After two, entire, weeks, Ran and the rest were finally approaching their first destination.
And currently, the five were sitting around a bonfire in the middle of the night; they enjoyed their roasted snacks as they lost themselves in the incredibly starry sky. They didn't have a moon, satellites, but the night was still bright enough to see for the most part. And this was because of its sky, it was utterly filled with stars. Every single speckle of sky was filled with the damned things! But, it was normal for them.
The rabbits were enjoying their rest within their tents and the four bodyguards were among their surroundings, alert as f**k!
But the night was safe, and cold; soon enough, they woke up from within their tents and continued onward.
As they rode the carriage along the river, the yellow mountains separating them from the middle-layer were becoming smaller and smaller as they got closer to the tip of the tail. It was only a matter of days before they reached the end.
And sure enough, a few days later, the tip of the tail was within sight and was only the size of a small island with some hills. And if one just looked to the side a bit, they would find a boundless ocean! The water glistened from the morning sunlight and Ran felt a bit of longing in his heart.
After fusing with his Koi fish bloodline, his non-existent connection to water had suddenly become extremely intimate. And seeing such beauty just in front of him, he couldn't help but fantasize about it.
But there were even more important matters to be excited about!
Mainly the giant black spike in front of them!
As black as night, it shot straight up to the sky like it was trying desperately to reach the heavens.
But not only was everyone not surprised by this giant, man-made, structure, they all shook in excitement!
Well, Bob was the only who was confused, but he's Bob so of course he would be confused. "Why was this giant spike here too," he mentally asked himself.
He wasn't from around here, so he doesn't know what it means or what's for, but he had seen it back then as well.
Well, Bob, then let me tell you. This strange and absolutely gigantic spike is none other than the Mystery Shack!
It wasn't even a shack, how despicable! And upon closing in, the spike wasn't even a spike! It was just a weirdly elongated and misshapen pyramid!
The group looked at each other before Queenie spoke up. "I-I have everything I need with me; you are welcome to join me." She spoke generally, but she was actually referring to Rans half of the group.
"Hmm." Ran remained silent for a few seconds before silently walking ahead of the group into the huge structure - the rest right behind him.
While most Mystery Shacks were everywhere and they were exclusive to only certain and approved people, this one was an exception. Mainly because of its location, being at the boundary between layers, many strong people would cross layers.
Well, actually, not as much as you'd think. The main reason for such a restriction to cross between layers is because of the ocean. And many dangerous creatures lurked in its watery depths, so being rank-5 was usually the minimum to cross, hence the restriction. And since those that cross were almost exclusively at the latter-half of the ranking system, the people behind the scenes saw it fit to set one up here.
This also meant that pretty much anyone could enter and purchase their products.
Walking inside, the atmosphere was completely different from outside.
There was a chill in the air and the space inside was incredibly… spacious. More so than it seemed to be on the outside.
The black walls were shiny, accentuating the grid-like pattern, as they reflected the white light that came from the giant orbs floating near the presumed ceiling.
On the black floor were thousands of glass counters, each containing various products from all sides of the spectrum.
Some contained jars that, in turn, contained different spiritual herbs; many were powerful enough to easily permeate into their surroundings from the jar. It was very easy to be encapsulated by this degree of strength and many, many, other products had shown the same sense of rareness.
Others held display boxes that had strange objects of extremely different professions. They were artifacts.
Some counters had strange metals and materials on sale as well.
It was truly a feast for the eyes; just the sheer quantity of items that were for sale was so overwhelming that it essentially created a labyrinth. And within the labyrinth were hundreds of people, thousands even! Almost all of them being at rank-5 or above!
And yet, if they look to their sides, they find two people standing by the door! They were guards that took care of the entrance and exits, but if they had taken a closer look, they would realize that both guards emitted the same strength as that of Aaron! As in the king of his own city! Just this alone could give one some insight into the strength of those behind the curtain.
And as the group walked past the guards, who sized them up curiously, they also walked directly past all those alluring items that they may or may not be able to afford.
Yeah, it's not like Ran would walk right past an elixir that would instantly make him level up two ranks, making him grow faster than he was supposed to, right? Right!?
Cough, definitely not.
And off to the side was a particular space - this was where they were headed.
This space was also a maze, but it was significantly smaller than the uncategorized mess that made Ran angry. He would tidy everything up if he could.
The reason it was off to the side and not stuffed together with the rest was because it contained only one specific type of item.
Ran looked into one of the glass counters and inside were many glass bottles.
His eyes glowed as he stared at the contents of the bottle…
Ships!
Ships ships ships! They were all ships! I don't know how many more times I have to say it for you to understand - ships!
All kinds of them; brigs, gallions, frigates, schooners, barques, you name it, they have it! And yes, I did google search them!
This was the true reason why they came here; and that was what Queenie had been referring to earlier. Her ship was just, "coincidentally", big enough to fit her and her bodyguards; ergo, Rans group would have an uncomfortable ride if they chose to accompany her on her ship.
Hence, Ran decided to get one of his own.
Suddenly, his mind buzz as the inner workings of the bottle was made known. It was quite simple to Ran now; the inside of the bottle was its own space, obviously, but it combined it with a surveillance spell. That, accompanied by the transparent nature of glass, allowed one to see through to the space inside and whatever it contains - like ships.
But very quickly, he noticed a problem with their descriptions. They were all f**king expensive! Most of the bigger ships started at a few rank-4 cores - only the smaller ones like corvettes were placed at tens of rank-5 cores. Of course, the fact they were either made of reinforced wood or special metals as well as being accompanied by different spells was a big factor for their prices; don't even mention about their fine craftsmanship.
Ran continued browsing through the various ships as well as their different configurations and decorations, but they just didn't fit his style. He grumbled and fumbled for a full half-an-hour, to the point where the rest were bored, and eventually, a worker had noticed them.
Fancying a beautiful blue dress with an insignia of a sky-blue sun, the woman approached Ran who was troubled. Her jet black hair, that had been tidied into a ponytail, swayed with her every move.
"Ahem, sir, do you need help with something?" She made her presence known before beginning to do her job. She smiled politely as she awaited his reply.
Ran turned his head away from the glass to look at her. The black mist that overflowed from his hood contrasted with his outfit, giving him a mysterious feeling.
But his aura was clear for everyone to see - merely a rank-7 chump. There was nothing to worry about. And his soft voice gave away to the fact that he was but a young man:
"Do you have anything in white?"
"White?" The staff was livid. That was the problem? Nonetheless, she did her job and led the group to a selection of white ships.
Ran looked around some more and eventually came to a decision.
The bigger ships like gallions were simply too expensive and its size and grandeur didn't fit with Ran either. In the end, only the smallest were truly affordable to Ran as well as fit his personal style.
Although he literally has tens of thousands of these rank-5 cores, their origin was extremely questionable to anyone other than him and his friends. To get that crazy of a number, he would have to wipe out an entire city that had laid its roots in the middle-layer at the very least!
Not to mention it was truly unnecessary to get something too expensive if it was only for personal use - on the basis he would be anywhere near the water as well.
He ended up settling on a simple-looking eighty-foot, white, cutter.
It had a single mast, foresail, as well as a jib and flying jib. The ship itself and its flooring was mostly made of reinforced snow wood - meaning it was mostly white, save for a silver rail that stopped people from falling off as well as other accessories.
There was a bigger master bedroom with four, smaller, rooms for the crew. It also included an equally sized storage room for cargo - which is usually used for food or some other consumable.
"Great choice sir. While it's shield can only protect against a single, full, rank-5 attack, its agility and ability to evade is nearly unmatched. Its speed is easily able to contend with rank-4 sea beasts." The woman recited her spiel and waited for Rans answer. Well, he had been the one to pick it, but she wanted confirmation.
So, Ran thought for about a second before answering with an enthusiastic "I'll take it," sounding very sure of himself.
"Right then." She removed the ship-in a-bottle from the counter for him and led the group to the front of the place, where another counter lay. This was… well, a counter. There were many other of these counters, where people can purchase their products.
She stepped behind it and asked for the required mullah to purchase this ship.
"That'll be eighty-four rank-5 cores please." She smiled at him, as if to help persuade him to part with his money.
He said nothing else and just spent some time within his pendants space. Soon, he took out another pendant, of inferior quality, which held the required money within.
"Thank you, and please come again," she said as she counted the money inside the pendant.
Ran nodded, pocketed the bottle, and then left with the rest.
Outside, the air was still filled with a freshness that only being near a body of water would give. Ran took a deep breath, seemingly more comfortable outside than in.
The shack was off to the side, so the only thing in their vision now was the seemingly limitless ocean.
At this, everyone smiled. The shore was within sight, and the golden brown sand felt soft and welcoming through their footwear.
Looking around, they found several others summoning their ships and heading out, in the distance were ships already sailing.
So, just like them, Queenie and Ran both summoned theirs. Immediately, the water splashed from the sudden introduction of mass to its tensile surface.
However, the rest were quite surprised by what they were seeing.
At first glance, the two ships were remarkably similar in size and overall stature; Rans was a cutter and Queenies was a sloop.
The main and most noticable difference was that Rans had multiple headsails while Queenies only had one. The other was the size of the mast being a bit bigger on Queenies end as well as being slightly bigger overall.
But the most jarring difference, and what really made them surprised, was their aesthetics. Rans cutter was basically all white, while Queenies was almost completely blood-red! With such a strong juxtaposition between the ships, the group almost mistook hers for a pirate ship trying to invade his.
Walking up to their ships, Queenie and Ran put their hands on their ships and summoned their juice. After absorbing a bit of their juice, quite a bit actually, the two ships came alive.
Queenies had quite a low grumble while Rans had a soft humm… however, neither had engines or anything mechanical that would produce such sounds. Only the massive interconnection between all the spells and enchantments could create an actual sound such as this.
But the sound only consumed some of their attention because after coming alive, a door seam became visible from the side of the ship. The runes on it pushed and pulled as the doors opened and revealed a small set of staircases that led to the bow of the ship.
After stepping out of their individual staircases, Rans group was stunned while Queenies' was relatively normal with only a bit of admiration in their eyes.
While both were seeing the same thing, Rans group had clearly never experienced it while the others did.
And what was that they saw? Oh nothing, just the entire ship shining with bright blue runes! At that point, it could truly be said to be alive!
And after everyone entered their respective ships, the both of them were surrounded by a transparent shield.
At the bow of Rans ship, the center suddenly lit up. Looking over, he saw what appeared to be a pedestal made of marble. It looked like a miniature version of a roman column, and it had a metal slab on top.
The slab had its entire surface inscribed with runes that currently lit up; what looked like a hologram appeared above it.
The hologram showed several options and various settings; toggling the shield on and off, options for several preset coordinates and even configurations for speed and acceleration were things he could mess with.
Ran suddenly pressed a button out of curiosity and immediately, the humming grew in intensity.
Instantly, wind began picking up out of nowhere as all the sails on Rans ship began slowly waving and flapping.
And within the next second, the entire ship lit up brightly as it suddenly sped off into the distant horizon….