4 CAREFREE CLAN

"Stop!" Kwame's loud voice echoed all around, and it surprisingly reached the ears of the people and made most of them stop. "What are you all running away for? There are so many of us, yet we are scared to face three creatures? Isn't this enough reason to justify why we Hollows get looked down upon?"

His words were an eye-opener for those who stood and even to those who were still running away. The next second, even those who were still escaping stopped.

"Clan Head Kwame is right."

"Yeah, we are the members of the Faceless clan. There's no need for us to fear, as long as our clan heads are here."

One after another, people began to walk back to the spot where they previously stood before. Some of the snakes, crabs, and all other sea creatures that bothered them before didn't bother them now at all.

Picazo and Sinario looked at each other and smiled.

Sariyu and Burton's hearts filled with pride as they saw the magnificence of their clan heads with their own eyes. Their respect over the clan heads grew by leaps and bounds. Howbeit, they both looked at Lirzod, and couldn't help but freak out as he danced in a weird manner, putting his hands in his pants, bringing them out in a haste, and repeated the process.

"What's he monkey dancing for?" Sariyu was puzzled.

Burton, who almost forgot what he did, covered his mouth and concealed his laughter.

The attention of some of the crowd did turn towards Lirzod, and it puzzled them. But their observation quickly shifted towards the three creatures which were almost upon them. Though their identity was unclear before, now they could see that those three were just horses. And most people breathed sighs of relief.

"What, so they are just horses."

"We were scared for nothing."

The crowd settled themselves as the horses almost reached them. Seeing those captivating horses that dazzled in the darkness, people couldn't blink. The mane of the horses danced in the wind and arrested the viewers' attention. Towering a little more than seven feet, the scenery of such creatures galloping on the surface of the sea, jumping over the waves as if they were the wooden hurdles in the stables, was simply grandiose.

Upon reaching the masses, the horses stopped after kicking their front limbs in the air, making some people step back momentarily. The waters receded back a little and brought the level back to their ankles.

The horses no longer stood on the water, but on the ground. Seemingly, countless snakes and crabs crawled about, some of which fought with the other.

"Not just fine… but what handsome stallions!" Allda couldn't help but envy their appearance. (Pure white breed and are perfectly healthy. It's hard to put a price on their heads.)

Lirzod was still dancing and he stomped over some of the snakes and crabs, which in turn tried to bite and choke him.

"Young Master! What happened to you?" Duera was still sitting on Primera's waist. "What are you standing here for? Go and help him!" Her voice rang in Primera's ears.

"Get down, and I will," Primera said at her own pace.

Duera looked down, and there were clusters of creatures all around her. She hugged Primera even tighter. "Go and help him or I'll squeeze you to death!"

"Feel free to try," Primera's concentration was rather elsewhere. It wasn't on the horses but at someplace else.

Duera used all her strength and squeezed, hoping to achieve her goal, but she didn't even get a response from Primera. She narrowed her eyes for a moment and stared at her. Still, there are no responses. She nodded to herself twice before moving her face closer and blew air in Primera's ears using not her strength, but her practiced rhythm, which made Primera jump like a deer and fall on Lirzod, who fell on Sariyu, who fell on Burton, who fell on Triera, who fell on the guy beside her. Like in a chain reaction, dozens of people fell to the ground and got themselves wetter than they already were.

"What the heck are these people doing?" Kwame placed his palms over his head. "This is so shameful."

"Nothing's shameful enough for the Faceless clan," Picazo patted once on Kwame's shoulder.

"Yeah, you say that, whenever your son is involved in the incident," Sinario shook his head, and looked at Lirzod who was still rolling on the crowd.

"How in the world did crabs in my underwear?" Lirzod didn't bother about the fall and instead was busy in pulling out the tiny crabs out of his pants.

"Kya!" Duera freaked out as some crabs and snakes got on top of her. She stomped over the people, including Lirzod and ran towards the clan heads. "Save me!"

"Freaking out over simple things," Sinario shook his head, again.

Picazo helped her get those things off of her.

Sariyu came to Lirzod and sat on top of him, before slapping him hard, and slapped him again with both her hands. His focus then shifted from the crabs to her. "Oi, why did you slap me?"

"Why did you fall on me?"

"Can't you see that others fell on me?"

"I don't care. You mess up everything that's around you. Look at my dress. It's totally spoiled now, thanks to your fooling around."

"You talk as if only your dress has gotten spoiled."

"If others don't mind about their dress getting dirty, that's their problem. But because you spoiled mine, you better remember this... You owe me a dress as costly as this."

"W-What?" Lirzod was shocked.

Sariyu caught a handful of crabs and touched the top of his pants. " Do you, or do you not?"

"I-I do, I do!"

"That's good. You just saved your python from getting shredded," She got off him, and stood, before shaking off some crabs that caught her dress, with a wave of her hand. Some of those crabs fell on Lirzod, which forced him to mimic her moves. "These damn crabs, I wish I can send them all packing back to the sea floor in one swoop."

"Ha-ha, you wish for too much," Lirzod stood as well and pulled out a couple more baby craps from within his underwear. He looked at those crabs that were still white in color. "How did these things even get in my pants?"

"Isn't it obvious? Someone put them in there," Sariyu casually said, which was heard by Burton. He stood not far away from them and crushed the crabs that bit his dress, and the sound their shells made after breaking felt nice to his ears.

"It's not you by any chance, right?" Lirzod glared at her.

"I wouldn't hint you if I were the one who did it. Would I?" Sariyu began to walk away.

(This devil... I'm sure she's the one who did it. Just you wait, I'll slide a slime into your dress one day!) Lirzod glanced at Burton, skipping his heartbeat once. "The heck are you killing them for?"

"They are biting me so I'm responding back, that's all."

"How silly."

"Hmph, won't you kill the ant that bites you?"

"Whatever," Lirzod ignored his words and walked away. "I don't have time to waste with you..." He looked at the horses. "What did those three come here for?"

"Obviously, for carrying us and our luggage, fool!" Burton snorted. "You can't even tell that? I guess Tarqa or Selena... Or maybe, even Megha would do a better job than you in the Sect Tests. An entry ticket is surely being wasted on you."

Lirzod ground his teeth. "Are you picking a fight with me?"

"I don't pick a fight with the weak. I just straight out mock them."

"Yeah, coming from the guy who failed in ten Sect Tests straight."

Both their glares raised the temperature by an unobservable amount.

"Enough eyeing out, you two," Primera came in between those two.

Meanwhile, the workers began to arrange the luggage on the horses' backs.

As everybody began to cheer up a bit, the winds picked up and so did the waves of the sea that got rowdy.

"Greatness may begin slowly, but it will always end beautifully," A melodious voice came from atop the figurehead of the ship upon which a woman in a white hood, stood and sang a beautiful song, while the floating violin beside her, composed music without evening her having to touch it. "Those who lose are those who deserve more than a snooze at the bottom of the sea. Every loser gets a lasting slumber from which they never awake." As the song reached its climax, the winds strummed the violin faster, and the air in between them shape-shifted and formed a staircase out of thin air, shocking everyone who saw that. Some even fell to their backs in a stupor and dread. "My name is Stussy Junksman. The three entries are welcome to climb up the Windy Way..."

"Oi, oi..." Syam had a deep frown on his face. (Commanding wind so easily with her music... Even my emotions are being affected by it.) He gulped the empty air. (She must be a Martial Elect! This is my first time seeing one!)

"How can her voice reach us from miles away? Such an intimidating show right off the bat!" Allda tried to clench his fists. (My hands won't stop shaking.)He used all his strength and barely managed to form a fist. (Tarqa... I don't know how good Shatterfist Sect is, but I swear on money, it's shit as compared to this one.)

"Where's this voice coming from?" The people's heartbeats sped up. "Is it coming from the ship?" They couldn't tell, no matter how hard they focused on the hearing. Other than some people, most people couldn't even locate the source of the voice. As for being able to see her appearance, even fewer were able to achieve that feat.

The foggy staircase was as wide as ten of the streets in their town combined. Its sheer size awed them, and they all wanted to step on it, but the voice from before explicitly welcomed those three. Unable to even dare to probe their own luck, the crowd could only curse their own bad luck.

The clan heads kept gazing at the ship, wearing a complex expression on their visages.

Kwame slightly narrowed his eyes. (That woman... She's not just controlling the wind, but also the waves of the ocean. She's not your average Martial.) He glanced at Picazo and Sinario who cast glances at one another before stepping forward and took their children towards the stairs.

The workers kept on adding luggage on the horses and didn't seem like they'd stop any time soon.

"Each of the entries is allowed to carry an additional hundred kilos with them," A voice came from the ship. "So make sure of the package weight. And make it quick."

Listening to that, the workers had arranged the packages and didn't add the bags those three told them not to. In less a minute, all the packing was done.

Those three talked with their parents — the clan heads — for one last time.

"There's nothing more to say," Picazo palm gently rubbed over Lirzod's cheek. "Stay safe."

Lirzod smiled. "I have your eyes and mother's mouth. I will be safe no matter where I am, father."

"Win the whole thing," Sinario said to his son.

"That is my intention," Burton replied back with confidence.

Sariyu and Kwame just stared at each other.

Those three turned back and went to the horses. When they were about to get onto them, the horses turned away. Though they were puzzled, they tried to climb them again, but this time, those three got the treatment in a similar fashion — a rear kick without even looking.

The three of them fell back.

"Heh heh heh!" The three horses began to make noises, which sounded like they were laughing, closer to how a human would.

The entire clansmen felt enraged upon seeing that. "How dare a damn horse kick our Young Masters and Young Mistress? Beat them to death!" They all bolted ahead, startling the horses, which ran away using the staircases.

Being humans, their legs carried them far slower as compared to the horses. The people stopped at the edge of the staircase. It's not that they didn't want to chase after the horses anymore, but it's only that they didn't dare step foot on the stairs, as they weren't given permission to do so.

"Calm down, everyone," Picazo's voice came from behind. "I'm glad that you all showed worry for our young ones. But don't take what happened to them as an insult to our clan. As compared to those horses owned by Extensive Voyage, our entire clan wouldn't worth as much be it in wealth or in prestige.

"Well said," A voice came from the ship. "Our horses... If you can't subdue them, you can't ride them. If they kicked anybody, it only means those people are not worthy to sit on their backs. Don't take this in any other way, and just have the entries climb up using their own feet."

Picazo glanced at the crowd. "You heard her. I think she's right."

The crowd was forced to nod, even though some still felt angry for what happened. "Clan Head Picazo, forgive me for saying this. We may be faceless, but not heartless. We can't act to be liking those whom we don't." Saying that some separated themselves from the crowd and just watched the things from a distance.

"Don't mind the crowd that left," Sinario joined in and reassured the remaining crowd. "They are just acting on their impulses, that's all. Not many get an opportunity to witness something like this. Take in everything you can, every inch of the ship, and capture all of its wonders. You can tell your grandkids about this with pride."

Lirzod, Burton, and Sariyu began to climb the stairs on their foot. The stairs felt soft as if they stepped on top of clouds.

"Doing whatever they please," The silhouette standing atop the figurehead smiled. "What a carefree clan..."

As all the members of the Faceless clan witnessed, the three young ones who bore all the hopes of the clan, climbed the stairs, which also made them feel like their people were ascending to a place that's well above their imaginations.