Night had long since fallen, with the sun yet to rise.
While most had already drifted to sleep, the ship still quietly moved. The winds blowing its silk sails forward.
Azdin was quietly studying as per usual. This time reading a book that a famous explorer had written, about his own journeys in the twilight sea. There were a couple like it in Roswells collection of books, and he had already skimmed through most of them, but this one was by far the most interesting.
The amount of detail that went into what he saw, as well as the myriad of emotions he felt too was simply phenomenal. It was as if he was the author, and he was witnessing everything himself. But it wasn't even just that, he wrote about many of his encounters with creatures of corruption, the battles he fought, as well as the adventures and ancient treasures he uncovered too. It wasn't just an explorers documentary, it was the story of a legend.
Quickly wiping away a small tear, he flipped back to the books cover, and there he saw,
[A Seafarers Dream]
[Author: Willis Azdin]
[Co Author: D.I Croquet]
"We even share the same name!!!"
'Well its his last name but it's close enough.'
Was it just a coincidence?? Was the universe trying to tell him something? Was he actually destined for greatness just like this hero??
"This book.. this guy must be famous! A book like this is.. it's..!!"
There wasn't enough words in his dictionary that could describe what he felt at that minute. If he really was destined for such a fate..
'Hang on.. that's a bad thing!!'
His flaw would tear him a new one if he reached that level of infamy. How many peoples fantasies would he end up in??
Right then, the doors to his quarters swung open with great force as a familiar voice shouted,
"Azdin! Land! We found it!"
**
Accompanied by Lotte, he joined not just Hugo but also with the nameless Awakened on the ships deck. At the minute they were the only ones still awake on the ship, and so this small group was the first to had learn that land was near. They would all finally get the help that they needed soon.
He could already spot it faintly in the distance, a great large mass of wood and stone quietly floating in the middle of the sea, with hundreds of glowing yellow lights sparkling around it. The signs of civilization.
For Azdin, this would be the first time he'd be in such a place.
"The floating city, Nantames.."
He had read about it a bit in some of Roswells books. It was a floating city in a neutral terroritoy that was only a few hundred years old, having been built when a bunch of drunk sailors had the crazy idea of building a nation.
It was just a collection of ships at first. But as traders came and passed with a rare few sticking around, it somehow quickly turned into a popular spot. From there it grew quickly, until it became the floating mega city that it is today.
Although he was excited at the sight, Hugo wasn't so much. Lotte glanced at it occasionally, but didn't seem too interested while the nameless Awakened was already preparing herself to go to sleep.
'Why's everyone so lethargic?'
"What's the hold up for? Let's get there now!"
Hugo sighed, but it wasn't with his usual sarcasm. This time, he truly did sound dejected and fed up.
"Believe me I want to go there just as much, but we have a problem we need to address first. I sent my crow into there already to scout it out before we docked."
He didn't like what he had seen or heard.
"The war empire is there. It wasn't just a ship or two either, there's an entire fleet."
Azdins face turned pale. A ship or two being there was within their expectations, but an entire fleet? That gave room for lots of worry. To make things worse they weren't just any regular ships, they were all carefully crafted warmongers that could house a thousand men each.
And at the minute, 12 of them were all stationed there at once. It was a horrifying sight, even if he couldn't see it yet. Just imagining it made him feel disgusted.
"Most of them seemed to be aboard ship though, and I saw plenty of navy surrounding them too. It seems that they're just here to resupply, but if they realise this is one of their ships then things could quickly turn ugly."
They had already taken down all the war empire flags and flipped the sails so they wouldn't be recognised right away, but who knew if that guaranteed anything.
"I'm sorry, I wish I learned more but I was almost caught."
He raised an eyebrow. His crow should've seemed like a regular bird to anyone else, how could it be that someone noticed it?
"I was watching someone that appeared to be a high ranking commander.. until they stared right back at me. I couldn't tell if he really did notice me or not, but I got a nasty chill from the way he looked, so I commanded the crow to leave."
Azdin nodded.
'So it was a matter of intuition.'
It wasn't that he doubted him, there were simply all kinds of people in this world that he had yet to meet. It was always better to be safe than sorry.
"It's fine, you've done so much for us already."
His kind words seemed to lighten him up a little.
Right then, Hugo suddenly turned frightful. Throwing himself towards the guard rail, he peered closer to the horizon. Of course he couldn't see that well past it, but through the eyes of his crow..
"Theres something coming towards us! In the water!"
It was fast, terribly fast. So much so that in those couple moments, it had already outsped his crow with it struggling to keep up.
But in those quiet moments, he managed to peer beneath the waves. He managed to see it's vague figure swimming as water parted around it far too easily..
He managed to see a person.
"It's human!"
Everyone jumped into action. Thanks to Lottes own caution, they had come up with a drill in case anything were to happen. Everyone already knew what to do.
The lady herself of course, ran down to the sleeping quarters to awaken the passengers. She was, questionably, mundane so she wouldn't be participating in battle to come. Azdin already began summoning his memories, the armour, his new spear and a pair of Azure sabers for Hugo.
Hugo himself deactivated his dormant ability, allowing the crow to disappear before summoning it again quickly by his side.
The nameless Awakened on the other hand, simply readied her fists.
Concerned, Azdin asked,
"Would you like one too?"
She didn't even bother to look at him, simply peering at the water too.
"Don't need it."
By then, their time to prepare had come to an end.
The ocean exploded, as a plume of sparkling water rose into the air before them, with something hidden within it rising as well.
Not too long later, it emerged.