Sitting comfortably on the wooden raft that was slowly approaching the harbor, James glanced around at the mainland. In front of him was a fairly bright place. There were a few large houses around, likely shipyards. Further away, the houses looked familiar, much like those he often saw at Atlas Harbor. These houses had only thatched roofs, covered with dirt, making them hard to spot from above. Most of the houses were spaced quite far apart, probably for similar reasons.
Liam sighed and muttered:
"Flying monsters..."
The closer they got to shore, the clearer everything became. But what caught his attention the most was a group of people gathering at the edge of the harbor.
"What's going on there?" Liam wondered, noticing the crowd. Usually, places like this had something special happening.
He saw James talking to the locals, then pointing in his direction.
"Looks like he's doing a good job..." Liam smiled, waving at the gazes of the harbor folk. Maybe James had already informed them of their arrival, so he wouldn't need to explain much. However, what he didn't understand was why the crowd had gathered in such large numbers. Were they waiting for him? He chuckled at the ridiculous thought. Being curious wouldn't help much; once they reached the shore, he would know everything.
The closer the raft got to the shore, the narrower his thoughts became. Serious expressions were now clearly visible, and a few people were even crying. Seeing this, he furrowed his brow, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and told himself:
"I should probably always prepare for the worst..."
"Liam! Something big has happened..." James shouted with a tense face.
Liam sighed. Just by looking at the scene before him, he knew for sure that something serious had happened. James didn't even need to say it. Immediately, he abandoned the raft, running swiftly across the water towards the shore.
***
"So, this is your friend?" The old man with silver eyes asked Liam.
"That's right. Both of us came from Atlas Harbor," James nodded in response.
The old man sighed and said:
"Either way, I'm sorry for what happened at Atlas Harbor... It was once a great place, such a pity..." His eyes shone with sadness as he recalled the past.
James felt a pang of sorrow as he thought about his hometown.
"Anyway, that's all in the past. We should focus on this matter..." He seemed very intrigued by the events at this harbor.
Liam, with a questioning look, asked James:
"So, what's happening here?"
After all, Liam couldn't understand what James and the old man had been talking about, nor why James was so interested in the harbor's situation. They needed to get to the academy, not deal with things like this.
James took a deep breath, regained his composure, and began to explain everything that had happened there. With a thoughtful gaze, Liam rubbed his chin as he pondered.
"I see... Quite serious."
"Quite serious" was an understatement. Based on what had been shared, this was Martin's Harbor. Last night, the town had experienced something similar to what happened at Atlas, but the difference here was that the people were much stronger, ready to support each other if attacked by flying monsters.
But if that was all, it wouldn't have been so serious. The real concern was that last night, they couldn't save the people in the house attacked by the flying monsters. The main culprit was that strange creature. According to what the locals knew, they called them Vecna - people who had abandoned their humanity. However, the way they had transformed remained a big question mark.
"So, is that guy over there?" Liam pointed toward the crowd where he could occasionally hear cries of mourning.
The old man with sorrowful eyes nodded.
"He had just been accepted into Riverside Academy six months ago. After returning to visit his family, things went wrong... It's truly unfortunate."
He felt a twinge of guilt, wishing he had done a better job last night.
***
"Run... We'll catch up later!" A man engulfed in red flames, his eyes glowing like hot coals, shouted toward a young boy, around 17-18 years old, trembling with fear, wetting himself.
Suddenly, from the sky, a massive tentacle screeched and shot straight toward the man ablaze.
The man instinctively sensed the attack and immediately drew his flaming sword to block it. A terrible pain shot through his arm, spreading through his body, and making him cough up blood. Then, he was tossed aside like a rag doll into a nearby tree.
"Jackson, I'm coming to help you!" An old man nearby yelled. His hands were covered in large chunks of rock, making him look like a stone giant. Grimacing, he urgently slammed his rocky fists into the ground.
"Boom... Boom..." The ground trembled, and the sound of impacts echoed as golems began to form from the earth, quickly rising. Towering as tall as houses, with glowing soulless blue eyes, they rushed toward the flying monsters assaulting Jackson.
Jackson rolled continuously to avoid the relentless blows from the creature. Each time he moved to a new spot, the previous one would be marked with a huge dent from the tentacles. In the momentum, he stood up, quickly escaping the creatures' encirclement.
"Just in time..." Jackson panted as he saw the golems charging in to help him. After the golems passed him, moving to attack the monsters behind, Jackson immediately turned, and the sword in his hand flared brighter than ever.
"Die!" He shouted, swinging the flaming sword with great force into the air. Though the move seemed random, moments later, a massive flame, the size of a large ship, formed and surged toward the creatures and golems locked in combat.
Now, only the blackened silhouettes of the creatures and golems remained within the blazing inferno lighting up the night sky.
"Get to the sea quickly! More flying monsters are coming down..." An old woman nearby anxiously looked up at the sky. In her view, about five more monsters were approaching.
"I hope the boy's made it to the sea by now..." Jackson sighed with worry. Then, he and the elderly couple immediately ran toward the sea.
"What the... why is that kid moving so slowly?" The old man scowled, seeing the boy still ahead.
"Kids these days are so slow!" The old woman shouted angrily.
But then, all three widened their eyes in shock as a spear came hurtling out of nowhere, heading straight for the boy.
Jackson, veins bulging on his forehead, sped up and yelled:
"Watch out! Behind you!"
But it was too late. In fact, his shout only made the boy turn to look at him, and in that instant, the spear struck him directly in the head, pinning him to the ground.
"Damn it!" Jackson roared in fury at the sight. The flames within him flared hotter than ever. But it wasn't over yet. Nearby, a strange creature, about 3 meters tall, rushed toward the boy pinned to the ground.
"What is that?" The old woman screamed in fear.
"What's it doing to the kid?" The old man shouted in rage, conjuring a stone spear. He hurled it with all his might toward the creature, seemingly sealing its fate. But no, the creature effortlessly dodged and swiftly ran further inland.
"What the hell?" The three shouted in unison. It was clear that an attack from someone of C rank shouldn't be that easily avoided. Moreover, this was just an F-rank creature.
"Chase it!" Jackson shouted. The elderly couple, enraged by the creature's actions, needed no reminder and gave chase as well.
From above, the flying monsters immediately swooped down, blocking their view and preventing them from pursuing the small creature.
"What the hell is going on?" The old man paused, halting in his tracks.
"That might be a Vecna..." The old woman sighed as she watched the small creature escape.
Jackson furrowed his brow at the situation. Given everything that had happened, it was likely that the creature was indeed a Vecna. It was a grim realization that one had appeared in his town.
"Let's go... At the very least, we must recover the boy's body..." Jackson and the elderly couple dodged the creatures in front of them and pressed forward.
The three eventually recovered the boy's body and managed to escape into the sea, pursued by the monsters.
***
Jackson stood silently, looking toward the crowd, sorrowfully recalling the events of the previous night. Liam, seeing Jackson in such a state, decided not to disturb him. He covered his mouth to lower his voice and turned to James:
"So... have you asked the old man about the way to the academy?"
The town was going through tough times, and in such a dangerous place, neither James nor Liam wanted to stay long.
But before James could respond, Jackson spoke first:
"There are two roads to the academy. One is through the forest... After about a week of walking, you'll reach it. But that forest is dangerous; you need to be at least a D rank to travel alone."
He glanced at the two boys, assessing their strength, then smirked and said:
"I don't think you two can take that path..."
Liam sighed, slapped his forehead, then looked at Jackson with an exasperated gaze:
"What about the other road?"
From his experience, he suspected it wouldn't be much safer.
Jackson didn't say much, replying bluntly:
"The second path... you'll have to take a detour. It's fairly safe... The only problem is..."
...
...
"It'll take you six months to get there."