Chapter 208 Expected Development

Aion could guess why they couldn't sell the items that they produced. Since they had more knowledge than most, their creations had that knowledge, and since they also knew the history of that world better than most, they didn't want to risk causing more wars or reviving lost technology in the wrong hands… it was a bit of a problem.

"Sorry for being late, those reports didn't bring any good news, so I was busy," Sauros said. "We can't change our strategy that much since we can't stay here forever, but we need to make some arrangements."

"Such as?" Aion asked.

"If we find a pirate ship, we should fight them, even without the help of The Breeze of the Sea," Sauros said. "We will be counting on you to stop those ships. As long as we stop their mobility, we can deal with the rest later. In exchange for that, you will get their treasure or whatever else you find."

"While that may be possible to pull, we will trace behind, a ship like those can't sink that fast, and without leaving traces behind, we will end up leaving traces behind," Aion said while scratching the back of his head.

"I am aware, but in the end, not everyone will take notice of those vestiges. Only a few at a time will," Sauros said. "If they are pirates, they will fall for a trap trying to find answers. If they are the people from the islands, then we can ignore them. We will have to rely a lot on you to make that possible, so I apologize in advance."

"Well, it isn't like I am using much of my mana for now," Aion shrugged. "Still, just to be safe, we should try to deal with the monsters around the dungeon today. Things will get messy if they attack us from behind while we decide to attack the pirate ships."

"Yes… they are drawn to weird vibrations in the area, and the sinking of the ship certainly fits that bill," Sauros said after he furrowed his eyebrows.

The group jumped into the ocean again once the ship approached the area they worked on the previous day and while the number of encounters had decreased, that still troubled Aion since it looked like the spawning rate of the dungeon was high… since that was the case, he wondered how the barrier around the temple would be…

After hunting a few monsters, those three headed toward the entrance of the dungeon. Since the creatures were swimming in a two hundred meters area that was only one hundred meters deep, Aion wondered if he should freeze everything there and then smash it against something… that would leave too many traces behind, though. People would find it weird to see icebergs in such a tropical zone.

Sauros told them to hunt in the same way as the previous day, but Aion decided to keep thinking of other things that they could do. He was bored even though he was itching to fight as well, after all. So, that was the only thing he could do. Still, not fighting helped them in the end because when they went to the surface to rest a little, they saw several ships approaching the area and heading in their direction.

"It seems some people noticed our actions… or at least the result of our actions," Sauros said. "It is hard to say who they are from here… let's retreat a little and observe."

Aion hurried to absorb the monsters. His magic power increased quite a bit in the previous day, so he might take down a ship or two with his power. Years ago, Aion got rid of a massive rock on the way to his channel, so he considered that it was going to be something of a similar scale… the problem was revealed when Aion saw four ships… that would be difficult.

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"Their numbers and the cracks on the body of the ships prove that they aren't people of the islands," Sauros said.

"Are you sure? If you are wrong, we will end up killing a lot of innocent people," Aion said while furrowing his eyebrows since he couldn't see anyone from their positions.

"Pirates don't repair their ships…" Sauros said. "That is more than enough proof. Real sailors protect and take care of their ships more than they treat their houses. Most of the time, they stay more on the ship than anywhere else."

Aion heard that Vikings were like pirates, but they treated their ships well. They built many different kinds of craft, from small fishing boats and ferries to their famous longships. They were all made from planks of timber. Usually, oak overlapped and nailed together. The ships were made watertight by filling the spaces between the planks with all kinds of products mixed with tar or tallow. The ships were all the same long narrow shape with shallow draughts. This meant that they could be used in shallow water as well.

Vikings used longships to make raids and carry their warriors. Often, the prow of the ship was decorated with a carving of an animal head. They had quite the style since they carved those to look like fearsome creatures like dragons…

Putting Aion's history nerd tendencies aside, he had work to do. He couldn't fail and let a single ship escape since they would spread the word, and chasing one of them with low mana would be impossible. Fortunately, he had some time to consider his options since they stopped around the dungeon to check the area.

"You don't have to kill all of them. It would be good if we get some prisoners to inquire about their hideout," Sauros said.

"You are full of demands… in order not to let any of them escape, I was planning to destroy them all, but it seems that you like to make my work harder," Aion said. "Let's see… I guess I will attack the hearts of those ships."