Ning stood on the deck of the Silvertail. It was one of the most magnificent ships on this side of the world.
The King of Darius himself had gotten a ticket to this ship for Ning for everything he had done for their family.
Ning had taught his daughter, helped his wife, and even taught himself quite a bit to make him feel that simply paying 5000 Spiritual pearls to such a person was simply taking advantage of his kindness.
As such, the day before Ning was to leave, he had handed him the tickets.
Ning smiled aboard the ship as he remembered the adorable little princess cry while hugging him to not let him go.
He would see her from time to time, but it was time for himself to move on with his journey.
He only had 10 more years on this planet and he wanted to spend those times making the best he could of his days.
The salty smell of the air helped him feel at peace.
There were times when he wondered if he should just jump into an object and sleep for 10 years. But, he knew in his heart of hearts that he liked the journey as much as he liked the destination.
Saphandra walked next to him and sat down close to him.
Ning turned to look at her and saw her beautiful face framed in violet hair. Ning's own hair was blue now.
"Can I ask you a question?" Ning asked.
"Sure, go ahead," Saphandra said.
"Do you not want to settle down somewhere?" he asked. "I and Taron will leave this planet in 10 years, but surely you would want to settle down right?"
"What do you mean?" she asked. "Like finding a man and getting married and stuff?"
"Well, not necessarily getting married, but finding a place you can call home," Ning said. "I'm sure you've been searching for it since you lost your own."
Saphandra's face turned melancholic as she put on a sad smile to speak. "It's not that I don't want to settle down and find a home," she said. "It's more so that… that I don't think I deserve it."
Ning gave a confused look. "You don't deserve it?"
"I… I can't really explain it to you," she said.
Ning had come to understand that there were things in Saphandra's past that she just didn't want to share. While he wanted to know what they were, he respected her privacy and did not use the system to learn about it.
"Explain it to me when you can," Ning said. "I won't judge you."
Saphandra gave a thankful look to Ning for not questioning her so much, and she went back to looking at the ocean.
As they were sitting on the deck, a couple approached them, both with green hair on their head, and sat in front of them.
"Excuse me, would—"
"We dyed our hair," Ning said before the two could even say anything. He had already seen the two staring at them for a while and knew that they were likely scouting them for some school or organization.
It wasn't just them. Ning had had a lot of people approach them with the premise of improving their lives by having them join their schools and such.
While he had changed his hair to blue so people wouldn't be surprised and suspicious when he caused what could only be interpreted as miracles.
The couple returned back with a scowl on their face, but Ning didn't care as they received some free time.
"When do you think the pearls will be ready?" Saphandra asked.
"Hmm… by nightfall maybe? Surely before we reach Taminghall empire," Ning told her.
"I see," she said. "I'll go back and continue reading then."
Time passed by and Silversail appeared at the port of one of the outer cities of the Taminghall empire.
It was a city called Ranadar, and had one of the biggest fish markets in the entire empire.
Being so close to the equator, the fishes the fishermen got here were some of the best in the world.
Saphandra walked through the port, not far away from the fish market, and had a surprised look on her face.
"I had assumed it would stink way more when I learned it was a fishing city," she said. "But it barely smells like any other city out there. Are you sure this place has a lot of selling and buying of fishes?"
"I'm sure," Ning said. "The only reason you don't smell as much fish is that the fish themselves don't smell as much. Not to mention, it's not the amount that is sold here that makes it the biggest in the empire, or maybe even the close few empires. It's what they sell here."
"Don't they sell fish?" Saphandra asked.
"Yes, but not just any fish," Ning said. "So close to the origin, the fishes here are more attuned to the spiritual energy and have a lot of spiritual energy in them."
"In a way, they are great spirit foods that the nobilities of the empire desire on a daily basis to improve their Spiritual rank," Ning said.
"Oh, fishes here are like that? We didn't have those back in my world," Saphandra said.
"Yes," Ning said. "If I'm not wrong, a single fish that is sold here is equal to about 20 or so pearls worth of spiritual energy. Imagine eating 20 pearls with every meal. Sometimes more."
"I see," Saphandra said as she looked around. "No wonder it's the biggest."
They walked on and soon reached a tavern in the deeper parts of the city where the fish stench didn't reach them.
Ning looked at the tavern that was obviously miles better looking than any tavern he had been to yet.
However, that wasn't much of a surprise as he had already arrived at the western part of the planet. The part that was closer to the origin and had much looser rules about summoning in general.
