Lucian wiped the grease from his mouth with the napkin, looking over the side of the ship.
Thirteen people were missing from his group of twenty.
"Did something happen in the town? They haven't returned from their break yet."
The port town was small, with barely a thousand people living here. There was a small festival in honor of the God of Sea and Harvest being held today, but it shouldn't be a reason for their absence.
Cansan looked over as well, chewing on a lobster tail delicately to not make a mess, "I was thinking the same, but didn't want to ruin the mood before the blessing."
"Let's start the blessing ceremony then," Lucian agreed with him, turning around to face his crew.
Lorano, who had been hiding in his lab, also showed up and was waiting for the ritual to start.
They formed a semi-circle before Lucian.
While the southerners could draw power from the sun, the northerners could draw power from the earth's core.
The northerners were more in tune with metals and minerals and could absorb them with the help of others. The more infused by the earth's core energy the mineral was, the more potent its effect.
The first one to make an offering was Goblin.
"May Boss' wealth and power grow," he whispered, holding three gold coins in his palm, his head lowered as if making a wish to a deity. He was an open minded kid and didn't think twice about using the northerners' blessing methods, "May he become a man worthy of the title of a king!"
All the coins in his palm turned to a whisp of smoke, moving in Lucian's direction.
It made his skin shine with an inner glow, and then it disappeared. The feeling was energizing. His body warmed up and he could feel an itch in his chest, a desire to move and act upon Goblin's words.
Lucian bowed his head slightly towards Goblin in gratitude, catching the boy's body before he could fall down.
A southerner blessing a northerner was a taboo, but Goblin did it anyway, and paid the price. The tattoos on his skin faded, and his body weakened. He would need time to recover from the backlash, but he seemed content with his sacrifice.
Lucian placed Goblin carefully on the floor so that he could bask under the sun and absorb its energy to recover.
This showed how different the southerners' and northerners' upbringing was. The southerners could gain power by absorbing it by themselves while the northerners needed the other's support to do so. It sounded quite unfair, didn't it?
Jax, Roland, Leaf and Fishbone weren't vocal like Goblin was. They kneeled on one knee and combined the southerner's way of praying, which they were more familiar with.
They had to focus and will the sun's energy to do their bidding, seeking its help with blessing Lucian. The amount of gold they could transfer to Lucian was limited, but even a small bit helped.
Cansan and Loreno joined in as well. Northerners had a tendency to keep to themselves rather than work as a pack, but they respected Lucian enough to make the blessing work.
Lucian focused on his breathing in order to advance, trying to ignore the fact that he had already spent a small chest of gold coins to unlock the copper stage.
Most of his ancestors had to be priests or priestesses, and probably didn't know what to do with the absorbed energy and blessings he received from others.
Lucian was afraid his bloodline wouldn't have much knowledge to help him out in the process, but it was less of a struggle than he thought it would be.
It felt like he had eaten a lot and now had to lie down to digest the food. He could feel it moving through his body, like a liquid, seeking to be shaped and formed into something.
'How could I do it like the southerners?' Lucian thought, 'Or do I need to follow the northern way and let it envelope my body like a halo? I really would like to connect with Celine through a tattoo…'
'She's not a southerner and doesn't have a tattoo,' Voice responded.
'Oh well, a halo would have to do...' Lucian didn't give up, 'I will just have to come up with a way to connect to her in a similar way.'
"Is that a glow I see?" Leaf asked, looking at Lucian with wonder, "Boss is actually doing it..."
Fishbone squinted his eyes. And true to Leaf's words, there was a subtle glow coming from Lucian's veins, barely noticeable, with an irony hue to it.
Everyone cheered, celebrating Lucian's success.
"We've finally got a knight in our midst, boys!" Jax shouted, "He somehow leaped past copper and landed straight into iron! An iron knight!"
The rest of the crew followed with a loud, "AYE!"
"So you've been in both the copper and iron stages this whole time?" Cansan asked, eager to find out, "How does it feel?"
"New and improved," Lucian cheered together with them, jumping and shaking a few times as well, to feel the change, "Bronze too, but I'll probably need to devour another chest of gold before I budge any further."
"Hip, hip..." Leaf started.
"Horray!" The rest cheered.
"Hip, hip..." Leaf began again.
"Horray!"
Lucian lifted Goblin and they all threw him up into the sky.
Goblin landed back in their arms, and was thrown back up again, laughing like crazy. He contributed the most for the past four months with his blessings.
They then slapped each other on the backs and shoulders to congratulate themselves on a job well done.
"Let's test it out," Lucian suggested, and they all agreed.
The southerners didn't have knights but the ranking system was very familiar to them.
From ten percent of their skin being covered to ninety percent. With ten percent equal to the copper knight.
Goblin had around four percent of his skin covered. Fishbone and Leaf had seven, Jax and Roland had nine.
Cansan and Lorano stepped aside, moving Goblin away as well, not wanting to participate in an unfair battle.
"Come on, come on!" Jax called out, waving his hand for them to attack, eager to advance as well.
They jumped on him and the brawl started.
It was an all-out melee.
Punches, elbows, kicks, and headbutts were being thrown around like candy. The sound of flesh hitting flesh could be heard, accompanied by the occasional grunt or curse.