Chapter 05: Why do they always attack at night ?

A lone ship cut through the waters as it sailed towards the isles of Blanche. A gentle breeze swayed the leaves and fireflies flew through the darkness of the night, igniting a path with their shining lights.

On the deck of the ship that appeared neither shabby nor luxurious, Michael stood with a few members of his entourage. His ever loyal childhood friend, Oliver Neid along with the newly recruited tower mages William and Jude stood behind him while the tower master Enzo Hale leaning on the wooden railing of the ship.

Edgar Hart, the commander of the holy knights and Saber Reed, a high priest of the holy temple stood to the right of Michael. The rest of his entourage was resting in the cabins of the ship.

Oliver, his secretary had been careful at selecting the crew and the ship as well as the entourage that would accompany him for this mission after careful consideration.

The mage tower was the first defensive force of the Emmanuel empire. The mages of the tower were known for their thirst for research and knowledge. If there was any strange occurrences, they were the first to know because they had developed magic tools for such phenomena.

Raea, the blue crystal.

Raea was a relic found by the mages at a site of ancient ruins. After thoroughly researching the artifact, the mages were able to identify that the blue crystal would react to fluctuations of energies.

Due to much deliberation on how to use the blue crystal, they succeeded in creating a system that could pinpoint the fluctuation of energies and their relative locations. So the mages of the magic tower were the first ones to identify the emergence of the people who awakened with strange powers.

But Raea started reacting to another fluctuation that was more severe than before. The royal family as well as the holy temple were notified due to the scale of the recognised energy that was enough to decimate the entire continent.

It was inevitable that Michael was wary of the unknown individuals that could pose as variables in this mission. Talking about variables, he side eyed the figures that stood to the left of him.

The three hulking figures that were cloaked, looked imposing due to their height and bulging muscles. They were taller than Michael who stood at an impressive height of 6'2 feet.

According to the investigation done by Oliver, Michael had found out that they were citizens of Kaithakandu.

Kaithakandu, the land of the devil.

The land of the people with black skin and black hair. The people who were called the descendants of the demons, that practiced martial arts and rejected the path of the divine power. They were isolated and ochestrarized with malicious intentions by others because of that.

Michael didn't believe that they were descendants of the devils but he couldn't help but harbour caution and wariness towards them. Michael had found out that there were four adults and one toddler in their group. He had thought he knew about all the people on the ship.

But he was proved wrong when Jack, the captain of the crew wanted to introduce him to another person who joined them to visit the isles of Blanche. There was a person on this ship who managed to conceal his participation even from Oliver, the secretary of the imperial prince Michael.

That itself wasn't an easy feat. It's only possible if another party who wanted to disturb their mission got insider information. Michael was feeling paranoid as another cloaked figure trailed behind Jack towards them.

'What's with these people wearing cloaks ?'

              Despite his turbulent thoughts, Michael had a pleasant expression on his face.

"Mr. Owen,"  a cheerful voice flowed towards Michael from Jack.

"Hello, Jack. It's been awhile."

      Michael replied to keep up with the charade of 'Mr. Owen' whose sailing to the Northern continent for expanding his business.

"Yes, sir. How have you been ? If you are not busy, I wanted to introduce you to another gentleman who boarded this ship."

            Jack said with a bright smile on his face.

"Oh ! If Jack is going to introduce him to me, that person must be important to you."

          'Mr. Owen' appeared pleasantly surprised to others.

Michael had been embroiled in political conflicts ever since he was young. To someone who had to conscious about every action and word, appearing humble but self assured in front of many wasn't a challenge at all.

"Haha. Thank you for your kind words. This gentleman here is Keith Adams."

            Jack introduced the cloaked figure that was a good head shorter than Michael. He watched in anticipatory curiosity as a black gloved hand grabbed the hood of the cloak.

Michael exchanged a glance with Enzo as an understanding passed between them. No matter how wild and controversial Enzo Hale acted, he seemed to be cooperating with the imperial family due to the severity of the mission.

So both of them hid their alertness behind the pleasant facade and watched with vigilant eyes that shone with interest as the hood was lowered.

Would it be a master assassin who was disguised as a honey trap or would it be a ruthless spy who hid a gleam of coldness in his eyes ? The turbulent thoughts churning in his mind brought unease to him.

But Michael surpressed his unpleasant thoughts and braced himself to face the unknown enemy. He focused back on the figure, only for his thoughts to screech to a halt.

'Wha.... What's with the doe eyes ?'

              Upon landing his eyes on Keith, Michael met galaxy blue doe eyes that was shining with naivety and innocence.

The icy blue hair that glistened because of the moonlight, the delicate face with cheeks that haven't lost baby fat, the galaxy blue doe eyes that reflected the fireflies light, the fragile figure that was swimming in huge clothes and the adorable creature cupped between the palms evoked Michael's protective instincts.

He could tell he wasn't the only one affected after discreetly sweeping his gaze over the surrounding people. The frail and short figure dwarfed by the surrounding hulking figures gave Keith the impression of appearing pitiful and adorable. More than that...

'I want to pinch his cheeks.'

             Michael thought as he smiled at Keith.

"Hello, I am Keith Adams. Please take care of me."

         A youthful voice said as 'Keith Adams' smiled shyly.

During the ongoing scene, Arad watched Kai silently. His mind flashbacked to the memory of Kai beating a bunch of bandits into a bloody pulp with this same smile.

Back then, despite the pleasant smile on his face, Arad believed he had hallucinated when Kai seemed to have two horns and a tail like a demon. Kai had beaten them up with his bare fists saying that using a sword on them was such a waste.

Arad stared at that same person's shameless behaviour with a deadpan expression. He was able to confirm one of his earlier thoughts.

'I was right. Kai is a weirdo.'

******

Hiya. Hup. Humph.

On the deck of the unassuming ship close to midnight, a figure with bulging muscles can be seen. Drops of sweat trickled down dampening his forehead as he continued to punch, kick and jab at imaginary enemies.

He almost missed the two presences that drew near him being too busy to mind his surroundings. He turned around only to freeze at the sight of a pair of galaxy blue eyes scrutinize him.

'Ah, I was careless.'

He lamented in his mind as he remembered that he forgot to cover himself. After leaving Kaithakandu, Zach and his family could never let their guard down.

The malicious rumours surrounded them wherever they went, disgust and fear marred them no matter how non threatening they acted. So Zach steadied his mind to face a person brimming with disgust.

Kai watched the man train silently. When the man turned around to look at Kai, he glared at him with a cold fury belying a promise of violence.

"What are you staring at ?"

Thinking that the boy was disgusted with his black skin and hair, Zach asked in a harsh tone to intimidate the boy.

"I watched you train because it was interesting."

Kai said earnestly and without hesitation.

Zach thought the boy was mocking him. He crossed his arms across his chest and loomed over the tiny frame.

"Oh yeah ? What did you find so interesting about it ?"

Zach intoned with a voice laced with sarcasm and skepticism.

The citizens of Kaithakandu were known for wielding their body as a weapon instead of swords. They learned martial arts that hardened their bodies rather than the swords of steel from a young age. It was another reason for other people to mock them.

Eventhough Zach was proud of his culture and heritage, he couldn't help but be frustrated at careless and rude remarks people threw at the citizens of Kaithakandu.

"Say, do you follow a specific fighting style ? If so, could you tell me what it is ? How do you transition from a punch to a jab ? Do you use acrobatics and joint locks ?"

A litany of questions poured out from Kai's mouth nonstop. Abashed, Kai reigned in his enthusiasm and gave the man in black clothes his best customer service smile that screamed 'I am trained and used to dealing with bothersome customers' to not tick of the hulking man.

Zach, who was barred with such enthusiastic questions and a bright smile, stared in a daze at the tiny figure of the boy.

"I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Keith Adams. What's yours ?"

'Keith Adams' said softly as if afraid to shatter the peaceful silence that settled around them.

"Azul. I am Azul Agra."

Azul murmured still basking in that trance. He snapped out of it and stared at Kai seeming to look for any deceit.

"You..." Azul pursed his lips into a straight line and a frown settled between his brows.

"I am from Kaithakandu, the land of the devil."

He said thinking 'Keith' didn't know and expected him to cower in fear after that. He lowered his head not brave to face any backlash. Amidst his self-deprecating thoughts, he heard a confused voice.

"And ?"

His head snapped up at that and his jaw dropped. Resignation that flooded his eyes changed to surprise and hope. The nonchalant attitude and the confused expression on 'Keith's' face seemed to scream at Azul as if asking 'why are you saying such an obvious thing ?'

The moonlight that shone brilliantly looked as if it was hugging the petite form in front of Azul. He looked like the personification of all the goodness in this world to Azul at that moment.

He didn't know whether he asked the impulsive question thoughtlessly before he could stop, knowing he wouldn't be rejected.

"Do you want to be my friend ?"

Azul snapped his mouth shut. Not only was Kai but Azul was also surprised at asking that question.

Kai opened his lips to answer only for him to be interrupted.

Whooooosh....

A sound of something cutting through the air and approaching the ship was heard by both of them. A blazing cannon ball flew through the wind and struck the fore topsail shattering the fore topmast.

Kai watched with a stoic expression as mute horror floored his mind when pure chaos was unleashed on the ship.

'Why do they always attack at night ? Can't they wait until the morning ?'

It was the first thought after watching the sail start to burn as annoyance filled his mind.