I raised my head above the water surface to scan the boat in front of me. Using my mana sense, I could roughly estimate the total number of people on board. 'There's quite a lot of them,' I mumbled, nobody seemed to notice my head as my blue scales served to help me better blend in with my surroundings.

'Okay, first things first let's test the waters,' my mouth curved upwards as I reached out to the mana, asking for its help. It quickly answered my summons as an abnormally large wave, one that easily dwarfed the boat rose from all sides isolating the humans inside.

I could hear their shocked cries as they hurried about. I did not rush and took my time to observe them, I wanted to see what exactly made them so confident In coming after us dragons. Although I was behind the large wave, meaning they could not see me nor could I exactly see them either.

That, however, did not mean I had no way to keep a check on the situation. I moved my heart energy into my eyes, the world around me quickly changed as countless new colors unfolded before my eyes. 'No matter how many times I see this, It never fails to amaze me, truly beautiful,' I inwardly mumbled.

The humans on the ship had all gathered on deck, a group of what appeared to be knights with tall shields and literal shining swords and armor stood in a tight formation surrounding a group of strangely dressed individuals, alongside what looked like a few teenagers? 'Perhaps apprentices?' I wondered, before moving my gaze back to the robed individuals. 'Hmmm, so those are the Divine mages,' I noted, ignoring the apprentices.

There were about ten mages I counted, the flow of mana surrounding them was chaotic which brought a frown to my face. 'That's not how you wield mana,' I inwardly mumbled. Their very presence seemed to be against the will of the world and for some reason that made me very angry.

With but a thought, the large wave came crashing down unto the boat, to my surprise a hazy shield was hastily summoned protecting it from my attack as the water fell back harmlessly into the sea below. 'Strange, their method of using mana is obviously not the right one, yet their control is still quite impressive,' I noted as I watched the Divine mages glow with a faint white color.

They did not move from their place as they channeled the mana to form the shield around the ship, the knights on the other hand formed a circle around them as they stood there unmoving with their shields in one hand and their swords in the other.

'So the knights protect the mages while they cast their spells,' My grin widened as my heart began to race in excitement, I was not worried about the shield or anything for that matter, I simply did not want the fight to finish so fast as I wished to enjoy myself a bit more.

Countless water drops rose once again from the water surrounding the ship, the knights had anxious expressions on their faces as they huddled closer to one another, their shields in front. One of the knights, a middle-aged man with a thick black beard and equally black hair barked a few orders to the knights, their leaders I assumed since as soon as they heard his loud voice, everyone seemed to stand a little taller with their backs straight.

'Hmm, so that's my next target,' I mumbled.

-------

A large wave had attacked the ship without notice, we would have been doomed if not for the Divine mages' timely reaction. I dragged Jana by the hand and hastily ran to join back with the other knights and apprentices.

Captain Laysser, the leader of the fleet was busy barking orders as the knights skillfully moved in a protective formation around the Divine mages who erected a hazy shield around the ship. Once we arrived, one of the older knights hastily pushed us inside the formation alongside the other apprentices.

"Listen up! Do not disturb the Divine mages! You do that, and I'll kick you off this damn boat myself am I clear?!" Yelled captain Laysser.

"Yes, captain!" We all replied in a simultaneous voice. I could feel Jana's hand shaking as she moved to hold my own. I brought my gaze down to meet hers and gave her a reassuring smile, though I myself was scared out of my wits.

Just then, the sky darkened as the waves came crashing down, Jana hugged me tightly while Sari tightly clutched the helm of my robe from the back, I simply watched with wide-open eyes before the shield suddenly glowed brightly blocking the water attack.

I heaved a sigh of relief and gently patted Jana's head, my voice came out unsteady as I tried to reassure her. "W-What are you afraid of silly? Look, the Divine mages already blocked it!" Hearing that Jana opened her eyes while still tightly holding on to me, she peeked about in surprise before also letting out a long sigh.

"W-What was that?" She asked, yet before I could answer, countless water drops rose from the water emitting a dangerous aura and causing fear to overtake the apprentices and a few knights. It was then that Captain Laysser's voice boomed. "What are you damn maggots shivering about? First obstacles and you're already pissing your pansies? Raise your damn shields high and leave the magic attacks to the mages!"

His loud voice brought reassurance to the troops, captain Laysser was a seasoned veteran who fought countless sea monsters, everyone felt confident with him here, and I was no exception. My left hand unconsciously laid on my sword helm which seemed to ease my steady emotions.

Under our shocked gaze, the water droplets turned into sharp icicles, "W-We should be fine right? The Divine mages will stop those r-right Ari?" Nervously asked Jana. I tightened my grip on her waist and replied feigning confidence.

"Of course they will! You saw how they even stopped that great wave, and even something were to happen I'll protect you!" I said while puffing my chest proudly.

Just then, the Icicles lunged forward with such a speed that I was unable to follow it with my bare eyes. A faint crushing sound similar to that of glass breaking followed I gulped as the icicles exploded once they met the shield and disappeared with a puff.

I heaved a sigh of relief as the tension escaped my body, "S-See, what did I tell you the mages could easily sto—" The words stopped in my throat as I felt a warm liquid trickling down my hand.

"Huh?" My eyes widened as my heart clutched in my chest, my vision swam I held Jana in my arms. A hole the size of a fist tore her side as blood seeped out dying the ground red.

"J-Jana!" My call came out as a mere whisper as I could not believe the scene I was seeing. Her body went limp in my arms as the light faded from her gaze.

"No, no, no! This can't be happening! Jana, please don't! Oh heavens this can't be happening, no!" I tried to deny what I was seeing as I shook her body begging her to open her eyes yet nothing, one second she was here the next she was gone.

Screams of pain alongside cries of shock and fear broke out on the deck. My eyes moved unconsciously to check my surroundings only to see that the captain had fallen, his head detached from his body. The Divine mages that were supposed to be invincible were lying helplessly on the ground, half of them already dead.

"A-Aris get up! We can't stay here!" Sari begged me as she grabbed my hand trying to pull me up, yet I could not move, I felt empty inside hopeless as I held Jana's still warm body in my arms.

"Is this hell?"