Nathan went up on deck with an empty stomach and an altered mood. He looked around and found one of the ship's crew members and approached him.
"Sorry for asking but are these waters safe?" asked Nathan drawing the attention of the sailor who was cleaning the deck.
The sailor turned and looked at Nathan respectfully knowing that he was one of Enarys' subordinates. "If you mean safe because there are no calamities like on land yes, but still there must be sharks and other dangerous animals"
"Okay, I understand. Thanks" Nathan said goodbye to the sailor and approached the ship's flank.
'What are you planning?' asked Amelia seeing Nathan discreetly taking the Luschvik out of his coat without anyone seeing him.
'I'm going to feed it' Nathan replied looking at the small lizard in his hand that was looking at him confused.
'Feed it... How...? No, wait!' Before Amelia could finish, Nathan pulled his arm back, gained momentum and threw the Luschvik away.
'What are you doing?!' shouted Amelia in surprise as she watched the Luschvik fall into the water, splashing slightly before disappearing.
'I don't know how long we'll be in the ocean. I can't just order two portions of food for myself' Nathan explained as he looked out over the ocean. 'Then what better way than to forage for food on his own'
Nathan knew the risks of throwing the Luschvik into the ocean. The first was that it would drown before it could devour an animal and die. The second was to lose sight of the ship and be lost forever in the vastness of the ocean. The third was simply to be eaten by something bigger than him.
But Nathan also had something to gain by launching the Luschvik into the water. First he would be free of the problem of food until he reached the northern islands. And more importantly he would have an aquatic animal at his disposal, which while not a calamity, someday the Luschvik might become one.
'Well, I'll rest for a while longer' Nathan knew that the Luschvik would be slow to return, so he turned around and returned to his cabin.
In the evening, after he had fully recovered and had eaten properly. Nathan went out on deck and leaned against the same railing from which he had launched the Luschvik earlier that morning.
'Relax, I'm sure he survived' Nathan said with a yawn.
'…How could you kill such a majestic creature' Amelia complained with sadness in her voice.
Nathan smiled amusedly. 'You seem to be very fond of it'
'Well... maybe I can understand him slightly' Amelia murmured mentally.
'Do you understand the Luschvik?' asked Nathan in confusion. Just at that very moment something sounded below them in the water. Nathan smiled broadly and Amelia sighed calmly.
'Yes see, I told you it would survive' Nathan said looking at the lizard climbing up the body of the boat until it reached the railing.
The Luschvik shook off all the water that was clinging to its body and jumped towards Nathan before crawling inside his coat.
'Just as well... I couldn't have borne the weight of having killed a Luschvik' sighed Amelia.
Once the Luschvik was picked up, Nathan returned to the cabin, then the lizard jumped out of his coat, transformed back to its original form, and looked at him angrily.
The Luschvik may have been only a few months old, but it was intelligent enough to know what Nathan had done to it.
The Luschvik growled as if it was trying to reproach Nathan. Then he turned and jumped into the cabin above where Nathan slept and lay down tired after being in the ocean all day.
'He's like a little dog... only he has a skull covering his head' Nathan thought.
'Pretty cute if you ask me' Amelia admired the Luschvik tenderly.
'He wasn't cute when he almost poisoned me to death just yesterday' Nathan lay down on his bed and raised his arm that had been regenerated by Orion.
He didn't know the meaning of the red mark that looked like the trail of a shooting star that ran from his hand to the end of his forearm. 'Do you know anything about this mark?' Nathan asked Amelia.
'...I've never seen it before. I'm sorry' Amelia answered in a tired tone.
Nathan lowered his arm and closed his eyes. 'Never mind... I'll have time to investigate. For now, let's enjoy the trip'
***
A week had passed since they had set sail. Nathan did not know how long the journey from the Aeterna territory to the northern islands usually took, but he guessed that they should not be far away.
Leaving time aside, Nathan was completely confused as he stood on the misty deck.
'Why is it all cloudy?' asked Amelia.
'It's supposed to be able to happen on the ocean... but we've been like this for several days now' Nathan folded his arms as he tried to observe something beyond five meters in front of him.
He had sent the Luschvik into the water to continue hunting, but strangely enough, as soon as it entered the water it quickly turned back and hid inside Nathan's coat, as if it was scared of something.
This, together with the strange mist, made Nathan realize that there was something unusual happening in the middle of the ocean.
Nathan watched the fog for a while, then suddenly, after a week without any news of it, Enarys came out of the captain's room, which was prepared to be her room, and greeted the crew members.
Her guards approached her with respect, but she indicated that it was not necessary for them to look after her at that moment. Then she saw Nathan watching the mist and walked towards him.
"Did you like the trip?" asked Enarys with a smile. The young woman had her body covered with a blanket and Nathan noticed that her lips were strangely pale.
"For my first time on a ship I guess it was fine" Nathan answered honestly. "But... What's going on here, what's this fog?"
Enarys smiled unable to hide that she was shivering slightly. "It's a barrier"
Nathan stopped looking at the fog and looked at her. "A barrier? Of what?"
"You'll see in a few seconds" Enarys said before walking towards the front of the ship, then Nathan followed her.
When they reached the bow, Enarys took a deep breath and concentrated. Nathan looked at her strangely, but then looked straight ahead.
Finally, after a couple of minutes, Nathan noticed that the fog began to dissipate, only to leave him amazed at the sight.
In front of him, hundreds and hundreds of ships lay still posing on the water, which had not a hint of movement, as if they were not in the ocean but on a dark blue floor.
"A ship graveyard?" asked Nathan, looking at the time-worn ships.
Enarys nodded her head. "Exactly that... but more importantly" She smiled and sighed. "Welcome to the northern islands"