The dark shape of the Whaleback Island receded into the morning mist. The Ocean Wanderer had cleared the coastal waters. And the last of the local fishing boats were already out of sight.

Jack signaled his mechanical fairy. "Drop the disguise, Rune!" Jack said.

Rune emitted bright purple glow. The ship's physical appearance seemed to shiver briefly. Then, the mundane wood of the Ocean Wanderer dissolved like melting wax. Beneath it, the dark, rotten, barnacle encrusted timber of the Silent Mermaid emerged.

That was not the only change. The plain white canvas of the sails turned black and shredded. Becoming eerie and terrifying.

The beautiful mermaid figurehead opened her mouth as if trying to scream. Only to be frozen in silent, sorrowful wail. And then, silent purple flame burst out from many parts of the ship... the hull, the deck, and the skeletal mast. And soft white mist began to spill from the gunwales. Pooling around the water line.

The Ocean Wanderer had dropped its guise. It was now in its true form. A ghost ship. The Silent Mermaid. A spooky, mysterious vessel born of supernatural energy.

The ship didn't just look different. It felt different. The air around the deck grew colder. And it felt spooky. Striking primal fear for most people who saw it for the first time.

"Argust! Engage the invisibility cloak." Jack ordered to the internal communication system.

"Understood, Captain!" The navigator's voice immediately replied. "Invisibility cloak activated."

A sudden veil of distorted light wrapped around the hull. From the outside, the ship would seem like it suddenly vanished. Most external observers would see nothing but empty waves.

Jack closed his eyes and focused on his connection to the ghost ship. He could sense the improvement caused by the [Heart of the Ocean] better now. The maximum speed limit of the Silent Mermaid had indeed increased significantly.

The sunlight did affect this improvement. But not by much. The invisibility and mist from the gunwales protected the ship from the direct sunlight.

"Good!" Jack muttered. "Maximum speed, Argust! Let's see how fast the Silent Mermaid now."

"Understood, Captain!" Argust's voice replied in steady tone.

The ship suddenly surged forward with a violent yet smooth acceleration. The change of speed was so obvious that it would have knocked a less experienced crew off their feet.

Argust Osprey's voice could be heard again. "Lord... she's flying, Captain. We're almost doubling our speed."

...

The voyage to Shipmount Island was expected to take five days. The sea along the way was calm. And the navigation was straightforward. However, by the end of the second day, Argust called out from the control chamber.

"Captain! We're making record time. We'll see the island by dawn."

Jack checked looked at the horizon. The [Heart of the Ocean] was providing more than just a minor boost of speed. It made the ghost ship so fast that it seemed the sea itself were moving the ship forward. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

...

Indeed. On the third morning, Shipmount Island had appeared. It had an unmistakable landmark. The island was dominated by a massive mountain of dark rock. Due to erosion or some ancient tectonic shift, the mountain leaned at a sharp angle. It looked exactly like the hull of a gigantic ship sinking into the earth.

"Rune, re-apply the disguise!" Jack said. "We don't need the locals thinking a ghost ship is invading."

Rune immediately glowed in bright purple color. The Silent Mermaid shifted back into its wooden, mundane form as the Ocean Wanderer.

Several hour later, they approached the harbor of Naoville Town. The town was built on the lower slopes of the ship-like mountain.

It was a dense collection of wooden buildings. Many featuring intricate carvings on the eaves and pillars. The scent of cedar and pine was thick in the air. Even over the salt of the harbor.

They docked at a commercial pier. The harbor master took their fees without asking many questions. An unknown trading sloop was not a strange thing in this town after all. Naoville was a trade hub for woodcraft.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Jack gathered the crew on the deck. "As usual, we'll do a lottery for ship guard duty. Two people stay, the rest go."

He pulled out a top hat and placed paper pieces filled with the crew names in it. He gestured to Argust to take two pieces. And the unlucky ones this time were Ned and Don.

"Dammit!" Ned muttered. Swearing at his luck.

"I'll have a hot meal ready when you get back." Don said, though he also looked annoyed at losing the first chance to see the town.

Jack and Reina stepped onto the pier. A tall, muscular man in a dark leather coat and a beautiful woman with similar outfit. An attractive couple with an obvious vibe that showed... they were not ones to mess about.

Rune was with them, as usual. Flying around them in excitement. Undetected by normal humans.

As they walked into the main square of Naoville, Jack activated his [Eyes of Judgement]. The world shifted. Information panels overlaid almost everything he could see. He quickly filtered the information.

As Jack scanned the crowd, his brow furrowed. Unlike the previous towns they visited, there were a lot of transcendent people in this town. And most of them belonged to factions that he considered... troublesome.

"Something is wrong, Dear?" Reina asked. She had her long black hair tied back. Looking sharp and observant.

"Too many transcendent people here, Love." Jack said softly.

"Here?" Reina replied. Her eyes were narrowed.

Jack nodded. There were dozens of them. The information panel showed that many belonged to the Black Market Syndicate. They were easy to spot. Shifty men in heavy coats sitting in outdoor cafes or leaning against alley walls.

Then there was the cold, clinical pale blue aura of the Church of Justice. They weren't hiding as much. Several men in blue and white uniforms with the church's insignia on their collars were walking the main street in pairs.

But the most concerning were the hidden ones. The Purity Cult. They were sprinkled through the crowd. Much harder to detect compared to the previous two.

"Black Market Syndicate, Church of Justice, and the Purity Cult." Jack listed. "That's a lot of heat for a wood-carving town."

"There are cultists too here?" Reina observed. "And the church didn't directly clash with the syndicate and the cult? Something is truly wrong here."

Jack nodded. "Let’s find out why. We need a target."

He spotted a man in a brown cloak entering a local inn called The Sinking Hull. The man looked like a normal traveler. A tired man with mud on his boots. But Jack's [Eyes of Judgement] told him that he was a member of the Purity Cult.

"The one entering the Sinking Hull." Jack whispered. "Coat us with illusion, Love."

Reina stepped closer to Jack. She stealthily manipulated the light around them. To any observer, they were just another old couple returning back to their inn after a morning walk.

They followed their target into the inn. The lobby was loud. Merchants were haggling over crates of carved figurines.

They followed the cultist up the stairs. Reina's illusion made what they were doing seemed natural in the eyes of others.

He entered Room 204.

Jack quickly made a decision. He used his [Incarnation Shift]. Transforming into Jack Lantern, the Devil Puppet. A small figure no taller than a child's doll. With a carved pumpkin head, a pointed wizard hat, and a high-collared mantle.

As he transformed, Rune also shifted her form. She morphed from a mechanical fairy into a floating tiny lantern.

Jack grinned. In this form, his class was the Bizarre Puppeteer. A class that allowed him to summon and manipulate the bizarre puppets he had created.

"Sloth!" Jack whispered. The nasal words resonated with an odd, hollow quality.

A dark pearl appeared. Forming a shimmering distortion in the air. Then, it transformed into a creature that looked like a plush toy. A plump, round baby panda with the fur a bizarre mix of dark crimson and vibrant yellow.

It was Sloth. Jack's bizarre puppet specializing in sleep-related abilities.

Mentally, Jack instructed it to activate its [Drowsy Aura]. The panda puppet's eyes began to glow with a faint, pulsating indigo light. A wave of strange energy phased through the door to the target inside Room 204. Taking him to a deep slumber.

Jack waited a moment, then signaled Reina. She placed her hand on the door lock. A faint misty glow seeped into the keyhole. The bolt slid back silently.

They stepped inside and closed the door. The cultist was fast asleep on his bed. He didn't hear them.

Jack floated above the cultist while Sloth moved awkwardly closer. Looking like a sleepy creature finding its way to bed.

Jack quickly instructed Sloth to activate his other peculiar ability... [Dreamy Truth]. The panda's eyes glowed brighter. In light purple color this time. And a soft, melodic hum emanated from it.

"What are you, the cultists from Purity Cult, trying to do in this town?" Jack asked.

The cultist's voice was a monotone mumble. "Hunting..."

"What are you hunting?" Jack asked.

"The little girl..." The cultist droned. "Aella."

"Who is Aella?"

"The Awakened Faewitch... The heretic bloodline... The last of the Mysterious Faewitches..."

Reina stood by the door, keeping watch. She looked back at Jack. "A Faewitch bloodline? That’s rare."

Jack continued the interrogation. "Why do you want her?"

"The Goddess needs her. A sacred sacrifice... The Purity Cult must have her before the others."

"What others?" Jack pressed.

"The Syndicate... they had her first. They didn't know what she was. Just a slave. They took her from the mainland. Her mother died in the cage... The trigger of awakening..."

The man's voice became more animated, though he was still droning and his eyes remained shut.

"She awakened... The slavers died... One was the son of an the vice leader... She ran to the mountain. The Shipmount..."

"And the Church of Justice?"

"They might want her dead..." The cultist whispered.

Reina added. "I heard that a Mysterious Faewitch burned down the cathedral of the Church of Justice three hundred years ago. They might still hold a grudge, or fear. They probably want the bloodline disappear."

Jack leaned back. He looked at Reina.

"A three-way hunt for a little girl." Jack said. "What should we do?"

=====<O>=====

If you, dear readers, enjoy the story, please share a review.

And if you are willing to support my work, please consider visiting and joining /Alkrishna. It should be about 15+ chapters ahead there.

=====<O>=====