Two days went by in a flash as Wittral behaved the usual way towards Inala, always asking for tea and stories. Today was no different.
Sipping tea while commenting on a piece of art worked on by Inala, Wittral heard a loud noise from outside. His eyes lit up as he eyed Inala’s back for a moment and commented, “The ship has arrived.”
“Right on time,” Inala expressed in joy as he finished the art, blew on it a little to watch it dry, and then packed it. He gave it to Wittral, “This is for you.”
“Really?” Wittral’s eyes lit up in response as he received the art, ‘Bribe to woo me, eh? I’m still aware of your intentions though.’
“Yeah, it’s just for you.” Inala smiled, “Why else would I draw a collage of the Cooter Clansmen on this island?”
“I’ll treasure it then.” Wittral nodded and pocketed it. He then pointed towards the house’s exit, “Then, shall we get going?”
“With pleasure,” Inala nodded and accompanied Wittral outside, slowly making their way towards the shore. There, standing beside a jetty of clouds was a gigantic ship on the level of an aircraft carrier.
Spanning a length of two kilometres and a breadth of four hundred metres, weighing tens of thousands of tonnes was this behemoth of an engineering marvel. It was conical in shape, shaped like a bullet, robust enough to ram into an island and still be fine.
Its sides were completely covered by colourful clouds, propelling it through the Dralh Sea. It had no mast, for the power was generated by a group of Cooter Clansmen stationed within the ship, with each controlling a cloud that actuated the surrounding water.
Standing on the deck as the ship docked with a rumbling sound was a middle-aged man with a bald head that didn’t shine, sporting a matt finish. His body was ripped to the extreme, appearing like a barrel, for he was short, barely reaching 140 centimetres.
As the ship came to a stop, dense steam exited it, creating the background that accentuated his barrelling figure. Possessing cultivation at the 5-Life Stage, he was captain of this ship, one that was responsible for transporting ores and personnel transfer for sixty islands on the outer zone of the Dralh Sea.
With orders from his superior, he had set off well in advance, arriving at Fral Sea 18 days ahead of schedule. From Fral Island, he would visit a bunch of other islands and end the journey at Leh Island, following which he would make a return trip to the interior zone of the Dralh Sea.
‘Is this the Free Human woman?’ He subtly eyed Inala and judged the latter to be unimpressive, ‘What’s so special about her? She’s barely above average in terms of appearance and unnecessarily hairy.’
He didn’t voice out his thoughts and saluted Wittral with respect, “How was your training this time?”
“It went well.” Wittral said and nudged in the direction of the three Gold Grade Pranic Beasts, “They kept me company.”
“Three Gold Grade Pranic Beasts…” The middle-aged man frowned as he stared at their barely peeking figures. Soon, he identified them, “They are Clumped Fingers. No wonder why you’re unable to kill them. They are a menace and too afraid to be in the core of the Dralh Sea. Hence, they roam in the outer zone shamelessly.”
“You needn’t concern yourself with them.” The middle-aged man addressed Wittral, “They won’t dare attack the Cooter Clan…”
“But they did,” Wittral said as his eyes trailed to the side, subtly pointing at Inala, implying that she was the one they were aiming for. “So, we need to be cautious.”
“I’ll ask the Clan to dispatch a team of masters to chase them away later.” The middle-aged man then invited Wittral and Inala to the deck, alongside the rest of the Cooter Clansmen on Fral Island.
A group of Free Humans exited the ship and began to load the ores into it. They numbered over two hundred and formed the bulk of the ship’s labour force.
There were also eighty Body Stage Cooter Clansmen primarily in charge of the ship’s mobility. Another forty Body Stage Cooter Clansmen took charge of the ship’s defence. Well, they were meant exclusively for the ship.
There were around eight to twenty Cooter Clansmen on each island, exchanging places between the ship and the island. Therefore, this reserve force numbered close to a thousand, a staggering sum of personnel.
Some of them assisted the ship’s mobility when needed while the rest took charge of its defence. This way, the ship robustly traversed the Dralh Sea and was the safest and most stable way the Cooter Clan conducted their transport of goods and human force.
Casualties cropped up all the time, but were within tolerance levels. Considering the danger levels of the Dralh Sea, their casualties were usually kept low.
“Do you want to get some rest inside?” Wittral asked Inala upon seeing that he was gawking at the ship’s structure.
“Are you insane?” Inala snapped in excitement and patted the floor on the deck, “I’ve never seen anything like this before. I want to look around more.”
‘That’s genuine excitement.’ Wittral thought as he smirked in pride, “Then, why don’t I show you around?”
Having mingled with her a lot in the past few days, Wittral was able to see through her guise, able to determine when she was being genuine and when she was acting.
“Great!” Inala laughed and began to run around the place.
“Wittral, a moment, please.” The ship’s captain called for him suddenly.
“Give me a moment.” Wittral excused himself and approached the captain, asking, “Is something the matter?”
“That woman,” The captain stared at Inala, “Don’t you think it’ll be better to put her in a room? We don’t want her to implicate our defensive measures…”
“I understand.” Wittral nodded, not in the least displeased, “I’m treating her as a guest. So I’ll be using one of our better rooms.”
Wittral then approached Inala and made an excuse, “It’s not safe here. Why don’t you stay in our guest room for the time being? I’ll bring you to relax around once we’re in safe water.”
“Okay, I understand.” Inala nodded obediently and followed Wittral into a room.
“I’ll return in a while.” Saying so, Wittral closed the door, locked it from the outside and walked away, nodding at a group of guards as he whispered, “Keep watch over her room. In case she attempts anything, restrain her from afar and don’t touch her hands and legs. She’s able to absorb Prana once she activates her Human Avatar, so don’t touch her transformed body parts.”
“Yes, Sir.” The guards saluted in response and stationed themselves accordingly.
Casually sitting in his allotted ‘guest room’ was Inala, unconcerned. He stared to the side, noticing a lack of window on the wall, ‘They’re being very careful.’
Honestly, had anyone else with his ‘established’ power been kept in this place, escape would have been impossible. But for him, it didn’t matter. He had Internal Inertial Gravity. So, if things go south, he could always brute force his way through.
But that wasn’t necessary, as things were mostly going according to plan, since he had accounted for multiple variables. “Now, let’s start.”
He spat out the puppet with Gannala’s voice and activated it, causing it to ring in code.
[I’m Here! I’m…Here! I’m Here! I’m Here! I’m Here!]
“That’s our signal.” Stationed on a farther island, having killed the Cooter Clansmen there was Gannala, springing up in response to the code. Hearing the direction of the sound, she positioned herself accordingly and spat out the puppet of Brangara in human form.
The puppet landed on the shore and released waves of Prana with an indistinguishable signature from the original, even able to mimic the associated pressure. Instantly, the sea rumbled as all the Pranic Beasts—Iron, Silver, and Gold—reacted in response, instinctively fleeing in the opposite direction.
And the direction they fled was toward the ship. Staring at the sea churn in response as a wave of Pranic Beasts moved, Gannala calmed her thumping heart, “This is already on the level of a Minor Crisis.”
Dralh Sea Minor Crisis!