping his Predation Aspect.

The world blinked and changed about him, but the change of scenery was unfortunately coupled with sudden sting and weightlessness as his improvised spear failed to leave along with him.

Looking down, he saw the leviathan teeth peeking out of the lobster's back, while the remainders of Henry's fused arms coiled and twisted as blood bloomed out of his severed limb.

Worth it, he thought as he vaguely sensed the malicious mana he'd left in the creature. Already, he could sense some of its stamina leeching back into him and as he looked down at his burnt and severed arms, he gave the green Octomind some more of his Renewal essence, helping it counter the foreign essences coursing through him body. It was still slowing his healing. Thankfully, with his use of mineral-rich coating, most of the electricity had traveled along his skin so his internals weren't in too bad of a shape.

But… this is far from over, Henry thought as he sensed what the impressions being sent back to him. While the lobster did not look in great shape, Henry could sense it still had plenty of mana and stamina to continue putting up a fight and well… was it maybe time to pull back?

He'd already proven what he came to prove. He could fight an A-rank. Trade blows. Land solid hits. The lobster was hurt, he was still standing, and he'd gained a mountain of Aspect levels. Mission accomplished. Killing it would just be... overkill. Literally.

While I wouldn't say no to the core, I already got plenty of Aspect levels here. So I wouldn't be leaving empty handed. Especially considering what I got from its stash.

Eying the lobster below, Henry decided to extend an olive branch. "[Hey! Do you wanna call this a draw? No one needs to die, you know? We could call this a spar. It was fun.]"

The lobster seemed to still for a second, then it clicked its pincers, its form glowing. Coiling its tail, it sprang up toward Henry, the sand exploding behind from the violent push, and Henry just teleported away, summoning a couple dozen more clones for safety.

Being stubborn I see. Fine, let's keep going for a bit, Henry mused.

Henry looked down calmly at the lobster as his limbs finished regrowing and this time, he didn't create a stabbing instrument. Instead he fused not two, not three, but four of his arms together to create a club nearly as large as he was. Coating with multiple inches's worth of thick, heavy bone, Henry pulled the arm back and waited.

"Speed up my perception," he called out to his Octominds as he began layering the Evershifting Strike in the arm as he watched, and when the lobster's tail began to curl, Henry pushed more mana and Dancing Shadow essence into the Skill Nexus, both to empower the impact and make the swing even faster.

The lobster blurred, body crackling, and Henry swung.

Henry's club moved as if there hadn't been any water to slow it, swinging up and to the right in a diagonal as the lobster quickly closed the distance, and with his improved cognition and Octominds empowered vision, Henry had the time to see the A-rank slowdown as it raised its pincer. But its own moment and Henry's swing—just like the lobster's dash—had been incredibly fast, and as everything happened in less than a tenth of a second, there was just no time to abort and even if it did, it was already within his range.

So it was no surprise when he felt the might shockwave that shook his arm and insides as his club hit the shell and crunched into the lobster's legs. The crunching of shell was too loud and quick to be able to tell the damage, but the cloud of blood, bones and blue chitinious fragments told him that neither Henry's armored coating or the lobster's side had come out unscathed.

With pain pulsing in his arm, Henry teleported away and with the eyes of his clones, he waited, panting as he helped his healer-Octomind re-knit his torn muscles, while he re-created the thick bones around the club. And sensing his dwindling mana, he summoned one of his healing orbs and popped it in his mouth.

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As the stored mana and health flooded in his system, Henry watched as the cloud of blood parted to reveal the lobster.

Ouch, Henry winced as he saw the crushed legs and the gaping, exposed innards where the large claw must have impacted. It looked like it had tried to stop Henry's club with its left claw, only for the claw to turn into a weapon itself, blasting and cracking the shell it was supposed to protect. The pincer itself was deformed, but not cracked, while the left antenna had a nasty bend to it.

I have a feeling it won't be charging me in a straight line anymore… unless it's a lot dumber than I thought.

More of the lobster's strength flowed into Henry, but the stolen resources were dwindling as the A-rank's body slowly broke down the foreign influence, though with this impact, he could feel the flow pick up in speed as the lobster's attention was taken away from Henry's malicious mana.

Just gotta give it a few more doses, Henry thought. And now that the lobster was injured, it was time to press his advantage.

***

Over the next few minutes Henry hounded the lobster relentlessly. He sent exploding clones. Peppered it with Toxic Rays that he always aimed at the bits were its shell had broken down, and whenever he distracted or stunned it enough, one of his smaller clones would sneak in and bite right into its exposed innards, delivering another dose of venom and mana.

Henry was growing exhausted, and while his attacks weren't the most effective at breaking through the lobster's innate defenses, it was still growing slower. Its lightning became less bright and as its health dwindled, Henry's was stabilizing. Between his own regenerative abilities and his mana and venoms wreaking havoc within the crustacean's system and appropriating some of it, unless the lobster had some last resort, hidden ability, this fight was Henry's.

I still don't want to kill you, though, he grumbled as he dodged the half-hearted dash. He'd gotten plenty of practice against the monster. He'd gotten Aspect levels and he was pretty sure a few of his Skills were ready to step into the next rank, like Trickster's Fortitude, Spiteful Detonation, and a bunch of others. He also… well, there was no way of sugarcoating it. He stole from it. So he felt bad killing it as well, while he was the one who came and bothered it in its home.

That A-rank bird was worth killing more than this guy. And maybe it's my bias toward crustacean, but I don't want to kill it.

Taking stock of his clones in the ruins, he ordered them all up to get in storage and began planning his retreat and while he dodged the monster's weakened strikes, blinking on its back to work the leviathan teeth out of its shell whenever he could. Above, one of his clones was ready to switch places with him as he waved an arm toward the huffing lobster.

"[Hey! Good spar. Let's do this again sometime!]"

The lobster clacked its pincer, annoyed, and its shell crackled as it readied another charge.

"[No seriously! Stop it. I'm leaving!]"

The lobster blurred, but Henry had plenty of time to shove himself out of the way with Telekinesis as he channeled mana into his teleport. "[Go rest! We'll do this again soon, alright?]"

The lobster roared, shell crackling again to charge, but Henry was ready to peace out.

"[Laters!]"

The world twisted and darkened around him, and a beat later he was far above. His clones had finished arranging themselves back in his Maw, and only a couple were still in the ruins. Dismissing them, Henry swam up and away, finally sensing his own fatigue creep up as the flow of energy he'd been stealing from the A-rank cut off.

Right… that has a limited range, I guess. At least it's not so limited that it messes with the fight when I'm around, he mused as he eyed the levels he'd gotten.

This had been very much worth it, and sure, he missed out on a few tokens and potentially a couple of stat points from the A-rank, but he'll be facing plenty of them soon.

Reaching into his Maw, he popped the familiar, blue metallic orb in his arm and grinned.

One more's in the bag, he thought before he popped the mysterious item in his storage and pulled up his notifications.

Predation of the Trickster (B): Level 1 → Level 4

Renewal of the Trickster (B): Level 1 → Level 5

Thaumaturgy of the Many-Faced Trickster (B): Level 1 → Level 4

Dancing Shadows of the Trickster (B): Level 1 → Level 3

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