Quies emerged from the storage room wreathed in his trench coat and loose-fitting pants. Beneath, a thin light-armor made of black leather covered his body. His mind felt slightly clearer with both the coat and armor on, and his body felt greater articulation.
The chilling wind loosened its frigid bite as the sun rose higher into the sky. The ocean grew quiet as its golden luster faded. There was only the sound of waves rolling against the sleek hull of the small schooner.
An ominous feeling brewed within the depths of his heart as the ship continued to cut across the waters. He didn't know why it was there, or what caused it.
'I'll be fine.'
The fabric of the light-armor cracked and crunched as he moved—the dried blood fragmenting. Putting a hand over his cuirass, he could feel the divot from that cretin's spear.
Quies should've killed him sooner. Yes, that was the right decision.
All of his physical scars had healed from that night… for the most part.
Physical.
Quies inhaled sharply as he walked up to the slightly raised stern of the ship—towards the wheel. He turned it to the right just a tad in order to avoid colliding with an outcropping island. Soon enough, the small schooner glided right past the shores of that island.
'Halfway there.' Quies thought in his mind.
He just had to wait the amount of time he had already waited… again. That was a rather interesting way to put his situation into perspective. Biding his time, he picked away at a small, hanging piece of leather from his armor.
In his mind, he slowly put together a plan for how he would find the Forge of Sin. He started off simple with a foundation—a root which other actions and contingencies will branch off from. The event which would take the place of this 'root' would be his arrival onto the island of Erisia. It's best to keep it simple.
And then, from that 'root' event, will other possibilities branch out. Quies liked to be calculated with these types of situations; this time, he couldn't rely on Valerie.
There were several things he could do upon arriving on Erisia, with each one having a different, symbolic theme. For example, he could literally just go back on his schooner and leave Erisia, too scared to even step foot on the island. Of course, this route would have an underlying tone of cowardice.
So, following this layout, Quies was on the fence with two different iterations of the plan. He could either take his time, or get this done as fast as possible. As a human with human values, he naturally showed a slight preference towards the former. Procrastination was a powerful influence…
However, as he thought more about the composition of his plans, a glaring hole of missing information made itself apparent.
'What, exactly, does the Forge of Sin look like?'
Why hadn't he asked this?! How could someone find something which they don't even know the appearance of? What if, the entire time, the Forge of Sin was something intangible? That would completely dismantle the entire point of this mission! For someone known to be 'smart' and 'quick to learn', this was a rather stupid decision only someone with a sub-human level of intelligence wo-
'Shut up.'
Right, he was being too harsh on himself… It was good that he stopped this ridiculous and definitely unnecessary tangent. On top of that, how would Evengarde even know what the Forge of Sin looked like if he needed someone to search and identify it? If he knew what it looked like, then he must've seen it, which meant that he must also know where he is, which completely dismantles the purpose of this mission, right?
Wait, that's the same exact conclusion…
Sigh…
Cold breath escaped from lips that reflected an exhausted mind.
However, with what he had experienced and seen when living in Erisia, he could probably discern what the Forge of Sin looked like. Specifically, he had seen groups of adventurers hauling large metal enclosures that contained a purple flame within—better known as a 'Piece of the Forge'. These fragments were, actually, highly valued within the luminary markets. Bankers are willing to exchange those artifacts for valuable items and considerable sums of notes.
He figured that the Forge of Sin—the main body which these artifacts originate from—would look somewhat similar.
'If I think too much, I'll get exhausted before I even leave the ship… It's best if I just figure it out as I go.'
He turned the wheel to the left, correcting the deviation made from his earlier maneuver. His coat came to a rest as the winds of Vigil weakened.
***
The schooner slowed to a stop as the sails adjusted. The wind blowing from the direction of the Isle of Vigil no longer propelled the ship forward. However, that was exactly what Quies wanted.
The ship slowed as its right edge almost grazed against pale sand.
Behind, a menacing wall stood separating the nature within from the dunes of the small, manmade-like shore. An arched shaped opening in the middle of the wall was the only way to enter the bellows of the drifting island. From afar, he could see autumn burned trees, partly obstructed by the gray wall.
Looking above the gray wall, he could see magnificent cliffs rise above the tides of the sea. Each giant stone face stacked on top of one another and formed level, plateau-like areas of flat ground. The morning fog rolled down these great, mountainous bluffs like a small waterfall in a tranquil stream.
Quies breathed in the cold, damp air of the low-leveled forest. It was a familiar breath. The bottom of his greaves stamped their mark on the sand with every step he took.
Eventually, he stopped on a small mound of sand near the tall entrance. With the edge of his foot, he swept away at the surface level.
Crimson tainted sand that hid beneath was revealed. It seems that his body forgot about a few clumps of his blood on this island.
'It's nice to be back.'
His head tilted upwards as he walked towards the entrance of Erisia, the Drifting Island.