My primal instincts took over, restoring a clarity to my thinking that I hadn’t realized had been missing. It was as if by letting that part of my mind control my actions, I was also reducing the burden placed on my more rational side, leaving my thoughts free to wander.

I no longer needed to resist my growing anger and frustration. Reflex controlled my physical actions now, and yet I was not a slavering beast left unable to think. It was disconcerting as if watching myself in a dream.

I wasn’t sure if I was in control, or the Fisher. The constant feed of the creature’s senses had begun to bleed into my own. We were separate entities, and yet we were also two parts of something more — it was yet to be seen what that something would become.

I could sense the body of the Fisher as its flesh wrapped around my own. With its every pulse, it drove oxygen into my lungs. It augmented my senses and strengthened my body. I could feel the creature pulling on the eldritch energy around us, strengthening us both, and growing its mass as it did so.

My sight extended far into the cold, dark water. I could see my prey, my darker instincts calling out for its blood as images of fangs sinking into steaming flesh flashed through my mind. It creature fled, leaking hot blood into the cold water. Its injury only spurred my hunger.

It fled, and I chased.

The clump of flesh around my face tightened and began to flow downwards over my back and shoulders. Eyes dissolved into protoplasmic bubbles and tentacles merged and lengthened. When the transformation was complete six long tentacles trailed behind me like demonic wings, pumping to propel me through the darkness of the abyss.

Despite being able to see everything in grainy black and white, and my lungs being supplied with a steady flow of oxygen, I was beginning to feel claustrophobic. I had an urge to claw at the pale, grey flesh of the Fisher’s current form. Before I could act, a thin, clear membrane had been created in front of my face. It was a simple comfort I hadn’t realized I needed, and yet the Fisher seemed more attuned to my own physiological needs than I was.

The ambient light was almost non-existent, with only the barest hint of moonlight cutting through the shadowed depths, and yet I could see thick lines of mana and eldritch swirling around me, adding color to the black and white of the Fisher’s sonar.

My perception and focus had received a boost upon gaining my class, each being boosted by three with an additional point to be gained upon each level up. This, added to the Fisher’s senses, gave me the ability to see in the nearly lightless environment. Even still, my eyes were nearly useless as all I could see where faint traces of pale light filtering through bubbles and murky sediments.

The sonar-sight, however, showed me a vast emptiness floating above a jagged and scarred landscape. Life was teeming here, but it had retreated and hidden away in small crevices and pores the dotted the ocean floor.

Just how far had I been dragged? I wondered.

I could sense faint movement as water moved around and through these hidden creatures. My senses were strong enough to pick out individual heartbeats, and the low hum of water flowing over gills.

And my prey, I could sense it slowing as it reached the lowest point of the depths.

I could see its misshapen form and the writhing arteries that madly flailed around it. Some dark instinct in me called out in glee to see the panicked thrashing. The Fisher sensed injury and desperation, and I felt a primal desire to strike back at my attacker.

I continued to dive deeper, far deeper than any river could ever be. It was hard to tell if this was due to the terrain warping that seemed to grow stronger as we had grown closer to the dungeon, or if I had been dragged far out to sea. The pressure was immense, I could feel it pressing into me like my chest had been placed in a vice.

I thought it unlikely that an unenhanced human would be unable to survive for long, even I would not have survived long without the Fisher. I could feel the air in my lungs compress, and my bones groan in protest.

My Might and physical resistances protected me, as the Fisher kept my lungs full, but I suspected there was more to the ease with which I had adapted to this new environment. Perhaps, my final class feature was playing a role in my survival. I had yet to figure out exactly how the ability worked, but it had the potential to be my most powerful ability — if I could properly understand and harness it.

I opened my status screen, noticing the staggering amount of FP as well as the remaining stats I needed to allocate. Somewhere along the line, I had gained two more levels, bringing my Hierophant class to level five and leaving me seven stat points.

First, I looked at my fourth, and final, class feature to see if I could gain any further clues as to how it worked. As I did so, my body continued to swim faster, propelled by the Fisher’s shifting limbs.

Chaotic Mutability Ⓐ - Eldritch energy swims through your every cell, leaving them pliable and infinitely adaptable. Your cells drink in the ambient energy around them, changing and evolving over time. Your resistance to a specific type of damage will temporarily increase whenever you take sustained damage, the rate and level of this increase are proportional to the frequency and amount of damage taken.

Additionally, you will occasionally take on the characteristics and abilities of unique, boss, or raid level monsters that you have slain.

I wasn’t sure if it was an upgrade to Reactive Adaptability, but it sure as hell was just as promising. I had a fantasy of using it to become immune to attacks, weathering constant barrages of bullets as lead bounced off of my chest.

I doubted it would be so straightforward a protection, but a guy can dream. I still had to test how much damage it resisted and what the cooldown was before I could rely on it in battle.

I looked back to my stats, I knew my best option to was to increase two stats that didn’t have the tutorial bonus. Each time I was about to allocate the points, however, I would freeze. I couldn’t shake the idea that I was making a mistake and somehow gimping myself by not choosing something better.

Fuck it, I’ll get them all eventually.

I didn’t have time to debate and think through each choice, so I would instead choose to follow the advice of someone I trusted. Tiller had advised I put points into Focus, so I did.

I was met by the usual congratulations informing me that I had earned a new feat, but I dismissed them, instead, skipping to the description.

Focused Mind ® - Your early training has taught you the importance of focus, bringing clarity and intention to every thought and action you take. Your ability to focus on multiple tasks has doubled, and your mental constructs and attacks have gained greater clarity and strength (+25% damage and duration).

A solid and easily understood ability. I wished more of them were as obviously useful and as straightforward about what they did.

The remaining four stat points I decided to hold on to until I needed them. I enjoyed the flexibility of being able to instantly increase a single ability and gain a related feat depending on need. I might regret holding back, but at the same time, locking myself into a feat and then needed something else would also be regrettable.

I was curious to see what would happen if I could gain the tutorial feat for each stat, would the system recognize it? It seemed likely that there would be an additional reward, but gaining them all should be impossible as the tutorial supposedly gave three stat points — unless I was not the only one to have avoided the tutorial.

My attention was torn away from stats as I felt an angry bloodlust flow into me from the Fisher. I responded with a howl, and I dove faster — kicking against the water as thin tendrils pulsed behind me.

I looked out with my sonar, trying to gauge the distance between my prey and me. I had crossed maybe a quarter of the distance, though the distance was beginning to shrink more quickly. The creature was slowly dragging itself across the sea floor. Far in the distance, I could see its goal, a massive crater that stretched down into the earth.

I increased my speed, the Fisher’s limbs spinning behind me like propeller blades. My prey’s attempts to flee excited the darkness within me, prompting The Fisher to redouble its efforts. I gave more control to the Fisher, my mind again distracted by the immediate rewards of the status screen.

That monster might be injured, but it was massive and cornered. I couldn’t afford to give up any advantage, or so I rationalized.

I still had yet to allocate the FP I gained during the bridge battle, leaving me with twenty points. It was a number much higher than I had expected. Checking my skills, I noticed that Eldritch Mimicry had increased by three points, while Eye of Madness had gained a single level. I had also gained points in Pain Tolerance, Dodge, Arcane Shield (minor), Tanglefoot, and Arcane Missile.

The obvious way to spend my points was to finish Erudite, but I took my time and looked through the rest of the abilities in the Feat Store; Novice (0/4), Warrior (0/3), Acrobat (0/3), Inspiration II (0/50), Swordsman (0/4), Sniper (0/4), Illusionist (0/25), Circle Mage (0/25), Erudite (6/25), Corruption (0/???), Avatar of Madness (0/100).

Corruption was new, and I saw absolutely no reason to put points into it. Throwing away good FP just to corrupt myself seemed like a poor trade. It was also disturbing to contemplate why the feat had only just now become available. It was almost as if the system was judging me — or sending me a warning.

Avatar of Madness made me salivate just on coolness factor alone, but in truth, it was an enigma. I could guess it had something to do with my Hierophant class or my link to the Fisher. The cost, however, was too high for me to contemplate at the time.

Circle Mage was almost as much as a mystery, but Illusionist looked promising. It seemed likely to contain new spells, which would create new FP in a glorious cycle of buying feats and leveling skills. If I had had enough points to finish it, I might have taken it right then and there, just to see if it synergized with the illusions created by Eldritch Mimicry.

None of the choices called out to me enough to delay purchasing Erudite, as had already started investing in it. It was also the highest-level feat I had enough points to complete. I was running out of time to contemplate, so I put nineteen points into the skill, waiting for the results.

As I brought the skill to ten out of twenty-five, and again at twenty, I gained two points to Intellect, for a total of four. I paused at the twenty-fourth point, waiting a moment before clicking a final time ...

Erudite ® - You have chosen knowledge and self-reflection as the path to power. The speed at which you assimilate and internalize knowledge has increased, giving you a further boost to the rate at which you advance skills and acquire new ones. Additionally, the effects of this feat will become greater as you increase your Intellect.

It wouldn’t immediately impact the battle ahead of me, but it was a welcome ability that seemed a satisfying conclusion to the scholar and able learner feats. I especially liked the way it would continue to grow more powerful as my stats increased.

By this point, I had covered almost half the distance to the fleeing creature and was no longer descending, instead brushing against the sandy floor. I could sense the ground vibrating, but It wasn’t clear what was causing it. I tried to get a better view beneath the earth, but the hard stone beneath the sand blocked my sonar.

A feeling of dread, a hunter’s unease at being hunted, alerted me to danger. I immediately slowed and began swimming up, trying to put space between myself and the vibrating ocean floor. until several thick tentacles of dark slimy flesh burst from the ground to surround me.

My escape was blocked as a weave of thick tentacles burst through the rock, surrounding me in a cloud of murky water and black, writhing flesh. I was cut off from both above and below, as the space between the tentacles quickly shrank.

The creature had stopped fleeing, and I could sense it charging towards me at incredible speeds. It had been baiting me in the whole time, and I had allowed myself to get distracted. I had let my darker half take over while my own mind wandered.

It was a mistake I vowed to never make again.