"I always thought that a whole new world lay opposite the sea~
"I recall the days back then when I was still the fragile me~
"Used to think that the sailors were true men-braving the sea~
"When I was bullied during my youth- A sailor once told me!
Night had fallen, and the party was just beginning to set up camp. The moon was not visible tonight, but the sky was still lit up by a whole sea of stars. Each of the members was doing their own portion of the work, and Louis found it a good time to sing a popular sea shanty back where he was from.
"He said through the storms, this pain won't, make me scream!
"Wipe your tears, don't be scared, at least we still have our dreams!
"He said through the storms, this pain's barely anything!
"Wipe your tears, and don't ask: 'What's the link~?'"
Louis hammered down the nails of the tents as he sang in a deep, booming voice. With each verse he sang, he hammered a single nail, making his efficiency pretty awful. On multiple occasions, Kayden had brought up the issue of them potentially attracting unwanted attention with his singing, but Ezekiel assured him that he would be able to spot any incoming monster from a mile away.
"Singing songs around a campfire is a great tradition, even among my people. It builds camaraderie, don't you think?"
The moment he mentioned a campfire, in the middle of the campsite, a large fire sprung to life, showering the once dark woods in an orange glow. Alice and Cathy gave each other high-fives for their job well done.
"Wow, Cathy! I didn't think you could make a fire out of those wet branches!"
"Hmph! Making a fire like this is a piece of cake!"
Kayden put down the knife he was holding. He had been delegated the task of skinning and preparing the animals that Ezekiel had managed to hunt down an hour before, and he had just finished.
It wasn't a pretty sight, however. Bloodstains riddled his shirt, and his gloves were drenched with the stuff. Some had even managed to splatter on his face, which gave him a serial-killer look as the light from the flames danced and flickered onto his face.
There weren't many instances when Kayden had to do this, for he mostly ordered already-cooked food from taverns. His knifework was impeccable, but his knowledge of where to cut was zero, so he had to receive some guidance from Ezekiel. Even then, he still made a mess.
"Hand it over here."
He placed the cuts of venison onto Ezekiel's outstretched hands, who then immediately threw it into a pot. The pot was filled with water and various herbs and spices provided by Ezekiel himself. With the strong heat from the flames, the meal was slowly but surely getting cooked.
The crew gathered around the fire, finding their comfortable spot to seat. As they waited for the meal to cook, Louis, who had still been humming a song until now, suddenly stopped.
"Want to hear some stories of my time as a pi—sailor?"
"…No."
"Not really…"
"O-oh, no, I guess…"
"…"
The response was unanimous, but they, unfortunately, fell on deaf ears. Without a care in the world, he began telling stories of his youthful grandeur.
"Listen up! Listen up! This is the story of how I came to be the great Captain Tianos! Now this story starts a long time ago when I was just a wee lad…"
And so, the party spent their time waiting on listening to what could only be described as 'things you wouldn't believe even if you were there yourself.', for they were just that unrealistic.
"Aren't krakens like squids the size of dragons? There's no way you could have slain one." Kayden remarked. As he had nothing else better to do, he had listened intently to the story.
"Ugh, don't make it worse. Just leave him to his fantasies." Said Alice, with her fingers jammed in both ears.
Ezekiel, who had his head down and eyes closed for the duration of the wait, suddenly perked up.
"Food is done." He said as the fragrance of spices wafted from the bubbling pot. Kayden could see that within the pot, there was a thick orange broth, with meat, potatoes, and some greens inside, and the smell got his saliva drooling.
He looked around and saw that the other members were looking forward to the food as much as he did. Alice and Cathy both held their bowls up in anticipation, and Louis even stopped his fantastical story to spare a longing glance at the food.
Noticing their reactions, Ezekiel chuckled as he pulled a ladle and a small bowl out of his pouch. He stirred the contents of the pot as he explained.
"You probably never had this before, but I'm sure you'll love it. It's called Kali, a local specialty from the Southern Continent, made with local herbs and spices. You won't get this anywhere else in Galio."
As the party got together to praise the foods of the south, the System's voice cut in.
"Isn't that just curry?"
"…Curry?"
"Yeah! It's a famous dish from where I'm from. Hmm… I wonder if this was brought here…" the System became lost in thought.
"Kali, not Kur-rey. Get your pronunciation right." Ezekiel, who had heard Kayden speaking to the System, corrected him.
Kayden couldn't care less about the pronunciation. He instinctively felt that what the System said had some significant meaning behind it, and patiently waited for it to continue explaining. Unfortunately for him, the System remained silent.
"Ah, Kayden. H-here!"
Cathy passed a bowl full of Kali—Curry?—to him while she sat to his side with her bowl in her hands. Kayden didn't miss Alice's scrutiny of him from a few meters away and wondered why she had come up to him of all people. He assumed that she had some questions to ask since Ezekiel had revealed so many things about him to her. Damn him and his big mouth.
'Nevermind, this is perfect. I have many things I wish to ask her too. I'm ready for anything, so ask away!'
Kayden waited patiently for the bombardment of questions, but it unfortunately never came. Cathy simply sat there, shoveling spoonfuls of chicken into her mouth. Her white hood hid her face from him, so he wasn't able to see her expression, much less read her intentions.
"Um… Cathy? Did you come here for a reason?"
"W-what? What do you mean?"
"You got any… questions, maybe?"
"O-oh! Uh, yeah…" she tugged her on her hood after placing her bowl down, "About your appraisal ability… Do you perhaps follow the Goddess of Wisdom, Kurotl?"
"No, I follow the God of Thieves, Kage."
Kayden had already thought of this answer as soon as Ezekiel mentioned he was going to tell Cathy about this. It clearly wasn't the truth, and he did feel a little bad about lying to his savior, but he had little choice but to do so.
It wasn't a complete lie either, the System, who was responsible for him being able to appraise things, had been granted to him by the God of Thieves. In a way, he was a God's blessed, he just didn't follow the religion, that's all.
"The God of… Thieves? I wouldn't have thought that. Most knowledge-based blessings are granted by the Goddess of Wisdom, and I never would have thought that such a powerful ability could be given by a God whose focus is around stealing things."
Kayden launched into an explanation without a shred of hesitation. "You see. An appraisal could be considered stealing information from other people, and since stealing is his forte. It makes sense that this kind of ability can be granted."
It was a little bit of a stretch, but it should put any suspicions to rest. The God of Thieves wasn't some world-famous person, nor was his religion popular with the masses, so there was little chance that they could fact-check him on this. He doubted there were any true followers of the religion anywhere near him as of this moment.
"Oh? That's surprising, I never knew this! Hah~ I still have so much to learn! Isn't religion just the greatest?"
"Yea— Wait, what?"
Kayden was in no way a religious fanatic and didn't wish to be misconstrued as one. As he turned around in order to correct his mistake, he noticed that there was a fanatical look in Cathy's eyes, as she spoke with great passion. In fact, he had just realized that the stutter and uncertainty that was ever-present in her voice were now completely gone. There was subtle confidence, which came as a shock to him.
Alice detected his surprise and got up to join them. She settled down beside Cathy as she explained.
"Cathy was raised by a church, so she's very knowledgeable about the topic of religions. You thought she was a meek little girl, didn't you? Well, THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG!"
"R-right…"Kayden scooped some food into his mouth and chewed, not looking directly at Alice.
"A-ah sorry! I got a little bit carried away..." Snapping back to her usual self, she immediately pulled her hood down to cover her whole face.
"Aw come on Cathy! Be more confident in yourself! There's nothing wrong with being passionate about something." She stared directly at Kayden. "Right?"
"Y-yeah!"
Cathy slowly revealed herself from the hood as she muttered, "T-thank you, Alice. It's always you that keeps helping me out…"
A large slurping sound interrupted what seemed to have almost become a wholesome scene. The three of them turned around to see Louis audibly smacking his lips.
"Hah~! That was spicy! Okay, who wants to hear more stories about the great me!"
The trio all looked exasperated at once. Thankfully, Ezekiel came to the rescue.
"Come on, Louis. Let's talk in the tent. We'll leave the others to their dinner."
"What are you talking about? I can talk while they eat!"
Ezekiel was already moving toward the tents. With his back turned, he came up with a reason. "What if your thrilling adventures give them constipation? Or if your grueling journey makes them lose their appetite? Let's leave."
"Okay…?"
Louis looked very confused for a second before following Ezekiel to the tents, leaving the trio alone. Once they were out of hearing distance, Kayden asked Cathy a question.
"I vaguely remember you saying that you'll inform me of all your abilities in due time. Perhaps now would be perfect?"
"A-ah, you're right!" Cathy sat up straight in preparation, "I'll try my best to explain all of them right now.
"I only have four spells, but they can be used in various ways. My first spell is the one I used to heal you, Damage Transfer. It essentially transfers injuries from one target to another, but there are a lot of restrictions to it… haha, this is going to take a while..." She took in a deep breath.
"First, I need physically touch both targets, which means I can only administer first-aid in close proximity. Second, the wounds are not reduced when transferring. Using your wounds back then as an example, I needed to go through several rats before you were fully healed. What this means is that a dragon's broken leg is not the equivalent of a human's broken leg. If I'm not careful, I could potentially kill someone by transferring to them the wounds of a more powerful beast."
'Ah, so that's where the blood on her sleeves was from. Did she slaughter multiple rats to heal me? She's much braver than I thought.'
"Third, using this ability immobilizes me for at least six seconds, but it can be longer depending on the severity of the injury. So I'll be useless when it happens… I'll be counting on you to protect me! "
The pupils on Kayden's eyes suddenly dilated. Was he expected to remember all of this? There were so many conditions! Too many, in fact.
"O-okay. Lastly—"
'There's still more!?'
"—I can't use this ability on myself. I can transfer the wounds of someone else to me, but not my wounds to others. U-um… that should be it, I think? Any questions?"
Kayden nodded blankly. He had already given up on trying to remember every single detail.
"That's a lot of restrictions…"
"A-ah! Don't worry! As I get stronger, I'm sure that the restrictions will slowly lift. I'm very helpful! I swear!"
"…That's not quite what I meant. Anyway, what about your other abilities?"
Cathy gave an embarrassed smile. "Hehe, are you sure you want to continue? It's gonna take a while…"
"Come on, Cathy! Let's just get it over with now! You're not going to spend the whole journey slowly explaining to him, right?" Alice interjected.
Kayden nodded his head in agreement. "She's right. Better to get it over with now."
"A-alright then. My next ability is called 'Zone of Truth'. It's an ability granted to me by the Goddess of Truth herself. For this one, it will be better for me to give a demonstration…"