Chapter 66 – Out at sea.

“Raise th’ anchor lads!”

“Aye, raise th’ anchor!”

Following the shout of Isabela, the sailors started raising the ship’s anchor. The sounds of large thick chains bumping against the side of the ship were heard as it was ready to set sail.

This ship was your regular large sail ship with a lot of space for cargo. Thanks to the spatial magic technology in this world a ship like this could carry a staggering number of items. This reduced the weight and saved up space for the crew members and travelers. Due to this, there were quite a number of people riding along, Roland being one of them.

He was now standing on the main deck with a group of travelers just like him. He was the only one going solo, the rest either had some friends, business partners, or other kinds of companions.

This was a merchant ship which also meant that it had a lot of protection. He could see various adventurers battle-ready and in gear. If not for the destruction of his card he could have also saved some money on traveling as last time. He at least hoped that he could spend this trip without anything going horribly wrong.

Roland didn’t really have anything to do now. There was no one that he knew and talking to strangers was something that he wouldn’t do. He wished that he could repair some of his items. He also wanted to scribe some new scrolls as he had gone through the bulk of them during the bandit attack.

There was just no privacy here though. He had glanced down into the lower deck where everyone was supposed to sleep. It didn’t look too good, a person was supposed to either sleep on the wooden floor or in a hammock. It also smelled like seawater and sweat down there, the lack of ventilation also made breathing hard.

‘This is it huh?’

He looked out into the distance. The people that had come to wave at them as they departed were already out of view. He looked at the port town getting smaller and smaller with each passing moment. There were some other ships near them for the time being but with time the distances became larger.

He thought back to his adventures on the main continent. There weren’t many treasured moments that he could think back to. His stay at the Arden estate was already buried deep and something that he liked to forget about.

There weren’t that many people that he remembered fondly there beside his maid. He also had some fleeting encounters with a couple of adventurers but years had already passed since those times. He didn’t think that they would remember him that much for the couple of months he spent with them.

Life moved forward and so he would also have to. He wanted to leave the past behind and move on. After gaining a good amount of personal strength he would be able to relax. He knew that it wouldn’t be easy but if he took precautions and bettered himself slowly he would reach his goal.

He knew of the existence of hybrid classes. Ones that combined crafting professions with more battle focused classes. He just needed to see if he could nab one after his next class change.

If there wasn’t anything available he was also considering taking something like a runic weaponsmith. With the added proficiencies in crafting weapons, he might be able to somehow make it work.

A weaponsmith class lacked any active or passive skills that increased his battle strength directly though. The runic variant would probably be the same but he should be able to circumvent that with his high mana pool that allowed him to use magic runes more proficiently. He would just need to procure the runic version of skills of other battle classes. Just like he did with the mana slash and mana thrust runes.

‘Wait, maybe the runic armorsmith would be a better choice. I will be able to fit more runes on a suit of armor than a sword…’

He rubbed his chin while contemplating, there were a couple of possibilities with his class options. He could also take one that focused on runes only. Then he could just order armor and weapons from a regular blacksmith instead. That would lower the customization options and also probably give away his runecrafting profession sooner or later.

“Well looky here, wha’ are ye doin’ here all alone, wants big sis t’ keep ye company?”

Roland looked behind him after hearing a woman’s voice. After turning around he noticed that it was the woman that he previously met. This was this ship’s first mate, she went by Isabela and for some reason, she was interested in him.

“Uh, no thanks I’m fine…”

He wasn’t used to something like this so he wasn’t really sure how to react. The woman gave him a somewhat seductive look. To Roland, it felt as if she was some kind of predator looking at a juicy piece of meat.

Roland might have looked young to her but he was mentally older than the woman that looked to be in her late-twenties. It was true that with a high enough vitality stat her real age might have been higher.

He realized what she was after but he didn’t feel comfortable with going through with something like that. This was a ship filled with people and he barely knew this woman. Maybe letting off some steam after the bandit attack would feel enjoyable but he just wasn’t the type to jump into any stranger’s bed.

“Don’t be like that sugar, ’tis goin’ t’ be a long trip ‘n thar ain’t much t’ do around here. Jus’ relax ‘n ‘ave sum rum.”

The lady came prepared, she had a big bottle of rum in one hand and was actually already drinking. The moment she came closer the stretch of alcohol washed over Roland and made him cringe.

“No it’s fine, I really don’t need a drink.”

He just shook his head while moving to the side. Isabela was just about to lean on him but instead tumbled forward and had to grasp herself on the ship railing.

“Look lads, Isabela got dumped again!”

They were all on a boat so this exchange was noticed by the sailors. They started pointing fingers at their first mate and laughing out loud.

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“She be losin’ her touch, must be gettin’ old.”

Roland started to move away while noticing a large vein appearing on Isabela’s forehead. She even pulled out her saber from the side and started pointing it at her crew member.

“Ye wants me t’ cut o’ yer pegleg, Emmett?”

She pointed the sharp tool at the sailor’s nether region and he instantly backed away. This didn’t stop the other men from laughing as they chuckled away whilst their first mate cursed at them. The whole scene only stopped after the captain came. After some shouting, everyone was back working and he was now free to think in peace.

The day flew by and it was night. This he spent in the company of some hairy men on a hammock right above them. The smell was quite something but thanks to his sleeping resistance he would be fine with only a couple of hours of it. It looked like the trip would be uneventful and that he would arrive at his new home soon.

But on the second day, the sailor that was atop of the main mast started shouting. Roland looked out into the distance but couldn’t see anything. The person above had a specialized sea fairing scout-like class and he could tell that something was approaching.