To be honest, Karin had not understood what Captain Leguli really meant, nor had he taken those words to heart... To him, they were nothing more than a drunkard's wild talk.
After leaving the captain's cabin, he went straight back to his room, lay down, and fell asleep.
Even after the Murloc crisis, life at sea aboard the Advance soon returned to normal... The crew remained busy with their daily routines, Karin still made the most of every moment aboard to study and train, and Nathanos kept pestering him with all sorts of strange questions... When Captain Leguli saw Karin the next day, he gave him a somewhat apologetic smile. His memories of that night were hazy, but he vaguely remembered having done something embarrassing.
The days passed quickly, and almost another week went by.
"We're very close to Howling Fjord now!" Nathanos explained to Karin as he fiddled with his longbow. "Look at those flocks of migrating birds overhead. You only see a sight like that within a hundred nautical miles of land!"
Karin looked up and saw a flock of wild geese flying over the Advance one after another in a straight line.
"Mr. Karin, would you like something different for lunch today?" Nathanos suddenly asked with a mysterious air.
"Something different?" Karin had not yet grasped what he meant.
The young human had already rushed forward and drawn his longbow... An arrow sliced through the sky, and a wild goose fell, landing in the water not far from the Advance.
"Well? Not bad shooting, eh?" Nathanos said proudly, then leaped overboard.
To his surprise, however, he did not plunge straight into the water. Instead, he drifted through the air, descending slowly! Looking back, he saw Karin waving his staff on deck... Slow Fall, a First Ring Conjuration spell, was simple but practical. He had learned it over the past few days.
"Thank you, Mr. Mage!" After a brief moment of surprise, Nathanos immediately realized who had made this happen.
Steering himself, Nathanos drifted down to where the goose had fallen, then bent over and picked it up from the surface of the water.
"Could you send me back up, Mr. Mage?" Not bothering to swim back, he simply shouted toward the ship.
"Sure. Watch this!" Karin smiled and raised his staff again.
A gentle force rose beneath Nathanos's feet, lifting him off the water. He felt as though he could now float in midair... Levitate, a Second Ring Conjuration spell, was extremely complex, and Karin had spent a great deal of effort on it lately.
Nathanos soon figured out how to move and slowly floated back to the deck. He tossed the goose down, but he still did not seem to have had enough fun!
"Master Mage, could you send me up into the sky? I've never flown in my life!" he asked Karin excitedly.
"All right... I'll try..." Karin nodded and raised his staff once more.
Nathanos immediately felt a powerful force rise beneath his feet, thrusting him into the air... It was still Levitate, but Karin had put more power into it.
"Ah... Ah... Ah... I'm flying!" the archer cried out. He was already airborne, higher than the mast!
Nathanos's cries immediately drew the crew's attention. Many sailors came out of their cabins, stared in surprise, then began laughing at Nathanos as he flailed helplessly in the air.
"Mr. Karin, get me down... Hurry, get me down! It's urgent!" Nathanos suddenly shouted from above.
"Mr. Mage, don't bring him down. Let the brat make a proper fool of himself!" The usually taciturn Musketeer Buck spoke up with a laugh. "I've known him for years, and I've never seen him embarrass himself like this!"
"No... Mr. Karin, you'd better bring him down!" Captain Leguli walked over with an odd expression. "Knowing Nathanos, if he's saying that, perhaps something really is urgent?"
Karin nodded and waved his staff, and the archer slowly descended to the deck.
As soon as he landed, Nathanos scrambled to his feet and shouted anxiously at Captain Leguli, "Captain... Captain, there's a ship in the distance... A skull flag... It's heading toward us!"
"What? A skull flag?" Captain Leguli's expression changed. "Quick, bring me my spyglass!"
"All hands, take up your weapons! Prepare for battle!" Captain Leguli shouted.
He had not been this tense even when they faced the Murlocs.
The deck was already in chaos. Every sailor had rushed up, carrying all manner of weapons.
Even without a spyglass, Karin could now see the black pirate ship in the distance, with a flag fluttering from its mast-a skull flag.
Thanks to Nathanos's keen eyesight, he had spotted the pirate ship from afar and given everyone time to prepare... Otherwise, if it had slipped close unnoticed, they might have been caught completely off guard!
"They really are pirates-and the infamous North Sea Pirates, at that!" Captain Leguli's expression was grim.
"Our luck really is extraordinary this trip. First Murlocs, now pirates!" Musketeer Buck said ruefully as he wiped down his beloved short-barreled gun.
"The North Sea Pirates are the most vicious of all the pirate bands operating around Northrend!" Nathanos explained beside Karin. "Some of the others just seize ships and take their cargo. They generally don't slaughter everyone... But I've never heard of anyone falling into the hands of the North Sea Pirates and coming out alive!"
As he spoke, Nathanos laid all his arrows at his feet. He was ready for battle.
Faint sobs from several female sailors reached their ears. They seemed to be imagining the tragic fate awaiting them if they fell into the pirates' hands.
Karin took a deep breath, then pulled a Lesser Troll's Blood Potion from his pocket. After drinking it, he raised his staff and recalled every spell he had learned... This might be his first real battle since becoming a mage, but he certainly did not want it to be his last!