Hakurai
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Chapter 235: Old World Problems
🕑 Added 2023-07-31 10:00:08 +0000 UTC“How big are we talking?” Trexon asked as all eyes atop the deck fell upon Aegis and Herilon.
“What was it exactly?” Leonard asked.
“Maybe I can beastshift into it!” Ren replied excitedly.
“It’s definitely too big for beastshifting.” Herilon quickly replied.
“There were question marks above its head, both for the name and the level. There’s a chance it didn’t notice us yet, considering our size. Can you do anything to hide our presence?” Aegis turned to Trexon.
“I’ll try…” Trexon pulled his staff off of his back and waved it, creating a glow of gray magical energy on the tip of the staff. A moment after he’d begun casting, there was a faint magical light that began to outline the Sky Darling.
“Keep sailing forward as quickly and quietly as possible.” Aegis then ordered Leonard.
“Well, I’m not exactly skilled in sailing on the water…” Leonard replied hesitantly.
“Sailing is sailing, isn’t it? How different can it be from sailing the skies?” Herilon replied impatiently.
“A lot different!” Leonard snapped back in annoyance, showing his anxiousness on his face as he started wiggling his fingers to cast several skills. After he had, the ship began moving forward as a wind was brushing up into the mainsail of the ship, forcing it forward out into the open ocean.
Once the movement began, everyone fell silent and all but Leonard inched forward to the edge of the deck to peer over the side into the dark water below. The night didn’t allow them to see much beyond the surface of the calm waves - they were relying completely on the light of the moon and stars shining down thanks to the clear skies, and no one was feeling brave enough to cast or utilize any other sources of light to improve their vision.
Bihi watched intently from Aegis shoulder, just as silent as the others as soon the only sounds they could hear were that of the waves splashing gently against the ship, and the creaking of wood and the flapping of sails.
“Lupein Squids have a unique hunting method. When they sense activity on the surface, they will position themselves in the path of their prey and wait patiently for them to move in a favorable position.” Bihi explained nonchalantly, causing everyone to nervously glance at one another.
“What?” Herilon glared at the tiny fairy.
“That sort of information is more useful before we start moving forward.” Aegis sighed in frustration, but didn’t have time to contemplate her words as he noticed suddenly the movement of the waves began to shift, and the forward trajectory of the ship began to tilt to the side. “Any other useful tidbits you got, before it’s too late?” Aegis grumbled at her as the others grabbed the railings to hold on, their balance faltering due to the shifting trajectory.
“They have a unique body that allows them to suck in massive volumes of water and expel it out of their backside simultaneously. Once a prey as moved into an optimal position, they begin exhaling the water in the area until it pulls the prey into their mouth, and they close their backside to trap the prey within their stomach. During this process they utilize their tentacles defensively to ensure their prey cannot escape.” Bihi explained calmly.
“Translation?” Herilon turned to Aegis and Trexon, and saw Aegis take a deep nervous breath.
“It’s creating a whirlpool beneath us to suck us in.” Aegis replied, and Trexon nodded. Within seconds, the speed at which the Sky Darling began to tilt and follow the movement of the waves hasted greatly, ignoring the use of skills that Leonard was doing on the sails.
“Leonard, you gotta airburst us outta here, NOW!” Trexon shouted, giving up on channeling his spell.
“Right,” Leonard nodded, lifting his hands and preparing to cast, but before he could, the ship violently jerked sideways and began swirling at an angle, knocking Leonard off of his feet.
“It happens rather quickly. The time from you being on calm waters, to being inside the creature's mouth, that is.” Bihi said as Aegis desperately grabbed onto the railings and saw over the side of the angled ship what she meant.
The whirlpool had finished forming, and the water was spiraling rapidly towards the center over a large area. To match the size of the creature, the whirlpool was gigantic in comparison to their tiny ship, which gave them some time before reaching the center, but the depth of the center grew quickly.
“Aura of light!” Aegis shouted, abandoning all sense of stealth to erupt in a dome of light that expanded out around the ship and below the waves, far enough to reveal the creature. This was something Aegis regretted doing, as the sheer size and horrifying visage of the creature becoming visible served only to terrify everyone on the ship.
A giant gaping maw of black flesh and curved fangs was waiting for them below the waves at the center of the whirlpool, water being pulled into the maw and drawing the ship in closer and closer. The maw was complimented by 10 gigantic black tentacles that were wriggling out in the ocean all around them, creating a deadly net that covered a large distance beyond the whirlpool.
“What kind of sick game developer creates something like that?” Gregory scoffed at it with wide eyes, his normally calm demeanor completely absent. Every second that went by, the speed at which the ship began to tilt and swirl towards the center hastened, and it was only a few moments before the depth of the whirlpool at its center reached the maw of the creature, leaving nothing to the imagination as the moonlight reflected off of its slimy skin.
“AIRBURST US NOW!” Herilon shouted as Leonard desperately climbed back to the stern and grabbed it.
“If I airburst now, we’ll just smash into the water and break apart!” Leonard shouted back hysterically.
“He’s right!” Trexon added in agreement.
“Then fly us out of here!” Herilon shouted in frustration, also showing signs of panic that Aegis wasn’t used to seeing with him.
“HOW!? I need something to propel against!” Leonard yelled back, but this put an idea into Aegis’ mind.
“Druids have earth magic, don’t they?” Aegis turned to Ren.
“Yeah, but I’m a shifting druid, so my earth skills are pretty weak…” Ren replied with a weak nod.
“That’s fine. Trexon, create a flat shell out in the air in the middle of the whirlpool! Ren, start casting earth magic so that it gets caught on the shell!” Aegis ordered. Trexon nodded and waved his staff with one hand, while holding on to the mast with his other as the ship was now tilted inward towards the center of the airship at a 25 degree angle.
Once the shell had formed in the open space above the center of the whirlpool, Ren began rapidly casting earth bolts, shooting chunks of earth out of his hands and crashing them into the bottom of the shell. Each attack that the shell absorbed drained a bit of Trexon’s mana, but thanks to Ren’s earth bolt skill being underleveled, it wasn’t significant. The downside of course was that the bolts were so small, the earth was building up slowly.
“Whatever you are doing, do it faster!” Herilon shouted at Ren.
“This is the best I can do!” Ren replied back in annoyance as he rapidly shot out bolts. The ship got closer and closer to the whirlpool's center, but the amount of earth built up overtime.
“Alright, that’s gotta be enough. If we don’t act now we don’t stand a chance.” Aegis stopped him.
“It’s good that there’s something for the airship’s hull to float against IN THE AIR ABOVE THE GIANT SQUID MONSTER!” Leonard shouted at Aegis hysterically.
“How are you planning to escape the water to get to it?” Trexon asked Aegis.
“It’s a little crazy, so you gotta trust me, Ren.” Aegis turned to him, and a gigantic grin grew over Ren’s face. “I’ll provide footing in front of the ship using two shield projections, you jump on them, then use that big gorilla form and fling the ship with all your might towards the earth. Herilon, tie a rope to him and pull him back to the ship after he’s flung us so he doesn’t get left behind.” Aegis instructed him. “Trexon, maintain the shell holding the earth, shift the earth using angled shells if we miss.” Trexon nodded.
“Leonard, the moment we’re hovering past the earth and get ourselves angled out of the whirlpool using the island stones floating mechanisms, use Airburst to launch us out of here.” Aegis gave the final instructions, and Leonard nodded back anxiously whilst Aegis’ viewership shot up to 2 million.
“YOU’RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!” Gregory shouted frantically, pointing down at the maw of the creature of which they were swirling dangerously close to. Aegis and Ren moved to the front of the ship, Herilon pulling a rope out of his inventory behind them and quickly wrapping it around Ren. Aegis then focused intently on the dark water in front of them.
“Jump and shift, I’ll catch you.” Aegis said, and Ren nodded. With all his might, Ren launched himself forward off of the front of the ship.
“BEAST SHIFT: KALMOORIAN APE!” Ren shouted mid air, erupting in a buff of green mist. As his new gigantic ape form appeared out of the mist, Aegis carefully held his hands out and utilized his new double shield projection guard to create shields under exactly where Ren’s gigantic ape feet were landing whilst Ren spun around mid-air to face the hull of the ship as he landed.
The ship was moving incredibly fast, Ren had little time to react as the ship crashed into his form. Ren reached out his ape arms and grabbed the hull and flung it out towards the center of the whirlpool - it was heavier than he was imagining given the amount of strength the ape form granted him. He was able to lift it up and angle it out of the whirlpool, utilizing the forward momentum to launch it out of the swirling water, but not directly towards the center of the whirlpool where the earth and shell was waiting.
Trexon saw it, quickly angling the shell into a slant to shift the earth in the path of the soaring airship as Ren shifted back into his elven form and Herilon yanked on the rope around his waist to pull him up off of Aegis’ shield projections, so that he flew through the air behind the ship.
The moment the earth resting on the shell was under the hull of the ship, it evened out, but only briefly as the forward momentum was quickly carrying the ship through the air beyond the shell and towards the opposite side of the whirlpool.
“NOW!” Aegis shouted at Leonard.
“AIRBURST!” Leonard shouted frantically, creating a violent burst of wind in the sails of the airship and launching it forward. It had barely cleared the top of the whirlpool, the hull of the ship skipping off the edge of the swirling water and bumping everyone off of their feet momentarily due to the impact with it, but luckily everyone was already holding onto something to prevent them from being launched off, including Bihi who clutched onto Aegis’ shoulder armor tightly.
Beyond the top of the whirlpool, the ship soared through the air a great distance, clearing far away from the monster, its tentacles, and the whirlpool before it lost its aerial momentum and began to descend back towards the ocean.
“GRAND SHELL!” Trexon quickly cast around the ship just as it impacted the water, protecting the ship from breaking apart upon impact. Once the momentum of the ship slowed down due to the shell skidding along the water a few dozen meters, Trexon released the shell and allowed the ship to properly plop down onto the ocean surface. It took another few moments for the waves to settle and the deck of the ship to become steady. At this time, no one spoke, but all breathed heavily and glanced at each other.
Herilon began pulling the rope up quickly that had Ren on the other end, until he finally made it back onto the deck soaking wet. The moment he did, Ren burst out laughing excitedly.
“AEGIS ADVENTURES ARE THE BEST!” Ren cheered with his arms in the air. This prompted the others to begin smirking and laughing.
“You should’ve seen the look on your face.” Herilon smirked at Gregory.
“You’re one to talk.” Gregory scoffed at him.
“Why is it that every time I let you on my airship, I feel at risk of losing it?!” Leonard yelled at Aegis from behind his stern, and Aegis shrugged back at him innocently. “I need a drink.” Leonard sighed.
“That was some quick thinking. As a raid leader, you could give Quinn a run for her money.” Trexon patted Aegis on the shoulder, smiling with his Lizardfolk teeth at him.
“Thanks.” Aegis smiled back before turning to Bihi. “Which direction is the Great Old One?” Aegis asked her.
“If we stay the course, we should reach him in the morning.” Bihi replied.
“Good, hear that?” Aegis asked Leonard, and he nodded back.
“Yep.” Leonard replied.
“Let’s recover our mana and be ready for whatever this ocean is going to throw at us.” Aegis turned to the others and got a few nods.
Despite nothing else eventful happening for the rest of the evening, the group had a hard time settling down after their encounter with the huge squid monster. Herilon kept watch on the rear of the ship to make sure it wasn’t pursuing them, while Aegis stayed near the front and Ren climbed his way up into the bird's nest. Trexon had his copy of the world map out and was modifying it as they sailed, repeatedly looking out in various directions around the ship, but there were no signs of any land in any direction.
Leonard was slowly getting the hang of sailing on the ocean, which meant that they began to speed up as the sun began to rise over the horizon. It was a beautiful sight to behold within the game world, being the first time any of them had seen the sun rise over water rather than the black mist of the abyss, but the prestige wore off when Ren spotted something else on the horizon and pointed it out to the group.
“There’s something ahead of us, I see it!” Ren shouted down to the others, prompting everyone to excitedly move to the front of the ship.
“What is it, an island?” Aegis asked him.
“I’m not sure. I don’t think so…”
“Another monster?” Herilon asked anxiously.
“Dunno, it’s not moving…” Ren replied.
“What’s with you? Normally you sound more excited to fight big monsters.” Trexon looked at Herilon confused, seeing hints of fear on his face.
“Yeah. Normally. My favorite part about this game was that it didn’t have oceans, though. At least, I thought it didn’t. I have a fear of deep water.” Herilon admitted.
“That’s quite unfortunate, given where we are.” Gregory smirked, to which Herilon threw him a nasty glare.
“It looks like…” Ren squirted and put his hands over his eyes to shield them from the light, allowing him to see the object on the horizon more clearly. “I think it’s a tree.”
“A tree?” Aegis tried to confirm.
“Yup. A really, really big tree. A giant wildwood tree.” Ren replied, becoming more confident with each statement.
“It is him.” Bihi smiled excitedly from atop Aegis’ shoulder. Hearing her words, Herilon sighed with relief.
“Good, we’re almost there.” Herilon replied.
“There’s nothing else waiting for us around it, is there?” Trexon asked Bihi, and the shrugged.
“Not that I recall. But it has been many years since I have been here. I was merely a seedling when the winds carried me away.” Bihi replied.
“That’s comforting.” Gregory replied smugly, eying Herilon for a reaction but he got none.
“Steady she goes, my dears.” Leonard called out, holding the course as she ship continued to sail towards the object.
As the Sky Darling closed in on the tree, its sheer size began to overwhelm the others. At a distance, it looked small, but as they got closer they quickly realized just how gigantic the tree was.
It was a mangrove, with its roots and the base of its trunk visible above the waves. The roots themselves were in the hundreds, and many of them gigantic, easily the size of buildings. Atop the roots were a great many forms of beautiful vegetation, not unlike the vibrant flowers that they’d seen growing around the Wildwood tree back in Kalmoore.
In addition, there were humanoid creatures moving about the top of the roots, with small structures built atop them. Aegis could make out primarily demi-humans and Lizardfolk, but there were a few Plashrim, elves, humans, and another race he didn’t quite recognize that looked fish-like.
Just as they were surprised to see them, the creatures looked curiously down at their approaching ship from atop the roots.
“There’s people living on the tree?” Aegis asked Bihi.
“Yes, refugees who fled from the continent of Ramleia were granted safe haven on the roots of the Great Old one.” Bihi nodded.
“So the tree itself is who we need to talk to?” Aegis confirmed with her.
“Yes. To commune with him, it is best we travel to the center, under the roots. Navigating them can be difficult, though. Do not fret the smaller roots, however. I shall clear the way.” Bihi smiled, motioning to a path between two large roots that was covered with an overhang of smaller roots, but with a wave of her hands, the small roots shifted and moved out of the way to allow space for the ship to sail forward beyond them.
“You got this?” Trexon asked as all eyes turned to Leonard.
“Not much choice, huh? Use your shells to help me out, will you dear?” Leonard replied nervously, and Trexon nodded back. With that, Leonard waved his fingers to pull in the side sails so that he could more easily sail between the roots, all the while Ren and Herilon curiously looked up at the humanoid NPCs staring down at them from atop the roots, many of the onlookers children. Aegis found himself staring up at the canopy of the tree instead, as its size was unimaginable. It covered the entirety of the ocean all around the tree, allowing few rays of sunlight through its lush green leaves to shine down on the gardens and houses built atop the roots.
“Incredible…” He mumbled to himself with wide eyes of amazement, which did not go unnoticed by Bihi who remained on his shoulder.
The navigation through the gigantic roots proved more troublesome than Leonard had anticipated, but Trexon’s use of shells prevented any damage to the ship or the tree as he used it to prevent multiple bumps and crashes as Leonard got his bearings. Despite being below the roots and the canopy, the morning sun reflecting off of the ocean water gave them plenty of light. In addition, there were many small glowing mushrooms and flowers that were giving off light, growing on the underside of the roots amidst moss and algae.
The varying colors of the bioluminescent plants reminded Aegis of Reltrak forest, but the variety in colors far surpassed that of the forest as there were violets, blues, greens, reds and yellows of all shades, granting them a beautiful view. It wasn’t long before the ship began to approach the central section of the tree though, and once they’d passed beyond two particularly thick roots, they found themselves sailing out into an open space below the tree where the waves were calm.
At the very center of the trunk, a small opening could be seen with a bright yellow light being emitted from it.
“He is waiting for us.” Bihi motioned towards the light. Aegis turned to Leonard after she said this, and he nodded. He then glanced at the others and got nods from Trexon, Herilon, and Ren, before he turned back towards the light and took a deep breath.
“Let’s hope he likes us.” Aegis mumbled to himself as he moved to the front of the very front of the ship in anticipation.
