“Ugh… my head.”

  Despite his best efforts to pace himself, Lukey still ended up with a headache as he woke up in an unfamiliar place. Below him was a bed that was not his bed, and he was in a room that was not his room. The entire place was a wooden structure, unlike how his home was made, and judging by the window next to him, he was currently sitting on the second floor.

  Surprisingly, Lukey was still dressed in his clothes yesterday, minus his sandals. Still, he did a quick check to make sure he had everything. He had his pouch of money that was given to him last night, and his shirt, vest, trousers, and sandals were all still there. He wasn’t missing anything, but that didn’t explain how he ended up here.

  After walking out the door opposite the bed, he walked down a hallway and a flight of stairs until finally reaching the first floor.

  Ah… now it makes sense.

  On the first floor of the building Lukey was in was some sort of dining area, with tables and chairs along with some booths. To his right, there was a reception area that doubled as a bar on its far right side. Managing the bar was a fair brunette who wore a bored look on her face, which perked up when Lukey arrived down the stairs.

  “You’re awake! How was your night?” she asked.

  “Um… fine. Do you mind telling me how exactly I ended up here?” he asked. “The last thing I remember is leaving a party at the Searing Seas.”

  “I suppose you were a bit out of it.” She spoke. “You’re in the Seashell Inn; your friend, the big guy with the dark tan, dropped you off here and paid for the night.”

  Lukey nodded his head in slow realization. He had gotten a bit too drunk to walk home, so Caldoon dragged him here for the night. After that, he passed out in bed with his clothes still on. If he went home, his mother would probably be furious that he stayed out this late, which makes it even more fortunate that he was taken here instead.

  “I suppose that explains it.” He mumbled to himself. “By the way, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “It’s Sarah Timbers; speaking of which, hold on while I make you breakfast,” she insisted.

  “Breakfast? You don’t have to…” Lukey started before his stomach betrayed him.

  “It’s fine; it comes with the room.” She chuckled before ducking into a backdoor that led to what was presumably the kitchen and leaving it open.

  “Speaking of which, I never caught your name,” she called back.

  “It’s Lukey,” he answered, before finding a chair and sitting down.

  “Just Lukey?” She called. “No last name?”

  “We don’t really have family names on the island,” Lukey explained. “Though I do have the last name of Wright.”

  “Lukey Wright, I got it.” She confirmed. “Sorry, I’m still getting used to things on the island. I still haven’t met many people in town, so we’re kind of lost in understanding how things work.”

  “It’s fine,” Lukey dismissed. “By the way, this place seems a bit empty. Don’t some of the merchants need a place to stay while they wait for another ship to leave the island?”

  “The emperor has them in a shelter for the time being until all their belongings are sorted. Though once they get their money and goods back, I imagine they’ll be wanting nicer places to stay.” She spoke.

  After some waiting and meaningless conversation, the food was ready. Sarah came out with a plate of fried and seasoned veggies, along with a loaf of bread. Surprisingly, there were no fish, which made Lukey raise an eyebrow. This action didn’t go unnoticed.

  “I know what you’re thinking: ‘No fish,’ right?” Sarah guessed. “I’d prepare some, but I have no idea where to get some. There isn’t even a fishmonger in the town yet.”

  “That’s… surprising,” Lukey said, astonished. “We have a fisherman’s guild, but no one to buy or sell fish. What a complete waste.” He then started shoveling the food down his gullet so he could quickly make his way to the guild. The meal was a far cry from what he had last night, but it was still a decent breakfast. After finishing the plate, he stood up and looked at Sarah.

  “I’ll talk to Caldoon; maybe we can find someone to do that job—hopefully someone from the merchant class.” Lukey told her.

  “That would be wonderful,” she said. "I’m still shocked at how casual he is with everyone. I’ve heard that all emperors were above the petty problems of people like us, but he seems different.”

  “More direct perhaps, but don’t forget the fact that he destroyed a fleet of ships yesterday. He may be more casual, but he’s still an emperor.” Lukey warned.

  “How could I forget?” Sarah shivered. “I already heard about all those slaves they were taking. I was unsure at first, but I’m glad Adran brought us to this island.”

  With all that said, Lukey waved Sarah goodbye and left through the door opposite the service desk. After getting his bearings, he knew that the inn was close to the wall that separated the harbor and the town. He knew which direction to head and made a left as he walked through town to Ocean’s Bounty.

  Time to face the emperor.

  …

  The double doors of Ocean’s Bounty parted, and Lukey stepped inside to see the front desk, empty as always.

  “You’re on time.” He heard a voice say to his right.

  It was Triton, who was without his signature spear. He was leaning on the wall, seemingly waiting for Lukey to arrive.

  “On time for what?” Lukey asked.

  “The meeting.” Triton answered. “Caldoon wants both of us to meet with him so he can assign us new duties.” Then, Triton went behind one of the desks, stopping at one of the two entrances to the second floor. “Come with me.” He spoke.

  Without a word, Lukey followed up Triton to the stairwell, onto the second floor of the guild building. So far, Lukey had only seen the equipment storage room where all the fishing equipment was stored. Right now, however, he was being taken to some place entirely different as he went right past that room.

  At the end, the hallway veered left and connected to another long passageway. Judging by the layout, Lukey could surmise that the hallway followed a long loop, going around the sides of the guild and meeting at the very back. The back of the loop had only a single door, the one Triton was gesturing for Lukey to enter. Lukey went in first, with Triton following behind and closing the door behind them.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Lukey looked around the room and noticed it was both quite spacious and quite lavish. In the center of the room was an exquisite wooden desk. There was also a comfortable-looking chair behind it, facing away from Lukey toward a window that let the morning light shine through. To the side, Lukey could see couches, bookshelves, and even a weapon display.

  “Like it?” A voice rumbled from behind the chair. It then spun around to reveal Caldoon, sitting in a calculating pose. “This is what we took from the captain’s quarters of those cargo ships. There’s even more stuff in storage too.” Then, Caldoon gestured both to sit down; Lukey opted to take the couch, whereas Triton chose to stand in a stalwart manner.

  “Alright, let’s begin,” Caldoon announced, and the meeting was initiated.

  “First, I would like to commend both of you for putting so much effort into the last several days. Lukey, you spent every moment you could arranging for new weapons to be made, and you eventually conquered the entire labyrinth, even going so far as to eliminate a potential threat to the island. Triton, your actions during the dominion’s attack were instrumental in securing the cargo ships and rescuing those captured people. I’m extremely grateful for both your support and hope to see the same level of effort going forward.”

  Lukey felt a surge of pride with that statement. He wasn't a level five hundred monster like these two, but at least he could do this much. It was a truly wonderful feeling to be appreciated for what you did, even if another person could have made it seem much easier. All his life people called him lazy and unfocused, but now he could finally hold his head high.

  Heh… take that, instructor.

  “Now, time for some good news!” Caldoon announced. “After you two brought Ms. Aquamarrow to me, we had a little talk and arranged a deal. She’s going to talk with their tribe’s bone carver, and we’re going to have her make a copy of Hemmingway’s Icon!”

  Both listeners’ faces became radiant at that statement. The only reason there were three fisherman class holders on the island was because it would be too difficult to protect the original if it were revealed openly. If a copy was made, then anybody could get the class and become a fisherman. However, there were additional problems with this method.

  “I’m glad that we can finally copy the icon, but are you sure we should go about revealing its location at this point?” Lukey worried. “We just met the Ryugu; are you certain they can be trusted?”

  “Your concerns are valid, but don’t worry,” Caldoon said. “I’ll be escorting her there and watching her every move, which also means I’ll be busy supervising the construction of the new icon.”

  Triton and Lukey nodded in unison, confirming they understood the emperor's plan. It wasn’t a guarantee that nothing bad would happen, but if they wanted to get Ocean’s Bounty running like a real guild, they needed to take risks.

  “I will be busy for the next few days, which brings me to your new assignments!” Caldoon announced. “First, someone will need to supervise Tranquil Waters; with the merchants, the luxe, and the zaurians here, there are bound to be disagreements. Triton, you will stay here and mediate any trouble that happens while I’m gone.”

  “Of course, emperor.” Triton answered, bowing as he did.

  “Good, now for Lukey.” Caldoon began. “Your experience in Claw Cove should have given you an idea of the basics, but don’t get cocky. Triton told me about your assessment of the stalker's abilities, and you were correct in assuming that the stalker was an infant. In fact, you should take this as a reminder that just because you have a high level doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re strong.”

  “What exactly do you mean by that?” Lukey asked. Up until now, he would’ve assumed that a high-level person was the definition of strong. A higher level meant higher attributes, which meant a higher rating.

  But this wasn’t necessarily true, was it? The stalker had high strength, dexterity, and intelligence, likely courtesy of its high level. Yet, it was filled with glaring weaknesses that Lukey expertly exploited. If Lukey considered what Triton explained to him about monster evolution, the stalker was mainly weak because it hadn’t gained any traits or evolved yet.

  There are other ways to gain attributes too, like achievements that give bonus attributes. Weapons also make a big difference in a fight, along with the arts you are capable of using.

  That was when Lukey realized there were so many factors to strength, and levels weren’t the only thing he needed to manage.

  “Glad to see you’ve already begun considering this,” Caldoon said, waking Lukey up from his deliberations. “Yes, there are many factors to a person’s power, and by jumping ahead in levels, you’ve become somewhat imbalanced. This is something I want you to correct while you start taking missions.”

  “Missions?” Lukey asked. “And what do you mean by correcting my imbalance?”

  Caldoon held up a hand to stop Lukey’s rambling, then began his explanation.

  “Put simply, there’s work that needs to be done around the island. The appearance of an abyssal stalker is just a symptom of a greater problem that we’ve been trying to address for a while now: monster invasions.”

  “Isn’t the island protected against…” Lukey began.

  “Monsters above level eighty? Of course, but there are other ways to infest the island.” Caldoon interrupted. “Sometimes eggs wash up on shore and hatch on the island; other times an invasive species washes up on shore and wreaks havoc. Even the monsters native to this island sometimes need pacification. There’s plenty of work to be done, and Ocean’s Bounty exists to address them, in addition to making profit through fishing.”

  Lukey nodded in acknowledgment; after seeing the stalker and how Triton was chasing down the tyrant, he knew that there were problems on the island that needed to be addressed. It seemed that Lukey’s job now extended to helping the rest of the island, in addition to helping develop Tranquil Waters.

  “So, what exactly do you want me to do?” Lukey asked.

  “I expect that you will have some deliveries to make, specifically those Shell oil glands you’ve gotten, so take care of those today.” Caldoon said. “After that, Triton can give you a lesson in how to better use your arts, because I want you to start thinking about how you’re going to develop them. Finally, before the day ends, I want you to take a mission off the mission board downstairs; that will be your next task to work on for the next several days.”

  Lukey sank into the couch, thinking about what Caldoon asked him to do.

  First, the deliveries around town, which Lukey already planned to do. The new waterproof clothing would take a while to make, so it would be best to get that done now rather than later.

  Then, there were the missions; this was probably what Caldoon meant by addressing the monster problems around the island. Lukey noticed the mission board on multiple occasions, and he saw how the requests were slowly trickling in. He didn’t really concern himself with it, since his level wasn’t too high at the time. Now, however, it looked like tackling missions would be his primary task for the foreseeable future.

  The last task, however, confused Lukey.

  “Develop my arts?” Lukey asked. “You mean you want me to start making changes to my arts?”

  “Yes, you should have a few at this point, and it wouldn’t hurt to start thinking about how you want to fine-tune them.” Caldoon told him. “Make or modify an art; there’s no deadline, but I expect at least some progress within the next several days.”

  “Alright,” Lukey confirmed. “Do my deliveries, take a mission, work on my arts; it’s a lot, but I’ll get it done.”

  “Great!” Caldoon exclaimed. “Meeting adjourned! Lukey, you can leave; Triton, stay here. I need to explain some things.”

  Lukey stood from the couch and bowed before exiting Caldoon’s office. Triton and the emperor watched him leave and close the door before continuing their conversation in private.

  “Is this about how I treated the boy? He needed discipline and…” Triton began.

  “It’s about that tyrant eel: Mei’ai the Devourer.” Caldoon interrupted, leaning back in his chair. “When I went out to look for that flagship, I saw it swimming around the island’s perimeter. I tried to chase it too, but the thing had already learned how to manipulate aether. It’s so fast, I can’t catch it.”

  “WHAT!?” Triton said, screaming in astonishment. “HOW!? It was level five not ten days ago!” Then, Triton remembered the tyrant’s trait. “Wait… Does it have something to do with its ability?

  “I would guess so.” Caldoon surmised. “The eel must have attacked the fleet after we did and ate up some of those barbarians that were still in the water. That thing levels up at an astonishing rate. It’s already the size of a large village, and it can manipulate the water now too.”

  This explanation caused Triton to tremble before reaching for the couch to sit down.

  “What are we going to do?” Triton despaired.

  “Well,” Caldoon started, “the thing is this may not entirely be a bad thing. The fact is that Mei’ai is now above the threshold and repelled from the island. Dragon’s Lance can deal with it now that it’s left the island, so it’s out of our hands.”

  Then, Caldoon sat further back in his chair and took a deep breath.

  “I just hope it doesn’t bite us in the ass later.” Caldoon huffed.