5 Chapter 5: Shiro
Chapter 5: Shiro
"This is the destiny of you pirates, to see all your loved ones die, to suffer the same fate as your victims." Although the arbiter's voice seemed calm and composed, ruthlessness was clearly laced in it.
"Wake them up," he calmly said to Veno, who immediately followed his orders, awakening the two low-ranking Arbiters. He hadn't fatally injured them, instead knocking them out with single strikes, making it easy to wake them up.
A few minutes passed as Veno and the low-ranking arbiters finally tied Eric tightly.
Today, the last surviving member of the West Dungeon conqueror's family, Eric, was captured alive.
News spreads very fast at sea. As a result, among the seas, the capture of Eric spread like wildfire, shocking many people, especially his own enemies.
Meanwhile, the higher-ups of the anti-pirate federation were having the best day of their lives, celebrating this great victory in the West.
With a relaxed mind, they were now enjoying their own luxury. Now that the Dungeon conqueror's family was captured, those small scattered pirate crews won't be able to do anything.
But they still remained cautious, adding an adequate amount of bounty to the names of these pirates so that these weaklings don't team up and form a new conqueror's crew.
"Ah... now it's good. There won't be any more trouble from the west right now after the monopolization," said one of the officials wearing a blue formal suit, his white cane leaning on the chair.
He was one of the officials from the Sea Federation. The Sea Federation was the one which took action in the seas against the pirates. Indeed, as one might guess, the anti-pirate federation was nothing but a mere branch of this colossal federation.
Defeating the conqueror and Eric made many scattered pirate crews run like cowards with their tails between their legs.
Pirates, the epitome of greed. Their greatest dream was to steal from the Gods themselves.
Greedy as they may be, they never forgot to massacre others either. These pirates were no different from thugs, just a little more brave and bold.
To make matters worse, many of these pirates had twisted mentalities; they were complete psychos who just wanted to see others suffer for fun and gain pleasure from it.
That was how they would gain strength in terms of numbers.
This was a world where humans weren't born with supernatural abilities like those other creatures.
But did that mean humans were the bottom feeders, the weakest in the food chain?
Absolutely not!
Ever since the first disaster of Teraldis, many ways to gain these supreme powers have appeared.
One – Gods themselves chose a person to be their blessed. The thought person would never meet God he/she would receive some of his divinity. These people would then set on a journey to find the go and inherit all the powers. Such people were called the Chosen Ones or the Apostles.
Two – The conquerors were brave warriors who conquered the dungeons and gained mystical abilities. And if their luck was good, then they could gain mystical artifacts.
Three – when a person uses artifacts that are imbued with powers.
The fourth way was also the most dangerous way. It was to kill a God. Becoming a God Killer and gaining the authority of that God. To date no one has yet to kill a true deity, however, some people have killed a few demigods.
There were many Chosen ones most of which were Pirates since these were a bunch of daring and greedy fellows always risking their lives. Thus they sometimes stumbled upon blessed lands.
The more followers a God had, the more his divine power would be. Hence, they made followers as if they were distributing sweets, leaving many blessed lands. However, it was believed that no one had yet to see a God, face to face.
After all,
Thou shalt not look straight to a God!
Thou shalt not look at a 'His's' face, or Thou Shalt Die.
They were indeed compared with monsters as their strengths and powers were inhuman, but at the same time, the ones who joined the Sea Federation were called the Saviors as they kept a check on the pirates' powers.
"I wish there were no pirates... there would have been no problem..." said the same high official who asked to monopolize the area.
With a round frame spectacle on his face and a small mustache, he looked like a businessman.
"Hmm... it's too quiet too... and this silence is somewhat bugging me," he suddenly said. This silence was a bit unusual.
Strangely, he felt as if, in his past years filled with experience, this kind of silence only appeared at sea.
The Silence before the Storm.
.
.
.
"Waaaa... waaaa..." A familiar crying could be heard within the sea.
Unlike before, his cries were piercing, louder than ever before. So loud that even those humongous monsters were attracted to his direction.
Humongous sharks, gigantic krakens, weird fishes with ten eyes and twenty mouths, a fish looking like a gigantic human tongue.
All this commotion was caused by a small human baby, smaller than an average human's forearm.
This small little baby was present on a basket floating in the sea.
Though the sea water seeped in, it failed to even touch the baby.
"Waaa... waaa..." As a matter of fact, this situation seemed to become even stranger with every passing second. Not a single abomination out of these entities entered the 10-meter radius around this baby.
Rather... Defying logic, these creatures seemed to be paying respect to this baby. No matter what kind of abomination, entity from hell, or being from the depths of nightmares they were, as long as these creatures belonged to the Sea, they could only show respect to this small life made of blood and flesh nestled in the basket.
But regardless of that, the baby boy kept floating on the cool, chilly water while a reddish light was shining from the locket which he was wearing, given by Eric.
An invisible barrier was formed around his body, resulting in not even a single drop of water touching him.
"Waaaa... waaaa..." The piercing crying sound continued. However, the monsters didn't leave. Instead, in a concealed manner, they were slowly guiding the baby to a small piece of land.
In the distant dark, the outline of a figure standing on the shore could be seen. A lamp was present in the figure's hand, radiating a dull light.
"Waaaa... waaaa..."
"Huh...? This sound...? A baby...?" From her voice, it was clear that this was a lady standing on the piece of land.
In confusion, she looked around her, not being able to find the source of the crying sound. She then focused on the sound alone, quickly finding the source. It was from the Sea.
"Eh? It can't be..." she rushed towards the basket, which was still a bit far away from the shore, realizing that the sound might have been coming from the basket.
She squinted her eyes, adjusting her vision. As a result, she spotted the basket with light radiating from it.
It took her a while to reach the basket, but somehow she reached it, and when she took a look, she could see a baby crying in it.
"Waaa... waaa..."
The will to survive. This was what she could feel, a will to survive radiating from the depths of the baby.
"What do I do...? Should I..." It was obvious that she couldn't leave the baby here. If she did so, then there'd be no way she would ever be able to forgive herself.
She immediately picked him up and rushed back towards the shore, carrying the basket too.
Though she did notice the glowing locket around the baby's neck, right now that wasn't the main priority.
She dashed towards her home the very next instant so that she could consult a doctor, and probably this was the wisest choice she had ever made.
Immediately after she left the shore, a huge sea creature appeared out of nowhere.
A serpent with five heads and a ruby on each of its heads. The serpent's eyes had a chilly glow to them.
"I fulfilled my promise..." immediately after saying that, the serpent disappeared into the sea.
No one was even aware of such a beast that existed. But since ancient times, the Sea represented mystery along with freedom. So there was no shock.
"Huff! Huff!" With her weak and restricted steps, she finally reached the doctor's house. This house was modest for a doctor to live in.
"Oh! You're here..." Before the man could complete his words, he noticed the baby in her hands. It seemed like a serious case. Holding the baby, he properly analyzed this frail creature. After a few minutes, he finally concluded.
"He's just hungry."
"Is that so?" A sigh of strange relief.
"Well, what is this cute little boy's name?"
"H-his name is..." she paused as she wasn't aware of his name. In fact, she had just met him.
"What is it?" The doctor asked again. It was clear that he had misunderstood, thinking that this was her baby.
"You didn't even name your child?"
"...Not knowing what to do, she stuttered. "No, I did name him."
"Then what is it?" The doctor narrowed his eyes.
"Well... His name is Shiro!"
Though she didn't have much knowledge of ancient literature, she at least knew a few common words.
Xi Chen - Wisdom.
Larkizon - Vengeance
Kamin - Death
Likewise, Shiro was the Sea.
But there was another meaning too: 'Shi' Referred to the Sea while 'Hiro' referred to a traveler, adventurer, or a hero. Therefore, Sea Hero translated to Shiro.
