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Early Evening - Early Spring : Strait of Western Elynnor

"What's wrong, Adrian?"

"Ah, it's nothing major, just an inconvenience popping up." He was deep in thought as he reached up and turned the helm.

We immediately started moving and steadily picked up the pace until we were faster than what the wind should've allowed. -Does this thing have a motor or something?-

"So, Vasilias." Once we were heading away from shore, he tapped an artifact on the helm that locked it in place. "I know we said we would get you there safely, but an unexpected variable popped up."

-If it's a major slow down, I can just fly the rest of the way..- "What happened?"

"We've gotten word that a few big monsters have popped up in the strait and they're all mid to high nation rank so we might run into trouble on this trip." His face showed both worry and disappointment.

-That's it?- "That's fine. If it really comes to it, I can just kill it myself." I motioned my hand to tell him not to stress.

He looked a bit shocked before the worry returned to his face, clearly not believing my confidence. "I don't feel like I'm in a place to be able to assume your strength, but without a weapon of some kind, it will be hard to even reach them."

On top of making a good point, he reminded me of something I had needed to do for a while. -I need to stop procrastinating with that..-

Although I was confident I could beat nearly anything in my humanoid form, it was also true that I still could get killed if I got caught in a bad situation. Not having a weapon just increases the chance of that situation happening. -Its not like Im invincible..-

-I should make one here soon..- "I have my ways, just don't stress over it." There was a short pause before I asked a question that weighed on my mind. "By the way, how is the ship going so fast? Does it have a propeller?"

"A propeller?" He just looked confused. "Do you mean a gust artifact? It's an artifact that uses wind magic to blow wind into the sails even if we are going against the wind, it's extremely expensive but a major time saver." He pointed up to a fairly large blue orb on the central mast.

-Ah, there's one on each sail.- Although I barely felt it with my aura, the artifact also redirected the wind in front of the sails to lessen the wind resistance.

-So that's why we can sail into the wind.

.- "What other gimmicks do you guys use?

" I asked simply out of curiosity, but it spiraled in a conversation lasting a few hours.

Once night rolled around, Adrian and the rest of the crew went to sleep, leaving just a few guys on the upper deck watching over things.

With things calming down, I walked out onto the jib of the ship and laid down. It was incredibly relaxing to listen to the ship slice through waves while looking at the night sky, but I decided it was best to go ahead and start making my new weapon.

Although I originally planned on just making a temporary greatsword that I could break or destroy, I ended up getting lost in the process and went all out.

As the night progressed, I continually made prototypes before testing on them and throwing them into the ocean. -I wonder if anyone will ever find one of those blades..-

After several more hours of testing and dozens of prototypes later, I found something I was proud to say I made. It was truly a work of art.

The blade was a mix of hyper strengthened, perfect grade steel and titanium. It originally looked bright white but was strengthened so much it gained a slight blue tinge reminding me of Mothers scales.

As for the handle and detailing along the blade, I used a similar compound to what my scales were made of and detailed it to give it the same texture.

After adding a bit more detail, I couldn't help but hold up and stare at the sword glistening in the moonlight. -Now for a sheath.-

But that was much easier said than done. The sword was hilariously heavy even when considering that the blade was several times denser than tungsten. It was too heavy to be held by leather or cloth straps, they would simply rip from the weight.

“Haah..” -What can I do..-

With a bit more thinking, I settled on making a simple sheath just using leather straps and a bit of metal to cover the blade. The leather was strengthened with strengthened steel and titanium wires without letting them be visible. -That actually looks pretty good..-

Even with the blade sheathed, someone could still see the piece of art I was so proud to make.

"You didn't go to sleep?" Emelias voice quickly traveled across the ship and interrupted my thoughts.

"No, although I do like you and your father, it doesn't mean I totally trust everyone here." Fully sheathing my sword, I turned around and saw her leaning against the railing.

She slowly glanced back at me as if getting ready to say something, but familiar footsteps coming from the captain's cabin interrupted her.

*step-tap-step-tap*

"You're up earlier than I expected." I gave a curious look, wondering what Adrian was doing fully geared up in the middle of the night.

"Ah, you're up as well? Maybe that's for the better." He glanced at the handle of my sword for a moment but didn’t question it. "We are getting close to a dangerous spot, where one of the sea monsters was recently spotted."

"Is there a reason we aren't going around them?"

"We could try, but with how much they've been moving, it'll likely be safer if we go straight through the center." Adrian seemed conflicted.

-Well if we meet one, I can test out my new sword..- Deep down I was hoping one would show up. "So you're up to check for the monster?"

"Yeah, it'd be bad if I wasn't awake when something as strong as a kraken popped up." As he walked up, he pulled an extra apple out of his pocket and tossed one to Emelia. "Why are you awake?"

She looked surprised as she caught it. "I uh.. just couldn't sleep."

"Any particular reason for it?" With an apple in hand he walked up and leaned against the railing next to her.

Figuring they were going to have a private talk, I vanished from where I was and moved up to the crows nest with Ilios following suit. -What the.. no one's up here?- I had expected someone to be on look out, but the crow's nest was empty.

*creaaakkk* The boards in the crowsnest creaked under the weight of my sword.

-Well.. I guess even if anyone was up here they wouldn't be able to see anything anyways.- At night, the sea was a void-like abyss even when the moon was out. Normal people would only be able to see the white foam from waves at best. -Well, thankfully I can see fine..-

To me, the ocean was well lit by both the moon and the stars in the sky. The reflection of the sky even made the ocean look like a sea of stars, but I still knew that under the water was a bottomless abyss.

"I wonder what creatures are down there.

." As I thought about it, a chill went down my spine.

Although I hated to admit it, Mothers outlandish stories of the ocean were becoming more believable the more I talked to the pirates.

"Haah.." I quickly calmed my lingering anxiety.

-In any case, just like space, the ocean isn't something to be feared.

.- It was a vast abyss, but just like space or the void, it had a unique beauty.

As I thought to myself and lightly petted Ilios, I noticed something on the horizon. -Ships?-

Towards the horizon was a group of 3 large ships, but I couldn't make out any details. -I should probably tell Adrian regardless..-

Sliding down a rigging, I made it back onto the deck.

"Sorry for running you off, I didn't mean to." Adrian motioned to see if I wanted an apple but I denied it.

"You're fine, besides that though, I was just up in the crows nest and saw a group of 3 ships on the horizon coming our way. Is that anything you know of?"

"N..no. If it's 3 ships, it's probably some big merchant convoy." A distressed look came to his face. "But why would a merchant convoy be this far out.."

"Are we not on a trade route?"

"No, we are a few hundred kilometers south. We made a pact with Elynnor that we would leave the merchants on that route alone but if they're this far south we could rob it.." He was deep in thought.

"Although I'm not suited to give an opinion, it does seem a bit suspicious." Something about the situation sounded off to me. "Could it maybe be a group to subjugate the sea monsters before they reach the trade route?"

"You might be right, but even they don't normally go this far south.." He pinched the bridge of his nose as he fell deep into thought.

*step-step-step-step*

-Hm?- Looking towards the noise, I saw Lynn slowly walking above deck while rubbing her eyes.

"Uwaahhh.." She lethargically looked around before finding us. "What are you guys doing up?"