AN: From the feedback I received on both of the sites where I post this, I've decided not to rewrite the first chapter, as I think my time would be better spent on writing new chapters.

On a different topic, I recently started another fic: Light, Darkness and Paradox. It's a RWBY/Monster Girl Quest crossover, which has several RWBY characters being transported from the Fall of Beacon to the world of MGQ: Paradox. If that sounds interesting, please check it out.


As Adam and Lilith journeyed south, the sand and gravel were replaced by less barren environments. Grass covered the landscape, then shrubs and finally trees. It was a relief: even though the pair had grown accustomed to the hazards of the desert, they still found it uncomfortable. Food was a good example: while Thutmose's relic meant they didn't need to worry about starving, after three weeks of the flavourless soup, they were eager for real meat and vegetables.

On the twenty-third day after they left the desert village, they encountered a camp of minotaurs. They resembled bipedal oxen, with barrel-like torsos and heads bearing curved horns, and were armed with stone axes. They were roasting a human over a fire, and the bones of more humans were strewn around the camp. Lilith put all of the minotaurs to sleep, then Adam slit their throats, one-by-one. The minotaurs never even had the chance to think of retaliating.

On the twenty-ninth day, they spotted a blue band in the distance. It was too smooth to be a mountain range, yet it didn't move like a cloud bank. They increased their pace.

After reaching the top of a hill, they had a much better view of the strange sight. Both of them stopped in their tracks.

The sea stretched from one horizon to the other. The surface was far from smooth, with countless ripples passing over it. These ripples combined with the reflection of the sun to form an ever-shifting pattern of light, one more beautiful than any painting. Closer to land, the ripples grew into waves, which eventually broke on the coast to produce white foam.

Adam broke into a run, but Lilith overtook him by flying ahead. Neither of them were paying more than the bare minimum of attention to their surroundings.

They arrived at the coast, panting yet also exhilarated. Here, the waves produced a thundering sound and the air smelled strongly of salt. They could now see the numerous forms of life that dwelled here. Dark shapes flitted through the water, each one a school of fish. Flocks of birds flew through the air, often diving into the water and emerging with a fish in their beaks. The coast was dotted with clumps of green seaweed and, in the rocky areas, dense beds of shellfish. Occasionally, a crab would emerge from amidst the rocks and scurry along to its next hiding spot. There were even many insects here, either buzzing around the seaweed or running across the sand.

Adam, like the rest of his peers, had been taught about the sea. Specifically, he was taught about how most of the world was covered by it, with land actually being in the minority. But he'd never encountered any water body larger than a lake, so he simply couldn't imagine what the sea was truly like.

Bending down, Adam examined a tiny pool of water that was trapped among several rocks. The volume of the pool was no greater than that of a bucket, but even so it was teeming with life: seaweed, three distinct types of shellfish, even a few fish that darted about frantically.

"Hey, look!"

Adam looked up to see Lilith pointing at something to the east. It was distant and hard to see, but as Adam's eyes adjusted, he could make out masts and sails—it was a ship. This was another of the many things that he'd heard about but never seen himself.

"If there's a ship, then there may be a port in that direction as well," Adam said. "Let's follow it."

They therefore proceeded eastward along the coast. The environment shifted several times during their journey. At one point, there were large dunes of sand like those in the Ataraca Desert. At another point, the coast did not slope down gently to the sea but instead formed a sheer cliff face. And over time, the number of visible ships increased from one, to three, to seven, and so on.

A few hours later, when the sun was setting and there were dozens of ships filling the sea, Adam and Lilith finally saw the port. It was part of an immense city, comprising thousands of buildings that covered the land all the way to the edge of the sea. A stone wall enclosed the three sides of the city that bordered land, a typical defence against monsters. The fourth, seaward side had multiple watchtowers instead of a wall, with the spaces in between being used for wharves and piers. There were people everywhere and they were especially concentrated around the port, where they resembled a swarm of ants.

The pair walked up to the main gate of the city. It was enormous—three or four wagons could fit through it side-by-side with room to spare. Engraved on the stone above was the name of the city: Port Habuton. A paved road extended from the gate and all the way to the horizon, presumably joining the city to another. At this very moment, merchants and other travellers were passing through the gate.

The gate had half a dozen guards, who checked everyone entering or leaving the city. They were armed with spears and armoured with breastplates and simple helmets. When Adam and Lilith arrived at the gate, one of the guards said casually, "Name, and your reason for being here."

"I am Hero Adam, from the town of Merith, and this is my partner Lilith," Adam said. Aside from the name of his partner, this was a line he'd said countless times before. "We are here to rest, resupply and find if there is any work for us."

"You won't have any trouble finding work, there's always monsters around the city or attacking the ships," the guard said, while writing down the pair's names on a piece of parchment. "Alright, go on through."

They entered Port Habuton and slowed down for a few moments. After spending so much time in the sparsely inhabited desert, they were briefly overwhelmed by the sheer number of people here.

Their first stop was at an inn to sit down, eat and rest for the night. Unsurprisingly, most of the menu was seafood. Both Adam and Lilith decided to try something new: the former chose scallop, a type of shellfish, that was fried and served with seaweed; the latter chose a stew of sea cucumbers. When the latter's dish arrived, both of them stared at it, since it looked like the cook had simply thrown slugs into boiling water and poured the result into a bowl. But after Lilith took a tentative taste, she said that it was better than it looked and began eating it with relish.

And inns were also an excellent place to hear the local rumours. Back when Adam's friends were still alive, every time they visited a new town they would stop at a local inn to gather information. Though there was a downside to this: on the occasions when there were no monsters to slay, certain individuals in the group would stay too long in the inn and needed to be dragged out before they started a brawl.

As they ate, Adam and Lilith heard various rumours. Some of them were obviously wild stories being spread to entertain and attract attention. Some contained so much nautical jargon that they were incomprehensible to a pair who'd never even boarded a ship. But one story in particular caught their attention.

"—and Arnold told me that every single person had been killed, and then buried. Not a mass grave, they all got buried separately. What's more, nothing was stolen—money, food, clothing, tools, none of it was missing."

"That's impossible, nobody would go to all that effort and take nothing."

"I'm not lying, and I know that Arnold never would. The man couldn't tell a lie to save his life."

"Okay, but… that still doesn't explain why anyone would do such a thing."

"It could be a cult," added a third voice. "I've heard of cults like that, they try to gain the favour of fallen gods for power. Supposedly, this involves sacrificing people in rituals—maybe the burying and everything else is part of those rituals?"

"Maybe, but—"

Adam had now lost his appetite. This was the second time he'd heard such a story, and while it could simply be a coincidence—morbid stories of this sort were hardly uncommon—he had the strange feeling that it was more than that.

"What do you think, Lilith?" Adam asked, gesturing towards the men who were discussing this rumour. "It sounds just as strange as the last time we heard it, but—"

"But the details are pretty much the same," Lilith said. She looked down at her stew, which she was also no longer eating. "And in both cases, it doesn't sound like they're lying."

Adam nodded, and turned on his chair to face the group of men. These all had the tanned skin and tattoos of sailors. He asked them, "Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying, and—"

"It sounds crazy, I know," said the sailor who'd brought up the rumour. "But I swear that it's—"

"No, I believe you," Adam said. "It's not the first time I've heard of something like that happening."

"Really? Where was that?" asked the sailor who'd initially doubted the rumour.

"I heard of it in a village far to the north of here, in the Narsel region," Adam replied. "Unfortunately, I didn't learn the exact location of the village where the massacre actually happened."

"Narsel… that's quite far from what I heard about," said the first sailor. "The massacre I heard about was on the east coast of the continent. Though I'm also not sure about the exact location."

The east coast? That's another place I've never visited, Adam thought. It would take at least a month to get there on horseback. By the time we got there, whoever's responsible for these massacres would be long gone…

Suddenly, Adam remembered one fact that he'd received in his education as a hero. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that a ship can travel faster than any other form of transport, is that true?" He asked.

All three of the sailors nodded. The first replied, "That's right! With a ship, you can travel to any port on the continent in two weeks or less! You… are you planning on doing something about what's going on?"

Adam looked at Lilith to confirm that she agreed, then said yes.

"In that case, there's a ship leaving tomorrow morning that goes east, to the port of Selene," the sailor said. "It won't take you all the way there, but it's still the majority of the distance. Once you're there, you should be able to find another ship. And you won't have any trouble getting onto a ship, the sea's filled with monsters and the captains are always hiring people to fight them off."

Adam bought the three sailors another round of drinks as thanks for the information. Then, he and Lilith finished their meals and went up to their room for the night.

The two spent more than an hour discussing the strange massacres.

First, there was the theory of them being the work of a cult, as one of the sailors had suggested. Adam had heard of such cults from a fellow hero, who'd warned him that while most were simply tricks to let the cult leader dominate a group, some were able to tap into genuine power. The latter were extremely dangerous and it was believed that multiple heroes would be needed to destroy one such cult.

Another theory, which Lilith proposed, was that they were the work of a new race of monsters. While monsters in general killed and ate humans, they varied considerably in how they did this. Succubi were one example, with their manner of consuming humans being infamous, especially among teenage boys. Another example were vampires, who only drank human blood and refused to touch the rest of the body.

A third theory was that the massacres were not actually real, with the rumours being spread by monsters in disguise as a way of sowing fear and despair among humans. This would explain why none of the rumours included an exact location.

In the end, though, they could not come to any solid conclusion. Each theory had its own flaws and none seemed to stand above the rest. They eventually stopped their discussion and went to sleep.

-ooo-

As soon as the sun rose, Adam and Lilith left the inn and headed for the port. The closer they got to their destination, the greater the proportion of sailors, fishermen and the like in the surrounding crowd.

At the port, countless crates and barrels were being loaded and unloaded from the ships. In addition to seafood and salt, there were plenty of goods from all around the world. Adam even spotted a crateful of clothes that, judging from the distinctive blue dye, originated from his own hometown of Merith. While he was here, Adam also took a closer look at the watchtowers: each had an archer standing at the top, gazing vigilantly at the sea.

By asking around, they soon found the ship they were after. It had three masts, with three sails on the central one and two on the masts to the front and rear. The front end of the ship was carved to resemble an armoured woman with feathery wings: a valkyrie, a type of angel that served as the swords of the gods. Barrels of alcohol were currently being loaded onto the ship.

Standing by the gangplank was the ship's captain, a grizzled man wearing a faded blue coat and a hat in a matching style. His left cheek was marred by three parallel scars. Some people were known to give themselves fake scars to appear strong, but Adam could tell these scars were genuine. It was a clear reminder of the hazards that one faced on the sea.

When Adam and Lilith approached, the captain looked at the two of them. His gaze was that of a veteran: wary and appraising. It reminded Adam of the retired heroes who'd trained him.

"Here to act as escorts?" The captain asked. His voice was just loud enough to be heard over the background noise.

"We are," Adam answered. "We also wish to travel to the port of Selene."

The captain nodded. "We still have a cabin left, and we can always use more help—the monsters have been more active lately. How does ten silver coins for each of you sound?"

Adam nodded. The money wasn't necessary, due to Thutmose's gift of gemstones, but it would appear unusual to refuse it.

"Then welcome aboard the Flying Valkyrie, we're leaving in an hour," the captain said. "Oh, and the name's Aran."

Adam and Lilith introduced themselves, then Captain Aran rattled off a series of directions. Following these directions, they boarded the ship and went to a cabin on a lower deck.

To avoid getting in the way of the crew, the pair stayed in the cabin while the Flying Valkyrie was prepared for departure. While waiting, they heard the constant sounds of boots against wood and sailors shouting to each other, and felt the constant rocking of the ship.

Finally, the ship began to move forward. A few minutes after that, a sailor knocked on their door and the doors of the other cabins, announcing that the passengers could now leave their cabins.

Adam, Lilith and many others moved up to the main deck. Here, Adam saw that the ship had moved several hundred paces away from Port Habuton. He looked up to see the sails bulging as the wind pushed on them, and for a moment he feared that they would tear, but the sails withstood the strain.

He then looked around at his fellow passengers. They were a varied bunch, with rich and poor, young and old all represented. Many of the children looked at Adam, awed by his plate armour and the sword sheathed at his side. Adam even caught a glimpse of a short, stocky man with a thick beard and a finely crafted axe on his back.

It's unusual to see a dwarf on a ship, Adam thought. Though it makes sense that they don't spend all of their time in caves and mines.

Adam then spotted Lilith, leaning on the railing of the deck. At first, he thought she was simply watching the sea like many other passengers. But on closer inspection, he noticed that she was clenching her jaw slightly and tapping her fingers on the railing. He recognised these as signs of frustration, and he had a good idea of the reason for this.

Adam walked over and leaned on the railing next to Lilith. Due to the sound of the waves, nobody would be able to overhear their conversation unless they were right next to them.

"You want to fly, don't you?"

"Yeah… I'm wondering what the sea, and this ship, would look like from the air."

Adam didn't know what else to say. There was no point in saying that Lilith would need to restrain herself for now, since she already knew that very well. And he couldn't fly himself, so he would never be able truly understand how she felt. All he could do was lay his hand on hers.

Though I suppose… I suppose it would be like being forbidden from walking, being forced to crawl on hands and legs. If I were in that situation… I don't think I'd handle it nearly as well as she does.

And the problem goes beyond her. If there are other monsters that don't wish to harm humans, almost all of them wouldn't be able to disguise as humans to live in human society. They wouldn't be able to live with other monsters, either, and I doubt they'd be accepted by dwarves or elves… so they'd be isolated from everyone else. On the other hand, a human like me, who knows that monsters aren't necessarily evil, also needs to keep this a secret, to avoid being executed as a traitor and heretic. And that's not getting into this constant war between our races…

It's not right. It's not right that we have to fight and die, that we have no hope of ever finding peace.

Adam glanced back. Port Habuton was no longer in sight. The land in general could still be seen, but it was far enough that he couldn't make out most features.

Suddenly, Lilith shifted her hands. Adam briefly thought that he'd offended her, but then he saw her frown at the water.

"Captain!" Lilith shouted. "There's monsters approaching—"

Many figures burst from the water and landed on the deck of the Flying Valkyrie. Adam had already drawn his sword and he slashed at the nearest of the monsters, inflicting a fatal wound. The monster fell to the deck: humanoid, a male judging from the broad shoulders, covered in blue scales, and his feet were similar in structure to a fish's fins.

Merfolk, Adam thought. Sea monsters that have the tails of fish, but they can split these into legs to walk on land. And they can also—

The remaining merfolk screamed, creating an unearthly sound that set Adam's teeth on edge. The hero could still move thanks to his reinforcement, and he saw that the same was true for the ship's crew, who picked up anything in reach and fought back against the merfolk. Most of the passengers weren't so resilient, and they collapsed while trying to cover their ears.

they can also infuse their voices with magic to cripple their victims! We have to kill them as fast as possible!

Adam dodged a trident aimed at his head, then countered with a blow that decapitated his opponent. But just as he began running towards another merfolk, he heard the sounds of more monsters leaping out of the water.

However, the new set of attackers weren't merfolk. Their bodies had smooth skin instead of scales, and from the waist down split into a bundle of sucker-lined tentacles. Each wielded multiple daggers in their hands and tentacles.

Scyllas!? Did they notice the commotion and join in!? Wait—

The scyllas rushed in, using their tentacles to pull themselves across the deck at high speeds. They attacked the crew and the passengers, and Adam had to jump back to avoid being disembowelled by a scylla's daggers. However, the scyllas and the merfolk made no attempts to attack each other.

They're working together!