Chapter 903 — Journey to the Far North
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
"At first I took it for a 'charged cloud wall' of Chaotic Turbulence and was greatly alarmed for a while, but soon I saw that it held no such wild, runaway magic, that there was no strange luminescence at the top of the cloud wall, and that the whole of it showed no sign of moving; yet its scale was far greater than the cloud walls of Chaotic Turbulence... A cloud wall joining sky and sea stretched across the whole ocean like a true 'impassable bulwark,' and at its foot the sea churned with countless whirlpools great and small, the wind and waves despairingly high... I think I know what that thing is.
"It is part of the 'Eternal Storm'! From the highest peaks of the northern realm, with a mage's eye or some other observing device, one can see its afterglow cast upon the sky; from the seaward peninsula of the Holy Dragon Duchy its edge can even be seen with the naked eye—and I am now in waters no human has ever reached, observing that storm at close range...
"Damn it, I went the long way round and drifted to the far side of the Eternal Storm!!
"The continent is over there—the coastline of the Holy Dragon Duchy or the Violet Kingdom lies beyond that cloud wall. Goddess of Magic, fate has played me a monstrous joke... Now at last I can be certain of the continent's direction, and certain of the route home—and, incidentally, certain that it is a dead end.
"I carefully considered the possibility of passing through that storm to return to the continent, then laughed at my own naivety and audacity; afterward I began to consider whether I might go around that astonishingly vast cyclone... and laughed at myself once more.
"But after laughing, I thought my second plan might perhaps work... Take up human courage and endurance—there is indeed a certain possibility in it. Think: I have already drifted so far, setting out from the east of the continent and making such a great circuit over the sea, all the way around to the far side of the Eternal Storm—so why not go half a circuit more, around to its other face? My condition is indeed much worse than before, and the ship has become a pile of rotten wood... but daring to challenge is better than dying trapped on this boundless ocean...
Reading this, Gao Yang could not help raising an eyebrow.
In the first half of the notes he had thought the young Mojin too reckless (and in truth the old Mojin seemed much the same), but now he could not help admiring the man's courage and resilience. To drift alone on the sea for months, all the way to the North Pole, and in the end still summon the courage and fighting spirit to try to round a "marvel of the heavens" like the Eternal Storm—such resolve was not something ordinary people possessed.
"He certainly inherited the stubborn temper of the first Pioneers..." he could not help sighing softly; then he smiled and read on—
"Day X of Month X. I must record what happened today. I... once again I do not know how to express what I feel.
"Earlier today I began to carry out that brave 'detour plan.' After a period of meditation and rest I judged my magic sufficient to drive that pile of rotten wood around the relatively safe waters at the edge of the Eternal Storm, and so I did, and came smoothly near that cloud wall, and then—damn it, then that blue dragon appeared again!