Chapter 97 The Map
Chapter 97 The Map
As Gisle and his men were about to leave Harald's body, something suddenly flew out. It looked like a scrap, an ordinary paper map. It glowed brightly with blue light and floated in the air.
Wain was surprised. It wasn't a weapon or some special skill because Harald was definitely dead.
'There's an attractive energy coming from that piece...' thought Wain and walked over to a scrap of the map in the next moment.
"Wain, wait." Said Gisle and walked over to Wain. He was worried that something terrible would happen to Wain. He had no idea what the thing was or what its purpose was.
"I don't think it's anything dangerous. I'll have to check it out. I don't consider this piece of card can hurt me." Said Wain and touched the piece of card.
It was as if an electric shock had flashed through Wain's and Gisle's minds in the next moment. An image appeared in their minds of a vast island floating out of the water, more like an entire continent.
They also felt as if three months had passed, and they were looking down on this island. Then Wain's and Gisle's consciousness returned to normal, and a piece of the map entered Wain's body.
"Was that...a map?" Wain asked puzzled.
"Yeah... it looks like it..." Gisle muttered. He was also a bit stunned. Gisle, as well as Wain, did not expect that they would suddenly see something like this.
"I take it we saw and felt the same thing. In that case, this island will appear in about three months, am I right?" Asked Wain.
"Yes, that's what it felt like, but what is this island, and why would it appear in three months?" Wain muttered.
After the apocalypse began, several continents appeared in his world, but it happened in the first few hours. But, Wain has been in this world for two months now, and by coincidence, he learned that the unknown continent would appear in three months.
"Wain, can you figure out where that is? I'm sure we have another three months before the continent appears, then I can't tell where it is. There was only water around. I couldn't see any landmarks."
Wain nodded and tried to concentrate. He thought that since part of the map had penetrated his body, he could activate it like a Seal of Darkness and roughly understand the direction. But...
"It didn't work. I can't interact with this card in any way. It seems impossible. Most likely, we need to find a few more of these pieces, and then we can find out where the continent will appear." Mumbled Wain shaking his head.
"That's disappointing, but we have three more months. Now we know there is some kind of map that will definitely help us with our search. I'm sure there will be something valuable and dangerous on that continent." Said Gisle.
"Yes, I think so too. We need to move on. Harald's appearance was an unplanned event." Said Wain.
"Of course," Gisle replied briefly and immediately gave a command to his men.
...
As their group headed toward the main Marine Punisher base, Wain reflected on what had just happened.
'Harald somehow managed to figure out that Lea was a blacksmith and that that pillar of light came from her. But, he himself didn't seem to have any searching abilities. His main specifics were speed and the ability to make short-term flights. Otherwise, it would have just flown away from me.' Thought Wain.
He believed that there was a man in the Western Overion who could recognize the souls of others at a great distance. Or this person was capable of picking up bursts of energy and somehow qualifying them.
'However, soon we'll get to the point where we're taking over the west side, and then I'll know what happened there.'
Wain pondered the fact that a person with searching abilities could be handy. Such a person could explore not only for other people but also for valuable treasures or necessary monsters. Such a person would make a terrific informant with incredible powers.
'This scrap of a map...it is something unusual and unique, but how can an entire continent appear out of the water? And why is there an object pointing it out to us?' Wain pondered.
As a scrap of map entered his body, Wain had two theories on how the world might have been arranged. One theory suited him perfectly, but the second was worse than a nightmare.
The first theory was that someone controlled this world and used it as it's toy or experiment. That explained why this map appeared and why Wain and Gisle could find out about it beforehand. It was like some kind of assignment from a video game.
Moreover, in that case, Wain's world was destroyed by some entity standing above them all, and Wain was nothing more than a puppet. Such a position did not suit Wain.
He hated obeying anyone, and the thought of his whole life is in the hands of someone was worse than his worst nightmare.
The second theory was radically different from the first. Wain believed that Soul Essence could have a mind or something similar. In Wain's opinion, Soul Essence could think and make some decisions. But, it wasn't like human thinking. It could be compared to a magical computer.
In that case, this world was alive, and Wain liked it that way. In this situation, not only humans would make changes, but over time, something new and unique would emerge on this planet.
'I hope that my first theory is only fiction and the ravings of a madman. Otherwise, I won't know what to do next.' Thought Wain.
...
After about an hour, they reached the coast of the eastern part of Overion. There was the main base of the Sea Punishers, and to Gisle's surprise, they were ready for them.
On the beach, in front of the base, there were about fifty men each ready to fight. They saw Gisle's group from afar and quickly prepared for a full-scale battle.
A tall man stood in front with thick black hair and a short beard. He had green eyes and a large, cross-shaped scar on his forehead. It was Dylan Chauve, and he was the head of the Sea Punishers.
"Looks like you were right. They are ready to fight to the last breath." Said Wain.
"Yes, Dylan is a stubborn and problematic opponent. If it weren't for him, the Sea Punishers would have disbanded long ago and joined other organizations." Said Gisle.
Then he pointed to the girl next to Dylan and said, "That's Elsa Gulsvig, and she's the strongest in the Sea Punishers after Dylan. Unfortunately, I've never been able to find out what abilities she has, but she's definitely strong."
"Hmm, Dylan was able to gather so many people who are willing to fight alongside him until death. That's considering it's only been two months since the apocalypse." Proclaimed Wain.
He was surprised by the loyalty of the members of the Sea Punishers. At that moment, he didn't even feel like killing them because a loyal man was as valuable as gold.
"Yes, that is impressive. I'm not sure I could have achieved the same amazing result without my comrades." Said Gisle and prepared for battle.
He wasn't going to spare Dylan. His goal was to stain the white beach crimson.