PROLOGUE

– CHAPTER THIRTEEN –

– CHAPTER THIRTEEN –

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He awoke the next morning, surprisingly not feeling fatigued as usual. He was grateful for the change.

Moving his arms, he also found that his muscles were no longer sore. This was good. He could start work on the boat today. He got up and stretched, embracing the morning sunshine. Today was going to be a good day. He could feel it.

Seeing mist was sound asleep, he chuckled and patted her on the head.

“Get your beauty rest now. You’ll need it for the ride.”

He walked toward the tree he’d chopped yesterday, then pushed the trunk, causing it to fall over easily due to the damage he’d done with his sword. He then picked up the lower half of the broken sword from the ground, examining the remaining blade. There wasn’t enough left to be used as a weapon, but it would serve well enough for a small carving tool.

Using the small blade, he began carving into the trunk. His plan was to carve out the center to form seats, then make some oars to paddle with; like a canoe. It would be simpler and take much less time to build than his original idea.

An hour or two later, he was satisfied with his carving. There were two seats, one for him and the other for Mist. His work wasn’t perfect, but it would suffice. When they reached the end of the sea they wouldn’t need it anymore, anyway. Now the only thing left to do was to make some oars.

There were two things he could do. He could either craft them with a crafting table, which would require a lot of wood, or simply use whatever materials he had nearby to make one without a table.

He looked around the beach. The only items nearby were the stump from the dead tree and the rest of his broken sword. He clearly couldn’t use those to make oars. There weren’t any other trees either, so crafting some was impossible.

What am I going to do?

Usually, he made stuff without using a crafting bench. The materials required were almost always more than necessary; besides, he enjoyed the challenge of making something with his own creativity. But there weren’t any materials here.

He decided to figure it out later.

His stomach growled. It was now he realized he hadn’t eaten for days.

I suppose I’ve had too much on my mind.

He thought about what he could eat. The sheep from yesterday had moved on, and there weren’t any other animals around, so meat wasn’t an option.

Then he remembered something that his father had told him. Luke had asked him what the ocean looked like, since he’d heard of it but never seen it. “Well, it’s a very big body of water. So large you can’t see the end of it! It’s a beautiful sight, with the underwater kelp forests and the hundreds of fish swimming around in schools.”

Kelp. That was the solution.

He looked down into the water, surprised at how clear the water was. He could see all the way to the ocean floor.

Then he saw it. A massive kelp forest, emerging from the floor until almost the surface, the long green plant swaying with the movement of the water.

Mouth watering, he dove into the water without thinking, holding his breath and diving toward the forest.

He was amazed at the beauty underneath the water, watching in awe as a school of tropical fish swam alongside him. He then turned his gaze toward an underwater rift, the scar in the ocean floor plunging farther down than he could see. He also saw a coral reef in the distance and was awed by the colorful coral structures.

It was amazing.

Fixating his gaze back on the kelp forest ahead, he swam faster as he neared it.

He couldn’t hold his breath much longer, but he wasn’t going to swim back empty-handed.

Finally, some strands were within reach. He pulled a kelp strand out by the roots, then let go, knowing it would float. He then quickly swam towards the surface, his lungs burning.

Just when he thought he couldn’t hold his breath any longer, he plunged through the surface. Gasping for air, he watched the kelp he’d picked slowly float upward. A few moments later, it reached the surface, and he grabbed it and began swimming back toward the beach.

Once he reached the beach, he climbed ashore and dropped the kelp on the grass. He then collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

Mist, oblivious to what was happening, stretched and yawned as he awoke from his nap.

“About time you woke up!” He joked.

After resting for a while, he got up and tore a piece off the long kelp strand. Washing the dirt off in the water, he bit into it.

And spit it back out.

This is the nastiest thing I’ve ever tasted!

It had a very strong salty taste, and also a bitter taste that reminded him of the herb Mist had brought him. There was no way he was eating that stuff!

Gulping down ocean water, he was able to get rid of the taste for the most part. He picked up the kelp and tossed it back into the sea.

Good riddance!

Looking towards the sky, he saw the sun was setting.

“Don’t look like we’ll be setting sail tonight. Oh, well. Let’s get some sleep. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind that a bit,” He joked, patting Mist on the head.