"So, do you know anything about boats?" I asked Malvina as we walked along the docks, trying to find a ride.

"I grew up in a desert," she replied, looking at me with furrowed brows.

"Right, so we both have no idea what to look for," I said, realizing this was going to be a waste of time.

"How about that ship? It's sleek, and I love the red color," she said enthusiastically. The red was indeed nice,I'll give her that.

"Let's not pick the ride based on color."

"You have a better criteria?" she asked, her tone serious.

"Well, in all the fantasy stories, it's the most run-down boat that will take us to the destination..." I cleared my throat and continued, "eventually."

"How about that one?" pointing to an almost disused boat.

"Tell me you're joking. That thing will break in two at the first wave."

"Maybe if I was alone, but with you guys I would not take such a risk, let's go find something more sturdy."

Two hours later, it seemed this was going to be more difficult than we thought. It appeared no one was actually trading with the other continent, as, of course, pirates were a problem on the other side.

Finally, we saw Alira in the distance and went to her. Mybe she knew more about boats.

"It seems no one wants to travel there because of the pirates," I said to Alira.

"I heard, but we're in luck. I know a captain who happens to be docked," Alira said. Well, thank God for her.

The boat was nothing spectacular but looked well taken care of. The sails didn't seem that old, the wood still retain some shine, and it's sleek size could mean good speed.

"Is the captain here?" Alira asked a sailor near the ship.

"He's below deck," he responded.

"Well, go get him. We have a business proposition for him."

The captain stood tall, his fitted clothes accentuating his confident demeanor.

"How can I help you?" he asked, his tone jovial and welcoming.

"We would like to hire you to take us to Enroth," Alira responded.

"Why would I do that?" the captain asked, smiling, looking around like he feared this was a practical joke.

"I happen to know you have a bounty on your head in Shadowmere waters. This paper," she handed him a scroll of some kind, "absolves you of any wrongdoing."

He read the scroll, and his expression changed.

"Assuming this is the real deal, and I will have it checked at the enchanting guild, I'm afraid it's not enough," he said, sighing. "I would really like to get rid of my bounty, but it would be a one-way trip. No one returned in the last weeks, not even the ones with contacts on the other side."

"There has to be something." I added.

"Honestly, unless you're willing to row the final stretch, there's no other option. We can't dock there—the shore is just as rough as it is on our side."

"How far from the shore we talking about?" This could be salvageable.

"If we drop anchor far enough at night lets say 10 km, we might have time to lower a boat and make it back..." he said, still thinking about the implications. "It's at least doable."

"And who is gonna row?" Alira asked pointedly.

"We'll take turns," I said, smiling.

"The current is more powerful than two people could row," the captain interjected.

"I assumed one of you has super strength or some water-based propulsion power," he added.

"We don't, but I have an idea, and I'm confident that should work."

Alira did not look happy. "Maybe you should check if the idea works first, instead of hearing 'oops, we're stranded in the middle of the ocean on a rowboat.'"

"I was kidding, okay. It will work, trust me." This time I was dead serious.

"Fine," she said a little exasperated. Malvina looked like she wanted to say something but slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"Perfect," the captain spoke. "Now, let's discuss dinari. Hiring a crew to go there will not be cheap. Then there's the rowboat we have to part with. A danger fee will be added, of course." He could haggle; I'll give him that.

Three horribly seasick days later and a lot of dinari poorer, we were descending the rowboat at dawn with the coastline visible.

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With the sailboat leaving, Alira spoke, "I hope your idea works."

"I still don't understand it," Malvina remarked.

"I explained it three times already," I sighed.

"I envelop the lower side of the boat with a mana shield. It lowers the drag coefficient to almost zero, like 0.01," she was about to retort.

"Doesn't matter what it means. The wooden boat has a coefficient of 0.1, meaning one person rowing is the equivalent of 10 people rowing.." Looking at them, I continued, "I'll row on this side, and you take turns on the other side."

It took under half an hour to reach the shore.

"That was amazing! We were going so fast. Can you do it on land as well?" Malvina asked. She had the need for speed, it seemed.

"No, it only works in contact with water."

"Why did we stop here? We could have gone directly to the port city," she continued.

"The closer the shore is, the higher the waves, which you saw were very dangerous. And keeping that shield extended took a lot out of me. I feel almost as tired as after the fight with the necromancers." That seemed to end the discussion.

Stepping onto the ground, I received the message.

Quest completed, rewards available.

New quest: Find the lost shard of the dead goddess Aurora.

Reward: A new spell.

This was not going to work. I was not a lapdog to follow clues blindly.

"No," I shouted. The others turned to me, confused. "I just got another quest," I said in a normal tone, but then I continued shouting. "If you want me to do anything, show yourself and talk!" In a lower tone, I added, "Like a normal human, or whatever you are."

For a few seconds, nothing happened, and I feared I was just screaming like a crazy person. But a small light appeared, and Alira and Malvina dropped to the ground.

"They are just sleeping, do not be worried," it actually spoke, even though it was just a speck of light.

"I can stay, but only for a moment." At least I was getting some answers. "The first thing is, you cannot tell your companions anything, as other gods or people will be able to read their minds. From you, they cannot." Torture immediately came to mind; I would sing like a canary, but I stayed quiet.

"The gods will soon be free. The shard is the only thing that can stop them and give this world a future. I must go, or they will discover a small part of me remains."

She continued with a pleading tone, "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I sacrificed myself to get you here and give this world a chance. This is not some game between bored gods, that I promise you." Her distress made it more believable.

The light was immediately gone, and the girls began to stir.

"What happened?" Alira said, dusting the sand off her.

"I got some answers, not many, but it was a start."

"And you're going to wait until when to tell us?" Malvina followed.

"That's the unfortunate part. I can't tell you," this was going to be a hard sell.

"Why not?" Alira continued.

"I can't tell you that either, or it will be a clue for the first part."

"Then what, we just follow you blindly?" Alira seemed really uncomfortable with the lack of control.

"I can't ask you to help me with the quest, but it is extremely important."

Alira shifted and looked like she was trying to calm herself. "Well, can you at least tell us about the quest?"

"Find a shard of a long-dead goddess," I replied.

"Any clues?" Malvina asked.

"No, so we will need to find a city. I get a feeling it’s not that obscure."

"What spell did you get from the quest?"

"Good question." As soon as I said that, the message appeared.

You have gained a chaos orb.

"Chaos orb, it’s called," but as much as I tried to cast it, nothing worked.

"Are you sure you're doing it right? Maybe you read the spell wrong?" Malvina was trying to be helpful, but she was the opposite of that.

A little frustration seeped into my voice. "I know how to read and speak. It’s just not working."

"Maybe it takes both hands to cast it," she suggested.

For the next few hours, I tried every suggestion the girls had, and nothing.

The harbor on this side of the continent looked much more modest, but it had a bounty hunter league building, so we headed there for information and maybe a contract.

"Welcome to the Bounty Hunter League. How may I help you?" he looked like the same 50-something bureaucrat you would expect to see.

"Some information first, and then maybe a contract," I answered.

"What kind of information?"

"Know anything about a shard of a dead goddess Aurora?" hoping the name was not giving away too much.

"Is this a joke? You want to hear about children's tales, go ask a midwife. As to contracts, we have more than enough. The loss of trade also means fewer bounty hunters," he sounded sad.

"And less money from the 20% fee," I added.

"Yes, quite."

"Anything urgent that might be paying double or triple?" that boat ride was expensive.

"A harpy invasion in one of the zones up west?" he asked hopefully.

That sounded like a lot of work. "Anything else?"

"Troggs invaded a mine encampment east of here."

Who knows how deep and maze-like those mines were. "Pass."

"Well, I don’t suppose basilisks might interest you. Pay is 500 dinari," his eyes shined.

"500? Why so much? How dangerous are they?" Malvina asked.

"They are not that dangerous, well, except for the petrify if you look at them," he was a regular riot.

Malvina paled, while it was evident that Alira was already aware of them. But if I was immune to mind control and blood bending, would I be immune to petrify? Well, 500 dinari was a very good incentive to find out.

Turning to Alira, I said, “I think we should take it.”

“So you're thinking immunity to the petrify?” Alira asked in a low voice.

“If not, at least I’m going to win every staring contest from now on,” I smiled, but she didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm.

Taking a more serious tone, I continued, “Petrify will have to change my body, so the same principle should apply. Obviously, I can’t be 100% sure, but I wouldn’t have taken it otherwise.”

She seemed to think about it and turned to the man and asked, “What else can you tell us?”

“They invaded a very rich province a few days south from here. Problem is, they are in a valley, and their magic now makes the valley perpetually in fog, so no crops means they are losing money, and you can’t see them until it’s too late, so very hard to hunt.” That didn’t sound as easy as before, but I had to keep up the confidence.

“I understand you believe you have an advantage, but what about us? Are we supposed to stay behind or what?” Maybe I was asking too much from Malvina.

“Maybe at the inn, we can find information on some of your people. You're right; it is very dangerous, and you are just a kid,” I said.

"I'm 19, not a child," she said, her voice full of courage.

“Fine, how about that inn?” It looked a little better than the others.

As we sat down, I called the waitress.

“What can I get you?” she said with a cheerful fake smile.

“We're not from around here, and we would really like to know about the legend of the shard of the goddess Aurora.”

She looked like, again, it was a joke of some kind, but after assuring her of a generous tip, she continued.

“There are a lot of conflicting stories, but the idea is, Goddess dies, shard falls hard to earth in a mountain in the heart of the continent. With it, you will have the power of a god, but it is guarded by terrible monsters, and the most dangerous is a black dragon,” she ended with a flair for the dramatic.

“What makes the black dragon so dangerous?” Although I had a very good idea, considering their lore back home.

“It is taller than the highest building, it can fly, spew magic fire, its dark hide is immune to weapons and magic.”

The last part was going to be a huge problem.