Dimension Wave

It took about three hours for the boat to be completed .

I bet it’d take way more time in real life, but hey, this is a game .
At first, Sheryl would glance over at us . But soon after, though, she got into her groove and quickly produced something seaworthy . The end product looks like a large sailing yacht .
And even though I knew we needed all of that Strong Cloth, Sheryl used almost all of it .
Our sailboat really is quite grand, though I haven’t seen a real one before .
I’m sure once we get out to sea, it’ll look even more impressive when we raise the sails .

“A four-person boat is quite large, huh?”
“Yep . ”
“Oh? There’s a bow-like thing at the back . What’s that? A ballista?”
“Yep . ”
“Won’t you respond with something other than one-word answers?”
“‘kay . ”
“…”

Oh, whatever . We should celebrate the launch of a ship, so I won’t pick on her today .
… but just for today .
Seeing me menacingly snickering to myself, Shouko looks very confused .
For some reason, they seem to have to wrong idea about how I feel about Sheryl .

“So, should we hurry to the sea?”
“… yeah . ”
“‘tis such an exciting moment! Hereat I am trembling!”

It sure is .
I’m getting super excited too . I’m ready to just burst out at a full sprint to the sea .

“Will we be fine being so hasty?”

Shouko seems to have her doubts .
I mean, we are Spirits after all . I get how she feels . Safety should be our top priority .

“… you’ll be fine . ”
“… oh, Sheryl…”

Shouko and Sheryl lock eyes .
What’s happening? It feels like they just set an event flag but with just two lines of dialogue?!

“Let’s practice first . ”
“Practice?”
“‘kay . ”
“What kind of practice?”
“‘kay”
“No, I meant what will we be practicing for?”
“‘kay . ”
“Umm…”

Shouko looks over at me, pleading for help .
Well, there’s no way they tripped any romantic flags .
Just look at their personalities .
But anyway, I stepped in as an interpreter for the two of them while we walked towards the ocean .

“I’mma launch it . ”

Sheryl takes the sailboat out from her inventory .
The boat is big enough for four people; how the h.e.l.l do you fit such a ma.s.sive thing in there?
Never mind . I shouldn’t be questioning video game logic .
There’s probably another dimension where we store our items .
Our sailboat drops into the ocean with a bit of a splash .

“Oh, right… lemme get that skill . ”

I mutter out to myself as I open my skills menu .

Naval Combat I
Activates only when on a vessel .

Reduces all debuffs when on a vessel and additionally grants buffs .
Consumes 200 Energy per hour .
Costs 200 Mana to acquire .
Unlock requirement: Be active for 12 hours or more on a vessel .
Upgrade requirement: Be active for 64 hours or more on a vessel .

Naval Combat II
Activates only when on a vessel .
Reduces all debuffs when on a vessel and additionally grants buffs .
Consumes 400 Energy per hour .
Costs 600 Mana to acquire .
Unlock requirement: Be active for 84 hours or more on a vessel .
Upgrade requirement: Be active for 168 hours or more on a vessel .

As soon as I acquired the first rank of Naval Combat, the second rank popped up as I already have it unlocked .
The description doesn’t say anything concrete about what the skill actually does, unlike Masteries .
If it doesn’t turn out to be that spectacular, I can always just derank the skill and get half of my Mana back .

“Shall we, Kizuna?”

I look around to see Yamikage and Sheryl on the boat already .
What is this? A race?

“Yeah, let’s go . ”
“Let’s!”

I’m a little more confident in this bigger boat compared to my dinghy before .
I jog over and hop on .

“She’s solid . ”

I jumped on with quite some momentum, but the boat didn’t rock at the slightest .
Shouko and Yamikage should have nothing to worry about in that case .
Hmm?
Shouko still doesn’t seem to be coming on board .
She’s just standing in front of the boat, looking a little awkward and worried .

“What’s wrong?”
“Umm… it’s a little embarra.s.sing, but I am just a bit scared . ”

Ah, right . People do tend to get a little nervous around boats .
It’s understandable . That rocky, floaty feeling can be scary .

“You’ll be alright . I’ve got a bit of experience on the sea, so I’ll give you all the support you need until you’re comfortable . ”

I reach my hand out to Shouko .
She takes it with a bashful smile on her face and I pull her on board .

“See? You’re alright . ”
“I-I am . It certainly does not seem so bad when I have you by my side . ”
“Hey, people are gonna get the wrong idea if you keep saying stuff like that . ”
“…?”

Hearing her say that almost made my heart skip a bit .
It’s scary how Shouko can sometimes get so careless and say stuff like that without any hesitation .
It’d be a bigger problem if she realized what she says, but it doesn’t seem like she has the faintest clue .
I try to brush it aside by looking over to the two of them over there…

“‘tis the t.i.tanic!”
“… yep . ”

Yamikage stands at the bow with her arms spread wide .
… the h.e.l.l is she doing?
Sheryl looks like she’s getting carried away by Yamikage and having a little fun too .

“Don’t say that! That’s bad luck . If we sink, I’m blaming it all on you!”
“Hehe . ”

I hear a soft chuckle behind me as I yell at Yamikage .
Looking back behind me, I see a smile on Shouko’s face .
She always had a nice laugh, but this time, it’s different .
I’ve never seen her laugh like this . Shouko looks like she’s having fun .

“It’s not something to laugh at, Shouko . ”
“P-Pardon me . I couldn’t help it . ”
“No?”
“Well, I was just thinking how fun it is to be together with everyone . ”
“… is that right?”

Fun, eh?
That’s the charm of MMORPGs—gaming together with complete strangers .

“Up until now, I had been persistent in grinding and becoming as strong as possible . But it seems to fit me better being with you, Kizuna, and everyone here . ”
“Oh, you’re gonna make me blush . ”

We might be chumps compared to them frontliners .
But, the thought of setting sail for the virgin seas makes my heart race .
Having people who share the same feeling as I do makes me a little… no, it makes me very happy .
And…

“But Shouko, y’know I’m not gonna just spend all my time s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around, right?”
“I know . ”

I’m excited not only about all the Energy I can get out there, but also because for the possibilities that lie ahead . And thinking about how she was cast away by the other frontliners, I’d like for Shouko to get back the Energy she lost too .
Of course, I don’t expect that there’s oughtta be something there, but if I could, I’d like to take the chance to restore her to her former glory .
Right now, we’re kinda holding her back, but it’d be nice if the four of us can accomplish something together .

“Alrighty! Let’s set sail!”
“Aye, aye!”

—and just like that, we embarked towards the open seas .

It took about three hours for the boat to be completed I bet it’d take way more time in real life, but hey, this is a game At first, Sheryl would glance over at us . But soon after, though, she got into her groove and quickly produced something seaworthy . The end product looks like a large sailing yacht And even though I knew we needed all of that Strong Cloth, Sheryl used almost all of it Our sailboat really is quite grand, though I haven’t seen a real one before I’m sure once we get out to sea, it’ll look even more impressive when we raise the sails

“A four-person boat is quite large, huh?”. “Yep . ”. “Oh? There’s a bow-like thing at the back . What’s that? A ballista?”. “Yep . ”. “Won’t you respond with something other than one-word answers?”. “‘kay . ”. “…”.

Oh, whatever . We should celebrate the launch of a ship, so I won’t pick on her today … but just for today Seeing me menacingly snickering to myself, Shouko looks very confused For some reason, they seem to have to wrong idea about how I feel about Sheryl

“So, should we hurry to the sea?”. “… yeah . ”. “‘tis such an exciting moment! Hereat I am trembling!”.

It sure is I’m getting super excited too . I’m ready to just burst out at a full sprint to the sea

“Will we be fine being so hasty?”.

Shouko seems to have her doubts I mean, we are Spirits after all . I get how she feels . Safety should be our top priority

“… you’ll be fine . ”. “… oh, Sheryl…”.

Shouko and Sheryl lock eyes What’s happening? It feels like they just set an event flag but with just two lines of dialogue?!.

“Let’s practice first . ”. “Practice?”. “‘kay . ”. “What kind of practice?”. “‘kay”. “No, I meant what will we be practicing for?”. “‘kay . ”. “Umm…”.

Shouko looks over at me, pleading for help Well, there’s no way they tripped any romantic flags Just look at their personalities But anyway, I stepped in as an interpreter for the two of them while we walked towards the ocean

 .

“I’mma launch it . ”.

Sheryl takes the sailboat out from her inventory The boat is big enough for four people; how the h.e.l.l do you fit such a ma.s.sive thing in there?. Never mind . I shouldn’t be questioning video game logic There’s probably another dimension where we store our items Our sailboat drops into the ocean with a bit of a splash

“Oh, right… lemme get that skill . ”.

I mutter out to myself as I open my skills menu

Naval Combat I. Activates only when on a vessel Reduces all debuffs when on a vessel and additionally grants buffs Consumes 200 Energy per hour Costs 200 Mana to acquire Unlock requirement: Be active for 12 hours or more on a vessel Upgrade requirement: Be active for 64 hours or more on a vessel

Naval Combat II. Activates only when on a vessel Reduces all debuffs when on a vessel and additionally grants buffs Consumes 400 Energy per hour Costs 600 Mana to acquire Unlock requirement: Be active for 84 hours or more on a vessel Upgrade requirement: Be active for 168 hours or more on a vessel

As soon as I acquired the first rank of Naval Combat, the second rank popped up as I already have it unlocked The description doesn’t say anything concrete about what the skill actually does, unlike Masteries If it doesn’t turn out to be that spectacular, I can always just derank the skill and get half of my Mana back

“Shall we, Kizuna?”.

I look around to see Yamikage and Sheryl on the boat already What is this? A race?.

“Yeah, let’s go . ”. “Let’s!”.

I’m a little more confident in this bigger boat compared to my dinghy before I jog over and hop on

“She’s solid . ”.

I jumped on with quite some momentum, but the boat didn’t rock at the slightest Shouko and Yamikage should have nothing to worry about in that case Hmm?. Shouko still doesn’t seem to be coming on board She’s just standing in front of the boat, looking a little awkward and worried

“What’s wrong?”. “Umm… it’s a little embarra.s.sing, but I am just a bit scared . ”.

Ah, right . People do tend to get a little nervous around boats It’s understandable . That rocky, floaty feeling can be scary

“You’ll be alright . I’ve got a bit of experience on the sea, so I’ll give you all the support you need until you’re comfortable . ”.

I reach my hand out to Shouko She takes it with a bashful smile on her face and I pull her on board

“See? You’re alright . ”. “I-I am . It certainly does not seem so bad when I have you by my side . ”. “Hey, people are gonna get the wrong idea if you keep saying stuff like that . ”. “…?”.

Hearing her say that almost made my heart skip a bit It’s scary how Shouko can sometimes get so careless and say stuff like that without any hesitation It’d be a bigger problem if she realized what she says, but it doesn’t seem like she has the faintest clue I try to brush it aside by looking over to the two of them over there….

“‘tis the t.i.tanic!”. “… yep . ”.

Yamikage stands at the bow with her arms spread wide … the h.e.l.l is she doing?. Sheryl looks like she’s getting carried away by Yamikage and having a little fun too

“Don’t say that! That’s bad luck . If we sink, I’m blaming it all on you!”. “Hehe . ”.

I hear a soft chuckle behind me as I yell at Yamikage Looking back behind me, I see a smile on Shouko’s face She always had a nice laugh, but this time, it’s different I’ve never seen her laugh like this . Shouko looks like she’s having fun

“It’s not something to laugh at, Shouko . ”. “P-Pardon me . I couldn’t help it . ”. “No?”. “Well, I was just thinking how fun it is to be together with everyone . ”. “… is that right?”.

Fun, eh?. That’s the charm of MMORPGs—gaming together with complete strangers

“Up until now, I had been persistent in grinding and becoming as strong as possible . But it seems to fit me better being with you, Kizuna, and everyone here . ”. “Oh, you’re gonna make me blush . ”.

We might be chumps compared to them frontliners But, the thought of setting sail for the virgin seas makes my heart race Having people who share the same feeling as I do makes me a little… no, it makes me very happy And….

“But Shouko, y’know I’m not gonna just spend all my time s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around, right?”. “I know . ”.

I’m excited not only about all the Energy I can get out there, but also because for the possibilities that lie ahead . And thinking about how she was cast away by the other frontliners, I’d like for Shouko to get back the Energy she lost too Of course, I don’t expect that there’s oughtta be something there, but if I could, I’d like to take the chance to restore her to her former glory Right now, we’re kinda holding her back, but it’d be nice if the four of us can accomplish something together

“Alrighty! Let’s set sail!”. “Aye, aye!”.

—and just like that, we embarked towards the open seas