80
1018 Words
Thankfully, the enchantment didn’t require any Genesis Energy, only costing mana. And without even his skills to drain his regeneration, he had more than enough. So long as Minkalla didn’t change the rules on them or drop a glacier on them out of nowhere, they were in the clear.
They were an hour out from the island when the treasure chest started to glow.
Untying himself, Matt carefully moved to the treasure chest and found that a compass had popped out from the lid.
It glowed with a golden energy, not unlike Genesis Energy, but different enough that he couldn’t interact with it. But Matt only needed to read it to follow the directions.
Like the chest itself, he was unable to store it, so he tied a bit of string through the clasp and made his way back to the others, where they had tied themselves to the deck.
“We have our heading,” Matt called out as he adjusted the way the wind was blowing until they were following the glowing needle.
As they traversed the water, the swells grew larger and larger. Thankfully, getting wet wasn’t enough to send them back to the island, and their boat was well constructed. Or at least, constructed well enough.
They were cresting a small one-hundred-foot swell when they got a glimpse of the storm they were sailing directly into.
The clouds roiled black thunder and sent out bolts of purple lightning.
Seeing that, Matt whipped the water from his face and asked, “Anyone fancy turning around?”
Aster was the first to answer, “Please. My fur is wet and salty. I’m sure if we ask nicely, the frogmen will serve us margaritas and ice cream.”
Susanne laughed, “We made it this far. No turning back now. Full power ahead! The boat is solid, and we have no time to waste.”
Liz sighed, “I’m with Aster on the hair thing, but no. We made it this far. Worse comes to worst, we end up back on the beach.”
Matt increased the power of the wind enchantment and followed the needle on the compass.
“We might end up back on the beach again, but this is exhilarating!” Matt called out.
This would be a battle between nature and their crafting skills. His enchanting skills, Liz’s alchemy, and Aster and Susanne’s hard work all being put to a final test.
As they approached the storm, the waves grew more unpredictable and violent, but their boat persevered valiantly.
When they crossed the border of the storm, a wave of water crashed down on them so hard it actually hurt when it hit his skin. If they’d been Tier 10 or lower, it probably would have broken bones. Liz and Aster actually did need healing, with hairline fractures along their bones and a massive bruise spreading across each of their bodies, but a pair of Genesis Energy-empowered [Ranged Heal]’s fixed them up nicely.
Still, Matt stood where he was tied in by the rudder and laughed as they crested the top of a wave, and gravity seemed to give out on his stomach for a second.
As they crashed down, he felt the boat creak, and the draw on the durability and repair runes increased.
He didn’t lower the mast or slow them down.
They had mana to spare and were so close to their goal.
The compass in his hand was warm and grew hotter the further they progressed.
He knew that as long as they made it through, they would be fine.
It took six hours of being beaten by the winds and a few million mana given to the built in enchantments, but out of nowhere, they left the roaring waves and entered an area of calm sea and winds. Looking up and the sun shining down on them, Matt let out a laugh of relief. The others weren’t at the helm, where he was feeding the enchantments, and so didn’t have his feedback from the boat.
He was pretty sure that his whispered pleas were the only thing holding the boat together.
As they sailed deeper in the eye of the storm, Matt followed the compass to the center.
At first, it appeared as if nothing was there, but as he had the catamaran circle the point the compass pointed to, they saw it.
Mist started to rise out of the water, and with it, an island. At first, it looked small, but it grew larger and larger until a mountain touched the clouds of the storm overhead.
Not needing to check the now blazing compass, Matt pushed the handle and directed them to a rocky shore.
As soon as their boat touched the beach, they started to sink.
Not just them or the boat, but the entire island itself started to fall into the water. They and a few hundred feet of the surrounding water stayed at the same level, but they quickly found themselves in an underwater bubble as the water rose to encase them.
Now, it was time to find out what that captain had said was hidden.
The four of them untied themselves and moved over to the chest that was now glowing with Genesis Energy ready to open it up. Before they could do more than take a step forward, they all turned as they felt a presence rapidly approaching from further along the beach.
They hadn’t been there more than a dozen seconds before being attacked.
Nothing unique for Minkalla.Matt knew he shouldn’t be surprised by a monster attacking them the second they landed, but he was still annoyed.
When he actually got a glimpse of said monster, that annoyance turned into surprise.
Where earlier they had been attacked by frogmen, this was a more human-looking Fishman.
It was bipedal with generally human proportions, but the humanoid features ceased at its silhouette. It had scale-covered skin, webbed hands, and fins protruding from its elbows and knees. To top it off, its face looked like someone merged a shark’s head with a human one.
- Writer
