The Apocalypse is a Side Quest: Book Three, page 39
“Congratulations!” a feminine voice called out. “You’ve done well.”
Nathan turned around to see who was talking to him.
Chapter Fifty-Five
To Nathan’s surprise, Thalassa wasn’t simply standing by the water as she usually was. Instead, she was under what seemed like a hut with wooden posts holding up a strong roof. Underneath, she’d set up a beach chair where she was lounging back and reading a book.
Nathan stared at the book. “What are you reading?”
“Some Earth literature from your memories.” Thalassa reached her hand up and flipped to the next page. “I don’t quite understand why the main character doesn’t seem to understand that all these women want him. He seems incredibly… what’s the term? Dense?”
“It’s a harem book. They’re all like that.”
Thalassa fiddled with the edge of the paper. “Why were you reading this?”
Nathan glanced off toward an interesting-looking seashell.
“I was bored and alone in my apartment. Sue me.”
Thalassa gagged. “That’s disgusting.”
“I skipped over those scenes.”
“Sure you did.”
“Why are we talking about my taste in literature?” Nathan said. “And for that matter, how are you able to get into my memories? That seems rather new.”
The ground rumbled from below.
Thalassa’s nose twitched, and her mouth pursed into the slightest frown.
“Even in her dormant state, your little parasite is still quite protective of you.”
Nathan looked down at the ground. Somewhere under the sand, Lily was developing? Evolving?
“She won’t be done for some time.” Thalassa very deliberately flipped another page in her book before her eyes flickered toward Nathan. “Let me ask you, have you noticed something rather odd occurring around the water? Especially in the Golden Realm?”
Nathan paused. “Come to think of it, I noticed that everything seemed to be happening… unconsciously? I used to have to, like, push my energy out at the edges of my body in order to slow myself down. But I didn’t need to do that. It seemed to happen all automatically. And then when I was on my way back from where the shark had brought me to some kind of weird metal, the water just kind of guided me.”
“All those things are happening because of the same root cause.” Thalassa pointed at his chest. “You carry a small amount of divinity in you. Not enough to fundamentally change your composition. You’re still human on the outside, still human on the inside, really. You haven’t become a god or something to that effect. Nor are you a demigod. But the sea accepts you as it accepts me. You are… not perfectly like me. Not to the same extent. But you’re of the same type as me. You are the sea. In the sea is you.”
Nathan squinted his eyes. That felt a bit extreme. “I feel like I should be different.”
“The connection is small, but it’s there. And it’s only going to grow stronger.” Thalassa winked at him. “You aren’t a god yet, but perhaps with time—”
“No thanks. That sounds absolutely horrible.”
Thalassa floated into the air, right into Nathan’s personal space. She had an amused expression, a smirk playing across her lips. “What, being immortal and extremely powerful? Seems like a good deal to me.”
“Yeah, until a thousand years pass and all your friends are dead.”
“You’d still have the elf girl.”
“Still, sounds like a bit too much pain. I’ll pass.”
Thalassa shrugged and floated back to her chair. “Well, it’s up to you. I’m sure there’s probably some way to stop the process before things get too far along. Or you could kill yourself before it reaches that point. Either way, as long as you achieve your mission, then I am happy.”
“Speaking of my mission,” Nathan said, “I mean, what exactly is the plan? I already beat B32.”
“But you know as well as I do that there are other, much stronger beings lying in wait. One of whom is already onto us, most likely.”
The skies overhead darkened.
“Were those clouds always there?”
“We triggered too many alarms.” Thalassa crossed her legs, an invisible tension appearing on her shoulders. “We pushed too hard, and we said too many things we shouldn’t have. She knows. She’s still waking, though. Only a small part of her, as I’ve mentioned, is capable of rational thought. That small part is spread extremely thin. She has to deal with rogue systems, rogue deities. And she stomps them out, systematically.”
“What exactly makes us different?” he asked.
Thalassa’s eyes narrowed onto a point in the sky as she leaned back in her beach chair.
“The Mother System is dumb,” she said. “Even if there’s a smart section of it. It’s blind and slow. Even if it’s on the borderline of omnipotent.”
“Yes, but many other people know this, and they still failed to beat the Mother System—as we can clearly see.” Nathan kicked at the sand. “So? What is it that makes us different?”
“Humanity.”
Thalassa turned her gaze away from the ocean and toward Nathan. She stood up and stretched to her full height, staring down at Nathan like the goddess that she was. “The leaderboards… Have you noticed something about them?”
“Yes, I have,” Nathan muttered. “It’s been on my mind for a while. The top spots—they’re all occupied by—”
“By humans.”
“Why is that?”
“In my investigations, as I’ve attempted to discern the truth behind the reality of this universe, I’ve come across many other species. I’ve come across winners of the apocalypse. The overwhelming domination of one people is very rare. In fact, it’s almost nonexistent. And it’s certainly not to the degree that you humans have managed to achieve.”
Nathan felt a strange, instinctual revulsion in the back of his throat. “Are you saying humanity is, like, better?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all,” Thalassa said. “The average elf is much stronger than a human. Their magic is significantly more powerful. The average orc is stronger than a human. They have more brute force. Their upper limits for their strength seem to be significantly higher, and they grow stronger extremely fast. In fact, humans seem to be among the weakest of all the races that I’ve seen.”
“Then how does that make any sense?”
“I’m not sure why. There just seems to be something about humans… They seem to have some kind of higher level of potential. Even though their starting point is extremely low. Again, the average human is not going to be stronger than any of these other species. But at the upper limits, at the extremes—humans seem to have some kind of strange edge. You know this yourself—you received an impossible amount of points from the initial power allocation phase. Something that was impossible. Never before seen in the entire history of the universe. And yet you had it.”
Nathan let out a short, bitter laugh. “And I burned it all on fishing.”
“Yes,” she said. “I suspect the X-factor for humanity is your immense stupidity.”
Nathan winced. There was probably a degree of truth to that.
Thalassa reached her finger up to the tip of her chin.
“Still, that ability has served you well,” she said. “And although many of your battles have been solved through combat, many of them were solved simply through the exchange of goods—goods obtained through your fishing abilities. You build bonds using food. You provided for those around you. You managed to evade detection by having such an unusual skill to the point where many people underestimated you. It may very well be that fishing was actually the best possible skill you could’ve chosen.”
Nathan was about to respond when he caught his tongue. Nathan had never thought of it that way. The idea that fishing might’ve been what actually saved his life—that if he had selected something more conventional, such as swordsmanship or strength, or any other specific skill, the apocalypse might not have worked out as well for him? The idea seemed absurd.
Thalassa waved him off. “Anyway, we need to get down to brass tacks. I didn’t call you here just to talk about how great humanity is.”
“Yeah, I was about to ask.”
“True Maelstrom. You have yet to master it. Why?”
“I still don’t fully understand the skill system. What’s the deal with water manipulation being ‘true’? What’s that even mean?”
Thalassa clapped her hands together. “Oh, I almost forgot. You managed to successfully unlock True Water Manipulation. That was excellently done.”
“What does it mean? Is there such a thing as false water manipulation?”
“It has to do with how you’re doing it.”
Thalassa stood up from the chair. She stretched her hand out and a globe of water flashed into it. “In the past, you were manipulating water using the power of the System. You had an extremely high affinity for water, but it was still being manipulated via an intermediary. Your energy was being stretched out by the patterns of the System, and that energy was connecting with the water in order to manipulate it. You had a higher degree of control compared to other people due to your cultivator-like abilities. But at the end of the day, as I said, it was still via an intermediary.”
“So what about now? You’re saying that this true manipulation doesn’t involve that?”
“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting. The System is now not acting to help you. Instead, it’s merely acting as a marker of your current skill set. You’re one step closer to unlocking true mastery.”
Nathan crossed his arms. “So I guess the next step is to get a hold of this True Maelstrom skill.”
“Yes, but that’s not what it actually is. I suspect this is the problem you’re having.”
“How so?”
“Remember,” Thalassa said. “A skill is a pre-created pattern by the System that forces your energy to move in a way similar to the pattern. What you’re doing isn’t that. You’re directly controlling and manipulating the water. True Maelstrom isn’t a skill pattern like what you’ve been learning. True Maelstrom is simply another application or extension of True Water Manipulation.”
“So you’re basically saying the skill isn’t going to pop into my head. I need to create it? Build it from the ground up?”
“That’s exactly what it is. And in exchange for this degree of initial learning difficulty, the power and flexibility will be far stronger. And along the way, you’re going to learn a significant amount about how to manipulate water in other ways.”
“What about that weird [Summon Spectral Tentacle] thing you added to the class?”
“Oh, that? That’s just a bonus from me. You’ll need it for the times coming ahead.”
“But it’s basically a skill like the ones that the System gave me?”
“Essentially, yes.”
Nathan reached up and scratched his head. “I thought those were bad.”
Thalassa let out a long sigh and rubbed her forehead.
“That was my fault. I should’ve been clearer.” She shook her head. “It’s not bad. It’s just less flexible. It’s similar to traditional spellcasting versus cultivation. They have their advantages and disadvantages. At times, a simple pattern-based skill is going to be significantly more powerful than a direct connection and manipulation of whatever element you’re trying to use. I could teach you the intricacies of summoning spectral beings from the essence of the sea, but that’s going to take you at least a few months.”
“Just a few months?”
“Nathan, you successfully grasped something bordering divinity in the course of less than a year.” Thalassa snorted. “I don’t think you understand quite how rare your talent is. Why do you think I was so concerned about you becoming a god? At the rate your power and control grow, there’s a very good chance that you could reach that level of strength before the end of the apocalypse.”
Nathan’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”
“I am. Eventually, you have to find a way to halt your growth or figure out a way to kill a god. Because this is the direction you’re heading.”
“That’s why you looked so amused when I said I didn’t want my power to grow,” Nathan said.
“Indeed. As I explained, you may not have a choice.”
Nathan didn’t want to think about it too hard. This was so far off—except for the fact that it wasn’t. Only a couple of months, after all. Still, he had bigger concerns. Right now, he needed to get through this, the circles, and get back home. If he really was immortal, then he’d have plenty of time to figure out how to get rid of his immortality.
“Fine, just another problem to deal with.”
“You know, ordinarily, most mortals would be rather grateful that they’ve been given such a gift.”
“Most mortals aren’t me. I’m fed up with this lifestyle. I’m ready to go back to my apartment, eat pizza, drink Diet Coke, and play farming games until the day I die.”
“How ambitious,” Thalassa said dryly.
“Damn straight.”
“And how do you plan to deal with the fact that your name is now plastered in the minds of every single remaining earthling? Even should you get back home, there’s no possible way that you will be able to live a normal life.”
“I’ll get plastic surgery.”
Thalassa merely smirked at his answer. “Very well then. I do hope that you are aware that I’m going to be a regular visitor.”
Nathan turned and glared at her. “You show up at my doorstep, and I will throw you out.”
She seemed to pout at that. “But, Nathan,” she said, “you know how many other divinities with ties to the sea I meet? Not a lot. We’re two of a kind. I believe the earthling phrase for that is ‘birds of a feather flock together’?”
“Like I said, I will throw you out of my apartment through the window.”
Thalassa laughed at this. “Very well then. Do as you wish.” Thalassa walked back over to her beach chair and settled back in. “Well then, up you go.”
He was about to ask where to go when a question came to mind. Something had been bothering him.
“Before I go, there’s something I’d like to ask,” he said.
Thalassa had been reaching for her book when she paused, turned, and looked at him. “What is it?”
“There was somebody I ran into. The second strongest.”
“Leviathan? What about him?”
Nathan felt goosebumps pop across his back.
“You already know he’s a guy.”
Thalassa made the slightest expression of surprise before her face went back to neutral.
She opened the book, eyes locked on the words. “Yes, well, you hear things on the grapevine.”
Nathan glared at her. “There’s this funny thing that happened when we were fighting alongside each other. I noticed something off about his energy. It had a smell to it. A smell I’ve only sensed with two people—you and me.”
“That’s very interesting.”
“It’s not just interesting. It’s a sign of something, isn’t it?”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
Nathan said, “I hadn’t realized it before, but Leviathan is sort of a weird name, isn’t it? And while I’m no scholar, I’m fairly certain it refers to a specific type of creature. A sea creature.”
“Skip to the point, Nathan.”
“Fine.” He stepped over to Thalassa and crossed his arms. “I think you have a connection with Leviathan. I don’t know how, I don’t know the details. But I think you do.”
“Does it particularly matter?”
Nathan frowned sharply. “Yes, it matters. You’re hiding things from me.”
“Maybe I am. But that doesn’t change the facts of the situation. We’re stuck together, Nathan. Lies or not, whether I deceive you or whether I’m ultimately out for my own goal, we’re bound to each other now. I suggest you best get used to it.”
Before Nathan could do anything, the dream began to fade away. Just like that, he had been deprived of real answers.
He cursed, tried to reach out to grab Thalassa, only for her to fade away at the last second.
Nathan’s eyes snapped open.
There was some kind of connection. He was either her son or he’d been gifted power similar to his own.
It was the name that tripped Nathan up. Their names were their true legal names: Nathan Lee, Emilia Laplanta. That was what was shown on leaderboards. But Leviathan had told Nathan that it wasn’t his given name. Maybe Leviathan had somehow legally changed his name at some point?
On the plus side, Nathan now had, at the very least, a direction to go on for how to use the True Maelstrom skill.
Thalassa’s instructions weren’t particularly helpful. Still, they were the best he had. Nathan glanced over at the clock. He still had a good… six hours before the next boss fight? That was enough time to go monster hunting and maybe try out his newfound skill.
He got out of bed and exited his room.
Chapter Fifty-Six
As he exited the portal, Nathan idly took note of the fact that somebody had set up some sort of skeleton bird ranch around the outside of the portal. People were rapidly moving in and out, exploring the islands for loot and items. The ranch was extremely massive, carrying what seemed like almost one hundred birds being funneled and used for transportation. He caught sight of a werewolf man who gave him a wave.
Nathan, on his rowboat, had simply awkwardly waved back.
It seemed that, once again, the spirit of adventure was sweeping over his Delvers. As far as he was concerned, this was a good thing. It meant that they would gain more levels, become stronger, and hopefully be able to help in the push to get to the next circle.
Nathan could use all the strength he could get his hands on.
The thing that confused him was the fact that he had yet to see any members of other soulbound towns. He knew that the rest of the top ten seemed to have one—at least, that’s what they seemed to imply. If that was the case, where were they? It was very strange. Perhaps the rest of the top ten didn’t run their soulbound towns the same way? Then again, it was a small percentage of people who were interested in going out and exploring and leveling up. Most people, once they found somewhere that apparently seemed safe, settled in.
