“One thing that most individuals have is a dream. They aspire to be wealthy. To be able to achieve success. Travel to specific places. Or have the chance to simply laze around doing whatever they want. Right?”

Malaya turned to face the saleswoman who was speaking. “Umm. Sorry, are you talking to me?”

“Yes. Is there anyone else in this room but you?” The saleswoman replied with sarcasm in her tone. She then kept speaking without waiting for Malaya’s response.

“So, to summarize it all, you can have this! It’s a freebie from our shop! Everyone likes freebies, right?” Malaya’s left arm was seized by the saleslady. She slipped a silver bracelet on her and no matter how hard she shook her hand, the sales lady’s grip wouldn’t loosen..

“Hey! What are you doing? Let go of me!”

“You’ll need this to make your dream a reality.” When she was finally able to place the bracelet on Malaya, the saleswoman grinned.

“I’ll see you again, Carolle.” Everything became hazy as soon as the saleslady spoke those words.

“I’m excited to see what you’ll be able to accomplish. I’m hoping it’ll be far superior to the others.” Malaya couldn’t see her properly anymore, but she could tell the woman was smiling.

“Wait a minute!” Malaya yelled, but the saleswoman remained hazy. She couldn’t touch her no matter what she did ’till…

—⚓⚓⚓—

Malaya blinked. “A dream?” She sat down on her bed, catching her breath. She held her head, pondering the dream she had at the moment.

‘That lady. I met her before I boarded the cruise ship.’ Malaya then turned to look at her wrist, which held the silver bracelet.

No matter what she tried, it never loosened and couldn’t be removed for some reason. And she was the only one who could see this.

The sky was still dark, but Malaya couldn’t sleep any longer. She lit a lamp and sat at the chair near her table. She pulled the drawer of the table and picked out a thick silver notebook. She opened it and reread her life over the last four years.

“Just four years ago, I was Carolle Linette, a fresh marine cadet with her first assignment at the MVI Queen Liner, a passenger ship with a capacity of 1000 people. However, something went awry with the ship’s engines, leading to an explosion.”

“The last thing I remember is that there was fire everywhere. I suppose I got burned by it? I’m not sure how much I recall. But I guess it wasn’t such a horrible death after all, because I remembered that I was able to save my closest friend Riza. The next thing I knew, I was awakened in this body as Malaya, a magicless insecure villainess.”

“It was frightening at first, I admit. I’m depressed for one reason: there are so many things I wanted to do in my previous life and die before I could accomplish any of that.”

“As I started living in this world. I found out that Malaya had a very compassionate family that pampered her to the core. It made me comfortable a bit because they reminded me of my family back on Earth. But there is something that bothered me. Malaya died already from poisoned when I took her body.”

“And because I was given a second shot at life, I took advantage of it and eventually accepted that this would be my new existence. Malaya and I have similar likes but vary in our attitudes. That was probably due to the fact that she was still a developing youngster. Still, I don’t think I need to change much.”

Malaya flipped to a few pages and reread the next contents.

“I began to think differently after being in this world. After experiencing death once, I understood what it meant to live each day as if it were the last. I foolishly followed it. I was fascinated with traveling across the seas in my previous existence. That’s also why I chose marine science as a major.”

“Malaya’s family was known for their navy. And since the Marina Dukedom was an island, it was natural to travel to countries and places throughout the continent via ships. So one day, I slipped away on my father’s and Jules’ ship when they went on a trip. I deeply regretted doing that.”

Malaya closed her eyes as she remembered the accident four years ago. It still feels as though everything occurred yesterday. Her heart still ached, but she no longer wept over it. The memory flashed to her mind.

—⚓⚓⚓—

“Tie all the ropes!”

“Hold on to the sail!”

“Here comes another wave!”

A storm was raging across the ocean. Thunder screamed beside the fiercely sparking lights. The sky was gloomy, and the rain was falling heavily. The wind was terrifyingly strong, causing enormous waves to crash onto the unfortunate little ship that was caught up with it.

But it wasn’t the only reason to be concerned. The sailing ship was being attacked by a black sea serpent. All of the other sailors continued to fire. Their weapons, however, were rendered ineffective by the monster’s thick scales.

“Are we going to die?” Whispered by one of the youngest sailors there.

This was his first aboard experience, a requirement for his navy training. Despite this, he had heard and read about the perils of sailing. He had no idea how scary it was to witness it firsthand. Especially that they were particularly closed near the red current, which also served as the continent’s borders.

“Continue shooting! Stop dithering, new recruit!” yelled one of the other sailors.

“I’m sorry, Sir!” The young sailor reloaded his gun once again.

But when he raised his head to aim at the creature, his eyes widened in fear.

“Look out!” He pushed the crewmate who had previously scolded him.

“Ackk!” He coughed up some blood after being struck. The serpent dived at them and shoved the other sailor. He was the one who was hit by its head.

When he peered down, he saw that he would fall right into the ocean water’s raging waves.

*Swoosh!*

Someone caught the young sailor just as he was about to plunge into the ocean. He was clutching one of the sail’s ropes. And used it to swivel back to the ship.

“Nice work, son!” When the young sailor landed and saw the guy who had just saved him, he was stunned. It was their Duke’s eldest son! Jules Jason Marina, the young master, stood by his legendary father! The Marina Navy’s outstanding commander! Sir Roman Marina!

“That was so close young lad! Kakaka!” Sir Roman double chin bounced as he laughed heartily. His slanted small bright blue eyes squirmed as he laughed more. Making it look like his eyes were closed. He wore his usual navy black coat uniform.

Hearing the Duke’s laugh, the young sailor realized his discourtesy and bowed his head. “Young master! Your grace! Thank you for saving this mere commoner’s life!” He said in hurry and didn’t dare to look up.

“No need to thank me, just get back to sailing and help the others.” Young master Jules said.

“Yes, young master!” He bowed his head again and went to assist the other sailors. But he kept glancing back to them.

The father and son duo looked at the serpent causing havoc to their ship.

“Father, can you leave that one to me,” He heard the young master Jules said as he unleashed his sword and threw the scabbard away. Sir Roman looked at his son’s eyes.

Young master Jules has the color of sparkling eyes like the dawn. His long blue hair was tied in a single ponytail behind. He wore a simple white long sleeve shirt and brown pants partnered with black leather boots. But the air of nobility could still be felt around him.

“Suit yourself, son. Kakaka!” Sir Roman just laughed more. The other sailors looked at him.

‘So it’s true that the great commander is a jolly person even at kind of situations.’ He thought.

“Then, I’ll go now.” Young master Jules disappeared in his place. The young sailor blinked his eyes many times and he was not really there anymore.

In an instant, he heard cheers from the other crews. He was too surprised to see the young master, flew and dashed directly at the Serpent. There was a lump of water beneath his feet.

From his pocket, the young sailor brought out his small notebook and turned its pages. ‘That skill! It was one of the special techniques, the Hydro Lift of the Marina family.’

The Marina family was known for its amazing water element magic attributes and techniques. And seeing one in real life, this was a dream come true to a fan of the great families of Hacien such as himself.

The young sailor continued watching the scene with profound amazement. But then water started to cover the sword of the young master. ‘Wait! Don’t tell me that technique!’ He flipped through his notes again.

Perforate of the Water Dragon!

The young master made a stunt. He quickly slashed his sword towards the serpent. The young sailor stopped himself from blinking any cost to etched every scene into his mind.

With that one strike, the hard scales of the serpents were pierced like it was just some kind of paper. A loud roar was heard before the serpent dropped to the sea.

The sailors at the ship watched with amazement at the valor and strength of their young master Jules. They cheered at him as he landed back on the ship. But he only gave them a serious response.

“It’s not over yet. That is not the real body.” The young master said which made them all confused.

The next thing they knew was the ship started rocking heavily. And many of them fell out of balance.

Half of the ship’s east wing where the cabin cargo was located was destroyed in an instant.

“So it finally showed itself. A King Squid would not be bad for some exercise.” The young master said as he prepared his sword again.

But different to him. “King Squid…” one of the sailors trembled.

Everyone’s eyes widened with fear as they watched a much larger monster than earlier appearing!

No! Just like the young master said, that was only the arm! More of its arms was swerving around the ship now.

It raised three of its arms. It was going to attack the ship! If the ship got hit by it, we’re all going to die!

Then something sparked brightly that we can’t help but cover our eyes. A blue, blinding light, flew above us. The next thing we knew, the Kraken’s upper body vanished and its arms started to fell below from the depths of the sea until nothing of it could be seen anymore.

“Father, you overdid it again.”

“Kakakaka!”

‘That’s the famous Flood of Elimination of the general!’

The storm still kept going. But everything was pretty much easy when the monster was gone. But then everyone heard a scream of a girl.

“Malaya!” Young master Jules with fright when he saw a certain small boat being swept away on the strong waves of the ocean. It was heading to the location of the Red Current faster.