"We’ve made it... We’re already in the Second Ocean."

Roseus’s words were acknowledged with nods of the head, but truthfully, the crew were more focused on the sights in front of them.

They couldn’t help but take in the beauty of the ocean. An ocean that likely held dangers beyond their comprehension.

The only one who didn’t seem surprised by these sights was Blodwen, as he had been there before, but even he was mesmerised.

"Who even knew that such a beautiful place existed?" Dawn asked, as she stood beside her captain shoulder to shoulder. "Is that island Highstorm Island?"

Blodwen grunted a few metres away. "Aye. You’re surprised, aren’t you?"

Dawn nodded her head.

"I never expected islands to be this big. I did hear that there were some as large as countries themselves, but such a sight was hard to imagine."

Pip stood close to the railing, staring out at the nearly translucent sea. In the depths, she could see numerous sea creatures swimming beneath the waters. All of them looked harmless, as far as she could tell, though she had never seen any of them before. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Why is the water so clear? Is it like this all across the Second Ocean?" she asked, directing the question at Blodwen.

The shark-warrior shook his head.

"No. This is the Translucent Sea. I don’t know why the water is so clear, but it is only one of the many seas within the Second Ocean. If we continued travelling, we would soon run into seas that seemed much less peaceful," he responded.

Pip shuddered.

"What do you mean by less peaceful?" Petyr asked, with his hand hovering towards his fencing sword, as though the dangers would present themselves at any moment.

As the crew continued to sail, following behind the Templar ship heading towards Highstorm Island, Blodwen explained some of the dangers he had faced.

"Every thirty days in the Second Ocean, the Gate Sea opens for twenty-four hours, which is the period when passage into the Third Ocean becomes possible. It is impossible to pass into the Third Ocean outside of this twenty-four-hour period. During this time, the sea creatures that reside within the Gate Sea spill out into the rest of the ocean."

"If these creatures appear in zones with weak pirates, adventurers, and navy forces, they will simply reap the humans and inhabit the seas themselves. For seas like the Translucent Sea, which we can clearly see has a high Templar presence, they will be hunted and put down swiftly."

"However, for the lone traveller who has no allies and finds themselves sailing through these waters, they will most likely fall victim to these creatures."

Hearing all of this information, a very important question entered Roseus’s mind.

"How soon will the Gate Sea reopen?" he asked, but of course Blodwen shrugged.

"No clue at the moment, so let’s just hope that we arrive at the island swiftly, so that we are safe behind the island’s defences."

It was an idea that they all seemed to agree on.

~~~

During their travels through the beautiful seas, there came a time when the Redflower ship and Captain Lionheart’s ship passed another fellow Templar vessel.

This ship was slightly bigger than the Redflower ship, and as they passed by, they blew their horns as a sign of respect and acknowledgement towards Captain Lionheart.

Various Templars dressed in their robes and wearing the brain symbol stood by their railings as they passed. When they spotted Captain Lionheart standing on his deck, they all saluted him vehemently.

Then, when they passed the Redflowers, their faces became hard. They eyed the crew members with scrutiny, and Roseus felt certain that without Lionheart’s aid, they would be sunk right there and then.

"Don’t worry," a man called out from Lionheart’s ship. "They are believers!"

Immediately, the Templars on the passing ship lost the tension in their bodies. A man, who must have been the captain of the ship, met eyes with Roseus. He was a balding man with greying whiskers and a missing hand.

The two nodded towards each other in acknowledgement, then they continued past one another.

...

During the rest of the journey, they spotted a few more ships in the distance. Most of them were Templar ships, whilst the others seemed to be merchants travelling to and from Highstorm Island under the protection of the Templars.

As for the navy, fellow pirates, or adventurers, there was no sign of them.

The Templars were in full control of the Translucent Sea.

I wonder how far their conquest spreads? Surely there are other big shots out there who fight back against the Templars...

...

By the time the sun set, the crew arrived at Highstorm Island.

As they approached the dockyard, Roseus saw at least ten ships flying numerous flags docked there with ample space between them.

The dockyard was built into a dockside town that seemed to be bustling with life. The town was far from as modern and developed as the towns in the Halo Empire, but simply seeing a civilisation out here in the depths of the sea was enough to stun Roseus.

The houses were mostly made from wood, with chimneys blowing smoke into the air, creating clouds that curled up towards the distant mountains behind the town.

Despite it being nightfall, the town was not entirely quiet. The place that seemed to have the most activity was the tall church that had been erected, peaking over all of the other buildings. Even from the dockyard, the church could clearly be seen.

The Redflowers docked their ship and stepped out onto the wooden pier. Captain Lionheart soon docked not far away from them.

Roseus took in a deep breath of the air, smelling coal and other signs of industrialisation and construction. It felt like it had been years since he had smelt such a scent.

Home... This island feels similar to home.

A whistle from the Templar deck cut off his thoughts.

He looked up and saw Captain Lionheart staring down at him and his crew from above.

"Don’t get too comfortable yet, Captain Roseus. Highstorm Island isn’t safe at night. You’d be wise to go and find an inn to sleep at for the night. Oh, and come and visit the church tomorrow. It was constructed by the Templars so that we might worship our god on land too."