The storm was getting so close, we could feel the pressure of the winds more. The movement of the water was unstable, making the ship rock harder as it moved.

I walked down the deck.

“Close all the windows, hatches! Make sure the water can’t get into the ship!” I shouted at the stairs leading down. It would spell trouble if water gets inside. There were windows at the sides of the ship, so it must be certain they were sealed tight.

“All the windows are closed tight!” the woman, Shayla, shouted from inside.

“Good. We’ll close the hatch leading to the lower deck. You’ll be fine.”

Shayla looked at the people with her before nodding at me. “We’ll brave through the storm. We have faith you’ll get us through.”

I smiled, that should at least give them comfort. Guess I was acting all kind again. Like a pseudo pure princess.

I stepped back and nodded at the couple of guys. “Close it.”

They quickly closed the hatch and made sure it was firmly covered and closed. I looked around, everyone really tried to prepare as much as possible. Some were already standing at their stations, ropes tied around their waists secured to the ship so they wouldn’t get thrown overboard when things get really rough. The sails had also been shortened.

Just as I was walking to the bridge, raindrops had begun to fall on our heads. The wind was picking up. There was a bright flash of light, which was followed by thunder a second later. The men flinched.

I observed them, they were extremely anxious. Some of them lowered their heads, mumbling in prayer.

Hey now, you have a goddess here. My divine providence shall shield you from evil. Kidding.

The wind was cold and ominous. The tension grew at every second that passed. Those that were holding ropes gripped them tight involuntarily. The splashes of the waves echoed as they crashed against the ship. The sound of raindrops had slowly begun to fill our ears.

“Steady men!” I shouted as I calmly stood by the stairs to the bridge. They turned their heads to look at me. “Look forward! Face the monster ahead of us!”

They all looked forward.

“Today will be the day that you dare through a storm, and today will be the day that you emerge victorious against it! Nothing more is worth experiencing! Say aye if you agree!”

“““Aye!”””

“Good!” I formed a wide grin, oozing with bright confidence and optimism.

The rain had grown in intensity, clouding a good amount of our view. Thunders roar, the wind so violent. The waves were aggressive and countless. I climbed up the bridge and stood at the front, beside the helm. Taneva stood at the side of the bridge, not a trace of worry on his face. The two Cursed Children stood at the bow of the ship, they didn’t seem scared at all.

At any rate, we have reached the storm. And we now sailed within the belly of the beast.

I was already drenched by the rain, as were the others. Everyone tried to keep their balance as the ship slightly tilted from various directions. The wind assaulted the sails, but nothing our current sails couldn’t handle.

Given how rough the ship was going, I had to grip tightly on the rail in front of me. I glanced at the helmsman, the older one, he had an extremely focused face. Then, a moment later, he noticed the change in the wind.

“Boy! The wind changed!”

“I know!” shouted the boy on the deck. He then began instructing the men to adjust the sheets in accordance with the wind’s direction.

The men working were incredibly terrified. The unstable floor, the rustling rain, the seemingly endless thunder. All served to shake their hearts. But they did not falter and carried out their tasks.

The ship shook violently as it came down from a tall tide. As more waves crashed against our ship, the water ended up on the deck. Some of the men were directly hit by the water, and they were thrown onto the floor.

“Shit! You guys okay?!” one of the crew shouted.

“Y-Yeah. Not wounded!”

“I can still stand.”

“Good, now get back to your stations!”

“Aye!”

Oh would you look at that, they said aye! That’s it.

I rubbed the water coming down my eyes from the raindrops. I much prefer to stay inside my cabin, but that would be bad for my image as captain.

“Incoming!”

“Everyone brace!”

A large wave crashed against the front of the ship, the crew held tight. The ship violently shook as it broke through the water. The helmsman lost his balance. And so I quickly put him to his feet.

“Careful!” I said to him.

“T-Thanks!” He glanced at me for a moment, he must be a bit surprised how I was so calm about this.

But I was just gonna ignore it.

I looked around, the large restless waves truly were a bit frightening. This storm was way too strong for my liking. Too strong for my desire to feel like a pirate for once. I rubbed my face again. The storm was becoming intense, most that I could hear were the sound of the extreme wind, and the powerful rain droplets hitting the wooden floor. I was feeling cold.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Suddenly, a giant wave crashed against the ship, sending one of the crew flying. But his rope was loose, not secured properly to the ship.

Dammit, why didn’t you tie your rope properly?

“No!” one shouted in an attempt to reach out to his friend. However, he failed.

“Help!”

He was coming to my side, and he was about to reach the edge. Ugh, fine. I used a bit of my Physical Enhancement and jumped towards the grid of ropes, clinging on to them. It was roughly where the man was flying towards, and so I caught him by the back collar of his shirt.

“Aaah! Aaaah!”

He screamed as he watched the violent waves below him. Given the unstable rocking of the ship, I quickly moved down to the deck. The man collapsed on both knees, his hands and legs shaking in terror. He was breathing rapidly.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him to look at me.

“It’s not over yet, sailor!”

His eyes widened.

“You are still needed!” I grabbed the rope still tied to this waist. “Next time, tie this properly! Now go back to your station!”

“Y-Yes!”

He ran back to his station and frantically secured his rope to the ship. He shouldn’t make the same mistake now. I quickly returned to my post as the ship shook more violently. The water from a tide splashed on my face. I frowned.

“Ugh…”

Fuck.

Not graceful at all.

Resisting a sigh, I continued moving back to my post.

“How are we, helmsman?!” I asked.

“It’s getting worse!” He turned the wheel.

“Then we’ll become more daring! Push on!”

“Right!”

As we ventured more into the storm, the wind grew more erratic.

“Slack the sheets!” shouted the helmsman.

“Slack the sheets!” echoed the young helmsman.

The crew immediately began to move.

I was the captain. I should be the one giving out the orders, you know. But alas, I knew nothing about this. So best to leave it to the professionals. For now, I was everyone’s guardian angel. Or guardian goddess…?

“Incoming!”

“Hold fast!”

“Brace for impact!”

The ship received an impact. But it was alright. This ship was tough, I’ll give it that. Hm, which made me wonder how the ladies below were holding up. Nothing seems to be wrong with the controls of the ship, so no ship integrity was compromised.

As we got deeper into the storm, things grew more dangerous. We didn’t know how long exactly we had been riding through the storm, but it was significantly longer than what we all wished. I could see the exhaustion on their faces. But still, they were determined.

This is fun.

Indeed, it was. A little bit. Hey, I was not being an asshole here. This would be good for the crew as well, you know that. They would become better men. They would evolve. Nothing changes a man more than experiencing the throes of death. Except, no one would be dying. Just close to it.

After further struggle, everything seemed to have settled down. Yes, the rain grew weaker, the waves a little quieter, the wind a bit calmer. And in the sky was a ray of light coming down through a hole in the clouds.

“Woah.”

“What is this?”

Considering that it was peaceful, everyone settled down and looked up at the beautiful view. A view too different from just a moment ago. They looked with wide eyes full of mesmerization.

I smiled. “Congratulations, everyone!” They looked at me. “You have reached the eye of the storm!”

Their mouths fell in awe. From the looks of it, they have never seen something like this before. But the helmsman before me didn’t seem that excited. He must have seen one already. As for me, I looked up at the hole in the sky with awe as well. A satisfied smile on my face.

I never saw something like it before as well.

What a splendid view.

It was a kind of view I could have never seen when I was in the old world. As I thought, there were a lot of beautiful things to see outside the palace walls. Although, my intention was just going around the land, not in the sea. But this was good too. It warmed my heart to see the blue sky, a large ray of light shining against the dark, stormy midst.

And then suddenly, as we went under the eye, there was a large splash coming out of the ocean as a large creature jumped over the water's surface.

“What the hell is that?!” a crew member shouted in shock.

My eyes widened in astonishment as I saw what it was. It was a large whale, and it let out a loud sound echoing throughout the area. A soft sound. It was not any normal whale. Even I was surprised to see it. Its skin was the color of the night sky. Stars twinkling and shining all over its body. It was almost magical. No, could it be some sort of magical creature?

The helmsman loosened his grip on the wheel as he stared at the whale in mesmerization.

“Could it be…?”

“You know about it?” I asked.

“I only heard stories. I never even thought it was real. A star whale.”

Woah, that’s awesome. A star whale, huh? Certainly something unique in this world.

I directed my gaze at the star whale again. “... Is it rare?”

He scoffed. “Rare? No. It’s one of a kind. It is said that whosoever saw it will be blessed in the sea for the rest of their life.”

“What kind of blessing would it be?”

“You get lucky, you become successful.”

Now that was just vague, wasn’t it?

Taneva whistled. “Wow. Today’s our lucky day, it would seem. A good sign. Looks like we’ll be surviving this one, after all. But what a coincidence, isn’t it?” He glanced at me.

The helmsman nodded. “To think we would find it here, in the storm.”

“The rarest of creatures, right here before us,” Taneva casually said.

After the whale dove back into the sea, we could see the wave on the water coming towards us. I winced.

“Hold up, is it coming towards us?” I warily asked.

“Apparently,” Taneva answered.

Woah, woah, hey! Isn’t that bad?

Why the hell would it be coming towards us? Was it dangerous, after all?

It was moving too fast. Our ship wouldn’t be able to get out of its trajectory on time. I was ready to fight it off when it jumped out of the water. The crewmen gasped in shock as the massive creature jumped above and over the ship. I was quite caught off guard by how high it jumped. It didn’t even hit the mast of the ship. But as it moved, I grew anxious. What if it hits the damn ship?!

And how did it even do that?! It was massive as fuck! How was this even possible?!

The star whale landed back on the water, and we had to hold on to the railing as the ship rocked with the waves.

I walked over the edge of the ship and saw it swimming around and below us. This already felt like a shark circling around its prey. Still, what it was doing was pretty dangerous. I didn’t like it.

One of the crewmen then asked a question. “Is it planning to eat us?”

“Surely not.”

“I hope not!”

Taneva approached me. “It looks friendly. It shouldn’t harm us.”

I frowned. “Oh yeah? The way it moves around us, it’s only a matter of time before there’s an accident.” It could accidentally hit a part of the ship. It was so big, it might not realize it hit us. One smack and it could punch a hole into the hull. I looked at it with an annoyed expression. “Friendly or not, with it swimming around us this close is dangerous. I would rather it stop doing that.”

After I said that, it let out a cry from underneath the water. And immediately it began to swim away.

Hm?

Our eyes followed it as it swam away, jumping above the water and slowly shrinking in the distance, disappearing into the darkness of the storm. Taneva slowly turned towards me with narrowed eyes.

I gave him a confused look. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

He exaggeratedly tilted his head to the side. “Wow, Estelia. I think you just drove it away.”

“What? I didn’t even do anything!”

No shit, I had not even fired a single fireball yet. Yeah, I was planning on doing that if it didn’t stop. ‘Estelia, you're really going to hurt a whale?’ Yeah, I would if it’s going to hurt me! ‘But they’re precious creatures!’ Okay, I was not intending on directly hitting it first, okay? Hurting it was like the second or third option. I was planning to only hit the water first, okay? Nothing happened, okay? It was alright, okay? Safe and sound. Don’t need to get all PETA on me. Hmph!

“It was a rare sight, too.” Taneva seemed to pout, crossing his arms and turning his head away from me.

“Wait, are you blaming me?”

“Yes, I do.”

I groaned with visible frustration. “Stop joking around already. The safety of the eye won’t be with us for long.” I turned towards the helmsman. “At least we got to see the star whale. But we’re not safe yet. Have everyone rest for a while. Afterward, we continue on.”