End of The Sea

 The men respected the contract and in the end, left without a fight, even giving Avis half a crate of smoked meat and some fresh fish, along with the now-retired captain's sword. Their ship ended up being fine despite the holes it suffered from, being rapidly boarded up.

 …

 Later that night, Avis was approached by the adventurer couple as he was about to enter his room.

 "Hello, Avis, could we talk for a moment?" Thorne began.

 "Oh, I already gave the fish to the chef, but I will keep the…"

 "No, no, it's not about that! We have a proposition for you."

 "Hmm? What is it?"

 "We know that you two probably want to attend an academy next year, and as we are looking for teammates, I was wondering if you would like to accompany us, both of you. And in exchange, you can go to my aunt's academy, it's dedicated to nobles, but if you accept our offer you can learn there for free."

"That sounds good, but I'll have to talk to Maizy…!" As Avis was leaning on his door, it suddenly opened, and out came Maizy.

 "A-Avis, sorry, I didn't think you would fall!!"

 "No big deal, did you hear what we were talking about?"

 "Yes, I think it would be great, we can get some real experience and education, and once our homeland is reclaimed, we can move back in and help out!"

 "I think so too, then we accept."

 "Great, but do you not know what happened back on the continent?"

 "What are you referring to?" Avis asked, out of the four people he by far had the least information about the incident, having only witnessed the purge that took place.

 "You should know that the dukes, powerful people who control entire armies are the main defenders against the monster surges that pour from the demonic forest, they happen every two or three years for about a month, well, this one was ongoing for five months, and it didn't show signs of stopping, as it went on, powerful monsters began to emerge, monsters only dukes could fight effectively, even two dragons appeared…"

 "That's impossible! I would have known if that was happening!" Maizy shouted.

 "It isn't really public information as the king feared that commerce would be stopped if merchants heard about it, only when the armies were overrun did he announce it, and it didn't even reach your town. We ourselves came from the capital as we were supposed to return home, and we barely escaped, thankfully the delta and the mountains north of that town slowed them down, yet they still caught up to us before we could evacuate the town."

 "Then… Father really is…"

 Maizy leaned against a wall as she covered her face with her palms.

 "Don't lose hope, Maizy, your father is extremely powerful, isn't he, if anyone escaped it would be him."

 "If your father managed to get to the capital, then he should be safe, as that place is under the protection of a really powerful god spirit. Are you a noble, 'cause you should know this."

 "What's a god spirit?" Avis asked.

 "It depends, it's either a tame spirit of a dead lesser god or even just an intelligent monster, it doesn't have an exact definition. The one in the capital is a giant snake coiled around the town like a wall, normal monsters would die if they approached it, and even powerful ones would be affected." Thorne explained.

 "Wow, but if they are the spirits of lesser gods, does that mean there are spirits of real dead gods?"

 "There… There was one, but it is thought to have fallen into the ground, forever sitting in the core of our world."

 "But if the capital is safe then why did you leave it?" Maizy asked after getting a hold of herself.

 "While we would have been safe there, we wouldn't have been able to ever leave it, and we have an important mission from our family to report what is going on. We were actually heading to the academy right now, but along the way, we will take some detours to inform all the branches of the family, but it should only take five months to travel the whole distance."

 "I see, five months is a bit much, but we can endure it… We will follow you, but why would you want us to team up with you? Surely Mccoy would be a better fit." Avis asked, while he knew it was a great opportunity, he was still cautious of them.

 "We were going to, but after your performance earlier, and the fact that I will be a teacher for people slightly older than you, I just couldn't let you two fend for yourselves on a new continent." Thorne said.

 "Oh, I still don't know what a contiment is, could you clarify it for me, please?"

 "You don't?... Do you know what an island is?"

 "Yeah, a place surrounded by water!"

 "A continent is just a way larger island, we left the Crain continent and are heading to Ashwol, a richer continent, but way more dangerous."

 "I see, thank you! Maizy chose to keep me in the dark about this for the last two months, even though I don't see why it's so funny."

 "I still think it's funny."

 "If that's all then I'll see you around." Said Avis.

 "I was supposed to deliver you a message, the chef said you don't have to do your shifts until you are healed, as thanks for saving us."

 "Alright, thank you."

 After the couple left, Avis and Maizy entered their own room as it was getting late.

 "Avis…"

 "Yes? Maizy?"

 "Thank you for saving us, today."

 "It was no big deal."

 "No, I wanted to say that you are no longer indebted to me."

 "You… were still keeping count?"

"Yes, I saved you a lot, so of course you would need to pay me back."

 "You should think back on how many times I saved you."

 "What would that be?"

 "I saved you from the monster, but you saved me from the forest."

 "One to one. I also saved you from the village."

 "Yes, and I saved you from the pirate."

"Yeah, still equal."

"Well, I showed and introduced you to this crew, you couldn't have escaped the continent without me."

 "That shouldn't count, it was a team effort."

 "Whatever, I don't have the energy for this, I'm going to sleep!"

 "... Still, thank you, Avis…"

 "Don't mention it…"

 …

 Some days passed, and Avis's condition deteriorated, he felt something growing in him, he always felt hot, suffocating as his body was burning up, but it was no fever, the heat felt like it was coming from his spirit, and even his wound, which was quite deep, healed in no more than a week.

 As Maizy was attending to him, she discovered something weird.

 "Your scars are turning red."

 "What?"

 "They used to be pink and faded, but they are now an intense red, it might be because of your fever though."

 "No… I don't think it's a fever, it feels like a bonfire, I feel the flames burning the wood as it turns to ash…"

 "That just sounds like a fever."

 "Could you raise a hand?"

"Sure, but I… Whoa!" As she raised her hand, she felt something pull her up, and soon she was suspended in the air.

"As I thought…"

 "Put me down! Put me down! Avis!" Maizy shouted.

 "Sorry, sorry… My power… It's gotten stronger…"

 "What do you mean?"

 "Before I wouldn't have been able to move even half your weight, yet now I can easily lift you."

 "That's kinda freaky, I don't want you using it on me or anything."

 "That's understandable, but think of the possibilities! I can lift something pretty high up, I can easily climb mountains and buildings! It's amazing! I want to check something else, could you use your sword?"

 As the sword appeared, Avis opened the eyes on his chest.

"Yes, I can feel spirit power, even if I close my eyes. I could somewhat do that before, but now it's so easy to feel."

 "Do you think your spirit evolved?"

 "That… No, it just got stronger…"

 "Hmm…"

 'I said all this to Maizy, but the reason this happened is… Because I killed that man…I don't know how my spirit does this, it could be a powerful ability, but the way to strengthen it might be too cruel for me.'

 …

 The last month passed like a breeze, with half of the crew gone, they were able to eat more nutritious meals, and somewhat managed to regain their strength.

 "Land! Wha…! What is that!?"

 As the people poured outside, a bone-chilling sight came into view, far in the distance, behind foggy hills, an enormous head peeked above the fog, looking directly at them. It didn't have any defining feature, and even if they found any, they would disappear the next time they looked at it.

 "Is that?..."

"It's a god spirit! It should be harmless!" Thorne shouted.

 "What an amazing creature." Maizy said through whispers.

 "..." Avis was taken aback, such a sight almost fried his brain, even though he heard of them before, seeing one in person was a completely insane experience. And as it disappeared, he could swear it was looking directly at him.

 As they approached their final destination, the docks came into view between the dense fog, and before long, their ship was docked.

 "HELLO AND WELCOME TO ARCHON, the town of dreams!" A strange man approached Avis and Maizy as they unboarded the ship first because they had the least amount of baggage, the man wore colorful clothes and was holding a cane that he obviously didn't need. "Shall I help you get settled into town?"

 Another thing Avis noticed was that the man had a very thick accent, he could barely understand him, but he seemed to speak the same language at least.

 "We don't need help, we don't plan on staying."

"Oh, so you are the adventuring kind, I can help you find a good inn or a smithy, they even have second-hand stuff, if you're tight on the money."

 "Leave, scammer, we don't have time for your petty tricks." Maizy told the man.

 "Me?! A scammer? That's ridiculous!" He approached the girl but was stopped in his tracks by Avis' new sword. "You dare raise a weapon against me?"

 "Get lost, loser." He said.

 "Grrr… You will pay for this, you hear me? You're lucky I have other people to help right now!"

 "Didn't ask."

 The man glared at the two, before making his way to another ship, his nasty attitude completely disappearing as he approached new people.

 "What a crazy person."

 "Maizy, you shouldn't call people like him out, they only bring trouble with them."

 "Since when have you become such a smartypant?"

 "Since you knew me."

 "Are you guys ready? We were thinking of spending a night here before leaving, but maybe we should leave immediately, a lot of boats will be making their way here from the continent, so an even bigger lot of bandits will be lurking around."

 "How will we move around? Do you plan on buying a carriage?"

 "Yeah, I will go ask around, you guys can wander around, and buy some food and necessities. Take care of them, Avis, I'm counting on you." Thorne said before departing.

 "Sure, we'll meet you at the town's gate in about three hours, that fine?."

 He nodded and continued his path.

 …