My New Life as a Leviathan in Another World

Chapter 24: Why do you fear the Ocean?

I woke up to the annoying feeling of sand covering my entire body.

After finally coming to, I quickly remembered what had happened previously.

I was about to enter the skull of the biggest leviathan within the graveyard of leviathans hidden deep within the abyss.

I quickly looked at my hands, after realizing I had them again, only to be met with my old human self.

Not just the one I chose with my skill, I mean my old body, from my old life.

"Why am I...?" I began to ask.

"A good question..." An unfamiliar voice boomed.

"Perhaps one only you could answer." The voice continued.

"Who are you?!" I yelled as I looked all around me, but nothing but the blue sky, sandy beach, and terrifying ocean-

Wait, the ocean?

The moment I saw, I became almost entranced by it.

But not in a beautiful way, no, the more I saw it, the more my heart raced in fear.

"Interesting, isn't it? You, who so brazenly proclaimed that you love the ocean, yet now you can't help but fear it? Do you know why?" The voice asked.

Whoever the voice was, their words were powerful, as if all knowing.

It asked me if I knew why I was afraid of the ocean.

But I don't know.

I don't think I've ever felt this way about it before.

No, wait. A long, long time ago, I think there was a time like that, but...

I can't remember.

God, why can't I remember this shit?

"Your love of the ocean, can't you at least remember the reasons for that?" The voice boomed once more.

My love of the ocean.

I tried my best to close my eyes and recall the way I saw the ocean.

However, the more I thought of it, no matter how beautiful it looked, I couldn't help but feel no love for it.

What's going on?!

I know I love the ocean, yet now I can't seem to find the reason as to why...

"Look deeper." The voice whispered into my ear.

Deeper? Just how deep will I have to go before I find the answer?

And another thing, why am I even doing this now?!

"Fuck this! Why don't you at least explain to me who you are and why I should even be listening to you!" I shouted in frustration.

"What, do you not seek the power to become a god?" The voice asked, bewildered.

"Of course I do! Actually, wait, how'd you know that?!" I answered.

"Because it is a natural cycle for our kind." The voice replied.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Like you, there have been many leviathan's throughout history, all coming from somewhere across the universe. and like you, they too sought to become a god for one reason or another. Not many succeeded, of course. It's not easy, you know. But nonetheless, there was those who did accomplish the goal." The voice began to answer.

"Now that I think about it, there was an awful amount of corpses. Too many to count in fact. Was there really so many born in the world?" I asked.

"Well, not all of them came from the world you come from. The...graveyard, as you'd put it, is not in fact, a place that exists in only one given space at a time. But instead, exists at every planet, in the exact same place, the very depths of the earth. But that's a story for another time. I can tell you about all your questions in regards to your ancestors after you answer my questions." The voice replied.

"Right, like 'looking deeper' will somehow give me the answer to your stupid question." I said.

I mean really, he messes around with my feelings and thinks I can just find them somewhere?

That's not how that works dude!

However, I did as I was suggested, and strangely, I found the answer after so much struggling.

The answer I reached was...