Chapter 208: Pointless Cracks (Part 1)Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The hunting group returned to the port once again. Saleen and the rest of the mages, who were partic.i.p.ating in a mission like this for the first time, still felt anxious. This time, the group had come to the port which housed the magic s.h.i.+p. The feeling observing the hundreds of meters long ma.s.sive s.h.i.+p from the port was entirely different from observing it from a long distance away.
Saleen made some detailed calculations. There was a magic cannon installed on the magic s.h.i.+p. Including the tipped up bow, the s.h.i.+p was only two hundred meters, which was too different from the amount of s.p.a.ce that was required to install a magic cannon. The depletion by the magic cannon was more than thirty times the depletion by the fort, and in order to lower the depletion amount to normal levels, a s.h.i.+p longer than one thousand meters would have to be constructed. However, that was impossible.
Horse carriages could not go onto the main port. Hence, the mages walked on foot and proceeded onto the pier before splitting up onto the four hunting boats.
The hunting boats were around fifty meters long and had a width of about ten meters. The front of the boats were raised while the backs were lowered. Saleen had been born by the sea, but people in Ceylon City had stopped killing whales a long time ago, not to mention whale-like magic beasts.
There was a large and structurally odd alchemical crossbow placed at the bow of the hunting boat, guarded by two puppets. Saleen’s group was led to the rear of the cabin on the second story, and in the cabin, there was a magic compa.s.s with a diameter of more than one meter. This item was not simply used for navigation. It was also used for spotting magic beasts in the ocean.
The other ten mages who boarded the boat were allocated the cabins situated at the front of the boat. At the front of the boat, there were rooms specially designed for mages located on both sides of the cabin. Because Andrew and Keegan were in Lex’s group, they managed to get a free ride and were able to enjoy the privileges as well. By staying in the rear, they did not need to fight at all. They were only required to monitor the compa.s.ses.
However, the captain of the s.h.i.+p would be manning the compa.s.s most of the time, unless he and the chief officer had died. Even so, Saleen would not need to worry at all because Juno would take over command of the s.h.i.+p if that really happened. Saleen’s seat was good because he could look out of the crystal window and observe what was happening up front. Five mages, eight swordsmen, plus Nailisi and Sika were in the cabin. All fifteen of them sat comfortably on their chairs, as though they were on vacation.
The boats set sail and left the port, then entered the mist surrounding the perimeter of the island. Besides the four hunting boats, there was also an armored s.h.i.+p following behind them. This armored s.h.i.+p was responsible for protecting the four hunting boats. Furthermore, if there were any important magic beasts, it could also contribute to offensive efforts.
The environment in the boat was inferior to that of the inside of the castle, thus Saleen and Lex were unable to carry on with their special training. Then, the people in the cabin began to chitchat.
Saleen realized that he had little time for conversation ever since he had become a mage because he was always busy. It was the same case for Lex as well. Even though the n.o.bles in Qin did not have the habit of consuming afternoon tea, they would still gather every Sat.u.r.day for the sole purpose of catching up with one another. However, Lex had never received an education on such matters when she was young. The moment she had matured, she had become engrossed in the world of magic.
From the perspective of outsiders, mages were mysterious and basked in glory. However, most people would not be able to tolerate the dullness that came with being a mage.
Daniel mentioned his experiences at sea, and even Andrew and Keegan were captivated by them. Saleen then realized that Daniel was very eloquent. Beneath that honest face, Daniel’s character was actually very similar to that of people from Sikeqinya. Around Saleen and Lex, Daniel had only been able to be introverted. However, around Andrew and the others, Daniel behaved differently, causing Saleen to be astounded.
“Actually, the finless whale isn’t that big of a deal. This magic beast is only about twenty meters long and feeds on small fish. As long as boats like ours do not provoke it, the finless whale will avoid us. The real danger is the blueflag flying fish. The moment this fish appears, it will just be overwhelming, as it flies in the sky like a bird. Its protracted mouth can easily penetrate heavy armor from end-to-end.”
Saleen then thought to himself, Isn’t that nonsense? Penetrate heavy armor from end-to-end? There are no warriors who wear heavy armor on boats. With the exception of magic armor, warriors who are at sea only wear leather armor, or else they would drown if they fell overboard.
Furthermore, a swordmaster at minimum was needed to deflect a blow that could penetrate heavy armor from end-to-end. Saleen had heard of the blueflag flying fish. It was a grade-3 magic beast, and a group only consisted of hundreds of them, so how were they overwhelming?
“The last time I went to Cloudflow, I did not take my own s.h.i.+p, and the s.h.i.+p I was in did not have any magic compa.s.ses. In the end, we ran into a group of blueflag flying fish. There were at least ten thousand of them, and they formed a dense layer on top of the sea. I thought I was doomed. When those things fly, they don’t turn at all, they simply crash straight into the s.h.i.+p. Even an armored s.h.i.+p would sink.”
Lex simply laughed as she heard Daniel’s words, but she did not bother exposing the holes in his story. Keegan grabbed his hair and said, “So did you actually die?”
“The…” Daniel became slightly awkward. Everyone here was a mage, so no matter how much knowledge Daniel possessed, others would still be able to detect his lies. If the mouth of a blueflag flying fish could destroy an armored s.h.i.+p, they would have been ma.s.sacred already, because their mouths would be a superior material for making alchemical crossbows, and the arrows produced would be indestructible.
“Haha…” Sika burst out in laughter as she pointed at Daniel without any regard for him.
Andrew and Keegan became upset when they saw that. As a warrior, could not she show some respect to a mage? Since Andrew and Keegan had been living in Alchemy City for some time, they had been subconsciously influenced by the beliefs of that city. In fact, they had witnessed Sika sparring with the other swordsmen, and they knew that Sika’s capabilities were close to those of a high grade swordmaster already.
“Of course I did not die. I am a death mage, not a dead soul,” Daniel fumed.
Sika tapped on Daniel’s shoulder and said, “I am a mountain person, so I haven’t seen any of those blueflag flying fish. But, I know of a type of magic beast which is more terrifying than that fish.”
“What is it?” Saleen knew that Sika was spouting nonsense, so he did not want Daniel to be able to insult her. If Daniel dared to insult Sika, then Saleen would already have to let Lex down. No matter what, Saleen would have to teach Daniel a lesson if that happened.
“The ferocious volcanic boar. That magic beast is even longer than this boat, and it runs faster than the golden-winged crow can fly. Furthermore, the boars travel in herds, so when they start charging, they can even topple a hill. There was a time I went out hunting and I ran into a dozen of them by accident. At that time, I thought that I was doomed…”
“Then, did you die?” Saleen joined in the fun and posed that question to Sika, causing Daniel’s face to turn scarlet. Now, Daniel finally knew that Sika could not be trifled with, as Saleen was obviously biased towards that female warrior.
“Ha… I don’t know. Why don’t we ask Daniel how he managed to survive?” Sika provoked Daniel as she wrinkled her nose at him. She had discovered recently that Daniel had realized that Lex was the one who commanded the team, so he had begun sucking up to her. That was not a good sign at all, because Saleen was not Lex’s sidekick.
“Daniel, just share it with us. Anyways, we have nothing else to do.” Lex’s words caused Daniel to feel relieved, as he really did not want to offend Saleen. Saleen was always spending time with Lex, so Daniel was not sure what sort of relations.h.i.+p they had. Even if Daniel wanted to suck up to Lex, he needed to understand the current situation first.
“Those blueflag flying fish were only a few miles away from my boat, so I would not have been able to turn away in time. At that point in time, I was preparing to jump into the sea. But all of a sudden, a gargantuan magic beast emerged from the ocean and opened its mouth, sucking all those fish in. That beast did not even spit out any bones.”
“I understand now. You were eaten by that magic beast later on,” Sika said as she clapped her hands.
“How would that have been possible? The magic beast had already filled its stomach. It would not try to go after my boat. Otherwise, there are many magic beasts in the ocean which can easily destroy this s.h.i.+p of ours.”
“It makes sense.” Sika nodded and continued, “That was what happened when I met those ferocious volcanic boars too. They found me too tiny, so they simply went away after devouring a forest.”
“Sika, you should show some respect to Mage Daniel,” Andrew interrupted, unable to tolerate Sika any longer.
Sika simply shrugged her shoulders. Aside from Saleen, she did not want to respect anyone else. Only an outstanding mage like Saleen was worthy of her respect. Faerun had been respectable as well. Unfortunately, he had already died.
Saleen narrowed his eyes and said to Daniel, “Daniel, do you think Sika is being disrespectful to you? If you do, I will ask her to apologize to you.”
Daniel hesitated for a moment. However, when he saw that there was something in Saleen’s eyes which caused his heart to palpitate wildly, he quickly shook his head and said, “Not at all. Sika is your friend, so there’s no reason for her to make my life difficult.”
Daniel’s stance quickly softened, causing Andrew to feel shocked. Andrew then frowned and said, “A Caucasus person should not join in a conversation between mages.”
All traces of a smile disappeared from Saleen’s face. “If you don’t like her, we will not sit here anymore. Bring me to the mages’ cabin in the front,” Saleen said coldly to Andrew.
For the first time ever, Saleen realized that the superiority complexes that mages had were incredibly abhorrent. Saleen despised many people, but he would never say so directly. Andrew’s behavior had infuriated Saleen. Sika might not have been a powerful warrior, but she was still his friend, so what right did Andrew have to admonish the friend of another mage?
However, Saleen had misunderstood Andrew. In Andrew’s heart, two mages would always share the same thoughts, and other professions simply consisted of people who had no relation to mages. What right did a Caucasus person have to be a mage’s friend? That was Andrew’s naïve idea.
“Saleen, that was not what Andrew meant,” Lex finally spoke.
“That was exactly what he meant.” Saleen stood up. He did not even bother to look at Andrew’s awkward expression, and was already preparing to leave the cabin. The sailors serving him were at a loss for what to do. They were not sure whether to ask Juno what to do or to lead Saleen to the other cabin.
Lex sighed in her heart. In doing this, Saleen was making Andrew look very bad. After all, Andrew was a grade-4 mage and Saleen was younger than him as well.
“Daniel, do you want to continue your conversation here, or do you want to admire the scenery up front?” Saleen turned his head sideways and looked at Daniel.
Daniel was caught in a dilemma. That was the first time Saleen had been so domineering over him, and he was not used to it at all. Lex was powerful enough, so Daniel could definitely lean towards Lex. However, Saleen was just a grade-4 mage while he was a grade-3 death mage, and under most circ.u.mstances, their offensive abilities were nearly the same.
Daniel thought of an idea swiftly. As Daniel peeked at Lex, his b.u.t.t s.h.i.+fted forward in the chair, making it look like he was going to stand up.
Lex knew that if Daniel really stood up, it would be equivalent to giving Andrew a slap on the face. Such offensive things were not necessary, so when Lex thought of this, she said, “Saleen, the mages’ cabin is too stuffy and the ventilation is poor. I am afraid I might get seasick if I were to go there.”
When Daniel heard Lex’s words, his b.u.t.t immediately stuck to the chair, unwilling to move even a single inch anymore. Lex was trying to make Saleen stay. Her words possessed a certain meaning – if Saleen were to leave, she would follow suit. No matter how p.r.o.ne a mage was to seasickness, a bottle of restorative water would do the trick.
“But Sika will be bored here, and I don’t like that.” Saleen might have stopped walking, but his att.i.tude remained unchanged.