Day 49

 

Today has joined our journey Pierre, the Water adept who faced Tsubaki and Chris in the tournament a month ago. Apparently, he is quite polite and gentlemanly, although Tsubaki can't help but have the nerves on edge near him, that’s why I'm always between the two of them. That has given me the opportunity to get to know him a little, as he gets carried away by the current, he usually supports Guilian's jokes.

 

He is quite nice, if you ask him for help with something, he will not hesitate to agree, but I am worried that someone will take advantage of that. I'm sure Chris will protect him from that by having him in the group, although he should look more out for his own health.

 

Even with two weeks of rehabilitation remaining, Chris was able to withstand the journey to the port and we are surprised by a trip to a new continent, Meri, far in the west. As much as I want him to rest, he doesn't pay much attention to me and wants to keep up with the pace of the trip.

 

Day 50

 

It's the first time we all woke up at sea, Guilian and Tsubaki spent a long time vomiting overboard, while Pierre tried to help them with the dizziness. Tsubaki preferred to remain dizzy rather than being close to him, but Guilian surprised me by refusing too, he had no reason to deny help. Does he dislike Pierre that badly?

 

After a whole day learning about sea navigation, we were all exhausted and I took the opportunity to ask Guilian his opinion about Pierre. He replied very clearly that he dislikes his personality, he does not seem like a bad person, but it is not possible for him to get along very well with him. I don't understand why that is, maybe it's men's stuff, I remember that my mother used to get crazy about aspects of my father, will it be something similar?

 

Tsubaki is more aware of Pierre for his nervousness than in Guilian for his jokes. Will my first impression finally be fulfilled?

 

Day 54

 

Today I finally achieved a bowline knot, although I do not dare to climb the mast of the sail to use it, I will trust that it is well done, I have to admit that it was easier to understand with the small story so as not to fall into forgetfulness: We have a lake and a tree, a snake comes out of the lake, he surrounds the tree from behind and gets into the lake.

 

I felt like a child again as I recited it chanted. On the other hand, Tsubaki has been training her fishing skills and even got the dinner of the day, a bluefin tuna, IT WAS HUGE, and Pierre took care of cooking it, a recipe from his home, the food was too delicious, and the crew on top of him to learn how to cook the fish, so we had him away for a long time and I began to notice that he was missing. It's amazing how quickly he's integrated into the group.

 

It's ironic, we're always traveling on foot, and we don't think much about it, but on such a long trip on a conveyance there's always something to do and you don't get bored at all, and the days fly by like nothing, even the sound and movement of the tide becomes the best lullaby, becomes hypnotic.

 

Day 62

 

We have been almost two weeks at sea, and we have almost become accustomed to the environment, even Tsubaki and Guilian started fighting each other to stay in shape. Although it all ended when Pierre wanted to face both simultaneously, because neither of them could put a finger on him.

 

During dinner the two of them were swallowing their feelings with food, they didn't even get in the mood to yell at each other as they usually do. Will it be a common enemy? As for Chris, he has been recovering in his room, twice a day I make him a cup of tea with a couple of leaves of Grandma Xian Tao's medicinal herbs.

 

His recovery is almost complete, although I had already become accustomed to seeing him rest and tell him stories of all the books I read in Vodheim and Heinburn, their folklore, myths and legends, novels by local authors, he even came to ask me how I read the books so quickly. He was overwhelmed and it was funny, because he doesn't usually read, just think and stay quiet.

 

He also got into the habit of sleeping in that position, not lying on his back, but like a fox, rolled up oneself and it is even easier for Tsubaki to sleep together.

 

Day 63

 

Today we had a long day barely waking up, it hadn't even dawned at all and the whole ship collided with... something. The crew thought it had been a reef, but to our surprise we ended up discovering what it really was, or, rather, it discovered us.

 

The ship had been attacked by what the sailors call, a kraken. A creature from the depths of the sea, its tentacles were easily thicker than the mast of the sail and its suction cups’ really disgusting.

 

Tsubaki and I were so disgusted that we would attack it non-stop in order to keep their tentacles away from us. Guilian kept burning sections of the tentacles and Pierre instantly attacked those weakened places to wipe out their limbs.

 

Guilian and Pierre are very compatible working together and that displeased Guilian, he didn't want to admit that the two of them can be good friends. Having ended up with at least 5 tentacles, they ended up coming out more and more and I believed we wouldn't get out of it.

 

Then Chris came out of his room and grabbed one of the tentacles holding the ship, and pulled the kraken out of the water, as if he was pulling a sack of clothes up and down.

 

He whipped the kraken against the water repeatedly and Pierre finished it off while its main body was flying through the air. We were all amazed by Chris’ incredible power, but that effort only ruined his recovery, as he exceeded even if he had been in excellent condition.

 

We were all quiet dining for allowing Chris to fix it without having fully recovered. Even with the control I have of my elemental power I could not do much for him, I must make myself stronger so that he does not have to overdo it.

 

Day 66

 

At last, we reached the mainland, we were exhausted from the whole trip and our incompetence, although Chris spent every day trying to cheer us up by saying that it is not our fault his current condition. That only made us more depressed.

 

This time it was Chris who was energetic, even cheerful, trying to make us feel good. Maybe he's not a buffoon like Guilian, according to Tsubaki, but he really went out of his way to ventilate the matter.

 

Only in this port we already saw fish that are not found in any book in Vodheim, one is called salmon, and its red color is due to the mollusks it eats, its whole body, even inside, is dyed that characteristic red due to its main food. I would never have believed that if I didn't see it with my own eyes and it's not even from this side of the continent, it's from the west side while we're on the east.

 

This country has transportation means that allow them to take fish from one end to the other by land and still be fresh to consume them. They even have something called "refrigeration" to keep the inside of that machine frozen and preserve food. Thanks to that we were able to have a very varied dinner before planning our route from tomorrow, although we were already somewhat tired of eating so many fish and they warned us that we can die because of it, they call it mercury poisoning. Curious word, I think I heard that name in the folklore of somewhere.

 

Chris told us to rest in this city for tomorrow to leave on a transport called railway, I am very excited.

 

Day 67

 

After a quick assortment of local clothes, we ended up in a caravan of wagons to Palm Beach, where we took the famous railroad. It is as big and noisy as the kraken and is made entirely of metal.

 

It is propelled using earth, water and fire, THREE ELEMENTS for something so powerful, although according to the opinion of the station staff that kind of "engine" is about to perish before new "technology". From what I've read in the books Chris bought me outside the station, the country has been constantly changing in recent decades, especially in politics, economics and technology.

 

In addition to that, something does not look good in the population, it is very hardworking and helpful, even with us who are adepts, but something feels strange, as if something is affecting them. Apparently, the enormous industrial development is due to great scientific minds not only of this nation, but also of other countries that have joined forces with it for development, and to the lack of adepts.

 

Non-adept countries have developed by leaps and bounds in their own way, something like a railroad is too complex for a nation of adepts, which is mostly isolated territory.

 

The trip is incredibly relaxed for the size and power of the transport, making the time very enjoyable, although it feels our destiny still far away. Although the view of the Gulf Coast is beautiful at sunset, it is a journey like no other.

 

Day 68

 

We didn't sleep much during the night, even though the trip lasted so long. Despite going so fast as to cause a new kind of nausea in Guilian and Tsubaki, the journey is quite long, and the multiple stations make us quite unsure about which one to climb, as we are not on the same railway for the entire trip.

 

At one station we got on a railway, two stations later we got off and boarded another, we got off at the next station and got on another, if we didn't pay enough attention, we could board the wrong railway and end up in another part of the country.

 

In fact, due to the dizziness, Tsubaki ended up in the wrong way being alone on the platform and Pierre had to quickly get on the wagon, carry her and jump before it was too late, during which Pierre lost his top hat. After that Tsubaki was red-faced for quite a while while we waited for our next boarding. Did her dizziness get worse from the acrobatics?

 

Practically Chris and Pierre are the ones who lead this journey to be more attentive to the details of the trip, I can hardly avoid losing sight of the group every time we are in a station.

 

By sheer luck, the last railway we boarded to reach King’s Mountain will pass by 5 stations, although this is not good news for those two who cannot enjoy the food cart.

 

During the night, while we were all sleeping, something woke me up suddenly, although it was only my case. As I refreshed myself in the dressing table, I began to feel a strange presence, something I could feel from Palm Beach.

 

I got out of the wagon and ended up advancing through the roof a few more, as the clouds cleared and the moonlight came out, that presence appeared, a thin man with a coat and top hat, like the one Pierre bought, because, in fact, it was the same.

 

That guy was following us from Palm Beach, and by Pierre's hat, he was most likely on the railroad where Tsubaki almost went alone. He pulled a very strange knife out of his outfit and attacked me, but to my surprise it wasn't so quick as to get me hurt.

 

I ended up throwing a flare straight in his face and beat him. My heart was racing very much, but it was my first fight alone and I won. I ended up questioning him to know his goals and I couldn't get much out, but he had several jobs.

 

One of them was the murder of Chris, because he was in the sights of some organizations after having defeated Ryuken and the other was to kidnap Tsubaki, the perfect opportunity was when she got on the wrong railroad alone, where he got Pierre's top hat.

 

As he was about to reveal his client's identity to me, an object began to light up between his clothes, causing a small but powerful explosion, throwing me off the roof of the wagon and Chris ended up catching me in his arm, preventing me from falling outside.

 

By the time we got back to the roof of that wagon, the body was nowhere to be found. I ended up explaining what happened to Chris and he asked me not to reveal it to anyone, unless something very serious happens. The really strange thing is that he asked me, it wasn't an order, it was a favor. I think he's finally starting to open up as a person.

 

Day 69

 

At last, we arrived at the City of King’s Mountain, from afar you could see how much that mountain rose to the sky, while the moors were completely deserted, there was an abysmal contrast with the city that surrounds it. It is not a metropolis like some cities we saw during our rail trip, but you can tell that it has adapted to the inhospitable area.

 

It is a huge impact that you receive when you see it from afar, even the sky changes according to the height and the area with respect to the mountain. The blue sky turns gray as you approach the mountain, and everything fades between the clouds that surround the top. Is Chris supposed to go through all of that without powers?

 

We arrived at the station and were finally able to stretch our tired bodies. We checked into a decent inn and started preparing for the evening, replenishing supplies, exchanging the gold from Chris' sack for the local currency, all in order to focus Chris on his recovery.

 

While we were shopping, we heard that there were hot springs to the west, so we passed some hills during the wagon trip and went straight to the hot spring, the trip was hard and a small impromptu trip was what we least wanted, but the reward was worth it. We were in genuine hot springs, separated by gender, but we were relatively close together.

 

All the tiredness went away instantly, and it was impossible to get out of how wonderful the water felt. On the way out we saw how Chris was brimming with energy and vitality, at the same time looking completely serene like the rest of the guys.

 

It was quite a surprise to see Guilian so calm, even the dinner at the hotel was very quiet for being in such a good mood, Tsubaki was so relaxed that she didn't care about the presence of Guilian and Pierre, Guilian didn't play games or jokes, and Chris started eating too much, almost to the point of making the staff close the kitchen.

 

During the celebration, while Guilian was having his typical dance on the table for drinking too much, Pierre asked Chris what the plan is in the city. He made it very clear, as soon as he fully recovers, Chris is going to take the King's Mountain Challenge. His answer was very honest as he wielded his precious sword.

 

Despite the seriousness of the situation, he was actually full of motivation, Chris claimed to be full of life more than ever in his entire life. That gave us great relief, for the first time we can see that he is at peace with himself.

 

So many days of travel, each full of new things, we pass through places outside our imagination, we face hardships, and everything seems to have gone far away with a single night in hot springs and food until we burst. We all get along well and completely at ease and happy. It was too good to be true.

 

As we were on our way to our bedrooms, a voice behind us stopped Chris completely as he uttered his name which made him pale. Chris turned and pronounced her name with a lot of weight in his gaze: Karen.