Departure

__________ POV Narration__________

Ashton was quick to take over a ship, he made a few clones and manned it to the shore near where the smaller sailing ship was previously.

He didn't have any difficulty, he obviously wore his mask while doing so. The mask was in fact another object that could be found inside the 'Trickster's Bag'.

It allowed a person to freely change their hair colour and voice. The 'Trickster's Bag' was filled with items, some had similarities in between them. And not all of its abilities were amazing.

This opera mask was one of the simpler abilities that the relic had. It was also simple to use.

Now, while Ashton was stealing the ship, the rest of the Exploration Team was collecting their members from wherever they could.

They were lucky that some of them knew each other's locations. Or at least the general direction they needed to go to find other members.

After a few hours, the expedition team was formed. They carefully made their way back to the shore where they knew they would find their ship.

The ship that Ashton had chosen was a Royal Clipper belonging to the Kakin Empire, 133 meters(439 feet) in length. A ship with a total of 42 sails. It was stocked with food and supplies.

By far, one of the largest sailing ship on Lake Mobius. And Ashton stole it with little difficulty. He was obviously followed at first.

But he used 'Wind Aspect' to push the approaching ships backwards repeatedly. Until they simply gave up after two or three hours.

And just like that, the Expedition team was reunited and had a large ship. Ashton made his clones man the ship and started steering it towards his homeland.

The journey would still take a week at the very least, so there was enough time for talking later.

During the journey, Ashton and Beyond would keep taking turns on the steering wheel. Both of them being capable ship captains.

However, Ashton's clones didn't really need a break, so they were still manning the ship.

The journey lasted about as long as expected. Ashton spent that time talking more with a few members of the Expedition.

And especially Curly, who was always taking notes about the strange biomes Ashton told him about.

However, the continent is vast, there is a high chance that the expedition wouldn't even run into any of the places Ashton had described to him.

They reached the Dark Continent during the day. Everyone was awake and well-rested. They were all staring at it with a mix of emotions. As the gargantuan predators were easily seen from the sea.

The forests trembled with every step they took, trees seemed to sway without any wind, their branches wrapping around smaller animals and their bark crushing everything into fertilizer.

The scene was not a beautiful one. And Ashton was also not exactly pleased by what he was witnessing.

It was just as bad as he remembered though. So he was still composed.

__________ POV Ashton__________

Well, this place is a mess. It's quite clear that things didn't really calm down in my absence.

Then again, it's not like I was expecting such things to happen. I steered the ship onto shore using my wind Hatsu.

"I guess this is where we part ways," I said, looking at the main members of the expedition team.

Curly seemed quite sad, the rest didn't seem to care all that much. Ging just nodded while Beyond wished me good luck.

Those three are the only ones that I managed to speak to throughout the journey.

"Have a safe trip!" I said as I flew off in a random direction.

I need to find a certain threat right now. This area is somewhat close to where the second expedition landed.

Well, not really close, this is in the East of Lake Mobius, the second expedition landed in the North.

But I can easily reach that landing spot from this place. It would only take me a few days of flying.

This means that I should find Brion, the "Botanical Weapon", as it is somewhat close.

I remember the texts saying that I should find it in the ruins of an ancient labyrinthine city that lies 400 km in a forest.

Brion is one of the more dangerous calamities to pop up in the Dark Continent. In appearance, it's basically a large sphere on top of a human body.

Only two people survived the second expedition, and their description of Brion is extremely lacking.

Brion is considered to be the guardian of the ruins of that labyrinthine city. Extremely aggressive and obviously territorial.

From my understanding, its ability has a lot to do with manipulating nature. That wasn't really recorded anywhere.

But I remember my Nen teacher saying something about a 'Blob of Flesh' that took my likeness and 'manipulated the forests in its wake.'

I need to be careful, this thing won't be as weak as the Hellbell. And, if its ability is to manipulate fauna, then it's even more dangerous in the Dark Continent than anywhere else.

Still, I could look for another Calamity on the way there, as there was another one spotted in the Northeast.

Pap, the "Human-Keeping Beast". It's known to keep humans as pets.

It's titled "A trade-off between life and pleasure", which has a lot to do with its abilities. It puts the humans in a trance when it inserts some sort of feelers in the skulls of its human victims.

The victim then shrivels up and shrinks to the size of a doll, victims are reported to be in a constant state of euphoria.

From what I've read recently, Pap was supposed to be located on a mountain range somewhere northwest of Lake Mobius. But victims of Pap have been found on Lake Mobius too.

No one really knows how the beast even looks, as no one was ever able to catch a glimpse of it. The 7 people that survived it only did so because they ran away when everybody else was dying.

So... Which one should I visit first? To be completely honest, Pap isn't all that interesting to me. But that being is bound to hold some secrets.

All of the calamities seem to be protecting something. Or they build their territories around something that is of importance.

Ai was the only exception to this rule, them not really being territorial and latching on to other beings.

I think I will look into Pap first since it would be a bit foolish to just start backtracking...

Well, I have to start somewhere, and this journey seems like it's going to take a long time.

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