Skepticism under a veil of stars.

"This is a good yacht," Eric said as he looked around the deck.

"Sure is," Nea replied. She walked out of the cabin and came over the open deck. She swiftly climbed on one of the beach lounge chairs on the deck and stretched.

The large white yacht cruised past the wavy waters. Even with its sails unfurled and propellers engaged, the majestic yacht swayed much less than one would expect. The wooden floor of the deck spread wide in front of the enormous cabin. A table and 3 beach chairs reclined over the deck in a fancy manner. Under the sea of stars, we sailed over the tranquil sea.

I took small steps over to the bow and settled myself there. Eric paced all over the hull before he sat next to Nea on the chairs. The man let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. He was not happy about being kidnapped. Seeing him like this reassured me of my decision. I mean, if he is like this with a kidnapping, wouldn't he totally disagree if given a choice? What? That's not how it works? What do you know! Have you ever kidnapped anyone?!

"Tsk. Where are we headed? Not the Central Island, right? The tournament is still 5 months away," Eric said and turned his face away from me.

"Nope, not the Central Island. We are headed west," I replied.

"Towards Vlysimn?"

"Yup, Shanshan Island," Nea interjected. "As for why, I don't know either."

"I'm telling you, it'll be a great surprise. You won't believe what all I can do while sitting in a small town." I leaned towards them.

"What you can do? Did you invest in real estate or something?" Eric asked.

"Your opinion of me is low! It is similar. Just much more grandiose. We are gonna need it if we plan to steal the artifact from the trident."

"Hm? What was that about the trident?" Eric turned towards me.

"Ah, you know that big blue stone in the center of the Trident of Elisban?"

"Yes?"

"Yeah, we are planning to steal it."

"Oh... I see," Eric said. He slowly got up from the chair and walked over to me. With a big smile plastered on his face, he narrowed his eyes and looked at me from above. His gaze was tender as if looking at a child. I couldn't help but grin back at him. He stretched his hands towards me, took a stance, and threw them forward.

Before I could realize what was happening, I was already falling from the bow and into the water. "AHHH! ERICC!!"

**

"So you say that these artifacts give magic to the world, and if we don't take them before the other party, they would end magic?" Eric asked as he took a sip of his laudanum. I even passed him some opium to help digest the word better.

It seems he clearly understood me. I frantically nodded my head in approval. "You get it now, right? It's a noble journey I am helping you be a part of! Apologize now and I'll let you slid. What do you think?"

"I think you are a fucking fool spewing a load of bullshit, but hey, at least it was interesting."

The heck!

"Haah. I told you, words don't work." Nea stood up and went into the cabin. A few moments later, she returned with a box in her hand. "This should work as long as you are holding it in your hand." She opened up the box. A rough yellow stone inside it. She took it out and tossed it over to Eric.

"Hey! Careful with that!" I said after seeing Eric fumble to catch the stone.

"Hold it tight and cast the weakest lightning spell, you know," Nea told Eric.

Eric looked at the stone for a while before shrugging. He clasped the stone in one hand and raised the other in the air. "[Grade 1 Lightning: Discharge]"

Within a second, a blinding light spread in all directions before a pillar of electricity shot off Eric's hands. Piercing through the air, it went straight to the clouds and tore through them, too. The night sky lit up like it was noon before the pillar disappeared into nothingness.

Eric fell on his back, his mouth wide open. The stone slipped from his hand and dropped onto the deck. Nea smirked at Eric and she picked the stone up. "Believe it now?" she asked.

Eric turned his head toward her, his mouth still open. He lightly nodded.