Luna and I alternated that torture for the next two weeks of sailing. Our days alternated between fighting and practice. If I never, ever had to taste moltaug again I’d be happy. If you told me wouldn’t be the worst thing I ate on while trying to get back, I wouldn’t have believed you. Around day five I began having nightmares about the taste. Today, Nautilus didn’t make us immediately begin practicing like we were scheduled to. I was making progress with my ; I at least didn’t want to cry after trying to it anymore. Today, Nautilus was looking out in the distance with a grimace on her face.

“What’s wrong Nautilus?” Luna inquired, seeming a bit put off by Nautilus’s tension.

“Do ya grublins trust the milita'y t' bring ya back?” Nautilus inquired. Why was she asking that? I looked in the direction she was, but I could only see the open ocean.

“I don’t know.” Luna answered, poking me in the ribs.

“I don’t know who attacked us. I also don’t know how that was put there either. That was powerful, but could he put an like that unnoticed?” I asked. I had no idea how difficult it was. It might get us home faster, but I flashed back to Ein being attacked on his birthday. I wasn’t sure.

“Couldn’ tell ya Nil. It’s ya call.” Nautilus informed me. I looked at Luna.

I’d rather bet on Nautilus, Ailla, and Lilas getting us to Umbra. Luna informed me immediately. I felt she was right.

“I’d rather sneak in and get back without them knowing.” I told Nautilus, who began laughing.

“We gonna have t' evade some pat’ols then.” Nautilus declared with a smile like it wouldn’t be much of a challenge.

“Thank you.” Luna and I said in unison.

“No issue. Do wonde’ why secu’ity is so tight. Speranza is a lil strict, but this is somethin’ else.” Nautilus replied. She seemed awfully happy at the moment. Royal sanctioned breaking the law?

Nautilus was smiling ear to ear as she adjusted our course. Luna and I looked at each other, a bit put off by the sheer enthusiasm Nautilus was exerting; the ship seemed to move a little faster as we course corrected. For once, Nautilus wasn’t torturing us with her strict lessons. We walked to the deck and began practicing our . I struggled to the blasted ; it was still amazingly unpleasant to practice. I was able to endure it for nearly ten minutes without taking a break now at least. Luna rapidly got familiar with . From my understanding it was similar to but focused more on projecting the effect unlike which internalized the effect more. I knew Lux could turn invisible and change her size with . What all could do? Were there other with sister ? Was sister the proper term? Nez probably knew the answer; just another question for when we finally got back home.

Then my ears began ringing from what had to be one of the loudest explosions I had ever heard. What? Why were we under attack? Was this a patrol? Luna and I looked around, confused as to why the entire ship was just rocked. Nautilus was standing on the bow, looking out towards. Towards. What the ever living forl is that? I wasn’t sure what I was looking at what appeared to be a massive, glowing sphere, with several rotating rings that were covered in eyes spinning around it. A massive halo of pure energy flowed around the monster as it seemed to float menacingly around us; it dwarfed the ship with its size. As it hovered closer there was a layer of steam from as the water beneath it boiled. In a flash, what looked like a meteor shower began trying to bombard the ship. Nautilus’s projected fists either caught or shattered each one before they hit the ship which was rocked by the force of the explosions as the crew all rushed to battle the beast.

“Luna, what the forl is that?” I asked her as the orb of pulsating heat continued to unleash endless attacks that Nautilus stopped cold.

“An . Good news, we have Nautilus.” Luna answered, looking uneasy as it became sweltering on the deck.

“I’m guessing the bad news is we’re on a ship made of wood?” I checked as I began sweating. My eyes hurt just looking at the .

“Oi, grublins, fight it.” Nautilus ordered. What? Did she just? Us against this?

“Seriously?!” Luna cried, looking at a stern Nautilus. Her face made it obvious she was not joking.

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“Luna, I think Nautilus is serious.” I sighed as it unleashed another volley at us.

Again, Nautilus dealt with the attacks before they hit the boat. It had to be a hundred and ten degrees on the deck. How hot was it near the ? Luna sighed as she looked at me. I was by far the more durable of the two of us; I tried not to groan as I realized I was going to be the one charging in. I summoned my sword as Luna begrudgingly began using to increase my physical abilities. This was going to be miserable. What was the point of paying her if she was going to make us fight things like this? I sighed. Wait. made it so I didn’t have to get near it. I coated my sword with , before projecting a slash at it. The unleashed a soul shattering wail after I connected as golden blood erupted from the ring I hit. The blood made the sea unleash an unpleasant hiss as it hit along with a massive cloud of steam. Noted, this thing apparently had blood as hot as lava. It unleashed several rings of fire towards the ship. Luna conjured several rings of her own to make a barrier that protected the ship from the flames of the .

“Why are ya bein’ so nice grublins? It’ll kill ya if ya let it.” Nautilus chided in an irritated tone. What did she want from us?

Luna and I battled it a bit more, with me using to avoid getting near the heat while Luna protected the ship from the flames it tried using. Nautilus was clearly growing impatient with us. I mean, it was weaker than I thought, but I didn’t understand her growing irritation. I went to use again before I was forced to dive to the side as a beam of heat was launched directly at my skull. I could smell my hair get singed as Nautilus deflected the beam away from her ship behind me. It began using the meteor swarm again, which Luna was barely able to deflect with the projected fists. I could hear Luna’s breathing get more and more labored with each one. Nautilus appeared to be seething as she witnessed us fighting the . Clearly, we were doing something not to her satisfaction, but I didn't have a clue what.

“Lad, ya have more than ‘er. Ya need to kill it, now. Ya have , act like it.” Nautilus snarled at me.

Nautilus clearly wanted this thing dead already. It’s not like I could just the core out. Wait. Could I? I tried it, but the just bellowed in irritation, preparing another wave of attacks. What was I missing? I put up a protective barrier this time to give Luna a break as I mulled over what to do. I knew I was already going to get lectured after this. How was I supposed to defeat it faster? could manipulate distances, create rifts, or make small vacuums at a basic level. Maybe make a black hole, but that might destroy the ship. Was it possible to manipulate the distance between the rings and core of the ? I created an anchor point on the core of the beast, and one on the inner ring. Here went nothing. I tried forcefully expanding the distance between my anchors. The agonized wails of the as I forced the core into the water and ripped the ring into the sky were unpleasant to say the least; my ears were hating the noise it was making was making me feel not great. Once the core hit the sea, a massive hiss erupted in a cloud of steam as it flailed. After a few moments it got substantially less bright by the ship as the temperature returned to normal. So, I could force things apart.

“Lad, ya are way t’ nice with ya . Ya have someone out t' kill ya and ya still try and nicely kill somethin’ like that.” Nautilus lectured, sounding quite displeased. It was hard to argue when she was right.

“Nil doesn’t need to learn to be ruthless.” Luna muttered. Nautilus manifested in front of her with a glare that made my blood feel like ice.

“He does, and so do ya. Ya both fight too clean and proper. Holdin’ back is for teachin’ and sparrin’, not live combat. When fightin' for ya life, the only honor is livin'.” Nautilus spat immediately.

“She’s right Luna.” Ailla agreed. Luna deflated a bit.

“New lesson plan; imma have this bell, that’ll go off at some time. Ya two will spar me fo' five minutes afte’. If you two don’ try to seriously harm me, I will crack ya bones. Egoff will not heal anything unless ya fight well enough. Bein’ injured also will not exempt ya from this.” Nautilus declared. Luna and I both sighed.

Why did we sign up for a torture cruise? I asked Luna as i was struggling not to audibly moan.

Because Nautilus decided we needed lessons while we sailed. Luna answered, looking about as thrilled as me.

“Now, back to practin’ ya two.” Nautilus ordered before returning to the bow.

Ailla and Lilas followed Nautilus, as they went to discuss something while Luna and I begrudgingly began our practice again. I forcefully recovered my with my before working on the some more. It went a lot smoother for a little bit. A lot smoother actually. Why was it so smooth for the first five minutes? Was it the fight from earlier? Did I need to kill things with my for it to easier? That was a thought that I really didn’t want to test, but something told me that Nautilus was going to make Luna and I kill the weaker as practice though. I sighed, knowing my theory was likely going to get tested in an unpleasant way. Part of me didn't like it, but a small portion of my brain thought Nautilus might be right. Someone strong and determined wanted Luna and those near me dead. Why not kill me? What was their goal? I sighed as I resumed alternated trying to the and practicing my or . As practice was going quite well, I heard a distinct chime sound. What was that? I looked around, seeing Luna was just as confused as I was.

Any idea what that noise was? I inquired, looking for the source. Before Luna had a chance to answer, Nautilus was descending upon the two of us. So that’s what the bell sounded like.