Rogue Villain-Chapter 199: Central Isles Of Matar

The Central Isles of Matar were almost straight south of Tenger. But Ackster wasn’t starting his journey across the sea from Tenger. And he only had an approximate understanding of where Bo’s island was in correlation to Tenger and Matar. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

But that wasn’t a problem for Ackster and his boat, which only had a similar outer appearance to his other sailboat. The boat’s specs were in an entirely different league.

Now that Ackster had mana, he could use the boat’s functions, such as the magical navigation tool that worked eerily similar to a satellite map or a GPS. If he had enough mana and was willing to use it, he could even propel the boat forward instead of relying on uncertain winds.

Bo technically hadn’t stopped Ackster from training his mana back on the island. But he had ensured that Ackster was so busy or tired he physically couldn’t. Still, Bo’s training had helped deepen his body’s senses and increase its capability for mana circulation. The training also included sections where he had to use his mana to make it through.

Repeatedly using up and letting the mana grow back like the ebb and flow had the effect of gradually increasing the amount of mana Ackster had. It had only increased by a few grains of sand-sized drops of water.

But it was mana made by following the method of someone known as a good. It was high-quality stuff.

"Woo-hoo!"

Ackster cut through the sea as he used his pure and powerful drops of mana to power the boat. Speeding like that wasn’t as thrilling as fighting with his life on the line, but the wind in his short hair, the smell of the ocean, and the watery spray hitting his body made him feel alive in a way that being on the brink of death didn’t.

Ackster felt at home on the ocean as he made good progress toward the island nation.

The only times he didn’t blaze through the water was when he ran out of mana or when he ate, which he did either by fishing or letting his vitality leak and attract beasts and monsters.

Ackster still had trouble sensing other beings’ vitality, partly due to his own overpowering life force, but he could finally contain it to some degree, thanks to Bo’s training. Apparently, there was a stage after sensing and restraining it that Bo had wanted Ackster to reach sometime.

But controlling his life force and using it like a secondary source of energy like mana was still too far away for Ackster. His plate was already starting to get full at the moment as he had his hands full with mana training and practicing the Unimportant Whatever Arts Bo had taught him. And when he wasn’t doing that, he kept his body fresh and limber by doing a variety of mobility exercises, unweighted or weighted, if possible. Or, when he felt like it, Nold’s secret technique. But that rarely happened now that he didn’t have Pain Tolerance.

Ackster knew that ’Unimportant Whatever Arts’ wasn’t the real name of the martial art Bo had taught him. But Bo refused to divulge the real name, so Ackster was stuck with it as he kept digging and deepening his understanding of a seemingly bottomless martial art.

Bo had taught him all of the moves of the art, but almost every time Ackster repeated the moves, he could feel his understanding of each move and the martial art as a whole deepen. It didn’t happen every time, and the increased understanding was barely noticeable. It was more like a feeling that he had taken a step closer to a metaphorical mountain of understanding on the horizon.

Every step closer only made Ackster realize how big and far away the mountain was. It wouldn’t have felt like a futile endeavor if he hadn’t sensed his progress and the potential.

Ackster couldn’t wait until he arrived at a place where he could compare his martial arts with other fighters. Myrrhia was honestly a better place for that. But Matar was closer, almost on the way, and had an item he wanted.

With Ackster wasting no time by putting his all in propelling the boat forward and the boat’s GPS-like navigation system, it didn’t take too long for Ackster to arrive at his destination.

From afar, it looked like one big island, almost a continent. But as he approached, Ackster could clearly differentiate between the different islands. When he got close enough, he could even distinguish the four closest of the twelve large main islands.

Compared to the countless smaller islands around, buildings, people, and activity of a different scale covered the large islands.

Ackster wanted to get to the biggest island in the center of all the islands since that’s where the trident he had come for was. But unauthorized people weren’t allowed on the island, especially ones who didn’t have their Nominus cards or couldn’t access them.

So, Ackster would have to take a roundabout route to get there. Well, that roundabout route was half the reason he had come to Matar since he could gain acknowledgment by partaking in the islands’ open duels and stacking enough victories and honor to be allowed entry to the main island.

Ackster stopped propelling his boat as he thought about what to do. Without his Nomi or anything to guarantee his status, it would be a little difficult to enter one of the twelve islands just like that, even if the ports were busy with ships, merchants, sailors, and peddlers.

Ackster needed someone to act as a guarantor so he could start fighting. Although there were some illegal dueling arenas that were open to all, regardless of identity, Ackster didn’t know how to find one of those, at least not on the twelve islands.

So, he steered his boat toward one of the smaller populated islands. Hopefully, they were a little more lax in security and would accept him as a fighter even if he didn’t show them his Nomi.