The atmosphere on the fishing boat was heavy.
A pile of white starwhale pearls had accumulated on the deck, and some would sometimes roll around in the barrel they were stored in. Northern pikes as long as a human was tall were stored away. They were put together with the other aggressive sea beasts that dared to board their ship.
The Adventurers were all catching their breath. Their hands were bruised and their muscles were strained. Sweat coated their thin clothes despite the cold northern night air. Their hair was soaked in seawater and beast blood.
They were nearing exhaustion, and so was Athelei.
Although his body was not of flesh and blood, he had used up a huge amount of his Mystical Energy reserves. That, and maintaining this complicated corporeal form for long periods of time was taxing even for his powerful consciousness.
'At least, I now know where I can still improve,' Athelei thought optimistically to himself as he fought the nausea that rung through him in intervals. His fog-body was leaking in some places where his control had waned. Luckily it was dark, and his soggy cloak still protected his image.
The only one who was shockingly unperturbed was Apple, who stood as straight as his boat's mainmast. Drops of sweat rolled down his chiselled upper body. The scars on his face were wrinkled as he leered into the distance.
"There," Athelei, who was nearby, heard the tall man say to himself.
'There?' Athelei echoed in his mind, as he looked to where Apple was staring.
In the distance, Athelei spotted a moving silver hill. A fountain of water abruptly spewed into the night sky, shimmering with a silvery hue.
"There!" Apple boomed, shaking the Adventurers and Athelei out of their stupors. "There it is, lads! A silver starwhale to the north!
"Put wind in our sails! There's our target!"
"Aye, aye!" The indoctrinated Adventurers quickly replied, scrambling to their stations.
Athelei clutched his head and waddled over to where other Artists stood. There, he worked with them to draw a Mystic Pattern that had been forced into him through sweat and blood.
It was the pattern for Gust, and it looked like a small, three-dimensional tornado.
Athelei found the Mystic Pattern quite difficult, but with the pressure put on him by Apple and the guidance given by the other two Artists who needed help bearing the weight, he learned it.
He learned it by forcing his way through.
'I can't wait for this damn fishing trip to end,' Athelei felt his human emotions speak to him, and these thoughts were the result of that.
Mortal suffering does that to people, doesn't it?
And so the fishing boat cut through the waters, heading towards the mutated beast in the distance. But Athelei and co were no longer lonely hunters who left behind a trail of blood and starwhale carcasses.
The lanternlights of several ships had emerged and made their presences known; they too were chasing after the prized silver starwhale.
When Athelei realised this, his lamentations and struggles were pushed down. An excited glint flashed through his olive-gold irises. The nausea now was weakening, and somehow, he felt his vision begin to clear.
And when his vision totally cleared, Athelei was surprised that his Tangible Will had found itself being strengthened.
Surprise laced his thoughts, 'I somehow fulfilled the requirements for being in a meditative state? Was it the trance I had immersed myself in as I worked?'
Dictators usually trained through meditation. Sitting down for hours on end as they honed their minds and desires was the go-to technique. It differed from Artists who mainly trained through studying and calligraphy-esque practising. Or from Evolvers who worked their body and mastered martial arts.
Of course, those weren't the only ways they trained, but those were the stereotypes.
Tonight's experience helped give Athelei more insights on how he could further his abilities.
"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Apple suddenly boomed.
Athelei wanted to ask how, as this was his first time on a ship. Nonetheless, he was quick to act, diving down and hugging whatever was stable and close enough for him to reach.
Not even a second later, Athelei felt a massive force press down on him. His sense of gravity was suddenly skewed, as the silent roar of a rogue wave threatened to capsize Apple's ship.
The yells of Adventurers rang in his ears. Seawater came raining onto the deck, soaking anyone who was not already soaked.
In a bone-creaking moment, Athelei suddenly felt his gut lurch.
He felt himself falling.
And then he was slammed onto the deck, forcing a large amount of his fog-body to be deformed.
"What in Oxhor just happened?" Athelei groaned, nausea hitting him as he forced his fog-body back into a solid form.
Drops of water were still falling onto him as he got up, sluggishly and with difficulty.
"Urgh..." A low grumble sounded from beside him and he saw one of the Artists with a broken arm.
Athelei looked around and discovered many of the other Adventurers sprawled on the deck. Perhaps the majority of them had some sort of injury.
"Lads! Get up if you want to live!" Apple's fearsome voice thundered once again. This time, however, Athelei sensed a tinge of fear in his voice.
PSSSH!
A familiar sound rang out, but it wasn't a single stream of water flying into the sky anymore.
Athelei was shocked to find the boat surrounded by starwhales. Pillars of water flew into the dark sky as if threatening them in greeting.
What made it terrifying, was the ominous glow born from the constellation-like white specks on every starwhale.
The sea now looked like it bore its own beautiful night sky, but the stars were all swiftly moving in real-time.
Suddenly, warcries sounded out in the distance. Athelei heard water splashing and wood breaking. His eyes were drawn to where those cries originated. There, he could see a lonely boat being capsized by the starwhales in its vicinity.
A whale song rippled out from the capsizing ship, making the wood under Athelei's feet vibrate and shake. It seemed to sing of victory and praise.
Starwhales then rose aggressively out of the waters and slammed into the boat, crushing it into pieces and sending waves rolling away. More human yells and cries sounded out while lights of Tangible Wills and Mystic Patterns shone like candles in a storm.
Athelei whistled as a battle raged in that portion of the sea.
But he could not continue to watch as the same thing was about to occur to the ship he was on.
How did he know? Well, a star-filled shadow suddenly consumed his vision. It rose out of the sea with water cascading off of its body like waterfalls.
"Starwhale! Starboard!" The Adventurers yelled in shock.
"Drive it away!" Apple commanded, "Don't let those bastards near our ship. Use everything you have, lads!"
A volley of hurried and panicked strikes flew toward the now descending starwhale. The attacks rained onto its skin and dealt wounds upon wounds onto the sea beast. And yet, they could not do a thing about what would happen next.
Gravity could not be stopped.
BOOM!
The starwhale slammed onto the ship. The wood of the boat's hull and deck splintered and sprayed shrapnel everywhere. The entire boat lurched to one side, and many of the Adventurers lost their footing. The previously flat floorboards were now part of a steep ramp, leading straight into what looked to be the starwhale's maws.
"Help!"
"Catch him!"
"Grab hold!"
A mess of voices cried out as Apple tried to keep the group from falling apart. "Calm yourselves! Starwhales don't eat humans! The only way they can kill you is by crushing you onto the ship!"
Apple flung a harpoon in-between his yells. "Jump into the sea if you have to!"
"What about the fishes?!" An Adventurer cried out.
"They should not be in the area with how many starwhales are present! The waters are safer here!" Apple yelled in reply, as he slammed his fists down on the starwhale in front of him.
He roared, "Why'd you have to break MY ship, you damn beast?!"
Meanwhile, Athelei had his feet on the starwhale's rough skin. He could feel the beast's pained moans from the wounds it had incurred.
With his back on the sloped floorboards, Athelei felt like he was standing on a beating drum. Apple was punching into the beast to send it away, the Adventurers that stabilised themselves had already swung their harpoons, and the fishing boat was beginning to fall back down to its neutral position.
Blood erupted from the starwhale and drenched Athelei's cloak. From within the shower of blood though, he was able to spot a familiar white light deep inside the beast's flesh.
Athelei lunged forward, driven by impulse, with a Hunter pattern drawn long ago.
He grabbed with his hand, and his fingers easily clutched the smooth surface of the pearl. With a flash of olive-gold light, he coated the pearl with his Will and pulled with all his strength.
"Come on." Athelei muttered to himself under his breath, "Come on!"
Sshhrak!
The sound of torn flesh rang out in the midst of yells, splashes, and breaking wood. Athelei wrenched the pearl out of the starwhale, stumbling backwards while slipping on the blood-flooded floor.
Splash!
The damaged fishing boat restabilised itself, as the starwhale slid, motionless, into the ocean. The beast had been beaten black and blue then torn to shreds. It was dead. Firmly dead.
But the already tired Adventurers were rattled and approaching exhaustion. Half were injured. Even Apple seemed winded now. His fists were bleeding.
Athelei gripped the pearl in his hands tighter and stealthily hid it beneath his cloak.
"It's not over yet, lads." Apple grimly said, "We're turning back! Pray to Libra we get through this."
The Adventurers would've been relieved, if not for a silvery pillar of water suddenly sprouting just a few feet from their ship.
Apple's expression fell. The scars on his bald head scrunched up in worry.
The silver starwhale was about to make its appearance.