5. Void shark

After they entered the gate of fire, Aiden was greeted with a sight he swore he would never be able to forget in his life.

Aiden was greeted with what he could only describe as a golden sea. No matter where he looked, whether it was up or down, forward or behind, Aiden and the voidship were completely surrounded by a boundless ocean of dazzling golden energy.

Judging from the faint excitement Aiden could feel deep in his blood, he didn't need anybody to explain what exactly this was. It was a sea of divine energy, the power of the gods themselves!

Aiden had just started on this journey for a short while, but it seemed like everything was moving forward and quickly surpassing even his wildest of imaginations and expectations!

...

Time passed as Aiden continued in his journey towards Olympus. Instead of staying inside, Aiden spent more of his time admiring the sight of the sea of divine energy he could see from the deck. From what Aiden had heard, it was something similar to a highway created by the gods, allowing one to travel between the void of worlds at a much faster rate than one would have been able to otherwise.

It just went to put the power of the gods into perspective. For a mere mortal like Aiden, it was something completely beyond his comprehension.

As Aiden and Oliver were talking, their entire bodies suddenly shook.

"Bang!"

A loud bang sounded from the right-hand side of the voidship, causing the entire ship to shake and even helpless passengers like Aiden and Oliver to lose their footing.

"Damn it, what happened!"

"What on earth is going on!"

Panicked and disgruntled screams of displeasure sounded across the ship deck as various passengers recovered from their embarrassed state.

A particularly bold young man wandered to the edge of the ship where the first impact had rocked the ship to have a closer look. He placed his hand on the railing and leaned over, moving so close that his nose was almost touching the faint translucent barrier that was covering the entire ship when suddenly-

"Roar!"

"Bang!"

A horrifying roar sounded out as a blackish-purple behemoth lunged out of the divine sea, snapping at the young man! If it wasn't for the barrier that was now flashing bright white, the young man would have turned into a ghost on his way to the underworld.

This time, after attacking, the creature didn't disappear into the divine sea, allowing Aiden to get a clear look at the attacking creature.

It wasn't small by any means, at least 10 meters long if not larger, with thick blackish leathery skin with a purple hue. It was shaped like a shark with a terrifying fin shooting out its back. This was the most purple feature on its body, and it glowed with ominous light.

Aiden was no creature expert, but he could be nearly one hundred percent certain that it wasn't a good thing.

"V-void shark! Fuck, it's a void shark!"

Aiden heard the despair-filled cry from one of the prospective students near him and his heart sank. Although he didn't know the strength of this so-called Void shark, if it could cause...

As if things couldn't get bad enough, Aiden soon realized something. It wasn't just one of these monsters that were here. There were tens of void sharks circling over the roof and sides of the voidship, simply refusing to move.

Like a pack of sharks that had smelt blood, now that these Void sharks had discovered some fresh prey, these guys would not be going anywhere!

"Bang!"

"Crack."

The void sharks began to grow restless, wildly attacking the barrier around the voidship, even going so far as cracking it. In that moment, everyone present on the deck collectively felt their heart sink. It didn't take long for total panic to break out as people began shouting and shoving each other as everyone tried to get further away from the barrier as possible.

Just as Aiden and Oliver were beginning to move to get into a safer position for themselves, they suddenly stopped.

"Tch! What's the use of all this panic? Just a few monsters can cause you to lose all your composure."

The clear, confident voice drowned the murmurs of panic on the deck. It was like a bright torch in the middle of the night, grabbing everyone's attention. Looking towards the origin of the voice, they all saw a stern-faced middle-aged man.

He stood confidently on the quarterdeck, looking down on the chaos below, his armor shining splendidly under the rays of divine light that rained down from the surrounding sea of divine energy.

And the captain didn't just spend his time chastising the aspiring students.

"And you soldiers, what are you doing? Monsters are at your door and you're just standing there?! Organize yourselves and protect all passengers on the deck!"

With the words of the captain, the few guards quickly began to move into action, rounding up the people on the deck and forming a temporary guard perimeter, protecting the aspiring students as best as they could.

While this was going on, the captain decided to focus on the monsters at his front door. His cool blue eyes locked onto the Void sharks at the front of the pack and let out a cold snort as he stretched out his hands and opened his mouth.

Caelum brontē doru (sky thunder spear)

As the captain murmured the archaic chant, lightning began to crackle and rage as it writhed up his arm, gradually coalescing into a giant golden spear of divine thunder! The captain's eyes glowed with a terrifying deep blue fury as the cape on his back fluttered wildly. He pulled back his arm, like a sharpshooter drawing his bow, and then released.

"Boom!"

It was impossible for Aiden's mortal eyes to see the attack; all he heard was a deafening explosion as the terrifying thunder spear hit its location, causing even the void ship to start shaking.

Aiden looked at the aftermath and his jaw dropped.