A few sailors snickered while passing by.

‘This reaction again…’

Onaji’s technique allowed him to conjure up any instrument he could imagine in detail. Standard hammers and nails, sickles, gardening tools. As long as they aren't violent by nature, and Onaji considers them a tool, he can summon them. Magi with major arcanas like that don’t usually find a lot of success. They end up opening regulated shops where they are restricted to only a certain amount of uses of their ability per day so as not to overflood the markets and invalidate craftsmen’ work. Conjured instruments are usually subpar in quality and even though Onaji was able to form a few tools from his old world like drills and chainsaws, without electricity sockets and limited fuel they were quite useless. He tried taking them apart and showing them to the professors, but they never took Onaji seriously. The disconnect between levels of technology was too grand, and magical sensors clearly pointed out that it was something conjured from one’s imagination. They assumed Onaji just liked weirdly shaped and ornamented metal.

“At least I can do something on my own,” the boy made a jab in return.

“The difference between us two is I’m at least trying to overcome my weakness,” Magnolia shook her head like a small puppy to get rid of the sweat and picked the bag filled with sand back up. It was something she felt very self-conscious about and Onaji knew that.

‘The difference between us two however is much larger than it may seem at first’ The boy thought.

‘The thinking process of those who live in this world is limited. They don’t go outside the box enough. The ‘Form …” arcanas are the biggest cheat code one could imagine. You can summon anything as long as it's within about one meter of your palms. The new creation pushes to the sides everything that was previously taking its space. Air or metal.’

Onaji touched the barrel he was sitting on and conjured a hammer inside of its lid. The wood cracked and shattered into pieces under sudden pressure.

‘So what if I was to conjure one inside of someone’s skull?’ The boy grinned.

***

The ship arrived eventually and the magi stepped onto the wooden floorboards.

‘This is a floating marketplace. An interesting phenomenon that exists in a few corners of the world.’

Floating marketplaces are edges of the safe zones on the sea before the wider ocean. Here, the biggest threat one could find is an orca or an angered whale. Unlike in the presence of wide oceanic monsters, being here is theoretically even safer than on land.

Someone fell over the edge of the platform into the water with a loud splash, pushed over by a man missing most of his teeth and half of his nose.

“Will be a lesson for you, dumping the prices on the purpur makrel!” He cursed and spat into the sea.

“Help! I don’t know how to swim,”the gentleman in a black suit tried his best to stay afloat.

Many passers-by were swiftly walking around from one docked ship to another, acting like nothing even happened.

“Wait.” I grabbed Magnolia by the shoulder, “Don’t get involved in this if you don’t want to get mugged.”

“But-”

“Woah.” The water arose and carefully placed the man onto the dock before getting carefully drained from his clothes and returning into the ocean. The elegant suit was once again as dry as it could be.

“You must be Mrs. Faraday.” I addressed the young woman standing with a sign that said “Magnolia and Onaji”. She finished a movement with her hand and turned her eyes to us.

“There you are. Welcome to the Northern Trade Rig,” she said with a smile.

‘Tut’real is interested in keeping all trade rigs as safe as possible for quite a hefty fee. This is among the most important income sources for the whole kingdom, and so, most of them have at least one arcanist with a major arcana fit for the job.’

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“Nora Faraday, pleased to meet you!” She shouted while throwing the sign out into the sea.

“Magnolia Sideslick, a noble from Dardreth. Enhancer Graduate.” The girl made a small reverence.

“Onaji. Uhh. Conjurer Graduate.” I pulled my hand towards Nora.

She grabbed it and began shaking energetically.

“You guys will love it here!” She did not intend to let go.

“Thanks, but we didn’t come here for a vacation.” Magnolia seemed a little nervous seeing my head shaking from the rapid movement.

“Yes, yes. Secret project. We discussed it with the magistress. That asshole Flitwick must have no idea where you are, haha!”

“Not sure we were shared the same story,” Magnolia mumbled awkwardly.

“Well!” She suddenly stopped shaking the boy who was already clinging to the deck for his dear life and put both of her hands on her waist.

“It will take a few days to assemble you a trustworthy team. Might as well enjoy the wait!” Her see-through lab coat was waving in the wind. With a loose blouse that did not reach her quite impressive abs and black swimming shorts that barely covered her long and slender legs, Mrs. Faraday oddly fit in well with the tropical atmosphere of the rig. The two younger magi seemed very out of place in their mage robes comparatively.

Onaji pulled onto the collar of his mantle, worried not to wreak with sweat in this unusual heat.

“Is there a place where we will wait then?” He awkwardly fixed his hair.

“Of course.” Nora hit the boy on the back, propelling him a meter forward, “Let’s go.”

Magnolia giggled.

The rig was quite large and surprisingly stable. Onaji wondered if perhaps it was built using some kind of magic. He remembered structures like these existing in his own world but had no idea how to make one. They didn’t study anything like this during the years at the academy.

Miss Faraday was moving her hands from time to time in the same way she did before. Presumably, that was how she manipulated the water around the trade station. Seems like accidents and not really accidents happen quite often here.

‘I wonder how can she both sense what’s happening where she can’t see and manipulate the water at the same time. That would imply multiple arcanas, wouldn’t it?’ Onaji pondered throughout the way while the girls discussed something girly.

‘Either way, she seems very proficient with hers. Most of the academy years are spent on personalized trainings intended to improve one’s major arcana but even then, her control was immaculate. Was she really as young as she seemed? That smooth tanned skin and great body must imply that the difference between our ages couldn’t be that big. She must be a prodigy.’

“Mrs. Faraday, may I ask you a question?”

“Just Nora will suffice.”

“Alright, Nora, I don’t want to sound rude but… Why won’t you go and find Codex? You seem quite capable.”

“... Oh, I… You see, I’m quite busy here on the rig with all the… Merchants. Like here, look!” She pointed at the stall with some sort of animal fur.

“All sorts of hunters come to the island to kill local fauna. Surviving in this job requires being capable and powerful. After the hunts, they all gather here to sell to the wealthy merchants all the spoils. A ton of resellers use the safety of the rig and come here personally. It’s only natural that robberies are bound to happen all the time.”

Nora turned around and pulled her hand over the docking as water surged upwards to her.

“My major arcana allows me to merge with the ocean. Small parts of me spend all day patrolling the area to inform me of everything going on. Of course, sometimes the police is also needed, and I do take breaks for sleep, but I simply am irreplaceable here.”

Onaji stroked his chin.

We were led to a bungalow made out of a weird green material. Thin, it felt wrinkly and oddly organic to the touch. The house itself was visibly worn and old, though the inside was still quite cozy.

“Dried marduk smells absolutely gorgeous while it's warm, you’ll appreciate it in the morning. Oh and, you can move the beds whichever way you’d like, no one would interrupt you here.”

“Understood,” Onaji sighed.

“I see.” Magnolia simply shrugged and sat on hers. Curling up into a ball, she just muttered a short “Comfortable...”

Aside from the clothes rack and a big table with two chairs, the circular house had no other furniture, but it wasn’t like it needed any more. Onaji changed the robe into more weather-appropriate clothes. He peaked to see if Magnolia was watching, but she was already half asleep, choosing not to leave that comfortable initial position.

‘She was training all day, no wonder she got tired. Silly girl, what if we stepped onto the island immediately with you in such state, there would be no time for rest.’

The boy sighed and covered her with his blanket as the girl was lying on hers. The mage lay down and stared at the girl’s peaceful face for a bit. Eventually he also fell asleep.

***

The morning began with Nora loudly banging at the door.

“Wakey, wakey!” She yelled with excitement in her voice.

“Hrngh,” Magnolia grunted and fell off the bed.

“What hour is it?” Onaji rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“It’s being productive hour!” The woman unceremoniously opened the door and came inside.

While the girl was changing her clothes, Onaji and Mrs. Faraday stepped outside and discussed the group’s next move.

“I expect to gather a party of decent mercenaries in about four days. Until then we could use the time and learn a skill that could become helpful on the island.”

“A skill?” The boy raised his eyebrow.

After getting to a different end of the floating station, Nora proudly exclaimed, “Tadaa!” pointing to some kind of surfboard with a weird tube attached. Around the tube, the same green material that covered the houses was taut like a sail.

“What’s this?” Magnolia asked.

Mrs. Faraday smiled, happy to be asked that question. Jumping from the platform right onto the board, she exclaimed, “This here is a magefarer. Our signature invention.”

The board waved a bit on the water before being stopped by Nora’s major arcana with the same gesture as usual.

“You apply minor arcana to the tube, and it will produce wind directly into the thick marduk skin-sail.” She demonstrated and started circling in the water. “Turning the sail to maneuver might seem very tricky at first but becomes very intuitive and fun once you get used to it.

Magnolia and I exchanged looks.

‘Who’s gonna try first?’ Both wondered. Neither wanted to embarrass themselves in front of the other.

“To some, their major arcana helps, though I can’t imagine how an enhancer and conjurer could use theirs in this situation.” Nora graciously spun around in the air.

Tensing up for a minute, I finally jumped onto the magefarer and… immediately dropped into the water.

“Hahahaha.” Magnolia began laughing loudly.

A stream of water picked me up and placed me back onto the board, drying me up while it’s at it.

“Grip the sail tightly, like this,” Nora said, “And you? Jump in as well.” She pointed at the short redhead who couldn’t stop laughing.

“Like this you said?” Onoji turned around only to see a pillar of water push Magnolia into the ocean, carrefully putting her onto the magefarer afterwards. Now was his turn to break into laughter. Losing balance, the boy almost turned the device upside down and fell again.

“Focus.” Nora adjusted the board with her arcana.

“Alright.” Magnolia sighed and began moving ahead. She was wobbling unconfidentally but kept gaining speed.

“To slow down start applying less of the arcana!” Nora yelled.

“What?” The girl was already too far to hear.

“Watch out!” I yelled.

But it was too late. Sideslick plopped into the hull of a small docked ship full-force and slowly slid into the water.

“Are you… alright?!” Nora asked awkwardly.

“I’ll go check-” Onaji said, but as soon as he began applying the minor arcana, the magefarer slipped away from his legs, and the boy plummeted into the water.

Mrs. Faraday face-palmed.

“Okay, okay.” She clapped twice and returned us to our transport.

“Let’s try again…”

“Woah!”

“Again!”

“AAA!”

“AGAIN!”

‘I kept slipping on the board and Magnolia struggled to figure out the intensity of arcana needed. Turning this thing was a nightmare, it was sturdy as all hells and didn’t want to listen to the way we moved it.’

“Again!”

It took the magi a few hours before it almost seemed like they understood what they were doing.

“Great, keep going, keep going. See! Not that difficult.” Nora was very happy to see positive results so quickly.

“Cakewalk. Just a few more days of training and you’ll be proficient with it. Too bad you can’t just ride like that up the island.”

“Huh?” Onaji made a careful turn, slowing down without major difficulties, “I thought there was a great river that led straight inside the island?”

“Well yeah, but only you two among mercs will be the arcanists. The river’s flow won’t allow for others to go by boat, so the route would have to be mainly by land.

“I see… And how long would that take?”

“Four, maybe five days. The spire is up by the top of the volcano, so you’ll have to be careful.”

“So at best, we will get Codex in a week?”

“Sounds about right. Hey. Cheer up, I’ll find something fun to do while you wait.”

“Yeah...”

“Hey, Onajin. How about a race?” Magnolia smiled. She knew that over long distances, she would clearly have an edge with a more powerful minor arcana.

“Sure, just give me a minute to prepare.”

“Oh?”

***

The greatest advantage conjured items have over their normal counterparts is that they are inherently linked to their creator, and just as they can be summoned from nowhere, they can also be dissipated into thin air.

Onaji checked the grip his boots had with the magefarer. The super glue from his glue applicator held up well even while soaked.

“One, two, three!” Nora counted, and the magi took off.

Despite leading at the beginning, Magnolia quickly understood that at these speeds, she could fall off the board at any second with one wrong move. She lowered the speed a little to look behind and…

“What the?!”

Onaji rushed ahead of her.

“You aren’t even holding his sail. That must be cheating!” She exclaimed.

“Eat dust… err, water! Little girl!” Onaji giggled.

‘You aren’t going to win this easily,’ the female mage thought before speeding back up.