Following his acceptance of the mission, Captain Lionheart couldn’t help but express how pleased he was with the Redflower Pirates.

In his mind, they were truly a new crew who had sailed out to sea with big dreams and, perhaps by fate, ended up following the God of Knowledge. From there, they had continued on their journey to strengthen their relationship with this god.

This type of crew was most certainly a crew that the Templars could respect, and the fact that their captain had just accepted to sail out to battle with them solidified this idea.

I will most certainly reward them well once we defeat our enemies...

Captain Lionheart gave them the minimal details known about the battle and would later expand upon them as he learned more.

Regardless of the information, Roseus knew that they would prepare in the same manner.

As he and Dawn returned to the ship, they slowly found each of the crew members and explained what they had gotten themselves into. Despite the mission being incredibly dangerous, they all seemed to understand that it was a risk they had to take. Besides, the Templars were strong, and it was true that they would most likely be doing all of the work.

As for the navy commander, nobody but Zaliah had any information on him.

He was the commander based at the nearest navy base, further north of Highstorm Island. It was true that he once had a truce with the Templars, but had now abandoned it for an unknown reason.

She was unaware of his strengths and weaknesses, as the commander didn’t spend much time in the Translucent Sea himself, as he didn’t have much need to.

It seemed that had changed now.

With this mission accepted, the crew knew that they had to work towards their goals even more diligently.

~~~

On a beachside of Highstorm Island, located a decent distance away from the main dockyard, Zaliah sat on the sand with Lavender.

Both women wore no clothes and felt the breeze of the wind against their naked bodies. Nobody else was around, so Zaliah had no shame in showing her tattooed, pierced body to the world. However, Lavender was completely different.

Being a devout religious woman, it felt wrong to be in such a state, even if no men were there to see her.

"W-why must we do this again?" Lavender asked shyly.

Zaliah laughed as she grabbed the young lady’s arm and directed her towards the see-through water. As it touched their feet, it felt cold.

"As I told the young captain, there are many ways to awaken. Are you aware of them?"

Lavender nodded.

"Yes, by spending more time at sea. Yet I’ve spent an equal amount of time at sea as everyone else and still haven’t awakened."

Zaliah nodded as they entered deeper into the ocean. The water was now past their stomachs.

"Yes, but some people’s bodies are different. They need to have more direct contact with the water than others in order to awaken. Whether this is because of genetics, personal feelings and motivations, or simply the will of whoever created the waters, I do not know. However, I believe this will help you awaken."

"What will?"

Before she could even finish the question, Zaliah grabbed hold of the woman’s purple hair and pushed her underneath the water, as if attempting to drown her.

As she struggled beneath the water, Zaliah tipped her head back and laughed into the air.

After ten seconds, she lifted Lavender’s head and the woman emerged from the surface of the water in a coughing fit.

"W-what in the Eight Oceans are you d-doing!" she barely managed to speak.

"Direct contact with the sea, my girl!" Zaliah said through her laughter before pushing her head down again.

This time, Lavender tried to struggle. However, she was merely an unawakened woman. Zaliah could easily overpower her, making sure that she stayed down there.

After twenty seconds passed, she lifted the girl’s head again.

"F-fuck you!" Lavender coughed this time, with rage in her purple eyes.

Zaliah dunked her again, intending to wait thirty seconds this time. However, after fifteen seconds had passed, she felt the girl’s body stop resisting...

She lifted her head from the water, hoping that she wouldn’t be dead or unconscious.

She wasn’t.

Instead, she had a look of surprise spread across her face.

Zaliah smiled slightly.

"Did it work?" she asked.

"It... It did," Lavender said, barely even believing the words herself.

In her mind, the Sailor System appeared, presenting her with all the information within it.

Despite being behind everybody else, she couldn’t help but be filled with an immense amount of joy. She would have hugged the woman who had just drowned her if not for the fact that they were both naked.

Seeing the joy on the young lady’s face, Zaliah felt pleased with herself. She always enjoyed helping others.

"What skill did you awaken?" she asked curiously.

Lavender did as she was once taught and pressed her fingers to her temple, willing the information of her skill to enter Zaliah’s mind.

As it did, the white-haired woman read it with gradually widening eyes.

"Oh? This is not what I was expecting at all."

Lavender felt the same, as it seemed the skill had awakened in a random domain unrelated to her being drowned.

- Seeking The Divine (Lv.1) → When within five kilometres of a treasure connected to the deity of your belief, you can slightly sense its exact location.

Immediately after reading this skill, she activated it. She could feel a strong sense of something soothing and pleasant coming from a location in the distance. She could tell that the closer she got to the item, the stronger the sensation would become.

This was likely the pendant that Captain Lionheart wore around his neck. The one that he had used to somehow sense the belief in the hearts of the Redflowers after first meeting them.

"I guess this power fits my role as a believer."