Time passed slowly as the boat cut through the deep ocean at a moderate speed. Victor didn't want to break the engine or make it heat up so he tried to keep the speed in the safe range. Even though he would've wanted to go faster, getting stuck in the middle of the ocean would be a far worse outcome.
"The wind isn't that strong… As for the storm…" As he stood near the window in the cockpit, he looked up north. There, he could see the grey clouds of the storm he had noticed two weeks ago still there.
Their size seemed to have expanded a lot in the past two weeks with no signs of slowing down. This brought Victor the realization that the storms in this world were indeed different from the ones on Earth.
'Even the strongest storm back on earth didn't last two weeks…' He thought to himself with a cold expression.
During the period of time he was on that island, Victor contemplated the idea of waiting for the storm to calm down before trying to move north. But, as he waited, and the storm grew bigger, he understood that it was perhaps wishful thinking from his side to assume it was going to end.
Now, he had to do the thing he wanted to avoid.
'I have navigated storms before… Hopefully, this isn't any different.' He thought to himself. 'It will take at least an hour before I reach the storm. I should spend this time absorbing energy.'
Sitting down, Victor closed his eyes and started training. Even though he was focused on the absorption, he kept some of his senses alerted to anything weird happening outside.
'I don't know why, but I feel like I'm very close to a breakthrough, finally.' He thought to himself. 'I have been absorbing energy for two weeks straight and only now I'm getting from the Dark phase to the Solid phase.'
He didn't know what changes that would bring but he was certain they were going to be amazing. However, till that happened, he had to keep working hard.
Slowly, the world around Victor grew darker and the white clouds slowly condensed in the sky, turning grey and gloomy. Small droplets of rain fell from the sky, hitting the roof of the cockpit and sliding down. The sound slowly merged with the waves hitting the side of the boat as it moved closer and closer to the darkness.
The boat swayed left and right like a cradle holding Victor. Weirdly enough, he enjoyed this atmosphere more than he would like to admit. Storms are dangerous, but they are also very calming to the soul.
Just like that, an hour passed and Victor's eyes finally opened as he looked up. A second later, a droplet of water fell on his face, making him squint.
"... I guess the boat is still a little old even if it looks to be in a good state." He muttered as he stood up and looked through the window at the world outside.
At that moment, he heard the loud roar of lightning as it struck the surface of the water. The wind started whistling violently and the waves grew faster, bigger, and more disturbed.
"Here it comes…" His expression darkened. "Let's hope this boat can handle this."
*BOOOOM*
The world around Victor was submerged in chaos. The waves started slapping the boat violently, even towering over it in some instances. The lightning struck the sea relentlessly like god's judgment. In the distance, the wind could be seen carrying giant ocean waves left and right.
Victor found a hard time keeping his balance as the boat tried to make its way through this hell. However, surprisingly, it was able to handle the pressure so far. Yet, the boy still felt on edge.
He knew that anything could tip the boat over and he was done for. Even he cannot survive such a brutal storm with nothing to support him. In other words, swimming through this sea is death.
Time passed awfully slow as Victor searched for the end of the storm and yet he couldn't see it. It was as if this entire region was submerged in an endless hell that would never see an end. The more he went deeper, the more violent it grew and the more the boat struggled to actually keep moving as fast as it should.
His eyes wandered the distance for a long while. 'This was expected and yet it's still…'
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Another lightning struck the sea a few meters away from the boat. 'Really awful…'
Victor was aware that any damage this boat would sustain would destroy it completely.
"... I need to calm down. Nothing bad happened yet." He muttered as he sat down on the chair again as he looked outside. Victor was very good at staying calm during tense situations so it wasn't hard for him to completely calm down.
'It's getting very dark, though. My vision is obscured a lot more now.' He mused.
Before entering the storm, Victor could see at least a few kilometers in the distance. However, now that distance was cut by at least 80%. He cannot see beyond a certain point as it is all darkness and fog.
*BOOOOOM*
At that very moment, Victor's ears were assaulted by a very loud noise coming from outside. His eyes widened slightly as he looked to the side. 'Was the boat hit?!'
Without wasting a single moment, he rushed out of the boat to take a look. There was nothing but darkness all around him, except for a small ember of fire that ignited on the side of the boat near the front.
"You have got to be…" Clenching his teeth, Victor rushed to the side and quickly pulled his shirt off. The cloth was already soaking wet as he quickly slapped the burnt area of the boat with it. Immediately, the fire extinguished leaving behind nothing but smoke and a very dark spot.
"Did it tear a hole?" He muttered as he quickly touched the spot only to feel a sharp pain assault his hand. The spot was still very hot from the lightning strike. However, luckily for him, the boat didn't have a hole in it.
Exhaling a small breath of relief, Victor turned around and looked at the sky above him. The clouds were bursting with light every few seconds or so. 'This is insane. I have never seen a storm this strong.'
Pushing his wet hair back to be able to see better, Victor returned inside the cockpit, contemplating whether he should change the direction or keep it straight north. He wished to find a calm area in this storm he could use to avoid some danger even if that area was a little out of his way.
However, he cannot see anything like that anywhere near him. 'I hate relying on luck.'
The situation was so out of his control that he didn't even know if he could actually do anything to change the outcome.
As he was like that, swaying between the raging waves, his eyes suddenly caught something weird in the distance. Out of nowhere, a particularly dark spot appeared in the fog ahead. The spot was far darker than anything around it.
'Huh?'
Before he could even understand what just happened, a gigantic object suddenly emerged from the nothingness, towering over the boat.
A//N: If you liked the chapter, support the book on your way!