The waves hit the ship’s hull, making dance alongside the waves. It’s been three days since they left for the treasure hunt. Captain Claridge said it would take them at least a week to get to the island, but at least they got themselves a place to stay.

Captain Claridge gave each one of the hired people a private room. It was small, and could only fit one person, which turned out to be a problem for Arthur.

Arthur was inside his tiny room, which had only a wooden bed and a small desk that could barely fit one person. He was sitting on the chair while Kai was lying on the bed, looking at the roof.

“Sailing makes me sick. Why is this ship moving so much?” Kai said.

“It is only normal to be this way. Anyway, about the island we’re heading, have you ever heard anything about it?”

“Never. It is as mysterious as it sounds.” Kai stopped mid-sentence, grabbing a bucket nearby…

Some people did not go well with traveling using ships, and it seemed Kai was one of these people. He would get used to it after some time. Arthur hoped so.

The only problem was that this trip was boring. With little to no things to do, they could only stand still and wait. Hell, Arthur even prayed for something to happen on the way to the island, but it never happened. After 7 days of nothing, they finally arrived at the island.

~~~~

One, two, three… eventually everyone left the ship, and stepped onto the island. It was just like another island, with sand, trees, bushes so high it was impossible to see a thing, and animals making many sounds.

There was a difference, though. The island had a distinct feeling to it, and everyone in there sensed as if someone was watching. Arthur did not like the feeling, but he needed the treasures to turn them into precious money.

.

“All right, everyone. We arrived at the island. The ship will stay here, but we must not use the supplies of food. We have to go back after the treasure hunt, so if the foods runs out, it is over.”

“Each one of you will have to find your own food and water. It shouldn’t be a problem.” Claridge said, and he did not stop there.

“Now, we will set camp here, and each one of you can go out into groups to explore and map the island of potential danger.”

Arthur listened carefully to Claridge’s words and understood what was happening. Claridge had the map to the island, but he did not have the exact location of where the treasures were. That’s why he asked them to go out into groups and explore.

“Hey, old man. Can I talk to you for a second?” Arthur called out Claridge, and they left to speak in a private.

“What’s up, kid? What do you want?”

“Can I explore with only my friend Kai? I don’t want to team up with people I don’t know, at least not until I get to know them better.”

With his hand on his chin, Claridge thought for a while before giving Arthur an answer.

“All right, but be careful. This place is dangerous.”

“Sure.” Arthur smiled, and left.

He was not worried about going venturing alone. Kai was not of much help yet, but there was still Sully, who hid in his pocket, which could help him. Speaking of Sully, he talked with Arthur telepathically, reinforcing what Claridge stated.

“Lord, this island indeed has a lot of beasts. I can sense them from afar.”

“Are they strong, Sully?”

“Hm, it’s hard to say. All the beasts here on the surface are weaker than us, so we should be fine. The real problem is beneath the ground.”

“Beneath the ground? What do you mean?”

“I can vaguely sense there are powerful beasts lurking beneath us. You don’t know where the treasures are, right? If I would give a guess, they are probably down there and these beasts are protecting them.”

Sully had a point. These treasures were difficult to find or else someone else would have by now. Arthur had a guess that there was some sort of building hidden inside the island, and he had to be the one finding it.

“Let’s go, Kai.” said Arthur.

~~~~

The island had a dense vegetation, despite that, someone opened a path before. Arthur and Kai walked through this muddy road, paying attention to all details or else a beast could jump from the bushes and attack them.

“What was that?” Kai pointed at a bush who had just moved. He was afraid a beast would pounce out of it, but in the end, a small rabbit came out.

“Calm down, Kai. I will feel whatever a beast is nearby, and we should be okay.”

They continued forward for some time, before the inevitable happened. An enormous centipede came from beneath them. It was impossible for Kai to dodge on time, so Arthur grabbed him and dodged the upcoming attack.

The centipede stared at them fiercely. It had 10 meters, which was scary. All the legs moving sent a bad feeling to all of them.

“Damn, this is disgusting.”

“Lord, can I kill this thing?”

Sully wanted to hunt something, as he had spent too much time inside Arthur’s pockets. So Arthur agreed to it.

When Sully turned into his actual form, that of a winged-beast, the centipede instantly tried to flee. Magical beasts had keen senses, so the centipede knew it had no chance of winning against Sully.

It was a pity it could not run in time. Before the centipede dug a hole to hide, a bolt of thunder stroke it, making it stop in place. Within that split second, Sully flew towards it, and cut the centipede in half.

The fight ended quickly, but Arthur already knew that. Kai was not familiar with the level of power Sully had, so it surprised him.

“Damn, Sully!” Kai clapped, and even though Sully couldn’t understand what it meant, he was happy.

“Lord, it is a good kid you found to teach.”

“Yeah, but there’s a lot for him to learn.”

“Hello? Why are both of you staring at me as if you’re talking about me? Ha, what am I saying? It is impossible to talk with beasts, hahaha.” Kai said.

It was a funny scene to see him that shy, and Arthur had to do his best to hold the laughter. They were indeed doing the ‘impossible’ and talking to each other, man to beast.

“All right, let’s keep moving.”

The rest of their exploration had been peaceful after Sully showcasing his dominance to the other beasts around the area. Claridge asked them to look around and map out the island of dangers, and presumably find clues about the treasures.

He also asked them to return at night to their camp near the shore. Arthur was not fond of that idea. There was no way he would trust these other people Claridge hired, and there was no way he would lose his precious time going back to the camp every night.

“I’ll sleep here in the wilderness. Are you okay with that? Kai?”

“Of course. Whatever the boss says, hehe he.”

With that in mind, Arthur and Sully worked together to cut some trees and grab some leaves for the roof. They built together an improvised shelter within an hour. It was way easier to do that in two, and using their power.

As for the food, Arthur hunt a few small beasts, and cooked them using a campfire.

It was not the comfiest place, and they would have to sleep on the ground, but it was okay. Sully remained in his actual form to cover Arthur and Kai with his fur, so no one would suffer from the chilly night.

They slept, and would continue the search the next day.

~~~~

While this was happening, on the other side of the island, a mysterious dark ship anchored. The people who left the ship wore strange tunics and masks. They gave a dark feeling, and no one who saw them would say they looked friendly.

“We are here, finally. These treasures will belong to us, hahaha!” The person who seemed to be the leader spoke after leaving the ship.

Everyone else kept silent and built their camp for the night.

Arthur did not know, but soon enough, he would meet up once again with the people he wished to see no more. The Doom Order was looking for the same treasures as him, and that could only end with death.

~~~~

Kai, Arthur, and Sully were sleeping comfortably until something happened.

Arthur woke up and could hear a voice inside his head. The strange voice talked in a language unknown to him, but it was as if it was calling him.

“What is this? Should I go check it out?”

He was not a fan of leaving alone during the night, but with his night vision, everything should be fine, right?