?"Look at this, LT! Ishmael!" Krysaos seethed, "This... this ce! We should all be wealthy men!"


    Tycondrius sighed. It seemed the real reason for the Captain''s frustration stemmed from his greed.


    Ishmael tilted his head and gestured for the Captain to continue.


    Krysaos gnashed his teeth in frustration, "All these ships belong to pirates and merchants from all across the twelve seas!"


    He kicked the lockbox away, toppling it and spilling its contents. Sea-decayed clothing, rusted and chipped weaponry, brittle coins, and dull gems that had lost their luster-- everything scattered on the deck was worthless.


    "There''s NNNNOTHING!!" Krysaos shouted, "It''s all ROTTED and RUSTED to OBLIVION!!"


    "It''s quite natural," Tycon nodded... then shook his head, "Or unnatural, as it were-- but logical. The ind is shrouded in death energy simr to the Jade Rabbit. As such, items decay at a faster rate in this ce."


    "This mana-sensitive shite AGAIN, Tycon?!?" Krysaos groaned, "Look, man. My mana sense isn''t as good as yours. You gotta tell me these things."


    "That''s... an unreasonable demand," Tycon frowned, "I refuse."


    "Oh,e onnnnn~!" Krysaos rolled his eyes.


    "It''s generallymon sense-- at least for an adventurer," Tycon calmly gestured to the nearby wall. The ind sands could be seen below, through a human-sized hole in the hull.


    "Water and earth-type spells are easier to cast on a beach attuned to both the seawater and the sands. A raging volcano, inhabited by smanders and fire slimes, is full of fire-type mana."


    "And thus..." He took a breath, "an ind with withered nts, the trees with viinous faces in the bark, and so-littered with broken ships and dead men... is rife with undeath."


    "Sea god''s pants pocket..." Krysaos allowed himself to copse backward onto the canted deck floor, "I can''t believe this shite..."


    Ishmael looked to Tycon and gestured towards the Captain.


    ...Tycon twisted his lips to the side, "Speaking of deathly energies... are you well, Captain?"


    "Huh?" The gentleman propped himself up... "Let me check."


    Krysaos coughed, loudly and... wetly into his hand.


    "Ayep, that''s blood," He groaned... "We need to get the f*ck out of here... this ce is gonna kill us."


    "Just you, actually," Tycon smirked.


    Ishmael shrugged but nodded in agreement.


    "Yeah, whatever," Getting to his feet, Krysaos ced a hand on his growling stomach, "LT, how much more food do we have? I''m outta the jerky I stole from you the other sun."


    "I was wondering where that went," Tycon frowned. "The answer is: not enough."


    "Any ideas? Tycon? Ishmael?"


    Contrary to Krysaos'' words, the two of them both stared at Tycon expectantly.


    ...It was something he was used to, doing the ''thinking'' during adventuring.


    "I have a n to at least provide us some direction," He gestured at the hole in the wall. "Let us descend to the beach, first."


    Ishmael walked over to the hole and leapt out, dropping some eight fulms below.


    Tycon followed him out, the sand dispersing the shock from the fall, decently enough.


    ...It took Krysaos several minutes to walk to where they had entered from, then he jogged over to reach them.


    "I uh... I got bad knees," He muttered an excuse-- not that one was necessary.


    It seemed Krysaos, the Bronze-Rank Baneer, was somewhat weak at feats of athleticismpared to a more martial ss.


    Tycon made a mental note of it.


    Flicking his wrist, he summoned and assembled two Tyrion p.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Since the sha-- no, since Ishmael is a shadow, unaffected by the water, and you, Captain, are likely undetectable by small marine life with your ?Water Sphere,? I''d like the two of you to hunt for fish."


    "Whoa-hoh!!!" Krysaos took a pilum while wearing his signature grin, "Nice thinking, LT! Now we won''t starve, for sure."


    ...


    Ishmael floated out of the water, his shoulders sagging and looking generally defeated.


    "No luck, then?" Tycon asked.


    The shadow heaved with an exaggerated sigh and shook his head.


    Sea life... or something that resembled it. That''s what Tycon needed.


    The two of them made their way to where Krysaos was diving.


    At initial nce, it seemed he''d found some sess, and had arranged a score of fish in a small pile.


    "Check. it. out!!" Krysaos grinned, "I''m pretty good at spear fishin'', if I do say so, myself."


    Tycon grimaced as he picked up and observed one of the ''creatures.''


    "These are undead fish... not even fit for human consumption," He remarked... "Most of these are literal skeletons without an onze of meat."


    "Well, yeah," Krysaos pursed his lips to the side. "Knowing you, you have some kind of weird n or something you''re not telling us."


    He raised an eyebrow, "Or were you actually trying to feed us?"


    The shadow waved his hands.


    "Tyin'' to feed me," Krysaos corrected himself. "And you, LT. You need food to live too, right?"


    ...It seemed in only so few suns, Krysaos had urately gauged his thought processes.


    Tycon was not offended.


    "I need a strong source of death for a ritual I''d like to craft," He admitted. "I was hoping to find a medium-torge-sized creature that could be killed, in order to release a burst of death mana."


    There was a surprising amount of potential energy to be had from ritual sacrifice. It was the reason they were so... popr. However, the practice was considered savage by modern ounts... and was mostly used superficially, by small viges with livestock... or poorly, by viins attempting a ritual beyond their ability.


    Krysaos covered his chest defensively, "Not gonna be me, guy."


    For conscientious reasons, Tycon hoped to avoid using a sentient creature... and he was fairly certain if he botched the summoning, whatever he called would not be able to threaten him.


    "Granted," He chuckled. "Your mana is integral to the operation."


    Though the Captain did not have a caster ss, he was capable of Circle Magic, as previously disyed by his ?Water Sphere? spell. He was more than capable of activating and supplying a ritual with his mana equivalent to a First-Circle spell... so long as Tycon modeled the spell circles with efficiency in mind.


    "Well... I am something of a magic-caster," Krysaos mumbled.


    He was still remaining vignt, as was expected.


    [More?] Ishmael signed, [orrger?]


    "Thetter," Tycon smiled politely. "If we cannot gather enough life energy to convert into the opposite, then we can search for a particrly powerful undead and utilize its essence."


    He pointed deeper ind, at the imposing, dark-colored mountain, hazy through the fog, "We''ll begin our search there."


    "Y''know, this all sounds real f*ckin'' shady, LT," Krysaos frowned.


    "Brother-Captain," Tycon chuckled... "I''m a Lieutenant serving under the scourge of the Eastern Seas."


    "HAH!" Krysaos pped his thigh, "That''s right. We''re not supposed to be the good guys, after all."