Chapter 2: What the Storm Concealed

Splash!

Driven into the sea by the pirates’ bloodstained cutlasses, Julian vanished in the last splash to break the surface.

The burly first mate, who seemed to reek even more strongly of blood now, laughed without restraint.

“Be grateful for the mercy of Bram Marrowcrack! No need to summon the man-eating sharks with more human blood and the terror of dying sailors. Walking the plank is a lot more comfortable than keelhauling! Ha ha ha...”

Soon, some of the sharks had eaten their fill. A bloody light kindled in their eyes, and they began swimming around the pirate vessel in a perfect circle, as though directed by an invisible force.

Bram watched them with hunger in his eyes.

“True, making them scout and fight like armed guards for the ship takes a human blood sacrifice every three days. But whatever the price, this is supernatural power! A few more raids with the captain, and Captain Redgaze might grant me that wonderful power, too!”

He turned and walked away, unconcerned that any of the “sacrificial victims” might survive the plank.

Over the years, the blood and tears of countless victims had fed the pirates’ arrogance and earned [Maneater Shark] a fearsome reputation throughout these waters.

And events were unfolding much as Bram expected.

The sharks that were still hungry easily tore apart the old sailor who had fallen into the water ahead of Julian, then rushed straight at him.

His hands and feet were tightly bound. He had no way to resist.

Julian knew that even a fully armed knight would have been doomed in this situation, let alone an unarmed prisoner. At the sight of the scarlet light in the sharks’ eyes, his heart sank further.

These aren’t ordinary beasts. They’re supernatural creatures!

From the scraps of common knowledge left in his mind, he had a vague sense that he had witnessed supernatural power many times before. There was nothing unfamiliar about the sight.

But knowledge alone could do nothing to save him.

He could only watch as the sharks opened their jaws and surged toward him through churning eddies.

Blood reflected from the broken surface. Black fins stirred the water into turmoil. Gaping maws opened, hundreds upon hundreds of daggerlike teeth gleaming coldly...

Julian’s sea-blue pupils contracted. His thoughts accelerated.

It was like the stories of a life flashing before someone’s eyes in the moments before death.

Anchored by the fragments he had overheard from the sailors, the two sets of memories from his dream rose again.

An emaciated young man lay in a hospital bed, ravaged by ALS. His extraordinarily bright eyes met Julian’s.

“I never want to lie helpless in a hospital bed again, all alone, waiting to die! I want to run, jump, swim, and go adventuring wherever I please. I want to see the glaciers, deserts, auroras, endless forests, and boundless seas of this world ... If I could die amid towering waves one day, that would be the perfect redemption!”

Another boy, armored and drenched in sweat, practiced with a heavy longsword. He worked through each movement without slacking, even at the limits of exhaustion.