Nero and the rest spent almost the entirety of their second day in Trena studying the dead Buzzer, stopping only to have lunch -served by a very shy and nervous Lisey- before finally deciding to get rid of it. It came to the point where it was no longer possible to conduct any studies on it: it was burnt and destroyed beyond repair. They kept four out of its six wings, however, both as objects of future studies as well as trophies.

Boys will be boys.

They covered the remains of the Buzzer and carried it outside of Trena on a cart Georg lent them, and threw it away somewhere in the wilds away from the farms and the road so scavengers wouldn't pose a threat to anybody. After that, the group agreed to take a bath in the ocean.

The waters were said to be plagued, but oddly enough not so much on the coast; if one looked far into the horizon, it was possible to see the waters changing colors further, from light brown to nearly black. It seemed that the Plague got worse the further northwest you went; Herbert's farm and exploration sites of the group were generally focused southeast, meaning the Plague density there tended to be a little lower.

"If we can find a patch of water that's close enough to blue, then the water will be pretty safe to bathe in. Just don't swallow any.", said Ferguson.

All operations, as well as roads taken by them always ran parallel to the coast. The sea was never far out of sight or out of ear's reach; and the group found further south of Herbert's farm a small pond in the coast that seemed more or less clean.

If you looked to the right and focused enough, you could notice Elena's ship docked in the far distance.

"Whew... finally time to get rid of this."

Ferguson happily stripped and almost ran to the water, taking yesterday's clothes with him.

Nero and Araven did the same, especially keeping in mind their clothes were in a much worse state than Ferguson's. Sharmon was left behind, watching over their clean clothes.

"Aren't you gonna wash those?", Nero asked him.

"Hm. Watch this."

Sharmon walked towards the water and stood just one meter away from the waves.

He lifted one arm, and a brown water bubble rose up and floated in the air towards him. Then, Sharmon pointed his open hand at his own chest, and indeed a mix of green liquid and dust started coming out of his attire, floating in the air towards the bubble and going inside it.

It took him a minute, but after he was done, all the dirt and blood had been extracted and placed in the bubble.

"Dude...! That's freaking awesome...! You gotta teach me how to do that!"

"It will be years before you can perform something precise like this. Go wash yourself.", Sharmon floated the dirty bubble over Nero's head. "If you think you are clean enough, I can encourage you to head over there with Ferguson."

"...yeah, no need, thanks. I'll be going, now. Don't drop that in the water, by the way."

"If I had planned to take the filth to the waters, I would not have separated a bubble in the first place, you fool."

Nero rolled his eyes and followed Araven into the soft waves.

Sharmon turned around, found an empty place and slowly dropped the dirty bubble on the dirt.

He then leaned against a tree, taking the chance to be alone for a while.

Images of the crawler's cave started running through his memory... him chasing after the insect in the dark, and the battle in the chamber. To think that he would be baited and lead by the nose by a filthy bug to get surrounded... he was evidently still rusty. The brat had done a good job indeed blocking the crawler's reinforcements, as things could have gotten out of hand very quickly; no matter how well he could defend himself, any lethal damage dealt to the kid would mean his immediate death.

He turned his head towards the water, where the other three were playing happily like children.

He still hadn't told the boy who he really was, and for good reason. The kid was too immature, and the risk of him leaking out his secret was way too high. Also, he needed to prepare him further for the task at hand; the kid needed to get stronger for both of their sakes.

Nero didn't fully trust him yet, and Sharmon knew it. However, both himself and the boy were doing a good enough job so far, so he would go on helping him a little bit more, making his entrance to that College a walk in the park...

And soon enough, an opportunity to reveal his true identity would appear all on its own.

Nero was being properly nurtured; when the time came, all he would need would be the right push...

Sharmon's clothes fluttered quietly on the wind that had started to pick up. All he needed to do now was bide his time.

"Huh, looks like it's gonna rain.", said Ferguson, looking up, "we better head back."

They all got out, dried themselves, and put on their clean clothes. Araven's perfume came handier than ever, since Nero still kinda felt like he wasn't a hundred per cent clean due to the very nature of the water. The wind was blowing strong by the time they arrived at the port town, and a heavy rainfall was becoming imminent.

"Hey... is the ship gonna be alright?", asked Nero, as they walked the garbage-filled, miserable dirt roads of Trena.

"...honestly, I wouldn't spend the night aboard a ship during a storm if I could avoid it.", said Ferguson, at the sea's general direction.

"Hey, Sharmon, should we go talk to Elena?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because, you know.", Nero raised both his eyebrows, twice.

"Pfft, what's that?", laughed Araven.

"I think Nero's right. We could get some info on the seas around here while we're at it, since we got nothing to do anyway. We already got rid of our specimen.", said Ferguson.

"Hm. We might as well.", agreed Sharmon, "let us hurry, before the storm sullies our clothes again."

The ship was rocking unpleasantly at the docks.

"Captain...? Captain...!", shouted Nero.

"Cap'n! The College kids are here to see you!", shouted a sailor that was on the sun deck.

Captain Elena bolted out of her quarters like an arrow; her eyes went almost straight to Sharmon.

She took a fraction of a second to clear her throat and compose herself.

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"You called?", she asked from the ship.

"Captain Elena... the storm is almost on our heads...!", said Ferguson, "let your crew spend the night at the docks!"

She looked at him, then her eyes went back to the sorcerer.

"That's all?"

"Join us at the inn. We have much to discuss with you.", said Sharmon.

Elena looked at the boys, then apparently decided that she was fine with it.

"Alright, ladies! I don't wanna be steppin' all over your vomit tomorrow morning, so you'll all be spending the night here at the docks! I'll arrange for you to stay somewhere that has beds while I tend to some business at the inn. I'm making an exception for you dogs, so be grateful! Now, off the ship!"

The men obeyed immediately, and she stepped out last. Then, she lifted the ramp towards the docks and undid it, giving planks to Nero, Araven, and Ferguson to carry.

"Here, help me carry these."

Right. She was making sure nobody would climb on the ship while she was away. Probably helped prevent a mutiny, too.

Elena herself grabbed three planks and loaded them over her shoulder, but big was her surprise when they felt like they weighed nothing. In fact, they seemed to be trying to lift up like balloons.

"What in the hells...?"

Then, she noticed. Sharmon was pointing his fingers at them. Elena let go, and the wooden planks floated up in the sky.

"Woah...", the sailors and townsfolk who were passing by looked up in amazement.

"Hey... think you could help us with these, too?", asked Nero.

Sharmon used his right hand to lift off the young boy's planks and added them to the ones he was holding with his left one, then did the same with Araven and Ferguson's respective loads.

"What's that...?"

"Incredible...!"

The townsfolk were gathering up and had started to cheer, visibly entertained.

"Hm."

Sharmon seemed to have decided to indulge them for a little while longer. He raised his left arm, and accommodated the planks in the air in the shape of a sun disc. Then, he clenched his entire fist, leaving only his index finger looking up, maintaining the form.

"Is that magic...? like, real magic...?", asked a fisherman.

"Yes, yes it is...!", said Nero, beaming.

"Now watch, boy. This is proper magic control."

Sharmon began to rotate his finger in circles, and as he did so, the wooden disk also began to spin like a wheel.

"Oooohh...!"

"Daddy, look! It's a wooden sun...!", shouted a little girl who was being carried by a tall man.

"Hahaha, it sure is...!", he laughed.

Clap, clap, clap, clap...

The crowd was having the time of their lives with so little... but Nero was very happy to see them smile like that.

"Do more...!", Nero encouraged him.

"Pay attention, both of you," he told him and Araven, "precision and efficiency will always get you further than brute arcana."

Again, he moved the fingers of his left hand and arranged the planks in all sorts of forms in the air: a triangle, a cylinder, a bridge, a cube -he made this one turn around like a die-, but decided to stop when the first drops began to fall.

"The demonstration is over; go and find shelter from the rain. We shall be on our way, as well.", he said to everyone.

"But I wanted to see more...!", complained the little girl.

"Now, now, princess, we gotta go. He'll show us more later, I'm sure.", said the father.

If Nero remembered correctly, that was the first time he had seen Sharmon address a crowd.

The sorcerer accommodated the planks above the group, forming a makeshift floating roof, and walked last while covering his contingent.

Elena made sure to stand right next to him.

"Most men I meet presume they can lift... but this is something I've never seen them do."

"Common men spend too much time presuming instead of properly learning.", said Sharmon.

"Weren't you showing off just now, though?", she raised an eyebrow.

"I was not."

"You put up a show in front of a bunch of people."

"I see no harm done.", said the sorcerer.

Elena laughed, and got closer to him.

"Well, anyway... color me impressed.", she murmured, the sound of the heavy rain helping her mask her words from the rest. She would have definitely held on to his left arm if it weren't for the fact that the sorcerer was using it to maintain the wooden planks above their heads.

Sharmon did not reply.

Elena looked at his waist and was tempted to put her arm around it, but decided not to risk breaking his concentration. She was also unsure if it was safe to do so, given how... reluctant he seemed to be.

She bit her lip in a mix of frustration, curiosity and desire, and kept quiet until they made it to the inn. Sharmon allowed everyone inside before walking inside himself, and then entered the wet planks into the inn.

"Wait, wait, wait...! You're gonna ruin the floor...!", said Georg.

"Oh, we're very sorry about this. Do you have anywhere we can store the planks?", asked Ferguson.

"You could have just stored them in a shed at the docks...!"

Elena walked to the counter and leaned forward, opening the first button of the white shirt she wore under her sailor attire. The sweet aroma that came from her neck and upper chest soon invaded the air around the innkeeper with numbing effectiveness.

"C'mon, old man... Sharmon here was being a gentleman and didn't want a lady to get soaked under the storm. Won't you be a dear and cut him some slack?", she said with a breathy voice.

Lisey was taking some clay cups to the kitchen and was staring at Elena with her jaw dropped.

Georg seemed to notice, and quickly took a step back.

"Alright, alright, fine...! I have a deposit where we can store them, just don't go teaching the kid any weird things. Her mother's gonna kill me later."

Too late.

"Wow, you're so beautiful!", she said, running towards the captain.

"And what do we have here? She your daughter?"

"Nah, she's my new part-timer."

Lisey got closer to Elena.

"Hey, you're very popular with boys, right?", she murmured.

"Hm? Well, a woman's gotta be as beautiful as she can, I believe.", said Elena.

"Do you think you could, um... teach me some tricks?"

"Hahaha, of course, darling.", she pat her head a little.

Lisey beamed at her before running off to the kitchen.

Georg was looking at Elena with an eyebrow raised.

"Nothing weird, I promise. She's a little too young for the expert advice.", she assured him.

"You three may go upstairs. There are matters I wish to discuss with our captain in private.", said Sharmon.

Nero looked at him like he had just seen him give a kick to a small puppy. Araven put a hand on Nero's shoulder.

"C'mon, man. Don't argue now. Remember that we made a deal with our boatwoman."

"I trust Sharmon; I'm sure he'll get us something useful.", said Ferguson, and started walking upstairs. The other boys followed, not without Nero taking one final look back down at the table where the other two had sat at.

Lisey showed up almost immediately with a pair of drinks.

"I'll bring you something delicious as soon as it's ready.", she said, before taking off.

The inn's restaurant was almost empty, save for a few men who went in to drink something for a while. Only a far away table was occupied by another couple, who seemed very immersed in a conversation regarding the fruit stall they owned.

Elena looked at her drink with suspicious eyes.

"It is a local herb syrup. You have have it, it is harmless.", said Sharmon.

"Oh, yeah? And why aren't you drinking yours?"

"I have no need for it."

She sighed, and grabbed her cup.

"You're a strange one, you know that? Any other man would have jumped at the opportunity to spend a night with me."

"I am not any other man, captain. You should be aware of this by now."

She looked at him in the eyes.

"Call me Elena."

"Then, Elena."

The sailor smiled at him; she just couldn't help it. He was so serious, so enigmatic, so undeniably talented... a woman with blood as hot as hers running through her veins could simply not ignore this situation. She had to know more about him.

"Your eyes... they spell danger.", she said, "why did you call me here, really? Surely it's not just to ask me out... I can't imagine you bringing a lady to a rundown place like this for an actual date...", she said.

"I would certainly not.", said Sharmon.

"Oh, so you would take me out on a date. What did you have in mind? I'm free after we return to Nycea."

"We can discuss that later, Elena. Right now, I must ask you about your services here in Armorica."

Gods, she loved it when he said her name.

Elena almost instinctively leaned forward, her pale cleavage offering itself as a treat for the man in front of him.

"Will you go on a date with me in Nycea if I help you?"

"If your heart desires so, I shall comply.", said the sorcerer. A flash of light followed by a roaring thunder made themselves present.

She smiled.

"Then, I'm listening..."