Hector wasn't tired, so while most of the others retired to their tents, he remained near the site of their fire. It had been built using dried maple planks imported from elsewhere, kept small, and put out immediately after the rice was cooked. Everyone seemed quite concerned about leading the orca back to their island.

Isabel sat across the fire pit from him. "You are a dreamer."

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"I did not realize the source of your many peculiarities before." Isabel squinted at him. "Where did you get the poison you used on One-Shot Jerry?"

The question caught him by surprise. "It was made from apple seeds."

"The seeds of apples?" Isabel hummed in thought. "Did you use Jinn magic?"

He considered the question. "I know what you're trying to ask, but the answer is more complicated than that."

"How is it complicated? Yes or no?"

"First, the Jinn don't do magic. Their legal energy only reinforces the laws of nature. I guess some of them make really clever conceptual realms that use resonance to cause effects, but the majority of them can't manipulate reality at all other than to reinforce its baseline state. They're clever, though, so they've figured out how to build all sorts of technologies. Those technologies work for anyone, not just Jinn."

Isabel shook her head as if he'd just demonstrated how profoundly ignorant he truly was. "You have not answered my question, Hector."

"The Jinn don't have magic, Isabel. So no magic was used. Jinn methods were."

"Excellent. Would your Jinn associates make more poison for us?"

Hector rolled his eyes. "A Xian dreamer made that batch of poison."

There was a momentary twitch of annoyance on Isabel's face. "This Xian individual used Jinn methods to create a poison? Are you certain the poison was viable?"

"I killed a level eight boar with it."

"A Xian used apple seeds to kill a level eight beast?" Heavy was her skepticism.

"Elements of the seeds were extracted and concentrated to make the poison. The seeds were from Tian to ensure they had enough cosmic energy to get past the defenses of a Xian body." Hector shook his head. "I don't think poison is an option here. Everything I've heard about the orca sounds like its goal is revenge. The likelihood that we could trick it into eating poison doesn't seem high."

"The orca is level ten. Poison would not work on it. I want to poison the kraken so that it can't escape next time. If we get that much level nine meat, we'll be able to leave Oceania with strength."

Hector shook his head. "I'm even more doubtful we can trick prey into a meal."

Isabel stared at the ground for a time. "What about poison on a spear tip?"

"I'm not an expert on poisons, but I imagine it's less effective administered through a wound. The blood rushes out, so a lot of the substance won't stay in the target. Ingestion is not only more likely to remain inside, it also gets the poison into the body close to the organs. Maybe we could collect venom from snakes if you want to coat your spear. That might work."

Isabel sighed and stood. "Any snake with sufficient cultivation will have a tooth externality to pierce aura barriers. Collecting venom would be to court death." Pause. "Be certain that Yan does not enter your tent in the night. She lacks wisdom in some matters. I would hate to bury another sister so soon."

Once he was alone, Hector turned to training his domain with the Sweaty Fire Technique. He'd been improving quite a bit lately and was reliably able to hold it for ten minutes at a time. Once he managed to last half an hour. Then it was time to do some reverse priming to train his aura. And sensitization training for his mental sense. When dawn began to break, Hector used the One Minute Nap Technique to wash away his exhaustion.

The others emerged from their tents in grim moods as the sun rose.

Zara approached him with a serious expression. "Demonstrate your veiling to me." Less than a minute later she declared him fit to accompany them on their hunt. Once everyone veiled, they flew directly upwards to above the cloud layer before shooting off in a specific direction. It had been explained to him that beasts of the sea had mental senses adapted to function in water, making the combination of altitude and veiling sufficient to obscure their direction of travel.

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They descended straight down onto a mountainous island and landed on the shore of a freshwater lake situated in a caldera. With the unspoken coordination of routine, Dorian and the three Azure Spear Maidens moved away to harvest Jackfruit. Zara kept a careful eye on their surroundings.

When he spoke, Hector found himself whispering. "What are we doing?"

"Breakfast," Zara said at a normal volume. She pointed to the lake. "Drink your fill. Don't overeat, though. We will be spending most of the day submerged in the ocean."

Hector followed her advice and used cupped hands to bring water to his face several times. The others returned with two large fruits which the maidens used spears to slice apart. He pulled out some of the interior and found the flavor agreeable. Had anyone from Earth been present, he would have remarked that it tasted like Juicy Fruit gum.

His comrades watched every direction warily as they ate.

"Why are we having breakfast in enemy territory?"

Zara arched a brow. "Misdirection, obviously. We want it to appear that we are a roving band who remain local to this patch of volcanic islands. If the orca detects signs of habitation here, it will have no reason to search further away."

Hector considered the strategy. He could find no fault with it, but there was a question on his mind. "Is the orca really so dangerous? I understand it's level ten, but so are you."

That caused everyone to laugh at his expense. Dorian was the first to offer an explanation. "The orca probably weighs ten thousand pounds, Hector. Its huge body is matched by huge energy reserves. Lord Zara may be the same level, but she is not its equal. A teams of four Lords once came to Oceania intending to stock up on level ten cores. None survived the adventure."

They finished eating fruit and drinking water, then flew towards the sea. Hector's mind was still turning over the fact that humans were not the dominant species on Tian. It made sense, in a way. Humans on Earth were superior to every other animal based on mastery of technology. The Xian level of technology might be a few centuries behind that standard, but the real differentiator was the fact that the animals were cultivating cosmic energy.

Orcas, more commonly known as killer whales, were considered roughly on par with humans in terms of intelligence. The same seemed to be true for the octopus, or kraken as the Amaratti would say. They were smart enough to cultivate, certainly. Their lack of technology had more to do with the fact that they lived underwater than a lack of mental capacity.

These facts caused Hector to undergo a small moral crisis. They were essentially hunting people. Non-human, sure, but intelligent creatures nonetheless. This hunt he'd agreed to join involved going into their territory and murdering them for their cores. There was far less justification for this than for when Hector consumed the core he took from Percival after being attacked at Zara's estate. Yet it was too late to back out. He was committed to his comrades at the present. Leaving abruptly had the potential to put them at greater risk.

He briefly wondered if his moral convictions would force him to become vegan some day.

Then they were diving beneath the waves. Zara led the way, shooting ever deeper with domain emissions so that the light began to fade as they approached the sea floor. Hector had to rely upon a combination of the touch sense of his domain and his mental sense as they dove at supernatural speeds.

The water pressure grew even more rapidly than the temperature dropped, pinching him like a vise from all directions. The air was forced from his lungs to bubble away and salt stung his nasal cavity. Hector responded by cycling a touch more cosmic energy into his body, switching his flesh from a reliance on oxygen to using pure energy reserves. It wasn't a technique he ever learned. As his body enhancement advanced, the capacity gradually unlocked itself over time and became as natural as breathing – or, more accurately, not breathing became natural. As with just about anything he did, it just required spending some energy.

The sea floor in this area was mostly rolling hills of clay, dotted by the occasional anemone with fish darting about them. Jellyfish swam at a sedate pace above. A few sharks in the distance chased after a school of tiny fish. At their depth, none of this was visible through conventional senses. His touch sense and mental sense had to work overtime to distinguish the environment.

His colleagues touched down on the sea floor and turned to place their backs together while they surveyed their surroundings. Hector joined the formation, feeling like he was aping their smooth teamwork out of an ignorance of the tactics and how they fit into the broader strategy. From his perspective, they weren't doing anything productive at the moment. Other than being squeezed by the water pressure.

Mei tapped shoulders and pointed in a specific direction. Most of the group nodded and went back to their observations while Zara stepped out of the circle to stare into the distance. After some time, she tapped shoulders and indicated they should follow.

Hector observed that everyone took responsibility for a different side. Zara faced front, Yan watched their left flank, Dorian the right flank, Mei their rear, and Isabel oriented herself to face upward. He kept his head on a swivel, positioning himself so as not to block anyone's view.

Their target soon became clear. First, Hector sensed the partially veiled strength of their target: level eight. Then he got an impression of its shape. Roughly cylindrical with fins. The effort he'd put into the sensitization drills proved their worth as his mental sense put together a decent impression of the creature.

It was a goblin shark. Why were they going after a level eight shark? His question could not be asked at the moment. Not only were they practicing stealth, Hector never developed his mental voice to the point where he could speak. He didn't even have the ability to hear on the mental band.

Zara made hand gestures and the others peeled off to look in the various directions while she moved forward. Hector hung back, not sure how he was supposed to fit into the well-oiled machine that he'd infiltrated.

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