Special Memory

The sea breeze was cool, and the rough wind seemed thick enough to crystallize into grains of salt.

Xia Lun sat in his hammock, feeling the breeze through the window. He blinked, and a tidal wave of soreness swept over his eyes and eyelids. When he closed his eyes, he could almost hear his capillaries popping.

"How long was I out?"

He clutched his head. The arteries around his skull throbbed as scenes from the sword fights in his dreams flashed and spun through his mind like a strobe light strong enough to trigger a seizure.

A thousand fierce, unrelenting rounds of sword fighting had left him feeling detached from reality. It almost seemed as though a lifetime had passed.

"Breathe in... breathe out... breathe in... breathe out..." Xia Lun closed his eyes and focused on the flow of air through his nose. Using meditation, he slowly eased his pain.

Only after a long while did he calm the thoughts his memories of battle had brought to a boil. He took another deep breath and turned toward the clock beside his hammock.

Its hour hand pointed to nine. It was nine at night.

I slept for exactly nine hours last time, too, Xia Lun thought. But this dream felt much longer than the last one.

He shook the irrelevant thoughts from his head, gathered his focus, and silently called up the Game Panel.

Time to take stock of what I gained.

He knew how much his swordsmanship had improved. He had earned every bit of that progress through one sword fight after another. Even so, he looked forward to seeing the results laid out in numbers.

[Specialization progress!]

[After long, grueling training, your command of swordsmanship has improved significantly.]

[Cold Weapons—Swords (Proficient) (0% → 2%): You are unquestionably skilled with a sword and can draw on a wide range of sword techniques with ease. You are particularly adept with one-handed swords, and your fighting style is cold and efficient. In any era, you would be capable of competing for a regional swordsmanship championship.]

My swordsmanship has reached Proficient, Xia Lun noted. Between that and my firearms skills, I should be pretty capable in close combat now.

That gives me a better chance against the monster. Even if it swings a tentacle at me with a Glancing Strike, I can dodge it...

Then again, the higher a Specialization's level, the slower it improves. That makes sense.

Xia Lun's gaze moved farther down.

[You did not enter a navigation-related memory during this dream. The Specialization "Comprehensive Navigation" has therefore made no progress. Available memories: 1/2]

It would be strange if nonstop sword fighting improved my navigation skills, too.

With that wry thought, Xia Lun glanced farther down. Then he blinked.

Beneath the flood of cobalt blue information were several lines of gold text.

[You drastically changed the memory's original course. Additional Specialization progress!]

[Cold Weapons—Swords (Proficient) (2% → 28%): You have begun to develop your own style with a sword. Given time, your swordsmanship could reach Mastery.]

The enormous jump surprised Xia Lun. A moment later, he realized it was the reward for throwing himself wholeheartedly into the dream.

Even in a dream, training seriously with both mind and body yielded far more than simply putting in hours to grind proficiency.

My Specialization is a little higher than the First Mate's now. Xia Lun drew his Short Sword and casually spun it through a flourish.

The blade no longer felt like something separate from him. It felt like an extension of his body and will.

He sheathed it and kept reading.

[The memory's course has shifted drastically. You became the senior apprentice and fulfilled the wish of the memory's source, the First Mate.]

[Special Specialization Memory unlocked!]

[Special Memory: Courtly Tournament (1/1)]

[Note: When you fulfill the wish of a memory's source, you may obtain a "Special Memory." A Special Memory is a possibility extrapolated from the memory itself. Completing one can grant additional Specializations, Specialties, or even skills.]

"What?" Xia Lun stared.

He hurried to read on.

[You cannot enter a Special Memory in a dungeon.]

That's a shame. Xia Lun shook his head, his thoughts racing. But I wouldn't have time to enter another dream right now anyway.

Dreaming takes a lot out of me. We're only two days from Perilous Earth Island, and just over a day from the nearest island. The monster could make its move at any time. I need to stay sharp.

I'll think about this Special Memory after the dungeon is over.

He took a deep breath, stood, and walked to the door.

Time to check the final preparations.

The night was deep, with clouds hiding the stars and moon. The ship broke through dark waves, sending water splashing across the deck.

The pirates were resting in shifts, so there were few people on deck. Even so, those present were busy. A dozen or so sailors were nowhere near enough for a ship this large.

Standing in the doorway, Xia Lun watched them work.

Near the bow, an old man crouched over a wooden barrel, working on it intently. Only one person stood beside him, looking distinctly nervous. His gaze kept drifting to the barrel, as though whatever the old man was doing was dangerous.

Is that a Gunpowder Barrel? Xia Lun wondered.

He continued forward.

Amidships, the Priest was supposed to be off duty, but he was still awake. He stood before a huge cooking pot, gripping a ladle and stirring its contents vigorously.

A crowd had gathered around him. Xia Lun could not tell whether they had come for the food or the Priest's rousing speech.

The stew bubbled, filling the air with the smoky scent of cured meat and the fresh fragrance of sage.

Xia Lun felt the warmth rising from the pot seep into his skin. It slowly thawed his mental fatigue and the sense of detachment left by his dream training.

He stopped for a while. Amid the mouthwatering smell of meat, his connection to the world began to feel solid again, as though everything had come back to life.

The pirates waved when they saw him, and Xia Lun waved back to each of them.

Many of the surviving pirates had come to respect him. In three days, he had earned himself a measure of standing among them.

He shook his head and walked on.

Near a cargo rack not far from the Priest, the Doctor looked as vacant as ever beneath his pointed head. He was helping a crewman whose face was covered in festering sores tie down a rope.

The Doctor kept making mistakes, and the crewman snapped at him from time to time, his expression dark as a storm. But the moment he spotted Xia Lun, his face broke into a smile.

Xia Lun smiled at him, and the crewman hurriedly waved back.

"My respects," the crewman said awkwardly.

Xia Lun kept smiling. "And mine to you. By the way, my memory's a little foggy. I've forgotten your name."

The crewman paused. "Daolunte."

"You know, you look just like the old captain now. You're even forgetful like him." Daolunte lowered his head. "Undying Sacred Flame, what's going to become of us?"

The Doctor suddenly hugged his shoulders and began to laugh under his breath, trembling all over. His giggles were strange and soft.

Xia Lun glanced at the Doctor, then at Daolunte out of the corner of his eye. In a casual tone, he asked, "Do you know who aboard this ship used to study the occult?"

The monster had the Prayerbook of the Drowned stuck in it. That made it likely that whoever it had once been had studied the occult.

"What are you asking for?" Daolunte blurted out. "Well... the occult? Those passengers from Scarlet Lantern Island seemed to know plenty about it. I remember stealing a human skull from their room once."

Xia Lun narrowed his eyes slightly. "Thanks. I'm quite interested in the occult myself."

"Heh, heh, heh. The Abyssal Hand does exist," the Doctor murmured, still speaking in disjointed fragments. "Beyond the shackles of matter... a living example. Hard not to be interested... the Path of Ascension..."

Xia Lun nodded and walked away.

He kept looking around as he made his way back toward the stern.

Against the black night, a spot of orange firelight flickered near the helm above him.

Xia Lun looked up. Captain Geliide held a Pipe in her right hand and a piece of flint in her left. She stared out over the dark sea as though her soul had left her body.

At the sound of his footsteps, she slowly turned her head.

"Up early, aren't you?" she said jokingly. "Want to take over already?"

"If you're tired, I can. After tonight, the monster could turn on us at any moment. We won't have much time to sleep then." Xia Lun leaned against the railing.

Geliide raised her Pipe and took a shallow puff. "So tonight's our last safe night. Forget what I said about taking over. I was joking. I'm used to long stretches without rest."

Smoke slowly streamed from her nostrils. "Want to talk?"

"What, are you nervous?" Xia Lun turned toward her.

"Nervous?" Geliide scoffed, shooting him a sidelong look. "We just have to rip the bastard open. Either that Black Sea Cucumber dies, or we do. What's there to be nervous about? We knew the stakes."

Xia Lun said nothing. Silence fell between them as Geliide puffed at her Pipe as fast as if she were eating a meal. In the flicker of its orange ember, a restless gloom crept over her.

"Damn it," she muttered suddenly. "Fine, I am nervous. It's not the execution that gets to you. It's waiting for it. Whatever fate has in store, I wish it would hurry up."

"Anxiety is normal," Xia Lun said calmly, looking out at the boundless sea. "Honestly, I'm a little anxious too."

"Could've fooled me." Geliide shook her head and took a hard drag. "You barely show any emotion. And I'm not judging, but you don't smoke or drink, and you don't seem to have any hobbies. You're practically one of those self-tormenting Ascetics the Priest keeps going on about..."

"Don't make things up. I have hobbies," Xia Lun said.

In a deliberately exaggerated voice, Geliide asked, "Don't tell me you just like killing people?"

"..." Xia Lun was speechless. "Of course not. I like telling jokes, for example."

"Your jokes aren't funny at all," Geliide said. "Anyway, we won't need to change course over the next few days. We can just let the wind carry us, so there's no need to keep assigning someone to the helm."

Xia Lun did not answer. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Do you know what the Brigadier General was afraid of?"

Plenty of evidence now pointed to the monster being the Brigadier General, but Xia Lun still had doubts. The timing of those clues was too strange.

Before the Doctor mentioned the Brigadier General, clues to the monster's identity had been nowhere to be found. Afterward, they had surfaced one after another, as if delivered straight to him.

It might have been good luck, but Xia Lun found that hard to believe.

Still, he had no other plausible candidate for the monster's identity. Despite his doubts, he had asked.

Geliide did not answer at once. She took a deep drag from her Pipe, then licked her cracked lips, excitement rising in her eyes.

"The monster is the Brigadier General?" Her voice shook with barely contained excitement. "Damn it, the bastard's still alive. That's wonderful!"

"Wonderful?" Xia Lun stared at her.

"Do you know that for every moment of the twenty-odd years I spent on the run, I wanted to cut that bastard's throat myself?"

Her voice grew more excited. All her usual composure had vanished, leaving only raw emotion and the desire to kill.

"When I seized this whaling ship and couldn't find him, I was disappointed. I regretted not getting to skin him myself. So is the monster the Brigadier General?"

"Right now, it looks very likely."

Geliide snapped her head up. Her chestnut eyes widened, and her scarred face twisted into a fearsome expression. Not a trace of anxiety remained. "Good. Good! That's wonderful!"

"I'll settle old scores and new ones together," she whispered darkly, pulling a doll made of dried willow branches from her jacket.

"The Brigadier General is afraid of the Wicker Man," Geliide said, struggling to contain her excitement. "It took me more than a decade to learn that. They say he lost his position because he saw a Wicker Man and froze for a moment. When do we kill it?"

"The day after tomorrow at the latest. Maybe as soon as tomorrow." After a brief silence, Xia Lun added, "There's something else. I think I've narrowed down who the monster could be hiding among. We can prepare and turn its move against it."

Geliide nodded eagerly. "I'll follow your lead. I can't wait to have my revenge!"