Caldoon leisurely strolled through Tranquil Waters, thinking about the town’s future. He knew that his idea of a trading town in the middle of the Abyssal Ocean was a bit ambitious, especially considering the lack of materials that the island gets, but if he succeeded, the island’s future would be secure.

  This ambition wasn’t out of greed but out of careful planning and consideration. Caldoon could remember when he and his father spent days carefully considering offers to trade and alliances. They had gotten offers from the Zaurian Dominion, Grand Dynamo, and even the Emerald Expanse. Everyone wanted to capitalize on their little island, but in the end, they rejected every offer.

  It only took a few trips around the world to confirm the way things really worked. The Zaurians were nothing but barbarians who constantly warred with everyone around them, even themselves. Grand Dynamo has dreams of progress and technology, but those values clashed with the culture of the island. The Luxe, while well intentioned, didn’t know squat about naval combat and was incapable of protecting the island.

  Leviathan’s Rest had to rely on itself, and fortunately that has been rather easy thus far. Many ships were simply incapable of making the trek across the ocean. Abyssal monsters could show up at any moment, and many classes were incapable of fighting them. Caldoon himself has explored almost the entirety of the ocean, and he’d seen things that still boggled his mind.

  Most people still think that Leviathan’s Rest is just an island that formed in the middle of the ocean. Hehe, if only they knew…

  Caldoon’s unique arts allowed him to swim all over the world without a ship. He used to spend a lot of time exploring the world and going through every labyrinth he could. That was how he managed to get his level so high when he was still young. His father would take care of politics, and he would explore the world.

  It was only after coming on dry land that Caldoon discovered a glaring weakness of the fisherman class: it only worked in or around water. If he found himself in the mountains or in a desert, he was screwed. It was only after he went south of the Emerald Expanse that he found something that could remedy it.

  The Whistling Alps had no established empires, but the beast clans that lived there were all surprisingly nice. It only made sense as well that after living in the mountains for so long, it gave birth to the sovereign who established the Miner Class. Anywhere else in the world miners would be nothing but low-class workers, but in the Alps, they were the explorers who dug through the mountains to find resources and connect villages.

  Caldoon remembered his adventures fondly, and he still wished he could leave the island on another great voyage. That was all in the past now though, because he was an emperor now, and he had duties to fulfill.

  While he was reminiscing to himself, Caldoon arrived at the guild building. He hadn’t been to this place since showing Lukey around the place several days before. Unfortunately, he was too busy going from village to village talking to the elders about the skilled class holders that recently arrived on the island.

  Caldoon entered the building and began looking for Lukey. Triton told him that he planned to go into the labyrinth soon, and Caldoon was hoping to give him some final advice before he set off. Instead of Lukey, however, he saw Triton sitting down in the bar to the left, munching down on sticks of eel that looked like they were prepared recently by the chef.

  I got to make a note to see that guy when I’m not busy.

  “Triton! Slacking off, are we?”

  Caldoon approached Triton and sat down on the barstool next to him, then picked up one of the sticks of eel. One bite into the eel told him everything he needed to know; it was indeed made by the chef, and it was delicious. Lightly salted with a hint of herbs that helped mellow out the taste of the oily meat. The chef even controlled the heat perfectly to cook it to crispy perfection.

  “Just taking a small break to collect my thoughts,” Triton replied. “I caught these eels while I was looking for the tyrant.”

  “And?” Caldoon asked between bites. “Any news?”

  Triton slowly shook his head.

  “Before, I could get the occasional sense that the tyrant was nearby. Now? Nothing.”

  Caldoon slowed his chewing as he considered Triton's words.

  “You mean…?”

  “Yes,” Triton said. “I think it left the Hidden Reef and is now hiding out somewhere else on the island.”

  This was what Caldoon was afraid of. When it was just contained to the reef, news of a tyrant could be contained until it was dealt with. Now, there was a chance that the tyrant could be discovered.

  “Well, things aren’t too bad yet. I’ll issue a warning to all the villages and tell people to avoid going out into seas around the island. I’ll have to come up with a good excuse though.”

  “What are you going to do with the tyrant?” Triton asked.

  “What else?” Caldoon sighed. “I’m going to talk to Dragon’s Lance tomorrow; maybe they can send some young trainees to hunt this thing down.”

  Caldoon felt like a fool. Dragon’s Lance spent years dealing with tyrants, and they specifically advised him that a tyrant would just run away when facing a high-level individual. In cases like this they would send groups of low-level people to hunt down the tyrant as a training exercise.

  The emperor, however, thought that the guild leaders were just being lazy. He thought that he could send Triton to kill it and avoid dealing with their guild entirely. Any help he received could diminish his position as an emperor and make the island seem incapable of dealing with its own problems (even though it was somewhat true).

  “They are going to chastise me for being irresponsible, but if they know what’s good for them, they’ll keep their mouths shut and kill it quietly. I’ll send Lukey to help them out as well once he reaches level forty.”

  Level forty was the milestone that gave [Aquatic Nature]. This art allowed a person to hold their breath for extensive periods and increased their swimming speed. It opened the door for underwater combat, completely changing how the class was used. If he pushed himself, Lukey could reach it in around a month.

  “Speaking of which, where is Lukey?” Caldoon asked. “Don’t tell me he’s slacking off.”

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  “No, he has been very diligent with preparing for the labyrinth. I even saw him training in the backyard the last few days.”

  Caldoon continued to ponder to himself about the new developments when he heard the door to the guild open from out of sight.

  Could it be Lukey? No one besides the three of us comes to the guild on a regular basis.

  Caldoon stood up to greet the boy, but his curiosity turned to confusion as he saw the person walking down the stairwell. It wasn’t Lukey; in fact, it was someone that Caldoon didn’t want to meet. She had a braid of black hair, an orange skirt and chest band, and a bright orange flower that was braided into her hair.

  This was the current prodigy of the Thousand Acre, and Lukey’s mother, Leah.

  She carefully scanned the room before her eyes landed on Caldoon.

  “YOU!” She yelled. “START EXPLAINING NOW!”

  Leah strutted over to Caldoon and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt before yelling in his face.

  “WHERE IS MY SON? WHAT SOVEREIGN FORSAKEN PLACE DID YOU SEND HIM!?”

  Caldoon could feel her rage as she tried, and failed, to shake him back and forth. He could only give an impassive face as he tilted his head in confusion as to why she was so angry. His confusion only grew as he started to process what the wrathful woman said.

  “What do you mean, ‘where’?” Caldoon sternly said. “We haven’t seen him today at all if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Leah obviously saw something in the emperor, as she let go of his collar and began to steady herself. She took a few more moments to gather her thoughts and then explained everything to the two men.

  “Yesterday, Lukey left for the guild like he did every day. I wasn’t worried about it, since he usually comes home every night at a regular time. Last night, he didn’t come home like he usually did. I assumed he was just caught up working on something, so I didn’t think about it. This morning, he still didn’t come home, and now I’m worried.”

  Caldoon looked at Triton, who similarly shared a wide-eyed stare.

  He must’ve gone to the labyrinth, but why hasn’t he returned yet? It should only take half a day to kill some monsters and make your way out. Did he decide to stay or…?

  Caldoon shook the morbid thoughts away. Lukey was smart, and he knew what his limits were. The boy would’ve surely run away if things were getting too difficult. What the emperor failed to understand was how Lukey managed to deal with the monsters there if he decided to stay. Claws were great for practice specifically because they took focus and strength to kill, and Lukey lacked both.

  Before Caldoon could say anything, Triton spoke up.

  “Perhaps we should head to the labyrinth? It wouldn’t take long to see if he was there.”

  Triton and Caldoon rushed to finish their meals, then got up and made their way up the stairs with Leah in tow. They pushed the guild doors open at the same time, and they prepared to head left out of the town and towards Claw Cove. Before they could, however, they heard a noise in the distance.

  “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWRRRRR!”

  The heads of the two men spun towards the sound. They didn’t immediately see anything, but after a few moments they saw an islander running down the street. This individual was dressed in finer threads, with sandals and a light green flowing shirt and pants. It was a young man in his early twenties with short brown hair.

  When the young man saw the emperor, he quickly changed directions and ran right up to him.

  “Thank goodness you’re here, sir! I was prepared to run all the way to your shack! It’s bad, sir, very bad!

  The youth spoke between breaths as he tried to rely on what was happening. Eventually, though, Caldoon got fed up with the accessory details.

  “Spit it out, boy! What’s going on?”

  “It’s an attack! A fleet of forty ships and a man-of-war is approaching from the Southeast!”

  The eyes of the two men went wide as they processed the information. Instead of heading towards the labyrinth, they changed directions and began making their way to the harbor. Caldoon ushered the scout to follow him, and they all ran towards the commotion.

  “Leah, stay inside where it’s safe. Don’t go out till you hear all clear.” Caldoon yelled behind him. He caught a brief glimpse of Leah heading back into the guild building before turning and running full speed towards the harbor.

  …

  Caldoon ran out onto the dock with Triton in tow. They ran ahead of the scout at some point and left him somewhere behind them. Caldoon ran to the edge of the dock and began peering over the horizon.

  "ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!"

  The two men turned toward the source of the noise and saw the approaching fleet. It was just as the scout said: forty ships with a man-of-war as their flagship in the center of the fleet.

  The ships all looked like the passenger vessel that arrived several days ago: crimson red with black accents. Their painting was strange, as it looked like black coloring streaked across the red on the side of the ship, almost like claw marks. Each of the ships had some variety of monster skull as their figurehead, with the flagship using the skull of a large birdlike reptile.

  Every ship had the same two flags as well. The first flag was that of a large blade piercing through the skull of a reptile: the flag of the Zaurian Dominion. The other was of a double-headed axe embedded into a mountain that cracked along its length: the flag of the Conquerors.

  Well, they certainly didn’t pull any punches this time around.

  It wasn’t uncommon for a raid like this to happen, especially coming from the Zaurian Dominion. What Caldoon didn’t expect was for them to bring a whole fleet this time around. The dominion and their guild must have put considerable investment and resources into this attack. They probably even used the ship from seven days ago as a scout to make sure no other ships were around to give support.

  “Well, it looks like they’ve given us a gift! Look at all these ships, lined up and ready to be plundered. It seems they didn’t learn their lesson after the last attack.” Caldoon exclaimed.

  “Indeed, but it looks like searching for Lukey will have to wait a bit while we get this sorted out.” Triton replied.

  The emperor nodded. He wanted to go look for Lukey, but this took priority. Leviathan’s Rest didn’t have any major military or navy like the big empires did. Instead, all they had was the emperor and the fishermen to protect them, and that would have to be enough. This situation was no different, and right now Caldoon needed to enforce his position as the strongest class holder on the island.

  Caldoon spread his arms out as he began to grasp the aether. He could feel his mind expanding and began to gain control over the earth and sea. All around the harbor, and even out a way into the sea, the water chopped up as it prepared for the emperor’s command. Similarly, the stones that made up the roads of the town began to crack from the pressure the emperor exerted.

  Stone and sea began to shake harder, then, as the elements reached their crescendo, the emperor gave his command.

  “[SEABED BLOCKADE]!”

  Caldoon threw his arms down as the blockade rose up. Giant slabs of stone rose out from the sea, first in front of the harbor, then spreading out around the perimeter of the island. The slabs were made of a dark bluish stone that was so smooth, it had no visible flaws. It was refined from the pressure of both the earth and the sea, several steps above what you would find on land. The stone rose until they were as tall as the ships, then settled.

  Caldoon slowly released his hold on the aether and straightened his body. Then, he turned to Triton.

  “I left a gap underneath the blockade for us. You take the right side of the fleet, and I’ll take the left. Let’s try to leave five of the little ships intact before we converge on the flagship.”

  Trion nodded, and they both dove into the sea.

  Once again, Caldoon grasped the aether to control the water around his body. The water swirled around him, turning into a spiral as it propelled him forwards at blistering speeds. This was a heavily modified version of [Aquatic Nature] that worked in water or earth, which he named [Drill Jet].

  Caldoon looked over to his side and saw that Triton had activated his swimming art too. Instead of a drill, the water moved with him and seemed to snake through the ocean as it propelled him forwards. The water in front took the form of a serpentine dragon, with lizard-like eyes, a snout, and whiskers that trailed far behind it. The art was called [Water Formation: Ryugu], and it was developed after Triton’s experience with Dragon’s Lance.

  The two sped along the water, blasting through as they moved unimpeded in their natural habitat. Eventually, they reached the blockade, and both men dove down to search for the opening Caldoon made. It didn’t take long to find it nestled between two plates that crossed over one another.

  Both fishermen sped through the hole and out into the open waters. Before them there was a fleet big enough to conquer most cities. The only question was how many they could preserve after destroying said fleet.

  It was time to show the invaders a true battle at sea.