| 016 | Pinguis Arca

In the seemingly vast and endless high seas was the massive brig, Pinguis Arca. Known to many as a merchant ship, it was built with majesty and intricate design. A somewhat peculiar choice for a typical trading vessel.

Nevertheless, the Pinguis Arca consisted of a hundred sailors in its quarters, including the captain in his cabin. Quite an interesting amount of crew for a large brig. 

The Pinguis Arca was returning from its voyage and was about to dock in nearby colonies to sell its goods. After all, the crew was barely keeping them alive.

But unfortunately for the so-called merchant ship, a strange circumstance struck them out of nowhere. Their peaceful return became riddled with chaos and fear.

After all, something was chasing them from behind. A metallic warship that loomed over the sizable merchant ship's silhouette. Despite its titanic size, it was faster than them. 

It plunged into the rough waves with ease, like a predator pursuing its prey.

*Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!* *Ding!*

The bell rang throughout Pinguis Arca as the crew was alerted by the fog horn that escaped the warship behind them. It was thunderous as it reverberated through the air.

*BUUURRRRRMMMMM!!!*

They would have misunderstood it as some sort of monster if not for its intricate ship design that made things obvious for the sailors in Pinguis Arca.

A voice then escaped from the bow of the metallic warship. Everyone in the wooden merchant ship heard of it, loud and clear.

*TH1- 1- THE UN- LIGHT BR1NG3R #F THE UN1T3D NAVY!*

*Y#U ARE TR3-PA--1NG THE MAR1T1M3 S3CUR1TY Z#NE AND W1LL B3 H3LD L1ABL3 THR#UGH 1N-P3CTI#N-!*

*1 -AY AGA1N! Y#U ARE TR3-PA--ING THE MAR1T1M3 S3CUR1TY Z#NE AND W1LL B3 H3LD L1ABL3 THR#UGH 1N-P3CTI#N-!*

*PL3A-E CL#-3 Y#UR -A1L- AND P3AC3FUL ACC3PT TH3 1N-PECTI#N. #TH3RW1-E, W3 W1LL BE 1NCL1N3 1N US1NG F#RC3 T# SUBJUGAT3 Y#UR 1LL3GAL TR3-PA--ING!*

Despite the deafening warnings of the UNS Light Bringer, the sailors of Pinguis Arca could barely understand a word the ones in the metallic warship had said.

A fat and scarred man with golden teeth then stepped out of the captain's with an unpleasant yet naturally lecherous face. He glanced around in confusion since he had recently woken up.

"What the hell is happening!"

He shouted at his crew with confusion and annoyance. His slumber was interrupted when his bastard men started ringing the emergency bell. 

Not only that, but some horn resounded in his cabin, making him almost sh*t his pants. He thought a sea monster was attacking them, only to sigh in relief a few seconds later.

If it really was a sea monster of some sort, the ship would have already sunk with him being asleep inside of it. So, he walked out of his cabin to find out the problem.

"Captain Crassus, an unknown vessel is pursuing us!" The sailor manning the nest shouted at the captain below him.

His name was Crassus, the captain of Pinguis Arca. He was amongst the richest merchants in the high seas of Ferus. And it was mostly because of his high-quality products that were popular with rich magi.

Those guys would be willing to pay for products that could survive their research and experimentations in the realms of magicraft. He had previously heard the horrors they would create with it.

Such horrors should be damned to never escape their cells or towers.

At any rate, he was doing the same thing as before. Delivering special products into a colony and selling them to rich magi. However, it seems that things went wrong for the businessman.

"Where the hell did they come from!"

He shouted while looking at the metallic warship. For a second, his eyes flashed with greed. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he became the captain of such a ship.

"We don't know, captain! These bastards appeared out of nowhere and pursued us almost immediately. It was as if they were trying to find us." 

One of the crew, preparing to load gunpowder into their cannons, answered the questioning captain. Most were like him, preparing for the upcoming battle.

But, Crassus wasn't dumb. He understood that they stood no chance against the massive metallic warship. Not only that, it was faster than them despite its mighty size.

"So… What are they trying to do?" Crassus uttered another question. The crews stopped moving and looked at him simultaneously. They scratched their hair and shook their heads in confusion.

One of the smarter sailors stepped forward and gave a conjecture.

"They must want us to stop Pinguis Arca, captain! Otherwise, they would have already fired at us instead of blaring their strange horns." His words made sense, and the others nodded in agreement.

What the crewman had said made sense to Crassus. But why would they want to stop them from sailing? This question echoed in his mind, and then… He finally realized.

He slowly turned his gaze downward, pointing at the lower deck. His special merchandise shouldn't be bothersome to anyone. However, at the moment, there was something a lot more exceptional even amongst his products.

It was something he acquired with hard work and almost a quarter of his wealth.

Those in the metallic warship must want the cargo that he spent his blood and sweat on. With this in mind, he clenched his fist in anger.

Crassus glared at the incoming metallic warship that continued blaring its horn. This kind of thing was piracy. His business was legitimate, and to think, others would dare to steal his hard work.

He soon gritted his teeth and looked at the strange-robed man in the bow of Pinguis Arca. The robed-man didn't seem to care about the circumstances the ship found itself in.

This stranger was the trump card Crassus had hidden in his important travels.

The captain of Pinguis Arca slowly walked towards the robed man and smiled respectfully at him. The one before him was a magus, a mythical man of great power.

"Sir Magus, I believe that we might need your help in escaping the clutches of our adversaries," Crassus said while rubbing his hands and gently looking at the magus.

Although, despite looking as soothing as possible, the captain looked even more disgusting than before. It made the magus quietly wonder if Crassus escaped from their labs to start a business on the high seas.

"Captain Crassus… As you have given your payment before we left port, I shall give my services to you in accordance with the contract. You desire to escape this undesirable situation of yours, correct?" 

The magus directly looked at the fat and crooked man's greedy eyes. Crassus rapidly nodded his head in agreement since he wanted to escape from this bad moment.

It might not have been possible with his crew alone, but with the help of the esteemed magus, their chances of escaping would be as high as the skies.

"It looks like we are in agreement, Captain Crassus." The magus shook his head and slowly took out his grimoire. 

A grimoire was the greatest tool of magi in the art of magicraft. It was their library of spells that would aid them in efficiently casting one.

In this foreign world, spells were constructed through two primary parts. The spell circle and the runic language. For comparison, a spell circle was the format while the runic language would be the programmable lines.

Memorizing each rune plastered in a spell would be inefficient, so magi used their grimoire to increase the spell-casting speed and decrease its chances of failure. 

The magus calmly went through the pages of his grimoire to find the best spell to escape their precarious circumstances. After a couple of seconds, he found the perfect one.

It was a simple yet powerful spell called gust. Its main utility was through the disturbance of the environment, which would bother surrounding magi. 

One would wonder, how could such a spell help them escape? Well, the answer to that was rather simple.

Point the spell towards the sails to accelerate the speed of the medieval ship.

As such, the magus didn't waste any time and swiftly started constructing the spell with the help of his grimoire. The spell construction was another important part of magicraft. 

Spell construction would usually start with the materialization of a format called the spell circle. Following the format would be the runic language, in which the spell would be written.

Throughout the creation of the spell which materialized and shone brightly in the air. The sailors of Pinguis Arca could only watch in amazement as the convolutions of runic language spun and acted like gears of a greater machine.

In the duration of the whole process, the magus didn't utter a single word as he did his work with grace. 

There was no need for magi to speak as the creation of magic merely required the manipulation of mana. To them, not uttering a single word while performing a miracle was a prided finesse. 

"It took some time, but the spell is complete." The edges of the magus's lips rose with arrogance clearly plastered on his face. But such arrogance was understandable. 

To be able to manipulate a part of reality was something to be proud of.

At any rate, with the completion of the spell, the magus didn't delay activating it. The giant spell circle behind the Pinguis Arca's sails shone brightly as a gust of wind soon escaped it.

*WOOOOOOSSHHHH!!!*

The sails of the ship were pressed forward, making the Pinguis Arca accelerate its former pitiful speed. The crew held tightly onto the wooden railings upon meeting the force that was hastening them.

All of them grinned while meeting the breeze of wind upfront. Their speed was faster than ever before. The metallic warship shouldn't be able to catch up to them anymore.

Sadly, however, as Crassus turned to look at the pursuing warship along with the others. They saw that its distance was the same as before. His eyes became wide-opened, while the magus furrowed his eyebrows.

"H-how…" Crassus couldn't believe what he was seeing before his eyes. With the help of the magus, their speed should be doubled than their former one. 

So, how could the metallic warship still catch up to them?