The next morning, after the sun was up Azaroth stood from his place and stretched, he ignored the others and brought out chunks of monster meat from his spatial ring.

He didn’t know if the ship was resistant to his fire so the first thing Azaroth did was send a little bit of fire blazing from his hand to check if the wood would catch but nothing happened.

"You are awake already!" Alex said, shivering a bit. "I can’t sleep well because of the cold but you appear to be alright."

At first, Azaroth ignored him, he brought out wood and pot from his ring then he began to cook– simple boiling of meat in water. He sat in a lotus position and checked his two cores, his fire was down but ready to go while his chaos was still down.

’Crovous said it should be up right?’ Azaroth thought. Then he turned to the standing Alex. "Why don’t you cover your body with essence?"

Alex blinked, his dark eyes widening in surprise. "I thought it was only for battle!"

Azaroth said nothing as he faced his food. He thought to himself ’How long have this gut survived?’. The smell of food woke the others and they stood up and each started preparing their food when they saw Azaroth.

Stallus gave Catena her raw material so he could cook it together. "Hey, how’s Basher?"

That got a smile from the sleepy-looking boy. "Drinking all my essence as if there’s no tomorrow."

They made small talk as Catena cooked for them, while on the other side, Alex and Azaroth also cooked their own. They ate immediately when they were done and then started preparing to move.

The wave of the sea did not move their ship because of the enchantments on it but now, Stallus went to the helm and rested her hand on the steering. "Are you all ready?"

Azaroth nodded and she injected essence, the ship began to move. "Then we move." The ship moved above the sea like a big monster, the waves lapping gently at it.

"You mean we have to clear all this crypt?" Alex asked while he pointed at all the swirling portals that hung above the sea.

"Our job is to do as the crypt Master said," Azaroth said. But he was mentally thinking about it too. Why was the crypt Master so focused on them fighting monsters in the crypt? Shouldn’t they be advancing as Awakeners instead? That should be what their training should be on.

But Azaroth kept all that to himself.

He pointed at the first portal where they met. "Can you stop the ship close to that one? We are going in. Prepare yourself."

Stallus wasn’t skilled in driving ships, even enchanted ones and she made a lot of mistakes before she was able to position the ship by the side of the portal where they could easily jump out.

Azaroth brought out his sword from his ring, and then he jumped on the edge of the ship. "Will the ship hold till we’re back?"

Stallus nodded. "As you know, this is an enchanted ship it’ll wait here until we come back." She had also ready herself, her weapon by her side and a fist full of crystals.

Catena and Alex joined them, then together they jumped into the portal.

They landed on a ship the size of a mountain.

"What type of crypt is this," Alex said as he looked around. They were standing on the wooden floor atop a ship, the sky was gloomy and the air chilly.

Azaroth said nothing as he studied their environment. His thoughts spinning, ’Are they supposed to fight other ships?’ He thought and looked over the dark sea that rolled and jerked the ship gently. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

But there were no other ships nearby, only this one and it was an enormous thing.

"Eh, Azaroth?" Stallus called his attention.

He turned towards her and she pointed at the doorway that led down into the ship. "We should explore the ship." It can out as a fact and a subtle question at the same time.

"That place looks spooky." Alex shivered. The doorway is dark and they all instinctively know that there is something down there waiting for them.

Azaroth made a small fireball and it hovered above their head. "Follow me and be ready for battle. Stallus, be ready to use explosion at a moment’s notice. The rest was our back."

They entered the door and were met immediately with a wooden stairs that shook as they descended. The fireball lit the room sharply but it was only the wooden wall that appeared as they climbed down.

They finally reached a floor but the stairs continued downwards through another doorway. They decided to leave that unit later.

They naturally form a formation around Azaroth. Alex and Catena walked slowly with their backs while Azaroth and Stallus focused on the front.

Doors lined the long room and if Azaroth was to guess, the hallway must span the whole length of the big ship. Fortunately for them only none of the doors opened so far and Alex was getting bored as tension and anticipation lowered.

’Creak!!’ The sound was sharp in their ears and it came directly in front of them. They froze and got ready for whatever was coming. Azaroth split and made more fireballs than he sent forward and above them.

The big hallway became lit and they just realized that they had voluntarily walked into a trap. Azaroth’s eyes widen and he thinks, ’I should have made the light bigger since’

Monsters hung from the ceiling and sides of the wall. They are the size of grown men with grey skin and coated in slims, that was how they were able to stick to the wall.

About thirty of them and their eyes shone in the near dark, fortunately, they are the same Acolyte rank. Azaroth didn’t need to say it and he had said it a lot today. "Get ready for battle."