Dinner on the island of Ipia
“The sea!”
“Alright! Then first, let’s start by building the foundation!”
Novice sailors starting in Ipia Island exclaimed from ashore. They were chopping wood to make a seaworthy raft. But a warning to all aspiring sailors in Ipia! The production of timber is actually quite costly. First you need to go to the forests in the mountains and chop down the trees yourself. Then you have to drag the lumber down the mountain to build your raft.
“Once you have the fishing skill, you can just eat whatever you catch. Later on I’ll be sailing the far seas.”
But many sailors had a different mentality.
“There’s been pirates on that island. If I find their buried treasure… fufufu.”
“If you’re going to have a large gathering, then of course it has to be by the sea!”
“If you’re going to go take a risk, it has to be in the sea!”
Novice users!
At first many set out in shitty boats made out of logs held together by knotted vines. They use a sheet of cloth for a sail as they begin their adventure!
(T/N: Every pirate’s first boat sucks.)
There were many names engraved on top of the flagpoles.
There were many names engraved on the sides.
Best Ipia Transport.
Shipping Federation of Versailles Continent.
Chateau de Balleroy Ocean Peace Corps.
The ships were just rafts, but their names showed huge aspirations.
Surka sighed wistfully.
“This island is really lively.”
She was sitting in a tavern overlooking the sea while drinking orange juice. Zephyr was sitting near her, searching through the women by swiveling only his eyes. Even if he tried to stop, his eyes would start roaming again subconsciously.
“This is a nice resort… it has a good atmosphere.”
He did not miss a single woman within a 100-meter radius.
‘Hmm, her thighs are a bit thick for her body. She has shoulder length hair. Her posture is that of someone with military training and it looks like she can high-kick. My conclusion is that she is someone who trained hard to overcome her petite body.’
An in-depth analysis of women!
‘It only goes to show that women are lonely.’
For him it was easy to become friends and lovers. Buy a drink for a girl who looked lonely and then… natural instinct would take over. After that it was easy to register them as friends and maybe even take them out to dinner.
Still Zephyr’s butt remained stuck to the chair. He was sick of these quick girlfriends who were so easily seduced by a few words. He wanted a real companion. Many women loved his appearance, academic background, and financial power. His possessions included designer clothes, a foreign car, membership to first class hotels and luxury watches. He was tired of using his assets to gain favor. He felt as if he was a fake, and he was tired of people getting close just because of his possessions.
If the heart was not moved, then it was meaningless.
‘I can heal their loneliness for a brief moment but it would never last.’
Zephyr wanted to meet a woman who he could really love. Could anyone truly be happy in life without sharing it side by side with a loved one? Surely not. However you can not judge a person without knowing them.
'… What would I like to do….'
Spending time alone on dates would be nice, but going out with others as a group also sounded attractive. Would simply spending time together solve the problem and make them feel closer?
Even amidst these complex thoughts, he was stirring the cinnamon around in his drink while his eyes turned fully back to the women.
“That? She looks fine but her neck is moving by itself… tsk!”
He muttered to himself.
“Because of that it won’t work out.”
Hwaryeong, along with Maylon and Romuna were just watching. Drinking soda from glasses, they were relaxing without a care in the world. Summer vacation on Ipia Island! It was supposedly the most heart-soothing place in all of Royal Road.
***
Weed floated on a boat just off of Ipia Island. He looked at the boats floating around with just a plastic sheet and a flag.
“They sure are putting a lot of faith into those little rafts.”
He felt sympathy for the novice users because the raft he was using was more than just a simple raft! It was a dugout Korean canoe! He felt like he could even kill a Kraken with it! He took the name from a mighty sea creature thingy! This was the first ship he had built with his shipbuilding skills. The ghost ship could be operated properly after advancing the beginner ship sailing skills to level 7. It was too large for his low skill to operate now, so right now if he tried to steer the ship it would just drift in the wrong direction. To raise his skill, he needed a smaller boat, so an one-person dugout canoe was perfect.
Sailing skills proficiency has increased.
Even just floating in the sea increased his skill. Weed had raised his sailing skills to level 3 just by going around the island and looking at the sights and views. As his skill level rose he became better and faster at getting around while feeling less and less of the waves’ impacts. The dugout canoe was easy to handle with low-level skills. He started to head back to one of the many ports on Ipia Island.
Due to sailing for a long time there is a 13% increase of proficiency.
Sailing skills is now at Beginner Level 4.
An additional 2% acceleration will be added.
Probability of being of capsized in rough weather has been reduced by 5%.
Endurance stat has increase by 15%.
Sailing skills level 4! (T/N It actually said nautical skill level 4 but the word nautical made me laugh too much so I changed it)
“This skill is rising so quickly!”
Weed was quite delighted. It had a very fast growth rate compared to the sculpture and production skills. The skill grew fast during a short period, but Weed was determined to never be a sailor.
“Would the skill go up faster if my ship got damaged? I think it would give proficiency if I sunk the ship….”
He looked at a coral reef nearby and paddled furiously!
When the durability of the ship had reached zero, the repair ship skill was used. Sticks and broken pieces of rope were wound around the tree branch parts. He received food by fishing and fresh water when it rained; after its long journey around Ipia island, the little canoe was ready to fall apart at any moment. Weed returned to the harbor not a moment too soon!
Ship owned by Deoreo has sunk.
Fame -35.
4 loads of seaweed have been lost.
He could just create a new boat. There was no use salvaging it since it was a cheap dugout canoe. Still, it was not your usual beginner’s ship.
“Sailing skills at level 4. Now I will be able to control small, high-speed boats.”
It was great fun building up his navigation skills to become a great sailor. Now he could get a high-quality boat, hire a crew, sail some more, and go on an ocean voyage. A real dream!
But Weed’s professional career with sailing skills was going to end here. He had only meant to enjoy a quick vacation on the Ipia Island. A few days off that his sister could enjoy!
However the ocean was really, very attractive. Different species of fish could be seen in different colored waters. The water was so clear in some parts that the fish could be seen flitting about. The coral reefs and the fish gave off mysterious and bright light effects. If you sailed around you could even discover uninhabited islands.
Marine trade was a very profitable form of commerce that most users overlooked. Most well-known trade routes could earn a lot of money on a single trip.
They could also earn a lot by providing transportation to people. Going by ship around the continent was so much faster than walking! The Versailles proverb went:
“The first on the soil will be the adventurers full of muscle. Then will the merchants.”
There was no place in the Versailles continent where merchants did not work. It may not be actual strength, but the power wielded by a merchant who traded vast amounts of goods across the continent could not be ignored. Aspiring merchants who utilized the sea had an advantage when they familiarized themselves with sailing skills.
“It’s certain that prestigious guilds would not hold out very long if there were no merchants supporting them.”
Instead of going with Weed to the Mariners guild, Hwaryeong and the others went together to the pub where they heard a quest related to Zahab. Quests relating to the remaining Matallost, and quests relating to the Niflheim Empire.
Ipia Island attracted many people with its specialty beers and you would often see parties eating barbecue on the beach. But Weed had another purpose in mind. He would collect information relating to the Niflheim Imperial quest.
It was said that Ipia Island was just a giant resort, but it was visited by so many people that it could also be called an important port. Every port has taverns and the waitress had the most information. In order to obtain information on sea quests you had to “capture” them. Treatment of the waitresses at the bars was a sensitive competition that often provoked rivalry.
“Getting on the ghost ship would be meaningless if I don’t have any information.”
***