[Current Balance: 11,416,932,800 R]
---Nassau Beach, 8 PM---
Night fell over Nassau, blanketing the shabby town and the anchored ships in darkness, punctuated only by the flickering orange glow of scattered lanterns, bonfires on the beach, and the distant, brilliant stars in the sky.
The raucous sounds of the afternoon had died down somewhat, replaced by the crash of waves on the sand and the low murmur of conversations drifting from taverns.
Alaric found himself back on the beach, away from the noise and grime of the main settlement. He sat on a large piece of driftwood washed ashore, a half-empty mug of ale resting in the sand beside him, a fresh cigar glowing in his hand.
'Man… I really have been smoking too much lately,' he thought with a wry internal sigh, taking another drag anyway.
He was alone. The impromptu drinking session he'd funded back at the Old Avery had done its job.
Blackbeard, Hornigold, and most of their crews were likely passed out drunk in the tavern or on their ships by now. James Kidd, after observing Alaric with intense scrutiny for a while longer, had simply melted back into the Nassau shadows, likely off to attend to their own mysterious business… probably something edgy.
Treating a tavern full of pirates to unlimited ale wasn't exactly cheap, even by his standards, but getting the information about Edward and ensuring the key players were too incapacitated to immediately cause trouble was worth it.
[Money Withdrawal: - 3,800 R]
[Current Balance: 11,416,929,000 R]
'Only 3,800 Reales to get over a hundred pirates completely sloshed? Not bad value, actually,' he mused.
He let out a sigh and finished off the last of his warm-ish beer, then tossed the empty wooden mug onto the sand. Standing up, he stretched and looked up. With no city lights around, the stars were insane… it was just a huge, sparkling mess spread all over the night sky.
"Jamaica, huh?" he muttered to himself, tracing the familiar constellations, trying to orient himself southwards.
He mostly knew how to navigate by the stars from books, and it was more theory than practice, but the basics made sense. Plus, he'd been in the military in his last life, so that helped. Kingston was way down south.
'Can't exactly walk there, though,' he thought, frowning slightly. 'And running across the water all that way it too tedious. It takes too much concentration to maintain speed and avoid rogue waves.' He considered teleporting directly using Hiraishin, but he had no markers placed anywhere near Jamaica yet.
He paced along the water's edge for a few moments, the waves washing over his boots. 'I need a faster, more convenient way to travel long distances over water without relying on ships...'
Then he stopped walking.
"Wait... why not just copy that jutsu? The Light-Weight Rock thing. I already saw it used in the anime. I should be able to break it down and replicate the effect through fuinjutsu."
He crouched down and pulled his sleeve up, exposing his forearm. "Alright. Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique... the principle is chakra-infused earth release changing gravitational pull on the target. If I translate that effect into fuinjutsu, I can make the seal act like a toggle."
He began drawing a small, tight spiral on his skin using chakra. "This will be the anchor. It needs to recognize my chakra only. Then... enhancement lines to adjust the density of my own body. Just enough to offset my weight and make movement feel like gliding."
The seal glowed for a moment, then vanished into his skin.
He took a small hop forward. His body felt significantly lighter. He hopped again, and this time, he floated for almost two seconds before landing.
"Nice. That's the Light-Weight Rock effect done. Now for the ultra-version."
He took out a kunai and pricked his finger lightly, drawing a new pattern on his other arm. "This one needs to go further. Less resistance, faster acceleration. But I want to keep it safe... don't want to fly off like a balloon. So, I need limit the output."
He added three rings around the core symbol, setting boundaries for how much the seal could enhance his lift. Then, he pressed his finger to the center.
The seal glowed white for a second and vanished just like the first.
Alaric bent his knees and jumped.
This time, he soared up into the air, easily clearing twenty meters before gently floating down.
"Perfect. Not too fast, but smooth. I can control the height and direction by shifting chakra around my legs and feet."
He grinned. "No wings, no fanfare, just clean mobility. I'm basically flying without spending chakra constantly."
He stepped off the driftwood and hovered again, slowly moving forward along the beach. The seals had done their job. He could now travel quickly across land or sea without stress.
And best of all, the effects didn't need to be turned off. As long as he didn't push chakra into them, they stayed dormant.
"Yup," he muttered, watching the stars as he glided over the sand. "This is gonna be real useful."
He walked over to the nearest palm tree at the edge of the beach and placed his hand on its rough bark. Channeling a tiny thread of chakra, he inscribed another intricate Hiraishin marker, this one keyed to Nassau beach. 'Always good to have options. Teleporting is still king for instant travel.'
With that done, he stepped back onto the open sand and focused inward, accessing the flight seals he'd drawn on his arms earlier. He bent his knees slightly, gathering his chakra. Then, with a controlled push, he shot upwards into the dark sky.
He let out an involuntary laugh as he rose rapidly, stopping himself about a hundred meters above the dark ocean. The feeling was incredible… it was effortless buoyancy, a sense of freedom far surpassing mere jumping or even Swift Release.
'Never would have thought of this back on Earth,' he mused, hovering easily. 'The possibilities with Fuinjutsu... they really didn't explore this enough in the manga. It's practically limitless if you understand the principles.'
'Well, I only understand the principles because I bought the Ascendant level of fuinjutsu…'
He looked down. Nassau was a scattering of dim lights against the dark mass of the island, bordered by the pale ribbon of the beach and the dark shapes of anchored ships. He shook his head, then turned, orienting himself using the stars he'd identified earlier.
South… towards Jamaica.
"Kingston, here I come..." he murmured to the wind.
With a mental command, he directed chakra to the propulsion aspects of the seals. He surged forward, gliding smoothly through the air, leaving the pirate haven behind.
Flying at night was... strange.
The moon, with its bright crescent, cast silvery light on the waves below, but beyond that limited illumination, everything was pitch black. No city glow, no navigation lights, just the stars above and the dark ocean below.
'Makes sense,' he thought, channeling a thin layer of chakra around his eyes to shield them from the wind rushing past as he picked up speed. 'No light pollution in 1714...'
Despite the darkness, the experience was exhilarating. He remembered the thrill of wingsuit gliding in his past life… the adrenaline rush, the speed, the feeling of controlled falling.
This was different.
This wasn't falling; it was flying. It was true, unassisted flight… well, unassisted by anything other than his own chakra and ridiculously advanced sealing techniques. It was quieter, smoother, offering a sense of mastery over the air itself rather than just harnessing gravity and wind. He could hover, change direction instantly, ascend or descend at will.
He already had Swift Release for rapid land travel and Hiraishin for instantaneous teleportation between marked locations. But this? This new ability to fly freely, without the constant chakra drain of maintaining levitation solely through raw power? He grinned, feeling the wind whip through his hair.
This opened up a whole new world of possibilities.
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