『Boreal Sea』
Lutessa made her way below deck to check on Rumia.
She knew the rough battle with the Sea Dragon would've worsened her seasickness.
The spell she'd cast on her wouldn't be sufficient at this point.
Archibald and Lamperogue waited on the main deck.
Archibald was relieved that the battle had finally ended.
"I'm just glad we made it out alive," he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Lamperogue nodded in agreement, "Indeed, that was a close one."
'Really close one... I almost used it.' (Lamperogue)
Rachel then approached them, enthusiastic as ever.
"That was amazing, you guys!" she exclaimed.
Archibald wasn't in the mood for her bubbly attitude.
"If you mean amazing like we almost died, then yeah, I guess it was," he said with a hint of sarcasm.
Rachel didn't seem fazed, and simply shrugged it off. "Hey, we survived in the end, right?" she said with a smile.
"I-I guess you're right." (Archibald)
Myne collapsed on the deck, exhausted from the battle.
Lamperogue swiftly caught her before she hit the ground.
"Are you okay?" (Lamperogue)
Myne blushed as she looked up at him, noticing how visually appealing he was.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she stuttered, still flustered.
Suddenly, Rubik, the mysterious boy shouted out in amazement. "I've never seen people so good with a sword before!"
Archibald turned to face him, intrigued.
"That's not important," he said, "How were you able to do what you did with the high-speed wedge Myne shot earlier?"
Rubik scratched his head and shrugged, "It's magic."
Archibald rolled his eyes, "Obviously."
As they talked, they noticed that Vesta had passed out, with puke all over him.
Lirien, still traumatized from the waves, was frozen in place.
Archibald sighed, "Looks like we have a lot to clean up once we get back to land."
Lamperogue shrugged, "Well, it's nothing we haven't dealt with before."
"True that." (Archibald)
As Archibald and Lamperogue donned their clothes, Rubik proceeded to educate them on how he effectively used [Spatial Magic] to defeat the Sea Dragon.
"I applied my magic to manipulate the physical position of the iron wedge across all three dimensions – area, volume, and depth." (Rubik)
"So to put it simply, you altered the object's position in space." (Lamperogue)
Rachel, who stood beside him, marvelled at Rubik's magical abilities.
"Honestly, it's impressive... [Spatial Magic] is a legendary form of magic that became lost over time." (Rachel)
"Well, I'm only ranked Senior (5th) in [Spatial Magic] so it's not that impressive." (Rubik)
"Really?! That's really high!" Myne could stand on her own again.
"It is? Oh well," said Rubik with a nervous voice.
He was being modest.
Anyone ranked Senior Magus in any form if magic was worthy of praise.
"So, Rubik right? Are you also heading for the Aalakhor Archipelago?" (Archibald)
"Yeah we are.." (Rubik)
"We...?" (Archibald)
Just then, two new individuals appeared on the deck, a woman with short black hair (Nermel) and a muscular man with a thick beard (Taro).
The pair waved cheerfully at Rubik.
"You know them?" (Rachel)
"Yeah! We're a party." (Rubik)
Archibald, Lamperogue, and Rachel were puzzled, but the newcomers introduced themselves as adventurers – Nermel and Taro.
"Nice to meet you, I'm a Martial Magus, Taro!" he flexed his muscles as he spoke.
Nermel waved at them, "And I'm a Gunner, Nermel.." she tilted her head and smiled from ear to ear.
Nermel, who had keen observation skills, had noticed the way they all worked together seamlessly during the battle with the Sea Dragon.
"You guys were really good! We saw the way you handled that dragon, I'm guessing you're seasoned adventurers..." (Nermel)
"They're manly hehez!" (Taro)
"Eh, we did our best," Archibald shrugged nonchalantly.
Myne nodded having heard Archibaldʼs statement, "Indeed, Rubik was the one who did the most important thing, he took out the Sea Dragon.."
Waving his hand frantically Rubik said: "What, no, no! You guys did all the work I just lent a hand... hah!"
"(Ugh, this dude is so modest it's pissing me off..)" (Archibald)
As they continued to chat, Rachel turned to Nermel and Taro and asked, "What kind of adventurers are you guys? Do you specialize in anything in particular?"
Nermel shrugged. "We dabble in a bit of everything, really," she said.
"We've done a lot of monster hunting, treasure hunting, escort missions - you name it." (Rubik)
Taro interjected. "But we're not just your average adventurers, mind you. We've been around the block a few times. We've faced our fair share of tough opponents."
Archibald raised an eyebrow. "You don't say? Well, I'm intrigued. Who's the toughest opponent you guys have ever faced?"
Nermel thought for a moment before answering.
"It's hard to say. We've fought a lot of formidable foes. But it's not really important either." (Nermel)
As Archibald wore his shirt, Lamperogue noticed the cut on his side.
"When did you get that?" (Lamperogue)
"Oh this?" Archibald gestures at the cut, "It must've been when the Sea Dragon shot those spikes... it grazed me a bit I guess."
"You didn't use [Spirit Armor] before fighting?" (Lamperogue)
"Huh? What's [Spirit Armor]...?" (Archibald)
Everyone excluding Lamperogue exclaimed.
They were surprised he didn't know what [Spirit Armor] was.
"You honestly don't know what it is?" (Rubik)
Archibald frowned.
He had never heard of this [Spirit Armor] before, much less how to use it.
He couldn't help but feel a twinge of embarrassment.
How could he have missed such a crucial aspect of close-range combat?
He had trained for years under Gadi, yet he had failed to learn this.
Rubik, noticing Archibald's obvious discomfort, spoke up.
"Don't worry about it, Arch. It's not your fault. Sometimes masters overlook the basics of certain techniques, especially if their students show promise in other areas." (Rubik)
Archibald nodded, grateful for Rubik's words.
Rachel, however, was not so forgiving.
"You mean to tell us that you've been wielding a sword for all this time and you don't know how to use [Spirit Armor]? That's ridiculous!"
Lamperogue stepped in before Rachel could continue her tirade.
"Calm down Rachel. It's not like he can't learn it now. Besides, it only offers minor protection. It's not like he's defenseless without it." (Lamperogue)
Rachel huffed but fell silent.
Archibald, however, was still troubled.
"Rogue, can you teach me how to use [Spirit Armor]?"
Lamperogue sighed. "Of course. It's not difficult to learn, just takes some getting used to."
Nermel, who had been quiet until now, spoke up.
"Maybe we should all learn it. That way we can all improve our close-range combat skills."
Myne nodded, adding her agreement.
"I think that's a great idea. We could all benefit from learning [Spirit Armor]. I always planned to." (Myne)
They were excited about the idea of learning [Spirit Armor], that was until Rachel reminded them that Magi and Gunners couldn't learn it.
The deck fell silent as the two looked at Rachel for an explanation.
"Why not?" Myne asked, her curiosity piqued.
"The system of magic classes states that Magi and Gunners aren't capable of forming [Spirit Armor] without straining their body. Swordsmen and Martials have a more spiritual focus and inner peace than them, which is why they're able to use [Spirit Armor] and sometimes equip it subconsciously." (Rachel)
The only exception was if the Magus or Gunner was of the ultranatural class or higher.
Myne was purely a Magus.
Nermel was purely a Gunner.
Though some believe Gunners are just Magi pretending to be marksmen.
Rubik nodded, "That's correct. Also, didnʼt Saint Melcius the Sword Saint God created [Spirit Armor]?"
Archibald's eyes widened.
He loved reading stories about Saint Melcius as a child.
"I've heard of Saint Melcius before. He was the swordsman who defeated Fafnir in one swing of his sword and split a large portion of the earth in half to create the Melcius Valley and the two separate continents - Dragnyr and Eses." (Archibald)
Everyone nodded, agreeing to Archibald's statement.
Taro then chimed in.
"Saint Melcius also developed a stronger level of the [Spirit Armor] known as the [God Saint Spirit Armor]," Taro said, his eyes shining with excitement.
"How come we've only heard of this now?" (Archibald)
Rubik chuckled. "Masters sometimes overlook the basics of certain techniques, as I mentioned earlier."
Nermel turned to Rachel, "What about us Gunners? Can we learn a similar technique?"
Rachel thought for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm not sure. I've never heard of anything like that, but it's worth looking into."
The group continued their discussion, each lost in thought about the different abilities and strengths of their respective classes.