Chapter 8: Pashwater

Chronoguard a big coastal city and the most advanced city on the continent of Adur, is buzzing with people as workers hauled large barrels and cages on a giant ship.

"Stop being a dry daruk, and get that oversized Seamori repellant on board!" Shouted a gruff man standing on top of a crate. "The ship is going to sail in 3 days for the harvest fest! So get your ass moving! I don´t want to have to haul you out of the crew for being a damn dry daruk!" The shouting was loud and as gruff as his appearance, but his uniform indicated that he was of high rank with all the ornaments.

A pair of young men, if barely, pushed a large cloth-covered cage towards the ship. Many others grunted and complained about the shouting man. "Tss, all he can do is call us a dry daruk, he probably hasn´t been on the open sea for years." grumbled a young man wearing a blue seaman uniform with golden accents. Taking a deep breath he continued to push the metal cage forwards.

"Shut your trap Bruce. I don´t want to get kicked out of the crew because of your loud mouth." whispered a young blond man next to him. "I have been waiting for this moment my whole life, don't ruin this for me."

"Pah, you still believe that there is something out there? All those stories about another continent made you too hopeful We probably would just get mauled by the sea drakes."

"Those aren´t just stories, they are real facts passed down from generation to generation."

"No different to just stories..."

"...shut up, there is plenty of evidence that there is another continent out there."

"Like the strange crystal that you got?"

"It´s not a strange crystal, it is the Wingert heirloom, an intricately crafted energy core with runes we have never seen. Not even my grandfather could crack its secrets. The way it functions is just too advanced for us."

"But you know what, Liam?"

"What?"

"I don't care about all that, I just want to sail around the sea for a few months and get the large sum of money."

Just as Liam wanted to talk back a loud voice boomed next to him.

"Less yapping and more pushing you two! I don´t need gossiping girls on my ship, I need competent Seaguards!"

The gruff man stood next to the two with folded arms, his large frame is quite an intimidating sight.

""Sir, yes sir!!"" shouted the two before continuing on pushing the cage.

The man huffed and walked away mumbling something about dry daruks.

Bruce and Liam managed to push the ship on board where a bespectacled man oversaw the whole loading procedure. "Good good, that is the fiftieth." Writing something on his clipboard.

"Damn that was hard, what is even in those cages, stones?" asked Bruce breathlessly.

"Close," said the man while pushing his glasses up. "The cages hold Hulkas."

"Hulkas, really? Why!"

"You haven't listened to the briefing we've got..." said Liam incredulously.

Hitting bull's eye Bruce sheepishly looked away and scratched his head.

The bespectacled man sighed, but explained anyway, "Hulkas produce a special secretion that sea drakes, especially Seamoris, are disgusted by. It will keep off the majority of them, but sadly their secretion only last for 24 hours before losing its effect. And every try to preserve its effect failed. So we need them alive onboard, and harvest them as we go."

"Oh, thanks for explaining, officer Bright!" said Burce with a salute.

The man nodded and pointed towards the bay. "Now get your asses moving and haul those planks on board. There is still plenty of work left."

The two saluted and got to work.

...

The harvest day eventually came and the boat was fully loaded, All 16 sails were lowered and the two giant engines were already heated up, ready for its debut.

The harbor was brimming with people, many kinds are here for the great announcement and the lively festival. Stalls and stands are already filled with customers and the air was a joyous one. The festival hasn't officially started, but many people still came in early to hear the opening ceremony.

On the bay, a large podium was temporary build many important people gathered there.

A man dressed up in a fine silk blue suit and matching pants stood in front of the podium. A device in front of him amplified his voice so that even the farthest people listening could hear him, "On this glorious day, I Mangro Dekart Hilbert, will officially announce the start of the 348th Harvest Fest!." Saying so, the middle-aged man spread his hand wide.

Claps and cheers drowned the whole bay.

He stopped and waited for the loud applause and cheers to end.

Seeing the crowd slowly calm down, his cheerful expression turned serious."But that isn´t all. I have something important to announce."

Clearing his throat he began.

"Long have our ancestors told us about a time when mysterious traders from a different continent traded with our people. They brought us many artifacts, items, and technology that was far beyond our time. Our ancestors have speculated that they came from somewhere out of the Great Northern Sea. An outrageous claim, as the ocean is filled with sea drakes. But the fact that those mysterious travelers existed is undoubtedly true, some families still have some artifacts in their possession and some even have their blood." Many fancy-clad people in the audience nodded. "And not long ago with the Ray of Kayle appearing, we finally got our answer! There is another continent out there!"

The people burst out in commotion, shouting and whispering about the new discovery, already starting to gossip about what might be there. True, the whole world hasn´t been mapped yet as the dangerous seas made traveling between continents difficult. But to find one just next to them was hard to believe.

"We, the council, have long prepared ourselves to find a way to traverse the Great Northern Sea in search of undiscovered land, but now we definitely know that there is something out there. For decades, we have put the best tinkerers, shipwrights, rune crafters, mages, inventors and many other masters of their crafts to design and built a ship that could do just that. And after so many years of waiting, I can finally say that we have the result of centuries worth of sweat, blood, and tears!"

Making a dramatic stop, he continued.

"I will present to you the PASHWATER a state-of-the-art rune-engined exploration ship!!"

In the port, a ginormous 350-meter-long and 80-meter-wide steel and wooden ship appeared seemingly out of thin air. It was vailed in illusions and concealments for this moment. The ship had 16 large blue sails with the Chronoguard sigil on them and two large mana engines poking out from the middle of the ship. 7 building-sized cannons were mounted on the front back and sides of the ship, covering every angle. While dozens of different mana gun turrets and other weaponry were placed in tactical positions. The whole ship was 6 stories high and could carrier over 5000 people. It was an impressive sight, as hundreds of thousands of runes were graved into almost every inch of the boat.

The people who were seeing the ship for the first time are gobsmacked, and couldn´t even utter a single word. It was nothing like the ships they have seen before. Even the royal fleet combined wouldn´t be as impressive as the Pashwater.

"In exactly 5 hours the Pashwater will set out and sail into the unknown sea. But until then enjoy the harvest fest." With that said he made a small bow before exiting the podium with a silent crowd.

...

Leaving behind Alpha and Beta he now headed towards Fort Granda. It was the place where one of the final battles took place, right at the edge of the Sakata Empire and the Dragon Hills.

The place was so decimated that even till now the ambient mana was dangerously poisonous. Life there was scarce. But it always finds its way, so that place became a mana beast zone, where the few animals that survived there managed to mutate and form a core.

The walk there was slow, he navigated through the desert by using the stars and his memories. After a few weeks of walking day and night, he finally reached the place.

Standing on a small hill he oversaw the decimated place.

'I hope it is still there...' thought the lone sand golem, as the oversaturated mana formed some kind of dome over the area trapping it in place.

He could already hear the fighting and rumbling from here. A few of his comrades ventured in there, but only a few ever made it out alive to tell the tale. #11077 was one of them, but he hasn´t been there for at least two decades, and he was there for only 4 hours before his core almost got corrupted.