Morning arrived slowly.
A pale golden light spread across the endless northern ocean.
The sea reflected the dawn like molten gold.
Cold winds carried the scent of salt and adventure.
Normally.
After the chaos of the previous night.
Everyone should have calmed down.
They did not.
In fact.
Things somehow became worse.
Because the three ships that had nearly started a war over spoons, forks, and hairpins had not left yet.
Instead.
They had become curious.
Dangerously curious.
The most destructive kind of curiosity.
The curiosity that led intelligent people toward extremely stupid decisions.
Currently.
All three captains stood aboard the Sea Wanderer.
Merchant Captain Darius.
Luxury Ship Captain Alric.
Pirate Captain Blacktooth.
Along with dozens of sailors.
Dozens of explorers.
Dozens of passengers.
All surrounding one unfortunate silver-haired traveler.
Kel Rosenfeld.
Or as everyone currently knew him.
Nameless.
The mysterious man who apparently taught people how to start international incidents using kitchen utensils.
Kel stood calmly near the railing.
Meanwhile.
Everyone stared.
Waiting.
Expecting.
Demanding answers.
Captain Darius crossed his arms.
"Yesterday."
Another.
"A spoon flew across the ocean."
Another.
"A fork landed inside tea."
Another.
"A hairpin exploded pirate gunpowder."
Another.
"What exactly were those idiots practicing?"
Instantly.
Everyone nodded.
Even the pirates nodded.
Especially the pirates.
They wanted answers more than anyone.
Their ship still smelled like burned gunpowder.
Kel sighed.
A familiar habit lately.
Then he answered.
"A throwing technique."
Silence.
The captains stared.
Then stared harder.
Then stared even harder.
Captain Blacktooth scratched his beard.
"A throwing technique?"
Kel nodded.
"Yes."
Another.
"A throwing technique."
The pirate captain looked around.
Then pointed toward the damaged pirate vessel.
"That?"
Another.
"Caused all that?"
Kel nodded again.
"Yes."
The pirate captain looked ready to cry.
The Explanation Nobody Understood
Eventually.
Captain Alric asked the obvious question.
"Can you explain it?"
Kel nodded.
Then began.
"First."
Another.
"Take an object."
Another.
"Imbue energy into it."
Another.
"Compress the energy."
Another.
"Prevent energy leakage."
Another.
"Calculate trajectory."
Another.
"Release."
Another.
"The object accelerates using stored energy."
Another.
"It reaches the target."
Another.
"The target gets hit."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The ocean waves crashed softly.
Seagulls flew overhead.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because nobody understood.
Not even slightly.
Captain Darius slowly rubbed his temples.
"I understood less than before."
The merchant sailors nodded.
The pirate sailors nodded.
The luxury passengers nodded.
Raven nodded.
Even Raven.
Who had actually learned the technique.
Only understood half of what he said.
Kel looked genuinely confused.
"It is straightforward."
The entire crowd groaned.
The Pirate Captain's Brilliant Idea
Then.
Captain Blacktooth stepped forward.
A giant man.
Covered in scars.
Carrying a massive spear.
The pirate captain suddenly grinned.
"I understand."
Everyone turned toward him.
The crowd looked impressed.
Finally.
Someone understood.
Then Blacktooth pointed dramatically.
"The problem is the hairpin."
Silence.
"What?"
The pirate captain nodded confidently.
"It is too small."
Another.
"Hairpins are for women."
Another.
"Spoons are for food."
Another.
"Forks are for idiots."
The sailors responsible for the fork incident looked offended.
Blacktooth ignored them.
Then.
With great confidence.
He removed the massive spear from his back.
The weapon was nearly three meters long.
Its steel tip gleamed beneath sunlight.
The pirate captain handed it to Kel.
"Use this."
Another.
"A proper weapon."
Another.
"If you're throwing things."
Another.
"Throw something worthy."
The surrounding pirates cheered.
The sailors cheered.
The adventurers cheered.
Even Captain Darius nodded.
Reasonable.
Very reasonable.
Raven immediately felt uneasy.
Extremely uneasy.
Because she remembered something.
Kel did not understand normal standards.
At all.
Telepathic Conversation
Far away.
Beneath Scarder Lake.
Seiren sensed danger.
The Guardian immediately contacted Kel.
"Kel."
"Yes?"
"Don't."
"What?"
"Whatever you're about to do."
"I haven't done anything."
"That's exactly what worries me."
Kel looked at the spear.
Then at the horizon.
Then at the spear again.
"It should be fine."
Seiren immediately screamed.
"THAT'S WHAT YOU ALWAYS SAY!"
The Demonstration
Kel accepted the spear.
Everyone moved aside.
A wide circle formed.
The sea breeze intensified.
The sails fluttered.
The atmosphere became strangely serious.
Even the ocean seemed quieter.
The silver-haired traveler examined the spear.
Balanced it once.
Twice.
Then nodded.
"Acceptable."
Captain Blacktooth puffed his chest proudly.
Of course it was.
It was his favorite spear.
Then Kel raised the weapon.
Energy flowed.
Not visibly.
Not dramatically.
No giant aura appeared.
No magical circles formed.
Nothing flashy happened.
And that somehow felt more terrifying.
Raven's instincts immediately screamed.
Danger.
Extreme danger.
The explorer woman unconsciously stepped backward.
Captain Darius stepped backward.
Captain Alric stepped backward.
Even Blacktooth stepped backward.
Though he didn't know why.
Then Kel threw.
For a moment.
Nothing happened.
The spear simply left his hand.
Silently.
Gracefully.
Like an ordinary throw.
Then.
The spear disappeared.
Not flew.
Not accelerated.
Disappeared.
Vanished from sight.
BOOM!
The air exploded.
The shockwave alone nearly knocked people off their feet.
The ocean beneath the ship split apart.
A visible trench formed across the water.
Stretching endlessly toward the horizon.
Everyone stared.
Mouths open.
Eyes wide.
Brains refusing cooperation.
The spear continued.
And continued.
And continued.
Beyond vision.
Beyond the horizon.
Beyond understanding.
Then.
Several minutes passed.
Nothing happened.
People slowly relaxed.
Captain Blacktooth laughed nervously.
"See?"
Another.
"Nothing happened."
Then.
Far away.
Very far away.
A distant sun appeared.
A second sun.
A tiny point of light beyond the horizon.
Everyone froze.
The point expanded.
Then.
The ocean trembled.
BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!
The explosion arrived.
Fifty kilometers away.
Yet everyone felt it.
The sea rose.
Clouds scattered.
The air itself shook.
Several sailors fell onto their backs.
The pirate captain dropped his jaw.
The merchant captain forgot how breathing worked.
The luxury captain sat down.
Immediately.
Without permission.
Because his legs stopped functioning.
Then.
Several seconds later.
The shockwave reached them.
A wall of compressed wind swept across the sea.
The ship rocked violently.
Sails snapped.
People grabbed ropes.
Boxes slid across decks.
One unfortunate sailor flew into a barrel.
The barrel lost.
Silence
After the shockwave passed.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even blinked.
Because the human brain had limits.
And all present had reached them.
Captain Blacktooth stared at the horizon.
Then slowly looked toward Kel.
Then toward the horizon.
Then toward Kel again.
His beloved spear was gone.
Very gone.
Gone beyond recovery.
Gone beyond reason.
Gone beyond the concept of ownership.
Finally.
The pirate captain spoke.
"...That was my favorite spear."
Kel nodded.
"My apologies."
The pirate captain stared.
Then unexpectedly laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed harder.
Because honestly.
What else could he do?
His spear had become a natural disaster.
The New Problem
The demonstration created a new issue.
Everyone became fascinated.
Terrifyingly fascinated.
The merchant sailors rushed forward.
"Can we learn that?"
The pirates rushed forward.
"Teach us!"
The adventurers rushed forward.
"I want to learn it too!"
The scholars rushed forward.
"What density did you use?"
Kel immediately regretted everything.
Again.
The Question Returns
Captain Darius eventually raised his hand.
One final question remained.
The most important question.
The same question everyone kept asking.
"What is this technique called?"
Instant silence.
Everyone waited.
Surely.
After witnessing that.
After seeing a spear travel fifty kilometers and explode beyond the horizon.
Surely it possessed an incredible name.
A legendary name.
An ancient name.
A divine name.
Something worthy of legends.
Something worthy of history.
Something worthy of that throw.
Everyone stared at Kel.
The silver-haired traveler thought for several moments.
Then answered calmly.
"It's just a normal throw."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The crowd froze.
Then Captain Blacktooth pointed furiously toward the horizon.
"THAT WAS NOT NORMAL!"
Kel looked genuinely confused.
"Why?"
Another.
"I simply imbued energy into the weapon."
Another.
"Then compressed it."
Another.
"Then threw it."
Another.
"The spear did the rest."
The crowd collectively suffered emotional damage.
Raven covered her face.
Captain Darius questioned reality.
Captain Alric questioned physics.
The scholars questioned existence itself.
And far away beneath Scarder Lake.
Seiren laughed so hard she nearly flooded half the lake.
Because once again.
Kel Rosenfeld had achieved the impossible.
Not by throwing a spear fifty kilometers.
But by making everyone believe.
For a brief terrifying moment.
That such a throw was completely normal.