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Chapter 112: Voyage (1)
🕑 Added 2024-08-17 06:23:12 +0000 UTCWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
I woke up to rays of sunshine sneaking through the closed curtains on my window.
It hadn’t been closed when I awoke before. Someone must’ve come in and closed the blinds, realizing that the sun might wake me up prematurely. Silently thanking the person, I swung my legs over the side of the hammock with ease. The pain and soreness had disappeared and my mind was quick and alert now, all traces of sleep disappearing.
How long had I slept?
By the state of my growling stomach, quite a bit actually.
Still, I didn’t rush off out of my hammock. I closed my eyes, replaying the last bits of my memories. Getting out of the Torture Room with Arrosh in tow, battling against Tanya and Coum, then the talk with Clover’s Party and finally meeting mine in return. Out of the people who had been involved in the events in the last few days, almost everyone was on this quest. The members of the [Player’s Guild], whom I continued to assume was Party ‘A’. Clover’s party who cloaked themselves in shadow. Then my own.
‘Ok, let’s go find my party first.’ My stomach growled in response. ‘And maybe something to eat too.’
Finding my gear and getting dressed, I left the small guest cabin, finding myself in the passageways of the ship. Now that I was out of the room and actually paying attention, I could smell the ocean in the air. That faint scent of fish mixed with salt, a hint of something funky and something nice too. Maybe seaweed. The passageways were wide and something about them looked familiar, though I couldn’t put a finger on why.
Then again, all ships in this era should look about the same. Wooden planks nailed together to creature a structure that could float on water –except in MSS, many of them would be considered ‘magical’ items and enchanted with loads of different effects. I walked through the corridor, gathering plenty of looks from the sailors. I smiled softly, trying to mutter hi and mustering up the courage to ask for directions. But their looks weren’t kind –not exactly hostile– but kind of gruff and it brought out the introvert within me.
Wandering aimlessly, noticing that most of the sailors were orcs, beastman and elves. Not the pale elves like Arione, but the tanned muscular elves like L’teya. Speaking of which, I wondered how Clover and Arione ran that party. Were the members allowed to roam free? Or were they like prisoners, kept locked up in their rooms? Hell, who was the boss of that party? Clover or Arione?
Evidence suggested Clover but that could be only because she was the one with the direct line to Oung, giving out quests. Arione, as a Player, would recognize the value of a questline involving a goddess and the Six Heroes, so he’d follow along. If Arione followed Clover, Scarlet would follow suit. And of course, L’teya would stick around with Clover.
…Didn’t that girl say she was going to look for her older brother?
I sighed, pushing the thought of Clover’s party out of my mind. There was no point in being hung up on their social dynamics. That was none of my business. This felt exactly like the time I broke up with my girlfriend and saw her around the campus. I’d always wonder, is she talking about me? Is she seeing someone else? Talking to someone? What is she thinking and how is she living her life?
Questions would give birth to more questions. It wasn’t good for the soul. Besides, I had Arrosh spying on them now. Speaking of, he and I had to find time to talk. One, to make sure that he was OK and two, to figure out a way to communicate. No point in having him go through all that, surrounding himself with the bad guys and being miserable, only to never get the chance to pass on information.
Poor Arrosh.
My footsteps led me to a ladder which would lead me to the deck. I started to climb it. Half way up, I heard voices. Redoubling my efforts, I hurried.
Once I got to the top, I looked around.
The first thing that greeted me were the great masts of the ship. I’m not an expert on ships, my experience being limited to the board game, BattleShips. But I could see that this thing was big, way larger than the ship I was on when I was heading to Miltus. Way larger than any old normal ship I might see at the dock. The sheer number of riggings criss-crossing each other in the air was dizzying, dozens of them making complicated knots and straining against each other.
Then there were the large sails, billowing in the cool sea breeze. Huge, massive pieces of sailcloths that snapped with the wind’s speed and was so loud that it caused the hairs on my arm to stand up in surprise. There was a Crow’s Nest at the top of the tallest mast, though the sun was shining too brightly for me to make out if anyone was on it. Not that I would be able to check even without the sun, the thing was nearly a skyscraper in and unto itself with a little bit of exaggeration.
Dozens of sailors ran about, tightening knots, carrying crates and rolling barrels. Next to them were the wooden railings of the ship and I saw Arcane Cannons with wheels being carted around. Whatever this ship was, it was fancy and designed for protection.
Finally I was forced to face the people that were staring at me.
There was a small podium and stage, two people I had seen before. One was Zenom Saintred. He was dressed in full armor, decorated with the regalia of the Turinan Church –emblem of Fire, Shield and Light over his left chest. His blonde hair was combed neatly to the side and there was a faint disapproving look in my general direction. He was standing behind the podium, obviously in the middle of giving a speech. Sitting on a stool next to him was Cecilia Lightridge, Head Priestess of the Church that was sponsoring this expedition.
In front of the two were rows of chairs, set up like pews of a Church. Sitting on them were the adventurers. There were the familiar faces of my party, Kyrian and Skaris, looking amused. Stole waved energetically, gesturing to a chair next to her. Even Aurora’s stony exterior seemed to melt a fraction of a degree, softening at seeing me.
Then there were the Scions from Turina, Dorocian and Gurran among them. Six members sitting in the way back, all of them cloaked from head to toe, though I did spy one of them holding a cane. That must be Arrosh and Clover’s party. Finally, random party ‘A’.
The ones I suspected to be the representatives of the Player’s Guild.
But that wasn’t the issue here.
I’d come out right next to Zenom and Cecilia, in full view of everyone.
Why the hell would they place the podium right next to the entrance to the deck? Just to embarrass any late comers?
Decades of being an introvert came rushing back and I felt my face heat up, regardless of Cores and Stats. This was a human response, something I was conditioned to do when put in the spotlight like this. Before I could mutter a response or duck back under, Zenom spoke first.
“It’s nice of you to join us.” His voice was the same as I remembered: Deep, commanding, authoritative and clipped like a natural born military commander. His blue eyes scanned me up and down.
I readied myself for another round of insults. The last time we had been late, he had thoroughly embarrassed us on the spot.
“Take a seat please.” He said.
He said nothing else.
Cecilia smiled at me from her seat and gestured with her head, a small nod. I returned the gesture and quickly ran over to where Stole was, joining my party.
“Glad to see you could make it, Lock.” Kyrian murmured softly, exchanging grips with me.
“Likewise.” I did the same with Skaris, quickly taking my seat. “Did I miss anything?”
“Other than Sis Aurora leaning over the railing and losing yesterday’s dinner in one go? And the small fishes that clamored around to get at it?” Stole said before anyone could interject.
Aurora hissed and until that moment, I didn’t know it could sound classy and annoyed at the same time. “Ms. Stole.”
Stole smiled easily. “Glad to see you back, Mister.”
“Welcome, Slaveborn.”
“Welcome back, Mr. Lock.”
“The knight glaressss at ussss.” Skaris hissed and we cut our greetings short. What was surprising wasn’t the fact that Skaris was the one to quiet us down. But who it had been aimed towards. Usually, when Skaris spoke it was only to Skaris and I, and very rarely Aurora. This time though, he kind of addressed the party as a whole.
Huh. That wasn’t the only thing that was new either.
There was an easy air about the four of them now that wasn’t there before. A sense of camaraderie existing between party members that went through something tough together. Then again, they were part of a raid of a Grade-4 Field Boss monster. So it was natural that it felt like they were close to one another.
Feeling somewhat more relaxed than before, I settled down among my party.
It felt good.
I had obviously walked in on what was a short briefing. Zenom cleared his throat and before speaking.
“I will now begin briefing our schedule for the rest of our trip.” He gestured to a board behind him that I hadn’t seen before, a giant map spread out on it.
“We have set sail from Miltus.” He pointed to a small city outlined in red.
Miltus was a peninsula, surrounded on all three sides by water. Towards the north, you would see Eretia, the city that led into the rest of the Jayu States –the Delirious Jungle, the Dwarven States and some of the Elven Cities. But they weren’t present on this map, instead the Peninsula was all the way on the left and there were lines leading to the right.
Zenon drew a straight line towards the right, where the map denoted the oceans. “We are currently heading East, towards Claw’s Nest.” He skipped a couple of smaller landmasses and pointed to a landmass almost the size of Miltus, which was labeled Claw’s Nest. “The voyage is expected to take three months. Along the way, there are three potential obstacles which we need to beware of.”
Right to the east of Miltus was a cluster of islands. Zenom pointed to it. “Our first stop will be at the Free Trader’s League. Technically, they are part of the Free States of Jayu as well as a member of the Turinan Trade Treaty. We will be stopping at one of the smaller islands where the Church has a presence. There, we will pick up our supplies before sailing straight for Claw’s Nest.”
He dragged his finger towards the right and dipped it beneath a couple of red boundary lines, drawing a huge curve instead of a straight line. The reason was apparent, there was another huge land mass at the top of the map, smack dab between the Free Trader’s League and the rest of the way.
“The red lines demark the territory lines of the Bada Horde. We will be skirting around the edges, making sure that there is no chance of encountering the Horde.” Around the midway point, his finger dipped back up again, and this time it was the open blue sea with a small symbol on it. “Due to the Bada Horde’s presence, we will be forced to enter the territory of a Field Boss.”
The mood changed.
“What grade?” asked a man. Human. Delas was his name, if I recalled correctly.
“...Grade 2.” Zenom answered.
“Absolutely bonkers.” Delas swore. He had ben leaning back in his seat with his legs stretched out, arms crossed. Now he leaned forward, scowling at Zenom and Cecilia as well as all the other priests and priestesses in attendance. “You couldn’t bother to mention that we’ll be crossing the territory of a Grade-2 Field Boss before we set sail? By the light-”
“Do not use the Divine’s name in vain.” Zenom snapped, then explained, “I can perfectly assure you, we have crossed the territory of this monster numerous times. There is a way to pass through its territory without aggravating it.”
“Yeah? What’s your genius plan then, your holiness?” Delas somehow managed to make the word sound insulting.
“The monster is known to slumber at most times of day and only becomes active at night.”
"No shit." Delas swore.
"The monster is theorized to be in a deep slumber."
A grade-2 monster that emerged only at night, slumbering during the day. Plus, it was powerful enough to be denoted as a Field Boss –a Variant that was so powerful that it actually owned its own territory. Yet, it stayed stationary in one spot of the ocean in a deep slumber. Deep slumber being the key word here. Before I could stop myself, I hissed out the monster's name.
“Imugi.”
I felt a dozen stares snap towards me like needles to a magnet. But I continued, all shyness disappearing.
“Grade-2 Monster, found in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. It has scales imbued with Elemental Resistance and natural hardness, enough so that unless you’re a Blader who’s received all of your god’s blessings, you won’t even put a scratch on it.”
God’s blessings, that was how the people of MSS referred to their racial traits.
“Rumored to be large enough to make this ship look like a toy.” My mouth was moving now and it wasn’t all because I wanted to, I was babbling because I was starting to realize just how stupid the Church was, to even risk going through that territory. “It breathes molten rock and can literally change the weather, summoning tornadoes out of thin air.”
“But that’s not the worst of it,” I finished. “Imugis can transform into a Dragon.”
Dragons.
Grade-S Boss Monsters of MSS.
A Monsters so difficult to kill that a single party wasn’t enough. To kill it, you needed to be part of a Clan with adventurers who were at least Grade 1, with end-game gear.
No one spoke.
Hell, no one moved.
“Turn this ship around.” Delas muttered. “You’re leading us into suicide.”
“That,” Zenom spoke, his voice hard. “Is impossible.”
“The fuck it is.” Delas stood up, a dagger appearing in his hand with a flick.
Slowly, Zenom placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. He didn’t grab it, but he wasn’t far from drawing it either.
The silence was so heavy, it could have sunk the ship.
“Delas.” The giant beastman with antlers next to him placed a hand on Delas’ shoulder.
Delas looked back at the beastman, a snarl on his face. “They’re going to get us killed, these Church fanatics.”
“They said they’ve done the voyage before.” The moose beastman rumbled.
Delas looked at Zenom, whose face was steel. Zenom cocked his head to the side in a small challenge, staring straight at Delas.
“I would advise that you listen to the rest of my briefing. You can ask your questions afterwards,” said Zenom.
The bald human rogue glared at Zenom then finally sat down, his dagger disappearing up his sleeve. He turned his head away, his arms crossed and pouting.
“Thank you for your most apt explanation, Mr. Lock.” Zenom nodded towards me and I winced.
I had only fed into people’s fear with my description of the monster.
“But rest assured, the monster won’t even know we are there.” He put his hand back on the map again. “The monster, or as Mr. Lock pointed out, the Imugi, has quite a large territory. The benefit of this is that we can skirt the outskirts of its territory, near the Bada Horde’s territory.”
“Ah, that isss wisssse.” Skaris whispered.
Stole gave Skaris a quizzical glance. “How so?”
“Predatorssss avoid each otherssss territory. The orcssss will avoid the monsssster, and the ssea sssnake will avoid where the orcssss hunt.”
“The orcs are snacks to an Imugi.” I interjected. “If they had the power to kill an Imugi or hurt it in any significant way, they’d have hunted the thing, skinned it and stripped it for parts already.”
“Do you go looking for mosssquitossss or avoid their nesssting groundsss?” Skaris asked.
“Huh. Never thought of it that way before.” I grudgingly admitted and we focused out attention on Zenom again.
“I hope that tightrope act is not your only plan.” Another familiar voice, Dorocian. “Or your reputation would be poorly deserved.”
I could practically hear Zenom grinding his teeth. Dorocian’s jibe had bothered him a lot mroe than Delas’ act of aggression had. Perhaps because she was from Turina, or because she was a Bastard of a Great House. Maybe both.
“We have other measures in place.” Zenom answered. “Now, these are the list of monsters we are likely to encounter on the way there.”
He began to point at smaller islands where we’ll be stopping. The other smaller ships sailing behind and ahead of us were logistical teams, more priests and other adventurers who were expected to provide some type of support. But everyone here was the main force and this ship had the most supplies. Therefore, we would have to make several stops along the way to redistribute food and other necessities.
As Zenom droned on and on, my mind wandered. Their plan made sense on paper alright, but I knew better. See, a theory was beginning to form in my mind.
That the gods were personally involved in this. Not just Oung and Khan. Not just the Light, Fire and Shield.
But all the gods.
And if all the gods were involved, I knew that nothing would go according to plan.
Actually, I bet things were going to go to shit, pretty fast. Like now.
Cecila snapped her head up at the same time that Stole did. In fact, a single member from every party looked to the sky, towards the east.
“Zenom, I’m afraid you’ll have to cut the rest of the briefing short.” Cecilia Lightridge rose from her chair, silver mana beginning to coalesce around her hands.
“We have company.”
***
Comments
Kai
Thank you!
Korviz
Hype hype hype!!
Mordock 24
Delas must’ve been real surprised to see Lock show up
Terra
And here we go!! Here comes another obstacle for Lock and his companions to conquer.
Seungmin Lim
Finally, some overworld exploration. Hyped to start this new arc!!!
