Chapter 293: Don’t lose your head
Irwin sang softly as he kept The Concerto steady in the storm raging around him. The barrier was at its lowest power, muffling the sound but unable to keep all the shoving at bay. They had been sailing like that for weeks, giving Nim'ron the time to rest.
Dahlia stood on deck, constantly reforging and barely able to keep the ambient soulforce at the level they needed. Nim'ron was nestled on the prow behind her, the swirling, purified soul force that came from Dahlia and Yuul'rish swirling around him as he absorbed it faster than she could produce.
Irwin didn't worry. The incoming small section of the next branch, which would promise a welcome moment of reprieve, was only a few hundred feet away. No, as it was, things were fine. Greldo hadn't spotted any raiders, Oculithar, or other troubles.
A sudden, powerful shove threatened to push them sideways, interrupting his thoughts. His hands moved before he could even think about it, his growing experience helping him to smoothly steer the ship away from the barrier.
Irwin looked up as the ship straightened. There was no reaction from Dahlia or Nim'ron, nor had he expected one.
A month ago, when they had just set out, they would have, at the very least, tensed up. Not anymore. All of them seemed to trust his steering abilities as much as they did Nim'ron, keeping the barrier at no more than minimum viable power most of the time. Traveling through the storm with just one ship, little pressure to hurry, and a capable scout had proven far less harrowing than their first journey had been.
Have to be careful we don't all get bored and make mistakes, Irwin thought as he angled the ship slightly.
There seemed to be nothing alive in the storm-riddled remnants of the interconnected branches they passed through, or at the very least, they had seen nothing. The two ships they had found had been filled with corpses, all dead long ago, and the single Oculithar Greldo had spotted while scouting never came anywhere near them.
Irwin watched as the crackling energy clouds billowed up and around the barrier, happy he would have some time to rest soon. Not that he had much to do. He would probably just sleep, then continue his attempts at making a diamond card. Although he had failed each attempt so far, the last time he'd actually finished the card. Sadly, it had shattered mere moments later. Still, he had the recording of it, and he and Ambraz were planning a way to try again in a week or two, hopefully with more success.
Halfway through, and still no end to this storm, he thought as he scanned his surroundings, wondering where Greldo was.
His friend had been scouting ever further, traveling around then beyond the barriers, usually up to the point that he reached the edge of his ability to teleport back in case of emergency. A distance that significantly increased since the Chaos Whale's singing. Irwin knew that without Greldo, they would have had to take the long route instead of the one they were taking now: far from the beaten path and almost straight toward Igniz.
It would shave off almost a month from their journey, with the only downside being the total lack of worlds they would encounter. The path they were taking was one even the craziest of explorers ignored because before the storm had pushed chaotic soulforce into the cold, soulforce-deprived region, it had been near impossible. Likely, no one even considered it a viable route to Igniz.