Chapter 65: Recovering
Gray moved carefully through the collapsed tunnel, his tentacles sweeping the rubble ahead, his bell pulsing with slow contractions. Every inch of the broken rock mapped by vibration and electrical trace before he committed to it.
"The ocean down here is so dark. I didn’t expect you to move through it so smoothly."
’It’s not that I see it,’ Gray replied, guiding himself through a narrow gap between two fallen boulders. ’I feel it. The water carries vibration, and every living thing gives off a tiny electrical field. I read those signals like you’d read a map.’
"Interesting," Cindy murmured. "So you don’t need light at all."
’Light is a liability down here. It attracts attention. I’d rather be invisible.’
Cindy was quiet for a moment. Then, with a note of genuine curiosity, she asked, "What about color? Can you tell what color something is?"
’No,’ Gray admitted. ’Not with my own senses. I only know color from memory.’
A long pause stretched between them, and Gray felt no force behind her presence now, only a quiet curiosity waiting to see if he would continue.
"You really were human once," she said softly.
Gray felt his bell tighten the moment the words left him.
Damn it... I said too much.
He didn’t respond immediately. His tentacles moved a little more stiffly, his body coiled with caution as he drifted forward through the broken passage.
’From where did you conclude that?’ he asked.
"Don’t bother hiding it," she said. "It’s not strange. I was human too. Now I’m just a spirit trapped in a locket."
Gray let the silence stretch, then finally said, ’...Think whatever you want.’
"So you’re not denying it. That means I’m right."
Gray didn’t answer. He let his focus shift back to the water around him, his tentacles sweeping the darkness ahead. The conversation had wandered too close to things he wasn’t ready to share. Let her think what she wanted. It didn’t change anything.
Then his tentacles caught something.
Ahead, where the collapsed tunnel opened into a wider space, the stone formed a natural hollow. The walls curved inward, creating a small, enclosed chamber with a narrow entrance. The current barely reached inside, leaving the space quiet and defensible.
[LOCATION DISCOVERED: SUNKEN HOLLOW]
[This location is suitable for rest. Would you like to designate it as a temporary shelter?]
’Yes.’
[SHELTER DESIGNATED: SUNKEN HOLLOW]
[Regeneration: +20%]
The system’s chime faded, and Gray felt the familiar warmth of the shelter’s blessing settle over him.
Cindy’s voice came, softer now. "This is good. We can rest and hide here for a while."
’It’ll do,’ Gray said, already settling against the smooth stone floor.
He let his tentacles spread, his bell relaxing for the first time since the Sun Eater. The regeneration was already working, slowly easing the ache from his wounds.
After a moment, Cindy spoke again. "You should eat something after this. Your body needs more than rest."
’...I know,’ Gray muttered. Maybe after I recover a little, I’ll find food.’
"Just don’t eat the first thing that touches you this time."
Gray let out a weak pulse that might have been a sigh.
’Don’t count on it.’
--------x-------
After what felt like an hour, Gray stirred. His HP had risen enough to move safely. Hunger gnawed at him now.
’I’m going out.’
Cindy’s voice came quickly. "Be careful. That monster could still be nearby."
’I know.’
The Sunken Hollow shrank behind him as Gray pushed into the black. His bell still ached, and every pulse sent a dull throb through his crystalline armor. But hunger was louder than pain. The hunt came first.
"You always move like something’s already dead," Cindy murmured.
’That’s the idea.’
Then he found what he was looking for.
A Pale Driftfin, barely a foot long, swimming lazily near a cluster of glowing tube worms. Its body was soft and translucent, its fins trailing behind it like threads of pale silk. It fed on microscopic particles, oblivious to the predator drifting above it.
Neurotoxic Drift deployed silently, the invisible venom cloud settling over the fish. Two seconds later, the damage ticks began.
[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 18 DAMAGE]
[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 19 DAMAGE]
The Driftfin twitched, its translucent body spasming as the venom took hold. It tried to dart away, but its movements were already sluggish. A quick pulse of electricity ended it.
[PALE DRIFTFIN DEFEATED — 28 EXP]
He absorbed the corpse quickly, hunger ticking down. Cindy’s voice broke the quiet.
"...You killed it so easily."
’It was weak.’
"Even so. You’re strong."
Gray let it pass. Cindy’s words were still new to him, and he had no desire to fill the silence, his tentacles spread like a net of nerves, alive to the smallest disturbance.
The first thing he found was a small crab near a thermal vent. It was barely larger than his bell, its shell pale and soft from the heat. It had been picking at a thin film of bacteria growing along the vent’s edge, claws moving with mechanical patience. Gray dropped Neurotoxic Drift from above, the venom cloud sinking over the crab before it even thought to look up. Its legs twitched once, then went still. He absorbed it without stopping.
[VENT PICKER CRAB DEFEATED — 31 EXP]
Further on, a cluster of tiny silver fish darted between two boulders. They moved like a single creature, flashing left, then right, their scales catching the faint glow of the tube worms. Gray shifted his angle, but the school dissolved before he’d even closed half the distance. The silver flash of their bodies scattered into the rock like light through water. Gray watched them vanish, then let them go.
’Waste of energy,’ he thought.
Then he felt it. A second Pale Driftfin, drifting alone near the base of a black volcanic ridge. Its translucent body flickered as it fed, fins trailing behind it like strands of pale silk.
This one was smaller than the first, and slower. Gray approached from above, his own body motionless except for the faint ripple of his bell. He didn’t need to rush. The Driftfin hadn’t noticed him. It never did.
He deployed Neurotoxic Drift directly above it. The invisible venom settled over the fish like a shroud. Two seconds. Then the twitching began.
[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 18 DAMAGE]
[NEUROTOXIC DRIFT — 19 DAMAGE]
The Driftfin tried to dart away, but its fins were already failing. Gray pulsed after it, steady. A single spark of electricity ended the struggle.
[PALE DRIFTFIN DEFEATED — 28 EXP]
He absorbed it in one smooth motion, the soft flesh dissolving against his feeding surface. His hunger had dropped, but not enough. The emptiness was still there, coiled behind his bell like a slow ache.
"We should not linger too long," Cindy said quietly. "This area feels... exposed."
’It is,’ Gray replied. ’That’s why the prey is small and slow. Nothing big hunts here.’
Cindy paused. "And that’s supposed to make me feel better?"
’It means we’re the biggest thing around,’ Gray said. ’For now.’
By the time he returned to the shelter, his hunger had dropped below ten percent, and his HP sat above half.
Cindy spoke as he settled back into the hollow. "What’s the plan now?"
’Recover fully first,’ Gray said. ’Then keep getting stronger. I still have a long way to go before I can leave this place.’
"To the surface?" Cindy asked, a note of hope in her voice.
’Maybe one day...’
Cindy was quiet for a moment. Then, softly, "I’d like that. To see the sky again."