"I have feelings too…" ~Shallies Mythernal

"Sharpen Blade! Crescent Slash!" Grace yelled, combining her new Skill with the old one to create a larger arc of sharpened mana that sliced through the three kraklings coming her way. Though muffled by the water, her voice still invoked them both properly.

She had been improving her Sharpen Blade application, but she still needed to verbally invoke the Skill, unlike Tayin who could now blink once every few seconds with Sight Step without speaking a word. The environment also proved to be a challenge, just like how Shallies had said it would be.

It's a good thing we practiced beforehand.

And fortunately, that was enough. With both Skills working together, Grace managed to dismember one of the kraklings while slicing off the tentacles of the other two.

At the same time, Ren was fending off the tentacle attacks from his side. The sword from the Death Sword and Shield Mini-Boss monster they had defeated cleaved through slimy flesh without issue, leaving black marks with the injuries it opened.

Grace hadn't spent the time to try and check what the weapon did. She felt awkward bringing it up, since it was connected to Tayin almost dying. But regardless, it seemed that the Shield Knight was using the weapon comfortably and effectively.

"Again, let me be clear," Shallies said, her voice travelling clearly underwater. She was still invisible, with the help of her Manaweave Coat. "This entire point of my speech earlier is to encourage you folks to tap into your Focus. And I don't mean tap momentarily. Constantly applying your Focus will not only help you hear each other, but it will also let you see these kraklings a bit better within their smokescreens."

Grace started to do as asked, and found it harder to do than she had expected. Tapping into any of her Attributes was like second nature to her, but the effects were momentary.

In the first place, the Attributes provided by the System had two effects. A passive and consistent enhancing effect that gradually improved based on the Attribute Points invested in them. This enhancement, while substantial when compared to non-Combat Class holders, would be barely noticeable with how little could be invested at a single Level Up. Though, in the grand scheme of things, this part would still play an important role to an adventurer's career.

The second effect was when one 'taps' into the Attribute. As far as Grace knew, based on her studies, this act would be pulling the full potential of the Attribute in exchange for some exertion of energy. This would allow an adventurer to create feats that were impossible by common standards. The most recent example, she considered, was when Tayin had figured out how to cast Sight Step silently.

"If we're taking a mana-engine vehicle as an example," Shallies began, clearly understanding her students' dilemma. "Your Attribute is the vehicle's engine and its average speed depends on the quality of the engine, or in this case the number of Attribute Points invested in said Attribute. While the second effect, or tapping into the Attribute, is equal to the vehicle going on full-throttle.

"What you're currently used to, is going full-throttle for a single action. You tap into Agility to perform a second attack quicker than you usually can. You tap into Strength to push something away with a sudden burst. You tap into Mana-Affinity to put more oomph into a Spell. You tap into Focus to cast a Spell quicker or see farther for a moment. You tap into your Constitution to mitigate the damage you might suffer from a harmful effect.

"The principle is the same. You just have to tap and hold to keep that Attribute's second effect going a bit longer. You'll tire a bit quicker, but that's where your Mana Energy comes into play. This technique is called engaging your Attribute."

During Shallies' entire speech, Grace had been trying to engage her Focus, but all she was able to manage was tapping into it. She had been hearing a bunch of words from the other two, who seemed to be also struggling just as she was, whenever she tried to do so.

"If you can manage to keep tapping into your Attributes in quick succession, it's a sign that you're near able to engage it. Just keep practicing while dealing with these kraklings now."

Shallies cleared her throat. "And yes, Grace, Ren's saying that you should take back your Ring of Strength."

The half-orc turned to see the Shield Knight with his fist in front of her. She didn't bother debating. There was no time. She had a free slot anyway. And while her current Skillset and fighting-style wouldn't benefit from Strength, she could definitely use the extra Attributes underwater. Even if in the case where her Mana-Edges would get caught on something rather than slice through, she would benefit more from tapping into her Mana-Affinity, than on Strength.

Equipping the Ring of Strength was as simple as slipping it on her finger, but adding 4 points to her Strength Attribute didn't exactly make moving underwater any more manageable. When Grace dodged sideways to avoid an emerging tentacle, it still caused the rest of her body to sway simply because there was still nothing stabilizing her feet. Though she was able to move a bit better with each motion, which was the important thing.

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While trying to engage her Focus once again, the half-orc ended up tapping it instead. This time, however, she managed to hold the effects a bit longer. From behind the inky smokescreen, she saw the kraklings' silhouettes swimming rapidly around them. She managed to last long enough to see one readying for an attack.

"Manaweave: Mana-Affinity. Mana-Edge Wave!"

Mana-Edge Wave, unlike Crescent Slash, had a significant range to it. Grace caught the krakling off-guard, taking advantage of its confidence from being in hiding. The wave of sharpened mana sliced through tentacles and body, cleaving both the monster and the ink apart.

"There's three left," Shallies said. "Good work, so far."

Grace silently thanked the Godkiller. The number of enemies was significantly less than she had anticipated, meaning the other two were safe and performing well. Not that it was difficult to turn and find that they were both just perfectly fine on their own, but she appreciated the indirect assurance, nonetheless.

Grace matched another strike from the enemy with the attempt to engage her Focus, but failed once more. This time, the effect lasted about five seconds long, allowing her to significantly see the attacks clearer and dodge them better.

Shallies continued her lecture.

"Think of engaging your Attributes similarly to holding your breath. It's not exactly like that, but it should help with the visualization. The longer you put out your Attributes' maximum potential, the more tired you'll get. You need to do the same for tapping. Exchange your energy to tap or activate the Attribute for longer. Keep doing this, and eventually, you'll be able to engage it at will.

"Don't think about budgeting your energy for now. There are steps to make the process of engaging more efficient, but you can't learn those extra steps without being able to do so in the first place. That's why I'm still here, guiding you three. This is essentially two lessons at once. The first is to teach you how to engage your Attributes. And second is to make sure you keep reminding yourselves that I will not save your life, even if I'm next to you."

Shallies sighed. "Okay, I admit that it sounds pretty crazy. But you all know now exactly why I'm training you to not depend on me to save you. It's not that I don't want to, nor will I not save you in the future. I just want to make sure you all leave the misconception behind that I'll always be there to protect you. If I know that you can defend yourselves fully without any hint of dependency towards me, then I'll be able to focus on my work better. And I'm not talking about the tavern."

One more strike from the krakling, and again, Grace tried to engage her Focus. This time, following Shallies' words literally, she also held her breath. She imagined pushing her energy into a Skill that had no name. Not her mana, but her energy. She imagined running faster while expending stamina just as fast.

Her vision changed.

The underwater vision that the Skewer Grilled Krakling Eye provided made it easier to see underwater by protecting the eyes from the salt content and miniature debris of the ocean. While of course opening their eyes underwater was possible, even without any sort of protection, it wasn't recommended for such a prolonged activity like delving and hunting monsters.

This exchange, however, made it so that their vision became devoid of color once they were deep enough. They were currently in such a predicament.

But now that Grace had successfully engaged her Focus, she was able to see fine colors within the black and white. Not actual colors of the things she could see, like the kraklings in this case, but she could see a soft line of red where their attacks would be, and where they would be moving. Even inside the black ink, she could see the white outlines move.

Easily, Grace avoided the attacks.

It's like the Scan from before… Only, I'm not using the Skill, nor am I touching anything.

"You're touching the environment," Shallies whispered. "Good job."

Grace felt a hand on her shoulder. The sensation was unique. She felt like she was staring at the hand, focusing on it, even though she couldn't even see it. All she could make out of it was the golden, brilliant color on her shoulder.

"Now, go get them."

With the encouragement to fight, Grace swam into the surrounding ink to chase the three remaining kraklings. She didn't even know it was possible, Shallies didn't mention anything about it, but while engaging her Focus, the half-orc managed to tap into her Strength to make a burst of speed underwater.

She found herself next to a krakling, and with Sharpen Blade, she tapped into her Mana-Affinity to cleave the monster in twain.

Grace remembered to breathe. There was a short fear of losing the engagement on her Focus, but it didn't let go. She was taking deep breaths instead.

Her pause was a mistake. Tentacles wrapped around her body, the remaining kraklings attacking her from both sides. But just as she was being constricted, Ren arrived and stabbed the one in front of her, while Tayin sent two Shooting Stars at the one behind.

"You need to think in order to disengage, Grace," Shallies said. "It's a manual thought. If you don't do this, you'll pass out from fatigue. The same for you two. We're safe now, so let go of your Attributes."

The thought was simple, like a door being closed. Just like that, the colors were gone. Grace swam out of the ink and back to the group. Some residue latched into her clothes, but nothing that wasn't easily washed away just by being underwater.

"Alright," Shallies started. "There's five more packs of these kraklings before we get to the Dungeon Boss. We'll work our way down, and eventually, there'll be a giant cave. That's where the kraken's hiding. We make sure to kill all the packs first, so you guys can concentrate on the big one without issue."

"Wait," Grace asked, her voice still muffled. She forgot to test it to see if she could hear the other two. When she engaged her Focus once again, she found it extremely easy this time. "What do you mean we?"

"Woah! It's so easy to engage my Attributes now!" Tayin said. "Oh, Grace, I can hear you!"

"Same here," Ren said. "It sounds so odd. It's like you're all next to my ear."

"Wait, hold on!" Grace interjected. "Shallies, what do you mean we?"

The Godkiller pulled back her hood, revealing herself. "Well, since this part of the dungeon is technically still unfair with just you three, and I'm the one who sent you to this place, and I know this is super-duper contradictory to what I've been saying before hand, but with the reasons I just said, I've decided to play the support role."

Tayin swam beside Shallies and linked arms with her. "You're just feeling guilty, aren't you?"

Shallies scratched her head. "A little."

"I knew it!" Ren said, doing a fist pump in celebration.

"I know, I know. I'm not the stone-faced, ice-cold, emotionally detached Godkiller that you thought I was. Now go disengage your Focus before you get super tired."

"Before I do that," Grace asked, unable to hide her smile. "How long are you able to engage your Attributes for, Shallies?"

"Do I really have to answer that question?"

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