The Bravest (1)

'The bravest' belonged to a man named Arken Lockner. He was descended from the Lockner family of Kuloh Island. It was a noble family, rumored to have served under an order of mages a century ago. The order was called 'The Arcane Eyes'

According to the rumors, the ship used to belong to that mage order. Satisfied with the performance of the Lockner over the years, when the order decided to relocate on the main continent, they left this vessel in the hands of said family.

Arken Lockner was the current heir of this illustrious family. Instead of acting in a discrete manner concerning the ownership of such a treasure, he decided to go into business with it. He started a cruising company and made a killing by ferrying his passengers all over the Overseas Islands.

Naturally, pirates tried to attack the vessel. Not to mention the amount of wealth carried by the passengers, 'The Bravest' itself was a king's prize.

Who would have thought that Arken Lockner wasn't just a naive fool? The man armed his crew to the teeth with magic artifacts. With those, even an ordinary man could easily take off 5 or 6 armed men.

Hence, Arken established a fierce reputation in the Overseas Islands. The reputation of a man who was not easy to cross.

At least that's what the contact explained to Nexus conversationally, as they boarded The Bravest.

The vessel was truly a huge monstrosity. With his shadow perception, Nexus could make out its dimensions. No wonder it could carry a few thousand people across the sea.

Nexus and the man went to the coffee shop situated on the 2nd level of the ship. They seated themselves in a corner of the place and ordered a cup of coffee each, accompanied by some pastries.

"So, I wasn't told of the kind of trouble the people from Serlune met." Nexus began with an inquisitive tone.

The contact unhurriedly took a bite from the croissant, a pastry created on the main continent. He then sipped his coffee, savoring the aroma.

Nexus was unperturbed, He simply waited.

A normal individual would have lost patience by now, but not him. If there was one virtue; he cultivated all these years, it was patience. For a gentleman who sought the bloodiest of vengeance, a few years were inconsequential, not to mention a few minutes.

Instead, it was the man who was disturbed. The ravishing young man, in front of him, didn't move since he tried to pry more intel on the situation of Serlune Island. Not a blink, an impatient spasm, or even a twitch of annoyance. His rudeness left the kid unphased. He may as well be sitting by himself, for all the difference that made.

The man wasn't particularly antagonistic toward Nexus. It was just that he found great pleasure in exhibiting annoying behavior patterns. In his life as an information gatherer, he could spend years without being able to talk to someone.

As such when he could finally talk to someone, he would switch between talking a lot at one point to suddenly staying silent despite being asked a question.

This time though, he met a particular individual who exhibited none of the normal reactions you would expect in these awkward situations.

*As expected of a kid-related to a monster like Selim.

The thought sobered him. If that kid was anything like Selim, wasting his time was like suicide. Not to mention that his senses had detected that the kid was as powerful as him if not more.

He stopped his shenanigans and answered.

" I believe you already know that the number of true obstacles to our conquest of the Overseas Islands is quite small. As not many mage or knight remains in this place, we don't have many things to worry about, right?"

"Indeed." It conformed with Nexus's Knowledge.

"Wrong. Serlune Island case showed us how arrogant that thought is. The Overseas Islands were after all the cradle of the mage and knight orders. They didn't just abandon it. They placed some measures in place.

In the forests surrounding the cities, there are artificial magical creatures. They were engineered magically by a mage and now serve as a defense mechanism for the whole island.

They are like the experiment of a madman. There is a wrongness in their mere existence."

Nexus fell into deep thoughts.

*So, they met an issue in invading the island itself. Not with the noble families that are to be eliminated...

*The presence of mage's trace is encouraging for my goals...

"Is that the only hang-up?" Nexus felt that no matter how powerful these creatures were, they couldn't possibly be the sole reason for the delay of Serlune's conquest.

"It is not. If it were only the creatures, with enough effort, we could get rid of them. The whole flora of the place is like a large bewildering array with deadly traps.

People of Serlune can come and go out of the island. Even visitors from other Islands can enter the island.

Only our forces are seemingly barred of access."

Nexus crossed his legs and put a hand on his chin.

How interesting, an array that filters between hostile and common. Truly marvelous. Mages are truly capable of intricate designs.

As their conversation settled in silence, there was a commotion coming from downstairs. The vessel had already departed from the Brightmoon port two hours ago, presently they were at sea.

Nexus was woken from his thoughts and spread his shadow perception until it covered the entire ship.

This was not a testimony of his strength. Merely, this ability used shadows as a medium to project his senses. In such a vessel there were naturally many dark corners.

" It seems that we are being attacked by a pirate vessel." Nexus stated with amusement.

"Oh?" The man whose name was Nathan exclaimed. He had introduced himself as such when they were boarding the vessel. An expression of surprise was painted on his face.

Naturally, the man wasn't taken aback by the pirates. It was the range of Nexus's perception that left him flabbergasted.

He quickly regained his calm and said.

"Foolishness. There are still men who are unafraid to try Arken Lockner's patience, it seems. Or are they relying on something special this time?" Nathan pondered out loud.

"Eh? It looks like this is not your average pirate. They are not looking for riches." Nexus commented.

"What makes you say that?" Nathan asked curiously.

"Nothing, just the canons being fired at us." Nexus's voice stayed even as he stated this.

"Surely, they are not thinking of just sinking The bravest?" Nathan said with incredulity.

It was not out of worried for their safety of course. As Shadow Walkers, they merely need to merge in the shadows to avoid any potential blow. No, the reason for his incredulity was the incredible stupidity of the act.

Additionally, if one believed an enchanted vessel could be brought down with mere canons, they had another thing coming.

BOOM!

A loud sound impacted their eardrums and caused general panic aboard the ship. Humans were crying and moving about like headless chickens. The entire vessel shook slightly after the shots.

Besides this, no other damage was noted. Soon enough the humans noticed that they were still in one piece and calmed down. Nexus was holding his plate of pastries in such a way that not even a single one fell during the shaking.

Nathan as well, who seemed to have a caffeine addiction was gracefully holding his cup of coffee. Not a single drop fell during the turbulence.

"What an impressive shield." Nexus was admirative.

Others passengers may not have seen it, but he had. Well, he didn't 'see' it per se, it was more accurate to say that he perceived it thanks to his ability. At the moment of impact, a shield seemingly composed of various geometrical figures appeared briefly.

It had not only dissipated the momentum of the projectiles but deflected the projectiles themselves sideways.

The following volley ended up the same way as the first round.

All in all not a scratch was made on the bravest.