Chapter 66: Leviathan
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Moranor held him by his waist, she rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a talisman. It faintly glowed as a small amount of mana was inserted. Moranor pocketed the talisman and stared at him, she said. "Hopefully you don't have any brain damage." She lifted him and tried to make him sit on the floor while leaning on the wall.

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At The Dark Place

Reiki was still looking around while standing in one spot. He casted. God's eye. But nothing happened, he took a couple of steps when a voice came from behind him saying. "Wrong way." Reiki stopped mid-step as he turned his head to look behind him and saw a faint outline of a figure cloaked in shadow.

Reiki walked towards it as the closer he got he noticed on top of the figure's right shoulder was a large black slime that looked like it was on the verge of melting off. Reiki was about an arm's length away from the figure, he seized him up as Reiki tried to make something out of the figure. Reiki said. "Ender, how's your stay going?" The voice replied. "I don't have any spare time to talk about pointless things with you."

Reiki's gaze wandered onto the black slime on its shoulder, an odd look slowly formed on his face as the entire space became brighter as the floor beneath him turned into light grey. Reiki looked around and saw that there was a large light grey wall over an immeasurable distance, his gaze went back to the figure as he saw that it was still cloaked in shadow. The voice said. "Took you long enough." Reiki let out a sigh and said. "What's so important that you forced me to sleep?"

The figure crossed his arms and said. "That was Q's doing, I only brought you here since I needed to tell you something." Reiki looked behind him as a large brown reclining chair appeared behind him as he sat down. He said. "Why would Q force me to sleep? And why invite me to my mind when you can just talk to me like the other times?"

An identical chair appeared behind the figure as it sat down and reclined it, the figure made itself comfortable and said. "Your wounds, don't forget you lost two limbs and those don't grow back overnight for your kind, consider yourself lucky for eating meals abundant with mana… But I'm getting off-topic." The figure lazily pointed at Reiki. The voice said. "I need you to make the choice." Reiki, who was trying to make himself comfortable on the chair, stopped, he said. "What choice?" 

The figure placed his arms on the armrest, the voice let out a sigh and said. "If you're going to be my successor or not." The figure leaned on the backrest of the chair and continued. "You were almost killed by the variant you, well I fought, and that was a sign of… A small thing. So I need your verbal agreement before I could officially hand you everything I once owned."

Reiki stared at the grey ceiling, he said. "But don't you already somewhat inhabit my body? I could argue the fact you're stuck with me and you might as well give me everything. Albeit a weak argument."

The figure just stared at him. Reiki stared at the palm of his hand as a bar of gold suddenly appeared, he stared at the figure with a concentrated look on his face. A few seconds passed but nothing happened, Reiki said. "This place is supposed to be my mind, right?" The voice said. "I'm in your subconscious. Think of it as a different room next to each other separated by a see-through wall. You can conjure anything you want in your room, but getting into mine is another story." 

The figure waved his hand as his chair turned into a large throne made out of gold with large red cushions, the chair Reiki was sitting on disappeared as he fell on the floor. The voice said. "I'll be nice and take this answer as if it never happened, there will come a day where you'll be forced to accept my inheritance. But onto other things, got any more questions? We have a couple of minutes on hand."

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Living Room

Reiki was lying down on the couch with both Moranor and Melanor standing next to him. Enrel was standing near the coffee table and watched the two of them eating her parfait with a long spoon. Melanor's pupils were glowing as she stared at his entire body, the glow slowly dissipated, she said. "Nothing out of the ordinary. It's not anemia, he should have recovered the blood he lost six hours ago, and I made sure to make a thorough check on his brain and the skull. No fracture so I'm pretty sure it's just a delayed concussion if I were to call it something." 

Moranor was staring at Reiki while nodding along without paying attention. Melanor placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Melanor said. "He'll be fine, when we bandaged him up you noticed the bleeding had already stopped, meaning he should have done body tempering training of some sort."

Melanor walked towards Enrel who was enjoying her dessert. Melanor picked up a long spoon and her parfait and started eating, she said. "Why was I the one who checked on him? You're the one with the high-tier reveal spell." Melanor tasted a spoonful of cream and some pineapple. Enrel scooped some whipped cream from her glass and stared at it, she said. "I already checked the moment when we entered the kitchen."

She ate the spoonful of whip cream and continued. "He's in one piece. Reiki retained the ability to make a theory out of nowhere and has the coordination to thinly slice pineapple on a juice-soaked chopping board." She scooped up some more whip cream using her spoon. Enrel said. "I also did a check on his wounds, it's already healed nicely, and that's not even considering he exercised in the morning." Enrel gaze wandered to the parfait on the coffee table, she continued. "If she's not going to eat her dessert can I have it?"

Melanor rolled her eyes, she said. "She will shock you for that." An odd look appeared on Enrel's face, she said. "Wouldn't that mean you as a mother would teach her the principle of respecting you, elders?" Melanor scooped up some pineapple with ice cream, she stared at her spoon and said. "With what you've already shown us, you expect to be treated like an elder?"

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Reiki's Mind

Reiki stood up as another reclining chair appeared behind him, he sat down and said. "What do you mean by that?" Even if the figure was cloaked in shadows he can still see the smile that formed on its face which made Reiki's entire being freeze for an entire second. The voice said. "Fate is a fickle thing." Reiki's breathing turned completely erratic as he felt the clothes he wore dampen from the cold sweat, he noticed his sleeve turned white as he noticed he was wearing a completely different set of clothes from his green tunic.

He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and black pants with some sports shoes, he narrowed his eyes. Reiki said. "Can you show me one of your memories?" The voice didn't reply as the black slime slowly slid off its shoulder and landed on his lap. Reiki continued. "If you show me a few seconds of your memory I'll give you an answer." 

The voice spoke with a questioning tone, saying. "And here I thought you, humans, were cautious." Reiki let out a cold chuckle, he said. "Don't forget I'm not your average human. If you show me some worth I'll be more than willing to be under your wing." The voice let out a mocking chuckle, it said. "Me? Show my worth?" The figure's torso started convulsing as the voice laughed.

The air around turned cold as the grey color slowly turned to black. The figure stopped laughing and said. "Alright, you've amused me. It's been eons since the last time I laughed. Which god?" Reiki had a confused expression on his face, he said. "Huh?" The voice stayed silent. Reiki scratched the back of his head and said. "Leviathan." The figure nodded his head, it said. "I'll see you the next time you sleep." The figure moved its hands as it snapped its fingers.

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Living Room

Reiki slowly opened his eyes and saw the ceiling, he looked around the room and saw bookshelves reaching the ceiling and three elves standing around in a circle holding parfaits in their hands talking about something. Enrel was in the middle of her sentence saying. "- do you have something you want?" Moranor shook her head sideways as Melanor was listening intently. Enrel continued. "If something caught your eye, tell us. We'll buy it for you."

Moranor nodded as she scooped up some ice cream and strawberry and ate it. Melanor turned her head to see Reiki was sitting on the couch while rubbing his eyes. Moranor noticed her mother was looking at something which made her look in the same direction, she saw Reiki was staring at them with blurry eyes.

Moranor's eyes brightened up, she said. "You're fine!" For a split second, she froze as she faked a cough and said. "I-It saves me the task of dragging your body outside the forest." Reiki slowly tried to stand up from the couch and walked towards the three elves, he said. "What happened?" Moranor's expression turned serious, Enrel took another bite of her parfait while Melanor said. "What's the last thing you can think of?" 

Reiki let out a yawn as he rubbed his left eye, he said. "My bad, I should have phrased that better. I mean what happened when I was out cold." Moranor let out a sigh as she ate some more parfait and leaned on a wall. Enrel watched in interest while Melanor, who was mixing the pineapple and the ice cream in the glass. She said. "After you fell asleep, Moranor sent me a message from her talisman…"

Melanor gave Reiki an odd look and continued. "You were sitting on the floor and leaning on a wall while Moranor asked for help." Enrel let out a chuckle as a faint blush appeared on Moranor's cheeks. Enrel said. "Asked? Moranor looked like she would have cried if one of us told him he would die then and there-."

Melanor balanced her spoon on top of her parfait, her right hand blurred as Enrel was suddenly hunched over as she placed her arms on her stomach. Enrel slowly took deep breaths as she slowly turned her head to look at Melanor. Enrel said. "L-Low blow." As she slowly exhaled. Reiki looked up to Moranor who's cheek had a faint blush as she tried to ignore his stare by eating more of her parfait.

Melanor took her spoon off the top of her glass, she said. "How are you feeling?" Reiki scratched the back of his head, he said. "I feel like something banged my head against the edge of a metal table trying to crack my skull in half." Enrel took one big breath, using her spoon she scooped some ice cream and blueberry, she said. "That's not surprising since your head was kicked into a tree, I was more concerned about your lack of reaction when you woke up." 

She lifted her spoon into eye level and stared at it and continued. "You should be careful what you do for a few days, it would've been fine if your concussion was early, but… Since it's delayed there could be more episodes down the road." Reiki stared at all three of what's left of their parfaits, he nodded and said. "Alright, but for how long?"

Enrel ate the spoonful and swallowed it, with some ice cream on the edge of her lips, she said. "Not long, about three to a full week." Reiki looked around the room to see that the sun was almost setting, he said. "I don't know about you guys but I'm going to hit the hay, the headache isn't lighting up." Before he could turn around Enrel had a smirk on her face and said. "Me and my friend over here we'll be catching up with a few things, and I also have to make sure she remembers something important that I've been pestering her."

Moranor emptied her tall glass of parfait, she said. "I'll probably just practice in the shooting range for an hour or so." Reiki had an odd look on his face, he said. "It was rhetorical, but…" He looked up to Enrel and said. "...Good luck?... I think? With trying to get your way." Reiki's gaze wandered to Moranor, he said. "Shooting practice at night?" With a confused look on his face.

Enrel and Melanor let out a chuckle, Moranor nodded her head and said. "I need to get used to using night vision while shooting in the dark, I keep adjusting my aim because of the shadows but I'm getting close." Reiki looked at the corner of his eye to see the other two elves were enjoying his bewildered expression, he said. "Keep up the good work." 

He turned around and walked towards the singed couch, both Melanor and Enrel started to walk to the second floor as Moranor stayed in place and watched him. Reiki was halfway towards the couch when he suddenly lost his balance causing Moranor to reflexively reach her hand out which caught the attention of the two elves by the doorway. Reiki caught himself and turned around, he let out an awkward laugh and said. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Good night."

Moranor walked behind him and was just an arm's length while Melanor and Enrel watched the two of them. Reiki was about to turn to sit down on the couch, Moranor suddenly backed off immediately as she was suddenly leaning on a wall at the same location she was standing previously. Reiki sat down and saw that all three elves were still in the room, he said. "Good night." 

His gaze wandered to Moranor who was staring at the floorboards. A smile appeared on his face, he said. "You can do it." As he laid down on the couch, Melanor and Enrel went upstairs. Moranor let out a soft scoff as she walked towards the doorway leading out the house with a small smile on her face.

The sun slowly set as soon the entire room turned dark, Reiki stared at the ceiling and thought. I wonder who Ender is… He felt something in his body that was peering inside him leave, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

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Deep space

Reiki saw a few galaxies around him with countless stars, along with planets of various sizes. He let out a chuckle and said. "Now this is cool… I thought I was going to see Leviathan, but this works too." As he was looking around he thought. This is a different solar system… Reiki's eyes narrowed, he didn't notice that behind him that a small slit coming from space itself. 

It slowly grew wider as a large dorsal fin with sharp spines came out of the tear as a titan emerged from it, the entire body was covered in scales with eyes completely white three long gills on each side of the neck, and webbed hands as it made him look like a dust particle. Reiki noticed that a humongous shadow was cast over him, he turned around and saw the Leviathan.

He took a step back subconsciously as he stared at it with awe in his eyes, the Leviathan slowly opened its huge maw as three rows of razor-sharp and jagged teeth were exposed. A strong gust of blue mana visible to the naked eye came out of its mouth, the gills on its neck opened as it started to suck and distort the mana and space around him. It let out another gust of mana as it slowly moved its head as it stared at Reiki, he thought. What the fuck! 

A voice spoke in Reiki's mind as he felt his entire being shake to his very core, he dropped to his knees as he clutched his head with both his hands. The leviathan spoke in Reiki's head saying. "It's you again… Why is someone like you doing here on the edges of space?... There is no treasure here let alone women… If you were anyone else I would have challenged you…"

Its gills opened once again as it started to suck mana from space itself, leviathan let out another long breath and continued. Reiki was breathing erratically as he held his head in pain, Leviathan continued. "Tell me ████… So that we could avoid any unnecessary conflict... If we do have our eyes on a particular item… I am willing to negotiate because it's you…" Leviathan stopped talking as Reiki slowly forced himself to stand, he bit on his lip as no blood spilled, with his breathing rugged he tried to stare at the leviathan directly. Reiki looked up to look at the titan he thought. He's bigger than the planet eater from those hero comics… 

Leviathan was just staring at him without blinking. A few more seconds of silence passed and started to speak again, leviathan said. "So it's about that… Has it been 36,000 eons already?... Looks like that nap was a terrible idea… I also noticed a few of my followers missing… I'll fix the problem when I'm finished with my business… On the topic… I shall keep my word since you kept yours… Hopefully, Poseidon and that Kraken haven't taken every planet with a natural water source…" Reiki gritted his teeth as he slowly calmed his erratic breathing as he somehow managed to keep himself standing.

With its webbed hands, it reached for the slit on his waist as it stretched the tear as leviathan slowly started to dive back in, inside the tear was an abyss filled with a dark ocean. Leviathan slowly started to submerge into the tear while holding the edges, it stopped and turned its head sideways looking at him, leviathan said. "I'll make sure to bring a few of my… Creatures to drag some of them into the bottom of the abyss.

Its gills opened once again as it let out another gust of mana from its breath, leviathan submerged itself back into the tear that's filled with water as it overflowed and a tall splash came out. Die to the faint light of the stars for a split second he saw it was crystal blue before instantly dissipating in space. Leviathan dorsal fin was still visible making it look like it was swimming in space Reiki blinked as leviathan disappeared, he looked around and saw it was already headed towards the planet at light speed.

Leviathan slowly raised from the tear as it stared at the planet in front of him, slowly opening its mouth it swallowed it whole, and then everything turned black.

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Living room

Reiki's eyes abruptly opened as he looked around and saw that he was back in the living room, his breathing was still erratic as he felt his tunic was mostly wet from his sweat. He slowly sat up on the couch as he rubbed his tired eyes, he thought. That was… Reiki heard the sound of footsteps and looked at the source of the sound and saw Moranor wearing a long white nightgown holding a glass of half-filled water. 

Reiki can faintly see the shadow of Moranor's figure as he stared at her for a few seconds, she said. "Water?" As she softly shooked the glass in her hand. He nodded and spoke with a somewhat dried throat saying. "Yes, please." Moranor walked towards him and sat beside Reiki, she passed him the glass as he downed it in one go. Wiping the edge of his cheek using his tunic he said. "What time is it?"

Reiki placed the glass on the coffee table. Moranor moved a stray hair on his face and said. "Two hours after midnight. Two thirty-five? Is that how you hu- say it?" He turned his head to look up to her, Reiki said. "More or less… Why are you awake at this hour?" Moranor let out a chuckle, she said. "I can easily ask you the same question…" She laid on the backrest of the chair and took peeks at him from the corner of her eyes. Moranor said. "I couldn't sleep because of-... Training…" 

A smile formed on Reiki's face, with a concerned tone he said. "Was it tough?" Moranor shook her head, she said. "No… I finally managed to complete it effortlessly this time… I just didn't expect to burn less energy." Reiki stood up from the couch and started to do some simple stretching, he said. "Which fridge are my leftovers at?" Moranor stood up and stood beside him, she said. "The other one." He nodded as he walked towards the other side of the room.

Moranor silently walked beside him and just watched in interest. Reiki opened the fridge as a soft white light came out of the fridge, he saw his leftover lasagna and a small glass of parfait with strawberries and chocolate. He turned his head and looked behind him to see Moranor fidgeting with her hands, Reiki let out a chuckle and closed the fridge. 

A confused look formed on Moranor's face, she said. "You're not hungry?" A big smile formed on his face, Reiki said. "Don't worry, I'll have it for breakfast. I still have to exercise for a moment." Moranor stared at his smile for a moment before she snapped herself back to reality, she said. "O-Okay… I'll… I'll go back to my room." She hurriedly walked towards the stairs. Reiki let out a chuckle as he walked into the middle of the room and started his morning routine.

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