The internship begins

'Again, why am I here of all places ", Ashwin facepalmed as he was already regretting his decision. Why you ask? Because he had to change his internship plan in the last minute.

That happened two days ago.

During the day of submitting the application, Ashwin had decided to try the Border Patrol but then, a rusty old sword started throwing a tantrum, saying it is sensing something by the Sea. Knowing there might be a chance to encounter another shastra, Ashwin had to choice but to apply for the Navy, regrettably so, since he couldn't swim.

"Man, why did you choose the Navy if you couldn't swim ", Raghav asked. He was honestly struggling not to laugh.

"The principal changed it. He said it's better to know about the biggest threat the country is facing first hand ", Ashwin lied. Although this was the story the principal himself suggested. After all, he can't go around saying his sword forced him to choose the Navy!

"Well, I think I could help you with that", Raghav said. "I have a pair a magic boots, that can allow you to walk on water. And when underwater, it can propel you forward as well".

"I can't impose on you. And I can't pay you back as well", Ashwin quickly rejected.

"Cmon, we are friends, so it doesn't matter "

"We are?", Ashwin asked, confused

"Dude, that's Cold!"

"I mean seriously. All the first years are wary of me. Why do you take the initiative to be my friend "

"Well, unlike those idiots, I am smart enough to have a good relationship with a lightning mage "

"You mean, to persuade me to join your clan or something? "

"My family is not a clan. And I know you wouldn't join either way. But, I still wanna be your friend. It couldn't hurt to have a strong companion right?"

"How do you infer I am strong?"

"That's easy. I noticed how you glance at other students. You look down on them, even if they ostracize you", Raghav replied casually. "That's what first got me curious about you"

"Should I interpret this as, you buying my friendship with these boots?", Ashwin commented.

"Dude, you can't be serious?!"

"Just kidding ", Ashwin joked as he walked past Raghav, patting his shoulder.

...

'And now here I am, regretting my decision'

The internship program is decided by the Organization. And for Ashwin, who chose navy, it was a patrol. The crew comprising of 10 intermediate mages, commanded by an advance mage are to set out to patrol the Naval border, around 12 Nautical miles from the mainland. Since patrols are overall not dangerous, it is still vital.

After showing his internship ID issued by the Academy, Ashwin boarded the ship. His first priority is to meet up with the captain.

"Come in", a voice answered just after Ashwin knocked on the door.

"Pardon my intrusion ", Ashwin greeted as he entered the cabin. He saw the captain was sitting on the his chair. He seemed to be around thirty. There was also another person standing infront of Ashwin, someone he never expected to come across.

"What are you doing here?", he couldn't help but ask. It was instinctive.

'...'

The person simply glanced at him and turned to face the captain again.

'Who am I kidding? As if the Ice princess would ever open her mouth'. The beauty in front of him was Akansha Goenka, who's overall evaluation is first in the class, followed by Ashwin. Although their magic evaluation was similar, their academics was the deciding factor for the results.

"Greetings sir", Ashwin proceeded to bowing slightly as he greeted the captain.

"So, you are the second recruit huh? I wasn't expecting even one, but we got two this time ", the captain chuckled. He seemed like an easy going guy.

"I am Amar Kumar, the Captain of this ship and an Advance Water Mage. I know the two of you may not have any experience with sea monsters or demon beasts in general. So your job is to observe each department on the ship, and study their works. You are to follow the orders and I will send a report on your performance to you school. Am I understood?"

"Yes!", the two interns replied promptly, but couldn't help but glance at each other in surprise. This was probably the first time they heard the other person speak this load, or even talk to begin with.

After a small tour of the ship, Ashwin was made to do some labour work. Although it wasn't difficult, it sure was tiresome. He finished around noon. He decided to take a break and moved to the deck.

The ship had stopped in the middle of the sea. They were already quite some distance away from the mainland. Use of cellphones were not allowed and so he was really bored.

He leaned over the rail, to glance at the water. Some of the officers were diving into the water.

'What are they doing down there?'

"You seem interested. Why don't you dive in as well", captain Kumar asked as he stood beside him, watching the people at work.

"I can't swim"

"And yet you joined the Navy?", the captain asked amused. He didn't seem to be the judgmental type, but he was still curious.

"The principal said it would be a valuable experience. Plus, I can't let such an opportunity go to waste", Ash replied.

"Well, that's true. But if you decide on joining the Navy, learn swimming first, just like that Goenka girl"

"Yes sir", Ash replied, rather casually, "wait, so she is underwater?"

"Yeah, she said she would like to know more about the work we do and so I complied"

"Is that so..."

"It's amusing how you are not nervous around me"

"Please don't misunderstand, I respect you for your position and power. It's just that, I met two eccentric old men in the last three years, that I am practically numb to such event ", Ash replied, remembering the few encounters. 'Not to mention, a rusty old sword that almost killed me and the Darkness emperor who took me for a toy for his entertainment '

"That seems rough, judging from the face you make "

"Well anyways, why are we stopping here, captain?"

"We are inspecting the underwater beacons ", the captain replied

"You mean those that detects Sea Monsters? But why do we have to manually inspect them

"The inspection is done from the ship itself. But we need to dive to change beacons from time to time, since the high pressure could damage these beacons "

"How do they work on? It shouldn't be radiowave or sound magic right? Sea monsters are known to have high hearing capabilities and some could detect radiowaves"

"You're quite knowledgeable, kid. That's true, and so the beacons detects detect other factors too, like the wave patterns underwater, and other details. And when they are inspected by bringing them to the ship, we compute all these factors to determine the situation and if any anomaly is detected, we scout the area and when threat is spotted, action is taken as quickly as possible. We can't loose the East or West regions like we did with the south "

Around ten years ago, there was a major invasion of sea monsters. The attack was too sudden. All the detector were destroyed and the Nation couldn't take action at all. That attack caused the loss of the four southern states. Total death count is unknown. But since the tides went down, the Sea monsters are scarce in the mainland but that wasn't the case for demon beasts.

"After the Calamity, the government had to mobilize all the military to the borders. Even the reserve forces are stationed near the border. The resources spent on these were not scarce and so, we have the responsibility to do fulfill our duty", Captain Kumar spoke. He tone was serious and the atmosphere around him changed completely. He didnot stay too long and went back to the cabin.

Ash, lost in his thoughts, stared into the sea. Under his gaze, a figure rose from the sea. She removed her goggles from her face and pulled it off her snowy white hair. She climbed up the ladder. Ash was standing beside the ladder, but didn't bother helping her out, knowing full well, she wouldn't appreciate his help.

As she boarded the ship, she glanced at Ash for second and walked away, not a word was uttered.

"You guys fighting or something?", an officer who just came by asked. He happened to see the exchange between the two interns, peaking his curiosity.

"We don't even talk for us to be fighting"

"Aren't you friends?", the officer seemed surprised 

"Absolutely not"