Chapter One: Ferry of the Fisherman

The Far Shore

Year: 1479

Find at least one thing and hold onto it.

A deep, plaintive horn reverberated throughout the flying ship, causing Noa to feel a chill run across his back, and perhaps the other passengers felt something similar because their chatter seemed to die down momentarily. The horn signaled many things, but it currently meant that they would be arriving at their destination soon. The darkness of the Far Shore only added to the tension. However, a cheery-eyed blond, who was seemingly unaffected by the mood, took a spot next to Noa on the deck.

“Do you mind if I join you?” The fellow smiled widely. Noa knew the man. His name was Sorin and he had been the person Noa talked to the most during the last week.

“I don’t mind, but the boundary is already in view.” Noa gestured toward the dark void outside the ship. In the distance an iridescent membrane could be seen, and beyond it was another dimension governed with its own unique laws of nature.

“Sol Academy, an educational home for new souls,” Sorin mused aloud. “Do you think there will be any cute seniors?”

Noa sighed. His immersion in the dramatic atmosphere was gone, and he could only play along.

“You like them older?” A smile was etched on his lips as he spoke.

Sorin clicked his tongue repeatedly and waved his hand at Noa, “Zettai ryouiki.” With these words, Soin paused and moved his hand to cover his face before continuing, “You don’t seem to understand my young friend. To be beholden to only one preference is madness. There are all different kinds of allures that exist. We have the physical fascinations: sharp teeth, ponytails, twin-tails, drills, glasses, thigh highs, maid outfits, and all different kinds of fetishes across the sun. But then you combine it with personality and you get love. And may I say it is only the greatest calling to seek out the wide array of love that exists.”

“All I hear is a single man being delusional, and based on the looks of disgust of our fellow applicants...you better hope there are some cute seniors.” In truth, there were less than a dozen people on their portion of the deck, so it probably didn’t matter much.

“You say looks of disgust, but I see looks of admiration from our fellow man. They can not hide from the truth. Look at them blush.” True, some of the men did seem to be quite abashed; however, Noa could only roll his eyes at Sorin, who was puffing after getting winded from his own passionate speech.

Noa turned his gaze from his friend and noticed his potential classmates had become frozen. A smile crept on his face. “Is that how it is?”

“It is so.”

Noa watched as a blond girl walked up while rotating her wrists. Her elf-like ears twitching. When she was within a few meters, Noa asked, “But, what do you think of the violent delinquent archetype...who also happens to be your sister. The anvil type.” Noa placed his hands on his chest and squeezed slightly as if to emphasize a point.

“What why?” Ignoring Noa’s antrics, true fear was evident in Sorin’s eye. Noa found that understandable. His sister, Crina, had muscles. Noa thought that was a pretty big fetish and he deduced that Sorin had left it off his list due to his own personal trauma.

Feeling good from his own analysis, Noa smirked, “I recommend running.”

The words were wasted. Sorin was already running. The ship was hundreds of meters in length so there was plenty of area to run and hide, but Noa knew it would be for naught.

“You too, Noa.” Audible cracking could be heard with these words, but Noa didn’t move.

Noa smiled and even waved, “I didn’t do anything though?”

There was some more audible cracking. This time it was coming from her teeth. “No, but I want the excuse to beat the shit out of someone especially if...”

Noa shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t guilty or apologetic because he knew that Crina would have come swinging no matter what he did, so he figured he might as well milk the moment. “I did want to test out a new shield that I just crafted. It might be a good punching bag.”

“That’s why I like you. You’re sharp. I’ll be back after I catch my brother.” Immediately after Noa registered these words, he felt a gust of wind. He blinked and the figure of Crina was already a good distance away. Rather than run, she pressed her feet firmly into the ground and launched herself repeatedly. Each step took her several meters. Noa could only admire her lithe figure and physical prowess that greatly succeeded his own.

It didn’t take long before Noa heard a squeal followed by an eerie silence. Crina returned with an unconscious blond thrown over her shoulders.

“Once rumors spread of this,” Crina gave a mischievous grin, “Do you think any girl will fall for my pathetic brother.”

“He’s destined to be single.” Noa gave a silent prayer for Sorin, who was now limp on the floor after having been dropped. But I can’t end up like you. With this thought, Noa summoned a round shield that was about the size of his chest. It looked to be solid stone but glew blue from enchantments that had been written on it. These enhancements included weight reduction, increased durability, and deflection. He had learned these simple enhancements from the public domain archives over the last week. There were even simulations he could access to practice creating magic circles without wasting any actual resources.

Once Noa was in a proper stance, Crina approached as if she was going to punch, stopped, jumped back, and then lunged forward twisting her body as she kicked out at the shield. Noa only saw a blur and heard a crack. He was disoriented as he stared up at his new view of the Far Shore. Countless lights could be seen that signaled faraway worlds, dimensions, and spaces.

But the listlessness came to an end. Noa gained speed as his body left the ship. He had been launched over a hundred meters. Rather than continue being sent away from the ship, a bubble appeared and conformed to Noa’s body. However, it was not soft and he dropped like a rock head first into the ground. A groan escaped his lips.

Noa thought nothing of the disturbance that had been created. Combat practice happened from time to time during their voyage, and the captain, the Fisherman of the Abyss, simply watched emotionlessly from the helm of the ship. The Far Shore was an area void of true death, and the flying ship was also part of the Fisherman’s domain. One of the laws that came from this domain was the reduction of pain, but it still didn’t eliminate it.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The academy that Noa was going to attend was run under similar natural laws. It was its own isolated world but it only consisted of a small island. He would know more when they crossed the boundary. When that happened, he would be made immediately aware of the criteria that governed the world. It was an instinctual process.

Crina approached and offered a hand to Noa, who was still on the ground lost in thought.

Crina laughed with some abashment as he helped him up. “Sorry about breaking your toy. I didn’t expect it to break so easily..”

“You know those words aren’t comforting.”

“Sorry.” Seeing Crina scratch her cheek, Noa came to the realization that she had a variety of abashed expressions. He also knew she was never truly apologetic with her actions.

Noa picked up the remnant shards of his shield and stored it away. “Furthermore, isn’t that because you’re a gorilla?”

“Am I truly that amazing?” Her eyes sparkled and then she coughed. “I mean I’m a perfect maiden. Look at my hand; it is a little red after that.”

“Hmm. Where is your brother?”

“Ahh.” Crina looked like someone who had misplaced something and forgotten about it.

“Well… he is thick headed so he should be fine by himself. But more importantly let me see your hand.”

“Are you flirting with me?” Crina pretended to fidget.

“No, you kicked my shield. If your hand is really red then something might be wrong with it.” Crina quickly snatched her hand back.

“Hahaha. I think I better find that shame of a brother now.”

“Is that so?”

“It is so.”

Noa smiled as she left. That confidence, although faulty, was like Sorin’s. Now that it was quiet again, Noa made his way over to the edge of the deck and leaned on the guardrail. It wouldn’t be long before they passed the boundary.

“Feelings are interesting,” Noa, now alone, muttered to himself as he immersed himself in the somber air. I’m sure I won’t be bored though. The faces of the two siblings flashed in his mind. They came and went as they pleased. The smile that was beginning to etch onto his face stopped as the wailing of the ship sounded again. But it was soon dominated by the wind that battered the ship during its crossing of the boundary.

The dark void was quickly replaced with a pastel blue sky, but Noa couldn’t see the academy yet. Instead only a world of white clouds greeted his sight. A variety of emotions combined together to create the feeling of a tightening chest.

In response Noa simply closed his eyes and counted to himself. Time passed slowly but when the wind picked up again he opened his eyes. He always found a light breeze was comforting, and he was happy that the bubble that was surrounding the ship disappeared allowing the breeze to come in. Noa untied his ponytail and let his long purple hair loose.

After conquering his emotions, Noa turned his attention to the influx of information. The academy was a martial world. The pain threshold was quite high, sustenance could be achieved solely through the energy of heaven and earth, and there was no limit on magical arts. This meant people like Crina could fully demonstrate their innate strength. As for death, if one happened to die then they would lose a portion of their cultivation base, but they would respawn in the academy’s infirmary. Apparently there were various insurance policies if one decided to participate in them.

There was much more information to sort through, but Noa had to get accepted first. There was no point dwelling on class structure, extra curriculars, and the like when he might not even get to attend. But most importantly, it seems fun.

“That is a disgusting smile you got there?” Sorin appeared next to Noa again as if nothing had happened.

“Welcome back. But do you even have any other friends?” Noa countered.

“Do you?”

“Your sister?”

“At least you have me.” Sorin with a look of what could only be called utter pity patted Noa on the back.

“Oi. You want another taste of my fist.” Crina rotated her wrists.

“The Fisherman’s domain has ended. You might actually kill us.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad though.” Crina smiled as she looked out the ship, “But it looks like I’ll be able to get some exercise soon enough.”

The three chattered leisurely as the academy came into view. The island it was situated on was quite large and was dominated by a forest, and in the middle of that forest the academy took the form of a city. Large and intimidating grey walls separated civilization from nature.

The city was glistened with a white glow. All the buildings were a mix of light, neutral tones. In particular, white spires seemed to decorate the city, and many pointed towers pierced the sky all across the city. A particularly tall tower dominated the view as it ascended above the clouds.

“Looks like that’s the God’s Tower.” Sorin mused aloud. The God’s Tower was like a tree that branched out and connected various worlds together. It could also be described as a dungeon without end. Noa, having decided to become an adventurer on top of being a student, figured he would be visiting that place a lot.

The Fisherman’s Ship came to stop outside the city and glided down onto an empty field. A simple paved path could be seen in the distance that led to the city.

It didn’t take long for ramps to extend out the side of the ships. Noa put his arm around Sorin.

“You know what they say? The early worm gets the bird.”

“Some reason I feel like you said that wrong.”

“My tongue slipped.”

Like this Noa and Sorin skipped out in front of the rest of the academy applicants. A woman followed the two with a face deep in her palm. Anyone who got close could have heard dangerous mumbles.

After skipping for a few minutes, Sorin looked at Noa, “You see that gorilla in front of us.”

“Yeah, he is an even bigger gorilla than your sister. By the way, stop nodding or your life will be in danger.”

“Let’s just keep going. I hear that if you don’t make eye contact a gorilla won’t notice you.”

“It only works half the time on your sister though.” Noa said.

Right as the two made it past the man, they both felt an iron grip latch onto their shoulder.

“Looks like we got a wild bunch this time. And as much as I like the enthusiasm, I ask that you pity this old man who planned a speech and everything. But you two can call me headmaster gorilla if you want though.”

Noa found himself launched in the air and could only mutter, “Somehow this feels familiar.”

Crina gave a soft grunt as she caught Noa. “You two are already causing trouble I see.”

“Somehow I feel like that only makes you happy, but I’ll have you know I haven’t even had the chance to get serious,” Noa shrugged and patted himself off as he stood on his own two feet. “Thank you though.” He uttered these words while eyeing Sorin whose head was face first in the dirt. At least he was sturdy.

“As long as you remain self aware. Although I often wonder who is the worst between you two idiots,” Crina said.

“Well your brother is a sincere fool. Personally, I just want to have fun. And hey at least I don’t get off on beating people up. Don’t blush at that…” Noa helped Sorin up as he spoke and ignored the bubbly Crina.

A clap sounded. It seemed while they were talking amongst themselves most of the academy applicants had gathered. It was an impressive number that went into the tens of thousands. Headmaster Gorilla seemed ready to give his speech.

Noa couldn’t help but admire the man’s ruggedness though. He had long hair that appeared both dirty and oily. He had a coarse beard and scars covering his body. His right eye in particular had a nasty jagged line. If the headmaster wanted he could easily make the scars disappear but he had chosen to keep them. To Noa it felt like the picture of experience. It didn’t come off as facetious at all but more like the mark of a true warrior.

The man’s booming voice brought Noa back to reality. “Don’t get conceited just because the omniscient Fisherman has brought you here. His ways can often be misunderstood, and many of you could be said to be destined to fail. A reality check so to say. Furthermore, this academy is part of the Martial Way. This is the path for cultivators, martial artists, warriors. It is a path of violence and fantasy. So your test will be a glimpse into that reality. It will be a large game piece.”

After listening intently to the speech, Noa concluded gorillas could apparently have an eerie, sadistic grin.

Without explaining further, the man clapped his hand again and a blue light filled the applicant’s vision. Everything turned white as they were instanously transported without a chance to get their bearings after just landing. Mechanical whirling and the sound of countless cogs rattled their ears as the white world transformed.

“Welcome to the World of Ingot.” A fallen world that was consumed by the very dungeons its adventurers used to conquer. The world faced a large monster rush led by a demon king and its original inhabitants were kicked out. In the empty husk of a world roams countless monsters preying on any otherworldly traveler. As the demon king in charge puts it, it's a tourist destination of death. You won’t find a more fun theme park! Please come and give up your cultivation to nourish my massive dungeon!