"What in the world happened?" Grodin exclaimed in the morning, seeing the island that had turned into a dune overnight. Robin and Grodin were standing at the bow, staring at the island in horror. The group from Minas Mar arrived soon after, following his scream.
Seeing the desertified island, three heads turned to the only person they knew who could use
"Oh, no! Something must have happened on the island at night. Good thing, we kept our distance," the bard blatantly lied with played relief, ignoring the scrutinizing gazes of the three ladies. "We should raise our altitude when we continue," he suggested.
Grodin swallowed. "I guess you are right. Even if things look calm, you would never know. I guess the scout teams didn't return for a reason..." the knight mumbled, and he finally stepped back from the railing. "I will move us away a little further. We can set off after breakfast."
"I have prepared breakfast in the dining room. I hope it is okay that I used some of the ingredients in the cold cupboard," Robin spoke up at this point. Cold cupboard was probably what he called the magitech cooler installed in the ship's kitchen.
"That's okay. I'm curious to experience the culinary skills of an imperial aide," Monique said gently, having realized that it was her time to speak up, as the figurehead of the group. They went to the dining room and had a taste of Perrerian's cuisine, which was quite okay before continuing their journey.
Alcin Prime, the biggest island, was beyond a minefield of islands and reefs. Not all islands were empty, but the most frightening was probably the sea below them. Apart from the reefs, they saw maelstroms and rapids. At one point, they even saw a massive shadow, which they thought was a depth, move, exposing itself as a massive beast lurking below the surface.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Three aura spears reaped the lives of three lv.68 Sky Carps that were aiming for their vessel. It was a good thing they didn't use the flying ship as an actual ship, although they could. Although they escaped the dangers of the sea, the air was not without dangers either. However, they were much more managable for their party.
As the carp fell into the sea, they were already awaited. Massive jaws, darted with sharp teeth, emerged to welcome the fresh meal. It was a humongous shark with a skirt of tentacles hiding its tail. One carp disappeared in its maw; the other two were caught by the tentacles.
"Could that be one of the previous scout teams?" Fin suddenly asked, as the monster dived back into the waters between islands. The fairy was pointing at a wreck at the shore not far ahead. It resembled the vessel they saw at the harbor, before it exploded in front of their faces.
They quickly drew the line between the wreck that seemed bitten in half and the pair of jaws that just munched the Sky Carps. "I know we already raised altitude, but I think we should get a little higher," Mina suggested.
While the vessels of the Perrican Empire were flying only a certain distance from the ground, it was because they couldn't get higher; the only reason they were flying so low was so everyone could enjoy the view.
Once they raised altitude, it was only Seth who could scan the islands they passed. Unlike the first they came across, these were really overflowing with dungeon monsters he was perfectly capable of appraising with
There were a lot of rather common dungeon fiends roaming the islands, ranging from orc and goblin villages to spider forests and wolf dens. The most common were a variety of oversized beasts, holding territories like some kind of lords. These guys ranged in the 80s or had a big group following them.
So far, the Auk Archipelago posed no threats to the Party from Minas Mar. It was a different topic altogether when talking about forces from Perrican. They would need an army of dungeon busters to try and reconquer this place... Or an army of golems.
Apart from the sky beasts like flying fish monsters or big birds trying to attack the vessel and becoming fish food for the water-bound critters below, their journey was calm, and they soon reached their destination.
"That's it! I can see the Alcin Peaks on the horizon," they heard Grodin call out. Seth's gaze followed his excitedly pointing hand to find the island he was pointing at. Appearing on the horizon were the tips of four mountains connected by a long dark line.
It actually took up a huge part of the horizon in front. If that was the main island's landmass, it was several times the size of the small islands dotted across the sea summed up. The blacksmith checked his>
It grew thicker as they got closer. By the time they could see the beach, the
Their aim was the base of the manta ray's bent tail, where the island formed a bay. The port city of Grant Auk, the central city of the archipelago, was previously situated. The stories of the beast with a petrifying gaze came from the survivors who managed to flee from this place.
It had only been a couple of years, so the city was still there when they arrived. Although partially destroyed, the once splendorous houses with their white facades and red roofs kept most of their beauty intact.
Arriving from the harbor side gave the scenery another, more surreal layer. The docks of the harbor were filled with statues. People frozen in their moment of greatest despair, desperately trying to reach the boat, doomed to never reach it.
Through the clear water of the harbor, they also saw those who reached the boat. Filling the shallow waters of the bay were completely petrified ships, filled with people who had thought they had already safely escaped, only to be turned to stone and claimed by the sea.
It was crazy and horrible, but also a very fantastical and new sight, even for people like Fin and Seth who had seen quite a bit on their travels. The ship had stopped at some distance from the harbor, and Grodin had joined them at the bow.
Since then, they had been staring at the place in silence for a long couple of minutes. The signs of petrification were blatantly obvious.
"I guess we are in the right place," Seth finally commented, earning the gazes of everyone around.
He simply shrugged and began by releasing a swarm of golem eyes that flew to the harbor.
"What are those?" Robin exclaimed, a little shocked, seeing a bunch of balls suddenly hovering toward the city.
"Just some golem to scout the place," Seth explained succinctly. Although he had a kind of clairvoyance thanks to Theia's Vision, he could look everywhere or see everything. It was easier to let the golems search the creature and alarm him if they did.
"There are a lot," Robin mumbled. Seth furrowed his brows.
"It's a big place. It would take ages if I only sent a couple..." he said, not realizing that they were speaking past each other. Although they had arrived, it was not yet time to land. While the golems searched for the gorgon, it was time for lunch.