CAREFREE CLAN

[The last portion of Chapter 3]

"N-No, wait! I can explain this. Wait, no, no, no!" Before Duera could raise her hands to defend herself, the stream of water had splashed all over her face and body. She just stood like that for five seconds until Primera eventually stopped.

A few minutes later.

Lirzod seemed to have worn a new set of clothes—used the lighthouse for changing—for his father forced him to wear a fresh and ironed outfit, a combination of long brown coat, white shirt, and dark blue baggy pants. "Geez, these pants are so loose and elastic. If someone pulls them down, I'd be embarrassed in front of everybody!" he tried to joke, but the two girls on his side didn't seem to be affected by his words.

Primera and Duera were on both sides and seemed downcast. Duera was now wearing a woolen sweater, even though it didn't really stop her from feeling the coldness, for her clothes inside were still wet.

"You both are missing me before my journey even began!" Lirzod placed his arms around their shoulders, a slightly discomforting posture due to the difference in height between the three. "Don't worry too much, alright. You two may miss my company, but I have lots of new girls to meet…" even though he said that and waited, there was no reaction from them. "Ahem, I mean, lots of new faces to meet and new things to do and achieve great things on this journey and come back as the super cool version of me who exudes nothing but greatness. And no matter what happens, I want the two of you to hang around here till I come back with surprises, got it?" he turned his head twice and looked into the eyes of both.

"Hmm, we will be waiting..." Both of them said with smiling faces, but their expressions quickly turned into pitiful looks, "so, don't die out there, okay?" Though Primera could control her emotions, Duera couldn't, and blood began to slowly but surely gather in her face.

"Stop worrying about me," Lirzod somewhat choked their throats with his arms grip. "I'm not going to my funeral, you know. Wish me the very best, or I'll dip both of you in the sea right now!" he took them closer to the waves, which wetted them up to their ankles.

"Yeah, all the best! All the very best!" Both of them wasted no time in saying that.

"Hehe, that's more like it," he let go of them and roughly patted on their spines. "Cheer up a bit."

"We can't cheer ourselves while you were squeezing our throats," Duera softly rubbed her throat, trying to breathe freely.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Lirzod leaned closer and whispered in Duera's ears. "I've talked with Mother about the spotboat[5], and she agreed."

"Eh? When did I ask for it?" Duera was slack-jawed, which only intensified when she saw him grinning like a monkey that had just pulled off a trick. "T-This is too much, Young Master. How would the Basuvu family take this? What will Mistress Keria think? What will others think? I can't—"

Lirzod put his finger on Duera's mouth. "I know you've been saving money, so you can now use it to improve the quality of your business. Think of this as a little reward for your service as a clanmaid till now, is what Mother said."

Duera looked conflicted. If she agreed, she would be disrespecting the Basuvu family, but if she refused, she would be disrespecting the Basha family. Truly, this guy had planned everything and put her in such a tough spot.

"Haha, look at your face… It turned pale," Lirzod placed his hands on his waist and laughed a bit before continuing, "But fret not, for Mother promised me that she'd talk with Aunt Keira."

Upon hearing his words, Duera felt like the heavy feeling had been suddenly lifted, but she narrowed her eyes and pinched him apace on the back of the thigh.

"Ouch!" Lirzod sprang like a rabbit.

"Oh, no! A crab has bitten the Young Master!" Duera cried in fear, causing Lirzod to cringe.

Primera, on the other hand, was staring toward the ocean, her gaze becoming sharp by the second.

While rubbing his thigh, Lirzod looked back at all the people gathered, and his eyes scanned for a certain someone. "Where's Gouse? I couldn't find her since yesterday. How far did she run off to?"

Duera was startled. "W-We will take care of her, so don't worry, Young Master."

Lirzod paused for a moment before nodding, "All right, but tell her I'll bring her something special as well. Got it?"

"Sure, sure," she said and turned her face away after which, the corners of her lips curled down. More and more stress marks appeared on her visage.

Primera, who was staring at the oceanic sky screened with impenetrable fog, glanced down without tilting her head, and the sea level rose from her ankles up to her knees in just one wave. Bells rang in her head. She turned back and shouted, "Everyone, get back! Get back!"

"Mm?" many people were puzzled, but they listened to her.

"What's wrong, Primera? What happened?" Lirzod looked at her, but she didn't reply and just dragged him and Duera away from the waters in a hurry.

After moving backward for well over a hundred meters, they no longer stood on the sand of the shore but were on solid ground; however, the waves of the sea still slightly hit the mark above their ankles. Meanwhile, the houses situated near the lighthouse got completely flooded, forcing the residents to climb to their roofs.

"What's going on? Why is the sea welling up like this?" many people were still quite worried, and the children cried nonstop. They would have long run away if not for their clan leaders standing calmly in front of the rising sea, which seemed like a living monster coming to devour them all in one subtle swoop.

"Don't panic," Picazo's voice reached many ears. "Stay where you are. The water levels won't rise by much," he then muttered under the breath, "hopefully."

Though the anxious movements of the masses didn't stop, their nerves somewhat settled down upon hearing Picazo's words. A few people, however, were still scared stiff.

As the crowd kept murmuring of all the possibilities that could have caused the sea to rise, they heard the noise of something swashing ever so slightly on the sea, which only grew in clarity with every passing second. A low-frequency voice that the fog emanated resonated with their hearts and made almost all of them uneasy. As they gazed at the gray haze that permeated the skies over the sea, it began to swirl and separate as it took form in the shape of a gigantic ship that appeared out of nowhere, penetrating its way through the dense fog, alerting everyone at first sight. It didn't even take a second for them to be left speechless. The sheer size of the ship made them all look smaller than ants, and they paled before its magnificence.

"What in the world is that thing!" Bafflement beat people's pride with no pity as their eyes took in one of the wonders of the world.

"Wow," Lirzod was wide-eyed and slack-jawed, " it's so big, almost as big as a mountain!"

"I-Is that a ship?" Duera placed her loosely closed fists on her chest, and her dilated pupils reflected a frightful image of the ship that gave the impression of emitting fog.

"How did this colossal thing come so suddenly out of nowhere?" Sariyu's blood ran cold, and her feet instinctively stepped back once. "I didn't sense it coming at all."

Most of the crowd had clutched their chests in fear that their hearts may sink into their stomachs. Many starfish and tiny fishes that gathered in their locality jumped in and out of the water, as though trembling in fear and confusion, or maybe the other way around.

Though those fish didn't like the arrival of the ship as it forced them to come out to the shore, their commotion seemed like a chaotic celebration to the eyes of some clan members present there. The children thought that the fish were dancing in the air, and they couldn't be blamed, for it sort of seemed like those fishes were welcoming the arrival of the ship, which made its presence all the more penetrating. Hundreds, if not thousands of crabs, walked on the seabed as they headed toward the south, and so they ended up walking past the humans, tickling their feet in the process. Having gotten accustomed to seeing crabs, most people weren't afraid of them at all; howbeit, some people were scared to the bone. Duera was the prime example, for she cried out and jumped and sat on Primera's waist.

Even water snakes that thrived in salty seas made their way out, but unlike the crabs, they kept some distance from humans and made the situation a hair less disconcerting.

Trirera, on the other hand, picked up a couple of baby crabs and put her hands forward.

"Mm?" Burton, who was intently watching the ship, glanced at her face before his eyes looked at the crabs in her palms. He leaked out a forced smile. "T-This isn't the time to be gifting around, you know."

Trirera, however, didn't move an inch, and she stared at him without blinking even once.

He stretched out his hand, and she handed over the baby crabs. Afterward, she turned toward the sea and started to focus on observing the ship. Burton, on the other hand, looked around, and upon finding Lirzod, he quickly came to him and sneakily pulled his pants and dropped the crabs in, making sure that neither he nor Trirera noticed him. Though Primera saw him, she stayed silent and did her best to refrain from smiling.

The winds grew cold by the second, and they already were as cold as night could be, but sweat still surfaced on the faces of many people as tension got a good grip on their hearts and refused to let them acclimatize to the chilling weather.

As the ship closed in, her features became more prominent, but none could see her crown, for they couldn't see beyond the fog, much less the clouds. A total of thousand decks, with each one owning an exquisite detail, she oozed out nothing but quality and awed the hearts of mortals that stood before it in fascination-filled jouissance. Despite still being miles apart from the shore, her sheer size made most of her features undoubtedly clear. The large symbols, paintings, and the sculpted marks of various beasts made one and all watch in wonder. Furthermore, none blinked in the entirety of the last minute or so.

Each deck seemingly taller than the tallest building in their town, every inch of her wood lasted the test of time and the wicked weather it brought along with it and still appeared unworn. The same was the case for all of the metal and stone that bejeweled her. She had no visible masts but had water lines and circular hallways that toured around only some of the decks. No smoke came from her, other than the fog that surrounded her, which gave a deceiving effect. Tens of thousands of tiny portholes fortified each of her decks, which sort of gave away the number of mortals that could board her in general.

At the bow of the ship, the towering figurehead of a sculpted lady looked down on the mortals as if they deserved to be. Her garb was plain yet pretty. A relatively small silhouette stood on one of her wings, and many eyes couldn't get a clear picture of the profile no matter how hard they focused their gazes. Some older people, however, peeked through the rings—made by curling their fingers—and managed to determine that the silhouette was a woman whose features were still unclear. The image of the ship, however, soon grew clear and widened all eyes more and more as they took in all of her aspects.

And behold, the multi-million tonnes of ancient being had a forbidding presence, for her archaic wood chanted a melancholic melody—one that strained their senses, drained their verve, sucked their souls out of flesh and bones, and laid them bare before her—as she floated and dragged herself above the surface of the sea like a mountainous whale, seemingly as wide as the horizon could stretch and as tall as the clouds could climb and as big as any creature could grow, and she was without a doubt the mightiest monster they've ever laid their eyes on.

Her arrival alone raised the sea level in the vicinity, and the waves that were barely touching their ankles earlier, now almost rose to their thighs. It was a subtly petrifying gesture from the ship, brought upon those who were beneath her. The little kids sitting over their parents' necks had long emptied their bladders. Whether it was because of the ship or because crabs, snakes, fishes, and many other aquatic lifeforms were all around them at touching distance, only God knew.

Almost all the people were evidently shocked, so much that they couldn't move an inch. They had seen many ships before, but never one of such measures and might. With their bodies turned stiffer than dried bamboo sticks, no matter which direction their eyes turned, there she was—the titan whose summit seemed to have kissed the clouds and what lay beyond. Her subduing image made their knees go weak, and if not for them being in the water, it was hard to tell how many of them would have collapsed. A few women had already fainted in their husbands' arms. And in particular, the strange noise that the wind carried shook their stomachs, and their intestines ached alike. Despite being fearful themselves, the parents still told their kids that there was nothing to fear; still and all, the kids heeded not, for the voice of the fear that the winds brought along from every direction overwhelmed everything else. Though most people wanted to run, their bodies didn't listen to them, and they felt like they were surrounded in all ways and had no place left to hide.

The very few, who weren't as scared as the rest, still had their bodies stiffened.

Smiles went extinct, and silence replaced its place as it evolved among every single one of them. All the color drained from their faces and made them appear as white as chalk, and God alone could perspicuously describe what was happening to their bodies: frozen yet shivering, powerless to move a muscle yet endeavoring to edge backward, and hearts pounding either in their throats or stomachs. In short, they were, maybe, too stunned to comprehend what was ahead of them.

Picazo lifted his arm and gestured toward the ship, "Everyone, this is one of the ships that gather the entries of Shambala Sect—the second largest ship in the world, Extensive Voyage!" His voice broke through the barrier of fear shrouding people's spirits and brought them back to the world of the living from the world of disturbing daydreams. Soon, the scenery no longer incapacitated them as it previously did, but their still fully-opened eyes throbbed and breaths pained—all of which made them feel drastically exhausted.

"I-It stopped..." Duera's shaky voice was barely audible. To her, an unknown amount of seconds had passed since she last spoke.

The gargantuan ship appeared to have rested about two miles away from the shore. From one of the decks, three pure white horses disembarked onto the waters, and upon landing triumphantly, they galloped on the surface of the sea, scaring the living daylights out of most people, even those who stood frozen silly till seconds ago. They all swiveled and bolted southward without even daring to look back while pitilessly pushing aside all the crabs, fishes, and snakes alike. "Run! Some critters are after us! Don't look back! Run! Bolt ahead like lightning!"

........................

[1] Johr: A distinctive type of bread made from a specific crop, Johr, that gets easily affected by fungi, but since it grows quickly, it's sold for less price. The low-class people eat it daily, even though it often brings them a sick stomach. It's a popular food among the beta-ranked assemblies.

[2] Flying Carrot: Carrots naturally grown near Seven Adversaries pond were called by this name, and also because people received them from the sky. These carrots were so toothsome that people were willing to put ridiculous prices to buy them, given one was willing to sell them, of course. Also, Flying Carrots were known to restore the vision of the elderly folks, just like how Flying Lemons slowed down the effects of aging. One of the distinguishing factors of these carrots was that their leaves were yellowish-green and were used to dress salads and several other foods.

[3] Bazooblocks: Mouth masks worn by slaves.

[4] Your word shall rule their lives: A master rules over the lives of his slaves with his word.

[5] Spotboat: Boats of varied sizes that travel from place to place and offer goods, services, and trade.

[END OF CHAPTER THREE]

[CHAPTER FOUR BEGINS...]

"Stop," Kwame's deep voice managed to reach the ears of those running away and made most of their feet come to a rest. "We number in the hundreds, yet why are you all showing your back to four creatures? Isn't this enough reason to justify why we hollows get looked down upon?"

His words were an eye-opener not only for those who had stopped running but also for those who were still in fleeing-mode. One by one, all turned northward once again.

"Clan Head Kwame is right."

"Yeah, we are members of the Faceless clan. There's no need for us to fear, as long as our clan heads are here."

"But wait, what did Clan Head Kwame mean by 'four' creatures? Weren't there only three?"

Just then, they also noticed the large octopus that poked its head out of the waters and was closely following behind the horses. Though they couldn't quite see the horses, the octopus was too big to not recognize even from such a distance.

Still, one after another, people walked back to the spot where they had stood. The company of snakes also barely bothered them anymore.

Picazo and Sinario looked at each other and smiled.

Sariyu and Burton's hearts filled with pride as they once again saw the magnificence of their clan heads with their own eyes. Their respect over the clan heads grew by leaps and bounds. However, when they both looked at Lirzod, they couldn't help but freak out as he kept dancing weirdly, putting his hands in his pants, bringing them out in haste, and then repeated the process like a circus monkey.

"Why's he dancing?" Sariyu was puzzled.

Burton, who almost forgot what he had done, covered his mouth and concealed his laughter.

The attention of some of the crowd did turn toward Lirzod, and his circus dance puzzled them, but their observation quickly shifted back toward the three creatures that were almost upon them. Though their identity was unclear before, now they could see that those three were just horses, and most people breathed sighs of relief.

"What, so they are just horses," a skinny senile man in a sweater said with a shaky voice, his back bent forward a little.

"We were scared for nothing," Allda, who was right next to the old man, said. "But we can't be blamed. The fog had made those horses look like some hideous monsters."

"Those damn things ran on water after all," the senile fellow opined. "I thought that even among martials, not just anybody could do that."

"Maybe they can climb trees, too."

"That's too much, but I would love to have the power to stick my feet to solid grounds as lizards do. Then, I can easily climb the coconut trees in my backyard."

"Haha, stop dreaming, geezer," Allda chortled. "You are well past your prime—probably already past ninety."

"Ninety isn't that old, right?" the senile fellow said and then sneezed, but then pressed his hand against his chest.

"Someone's surely senescent when even a simple sneeze puts a striking strain on their heart," Allda bluntly stated. "Forget about Martial Walk—even a fast-paced walk will be too much for you."

"What's the big deal?" the senile fellow, however, didn't seem convinced, "It's not like I'm asking for a flying ability."

"Still, you are past all that," Allda gently shook his head. "You should've put some effort while you were young. There's no use yapping over one's wasted youth."

"Wasted, huh… You're right," the senile fellow's expression turned dull. "Back when I was young, I had energy but didn't have the time to spare. Now that I'm old, I have time but don't have the energy to spare. I wish I could bring back the days of my youth, but..."

"Don't be down, sir," Duera, who had ended up hearing their conversation, consoled the old man by patting his shoulder. "Getting old is getting rich. Millions every year pass away before they hit thirty. At least among the hollows, your worth is invaluable to younger generations like us. And it's quite admirable that you've come here to send young ones off despite all the struggles your body posed. If it's alright, I will offer you tea on your way home."

The old man was a little surprised. For a young lass, to be uttering such profound words, he was at a loss for words for a couple of seconds, even though it didn't take him much time to discern her words, which probably meant that old people were rich with knowledge and experience. All the years he spent as a cobbler and as a farmer flashed past his eyes, and they weren't so bad.

"O-Of course," the old man excitedly raised his voice and also his hands. "I'm richly old, and I—" a cracking noise came from his spine. "Ah, my back!" He was about to fall limply to the ground.

"Sir," Duera held him by the arm, "you've gone overboard."

Allda, who was all ears, didn't have a companionable expression. (Richly old? What a half-assed statement. That phrase fits martials better than hollows. Every martial who gets old is richly old. On the other hand, every hollow who gets old is poorly old!) He clenched his fists. (When I get old, I can only sit back in a swinging chair and wait for my death that may come if I eat in excess, or even if the weather chooses to slip down an extra couple of degrees one night.) His nails pressed into his palms. (I'm not like my heartless dad, who never told me how important it was to become a martial. I will not let Tarqa stay as a hollow. I will not let him suffer the same fate as me. Unlike me, he'll run the right race—one that counts.) He looked at Duera, who was helping the old man, "Getting old isn't getting richer, young lady. Gathering gold is what makes one richer. Then you can buy anything you want, even a bit of life extension."

"Pardon me for saying this, Sir Allda," Duera slightly tilted her head downward, "but you get to spend coin and live longer for what?"

"To get richer, of course," Allda confidently said and smiled.

"So what if you get richer, sir? Does your ass smell any better?" she asked, her head still lowered.

Allda's expression froze because he didn't expect her to be so bold.

"If that's all, then I'll get this Super Senior to safety, Sir Allda," she said and took the old man to a different, safer spot.

"Other than tea, can you also cook some fried rice?" the old man hesitantly asked. He knew this was nothing short of taking her good gesture for granted, for he couldn't stop himself.

"How about with ghee dolloped on top?" she asked, causing him to shower a bright, thankful smile.

Meanwhile, a memory of the past suddenly flashed in Allda's mind. He had become a decently rich man but still argued often with his father about aiming for a much better future at all costs and leading an exemplary life by building a magnificent house, marrying a beautiful wife, having wonderful children, buying properties, and every other necessity a few generations of his bloodline would need. To achieve that dream, he had changed his nature and become less sympathetic, so Allda's father posed a simple question, "How much is enough?" Allda had failed to give a straight answer. His father then said these few words, which even to this day often suddenly woke Allda out of his sleep: "You have everything when you've known how it feels to have nothing."

Back to the present, the ineffaceable memories distressed Allda further. Out of frustration, he took out a cigar and tried to light it using what looked like a small salamander toy. When he squeezed its belly, a red flame gushed out of the salamander's mouth, but the rough winds swallowed the flame time and time again and also ate Allda's patience away. He pulled the cigar out of his mouth, squeezed it hard, and tossed it away, which later ended up falling in someone else's mouth.

Meanwhile, the crowd settled themselves through discussion as the horses almost made their way over. Upon seeing the captivating horses that dazzled in the darkness, most people couldn't blink. The manes of the horses danced in the wind and arrested the viewers' attention. Towering a little more than seven feet, the scenery of such creatures galloping on the surface of the sea, jumping over the waves, as though crossing the wooden fences of stables was grandiose.

Upon reaching the masses, the horses stopped and kicked their front limbs in the air, making men in the front rows step back momentarily. The waters receded a little and brought the level back to their ankles.

The horses no longer stood on the water but ground. Seemingly, countless snakes and crabs crawled about, some of which wrestled with the other.

"Damn, these are three fine horses," one man was impressed with the three creatures.

"Not just fine—but what handsome stallions!" Allda didn't hide his envy, and he also totally let go of his bad mood. "Pure white breed and are perfectly healthy. It's hard to put a price on their heads." Jealousy now took lodge in his eyes.

Lirzod, meanwhile, was still dancing crazily. He stepped over some of the snakes and crabs, which in turn tried to bite and annoy him even though he kept shouting sorries, for they knew not his tongue.

"Young Master! What happened to you?" Duera had once again sat on Primera's waist after the waters receded and a lot more snakes showed themselves. Her voice rang in Primera's ears, "What are you standing here for? Go and help him!"

"Get down, and I will," Primera replied at her own pace. "Why are you afraid of them when they don't even have fangs?"

Duera looked down, and there were clusters of creatures all around her. She hugged Primera even tighter. "Go and help him, or I'll squeeze you silly!"

"Feel free to try," Primera's concentration was rather elsewhere. It wasn't on the horses but at someplace else, toward the ship.

Duera used all her strength and squeezed, hoping to achieve her goal, but she didn't even get a response from Primera. She narrowed her eyes for a moment and stared at her. Still, there was no response. Though Primera didn't reply to her, Lirzod made his way there.

Still, Duera couldn't control the urge and brought her mouth closer and blew air in Primera's ears using not her strength but her practiced rhythm, which made Primera jump like a deer and fall on Lirzod, who fell on Sariyu, who fell on Burton, who fell on Trirera, who then fell on the woman beside her. Like in a chain reaction, dozens of people fell to the ground and got themselves wetter than they already were. The children in the background mimicked what they saw.

"What the heck are these people doing?" Kwame placed his palms over his head. "This is so embarrassing."

"Not if you join them as well," Picazo patted once on Kwame's back.

"Yeah. You say that whenever your son is involved in the incident," Sinario shook his head and looked at Lirzod, who was now rolling on the fallen crowd because the things in his pants still bothered him. (Even when I was young, I wasn't quarter as carefree as him.)

"How in the world did crabs show up in my pants?" Lirzod didn't even get back to his feet and kept rolling left and right. He didn't bother about the fall—of his or others— and instead was busy pulling the teeny crabs out of his pants.

"Kya!" Duera freaked out as some crabs and snakes got on top of her. She stomped over the people, including Lirzod, then ran toward the clan heads. "Save me, Masters!"

"Freaking out over simple things," Sinario slightly shook his head.

Picazo helped her get those things off of her. "Be at ease. These water snakes don't have venomous bites."

"Mm," Duera nodded hesitantly with teary eyes and a pounding heart.

Sariyu, in the meantime, came to Lirzod and sat on top of him before pinching him on the chest. "Oww, why did you pinch me?" His focus immediately shifted from the crabs to her.

"Why did you fall on me?"

"But someone else fell on me first."

"I don't care," her eyes went cold. "You mess up everything that's around you. Look at my dress. It's completely spoiled now, thanks to you fooling around. I can feel sand all over my body." Her dress was covered in sand at places.

"You talk as if only your dress got spoiled," Lirzod barked back.

"If they don't mind getting their dresses dirty, that's their problem," she squinted her eyes. "Since you spoiled a very special dress of mine, you better remember this⁠—you owe me a dress as costly and comely as this one."

"Eh?" Lirzod looked baffled. "If you wash these clothes, they'll look as new as any—"

Sariyu caught a handful of crabs, then touched the top of his pants and spoke in a challenging tone, " Do you, or do you not?"

Lirzod's bladder almost loosened. "I-I do, I do!"

"That's good," she got off him and stood before shaking off some crabs that caught her dress with a wave of her hand. Some of those crabs fell on Lirzod, forcing him to mimic her moves. "These crabs… I can see that they're confused and scared, even, but they are getting so annoying. I wish I could send them all packing back to the seafloor in one swoop."

"You wish for too much," Lirzod stood and pulled out some more baby crabs from inside his pants, and the crabs were as white as chalk. "How did they even get in my pants?"

"Isn't it obvious? Someone put them in there," Sariyu casually said, which was heard by Burton. He stood not far away from them and crushed a sizable adult crab that had bit him hard, and the sound the shell made while breaking sounded new to his ears.

"It's not you, by any chance, right?" Lirzod glared at her.

"I wouldn't hint you if I were the one who did it. Would I?" Sariyu began to walk away.

(You Sawshin! I'm sure you're the one who did it. Just you wait, I'll slide a slime into your dress one day!) Lirzod glanced at Burton, skipping his heartbeat once. "Did you just crush a crab to death?"

"Ah, that bit me madly," Burton replied while brushing off some more crabs off his clothes.

"How silly!" Lirzod exhaled with a sharp sigh. "They are just dumb animals. It's not like the crab was coming for your life. You could have just flicked it away with your fingers for revenge."

"Hmph, would you swat the mosquitoes that stung you, or would you just blow them away with your mouth?"

"Mosquitoes carry disease. Crabs don't, but whatever, man," Lirzod ignored his words and walked away. "I don't have the interest or the time to waste playing word games with you now." He looked at the horses, "What did those three come here for? They've been standing there, doing nothing."

"They're here for carrying us and our luggage, Dumblord," Burton snorted. "Tarqa or Selena or maybe even Megha might do a better job than you in the sect tests. One entry ticket is probably being wasted on you for nothing."

Lirzod ground his teeth. "Are you picking a fight with me?"

"I don't like to pick a fight with the weak," Burton folded his hands across the chest, "but I do put people where they deserve to be."

"Yeah," Lirzod put his hands in his pockets, "coming from a guy who failed in the sect tests for ten years straight."

"You know why I had to fail as many times."

"Yeah, because you were incompetent!"

Both their glares raised the temperature between them by an unobservable amount.

"Enough eyeing out, you two," Primera came in between those two. She glanced at Burton a bit icily. "As his elder brother, I expect you to play that role during this journey."

"I know what to do," Burton looked away.

Meanwhile, the workers began to arrange the luggage on the horses and the octopus' backs.

As everybody began to cheer up a bit, the winds picked up, and so did the waves of the sea that got rowdy.

Scree~!

The ear-piercing cry of a bird echoed throughout the beach, alerting everyone. A humongous beast flew over the Faceless clansmen from the south. Waves ebbed and flowed with the flapping of its eight-meter long wings as it zoomed toward the ship at an insane speed.

"Big Boss!" Lirzod was startled upon catching sight of the snow eagle with two sturdy wings and four long wavy tails. "What's he up to?"

"He's already announced his intentions," Burton stated. "He's not here for sending us off."

"It must have felt threatened by the arrival of the ship," Primera said and bit her lower lip. (It should have stayed at home.)

The snow eagle swiftly caught the giant octopus and effortlessly took it into the sky. The octopus desperately attacked, but the opponent's claws dug into its body. Soon, it froze into a block of ice. With a vicious movement of its claws, the eagle shattered the ice block into pieces of icy meat chunks. The scary octopus perished before it could do anything. All the people in the front lines ran away from the waters as though they could guess what was about to happen.

The snow eagle wasn't at all satisfied with the kill. It glared at the ship and screamed forth its anger, and wherever the sound waves hit, things froze. The clansmen had anticipated this and tightly plugged their ears with fingers, but the water and the creatures dwelling in it turned into ice, and even the fog froze into crystals. The waves no longer reached the shore, and some people's feet got frozen up to their knees. However, such a vicious attack still failed to reach the ship and got mysteriously neutralized midway. The eagle's eyes then focused on someone standing on the figurehead of the ship, partly hidden behind the fog. It flapped its wings and shot hundreds of snowy bullets, but again, they all evaporated into thin air before reaching the ship.

All this further aggravated the beast, and it blindly charged the enemy.

RUMBLE~!

An all-familiar rumbling noise of a cloud reached people's ears. As they looked up, a cloud flew downward diagonally and slapped the eagle in a thunderous explosion that reverberated the surroundings, and the vibrations made some children vomit or go dizzy.

The snow eagle got roasted into an unsightly bird, but it still had enough strength to beat a hasty retreat. Though Big Boss was a giant bird, its size still paled in comparison to the ship, so as it fled, it seemed like it deserved what it got for taking on a task too big for it to chew, or maybe to freeze. Seeing Big Boss, the Master of Manjaro mountain, fleeing for its life was a sight to behold for the Faceless clan members, for most of them might never get to see something like this again.

While people stood in awe and shock, the heat from the past explosion soon cracked, broke, and melted away all the snow, frost, and ice that had frozen things in place. Those who had gotten stuck in the ice also got freed.

"May begin bit by bit

But will always end beautifully...

A melodious voice came from atop the figurehead of the ship upon which a woman in a white hood stood and sang a beautiful song while the floating violin beside her composed music without evening her having to touch it.

"Flawlessly separating winners from losers

Greatness, as it is known

Can grow in a loser

As it would in a winner

Inasmuch as you let it.

Discover the brilliance straggling about in you

Before you go past a point

Where you can't come to know it anymore,

And you shall be reborn with the light of life

Which shall forge you in full

And make your voice known to the world

As you grow to be a great soul."

"Where's this sound coming from?" meanwhile, some children's heartbeats sped up. "Is it coming from the ship?" they couldn't tell, no matter how hard they focused on the hearing. Other than some teenagers, most young people couldn't even locate the source of the voice since it felt like both the music and the voice came from every direction around them. As for being able to see the singer's appearance clearly, fewer people were able to achieve that feat.

As the symphonious song reached its climax, the winds strummed the violin faster, and the now-thin air between her and the clansmen shape-shifted and formed a staircase, slack-jawing everyone who had eyes to see. Some took a step back in a stupor as well as dread. "My name is Stussy Junksman," the sweet-sounding feminine voice, however, soothed their souls as it calmed the rough winds in the vicinity. "The three young souls are welcome to climb up the Windy Way."

"Wow!" Lirzod's mouth sat open in wonder as he stared at the staircase made out of the wind and fog, "So cool."

"Oi, oi..." Syam had a deep frown on his face. (She's commanding the wind so effortlessly and efficiently with her music. Even my emotions are swaying to her tunes.) He gulped the warm air. (If I'm correct, she must at least be a Martial Elect! It's my first time seeing one of this caliber!)

"How can her voice reach us from miles away?" Allda repeatedly blinked as if he took extra time to process all that had happened. "Is she the one who slapped Big Boss into submission with a freaking cloud? Such an intimidating show right off the bat!" He tried to clench his fists. (My hands won't stop shaking.) He used all his strength and barely managed to form a fist. (Tarqa, I don't know how good Shatterfist Sect is, but, I swear on money, it's horseshit as compared to this one.)

The cloudy staircase was as broad as ten of the average streets in their town combined. Its sheer size awed them, and they all wanted to step on it, but the voice from before had explicitly welcomed a specific three. Unable to even dare to probe their luck, the crowd could only curse their bad luck.

The clan heads kept gazing at the ship, wearing complicated expressions on their visages.

Kwame slightly narrowed his eyes as he noticed the unnatural movements of the waves around the ship. (That woman—she's not just controlling the wind, but also the waves of the ocean. She's not your average martial. A Primer of all people seems to be taking care of things this time, huh.) He glanced at Picazo and Sinario, who cast glances at one another and then stepped forward and took their children toward the stairs.

The workers kept on adding all the luggage on the horses, given that the octopus had died, and they didn't seem like they'd stop any time soon.

"Each of the entries is allowed to carry an additional hundred kilos with them," a sweet voice came from the ship. "So make sure of the luggage weight, and make it quick."

Listening to those words, the workers had arranged the packages and didn't add the bags they were told not to. Primera and Duera together helped in repackaging Lirzod and Sariyu's luggage. In less than three minutes, they took care of all the sorting.

The three youngsters, meanwhile, were talking with their parents—the clan heads—for one last time before the journey.

"You are gonna come across faces that hide lots of things behind their smiles, but don't let them confuse you," Picazo said and then patted Lirzod's shoulder. "Just be yourself, but also remember this: 'the stronger you are, the more submissive you should be; the richer you are, the more responsible you should be.' Those were my mother's words, and they've helped me become the man I'm today. That's all I have to say." Picazo's palm gently rubbed over Lirzod's cheek, "Stay safe."

Lirzod smiled. "I have your eyes, Mother's mouth, and both of your blessings. I will be safe no matter where I am, Father."

"This time… Win the whole thing," Sinario said to Burton in a prideful tone.

"That is my intention," Burton replied with a confident smile.

Sariyu and Kwame just stared at each other with tearful smiles.

The three youngsters soon gathered near the white horses. When they were about to get onto them, the horses turned away. Though they were puzzled, they tried to climb the beasts again, but this time, the three youngsters got treated in a similar fashion—rear kicks from the horses.

The three of them fell back. Burton landed on his feet, and Sariyu rolled over on her arms before stopping on her feet. Lirzod, however, miserably crashed on his bottom and looked shocked.

"Hee hee hee!" the three horses made noises that sounded like they were laughing, closer to how a human would.

The entire clansmen felt enraged. "How dare these damn horses do such a thing! Beat them to death!" they all dashed ahead, startling the horses, which immediately bolted away using the staircase.

Being the humans that they were, their legs carried them far slowly as compared to the horses, especially considering that they had to run in water. Ultimately, all of them stopped at the edge of the staircase. It wasn't that they didn't want to chase after the horses anymore, but it was just that they didn't dare to step foot on the stairs as they weren't permitted to do so. Nevertheless, they continued to scold the horses and the one who had sent them down.

"Calm down, everyone," Picazo's voice reached the ears of the angered people. "I'm glad that you all showed worry for our young ones, but don't take what happened to them as an insult to our clan. Compared to those rare noble horses, it's not an exaggeration to say that our entire clan won't be worth as much, be it in wealth or prestige. That is the cold hard truth, just like how all of you came here for different reasons and not just for seeing our young ones off."

Picazo's words left people baffled, and a decent number of them couldn't digest what he had just said.

"Still and all, however apart we may look, there's still one thing common among us and that colossal ship," Picazo continued. "Just like our clan, it demands courage and composure from all those who are aboard."

Picazo's wording helped stir some minds into rumination, though some others weighed the differences in their own fashion.

"Well said," a voice came from the ship. "Our horses—if you can't subdue them, you can't ride them. If they kicked anybody, it only means those people are not worthy to sit on their backs. Don't take this in any other way and have the entries climb up the stairs using their own feet."

Lirzod slightly blew air through his nose. (I could've subdued them in my sleep.)

Picazo glanced at the crowd. "You heard her. I think she's right."

Everyone in the crowd was forced to nod, even though some still felt angry and had their galls gurgle from what happened. What the horses had done was already painful enough, but what the woman vocalized next hurt them even more, for it reminded them of their place in the world that even the horses of martials were worth more than the honor of hollows.

"Please forgive us for saying this, Clan Head Picazo. We may be faceless but not heartless. We can't act to be liking those whom we don't." Some separated themselves from the crowd and just watched things unfold from a distance. Jermajesty was among them, leading that bunch, and though fury surged up inside him, all he could do was observe.

"Don't mind the ones that left," Sinario joined in and reassured the remaining crowd. "They are just acting on their impulses, that's all. Not many get an opportunity to witness and savor something like this. Take in everything you can, every inch of the ship, and capture all of its wonders. You can tell your grandkids about this with pride."

"Yes, Clan Head Sinario," many people firmly nodded in response.

Primera and Duera hurriedly came over to Lirzod and gave parting words. "Have a safe trip."

"God be with you," Duera also gave her wishes.

Lirzod nodded, but as he looked in their eyes, his eyes turned a bit wet, "I'm so eager to leave, even though I know I can't hold your hands on this journey. I'm so sorry."

Duera just stretched her lips into a thin smile, whereas Primera put her hand on his head and rubbed it, "We already know that, so get going." She plucked one of his hairs.

"Oww," Lirzod wasn't expecting that. Just when he was thinking about how to get back at her, Duera pointed out that his shirt-buttons were buttoned in order. Sariyu called for him again. "Okay. Till I come back, take care of yourself and the clan. And don't forget to invent some new nut-foods while at it." After Duera set the buttons right, Lirzod showed his cheek. Duera, however, turned his head by the chin and gently planted a kiss on his forehead. She then smiled and waved her hand. Lirzod also replied with a bright smile as he hastened his way to the red-haired girl, who was up ahead with Burton, but he stopped midway.

"What's wrong?" Sariyu asked aloud.

"I forgot to do one thing," Lirzod turned around and rushed back to the clustered clansmen, puzzling everyone. However, his intentions were made clear when he started hugging people one by one and said, "Take care."

"Is that necessary?" Burton looked at Sariyu, but she just shrugged her shoulders.

The crowd, however, was slowly but surely moved to tears as Lirzod hugged them in haste. He gave kisses to the children, too, but he had to shut his nose at times because of the smell of their piss that even the sea couldn't fully kill off. He also exchanged some words with Jermajesty that made the judge smile. After Lirzod hugged about eighty people in a hurry, Primera interrupted and forced him to leave because the ship was waiting. He tried to sneak in a kiss, but all he ended up kissing was her palm and not her cheek. Swallowing the loss, he waved at the other people he didn't get to hug. "I'm going to come back as fast as I can, so don't cry for me."

"Haha, we won't, Young Master," some folks replied with bright faces.

Lirzod then approached Allda for a hug; however, Allda blocked him with his hand.

"Brat, your absence in the clan will be like a drought in a rainforest," Allda said, seemingly in a joking manner, his hands folded across his chest.

"You're right, Uncle Squirrelcheek," Lirzod replied quickly. "Rain will return soon."

"Hmph," Allda could only snort, "Your mom has the face of the moon, but I have a feeling that unlike her, you'll age like milk, and I can't wait for the day you find a gray hair on your head and random kids to start calling you Uncle Pigcheek."

"You can always dream." Lirzod grinned, then wasted no time and quickly returned to Sariyu and Burton.

Picazo, meanwhile, cast a lasting glance at Lirzod as the boy was on the move. (Your time to leave the nest has come fast, my son. In the world you are stepping into, there are only two kinds of beings. One kind lets their might decide what's right, and the other kind lets what's right make their might. Though I want you to be in the latter group, whichever kind you may fall into, I'm okay with it as long as guilt doesn't find a home in your heart.)

Lirzod, Burton, and Sariyu hastily climbed up the staircase on their feet. The somewhat transparent stairs felt soft and cushiony as though they had stepped on top of clouds.

Burton was looking down at the sea below and noticed a few sharks and pythons wrestling hard. A few monstrous fish jumped and attacked them, but they couldn't break through the stairs. "Where did all these creatures come from? It's good that we didn't need to cross using a boat, or things would have gotten messy."

"I can't believe I'm walking on air!" Lirzod, meanwhile, was in high spirits. Just then, he noticed the moonlight reflecting on the waters on his left, with the moon almost kissing the western horizon. He looked to his right, and a soft bright orange glow beautified the eastern horizon, though the sun was yet to reveal himself. "Hey, look!" he excitedly shouted back to the people. "You can see the moon on one side, and also the sun is fading in from the other side!" He also pointed his fingers; however, most of them couldn't quite hear his words.

"What's he yelling?" Duera wondered. "Did he forget something?"

"He's telling us not to miss the Celestial Dawn[1]," replied Primera.

"Oh, right, the moon is almost round," Duera crossed her arms across the chest, still slightly shivering, despite the climb in the surrounding temperature. Many years ago, when she had a bad day and was also suffering from a stomach ache, Valli had taken her and Lirzod for a short trip to the sea on a peacock. They witnessed the Celestial Dusk together, and it was also the first time she saw the sea. On top of that, she got to see the sun and the moon at the same time while flying through the sky on a peacock dazzling under the hundreds of brilliant stars turning on the Celestial Wheel set in the Celestial Sea. All that erased her stomach pain and made it an unforgettable memory for her, one much more vivid to this day than all the imaginary places she had visited through her books. Presently, as the sun slightly revealed himself and prettified the sky between him and the moon with a pinkish purple shade, Duera kept waving her hand as she remembered more such beautiful moments.

The other clansmen, however, seemed to be quarreling with each other because the crackers they had brought along didn't fire off as water somehow into those boxes. Because they couldn't send-off their young masters with noisy crackers blasting in the background, they kept scolding each other for not being careful. The children again mimicked the adults. The clan heads just let them be, for they could understand the source behind their frustration. Their commotion reached all the way to Lirzod, but he kept waving at them, regardless. Sariyu and Burton had puzzled looks as the clan members kept chattering noisily in the background.

"Doing whatever they please," the silhouette standing atop the figurehead smiled. "What a carefree clan..."

The waves of the sea brought forth the reflections of the sun and the moon from both sides up to the Windy Way, and in Lirzod's perspective, they moved along and kept up with him as he continued to climb up the stairs. "So pretty," upon noticing how the reflections of the celestial objects were following him like how the gazes of people in portraits did, his countenance brightened some more. "It's almost like they have long, flowing beards."

"What are you mumbling about instead of focusing on running?" Sariyu asked.

"Nothing much. I was wondering how I'll look in a beard," he said.

"I'm not enamored of mustaches and beards," she opined, "though some men do look much better without their mouth, chin, and jaws exposed."

"I don't know when I'll grow a beard, but I'm not afraid to grow a big mustache and a long beard, unlike Big Brother Burton," Lirzod said teasingly.

"It's not that I'm afraid, Dumblord," Burton intervened straight away. "I don't feel much comfortable with hair on my face, that's all."

"Or, maybe you're afraid that a certain someone will flee when they see you in your patchy beard?"

"What did you say?" Burton gritted his teeth while his face flushed.

"You've heard me," Lirzod ran past Burton in haste. "Bye-bye, Mr. Second."

Burton briefly glanced at Sariyu and then increased his pace and caught up with Lirzod. "I don't live to impress anyone. I do what works for me."

"Stop lying to yourself, Big Brother. Be more confident."

"It's you who should keep your mouth in check. I'd have long grown a beard if I had wanted to. Besides, there's nothing wrong with having a patchy beard. It just takes extra time to grow compared to full-grown ones. Give it a few weeks, and you won't be able to tell the difference."

"Then why aren't you growing a beard?"

"I already told you the reason, you idiot!"

"You did? Then why aren't you growing a beard?"

"You little…" Burton cringed in annoyance.

Sariyu also caught up with them but was busy chuckling as those two continued arguing.

As the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the members of the Faceless clan witnessed, the three young ones, bearing all the hopes of the clan, actively and fearlessly climbed up the Windy Way that precisely divided the Day and the Night in that moment, which also made the clan members feel like their people were ascending to a place that was well above their imaginations.

..............

[1] Celestial Dawn: The time period during the crack of dawn when the sun and the moon could both be seen at one's horizons on the east and the west. Celestial Dusk, however, happens during the eventide with the orbs of light switching places.