We arrived at Indolus with little fanfare. Since the village was the first stop to our destination, we stayed only for a few hours. It gave us enough time to rest our feet and cater to some civilized comforts unavailable on the road. And by the time we finished our food at the local inn, it was already time to go.
Teddy led the way and brought us to what looked like a dock at the river's edge. Tethered to the pier was a simple-looking river barge barely wider than Arturous. There was no mast, but one look at the river explained why there was no need. With the river flowing rapidly, the simple barge would have no trouble gliding through the water.
As we approached, a burly man followed by a scraggly teenager greeted us. "Hello! Is this the rest of your crew? If not, you may have to book another boat. With your big beastie over there, it'll be a tight squeeze," the man said.
Behind him, the teenager kept silent, but he was obviously staring at both Eodyne and Celanae. Snorting, Isaac "played" with his dagger while stepping in between the teenager and his teammates. The teenager audibly gulped and looked away.
Teddy smiled sympathetically at the man who stood silent, watching the small exchange with an exasperated look. "Yes, this is all of them. Are we ready to set off?"
"Aye. Hop on, and we can set off in the next minute." The man then turned around and ordered the teenager to start untying the ropes before returning to Teddy. "To be clear, I don't usually go as far as the island. The lake beasts have been agitated as of late. If anything comes to attack the boat, it'll be up to you to keep it floating."
"Don't worry. We'll handle anything that comes. I swear on my badge." Teddy tapped the topaz gemstone pinned to his cloak.
The man nodded solemnly before bursting out into a wide smile. He then turned and faced the rest of us. "Now that, that's settled. Greetings to you, adventurers. My name is Gadorr. And the awkward lad behind me is my son, Gawinn. We should reach Nightfall Island in about six to seven hours. Any questions?"
Igas stared at the boat and then at Arturous, who begged Teddy for food. He looked back at the boat doubtfully. "Are you sure we won't sink the moment the bear gets on? He weighs more than he looks."
Arturous roared in a complaint, but Igas tossed him a random fruit the size of my head which quickly silenced the bear.
Gadorr walked over and patted the boat with a hearty slap. "Don't worry about a thing. It may not look it, but she has some enchantments embedded in the wood. Minor weight reduction and stability runes, but they do their job. Just uh, stay on the opposite side of where the bear lays. No need to tempt fate."
Seemingly satisfied, Igas was the first to step onto the boat and was soon followed by the rest of us. There was a brief moment where everyone held their breath, but Arturous managed to pad his way onto the boat without capsizing it. His large frame took up half of the space on the vessel, so we were forced to sit close together on the opposite end.
After Arturous laid down and went to sleep, Gawinn undid the final rope, and we started floating downstream. A tiny thread of mana made me look around till I spotted the boat captain. Using my senses as a guide, I tried to get a feel for what kind of skill was being used, but the amount of mana was too small to gauge the aspect type properly.
Seeing me looking, Gadoor leaned closer. "What's the matter, lad? Something wrong?"
I shook my head and pointed to his feet. "Nothing's wrong. I just sensed that you were using a skill. Is it okay if I ask what you were doing?"
He looked at me weirdly, but he answered before I could ask what was wrong. "Right, then. I have a low-tier water manipulation skill. It isn't anything special. I use it to help the boat move faster or sometimes correct course if we stray too close to the bank. Can't use it the entire trip, but it helps shave off an hour or two."
I wanted to ask why he looked at me strangely, but Teddy subtly tapped me with his foot and gave me a look. He mouthed the word "later," so I kept silent and enjoyed the ride.
Nothing happened on our trip, but I found myself enjoying the peace. Thankfully no painful memories surfaced, and I was able to relax.
The boat's motion and the sounds of water and nature would have made a nice background noise to meditate to. Sadly I was all out of energy in my soulspace, and meditating through ambient mana felt like a waste of time. Instead, I pulled out my sketchbook and started to draw the scenery.
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After a five-hour journey, we successfully reached the massive lake, as promised by Gadoor. It would take an additional hour to reach the island, considering the size of the body of water.
Thankfully none of the others actually needed to eat food, so there was no pressing need to stop and make lunch. That didn't stop the pleading stares as I pulled out some of the food I had bought from the stalls in Helio. When Arturous woke up and threatened to squish us for food, I gave in and shared with everyone, including Gadoor and Gawinn.
Before the others could beg me for some of the more dessert-esque food, Eodyne stood up and gazed into the water. The sudden change in demeanor put everyone on high alert.
"Lass, is something wrong?" Gadoor asked nervously. Behind him, Gawinn looked around, almost excited.
She summoned her bow and knocked an arrow. Her muscles bulged as she pulled back the string of her bow. Lightning danced along the string and crawled up the shaft of the arrow.
A small blip of mana was passed through her weapon, and she released her arrow about seventy feet out. The arrow shot through the air like a bullet, but only a tiny thwip was heard.
As the arrow cut through the water, a burst of light and a piercing screech followed. Electric tendrils illuminated something unknown in the water. Once the arrow's payload was released, the water bubbled and turned pink while emitting smoke.
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"There's a group of eight more coming. About fifteen seconds till they reach the boat," Eodyne said cooly.
She appeared intimidating, with lightning flickering off her fingers and a cold demeanor. I found it amusing that Gawinn was staring at her again and seemed even more infatuated this time.
Teddy nodded towards Igas, who then stood up. "You're up, buddy. Try not to freeze the boat this time."
"That was one time! And that was nearly two tiers ago. Cut me some slack," Igas complained with faux anger. Standing, he summoned his greatsword and leaped from the boat.
The boat tilted dangerously to one side, causing Arturous to express his frustration with a loud roar as a wave of water crashed over his head. The rest of us also got wet to varying degrees, but I was fortunate enough to remain dry.
"Hey! Watch it, you dumb brute!" Isaac called out.
"Sorry!" Igas soared through the air with all the grace of a cannonball, his apology barely heard over Arturous' grumbling.
As Igas descended, he pointed his sword downwards and thrust it into the water before landing. Rather than producing a bright light, a sudden burst of icy air shot out in a circular pattern. When he landed, he stood on a sturdy platform of ice and quickly pulled his sword back up.
The suddenly frozen lake was amazing to see. Extending over a hundred feet in a circle, frozen waves midfall glistened in the sunlight. The cold caused Gadoor and his son to shiver heavily at the rapid change in temperature. Even Celanae pulled her robe closer and glared at the oni.
"There! All taken care of. And I didn't freeze the stupid boat," Igas said as he thumbed the edge of his blade.
Eodyne pointed to his right. "Missed one. Incoming."
"Wha-"
Before he could finish his question, a thin string of water sliced his cheek. Rearing back, he used the face of his blade to knock back a massive fish. It had blue scales the colour of the water and a large, blocky forehead.
As the fish-beast crashed back into the water, Igas grunted and activated another skill. His armour grew spikes as ice encased the metal and became a second overlayer over his body. He looked like a knight made of ice as even his sword grew a sharpened edge, extending the blade by a couple of inches.
The fish's fin raced around the platform of ice like a shark. Igas remained still but kept his head on a swivel. He raised his giant sword and held it in front of his body.
"Is he going to be okay?" Gadoor asked while loudly whispering. "Shouldn't you guys help him?"
Isaac snorted, and I could tell he was sneering behind his mask. "Don't worry about him. He's fine. The fight's already over. The fish just doesn't know it yet."
Teddy smiled warmly at Igas while he rubbed behind Arturous' ears. "Few things would be worse than challenging an ice user with water. It's the same as throwing wood at a fire, hoping to smother it."
Gadoor shut his jaw and continued to rub at his arms. Whether he believed them, he could only watch as Igas handled the beast.
The fish dived before another pressurized line of water came at Igas' left. He swung upwards, scraping the blade along the ice below. Rather than slow the blade down, the ice flowed like water and became a shield that blocked the attack. At the same time, shards of ice sprayed into the water in a compact cone.
There was no sound, roar, or screech, but he obviously landed a hit as blots of red darkened the water. The fish didn't resurface, and Igas seemed able to track its movement as his head followed it through the water.
A full dozen seconds passed as the beast continued swimming in zigzags. Igas waited, unmoving as he stood still on the ice. Suddenly he dropped to the ground and rolled to the right as three streams of water launched at his head.
When he rolled into a crouch, he had to jump back as something impacted the ice beneath him and broke into a hail of shards. Despite standing on solid ice, he maintained his footing and came to an abrupt stop.
He stood and stomped with his left foot. Another blast of air hit us, and I heard Gadoor's teeth chatter. But that was ignored as Igas' next skill activated, and a line of ice trailed into the water.
A loud crack rang, and the fish was launched into the air by a wide pillar of ice smashing into its body. Seven more pillars grew, and two more fish, smaller than the first, followed it into the air.
Looking closer, their bodies were half frozen in large chunks. Igas raised his hand and made a tugging gesture, and all three fish flew and reversed their momentum. As they flew towards Igas, he raised his sword and reared back.
With a precise swing, the two smaller fish were cut in half while the biggest one met the attack with its armoured head. Instead of decapitating the beast, he turned the block into an overhead swing and smashed it into the platform.
Ice grew over the beast and completely immobilized it. It couldn't even struggle as the ice encased the fish's entire body. Igas pushed his blade down without wasting a second and plunged it into the fish's eye. When he pulled his sword out, the ice around it plopped off and fell into the water.
The armour followed next and dropped into shattered chunks as he deactivated his skill. With a flick, his blade disappeared into his dimensional storage, and he turned to face us.
The entire fight was beautiful to watch. Even if all he faced were overly-large fish, it felt like watching an anime fight come to life. It was a bit inspiring to watch how calmly he handled the fight. And a small part inside me really, really liked ice-based powers. However, I wouldn't mention it to Zharia.
"Hey, Cyrus. Do you think you could handle these? And could you store them? I don't think Teddy has enough room," Igas shouted. Arturous let out a low roar and reached out to swipe a lazy paw at the man. Igas chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. You can have one too."
"I don't. I might be able to take three of the bodies, but that's it," Teddy added.
I tried to estimate how long it'd take to loot all ten of the fish, and I could only shake my head. Based on how much mana it took to loot the crystal carp, the amount would be way beyond the mana I had available, even if I took a couple of potions.
"I'll do it if I can have one. But it will take a few hours. The skill takes too much mana, and ten is a lot. And if that one fish is tier two, it might take more mana than the others," I replied.
"Deal!" Igas began collecting the fish from underneath the ice and dragged the two severed fish together.
Gadoor stared for a long time, but eventually, he started redirecting the boat closer to Igas. "You adventurers are something else. Not saying I'm unhappy with my simple life, but damn. Those beasts are known to sink boats if they're not careful."
Igas stepped onto the boat when we neared and motioned to the dead beasts. A quick flush of mana made Chomperz appear, and I could hear Gadoor suck in some air at the sight of the little guy.
Chomperz quickly inhaled the bodies, and I could tell the little guy was nearing full. With the assortment of food, camping gear, and the large crate from Bera, the fish filled up the limited space inside Chomperz's stomach.
I had already promised myself to be a bit more circumspect about showing off my skills, so I decided to wait till later to start looting the bodies. Chomperz was already more than I should have shown, but it was inevitable since he was my inventory.
Around fifty minutes later, we docked at an old pier, and Gawinn jumped out to tie the boat. Unloading the bear carefully, we all stepped off and stretched our legs. The trip was a refreshing experience in nature, but it felt good to be back on land.
Teddy walked over to Gadoor and handed him a small handful of coins. "Thank you for the ride, Gadoor. We appreciate you taking us on such short notice."
Gadoor looked down at his hand, and his eyebrows raised in surprise. He glanced at Teddy's smile and the seven gold in his hand before he pocketed it. "My gratitude as well. I appreciate the extra coin. If you ever need a ride feel free to approach."
"Are you staying for the festival?" Celanae asked.
Gadoor shook his head. "Nah. We'll stay the night and head out in the morning. I reckon there'll be others wanting passage to the island. I'd be a fool to pass up the chance to earn some easy coin."
"Well then, let's be off."
I took one last look at the boat and then turned to the dirt path leading deeper into the island. The next three weeks were going to be interesting.