"Shit!" Leo was scared. He was just an ordinary guy, not a match for this strong first mate.
He ran away in fear, barely dodging a big knife that swung at him.
Then he felt a sharp pain in his back and fell to the ground from a strong kick from the first mate.
"Kid, you still want to run? Die!" The first mate looked scary, and his big knife was about to cut off Leo's head.
Blood splattered, and a head flew out, landing in front of him, with wide open eyes, still not believing what had happened.
Leo shook all over in fear, crawling back with his hands and feet. When had he ever seen such a bloody scene?
The first mate's body slowly fell down, revealing a small figure.
It was the elf Lilia.
"Look at you, so scared. Go up." She looked at Leo with a sneer, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him toward the mast.
"Fuck!"
Leo screamed in fear, grabbing the mast with all his strength.
A big bang, the ship shook violently, and water rushed in. The strong ship broke in half right in the middle.
Leo almost fell off, and he held on even tighter to the mast.
Crack!
The wind blew hard, and huge waves rose. A big lightning struck the sea, and the water boiled like it was cooking.
Leo's hair stood on end, and he felt a tingling on his head.
Was he going to get struck by lightning? He was on the mast after all.
"Help!"
"Captain, save me! You can't leave us behind!"
"Damn you, Karl, you'll get what's coming to you!"
People on the ship kept shouting for help and yelling angrily.
Then a small boat was lowered from the back of the ship. The captain and two of his guards ran away, abandoning the ship.
He stared angrily at Leo who was hanging on the mast. He was really angry.
This guy had killed his first mate, who was like a brother to him, someone he had been through a lot with.
Bang!
Suddenly, there was a hit. Lilia was holding a long knife and cutting at the mast.
Leo was shocked and yelled, "Are you crazy? I'm your savior! You can't hurt me!"
The wind blew hard, the waves crashed, and the big ship tilted, slowly sinking into the sea.
He didn't know if Lilia heard him, but her cutting got faster.
Bang!
Another big bang.
Crack!
The big mast slowly fell toward the sea.
"Shit!" Leo was confused and just held on tight, leaving everything to fate.
Bang!
At the same time the mast fell, Lilia kicked it. The big, thick mast flew into the sea.
Leo's eyes opened wide. He couldn't understand how someone so small could have so much power. It didn't make sense.
But then the mast hit the water, and Lilia jumped, flying toward the mast.
"Fuck!" Leo looked down at the wild sea, took a deep breath, held it, and closed his eyes, holding on to the mast.
Bang!
He was hit by the mast from below, and crashed into the water. His back felt like it had been whipped with a long whip.
He coughed hard and quickly laid on the mast to steady himself.
Bang!
At that moment, Lilia landed on the mast too. Her body swayed a little.
The waves hit them, and the two almost fell off the mast.
Lilia looked a little scared, and she jammed her long knife into the mast, held the hilt, and steadied herself.
"What do I do…"Leo had nowhere to push off, and in panic, he instinctively wrapped his arms around Lilia's waist.
"Uh!"Lilia's body shivered, and she instinctively pulled her knife to cut him, but she calmed down, bit her lip, and let him do it. She tightened her grip on the hilt of the knife to steady herself.
Not far away, the half of the ship was being swallowed by the sea. A big wave hit the mast and pushed it toward the distance.
Leo could barely see the slaves and workers falling into the water. They were quickly taken by the waves. They probably wouldn't survive.
[Bip! Current survival chance: 80%. Please leave the storm area as soon as possible and find land.]
The message appeared again.
Leo felt hopeless. He knew he needed to get away from the storm and find land, but this big, clumsy mast was impossible to move. All he could do was drift with the tide.
How long they floated, he didn't know. The sea slowly calmed down, and the storm disappeared.
Leo lay on Lilia's small back, feeling sleepy.
"Let go of me, you're safe now!"Lilia's cold, impatient voice came.
Leo woke up and quickly let go of his arms. His whole body ached, his head felt heavy, and he licked his cracked lips. He was starving and thirsty.
They had to find land or another ship, or they would die for sure.
"What should we do now?"Lilia still held the hilt of the knife in the mast and asked.
Leo looked around, but the sea was still covered in a thin layer of fog. There was nothing in sight-no islands, no ships.
The message didn't appear either.
There was probably no island nearby.
He sighed and said, "First, we need to solve the food and water problem."
"Sea water isn't drinkable."Lilia swallowed, and said coldly.
She had probably drunk sea water before.
Leo finally got a good look at her. She had black hair and black eyes, a pure and sweet face, and pointed ears. Other than that, she looked just like a human.
"What are you looking at?"Lilia's cold voice came again. She looked at him coldly, watching him carefully.
Leo snapped out of it. This wasn't a soft, weak girl. He couldn't be fooled by her looks.
He knew how to collect fresh water from the sea, but there was no way to do it on this empty mast.
He noticed the small dagger on Lilia's waist and said, "Can I borrow your dagger?"
He decided to solve the food problem first.
Lilia only hesitated for a second, then took the dagger from her waist and handed it to him.
Leo took the dagger and dived into the water.
"Uh?"Lilia was shocked. She didn't understand what he was doing.
The sea was calm, and he didn't come up for a long time.
Lilia started to get worried and shouted, "Hey, are you going to drown?"
No movement came from the surface.
Just when she was about to go down and check, she heard the sound of waves behind her.
Leo appeared, and the dagger had a fish about the size of a hand on it.
Lilia clearly relaxed, and her cold expression came back.
"We have food now,"Leo said proudly, holding up the fish. He quickly cleaned it and cut off a piece of meat, then gave it to Lilia.
She frowned and didn't take it.
"Don't worry, sea fish isn't poisonous,"Leo explained.
Lilia coldly said, "Elves don't eat dirty meat."
Leo snorted, "There's nothing else here. If you don't eat, you'll starve."
Lilia swallowed, then after thinking for a while, took the half fish in her hands. She forced herself to take a bite.
It was soft and chewy, and had a little sweet taste, like fruit.
[Bip! Lilia's affection for you +1]
The message appeared again. Leo looked at Lilia in surprise. He didn't expect it to work.
Could he get her to follow him if he raised her affection enough?
He was weak, and he needed a bodyguard. Lilia was once a guard of the elven princess. She was strong. If he could get her on his side, he'd be safe for sure.
Flutter!
Suddenly, a bird call came. A white seagull flew past them through the fog and disappeared quickly.
"Uh?"Leo was surprised. He threw the half-eaten fish into the water and jumped into the sea, trying to push the mast.
"What's wrong?"Lilia was shocked and looked around. She thought something dangerous was coming.
"There's a seagull! Where there's a seagull, there's land,"Leo said, watching where the bird went. He was worried.
The mast was too heavy to move. All they could do was drift.
"I'll do it,"Lilia said, then pulled out her long knife. She cut the mast into two, leaving a piece that could fit both of them.
She pushed the knife back into the mast, jumped into the water, and helped Leo push.
Their bodies quickly disappeared into the sea, leaving only the broken mast floating on the waves.
Whoosh-
The water stirred. A big ship slowly came toward them.
"Captain, we found a piece of mast on the water,"a sailor on the deck said, rushing to tell a big, bearded man.
"It's my ship!"A thin, dark-skinned man stood nearby.
It was Leo's old captain, Karl.
"Lord Kael, if you kill that slave for me and get revenge for my first mate, that elf is yours,"Karl said to the bearded man, bowing low.
"An elf?"Kael looked excited. "Is she clean?"
Karl quickly said, "Don't worry, sir. I know the nobles' tastes. My men didn't even touch a single hair of hers. You'll be satisfied."
"Haha, good to hear,"Kael smiled. "Drop the anchor and send a message."
"Yes!"His men immediately took out a homing pigeon to send the message.
Karl was confused and asked, "Lord Kael, why are we stopping?"
Kael looked at him and said, "The front is Flame Island. They probably found it. The barbarians there are dangerous. I lost a whole team last time. Wait for my men to arrive before landing."
"Oh, I see. I'll follow your plan, Lord Kael,"Karl said. He wanted revenge, but he knew he had to depend on Kael now.