The Limpet was an ocean-going cargo vessel characterized by many flags that showed a white limpet on them. Its size was similar to The Redbud, with seven levels in total and staffed with over 200 workers.
While walking to his room, he saw many mortal sailors and handymen busily running around the ship.
Before he could settle down and enjoy some peace in his room, someone knocked on his door.
The visitor didn’t speak. But the energy signature was enough to prove his identity.
Without leaving the sunlight he was enjoying, Angor used his spirit power to remotely open his door and saw a middle-aged figure in a blue uniform.
“How may I call you, good sir?” The visitor entered the room and joined Angor on the balcony.
“Please, call me Padt, Mister Roman.” Angor smiled.
Roman didn’t question why Angor already knew his name.
“Mister Padt it is. I thought I was the only level-3 apprentice and that the journey might be a little... troublesome. But with you here, I believe I can experience fair security.”
“I reached level 3 just recently and have not started learning many level-3 cantrips. I’m afraid I still have to rely on you, Mister Roman. Of course, I will not hesitate to provide assistance since the association generously granted me a lift.”
Roman smiled in satisfaction. He came just to make sure his new guest would help him guard the ship when necessary.
“I’ll not occupy more of your time then, Mister Padt. Look for me upstairs should you have any questions,” Roman said as he turned to leave.
“A moment, Mister Roman. Can you tell me about that gem?”
Angor still remembered the particular nightmare stone, which was embedded inside the figurehead of The Redbud. This was why he noticed a similar gem on The Limpet too.
The figurehead of The Limpet was a silver statue of a mermaid with an angelic look. Her ears were a pair of fins while her hair strings were, strangely, snakes.
She was holding a whelk-like object, which had a purple gem slotted onto it.
Angor assumed that this was another nightmare stone. But he did not sense very obvious nightmare energy from it.
“That...” Roman narrowed his eyes at the question. “That’s a nightmare stone, Mister Padt. Activating it will conceal the ship inside a temporary illusion and confuse monsters, should any come to attack us.”
Angor felt something was off but failed to tell what exactly.
“I see. So that’s why I’ve been having a... strange feeling. A nightmare stone is a very precious resource.” Angor pretended that he was amazed.
After Roman left, Angor remained on the balcony for a while to inspect the figurehead statue before returning into his room.
As The Limpet sailed away from Fey Continent, he began practicing weaving again. As for illusions, he couldn’t work on any since Roman’s room was just above, so he could only read Sunders’ notebook to prepare for later.
The Limpet entered Devil’s Water three days later, and the vessel began bumping like a roller coaster. Storms and hurricanes were common sights in this dreadful area.
There was one time when the ship was surrounded by a dozen towering waterspouts. One wrong move would cause the ship to bump into them, in which case nothing would prevent the force of nature to tear it apart.
There were two people steering—Helen and the ship’s captain, Erwin, who displayed their superior sailing techniques that kept the ship safe. Each time the ship went off course after avoiding danger, these two master helmsmen would always bring the ship out of the chaotic fog or pursuing tides, and find the right route again.
Angor was glad that he didn’t decide to travel across Devil’s Water alone, or he would easily lose his way, no doubt.
It took half a month for the ship to cover about one-fifth of the route inside Devil’s Water. Apart from threatening wind and tidal waves, The Limpet also came across an extra danger that was usually deadly to mortals but was considered to be pleasant surprises to apprentices—sea monsters.
Until now, they ran into monster herds at least ten times, which were all single-handedly taken care of by Roman. When Angor offered help, Roman simply rejected his assistance with a polite smile.
Apparently, having a helper fighting off the monsters meant dividing the loot in half.
Today, the weather was relatively fair, which was rare in these parts. Not long after people had their breakfast, a sea monster appeared in their view, which displayed the same power level as a level-3 apprentice.
It was a brutal-looking fish with spikes grown all over its body. When Roman saw the monster on the observation stand, he immediately jumped into the air while lifting a hand at Angor as a stop sign.
“Leave this one to me!”
Angor had no choice but to comply. He was a guest, and it was only right to listen to “arrangements”.
Roman and the fish monster looked comparable in terms of strength. The monster possessed decent physical defenses, while Roman was proficient in manipulating water. Their battle dragged on for a while as neither of them won an upper hand.
As more time went by, Roman was slowly having his stamina depleted, while the monster remained vigorous thanks to the “home-court advantage”.
Angor waited patiently for Roman to allow him to join the fight, which never happened.
Angor didn’t understand why this man was so obsessed with claiming everything on his own. Didn’t he mention “fair security with an extra helper” when they talked to each other on the first day?
Roman’s current situation no longer looked so fine.
Maybe just like Boro mentioned, that Roman was also trying to fight for a destiny before his lifespan ended?
And since Roman decided so, Angor chose to observe quietly without doing anything.
The giant fish suddenly lifted its tail and slammed at the deck of the ship.
Roman no longer had enough mana to deflect this attack. At this rate, the monster was going to end the lives of a dozen mortals who failed to run far enough.
Still, Roman didn’t ask for help.
Angor jumped off from the observation stand despite Roman’s unresponsiveness. He couldn’t stand idle anymore because Helen, the chief officer of the ship, was among the threatened people. Helen’s death would undeniably affect the reliability of the journey.
Besides, the ship wouldn’t stay so well if the monster completely shattered its deck.
Considering these, Angor decided to do something.
To be safe, he created a number of ice walls in the air to dampen the tail strike.
The remaining momentum of the tail still caused the ship to sink greatly, while several spikes from the tail penetrated the bodies of sailors nearby.
Helen managed to stay safe behind a pole. But her hat was blown off somewhere, and her long black hair shook free of her hairband and had blocked her eyes.
“Get in there and help the wounded, Naki!” she yelled at a sailor not far from her. “Hey, Cap! We need to get out of the tides asap!”
Erwin, who had been inside the captain’s cabin, did a hard aport to tilt the ship away from the battlefield.
Angor had finished preparing another cantrip. From his hand, a burning mark slowly grew bigger and hit the tail before the monster could pull it away.
“Field of Fire!”
Crimson flames covered the entire tail and caused the air to smell unpleasant.
Startled by the pain, the monster dived back into the water.
Although the fire caused by the Field of Fire couldn’t be extinguished by simple means. When traveling at the bottom of the Sea of Purification, Angor had learned how to keep his fire burning underwater, and longer.
Roman saw the fish struggling below the surface of the water and showed an excited smile.
“Padt, you keep the ship safe. I’ll go finish it off!”
Angor grimaced upon hearing those words.
It seemed Roman insisted on keeping the accomplishment of killing the monster all to himself despite Angor’s assistance. The ship, the passengers... everything else didn’t matter.
Angor wouldn’t blame Roman for it was common for a level-3 apprentice to be overeager for an opportunity. But he still felt displeased when this man disregarded the safety of the ship so openly.
He scoffed and canceled his Field of Fire. He then gave Roman a cold stare.
Roman was faltering when he realized that he was being too reckless.
If Padt suddenly attacked me right now...
Fearing that he would become vulnerable to Angor’s attacks, Roman decided to save some strength.