If there was one thing Jack managed to reaffirm his stance on, it was the absolutely dreadful experience that sailing must have been back in the middle ages and before. Back in the times when there were no phones and internet, when each and every journey across large bodies of water was somewhat of a coin flip, with the end result of one's survival barely more than a chance. At the very least he could spend some of his free time fishing. Or in his case half napping while a rod was planted right next to him, line cast and possibly attracting some foolish and hungry fish.

  At least his fishing attempt provided him unexpected way to train his spiritual senses, as he needed to try and filter out what he perceived and what not, least the whole point of not knowing when and if something will bite would be spoiled. Thus, he concentrated on his spirit senses, doing his best to filter out small schools of relatively small fishes that swa around his floating raft, all the while keeping track of the overly large aquatic lifeforms or the schools of fish that were too large and could potentially present a danger were they some sort of piranhas on steroids.

  He did land a couple, relatively small fish that were released as soon as caught. Jack had little desire to try and fool around with cooking whatever he caught. The logistics were quite a problem, what with the small raft and its relative flammability. Not to mention the extra light that would no doubt draw unnecessary and undesired attention, be it from the depths beneath, skies above or the no doubt ever closing other coast. He had to admit, he knew this river was incredibly wide, but he had not expected it to be just so massive. Had he not checked and confirmed that the water was indeed freshwater, he might have assumed he was crossing some sort of a sea straight.

  "Heh, then again, just how much can I honestly say I know about this new world I have found myself in?" he chuckled to himself, realising the absolutely limited amount of knowledge he had available to him. He had spent most of his time in a small beginner town, his nose buried in his crafting experiments most of the time. And what little knowledge he had amassed, all revolved around what was classified as ever shrinking part of a massive world occupied by sentient and civilised races.

  But in that very last implication lay a rather large fallacy. Who decided that the civilised races were losing ground all the time, as small and grinding as it was. Were there not supposedly also conclaves, tribes and cities outside of the supposed lands of civilised people, living their own way as well? What made them not civilised? Was it their adherence to more archaic ways of leadership, with the stronger ones taking charge? Was it their willingness to have slaves? Questions upon questions kept cropping up as he mused on the idea.

  And then, the most glaring question of them all surfaced. Did higher monsters count as civilised races? Vampires and the like? Ones that might consider humans and other similar humanoid races a viable food source but still having their own cities nations? Or were they deemed nothing more than threats to be exterminated if given half the chance? Would the ants he had farmed and murdered in thousands count as civilised if they suddenly developed individual personalities, could talk, perhaps be reasoned with?

  "Damn you mind. Behave." Jack huffed, as random drawings of rather salacious and thirsty vampire ladies flashed in his mind, a throwback to his time back on earth. He would be the first one to admit that there was something oddly alluring about monster girls of sorts who were more interested in doing dirty stuff than using you as an emergency- or regular for that matter- rations. Doubly so for people who had nothing but their own kind around, just like it was back on earth.

  He could also easily understand the lack of similar enthusiasm from the local populace, for whom Arachne's, lamias, vampires and likely all other manner of monster girls were a real possibility, making romanticizing and lewd-ing them less appealing. It was no doubt so much harder to think of vampire ladies, for example, in a lewd manner if you had seen one tearing through your friends neck and bathing in his blood, even if said individual was quite beautiful and looking at you while winking and seducively lickeing her blood stained lips. Yes, that did indeed feel more like a nightmare fuel than a turn on.

  "Should I consider creating a city that would serve as a neutral ground for both sides once our guild is an established entity and a powerhouse to be feared and respected?" Jack mused, the idea of a neutral territory where ironclad and possibly brutal punishments could ensure that neither people of monster side dare resorting to violence. Yes, the idea was shaping out to appear more and more appealing by the second. 'I could also acquire a monster-girl maid platoon that would work at my mansion.' he thought further, all manner of possibilities branching out of the idea. He knew there would be plenty of would be contractors begging to commision his creations, if for no other reason that he has the ability to create elixirs of attribute increase. That alone- if released to general public as mere rumors even- would cause plenty of movers and shakers to send out scouts and information collectors, with plenty no doubt also sending delegations to try their luck in establishing early deals in case the rumors were true, assuming of course that brute force would not be a viable option- hence the current secrecy and biding of time until they had the power necessary to deter any such military response.

  "FINALLY! LAND!" Jack exclaimed with a smile on his face, his spiritual senses picking up the barest hints of the other side. Small, clearly land based birds were beginning to flash in his perception, accompanied by the signatures of other, land dwelling smaller mammals strutting around at the far edge of his detection range. "No sailing adventures without proper entertainment for me. That's for sure." Jack reaffirmed to himself, having found that a few hours on a raft was more than he ever wanted to experience of swaying on the waves without company and entertainment.

  "Fuuck!" he then groaned as realization dawned on him that if he indeed was on another continent, he would be near guaranteed to have to board some ship in the future, coming back to the problem he had just decided to not experience again. "Guess I will have to earn plenty of whatever money the locals use for trading. Fuck spending days, weeks or months even on a dead ass boring sea voyage. No thank you, sir."

  ----------------------------

  A group of six women, no older than their mid twenties, were hurriedly drawing water in rather large pots made of clay, with four, lightly armored men who looked like beast like humanoids walking on two legs standing a bit further away from the water. While each of the beastmen men was lightly armoured, their bodies clad in simple leather armour, covering their torsos at best, coupled with calf height leather boots that covered their legs and feet and simple, rather worn out leather gloves, they were very well armed, with each holding a spear and a shield combo made of solid metal, further supplemented by a clearly well made bow and quiver on each of their backs respectively.

  Two of the four kept their eyes locked on the group of women, sneers of superiority and arrogance on their muzzles, while the other two kept their eyes on both the water and the surroundings each taking one target. With the size of the clay pots- waterproof cans more like it- and the fact that each of the women had to fill and take care of two such containers, all while making sure that as little dirt was drawn along with the water in said pots, it took a considerable amount of time, or so the guards seemed to think, and soon enough one of the two keeping their eyes on the women sneered "Get on with it. Wouldn't want to be here when the Kraiko swims by, now do you. Seems about time for its daily patrol."

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The threat, or perhaps the guards thought it a hilarious joke- the women did not dare to speculate- clearly was amusing the rest of them, earning a burst of laughter from the remaining three.

  "Wako, don't be too cruel" another laughed as he spoke, fake concern and clear disgust towards the women in his voice "What will we do if they cannot take it any more and decide to throw themselves into the river? Gods forbid we have to carry those pots of water back on our own."

  "Please Ruhi, slaves like them can be bought a dime a dozen. Master will not even blink at their loss. Just look at those hideous faces and forms without a lick of glossy fur. Brhhrhrhrh." Wako replied and shuddered, clearly disgusted at the mere thought of having to even touch one, let alone do anything more.

  "Damn straight. I will never understand why city lords even entertain the notion of allowing such filth to live within our walls. I say we cull them all and get on with our lives." the third one chimed in, clearly just as disgusted as the rest, perhaps even more so.

  "While you do have a point, free manual labour is always appreciated, especially with how little you actually have to feed them if long term profit is your goal." the fourth chimed in, clearly more money focused than the rest.

  "Ha ha ha ha." the other three laughed, their gazes moving towards the last speaker, with one of them pulling his leg jokingly. "Marsha seems to be milking you dry. Why not consider buying one of the whores full time? I reckon it would be cheaper still."

  "What do you know. She is from merchant class and is my ticket into the middle cast. I might be run dry but my kids will be born with privileges you can only dream of. No amount of effort spent will give me even a glimpse of that." The fourth guard replied, an odd amount of pride in his voice, silencing the other three as though they were utterly destroyed in their unofficial debate, until one of them agreed half defeated a moment later. "Fair enough. Our bad."

  "Joking is fine and all, but be careful about who and where you speak out loud. Even walls have ears you know." the fourth added in a much lower tone, his index finger moving to cover his lips. And so, with their slight distraction solved, they returned their focus towards the six women, spitting insults ever now and again, threatening serious beatdown if they did not hurry up.

  ---------------

  What had they done to deserve a life like this? Their bodies always pushed into hard labour, with barely any food and rest to sustain themselves. Supplemented with whips of words and leather, licking their backs and limbs if their overseers thought they were not working as fast as they desired, or if they had a particularly foul mood, or even if they just felt like it. Abuse, hard labour and the threat of death loomed over their heads like a headsman's axe, waiting for the right moment to descend and end their lives.

  It was all the harder to go on because of those damn enslavement collars around their necks, both forcing them to obey out of fear for the pain they could inflict should they not do as ordered, as well as the enchantment that urged them to live in hopes of better tomorrow. Such insidious tools they were, kindling hope in the depths of their souls even if they knew full well there was none to be found. Whoever came up with those collars must surely have been one sick, sadistic fuck.

  Who then to blame for their misfortune and their wretched fate? The ones who raided their villages? Captured them and made them slaves? Or the ones who decided on the route and lands they traveled to in their nomadic ways, always keeping ahead of any large monster hordes and danger zones. Or worse yet, themselves for failing to end their lives the moment they realized what was in store for them? Or should they blame whatever entity dragged their ancestors over to this god forsaken land, condemning them to lifetime of wandering, struggle for survival and constant losses?

  'At least we still have freedom in our heads, if only in the form of dreams and fleeting thoughts, hoping for an end to his miserable life and a better one that comes after.' Sindu thought as she carefully drew water in her second pot, finishing her part while making sure to not make unnecessary movement to stir up more dust in the water and spoil the drawing for her sisters in chains. She did look up and around, her eyes searching for the slightest unnatural ripples in the relatively calm water surface. Kraiko serpents did love to split the water with their dorsal fin-like appendage that adorned their back. If there was one thing to fear for, it was the serpents arrival. They were enormous, aggressive and extremely gluttonous.

  As a wind whisperer, at least a former one- the damn collar dampening most of her abilities to the point of non usage- her senses were sharper than most, allowing her to avoid danger on a regular basis, prolonging both her own and her slave- sisters lives. And wasn't that a cruel joke? She often wished she could die, but the damn collars magic made her hopeful, doing her best and using whatever she could to survive, while not endangering her masters of course. Damned collar.

  Thankfully, there were no signs- not even in the whispers of the wind- of any Kraiko serpent nearby, allowing for a moment of calm, only to be replaced by a sense of danger as she felt something approaching from the far side of the river, slowly floating their way. The wind that was blowing towards her whispered so. A wooden raft of sorts, carrying something, someone, on it.

  "There's something out there, floating towards the coast." she spoke almost absentmindedly on reflex, the damn collar no doubt at work and compelling her to warn the overseers of a possible imminent danger, protecting the interest of her 'owner'. Sindu could not help but curse inwardly, the fleeting hope of finally being freed in death once again departing with gusto, the will to live with the barest hint of a future not enslaved enforced again and again by the damned slave collar.

  Her words drew the attention of the guards, their sharper sights darting towards the horizon in search of the supposed stranger approaching, only to do so in vain for a few minutes.

  "You little shit." hissed one of the guards after their failed attempts, slowly walking down the slight slope they had stood atop of "Thought such prank funny, huh? Let's see how funny you feel when your back will burn from the whistling whips lashes."

  Sindu's body visibly shrunk at the mere mention of the whistling whip, inwardly cursing the damned compulsion of the collar as terror took over her senses, as well as her class that had given her the information she had then subconsciously shared. If the slave collar was the most hated artifact the enslaved people hated, the whistling whip was close second, accompanied with fear and terror of the discipline tool.

  The whistling whip did little damage to ones actual body, leaving barely any actual marks on the flesh after struck. Did not mean it was ineffective at its job of inflicting agony that sent fear and caused some of the younger ones who had experienced the treatment to wet themselves at the mere mention of the tool by one of the overseers with authority to use it. When struck by it, one felt as though they were flayed alive, all the while salt and pepper was sprinkled on their flesh devoid of skin. Worse yet, the excruciating pain lingered for hours after the whipping was done, leaving the poor sod on the receiving end incapable of anything but screams of pain and tears, all until their voice was so horse no sound came and their eyes were dry. Worse yet, the whipping would make one unable to do the tasks assigned to them right after whipping, ensuring another similar punishment came again in the evening. Was it any wonder that anyone would shrink and tremble in terror at the very least at the mere mention of it?

  "Wako!" came a call from the remaining guards, momentary halting the berating guard as he was approaching Sindu "I actually see something on the horizon, slowly drifting our way. The dumb broad spoke true! How in the seven hells she sensed it before us?"

  "Right! Wasn't one of them a wind whisperer or something? Don't they hear ship from the wind?" another up there exclaimed, as if remembering.

  "Tch, got lucky this time." Wako huffed, ordering the women out of the water. "Chop, chop! Move away, lest one of you catches as stray arrow or spell." he added, gripping bot his spear and shield in his hands and ushering the slave women, their pots filled with water with them, further away from water. Whatever it was that was approaching, they would not be caught unaware or unprepared.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 30

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +4

  Attributes:

  Strength- 24 (14+7+3)

  Vitality- 23 (12+8+3)

  Dexterity- 21 (15+6)

  Intelligence-15

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme.

  Gear: amulet +2 vit: weapon- Gundao+3 str. Rings- spatial storage,