欧洲无人区天空码头IV

The scene would\'ve been unsettling for most.

It looked as if Mori talked to himself, changing his voice to the personality that answered.

Lucky for them, nobody was around to witness it.

Even if someone was, he wouldn\'t have cared much about what they thought.

The whole place was like a wasteland. A very low-visibility one.

Mori could adjust himself to the low light, now that he had access to his magic again.

It felt weird, not being able to use the system at all, but ultimately, a little bit of concentration was all he needed.

He had already \'mastered\' not using the system, but he did like using it to keep track of things.

Visualizing the curses he could use also helped with the decision-making.

Remembering them wasn\'t that hard too, he hadn\'t gained a new spell since he woke up from the years of harvesting; he had more than enough time to look at them dozens of times, if not hundreds.

He walked past many noteworthy things, as anything standing out was.

This place wasn\'t the worst, he thought.

It\'s just that 90% of it is dried dirt, or rocks.

The last 10% was pretty good, but spaced out so much that it mattered little.

"For now, I\'ll keep trying by myself. But if we get no results, I might have to ask this Jax."

"He\'s at the top of one of those mountains," she replied.

"Good to know."

They kept walking, going past several small patches of grass and trees.

"So, what\'s the deal with this place?" asked Mori.

"A lawless realm left to itself is what it is."

"And what about the trees, and grass, and all of that. Something can grow, if it did here. Why not try to regrow things somewhere, and settle there?" he asked.

"You can try, but it won\'t last long before someone comes and takes that from you. There\'s a hierarchy, I\'ve told you."

Mori kicked a pebble as he walked, in thought.

Access to this realm is actually useful. Time not being the same would let me ponder plans or refill mana in what would feel like a breeze in the other realm.

It all made sense, and this realm could truly be a tool for his success, or he thought.

He finally stopped walking.

He was getting past yet another dead tree, deciding to sit against it.

He sat on the hard ground, and closed his eyes.

How hard can it be?

He had gotten many hexes out, since he woke up from harvesting.

He used them for multiple things, but mostly used them on corpses. Some of them likely still giving a hard time to anyone trying to deal with them.

What he needed, however, was a grasp on the one he specifically set into Aura\'s brand.

What did it feel like? What did it smell like?

He concentrated on that moment he got it out. His memory was good, but even that had its limits.

He remembered Aura\'s perfume. What she was wearing that day, and what she looked like. Her expression when he set the brand, her reaction, the words she spoke.

Mori could feel it.

He set a lot of things loose, in this world. Those things weren\'t free.

Like a chain going from his hands to their neck, they were under his rule.

He was the sovereign.

Those hexes could be close, or far, that\'s how he\'s controlled them until now. .net

Some of them he could feel, aimlessly walking through landscapes he couldn\'t tell from where he was.

Were they walking in a forest? A desert? They could\'ve been at the bottom of the sea, for all he knew.

The one he needed to find wouldn\'t be active.

It wouldn\'t be walking, running, crawling, nothing. Aura was at a complete rest, but even if she wasn\'t, the hex itself rested in her brand.

Some of the chains he visualized himself holding were quiet and peaceful.

There was no tension, not yanking or pulling.

They were softly moving.

He could only tell after a lot of time passed that some moved way less than others.

The time difference made it seem like most chains were immobile, but that wasn\'t exactly the case.

All he needed was to focus.

Yet.

He found himself standing up.

"Maël." he said, annoyed.

Her mark had overtaken him again.

His eyes now opened, and his meditation disturbed, he noticed what she did before him.

Something was slowly getting closer, and its size was colossal.

"I need that one..."

It must\'ve been as tall as the apartment building he lived in, back in his world.

On the horizon, it looked like a mountain moving, but that was no mountain.

It had multiple arms, but two legs.

Those arms were huge in diameter, almost as big as its legs which were also massive.

In its back multiple weapons were planted there, most likely a remained of past battles.

They looked old and in poor shape.

Chains went from one weapon to the next, some of them dangling with other swords at the end of it.

Its head had multiple horns serving as hair, its eyes glowing.

Its face was basically a skull, its teeth showing at all time like a devious smile through the distance.

It walked on all six, getting closer to Mori.

Once it was close enough, it go up on both legs, revealing its giant size in full.

That monstrosity was no normal enemy.

He wouldn\'t even attempt reasoning with it.

He had never seen anything like this while playing the game. No boss fight ever came close to something of this size.

There had been bigger opponent, but not like this.

"What can I even do here?"

Maël\'s mark was still there, yet her movement matched his.

He kept walking backward, while that monster stared at him.

I can\'t outrun that.

You can, with my help.

Mori smirked.

He didn\'t know if it could work. It would require some tweaking on a spell he only used once.

Yet, it felt worth it to try.

"I\'ll fight it. Now\'s your time to leave, if you want to survive," said Mori.

Don\'t worry. I\'ll stay until your before-the-last breath.

Mori snapped his tongue. He had hoped she\'d take that bait. Then again, she could somewhat read his thoughts, it was a desperate attempt.

As the monster stood there before him, gauging him, Mori was doing the same.

"Why is it just standing there?" asked Mori. "At his size he could just rush us."

"For the same reason you\'re not rushing in," replied Maël.

"What do you mean?" asked Mori.

"His colossal size and appearance is as scary as the amount of cursed energy you\'re letting out, if not more. In his eyes, you\'re taller than him."

Mori smirked again, "Yet you still came..."

He got both arms forward, palms facing it.

As he did, the monster leaned forward, rushing forward on all six.

The ground shook at every step, as Mori concentrated on the monster, chains attached him to the ground, stabilizing him.

It was getting closer, and fast, yet he remained focused.

When it\'s left foot touched the ground, and his weight shifted to it from the right, chains came from the ground under it.

The size of the chain Mori had unearthed wasn\'t the same as those holding him.

The diameter was almost as large as the monster\'s legs.

It pierced through it and swirled around, tightly grabbing it\'s left leg.

Mori\'s smirk faded, while his eyebrows raised.

It didn\'t slow down in its stride, when it came time for its left foot to move forward, it pulled the chain with it.

It barely slowed it down, the ground still shaking as it approached.

Mori got two other chains out, one going through one of its right arms.

It realized Mori was aiming for it when those limbs touched the ground, and started shifting its run.

The other additional chain missed, Mori quickly letting go of that one.

It started running weirdly, even feinting when it would rest a hand on the ground.

The next one he got out aimed for the center of its chest, but it easily dodged it despite two chains slowing it down.

It was extremely close, too close.

He was now in the danger zone.

The monster\'s most forward arm did a backward motion as it ran.

Mori unattached the chains holding him down as its arm went downward toward him.

Mori was yanked backward by yet another chain he controlled, that whipped him away, basically folding his body in half from the sheer speed of it.

He had used most of his focus on speed and strength, but little on control.

His body ragdolled on the ground, jumping and rolling on the ground.

The monster\'s fist touched the ground, a loud low-pitch sound reverberating through the ground, like an intense localized earthquake.

Mori\'s body jumped up, Maël taking over to control the landing.

As he did he slid backward several meters, his eyes still fixated on the colossal giant.