[A/n: edited]
"Aye, sir cap-tian. We want to hail your ship and cross the ocean. Can you take us along?" Alex spoke while mimicking an accent he heard on the ports. All the Westerners he saw on the dock were talking like that.
The man with an eye patch looked at him, amused by his antics.
Alex was wearing Western clothes and a hat. And beside him was Chitra wearing similar clothes.
At a glance, they looked like a westerner. But just a bit of scrutiny could quickly reveal his identity as a person from the central continent.
Now, acting like a westerner, Alex was trying to hitch a ride to the western continent. To the Solarion Empire.
"Why are you speaking like that? You are a strange man?" The eye-patched man said. He was the captain of the merchant ship currently docked at Thira's port. Most of his crew called him Captain Will.
The same question also rang inside Chitra's head.
"We carry grains, not people?" The eye-patched man, Will, clarified.
He was about to reject Alex.
"Please, sir, we want to return to our ancestors' homeland. Please." Alex said melancholicly that he really believed the lies he was speaking.
"..."
But Will was not going to buy his half-assed act.
"You have plenty of space on your ship. Two more would not matter, right?
Alex had spent the latter half of the day trying to find a ship that he could use to travel to the West. But, most of the vessels were filled with cargo. They were unwilling to accept two unknown individuals as passengers in their month-long journey back home.
"Kid. You are not fooling anyone. I can see that you are a person of the central continent with just a glance. Smuggling in people when they have banned outsiders from coming would cause my head to fly." Before anything, Captain Will stated the obvious.
"And don't bother asking around anymore. No one will be willing to take you along."
"Even you will not?"
"SIGH" Will looked at the strange kid and sighed.
"What if I can give you a lot of these." Alex suddenly opened a bag containing gold coins. The shiny gold pieces were in full display before Captain Will.
The eyes of Captain Will glittered for a few seconds. He was bewitched by the gold.
"I heard no one was willing to sell grains to you. Your reputation plummeted after everyone knew you worked with the first elder, right?"
"That bitch from the thousand-headed serpent tribe." Cussed aloud, Captain Will. His anger reignited when Alex mentioned the first elder.
"You have no grains aboard, the most valuable item you can transport. That's why you are shipping some ostentatious objects rather than useful things.
"I know that you are hard-pressed for money. How about making a deal with me. I can give you plenty of gold. Fortunately, you are going to the exact place I was headed to. This is a solution for both of our problems."
If put nicely, Alex was negotiating with the captain. The truth, however, was that it was an attempt at bribery.
Captian Will paused to consider the risk benefits. He was almost ready to accept Alex's demands. He just needed a little more assurance.
"You don't have to worry. I can leave the ship before you dock the ship." Alex said while levitating slightly above the ground, showing his mastery of wind magic.
That was the final straw.
After a long pause, the captain nodded. He allowed Alex and Chitra to board the ship.
"Come with me." Saying that the captain brought them to the ship. He prepared a room for them to stay.
Alex handed over the bag of gold coins and sealed the deal.
____
After a while…
"This room is small," Chitra spoke.
"Hm. Hm." Alex hummed affirmatively.
"I feel cramped. It doesn't even have enough air for us to breathe."
"Hm. Hm."
"Are we about to set sail?"
"Hm. Hm."
"Do you really believe these sailors are dependable?"
"Hm–"
"Don't. Just speak properly."
"Yes–" Alex raised his head and made eye contact with Chitra. "–they are dependable. Do you think they became sailors by doing nothing? The proper knowledge to navigate the ocean without angering any strong magical beast is not a skill anyone can master. They are masters in their way of life. If they are not dependable, who is?"
"Still, the place is small."
"Huh!"
"I am entering the farm," Chitra said, disappearing into the farm space.
"Well, that's better for my ears." Alex was actually pleased to find that Chitra entered the farm. Unlike before, Chitra had turned into a chatterbox as their familiarity increased.
His ears felt better, knowing that questions would no longer be shot at him like bullets.
Alex exited the room and walked around. His curiosity was sparked as he noticed the harmonious motion of the crew.
They moved as if their heartbeats were even synchronised.
The sail of the ship was finally being lowered. They were about to depart.
Captain Will was giving directions in quick succession, aiding the synchronised movement of the crew.
Leaving the port was a tricky manoeuvre. Everyone's attention was entirely directed towards that single purpose.
At that time, a giant gust of wind swept towards the ship's sail.
It was an unnatural phenomenon; Alex noticed this quickly.
There was a person on the ship that was controlling the wind. The wind mage was helping the docked ship leave the port.
Alex was thrilled to see a fellow mage.
The mage only controlled the wind for about five minutes. Once the ship moved into open waters, he went back to rest.
'I think he is a journeyman-ranked mage. His spell was similar in strength to the skill of a tier 3 warrior. Should I ask him some of the doubts I have about magic?'
The thought lingered in his mind for a second before he stopped himself. He didn't want to disturb the mage who was resting.
He knew he would get another chance to learn from the mage in the one-month journey across the sea.
—---
A couple of days went by.
Chitra occasionally exited the farm and looked around before relaxing on the farm.
Alex wanted to do the same to quell his boredom. But, if he had done the same on a moving ship, he would reappear near the last place he entered the farm.
He would have fallen straight into the ocean if he had done something stupid like that.
The farm was connected to Alex. And it moves with the position of Alex in the real world. This prevents Alex from entering the farm during the one-month-long voyage.
"Hey. Can you give me one of those?" Alex walked over to some of the fishing crew members and asked.
Alex was pointing at the fishing line and rod they were using.
To not die of boredom, Alex realised fishing was the best way.
"This! I can sell it to you."
"How much?"
"A silver coin–"
"Take it." Alex took out two coins and handed one over to the crew member.
"If you can teach me how to fish with this, I will give you this," Alex said while flicking the other silver coins between his fingers.
The crew member happily taught Alex how to fish. He explained how to hook the bait and throw the line in detail.
"Fishing is an art. You need patience and luck to land a fish. So, don't be disappointed if you can't catch one." The crew member said.
"I can see that."
Alex said while looking at the measly amount of fish they captured.
Even after casting fishing lines for hours, they could barely catch enough for the entire crew to eat.
There were twenty mouths to feed on the ship, Chitra included. So, there were about twenty mackerel-like fish spread over the boat.
"Can I catch anything big with this?" Alex asked.
This made some of the crew members laugh. Even the person who was explaining chuckled.
"You can if you are a master mage. You can reinforce the line and hook with enough mana to capture something big. Ha ha…"
While the crew members said that to demotivate Alex, he became even more motivated.
After all, he was kind of a master mage. A warrior mage who can use both a mage's and a warrior's abilities.
The crew stopped fishing soon after and went to do their work. The mackerel-like fishes were sent to the kitchen to prepare for tonight's dinner, leaving Alex alone.
Alex began to fish.
He cast the bait far away from the ship. The slow movement of the ship dragged it along the ocean.
On his first try, he caught a tiny fish, smaller than the size of his finger.
'Even though a little small, I seem to have luck.'
He cast the bait again, this time by channelling mana into it. The tiny fishes began to avoid it, sensing the mana on the bait.
However, simultaneously, the bait began to attract larger fish.
Currently, Alex was just using a sliver of mana. He wanted to try what result he would get.
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