29 Nest Core

Sophia followed Micheal over to the center of the cruise ship. Behind them, the various organizations and groups continued to talk and relax. Each team had set up a periphery guard of their own, keeping watch for any stray Morenkai as they rested.

Most strong Morenkai would've already been drawn out due to the loud battle that had taken place, so the risk of danger was pretty low, even if there was a Nest here. It would take several hours, at minimum, for the Nest to recover from such losses.

"Hmm." Micheal paused for a minute as he studied the central area of the cruise ship. A large portion of the rooms had been badly damaged in the battle with the Abnormals. The fat one that had thrown Captain Simon had put quite a dent in the area.

After a moment, he walked up to one of the undamaged cabins, slipping inside. Sophia quickly followed him, shutting the door behind them.

The room was small, with a long white bed, a small desk, and a cabinet. The decorations were sparse, with little of note. What drew Micheal's attention, however, was the internal door opposite the entrance.

Micheal pushed through the door, walking through the room into one of the internal hallways of the ship. The previous room had a couple of windows letting light in. This one, however, was only barely lit by the light filtering in from a few of the other rooms.

Micheal tapped on his Spatial Ring, bringing out a large, green glow stick. It was a unique item he purchased from the shop for a couple dozen Points, specifically for a situation like this.

He cracked the glowstick. Immediately, a deep, green glow lit up the hallway. The light was soft on the eyes, but lit almost everything up clearly. In the background, faint creaks and groans could be heard, creatures shifting and moving about in the dark floors below. The hallway took on a faintly creepy aura, as if they were in some type of horror movie.

"What do I need to make the Morenkai look for, Heron?" Sophia whispered quietly by his side, a slight hint of nervousness in her voice.

"A floating, circular object, black in color. It should give off waves of white light on occasion, and should be located near the bottom floor." He replied, giving her a confident nod. He couldn't see her expression due to the mask, but could sense her uneasiness.

They moved down the hallway till they reached a metal door at one end. Micheal opened it up, revealing a steep stairway. It was tall, likely reaching all the way to the bottom floor.

"Hold on…" He held up his hand, motioning for Sophia to wait.

He leaned over the edge of the stairway. He then withdrew another glow stick from his Spatial Ring, cracked it, and tossed it over the edge.

The glowing tube fell down slowly, lightning up each passing floor. Three, four, five… ten, eleven, twelve…

"Two… Oh there's another… and another…" He muttered to himself, counting.

thunk

Finally, the glow stick landed at the very bottom, roughly 26 floors down.

"There are seven Morenkai in the stairway, Crane. If we move quickly, we should only encounter them." He began to jog down the stairs, waving at her to follow.

"Be ready to snare them as soon as we make contact. You don't need to worry about using your Fairy Eyes here." There was no one from the Coalition with them. Previously, she'd been avoiding using the Ability due to its recognizable nature. The pink glow it gave off was rather well known.

"Got it, Heron." She quickly replied back, following him.

They passed several floors, Micheal's glow stick revealing empty, slightly dilapidated passageways and little else.

"How close are you to mastering basic control of your Fairy Eyes?" He continued as they ran, nodding slightly.

Her Fairy Eyes Ability only gave off pink light because of her inability to fully control it. Once she gained full control of the power, she would be able to control the color of light it gave off and restrict the amount of light that appeared.

"I'm not sure. A few days if I'm fast, a few weeks if not. It's a weird feeling, trying to master it is hard." Sophia sighed as she jogged with him.

Micheal shrugged. He hadn't ever had the Ability, so he couldn't exactly offer her any tips on how to master it. It would be up to her.

In no time at all, they encountered the first Morenkai.

thud

The Morenkai had been going down the stairs roughly 10 floors below where they started, likely to investigate the glow stick Micheal had thrown. When it detected them, it spun around, clawing back up to try and attack.

Before it could get within range, a flash of pink light shot out from behind Micheal, the temperature lowering.

"I got it." Sophia's voice echoed behind him as the Morenkai froze, its arms slowly lowering.

"Nice job, Crane." He gave her a thumbs up. They kept using their nicknames instead of switching back to regular names, something Micheal had suggested as a way to reinforce the habit of using their secret identities.

"Okay… I'm setting it to look for the orb…" She returned, blinking slowly.

In a few moments, the Morenkai began to move down the stairs obediently.

Just like that, Micheal and Sophia took control of several more Morenkai as they moved through the stairs.

Sophia was now able to control up to 12 Morenkai, manipulating what they saw and leaving them in a world of illusions. Her strength was gradually exploding upward, the power of both her mentality and her Fairy Eyes shining because of her raw determination.

Soon, they reached the bottom floor. The seven Morenkai Sophia had trapped were all off moving through the cruise ship's lower decks.

"I'll keep guard. You just focus on them. Let me know if we need to move." Micheal said, his hand resting on his Ashari Blade as he looked down the bottom floor corridor.

The hallway was full of metal pipes, eerily lit by the two glow sticks that were down here. It was some type of service hallway, for use by the crew of the ship.

"I'm on it…" Sophia muttered in response, her glowing eyes flickering.

A few tense moments passed. Micheal kept a steady watch, not letting anything slip by.

The sounds of the environment serenaded him. The creaking of the ship, wavering screams of metal twisting or bending, pipes shifting. A normal person might've been driven mad. If it had been him on his first time here, he certainly would've been horrified.

Several more seconds passed. These seconds slipped into a few minutes, time whiling by.

The spread out nature of Morenkai on the Great Bridge meant they avoided having to interact with any new Morenkai, lucking out during those few minutes.

Finally, after what felt like forever but was roughly 5 minutes, Sophia spoke up,

"I've got something!" Her voice was full of excitement as she turned to look at Micheal,

"We're looking for a black orb that floats in space, right?" She asked.

Micheal nodded back,

"Yes, that exactly. You found it?" Cinders of excitement slowly began to burn in his heart.

"One of mine has interacted with something like it and rediscovered an orb exactly like that. It hasn't given off any flashes of white light, but it's definitely a weird orb that is just floating in space, all on its own. Several other Morenkai are surrounding it, doing much of nothing." She explained, pointing in a specific direction.

"It's on the floor right above us, right over there!"

"That's it!" He grinned fiercely, his fists clenched as he heard her report.

"We've found a Nest!" He began to head upstairs, speaking quickly as he began to explain,

"It's a type of Morenkai spawning ground, I've seen a bit about them in my future sight. They're typically used to farm points in a relatively safe and predictable environment."

"Oh?" Sophia's excitement died down slightly as she followed him up the stairs, adding,

"Then what's the use for us?"

"We can't do too much with it. It's only a Temporary Nest, after all." He shook his head as he continued,

"But there's something I need to test." His hand rested on the hilt of his Ashari Blade.

"I want to see what happens if we destroy it."

.. .. .. .. .. ..

Micheal let Sophia take the lead.

She led him through a maze of pipes and passageways, the confusing 'underground' area in the depths of the cruise ship almost impossible to navigate without a map. She was able to mirror the path the Morenkai took, however, making it a simple task.

Along the way, they didn't run into even a single Morenkai for 90% of the journey.

The last 10%, however, they ran into 4 separate Morenkai.

SHKK

Acidic black blood stained the wall opposite of Micheal as he flicked his sword, the corpse of the fourth Morenkai they'd run into sliding down to the ground. He pushed it to the side slightly, frowning beneath his mask as he sheathed his blade.

"We're getting close. This is definitely near the Nest." He whispered over at Sophia.

They were standing in a cramped hallway, one that opened up into several side rooms, closed off with metal doors. A Morenkai had come shambling out of one of these rooms and immediately attacked.

Fighting in such cramped conditions gave the Morenkai a huge advantage. Their powerful bodies and long reach were natural advantages they held over Micheal and Sophia, ones that weren't easily rectified.

Despite that, Micheal slaughtered them with ease. Raw power would only get you so far. Even in cramped conditions, regular Morenkai couldn't last more than a second against him.

Micheal had taken the lead in the back half of the journey, following Sophia's instructions as they moved.

"It's here." After walking for several more meters, Sophia froze, waving at Micheal and then pointing at a specific door as she whispered.

Micheal nodded and crept forward, his senses straining. Faintly, he could hear small movements coming from beyond the door, as if various creatures were moving about.

WHOOSH

He blinked sharply as a small blast of white light slipped through the doorway before fading away to nothing.

He grinned beneath his mask.

"This is it. Get ready. I'll rush in first and engage any near the doorway. You take control of any beyond that. Be wary of any Abnormals." He whispered his plan to her and got a nod in return as she positioned herself right behind him.

She pulled out a small, blue sword. A Burning Ice Blade, a weapon that cost 32,000 Points in the shop. A potent weapon that alternated between blazing hot and freezing cold, at the user's command. While it wasn't as sharp or refined as Micheal's Ashari Blade, it was easily able to cleave through regular Morenkai's flesh and much easier to use.

When he saw her get situated, he gave a sharp nod and then threw the door open.

The instant the door was opened, before he even fully stepped through the doorway, Micheal was attacked.

"Woah!" A white skinned Morenkai fist blurred as it punched through the space where Micheal's head had been. The fist was oversized, from a hulking Abnormal Morenkai that had been crouched behind the door.

Sophia's control of Morenkai didn't mean she could see everything they saw. It simply meant she was vaguely aware of where they were and what was near them. Sometimes she'd get a full picture of who or what was near one, but many times she wouldn't.

Micheal had reacted instantaneously, his instincts taking over.

The moment he sensed the attack coming, he stepped forward and slightly to the right. He controlled his body perfectly, just barely dodging the attack by a few centimeters.

In the same moment, he let go of his Ashari Blade and the glow stick he held in his other hand, instead tapping on his Spatial Ring.

His Ashari Blade was an incredibly sharp weapon, but it was also an above-average length sword. In the doorway, there wasn't enough room to make use of it effectively. He could pull it from the sheath at his waist in an instant, but the angle to attack with it would be rather awkward.

The moment he touched his Spatial Ring, two small, black-colored daggers appeared, one in each hand. Each blade was short for a sword but long for a dagger, around the size of his forearm. Kouki Daggers, weapons that cost 8,400 Points in the Shop.

He hadn't bought these himself, but acquired them from a few Open Markets that he visited in the time between their exiting the Cluster and the fight with the Black Flag Pirates. He'd also sold off a great deal of the treasure, including the huge bear corpse he'd obtained, from the battle with the Black Flag Pirates there, stocking up on various ingredients and tools he'd need in the future.

Instantly, Micheal jerked his left hand to the left, the Kouki Dagger coated in a layer of colorless, Intermediate Sword Energy.

The dagger stabbed into the lower stomach of the white-skinned Abnormal, sinking in with only a slight amout of resistance.

Then, in one smooth motion, Micheal jerked the dagger straight up.

WHOOSH

splatter

"Watch out, Crane!"

Micheal jumped forward as a huge gout of black blood spewed out from the front of the white-skinned Abnormal, his attack almost ripping the creature's chest apart. A gaping, meter long wound had appeared on its chest, its insides virtually destroyed.

thud

thud

Apart from the Abnormal, there were four other Morenkai in the room. These four were all normal ones, three of which immediately turned and charged at Micheal as he entered. The fourth was one of the ones under Sophia's control, standing still and doing nothing.

Behind Micheal, Sophia let out a small 'eep!' in surprise and stumbled backwards, avoiding the spurt of acidic black blood. At the same time, however, she managed to maintain her Fairy Eyes, not letting the shock overwhelm her.

The white-skinned Abnormal shook for a brief moment before falling to the ground.

.

—-Points Obtained —-

Points: 112

.

With that notification confirming that he killed the Abnormal, Micheal ignored the scene behind him, instead hurling his two Kouki Daggers forward.

WHOOSH

thud

thud

Two of the charging Morenkai collapsed, falling to the ground each with a long dagger impaling their skull.

.

—-Points Obtained —-

Points: 9

.

—-Points Obtained —-

Points: 13

.

The last Morenkai sprinted across the room, reaching Micheal in what felt like an instant. It ignored the deaths of its brethren, charging forth alone.

Instead of drawing his Ashari Blade, Micheal jumped forward again.

The room they had entered was a large, storage room. It was empty at the moment, with a high ceiling and about fifteen meters of space in either direction. The glow stick he'd dropped was the only source of light in the room, giving everything an eerie green glow.

The Morenkai tried to punch him directly in the chest, both of its arms lunging forward. Micheal double jumped, dodging that as he flipped over its head. He then led out with a two-fisted attack of his own.

"Hup!" The muscles in his arms flexed as he punched down hard, each fist slammed into one side of the Morenkai's head simultaneously. The powerful double impact rocked the Morenkai, sending it stumbling forward as he finished flipping over landing down smoothly.

thud

thud

thud

The last attacking Morenkai stumbled for a few steps before slowly collapsing to the ground. The double-fisted blow, powered by Micheal's enhanced body, had dealt a large amount of damage, right to the creature's head. Morenkai were incredibly tough, but they also had brains, just like humans.

They were able to deal with impacts coming in from one direction, their magically toughened skin absorbing much of the blow. But when it came from two opposing directions at once, especially in a rather vulnerable area…

.

—-Points Obtained —-

Points: 10

.

The last Morenkai lay still.

Even without using a sword, Micheal was more than capable of taking them down in his present state.

"Crane, you alright?" The first thing he did was spin around, checking on her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" She huffed as she ran into the room. Micheal had cleared it all out in the span of a few seconds, killing everything with insane efficiency. She hadn't even had a chance to attack anything.

"Alright. You handle the last one." He waved at her as he went and picked up his Kouki Daggers, wiping the blood off them.

Sophia nodded and made the last Morenkai walk over to her. She killed it without hesitation, using the burning power of her weapon to melt through its defenses and strike it down with impunity.

Like that, the room had been cleared of hostile Morenkai.

'A coordinated attack… just like how it works around Nests. The surprise ambush must've been because the Morenkai we killed outside warned it.' When Morenkai were near a Nest, they tended to work in groups, together, instead of attacking blindly. It was speculated to be some type of instinctual focus, rather than intelligent, planned tactics.

As this thought ran through his mind, he stared at what was at the center of the room.

A small, fist-sized black sphere, floating ominously in mid-air.

His hand slowly fell to his waist, resting on the sheath of his Ashari Blade as he began to walk towards it.