The boat carrying Zich and his companions speedily crossed the lake. No one was rowing or setting up the sail, but the boat continued to move effortlessly.
Pop!
Whenever Zich waved his hand at the back of the boat, there were a series of explosions. The shockwave created by the reaction propelled the boat forward and moved it at a speed that far surpassed the speed of being pushed by a strong wind. Thus, the beginning of the ride went on very smoothly. A few clumps of clouds languidly floated across the sky, revealing most of its bright blue face. Slightly rough breezes caressed their faces, and everything felt peaceful, as if they were going on a picnic rather than a battle. Yet, this period of peace didn’t last for long.
Kaaaah!
A creature appeared with bright yellow eyes, a scaly body, gills sticking out on both sides of its neck, and webbed feet and hands. It was a creature that clearly belonged to the waters and was definitely not human. These creatures clustered into groups and attacked the boat. Some of them splashed around to get on the boat and the rest watched at a distance with their faces half-submerged, looking for an opportunity.
They were mermaids. Although many people thought of beautiful women in the waters when thinking of mermaids, the real merfolk were nothing more than terrible monsters. Furthermore, fighting these creatures in the water was a very difficult task. This was the case for not only mermaids, but most aquatic monsters, since humans were at an environmental disadvantage both on the boat and in the waters.
Yet, even in an environment where they held all the advantages, the mermaids were getting destroyed left and right.
Psh! Another arrow shot through a mermaid’s forehead. Unable to even let out a scream, it sank inside the waters where it had been born.
“I can’t believe those things are mermaids.”
“Didn’t you say your tribe lives near a lake? I guess your lake doesn't have these ugly things in it?”
“Our lake is clean! As if we would let such things enter it!”
Leona shot a series of arrows. She pulled five arrows at once, and even with this incorrect use of the bow, none of her arrows missed their mark. Furthermore, the velocity of her arrows was unbelievable. From afar, viewers would’ve had the mistaken impression that many archers were shooting at once.
“That’s good.” While others were fighting—no, slaughtering the mermaids, Walwiss fumbled around with his staff until he suddenly lifted it up.
Crackle!
A gigantic fireball appeared above the end of his staff.
Whoosh!
In a spot a bit of a distance away from the boat, the water’s surface shot up, and another monster appeared from below. It was a kraken like the one Zich and his previous companions had fought before. The kraken’s tentacles stretched out toward the boat, but before it could make contact, Walwiss’ fireball struck the monster.
Baaam!
A huge explosion blanketed the surroundings with fog and heat. The vigorously pulsing tentacles lost their strength and sank, and after the heat waves dissipated, the kraken appeared into view with its face half blown away. Its remaining parts were also charred black, and it was clear that even a monster with as much life force as a kraken couldn’t survive the last attack. A burnt stench and heat rippled out, and unlike the time it first appeared, the kraken sank into the lake looking battered and dead. Many monsters rushed in after that, but none of them managed to climb over the boat.
* * *
“Were there always so many monsters in this lake?” Lubella asked while looking at the monsters floating around the boat. This was already their third battle, and the monsters that appeared in each battle were different.
“Usually there are some monsters considering the size of the lake, but there are usually not that many. Monsters like the kraken usually live deep in the ocean.”
“The Bellids must’ve done their usual tricks.”
“I suppose it’s to protect their headquarters.”
Then, Lubella stared down the side of the boat and asked, “Getting rid of monsters at this level isn’t difficult, but will this boat be all right?”
Although not a single monster had managed to get on top of the boat, they hadn’t been able to block all attacks aimed at the boat. After continuously receiving the monsters’ attacks, parts of the boat crumpled. The side of the boat Lubella was looking at was so badly broken that unless they brought in an expert, they wouldn’t even be able to come up with emergency measures. Since the boat they were on wasn’t even that big, the damage appeared even more serious.
“A lot of it is really broken.”
“I don’t think we will be able to advance much further like this…”
Leona and Walwiss pondered deeply while inspecting the boat’s condition, and Til also stared at the damaged areas of the boat silently.
Yet, Zich dismissed their worries. “It’s fine.”
His party members looked at him with hope. “As expected of Mr. Zich. If it’s you, I’m sure you prepared a method to repair it.”
“Are you going to fix it?”
Zich tilted his head at them like he was wondering what they were talking about. “Repair? Even if I’m a genius, I don’t also possess the skills to repair a boat.”
Zich was confident in crushing and destroying things, but he had no talent for creating and fixing things.
“Then, what are you going to do? Are you really planning to continue advancing forward with this boat?”
“Of course not. Why would I keep using a boat that will sink in the middle?” Zich responded.
Considering their individual skills, they wouldn’t become food for fish if the boat sank, but they wouldn’t be able to continue their Bellid extermination without a boat either. Zich fumbled through his belongings and took out his magic box.
As if she had a guess as to what Zich was going to do, Lubella murmured, “…Are you perhaps…?”
Zich walked to the farthest edge of the boat while carrying the magic box. A moment later, something humongous popped out of the magic box.
Splash!
It sprayed a huge amount of water when it fell into the lake. However, it did not sink. The object that Zich took out was another boat that looked similar to the one that they’d been riding. Zich turned around and looked at his companions. “Let’s move.”
Zich then jumped into the new boat.
“…I see. If the boat looks like it will break, you just have to get another one. I learned another thing from you.” Walwiss murmured to himself as he saw Zich’s extremely easy solution.
* * *
The voyage continued on. There were several more monster attacks, but Zich’s group easily exterminated them. Several more boats were also damaged, but Zich pulled out a new boat each time.
“There must be a limit to a magic box. How do you keep all those boats?”
At Walwiss’ question, Zich showed the inside of the bag he was wearing around his waist; it was full of magic boxes.
“At least we won’t run out of boats.” Walwiss wondered why Zich had brought a bag when magic boxes existed. He hadn’t imagined that Zich was using it to hold all of his magic boxes. Walwiss shook his head and sat down.
When the sun set and rose about three times, the condition of the lake changed. While the sky was still blue and the wind was cool, the surface of the lake was different. There were whirlpools everywhere, and strong currents overflowed in places where whirlpools didn't exist. The boat that Zich’s party was riding on shook unsteadily. Lubella and Walwiss tightly held onto the ship’s railing. In contrast, Zich, Til, and Leona easily maintained their balance.
“I expected this, but it’s really a strong current,” Walwiss said.
“Mirotel Lake has been famous for its rough currents for a very long time,” Lubella replied and stared at the vortex with a fierce look. “I had no idea that it was something the Bellid bastards made to protect their headquarters.”
Creak! An ominous sound rang out from the middle of the ship. It sounded like the boat couldn't fight back the strong currents and was screaming in pain. There was no need to be concerned about being pulled into the vortex. Zich’s powerful mana bursts thrust the boat forward, and they could easily escape from the vortex. However, the boat’s hull could not withstand the harsh surroundings as the direction and intensity of the currents changed constantly. The boat they were currently on was also on the verge of shattering into pieces and getting swept into the whirlpool.
“Don’t those Bellids also come and go from here as well? Then, there must be a way.” Leona tried to find a gap in the fierce currents with her sharp gaze. However, Zich’s next words immediately shot down her expectations.
“They don’t cross the lake. They use a different and more convenient way.”
“Those sly bastards. I think I now understand why you call them cockroaches.”
“You think so too, right? Why don't we discuss their filthy habits later on?” Lubella asked with the face of a girl who found someone with the same hobby as her.
Leona made a slightly disturbed expression and moved away from Lubella. “Ah, I don’t know that much about them…”
“Please don’t worry. I’ll tell you everything about them in detail.”
“Why don’t you stop, Saintess? Don’t you see how flustered she is?” Lubella was so terrifying that even Walwiss took Leona’s side even though he always bickered with her.
Then Zich asked, “Mr. Til, you saw how I’ve been moving the boat, right?”
“Well.” There was nothing special about what Zich did. Anyone with great mana control and a lot of mana could do what Zich did, so Til nodded easily.
“I’m going to make a path, but it won’t last for long. So while I’m making a path, please move the boat right away. It doesn’t matter if the boat breaks, so try to move it as fast as you can.”
“Did you say…a path?”
“You’ll know right away when you see it.”
“Got it.”
“Do you have some kind of plan?” Walwiss asked with curiosity, reflecting the curious nature of mages once again.
Zich shrugged. “I’m just going to push through with my strength.”
Zich jumped from the stern of the boat into the lake. Jumping into a lake where the currents were so intense that they could easily crush a boat seemed like suicide, but Zich’s body didn’t sink. He stood firm, stepping lightly on the surface of the lake as if he was standing on solid ground. Zich pulled out Estellade.
Ziiiiing!
As he injected mana into Estellade, it let out a strong resonance. The mana changed into light, and it brightly illuminated its surroundings as if another sun was floating on top of the surface of the lake.
Zich slowly raised the sword. He steadied his breathing and circulated the mana all over his body. His eyes turned to the surface of the raging lake and the horizon beyond it.
“Hmph!” With a short cry, Zich moved all the muscles in his body and made the mana in his body explode. Estellade dropped in a neat and straight line, and the light divided the world in half.
Baaaaaam! The lake that threatened the party with its rough currents split in half as if it was running away left and right. The white foam covering the sky was an image straight out of an old legend.
The empty space was torn apart, and an island appeared in view.
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