Chapter 98: First Day of Sailing (Patreon)

It felt like déjà vu, but in a weird, backward way. Mahya and I retraced our steps from two days ago and arrived at the same spot where we had previously stored the boat. It took almost five hours before there were no boats or ships around, but finally, the river was clear. I was SO glad Rue stayed with Alfonsen in Shanghai. Just imagining Rue in the dinghy for five hours made me shudder—I'll have a telepathic migraine for days.

We sailed into the marina only after dark, so we had to wait another day before heading out.

In the morning, Mahya asked me, "Did you buy chains to connect the house to the boat?"

"Yes."

"Can I see them?"

I took out the chain and showed it to her. She examined it carefully and said, "It's steel; you'd better buy something else. Better yet, an alloy of many types of metal."

"Why?"

"Iron's conductivity sucks."

"You could have mentioned that earlier, you know?"

"It's for a new idea I came up with. Before, I didn't know I needed conductivity."

I sighed and nodded.

"Oh, and one more thing," she said. "Get three of them, and there are a few more things I need you to grab."

She gave me a list of things that seemed quite unusual: large wooden panels, six thick and durable metal hoops, preferably made of alloy, with a diameter of five meters, more gold and gold-plated wires, and some other stuff.

"What's all this?"

"If we just drag the house along with the boat, it will slow us down. I've got an idea to add a paddle wheel to the house that will activate when we start the boat's engine to help push it forward."

"Won't that exhaust our power?"

"No, we have enough crystals to travel to the US, not counting the forty-two spares. If we add the spares, there is enough for the house as well. Remember, you can always recharge them at home, or we can replenish them with mana. We're fine."

"You know better; I trust you. Also, what's anti-fouling?"

"It's a special paint that prevents sea life, such as algae and mollusks, from attaching themselves to the hull, or in this case, the paddle wheel."

"Okay …" I scratched my head, realizing that all of this Magitech stuff was complicated.

"Oh, one more thing. Which color do you prefer, blue or red?"

"Depends on what for."

"It doesn't matter what for. What color?"

"Red, I think."

"Excellent, give me thirty thousand dollars."

"Why?"

"It's a surprise. You won't regret it."

"If it's a surprise, why am I paying for it?"

"It's not that kind of surprise."

I shrugged and gave her the money.

It took me hours to find her entire list, especially the chains. There were many steel chains, but finding alloy chains was much more complicated. After buying the entire list, with spares just in case, we returned to the boat.

When I got back, I saw that only Rue and I had returned to the boat; Mahya and Alfonsen were still shopping. It was already late afternoon, and I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to sail in the dark. Because our boat operated on mana, we couldn't install GPS, Maritime Weather Observation System, or Marine Radar to receive data on weather conditions or detect other ships and land obstacles; we had to navigate based on sight only and plot our course with the Travelers' Map. Unfortunately, mana faced limitations in the tech world.

Since no one had returned yet, I took Rue to eat Guo Tie one last time. These were amazing fried pork dumplings that we were both addicted to. And close to the marina, there was a street stall that sold them. After we both ate half of the stall owner's stock and bought the other half to store, we went back to the boat, and this time, Mahya and Alfonsen were back.

After a brief discussion, we decided not to sail that day because it was already getting dark, but to spend the last evening in Shanghai. They wanted to go to dinner at a fancy restaurant, but just the thought of food made me want to throw up. My stomach was too full. I ended up joining them for dinner but only had a cocktail. Rue somehow managed to eat more. I'll never understand how he fits it in—he consumed over fifty Guo Ties two hours ago!

In the morning, we got up at sunrise and set off. After I steered the boat out of the marina and into the open sea, Mahya asked Alfonsen to take over the helm.

"Show me the chains you bought," she asked me.

She examined the chains and told me, "Engrave the runes Durability and Transfer on each link of the chain, on opposite sides of the link."

I sat down on the roof of the saloon so I could see everything in front of us without obstructing Alfonsen's field of vision and engraved the chain. The sea was calm, too calm. There was almost no wind. The mainsail got a little push, but the jib looked like wet laundry—flapping from side to side without doing much.

Rue grumbled about the lack of TV, but Mahya convinced him to start a Shogi tournament. It took me an hour to realize that every time I heard Rue bark, his shouts were no longer present in my mind. Before that, I could hear his communication regardless of who he was speaking to. Now I only heard the barking, not what he said telepathically.

I went down to the saloon, hugged him, and said, "Buddy, you've learned to talk to people individually! That's amazing! Well done!"

"Rue is great!" he yelled into my mind. "Rue is smart!"

"You sure are great and smart."

I continued petting him and scratching his ears until Mahya said, "We're in the middle of a game, and for a change, he's not cheating. Go away."

"Rue never cheat! Rue good boy!"

"You are the best boy in the world," I told him, and went back to carving runes.

In the afternoon, Alfonsen asked me to replace him at the helm, and he joined the Shogi tournament. The score was 23 Rue and 25 Mahya—it seemed like he really stopped cheating. I thought the increase in intelligence would only manifest in better speaking ability, but apparently, it had other benefits. But I still looked forward to the day he would stop yelling and start talking normally. Sometimes, after a conversation or argument with him, I felt like my mental ears were bleeding from all the yelling.

Mahya left the boys to continue the tournament, went out to the back deck, and took out an enormous sheet of paper and a dirt bike.

"What's this?" I asked.

"My new motorcycle… I'm going to take it apart and turn it into a Magitech. At first with crystals, and one day, when we find a free dungeon core, into a real Magitech device."

"Did you buy me one, too? Is that why you wanted the money?"

"No. I bought you something else. But like I said, it's a surprise, so stop asking what."

"Why not a motorcycle?"

"Because Rue won't be able to ride with you."

When she's right, she's right.

I gave her a thumbs-up and proceeded to steer the boat. I have to admit; it was pretty boring. The sea is beautiful, but I was used to being busy all the time, and just sitting and holding the helm felt like wasted time.

I split my mind in two—one part continued to look out to sea and pay attention to where I was sailing, and with the other part, I began to feel the surrounding mana.

Splitting my mind a third time, I spread my mana sense as far as it could go, and felt the world around me. The sea had much more mana than on land, and it felt thicker. I tried to figure out why; after all, if the world's current level is seven, then it should be uniform, right? However, it wasn't uniform; on land, there were areas where I felt more mana, mainly areas in nature with fewer people, but the difference was minor. Here, I felt a much bigger difference in terms of mana amounts in the environment.

Do people absorb mana? How is it possible? They haven't "awakened" yet.

Are they getting primed? like an animal, for a familiar bond?

I had more questions than answers.

I sent my mana sense into the boat, and here, too, a surprise awaited me—the boat was full of mana. The whole boat, not just the engine area and all the copper wires we threaded through the bulkheads, was brimming with mana! I put more and more of my awareness into the boat and examined the mana. It had a familiar flavor. I'm embarrassed to admit that it took me a while. But in my defense, I never "tasted" my mana. Eventually, I recognized that the mana's "flavor" was mine. I was so taken aback that the sensation "threw me out."

I thought about it, and I must admit it took quite a while, but then I facepalmed. of course! I channeled Restore into the boat, to the tune of over 70,000 mana—it had to go somewhere. Energy conservation and all that jazz.

I returned my mana sense into the boat and examined it inch by inch. During my examination, I encountered minor points that were not perfect. The restoration completely revitalized the boat, yet I discovered minor flaws that weren't damaged but traced back to the original construction. Here was a place where one section of the boat skeleton frame was thinner than the others. Here was a part of the boat's body that protruded out a bit and created more drag. The keel's tip was not optimal, cutting the water less than it should have. I felt all these parts, and every time I found something, I gave the boat's mana gentle nudges to fix it. The boat became smoother and stronger and sailed better. I also sensed there was a lot of junk stuck to the bottom of the boat, so I removed it. Removing the items stuck to the boat one by one proved to be challenging, as some of them resisted disconnection. It was like they were stuck inside the boat. But I used what I learned from the spiked bears, inserted my mana under the things stuck in it, and popped them out.

When I finished, it was the middle of the night, but I wasn't tired. Every time I immersed myself in mana, I didn't feel tired, as if it nourished me. I looked at the sea and noticed how fast we were sailing. The boat was flying on the waves. The wind was still absent, the jib was still flapping, nearly empty, but it was flying much faster than it had before.

I continued to steer for another two hours, enjoying the peace and quiet of the sea, until Mahya approached me and said, "You have been steering for over twelve hours. Let me replace you. You must rest."

I thanked her and went to sleep for a few hours. The first day of our cruise was certainly interesting. I wonder what other discoveries I will make along the way.