Martial Online.

The sailboat came to a sudden halt in the slightly foggy waters. The fog wasn't as heavy as in other parts of Dark Waters.

It wasn't even thick enough to hide the water surface.

Moriarty leaned over the edge, looked down at the water, and saw a shadowy figure diving at insane speed.

He narrowed his eyes and moved the spear into a thrusting stance.

At that moment, a voice spoke inside his mind.

'You should face your opponent.'

"Aaargh…" Moriarty groaned in annoyance and kicked the sailboat back and forth to alarm the creatures below the water. "Happy?"

'Yes.'

Splash—an enormous splash appeared behind him as if dynamite had exploded under the water.

A figure with a fish tail and a rageful-looking face jumped out of the water with a trident-looking spear in hand. It looked like the trident was made of fish bones.

'It is indeed a person from Waterfolk!' The soul sounded surprising. 'However, his eyes look mad. I have never seen them this way.'

"I am now facing him. Do not disturb me anymore!" Moriarty spun around and thrust the spear towards the Waterfolk's human-like face.

The Waterfolk creature saw the threat of the spear and submerged back into the water. 

He swam to the other side of the ship and jumped out of the water, then threw the bone-made trident towards the human.

Moriarty masterfully spun the spear around and parried the flying, bone-made trident. In that same moment, a small scratch appeared on Waterfolk's cheek, as if the parrying had injured him!

He also looked visibly shaken, as he couldn't understand how he was injured.

'I feel like something is wrong. Waterfolk is the most peaceful race I know!'

"Shut up! He attacked me; you saw it!" Moriarty brought the spear down, grabbed it with both hands, and stabbed the Waterfolk's shoulder.

"Graaaah!" He let out a mad-sounding cry of pain and then dropped back to the ocean, dropping towards the bottom like a rock on a pond.

Moriarty hopped off the sailboat, dropped on the water, and swam after the Waterfolk, who was still suffering from the injury.

He didn't want to allow Waterfolk to escape.

'No, let me talk to him!'

"Don't!" Moriarty's eyes widened in shock, and he soon lost control of his body.

His expression turned proud as the soul again took control of his body.

Then he dove after the Waterfolk, grabbed him by his arm, and threw it out of the water.

The waves carried him to the shore, and the sand of the beach instantly clung to his skin.

"Aaaargh!" The Waterfolk cried out and tried to move back to the water, but then a handsome young man stepped out of the water with a spear in hand.

"What has happened to you?" Moriarty spoke in a very deep, muscular tone. "Waterfolk used to be such peaceful race. What is going on?"

"Hah…" The creature laughed with a hint of mockery. "You are a human; you wouldn't understand…"

"Try me." Moriarty said with his eyes narrowed.

"We were part of the collateral damage." The Waterfolk angrily stated, "We were thrown into the Banished Realm alongside the Grounded Gods… we had to suffer for so long…"

"What?" Moriarty frowned. "I heard that the Grounded Gods were defeated, but I didn't know Waterfolk was part of it."

"We weren't part of it. They forced us to be part of it!" The Waterfolk screamed. "They brought their war to us, and we had to suffer for it!"

"…" Moriarty looked confused as he asked. "If you were banished into that realm, how are you here?"

"I don't know…" The Waterfolk's expression morphed into extreme pain. "The sky in the Banished Realm cracked like glass, and then I found myself here.

"I tried finding others… I tried finding my wife and children… but they are still in the Banished Realm. They are still suffering there!"

"…" Moriarty stayed silent, but then his expression changed, and his face turned cold.

He placed the spear against the Waterfolk's throat.

"Do not take control of my body ever again." Moriarty whispered angrily.

'I had to know.'

"Know what?"

'Because the Waterfolk are a race that history has forgotten, you never heard about them. Now I know why, because they were thrown into the Banished Realm alongside the Grounded Gods.

'A tragic thing had happened to them, and no wonder that they have also changed.'

"I ain't dying here…" The Waterfolk whispered and suddenly lunged towards the water as if he were planning to swim away.

However, once his strange hand, which looks like a fish's hand, touched the water, the water got sucked inside his palm.

Moriarty moved the spear into a thrusting stance as he prepared to finish off the creature if he escaped to the water.

"Die!" The Waterfolk screamed, turned around, and threw the water that got sucked into his palm towards Moriarty.

The water droplets transformed to look like bullets, and they moved at insane speed.

'A sneaky attack. That isn't honorable. The Waterfolk race has indeed changed.'

"Does that mean I am allowed to finish him off?" Moriarty asked while parrying the water bullets with the spear with masterful accuracy.

After each parrying, more small, bloody scratches appeared on Waterfolk's body. The creature realized that whenever the human parried attacks, he was the one who received damage!

'Yes… In his current state, he is a danger to others.'

"Should've done this from the start." Moriarty hopped forward and harpooned the spear through the creature's face, ending his life faster than he could even think.

After removing the spear from the creature's face, he saw the Waterfolk creature start glowing before turning into mere pixels.

'Did you receive your precious XP?' The soul asked with a hint of mockery.

"Yeah, I leveled up." Moriarty said. "Worth it, I would say."

'I still don't understand how you received my legacy—the legacy of Knight of Ayl. We are polar opposites.'

"Are you calling me dishonorable? That's rude." Moriarty scoffed, put the spear back in his inventory, and picked up the items dropped by the Waterfolk creature.

'I know you have done some honorable things, but I don't agree with your way of doing them.'

"Maybe that's why I received your class." Moriarty said. "We can combine our strengths. You died because of your honor, even though you were the strongest knight of your time."

'I don't mind dying because of my honor. It's still honorable death.'

"Yeah, whatever." Moriarty rolled his eyes.

'Maybe you received my legacy so I can change you.'

"Good luck with that." Moriarty hopped back on his sailboat, and started sailing back to the harbor.

"Sigh…" As he watched the waves move past the boat, he relaxed by watching the bright blue sky.

'Honor… there is no honor in dying and losing.' He thought.

'I don't agree.' The soul heard it.

'I don't care.' Moriarty answered back and closed his eyes, then took in the fresh air with his nostrils.

'Are you still sure you want to take part in that tournament with that criminal?' The soul asked. 'You read the news. He terrorized that innocent town called Hightown.'

"You wouldn't understand." Moriarty said and opened his eyes. "In this world, he might be criminal. However, where we come, we wouldn't deem it so."

'Your world doesn't sound very nice.'

"It depends on perspective." Moriarty said. "You lack context."

'Well, I hope you are right. You wouldn't want to die because you trusted the wrong person, right?'

"Hmm." Moriarty closed his eyes. "I'll talk to him and see what his conviction is. If he seems weak, I'll drop the idea of working with him."