Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 902 - 901: Modir’s Voyage

Gawain’s gaze moved back and forth over the page several times before he finally suppressed his impulse to make a snide remark.

The Duke Wilder from six hundred years ago turned out to be a die-hard fan of Gawain Cecil... This gave the present Gawain, who was using Gawain Cecil’s identity, an inexplicable sense of awkwardness.

He then continued reading, observing how this ancient aristocrat, who took on the role of an "adventurer," documented the series of preparations he made for this voyage—

"...After making up my mind, I began building a large ship capable of facing this perilous endeavor—it was not easy. Everyone knows that ever since those followers of the storms went mad, stealing or destroying all the ships and fleeing to sea, the human world has not had a proper ’seafaring’ endeavor for nearly a century. There are no navigators left who can challenge the ocean, nor anyone who knows how to build sea vessels...

"I sought the help of a Dwarf friend I made in my early years. It’s said that the Dwarf Kingdom still retains some technology for navigating relatively safe sea areas; at the very least, they know how to build ships. My friend can help find craftsmen for shipbuilding. Besides, I know two sea elves—they are not interested in matters of the land, but they are very interested in my magic gems. At the price of a few gems, they promised to be my navigators...

"While this grand (and possibly long-term) shipbuilding plan was underway, I took the time to visit the southern borders—to call upon the current duke of the Cecil Clan. I held a glimmer of hope to see if the Cecil Clan still had the records of Duke Gawain’s voyage from back then, but I was also ready to return empty-handed, as it was evident that a hundred years ago, Gawain Cecil did not want too many people to know of his adventures, otherwise, he wouldn’t have erased those clues...

"It turned out my guess was correct—the descendants of the Cecil Clan knew nothing of their great-grandfather’s voyage a century ago. The duke of the Cecil Clan expressed concern upon hearing about my voyage plan and intelligence on the ’mysterious voyage of Gawain Cecil,’ apparently thinking it was just an unfounded rumor and that I was joking with my safety. Nevertheless, our exchange was pleasant. The Cecil Clan is a family worthy of respect, no doubt about that. Upon realizing I was determined, they chose to give me their blessings.

"After visiting Gawain Cecil’s tomb to pay my respects with incense and wine, I returned to preparing for my adventure..."

Gawain quickly skimmed over this part and the lengthy subsequent sections detailing shipbuilding and recruiting sailors. His eyes scanned line by line over the neatly handwritten text, and the life journey of Modir Vealt flashed through his mind like a fast-forwarded movie—until he reached the day of Modir’s departure, when his reading speed abruptly slowed.

This was the part he cared about the most.

The centuries-old pages documented everything Modir Vealt experienced after venturing into the sea:

"...On the Xth day of month X, following extensive preparation and careful planning, the ’Adventurer’ finally set sail on a clear summer day. We departed from the coast of the Duke of the East, and upon the sea elves’ navigators’ suggestion, first sailed a short distance southward along the coastline, then progressed eastward. This would maximize avoiding early entry into storm regions—although I have great confidence in the protective magic and magic senses systems I designed myself, considering the sailors’ safety, I decided to heed the navigators’ advice as much as possible...

"Day X of Month X, a day worth recording!

"Shortly after adjusting our course eastward, we witnessed from afar a ’Chaotic Turbulence,’ where storm clouds rose up to connect almost to the sky, instantly stirring the entire sea into terrifying surges. Lightning, dense like a web, connected the storm and the surges, each flash containing power that struck terror even in a powerful Mage like me. Moreover, the entire cloud wall moved at a speed that seemed slow but was impossible to evade. I had never seen anything like it in my life!

"Some sailors were terrified, starting to kneel on the deck to pray to their gods, but the first mate soon restored order—the first mate was a trustworthy retired officer, and I felt fortunate to have him aboard. Shortly thereafter, the sea elves serving as navigators announced that the way ahead was clear, the exploratory ship was at a relatively safe distance, and the fearful storm was moving away from us...

"The crew calmed down, and I had the opportunity to observe that storm from such a perfect distance—I needed to record its characteristics.

"Chaotic Turbulence is not merely monstrous waves or tsunamis, nor is it merely an energy storm, but a complex system formed by a mixture of the two. Through observation, I believe that the cloud wall, which connects the heavens and continually releases energy lightning, should be the ’pillar of support’ and ’force’ of the entire system. Its energy fluctuations cause the water element-rich atmosphere above the sea surface to resonate, and I also sensed its base connecting with the entire body of water, seemingly making the ’ocean’ act as a highly enriched elemental carrier, similar to the ’focus point’ in a magic circle, providing the energy turbulence in the atmosphere with an outlet to release, thus creating such a terrifying cloud wall...

"Could this be why such dreadful Chaotic Turbulence appears over the ocean, but not on land?

"Moreover, visibly, the top of the cloud wall exhibited phenomena of cloud rips and floating light movements, and above storm-strong areas, one could observe glowing phenomena distinct from the energy flashes within the cloud wall, which appeared like connected ’curtains,’ changing slowly as the cloud wall moved... They seemed to be located in extremely high altitudes, likely of unimaginable scale...

"In some ancient magical texts, Gondor’s scholars divided the atmosphere into several layers such as the Magic Static Stratum, turbulence layer, and Steady-State Limit Layer. Upon seeing the scene atop the cloud wall, I couldn’t help but make associations... the Chaotic Turbulence at sea is so intense, it surpasses human understanding of the magic-pervasive environment, could it be some kind of ’leakage’ from a higher atmospheric layer? Might it be that the magic of the turbulence layer has breached the protective magnetic field near the ground, hence causing such a frightful phenomenon in the static stratum... This is a phenomenon worth recording and studying.

"The sea is truly full of secrets, and replete with dangers.

"Fortunately, the sensing device I designed functioned excellently—the light beam in the Crystal Ball accurately pointed toward that storm in the distance, proving its capacity to detect Chaotic Turbulence from afar, aiding the exploratory ship in avoiding those tempestuous sea zones in advance..."

Gawain perused these valuable writings, occasionally frowning thoughtfully or nodding gently, even taking a piece of scrap paper from the side to diligently jot down his sudden thoughts.

Undoubtedly, Modir’s Travelogue is a treasure trove. Its most precious content is not the thrilling and peculiar adventure stories but Modir Vealt’s documented experiences and knowledge during his adventures!!

In the Chapter on "voyaging," Modir Vealt’s record of and speculation on Chaotic Turbulence were significant. Now that the first phase of the Northport project has concluded successfully, Byron is striving for the next step in ocean exploration. Modir’s knowledge will undoubtedly offer immense assistance to the technical personnel over there. And the significance of this knowledge isn’t limited to that alone—

Modir also wrote about his conjectures on the causes of Chaotic Turbulence and his understanding of the atmospheric layering structure, accompanied by invaluable firsthand observational data, which can even assist researchers like Gawain and Kamel in unraveling the mysteries of the entire planet!

Gawain studied this travelogue like a diligent student, analyzing each experience and observation as a source of knowledge, while Modir Vealt’s adventure continued to progress in flowing text—like almost all adventurers, after a smooth initial voyage, he finally began encountering real troubles.

Upon entering the open sea, the mysterious and unpredictable ocean revealed its true dangers to Modir and his crew—

"On X month X day, a terrible storm struck us.

"The sensing device played a certain role. In the short time before the storm rapidly formed, it began to frantically warn us and try to point out the direction of the danger. However, this storm brewed right above us—a high-energy reaction fell from the sky, ripping through the atmosphere above the expedition ship. The entire sea area quickly entered a charged state, and we were surrounded on all sides by ’walls of clouds’ that were rapidly growing, at an astonishing speed.

"By the time I realized what the chaotic reactions of the sensing device meant, it was already too late—the first mate tried to command the sailors to accelerate the ship in hopes of escaping this ’charging’ area before the cloud walls closed in, but a massive bolt of lightning soon struck the energy shields above us. In the following hours, the ’Adventurer’ seemed to be trapped inside a manic magical crucible, with the entire ocean boiling around us, trying to kill the pitiful souls on this little ship.

"The sailors did not despairingly pray to the gods this time—they had no time for that. In short, the first mate organized the crew as best as he could to maintain the stability of the ship and the operation of the magic systems, while I exerted all my effort to ensure that the barriers weren’t pierced by the lightning in the chaos. It was all like a nightmare...

"Of course, since I can leave behind this note, it at least signifies one thing: at least I survived.

"Yes, this is the outcome of the storm—I survived, alone.

"Now I find myself cast adrift on a vast, desolate ocean, accompanied only by a few broken planks and several barrels that are starting to take on water. The ’Adventurer’ is gone; in the last moments, I saw with my own eyes as it was swallowed by the waves, and my crew could not escape either—the two sea elf navigators might have survived, as they could take refuge underwater, but now it’s apparent I won’t be able to meet up with them... with the storm, who knows how far I’ve drifted.

"Guilt comes creeping in, and now I must bear the heavy burden left by the lost souls. Despite everyone having signed life-and-death contracts before departure, I did not bring them here to die...

"Yet now, no amount of words will help. I think I must find a way to survive, otherwise who will console and compensate the families of those crew members? The responsibilities of an aristocrat do not allow me to evade the situation...

"Using magic, I gathered the floating wood and barrels, barely crafting them into a clumsy dinghy. With no nails and no ropes, this makeshift refuge is held together entirely by magic connections. The issue of fresh water can be solved using ice spells, and food... I hope the fish in the open sea won’t be too hard to swallow.

"As a powerful mage, surviving on this ocean is not really the problem unless faced with ’Chaotic Turbulence’. The real challenge is... how to get back on the right course and how to move myself quickly and effectively.

"After all, even legendary powerhouses can’t rely on flight spells to return from the open sea to the mainland, and trying to use wind and waves to propel this small boat... heaven knows how long it’ll take to see land.

"Perhaps I’ll be buried in the next wave of Chaotic Turbulence before that...

"On X month X day... using techniques from the astrology field, I finally confirmed my rough position and current course. The conclusion was surprising and unsettling... that storm pushed me far off the original course, and now I’m situated north of the original route, drifting continuously northwest, which means I’m getting further from my initial goal while not heading back towards the mainland...

"In this direction, I haven’t encountered those legendary ’sea demons’ nor have I met those storm cultists hidden somewhere in the ocean since a century ago.

"Honestly, now I would rather encounter those dangerous dark cultists...

"Getting back on the correct course is extremely difficult because I found that astrology isn’t all that useful on the ocean—the magic-pervasive environment here interferes with my observation of the stars, and I lack a more accurate ’star chart’ for reference. I try my best to confirm my position, calibrate the direction, and sail towards the mainland, but I know very well—I’ve completely lost my way.

"This vast endless ocean is poised to swallow me.

"But I will still try my best.

"On X month X day... almost no changes in view. The only good news is I’m still alive and haven’t been swallowed by ’Chaotic Turbulence’—I’ve encountered it three times by now over this long period, each time narrowly passing by at a safe distance, observing those cloud walls and energy storms from afar. I truly wonder whether this is luck or a curse...

"In any case, I will still meticulously record every phenomenon I observe—since there’s nothing else to do now.

"...On X month X day, still lost, with no sign of any continents or islands, but I suspect I may still be drifting north, because... I’m starting to feel the surroundings getting progressively colder.

"On X month X day, I spotted floating icebergs in my vision. Am I approaching the northern continent? Is it near the Sacred Dragon Kingdom? This is the most optimistic possibility I can think of. These days I’ve been sailing west, maybe northwest, and the only thing to hope for in this direction is the cold coastlines at the northern part of the continent... let’s hope I have some luck left...

"On X month X day, I don’t know how to write today’s record, I... as an adventurer, alright, even as a poor adventurer, I never thought that I...

"Alright, in short, I saw a dragon.

"A blue dragon, gliding across the sky in the distance, unmistakably..."