One day before Raphael's arrival on the island of Dormyrrs, a place where he would almost meet his demise at the hands of a giant, a certain Ghostship sailed across the rough ocean waves.
The fresh morning sunlight shone down upon the sea, reflecting the rays of golden brilliance into a blond boy's eyes.
His hands tightly gripped a freshly purchased fishing rod as the line bobbed up and down in the water below.
To his left, a sizeable blue crab held a smaller rod within his claws, fishing alongside the boy to pass the time.
After the departure from Corvassa, the pair had been relentlessly competing against one another to see who could catch the biggest prey; however, so far, only Mr. Crab had been successful.
Aaron's only claim to fame was a mid-sized Drawskin that was infected with a disease, causing pustules to appear along its surface.
He had thought of trying to eat it; however, a weird look from the crustacean made him reconsider the idea.
Less than one week remained in his mission contract, and the pressure had begun to set in as he sailed aimlessly through the ocean.
"Dammit! Where the hell are these terrors!"
Standing up and throwing down his rod, he looked off into the distance, only seeing rolling fog covering the horizon.
Perhaps the map will indicate if something is nearby…
Sighing gently, he rolled his eyes before carefully picking up the fishing pole he had thrown, inspecting it for damage.
After making sure it still would function, he left it to bob in the waves while he left to inspect the map table inside the cabin.
Mr. Crab simply gazed at him for a moment before returning to his intensive fishing journey, a task he had placed upon himself.
Aaron wore a thin layer of clothing that allowed the ocean breezes to air out the fabric, cooling him even in the fall heat.
Strapped to his waist, he wore an empty sword sheath, one he could pretend to place his magical weapon in if needed.
His chestplate that Ezra had damaged before he had left still had tiny dents caused by the bullets; however, he still kept it under his shirt as added protection.
The weight of the object was immense, yet with the training Cam had subjected him to, it felt light as a feather.
So as he walked briskly towards the cabin door, he stumbled slightly as the hefty item groaned beneath his tunic.
As he cracked the doorway and stepped inside, he felt a slight tingle in his heart, a residual effect of the Apex Naelith that dwelled within his soul.
While its voice was hushed on the Ghostship, the life-stealing properties still ripped away his lifespan continuously every second.
Why couldn't I just use you to complete the mission…
Shrugging his shoulders slightly, he felt the creature within his mind let out a groan before silencing itself under the weight of the ship's presence.
Aaron's leg brushed against the desk chair as he pressed himself against the wooden table, unfurling the thick parchment.
He had last checked it a quarter of a week ago as he passed a strangely ominous island basked in fog.
On the map, it was depicted as a large red sculpture that resembled a giant, along with a few hundred magenta dots.
Obviously, the thought of the prey he needed being on the island invigorated him; however, something inside him warned him otherwise.
Mr. Crab's own sentiments seemed to reflect this, with the crustacean snapping his claws at the boy after he placed his finger on the location.
Taking the hint, the boy decided that the creatures on the island might've been regular animals that lacked a level high enough for the mission, prompting him to continue forward.
In the present day, however, as he gazed downward at the map, an unusual sight appeared before him.
Located at his position, there was no difference from normal; the Ghostship tag itself moved slowly across the parchment with its turquoise sails glowing even on the paper.
What truly startled the boy was the large change to the terrain only a kilometer and a half ahead of the vessel.
Pitch-black ink covered a majority of the map along with blood-red letters written in a language unknown to Aaron.
Inside the black space that lay ahead, he watched as hundreds of markers glowed to life, darting around in a frenzy as if sensing the Ghostship's presence.
Something the boy had noticed throughout his travels was the differences in the size of the markings that appeared.
The larger they were, the stronger the creature was.
So as he watched the symbols move around, his mouth fell agape at the various ones that outgrew even his own hand in size.
T-Those are real monsters…
Fear mixed with excitement bubbled up in his chest as he stared at the darkness that could only be one thing.
The Abyss is worse than I thought… Even the lowest levels here look like they are mid levels, while the strongest could be Apexes…
As the words coursed through his mind, he felt a tug at his subconscious, a sign that the nicer force that spoke to him had stirred awake.
『Aaron… Don't go further… You'll die…』
Her words were brief and to the point, allowing her to quickly resume her deep slumber that drew mana straight from Aaron's core into her blade-like form.
The blond boy quietly thanked the girl before turning his attention back to the map, noticing an odd discrepancy at the farthest reaches of the image.
Is it… changing…?
Scrawled in messy ink, the words written across the black void warped and rippled like they were being scrubbed away.
In a hurried motion, another grouping of strange words appeared in the top left of the image, this time with different brush strokes representing different words.
These ones, however, struck something inside Aaron, who had kept up to date with the books filled with Eleanor's notes that she had left him before departing.
Magma… Home…
Furrowing his brow, he moved his face closer, confused about what the seemingly impossible-to-connect words meant.
"Is this some kind of code or…"
Squinting carefully, he noticed a strange symbol of a volcano located below the marking, allowing him to put together a theory.
Is magma at home in a volcano? Why would the map tell me this, though—
His thought was cut off as his vision blurred, blinded by a vast turquoise light that encompassed the entire chamber.
The world spun as he turned around, prepared to summon Penelope to his side even in her weakened state.
Its…
There was no person, nor creature lurking behind him, only a small cabinet that was bolted to the wood like always.
Aaron widened his eyes in surprise, nearly doubting his own vision as he gazed upon a single white piece of paper that rested atop the furniture.
Instead of the few words that remained like before, a new sentence in modern tongue had been carefully written across the parchment.
Rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't making up things, the boy reached out, touching the thin sheet and picking it up.
Looking around for anyone or anything that might've placed it there, he saw nothing but an empty room.
Even Mr. Crab, whom he could see outside the cabin, didn't look like he had moved an inch since the light appeared.
Turning his attention back to the paper, he slowly began to read it aloud, making sure he wasn't imagining it.
"For you, the one who arrives here. While crows sing endless melodies, the sea churns with horrors beyond our understanding. The holy tribunal awaits sentencing, and the night of the heavens yearns for death."
As he finished the short excerpt, Aaron simply pursed his lips, thinking deeply on the words written before him.
This isn't the same as before… It was an activation phrase when I awoke the first time, but now it's literature?
Furrowing his brow as he dove deeper into thought, he came up with a few likely possibilities related to the note.
The first of which was that these were articles written by the Old Man in the Abyss that he had somehow sent to the boy.
The possibilities seemed unlikely, however, since he could communicate normally in most regards, so the need for paper letters was strange.
This logic pointed him in another direction that he found more plausible, in which these were manifestations of the Ghostship itself.
Arriving at the borders of the Abyss activated something hidden within the vessel's origins that caused the letter to be brought to the boy's attention.
While this was far more likely than his previous theory, it still lacked any real explanation of what the words meant.
So, as he came up with his third and final idea, he realized with confidence far over what he should have, that he was completely lost.
What the hell am I supposed to do with this!? The crows sing melodies? Horrors churn in the waves? Wow, I could never have figured that out! And some holy tribunal awaits sentencing? Aren't tribunals the ones who sentence things, not the ones being sentenced?
Groaning to himself, he placed the paper down on the table, looking up at the ceiling just to make sure no strange liquid would ruin it this time.
It was at that moment that another strange thought occurred to him, one he had overlooked before.
The old paper…
Whipping his head around and looking up at the old shelf that he had placed the parchment atop, he felt a strange stir from under the Ghostship.
That's odd…
Balancing himself across the table, he looked down halfheartedly, taking a quick glance at the map table.
Directly under the marking of the Ghostship, instead of being empty water, a marking about the size of a coin circled the area.
"Oh shi…"
Just like that, the vessel in which this blond-haired boy had travelled for months took flight.
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Author's Note: Dear Readers. Thank you all for 100 chapters of