Seas of change

Three masters

After Carl returned from to the coast he was met with amazement and terror in the eyes of the others. However, Johnathan was just impressed with him. He didn't show any specific emotion. Carl turned to the old man first:

- Is that enough proof for you?

- More than enough. But you need to learn to control it in order to use it on a battlefield without hurting your comrades. If you lack discipline, then you will never ever be able to use it without any restraint. You will end up like those two did. You must've heard about Blackbeard and Licht. They were at the same state but for different reasons. Unlike you two, they were weaker. Never managing this technique, they used about just four tenths of their own Kai. I have been training for 50 years now, so I completed it. Still, I was far too weak back then, only succeeding 10 years ago, mine was leagues weaker than yours.

- So, have you received a weapon from the gods as well?

- What is that? I have never heard of a human being gifted by a divine.

- The voice told me about reaching out to the heavens once I complete Split World. When I did it for the first time, my sword broke to pieces and something started telling me I have acquired his attention and he will give me a weapon that helps with performing this attack.

- So, it is true.

- What is?

- The strongest marine is said to be helped by a god. When he attacked us in the war, he was unleashing otherworldly strikes. Some we captured told us that he got his two swords from the Sword God. They said it didn't have any name, it just told him to use those swords to protect his justice. After that he became known as the Strongest Man on the Seas.

- Why just on the sea? Isn't he some invincible warrior that even scared away the Pirate King?

- He is, but it is different below the sea. There is a man named Hendrick Van Der Decken; everyone who sailed the seas before has at least heard his name. I didn't believe when I heard it, until the final battle. While I was stranded on a deserted island and was barely breathing, I saw a ship going towards the battlefield. It came from below the sea, it was the fastest ship with the strongest crew in history. One of them came to me and offered me a spot on the ship. I refused, but asked him if he can teach me to become stronger for the sake of the next generation.

- And he helped you? No man in his right mind, dead or alive, would help someone he just met.

- I haven't finished yet. He told us they were on their way to collect the dead. I was the only survivor of our crew. He offered to show me the basics to the World techniques. After he was gone, I swam back to a nearby island and got back here.

- So, you never got to see anyone again, talk about tragedy. And this man was just one of Van Der Decken's crew. A pirate ship full of masters of Kai seems like will be hard to top. This Van Der Decken is the leader of them.

- You are wrong again. It isn't a pirate ship anymore. It is just a ship doomed to dwell the ocean floor while searching for lost souls at sea and helping them to the other side. No human lives to tell a tale after seeing the captain in person. The only source we know what he does is from when he was a human. After his death, the remnants of his crew have scattered and he recruited the strongest men who died at sea.

- Are you saying Blackbeard's crew have joined him? Or at least him and Karl Licht. They must've been proposed to at least.

- I know nothing about that. But this story aside, your true training shall begin. You first must learn how to control how much energy you are using to locate everything around you. If you can't do it, then you'll be vulnerable to any fast attacks. Despite how strong you've become, Mr. Auclair would beat you without trying. Right now, you need to outpace me. On the other hand, Mr. Teach already knows how to do it.