The ship that Allan and Nathaniel had hired was a pirate owned Caravel , the only means of crossing the dead zone of the Southern sea.
This had been an unplanned detour , their main job being to only collect the taxes from the oasis on the main continent. But when they got word of an island that was rumoured to have a Nameless Death , they could not resist the chance to seek glory and favour from their Beast Lord for capturing such a fine specimen for his collection.
They also learned that the island had formerly been used as a mine for Almond stones, meaning that it was a verified habitable zone.
This was important because due to the supernatural atmosphere of Praiyas , vast regions of the planet were completely toxic to common life. These were the areas where the real monsters like Soul Reapers and Dread Ghosts thrived.
The problem with this detour was that to get to the island , they would be passing at the fringes of the Dead Zone of the Southern sea. This was a large portion of sea buried in perpetual storm that very few voyages survived.
The few ships that managed to cross it were those that only passed around the edges of this storm. They came with frightening stories of sea monsters that dropped from the storm’s clouds and swam through the waters leaving trails of powerful lightning in their wake.
Over time , these stories, though largely unverified , started detering many sailors from even approaching this part of the sea , leading to the collapse of the once booming business of mining Almond stones on the island. Pirates , on the other hand , were always willing to provide passage for those with the coin and guts to risk their lives.
Jack had decided to take a few hours of sleep , with Aiko seated on a rocking chair next to his bed reading a book. She had promised to keep watch , a task Jack was perfectly comfortable entrusting her with.
Allan and Nathaniel had their own separate rooms , and were at the moment deliberating with the captain of the ship on whether they should pass through the fringes of the Dead Zone or keep their distance as they passed around it .
The second option would take them an extra three days and give the pirates a reason to double their price.
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As Jack was sleeping , his dreams took him back to the tomb of Gurhath back in the tunnels.The lava was still flowing , but this time did not burn his feet. The Nameless was standing next to the tomb , but remained motionless. Its right hand was however placed on the hilt of its black sword , something that made Jack weary.
As he approached the tomb itself, a strange feeling came over him. Even though he was the one curious about the tomb , it felt like the tomb was the one actually drawing closer to him , wanting to have a better look at him.
The ship hit a big wave and woke Jack up with a start when it tilted for a moment before coming back hard to its former alignment.
“ Bossman ,” Aiko put down her book and turned to Jack , a little rattled.
“ Oh , hey Aiko. How far are we from reaching the shore ?” he asked her.
“A bit far still. Aiko remembers that we still need to get past the dead zone. She now wants to go and ask the beasts if we have passed it ,” the girl stood up , leaving her book on Jack’s bed.
“ What’s a dead zone ?” Jack asked , his eyes falling on the book she had been reading.
“Is it okay with Bossman if Aiko tells him on the way out? Bossman would benefit a lot too if he takes a few rounds about the ship of the beasts,” she asked , eager to step outside.
Jack , who also wanted to take in some fresh air , so no harm and even led the way out. He however stopped to deal with a scratch on his back caused by wearing the clothes the beast folk had given him . As was to be expected , the clothes had bits of prickly hair stuck inside them that didn’t give Jack’s smooth back skin any comfort.
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At the deck , Allan and Nathaniel were having a squabble with the captain. The pirates were Beast Folk just like them , but a sense of belonging didn’t carry any weight with pirates. They were perfectly okay exploiting a fellow Beast Folk as they would elves or most likely , humans.
“ Seafang , the deal was you get us to and fro this island for the price of twenty gold ,” Nathaniel fumed , the hairs on his face rising.
“ Aye , you’re right milad. But then that's when ya had a crew of ya own. Now there’s only two of ya and thirty pirates of mine who don’t keep their fucking word. Triple the pay or find ya selves thrown overboard ,” the captain spat back at him , his awful mouth odour finding its way through the winds and mist and reaching into their noses.
“ We will triple the pay , but you will have to do something in return,” Alan conceded , seeing the pirate had the upper hand. He was as well not sure whether Jack would support him if an actual fight with the pirates started.
“I’m listening ,” Seafang grinned.
“We are running low on time , so you will pass as closely ass you can around the fringes of the dead zone without risking lives ,”
“Nay , that’s a tall order ya asking of me . You’re a seasoned hunter , I’m sure you know the stories about the dead zone ,” Seafang showed hesitation.
Nathaniel jumped in to support his leader , “ Is this fear I see in a pirate ?”
“Perish the thought beast man. I’m merely looking out for me crew , something ya leader here should be doing instead of asking the impossible for me ,”
Though he was getting a little nauseous from all the turning the ship was doing under the impact of the waves , Jack held it in and followed Aiko. She seemed to know her way around the ship and pretty soon they were out on the deck .
The first thing that Jack noticed was the weird monochrome shading of everything including himself. Every colour in sight was either a black , white or grey shading depending on how lit it was.
The waters of the sea were obsidian black and the waves they made as they splashed against each other were white as milk foam. So too were the arcs of lightning that kept flashing inside a raging tornado of clouds that didn’t seem to have much effect on the water around them.
“ That is the dead zone that Aiko was telling Bossman about , it curses the spectrum of light around it ,” Aiko pointed a finger at the slow twisting tornado. Jack noticed that she still had her blue aura around her and guessed that it had something to do with his System.
Against the monochrome background , Aiko’s blue aura struck a picturesque illustration of a dystopian setting.
A couple of crew members passed by them headed to where the Beast Folk stood conversing with the captain of the ship. They gave lingering stares at Aiko before going back to mining their own businesses.
“ Bossman , Aiko has marked those two. She will deliver punishment for ogling at her beauty in due time ,” the girl turned to Jack , bashful and smiling as always. It made Jack laugh a little , wondering how a person could be so out of character all of the time.
The sailing was going smoothly and everything seemed good. Jack was just about to look up to the sky and give a thanksgiving prayer for the relative peace he had been enjoying , the first in a very long time.
[
System Information
New Quest
Defeat the Electromadon
Quest Rewards : Points x 1000 , electromadon claws x 1
]
“Just when I thought I could catch a rest ,” he sighed .
“ Aiko suspected as much , it is because we are passing so close to the dead zone . It is widely believed to be the abode of one of Praiyas’ most feared sea monsters ,” Aiko said after having a look at what the System was saying.
As she answered him , a powerful arc of lightning split across the clouds , lighting up everything like the sun before going out in a fraction of the same second. It caught Aiko’s attention , and for a moment looking at the swirling storm gave her a weird sense of belonging.
“So , do you know what this new monster looks like ,” Jack , who had initially planned to walk over to Alan and have a conversation with him about their arrangement , now found himself walking over to gunwale of the ship.
He leaned on the handrails, his eyes drifting off into the storm far ahead. With Perception working passively , he could already tell that the monster was in among those massive dark clouds , waiting for the right moment to strike.
“ Aiko knows only what is believed by the inhabitants of Praiyas. Electromadons are creatures that have the ability to cross between Praiyas and Titania , the world of the Titan race. But Aiko does not work with hearsay ,” the girl joined him , the wind blowing her long blue hair furiously against the monochrome background of the ship.