Boosted Continuation

The group reached the ocean on the other side of the monster country by generously using Sophia’s portal skip and got ready to set sail towards the demon continent from there. They took out their boat and also got Kel as a guide and escort because Ari would feel safer with him actively intimidating maritime life from afar. Once everything was taken care of, they finally left the beastfolk continent to start an entirely new adventure.

“By the way, is there anything of interest in the ocean we can explore, or is it best to head right for the demon continent?" The land behind them was slowly getting smaller and smaller as Sophia focused her gaze past Kel on the open sea ahead.

“Alright, let’s find Atlantis!” Steph suddenly got excited over hearing that.

“Atlantis?” Many in the group got confused.

“Why would we find Atlantis here of all places?” The blonde also tilted her head.

“I mean, it very clearly wasn’t on Earth, because no one ever found it, so who knows?” She shrugged. “It may’ve ended up here somehow.”

“What’s Atlantis?” Fen wanted to know more about it.

"It's a fictional city supposedly at the bottom of the ocean from a myth on Earth. People are still searching for it to this day… I think?” Sophia looked back at him.

“I see.” He wasn't sure what to make of that information he just learned.

"Griffins, dragons, beastpeople, demons, talking wolves, foxes, magic, and much more are all myths on Earth as well." Steph kept staring at her sister. "Yet, they're real in this world, so are you really going to tell me the chance of finding it here, where all other legends are also true, is zero?”

“…” The blonde went silent, and her expression turned complicated.

“Hah!” The dog-girl looked incredibly smug.

“There’s a sunken city in this ocean, by the way.” Kel, who was loosely listening to them from afar while swimming around the boat, turned his head in their direction.

“HUH?!” Both sisters got loud.

“Ohh, that sounds cool!” Anna liked the sound of that.

“I-I was just joking, you know?!” Steph started panicking as she looked at her sister.

“Uhh, what kind of city is it?” Sophia faced the dragon. “How did it get there?”

"It was a demon city built on a volcanic island in the middle of nowhere in the ocean. One day, nature decided to reclaim it.” He kept the explanation rather short.

“Woah!” Steph’s eyes were sparkling.

"Is it just me, or do demons build cities in the weirdest places?" Sophia lightly scratched her cheek while looking at the others.

“Very much so.” Everyone agreed with her.

“They’re an eccentric bunch.” Aura let out a small chuckle.

“Don’t you dare to add anything extra there.” The blonde’s expression immediately turned into a glare.

“I would never~.”

“I want to see it!” The dog-girl was the most excited today yet. “No, I need to see it!”

“It’s close to a kilometer below the surface.” He slowly shook his head. “It’s dark and nearly completely overgrown with sediments and ocean life. I’m sure the overseer in denial would find a way to get you all there, but I’m not sure if it would make for an interesting sight.”

“Mhhm…” Steph didn’t like that.

“Is that place on the way?” Sophia wanted to humor her sister a little.

“More or less.”

“I’ll drop a portal when we’re over it.” She smiled at the dog-girl. “It might be handy for something in the future.”

“You’re the best!” Her eyes started sparkling again.

“It also would be an interesting addition to your ocean in my domain, wouldn’t it?” She gave the dragon a cheeky thumbs-up.

“Not the worst idea.” Kel reacted with a small nod of his massive head.

“Oh, speaking of islands, are there any fun ones on the way we should visit?” Sophia wanted to plan their boat trip a little more. “Or anything else of interest before we reach the demon continent.”

“Inhabited or not?”

“Yes!” The blonde smiled at him.

“…” The dragon disapprovingly shook his head before seemingly giving up. “I don’t quite remember anything noteworthy in the middle of the ocean, but there are numerous islands close to the demons. Quite a few of them are inhabited, too.”

“Alright, that definitely sounds like something fun to check out!”

“I don’t think it’s that much fun. Most of them are just empty islands, while some have demon settlements on them. Nothing special in my opinion.” Kel couldn’t share her excitement.

“I’ll be the judge of that~.”

“We will be the judge of that!” Steph lightly corrected her sister.

“Sure.” The dragon had no intention of talking them out of it. “Actually, now that I think about it, there’s an archipelago that is actually interesting. I think that you’d like that place a lot.” He paused for a second. “Well, if it still exists, that is. It’s been a couple of centuries after all.”

“I like the sound of that!” The blonde had already decided to go there. “What kind of place is it if even you think it’s interesting?”

“We don’t know each other for that long yet, but I’m fairly sure you enjoy surprises, so do you really want me to ruin it?” Kel sounded just the tiniest bit smug.

“Oho, good point!”

“I hate surprises like that!” Steph got a little impatient and started pouting.

“Nah, we’re definitely waiting until we get there.” Sophia shook her head. “Please get us there once we’re near.”

“Of course.” The dragon reacted with another slight nod.

----------------

“By the way, how long will it take until we reach the demons?" The group had been smoothly sailing along for a couple of hours, and the beastfolk continent had already gotten out of sight when Steph tried to spot any sort of land on the open ocean.

“With the current speed, probably around a month.” Kel, who was lazily swimming next to their boat, answered her. "Actually, probably closer to two.”

“That’s, uhh, that’s not very fast.” The dog-girl scratched her cheek. “Well, I guess we’re trying to cross an ocean with a sailing yacht, huh?”

“We’d get there a LOT faster if any of you would use magic to propel your boat or maybe even have me push it.” The dragon didn't really understand why they were going so slowly in the first place.

“We’ll probably do that soon enough, but I want to take it easier for a little while longer.” The blonde smiled at her. “It’s kind of cozy right now, and I want to take in the calm sights for a little longer.

“It is pretty relaxing, true.” Ari agreed with her.

“I see.” Kel had no opinion on the matter. “If that is the case, I’ll go do some diving to find things to borrow for my ocean in your domain. I’ll stay close in case I need a portal to transport things.”

“Sounds good to me!” Sophia gave him a thumbs-up.

“I like the staying close part!” The jaguar also approved.

Watching the dragon dive underwater, the group then continued to stare at the ocean around them. However, as there was currently nothing but water and blue sky, they eventually returned to chatting for the time being.

“Wait!” Steph suddenly raised her voice. “We’re going to a different continent with mostly demons instead of the beastfolk. Do they speak the same language over there?”

"I mean, the two of us got gifted the language of this world, so we should be good~.” Sophia smiled at her. “Not sure if that’s generally true, though.”

“Let’s go!”

“Everyone in the world speaks the same language.” Aura just nodded a few times while looking in the dog-girl’s direction.

“That’s so convenient!”

“Absolutely!” The sisters liked that system.

“By the way, does your detection magic say anything about sea monsters, or is the coast clear?” Just like the jaguar, Maya also had some reservations about being on the open ocean, which is said to be a death trap.

“An excellent question!” Ari energetically nodded a few times.

“Do you really want to know what I can sense~?” Sophia’s expression turned playful as she smirked at them.

“Stop that right now!” The two did not appreciate that and shot a rather fierce glare in her direction.

“Hehe~.” The blonde was a fan of their reactions. “Don’t worry, I’m just messing around. Well, I did sense something really far away that was roughly on the same level as the griffins, but it was fleeing quite quickly from our position. Kel probably scared it away.”

“Phew!” Maya let out a relieved sigh.

“Having a dragon friend is so handy!” Ari did the same.

“I wonder what it was~!” Hearing that, Steph’s eyes started sparkling once more. “Any chance to catch up with it?”

“With just our boat, probably not.” She shook her head. “With magic, maybe? It might be deeper underwater, and I don't actually feel like deep-sea diving right now. Lots of nasty, not scary, nasty stuff down there.

“Fair enough.” The dog-girl scratched her cheek. “I think the ocean is fascinating, but some of the eldritch horrors in there might be nicer observed through a monitor. Even if harmless.”

“Eldritch horrors…?” Anna looked rather confused. “What does that word mean?”

"You don't want to know." Both sisters shook their heads.

“STOP ASKING RIGHT NOW!” Ari started panicking when she heard that both of them didn’t want to talk about it.

"Scary, weird, mysterious, and sometimes creepy beings beyond comprehension." Chloe smiled at the princess. “The adjectives might change depending on who you ask, though. Personally, I'm a big fan.”

“Ohh!”

“As I said, don’t ask!” The jaguar didn't like any of these adjectives.

“Hehe.”

Afterward, their conversation eventually returned to more normal topics, and the group enjoyed the calm boat ride on the open sea as they were lazily rocked by the gentle waves.