I knew my way to the airship docks from Damon's memories, and soon got there.
But the first thing that took my attention upon my arrival were numerous huge vessels.
They were enormous. Their massive hulls were entirely made of wood with foldable wing like structures resembling that of a bat on their sides.
And on their decks, each of them had at least three buildings on them. The smallest of the buildings being three storeys.
An airship was a literal ship, enchanted with the ability to soar into the skies.
Airships were used mainly for crossing the Deadlands and traversing long distances.
After I finished my admiring streak, I joined the queue at the ticket booth.
Not long after, it reached my turn.
"Welcome to Delight express, Where ya headed?" inquired the middle aged clerk dryly.
His voice suggested he hated his job, and he looked like those types of people who looked like they were tired of their lives, but I wasn't one to judge.
So I forced a smile.
"Avel coast." I replied.
His brows rose a bit, he scrolled through the enchanted scroll at the counter for a while before his eyes suddenly brightened.
'Creepy.' I inwardly recoiled.
"That's way on the other side of the continent. What business you got there?"
I smiled.
"My business is called none of your goddamn business.
"Figured. It's gon cost ya 20 silvers or 2 golds!"
"2 gold? A blatant daylight robbery if I've ever seen one." I scowled. At most, the price was seven silvers.
"It's a very long journey boy. Take it or leave it. Besides if you miss this one?" The man flashed a crooked smirk. "You ain't gettin' another that's going that far for weeks."
Ah so that was it, capitalism at its finest. I didn't know fantasy worlds suffered from such. But still, this bastard has a very punchable face.
Out of the 50 gold knotts Damon originally had, I still had 23 gold and some changes remaining. So, though the price was costly, I could still afford it. Not like I had any choice to begin with.
"Okay, and when is it leaving?" I inquired with a resigned sigh.
His smile grew wider further exposing his crooked teeth.
"In two hours. Also, lemme take a good look at ya ID."
"Fine." I said– taking out the fake ID that Damon's sister had gotten him, I shoved it at the clerk. The face on the ID was the same as my morphed face.
Seeing the ID, or more specifically, the name on it, he looked skeptical.
"Really kid? Mark Mywords? That is supposed to be ya name?"
I know. It was a stupid name, but blame Damon's sister.
"And what if it is?"
"Nothing." He shrugged. "As long as ya pay me my money."
With that ordeal closed, I paid him, after which I was handed a ticket as proof of my payment. The ticket was an enchanted stone, and it also served as the key to your room on the ship.
While I waited for the ship to be ready, I took in the area around me.
I saw quite a lot of people also waiting for the ships. Most of them looked... happy.
I couldn't help but grimace knowing the fate awaiting this world.
Almost a millennium back, on a normal day like any other, tears in space– time began appearing throughout the entire globe.
And from them, a hostile humanoid race that called themselves darkwalkers invaded.
However unlike in many novels, the four inhabitants of Nahaar, namely the Humans, Elves, Merfolk and Demons weren't weak. Even though at that time, the four races were at war with each other, they were far from powerless.
They individually fought against the invaders, but their individual strength was nothing compared to the might of the darkwalkers.
Nahaar began losing on all four fronts of the war. Eventually, seeing no way out, the four races converged and formed an alliance, including even humans and demons who had some serious beef with each other.
Barely, they barely managed to repel the invaders after two decades of war through finding a way to close the space tears.
The fight against the darkwalkers ended. Nahaar celebrated it's victory, but also got a new headache.
The darkwalkers had left behind in Nahaar a tumor. An organization called The Dark Cult.
The organization comprised of people from the four races, that the darkwalkers had managed to corrupt and convert to their cause.
Members of the dark cult, were called Heretics. And they were hellbent on making a way for their so called 'gods' to once again descend into Nahaar.
Even though, the members of the dark cult weren't nearly as formidable as the darkwalkers. So Nahaar still ushered in peace. Save for the occasional skirmishes with the heretics.
But illusion of a peace, was about to be broken. And sooner than one would expect.
"BWOOOP!!" "BWOOOP!!"
While I was lost in my thoughts, the stone I was handed began vibrating, indicating the ship was ready.
The ship had almost everything including a bathroom, and a tavern for anyone who wants to eat.
The room I got wasn't anything fancy. It had a small bed, a window, and a table at the side.
The ride on the ship was comfortable. It felt as if I was stationary on land. As if the huge vessel wasn't even moving at all.
The journey took us two days, and I stayed in my room for most of the time, except for when I was hungry or need to use the bathroom.
And now here I was. Before me laid the great Noma sea in all it's glory. Huge waves rose and battered against the coastline.
The great Noma sea divided Vorde and Remea. But there were a few islands between the two, and Black sands island was one of those few islands.
Now though, the main problem was finding someone who was willing to ferry me across.
Which was as harder than I expected. Some of the ferry men literally bolt the moment they hear my destination.
So I switched tactics, and just decided to buy a small boat.
"Did you just say 5 silvers?" The eyes of the young man before me brightened.
I thought it would take me some trouble to find one willing to sell, but It would seem that I severely underestimated the lull of money.
The island of Black sands didn't exactly have a good reputation. While it wasn't a Deadland, the locals labelled it ominous due to it's bizarre environment, so many of the local ferry men avoided to go there.
I secured the boat, and set out. According to the map, it would take me about a day to reach the island with the boats max speed. But that was assuming I didn't steer off course.
It wasn't until the third day that I began seeing a colossal mountain in the distance. After three whole days of veering of course and getting back on course, I had finally made it.
And bit by bit, I began to see the outline of a shore, an entirely black shore. Instead of the yellow sands of normal shores, the sands here were pitch black.
No wonder it was called black sands island.
The boat soon docked at the shore. As I climbed out of the boat, my feet were met with the fine black grains of sands. It was smooth to touch, but also coarse at the same time.
It felt comforting to me, perhaps because I hadn't touched land for an entire week.
I made sure I pushed the boat away from the water. Enough that even if the sea level rises, the water still wouldn't reach it.
I had done my research on the island, and including the knowledge I had of the novel, I was pretty confident that I'd be able to find the place.
In the novel, it was in the second arc, one thing led to another, and the protagonist together with the main cast ended up stranded on this island.
The protagonist and one of the cast ended up discovering an ancient hall hidden on the island. In there they found a chalice filled with some golden nectar on an altar.
The runes they found on the altar were cryptic, but they suggested, turning anyone who drank the liquid into their most perfect self.
The fools of course decided to drink it, not even knowing what it was. The liquid did nothing much for the protagonist except pushing him up a minor rank.
But for the girl, her unique physique's rank shot up to omega. The only one who had an omega ranked physique ever since the dark war over nine centuries ago, was the protagonist. It was then that they understood what the liquid really did.
As for the girl? Well, the utterly useless girl died in the next few chapters. Complete waste of a treasure if you ask me.
Anyway, that's why I said the protagonist didn't need it. He already has an omega ranked physique.
Steeling myself, I took out another ring from my storage ring and wore it on my finger.
The ring was a little artifact named 'See me no more'. It had cost me 4 gold knotts, but it was worth it. The ring repels lower ranked beasts away from it's wearers location.
I walked deeper into the island. I didn't know the exact location where the hall was situated, but in the novel, they said it was southeast of the island.
***********
~Two days later~
"Fuck, If I keep going like this, I'll lose it sooner or later!" I grumbled.
I was extremely livid. It's been two whole days since I set foot on this island, and I still haven't caught a glimpse of the hall.
The one thing that incensed me the most was that, even without knowing about it, the protagonist miraculously stumbles upon it through some insane luck. But me, even after knowing where to look, still couldn't find it.
"Bullshit!" I spat.
Just then, I sighted a stone door at the base of a hill.
My expression morphed from resentment, to joy. "Ahhhh, finally!" I exclaimed. I had found the fuckin' place.
But I didn't enter. I had to relieve my exhaustion first.
About half an hour later, I took a deep breath to steady myself before finally walking through the stone door.
I blacked out for a moment, before I found myself standing in the middle of a huge hall. The moment I arrived though, torches around the hall began to lit up, revealing a room in runes and engravings.
And beyond that, was an altar where a golden chalice sat.
My eyes lit up the moment I saw the chalice. I didn't even realize I had held my breath the entire time.
There it was, the thing that would change my fate.
"Alright, calm down Damon" my hands smacked against my cheeks. I had started hyperventilating.
After calming my racing heart, I began to cautiously move towards the altar. Though nothing happened in the novel at this stage, I wasn't stupid enough to cross out all possibilities. That was the novel, and this was real life.
Soon I reached the altar, and thankfully with no eldritch horror jumping at me out of nowhere.
Then I saw the words, crudely etched on the side of the altar. "All ye who drinketh of the chalice shall becometh thy most perfected self."
"Yeah, fuck it." My hands reached for the chalice. It was cold to touch, but comforting at the same time.
The gold liquid in it had a certain gleam like that of the sun.
I hope the effects would be better, since I was gonna drink the whole thing unlike the protagonist and that girl.
Bracing myself for a world of pain, I bought the chalice to my lips. The golden liquid was sweet like nectar. Before I knew it, I had gulped everything in one fell swoop.
Then it began, heat began rising from my abdomen and then through my entire body.
At first it was warm, comforting even. But then it started to feel like I was in a hot desert, and eventually felt like I was in a furnace.
I could literally see steam rising from my body. Then suddenly, the pain spiked, not as much as when I got Damon's memories, but close.
"Arggggh!" I screamed..... like a little bitch.
After what fell like an eternity of pain, my vision began swimming, and before I knew it, I had already passed out.
**********
My eyes snapped open, and I found myself staring at the familiar ceiling of the ancient hall.
I slowly tried to sit up only to wince in pain, it felt like my entire body had been smoldered in a furnace.
"Ngh!" suppressing a groan, I sat up.
Now it was time to see if all the pain I had endured was worth it.
"Status!" I called out.
***********
A/N: Well, here we go. If you like my story, support it with power stones, and leave a review. I'm open to suggestions.