The first island we're stopping at is so beautiful. It's full of forest in the center, with some sand on the shore, though Peter mentioned the other side of it has stone shores rather than sand. It's still beautiful, though, especially with the sun sparkling off the ocean around it, nothing else as far as the eye can see. The sand is pale and sparkles a little like jewels as well, glittering in the afternoon sun.

Drake, Fang, and I are currently looking at the island from the deck of the ship, leaning against the railing as we watch the ship's crew set up camp. There's no permanent settlement here, just the temporary ones that are constructed anytime a ship stops here. Peter's having enough tents constructed for everyone, canvas constructs that can house up to four people each.

Drake, Fang, and I will be sharing a tent for just the three of us, though we won't be having sex in it. We held off on sex on the ship as well, because we'd rather not risk people hearing us and becoming awkward about it. Though we could be pretty quiet about it, that doesn't decrease the risk of being found out.

They don't actually know who I am yet because I haven't pulled my hood back yet, but they'll know soon enough. Once they do know, they'd no doubt be a mix of uncomfortable and interested if they knew about us having sex. Right now, most will assume that Drake is probably a bodyguard, and it's already known that Fang is an alchemist, so they'll assume he's my healer, once they know the truth of my identity.

Speaking of Fang's alchemy, might he be able to gather a few things while we're here? We can check into that before our Dungeon runs. While the Dungeon is the main feature of the island, and the only reason reason people come to it, there are fruits and vegetables to gather and a few beasts to hunt. Even if the island isn't a place that people actually live, it still has a few smaller resources to gather.

The question is, are those resources enough to make someone want to live here, if only there was easier access to society? Something to ask Peter later, he'd know for sure. I'll ask while I'm asking him about potential alchemy ingredients for Fang to gather or experiment with.

Peter walks up the ramp and approaches us. We were the only ones still up here, the other passengers having descended to stretch their legs on shore as soon as they were given the clear to do so.

There are a total of twenty guests, including Dancing Claw and the four of us. A few want to go all the way to the eastern continent, while most wish to visit the Sacred Isles, then return to the western continent once a ship is headed back that way. They've accepted that it might still be a couple of months or more that they'll be waiting on the Sacred Isles due to the situation. They're the people with the money or time to grind out money to stay on the Sacred Isles, too.

After all, they did each pay ten thousand vanri for their tickets. Once we arrive, though, there might be ships willing to leave sooner, so their wait also might not be as much.

"Alright, boys," Peter says once he reaches us. "Let's head down, time for your first lesson while we're stopped."

"We train between Dungeon runs," Drake tells Peter.

"Drake," I clear my throat. "We're going to train today, then do the Dungeon runs tomorrow."

I'm still speaking in my deeper voice, with my hood up. My face isn't that visible if I'm looking down at the island due to the cowl, so there's no risk of me being identified. That's not why I haven't revealed who I am yet, though.

Rather than revealing it while we were cramped on the ship, I wanted to wait until we'd stopped on an island. As this one is the first one on our trip, I'll be pushing my hood back and speaking normally, but only once we're on the shore.

This way, if people do bother me because they know who I am and the rumors about my future, I'm at least not confined on a ship and can try to get away a little bit. Most of the travelers aren't adventurers or hunters, so tracking me down wouldn't be easy for most of them if I decided to slip away into the forest on the island, and Peter will keep his crew in check.

"Oh," Drake frowns. "Why?"

"Because Peter will nag us if we don't train for the rest of today first," I tell him. "It will also ensure that once my identity is revealed, we won't be hindered in our runs into the Dungeon. We'll give them the rest of today to adjust to traveling with the future Oracle. Besides, it's already a little past lunchtime, so we wouldn't manage to complete all of the runs, anyway."

"Oh," he says.

"Let's go."

The four of us head down to the beach and move off to the side, a little away from the camp so that we can still be seen and still see them, but not close enough to bother people with the training or get in the way. We stay on the open part of the beach, rather than looking for dirt. The beach goes into the woods a fair bit, so we'd lack space.

"Let's do your knife training first," Peter tells me as he pulls out a pair of wooden knives from his Inventory. "You use two, right?"

"Sometimes," I push back my hood and pull off the cloak, then toss it to Drake, whose tail is smacking the sand. "I have my own."

I pull out a pair of wooden training knives as well.

"Okay," Peter says. "Let's get started, then."

Peter runs me through several drills, then teaches me a few new moves, having me practice them before we spar against each other. Throughout the training, he gives me tips and advice, helping correct a few minor things.

"Where did you learn some of these techniques?" I ask Peter after he shows me a particularly useful one. "Cassidy and Daniel never taught me stuff like this."

"They're not knife-based adventurers," Peter chuckles. "I actually learned it from a rogue living in the Necropolis. He said it's useful to use against skilled swordsmen, and it's never failed me yet."

"Yeah," I say. "It does seem useful, though with the difference between you and I in both skill and Stats, I'm sure it would fail against you every time."

"Probably!" He chuckles. "Want to give it a try?"

"Sure," I give it a try.

Ten out of ten times, Peter defends against it and knocks me on my ass. Even when we spar against each other and I use it without warning, he manages to stop it. Part of that comes from his knowledge of the technique, part of it comes from expecting it, and part of it comes from his own skill.

I'd put him at around Cassidy's level of ability. It's doubtful she knows the technique, but I'm sure that if I tried to use it on her or Daniel, they'd both successfully defend against it. After all, any talented warrior adapts quickly to any situation and learns during their battles.

"Let's put you against someone closer to your skills," Peter says. "I'll work on Drake while you're with her."

"Okay," I say.

"Sophia!" Peter hollers, his deep voice definitely carrying down the beach to the camp. "Come here!"

I pull off my tunic and boots as Sophia approaches. I'm starting to get a bit sweaty, so this will be a little cooler. I think we're a small bit south of Silent Valley, so the weather is warmer here, in addition to it being the start of summer. It's not hot enough to sweat just going around, but training? Definitely warm enough for that.

Sophia reaches me, then Peter tosses her his training knives and we begin sparring. Peter begins teaching Drake with training swords as Sophia and I train. Even though most of this is just sparring, there's training involved as well, with Sophia helping to correct the minor mistakes I make and teach me a few new moves. She's using a different fighting style from Peter, too, and so I also learn how to combat that a little.

Our training stops at dinnertime, at which point I pull some food out of my Inventory for Drake, Fang, and me to eat, while Peter and Sophia return to the temporary camp. Our dinner consists of jerky, fruit, bread, and cheese I stored in my Inventory, along with some jam to spread on the bread because Fang seems to enjoy sweet things like that.

After dinner, I debate pulling my boots and tunic back on, but decide not to. Now that I've cooled off from training, the air is pretty nice. It will be even cooler on the Sacred Isles, as they're a fair bit further north than we are now. They're even further north than Port Zephyr, and their peak temperature in summer is pretty cool.

"This is nice," Fang lies back in the sand, his legs spread a little to let his tail rest between them, using his hands as a pillow to cushion himself.

Unlike Drake, he doesn't seem to mind the sand. The meteor dragon, on the other hand, is shifting uncomfortably, his tail swishing along the sand constantly, occasionally lifting up and smacking it. It's clear he's doing his best not to throw sand at us as he sits, which is nice. Sand in my food wouldn't have been pleasant.

"Do you like the sand?" Drake asks.

"Oh, definitely," Fang answers. "I never saw some until I left home, and I like the way it feels. I'm not going to lie, I actually spent a day building sandcastles just to play with the sand when I first arrived at Port Zephyr."

"That's cute," I smile, and he blushes pretty deeply at that.

Now that I think about it, there's not really a need for us to hold off on waiting until we reach the Sacred Isles and have an actual room. We'd be staying in the Water Shrine no doubt, since my mother's the Water Guardian, and I know she'd rather us stay there than spend money on a room. Even if that gives us privacy, there are ways to acquire some on our trip, too.

Though we might not go straight to the Water Shrine. Doing so might hinder us doing Dungeon runs, so maybe we'll avoid visiting my mother first.

"Do you guys want to go for a little bit of a walk?" I ask, and Fang sits back up, his expression telling me he knows what I'm thinking.

"A walk?" Drake asks.

"Yeah," I answer. "Just a bit of a walk along the shore, to enjoy the cool evening before we turn in for the night."

"I'd like to go," Fang says.

"Okay," Drake says.

I stand and approach the camp, searching out Peter, who's standing near the center of it, eating with a few others, though it looks like their dinner is winding down as well.

"Peter," I walk up to him. "Drake, Fang, and I are going on a small walk along the shore. We won't go too far as it's nearing night, but I just wanted to let you know. We're just going along the shore."

"Alright," he says as people watch us. "Ah! Just to let you know, Nate, but if you go along the shore, you'll come across some Ruins."

Judging by their looks, everyone has learned who I am by now, but they don't know why I'm traveling for sure. Most likely, they're suspecting that I'm visiting my mother and am aware of the rumors, and therefore wanted to hide who I was while we were on the western continent. For now, none of them want to approach me, due to an inherent respect that comes with being, well, me.

Seeing their expressions makes me wonder just what they'd be if they had heard Drake, Fang, and me in our room on the ship, had we done anything.

"There are Ruins here?" I ask. "I haven't heard of them."

"They've been explored to death," he tells me. "There's nothing new to find in them, and they're rather small. You could probably clear them in twenty or thirty minutes. There are no monsters there, and only a couple of traps are still active."

"Hm," I think. "That actually sounds perfect. My goal is to explore some unexplored Ruins and find a treasure of great rarity. It would be good to explore some lesser ones, too, just to get a feel for it and get Drake accustomed to going in them."

Drake's wanted to explore some Ruins, too, but we haven't come across any so far. We can do this

"Good luck," he tells me. "It takes about half an hour or so to reach the Ruins, walking along the shore that way."

"Thanks," I tell him. "Which tent's ours? Better to know now than if we return in a couple of hours and most people are asleep."

"That one," he points at one near the center of camp. "Mine's the one facing yours."

"Alright," I say. "Thanks. See you later, or tomorrow if you're asleep when we return."

"See you," he says.

I rejoin Drake and Fang, then the three of us walk along the beach. Drake's still wearing his boots, though he removed his tunic during training, while Fang has mostly sat and watched, so he didn't heat up at all and is still dressed. Once we're out of sight of the camp, though, he does remove his tunic and boots, but I think that's mostly to enjoy the sand in his toes and the cool evening air on his bare torso.

"You're going to show me the Ruins?" Drake asks.

"Yeah," I answer. "Like I said, it would be good to show you what they're like, and to experience one for myself. It's pretty common for newer treasure hunters to seek out ones that are well-traveled for getting used to navigating Ruins, too, because they're easier. Then they build themselves up through tougher ones, until they finally seek out one that still has treasures to claim."

"Oh."

"I'll just wait outside," Fang tells me.

"You can come in," I say. "Unlike Dungeons, anyone can enter Ruins, and since these Ruins are fully explored, they'll be pretty easy on you."

"Hm," he thinks about it.

We stop talking and resume our walk, the two moons high in the sky, both full tonight, the sky filled with stars. It takes us nearly forty-five minutes to reach the Ruins, mostly because of our more leisurely stroll. It's been a long time since I walked this slowly.

The entrance to the ruins is a set of stone stairs leading down under the beach, a low stone wall surrounding it in a ring. The wall itself is only three feet in height, and stretches twenty-seven feet around, creating a space a little more than eight and a half feet in diameter. Three small metal braziers are set onto the wall, flames burning inside of them despite no obvious fuel.

There's a creek running out of the beach and through the woods, passing only a few yards from the other side of the Ruins than we approached before it feeds into the ocean, the water clear and sparkling in the moonlight. It's beautiful, though I can tell my two companions are more interested in the Ruins than the scenery right now.

"Whoa," Fang says as he looks at the stone wall. "This is not what I expected. How are the fires burning?"

"Through some technique of the Ancients," I say. "Not all Ruins have such obvious entrances, though. Follow me, those who are coming. I'll lead the way in case we do come across any traps."

I climb over the wall, then Drake and Fang do the same, following me down the steps.