"What are you thinking, Lars? It's not like this is your first time" Captain Lars was sitting in his captain's room which was located directly under the rudder platform. He was talking to a glimmering gemstone at the center of his table. The table was a mess as other than the glimmering gem, one could see various maps, papers, and metal pieces that seemed to have come from a broken cutlass.

"They do not seem like nobody cultivators. I don't want to get into trouble with them pesky guardians. Especially when I'm thinking' about retirin' from everythin'" Lars leaned back on his chair, taking a long sip from the rum bottle in his hand.

The blue gemstone glimmered brightly,

"Dont worry Lars. I investigated them, they are nobodies, they have no connections with guardians. Besides, you know my deal with them, I give them information and in return, they will turn a blind eye to my hobby" a thick voice of a male appeared from the gemstone.

Lars began to rub his greasy beard before removing his hat to reveal his bald head. He put the hat on the table with a sigh,

"Then we make the transaction after we cross the void line. Don't approach us before, I'm not riskin' striker take any damage if that there scurvy dog decided to throw some fancy ass spells"

"We are not amateurs Lars. Just give us a sign when you want to make the transaction. Hey, forgot to mention, watch over for pirates, I heard they are attacking merchants ships quite often now"

"Let them come, I'll show them what this bad lad could do" Lars snickered as the gemstone began to lose its shine and eventually dimmed out completely.

*****************************************

Somewhere else in the ocean, something gigantic was moving in the dark depths of the ocean. It was so deep in the ocean that no mortal could venture into it without exploding due to the high pressure.

The deepest depth of the ocean only had glowing anemones for a light source.

"Hmmmmm" the moving object emitted unearthly vibrations that sent ripples across the deep ocean. One could vaguely see the structure of a warship thanks to the glowing anemones.

"Cap'n, that stinkin' Striker be 'eadin' this here way" inside a darkroom in the gigantic object, a voice said.

"what good us attackin' another ship would do?" another voice sounded tired and uninterested in attacking a ship.

"it's what we do Cap'n, we be gentlemen o' fortune. who knows 'ow long we'll sleep this here time? so we must make the most out o' this"

(gentlemen o' fortune = pirates)

"I'm not the Cap'n, Wiley. The Cap'n be long dead" the voice said.

"ye was the quartermaster when the Cap'n died, that there makes ye the Cap'n now. So do yer captainly duty Cap'n"

"Alright, send the word fer the men to prepare. We'll attack the Striker when I give the order. The crew should use some fun before enterin' the long slumber"

*****************************************

"I want you to take me right here, right now" Gaya was slowly undressing, speaking in a seductive manner. She took off her winter coat, revealing the shirt she was wearing within.

Michael dashed at her and lifted her off the ground to fasten the undressing process,

"Wake the fuck up human!" Suddenly Michael's body stopped moving as he heard a voice. The Gaya in her hand slowly disappeared into the light, he opened his eyes to realize that it was just a dream, a sweet dream.

"Couldn't you have waited just a little bit longer? I was just undressing you in my dream"

"Fucking pervert!" She began to beat his chest like a drum but she was careful not to fall into his hold again.

"There's nothing perverted about it, you're my girl" he laughed.

"And why are you waking up in the middle of the night? Go cultivate"

He grabbed onto his blanket without any intention to give up. The sound of the waves, the cold breeze of the wind, and the small yet warm room gave his mind the peace to go for a long nap.

"Unless you want me to bath you in cold water, you'll get up"

"Alright, alright im getting up but this is better be good snake" he rolled his eyes, finally letting go of his quilt.

"Good boy" she ruffled his head like he was a little boy before dragging him out of the door by his hand.

"So do you think the dream would come again?" He teased her on his way to the upper deck.

"Fuck human, what has gotten into you?" she sounded annoyed yet amused at the same time.

"A cold winter, sea, a beautiful girl who loves me in my bunk bed. You have no idea how much it would take a guy to control himself"

"Hehehe" she chuckled as they soon reached the upper deck. Michael expected to see crews running around the upper deck, making sure the ship stays in top condition but to his surprise, he saw no one. He stared at the rudder to see it automatically spinning like it was put on autopilot.

Even in the captain's cabin, there were no lights on.

He knew everyone was probably sleeping drunk to their throats yet he was here, standing on an empty deck in the middle of a freezing winter.

"Don't" when he was about to take his winter coat from his space ring, she stopped him.

"Are you kidding me? I'm not freezing to death" he raised his voice. Unlike him, who was standing here bare chested, she was wearing the winter coat and everything to keep her body warm without the use of Arch energy.

"I said I'd give you something special when we get on a ship to the Southern Continent right? This is it"

"This is what?"

"Training to improve your close combat skills"

Michael's jaw dropped a couple of inches. His eyes were full of disappointment, he seemed like a kid who got robbed of his Halloween candies. Even the system began to laugh inside his mind. He was not expecting this kind of physical activity.

[heheheh, burn]

"But I was thinking...sigh" he sighed without finishing his sentence.

He wanted to get mad at Gaya but he couldn't as he knew it was his fault for dreaming. She then slowly unmasked herself to show her real face which made Michael's heart skip a beat. Raven black hair, perfect facial features, and a goddess-level hourglass figure, she was a beauty beyond words.

He could stare at her all day, she was that beautiful. Miss Universes could hold a torch against her beauty.

"I've seen you fight and it's an embarrassment" Her words brought him back from staring at her beauty. Soon, he frowned

"Just a little motivation," she said, playing with her hair.

"Embarrassment huh? Why don't we spar?" Golden tiny light bolts emerged from his body, crackling around his body. He was ready to use Lightning Dash and teach her a lesson.

Gaya immediately took a step back. She knew if he used his speed spell, it would be damn hard to land a hit on him but she was expecting him to use this spell.

"You can't use any spells. That bitch Sadie didn't tell you everything about the first few rounds of the championship tournaments, did she?" she asked.

"In the tournaments, there will be a round where you just have to fight, No Arch Energy, no spells, just good old fashioned brawl"

The crackles of lightning disappeared from Michael's body. He was absolutely positive to win a brawl if he could use the Lightning Dash. However, if he was unable to use his speed spell, he wasn't as confident as before. Without using Lightning Dash, he knew Gaya could beat him in a couple of seconds because he saw her fight, her combat techniques and skills were far superior to the techniques he learned on earth and inherited from Abras.

"System, can you use the mentor function to boost my training?"

[Yes. The system can activate the Mentor function to speed up your learning process of new fighting technique as well as improve it for a price of course]

After getting the confirmation from the system, a small smile emerged on his face. If he could learn Gaya's fighting technique and perfect it with the help of the system, he would beat all the competitors at the tournament black and blue. On top of this, he was already thinking about a prototype that would ensure his victory.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Just start with free weight training to shed all that shabby fat in your body"

He was surprised because although he wasn't as toned as some magazine models, he was lean and had noticeable muscle definition. Any girl would love to see him naked but not Gaya.

"You're telling me this is fat," he asked, pointing at his six-packs.

"Meh" she waved off before flicking her wrist. The next moment, Michael saw numerous metal plates, logs, bags that looked freakin heavy and a bunch of unknown things appeared on the deck.

"I got these from a muscle mountain I killed. We can use these to get you into shape" she kicked one of the metal balls towards Michael's direction,

"Remember, you can't use Arch energy or any of your freaky things. Do this and I'll bunk with you every night after the training"

"Done" Michael did not need any motivation other than this. It was a damn good deal if anyone asked him.