Great Dust Reef, atop a makeshift boat made out of Ironhook wood, a tiny figure was panting as she rowed across the still waters. It took her a long time before she could raise her vigour and begin paddling her boat according to the route her father had marked for her.
'After crossing the Great Dust Reef, I would have to travel across the normal waters of the Hipsink River for a 100 Sitra before entering the Vitality Domain to rest. But, my hands are already in pain.' Sarah thought as a teardrop slid out of her eyes. She had cried so many times that her tear glands were running dry.
Sarah continued to paddle while occasionally stopping to rest when her hands felt numb. Sometimes, she stood up in the boat and rowed while at other times, she sat and travelled. Her entire surroundings were deathly silent as not even the waters below moved to make any noise. Many travellers had gone crazy in the Great Dust Reef due to the silence alone.
Suddenly, the ears of Sarah picked out faint sounds from her surroundings. Since it was deathly silent, she could clearly pinpoint the direction towards the source of the sound. At the very end of her vision, she could make out faint dots roaming on the water surface as colourful flashes of light weaved between them.
'Are they fighting due to the treasure?' Sarah thought as she changed her direction in order to avoid being detected by them. Her father had repeatedly warned her to never approach the vicinity of people fighting for treasures. Even if she didn't possess a treasure on her, they might still kill her to suppress the news of their identities and the treasures they obtained leaking out.
So, Sarah was very careful as she changed her direction and calmly rowed her boat. She didn't make any unwanted noise and travelled while keeping an eye on the dots. After some time, she spotted another row of dots on her front. The sounds they produced were even louder than the previous group.
Sarah stopped and decisively changed her direction. As she continued forward, she spotted three more groups in her vision, all fighting in different areas. There were all sorts of colours intertwining with each other as they actuated numerous explosive reactions.
"What are you doing here child?" A voice suddenly sounded from behind her, making the hairs on her skin stand up in alarm. As she turned back in fright, a formless force locked her body in place. The force quickly made a sweep of her belongings, pausing for a second on the aluminium ring on her ring finger before vanishing.
Sarah regained control of her body as she turned her head and looked at the person who stood on the waters. As she took a closer look, she found that the person wasn't actually standing atop the water but a thin line separated the soles of her shoe from coming in contact with the still water surface.
The woman had pink hair, pink eyes, and a round face. Her cute chubby cheeks made her look like someone in her teens. She was only a head taller than Sarah and wore Silver armour that sported the image of an Eye inscribed on her chest plate. There were four rings stacked in a pyramid structure at the top of her helmet. She currently looked at Sarah with a curious gaze, curious at how a kid like her could arrive in such a location in the middle of the Hipsink River.
"M-My…Mother…help her…" Sarah began to cry as she briefly recounted a fabricated tale of how the merchant ship her mother lead was besieged by pirates and ransacked. Her mother sacrificed her life to send her away through a special Jewellery she possessed.
"So, you say you lost your family to pirates." The lady curled the ends of her hair as she looked into the eyes of Sarah to see that the latter didn't seem to be lying. "So, what did you intend to do? Swim across the Hipsink River till your death?"
"C-Crosshoe Port City…my mother s-said for me to go there." Sarah said as her bawling got louder.
Acting was a trait that David had ingrained into her since childhood. Since they were inherently pirates, acting skills would help them in a lot of situations. Though, David hardly had to act since his appearance fit the picture of a Pirate to the dot and no one would believe him otherwise.
Even though Sarah lied, what she said was the truth for the most part if she swapped her father in place of her mother. She had never seen her mother even once so she never had any emotional attachment to her. Moreover, the loss of her father made her crying look original since she actually began to cry as she recollected her father.
She acted like she was hearing Sarah's tale but she stealthily activated a ring on her finger that scanned the girl without alerting her. Considering the difference in their strengths, Sarah would never be able to detect her actions.
"I will send you to a nearby merchant ship. This place will become dangerous soon." The woman said with a frown as she saw the crying face of Sarah. Her eyes turned a little soft as she lifted Sarah when her gaze fell on the boat.
"Ohh, Ironhook wood; what a surprise seeing a commoner have this." The woman exclaimed in amusement as she lifted the boat and the paddle towards her. When she pointed her finger at them, the energy infused into them abruptly leaked out into the surroundings.
Without energy, the boat and the paddle turned into two rolls of leather. The woman then picked them up and slid them into the pockets of Sarah before sending her off with a smile.
Sarah saw herself getting farther and farther away from the lady while her body continued to gain altitude. She saw the groups of people fighting below her who darted a look in her direction. On seeing that she was just a level 1 warrior and was being carried by the energy of someone else, they stopped caring about her and proceeded to fight among themselves.
Even the casual attacks they launched were stronger than what her father was capable of. Sarah felt her world widen as she finally understood a certain fact: Her father wasn't the strongest in the world.
After the time it takes to complete a Chant, Sarah saw a small merchant ship below her when she felt her body lowering towards it. She descended through the sky and gently landed on the deck, shocking the travellers aboard.
They hurriedly pulled their weapons and pointed them at Sarah when a formless force spread around with her as the centre.
"Make sure she reaches the shore. That is an order." A voice reverberated through the surroundings when the sailors involuntarily kneeled. It was more like an instinctual behaviour on their part.
"Take care child." The formless force brushed a few locks of her hair to the back before vanishing.
The lady sighed once after leaving Sarah on the merchant ship. Her eyes slightly moistened when she thought about the identity of the child she had helped.
'So, she was the daughter of that pirate. Such a horrible fate befell on her family due to our internal family drama.' The lady thought as she lifted her body and flew towards a group of people that were fighting each other. The moment the fighting people saw her, they abruptly turned silent. Not even a single sound came out of them as they controlled their breathing to prevent offending her.
"Gristella, where have you been? The Placid Ruins will open up any minute now. We cannot waste our time." A man sporting pink hair and pink eyes shouted from afar as he flew towards her.
"I just had to deal with some work." The lady, Gristella Toenil said as she flew towards the water surface and waved her hands.
The entire water was paved to the sides as a huge area opened before them that was devoid of water. A small horn of what appeared to be of a Dragon's peeked out of the Ash-Grey Sand. Gristella carefully waved her hand as the Ash-Grey Sand was lifted around the horn before being deposited in a different area.
When the Ash-Grey Sand was removed, the head of a Dragon was displayed in full glory. Of its two horns, one was broken while the other sported cracks on its sides. Its two dragon whiskers also seemed to have been snapped as only a small part was left behind. Its dragon eyes were glazed over while the scales on its face were falling off. Its mouth was wide open and seemed like it could easily fit 10 people inside it.
"A level 5 Ruin!" The man beside Gristella exclaimed with bated breath. There was a sense of anticipation present in his eyes as he looked into the dragon mouth.
"If you go with that mentality, you will be our first causality. Cool off your head first and then follow me inside." Gristella said with disdain before flying into the dragon mouth.
…
"Sorry if we had frightened you. We were just alarmed when someone suddenly landed on the deck from the skies." A man that looked like the captain of the merchant ship walked forward and bowed in apology.
"But Captain, why should we follow the words of someone who didn't even bother to show her identity. For all we know, this might be some conspiracy concocted by our rival companies." A young man that had arrogance etched in his eyes looked at Sarah like he would at an enemy.
The man was a peak level 2 warrior, just short of reaching level 3. He had attained such heights at the age of 20. So, he had the arrogance of someone who felt like he was better than the rest. Moreover, he was a son of a relatively rich family who had joined this merchant ship just to accumulate some battle achievements.
"You fool!" The Captain sent a gust of wind that was shaped like a fist. The fist impacted the youth who had just spoken and smashed his body into a pulp. The youth was dead before he knew what hit him.
"I am sorry you had to see such a gruesome scene, my lady." The Captain bowed towards Sarah who had a pale face upon witnessing such a death. Even though this wasn't her first time witnessing death, this was her first gruesome one.
"I-It's okay," Sarah said as she controlled the shake in her voice.
"You fools! I recognised the voice of the person who brought her here. It was lady Gristella. Do you fools want to disrespect the orders of the Royal family?" The Captain bellowed as he kicked a couple of people who looked like they couldn't stomach the death of their comrade. The moment they heard his statement, they hurriedly dropped the carcass they were picking up for a proper burial.
One of the sailors hurriedly lifted the dead body and threw it towards the river while another torched it while it was in the air.
"Please come this way, my lady." The Captain adjusted his clothes to look presentable and directed Sarah towards a cabin to rest.
'So that lady's name was Gristella Toenil?' Sarah thought while not making any changes to her expression. She now had to act like someone that was related to Gristella Toenil until she had reached the shore.