Mountain's Peak

Locus would have lost it right then and there if he hadn't just woken up a few seconds ago.

"SERIOUSLY!?"

His scream was but a silent whisper compared to the heavy rain that was still falling down on Locus' head.

Another thunderbolt hit the top of the mountain, but Locus didn't care. He turned to the mountain and walked straight up the mountain's slope.

He was furious, so much so that he couldn't think clearly.

One of the rocks that were falling down came heading right towards Locus, but he was tired of dodging.

He wrapped his left hand around the katana's hilt, which he had been holding with just his right hand up until then.

When they first met, Genken mentioned that this was more effective.

The stone kept on accelerating while Locus prepared to strike. The moment Locus thought that the stone entered his striking range, he used his brute strength to hit it with the blade.

The blade actually went through the stone and split it. But the two halves were still falling down, each hitting Locus at his shoulders.

"ARGH!"

Locus felt a stabbing pain. He dropped his katana and his body alongside it. Fortunately, the katana's impact had slowed down the rock. Otherwise, Locus would have had two broken shoulders now.

After catching a small break, Locus got up, picked up his katana, and sheathed it. It seemed like this method had to wait for now.

But dodging took up lots of energy. How was Locus supposed to provide this?

Just like before, memories came flooding into his mind. They were memories of Genken.

"The goal is to make your other senses basically useless."

In combination with this explanation, all kinds of memories with the sleepy Genken popped up in Locus' head.

He finally got it.

Even in his sleep, the rocks couldn't hit Locus. If they couldn't manage that, they didn't pose a threat. Locus closed his eyes, as if he were trying to sleep while standing, and then took one step after another up the hill. It looked just like Genken.

Locus couldn't really tell the time. The storm clouds were too thick, and the mountains were too tall.

One rock after the other came falling down, but Locus just walked away without any fast and exhausting movements. He didn't use any of his five senses. He just used his sense for Aura.

The next night, Locus didn't sleep. He just wanted this nightmare to be over. In addition to that, Locus was worried about the possibility of another mudflow.

When the sun set the next day, Locus had almost reached the top. The storm still hadn't stopped and Locus was now surrounded by snow. Every few minutes, a thunderbolt hit the top of the mountain.

When Locus got there, he found out why that was. The peak was a pretty flat piece of land with a metal rod in the middle. It was stuck in the ground and seemed to attract lightning.

A few meters away from it stood a tent. Locus opened its door while trying to avoid being struck by lightning.

Inside, Locus found a sleeping Genken in a sleeping bag. Except for a second bag, the tent was empty.

The second bag was a good sign. Still, if Locus woke Genken up, the ladder might give him another insane task. Locus didn't have enough energy for that.

He closed the tent, opened the second sleeping bag, and crawled inside.

After about five to ten seconds, Locus was asleep.