With all of the dungeon delving into incredibly inhospitable places such as catacombs, subterranean holding facilities for ancient beings or cursed hats, putting himself through harsh training regiments and doing the annoying but well paying tasks for shady individuals in high places, Gawain could honestly say that he had deserved the right to take a break. Pushing himself to get stronger and more in control of his vast amount of mana had been the singular focus on his mind for the past month, and it had paid off much and often. But one could not keep pushing themselves without ever taking a break and allowing oneself to unwind by doing something many people considered to be fun. With an old and simple fishing pole leaning against his shoulder, the ashen haired youth walked through the busy streets of Raque. Before the boy had become a mage, he had lived in a fishing community way up in the north eastern portion of the country.

Living right by the ocean, his family made much of their money through means of fishing, as well as crafting fishing equipment they put through rigorous testing before selling it to other fishermen down south. Angling up fish of various shaped and sizes, placing a plethora of lobster and crab traps, then selling what they did not need at the local markets in the common realm was their entire way of life. They had been a peaceful people, living side by side with nature and doing their best not to destroy the habitats of the marine creatures they lived off of. So when the Villtsung raiders came from the distant island archipelago of Skjaergard, they had little to no means of resisting their onslaught. Those who weren’t outright killed were taken to be sold as slaves, Gawain and his mother being among the “fortunate” ones. His father hadn’t been as fortunate, as he had died trying to get others to safety. Such a pointless death.

Thinking back on it now, he was barely old enough to remember bits and pieces of what had happened that day, yet too young to truly remember what life had been like in the settlement. All he remembered was what his mother had told him during the time they spent as slaves for a cruel master. It was her way of getting his eyes on the horizon and giving him something to look forward to once they were free to leave and return to their original home. Now, several years later, he had seen his old home again, or rather what was left of it, and could honestly say that he wasn’t at all amused by it. The burned out rubble of a home he could not remember that belonged to a community that had long since died out, aside from him of course. Not seeing the point in rebuilding on his own after all of the horrible things his hands had been made to do during his early teenage years, the only point in existing now was so he could be his own “man”.

That said, he was still just a teenage boy, no matter how manly he considered himself to be.

But none of that really mattered now. Since fishing was in his blood, taking part in the fishing competition that had been announced seemed like something that was perfectly up his alley. So while his fishing equipment was rickety and clearly had seen better days, the boy was hoping that his natural skill would carry him to victory. And when he said natural skill, he meant exactly that, as he had never really touched a fishing pole for the actual sake of fishing before. But the way he saw it, it couldn’t be all that hard since people did it standing or sitting still in one place while watching the sinker for what seemed like hours on end. So if that was all it took for him to earn some of that prize money for himself, not joining in on something such as this seemed like lunacy. And so, Gawain approached the signup station, after which he would figure out what to do and how to cast a line properly.



WC: 701

Looking around the pier, it seemed that this whole thing had turned into quite a bit of a festivity. With two large vessels laying in wait, one was actually a gargantuan warship that dwarfed the one beside it. More than that, it appeared that there were a good deal of magic knights around it as well, showing that this thing was more than just a ship that had been rented out for the sake of this little fishing competition. It seemed too much to just be some kind of a promotional tool, there was more going on here. Looking over the smaller vessel, it too was nothing to scoff at. Judging by the amount of sails, the aerodynamic design and the overall look, this wasn’t the kind of ship that was utilized by magic knights. If anything, it was the kind of vessel you’d hire when you wanted to get something across the vast ocean in as little time as possible.

And that was when he heard it, a large and regal looking man and a redheaded lady yelling at one another on the pier. Behind the man stood several magic knights that clearly belonged to the crimson lion squad, while the woman was backed up by what seemed like thugs and brigands. Standing in rather stark contrast to one another, Gawain wondered what their beef was as he made his way over to the registry. Putting his name down on the paper as “Gwyn”, the name his mother used to call him by, the person behind the desk asked him which team he wanted to be reinforcing. When he asked what the deal was, he was informed that the fishing competition was essentially just a ruse for the two captains, Smack Cabalero and Verona de la Rouge to settle an age old debate. A petty and very childish debate at that.

Both of them seemed to have issues with one another since one of them was a member of the royal navy, while the other was for all intents and purposes a scoundrel. The Red Solaria, Verona’s freebooter vessel was one of the fastest vessels on the sea, allowing it to outrun the navy whenever it got on their trail so that it could never truly catch it in the midst of any illegal activities. In spite of that, it was a well known fact that Verona was very much a pirate, just not of the murdering variety. She was a rule breaker, one that stole from the rich and gave to the poor, as well as keeping a fair cut herself. She did have people to pay and a ship to maintain after all. The other was in possession of one of the most over the top war vessels in the entire royal navy, one so loaded with cannons that it looked like it could sink an entire continent.

Since they could clearly not compete with one another based on firepower or sailing speed in a race, as either ship had some perks that would make such things an impossible comparison, they had decided to make it into a fishing competition. One where both would take a team of willing individuals mixed in along with their own crew to catch the biggest fish possible, one that was big and heavy enough to outclass that of the other team. Putting down some very attractive sums of money to those taking part, Gawain was having a hard time figuring out which of the two teams to join as both had some perks the other did not. And at the end of the day, he couldn’t give a shit whether or not he found himself on a pirate vessel or if he found himself surrounded by members of the royal navy. He wanted to win, he wanted the prize money so that he could buy expensive food and sleep in a warm bed for a few more nights.

So now that he had turned in his registry forms, all that remained was picking out a team to join.



WC: 678
Total WC: 1379

“Though you’re right, you’re leaving something out of the equation.”

Having listened in on the conversation that was being held out loud quite near him, he had a few thoughts he wished to share with regards to the situation. Being the kind of person that kept mulling over whatever details he was presented with until he felt he could make a quality decision on how to move forward, Gawain never really made a decision haphazardly. For how carefree and lackluster he might look at times, all of that was mostly a charade to hide the fact that he was actually a rather intelligent boy. For this specific case, he had already run his mind through a bunch of different scenarios, like what might happen if they were out and sea and were to be attacked by pirates, monsters from the ocean depths or by a vessel from a foreign country such as the Villtsung of Skjaergard. In such a case, being able to make a quick dash for it with the Solaria might be for the best, though the Revenge would be the safest place for them to be.

Having that many cannons on it meant that only the truly bold or the truly stupid would try to attack them, though it might be said that Verona’s reputation might earn her the privilege of passing by other pirates without being attacked. Though all of these variables were really just that, they all had the potential of coming into being while out on open waters. That said, Gawain wasn’t the slightest bit bothered by the fact that they might run into trouble out there. Both ships were equipped with plenty of capable individuals that could protect them. And if things did take a turn for the worse, he’d just perforate and pulverize whatever threat might rear its ugly head.

“Those that sail the seas for profit tend to know where the goods are to be had, while those who sail to protect the kingdom know where to go and what to do when it comes to capturing the ones that might be harmful to their benefactors. So if the one thing the crimson lion’s ship is good at is keeping the place safe from pirates, while the pirate lady and her ship have never been caught, I’d say Red Solaria and her crew are your best bet when it comes to claiming the prize money as they seem to be at least one step ahead.”

Putting in a good word for the crew of freebooters, Gawain himself had already more or less made up his mind about the ship he wished to join at this point. Believing Verona’s ship would get them into good fishing waters faster than the Revenge might even leave port, having a head start on earning the prize for the contest was more than he could hope for. Because the sooner they’d be able to get their rods out and their lines cast, the sooner they’d be able to start fishing for those prize winning beauties. After all, the only reason he had come here was to get a break from all the dungeon delving and fighting, though winning a bunch of money was never a bad thing as it put some actual food on the table.



WC: 545
Total WC: 1943

“The name’s Gawain, and I can promise you one thing. If you roll with pirates, the last thing you’ll be having is an uneventful day.”

Trying his hands at a somewhat graceful bow, it was more than likely quite clear that he wasn’t in the business of bowing much. Still, he added a bit of grace to it that at the very least made an attempt at some flair. Wondering why the girl was being accompanied by another man that seemed to mirror what she was doing, he figured she was likely some nobleman’s daughter, judging by how frequently she mentioned her dad. This meant that the man that was with her was either her bodyguard or some kind of attendant, the kind of job that always seemed somewhat ungrateful to him. That said though, there wasn’t any kind of a regular job that truly resonated with him, he wasn’t built for that kind of work. He was built different, clearly. If it were up to him, he’d spent the largest amount of his time delving into dungeons to dig up all the loot he could find.

Looking at the registry, it seemed that the girl had indeed decided to go with his suggestion for the pirate’s vessel. Wondering if that meant they would still need to compete among one another even if they were on the same vessel, or if it meant that they would essentially work together to bring in the biggest haul for their respective ships was not something he actually knew. The latter did seem like the more obvious and logical of the two options, though one could never be too certain. As such, he did the only thing that remained doing, to sign up for the ship of his choice, which was the vessel belonging to Verona the pirate lady.

“Well then it seems we’ll be competing on the same vessel. Don’t let my looks be deceiving, I can’t remember the last time I touched a fishing rod or even cast a line. I just remember how to do it, but that’s about as far as my level of skill will take me.”

With that said, the boy wasted no more time on shore. Wandering over to the freebooter’s vessel, he made his way on board, ready to see whether or not he had inherited the sea legs of his grandparents. Or in the worst case, if he had been infected with sea legs when he had been a captive on foreign soil. Either way, it’d be proven soon enough.


WC: 430
Total WC: 2373

Exit Thread