Looking at Hydra lying atop the third ship of the serpent pirates that had been largely unaffected, I stood on the bow while dusting my hands off in satisfaction. Transferring her between the two ships was difficult as she was very large; the entire hull of the ship she had been staying on was empty, no rooms, no halls, just a massive space that her body filled.
The ship she was currently on wasn't fit to handle her, but it would make do; it would probably just be uncomfortable.
"Try not to move too much, the ship is top-heavy with you on it." Grabbing a bunch of thick ropes, I glanced at her while tying them around the stem before leaping into the air, using [Air Jump] to cross the ocean, returning to the merchant ship, which had been patiently waiting for me.
'Oh, I could already imagine the numerous questions.' Seeing the Captain, Finley and his crew standing by the edge, looking at me, I wryly smiled.
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After spending a long time answering questions from practically everyone, we continued sailing; however, we were now towing an extra ship behind us, which slowed us somewhat, though no one had complained. From the way they saw it, if it weren't for me, they would've all died.
With the whole Serpent Pirate incident officially over, the rest of the voyage was relatively calm; we were hit with a few storms, luckily nothing the ships weren't built to withstand. Eventually, before I knew it, after nearly a month, our destination was finally in sight.
"So that's Daemon? Looks practically identical to Gulentina." Standing at the bow, I leaned against the railing, gazing upon the port city of Daemon. "Hah, well, what were you expecting, Alexander?" Glancing at Finley to my right, I shrugged. "Eh, I don't know; just something different. Anyway, how does Daemon treat humans? I've visited Asckbon, and it wasn't enjoyable."
Looking at Finley, he furrowed his brows, rubbing his chin with a thoughtful expression. "I haven't been to Asckbon, but I imagine it's probably similar; I'd say just be careful of the Crusher Corps." I raised an eyebrow at his advice, curious what the crusher corps was. "Care to elaborate? Or do you just want me to figure it out on my own?" "Haha, my fault. The Crusher Corps is a secretive organization meant to capture humans and Elves to use as slaves for the powerful."
I groaned in annoyance at his words; Asckbon was already bad enough, but in Daemon, I'd have to deal with pursuers now? 'Tsk, just great.' "Haa, well, how dangerous are they?" "Pretty dangerous. I think you'll be somewhat okay, Alexander; normal members or codename, Viz, are about as strong as me, unless your guard is completely down, you'll be fine." "I feel a 'but' is about to come." Raising an eyebrow, Finley wryly chuckled before nodding.
"But, there are stronger members; special units, 'Vizords'. Each one is considered extremely powerful; I don't know how you'd fare against one, but watch out for them." Given how somber Finley's expression was, I took his advice to heart; however, I couldn't help but grow suspicious. "For a secret organization, you're pretty knowledgeable about it." At my words, he faintly nodded before facing forward, staring at Daemon.
"It's not a past I'm proud of, but I used to be a part of them, a Viz specifically." Now that wasn't something I was expecting from him; he's never once been hostile to me for being a human. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed… Let me guess, you wanted out because of a woman?" Seeing his smile, I smirked as I must have hit the nail on the head.
"How'd you know?" "Well, what else could make a man transform so drastically?" "Hahaha, true, true. Only a woman could ever do that! What scary creatures." "Hehe, scary indeed." Our laughter eventually died down. "So, is there any way for me to differentiate between a Vizord and a Viz?" "Yeah, on their cloaks they'll have V's, a Vizord has three, and a Viz has two. Trainees only have one V, but it's unlikely you'll come across them; they're the weakest of the bunch, so you'll be fine."
"Good to know, thanks for the heads up. Since I've got them to worry about, could you tell everyone to keep my accomplishments a secret?" "No problem, saved our lives, it's the least I could do." Smirking, Finley gave me a confident thumbs-up, causing me to nod; afterwards, I asked him other questions regarding Daemon. While we conversed, we neared the port city.
"Looks like we're about to dock; I'll be back." Waving to Finley, I head to the back of the ship, where I cut the ropes before using air jump to arrive on the other boat with the Hydra.
As I landed, she awoke from her slumber and opened her eighteen eyes, instantly locking onto my figure. "Does each head have its own ego, or are they all you?" Looking curiously at her, she continued to silently stare at me, causing me to click my tongue as I headed to the helm. "Fine, if you don't want to answer, then don't."
Grabbing the steering wheel, I spun it to the right, prompting the ship to turn slowly; obviously, I couldn't just bring her into the port city. She was a walking treasure trove; people would hunt her to the ends of the earth to get just a single scale. 'Technically a slithering treasure trove.' Shaking my head, I focused on steering the ship, creating my own gust of wind to speed things up.
After nearly half an hour, when I couldn't see any signs of civilization, I beached the ship before jumping down, landing on the shore beside the hull. "C'mon, you come down." Shouting, she looked over the edge of the ship before slithering down, uncoiling her long, long body. 'She's at least 100 meters long.' I was taking into account just her body, from her tail to the point where her heads branch.
"Nice, right?" "This isn't my first time on land." Shooting me a glare, I awkwardly coughed before averting my gaze to the forest. "Anyway, go on, just be careful, if people discover you, you'll be hunted forever." Folding my arms, I looked at her, causing her to shift her gaze to the forest, only to begin slithering forward. "Next time we meet, I'll get my revenge." "Fufu, sure you will. I'm rooting for you!"
Waving her off, she slithered deep into the forest, the tall trees managing to hide her figure; when she disappeared entirely, I heaved a sigh of relief before turning around. "Welp, no better motivation to get stronger than knowing a Mythical creature wants to kill you." Wryly smiling to myself, I approached the boat, picked it up, and threw it into the ocean, letting the last piece of evidence about her slowly float away.
With that out of the way, I ran back the way I'd come, only taking a fraction of the time before I arrived at the port city; using air jump to get to the merchant ship, which was already docked, I disembarked and stepped onto the dock, entering the city.
"Man, I've barely been here, but I can already feel glares heading my way." Muttering to myself, I walked along the street, leaving the docks behind as I observed everything; however, although I noticed some slight differences from Mezcla, a city was still a city, and almost everything was the same.
Since everything was the same and I was getting constant glares from passersby, I had no desire to explore the city; I returned to the docs.
"Finley, what happened to the others?" Approaching Finley, who was standing by the ship, he raised his head before gesturing behind me. "Ah, they headed to a restaurant to eat some proper food." "Oh, you didn't join them?" "Ah, I would like to, but the leader has a bit more duties." Nodding, I glanced up at the ship before I stretched out my hand. "It was good traveling with you, Finley." "Leaving already?" "Well, it's not exactly like I'm here for a vacation."
Chuckling lightly, Finley and I shook hands. "Oh yeah, you know anything about Vampires?" Instantly, Finley's expression froze while his hand became stiff. "V-Vampires? W-Why do you want to know a-about them?" "I need their help." Finley proceeded to meet my gaze for several seconds before heaving a deep sigh. "I-I don't know much, but they're a Noble clan in Daemon; not the nobles you think of, they're truly Noble. Everyone in Daemon respects them; j-just don't casually mention them."
"Got it." Nodding, I gave my farewell to Finley, who seemed to have physically aged, before turning around and walking away. 'So, vampires are Nobles? I'm not exactly surprised, but what exactly did he mean by that?'
Glancing at the sky with a thoughtful gaze, I eventually shook my head, saving such thoughts for later when I actually encountered one.