“My diary. All I did these days were reading and sleeping, I need something to pass the time.” Angor gave her a small lie. He was doing puzzles, but that would be too complicated to explain, and he might give away his teacher’s secrets. Thank goodness that Angor and Jon were the only ones in this world who could read Chinese, and he did not need to worry about his lie being found out.
Aleen watched the papers for some more and realized she really could not understand any, so she simply gave up. Time to find other topics to ease up the mood.
What she talked about next was only chitchats among noble women, and Angor grew bored quickly. Before he could stop Aleen, however, the ship shook violently.
The pair did not panic. Instead, they quickly grabbed onto the iron rails on the wall to steady themselves.
A ship on the sea was sure to run into some big waves and strong winds. Not mentioning that they were currently on Devil’s Water, where the most strange weathers could be found, so the occasional swings and shakes no longer surprised them. This was also why Angor only kept some papers and quills on his desk.
The shake lasted five minutes. A small one, compared to what they experienced since the beginning of their trip.
Thanks to the sudden rough ride, they forgot about the embarrassment just now. Aleen tidied her messed up hair, while Angor pulled down his short shirt to cover his exposed stomach. They exchanged a smile.
The peace did not last long. Before they could say anything else, a lot of footsteps came from the ceiling above them. They were hurried and chaotic as if many people were running around.
“What’s going on up there?” They both asked in unison.
Aleen leaned over the window to check the outside. Then she yelled, “Brother Angor, look! Quick!”
Angor listened and joined her.
The outside was dark. A giant creature had blocked the vast sky. Angor tried to see what it was, but it was so big, and he could not make out which side was the head and which was tail.
Angor felt a sudden terror, and quickly said to Aleen, “Let’s go outside!”
If such a giant creature decided to attack The Redbud, staying inside the cabin would ensure a faster death. Aleen knew this too, so she followed behind Angor without any hesitation.
When they left the room, they saw all the other doors were open. Everyone was running towards the deck, either nervous or terrified.
When they reached the deck, they saw it was already full of people. Talents, handymen, sailors… They all joined their own groups to look at the large creature floating in the sky.
Angor also noticed that most talents were worried or scared, but sailors and handymen working on The Redbud were mostly amused, without any trace of fear in their expressions.
Angor calmed down a bit. Since sailors who had been working on the ship for many years were not afraid of the situation, the giant creature must be harmless to them.
With that in mind, Angor put away his fear and carefully inspected the large creature in the sky.
He could not get a good look of it back in the cabin. Now he could do it on the deck.
It was a floating, giant whale at least 200 meters in length. The pair of fins on its sides were like wings, each flap could create some gust. That wave earlier must have been caused by the strong wind.
The whale’s eyes looked like sapphires which reflected a blurring gleam like those reflected by sea waves. A single horn stood atop of its streamlined forehead which appeared as if surrounded by the clouds.
“So the legendary Cloud Whale lives in the Devil’s Water!” Someone exclaimed.
“A Cloud Whale is usually a gentle creature. However, we should be prepared for the worst,” said someone else. Not far from the crowd, the second-in-command of The Redbud gave orders to the sailors, then looked at the three figures standing behind him.
“Milord. We need to activate Mirror Veil on The Redbud. Please assist,” said the vice-captain in knight armor. He half knelt before the three “lords”.
The “lords” were escorts from the three major wizard organizations who had been stationed on The Redbud. One woman, and two men. The woman was wearing graceful attire, Lady Merlin, the Level-3 Apprentice Wizard from the Tower of Hurricane, whom Angor saw the other day.
One of the two males was a young man who possessed a handsome look. Black hair, hazel pupils, soft leather armor. A Level-2 Apprentice Wizard from the Gravity Forest, Komoen.
The third one was an elder wearing gray hair and gray beard, yet full of energy in his eyes. The escort from White Coral Floating Island Academy, a Level-3 Apprentice Wizard, Mr. Florent.
An old man in a black robe and another young man were standing behind Florent. When Aleen saw them, she quickly brightened up and began waving her hand towards them.
She had not seen Mara and Alan in a long time.