Chereads / The Erratum / Chapter 3 - Pirates.

Chapter 3 - Pirates.

Cetas woke up to the intense shaking of the ship.

Immediately, he was thrown to the far corner of the room, delivering his body with intense pain. With a groan, Cetas noticed his vision blurring.

'Gah!,' Cetas complained inwardly while slowly figuring out how to maintain his balance.

Cetas struggled to even control his legs due to the impact caused by him being thrown around. He straightened his arms and gripped at the crevices of the wooden floor. Then, slowly, he raised his legs up while adapting to the constant shaking. Cetas looked around for a moment and focused on the sole wooden door - hanging wide open as ferocious winds entered the room.

Occasionally, the ship would tilt from one side to another which caused Cetas to focus. He would be flung, and when he made progress towards the door, the intense shaking would render his ability to walk useless.

So, Cetas disregarded his legs and focused on his arms instead. However, that would also pose a problem as a bottle filled with mysterious liquid fell down and seeped through the wooden floor. Cetas did not know what the liquid contained but his intuition told him that it was something dangerous.

That intuition was then further proved when the smoke rose up from the wooden floor, melting that area instantly.

Suddenly, steel utensils made for medical purposes fell down and headed towards Cetas. He quickly let go of his right hand's grip on the floor's crevice and utilized his left hand to swing to the other direction, dodging the sharp utensils in the process and missing him only by a few inches.

'Close!'

Cetas could feel the effects of fatigue and weakness eat away at his body but he retained his strength as something akin to adrenaline was pumping through his veins.

Now facing upwards, Cetas kicked at the bed below him to propel himself closer to the door. He quickly spun his body to face the floor once more and grab another crevice at the floor. He looked around for a couple of seconds and determined that there were no debris being thrown around. Then, he pushed his left hand forward and grabbed the doorframe - three fingers clinging on its edge.

Suddenly, the ship tilted to the other side once more but this time, Cetas was prepared and used his legs to stand on the other side of the door frame. Although the angle was not perfect, Cetas forcefully pushed his body to the wooden railings outside. In a split second, he used his two hands to grip two beams and held on to them dearly.

Cetas did not notice, but a splash of water greeted him and turned his sea-like blue hair similar to that of a seaweed. He then used his utmost strength to carry his upper body and legs. He slowly climbed up the railings and tensed his legs in order to stand up straight.

Well, it was not straight but it leaned towards a diagonal angle.

After maintaining his balance for a couple of seconds, another big rush of liquid crashed onto him. This time Cetas was taken aback but he gripped the railings so tightly that his body could not even be moved.

After that, he scouted his surroundings.

The ship was shaking intensely and large waves were impacting the hull.

An unfamiliar phenomenon covered Cetas as small droplets of water fell from the massive dark sky.

This was a unique way of introducing the concept of rain!

Cetas also struggled due to the strong gale hitting him from the right side! However, it was weird, the wind seemed to be familiar!

It was similar to the cold wind from last night!

Cetas gazed at the ship's main deck, noticing the crewmembers running around and working harmoniously.

That was not all! What surprised Cetas the most is the multiple slimy, and imposing black tentacles that wrapped itself around the ship. There were many of its similarities surrounding the ship but it seems that the white-haited individual was taking care of them.

Furthermore, a huge red-haired individual was wrestling with two tentacles, holding one with each hand.

Although it was faint, Cetas could hear the individual scream, "I hate the damn rain!", he could not understand it of course..

Cetas then saw the doctor from last night running towards each of the crewmembers and giving them some sort of boost. He saw that every time the doctor touched them, their physical statutes would slightly improve - ridding of wounds and energizing their muscles.

Then, Cetas saw the auburn-haired individual utilizing a flintlock pistol to inflict damage to the tentacles. However, the weakness of the bullets could not even penetrate its slimy skin!

Even amidst all the chaos, Cetas was particularly looking for a specific individual. He looked around for a couple of moments yet could not help but notice that the blonde-haired woman named Skadi was not at the ship!

However, Cetas could not even feel a moment of confusion when a sudden spout of water shot up in the air, almost as if it were a torpedo. Green winds accompanied a slight speck of light at the nucleus of the spout, clashing the liquid and gale at the same time.

Underneath the light, a large shadow was cast and within seconds, the water above it seemed to rise up as the shadow rose in size.

Then, Cetas noticed that the tentacles around the ship suddenly retracted and was pulled towards the shadow. Instantly, the shadow was revealed and a slimy boneless head filled with only but muscles followed the light.

Cetas was somehow familiar with the figure but it was different from what he had previously known.

As the light ascended further above, the large octopus stopped rising and eight shadows were revealed around it. Ubiquitously, eight sharp and slimy tentacles rose up from the shadows and chased the light surrounded by green winds as if their only purpose was to catch and kill.

Cetas squinted his eyes and focused on the scene. Upon a few seconds, he suddenly realized that there was a figure basked in viridian gales, shining ever-so brightly to the point that it attracted creatures from the depths.

He saw the figure donned with a fairy-like physique - donning a white blouse and black corset along with golden-blonde hair cascading down the figure's shoulders. Her eyes glowing lavishly green and her skin as pale as a spirit.

It was Skadi!

Skadi looked as if she was holding a large barreled gun in her right hand. With a mere glance, Cetas could determine that it sucked the green winds towards its insides. It looked like it housed a cannon shot or something even greater.

As the light ascended, the green winds gathered towards the barrel of the gun, silencing the environment around. Even the large dark clouds from above seemed to be sucked towards the gun!

Liquid and winds spiralled around the figure and small green sparks slowly appeared, covering the unique gun.

Then, a loud crackle was heard!

A lightning bolt!

In an instant, a ray of light bounced around the winds and ultimately pierced the slimy flesh of the large octopus. Everything went silent, only the strong waves could be heard.

2 seconds passed and a deep vibration shook the fierce waters, a loud shriek screaming towards the heavens.

The tentacles individually fell down, causing a large splash of water with its impact!

Then, along with the tentacles, the large shadow sinked down to the looming depths.

However, Cetas heard Skadi suddenly scream:

"Catch it! Don't let it go to waste!"

Simultaneously, the red-haired individual and the white-haited individual jumped 0ff the main deck of the ship and dove down to the treacherous depths - towards the looming shadow of the large octopus.

They reached for one of the tentacles and grabbed it with all of their strength, pulling it towards the ship.

The light, Skadi, descended down the fierce waves and stood on the large octopus' head. Staring at the seared flesh of the creature, Cetas recalled the words that she had said last night.

"Pirates.."

As the skies cleared and the seas calmed, Cetas eyes widened in amazement.

*

At night, the seas were tranquil and a somewhat calm sound of waves resounded.

However, the silence of the night was immediately broken with a loud scream.

"We're having squid tonight!!"

"Yeah!!!", 3 members of the crew yelled in unison.

In the main deck of the ship, a large seared and charred tentacle was casually placed.

Cetas stared at the celebration of the crewmembers in awe. This morning, they had been faced with great adversity but now, tonight, they were.. celebrating?

He thought that they would be tired from the battle but it was the contrary. With a mere touch from the doctor, the crew members looked rejuvenated and energetic once more.

Cetas could not believe it.

Even more so, he saw the red-haired individual with a red bushy beard cast flames from his fingertips, searing the tentacle until some of its parts were black from the heat.

In addition to that, the auburn-haired girl cut a large portion of the octopus and headed towards a room of the ship. A few minutes passed by and she came out with a large metal bowl that looked like it was smoking above.

The crew members looked happy when she came out, taking a piece for themselves and putting the seared remains atop a ceramic disk.

It was all too unfamiliar to Cetas as the concept of fire, cooking, and plates was nonexistent to him.

Still, he understood the atmosphere around him.

They looked joyous.

"Here have some!", the auburn-haired girl held a plate on her arms and reached out to Cetas. Then, a sudden realization struck her..

"Ah! Would this be considered as cannibalism?"

Her mouth was agape and she looked as if she had seen a ghost.

Seeing that the auburn-haired girl was being polite - even though she had a fear-stricken expression - Cetas grabbed the ceramic disc in her hands and looked at the contents on it.

He saw a glistening orange liquid paired with unfamiliar greeneries on the side of a seared white meat which Cetas suspected to be the octopus.

After examining the food in front of him, he stared back towards the auburn-haired girl.

After locking her eyes with his once more, she opened her mouth and gestured an act of eating a fruit.

Cetas, who was confused, tilted his head to the side.

"Uhhh-", the auburn-haired girl took a metal utensil from her plate and penetrated the piece of octopus meat.

Then, she placed the utensil near her rosy lips and parted them, putting the juicy looking octopus meat inside. As she repeatedly chewed, she revealed a wide smile. She then gestured for Cetas to do the same.

Cetas, who was only handed a plate, did not have any metal utensils with him. So instead, he clasped his fingertips and reached towards the juicy meat. Then, as his skin touched the orange sauce, he reflexively removed it in quick succession.

"Pfft-", the auburn-haired girl pursed her lips.

The unfamiliar feeling of instant heat made Cetas' fingertips blistering red.