I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 1291: At The Sea

Far away from the capital, the dark sea stretched endlessly beneath the night sky.

A lone cargo ship cut slowly through the black waters, its wooden hull creaking softly as the waves rolled beneath it.

The ship was not particularly large, but it was far from small as well. It was built for practicality rather than elegance, designed to carry goods between the scattered ports to the southern sea.

For its purpose, it worked perfectly.

And right now, it carried one passenger who technically should not have been there at all.

Erend stood near the railing at the front of the ship, staring out across the endless ocean.

He had managed to board the vessel earlier that day when it departed from port with cargo bound for the southern regions. Of course, he had not paid a single coin for the journey.

Instead, he had quietly used a simple hypnosis spell on the captain.

It had been easy.

Erend shifted slightly and rested his arms on the wooden railing.

He could not completely ignore the small feeling of guilt lingering in his chest.

Using Magic to manipulate ordinary people never sat well with him. These sailors were just doing their jobs, living their simple lives, and here he was taking advantage of them.

But he forced himself to push that thought aside.

It couldn’t be helped.

He was in the middle of a mission.

Somewhere in this world, a source of deep corruption was spreading. If he could locate and deal with it before it grew worse, then perhaps everything he was doing now could be justified.

In a way, he was doing these people a favor.

That reasoning made the guilt feel a little lighter.

Besides, thanks to the hypnosis spell, the captain believed that Erend had already paid an extremely generous sum for the trip.

Because of that, the man treated him like a very important customer.

Erend sighed quietly.

The night sea stretched endlessly before him. The water below was so dark it almost looked like a bottomless abyss. Gentle waves rolled against the hull in slow, steady rhythms that felt strangely hypnotic.

Behind him, inside the small cabin area, the rest of the crew were gathered around a table.

Loud laughter drifted out through the half-open door as they drank cheap alcohol and talked loudly among themselves.

Erend had no interest in joining them.

His thoughts were elsewhere.

Somewhere ahead, hidden along the southern sea, there was a location tied to the missing creation of the Void Architect he had been sent to investigate, that had become a source of corruption.

It would not be an ordinary place.

If someone was guarding the source of corruption, they would not leave it unprotected.

There would be soldiers.

But not ordinary soldiers.

They would be specialized forces assigned specifically to guard whatever secret lay hidden there.

Which meant he could not simply storm in.

That would attract attention.

Worse, it could cause chaos and casualties.

Erend had no intention of turning innocent people into collateral damage.

He sighed slowly and stared out across the dark ocean.

"How am I supposed to handle this..." he muttered quietly.

The wind shifted slightly across the surface of the sea.

Then something caught his attention.

Erend’s eyes narrowed.

Far ahead of the ship, faint shapes drifted above the water.

At first they looked like patches of mist floating just above the surface.

But as the ship moved closer, their forms became clearer.

They had shape. Dozens of them.

Pale, translucent figures drifting slowly above the waves like wandering shadows made of fog.

They moved silently with the rhythm of the ocean.

Erend frowned slightly.

"What is that...?"

He had never seen anything quite like it before.

Just as he was studying the strange shapes, a voice suddenly called out behind him.

"Hey! What are you doing out here by yourself?"

Erend turned his head.

The captain of the ship was approaching him from the deck, walking with slightly unsteady steps. His wide grin and the strong smell of alcohol made it obvious he had been drinking with the crew.

The man leaned casually against the railing beside him.

"Can’t sleep?" the captain asked with a cheerful laugh.

Then he followed Erend’s gaze toward the drifting figures in the distance.

The man chuckled.

"Oh! You saw them, huh?"

Erend looked back at him.

"Saw what?"

The captain tilted his head toward the floating shapes above the water.

"What do you mean? The sea spirits!" he said.

Then he raised an eyebrow at Erend.

"You’re standing out here at night staring at them... Aren’t you afraid?"

Erend blinked slightly.

"Sea spirits?"

He glanced back toward the drifting figures.

They moved slowly above the waves like pale ghosts of the ocean.

Erend looked back at the captain again.

"What are sea spirits?" he asked calmly.

In the back of his mind, he already knew this man would not remember this conversation tomorrow anyway.

The hypnosis spell was still quietly affecting his mind.

So there was no harm in asking the questions that people in this world should already know.

The captain scratched his beard and let out a small laugh then he leaned his elbows on the railing and looked out across the dark water.

"Well... that’s weird..."

The captain stared at Erend for a moment, his brow slightly furrowed.

Erend turned his head slightly. "What is?"

The captain scratched his beard and let out a short laugh. "You’re sailing through the southern sea but you’ve never heard of sea spirits? It’s like you don’t belong to this world. Heheheh."

Erend snorted with a small smile, looked back toward the drifting figures above the water. The pale shapes floated silently over the dark waves, moving like slow currents of fog.

"Tell me anyway," Erend said calmly.

The captain shrugged and leaned his elbows against the railing.

"Well, alright."

He pointed toward the drifting shapes ahead of the ship.

"Those things are sea spirits. They’re not exactly creatures... and they’re not truly alive either. Think of them more like leftover Magic."

Erend listened quietly.

"Magic energy can linger in places where strong events happened," the captain continued. "Just like other spirits in this world. The sea has plenty of them."

He waved his hand toward the endless water around them.

"Lots of things can create sea spirits. Sailors who drowned, ships lost in storms, old naval battles, or even sea monsters dying beneath the waves. All that energy stays behind sometimes."

The faint shapes drifted slowly as the ship approached them.

"They’re usually harmless," the captain added. "Most of the time they just float around like that."

Then his tone became slightly more serious.

"But if someone isn’t careful, a spirit might pull them into the water without them noticing. Some sailors say it feels like the ocean itself is calling."

Erend nodded slowly. "I understand."

Inside his mind, the explanation connected with what he had already learned about this world.

So this must be one of the three sources of power here.

These drifting figures were manifestations of Magic energy.

Erend studied them quietly.

Then his gaze returned to the dark horizon.

"Thanks for the answer," Erend said to the captain. "You will forget this tomorrow."

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