Morning came without ceremony. He opened his eyes first. The light from the horizon had started to seep into the room.

"Awake."

Her voice came from his right. That was when he noticed her, she was already awake.

Sitting by the edge of the bed, composed as ever, her hand tugging her sleeve lightly.

She turned to the window then back to her.

"Did you sleep?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes.

"Of course, I just woke up earlier than you."

He pushed himself up, sleep still in his eyes. For a moment, they stared at each other before she stood up, a small sigh leaving her.

"Get up, it’s almost time to leave."

She walked to the door while speaking. He groaned and lazily lifted himself from the bed.

He walked to the bathroom to prepare himself.

It didn’t take long for him to finish and meet her in the dining hall.

Breakfast didn’t take long. Servants moved around quietly as they placed the food. The soft clinging of metal against ceramic dominated the room.

"Where exactly will you teleport to?" He asked.

She placed her cutlery down and faced him.

"We have a teleportation circle, the coordinates lead directly to the town’s teleportation centre."

Atheline nodded. She watched him while he ate until he was finished.

"We should leave," she said.

He nodded and followed after her. She led him down an empty corridor with occasional servants passing by them.

When they reached the courtyard the space was already cleared.

He noticed it then, the faint markings embedded in the stone.

A teleportation circle.

"I didn’t notice this," he said while studying the circle.

"You wouldn’t have since it hasn’t been used for quite some time."

She stepped onto the circle with him following behind.

The marking lit up, a soft dark color as she channeled her aether into the circle.

The light surrounded them and then, they were gone.

One moment they were surrounded by darkness and the next they were standing on a cold stone platform overlooking the port.

The smell of salt hit first, followed by fish carried by the wind. His nose scrunched up in disgust.

Below them, the port city was half awake especially the docking area.

Ships lined the docks in long rows. Some were small fishing vessels that had been patched way too many times while others were massive ships that seemed to compete with each other when it came to size.

Beyond that was the ocean that had started to turn orange mirroring the horizon.

Atheline stood still for a moment taking it all in then glanced behind them.

"I thought we would teleport inside the hall," he said.

Behind them stood the teleportation hub, but it seems private teleportators materialised outside.

"I set it outside," she said nonchalantly.

She stepped slightly ahead of him gaze moving to the city below.

"This is Delmer, the main city port," she casually said.

Atheline nodded once. "Bigger than I expected."

"It’s one of the few that still handles outer route travels," she replied, " everything beyond this point becomes... selective."

"Selective?"

She glanced at him briefly.

"People don’t go further unless they are allowed to... the blood ocean got the name for a reason."

"Because of the frequent storms," he said.

She nodded.

"Yes, there was a time when three ships carrying all the continent’s nobles sank."

"I think I’ve heard about that somewhere, isn’t it just a tale they tell children to prevent them from going into the waters?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Who knows?"

A distant bell tolled, loud enough to be heard through the whole city. A signal.

At that moment the chaos that had been ongoing seemed to have stopped. The dock workers adjusted loading their goods, crew members who had been shouting or just lazing around started getting busy while the ships’ changes were the most noticeable. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Some had started to pull their anchors.

He exhaled softly," Everything here is coordinated."

"It has to be," she said," this kingdom takes the sea very seriously and knows the dangers more than any other kingdom. "

As if to reinforce her words, a massive ship further out in the harbor, drifted slightly off course.

Within seconds a smaller escort vessel moved to correct its path before it could deviate too much.

It came to Atheline at that moment. Titam kingdom was a fishing kingdom, so they were more proficient in anything to do with water.

They descended into the city without delay. Since the teleport hub overlooked the ports, there had been no need for a carriage.

The moment they stepped onto the lower street, the peace they had been enjoying was gone in an instant.

Merchants shouted over each other, hunters moving around in groups, their shiny weapons left for the world to admire.

Everything was just the pure chaos you would expect from a city.

Atheline enjoyed it a little bit. All the chaos and the fact that she had a hold of his hand as she guided him expertly through the streets.

This was something that would never happen the moment they returned to the kingdom.

She turned to look at him when someone collided with him her brows raised.

Atheline chuckled.

"It’s a pickpocket."

"Did you get anything taken?"

He caught up to her and squeezed beside her.

"People are preparing," he said without answering her question.

He had noticed through their walk that everyone seemed to be heading to the port. The eyes assessing them couldn’t be hidden either.

"The storm stabilised last night," she replied.

He frowned slightly.

"Stabilised?"

"Thats what they think," she confidently said," it hasn’t. I’m sure it’s just the calm before the storm. "

A small chuckle escaped him at the reference.

They passed a wide square near the docks where notice boards had been set up, layered with sheets of paper, seals, and handwritten warnings.

Most were torn or half-torn but one caught his attention.

"Expeditions into outer storm routes are prohibited without registry authorisation. "

An older one, half torn hidden beneath the pilling parchment.

"Unregistered vessels will not be retrieved."

He stopped for half a second but the parchments weren’t what caught his attention but who was beyond the board.

"Lily, look," he tagged at her arm.

Lilith stopped and looked at him in confusion while following his gaze.

"What?"

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Look by the fifth boat," he pointed at the two people zipping through the crowd," isn’t that your saintess and... Caius?"

’What in the world are the protagonist and the heroine doing here, i had already forgotten about them’

She noticed them after he pointed them out but before they could do anything, the two vanished into the crowd.

"This is rather odd, what are they doing here?" He asked.