Travel (Part 2)

[POV AQUILES VIRIDIUM – YEAR 276]

Two days had passed since the ship departed from White Harbor, and as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but sea now. An endless, calm sea, with the wind gently blowing against the ship's sails. Despite the scarce wind, the ship continued to move forward, subtly pushed by the waves that gently undulated around it.

Aquiles was peacefully asleep in his hammock when he was suddenly awakened, as one of the sailors spun his hammock, causing him to fall to the ground. Waking up confused and startled, Aquiles quickly reached for his sword and looked around, immediately realizing that more than 20 men surrounded him, pointing swords or daggers in his direction.

The man named Jonas pointed his sword towards Aquiles' face and ordered in a cold and serious tone: "Take your hand off the sword hilt, or I'll cut it off."

Truth be told, Aquiles could easily kill them with his magic, but he chose not to. He was curious about why they were acting this way and decided to peacefully surrender to find out what had happened. Removing his hand from the sword hilt at his waist, Aquiles sighed and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Can I stand up at least?" Aquiles inquired in a calm tone.

Jonas nodded, and Aquiles rose from the ground, keeping his hands raised. He knew their intention was not to kill him, as they would have done so while he slept if that were the case. "Adolf, tie him up." Jonas turned his head towards a short, red-haired man, giving him the order. Then he turned back to Aquiles and spoke in a threatening tone: "And you, don't even think about trying anything or I'll gouge out your eyes."

After tying Aquiles' hands behind his back, Jonas and his group led him through the interior of the ship until they reached the deck. Upon stepping out, Aquiles instinctively closed his eyes due to the sunlight that hit his face. He had spent a long time in the dark, and his eyes had become sensitive to light.

Lowering his head to try to shield himself from the light, Aquiles began to blink a few times like a confused owl as he looked at the wooden floor. His eyes quickly adjusted to the brightness, and he lifted his head. As he did so, he saw Captain Oswell sitting on a wooden bench about a meter and a half in front of him.

"Jonas, make him kneel." Captain Oswell ordered as Aquiles was brought to him. With the captain's command, his first mate kicked the back of Aquiles' knee, causing him to fall forward before the Captain.

As Aquiles fell to his knees, Jonas drew his knife and cut the rope that held the bag of gold at Aquiles' waist. He then picked it up and threw it to the Captain. Old Oswell grabbed the bag of gold before it hit the ground and quickly opened it with a greedy look. Upon seeing that it was filled with golden dragons, the old man grinned widely and exclaimed as he laughed, "Hahaha, didn't I tell you? He was loaded with gold."

"Fortunately, I hid the bag Luna gave me," thought Aquiles with relief. He didn't want anyone to see the seeds inside the green bag, so he hid it among the bags of clothes he bought before leaving White Harbor.

The men smiled contentedly upon hearing the jingle of gold inside the bag. "What's the meaning of this, Captain Oswell? I thought we had an agreement!" stated Aquiles, visibly confused, but he didn't seem afraid, given the calm gleam in his golden eyes.

Captain Oswell smiled. "Well, since you're either too dumb or blind to see, let me clarify." Aquiles's calm gaze was something Captain Oswell hadn't expected. He had anticipated at least some fear from Aquiles, but seeing that the man seemed more puzzled than scared, the old man decided to have some fun scaring him a little.

So, he rose from the bench he was sitting on and walked over to Aquiles. He leaned in close and drew a dagger from his waist. Then, he brought it in front of Aquiles's left eye and began to slowly bring the blade closer.

"We're taking your gold, and after we reach Lys, we'll sell you to one of their pleasure gardens," explained the Captain with a cold expression.

For the first time, Aquiles's expression changed, but not to the fear the Captain wanted to see, but rather to one that contained a slight hint of mockery. "You're going to sell me as a slave? You don't even have a clue who you've attacked..." retorted Aquiles in a tone of mockery, a playful smile forming on his face as he looked at the Captain. "You'll take me to Braavos, whether you like it or not!"

The captain didn't like the smile on Aquiles's face. For a moment, he pondered whether he should advance with the blade and poke out Aquiles's eye to teach him obedience, but realizing that Aquiles would lose value if he did so, he decided against it. Rising in front of Aquiles, the Captain sheathed the dagger back into its scabbard and then kicked him in the stomach, causing Aquiles to double over.

"You have more courage than brains... Know your place, slave!" mocked the captain as he kicked once again, this time at Aquiles's left flank.

When the Captain stopped kicking, Aquiles rose with a cold expression and shouted in a glacial tone, "You're screwed now!" The threat made the captain and the sailors surrounding him laugh maliciously, and the captain kicked him in the stomach again. This time, the kick was so strong that Aquiles was left breathless and doubled over.

"Hahaha, Men, it seems our guest doesn't understand his situation. Beat him until he gets it, but not in the face." Ordered the Old Captain, and then stepped away as the men began to kick Aquiles's body from all possible sides.

It was at this moment, while they were beating Aquiles, that everything began to go wrong for them. A wind began to blow strongly, so strong and so abruptly that the ship's sails filled instantly and pushed forward with such force that the boat creaked and surged forward in a leap. The jolt of the ship was so strong and sudden that it caught all the men on the deck by surprise, causing them to lose their balance and fall.

As the men fell, the wind ceased. "What the hell was that now?" The Old Captain asked with surprise and confusion. Still on the ground, Captain Oswell glanced towards the ship's sails. Unable to understand what had happened, he began to curse, as did all the other crewmen.

As the men rose from the ground, cursing loudly, something unnatural began to occur in the water surrounding them. Dozens of water tentacles the size of a grown man began to form and rise from the sea on all sides of the ship. Upon seeing this, the sailors were terrified, their expressions frozen in pure fear at witnessing such an abnormal phenomenon. "G-Gods, what is this?" A sailor exclaimed with a frightened and trembling cry while pointing at one of the tentacles.

Before the men could regain their composure, the water tentacles shot towards them, starting to grab and entwine the sailors one by one. "Kraken!" Yelled a sailor, trying to escape. Other braver men drew their swords and attacked, trying to cut the tentacles.

Unfortunately for them, whenever a tentacle was cut, it, even before the sword finished slicing through it, had already reconnected to the rest of the water tentacle and then continued to attack as if nothing had happened. Despite the sailors' attempt at resistance, their actions proved completely futile. There was nowhere to run, no way to resist, and no way to fight. So it didn't take long for the water tentacles to grab all of Captain Oswell's men.

As they were caught, some prayed to the Gods for help, others cried out for rescue, others called for their mothers, but here, in the midst of the sea, there was nothing and no one who could help them. All the people present had already been captured, and their mothers were too far away to hear their cries. In the end, all 31 men, including the captain, were captured.

The water tentacles held them at torso height, pinning their arms against their bodies to ensure they couldn't even attempt to free themselves. Trapped and lifted into the air by the water tentacles, amidst the screams of his men, Captain Oswell looked towards the ship's deck. A confused expression began to carve itself on his frightened face as he couldn't understand why the water tentacles were ignoring Aquiles, who still lay on the ground, motionless and bound.

It was at this moment, while Captain Oswell observed the immobilized Aquiles, that he saw Aquiles's fingers moving rapidly. Then, the back of the ropes holding him was cut, and he was set free. The cut was clean, and he saw the ropes easily separate. Such a sight only made him even more terrified, as he couldn't see what had made the cut in the ropes that bound Aquiles.

After freeing himself, Aquiles rose from the cold wooden floor, turned, and looked directly at the captain and his crew with a cold gaze. That look made the Captain instinctively feel a sense of ill omen, making his gut twist with fear as if eels were writhing in his belly. At the same time, he felt the cold sweat beginning to trickle down his spine and his face.

Upon seeing Aquiles completely motionless on the deck, just staring coldly at him, a question began to form in his mind. "Why aren't these things attacking him?" Captain Oswell questioned himself mentally. And as if to further increase his desperation, it didn't take more than a moment for him to realize he knew the answer. His eyes widened as understanding finally hit him like a bucket of cold water. "H-he... that damn, he's doing this!" The Captain asserted aloud, drawing the attention of all the sailors towards Aquiles.

"No, no, no, this is impossible!" One of the men shouted loudly, more to himself than to the others, vehemently refusing to believe that what was happening was controlled by the 'slave' they were beating.

"This can't be happening... Yes, it must be just a dream, a dream; it's a dream and I will wake up!" Another affirmed, his mind unable to believe what was happening.

Looking at the terror-stricken expression on the captain's face and hearing the murmurs of denial starting among his captors, a smile began to form on Aquiles's face, like the smile of a wolf watching its prey. "I like this expression better than your previous one!" Aquiles exclaimed, looking directly at the Captain.

Upon hearing Aquiles's words, the Captain attempted to compose himself. His horrified expression vanished from his face as abruptly as it had formed, now replaced by a calm expression, or rather, an attempt at a calm expression. Despite the man's efforts, Aquiles could still see the glint of fear in his wide and startled eyes, as well as the constant sweat dripping from his face onto his shirt.

"And then, Captain..." Aquiles raised his right hand, pointed his finger upward, and a fireball began to form at the tip of his finger. "Do you want to die by being burned alive or drowned like the man beside you?"

After Aquiles's question, a water tentacle approached to stand right in front of Captain Oswell. It carried Jonas, the Captain's right-hand man, the one who had taken Aquiles's gold and handed it to the old man. During the days spent on the ship, Aquiles had already noticed that Jonas was the second in command. Therefore, Aquiles chose him to serve as an example. Aquiles couldn't kill the Captain, or else he wouldn't be able to go to Braavos, but he still needed to use someone with authority as an example to keep everyone scared and obedient.