Master Of None

The potential threat of a monster species that had the same ancestor as the merfolk had made Walker think a lot. He knew that he had to rest while there was a chance. Such a threat could appear anywhere at any time or not at all. It wasn’t a predictable thing unless he had some sort of future sight skills and even if he did, anyone with those skills would be the first to tell everyone of the massive downsides that came with them.

The idea that a species could branch off over time was simple. It was clear in the horned rabbits and the rabbit jacks. They had once been from the same species. Even some monsters changed over time, their ancestors being regular animals without the mana that made them monsters. But that was unique.

The merfolk being from an older species made sense. They had a word of mouth history of being in the deeper oceans. But they could not survive there as they were now. That meant that their bodies had to have been different. They had to have more strength to resist the pressure, coldness of the water, and even more dangerous things that were in the deeper waters.

Knowing that the Adaro were a distant cousin of the merfolk made some sense. They had given up the intelligence through the years and become monsters with tougher bodies. If the merfolk had not focused on survival with intelligence, they could have remained in the open ocean as well. There were positives and negatives of everything.

Knowing that the ancient race that had created the ancient ruins and origin runes also lived to know of the intricate ways of the world was an important puzzle piece. Walker was sure that following their footsteps and chasing the demon lord would bring them to a lot of puzzle pieces and answers.

The ancient race was surely still alive in some fashion. Some may have left the world as they knew it for another plane of existence. That was already recorded in some fashion based on what the party and researchers had found. Yet, the real trick was where they found that the ancient race had split itself.

Two cities with two different paths of belief. One that focused on the origin runes and the natural ways of the world. Another that focused on what was outside the natural world. The unique skills and unique affinities. They may have clashed at times but no war had been recorded meaning that they ended up respecting their opposing thoughts. This was just Walker’s theory though.

”Helloooo.” The nudge that came to Walker’s back was a curious Alice. She half sang the greeting which was definitely not the first she had offered. But Walker had been so lost in his thoughts that it was easier to say that he was meditating under the sinking sun.

”Sorry, I was caught up thinking about how things change over years and years. I feel like it is making me closer to natural mana. If I could say anything…well, naturally mana might be changing the world.” This was just a gut feeling for Walker but Alice readily nodded her head.

For whatever reason, she had managed to grasp a few key ideas while being around people that studied these things. The researchers that came to her with ideas about light elemental mana had not been few in numbers. They had come to her because they research origin runes and heard of her natural affinity to attract light elemental mana. That alone was something they hoped would enlighten them.

But even more, Walker had always been open to sharing his thoughts. Therefore, Alice had a general idea of what manas were and how they worked. Could she influence other elemental manas? Not really. But she could still understand them as she heard things. Anyone could gain knowledge, that was the best part of living. The world was always full of new things to learn.

”Could be. The world is changing all the time.” Alice sat down next to Walker and leaned against him. He could only nod along. It was clear that Alice had been hard at work preparing some additional bandage wraps in case they were needed. There were plenty of little strings stuck on her clothes from the work.

The two managed to take the time in silence and watch the sun set beyond the waves. All that was left was a silent night and a wide open sky full of stars. Many of the soldiers and crew that had never been on the open ocean were caught by the sudden change. The stars seemed to stretch out endlessly. Some were even slightly reflected in the waves that lapped the sides of the ship.

The moon that rose made everyone wonder if the moon they had always seen was actually larger. The vibrant white light that came off of it was almost welcoming. If they didn’t all know that there was danger under the waves, they would have believed this to be the safest place in the world.

As if waiting for the chance, Walker saw the slight bursts of light deep under the waves. ”Those must be the sun bathing fish. They are heading deeper in the water to hunt now that they have absorbed the light all day.” Walker stood and pointed out the little burst of light to Alice. The sight was another level of wonder.

The changes weren’t only there. In the distance, there were more solid portions of light that glowed in blues and greens. The odd purple here and there also surfaced. From the conversations around, the experienced sailors told them that they were various seaweeds, monsters, and even some extremely distant islands that held rare plants.

Naturally, when Remey made it to the top of the ship, she was drawn in by this. But when she found that the islands could take weeks to get to it stumped her. ”If they are that bright here, what can they do? Why do they do that?”

This question was what Remey wondered. Luckily, there always seemed to be a sailor with more knowledge. ”Those plants are called beacon ferns. They glow all day and all night but when they are touched they flash like that to make whatever is eating them run away. They don’t do much other than that but wherever little island or rock outcropping they are on has monsters around it.”

This was even more of a deterrent. Remey just shook her head. Even if the beacon fern was useless for alchemy, it would be useful to cultivate as a night time guardian of sorts. ”They drift on the surface of the ocean. I will have the young ones keep an eye out for them.’ This revitalized Remey’s spirit before she gave the older sailor a tough pat on the back and a promise to share potions with him.

Walker felt lucky to watch this all happen. He didn’t think Remey would be leaving the alchemy lab for a breath of fresh air at all. She would have normally been fully absorbed by the potions she was making. She had plenty of affinity potions to make but they had all been set aside to enjoy the night.

The more Walker looked about, the more he realized that everyone was doing the same. The royal dragons, dragonkin, demi-humans, merfolk, dwarves, and even the tamers had all stopped. They had to enjoy the peace while they could the small moment of calm and beauty while they were on their journey to an unknown land.

As far as any of them were concerned, the entire night could pass like this. But the ocean was a big place and had a lot of different things living in it. That was why Walker paid a lot of attention when small floating white dots began to surround the ships.

’Lunar algae

The lunar algae is a type of algae that can only grow when the moon is out. It absorbs the moonlight to grow at a rapid pace. In a few hours, it can become a mass of solid algae that traps anything that it grows around. The monsters that feed on it often crawl on top of it to eat the small bubbles of softer algae that begins to decay in the sun.’

A simple all around appraisal that held a lot more worry than he thought. The entire ocean around the shops was floating with these little white glowing lights. The small little things that would grow immensely in the next few hours and easily trap every single ship from being able to move without moving as an entire entity. And it would even attract monsters to eat it.

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