It hadn’t been long, but the group of survivors had already managed to come up with a rough plan and, without hesitation, set out to follow it. They split into pairs and walked in the directions assigned, while Aion watched them go. For a prince, too much had happened over the last couple of days. In all his twenty moons, nothing this major had ever occurred. And now, he was standing in the middle of an unknown island, alone with a guy who probably had the worst attitude in all of Viarum.

The sound of the sea behind him served as an unwelcome reminder of the reckless, fateful decision they had made. Gilem had been right: ramming a kraken was insane. Still, they were alive. That counted for something, didn’t it?

“You just gonna stand there like a post?” Kail snapped his fingers in front of Aion’s face to grab his attention.

The prince blinked in surprise. Kail scoffed—again.

“I said move it. About three hundred meters ahead, there’s a couple of stone peaks sticking out of the water. That’s usually where you find seaweed and crabs.”

Without another word, Kail walked off. Aion had a feeling they wouldn’t work well together. What had Gilem been thinking when he paired them up? Most likely a cold calculation: neither of them could drown the other easily in case of a fight. If that was the logic, then the scribe was a genius. Aion watched Kail’s broad, tattooed back with interest. The black mark of the tattoo was somewhere between his shoulder blades. Kail had spent his whole life as a sailor. And sure, working aboard ships was tough, but even a fool could tell Kail enjoyed physical activity. Compared to him, Aion looked like a starving child.

“What’re you thinking about? How many people your dad’s gonna send to search the ocean floor?” Kail still kept his distance, not turning around, but Aion could feel the smirk.

“No.”

He only just remembered that part. He might be of noble blood and technically the heir, but he had no illusions about getting rescued anytime soon. Not by his father, anyway. His mother, sister, maybe even the servants would jump into a rowboat and search the whole ocean for him. But the queen couldn’t leave the palace for long, and they’d probably chain his sister up to keep her from trying. Best-case scenario? His mom played her cards right, and public pressure forced his father to send a team after them. Hopefully, the mission wouldn’t be worded like: “Don’t find him. And if you do—finish the job.”

Twenty minutes later, they reached the jagged stone peaks jutting out of the water.

“Don’t touch anything colorful. If you die out here, everyone’s gonna think I killed you on purpose,” Kail said, rolling up his pants and giving Aion a disapproving look.

Aion drifted back into thought.

“Seriously, why are you always spacing out? Take off your shirt, roll your pants.”

“And what are we gonna do about our clothes? They’ll wear out fast...” Kail raised one brow, confused.

“That’s not our biggest issue,” Kail cut in, going quiet as he drifted into his own thoughts. “We should probably look for shipwreck debris soon. Maybe some of it’ll wash ashore. But for now, your royal highness, kindly get in the water and catch us some dinner.”

“Why are you so hung up on that?” Aion snapped, throwing his shirt onto the sand with irritation. “I don’t care about the title. Don’t keep reminding everyone where I’m from. First, no one’s forgotten, and second, it doesn’t matter on some random island!”

“Because that’s the very ass we dragged around the world. Otherwise, I’d be sitting in some port tavern drinking rum. Maybe even getting lucky. Instead, I’m stuck crab hunting with a royal pain. So tell me—where do you think I’d rather be?” Kail didn’t wait for Aion to respond and dove into the water. “Come on, we still need to dry off after.”

“I didn’t even want to go on this trip...”

To put it mildly, Aion wasn’t a great swimmer. When the ocean’s that close, someone’s bound to teach you eventually. But Aion had never been the active type, so he’d avoided too much practice. While Kail lazily floated on his back, Aion was paddling like his life depended on it. He had no idea how deep the water was and didn’t want to take the risk of diving just yet.

By the time they reached the first rock, Aion was ready to black out and nap on the ocean floor. Hunger gnawed at him, and every movement felt like agony. Kail chuckled and circled the stone, clearly amused by Aion’s struggle.

“Here.”

While Aion caught his imaginary breath, Kail scouted the rock and handed him some kind of seaweed. Aion eyed the slimy gift with suspicion. Kail just snorted.

“That’s lucis. Tasteless seaweed poor folks eat. It’s full of nutrients. Not fancy, but edible. Gets absorbed quick, so you’ll stay conscious a bit longer.”

“How do you know that?” Aion gingerly took the slippery thing. One bite and he almost spit it back out. It was awful. Still, he forced himself to finish it. “Give me five minutes.”

“Sure. I didn’t find anything else here anyway. Everything else is underwater. Off-limits for me.”

Kail floated again, resting his head on one arm like he was lounging on a featherbed. Aion regretted eating the seaweed.

“It’s not that hard to figure out. If you don’t breathe but went looking for water first, food’s next. Your food needs determine how much energy you burn. Like tossing logs in a fireplace. Something like that.”

“How much weight do you think I’d need to strap to you to make you sink?”

Kail gave him a weird look. Aion didn’t get it at first.

“I’m just curious how much it takes to drown the unsinkable. Was it you who pulled Ilay out?”

“Probably about as much as I weigh. Never checked the exact number. Usually, if someone fell overboard during a storm, I could fish out at least one guy.” Kail took a bite of the gross seaweed and kept chewing. “Yeah, I pulled Ilay out. Though he wouldn’t shut up, screaming for Sina.”

Aion nearly gasped. His mom would’ve fainted from Kail’s manners.

“So, what’s her spark? Ilay’s girl, and that smug guy?”

Aion was a little scared Kail would talk about himself. He was staring at the sailor with a look that was too naive and curious for comfort. Kail squirmed under his gaze—too wide-eyed and open.

“Sina can sharpen anything she touches. Stick, spear, sword, whatever. That’s why Gilem sent her to make weapons.” Kail rested his hands on his stomach and closed his eyes. “Azel... he just doesn’t age. Don’t know all the details.”

“Then why pair him with Sina?” Aion asked, feeling better now. The terrible snack was finally kicking in. Not fully yet—maybe in four hours—but good enough. “I mean, not really helpful on a ship, is it?”

“Azel’s a diplomat. Uses his looks and charm for deals. So besides royalty, we’ve got another spoiled ass on board.” Aion clenched his teeth. “Since his spark is just looking good and staying young, it pushed him to learn fencing and other stuff. He’s not easy to injure, but that doesn’t stop him from acting cocky. Probably why Risa hasn’t dumped him yet.”

“Got it.” Aion looked around. “I think I can move again. Time to dive. What’s the plan?”

“Easy: find a big crab, maybe a mollusk, bring it up to me, and I’ll smash it with a rock. Once we’ve got a good haul, I’ll carry it to shore. And remember, nothing colorful. No fighting sea snakes, dragons, or touching sea urchins. Unless... oh right, you don’t breathe. Urchins are fine.”

“Hilarious.”

Aion started climbing down the rock. Lucky for them, it was shallow here—just around three meters deep. He could clearly see the bottom and the rock, no need to feel around blindly. The water pressure was noticeable but not unbearable. He had to search a bit before spotting a crab buried in the sand.

That’s when the plan hit a snag—the thing was half a meter long with massive claws and not keen on dying. Aion didn’t want to risk his fingers, so he found a sharp rock first. The battle didn’t go as smoothly as he’d hoped. The crab got a few good pinches in. The scratches only fired Aion up. He hammered at what he assumed was the head until it stopped moving. People catching sea creatures on the First Continent clearly didn’t get paid enough. Once it was still, Aion dragged it to the surface.

“Congrats on your first kill!” Kail swam over and took the crab. “Sand crab. Not bad. But they don’t have much meat. You need like five to make it worthwhile. Check the rock face, might be some mollusks. I’ll drop this off.”

“Got it.”

Aion watched Kail swim away. His behavior kept raising more questions. One moment he was being snarky and rude, the next—strangely polite. Aion decided to dwell on it later. Right now, he had more crab hunting to do.

He really would have to give it his all. The hunt could take a while, and he did not want to go back to eating that nasty seaweed. He scanned the rocks but didn’t dare taste anything without Kail’s okay. Getting poisoned and sinking to the bottom would be the cherry on top.

By Aion’s humble estimate, the crab hunt went “not bad”: four crabs, three large mollusks, and a pile of seaweed. Kail’s review was more honest: “trash.” They’d circled all the rocks, but Aion couldn’t find anything better. Time was running out, so they agreed on one last dive before heading back. No luck. Though they did find a pearl in a shell. Better than nothing. Aion almost dropped it twice while diving, but finally surfaced, coughing up seawater.

“That was disgusting to watch,” Kail remarked.

Aion stuck out his tongue in exhaustion.

“Found anything else?”

“Just this.” Aion handed him the pearl.

“Great. Just need about three hundred more, and we can open a jewelry shop. Two hours of diving for one pearl.”

Aion had started tuning out Kail’s sarcasm by now. But Kail still took the pearl and turned his back.

“Hang on. Can’t lose you halfway back.”

“In that case, I’ll just walk on the ocean floor.”

Aion grabbed onto Kail’s shoulder, and they slowly swam toward the shore. If he ignored the whole shipwreck situation, Aion could almost imagine this was just a regular trip away from the estate. He tightened his grip, and Kail muttered something about “some people actually needing air,” then sped up a bit. Somewhere deep in the jungle, a bright light flared. Ilay’s signal—the hunt was over.

“No collapsing on the sand. I’m not dragging you back in again. Time’s up.”

Aion groaned and tried to stay upright. His legs wobbled, and he clung to Kail again, who grabbed him by the neck.

“I said—don’t fall.”

“I’m trying, okay?” Aion let go. His strength was finally coming back. “Ugh, now we’ve gotta hike back. I’m dead.”

“Stop whining. No one here’s gonna carry you.”

“There you go again...”

“Did I ever stop?”

Aion tried to put on his best poker face, but Kail just grinned shamelessly. Deciding not to bother arguing, Aion hoisted up their haul and gritted his teeth. No way was he giving Kail more ammo for mockery. They loaded up and trudged toward the signal. Aion clenched his jaw, focused on a single point ahead, shifted his weight back and forth—he looked like a mule climbing a mountain. At least Kail wasn’t making smart remarks. When the campfire came into view, Aion nearly cried with joy.

“You know, when you vanish underwater for twenty minutes or walk silently like this... it’s weird. Kinda creepy.”

Aion shot him a suspicious look.

“It’s not even the no-breathing thing. It’s the lack of breath sounds. Your nickname… it suits you.”

They were almost at the fire, the sound of voices and water trickling nearby, when Aion suddenly dropped everything. He jabbed a finger at Kail with open anger. The sudden change caught Kail off guard, too fast to even show surprise.

“Y’know what?! Maybe I am the Dead One—but you’re not the Unsinkable! You’re just a damn log!” He shoved Kail in the chest and stormed off toward the ocean.

“Hey—what the hell?” Azel appeared from nowhere.

“I dunno.” Kail looked at him. “Seriously. What the hell?”

“What just happened?”

“Leave me alone.”

Azel just raised a brow as Kail rolled his eyes and hauled their catch over to the fire.