A day has passed since Maeyurai's victory against the Stalker.
He's been asleep for the past 17 hours. But now, he finally woke up.
Sitting up on the edge of the docks, he saw the rising sun. It was dawn.
With half-lidded eyes, he looked around, searching for something. Then, he finally found it.
The dead body of the Stalker, lying down dozens of meters away from him. The Stalker's body being unresponsive was a clear sign that it was dead, that he had defeated it.
Have I... Did I beat it...?
Upon realization, his eyes widened. He jumped up with a wide smile, rushing forward to check what happened to the Stalker.
He examined the body of the Stalker. Its head was completely obliterated; nothing was left.
"I... I did this...?" Maeyurai asked himself in skepticism. Though he was happy that he defeated the Stalker, he wasn't sure how he managed to land such a powerful attack on it.
"Heh," he chuckled with a smug smirk. "I should try to master that lightning arrow that I conjured before. I'm going to name it something cool."
Baaa-rrroooom!
The blare of a horn could be heard from the distance. It came in the direction of the sea.
Due to how loud it was, Maeyurai was caught off guard. He turned around in surprise to see what it was that created such a loud sound.
In front of his eyes was a large ship heading towards the docks. The message he sent was received on the other side, and they sent a ship in his way.
"Holy..." Maeyurai uttered quietly. He didn't expect that whoever read his letter would send a large ship.
A second horn was blown out.
Huuuuuuuum!
During the second blare, he immediately ran towards the docks, waving both of his hands along the way.
"Here!" he shouted, trying to call whoever was on the ship.
A figure showed up near the ship's deck, wearing a tricorne hat. Taking a closer look, he was a man in his 40s. He had the energy of an experienced captain.
Soon, the ship finally docked at the port, and an anchor was dropped. A long staircase was lowered to the dock right after.
Maeyurai stood at the bottom of the staircase, observing carefully who would come out.
The same middle-aged man that he saw earlier showed up and started walking down the stairs.
"Hello, friend," said the man. "Are you perchance the individual that wrote such a crude letter yesterday?"
"Crude letter? Oh... Yeah... That might've been mine," replied Maeyurai in a sheepish tone, realizing that what he wrote on the letter might've been inappropriate.
The man let out a sigh.
"Figured," he said. "What's your name, girl?"
Maeyurai's head snapped back, puzzled by what the person had just said.
"Girl? I'm a guy," he answered. "Also, it's Yhodth Maeyurai."
Upon hearing his answer, the middle-aged man raised an eyebrow in skepticism.
"Boy? What? You look like a girl!" he exclaimed.
"I'm a guy," Maeyurai confirmed.
It was silent for a moment. Then, the middle-aged man laughed lightheartedly, apologizing for his mistake.
"Hahaha! Sorry about that, young lad! Since you had long hair, I mistook you for a girl. I hope you will forgive me about that."
"Eh, no worries. Not the first time it happened," replied Maeyurai, brushing it off since it wasn't that serious.
The man then nodded his head and brought his hand to his mouth.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lagarde Espeninza, and as you've probably already guessed, I am the captain of this ship."
"Nice to meet you, Espeninza," said Maeyurai as he lowered his head a little.
"It is nice to meet you too, Maeyurai."
"Let me elaborate," Espeninza continued, crossing his arms as he looked at Maeyurai. "I was the one that received your letter. Upon reading, I figured that you might be in trouble, so I and my crew immediately set sail after reading your letter."
Espeninza reached down to take something in his pocket. A second after, he brought the letter that Maeyurai sent to Wyumatsui Island.
"You were the one that wrote this, yes?" asked Espeninza as he opened the paper, showing it to Maeyurai.
Upon looking at the paper, Maeyurai confirmed that it was indeed his.
"Yes, I wrote that."
Espeninza nodded his head in understanding. "Are you ready to come with us?" he asked.
In surprise, Maeyurai's head cocked to the side, an eyebrow raised up.
"Huh?" he uttered. "Is it for free?"
"It is. You're lucky this place is currently abandoned, so we take anyone as an evacuee," replied Espeninza. "Usually, it would take 70 silver coins to travel to Wyumatsui Island, but the authorities said to make it free for now.
A smile crept up on Maeyurai's face. His expression looked as if he let out a sigh of relief.
"You must've been expecting something else," said Espeninza with a chuckle.
"Yeah, I was. Anyway, I'm ready," replied Maeyurai as he turned away from Espeninza. "But I still need to find my longbow and quiver. I lost them during a battle."
Espeninza's gaze shifted to the left and landed on the Stalker's unmoving body. He didn't need to be a genius to figure out what happened to it.
"A battle, huh? I see; must've been a tough one," said he, his eyes returning to Maeyurai.
"It was," Maeyurai replied. "If you guys can wait, I'm going to find my bow."
Espeninza leaned back, lowering both of his arms. "We can wait, since my crew are going to be patrolling the port. Once you find it, just head inside the ship and talk to the First Mate."
Maeyurai nodded and asked, "Patrolling? Why?"
"It is a job assigned to us by the portmaster of Wyumatsui Island," Espeninza answered.
Then, he turned around and called the crew, "Everyone, off the vessel!"
Maeyurai watched as everyone on the crew aside from a chosen few walked down the stairs, following Espeninza.
Patrolling the port, huh?
They're probably looking for survivors or checking the condition of the port.
I'll follow them in the meantime, and then I'll retrace my steps.
The crew walked through the docks, entering the port. Maeyurai followed for a while, only turning away from the group when they passed by the Stalker's corpse.
Everyone looked at the Stalker's corpse in awe, examining its annihilated head.
"Woah... The Stalker's head is completely destroyed," one of them spoke out.
"Did that guy do it?" said another person, turning his head to look at Maeyurai in the distance.
Then, Espeninza answered in a firm voice. "Most likely he did. He stated earlier that he lost his bow in a battle."
"Wow, he should be quite strong then," said one of the crew members.
"Not as strong as Captain Espeninza though!"
"Well, that should be obvious!"
Espeninza was silent, standing alongside his crew as he looked at the Stalker's corpse intently.
"It depends," said Espeninza. "If I recall, there should be a person titled 'The Final Survivor' in Gangumen, being the only survivor of an incident in The Hunt."
The crew members turned their attention to Espeninza as he started talking. Then, he continued, "Out of the 136 recorded participants, he was the only one that came out alive."
"Wait, why would every single participant die to Common-Level Hell's Spawns?" one of them asked.
Espeninza shook his head and replied, "That's because a General-Level Hell's Spawn appeared. Only The Final Survivor managed to avoid death."
The air fell silent.
*
Maeyurai headed to the left, where he fought the Stalker yesterday.
He heard the sizzles and popping of flames in the distance. Not long after, he saw the spreading fire that he caused. It was significantly bigger than it was when he initially started it. It spread incredibly slowly.
"Damn, I'm going to be in trouble," he said under his breath.
As if nothing was happening, he turned his head in another direction, continuing his search for the longbow and quiver that he lost.
For the next few minutes, he kept looking at different areas, trying to recall where he was dragged and where he could've possibly dropped it.
In the corner of his eye, he finally saw his bow.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, running to his bow immediately.
When it was within reach, he took the bow right away. As he turned to look around, the quiver was nearby.
"Lucky me," he said, walking over to the quiver.
He strapped both of his belongings to his back and fixed his clothes.
Now that he had two of the things he needed, he headed back to the docks, ignoring the roaring fire behind him.
The walk took a few minutes. Soon, he arrived at the docks. He stood at the bottom of the lowered staircase, looking at the deck.
Do I just go up?
I think I remember that Espeninza told me to talk to the First Mate. I wonder who that is.
With a shrug, he headed up the steep staircase.
Maeyurai's hand gripped the wooden railing for balance. The staircase was steeper than he initially thought.
Stepping foot on the deck, he was met with the faces of the few people that stayed on the ship.
A youthful, red-haired man stood like a statue at the center of the ship, near the mast. It seems that he was checking the condition of the sail.
Maeyurai stood on two feet, creating a soft thud on the wooden floor.
The young man standing near the mast turned his gaze towards the sound.
"Hm?" the red-haired man spoke. "You must be the passenger."
Maeyurai looked at the man and replied, "Yes, I am."
The red-haired man turned his whole body and approached Maeyurai.
"I am the First Mate of this ship, Xhyren Agao," said Agao, introducing himself in a flat tone. "We'll be departing once Captain Espeninza returns."
What's with this guy?
I don't like the tone of his voice.
It's like listening to a statue with the ability to speak.
"Ah—nice to meet you, First Mate Agao," said Maeyurai as he leaned forward, extending a hand to shake.
Agao looked at Maeyurai's hands with a neutral gaze, tentatively reaching out a second after.
The two of them shook hands. It felt static and frozen.
"This is quite awkward," Maeyurai said.
"I know," replied Agao in a tone as dry as the desert. "I get that often."
Feeling bad that he might've offended Agao, Maeyurai apologized, "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean it in a bad way."
Agao merely walked away in silence, brushing it off like a speck of dust.
"Passenger," Agao called out, his back facing Maeyurai. "You may do whatever you want in the meantime as we wait for Captain Espeninza.
"Oh, okay, got it," said Maeyurai as he looked around the deck.
Agao returned to his previous position, silently examining the condition of the mast and sail. It was quite the weird behavior.
Maeyurai's eyes wandered around like a curious soul, trying to take a peep at every little detail there was. It was his first time being on a ship—and on such a large one, at that.
He took one small step, testing whether he would get called out.
Then another.
Soon, he confidently walked around the main deck, not minding the eyes of the few crew members that stayed around.
Maeyurai stood in front of one of the doors near the quarterdeck. Atop the doorframe, there was a large signboard with the ship's name displayed on it.
"Ahrgo Fischerre," as written on the signboard. The writing felt elegant and powerful to look at, a clear sign that the ship's owner is a figure of importance.
"Arhgo Fischerre," said Maeyurai, letting the words roll off his tongue. He kept repeating the name for the next few seconds.
He really liked the way the name flicked out of his mouth.
As Maeyurai was standing in front of the door, reading the signboard, a person on the quarterdeck appeared.
Wearing a tall, black top hat, monocles, and elegant clothing, he had the energy of a dignified young man.
"You sure love the name of this ship, huh?" said the tall-hatted man.
Oh, another weird person.
Is every single one in the ship weird aside from Espeninza?
"Well, it sounds good to me," replied Maeyurai, looking up at the railing.
"Behind that door is the captain's quarters. You only enter when Captain Espeninza is present," said the tall-hatted man as he walked along the railing.
He turned to his left and went down the stairs at the edge, then proceeded to walk to Maeyurai.
Reaching a hand out, the man introduced himself, "My name is Jin Gabby. They call me Jinga the Freeloader."
Maeyurai tentatively held Gabby's hand and replied, "Nice to meet you, Gabby."
"Maeyurai, was it?" asked Gabby, shaking Maeyurai's hand with a firm grip.
"Yes, it's Maeyurai. I assume I don't need to introduce myself, yes?"
"Please still do; I'd like to know more about you."
Pulling his hand back, Maeyurai would speak, "I am Yhodth Maeyurai. I came from Gangumen and am currently on a journey to explore the world."
Gabby's head oscillated up and down as he listened intently to Maeyurai's words.
"I see, exploring the world, are you?" said he, bringing a hand up to his chin with a grin. "A similar goal as I, if I may say. I'm on a journey as well."
Before letting Maeyurai open his mouth, Gabby continued. "A journey to find inspiration as an aspiring writer! The vast world has so much story to give me, many thrilling ideas waiting to be presented and written with a book and a quill!"
Maeyurai was deadpan.
"Cool," he said. "Good luck with what you're doing."
Gabby's energy lowered, his brows furrowing. "Show some more enthusiasm, would you?" he said as he lowered both of his arms.
"Oh, my bad. I just didn't know how to reply."
Gabby sighed and shook his head. "Ah, it's no problem then. I merely wanted you to support me in my journey as I support yours."
"Got it. I'll be supporting the books you write," said Maeyurai.
Nodding, Gabby would turn away, walking up the stairs to the quarterdeck.
Soon, Espeninza and the other crew members would return from their patrol.
Espeninza stepped foot on the deck and shouted.
"Everyone, are we ready!?"
With his loud voice, he caught the attention of everyone on the ship. Once the others were on board, they all yelled in unison aside from Maeyurai, "Yes, captain!"
The sails unfolded alongside the soft trembling of the ship. Then, the anchor was raised.
With the waves that swayed the vessel, they had finally set sail.
The destination?
Wyumatsui Island, the Central Fishing Capital.