Awakening of another crew and preparations for a storm

The crew glanced at eachother before standing up, one by one.

"Eric, part of the captain's crew." said the dark blue haired and brown eyed toned man as he stood up first.

"Salon, pleasure to be of service captain." the man with semi-long grey hair tied in a ponytail and green eyes followed.

"Tomi, n-nice to make your acquaintance." the katana guy with black hair and cyan eyed introduced himself with a stutter. Interestingly enough, he has become a lot more held back since meeting Mizuki.

"Natyr. Pleasure." the lady with mostly black clothes along with pure white hair and a mixture of crimson and dark blue eyes said swiftly.

"M-Maryse." last to speak was the one who wanted to be on this ship the least, with light brown hair and obsidian like eyes along with a mature figure.

"Well since introductions are over, I'd like you to keep changing shifts over the helm while I finish things under deck."

Before anyone (Maryse) could say anything in protest, Mizuki continued without the slightest of pauses.

"Eric, I'll speak with you in my quarters after I'm done down there."

Completely ignoring Eric's now pale face along with a simpathetic look from Tomi and Salon, Mizuki crouched down and activated the magic circle she had installed.

A force of mana was released from the wheel and coated every entity on the ship with a barrier consisting of a multitude of colors that slowly incased their hearts and dissipated slowly after.

A notification was spread among the inhabitants of the ship.

[A section of the curse [Soulless Death] has been neutralized]

[Continuous healing will be provided to the affected entities resting on the vessel [Soulless Pearl] and their body's and soul's will be healed the rate of 0.2% every 5 seconds]

Before the crew can even completely finish reading and comprehend the meaning of this new notification, Mizuki left while leaving them with a single line.

"I'll leave the helm to you for now." as she walked below deck without giving the crew another glance.

"The captain did something crazy again." Eric muttered.

Salon talked next.

"I believe we will have to get used to this."

...

'The corpses are slowly recovering their soul.'

Mizuki thought as she stared at the skeletons lying all around ground.

'The main disadvantage of the curse this vessel comes with is that the moment you die, a large majority of your soul will be used to strengthen the vessel and the remaining crew.'

'The advantage, however is that the part of the soul that remains, is forced to stay within the body and be impossible to destroy by ordinary means.'

'Since I did not recognize these dead bodies as part of my crew, my hat's function did not activate. In contrast, the spell that I activated influences every entity, living or not, within this vessel.' Mizuki kept thinking in her own head as she kept walking deeper below deck.

'I can only hope that the revived crew will not try to start some mutiny, it would be rather annoying to deal with.'

Reaching the very bottom of the vessel, Mizuki saw many skeletons that had either their head removed or swords plunged into them, nailing them to the walls.

At the very back there was a skeleton that was smaller than the rest, wearing a blue bandana along with clothes that can only be described as pirate royalty with 9 different swords plunged into it. From the feet all the way up to right below the throat.

Looking around the bottom most layer some more, Mizuki noticed that all the cells here had their doors opened.

Making a decision based on instinct, Mizuki moved all the skeletons inside the cells and locked them with an ice and lightning spell.

'When and if they regain their lives and try to escape, the ice will freeze them and lightning stop their brains from sending signals to the body, stopping any and all movement. If their resistance is high enough then they can break away easily but the spell in and of itself is a trap.'

Mizuki was continuing her inner monologue.

'The moment the magic circle is disturbed, the spell will completely freeze their body inside and out, smashing the frozen parts to fine powder and leaving only their head for questioning.'

Taking another glance at the skeletons, she removed the swords from them and stuck them in the floor.

'Looking at their current soul and body condition, they should fully heal in about half an hour. If their will to live is strong enough that is.'

Heading back up to where some rooms were, Mizuki quickly glazed everything over with a pressurized water stream and dried it with wind magic. She did the same for a few more rooms.

Walking out of the place, Mizuki saw the crew scrambling around the main deck as a storm was approaching.

Mizuki herself also knew how bad this could be when she saw it.

Strong winds and near pitch black clouds.

In the southern continent's ocean lives one of the four cardinal beasts appropriately named the Southern Wind Hydra.

This creature is known as the literal eye of the storm. The beast is constantly surrounded by a large scale storm that holds the properties of the southern seas. Mana draining rain and lightning.

Currently it seems that the ship is heading straight for said storm.

"I leave for a measly few minutes and come back to find you heading for possible death at full speed."

The monotone voice of the Captain was heard by every crew member on deck as they felt a slight chill up their spine.

Looking at the captain who has yet to be seen without her hat and cloth mask, Eric speaks up first.

"Captain the choice was not ours to make, the waves and wind started to slowly pull our ship in, we had tried to change course by raising sails and turning the wheel but it did not help."

"We did not dare to lower anchor as the storm is heading our way either way, making us sitting ducks." Salon stated from the other side of the ship.

"We tried to send a few below deck to ask for your help but the pressure released from there is too much to even get close." Eric continued, trying to cover for the crew.

"Stop giving me these excuses and lower anchor." Mizuki interrupted before he could continue.

"B-but cap-!"

"Salon," Mizuki turned towards him, eyes cold as ever, "lower the anchor."

"Natyr." she then turned towards the smartest crew member out of the bunch.

"Fully raise the sails and take over for Eric on the wheel. Turn the ship's port side to face the storm." Mizuki continued.

"Tomi, go down below deck and retrieve a silver barrel that I have prepared, it's right next to the stairs and do not say anything about some pressure. Intimidation can't kill you, I can."

"Eric go prepare the cannons, you still have the book so it should be simple."

Before anyone could react, Mizuki started spewing out orders.

Taking a glance towards Tomi, who had only gone down one step, Mizuki let out a sigh as she turned to the last member of the crew who has yet to do anything.

"Maryse go kick Tomi down the stairs, he's taking too long. Afterwards go help Eric prepare the cannons."

Tomi, hearing this, paled.

Looking behind him all he could see was a boot. Tumbling down the stairs he looked around to see the place suprisingly clean.

The clenliness did not help with the pressure as Tomi took the barrel and carried it out as fast as possible only to receive a notification.

[Skill [Fear Resistance] aquired]

Meanwhile...

'It's still dark.'

A small figure was drifting in and out of consciousness in the pitch black void.

'How long have I been here again?'

'A few months or a few years?'

The figure moved her hand to touch her chest.

'Still the same size.'

Removing her hand, she opened her eyes, or at least tried to that is.

'Am I dead yet?'

Suddenly she realized that she was slowly recovering.

'Wait, since when could I move?'

'Since when could I feel?'

A suprised expression appeared on her face.

'Is this some sort of revival? Isn't that supposed to be impossible? My ship is cursed beyond belief!'

'Is the crew okay? Did someone buy the ship and have the curse lifted?'

After a few more moments where in she kept asking questions to no one in particular..

'I can feel my body. My soul and body are slowly recovering... But this sense of dread will not leave me. I feel like if I were to move only another death awaits.'

After tens of more minutes passed, the figure could finally see and hear again.

"Captain you're awake!"

"Lia? What happened and where are we?"

"Captain wait! Do not move. You are still recovering. Let me explain the situation."

"We are currently within our ship on the very bottom layer within these cells. The cells have been modified and reconstructed by a spell of unknown origin."

"What elements?" asked the 'captain' who's face is still half healed.

"From what we can tell it's ice and lightning."

"Tier?" she asked.

"3"

"Give me a few moments and I can cover the crew with a-"

"Captain worry about yourself first, you need to wait and heal fully before even thinking of casting a spell, you only have half a face right now." Lia said commandingly.

"Yeah captain you should really rest for now." the other people in the cells agreed, they could wait a few more minutes no problem.

"..Ok... I'll rest." the 'captain' caved.

"Take your time."

"Do you know how we started healing?" she then asked.

"No. I asked the others but all they could remember is pure darkness before slowly starting to recover."

"Same as me then." she let out with a sigh.

"You too Cap'n?" a man asked.

"Yep."

After conversing for a few more minutes the 'captain' had finally recovered enough to use a simple but strong protection spell on the crew.

A dark grey colored magic circle appeared above everyone there and coted them in a silver like suit of armor.

The moment they started to move, the armor started to freeze over while lightning made it past the metal and started burning the skin.

Reinforcing the spell, the 'captain' also started to stand up as the burden on the crew was lessened significantly but then.

*Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack*

Multiple bones were broken as everyone who stood fell back down while holding their legs and chest in pain as their bones were suddenly as fragile as ice.

"Captain! Are you okay?!" Lia yelled as she slowly shuffled towards her, she was one of the ones who had yet to stand.

"*Cough* I'm fine.. Everyone else?"

The captain took a look at her crew, most of whom were laying on the ground in pain.

"We're already slowly recovering from the strange healing."

"Captain I recommend staying still and waiting for whoever locked us here to appear before trying to make an escape."

"You mean trying to take back my ship.."

Lia's eyes widened slightly before closing and dawning a slight smile.

'Still the same as ever.'

"Yes. That's what I meant. Captain Hinami."