On the second day after leaving the Dorn Hold port, the Blue Crystal officially entered the Conquest Sea.
As the color of the ocean deepened and the winds and waves grew stronger, the entire Blue Crystal began to rock more violently.
Lux was very unaccustomed to this feeling of floating, and even though her strong physique meant she didn't have to worry about severe seasickness, her throat still felt a bit itchy when a big wave hit.
Even with plenty of sleep, her head remained heavy and muddled.
Under these circumstances, Klein could only temporarily cancel her tutoring and was unable to make detailed plans with her.
Fortunately, Ino seemed completely unaffected by the wind and waves, so Klein focused entirely on tutoring Ino, giving this talented but severely lagging Iceborn Subjugation a much-needed catch-up lesson.
Speaking of which, even by Klein's standards, Ino was quite talented, no less so than Lux—although the talent for ice magic was not as rare as that for light magic, after Klein's examination, he found that Ino had at least one-eighth Iceborn Subjugation in her body, meaning one of Ino's great-grandparents was an Iceborn Subjugation from Freljord.
Klein didn't know too much about the Iceborn Subjugation, but he could confirm that Ino's bloodline greatly enhanced her talent in ice magic, and it was precisely because of the Iceborn Subjugation that she was able to awaken her magic early and avoid losing control of her magical power.
It should be noted that without Klein's help, Lux would still need to live with gloves and be unable to control her magical power even when she turned eighteen.
However, because Ino's foundation was truly too poor, and the environment here was not suitable for quiet rote learning, Klein could not teach her from basic theory like he did with Lux.
Considering the need to improve the team's combat effectiveness, Klein simply changed his teaching approach to focus directly on practice.
Fortunately, although Ino's magical power was not as astonishing as Lux's, it was quite good, completely sufficient to support daily training.
Thus, Lux and Ino, who originally lived in two cabins, simply moved in together, and the 'by-product' ice cubes from Ino's daily studies happened to effectively alleviate Lux's seasickness.
Klein believed that after a period of intensive training, by the time the Blue Crystal arrived at Kalamanda, Ino should have a considerable level of combat effectiveness—enough to be a captain of a main combat mage squad if she were thrown into Noxus.
The fifth day after leaving Dorn Hold.
The Blue Crystal had already reached the central area of the Conquest Sea—even inside the cabin, when the wind and waves came, it felt no different from a pirate ship ride at an amusement park.
The entire Blue Crystal had lowered its sails as much as possible and even deliberately brought down one mast; in this state, the armed merchant ship was like a tumbler in a storm, relying entirely on the ballast in the hold to maintain basic balance and avoid immediate capsizing.
Lux lay helplessly on the sailor's bunk, her eyes listlessly surveying the gloomy sky outside the porthole, while Ino diligently studied spell models under Klein's guidance.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside, and after a brief commotion, the cabin door was knocked.
"Is anyone there?"
"Who?" Lux asked through the door, crunching on an ice cube, "Is something wrong?"
"I'm the boatswain of the Blue Crystal," the person introduced himself unhurriedly, "We're about to reach a dangerous sea area. To avoid unnecessary trouble, I'm reminding passengers not to leave their cabins today. Everything for you will be handled by dedicated personnel; sailors will deliver meals and change the slop buckets shortly."
"Oh, got it," Lux replied, "I won't run around and cause you trouble."
"Then thank you," the boatswain seemed very satisfied with Lux's reply, "The Blue Crystal armed merchant ship will protect your safety, please rest assured!"
After speaking, the boatswain left Lux's door and knocked on the next cabin door.
"Dangerous sea area, what's that?" Ino, who had overheard the conversation, couldn't help but ask curiously, "It sounds serious?"
"Lux, you come over too. I'll briefly explain the current situation to both of you."
Ino nodded, stood up, came to Lux's side with her sword, and sat on the edge of the bed, holding Lux's hand.
"We're about to enter the dangerous sea area. If anything unexpected happens tomorrow, both of you need to be prepared," Klein's tone became unusually serious. "From a navigational perspective, we should now be close to the midline between Dorn Hold and Kalamanda. This is the central part of the ocean, with high winds and rough seas, and pirates are also active here. Both of you be extra careful."
"Pirates?" x2
Hearing about the possibility of pirates, Lux was quite surprised, while Ino looked terrified—neither of them had ever seen pirates, only heard of them.
"In recent years, as the war in Ionia has escalated, almost all of Noxus's navy has been dispatched to the First Land," Klein explained softly. "Without the navy's clear-out operations, the pirates of Bilgewater have become increasingly lawless... Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to encounter pirates here at all."
"But how do you know all this?" Lux asked with considerable curiosity, "I haven't heard anything about it?"
"While noble banquets are tedious with their etiquette and not much fun, they are indeed a good way to gather information," Klein said as a matter of course. "Of course, few people are as idle as I am, listening to everything and remembering everything—in short, just do as I say. Keep a low profile tomorrow, and it will be fine once we pass this dangerous sea area!"
"Okay!" x2
Ino naturally nodded eagerly, and Lux also weakly agreed.
As it turned out, that very evening, Lux saw a massive pirate ship from the porthole.
The pirate ship seemed to send a flag signal (unfortunately, Lux couldn't understand it) and fired a round of cannonballs (none of which hit)—and almost at the same time, the Blue Crystal returned fire (also missing every shot).
However, judging by the scale of the cannon fire (mainly the number and height of the splashes), it seemed the Blue Crystal was actually superior?
Perhaps feeling that the Blue Crystal was not to be trifled with, the pirate ship eventually stopped following after tailing them for a while, allowing a constantly nervous Ino to let out a long sigh of relief.
The day after encountering the pirates, the Blue Crystal's lockdown ended.
That same evening, the strong winds that had blown for several days finally subsided.
Lux, who felt like she was molding in the cabin, finally came to the deck again.
As she stood by the ship's rail, watching the sunset on the sea and listening to the ropes repeatedly tightening as the sails were unfurled, Lux suddenly felt that this salty sea breeze could also be so lovely.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Just as Lux was taking a deep breath facing the sea, the boatswain's voice came from behind her. "When the storm subsides and the enemy departs, even the most unruly ruffian will sincerely praise the Mother Serpent's blessing; even the most stingy captain will willingly offer his share of The Tithe."
"A very beautiful parallelism," Lux instinctively maintained her noble demeanor, then realized she was no longer in Demacia. "Well, I mean, yesterday I saw a pirate ship, and it startled me."
"Don't worry, the Blue Crystal armed merchant ship's safety is trustworthy," the boatswain smiled brightly. "If possible, I also hope the young lady can support our shipping business more—carrying people and delivering goods, we are professionals."
Saying this, the boatswain took out a stiff paper card from a leather wallet and handed it to Lux.
Looking at the golden [Medarda Shipping and Trading Company] on the paper card, Lux only then realized that the other party's initiative approach was to promote business.
Indeed, it was said that the price of a first-class cabin on such an armed merchant ship was quite high, and considering that she and Ino booked two but only occupied one, the other party must have regarded her as a major client.
So, after receiving the card, Lux politely nodded, put it in her pocket, and expressed that if she had the opportunity, she would definitely recommend and choose the Blue Crystal.
Having received a satisfactory answer, the boatswain politely said goodbye and returned to his post.
Watching his retreating figure, Lux couldn't help but marvel at how strong the commercial atmosphere was here.
In Demacia, many commercial matters were tied to status; many things were only purchased by nobles, and commoners did not have the extra money to buy consumer goods.
Therefore, promotion often happened at noble banquets, mostly through word-of-mouth among nobles.
But here, the boatswain personally came to promote, and from his words, it seemed he had carefully prepared... This was truly completely different from Demacia!
As the sun set and the Moon God rose, the Blue Crystal continued south, finally sailing into the Mermaid Sea.
Although Lux did not see the legendary mermaids nor hear their singing, at least from then on, the journey was smooth sailing.
Three days later, the Blue Crystal armed merchant ship successfully arrived at Kalamanda.
Lux and Ino, dragging two large boxes, walked down the gangplank, stepping onto the land of Shurima for the first time.
Klein's Mini-Lesson: The Tithe:
In Bilgewater, there is a custom that every time they go to sea, they must throw a Siren Coin into the ocean to ask the Mother Serpent to protect them from disaster. This is called The Tithe, and if The Tithe is not paid, they will be dragged into the water by Nautilus.
For the full story, see League of Legends Universe: Nautilus.