The Erratum

Chapter 82: The Great Leviathans.

The world was plunged into darkness as nighttime arrived. The waters surrounding the Aegir had been passing by an ink-like liquid that was as tenebrous as the depths.

The moon rose far above the skies, illuminating some of the ink-black seawater.

The moment looked serene, peaceful even..

The waves were calm and the seas were silent.

But the crew knew not to take this silence for granted.

As they had already survived two Leviathan encounters today, the crew was left hours upon hours of rest. And as the night arrived, the hours of respite that they had received turned suspicious.

And yet, the crew enjoyed these quiet hours, resting their weary bodies and doing their respective chores.

For three hours, Cetas had slept in the quarters below deck, which was now vastly different from the day prior. The hammocks were raised, the furniture was in a different place, and the overall vibe seemed to be just put back together in quick succession.

Of course, this was not the permanent setting for where they sleep, they just needed time to redecorate once more.

But that purpose of redecorating was losing its value.

One day, a Leviathan will arrive and mess with the rooms once more.

After Cetas had woken up, he discovered the rest of the crew hard at work.

Jones was at the infirmary, sorting out medicines and creating concoctions while injecting his Zeal in it.

This will greatly help in alleviating the Dread that would creep in their hearts.

Elishia was in the kitchen, preparing ingredients for dinner. Reid was with her, chopping up some meat and vegetables with a straight face.

Reid was serious, precisely cutting the ingredients into perfectly-sized bits.

Galkan was near the crew’s cabins, somehow forming a room for him to work.

Many tools were located in this workshop, a heavy steel anvil was settled in the middle as Galkan struck it with a small hammer.

Atop the anvil was a metal encasing something that emanated a faint glow.

Cetas knew what it was..

It was the two Zeal Essences that Skadi had gathered.

It felt lucky somehow..

Today, they encountered three Leviathans that are Dreadspawns and possess a unique set of Zeals!

Usually, since not all Leviathans are Dreadspawns, they wouldn’t drop a particle of essence after they perish.

But the past three Leviathans that the others have felled all possessed Zeal!

As to how to differentiate whether a Leviathan was a Dreadspawn or not.

It was quite obvious, actually.

If one were to encounter a Leviathan-Dreadspawn, then they would feel Dread creep up on their heart, albeit faint when it is a low-ranked Dreadspawn. Whereas a normal Leviathan possessed no such feat at all!

Now back to the present, at night, where the moon illuminated the calm seas, Cetas observed the ink-like weak waves that hit the Aegir.

He would’ve loved to stargaze right now but alas, he could not..

The stars in the sky were faint, blocked by the light pollution caused by the moon.

Another night without the stars..

The stars not appearing in the night sky didn’t bother him that much. It was just disappointing.

However, the one who was really bothered was Skadi, who had trouble navigating where they currently were.

As sailors commonly utilized the stars as a form of navigation, when the moon rises to the top, it would make quite a struggle to see where you were at.

Skadi stood atop the mast, staring at a wide map of considerable size and length.

Cetas saw the golden-haired captain stress over the navigation in the night.

"Quite a peaceful night, huh?"

Reid leaned back on the edges of the chip.

"Yeah.."

The two went silent, none of them were much into small talk after all.

But then, their silence was broken by Reid.

"Hey, a few hours back.. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I was carried by my emotions."

"Oh."

Cetas thought for a while.

"It’s alright, you were only looking out for me."

"Yeah.. You ought to learn more about your Zeal though.. You can’t just be straining it every time. If you do that constantly, then you will be more susceptible to losing control."

Cetas tilted his head downwards.

"I will.. take note of that. Thank you.."

The winds casually blew on their faces, their hairs flowed along its current.

Cetas looked up at Skadi once more..

"Captain’s stressing out, that’s a rare sight."

Reid looked up with him.

"For a navigator, she must know all the paths that we are headed at all times. Since we exited Helios from the eastern side, we might have a bit of trouble if we keep going east."

"Why’s that?" Cetas asked with a curious tone.

"Because if we keep going east away from Helios, then we’d find ourselves in one of the Depths—a place where a Great Leviathan like Poseidon resides.."

Cetas frowned.

The feeling of encounter with Poseidon was one of the worst sensations that he had ever had.

The Dread enveloping his being was too much!

So, if possible, the crew would rather not risk it.

"If we keep heading east, then what do we encounter?"

"Oh that?" Reid’s voice turned eerie, "We will encounter the strongest Great Leviathan there is! Therefore, we are headed to Abyssal Depths if ever that ship keeps going."

"The strongest Great Leviathan?" Cetas asked with utmost curiosity.

Reid turned his head around, gazing at the endless serene sea.

"The Great Leviathan Abyss—an Abominable Rank Dreadspawn that have felled many Bishops, and Archdioceses of the Helios Church. It is said to have been in the pinnacle of its rank and once it ascends to become a Profane One, Helios would succumb to its desolation.

"An Abominable.. That’s the same rank as an Empyrean—a low-level Exalted.."

Compared to Skadi, Abyss was leagues beyond in strength.

"How strong is it compared to Poseidon?"

Reid let out a scoff.

"Poseidon wouldn’t even hold a candle to that thing! No one has actually seen what Abyss was like except for the Archdiocese that survived the first Hunt. Even then, when they attempted a second one, the entire squadron was wiped out."

"..."

"Of course, there would be records left in the Church of Helios, but as of right now, they haven’t released anything yet.."

Cetas quietly blinked at him.

"You know a lot about Leviathans, don’t you?"

Reid was astonished.

"I-I.. know a couple of things.. In order to be lethal, I have to study a lot."

Reid’s aloof demeanor was broken.

"I see, that’s great. Everyone has their own interests in this crew. Skadi has her way with her navigation and charts, Jones specializes in medicines, Galkan can forge weapons and Zeal weapons with ease, Elishia is the best at cooking, and you are the guard of the crew.. You know a lot more about Leviathans and your Zeal is the most deadly out of all."

Cetas smiled.

Some of the clouds parted in the sky, revealing the moon’s glow in the darkness.

"I hope I can find my own place too."

Reid stepped forward and patted Cetas on the shoulder, "I’m sure you will.. The world is vast Cetas, there are so many things that you are yet to experience."

Then, Reid walked off into the main deck, leaving Cetas alone on the edge of the ship.

He’s not as cold as he seems.

Cetas remained watching the waters that surrounded them. No longer were they ink-black.

The moon’s illuminance filtered out in the waves, creating a sense of repose that calmed the very heart of Cetas.

After a few moments passed by, he turned around to head over to the quarters.

The ship rocked constantly, however, it wasn’t too intense.

As the night relentlessly plunged out of darkness, Cetas went to sleep, awaiting the next morning and the next set of troubles that would arrive.

*

In the next day, particularly in the afternoon, everything seemed alright.

The crew went on about their days, doing specific chores while maintaining caution. Reid and Skadi trained Cetas, Jones remained in creating his concoctions, Elishia meditated to ascend to a mid-level Acumen, and Galkan kept forging the Zeal Weapon.

Everything seemed.. Quiet.

Eerily quiet.

Even the seas and waves were calm.

Cetas sat in the middle of the main deck, reading a book about Leviathans that Reid had given him.

Elishia, who had just finished meditating, walked over to Cetas while she looked around.

"Isn’t it too peaceful?"

Cetas looked up, "Yeah, I’ve noticed too.."

"After yesterday when we faced two Leviathans in the span of mere hours, I would expect something to disturb us at least."

Cetas let out an awkward laugh.

Please don’t say that.

"Anyhow, I think I’m getting closer to finding a way to raise my Zeal Level. I’ve been meditating in the past few weeks and I can sort of get a sense of what it would be."

Elisha’s mouth turned into a wide grin, showing her gleaming white teeth.

"I’d bet I can become a Seeker in the upcoming weeks!"

She added:

"Once I do, I’ll Flourish on my Elemental Zeal, I really hope I can get a Unique Zeal soon, though!"

Elishia pouted, and continued talking, "You’re really lucky, y’know? It’s only been what? A few weeks? A month? But you’ve already gained a Unique Zeal as a Spark and a Conceptual Zeal too! Just what are they feeding you in the Depths?"

Elishia laughed but after seeing that Cetas had a confused face, she cleared throat.

"That was a joke, uh, nevermind."

She then laid down on the floor, her body spread out without care.

"Anyways, let’s enjoy the peace while we can, it might be gone in the next moment."

Cetas’ mouth turned into a wry smile.

Please stop saying things like that..

In a couple of seconds, Elishia fell asleep beside Cetas.

Cetas continued to read and learned about the Leviathans logged in the book.

In the world, there exists 5 Great Leviathans that roam their respective corners near the 5 continents. The closest to Helios was the Abyssal Depths, housing the most dangerous Great Leviathan of all, Abyss.

In the northern side of the continents, above Nero and Sylis and below Verdigian is the Emerald Depths where the Great Leviathan Malachor.

The Great Leviathan of the Emerald Depths looked like a giant crystalline serpent that had emerald scales and jade eyes. The portrayals in the book that Reid gave actually didn’t show the colors, but the descriptions were written in it.

The serpent was at least a hundred feet long, often striking ships that passed by with its hardened tail.

It was reported that getting a scale of Malachor would fetch one with thousands of Solaris!

However, no one was brave to do so.

Next was Gigantia Depths, located west of the continent of Verdigian and southwest of Reverie. Here, the Great Leviathan Gigantia roamed its seas.

Gigantia was explained in the book as a titanic whale that was several hundred times larger than a normal pirate ship. Survivors reported that when encountering the Great Leviathan, the entire sea would be plunged into darkness.

The seawater would turn black, and it would seem as if they were sailing on nothing.

Afterwards, the crew of the ship would be devoured by this darkness. The ships would then sail in the Gigantia Depths, unmanned and having no crew to handle it.

It is said that the Gigantia Depths are also called the Graveyard of Ships. Oftentimes, when one was brave enough to sail in it, they would find ghost ships that would sail aimlessly.

Next, above the Gigantia Depths, covering the entire west side of Reverie and scaling up towards the Emerald Depths in the north was Poseidon Depths, where Skadi and the others met their demise.

Poseidon was explained to be a humanoid Leviathan that would constantly grind its teeth, inflicting Dread into the hearts of Zealots.

Poseidon worked as a hunter, often utilizing Dread to weaken its foes and then devour them whole from below.

From kilometers away, people would already hear the sound of grinding teeth and they would already be marked by Poseidon’s gaze.

They cannot escape nor can they run.

So far, the recorded escapees are a few members of the Church of Helios, the Fateseekers of Reverie, and the Vanguard of Light.

Adding to that was Skadi and her crew, who were saved by the Historian.

Lastly, in the eastern part of sylis was the Shattered Depths, located slightly above the Abyssal Depths.

Abyssal Depths was large in size, covering up most of the seas in the east. Meanwhile, the Shattered Depths only covered a small part in the northeastern side.

The Great Leviathan of the Shattered Depths was unclear to many. Some said that it was a large kraken, others said it was similar to Malachor, but no one truly knew the truth.

However, it is theorized by the scholars of Sylis that the Great Leviathan was actually the Shattered Depths itself!

It is reported that the Leviathans in the Shattered Depths were unified, almost containing a single mind that made them a pain to deal with.

It is also said that Shattered Depths houses the most Leviathans out of all the Great Leviathan territories. No one truly knew how many there were but its sheer numbers swarmed sailors and pirates alike.

Thus, the Great Leviathan was hailed with the name Fracture, befitting the name of multiple Leviathans that acted unified but is fractured into multiple minds.

This concept reminded Cetas of a familiar figure.

The unified Leviathans, shattered mind, and its sheer numbers.

Cetas’ face turned sour.

There’s no way, right?

He flipped a page of the book, and saw the illustration of Fracture.

There were several Leviathans in the drawings. A ship was in the middle of the illustration, surrounded by different Leviathans alike. freewebnoveℓ.com

But something ticked inside Cetas’ mind.

There’s really no way..

He was reminded of a familiar Perfection-seeking individual that propagated itself into endless bugs.

Is the Great Leviathan of the Shattered Depths the Prophet of Perfection?!