A few nautical miles later -although Viers didn't know that- they had left the isolated island under perpetual dark clouds. After one parting, came another.

“Sunlight… Ohhh—”

Charles the ghost was deeply moved as the sun rained down its rays on him. The ghost started to disperse into motes of light starting from the bottom part of his body.

“Thank you, Tanael. You have freed me from my prison.”

“Good luck to you on your way. Enjoy heaven,” Viers waved.

Charles nodded. “Beware the Deep Dweller God or you’ll end up like my brother.”

The ghost said a warning as his last words and any trace of him was gone. Viers looked up at the sky for a minute before charting a course back to the starting island.

The ghost crew did their job as deftly as they were alive.

The Frozen Siren was faster than Viers’ precious ship. The trip was quite leisurely. Blue seas as far as the eye could see. One couldn't help to have their spirits lifted.

“Nice view...” Paina used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun’s rays. Viers’ materialization gave her bodily sensation even if she remained a bodiless soul. “Farley, look, look! There's a bunch of dolphins swimming with the ship!”

Affected by the schoolgirls-on-a-trip mood, Farley also became looser with her actions. She was always donning the role of a devoted servant while she was inside of Viers. The stiffness of that role was no longer visible on her smiling face.

Her master, Lord Viers, was in the middle of eating human souls in the captain's quarters.

“Mm, this is really great. I wonder if the sea in the real world is as grand as this? Do you know, Clarissa?”

The lamia, was a lamia no longer. She had a pair of legs below her torso now. Viers made it that way. He said he didn't want his enemies to know her true form.

This was why Clarissa was walking in baby steps using unfamiliar limbs.

“Urgh, feet are so inefficient. I should float instead,” Clarissa grumbled. “I’m a soul-being!”

“You okay there, warrior-princess? Vanquisher of four Rat Lords, savior of the city of Ao Yeptu, champion of Veqqre,” Paina jabbed at her, using the tales of Clarissa’s past exploits that she shared with Paina and Farley.

“I’m fine. About the real world’s seas… The stories I’ve heard from my sisters are that many seas have been destroyed, dried up, or sent inland in tidal waves in my time. I’ve never seen seas with my own eyes back then. As for this age, they should be already back to normal, after what we’ve seen in Regidana.”

“I suppose beautiful landscapes are a rarity during the War of the Gods… What a shame. I would love to see the beauty of the world at that time before the war wrecked everything. I bet it’s a thousand times more mystical than anything we’ve ever seen,” Paina said.

“This view is enough,” Farley gazed at the line where the sky met the sea. “I really hope Gwen can see this,” she said softly.

“Gwen will be alright,” Clarissa put her hand on Farley’s shoulder. “Once Viers reaches Level 3, he will definitely be able to wake her up then.”

“Is Viers really unable to heal her soul right now? She’s a non-Pathseeker while Viers’ soul affinity is 5. Shouldn't be too difficult, right?” Paina asked.

“Viers lacks the skill and understanding of the soul to properly heal her. He’s got the best affinity for souls, but his ‘mastery’ of using it isn’t up to par. This isn't a problem when he uses soul Artes offensively however, destroying a vase is easy. Putting them back together is a very different matter,” Clarissa explained.

“And becoming a Level 3 will give him the ‘mastery’ he requires?” Farley looked downward.

“Mastery isn't the same as raising your Pathseeker Level,'' Clarissa shook her head. “It takes time, practice, and knowledge to deepen your understanding and touch the fundamental law of the elements. But in this case, with greater power at his command, he should be able to bridge the necessary step of waking your sister. I watched the last time he tried. He was missing just a bit but he didn't push forward. With Gwen’s well-being in mind, it is better for him to heal her as a Level 3. If Viers spent his time healing people’s souls instead of mutilating them, perhaps he could wake Gwen right now.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Paina scoffed. “I don't see that’s happening with Viers.”

“He would,” Farley said to the contrary. “If the benefits are great enough.”

Viers emerged from his cabin dressed like a true pirate captain, wearing a tricorn hat and an eyepatch on his left eye. For some unfathomable reason to the girls, he was dead set on reducing his field of vision for nothing at all.

Be that as it may, Viers’ ‘presence’ was not like before. The girls were tethered to Viers and they could feel the power emanating from his soul.

“Lord Viers has gotten stronger again,” Farley said with complicated feelings.

“Arte Myriad Souls in One… He might really be able to pull it off, assimilating a myriad of souls,” Paina understood the immensity of its cost.

“He said he planned to hit 20,000 Soul Power today. Against the people without soul defensive measures, his soul Artes would be very devastating,” Clarissa said.

Viers’ Soul Power was around 10,000 before. He’d just consumed the rest of the Level 3 Deathsworns, Irkun’s bodyguards. Viers’ Soul Power was now the equivalent of consuming twenty Level 3s.

Viers approached the girls at the ship’s bow. “Good afternoon, angels. How’s the skin? Got a tan yet?”

“The warmth of the sun is pleasant, Lord Viers. We’re grateful,” Farley gave Viers a proper curtsy.

“White Flower Meadows is always night so a change of pace feels good,” Paina said.

“Glad to hear it. As long as you have fun,” Viers extended a spyglass and scanned the surroundings with it. Truthfully, he didn't really need the thing. He could do the same with Euryale Sight. Viers used it for the feels. Not long after, he shouted.

“Look alive, you shivering barnacles!” Viers turned to the ghost crew. “Prey in front! Full sail!”

Viers caught the shape of a ship and made his way to the wheel to take command as he barked orders.

“Well, he’s having fun. That’s for sure,” Clarissa said. The three looked towards the grinning Captain of the Frozen Siren and unanimously agreed.

Soon, the Frozen Siren caught up with the traveling ship. He crippled the smaller ship using the cannons and boarded it once they were dead in the water. Like an experienced pirate that had done this a hundred times, Viers defeated the NPCs that tried to resist until there were none.

“Victory!” Viers roared and the crew answered. “Savor the taste of our first triumph but there are countless more to come!”

Then, to test if his conjure was right or not, he combed the ship for its cargo and any valuables.

“Haha! I was right!”

The coin, goods, and precious material that he plundered could be turned into spark shards. The gain wasn't much though. The ship he plundered was small and ordinary. He looked forward to besting Man O' War class ships in the future.

“Let’s keep an eye out for more prey as we return to the starting island.”

Two days later, Viers returned to the starting island like a prodigal son; proud, on top of the Frozen Siren. He returned for one thing only.

“Crazy Pete, how are you old drunk?”

“Ah it’s you again. Did you get what I asked?” The man was still sitting in the tavern just like the day he found him, rum in hand. Had he stayed there these past ten days? Viers was curious.

“No, but I got you something better.”

Viers dropped a pouch full of coins. The sound of that hitting the table was satisfying.

“You told me that you wanted me to get you some rocks that you can sell for money so you can send money to your family. There, I gave you the money directly. No need for whatchacallit rocks. Now tell me how to get to the City of Pearl.”

The logic was sound in Viers’ mind.

“I can't accept this coin. Get me the rocks, then we’ll talk.”

“...Is it the currency?” What Viers gave was the gold coins from the real world. “I have just the thing.”

Viers put out another full pouch beside the first. This one was filled with the coin that he plundered from the ships in Stage 2. Crazy Pete shouldn't have complaints now.

“No. Crazy Pete wants you to get the rock.”

Viers sighed.

“You really are Crazy Pete. I have just given you enough money to purchase three houses. Oh well. I already half-expected this result.”

If Crazy Pete was a living person, he would have shuddered looking at Viers’ slasher smile.

“Welp, you left me with no choice. Have it your way.”

“Wha-? What are you doing?”

Viers pounced on him, dragged him out of his chair, and wrangled him with thick ropes. Crazy Pete became a human caterpillar.

“If you had a soul, I would have already pried the location from your brain but you don't, so I invite you to my ship. Let’s see if I can't change your mind. If I can't, I’ll get these damn rocks of yours but returning here again for a fetch quest is too troublesome. You’ll come with me, bud.”

“R-Release me. Criminal! Murder!”

The people of the tavern didn't dare to act. Viers walked out after leaving some coins to the bartender with Crazy Pete on his shoulders.

Viers planned to throw him overboard in the middle of the sea once Crazy Pete had outlived his usefulness. Because Crazy Pete represented all the annoying fetch quests Viers had done across all the games he had ever played. Viers wanted an outlet to channel that vexation.

And if this unconventional act toward the quest giver resulted in the quest failing, Viers already took another quest from a different NPC that claimed he knew where the City of Pearl was.

It was worth the risk.

Viers sprinted to the Siren while Crazy Pete screamed for help unceasingly. Boldly, he took the main road to the port. Not a single townsperson reacted, just like when Viers moored his ghost ship in broad daylight.

“Wahahaha! Weigh anchor, lads! To the sea once more!”

The Frozen Siren rode the waves with a new attachment. Crazy Pete was bound to the mast upside and down.

“HEEEEELP!!!”