Chapter 178: Poor Menu Choice

I looked around myself and I didn't really see anything that was close to me, so I decided that I would try out my new fancy skill, Bubble Bullet. I wasn't sure where the attack would come from, but I extended one of my longer tentacles towards the rock I had swum over.

[Bubble Bullet]

Instantly, a small bubble shot forward from my tentacle and exploded, making a small *pop* noise. Well, now that was disappointing; the bubble had traveled no more than a couple centimeters. That was not was I had expected, but it wasn't useless, though now I would have to stay still for a while or risk attracting too much attention.

'Mom, is there any way to move around slowly, without trying to pull myself or do the weeee thing?'

'You have fins on the side of your mantle that can be used for steering and slow movement.' -Tequila.

My mantle? What is that? My head? I tried to move my...fins...yes, there we go! I could feel the flaps waving and trying to pull myself out of my sandpit, so I stopped. 

Now I knew how to move and catch prey, time to put them to work! I looked above and there were still tons of giant fish roaming around, so going up wasn't an option. There were coral ahead and smaller fish in it that didn't look like they would eat me, so I looked around again and wiggled out of my sandpit. 

Once out, I used my fins to slowly propel me forward, keeping my eyes peeled and ready to use my ink spurt at a moment's notice to try and get away, but it was uneventful as I wandered into the reef. Once inside, I was blown away by the number of colors filling the area.

[Underwater Mobility](Passive) Skill has been gained

It was like an underwater rainbow garden and it was filled with life! As pretty as it all seemed, I came here to get some experience! 

I let myself fall down to the bottom of the reef and then noticed a shrimp floating casually not too far from me. This one wasn't the same as the last one I fought, more of a normal variety, so I lashed out at it.

[Tentacle Grab]

I latched on to the struggling shrimp, but it was stronger than it looked and was trying to break my grip.

[Bubble Bullet]

I used the blast of air close range hoping to knock out the shrimp, but to my surprise, the shrimp broke apart into little black particles.

[44%/100 Experience]

Okay, now this is what I am talking about! I looked around again, but nothing was paying me any attention. I let myself fall back down and looked around again, trying to spot my next prey, but also keeping a watchful eye to the sky...or up I guess. This body made me very nervous, the tiny bit of shell I had would have no more help than the chocolate ice cream topper if something big wanted to eat me.

I settled down and decided that the hide and wait tactic would be my best option right now. For something as small as me, there were a lot more things above the food chain than below, but I would just have to be patient, but I also needed a scan of the shrimp. Once I had that, then I would know roughly how much damage I was doing with my bubble.

There were so many unknowns and no clear way to even check my stats except for when an ability or I leveled. I would need to test how often I could use my abilities, and if the ink spurt did anything but a little cloud, but I will save that for right now.

[Hide] Skill Level has increased to 3

[Active Camouflage](Passive) Skill has been gained

[Moonlight Camouflage](Passive) Skill has been gained

What is this? I looked down and it was hard to tell me from the sand I was hiding in; now that was cool. 

'Mom what does the moonlight camo do?'

'Bobtail squid are nocturnal hunters, this ability makes you illuminate to match the brightness of the moon.' -Tequila.

There we go! Ho! I was gonna be the night time extraordinaire! Suddenly, something inside of me told me to sit extremely still. It was like a cold shiver, but it was the movement in the water and I could...feel the sound of the swishing of sand as something approached from behind.

[Hide] Skill Level has increased to 8

I was frozen as the ugliest fish I had ever seen slithered by me.

[Scan]

Name: Synodontidae/Lizardfish

HP: 42/42

Skill: 

[Bite]

[Chomp]

[Active Camouflage]

[Scan] Skill Level has increased to 5

It was brown, red, and other sandy colors and about ten times my size. Yup, I was frozen still, if I moved, I was done for. The Lizardfish suddenly dart up, and into a passing school of fish and snatched what looked to be a clownfish. Never found them that funny, but better him than me, and now the ugly bastard was out of sight and I was free to get back to my grind!

[Scan]

A minnow looking fish swam by me. I got a quick scan of it, but it was getting away...no it would get away, that massive ugly fish put the fear of God into me and I would just wait. Now, I looked over the scan that was still on my screen.

Name: Slippery Dick

HP: 7/7

Skill: N/A

What the hell was that? Was that a real fish name? Well, the Slippery Dick had no attack, so that looked like my next...meal? No, my next...target? Mmmm, I don't know, fuck it, I was going to kill a Slippery Dick! There really wasn't a good way to say this, but that didn't matter! 

I could feel another Slippery Dick getting closer to me and I started to get a completely unreasonable fear because it was approaching from behind. This thing had no attack, and I would be fine, it was just a Slippery Dick approaching me from behind…

[Tentacle Grab]

[Tentacle Grab] Skill Level has increased to 3

[Scan]

I lashed my tentacles up to grab the fish, but the scan again threw me off; why was it scanning it again? But, as I latched on to the fish I realized why.

Name: Big Slippery Dick

HP: 12/12

Skill: 

[Dash]

Oh shit.

I automatically pulled myself to the fish, by now I was holding on for dear life! Big dick is right! This thing was almost twice as long as the last one I scanned! 

[Bubble Bullet]

[-3] 9/12 Hp remaining

I tried to use it again, but nothing, so I kept trying until it did, but I counted the seconds.

[Bubble Bullet]

[-3] 6/12 Hp remaining

Five seconds was a long time, but I couldn't pull myself closer to sucker punch this asshat. The Slippery Dick was dashing nonstop, but it wasn't trying to hit anything so I wasn't in too much danger. 

[Bubble Bullet]

[-3] 3/12 Hp remaining

The problem was that we were just a pair of moving targets for any predator in the area, but the chase was almost over now. 

[Bubble Bullet]

[Bubble Bullet] Skill Level has increased to 2

[Rank A++] Acquired! 

[Slippery Dick Killer] Title has been acquired and applied!

That was enough, the fish disintegrated into the black particles and I fell down to a patch of sand and buried myself up to my eyeballs. No chances being taken. Time to look at the new fancy things!

Current Evolution: Bobtail Squid

Title: [Slippery Dick Killer] 

Rank: A++

Eexpreaince: 11%/100

Size: [Extra Small]: 12.5 cm

Heath Points: 5/5 

Shield Points: 3/3

Speed: 2

Attack: 2

Sight: 1

Mobility: 4

Current Skills:

[Ink Blot] Level 1

[Sucker Punch] Level 3

[Tentacle Grab] Level 3

[Hide] Level 8

[Scan] Level 5

[Exoskeleton] Level 1

[Bubble Bullet] Level 2

Passive Skills

[Active Camouflage] Level 1

[Moonlight Camouflage] Level 1

[Underwater Mobility] Level 1

Mating Skills:

[Squid]: Large Load: Increase initial stats +2

I am mighty Bob! The Slippery Dick Killer! FEAR ME! 

Well, that was fun, as internal monologues go, but now it was time to get back on the grind, but I was now lost. Not like I knew where the hell I was before this, but now I had no clue. There were water and sand, a lot of it, but no fish. I started to get an eerie feeling like something was watching me, but I was blended in, so there was no...then I saw it and expelled every bit of water in me.

[Ink Blot] 

[Ink Blot] Skill Level has increased to 2

[Scan]

[Skill level is to low]

I jet away from a seal that was about to make me lunch, wriggling my fins as hard as I could. I took in more water and could see the seal shaking its head to clear the inkblot I left, but I wasn't going to wait. If the scan couldn't do it then it was one of those red label enemies with the ??? in the level slot, so nope.

[Ink Blot] 

[Ink Blot] 

[Ink Blot] Skill Level has increased to 3

[Ink Blot] 

After two more close encounters, inkblot leveled and the next use of it not only pushed out four times the ink but also jetted me away. I could see a multi-colored coral patch ahead, so I jetted towards that and got inside.

That was far too close for comfort! No more Slippery Dick on the menu I think!