Some stories begin with a boy and a girl who meets and fall in love, toasts in their mouths may or may not be involved. Some stories begin with someone facing the killer of one or two of their parents—in rare cases even three or even more parents—only to flash back to how everything came to be, which is like to look at the picture of the finished meal in a cooking book, only to then start working towards it. On a related/unrelated note, these stories tend to be exactly like cooking using a cooking book, as the results is never as satisfying as the premise.

This is why our story starts in a drinking hole, where layers of puke are stacked on top of each other for generations, and whenever the proprietor felt like cleaning the floor, the mop would become dirty without the floor being any cleaner than before. It was that kind of drinking hole.

“Wllelwoo...” These first spoken words of our story won't shake the ground, nor were they in any way quotable, but they fit Captain Sebastian Bluerose, the dauntless deviant, the expert explorer, the allegory adventurer, who did what every sane explorer would do: Spend all of their fortune before beginning a life-threatening excursions into the deadly waters of an uncharted sea.

It was really simple: He would either return and make it all back or he would perish and then he could face death knowing that he at least enjoyed life. As this was an admirable outlook, it was also showing that Captain Sebastian Bluerose was just going with the flow of things.

“Here you are...” A firm hand pulled the captain up, who was by no means small nor light, he was an athletic fellow after all, his body toned by prior adventures and dangers, which he had all braved... somehow. Yet the man pulling him up was on an entirely other level, as he was as wide as two men and as tall as one-and-a-half. Quartermaster Greggor, who despite his rough look wasn't a brute, but an educated and kind soul, who just happened to be able to tear my or your limbs from your torso with ease, which earned him the moniker 'Greggor, the Gentle Giant'. Either that, or the hard publicity campaign Captain Sebastion Bluerose did for his core crew to attract people to his adventurers. “Captain, we only got an hour left before departure.”

“Nhau isnuff,” once again a genius retort escaped the captains lips, yet no one would ever know what he tried to say, as his tongue wasn't as quick as his wit at that moment.

“Then same as every time, eh?” Greggor wasn't angry, he was sighing as resignation, as at this point he was already knowing his captain too well to expect any other outcome.

However, the captain's eyes widened, as he realized that once again he went against the resolutions he makes every time that happened before. “Njoooooooooo....!”

“Yes. BE READY!” Greggor threw his captain with one arm out of the already opened door, and the captain was greeted by a wall of water that the two women weaved, one held it in place, the other would 'wash' their captain's drunkenness with kneading currents out of his body.

Doing that to a normal person would be called 'torture', but for a salable sailor as Captain Sebastian Bluerose this was just a wake-up call, especially as he used his own magic to strengthen his body enough to endure the bone-crushing currents with ease.

As a side-effect of his body-enhancing, his vitals were now working on superhuman levels, which also meant his liver and kidneys did their best to process the alcohol in this body. While this wasn't an instant cure to hangover, it was enough to give the captain the ability of clear thought... at least up to his personal capacities.

After he was released from his watery prison, he spat out some of the water—he only had sipped some of it during this trial to make that gesture in that exact moment—pushed the long hair from his face, and made a grand gesture: “Good morning, my crew.”

Greggor lowered his head in respect. Ocher—the woman who held the water—sighed in relief and gave him a smile. Indigo—the woman who had made the kneading—held her head while grimacing. All of them were valuable core crewmembers, who already faced some adventurers with their captain and were therefore used to his antics.

“Alright, Greggor. I take that Hank is already working and the crewmembers are boarding the Reverence?” Hank was the ship's doctor, who would do the last check-up of their crewmembers—old as new ones—while also doing the necessary measurement.

“No, you haven't given your speech yet.”

“Ah right. Do you have my sea clothes?”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Aye captain!”

After borrowing an alleyway to change and some help with his hair, Captain Sebastian Bluerose looked the part of the enterprising explorer that he claimed to be. With his light-brown overcoat, which had several belts and blades attached to him, his boots with the floating skates on the side ready to deploy at any time, the puke removed from his short brown beard, his hair in a ponytail, and a tricorn on his head, his dynamic movements got a certain flair to it. “How do I look?”

“Great, my captain!” Ocher said in delight and admiration, she had been his personal fangirl from day one, though this was a totally platonic relationship.

“Alright, time to meet the crew. Greggor, did you get the usual?”

“Yes, my captain. The lowlifes that try to escape poverty, the debtors that could either join us or sell their organs, the crooks that would like the amnesty, sprinkled with some idealists and wannabes.”

“Perfect!” One did not join a journey into uncharted waters unless they had a compelling reason to escape what they know. Or be plain insane, which also included Captain Sebastian Bluerose. He just happened to be the one who somehow managed to luck up his way to what he was today.

The group of four arrived at the harbor, there Captain Sebastian Bluerose found the Reverence immediately. It was a green-painted, slim ship with three masts, and many different sails and many would question whether it would even be able to travel across the open ocean, yet most crews didn't have five capable mages that specialized into sea magic among their ranks.

Before the Reverence, a crowd has formed, most of them were sailors or those who wanted to become ones, but the explorer also spotted a group of soldiers, headed by his dear friend and big cheese General Vincent.

It brought the captain to tears that his friend was here to say his goodbye, though he certainly also had some words of the crown, as he was here in uniform. Oh well, it was their money they decided to throw at Captain Sebastian Bluerose, so he couldn't blame them to have some last words with him.

However, this conversation had to wait, as the captain had to address his crew first. There was already a crate ready for him to climb, but he used a bit of his magic to enhance his legs, making a large leap above the crowd, while mixing some more into his vocal chords to make his voice carry throughout the whole harbor, as he made a dramatic turn on top of the crate to look at his new crew.

The hopeless bunch as always. Great! “Ladies, Gentlemen, and everyone else, welcome! Some of you may know me, others only heard of me. I am Captain Sebastian Bluerose, the Successful Scoundrel, the Excellent Explorer, the Ardent Adventurer. Some of you may know that I also write books, though I'm sure that most of you can't read properly. That may be a shame, but only few of you are here for a good story or an adventure, but for cold hard cash. First, let me say this: Yes, it is true. The crown has funded this exploration and will pay generously for each map we will make and even more so for each treasure we find. And yes, there will be an amnesty for everyone who will survive this journey. If not, the general may tackle me from my crate and call me a filthy, stinky liar.” He pointed at General Vincent, who just nodded, which brought enough 'oohs' and 'aahs' to made the captain's day.

He continued: “Don't be fooled, it's a dangerous journey and many of you won't return. You need to earn your part, but if you do so and stay alive, then the reward is immense. Instead of wasting a long live in debt, filth, and crime, you can risk it to turn everything around. So everyone who hangs on it and aren't willing to throw it away, this is the last chance to go. Do it now.” In fact, some of them do. There were always some that will shy away the moment the captain becomes deadly serious and reconsider their choice.

After he respectfully waited for them to leave, he continued with his usual cheer: “For the rest, welcome to the Reverence. Before you can board it though, you need to go to that tent, where our ship's doctor is waiting. He will use magic to look if you got any contagious diseases—we seriously don't want any outbreaks on board—and he will also make you infertile-” This was always the part where the booing and complaining would drown out his magically enhanced voice, as this standard procedure wasn't often spoken about. “Please, please!” The captain became louder to fight back the insults hammering down on him: “We are on a ship, we have men and women, and it's not neutering you, just makes you create duds, so that no accidents will happen. It's entirely reversible, often used by nobility until they're married, and I'll lead by example and be the first one to do it.”

He also got support from his first mate, Scarlet, a red-haired woman with a large build and the face of a feral beast, ready to bite whatever comes close, whose harrowing voice didn't need any enhancement to outperform everyone present: “JUST SHUT UP AND DO IT, YOU FLITHRIDDEN DREGS OR I WILL RIP THEM OUT MYSELF!” As she was the one who was responsible to gather most of them, they probably also knew by now that she was not a woman to be trifled with.

Captain Sebastian Bluerose's heart beat hard, as he saw his new crew enter the tent and board the ship. As he proclaimed, he was the first to go to the tent and now he was waiting for his friend to have one or three words with him.

“Captain.”

“General.”

“Have a good journey.”

“Is that all? You came in armor and everything.”

“Just here to send you off, everything else was said and it stays as negotiated. I just volunteered to serve as the representative, and to make sure that any riot that may occur is suppressed immediately.”

“Oh, that's nice.” Sebastian took Vincent's hand: “Take care of the country.”

“Take care of yourself.”

“I can't. That's why I'm an explorer, after all.”