5 Chapter 1 - Into the seas

Part 4

Laum

After defeating the young Kraken, we stayed a little while above the waters and above the old man's merchant ship. The wooden ship was still rocking as the seas were still unstable. Some of Kraken's meat stuff floated together with its blue blood, which is bluer than the blue seas and the blue sky. That was proof that we had slain the Kraken.

In the wooden ship's deck, the Old man and his crews were dumbfounded on what they saw. They saw the spurting of the seawater and my barrier flying up with a jet speed into the skies. Their haggard faces were relieved, at the same time astonished and amused seeing me fine.

"I will go down now. I do not know what you had pulled out, but that must have cost a lot of mana. For now, hide in the sling bag and rest."

"Un. Is there food in the bag?" She smiled.

"Don't worry about it. I've always have reserved your food, just in case"

I always kept food in my bag, just in case Marikit would ask for food. So, it's not a problem. I could tell without looking inside my sling bag that she was already gnawing the bread.

I started descending down to the ship. Everyone on the ship was cheering me with great smiles and laughs on their face.

"OOOOOO" "OOOOO" "OOOO!"

'Such a waste.'

I still could not understand what they were saying, but somehow the barracking ruckus was apparent that they were cheering on me. Of course, they were cheering on their hero.

'Hehe... That's right. Praise me, more. More!'

I kept myself 'humble' by pretentiously making a hesitant and abashed smile while scratching my head while I was basking from their wave of cheers and praise. Jeez, why is it always feels good to be praised? Back in my village, I always basked with such praises. However, this crew, they praised me to a different degree. They were throwing me up into the skies.

'Hehe... it feels good...'

"Ouch!" I suddenly fell into the floor as the crew did not catch me. They did not catch me since the Old Man was going to have his gratitude as the captain of this ship. My butt hit the floor hard.

"Well done, Boy. As expected from the son of Rajah Suliman." The old man paused to give a smile and a nod. "I owe you one, Boy. But don't let yourself be drunk at the moment" Then, he heavily patted his big hand twice in my shoulder.

"Ouch, ouch... Too hard!" I protested. My body was aching all over since I had a fight with a Kraken, remember? "Drunk? What do you mean?"

The crew laughed as they see my hapless reaction, the laugh of relief after winning a vicious battle. Everyone was at ease now. The smiles on their haggard faces were evident enough to tell.

After the moment of cheering and praising their hero, the old man stood in front of everyone, raising his slim rapier and shouted –

"Alright people, we'll be having a feast tonight! But before that, Move your arse!"

Naturally, I did not understand what the old man said. He spoke on their complicated language, so the old man translated it for me after. Even the young Kraken was no more, there were so much left to do, particularly repairing the ship.

Every crew of the ship did their job. The reporting and repairing the damages on the ships. Some healed the injured, listing the broken and unharmed goods. Some listed the broken arms, necks, and arms of their comrades too. The crew also collected the tattered meat of the kraken. I got curious and asked the Old man why collect the meat stuff. The meat of the kraken could be used on potions but what's more intriguing was that the meat could be eaten. The old man had tried Kraken's meat before and it's delicious, he said. Yuck! You know, it's practically the same as cannibalism. The Kraken had eaten a lot of human and bluuuuh – puke - Just imagining the horrid idea made me puke.

Moreover, the Kraken's outer skin is a raw material in making armor. I'm sure it is.

"Ah... merchant things."

Oh, what? I hear someone.

Asking about my Father? The old man sure muttered 'the son of Rajah Suliman'. I guess have not told anything myself.

Okay, I will begin here.

I came from the eastern seas, on the fragmented lands surrounded by the great ocean. I lived in an island called Abbalon, which is a part of a long archipelago called Maharlika.

I am the son of Rajah Suliman. My father is a member of Maginoo - the ruling class at the said archipelago. Therefore, I am a Maginoo, too. Rajah Suliman or my Papang is also a son of the great sultan, Sultan Luisong Tillano, who ruled the Sultanate of the south.

As the next sultan in line, Papang must prove to his subjects and household and especially to his father that he had sufficient power to rule and took what it had to become the next sultan. A journey and adventure to learn more about something outside and inside him would do. He traveled far north, to the said mysterious land of Abbalon, in which many magical creatures roamed.

In his search of these magical creatures, Papang arrived upon a tiny village where My Mother, Inang lived. As behalf of the Datu, Inang as a village's Katolanon - the right hand of the Datu, guided Papang in his journey in slaying a certain creature, the Birbiruka – an evil water creature famous for luring villagers by using fishes as bait. However, after finishing their grueling adventure and slaying the creature, something outrageous happened to them, which I was the end product. Yeah, I am just an output of their uncontrollable outrageousness.

Upon returning to his home sultanate, Papang discovered that Sultan Luisong Tillano had already heard of what outrageousness Papang did and made Papang a choice: Leave Inang alone and be the next Sultan or choose Inang and be vanquished in the sultanate forever. Sultan Luisong Tillano did not approve their relation for the reason that Inang was only Katolanon and did not have the blood of Maginoo. Only Maginoo blood had the right to be wed with another Maginoo blood.

Nevertheless, Papang, who was deeply in-loved and deeply charmed by Inang, strongly opposed his own father. He chose to live with Inang in Abbalon and made a Balangay (village) of his own. Luckily for me, he was a slave of Inang's beauty and chose the fruit of their outrageousness. My father did not abandon his son and my mother.

After many years had passed, Papang became the Paramount Rajah or the Leader of the Datus on that area of the Abbalon as he proved himself worthy of the position when he slew a mythical creature called Bitin, a large serpent which spits venom that melts even the sturdiest metal.

I am the first and only son of Rajah Suliman (as far as I know, maybe I have other siblings lurking out there, waiting for me to be discovered). I have a little sister who could also use water-attributed magic. She will be the next Katolanon in our Balangay. Inang and Nanang were supervising her.

Knowing that I am a son of a Rajah, it might be the reason why the old man befriended me before I had slain the Kraken. It's important for merchants to have strong connections, especially to important people...like me. Ho-ho

Everything was in smooth sailing and we were living peacefully in our village until bad news came to Papang. It involved with his older brother, who also left their father's Sultanate to found his own Balangay.

That is enough... it's kind of embarrassing talking about myself. Though I barely talked about myself...

****

Laum

Fortunately enough, the ship did not encounter another misfortune like meeting another monster or pillaging pirate or something after the Kraken's incident. Overall, our journey was smooth, even though storms occasionally grated hello and left a mountain of smelly seaweeds as we continued our way.

Months of being with the crew, I became close enough, not only to the old man but also with them. Though the language barrier was still a thorn in our communication, we overcame it by using pointing and body language method, and by the power of friendship. Of course, they continued teaching me naming stuff.

As days went by, we made our first stop on the nearest land to repair further the ship for one of the crew found out that there's a hole hiding underneath the cargo box. Whew, the Old Man was so grateful that the hole was discovered. After the first stop, from time to time, we would stop cities and towns that we passed to unload and load cargoes. You know, Merchant things, selling stuff and... stuff.

I helped doing things, of course. I did not have other things to do, to begin with.

Some nights, the old Man would call for a party out of the blue. We would drink ale until our bellies burst. Some days, when the ship still anchored in the port after unloading and loading cargoes, we would roam the cities or towns and buy things if time would permit. Because I am a penniless young man owning nothing but this gluttonous fly-like pixie, the old man had to pay for me. Since all the things that we needed had been already brought and loaded to the ship, we only bought things or services we wanted.

The old man even introduced me to a place that could be compared to a paradise. A brothel, was it? I could not remember too much but I could recall gorgeous women serving drinks while sitting too close beside us. I could not remember too much because I had passed out after a drink. Later, I had discovered that the pixie had cast a sleeping spell on me. She argued that she did it for my own sake so that my innocence would be saved. I am a little thankful for what the pixie did. I was not ready to enter that kind of world yet. However, something dark inside me was brewing... I was somewhat disappointed. Yeah! I get it now... I was very irritated about what Marikit did! Well, whatever... I will enter that paradise sooner or later and when that fateful moment comes, I will make sure that I am ready to enter the world of adulthood... hehe...

Casting that aside, my good days with the old man and his lively crews continued.

Touring inside the towns and cities, the crowd always mesmerized me. People from different lands with different languages interacted with each other in an unfamiliar way from my little world. White-walled houses fenced the stone-paved roads, which the walking crowds and running carriages filled. The crowds covered and dressed in colorful clothes.

Somehow, I got the feeling that they stared at me with a query and estranged eyes when I walked in the street. Why was that? Is this their first time seeing a person wearing their ethnic tribe clothes while swaying his arse left to right without care? Somehow, I became accustomed to the stares.

The Old man taught me countless different things. About the towns and cities. The people who lived there. Their tradition and customs. He also taught me that it's an embarrassment having your arse exposed to the crowds. That's why he gave me a trouser to replace my G-string.

It made me realize the world is bigger than I thought. Way much bigger than I thought. And they also don't want weird people with weird outfit.

Jumping in the trees in the woods and fishing in the clear blues seas, my world was only limited and focused on our place, our home.

Who could blame me if I were too ignorant about the world outside? I could not care less about anything else but only the familiar things that I had seen. Sometimes, Nanang would tell stories about the outside world, but it's not really my concern because I could not imagine things that I haven't seen. But -

Now, new things filled my ignorant eyes, and not long enough, my brain would overheat.

If I were to think it carefully, the quick expansion of my little world began when I went aboard in this merchant ship. The outside world forced my eyes to open. I have more unfamiliar things to learn in this world. There are so countless things that I like to know. The intense curiosity somehow overwhelmed to make me forget the reason why I was on this ship. Or perhaps it's the main reason.

I found myself grateful that I was with this ship of this old man.

How I wished things would stay the same. How I wished I could stay in these days with the old man and his lively crew. Their smiles and their crook yellowish teeth, if there's left, will always have a space in the corner of my mind. Just kidding. I am not so emotional like that. But I will be thankful to them forever.

I know things have always its end and my journey with them ends in our next stop, the Port of Pantala Empire.