Chapter 399 Bad memories
Zaos was tired of dealing with troublesome Captain and sailors, so he decided to stay away from the ones Aleni negotiated with. If they try anything, Zaos will kill them all. No… it would be better if he used a Thunder Sword to melt the face of a few. That will probably make all the others obey him. If worse comes to the worst, he can always make them jump into the ocean, and then he sells the ship in the next port.
"Daddy, the sea is so pretty," Milliendra said.
"You think so?" Zaos asked while smiling and recalling how Drannor and Ameria had a terrible time when they stepped on a ship for the first time.
In any case, even though there were only a few dozen people on the ship, Milliendra still didn't want to see the others. He really needed to do something for her shyness… Zaos already had a few ideas, but he had to see how things would be in the mercenaries' country before putting them into action.
"Why is this ship going to that country again?" Zaos asked.
"... The Captain mentioned something about medicine, I don't remember the rest," Aleni replied.
Now that Zaos thought about it, that region that they just left had Many medicinal and poisonous plants. Zaos used the second group to increase his Poison Resistance while no one was looking whenever possible. Regardless, considering that the country they were going to had many mercenary groups, Zaos imagined that they would use the head and fabricate their own medicine. Zaos knew that they were good at making siege weapons, but he didn't know much else.
In any case, the trip will last four weeks. So, Zaos had to draw a clear plan in his mind and also think of solutions to most situations that he might find there. He also had to keep doing his research and daily studies… He was starting to think that he had more free time when he was in the army.
Since Zaos didn't have much material to craft magic weapons, he decided to focus his studies on his new type of magic. Although he couldn't use too much magic since he might hurt Aleni and Milliendra or damage the ship, Zaos still made a lot of progress in a few days. If he couldn't just use too much mana, he could focus on control and speed. By perfecting his ability to summon mana and control it as fast as possible, Zaos became naturally better. He even managed to create an arrow out of mana. While the arrow was smaller than the tip of his index finger, Zaos still could kill seagulls. He felt bad for using them as Guinea pigs, so Zaos only killed one.
"The mana in that form can damage even flesh, so I can't use it to make Millie lose her magic powers," Zaos thought. "At least not for the time being… Everyone calls this the gift of the demon god, so that means that it is something that was given when the people were born. Maybe I shouldn't be so literal, but for the time being, I will proceed considering that is the case."
If it weren't, Zaos would be in a bind since it would show that the gift of the demon god isn't something that can be taken away. If that doesn't work, Zaos will try to seal it… at least that should be possible. Making someone unable to use mana would also cut the link between them and the demon god.
"Come to think of it… the demon god can only be wounded by two swords… does that mean that Milliendra has also a certain level of immortality?" Zaos thought. "Guardian's Heart granted me several skills, so it must be different from the magic weapons of the Ashiris kingdom. Still, that doesn't explain why they can wound the demon god."
Zaos didn't want to break a Legendary sword to study it. Still, he didn't give up trying to learn the secret behind it.
In the end, after those four weeks, he didn't know if he had made much progress or too little. He could envelop his sword with his mana, but he couldn't change the nature of the mana… he could only make it sharper and sturdier with that. On the other hand, Zaos learned something interesting by accident. It was regarding the magic stones… not all stones could absorb mana. However, even if they are broken after having all the mana inside it used, they still could be recharged. Zaos melted several magic stones and created something like a plate inside the glove with that in mind. That increased the duration that Milliendra could use the gloves… but it also increased the cost in mana. In any case, Zaos had to stop once again with the progress because something happened.
"Daddy, what is that?" Milliendra asked.
Zaos approached their cabin window to check and then noticed that there were many spots where smoke was rising from. Zaos finally could see some land, but he couldn't get not even a bit relieved or excited. Smoke was usually a sign of accidents or battles.
"That is smoke… when things get too hot, they burn and sometimes smoke appear," Zaos replied.
Speaking of heat, Zaos noticed that the temperature had increased lately. He didn't hear that the mercenaries' country was like a tropical country, but it seemed that was the case. On the coast, Zaos could see some weird-looking trees that he had never seen before. Probably because they could only be found in tropical areas.
"What do you know about this place?" Zaos asked.
"... It is hot," Aleni said.
"You don't say…" Zaos frowned. "In this kind of place, anyone would easily get some tan, but your skin doesn't have it."
"Assassins don't move during the day, are you stupid?" Aleni asked.
"Someone is in a bad mood…" Zaos shrugged.
Aleni has been pretty quiet lately, but it was no surprise since she was returning to her homeland. While Zaos felt bad for her since she only had memories there, it couldn't be helped. Perhaps this time, she will finally obtain some good ones.
