In the depths of a thick mist in the night, a large finishing ship made its way through the ocean. At the front of the ship hung a bright lantern, shining brightly onto the mist that gave little visibility.

“How close are we?” the captain of the ship asked loudly. He was a tall man with a scraggly beard, missing two fingers on his left hand.

His eyes remained at the front of the ship where numerous deckhands were standing at the bow. One of the deckhands was a young man with short brown hair, wearing somewhat classy shirts and pants, and had a somewhat opaque circular pendant hanging from his chest.

The young man took the pendant and placed it on his eyes.

Suddenly, the mist in front of his eyes seemed to clear and he could see almost everything with perfect clarity. He looked through the pendant for just 2 seconds before he felt his eyes burn and he had to put it down.

He made sure nobody noticed that it hurt him to use the pendant. If they did, they would realize that this Zurin treasure was not bound to him.

“There’s some sort of island about 3 leagues away from here,” the young man answered back to the captain. “That might be what we’re looking for.”

“Haha! It was good luck on our side to bring you with us, young scholar,” the Captain said before turning back to the vice-captain.

“What does the map say?” he asked.

“There is indeed an island supposed to be in front of us,” the man said. “But it should be at least 5 leagues away. Even with the wind in our favor, I cannot imagine that we traveled over 2 leagues without realizing it.”

“Sometimes luck is in our favor too,” the captain said. Still, he took note of the warning and ordered his men to prepare for the upcoming land. The Golden Scales sailed through the ocean, getting closer and closer to the land up ahead.

Tim stood by the bow, continuously peering out of the mist. The thicker the mist was, the better chance it was said that there was a Zurin treasure hiding close by.

The fact that his pendant was warding off the mist meant that this mist truly was created by a Zurin treasure. And he was getting close to it.

It was a good thing he learned about the Golden Scales and managed to persuade the captain to let him come aboard. After all, the Golden Scales wasn’t just a regular fishing vessel, but also a treasure-hunting ship.

It was said that they had successfully gone on at least 5 treasure hunts and came back with at least 3 Zurin treasures. The other two had come back with their lives.

After all, every treasure hunt where they weren’t killed was a successful one.

Tim felt the pain in his eyes lessen to a point where it didn’t bother him anymore. Now that it had dropped to this level, he could use his pendant again.

He placed it over his eye and the mist disappeared from his vision once more. The land before him was much closer now.

“It’s just a league away now,” he told the captain. “We’re nearly there.”

The moment he said that the captain’s voice came back with a loud sound.

“Everyone! Get away from the edge, now!”

His voice caused each of the deckhands to back away from the edge and start handing each other weapons that were brought up. Rifles and gun powders that had been kept dry were being handed around.

Tim looked surprised. “Captain? What is happening?” “Young scholar, you have done your job,” the captain walked out with a sword in his hand, and something golden that was hidden in his waistcoat.

Behind him, his second-in-command came out with a rifle in his hand and some sort of umbrella in his other hand.

“That is no land,” the captain said. As they moved, the mist seemed to part away suddenly, and the captain’s face grew a wide smile.

“That is a Zurin Monster,” the captain said. Tim turned around and the ‘land’ finally came into view. It hadn’t been far away at all. It had been close the whole time. Just its size and shape had given the illusion of being far away.

“You did good,” the captain said. “Now stand back, and let us handle this.”

Tim did as asked and moved backward from the group.

“All hands aim!” the captain shouted, and the rifles suddenly turned toward the beast in the distance, whose only back was showing from the ocean.

“First row, Fire!” A dozen rifles shot at once, letting out a bunch of smoke and light flashes. The men that shot suddenly crouched and started pouring lead balls and gunpowders into their rifles to get ready to shoot again.

“Second row, Fire!” Another row of gunfire shot the beast. Finally, the beast moved. The body on the surface suddenly went underwater. Calmness returned to the night.

A dreadful calmness and silence.

“It’s still here,” the Captain said as he held tightly to his sword. “The mist hasn’t come back, so it is still here.”

Just as he said that the boat was rocked hard from the side as something slammed onto the deck from the side. Everyone turned to see a tentacle nearly a meter thick had crashed onto the deck, leaving splinters everywhere.

The tentacle suddenly moved up and came back down on the ship once more. Before it could do that, however, the second in command moved forward and lifted his umbrella, opening it at the last second.

The tentacle clashed with the umbrella, but there was no backlash to stopping the attack.

The man closed the umbrella and the captain moved. His sword glowed bright orange and he cut through the monster’s arm like a hot knife on butter.

The monster shook with pain and dragged the rest of its arm back, sinking into the water.

“Keep a look out!” the captain shouted. “It’s going to come back for more.”