“Wake up!”

  Lukey was abruptly awakened with a hard slap across the face. It felt less like a slap, though, and more like he was being bludgeoned to death with a fish. With the pain fresh in his mind, he opened his eyes and pushed his sore body up. As he did, his hands grasped the chairs propping up his body.

  As Lukey’s eyes came into focus, he took in his surroundings. Looking around, he quickly realized he was back inside the Ocean’s Bounty headquarters. He was lying across two chairs, formed to create a makeshift bed, near the bar section of the room. Nearby, his mother and Triton were staring at him; worry plagued his mother's eyes, whereas Triton was smiling with a look of success.

  Triton was the one removing his hand from Lukey’s face.

  “See? I told you he was fine. He just needed some encouragement.” Triton beamed.

  “’Encouragement,’ my ass! What was that for?!” Lukey raged.

  “We found you passed out on top of a giant crab carcass.” Leah explained. “Speaking of which, do you mind explaining how that happened? You were gone for the entire day, and I’ve been worried sick!”

  Lukey rubbed his face and looked at his mom. He was surprised he was gone for that long, but considering his eating habits, he should’ve been surprised if that wasn’t the case. Suddenly, he was flooded with regret for making his mother worry about him the entire time. Still, he was in no condition right now to give a proper explanation.

  “I’ll explain it all in a bit. Where’s my stuff? I had some materials with me along with some equipment.”

  Triton jerked his head behind him, and Lukey followed his gaze towards the pile that sat in the corner. In it were Lukey’s stone ties, his spear, his rope, and to the side was the bucket full of oil sacks. Fortunately, everything made it out intact, but something didn’t add up. How did he make it out of the labyrinth? The last thing he remembered was the energy from the stalker flooding his body and passing out on top of it.

  Triton noticed his confusion and spoke up. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but I assume you stayed too long in the labyrinth and got thrown out.” He let Lukey process everything he said before he continued. “The entrance was blasted apart and threw out all of the carcasses you made when we arrived there. Your things were scattered along the beach, but I managed to gather them all up, including the body of that monstrosity you found.”

  Lukey took in Triton’s explanation word for word and slowly pieced together how he ended up here.

  “Alright, sorry. Thank you for gathering my things.” Lukey said respectfully. He looked around the guild for a moment, then posed a question to Triton. “Where’s Caldoon? I need to tell him about the monster I killed in the labyrinth. It was an Abyssal Stalker Aquaclaw.”

  Triton did a double take, then looked at Lukey with startled eyes. Ever since Lukey met the man, he was always calm and collected, which also shocked Lukey when he saw that the old timer was at a loss for words.

  “You? Kill it? Don’t even joke about that!” Triton chuckled. “Even if you did encounter that thing in the labyrinth, how could you even begin to fight it! You don’t even have all the fisherman’s arts, much less control over water!”

  Lukey didn’t feel like arguing with this old man, so instead of a retort, he quickly checked his achievements. Killing something that strong must have been worth an achievement, and if it was, it would have given him a title. Using [Insight], he quickly pulled the list and beheld its splendor.

  That’s… quite a few achievements…

  For now, Lukey ignored the slew of achievements that granted him attribute increases. These were great for increasing his strength but not of overall importance at the moment. He would know how good his attributes were when he checked on it. For now, however, he read the last two achievements.

  The last one was (Labyrinth Explorer), which Lukey presumably obtained after reaching the end and leaving. He would look at his art later, but for now he knew that any additional art he obtained was a valuable find. What really caught his eye, however, was the second-to-last achievement.

  (Abyssal Fisherman) was exactly what Lukey needed. It was proof of his triumph over the stalker. On top of that, it had ‘fisherman’ in the name, which meant that it was an achievement specifically for his class. It even came with another piece of new art, which excited Lukey to no end.

  Lukey quickly equipped the title and checked his status.

  It’s…beautiful.

  Lukey didn’t necessarily need to check his status, but he was glad that he did. His rating had nearly doubled since the last time he checked. He surmised that this was largely due to the slew of achievements he got towards the end of the labyrinth.

  (Big Game Hunter) was a big achievement, granting him a whopping twenty-five points in strength alone. It was a huge boost, making up for the fact that he didn’t really prioritize strength. If Lukey had had this earlier, it would have made the fight against the Aquaclaw Guardian far easier. Looking at all these achievements, Lukey was left to wonder.

  How did the achievements come about? Each triumph changes a person bit by bit. Many achievements gave people attributes, adapting their bodies to better perform certain tasks. Others grant special arts, manifesting adaptations that helped people survive. Then there’s the Aethereal Brand.

  Lukey shook away the stray thoughts. He had plenty of time to research that later. For now, he needed to prove Triton wrong. Lukey turned to face Trion and gave the old man a glare. He intended to prove his story and opened his mouth to start talking. However, it was then that he felt a strange feeling come over his eyes, as the aether gathered inside them to activate an art.

  “AAAAGH! What in the abyss?” Triton yelled.

  “EEEK! Turn it off! Turn it off!" Leah shrieked.

  Red lights suddenly beamed from Lukey’s eyes, bathing the room in front of Lukey in a red glow. Triton was forced to cover his face to avoid looking into Lukey’s gaze, since he was staring right at the old man. Lukey panicked and tried to shut it off, only to end up turning his head around the room and shining the light over everything instead.

  What the… What is this art?

  After a few more unsuccessful attempts, Lukey finally managed to shut it off. He flipped the switch inside his mind, and the world returned to its normal shades. Lukey was relieved that he managed to exert control over it, but as he looked back, he saw that Trion was none too pleased. The old veteran rubbed his eyes and slowly pulled himself into a chair, then spoke to Lukey in a low tone.

  “[Abyssal Eyes]? How did you…?” Triton was puzzled.

  “Check my title.” Lukey interrupted.

  For a moment, Triton focused on Lukey. Then, he went silent as he slunk back into his chair. It was a long stretch of silence before Triton built up the will to say anything else, but eventually he did.

  “I think you should tell me everything that happened while we still have time. There was a situation on the island, and it won’t be long before Caldoon arrives.”

  …

  Within the hallways of Ocean’s Bounty, a heavy groan could be heard as the double-door entrance swung open to reveal the island’s emperor.

  “Anybody here? Triton? Leah?”

  Caldoon descended down the steps and took in the familiar surroundings of the main floor. In the middle of the room were three memorable faces, two of which were beating up the third.

  Currently, Leah had Lukey in a death grip.

  “What gave you the confidence to stay in there?! Did you somehow get into your head that you're immune to death?! How do you think I would feel if I lost you?!” She shrieked.

  “Please stop…” Lukey sobbed, his face beaten to a pulp. “I swear I thought I knew what I was doing. I didn’t think I was taking a risk…”

  “Well, you were,” Triton replied with a hint of irritation, then he grabbed Lukey by his shirt and lifted him off the ground. “Usually, it takes multiple trips through a labyrinth before making it to the end. It took me four trips before I was confident enough to beat the guardian. It’s one thing to be sure of yourself, but that overconfidence could have gotten you killed!”

  Triton shook Lukey in the air, forcing his lecture into Lukey’s skull.

  “And another thing!” Triton roared. “You saw an abyssal monster and challenged it!? What sort of madness possessed you to do that?”

  “It was for the good of the island, I swear!” Lukey pleaded. “You and Caldoon always look so busy, and the stalker was at the threshold. Somebody had to get rid of it…”

  “AHEM!” Caldoon barked out a cough, drawing all eyes on him. After making sure everyone settled down, he continued. “I’m not even going to pretend to know what this is about, but it can wait.” His eyes then centered on Lukey’s beaten-up form. “Lukey, glad to see you back from the labyrinth. You can join us while we check out the cargo ships.”

  Lukey’s eyes focused on the question as he considered it. “Cargo ships?”

  Caldoon waved the question away, instead beckoning Lukey and Triton to come with him. “I’ll explain on the way. Garrett and his team are almost done cleaning out the stragglers, and I want to be there for their report.”

  …

  Lukey, Caldoon, and Triton strode through the town as they approached the docks. Following them was a group of men, islanders who were given spears with the task of maintaining some semblance of a patrol force. They would be the ones to relay Caldoon’s orders around the town and the rest of the island should the need arise.

  “Um, I appreciate the invitation to come, but should I really be here?”

  Lukey was the one who spoke up. He had only recently made it out of the dungeon, and now he was being strong-armed into helping investigate some justly stolen loot. He didn’t feel like he was needed for this task and so found himself wondering why he was even here to begin with.

  “You were smart enough to get some new equipment made and use it to conquer a labyrinth on your first try. I figure you can at least look at the cargo and figure out the best way to use them.” Caldoon replied. “We’re going to be dealing with a lot of extra supplies, so I hope you can take stock and think of where to make the deliveries if necessary.”

  Lukey immediately sank down in dejection. It only made sense that he was still relegated to being a chore boy; that wouldn’t change for a long time.

  Oh well, at least I’m significant enough to be included here. Everyone in the town is probably still stuck inside from the order to take shelter. Delivering the materials should probably wait till tomorrow as well.

  Nobody was going to be operating today due to the attack. Because of this, Lukey could wait until tomorrow to run his errands. Right now, however, he desperately wanted to finish this up so he could crash into his bed and recover from the beating he just went through. He knew they would be mad he took so many risks, but perhaps he underestimated to what degree.

  After a long walk filled with trepidation, the three fishermen finally reached the docks. Across the stretch of water between the Tranquil Waters and the mountainous barricade, six ships floated silently in the water. Lukey was already apprised of the situation, so none of this came as a surprise to him, save for the six figures that leapt into the air and glided his way.

  Six armored lancers landed before Caldoon and his crew, cracking the stone pavement with a resounding boom. Lukey was forced to put his arms in front of his face as he was blasted with a wave of dust. Triton and Caldoon, however, stood undeterred against the gale as the emperor strode forward to meet their leader's gaze.

  “Garrett, good to see you’re alright. Any trouble dealing with those second-class barbarians?” The leader stared straight ahead, and Lukey could see his brows furrow in frustration.

  “The barbarian’s? None.” Garrett confirmed. “However, when we tried to open each of the doors to the cargo holds, we encountered a bit of an issue.”

  Caldoon raised an eyebrow at that. “Issue?” He questioned.

  “Each of the doors leading down has Aether-infused locks. Third grade, no less. I can’t break them without doing serious damage to the ships.”

  Caldoon’s eyes widened with excitement, and Lukey couldn’t blame him. Whatever those barbarians had contained in those ships, they were using specially made aether-infused items to keep it locked up. The only problem was that the locks were nearly unbreakable for most people.

  Caldoon, however, was not most people.

  “I’ll swim over there and have and take a look. You just stay here and take a rest. By the way…” Caldoon said, then he leaned over and slapped Lukey’s shoulder, shoving him forward and injuring him further. “The newest member of our guild managed to get ahold of some prime crab meat, so we’ll be throwing a little party later. Meet us at the Searing Sea later, and we’ll treat you to some crab and beer.”

  Garrett’s eyes immediately brightened at that, quickly attempting to calm himself as he struggled to maintain his composure. “Well, who am I to reject such a generous request? Come with me, squad; let’s get this armor off and prepare.”

  With that, Garrett and his team left the docks, heading towards their base. This left Caldoon, Triton, and Lukey to stare out at the newly obtained ships and muse on the prospect of treasure.

  “Well, let’s not waste any more time!” Caldoon exclaimed. He grabbed Lukey by his shirt, then pulled him in as he dove into the water. Triton wasn’t far behind, following the emperor as they all left to explore the ships.

  …

  Cough, cough, cough…. Gasp!

  Lukey was left gasping for air after being drowned for the entirety of the trip. Caldoon and Triton could breathe underwater, but unfortunately, he couldn’t. Lukey barely managed to hold his breath long enough before almost passing out during the swim.

  “Sorry about that. It was the only way I could think of to bring you onboard.” Caldoon apologetically said. After giving a remorseful look, he then turned around and looked for the double doorways.

  The ship they were standing on was a complete mess. Holes in the floorboards where wood burst apart, blood splattered on the deck from the cleanup, and a pile of weapons in the corner. The bodies were presumably thrown overboard, which was good for Lukey because he wasn’t keen on having to look at freshly made corpses.

  In the back of the ship, chains and a heavy padlock crisscrossed a set of plain-looking double doors, presumably leading to the cargo hold. Towards the front of the ship were the same doors, but these were regal and more ornate, presumably leading to the captain’s and crew quarters. Each set of doors had stairs leading up to a higher level of the ship on either side, making the main deck lower than the quarterdeck at the back and the foredeck at the front.

  They would be checking the captain's quarters later, but for now, what interested the men was their newly acquired spoils of war.