“You want me to train you?”
Anne was stunned upon hearing the merchant’s words. However, thinking about it, his words made sense. If they were to truly encounter one of the lords during their journey, then realistically, he wouldn’t be able to do much.
Information about his incredibly emotive abilities had probably already reached their ears.
All they had to do was get into the water, and his emotive abilities would slash significantly.
In order to stand a chance against them, he truly needed to learn how to fight in the water.
“So…? Will you help me?”
Anne looks at him and sighs.
“What choice do I have?”
They were on the same boat right now. Literally and figuratively.
The stronger he became, the better it was for them.
“That’s good.”
Lazarus’s lips curled faintly as he turned his attention towards the sea.
Staring at him, Anne started to ponder their situation.
“The shortest time it’ll take for us to reach the Remnant South is one month, while the longest can be up to four months, depending on the situation ahead. Along the way, I expect we’ll meet one of the lords halfway. That means you’ll need to be ready by then, within the next month.”
The other lords weren’t the only dangers within the sea.
The Crimson Sea was fraught with all sorts of monsters. Along the way, they’d have to be careful of them.
Although the ship had all sorts of ways to tell if there were monsters near them, it wasn’t always going to detect them.
Not only that, but they also had to maintain a certain speed.
If the boat went too fast, then it would have a higher chance of attracting the monsters.
“Well, let’s get started with your training”
Anne looked at Lazarus up and down before a smile suddenly marred her lips.
She was actually quite familiar with training new recruits.
This process…
She liked it quite a bit, and thinking about how he had ordered her not too long ago, she felt like she was going to enjoy this moment even more.⚫
Anne pointed at the sea below.
“I won’t go too hard on you at the start. For now, just jump onto the waters and start swimming.”
Lazarus’s face remained the same as he looked at her.
It was hard to read what his current feelings were; however, from the subtle twitch of his eyes, he did seem to be starting to regret his request.
Anne’s smile turned into a smirk.
“What? You’re already starting to regret it?”
Lazarus remained silent while staring at her.
Eventually, he closed his eyes and shook his head.
“No, I don’t. However, I’m having trouble understanding how this would help.
I’m a mage. I-“
“You think I don’t know what you’re thinking?”
Anne cut Lazarus off, looking back to see one of her crew members walking to her with a certain book in his hands.
It was a blue book that appeared rather worn out.
Anne grabbed the book and tossed it to him.
“Here.”
Catching the book, Lazarus opened to the first page, where he saw a complex magic circle.
His eyes narrowed as he counted the runes.
One, two, three…
Eighteen.
There were a total of eighteen runes.
‘An intermediate-ranked spell.
“This is an intermediate-ranked spell called [Water Breathing]. Not only will it be able to make you breathe underwater, but it’ll also give you the ability to
speak.”
The spell wasn’t anything big or secret.
It was just the standard spell given to recruits who reached a certain level.
The issue was that it was a [Water] element spell. Meaning that for those who weren’t talented in [Elemental] type magic, it usually took quite a long time to learn.
Thankfully, Anne devised a very useful method to make them learn quickly. “Go on, the water isn’t going to get any warmer.”
Indeed, it was to have the trainees directly jump into the water and try to unlock the spell in such conditions.
She found that most recruits managed to unlock the spell a lot faster this way.
It wasn’t necessarily because she was targeting the merchant, and as if understanding her intentions, Lazarus secretly sighed to himself before he started to remove his clothes.
“Woo~ woo~” @
Anne whistled the moment she saw him take off his clothes and reveal his
perfectly chiseled body.
His body was so perfect it almost seemed to be fake.
This was the first time she had seen someone like this. It inevitably attracted
her attention.
‘Now that I think about it, he does look quite handsome.’
He also appeared to be the same age as her.
Anne whistled again as Lazarus removed everything but his underpants. He merely gave her a glance before opening the book again and looking through the spell. Shortly after he memorized everything, he jumped into the water.
Splash!
And thus, his hellish training began.
One that Anne enjoyed very much.⚫
***
Meanwhile, in another part of the ship.
On top of the wooden railing, staring at the struggling Lazarus as he swam in
the cold red waters, an owl and a cat sat.
“What do you think?”
Owl-Mighty asked, glancing at the sitting cat next to it as it started to groom
itself.
Putting its paw down, Pebble looked at Lazarus.
“He’s starting to lose sight of himself. If he continues like this, it’s very likely
that he’ll remain stuck with this personality.”
“…So you felt it too.”
Owl-Mighty’s tone was grave as it looked at Lazarus.
especially as it was still Lazarus’s will.
The two of them could both feel the changes happening to Lazarus. Pebble,
If the situation continued like this, they were both afraid Julien would
completely fade.
But then again…
“The human is quite capable. He should know what he’s doing. I’m sure he has
some sort of plan to handle this matter.”
“You think so?”
Pebble looked at the owl with a questioning look.
Looking back, Owl-Mighty gave a simple nod.
“Yes.”
“Well, if you say so…”
Though Pebble was still a little worried, he had been with the human long enough to know he was capable.
Wait, worried…?
What-
“It’s such an intriguing sight.”
In the midst of his thoughts, a certain voice echoed, and the two turned their
heads to see a small crab looking at them from below.
A crab?
Pebble’s narrowed before a thought struck the cat.
“Could you be…?”
“Yes, that is me. This form is just a lot more comfortable for me as it allows me to move better.”
The crab was none other than the hive-monster that had helped Julien not long ago.
Seeing it like this, both Pebble and Owl-Mighty were thrown off.
Not for long, as the crab looked at them with an intrigued expression. “I’ve seen a little from your memories… but you must be the three that was able to rank up because of the human.”
Owl-Mighty’s eyes narrowed a little after it heard the crab’s words, but it soon nodded its head.
“That indeed is me.”
The owl didn’t detect any hostile action from the crab.
From the looks of things, it really just wanted to have a conversation with them.
Moving closer, the crab sat on the wooden railing with them as its gaze fell on the struggling human beneath.
In the distance, they could hear Anne shouting.
‘Faster! Faster…! You’re too slow! Keep focused!’
In her hand was a whip.
Wait, a whip…?
Kacha!
The water split apart as Lazarus picked up his pace.
“Oh my.”
The crab looked at the scene with worry.
However, it was to its surprise that neither the cat nor the owl looked at all worried.
As if noticing its expression, the owl answered,
“This is nothing. He’s gone through much worse, and… he likes it when pretty older human women hit him.”
“Yes, yes.” Pebble nodded alongside him.
“…He must be happy right now.”
Kacha!
‘Do you want more?! Faster!
“See?” Pebble raised its paw, pointing at Lazarus while shaking its head, “Look at him slowing down. He’s loving it.”
Indeed, looking down, the crab saw the human slow down.
Kacha!
The whip struck the area next to him.
“Oh…”
The crab had nothing else to say.
It wasn’t familiar with how humans reproduced or attracted mates. This was
most probably their way of doing so.
It felt weird to it, but different races had different means…
“On another note.”
The crab looked at the cat and the owl.
“I saw that the two of you have names. How did that happen?”
“Our names?”
Pebble and Owl-Mighty looked at each other.
Then…
Their expressions started to twist, their eyes squinting and mouths curling into devious grins.
It merely lasted for a split second before they returned to their usual and indifferent selves.
Turning slowly to the crab, Pebble nonchalantly looked at it.
“Oh, yeah… The human gave us names. It’s some sort of custom they have. It’s to pay homage to us in their own way!”
“Oh? Oh?”
The crab listened with interest.
Nonchalantly licking its paws, Pebble continued.
“My name is a rather respected one. It may just seem like a carelessly thought-out name, but it holds great meaning. In the human language, it means power, strength, and unity.”
“Oh!!!”
The crab was fully invested now as the owl nodded quietly.
“The same goes for me.”
The owl’s tone was even more nonchalant.
“My name, on the other hand, is more obvious. The Mighty in my name is there to display my absolute might.”
“Oh!!!”
The crab raised its claws, fully invested.
It was so invested that it didn’t notice the changes in the two animals’ faces as their lips pulled further up.
Finally…
It was finally time for someone to suffer the same fate as them.
They had been naive in the past. Completely oblivious to the human’s sinister naming sense.
By the time Owl-Mighty realized it was too late.
The name had stuck.
Pebble, on the other hand, had been promised a name change, but it never happened.
The pain…
The suffering they went through as a result of their names…
“Do you want a name?”
Pebble’s chest heaved as he looked at the crab, who looked back at the cat. “Name? Me…? I can…?”
“Of course you can. I’ve… kuk… spent enough time in the human world to have learned their customs and naming sense. I am more than qualified to give you a name.”
“He indeed is.”
Owl-Mighty supported from the side.
Pausing for a moment, the crab looked at the two and could see the sincerity in their eyes.
A name, huh…?
It never really thought about it.
However, it didn’t sound too bad.
It was curious.
What would its name be?
Therefore, after a brief moment, it nodded its head.
“Yes, I would like a name.”
“Kekekek.”
“Kukukukuku.”
The expression of the owl and cat contorted even further as the two looked at their vict-crab, gloatingly.
Then…
After a brief pause, Pebble spoke.
“Wobbles… kuk. That will be your name.”