YM778.TV Chapter 51: The Ghost captain
Awakeners avoided looking at him. From their position in the back, Jael watched as the man was isolated, and he finally got it: \'He\'s on his own\'
The spirit floated closer and the air vibrated from the aura that coiled around their small frame. Every Awakener flinched from the aura that felt like razor to the flesh.
"No, no, no, no!" The man started to shuffle backward, his face drawn and eyes wide. "Leave me! I\'m not the only one that complained! Take them too! Please! Please....!!!!"
Jael, and every awakener, shivered when the spirit spoke, voice rolling like the aftermath of a thunderstorm. "You filthy human! You dare touch me! Your existence is no more needed on this plane!"
The spirit spread their hand as if they were reaching out to pluck something out of the sky and then clenched their fist. A ripple followed, and the air around the man distorted.
With a wet crunching squelch, the man was squeezing together, bone and all. Blood fell like rain and formed a big puddle as the flesh was wound tight together. He fell down to the ground with a thud; the flesh has been ground together with the bones and blood to create a flesh ball.
A shiver passed through the Awakeners. What the spirit just did casually can\'t be the power of Iron rank; just how powerful is this spirit, and where is this place?
They looked from the flesh ball and then up at the spirit and gulped, their face pale as they realized one wrong foot, and they were gone.
\'Are we really in a zone?\' Jael swallowed.
The spirit spoke again as if they hadn\'t had to squeeze someone to death without even trying. "Then we proceed! Now go and prize your way across the sea! And don\'t forget my warning, only ten ships!" With a small bust of blue light, the spirit disappeared.
"Come on," Temur said grimly.
He led the way, his bulky clearing a path out of the mass of confused Awakeners. "How many coins do we have, Jael?"
Jael didn\'t know, and he said as much, so the first thing they did before they reached the Captains was have Litha make a shield around them, and then, with the others blocking their view, they counted the coins.
"Wow. Jael. You come through again just like when you brought all those monsters back from the test." Litha\'s eyes widen.
Temur grunted and smirked, so Litha couldn\'t it to herself. Jael was increasingly surprising her. "Good one. We have a total of two hundred and sixty coins. That should be enough to secure our passage over the sea."
He looked over at Jael, lifting a bulk of the coins. "Are you okay with this?"
He shrugged. "It\'s for the team."
Temur led them quickly over to a ship, he looked around the ones arranged around before he eventually picked a warship that was made of green metal. "How much for a safe passage over the sea?" He asked the captain.
The captain was a big gritty man with eyes of worn steel that looked them over. His body looked human, but they could see through his body as if he was a ghost. "I don\'t offer safe passage."
"But you\'ll keep the ship moving?" Litha asked.
"My job is to take you to the other side, but that is if you pay me reasonably. What will happen on the sea is entirely up to you." His voice carried no emotions.
Temur was getting a feel of what was going to happen; the ship would probably continue to move forward until it was stopped by anything. "How much for passage?"
The Captain sniffed the air. "Give me three hundred green coins."
Temur opened his mouth but Litha cut in, frowning at the captain. "We won\'t give you more than one hundred!"
The captain looked at her sharply, his eyes narrowing, but that only made Litha return his gaze unflinching. He recalculated. "Two ninty."
"One fifty."
"Two seventy."
"One ninty, take or leave. We\'ll go to another warship; they seem to be a lot around here."
"You won\'t see a better ship that has sailed the high wind better than this. And my speed is no joke and I even have a boost. Take it two hundred or you can go and bother another captain." He snorted.
Litha smiled, she didn\'t know what a boost is but. "When can we start going?"
They moved soon after and were part of the first Awakeners to sail. Some Awakeners with little coins joined together and bought passage, while those who had enough bargained with the captains.
Most of the more stronger freelance Awakeners put their coins together for a warship.
Right there on the beach, fights broke out as Awakeners began to steal from each other for coins.
Either way, the sea was soon filled with the creaking of wooden ships and the cracking of metal ones. Ships of all kinds dotted the surface.
"I count thirty-seven ships," Jael said. "But others might be coming after...oh... thirty-six now." A wave rose and slammed into a cannon, sending it tumbling into the sea.
Temur nodded. "Litha!"
A barrier shield flickered to life around them, humming with static energy as Litha used all her strength to cover the warship– her job was to maintain the shield at all times as they focused on speed.
Cele and Tim stood at the helms, one at the front and the other at the back of the ship– they are their long-range attackers.
Fortunately, they couldn\'t bother the crew as they went about their job because they could just walk through their translucent body.
Jael breath a sigh of relief. "Finally. Some peace and quiet since we entered this forsaken zone."