“Bossman, I’m not getting any signal!” Sergio raised his phone high, waving it through the air to get a signal.

“Of course, you won’t get any,” Nikolai said while sitting on top of the captain’s cabinet. He was studying the arrows he got with his Darkmoon Longbow. “The Wide Mana Array doesn’t cover high altitudes.”

“How am I going to read Alchemy4U Blog?” Sergio fell on his knees in defeat. Nikolai smiled and didn’t say anything.

Even though they were only tools to connect to the mana array, phones became an essential daily item for many. Before innovating devices that could receive information, people had to train to glean information directly from the WMA. The phone’s screens were a special crystal that could visualize mana.

“Aaa!” The archer opened her mouth to produce noises, but her voice was hoarse and unrecognizable. Sergio turned her way and then looked at Nikolai.

“Boss, the mute girl seems to want something.”

“Feed her.” Nikolai didn’t take his eyes away from the arrow. The arrow had ancient engravings, each with a different one.

“She’s shaking her head. I think it’s the opposite of feeding.” Sergio said, and Nikolai turned to see the archer nod. He sighed and jumped from the cabinet’s roof.

“Why do you have to make it so difficult?” He crouched next to the archer. “Can’t you just hold it in?”

“Boss, that’s an inhuman request.” Sergio looked from behind him. “Let’s just take her to the toilet downstairs.”

“You think? I planned on letting her do it on the deck.” Nikolai said sarcastically, but he saw the girl’s eyes shake. “I’m kidding.” He picked her up and opened the hatchway. “Go down there and catch her,” Nikolai told Sergio.

Nikolai threw the archer, and Sergio caught her in time. However, he fell on his rear with her in an embrace. He struggled to get up under Nikolai’s speechless face.

“Next time, remind me to get you some strength crystals.”

“I’d rather have Intelligence Crystals.” Sergio panted. “Why didn’t we unrestraint her upstairs, and she could get down on her own?”

“I don’t trust her. Put her on the seat.” Nikolai jumped down as well. “I’ll only restore your arms for you to finish your business.”

Nikolai struck a spot above her naval, and she could use her arms again. As soon as she did, she went on to complain.

‘Why are you doing this to me?’ The archer glared at him as she gestured. ‘I told you it was by mistake. Is this how you wanted to repay me?’

“I wanted to repay you until you sneaked into the ship.” Nikolai glared at her. “I have no reason to trust you.”

‘And no reason to not trust me.’

“That’s a foolish way of thinking.” Nikolai shook his head. “Finish your business and knock on the door.”

‘How do I get you to trust me?’ She hurried to gesture before Nikolai turned to leave.

“Tell me how you sneaked into the ship.” Nikolai thought for a second. The archer looked at him silently and sighed.

Suddenly, her aura diminished, and her breathing, presence, and mana disappeared. Nikolai squinted his eyes as the girl turned almost imperceptible.

“It’s a skill?” Nikolai squinted his eyes. “Where did you get it from?”

A skill that could make you invisible was rare, not to mention one as good as this. Nikolai didn’t expect an answer, but the archer seemed determined to answer him.

‘I obtained it when I lost my voice.’ The girl gestured. ‘It was a tradeoff, I guess.’

Nikolai clenched his fist before relaxing it. It was the same with his friend from the orphanage. He obtained a skill that manifested early and managed to leave the orphanage at that time, but it only ended up being the beginning of his nightmares.

“I’ll leave you free as long as I’m not asleep,” Nikolai said before turning to leave. “However, you’ll never leave my sight.”

***

Nikolai sat on the railings and looked at the horizon. It was late afternoon now. He glanced toward the archer seated on the deck and teaching Sergio signs language.

“I told you to get away from her.” Nikolai scowled at Sergio, who simply laughed awkwardly.

“I’ve never met a mute person before, so it’s interesting,” Sergio said naively. Nikolai shook his head and looked at the archer, focused on writing down the words for Sergio.

They were bored up here in the sky as their ship sailed west, so Sergio asked her to teach him. Realizing something, Nikolai called out to her.

“What’s your name, archer?” He asked, and the archer paused writing and took out another paper. With large letters, she wrote down her name and how to pronounce it.

“Yuxi, pronounced as Yuksi.” Nikolai read with a frown. It was a name he didn’t recognize. Why was this girl so unknown to him, even though she was someone he would notice? “What’s your last name?”

‘Woodville.’ Yuxi wrote down again. Nikolai didn’t say anything and tried to look through his memories. As he was gazing at the horizon, he saw a dot moving across the sky.

“Sergio.” Nikolai stood up. “Prepare the potions.”

“Hm? Are we landing?” Sergio turned with confusion.

“No, but we’ll be going into a fight.” Nikolai walked to his bags and took out the enchanted bullets he had. They weren’t a lot, but they were enough to protect him.

“A battle? Against who?” Sergio stood up hurriedly and darted to his bag as he asked.

“Pirates.” Nikolai gripped his gun. “Let’s hope they don’t notice us, but that’s unlikely. They’ll be coming after us.”

“P-pirates? Isn’t this bad?” Sergio stuttered as he rushed over with his potions. Nikolai looked at his frightened expression and patted his shoulder.

“I’ll protect you.” He said with confidence. “Hide in the room below. Take this key. If I can’t handle them, I’ll need you to rotate the key in its hole like this: clockwise, anticlockwise, anticlockwise, clockwise, anticlockwise.”

“Would that send a rescue signal?” Sergio grabbed the key with hope, but Nikolai shook his head.

“It’ll start the self-destruction countdown. There are parachutes under the bunks. Take them and jump if I don’t make it.”

“How about we just surrender, boss?” Sergio seemed like he was about to cry. Nikolai didn’t think he was a coward but someone who valued his life.

“Don’t worry.” Nikolai raised his gun. “They’ll have to kill me to get to you, and there’s no way that’s happening.”