A Sailing Ship

The weather was nice, with chirping birds and a vast blue sky when they left the port. It's been more than half a day since they've been sailing.

The winds were heavy. It became harder and harder as they moved through the storm. It changed completely.

It is common knowledge that weather becomes unpredictable when sailing on the sea, but it shouldn't be this bad. A few storms along the way will become a hindrance, but they won't cause enough trouble for the sailors to change their route completely.

But it wasn't the same with them here. It was already the fourth storm they had to pass through today. And currently, as they were almost at their destination, a vast sea of clouds was visible on the top of the land far away from them.

They could have ignored it, but that was the location they needed to go to. It was like bad omen after bad omen today. The people on the ship cursed themselves internally.

But one doesn't need to worry. They had one of the best captains on board. He knows the sea like the back of his hand. It was his area of expertise. It was his home.

The winds became heavy, pushing the big wooden ship off its course. Everyone panicked, as it happened in an instant.

"Furl the sails!" The captain shouted as he struggled to steer the ship on its course. The tides and the wind didn't let the rudder function normally.

"Crack!" One of the masts cracked as its sail tore down.

"You, fools! I told you to furl the sails!" Even if the captain knows what to do, the crew must follow his orders without delay for it to work.

The sea was a battlefield of simultaneous choices and actions.

"Y-Yes captain!" They struggled to even move as the ship shook from the heavy waves hitting its sides. It shows they were not accustomed to this job.

One of them was even crying as he clung to the ship tightly. He had seasickness, as he continuously vomited into the dark sea every time the boat swayed left and right in the waves.

He was just praying to get out of the situation as his face became pale from sickness.

It was a single ship, filled with a handful of people wearing robes and armour. The people with silver-plated armour carried a sword on their hips, and the people with green robes had long wooden sticks in their hands with multiple coloured gemstones embedded on the top.

Anyone could say they were not sailors. It was a ragtag group that was put together at the last minute.

They are the ones who followed the ship's captain's orders—or at least tried to.

"Stupid fools, try to be fast! Do you have lemons for your feet? And that bastard over there, just go and jump into the water!" The captain hurried as he voiced his frustration.

For him, they were like babies who were trying to walk on their own for the first time. But the thing is, if these babies didn't get their act together in time, that would cause an irreparable problem.

If they didn't cut the sails immediately, the mast would break along with the ship. In this weather, in the middle of nowhere, the chances of survival for people on a broken ship are zero to none.

"Yeah, we are trying, you geezer! Do you think it's easy? Don't you see we aren't even able to get our hands on these ropes!? Damn, they are slipping up again. Someone, catch it!" The first ones to complain were the people in robes. They were the least helpful of all the people here and were already struggling to keep up with the weather.

The people in armour were physically stronger compared to the people in robes. It was an obvious fact when you look at the things both were capable of doing. But the complaints came from the few who were the least helpful till now. It was just because of their useless pride that they were ignoring the situation at hand.

"Tch! You disrespectful youngins, want to go at it?" The captain folded one of his sleeves as one of his hands was still holding the steering wheel tightly.

"Let's go, geezer! We will show you the price for disrespecting us, mages! You think a mere ship captain can order us around?" One of them shouted.

Wherever they are, the mages are the most proud people of all. Everyone ignored the soon-to-be broken mast as they got into a heated argument. The swordsmen still tried to do their jobs by furling the sails. Someone had to be mature in these situations.

"Screeeeeechhh!" A shrill sound echoed throughout the sea.

The direction it came from was not known, but it drew everyone's attention.

Even the captain let go of the steering. The steering circled left and right, dancing to the waves. He knew what that sound belonged to, but he was too late to alert others.

"Screeeechh!" With another shrilling sound right after, "Bang!" The ship got hit with something.

All of them fell to one side as the moving ship got off course by turning inadvertently.

"Wh-What is it!? What hit us!?" One voice asked. Everyone had the same question.

"Scraaaaaaaahhh!" The next sound made everyone cover their ears.

"Pl-Please, I want to go Hwme… blaaarg!" The man with a pale face pleaded as he vomited into the sea once again.

"Roooooooaar!" With an ear-bursting roar, a gigantic creature shot out from the water, destroying the taffrail of the ship along with separating the man's head from his body.

The blood spurted and got washed away by the sea. As the ship swayed, the limp body slipped to the edge of the ship.

The creature's bright yellow eyes shone with bloodlust as it looked at the panic-stricken people on the ship. The two pairs of wings at its back fluttered alternately, along with its roar.

Its sharp tongue moved the decapitated head of the man inside its mouth like a child tasting a new flavour of candy for the first time.

"Gulp!" It swallowed it entirely.

With jaws that were filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth, it got hold of the remaining lifeless corpse and started to crunch on it.

"Crunch! Crunch!" Its chewing mouth, which was filled with blood and crushed human organs, was a sight that sent shivers down their spines.

The bulging intestines of the man and one of his white eyeballs, along with some flesh and blood, fell from the creature's mouth onto the deck.

The faces of people who witnessed this were filled with despair and disgust at the same time.

The size of the creature was around a hundred metres. But the mouth was triangular, not allowing a huge prey to be gulped down in a single bite.

"Wh-What is it doing here!?" The captain muttered in shock.

"He-Hey captain, what is that?"

"The nightmare of us sailors, the living disaster of the sea, Leviathan."

"Le-Leviathan!?" Everyone on the ship had heard that name at least once before, but it was their first time seeing the actual thing with their very own eyes.

Leviathan. A huge, winged, serpent-like creature with two pairs of wings at its back. It is a colossal sea monster that is feared by sailors and sea travellers. It is classified as a Class-A monster.

It can grow up to hundreds of metres in size. Covered in tough scales that are almost impenetrable, its presence can be felt in the water even from miles away.

Its massive jaws are enough to crush even the strongest of ships. The sheer power and speed it can exhibit are unmatched in these waters due to its wings acting like fins.

"Wh-What is it doing here, out of all places? Shouldn't their habitat be in deep waters?" It was one of the mages who asked this.

Mages were not skilled sailors, but they were knowledgeable about the world.

"Look closely. Its size isn't that massive compared to a normal Leviathan. The wings at its back also seem small, almost not visible if one doesn't look closely."

"What does that mean?" A swordsman asked.

"It's probably a newborn." These words relieved the people present. If it is not a fully mature one, then its strength won't match an actual Class-A monster.

But their relieved expressions didn't last long. They thought, if even a newborn was this fearsome, then what would an actual one be like? That thought alone made them shiver to their core.

"It must have separated from its mother, or something must have happened." The captain spoke, composing himself.

The creature looked towards the other side of the turbulent sea. Its eyes grew large as its body shook.

"Where is it looking!?" Everyone followed its gaze, but they couldn't find anything there.

Its eyes were diverted to the people on the ship again.

"Shrrrrieeeeeeeek!" With another ear-wrenching scream, it moved towards the ship with its jaw open.

If that thing hits, it will sink the entire ship, along with the people on it, in one go.

A lone man was watching all of this, standing on one side of the ship. His expression didn't change from start to finish. He wore dark green clothing and walked among the people, who were panicked to the core.

He had a sword tied to his hip and a cloth covering his face. Only his dark jade eyes were visible. It held a kind of light that reflected his inner calmness.

The creature's head was almost in front of the ship, a second away from colliding.

He went near the breaking mast as a huge wind blew over the ship.

"Hiss~" That was the only sound that was heard. But the people on the ship stopped panicking as their eyes fell on the mast and the creature that had stopped its attack.

"Crumble!" The mast got sliced in half, with the upper half getting sliced into many pieces.

Along with that, blood dripped from the side of the creature.

"Thud!" The many sliced pieces of the mast fell on the wooden deck of the ship one after another, along with a piece of flesh that belonged to the creature.

It was one of its wings. When everyone looked closely, it was sliced completely clean. There was disbelief painted on both the faces of the people and the creature.

"Shhhhhrrrrrrrrrieeeeeeeeek!" Realising its pain, the creature screamed in agony.

The sail that was cut off along with the mast flew off somewhere without a trace being left in sight.

The gazes of everyone now fell on the man, who stood calmly in front of the agony-filled creature.

He didn't say anything but looked at the other side of the sea. Even the Leviathan's gaze darted to that side. A fixed place at a distance with nothing but empty waters. That's what it seemed to the eyes of normal people.

"Rawwwwwwwwwwrrrrrr!" A humongous roar echoed from far away in the sea right after.

"Wh-What now?" They were already faced with one thing and thought it was soon going to be over, but this time the unknown roar was even bigger than that of the Leviathan before them.

"A-A Sea Dragon!" The captain gasped in shock.

A Sea Dragon is a massive sea monster that dwells deep in the sea. It is an ancient creature that is said to be the guardian of the sea and all its creatures. Its skin is as tough as steel, and its scales are as sharp as a sword.

It lives in seclusion and is rarely seen by humans. It is said that a Sea Dragon only appears when the sea is in grave danger. It has the power to summon storms, create tidal waves, and control the entire sea itself.

Legends say that the Sea Dragon was born from the sea and has been protecting it ever since. Some even believe that it is a god-like creature and should be worshipped, while others fear it and avoid it at all costs.

"A Class-S monster!? Here!? The… hell—!?" It was one disaster after another.

It was clear that the baby Leviathan was being chased by a Sea Dragon, one of the rulers of the sea. That must also be the reason why it got separated from its mother.

In front of a Sea Dragon, even a fully grown Leviathan is like a snake without fangs. So, it was natural that a newborn monster, irrespective of its class, would be afraid of it.

"Don't worry! They don't attack humans unnecessarily until we don't get in their way." The captain said, trying to calm others.

Everyone wanted to believe that, but who could maintain their calm when two giants were going to fight? They are bound to get in their way.

But it didn't happen.

"Scrrraaaah!" Followed by a shrilling sound, the baby Leviathan dove into the waters, swimming far away from the ship.

They couldn't get a look at the supposed Sea Dragon or the baby Leviathan, which was faster in the water. It was gone in an instant.

It left a trail of blood, but it disappeared immediately along with the moving waves.

They were now left with a single broken mast, a half-destroyed ship, and terror and confusion-filled eyes.

"This isn't the time to be in a daze." The man in green clothing spoke.

"Get back to work. We are here." Everyone looked towards the place where they were going. It was closer than they thought. The mass of land was clearly visible now, even though there were thunderous clouds above.

"Yes, sir!" It was the captain who was quick to act.

"All of you, furl the remaining sails." The ship was made up of four masts. So it was a big one. Enough to carry all of them. With another three masts remaining and their destination in sight, they don't need the help of sails to carry them anymore.

Mages and Swordsmen worked together. Mages used their magic to make the swordsmen reach the sails, and the Swordsmen, with their quick and strong arms, removed the tied-up sails and furled them.

"The Red Sea is truly as dangerous as they say."

"We should have taken the land route, you know. That would have been the safest."

"But that wouldn't let us reach our destination in time, would it? In times like this, I really hope there is a way to travel to our desired location in an instant."

"Like flying?"

"Something like a machine, maybe? Just like wizz and swoosh! Leaving behind nothing but air."

"Quit dreaming, idiot! Hahaha!" Everyone laughed at his childish thoughts.

"Stop your chit-chat and get back to work, fools!" The captain shouted as everyone quickened their pace of work.

The ship slowly moved in the direction of the waves.

The darkness spread over the visible land. They didn't know that another disaster was brewing there for them.