Coin of Fath...

The hot sun shined upon the deck of the wooden pirate ship.

Alric started to sweat from the heat of the bright sun. His forehead was full of wet sweat.

He wiped his forehead with a piece of his black robs that was covering him, the black fabric soaking the sweat, but new sweat purred down Alric's face again.

Beside him, Melissa remained cool and collected, her sight fixed on the sky, a spark of fire in her eyes.

Albert, however, seemed to be really nervous, his thoughts running wild.

"Let's flip a coin," Albert suggested, his voice a low purr.

Melissa and Alric stared at each other, carefully deciding their next move.

"Very well," Melissa agreed. "We shall flip a coin to decide who will teach Alric."

Melissa's hand disappeared into the folds of her dress as she reached out for a pouch snuck between her breasts.

She then pulled out a small golden coin that was shining under the bright sun.

It was a small thing, an insignificant thing that could barely get bread, but now, it was a very important thing... as small as it was... that coin would choose Alric's path; it was a gamble for him. And he loved to gamble. Not with his future, though...

"What's with her and the pouch between her boobs!?" Alric muttered to himself, the question left unspoken.

Alric watched her closely, looking for any suspicion in the coin. But it was clean... and clear of any suspicion.

He let out a sigh.

"Heads, I will teach. Tails, you will teach," she spoke to Albert, her voice wild. Albert, the ever the lively one, just nodded.

Alric felt a little nervous behind his mask of the 'I don't give a fuck.'

He felt the weight of the importance of the right decision. He was nervous but he couldn't do anything.

Soon Melissa's cold voice echoed through the deck of the ship.

"Three… two… one…" She started the countdown, and the suspense built with every single second.

Alric felt really nervous while watching this happen.

'Why did I even agree to this…? I guess I had no choice,' he thought inwardly, anxiety creeping up him.

The ship was a leviathan of wood and iron.

It creaked with each hit of the large amounts of waves in the ocean. Withstanding each and every blow with not yet a single scratch.

The coin flew in the air, the golden coin shining in the bright sky.

Time seemed to slow down.

Each agonizing second felt like an eternity.

Alric felt a strange sensation as if the very fabric of reality had unfolded, bringing time to a stop.

He saw the coin that was in the air.

The sea seemed a large endless blue, stretched out to who knew where.

For Alric, the future felt uncertain, filled with a mist of doubt.

He watched the coin fall down slowly.

Finally, the coin fell, landing softly in Melissa's soft but strong hand.

She covered the coin with her other hand. Hiding the result.

"Ready?" she asked both of them. Her voice was a low purr and a mix of nervousness, too.

Alric and Albert both gave a simple nod, and they held their breaths out of anticipation.

The deck was silent, too silent; in fact, It shouldn't have been that silent.

Soon the silence broke from a large wave that hit the ship. The ship creaked a little but stood unfazed.

Slowly and purposefully, Melissa began to lift her hand off the golden coin.

Alric felt a little excited, but only a little, he was still nervous.

What if it landed on tails? What if Albert had to teach him? What if it landed on Heads? Melissa would have to teach him? What if, what if, what if...

Melissa was hoping that it would be Heads. Ofc she was.

And soon... the result was in front of her.

"Heads!" she screamed, her voice with joy.

She started to dance, her joyful laugh echoing through the deck of the pirate ship.

On the opposite side... well... was it just Alric, or did Albert seem to have tears in his eyes?

Soon Albert fell to his knees, biting down on his poor handkerchief.

Melissa stopped her dance and turned to Alric with a big bright, beautiful smile on her face. "How much Access do you have, boy?"

Alric hesitated, feeling dought.

Name: Alric Lyra

Class: —

Skills: —

Access: [2]

Abilities: [Leap] —

"It seems to have increased by one," he muttered to himself...

"Two, my Access is two" he replied to her.

Melissa raised an eyebrow. "Only two? Well, I suppose that's acceptable… So, what exactly's powers are you borrowing?"

Alric sighed; he couldn't keep it a secret for much longer anyway, so he decided to come out clean. "The Abyss."

Melissa's eyebrow raised a little higher this time. "Oh… So, what was that stunt you pulled earlier…? I could have sworn you had the power of Teleportation."

Alric scratched the back of his head while he smiled awkwardly.

"Aaaa… That's one of my Abilities… I can leave this world and enter a place where there is nothing… I've decided to call it the Abyss for now. From there, I can return to this world at any point inside of a certain radius."

Melissa's eyebrow raised to its limits this time. "Oh… That's a pretty handy ability."

"It is," Alric agreed with her and a sense of pride spread over him. He looked at Albert, who was still biting down on that poor handkerchief of his.

"In case you didn't know," Melissa spoke with a mischievous smile, "I am also a relic user."

Alric's eyes widened. "Oh... You do? Whats power are you borrowing then?"

"The Sun," Melissa replied with a mischievous smile.

Alric felt a rush of dizziness getting over him. "Wa- wa- wa- wait, what!? The Sun!? Like…" He pointed towards the bright red fireball that was in the sky, his voice shaking. "That sun!?"

Melissa just smiled, enjoying Alric's reaction. "Yes, yes, that sun." And to make it worse.

Melissa pointed at Alric, who was... still biting down on that poor handkerchief, this time behind a barrel, though.

"He is one too, and he is borrowing the powers of wind"

Alric was in shock, at a great shock; his jaw dropped.

'Didn't people used to worship the sun and the wind back in the day?' A simple question arose in his brain; well, he just decided to ignore that for now.

Back in the royal palace, there were barely fifty known Relic users in the entire kingdom, each one of them with great power and influence.

And this… this crew of fucking pirates, they had two… no, three including him. This was absurd.

Alric was no longer just a young boy thrown into a world of danger.

He was a Relic user.

Albert finally recovered from... whatever he had and stood up from behind the barrel.

The ship creaked as its ankers were left to wander in the ocean... not too deep because they were near the shore.

"We're here!" the ship's navigator shouted from the top of the ship, his voice echoing through the ship.

Melissa's joyful smile slowly disappeared, but there was no doubt she was in a good mood.

The truth was that they had gone through a deadly storm and they lost their way because of it.

And after a day of trying to figure out where they were and failing to do so every time...

They saw a sine flaunting up saying "death zone"

And they all knew what that meant.

But Melissa's fucked up brain had to ruin it and she decided that they were going there... one of the lost continents. It was called the death zone for a reason, and surprisingly, even while knowing that reason. Melissa did not give a fuck.

And after a few nights of Alric crying and begging not to come here... they still came.

By now, Alric had accepted his fate, though.

Melissa then turned to Alric.

"Alric... tell me... What does a Relic user do?"

"They kill Titans?" Alric replied quickly, without a doubt.

'Why is she asking that?' Alric wondered

"And what do pirates do?" Melissa asked yet another question.

"They loot?" Alric answered her question.

"And since we are both, Relic users and pirates," Melissa spoke, she jumped off from the deck of the ship and landed perfectly on the soft sand of the shore.

"We do both."