Hendrik Van der Decken is the captain of the legendary ghost ship known as the Flying Dutchman and an antagonist in nautical folklore. Story states that he deliberately implored a demon for the power to sail the seas unaffected by inclement weather. Some years since, a famous captain was renowned for achieving unusual cruising speeds on his voyages. Such were his exploits at the helm that many of his contemporaries suspected him of being in league with the Devil. It is said the devil himself had given Dutch pirate captain Hendrick van der Decken the power to make his ship the fastest ship on all the seas, after the man sold his soul to him one night with a full moon. No ship could travel faster than the reckless captain's ship: it broke the waves and broke the furious winds to reach port in a matter of hours or a few days. The sailors who traveled with Van der Decken respected and feared him at the same time, but they liked sailing with him because he was fair in sharing profits and
Naturally, Audrey went inside first without a question and Steve was just about to enter next as though it was the most normal thing to do. However, before he could even think about taking another step, Niccoli already shut the door to his face and firmly held it close.Of course, Steve was taken aback by this sudden interruption and his mind that was in a complete mess at the moment failed to comprehend why the other party would behave at such way that would make things more difficult than it already was.“You know well enough that this is not the right time for this.”He gave Niccoli a quick glance that only lasted for a second before turning his attention back at the door that stood in between him and Audrey, perfectly separating the other party to them.“Our friend is inside and she needs all the help she could get.”He insinuated because he reckoned that the only reason why Niccoli would be acting like that was because he would like to demand an explanation from him about what t
For a moment, Niccoli had the urge to help the cat as he noticed that it was struggling to bring Audrey’s pants that was twice its size. But he later on decided otherwise, as he found it more entertaining to watch the other party as he carried the piece of garment with his small mouth while at the same time trying his best to balance and orb placed atop his head.[Over here!]Monami beckoned to Nero as soon as she spotted the other cat.[What a handsome delivery man, you are!]The cat insinuated afterward when Nero was finally close enough to hear her purring. Nero, on the other hand, did not comment on this. But he sure enjoyed the praise as it was evident on the smirk hanging on his lips while he was playing on his whiskers.Meanwhile, Niccoli who could hear all of it, especially how his cat was openly flirting in the public, had to fight back the urge to roll his eyes. Nonetheless, he wordlessly let the cat enter the portalet. After all, judging from the items he brought with him,
Meanwhile, the group naturally followed Jace who was heading and leading them towards the busier streets of Brujeria. But while they were on their way, Allan spotted something from Audrey that caught his fancy.“I wonder where you got that orb?”Allan glowed with adoration when he saw what Audrey was actually holding in her hands. It was as if the thing could be considered as a rare gem in his eyes. But for others, especially to Audrey’s ear, his comment seemed to be coming out of nowhere so Audrey felt compelled to lift the orb right at eye level so she could look at it closely and check for herself what the fuss was all about. She wondered what was so special with this crystal-like ball that Nero brought her, for his friend to act so amazed. However, despite careful deliberation, she still could not find anything out of ordinary to the item she has at hand, so unsure what it was all about, Audrey finally decided to asked Allan about it.“What about it? If I am not mistaken, I got it
With all of those words being said and done, the group pushed the matter at far back end corner of their mind so they could finally move on and focus their attention to the more important matter at hand. Likewise, upon arriving at the heart of the commercial unit of Brujeria, the group decided to do their business separately. “From here, I presumed that it would be best if we go our separate ways.” “I agree, more heads working within the same time frame means we can cover more area and could get the job done the soonest possible time. ” Steve suggested and Audrey was quick to second him, while the others nodded their head in consent. Since they too believed that this was the best action to take if they wanted to save time. Afterward, they agreed to meet on that same location to report any progress they made by the end of the day. "Remember, our goal is to find a ship. We will be meeting back here at the first sign of twilight and report our findings." Steve insinuated as a final
‘Phew!’Letting out an exasperated sign for the umpteenth time, Niccoli already lost count of how many disponent owners they had talked to since that afternoon alone. Sadly, all the deals they tried to strike that day all led to one thing, an upsetting ending.They even went to the extend of blinding the shipowners with promises of huge profit on top of other benefits. But it was to no avail. The moment they mentioned the word ‘Shamrock’, regardless of how good a rapport they already established in the begging, the rest of the transaction would eventually go down the drain.At one point, Niccoli was so convinced that the shipowners have come to an agreement prior to their search; that for the time being, they should never accept students who would like to do busin
“Jace? What brought you here?”Niccoli, this time, rose to his feet. Surprised to see that it was indeed his friend, Jace in real flesh and blood.“You too, Allan. Are we not suppose to take separate direction each?Niccoli added when he noticed that Allan was there too. At the same time, he could not help but ponder over possibility?‘Were they also here after a fruitless search? Are they done searching their lane and so they came searching for us instead to observe if we are doing any better compared to them?’Niccoli reflected because if his memory was not failing him yet, the last thing he recalled was that their g
Fundamentally, the idea of inefficiency that surged and threatened to drown the group’s sensibility eventually brought them a collective wave of dysphoria. Especially since they not only experienced their equal share of tough luck in closing a business deal with all of the shipwrights in general, but they were also quick enough to suspect that something was amiss. Their failure to secure a traveling vessel could not be a pure coincidence at all, could they?It all boiled down to a shared mutual understanding; the task of finding their ship was no easy task and if their conjecture happened to be true and the ship owners indeed arrived at a secret concord amongst their inner circle to not do business with the student of Iridos for the time being, then it only goes to say that their chance of getting a ship and get out to in the water to sail all the way to hunt the petrifying monster would be close to zero.Apparently, this was the only version that they could come up with at the moment
[Distract them for me.]“Was it not only right for Steffi to get to use to eye whenever she feels like it?? I mean, she is older than the two of you so naturally, she was supposed to have more authority above both of you, no?.”“Ehhh… She’ll be fine. I’m the youngest so they should let me wear it more.” (Meredith)“The kid is right. The eldest should have the eyeball. She is a genius” (Steffi)Steve, on the other hand, seemed to get what Audrey was trying to do, so he said something that would surely add fuel to the fire.“But what about the middle child? I am sure, Ariel wants to have her turn too.&rdqu
“Now, where are we? Right, cooking.”Steffi changed the topic on purpose, before turning to her sisters.“I need the eye to check if it's ready, who has it?”“It’s around here, somewhere,”Meredith replied as she started to rummage through a pile of disorganized drawers. She felt obliged to respond since she was the last one to use the Magus Eye. Unfortunately, she forgot where she left it.“The last time I saw it, you put it in the utensils compartment, Meredith” Steffi insinuated using a lazy tone so the other party rebutted,“Don’t use that tone with my name.”Ariel on the other hand joined in this time to inform them that the eye was nowhere to be seen.“It’s not there this time.”After a while of contemplation, Meredith’s face lit up as she recalled something.“Aha! Steffi always put it in the dish cabinet:”And just like that, she found where her sister was hiding it.Consequently, the group found it interesting to watch how the three sisters could be talkative without having t
“I agree with Ariel. Why don’t we invite them over? This way, we could continue our chat there whilst they take their much-needed rest.” This time, it was Meredith who spoke and she deliberately told her sisters this. Nonetheless, she has spoken the words loud enough to be heard by others. The students, on the other hand, were beyond ecstatic when they overhear the ongoing conversation. But decided that it would be best not to allow their emotion to show on their faces. At this point, Meredith turned to the group and greeted them with a bow. “Let me apologize on my sister’s behalf. The thing is, it has been a while since we had visitors. As such, we are no longer accustomed to receiving guests.” She insinuated before she slowly approached the bunch of bewildered youngsters; careful not to bump her toe as she felt her way through the darkness. Her blindness was made obvious by her action and it made her appear pitiful to any onlooker. Truth be told, the Grae’s current act of displ
“Seriously, when will they stop obsessing over Cercei?”Tsking in annoyance, Steffi stealthily moved her slender fingers next to the Magnus Eye with the full intention of taking it back from her younger sister’s possession.“These people were getting on my nerves!”She purposely added this to appeal to her sisters’ sentiment so that their minds could focus somewhere else and they would not notice it once she started hogging the magic eye all for herself again. Meanwhile, her plan worked, as it always did. Ariel readily agreed to her and with a voice full of despondency, she said,“That’s how the mage community works. They fear what they could not understand and so they are set on destroying anything that they cannot control.”Ariel finished with an exasperated sigh. Meredith, on the other hand, could not help but clenched her fist as she was reminded of their good friend’s plight. Then with her brows knitted together, she roared,“The gal did not deserve all this hatred.”Meanwhile, t
On the flip side, rewinding the clock a tad, just a few minutes before Audrey’s group discovered that they unknowingly fall under a spell, the Graes were already watching them. “The eye! Who has the eye?” Meredith, the youngest, shouted at the top of her lungs. Steffi, on the other hand, stepped away from the giant cauldron before answering. “Over here. I had it with me.” She purposely put a safe distance between her and her two sisters before taking the eye out from her pocket. Afterward, she put the eyeball inside her empty socket. Meanwhile, Ariel, the middle child among the three sisters complained, “You again? You are always snagging our eyes by yourself.” “I know right? Give us a chance as well.” Meredith seconded. But Steffi only rolled her removable eye and mumbled, “Oh, shut up! Stop whining, it's because I have more use of this than the two of you combined.” Ariel no longer argued. But Meredith was different. “Give me that, it is my turn today.” She insinuated and
“But this was done in consideration of what was the lesser evil. News about how the petrifying monster has been terrorizing the Black Forest had already reached the ears of the masses and as a result, was causing mayhem among the people; both non-magic and magic practitioners alike. If it was not for that, the mage community would not make a move.” “Terrorizing, you say.” The Grae mockingly repeated Niccoli’s word that struck her noggin the most. Then with a contemptuous scoff, she added, “What an interesting choice of words considering that it was you, students, who made the first move against her. If you were to ask me, I think it is more accurate to say that it was the other way around. You all are the ones doing the terrorizing. You brought the melee with you and now that she retaliated, you turned her into a villain?” Everyone fell silent afterward but it was not because they were trying to come up with better arguments to refute the other party’s words. Rather, it was due to
Audrey was on her dormitory bed when all that happened, and she was absolutely oblivious to the problem that was headed her way. Meanwhile, the results of the examination were announced on the third day. The students gathered around the square early in the morning and crammed in front of the announcement board to check their results. They also wanted to find out which class they had been allocated to. Niccoli dragged Audrey into the heavily obstructed crowd and finally came before the Herbalist Division’s announcement board. Niccoli immediately found their names, and as expected, both of them had obtained the highest marks for the test. They were also allocated to the Herbalist Division’s violet class for that autumn enrollment. Niccoli was also excited to see the name ‘Andrew’ written on the top of the list. Everyone envied her marks. “Andrew! You are the first! You are the first!” Niccoli was extremely surprised and held onto Audrey’s shoulder. He was very excited, and it was as i
[Alright, I must admit it’s my fault this time. My bad.] “As you should!” Ultimately, Nero acknowledged the part he played in inciting the agitated hut to action. But he also did not forget to let Audrey know that he did not appreciate her tone. [Needless to say, raising your voice is completely unnecessary. Besides, getting mad at me won’t change anything, will it? You’re kind of embarrassing me, just you know.] The cat tried to reason out but with her and her friends’ lives at stake and almost put in danger, Audrey did not back away easily this time. “Oh yeah? Then swear to me that from now on, you will be mindful of your choice of words. We have to be careful with every word we are saying because it was not every time that we got a chance to take it back.” Meanwhile, Nero’s response came shortly. However, it was so brief. Moreover, it did not sound sincere either. [Okay. I promised] So Audrey prompted the cat to state the matter precisely because she did not want him to circ
“What if the Graes already took notice of us as soon as we entered their perimeter and right now, we are under a spell; making our eyes play a trick on us? What if what we are seeing right now is not real?”“Well, if that is the case, then I guess there is only one way to check it.”Audrey insinuated and without wasting another breath, she said the passphrase."Turn your back to the forest, your front to me."Slowly, it dawned on the others as well what was possibly happening and so without waiting to be told what to do, they recited the same thing too."Turn your back to the forest, your front to me."They whispered into the air one after another and almost immediately, the landscape changed into something else, right before their naked eyes.Everyone watched with an awestruck face as the trees turned into fences. At the same time, just a few feet away from where they were standing, they noticed how an empty lot from moments ago started to morph into what seemed to be an inconspicuou