B3—Chapter 15: Sea Crossing and First City (Patreon)

The first week of the voyage went by smoothly, with no significant events. There wasn’t much wind, so we mostly relied on the engine, but with the boat’s speed, it wasn’t an issue. The sea was calm, smooth as glass, with no waves. We were still in vacation mode, so we did little. I got started on processing the crabs, and Al wanted the shells. After cleaning all the crabs, I had a stockpile of about three hundred fifty, maybe even four hundred kilograms of crab meat—they were huge.

Al crushed the crab shells and took over the kitchen. The sound of the shells cracking and grinding filled the air. After two days, he came to me with a worried look, his normally calm demeanor replaced by a furrowed brow.

“Would you be able to diagnose my condition while I consume this potion?” he asked, holding up a small vial. The liquid inside shimmered with an iridescent glow.

“Sure,” I replied, curious. He drank the potion, and I cast Diagnose, but felt nothing unusual. I felt his skin change, but it didn’t “ping” the spell because it wasn’t a disease. Then I used my fingers to examine his skin. It felt different, smoother. Running my fingers over it, I noticed it had the texture of polished bone.

“What is this?” I asked, puzzled.

“I have created a new potion using the crab shells,” Al explained. “It is called Exoskin Elixir. The skin becomes rigid, depending on the composition of the potion’s basic ingredient. This potion is crafted using various durable materials, but it is essential that they are derived from organic sources rather than stones. For an unknown reason, tree bark is also unsuitable for a potion. The source must be organic and derived from a previously living organism, excluding plants.”

I identified the potion.

Exoskin Elixir
A potion brewed from hard-skinned creatures. Consumption temporarily hardens the drinker’s skin, providing enhanced protection and resilience.

I used appraisal. I already figured out that sometimes I got different information from each.

Exoskin Elixir
This potion, crafted from various hard organic materials, grants the user a temporary hardened skin effect akin to an exoskeleton. It is ideal for adventurers seeking additional protection in battle. Each dose lasts for approximately 2 hours.
Price: 5 gold coins per vial.

“Nice!” I exclaimed, looking at him with raised eyebrows. “Why did you want me to diagnose you while drinking it?”

“I was uncertain about the effects and wanted you to heal me if something went amiss,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah, good idea. It’s always better to be safe. How many potions did you make?”

“Twelve. Three for each of us,” Al said, handing me three vials. “I possess an abundance of crab shells, but I am insufficiently supplied with the other materials. I will not sell this remedy; it is solely for our personal use.”

“Thanks,” I said with a smile, accepting the vials.

After a week of sailing, it felt like we had crossed a demarcation line. The wind grew stronger, and the air had a different “flavor.” I could taste it on my tongue. It was strange—we crossed an invisible boundary, with a calm sea and no wind on one side and wind and choppy seas on the other.

I asked Mahya and Al, “Have you encountered anything like this before?”

Al looked at me with incomprehension, and Mahya tilted her head. “What?”

“This extreme change in conditions from one moment to the next,” I explained, gesturing around us.

Mahya looked puzzled and said, “The wind picked up. You can control it; tell it to calm down if it bothers you.”

“What about the flavor of the mana?” I pressed.

They both stared at me, completely bewildered. It was clear they had no idea what I was talking about.

“Didn’t you feel the change in the mana?” I asked, my eyes darting between them.

They both shook their heads.

“Mahya, tell the boat to turn around and sail back where we came from,” I requested. It was cool that she could control the boat by commanding the core, while Al and I still had to steer it manually.

Mahya turned the boat around, and we crossed the line again after two or three minutes. The wind disappeared, and the sea became utterly smooth. They both stood, looking around with the same expression of bewilderment and incomprehension.

“By what means did you detect it?” Al asked, looking around like he was trying to find the source of the phenomenon.

“The mana flavor changed,” I explained, tapping my tongue to emphasize.

“Flavor?” Al repeated, sounding confused.

“Yeah, you don’t differentiate between different flavors of mana?” I asked, looking between him and Maya.

“I am completely unaware of what you are referring to,” Al admitted, shaking his head.

“I’ve heard of it, but I have no idea how to do it,” Mahya said, shrugging.

“I have a book from Lis that teaches it, but I could do it even before reading the book,” I said, thinking aloud.

“Well, you’re a wizard. It makes sense,” Mahya said, nodding in understanding. “Do you need to do something with it, or can we continue?”

I waved my hand dismissively. “We can continue. I was simply curious.”

After another week of sailing, we were about halfway to the main continent. The weather changed. It started raining and didn’t want to stop. On the first day, it was a gentle spray, which we loved, especially after the terrible heat on the island. On the second day, the rain got stronger, and visibility decreased. It continued non-stop for two whole days. Because of the rain, we had to stay in the boat’s saloon or in our rooms and felt trapped. Rue was the only one who didn’t mind the rain; he spent most of the time on the back deck. I couldn’t understand it. Snow on his paws? No way. Rain all over his body? No problem.

I tried to cheer everyone up with various tasty crab dishes, which were delicious, but by the third day of rain, even that didn’t help. The rain was so strong that our visibility was maybe ten meters from the bow of the boat. We had to slow down more and more until we were sailing at a speed of barely one knot.

On the morning of the fourth day, the rain still showed no signs of stopping. Mahya approached me, looking frustrated.

“Can you put the house on the sea so we can all stretch our legs?” she asked, her voice carrying a note of desperation.

I agreed, but was worried about just putting the core on the water. I didn’t want to lose it, and I wasn’t sure the house could maintain stability in its usual three-story configuration.

I removed the core and instructed it to convert the box it was in into a wooden surface. I threw my inflatable boat over the railing and jumped into it. Placing the core on the water, I instructed it to deploy the house, but smaller, wider, and lower, while holding my fingers crossed it would work.

Well, it sure did. My house unfolded like before, growing from the core in stages. The end result was a stunning two-story structure with enormous windows at the front, providing an unobstructed view of the sea. It had a sleek, modern design with a spacious balcony wrapping around the front and sides. The back of the house had a solid wall where the bedrooms were located, providing privacy and protection from the elements.

Open and airy, the living areas on the lower level had large glass doors that could be opened to let in the fresh sea breeze. The upper level had a more enclosed feel, with additional windows in the library that provided panoramic views of the ocean.

I couldn’t see the pontoons, but after climbing onto the balcony and feeling the structure through the core, I discovered that beneath the waterline, it had a V-shaped hull for better stability, along with several pontoons attached to the bottom. These pontoons provided additional buoyancy and stability, ensuring the house remained steady on the water despite the rain and choppy seas.

I asked the house to grow some posts from the porch to tie the boat to. I helped everyone climb onto the balcony from the boat, and Mahya just jumped from the boat into the house. In the last second, she stored the boat. Well, that was one way of doing it.

We spent three weeks at home drifting in the sea with torrential rain. On the second day, I activated the protective shielding so some ship wouldn't ram us with the poor visibility and made an amazing discovery. The shielding protected the house from rain. Now we could enjoy the balconies and not be cooped up inside. It was an awesome bonus, and I sent a feeling of appreciation to the house. It didn't respond, but I needed to acknowledge its awesomeness.

According to the map, we saw we were slowly drifting south, but it wasn’t a problem. Our original plan was to sail to a place called Ladjan, which was closest to Crystalspire, the capital of Crystalholm, about mid-latitude of Crystalholm. This extended our voyage by three weeks, but we thought it would save us a longer journey through the continent. As we continued to drift south, we got closer and closer to the southern tip of Crystalholm.

Finally, after three long weeks, I felt a change in the mana one afternoon. It took me a while to understand what the change was. I didn’t know the mana flavor of rain because it was very close to water, and I hadn’t taken the time to get to know it in depth. But little by little, this mana dissipated, and the rain got weaker and weaker. It messed with my head a bit. I always thought of the weather as something that depends on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, and other scientific factors. But here, mana controlled the weather. It was something new I had to get used to, and I started getting all kinds of ideas for developing as an elemental wizard.

Towards evening, the rain stopped completely, the sky cleared, and the sea became calm as if nothing had happened. Once Mahya took the boat out and everyone was on it, including me, I took a picture to document this experience for posterity. Then, I headed back towards the house on the E-foil, gave an order to the core to close the house, and watched it fold back up.

We checked the map and saw that we were very close to the southern tip of the continent. According to our estimate, it would take us about a week to ten days to get there. The current hadn’t swept us directly south, but in a south-eastern direction.

After eight days of sailing, we finally arrived at a place called Ram-Son, which, translated from Lumician, meant “land’s end.” I joked to Mahya that I should leave her there since I picked her up at Land’s End in England, so it only made sense to drop her off at Land’s End in Lumis.

She gave me “the look,” shook her head, and said, “You’re an idiot.”

We sailed into the harbor in the evening, and it was the most fantastical harbor I could imagine.

Sailing into the harbor of Ram-Son felt like stepping into a fantasy novel. The place was amazing, with towering buildings that looked like they came straight out of a storybook. Warm, golden lights from the buildings reflected off the calm waters, making everything look magical. Tall ships with big, billowing sails docked along the stone piers, adding to the picturesque view. The buildings were a mix of grand castles and quaint, medieval-style houses, with steep roofs and intricate wooden details.

On the docks, lanterns gave off a soft, welcoming glow, lighting up the cobblestone paths where people were busy tending to their ships or chatting away. The salty smell of the sea mixed with the mouth-watering aroma of food from nearby taverns made my stomach growl. But not all the smells were so pleasant; there were whiffs of rotten fish and damp wood, too, adding a bit of gritty realism to the otherwise magical scene. It was like the harbor had its own unique blend of scents, a mix of the good and the not-so-great that made it feel alive and real.

Above it all, the castle spires stood tall against the evening sky, adding a touch of mystery to the entire scene. It was the most fantasy-world harbor I could imagine, and I couldn’t help but be in awe of its beauty and lively atmosphere.

“Yes!” I said to no one in particular, throwing my arms up. “That’s what traveling in fantasy land should be. Hmm, the island wasn’t bad either.”

Mahya, again, gave me “the look,” shook her head, and said, “You’re an idiot.”

“What?! I’m appreciating the experience. What’s the problem with that?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“It’s a smelly harbor. What’s to appreciate?” she retorted, crossing her arms.

“It’s like from a storybook. It’s awesome,” I insisted, gesturing towards the picturesque scene.

Al came to my defense and said, “Please remember that his travels have been limited to a single world,” patting me on the back.

Mahya shook her head but said nothing.

We stayed for two weeks in Ram-Son. I learned that what I assumed was a castle was actually the city manor of the lord who ruled Ram-Son. After hearing this, my expectations for seeing the king’s castle soared. It should be something truly magnificent.

Even though it was the largest city at the southern end of the continent, it was essentially a large fishing town with limited activities. Almost all the food in the restaurants was seafood, the inns were unremarkable, and there weren’t any attractions interesting enough to make us want to stay longer. I preferred to stay on the boat—it had plumbing—but Mahya and Al wanted to be on land and stay in an inn. After one night in the best inn in the city, which was far worse than the inns on the island, they saw my point, and we relocated to the boat. Since Rue got over his seasickness after level ten, the boat wasn’t a problem anymore.

Plumbing for the win!

Lumis didn’t have the concept of weeks or months; their calendar was based solely on seasons. However, they did have a sort of workaround. They used a decimal system and marked every tenth day on the calendar as a day off. On that day, there was an enormous market in the main square of the city, and the three of us used the opportunity to empty some more contents from our Storage.

The market was packed with people, and within an hour, I sold more than I had sold on the island in an entire season. The line in front of our stands kept getting longer and longer. Al quickly ran out of potions and moved on to selling products from Earth. I stubbornly worked through all the stuff I had “collected” in Vegas; I really wanted to get rid of it. Here, the little shampoo bottles and plates with the MGM logo were a resounding success, but the biggest hit was the toilet paper. It was so popular that fights broke out when people realized I was selling the last packages. Rue had to growl to make them stop fighting.

Despite the city’s lack of attractions, we explored and made the most of our time. Ram-Son looked like a city from a fantastical past. We spent our days wandering the cobblestone streets, marveling at the historic architecture. The buildings were tall and narrow, with intricate details carved into their stone facades. Street vendors lined the sidewalks, selling everything from handmade jewelry to exotic spices, which I bought a lot of to experiment with.

In the evenings, we found cozy taverns to relax in. The warm glow of candlelight and the soft hum of conversations made for a perfect end to our days. We sampled a variety of local dishes, each one more delicious than the last. The seafood was always fresh, and the local brews had a unique flavor that we liked, and Rue was in love with. He convinced me to buy him a few barrels “for the future.”

One day, we stumbled upon a bustling square filled with street performers. Musicians played lively tunes on strange yet fascinating instruments while acrobats flipped and twirled through the air. We watched for an hour, captivated by the performances and the vibrant atmosphere. Rue, my dancing dog, danced to the music. At least here, there were no cell phones to record videos of him.

As we watched, I felt a familiar itch in my fingers. I couldn’t resist the urge any longer. I discreetly looked around, making sure no one was identifying me at that moment, and changed my profile display to Bard.

“I’m joining in,” I said, grabbing my guitar.

Mahya looked at me curiously but didn’t stop me, and Al gave me an encouraging nod. I found a spot among the musicians and started playing along. The crowd welcomed me with nods and smiles. Soon, the music engulfed me, and I let my fingers dance over the strings.

After a few songs, I decided to share some of my own. I approached the band leader, guitar in hand.

“Hey, do you mind if I play some of my songs?” I asked, hopeful.

His eyes lost focus for a moment as he identified me. Then, with a big smile, he said, “We would be honored.”

I nodded gratefully and took a deep breath. “Alright, this one’s called ‘Waves of Wanderlust’,” I announced, activating my Harmonic Illusion ability.

I strummed the first chords and sang, infusing my voice with mana and translating on the fly.

Through the misty morning, I set my sail,
On a path unknown, where dreams prevail.
The ocean’s whisper, a call so deep,
In its gentle embrace, my heart finds peace.

As I sang, a gentle mist swirled softly around us. The illusion of a ship’s sail materialized, billowing gently as if catching a phantom wind. The crowd murmured in amazement, their eyes wide with wonder.

When I hit the chorus, the illusion shifted.

Waves of wanderlust, they carry me,
To distant shores, where I’m meant to be.
With every stomp, my spirit’s free,
In the dance of the sea, my soul’s decree.

Waves formed around the stage, rolling gently as if we were all at sea. The rhythmic motion of the water synced with the beat of the music, creating a mesmerizing dance of light and movement.

With the next verse, the sound of a cello hummed through the air, and seabirds appeared, flying overhead. Their cries echoed, adding depth to the song. Each strum of my guitar seemed to bring the scene to life, the notes weaving together to form a tapestry of sound and sight.

Stars twinkled above us, aligning perfectly along the crest of an illusory ocean. The horizon stretched out infinitely, a promise of endless adventure. The audience was completely immersed, lost in the magical display.

I launched into the chorus again; the waves dancing more energetically this time, matching the rising energy of the song. With a gentle, rhythmic force, the waves intensified, cresting higher and crashing. The illusion made it feel like we were all part of a grand seafaring adventure, our spirits lifted by the music.

As I finished the song, the mist dissipated, the waves calmed, and the seabirds slowly vanished into the night sky. The illusion faded, leaving the crowd in a state of enchanted awe.

The applause was thunderous. I grinned, bowing slightly. “Thank you, everyone. That was ‘Waves of Wanderlust.’ I hope you enjoyed the journey.”

Mahya gave me a thumbs-up from the crowd, and even Al looked impressed. It felt good to share my music and magic, creating a memorable experience for everyone.

I transitioned into “Celestial Tapestries.” The first verse painted the night sky above us with constellations and comet trails. The crowd gasped as the illusions of stars and cosmic bridges appeared, sparkling in the air. By the time I reached the chorus, everyone was staring in awe at the celestial dance playing out above their heads.

Beneath celestial tapestries,
Shed the weight of yesteryears.
In cosmic dance, find melodies,
Healing echoes, free from fears.

As I sang the bridge, I traced comet trails across the galactic night, where nebulas hummed forgotten lullabies. The visual spectacle immersed the audience, making them feel like they were part of the cosmic waltz.

For my next song, I chose “Rise from the Ashes.” With every chord, the illusion of a phoenix rising from the pyre filled the air. Its wings, ablaze with hope, soared above the crowd, leaving trails of golden sparks.

I am the phoenix, rising from the pyre,
Wings aflame with hope, my spirit higher.
In the alchemy of healing, I aspire,
To rewrite my story, set my heart on fire.

The audience watched, mesmerized, as the phoenix burst into vibrant, swirling flames, only to be reborn anew with each chorus.

Next, I played “Phoenix Flight.” The visuals shifted to a phoenix taking flight from the heart’s forge, its feathers glowing with an ethereal light. The illusions danced around the crowd, wrapping them in a story of transformation and renewal.

Rise from ashes, wings unfurled,
Let go of pain, embrace the world.
In flames reborn, your spirit soars,
Healed and whole, forevermore.

The crowd’s reactions fueled my energy, and I ended with “Rage of the Elements.” As I sang, I felt the elements themselves responding to my call. The wind picked up, swirling around us, while small flickers of flame appeared, dancing in rhythm with my song. The ground beneath us seemed to hum with power, and the nearby water rippled in harmony with the music.

Elements, heed my song
Join your voices, wild and strong
Answer the bard’s mystic call
Nature’s power, enthrall us all

The audience felt the elements awakening, adding a layer of raw power to the performance. It was unintentional, and a bit alarming, but also incredibly thrilling.

After I finished, the crowd erupted in applause. I felt a rush of satisfaction, knowing I had shared something special with them. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the street performances and sampling the local food.

One evening, we splurged on a meal at one of the more upscale taverns. The interior featured rich wood paneling and plush seating. We ordered a feast of roasted meats, hearty stews, and freshly baked bread. Rue ate so much that he impressed all the patrons. Some even clapped in encouragement when it looked like he was slowing down. The highlight of the meal was a decadent dessert made from a local fruit that tasted like a blend of peaches and mangoes. It was the perfect way to wrap up our stay in Ram-Son.

On our last day, we hit up the market one more time. The main square was alive with the buzz of haggling and laughter. I sold off some more items from my Storage and joined Al and Mahya for some shopping. Mahya and I found nothing interesting, but Al found some plants he was moderately happy about.

As the sun set on our last day in Ram-Son, we sat at a quiet spot overlooking the harbor. The sight of the ships gently bobbing on the water, with the city’s lights twinkling in the background, was a fitting end to our adventure. We sat there in companionable silence, enjoying the view. Rue put his head on my lap and told me, “Adventures are fun.”

After dark, we set sail out of the harbor and sailed for twenty minutes until we passed the last houses of the city. We dropped our E-foils into the water, got on them, Mahya stored the boat, and we surfed to the shore. After walking for half an hour, we reached the road, took out the bikes and my ATV, and drove away from Ram-Son. I had to admit to myself that I enjoyed every minute in the city.