Dark Moon

Nice body.

Long, slender limbs and skin so smooth it looked untouched. Her breasts were full—not absurdly massive like some female ninja's, just the right size. Well-balanced. Between her legs, not a single hair. Completely bare.

Vel glanced my way, clearly aware of me. When I stood there without flinching, she tried to match that composure. I forced myself to stay cold. If I hadn't, I would have gotten hard on the spot.

"Your heart rate's climbing. Blood's pooling toward your groin… Are you in heat?"

Barkase's voice came from inside the capsule. Vel outside showed no reaction, so the sound was only reaching mine.

"…Honestly, that woman's body and face are killer. You know that."

"True. A rare beauty. If I still had a body, she'd have stolen my eyes too."

"…What's it like, having ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no body? Can you watch porn and feel nothing?"

"I've transcended lust, hunger, and sleep. I feel none of it. Sometimes I miss those drives, but not being ruled by them means I can always keep a rational self. No regrets."

"Hard to imagine."

Fully naked, Vel carefully stepped into the capsule across from me. My gaze drifted to her ass for a moment. An attractive one.

"Let's begin."

Liquid fell from the ceiling—something that looked like water. It soaked into my body and slipped straight back out.

"You're a mage, so the waste is light. Hmm? Fifty mana roads. Sixteen of them damaged. You've been rough with yourself."

"…Can you fix them?"

"The mana shower doesn't do that. Find a specialist."

The liquid pooled on the floor and began to rise. I wouldn't drown. It looked like liquid, but it was mana.

In the fluid I could see black filth draining out of me, sinking, and flowing out of the capsule. That was the waste.

"I'll give you something interesting. Your partner is a pure virgin. Keeping that intact in this debauched world is no small feat… Impressive."

"Vel isn't my partner. We met today."

"You two look rather close for that."

"Are you allowed to run your mouth about virginity and that kind of crap to me?"

"Why treat it like classified intel? And I already told her you got hard looking at her breasts and pussy."

"……You son of a bitch."

I wanted to hit him. Wanted to smash the machine too. Doing either would only hurt me.

"As expected, your motor skills are nothing special."

"…I know. Zero athletic talent."

"Stop trying to control the mana water. The mana shower isn't dangerous."

"I wasn't controlling it."

"Oh? So the mana water is resonating with you on its own. Absurd talent. I'll need to recalibrate. Do nothing. Stay still."

The mana water had already climbed to my knees and was lapping. The tip of my dangling glans brushed the surface. Not a pleasant feeling.

"You've got a fine piece of equipment. Sex cultists would drool themselves stupid if they saw you."

"Sex cultists?"

"Lunatics who made sex itself their religion. Their doctrine is an orgy every three days. They call it a ritual… Just a bunch of degenerates putting on a primitive freak show."

"……."

Information I didn't have. Barkase didn't sound like he was joking.

The mana water soon rose over my head. I could still breathe. No choking—just a sense that the air had grown a little heavier. Speaking was possible.

"Can't the mana roads be restored?"

"There's a body-regeneration function, but mana roads are a different concept. Impossible. Find a specialist. Sooner the better. Those wrecked roads are bottlenecking your growth. Sixteen. Thirty percent of the total, shattered. That's serious."

"…You're fretting more than I am."

"I'm the normal one. You're the strange one for staying so calm. Do you realize an ordinary mage couldn't even cast properly like this? The only reason you've been casting without trouble is pure talent."

"……."

I knew. Whatever else I lacked, my talent for magic was the real thing.

"Waste expulsion is done. Next, the mana shower will reinforce your body. Ah—and your mana sensitivity will rise a little. Whether that means anything to you, I don't know."

"Thirteen minutes for you."

"And Vel?"

"Another fifty at least. Unlike you, I agreed to tune her hardware. The machines on her body are high-grade, but the optimization is nonexistent. The OS is garbage, so I'm installing a new one. Especially the heart… Ah. I shouldn't say that."

"I already have a rough idea."

"Hmm?"

I closed my mouth and eyes.

"Done."

The mana water drained away and the capsule opened. I stepped out, dressed, and sat in the chair beside it to wait. I watched Vel inside her mana capsule. Eyes shut as if unconscious, her mechanical arms and legs splayed open. Whether nanomachines or tiny robots, small machines ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were adjusting her limbs.

I sat there and looked at her pussy and breasts.

BOOM!

A roar thundered from outside.

I shot to my feet without thinking. Barkase's hologram appeared beside me.

"What was that?"

"I'll put the camera feed up."

A holographic screen bloomed.

A single monster was hammering the ruin's entrance.

It looked broadly like a gorilla—puny lower body, grotesquely developed upper half, arms absurdly long. Where a head should have been, there was only brain. Three human brains stitched together into a nightmare.

Only one place makes things like that. The Cavalia Institute. Did they track Vel here?

The Cavalia Institute. Vel hated that place with a passion. She had been one of its test subjects.

"Don't worry. A monster like that can't break the do—"

CRASH!

A flurry of punches dented the door. Barkase narrowed his eyes at the feed.

"An attack that crude shouldn't even scratch it. This is probably…"

"The Dark Moon's influence."

"Look closely at its brain. Bullet holes. It was already dead—revived under the Dark Moon's effect."

Likely the Destroyer trait. A characteristic that shredded hard armor and building walls with brutal efficiency. In the game, it chewed through armor durability in seconds—warriors hated it almost as much as physical resistance.

"Any defensive systems here?"

"None. This is just a facility for transcendentalists to take mana showers. They bathe and leave."

"At this rate it gets inside. I'll handle it."

"Please do."

The outer door opened. I glanced at Vel Terrier still sealed in her capsule, then walked the corridor.

I opened my Astral.

The mana in my body answered my will. Thanks to the mana shower, the response felt sharper than usual.

Nice.

My body was light. Like shedding invisible shackles and taking flight. I understood why transcendentalists came for mana showers on a schedule.

I strode the corridor. Through the crumpled door, that repulsive brain was visible. Part of it split, and a single red eyeball bulged out. The eye locked onto me through the gap.

My legs didn't stop. I calculated and built mana formulas. Casting speed was a touch faster than before the shower.

"Barkase. Open the door."

The door opened. Warped as it was, it didn't fully clear—but it was enough. Space wide enough for the monster to force its way in. It charged me in a berserk, thundering run.

I thrust my palm toward it.

A violent wind slammed straight ahead and hurled the monster away. Its massive bulk shot into the sky.

Using Charna, I built a new ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠formula in the slowed world.

A blue trail cut the night sky as the railgun punched through its chest.

"Tch. Aimed for the head… Twisted midair and took it in the chest."

THUD!

It hit the ground and came at me on all fours like a beast, arms and legs driving it forward. The speed was impressive.

I hurled a spear of lightning. It struck the monster's body, exploded, and scattered current in every direction. Electricity raced over its frame—but the creature never stopped. As if the hit hadn't registered at all.

Lightning doesn't work? Another Dark Moon effect?

I calculated formulas in my head and clumsily formed the hand seals I'd been practicing with both hands.

Water surged up under the monster's feet and soaked it. Instantly, Frost's cold locked it in ice.

CRACK!

In three seconds the monster shattered the ice and charged me again.

Before its fist could reach me, I rose into the air. The monster froze, staring up at me in blank confusion, then swung its arms wildly. Even arms over two meters long couldn't touch a body floating in the sky.

Its knees bent. It jumped with everything it had. But that underdeveloped lower body had clear limits against the massive upper half.

"Should've come up here from the start."

I casually drew a round from my coat pocket, fixed it with telekinesis, and cast.

The descending railgun punched through the monster's shoulder.

Aimed for the head again and it dodged? Looks sluggish, but the reaction speed is insane.

The monster ripped a nearby boulder free and hurled it at me. CRASH! Barrier met stone. The barrier shattered; the rock fell. I confirmed the remaining two barriers were intact and cast in rapid succession.

Two railguns missed. The third cleanly blew the monster's brain apart. Its heavy body collapsed. I descended and looked down at the corpse.

Definitely dead.

Something still grated against my senses.

Easy enough to check.

I carved the corpse open with Water Blade. It was so tough it took a while. Then I found a small chip embedded in its heart. I stared at it. Dark mana radiated from the chip.