Part 2: The Sea of Dragons

People always find a way to get through it, and I hope you're no exception.

1 Isolated Island Meeting

The wind swept the clouds and the sea together, slamming them hard against the boulders on the shore. The waves grinned, beating the shore mercilessly, spitting out the droplets again and again, swallowing the waves back again and again, as if responding to the roar of the wind and the provocation of the black clouds.

The vast sea is a pale gray-black, and the lonely island tells the sadness of loneliness. Halfway Island - like a huge lump of dirt being thrown into the sea, revealing a hideous rock surface, it is impossible to find its meaning here.

As the name suggests, Bantu Island is located on the sea between the Sprelet Empire and the Dragon Empire, just in the middle of the sea route between the two countries, due to the frequent storms and rough seas in this area, there are no ships sailing nearby, and there is no other land nearby, Bantu Island is as remote as Windwalk, but it belongs to the other extreme.

Bantu Island is nominally not owned by any country, and no one will come to build it here - the barbed rocks on the island are against everything to block people's path, and even the proud petrels do not nest here. Only the west side of the island is blown out by the wind and waves into a semi-circular shallow, barely enough for people to land, and further onto the island is a towering boulder, without any animal or plant resources that can survive.

Bantu Island lives up to its famous reputation: no one will go to the island, there is no need to go to the island. Even the pirates who roam the seas can only glance at it with contempt and fear.

The stone that has been beaten by the wind and rain all year round still stands upright, showing its stubbornness to the furious sky. The wind weaves through the stone forest, roaring and moaning from boulder to boulder, sometimes mixed with desolate screams, like a hellish scene only seen in nightmares, where there is no trace of happiness.

The shadow skimmed halfway across the surface of the island, and with the sound of whirring wind and gliding, she landed on the beach to the west, followed by a loud, long call that resounded through the storm and into the depths......

The shadow slowly shrank, and the traces she had left on the sand were quickly swept away by the waves, leaving only a small human figure on the semi-circular beach. She still had to wait, and in order to hide from the wind and rain, she found a small recess on the huge stone pillar that stood tall, barely able to shelter from the wind and rain. She is not afraid of the wind and rain, and the long life of seclusion has long sharpened her heart into stone, and this wind and rain is only a harmless breeze in her eyes. But there is one thing that still needs to be done in a more peaceful environment - meditation.

Meditation is a practice often done by magicians, they sit still or kneel, close their eyes, and constantly practice concentration in their minds, the higher the degree of concentration, the longer the time, and the better the exercise. Because the strength of a magician's spell casting has a lot to do with the degree of mental concentration, but it is limited to the body's own physical limitations, and usually many magicians can meditate for more than a day. At the same time, the magician can also continue to decipher the content of the "Saknusem Manuscript" in meditation, as many words continue to be deciphered, the next words are more and more bizarre and undecipherable, due to the incomplete manuscript itself and the wrong record, even the method of guessing has become the first choice of some magicians, however, there have been no new decipherment results for two hundred years, or a few people have deciphered some words, and they have not chosen to make it public, resulting in the level of magic stagnating.

But she is an exception.

She thought that she might wait for a long time, so she wanted to wait in a meditative way, but in the sea not far away, a mysterious huge black shadow slowly surfaced.

She realized he was coming, but didn't open her eyes. A huge black shadow stepped onto the beach, dragging its huge body - like a small mountain.

She still hadn't opened her eyes.

The shadow noticed her and took a step towards her, each step making the sand of the beach throb and rattle the gravel in the distance. In a short time, the dark shadow was already close at hand, and she slowly opened her eyes.

The waves smoothed out the traces left by the dark shadows on the sand, as if nothing had arrived...... She saw him. The great black shadow was gone, leaving behind an old man with a kind face—his silver hair, combed very carefully, hanging down to his shoulders, without a trace of disarray. His face was bronzed, with sunken eye sockets, and a pair of dark brown eyes, which confided in the vicissitudes of time and the span of time. The long silver-white beard cascading down from the upper lip and chin and hanging down the chest is also very neat. He wears a brown robe with obvious Dragon customs, and he appears tall because he stands straight. With a pair of canes in his hands, judging by his state, he shouldn't be able to use it.

She knelt down on one knee and leaned in to salute: "Father." ”

The old man nodded slightly, motioned for her to get up and sit down, and then entered the recess of the stone pillar as well.

"You're late." She said coldly.

"I didn't expect you to look for me, I even thought you were long gone...... But I still came in time. The old man said meaningfully, and no one could misunderstand the concern in his words, "Then what shall I call you?" Daughter, I didn't even have time to name you when we were forced to separate......"

She replied coldly again: "I already have a name, you can call me -

"Wind chimes."

"What a random name." The old man smiled bitterly.

"But I like it." Wind Chime's cold answer was unconvinced, "This is the name my beloved gave me." ”

"Oh, I wonder what status I have in your mind?" The old man still said with concern,

"With all due respect, for you, this is the third time we've met, and for me, it's just the second time. You have no place in my heart. Wind Chime's tone was not only cold, but cold.

"But I gave you life, and I gave you that strength."

"I'd rather not have ......," said Wind Chime, biting her lip, "I can't grow old now, I can't die, and although I have great power, I can't even find my beloved......"

……

"Tell me what you took the initiative to ask me to do, help you find someone? Or do you want to talk about your background? The old man sighed, judging from his appearance, he could be the grandfather of the wind chimes.

"I'm not interested in my background at all, as for finding someone...... I can find it myself. Wind Chime's tone didn't change much, but it was a little softer, "I'm here to say goodbye to you." ”

"In fact, in my heart, I have already said goodbye to you. But why this time, why now? ”

"I want to look for it one last time, whether I find it this time or not, I will choose ...... Finish yourself ......" Wind Chime hesitated.

"That's your choice, and I won't stand in the way. Are you delaying your time? Regarding the remarks of the wind chime, the old man did not dissuade him, but had a feeling of taking it for granted.

"If I have to say, my time has stood still." Wind Chime's eyes darkened as he said this.

"Then what you call ending yourself is actually -"

"Frozen." Wind Chimes took the old man's words.

"Oh well. Alas—" The old man sighed, and there was nothing more to say.

"You once told me about the 'Curse of the Stars,' and someone recently brought it up to me. What's that, exactly? Wind Chime asked suddenly.

The old man looked at the sea as if he were recalling a very old story, and said, "I don't want you to get involved, but it's a fate from which none of us can escape......"

"Forget it, I don't care about these ...... either" Wind Chime said casually, this is indeed what she really means.

"If you're really going to pay attention, you can explore the Desperate Desert, which has some ...... There are some very unique and incredible things, but they should all be hidden deeply......" The old man looked at the gray sky, as if he said these contents to prevent the wind chimes from going. But he still took out a piece of parchment with a map-like pattern drawn on it, "Go from the sea, land in this place, and you will not get lost." ”

"Hmm...... Thank you, I took the map, and I took this opportunity to try to find it in the desert...... Father, goodbye. With that, the wind chimes sat on their knees, closed their eyes, and entered a meditative state, no longer speaking.

The old man understood that although the wind chimes were talking to herself, they were the last thing she wanted to express to him, and he looked at his daughter reluctantly, and walked back to the sea step by step, and after some time, he disappeared into the sea......

A huge black shadow emerged from the sea, looked back at the halfway island, and slowly turned to leave......

PS: The location of Midway Island can be found in the Background Setting World Map of the Curse of the Stars.