Part 1.
The following morning, after waking and eating a small breakfast, which consisted of fish taken from the local waters. They set off to Eldgrin’s Landing.
Being the most northern port on the continent and the closest to the continent of Idiras, their current destination, one would expect the town to be a bustling center of trade. Yet, what they arrived at was a small town with buildings comprised mostly of clay, this was due to a lack of wood in the area this far north. Their closest source of it would be East Brein, which would require them to set up a trade route. This shouldn’t have been an issue for them given that they were a coastal town with access to abundant sea life for dietary or utility purposes, except that that wasn’t the case.
In the region that Eldgrin’s Landing inhabited, there was a massive dead zone that ran along the entire coast of the peninsula and for many kilometers out to sea, reducing the availability of the trading goods available to the town. Fishermen did venture out to areas where there was sea life, but this journey was often met with the dangers of said sea life. Along with the more common aquatic animals, fish, sharks, whales, and rays, there were also larger creatures that were not found in our world, or at least those which have been proven to still exist.
Large monsters, sea serpents, creatures with large bodies and long necks, sharp teeth, and what seemed like a taste for man-flesh also inhabited these waters. Other creatures with large gaping maws that could swallow fishing boats whole, or creatures with razor-sharp fins that could slice people and ships just by swimming by them, all patrolled the waters outside of the dead zone, making the job of fisherman the last occupation that one would want, and overall, a waste of extremely valuable lumber.
After walking into the town, Alex looked around. He was surveying the conditions, wondering why, after what he had seen from other towns in this world, why anyone would choose to live in these kinds of conditions. On the other hand, Odwun, the party’s elf, continued walking in a northwest direction.
“Oi, where are you going?”
“The docks. If you want to go across the sea, we need a boat. Our boat is docked at the end of the wharf.”
On his trip to find Evona, Odwun, and his companions had avoided all settlements on this continent except for this one. The reason for that came from racism toward elves that had developed over the long years of their isolation. It is human nature to distrust or sometimes even hate what is unknown and different. Given that for nearly four hundred years, elves had been nearly non-existent on the continent. Only a rare occasional visitor from one of Evona’s people, or in the big cities to the east such as the Imperial Capital, an exotic slave, most people spent their entire lives never seeing one. They were merely the mentions of adventurers returning from Idiras, and for those children who weren’t lucky enough to live near a guild hall, the stuff of legendary tales of heroes and dragons, fighting against the world’s evils.
On the other hand, this village was an outlier on the continent of Andorius. While most people worshipped one of the five more well-known gods, this village worshipped their namesake, Eldgrin, the god of Wisdom. The special thing about Eldgrin was, he was originally an elf—a mortal. Once his task in the world had been completed, he was given the right to ascend to godhood and was even present in the war against the Dark God. He was also the one that created the spell to summon heroes and gave it to the humans to save them from the Demon Lords, the Dark God’s successors.
This also meant that he was Alex’s least favorite person in existence.
“These people worship this asshole?” The annoyance of the fact that anyone would willingly put their faith in this god was tattooed on his face.
“Eldgrin isn’t even there to hear your prayers anymore. For a god of wisdom, his followers aren’t very smart,” he said under his breath.
They continued till they got to the wharf and at the very end there was a long ship that looked like a canoe that had been blown up five or six sizes and given a mast. The entire thing was a silvery-gray color, with many intricacies in the design, leaving its appearance to fall somewhere between majestic and gaudy. The wood that it was constructed of looked rather flimsy, but thanks to Alex’s [Inspect], he knew that it was far sturdier than any other ship currently docked. The wood of Yggdrasil was just that strong, the lightest wood, but stronger than steel. It was one of the reasons they were planning to stop by the Elven Kingdom, obtaining that wood was needed for crafting the hero’s sword.
Yggluntë, a ship of Yggdrasil, was a fast ocean vessel that could be used to transport a small group of people, no more than twenty, across the water. It reminded Alex of the old Viking longships, only prettier. Given the town’s lack of wood, docking a ship in this town would normally be considered risky, but even the people had considered it, the fact that it was an elven vessel and that it was made from a nearly indestructible wood, meant that they couldn’t harvest the material even if they tried.
“She’s as pretty as when I left her,” Odwun said climbing aboard the vessel. “We can be ready to leave shortly.”
He was running through a checklist in his head. Inspecting different parts and determining the seaworthiness of the ship. The people of this town may have lost no love for the elves that they had grown up hearing stories about, but that didn’t mean that Odwun would trust random humans to not sabotage his ship. The prejudices of isolation come round full circle.
“Good, we have spent too much time here already,” Alex replied.
He then turned to Lili who was staring off into the distance, gazing over the calm waters that stretched out before them. Her last trip overseas had been an exodus from her homeland, and who knew what kind of conditions she had to endure during the escape? The thoughts that were possibly going through her head as she said goodbye to the continent that had been her new home for the last half of her life made Alex reminisce on his journey in his past life.
“What were my emotions about leaving home and going to Japan? Was I happy? Fear?”
He had a desire swelling in his stomach and wrapped his arms around Lili, wanting to provide her with any kind of comfort she could offer to her.
“You aren’t running from something this time. You are moving towards something. You aren’t alone. I’ll be with you, and no one can threaten that.”
She placed a hand gently on his arm. It was warm and steady. She turned herself into his embrace and held him back.
“I am not afraid this time. Even with the memories, I am stronger than I was then. I guess I am just worried about what is happening back home. We weren’t told of what is happening over there now, who is leading the people. Even if Aeso rules the whole kingdom, he would rule from his city, not Kyogo. The people’s well-being has me anxious.” She was looking down and away from Alex when she spoke, focusing on a place that wasn’t even on this continent.
“Then we make it part of our journey.” He said to her. It wasn’t odd to think that their journey would take them there. Especially with a person who had the ability to control legions of people. That ability was too dangerous to be loose, if not a bit tempting to take for himself. He secretly worried that maybe a collector’s spirit would awaken within him for unique abilities, and what lengths he would go to obtain them. Most importantly though, he worried that that same person was a member of the same group that Platz belonged to.
“Ahem…” came a voice from behind them. It was Odwun and a group of people that had amassed to see the display that the two of them were putting on. “I know you two really care about each other, but there should be a time and place.”
Lili’s face went red, while Alex simply let out a sigh. It didn’t matter to him if someone saw him embracing a person he cared for, it wasn’t as if they were exchanging genetic material in public. If people really wanted to watch, let them; If what they were doing made them uncomfortable, turn around and walk away. People’s uncomfortableness wasn’t his problem, it was their own. But he couldn’t just come out and say that, especially with how rosy cheek Lili was, still wrapped in Alex’s arms.
Begrudgingly he released her, and they all boarded the ship, which had been deemed seaworthy by Odwun. They then set sail toward the Idiras. Still feeling embarrassed, Lili sat at the bow, while Odwun sat at the stern, steering the ship. Alex sat just below the mast, using his mana to [Create] wind power, speeding them along over the open sea.
From the wharf of Eldgrin’s Landing to the coast of Idiras was the shortest distance between two different continents. Unfortunately, there were no harbors or towns located along the southern coast of Idiras. The western part of the continent’s southern coast was a long thin strip of beach and then high mountains. The eastern side, the dwarven side, had the Dwarfal plains that met the sea and continued until Hravard Wastes, a desolate wasteland devoid of life, save for an occasional bog and whatever managed to carve out a life in its toxic waters.
The quickest way to get to Elvoria, or Elhwadden as it had been renamed, was to travel over land and make their way through the pass between the Western and Eastern Idiras Mountain ranges, the divider between what was considered Elven and Dwarven land. Thankfully they would be able to avoid the waste by taking this route, and if they landed far enough to the west, they would be able to make the entire trip in around two and a half days.
They just had to make the overnight journey across the sea full of nightmarish, boat-destroying monsters first.
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Part 2.
They could hear the muffled sound of orders coming from behind them – merely background noise. Even the sound of their own breathing was out of focus. All their attention was directed at one another.
They were in the third and final round of their practice bout, Alex would be up on points right now if this was a real match. Not that points were normally shared, nor would that be something either fighter would be considering in the middle of a fight, but they both knew Alex was doing better.
They continued to turn in the ring, circling while never losing sight of their opponent. They were giving each other a moment to breathe, in through the nose and exhaling out of the mouth. He couldn’t remember how much longer was left in this round, “Forty-five? Or have we passed that?”
Sensing the momentary concentration loss, his opponent lunged forward, bringing a fast low kick that was aimed at his shin. It was a good kick and had it made contact, it would have hurt a lot, especially since Alex could feel his leg wanting to cramp up already, but the kick never landed. Alex was the faster and stronger of the two, everyone already knew it, and Alex proved it again. He lifted his leg, slamming his heel into his opponent’s swinging leg, using the force of his own kick against him. When the connection came, pain flashed across the man’s face, and he retracted his leg, which couldn’t bear the weight of his own body any longer, causing him to fall backward.
In an MMA fight, your opponent going down by themselves is like a gift-wrapped victory, and Alex didn’t hesitate. He pounced on his opponent who was having difficulties of his own, without the extra hassle of having Alex’s bodyweight firmly on top of him, or the extra punches to the face. His leg was trapped below the too, and he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to tap out or continue.
*SLAM, SLAM, SLAM*
The sound of his gloved hand against the surface below them resounded throughout the room. He had given up, between the cramping in his legs, the pain of the awkward position, and the pounding against his face, he saw no way of coming back, and he would rather mitigate the damage. It was only a practice session, and they were wearing padding, but that didn’t mean that the shock of each strike didn’t still hurt or at minimum, jostle the brain around.
By the time one of the trainers who was playing ref came over, Alex had already lifted himself off his opponent and was walking back toward his corner.
“As brutal as ever man. I am almost surprised that you lost that last fight.”
Alex had picked up fighting some years ago and after making it to a red belt toward the end of his second year of practicing, asked if he was interested in fighting in matches in the future. After getting his black belt, the real training began. Extra hours of training with the more experienced students, and time spent training with Sifu instead of lessons from the other instructors. He was able to pick up on lessons at a blistering pace and proved to be more than a match for the more senior students.
Now, he was three fights in with two wins and a loss. That loss was from an intentional mismatch of a fight. Alex’s opponent had six inches in height over him, with arm length to match. When Alex had been asked why he was accepting such a bad match-up he responded with, “You guys trained me to fight and defend myself in the street. If I am out and about, and someone causes trouble, I won’t get to pick and choose who my opponent is. I should figure out just how bad a fight like that can be when there are still rules in place to protect my life.”
It had gone better than most had expected it to, Alex had lost by only a few points rather than a knockout, showing everyone watching just how tenacious he could be when faced with overwhelming adversity. But all of that was now about to come to an end.
“You’re much slower on your left side. You know that, so you overcompensate with your right, and it becomes predictable. Train more.”
“You’re such an ass after a fight. You even gave pointers to the guy that beat you… what a dick.”
Alex had gotten a reputation for being cold and methodical when he was in the ring, something that took time to adjust from after a fight. For that reason, most people would choose not to talk to him after a match, instead waiting for him to change back over to his usual self.
After showering and getting dressed the man tried again.
“How did you get so brutal in the ring?”
“Brutal? Am I really that bad?” He posed the question to the three other men in the room, rather than the person who had asked him. At first, it seemed like they didn’t really know how to respond, but the shortest of the group finally spoke up.
“You go into this zone when you fight. It is scary when you are on the other end. Like you are seeing your opponent as another person, but more like a piece of meat. I get it if it is a match, ya know? But… when it is just sparing with your partner, it’s kinda creepy.”
There was a difference between a stare-down and looking at someone like they were nothing. The first is expected when you are about to fight, it is called mind games. You are attempting to unsettle your opponent, potentially making your fight easier on yourself. But what Alex did was apparently worse, after their initial stare-down, he never looked directly at his opponent again, always looking just beyond them, as if refusing to acknowledge their existence.
At first, it would cause opponents to wonder what was happening behind them that was more important than the fight. Then they would get annoyed because it felt as if they were being taken lightly, usually leading them to strike out in annoyance and eventually anger when it became apparent that their attacks weren’t going to land. He had started to become popular among local gyms as a terrifying opponent for it.
“Oh, my bad, I don’t do it on purpose.” He said flatly, which surprised everyone there when he confirmed that it wasn’t some sort of technique he had developed to throw off his opponents. “I just don’t like looking people directly in the eyes for too long, it weirds me out.”
“YOU’RE THE WEIRD ONE!” They all thought in unison.
“Anyone, it won’t really matter going forward.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” asked the person he had fought with earlier.
“I’m moving to Japan.” He replied flashing a smile.
“Oh, uh… when is that?”
“Next week.”
“WHAT? You are just now saying something?”
“Well…yeah.”
“Does Sifu know?”
“What just about to go tell him.”
“Your family?” asked the tallest of the group, he had a rather high-pitched voice for his size, which made it sound weird when he spoke. It was his biggest insecurity, and probably the reason he got into fighting in the first place.
“Nope. Not that they need to know.”
“I never understood why you wait until the last minute.”
“No point in sharing unless it is going to happen. Otherwise, you will be known as the guy who says things but never follows through with them. Also, I guess… maybe I am just bad at sharing things.”
“You don’t say!” Shot back the burly man that had served as the ref. “Are you nervous?”
“Nervous? Nah, just another move.”
“You goin’ there to find a pretty little Japanese girl to marry?” said the short man, adding smooching sounds for extra effect.
“I don’t know… maybe one day. I am going there to teach English. I’ll see how things go after.” The attempt to embarrass him fell flat on its face.
Alex’s thought of Japan wasn’t the women, the lights and sounds of Tokyo, or the conservative history of Kyoto. It was the idea of a small farming village nestled within a valley, a cool crisp autumn breeze blowing through, giving the farmers collecting the last of their crops in the village below a refreshing blast of air. For Alex, that was the thought of Japan he loved, the real people hidden behind the tourism or the glam of a place like Osaka or Kobe. This is why when he went through his interview for the position, he had requested to be outside the major cities, in response he got placed near Takayama in northern Gifu. A rather remote mountainous region outside of what the usual tourist would see.
Stolen story; please report.
The next week flew by, he even worked up till two days before his trip, finally selling off the last of his possessions on the final day in the U.S. He boarded the plane the next day, and gave the place he had called home one final look before lowering the window cover and closing his eyes. “Goodbye and good riddance.”
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Part 3.
“ALEX! ALEX! WAKE UP!” The voice of his loved one screaming quickly brought him to. He quickly shot up only to be splashed by cool salty water. He looked around them and could see the violent waves of the sea churning all around them. There was a giant tentacle shooting out of the water at the bow of the ship, while Odwun tried his best to steady the rudder at the aft end, otherwise, they would have been knocked well of course in this torrent.
“I know I am a heavy sleeper but what the hell?” He thought as he gave his head a shake a went into action.
“Elf, what is this?”
“I don’t know, it wasn’t like this when we came the first time.” He responded before a blast of Lili’s magic could be heard from behind.
Alex in turn clicked his tongue behind his teeth, his dissatisfaction with the answer was obvious. He looked out at the sea before them, there was an unnatural turbulence coming from beneath. He then raised a hand in the direction of the tentacle that Lili had poisoned with her magic, then it vanished. Roars were coming from beneath the water’s surface till they suddenly died down. Alex had used his [Destroy] ability to eradicate the tentacle, which then followed it down toward the source, eliminating the beast that was trying to destroy the ship. After which he raised a bubble-shaped barrier around the boat.
With the barrier in place, it gave them some breathing room, but it wasn’t the end of their problems. Coming from the west – their port side – was a hoard of large creatures. They were racing toward them, bounding over each other, splashing frantically like they were running from something.
“What would cause beasts of their size to flee in such a manner?” asked Odwun
“Something bigger.” Replied Lili.
“Like what?”
“A bigger fish.” Said, Alex. “There’s always a bigger fish.”
“What could be bigger than these monsters? They are already larger than most ships!?” Odwun’s voice was in a panic. The idea that a monster could possibly be larger than what had just attacked them seemed to be beyond his belief.
“Well, this is the sea, maybe he would know. Hey, you wannabe beefcake. What is this? What is with your pet’s running amok!?”
“You do know I am a god, right? That is not how a mortal should talk to a god!” Said the voice of Hyppodimo in Alex’s head.
His ability to connect to the gods via telepathy was useful at times, and all he had to do to change it from Vathsvala, who seemed to be on auto-dial, was to think about the particular god he wished to speak to. In the case of the God of Water, the image of the large man getting drunk and hearing his speech turn into a rough Kansai dialect was firmly etched into Alex’s brain.
“なんでやねん！ A god, really? You don’t say… I’ll ask again, what is coming my way?”
“What does that even mean? It isn’t translating! Are you insulting me?”
“Less conversation, more information! What is causing this?”
Had Alex at any moment slipped up and started yelling aloud, would have led his companions to be seriously concerned over his mental well-being. Thankfully, the yelling only continued to persist within the comfort of his own head.
“… Probably Konsui, the leviathan.”
“…A leviathan…” Alex racked his brain, trying to come up with stories that he had heard that spoke of a leviathan, but there was nothing that was coming to mind. “What do you mean a leviathan?”
“Large, hungry sea monster that spends most of its time sleeping at the bottom of the sea. It is usually only active for one month every four hundred years or so…” His voice through the telepathy seemed unsure about something.
Alex inhaled audibly, then exhaled. He was preparing himself for the answer he already knew, to the question he was about to ask.
“Is the beast early? And, by how long?”
There was a short pause.
“About a hundred years too early.”
It was what he had expected. The only question now was why; he knew better than to ask this god. The man had a physique that would put any strongman to shame, a genuinely massive and hearty creature, but maybe he had spent too much time developing his muscles and the neglect of his brain was a serious concern regarding his position as a deity. Alex had others he could ask regarding this information, one, in particular, came to mind.
“You know that is really rude, I can hear everything that you think.”
“Ah… right, no sanctity. Look, just take it as, if pulverizing someone ever became a need, you would be the first that I ask. There are others with strengths in different areas. It isn’t bad to be optimized for a certain role.”
“Do you really mean that?”
“I… I do! Promise! Now, I have a question for you. How much do you care about this pet?”
“Konsui isn’t a pet. He is a mythical creature of this world. Why do you ask?”
“He is a threat to me and the people I care about, so I am going to kill him if he gets any closer.”
“HAHAHA! You may be strong but killing the leviathan. That is beyond even you, my boy!”
“I see. That is good to know. Now watch me. I’ll let everyone see this.”
The entire conversation with Hyppodimo had taken a total of thirty-two seconds, meaning that the creatures that were fleeing from Konsui were close, but had yet to reach the barrier.
“You two, hold on to something.”
“Wha…” they both began to say before they felt the boat begin to shift and they could feel a slight acceleration upward.
Alex had created a platform beneath the ship and was lifting it into the air. With the barrier around it, it looked as if it was a model ship someone had constructed, then placed it with a glass orb, waiting on the shelf for some kid to just come by and shake – a snow globe without the snow. With their altitude, they could see the chaos in the sea below them. Hundreds of sea monsters all raced from the west towards the narrow sea that split the two continents. Any ships that were unlucky enough to be in the way would have been helplessly smashed into smithereens.
Alex then raised his hand, causing ripples to begin appearing on the outside of their protective shell. When Alex closed his hand beams of light energy began firing in rapid succession from the ripples. At first, they appeared to helplessly enter into the water, and nothing seemed to change, but when the monsters got too close to the area that Alex had fired into, massive underwater explosions started to occur. Eventually, large chunks of what were once terrifying sea monsters started flying into the air.
After the explosions seemed to be dying down, Alex fired another salvo, this time starting in the same spot before moving back toward the source of the problem. These explosions didn’t wait like last time, instantly igniting upon impact. Some of them never made it into the water, exploding just above the water’s surface, revealing to the other two just how terrifyingly powerful these explosions were. They could feel the force of the explosions that didn’t go off underwater rocking the ship that was inside Alex’s barrier and they were silently questioning whether the barrier would hold up.
After around five minutes of this, the water returned to a natural, calm state.
Alex let out a long exhale. He had stopped a natural disaster before it could become one, and that had used up a lot of power to do so. Arguably more power than anyone had any right to have. Feeling that all was safe, he lowered them back down into the water.
The reaction of the other two was shock and awe, with a slight bit of terror. Stopping a single sea monster would normally require a small fleet of ships armed to the teeth, in most cases, the most they could do was to drive the creature away and were considered extremely lucky if no ships were lost in the process. It was usually a long and drawn-out fight that would go on for an hour or more, not that either of them knew of that, but they had the instincts to know that what Alex had done was beyond the realm of imagination.
“All right, we should be good to continue our journey. How much longer Odwun?”
“A-a-a… Just a few more hours. We are more than halfway there; you should be able to see to coast soon.”
“Good. All right let’s lower this-“
As he spoke the ship shook, and the water around them seemed to be draining into something. It happened faster than Alex could honestly react. A giant set of teeth appeared around them, more than ten meters in each direction, then a slimy wet wall shot up. It was only a few seconds before they were covered in darkness as the teeth closed in above them.
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Part 4.
“WE WERE SWALLOWED!?” Screamed Odwun in the dark, making it seem even louder than it probably was due to the compensation for the lack of sight.
“God, I wish your mother had earlier…” grumbled Alex in response. “Shut it, or I swear I’ll make it so you never talk again.”
“Bu-Bu-But we were-“
“Yes, I know… I was there. I am working it out.” He turned to the spot where Lili had been standing. “Lili, try to use your magic, and see if you can get us out of here.”
There was a low grunt that came in response, indicating that she had heard and understood his order. A purple glow appeared under her, illuminating the space and making her form visible. Then there was a flash of purple light outside the barrier that only lasted for a split second before the light below Lili faded.
“It is no good. When I tried to apply the magic outside of the barrier, it didn’t work.”
“Oh… well that’s unsettling,” Alex responded.
Alex knew that his barrier couldn’t be the reason why that magic wasn’t discharged. He had constructed it in a way so that anything could escape the barrier but not come in. It was a one-way trip, much like the barrier exits he had constructed around Evona’s little village. This meant that for some reason or another, any spells that were tried outside of his barrier would be immediately canceled, or were they simply put out like a fire failing to ignite. He needed more information…
“Hey, beefcake!”
“…” There was no response.
“Oi! Hippo! Hydro! You drunk Kansai-ben speaking…!”
“…” Again, there was no response to his hails.
“Worst case scenario, there is a delay, and future-me will have to deal with him later. Otherwise, it seems like I am cut off.”
He wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved that the connection was broken or to feel terrified that his connection to the gods was being blocked, something that even his barriers had been unable to do.
He lifted his hand and pointed toward the wall. A single ripple formed on the outside of the barrier. Like what happened before, there was a single beam of energy that emerged from the center of the ripple. It sped through the air in the direction of the wall. Before it could make it there, the beam of energy petered out and vanished.
Alex clicked his tongue behind his teeth at the result of the experiment. Figuring that it wasn’t a fluke of his barrier that had stopped Lili’s magic, but something beyond the barrier itself that was eating away at it. He let out a sigh upon coming to another revelation about their environment as well. Yet, it still wasn’t enough information to conclude what was happening. He turned toward his elf companion.
“Odwun, your knife, throw it at the wall.”
“What?”
“I’ll make you a new one. Throw it, I am trying to figure something out.”
Reluctantly Odwun pulled out a large dagger that looked far heavier than it was. Odwun had two blades, they were twins made from the same branch of Yggdrasil and had been masterfully crafted in the elvish ironworks. They had some minor ornamental features, which, based on the design of the boat, was a trademark of elvish crafting. That made his reluctance to part with one of the blades understandable, and while he knew of Alex’s powers, the blade would be lost, and the replacement simply a fake based on Alex’s sight and idea of what the blade was. It would never be the same blade, not with the same little dinks or scratches, just a poor imitation without the soul of the first one.
Yet, knowing Alex’s temper, he pulled the blade from its sheath and brought it up behind his head. There was no distinct target for him to focus on, and he was certain that there was no need for one. Alex simply wanted to test something out, something that he thought was worthy enough for the expenditure of such a unique weapon. At least, that is what the tone of his voice said, which was another reason that Odwun willingly complied with such a painful request.
With a soft grunt, Odwun chucked the blade as hard as he could into the distance. There was no interference as it sailed through the barrier around them, and flew in a splendid arch through the air, eventually meeting the fleshy wall some distance ahead of them. The blade struck and stuck in place, there was a slight jolt, an involuntary reaction from the creature’s nervous system.
A few seconds after watching and waiting for any other reaction Alex finally spoke up.
“Here, this blade, throw it too.”
Odwun grabbed the blade and looked at it in his hand. It was the most basic pathetic blade he had ever seen. It was less of a dagger and more like a slightly longer knife, the handle was not decorated, and the weight didn’t feel right. In Odwun’s eyes, it was nothing more than a hunk of junk.
“Why did he make me throw mine if he was just going to have me toss this? Why couldn’t we have just done it with this and been done with it?”
Utilizing his anger, he chucked the weapon through the air. Same as last time, it made it cleanly through the barrier and soared through the air before embedding itself into the wall, some distance away from the first one. Like last time, Alex also studied it for a few seconds before seeming satisfied with the results.
“That is good to know.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “So, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first.”
He hadn’t even bothered to look at them when he spoke. Instead choosing to sit down next to the mast. It appeared as though there was a massive weight that was resting on him when he did.
“The bad news first please.” Said Odwun in a cold voice. He still hadn’t gotten over having lost the twin to his remaining blade.
“I see… usually the best way to go about it, that way it can end on a positive note.” He paused and readied himself. He took a tired breath before continuing. “So, bad news… This space we are in eats away at mana. Both Lili’s spell and my attack, when they attempted to construct inside or move through, the space, were diminished. It isn’t just for those spells either, I hadn’t quite noticed it at first, but…”
He paused and let out another sigh, “this barrier is also being eaten away from the outside. My barrier usually has to be constantly deconstructed from the inside to provide adequate amounts of breathable air, but not it is being worn away from both ends. This has started to eat away at my mana reserves. This also wouldn’t normally be an issue, as I can normally take in surrounding mana to compensate for the loss, but there is no surrounding mana here to take in, meaning I am beginning to feel the effects of mana deprivation.”
Lili moved and placed a hand on his shoulder and lightly squeezed, feeling his tensed muscles. The last time he had gone through this he was so focused on a fight he hadn’t even noticed it. He was exhausted this time though. He could feel the energy being drained out of his body.
“Now, the good news. Sadly, I don’t feel like it outweighs the bad, but better than nothing. It does not appear that the space outside of the barrier can break away at mana when it is constructed into a solidified form, or at least not as fast. That is why I had you throw your dagger, and then one that I constructed afterward.”
He shifted on the seat and reached up, touching the hand that was on his shoulder. There was comfort from her touch and a reminder for his subconscious to continue to fight for a solution to their current situation.
“I don’t know how it would affect us, so I am refusing to lower the barrier. However, I have an idea to get out of here. We can use solid objects, so…” He held up a small blade he had previously made and had strapped to his thigh. “I am going to use this to cut through to the outside.”
The other two had confused stares on their faces, Lili had even squeezed his shoulder tightly causing Alex to flinch. The idea that Alex would use such a small blade to cut through the thick fleshy walls of the creature seemed incredibly outlandish. Yet, in Lili’s case, if there was anyone that could accomplish it, it had to be him. It was only a matter of how exactly he would do it, and what kind of surprise he still had in store for her.
Alex took a deep breath, as if he was trying to take in all the residual mana left in the bubble, and then stood up. He scanned the walls for any spot that seemed like a weak point, a fleshy groove that would allow him to anchor his blade. What he had planned was impractical, but so was being swallowed by a giant sea monster, boat, and all. He also had the promise to keep to a particular god, so this would kill two birds with one stone.
After scanning the walls and finding a place that he deemed suitable. He leveled the blade in both hands. It was as awkward as it looked to have both hands wrapped around such a small hilt, but he needed the blade to be steady for what he planned to do, so as silly as it looked, it was necessary. Once he was sure that everything was lined up correctly, he used his [Manipulate] ability to extend his blade.
It zoomed through the air and eventually pierced into the wall, causing the creature to let out a low-pitched wail and the walls around them to tremor. It didn’t last for more than a few seconds before it subsided. Alex and the group were fine through this, he had made sure to let go of the blade after sinking it into the creature’s insides, and given that they were suspended in his bubble-like barrier, they simply watched from safety as what was the world around them shook violently.
Once the reaction was over, Alex took them closer to the blade handle. He readied himself for what would come next, it would all have to be done as quickly and as fluidly as possible. Any delays would give the creature a chance to fight back and dislodge the blade. That wouldn’t make it impossible for them to escape, but simply delay the process, but any delay would make it more dangerous for Alex and his mana reserves, which were getting low at this point. He was banking on being able to dig into his lifeforce to be able to complete his work, but to be able to call it a victory, they would need to make it out of this place before he passed out, so he could bask in the residual mana that existed in the outside world. Otherwise, he would likely not survive the backlash from using his life force in such a way.
When he was ready, he gripped the handle with both hands in a way that would allow him to use leverage to his advantage, one hand would push and the other would pull. Next, using [Manipulate] he expanded the width of the blade and the thickness of the weapon. The growth caused the wound that the blade had initially caused to expand rapidly and begin leaking a thick, green-colored liquid that Alex could only assume was the creature’s blood. He then quickly applied pressure to the hilt, causing the blade to shudder. The more force he applied the more resistance he felt, and the more the blade struggled. The only reason the blade hadn’t broken yet from the tug-of-war match between Alex and Konsui, the sea serpent that had swallowed them, was because Alex had been continuously reinforcing the blade with his mana, yet another expenditure he hadn’t entirely planned for.
“For someone who only eats every few hundred years, you are one meaty son of a bitch!” Alex was gritting his teeth as he continued to apply force to his weapon, but it still was refusing to budge. He felt like one of the random knights attempting to move the sword that was stuck in the stone, only to find out that he was not the chosen one. Except, in this world, he was the chosen one, he had been just so unlucky that they had swiped him away and chosen him to save the world.
He hadn’t expected to struggle this much when he had concocted this crazy plan in his head, but he realized that right now he was getting nowhere, and he had to increase his output. He glanced back at the two behind him, the look in their eyes said that they genuinely wanted to help, but had no idea of how they possibly could, this whole situation was beyond what they had imagined. On the other hand, Alex had looked back trying to decide if what was about to come next was the right idea or not. He was still building his deck of tricks and was trying to keep them as secret as possible, so showing his hand now felt like he would make himself more vulnerable, but the only other option wasn’t an option.
“Fine… I have no choice. Release the limiter in place.”
When in dire situations, humans have moments where they can become superhumans. There are scenarios of mothers lifting cars to rescue their babies or a person running faster than they ever could from danger, scenarios of the fight or flight response taken to the extreme.
This was not that, Alex was beyond that, this was the unlocking of metaphysical barriers that he had placed within himself. The barriers hadn’t inhibited any kind of flow of mana within his body but were instead similar to sealed gates that, once unlocked allowed for the flow to accelerate exponentially. The effect was, for the cost of increased mana usage, exponentially more power, either physically or magically.
Alex had now released those seals, and he could instantly feel the drain, but also the heightened power. It was a dangerous gamble he was playing right now, too long spent in this condition and there would be no coming back, but the difference it made was obvious. Now, when he applied force, the blade cut, and all resistance was gone. The once tough tissue was now splitting apart like rice paper.
With a twist of his hip, the blade tore through half of half the surrounding wall in a single movement. From the gaping wound came more of the green blood, now being mixed with seawater rushing in from the outside. The beast was convulsing as the initial shock faded and its pain receptors began flooding its brain with signals informing it that there was a large wound around 10 meters long along his neck.
Fighting back against the creature’s struggles, Alex planted himself firmly in place, turning the hilt of the blade so that it was now facing upward. As he had done so before, he pushed the blade further into the wound and used his grip to provide leverage, and sent the blade soaring upward, creating a ninety-degree, “L-shaped” cut in the creature’s neck.
The now loose flap of flesh gave away under the force of the sea behind it, causing the surge of water coming in to grow exponentially worse. That was all that they needed though, with the large opening provided to them, they could now make it through to the outside, moving through the water with the help of the barrier that was still up. Alex didn’t waste any time making it happen, letting go of the oversized blade and letting it fall into the bowels of the creature. He pushed them forward, raising his hand as if he was steering an imaginary helm.
They tore through to the outside, surrounded by water. The other two looked back to see the outline of a massive serpent-like creature flailing about below them, its fins instinctually attempting to flap against the wound on its side, but failing to mitigate any of the pain it was feeling. Alex on the other hand was focused on only one thing, the surface. They were outside of the creature now, and there was mana all around them, even this deep in the sea, the problem was that his barrier was keeping it at bay, and weakening or letting down the barrier was not an option. His mana long-since spent, he was burning through his life force to make it to the surface.
With a surge, they surfaced with enough force to send the ship flying through the air. Alex’s barrier came down before the ship did, causing the occupants to become thoroughly soaked. It was like the first break of air for a suffocating man for Alex, the feeling of mana soaking into his skin brought the relief of survival. It also caused his tensed-up muscles to relax, and he could feel the weight of his body again. His eyelids shut against his will and his world went black, with a rush of vertigo he felt himself go upside down. There was a splash and he could feel a wetness around him, followed by a muffled scream that he couldn’t quite make out.