Inside his room, Gabrio was tinkering with the mask in the desk. He had attached strange holes. He had no idea where he was going with the mask, but this iron mask was becoming a bird’s beak in form.

“Let’s see, the tune changes depending on the way I blow through it. I cannot imitate the sounds they are making, it still needs work.”

Gabrio hid the mask back to where he stores it. Taking his coat with him, he got out of his room, went to his clinic. The beds were empty, and not a single person in the ward. Gabrio felt glad, walked into the office separated from the ward and found Zyra reading a book.

“Oh.”

Zyra looked up, a thin smile on her face.

“Hey, Zy. It has been long.”

“Long? Well, we’ve been busy in our own right.”

Gabrio sat on his desk chair and started fishing through of the cabinets.

“Helping the guy that might save the world, you really have put one hell of a burden on your shoulder.”

“Oh yeah, you know now why I choose to fight.”

She placed her book down for a moment, placing an elbow on the desk.

“Not that I have a choice when he blatantly announced it to the whole fleet. I like to keep my nose out of problems, but even I am not that delusional to cast my eyes away from a problem that affects us all.”

Gabrio knew what they were getting into. The Blinder was a legend that have been told to children, and there was no avoiding it. Even he could not dare to keep himself ignorant when the truth was in front of him.

“I expected you to cover your ears.”

“Well, you have the right to think that. Even now I am starting to understand how heavy the weight is as well.”

“Why so?”

“Because the fact alone that the Blinder is in the Milostiv puts everyone here in danger. Think about it. He might be strong. But are the people around him strong enough to face the Hunters of the Interstice? The Butchers of Men famed for their hunts? I dread to think how it would end if they come to this place.”

“I don’t think you should worry about that. With the Lady Eletha of Roan around, and Lady Rosalve Merete, they wouldn’t come so brazenly.”

Gabrio stared at Zyra as if digging out anything he could out of her.

“She’s strong, overwhelmingly strong, and it shows.”

“If she wasn’t strong, she wouldn’t have the ability to led this fleet away from harm. But even with the Lady, I don’t think she could protect everyone and everything if they do attack.”

“Indeed, if no one has the ability to save themselves, then it would be meaningless.”

Zyra smiled, her voice became soft as she looked at him.

“You really do care, do you?”

“I wouldn’t have followed this path if I don’t.”

“No, you’re not like the usual Doctor that I meet. Most of them took this profession in hopes that they could take a position of worth. The pay is good and if you are a surgeon in the higher classes. You wouldn’t worry about what you eat and the expenses needed. Many of those who come into this fleet had hopes that they would become the pioneers and placed their names in history. Maybe I have become blind, but I don’t see that same wanting from you.”

“I am not that virtuous.”

She let out a small laugh. Gabrio found her laugh rather calming.

“Of course not, you would have wanted to know about wanting to help Terin in his quest. I don’t think you have that recklessness that Terin has.”

“Thank you.”

“We haven’t been speaking too much.”

“That’s to be expected, knowing that we have our own worries. Besides, why should I add more into your worries? You’ve been keeping our duties for this Galleon balanced with your duties to this cause you are eager to accomplish.”

“It’s not like every day we have men being gutted and opened up. Most of the patients go to you, and I am able to attend to my duties in hopes Terin could learn how to treat himself.”

“Oh, so you’ve been teaching him to be a surgeon as well?”

“He insisted on it after that wound I got from the Atoll.”

Gabrio nodded his head. It was a commendable thing for someone who have the power to blind the eye of the world to do.

“That’s good. With his powers he could do much more.”

“Indeed, he might be able to save lives because of it. His powers invigorate the body and I think he can do much more if he knows how to save lives without it.”

“Oh, that’s odd, if he had that power, wouldn’t he be able to have done something to your wound?”

She smiled tiredly. Gabrio raised a brow.

“Truth be told, the light that he have back then wasn’t enough. Not to mention that if he wanted to cure, then he would have to use the light he gathers to make it work for him. He simply doesn’t have the capabilities of the Elven-kin. His light sears, not heals. You would expect that someone who embodies light could, but sadly he doesn’t have that.”

“I see. No wonder. But if Miss Felecia and Lady Rosalve have that power similar to the elven-kin. How come they haven’t tried it on you?”

“Oh they did. The thing was that I would have certainly died if they didn’t keep my heart beating. It was only because of their powers that I was able to survive that affair in the atoll. I wouldn’t have been able to survive if they didn’t keep me alive through their powers, long enough for you to patch me up.”

“This power of theirs, they make it sound easy, but there must be more to this other than singing a song.”

“Attunement of the Artes is difficult. Think of it as while the Elven-kin could just sing a song and the spirits would come to them. They have to embody their spells and mark them as crests around their arms. They could go further beyond by wrapping their bodies with it, but nonetheless it isn’t so easy to understand such powers that are kept a secret.”

Gabrio crunches his brows.

“The way they sound like when muttering a spell seems to strange.”

“Indeed, the language they speak relates to their blood. Without the attunement of blood, then half of them wouldn’t be able to hear the spirits that are allowing them to access these powers. They are spirit-blooded and only because of their blood that they can even talk to these spirits. Spirits are rather bias, and they only respond to those who have the same nature of blood.”

Gabrio moved around his chair. His hands on his chin as he listened to her.

“Nonetheless, it’s good that the Blinder can do something beyond use his powers to kill and protect.”

“He needs to fight, huh. Still, it makes me wonder, if they know where the eye of the world is, then how come we don’t have a map regarding this?”

“Ages have passed, Gab. Kingdoms have burned, and most of those who have traveled beyond the Great Seas of the Icean Spine have not returned since then. Some of the records, even the ones that we’ve secured have been lost because of time.”

“What about the Elven-kin?”

“Do you want to know?”

Zyra asked as if she wasn’t sure if Gabrio wanted the information at all.

“I need to know,” Gabrio said. “It’s too late to stay ignorant.”

“I see,” she smiled. “The Elven-kin aren’t as unified as you think they are. They have their own dynasties, and despite what we hear. The only reason that they have not conquered us and turned us into their slaves are because of their inability to unite as well. If it wasn’t the Chancellor, I doubt they would come close to uniting.”

“Wait, you speak as if they have their own dynasty as well?”

“Of course, do you think that the proud ones like them would help out if the Chancellor didn’t help them? They’ve been fighting, and with the back of Aon behind the Chancellor’s back. Despite all the powers that they have, they cannot match the humans of the continent who have been united and the only thing they could do was lay down their arms and offer peace to the ones who are fighting them.”

“You sound like you witness it yourself.”

“What do you think?”

She smiled. Gabrio fell silent as he looked away, and returned his eyes to her.

“I won’t pry.”

“I won’t mind if you do.”

“Not that I wanted to hear it.”

“Why?”

“Because that must be one of the reason why you are following this path.”

“Gab, I have noticed this, but I think you know what I am from the start.”

“Have you forgotten where I came from?”

“Oh, I do remember that some of my kin were in Fort Rava. Still, he was executed years ago.”

“I met many people in the Fort. But most of the time they were not able to do anything regarding their identities.”

“Indeed, not even my kin can do anything if they are guarded by Ravaian Corpsmen. Still, sometimes, I wonder, if you are good at hiding as them?”

“What do you mean?”

She smiled knowingly. Gabrio raised a brow, he couldn’t understand what she was implying.

“Nothing much. I do admire the Ravaian Corpsmen for their ability to keep them in check.”

“Well, if you have most dangerous people in the continent locked inside the Fort, you’d expect the most dangerous soldiers to guard them as well.”

“I saw them fight in the front. I believe it was near Brisa that I saw them mow down the Royalists. Do you know them?”

“I do. Some of them were good to me. But most of the time the Corpsmen are just focus on keeping the peace.”

“And destroying the enemies and hiding too well behind masks.”

Gabrio didn’t reply. He turned to his desk, laid out the records, and twirled a writing stick.

“This is a mess.”

“It’s about to get messy if we reach the Icean Spine. Want to know?”

Gabrio shook his head.

“I already know that we might meet the Glacieans in the Icean Spine. Everyone’s been talking how each of these legends are coming true. If we do meet the Glacieans then it only means that we need to work our way around them.”

“You sound confident that we might meet them.”

“I think we will. It’s impossible for them not to notice a fleet like this. So there can only three possibilities. First is that they don’t engage us at all. Confront us in any form, and finally they might not even exist. Considering how many monsters are living around the sea’s we’ve been, I won’t find it hard to believe that they have gone extinct. Then again, we don’t underestimate the enemies, and I doubt this fleet would after facing so many foes that we should have been shitting our pants on.”

Zyra nodded.

“It does surprise me that we are able to keep calm against the monstrosities we’ve faced.”

Gabrio drew the pistol on his holster.

“They say that the gun is the greatest equalizer. Even a farmer who knows nothing of fighting could become a deadly warrior with it. Even the Elven-kin are able to fight so madly because they have the gun. I doubt any of the lads would have been able to face down the tide of monsters in that atoll without the fire and gunpowder that they wield in their hands. Right now, I think they can still fight to their damn best. And with the Blinder of the Light on our side, they’ll have the courage to fight and kill.”

Zyra silently agreed to that thought. She knows that without the numbing sensation of a recoil, these lads wouldn’t be able to function. It was because all they needed to do was assume a stance, point and shoot their rifles in a volley fire line that they could fight. They weren’t amateurs either and they were men who have fought madly in trenches and open fields.