The northern ocean was peaceful.
Beautiful.
Silent.
Ancient.
Moonlight stretched endlessly across dark waters.
Cold winds drifted through the sails of passing ships.
The stars illuminated the sea like countless silver eyes watching from above.
Everything should have remained peaceful.
It did not.
Because aboard the Sea Wanderer.
A group of extremely motivated idiots had discovered a new technique.
And unfortunately.
Motivation was often more dangerous than competence.
The First Incident
It started innocently.
A young sailor stood near the starboard side.
A spoon rested in his hand.
His eyes narrowed.
Energy gathered.
Compressed.
Contained.
The sailor grinned.
Several friends watched nearby.
"Look carefully."
Another.
"I almost mastered it."
The friends nodded.
One even crossed his arms.
"Show us."
The sailor inhaled deeply.
Then threw.
WHOOSH!
The spoon vanished.
The sailor's eyes widened.
His friends' eyes widened.
The spoon had actually worked.
It flew.
Far.
Very far.
Farther than anyone expected.
The group cheered.
"YOU DID IT!"
"THAT WAS AMAZING!"
"YOU FINALLY LEARNED IT!"
The sailor proudly puffed his chest.
Then.
Far away.
A distant scream echoed across the ocean.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Silence.
The sailors froze.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
They turned toward the sound.
Several hundred meters away.
A merchant ship sailed peacefully.
Or.
At least it had been peaceful.
Before a spoon suddenly embedded itself into the captain's hat.
The hat now hung from the mast.
The captain stared upward.
The hat stared downward.
The entire merchant crew stared at both.
Then.
The captain pointed dramatically toward the horizon.
"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!"
Chaos immediately erupted.
The Merchant Ship
Captain Darius had spent thirty years at sea.
Thirty years.
Pirates.
Sea monsters.
Naval battles.
Storms.
Nothing surprised him anymore.
Or so he thought.
Then a spoon flew out of nowhere.
Pierced his hat.
Pinned it to the mast.
And nearly gave him a heart attack.
His first mate rushed forward.
"CAPTAIN!"
Darius pointed dramatically.
"We are being attacked!"
Another.
"Battle stations!"
The sailors panicked.
Weapons appeared.
Crossbows loaded.
Swords drawn.
The merchant vessel transformed into a battlefield.
The first mate looked around desperately.
"Where is the enemy?"
Captain Darius pointed randomly.
"I don't know!"
Another.
"But they're definitely there!"
The crew nodded.
Reasonable conclusion.
Nobody questioned it.
The Second Incident
Meanwhile.
Back aboard the Sea Wanderer.
The sailors learned absolutely nothing.
A second sailor stepped forward.
"If he can do it."
Another.
"I can do better."
Famous last words.
The sailor selected a fork.
Energy gathered.
Compression formed.
The sailor threw.
WHOOSH!
The fork vanished.
The crowd applauded.
Then.
Far away.
Another ship.
A luxury passenger vessel.
A noblewoman calmly drank tea.
The fork landed perfectly inside her teacup.
SPLASH.
Tea exploded everywhere.
The noblewoman screamed.
The servants screamed.
The guards screamed.
Nobody understood what happened.
One guard examined the fork.
Then whispered.
"Assassination attempt."
The other guards nodded.
Obviously.
Who else would place a fork inside tea from two hundred meters away?
Only a master assassin.
The entire vessel entered lockdown.
Raven Discovers the Problem
Near midnight.
Raven finally noticed.
The explorer woman stood near the railing.
Watching the sea.
When she noticed.
Something strange.
Very strange.
Several nearby ships appeared unusually active.
Lanterns moving.
People shouting.
Weapons drawn.
The woman frowned.
Then looked behind her.
At the sailors practicing.
Then back toward the ships.
Then toward the sailors again.
Silence.
The realization hit.
Immediately.
"Oh no."
The Third Incident
Unfortunately.
By then.
It was already too late.
A young adventurer launched a hairpin.
Successfully.
Very successfully.
Too successfully.
The hairpin crossed nearly half a kilometer.
Before striking a pirate ship.
Directly.
Into a barrel of gunpowder.
Silence.
Then.
BOOM.
The explosion illuminated the night.
Everyone aboard every ship turned.
The pirate vessel erupted into chaos.
Pirates ran everywhere.
Screaming.
Shouting.
Accusing each other.
One pirate captain grabbed his first mate.
"WHO DID THAT?!"
The first mate screamed back.
"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?!"
Another pirate pointed toward the darkness.
"ENEMY SHIP!"
Another.
"WHAT ENEMY SHIP?!"
Another.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
The pirate captain looked ready to cry.
Kel Finally Notices
At this point.
Even Kel noticed.
The silver-haired traveler looked toward the horizon.
Then toward the multiple ships.
Then toward the explosions.
Then toward the screaming.
Then toward the sailors.
Who suddenly looked very innocent.
Very.
Very innocent.
The kind of innocent only guilty people attempted.
Kel sighed.
Deeply.
The ocean suddenly felt smaller.
Much smaller.
Raven walked over.
Arms folded.
Expression completely dead.
"Your students."
Kel glanced toward the sailors.
Then back toward Raven.
"They are not my students."
Raven pointed toward the explosions.
"Explain that."
Kel remained silent.
Fair point.
Telepathic Conversation
Far away beneath Scarder Lake.
Seiren had already fallen off her chair.
Not literally.
But close.
The Guardian laughed so hard she struggled to breathe.
"THEY STARTED A WAR!"
Kel rubbed his forehead.
"No."
"There are explosions."
"A misunderstanding."
"There are three ships preparing for battle."
"An unfortunate misunderstanding."
Seiren laughed even harder.
"You taught them one technique!"
"Technically Raven asked."
"Stop blaming Raven!"
Kel remained silent.
Because he wasn't wrong.
The Investigation
Captain Roland finally intervened.
The aging captain marched onto the deck.
Expression terrifying.
Very terrifying.
Even sailors who had fought sea monsters stepped back.
The captain pointed toward the crowd.
"Who launched the spoon?"
Silence.
Nobody spoke.
The captain pointed again.
"Who launched the fork?"
Silence.
The captain narrowed his eyes.
"Who launched the hairpin?"
Three different people raised their hands.
The captain froze.
Then slowly covered his face.
The situation was somehow worse.
Much worse.
The Other Ships Arrive
Unfortunately.
The story wasn't finished.
Because the other ships had reached conclusions.
Incorrect conclusions.
Very incorrect conclusions.
The merchant vessel approached.
The luxury passenger vessel approached.
Even the pirate ship approached.
All three.
At the same time.
The crews looked angry.
Extremely angry.
Captain Roland stared.
Then looked toward Kel.
Then toward the sailors.
Then toward the approaching ships.
Then back toward Kel.
"Fix this."
Kel blinked.
"What?"
Captain Roland pointed toward the ocean.
"Fix."
Another.
"This."
Kel looked around.
Then sighed.
Again.
A common habit lately.
The Confrontation
The ships stopped nearby.
Captains began shouting.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
"You attacked us!"
"Explain yourself!"
"We demand compensation!"
The pirate captain also shouted.
"We demand compensation too!"
Everyone froze.
Even the pirates.
The merchant captain pointed toward him.
"You're pirates."
The pirate captain pointed back.
"We were attacked too!"
The merchant captain hesitated.
Fair point.
The luxury vessel captain nodded.
"Technically true."
Suddenly.
Nobody knew who was supposed to be angry.
Kel Steps Forward
Eventually.
Kel walked toward the railing.
Moonlight illuminated his silver hair.
The ocean winds moved his cloak.
Everyone looked toward him.
The mysterious traveler.
The same traveler whose name had spread across the ship.
Kel calmly asked.
"Does anyone have evidence someone intentionally attacked you?"
Silence.
The captains exchanged glances.
No.
Not really.
Kel continued.
"Did anyone see an attacker?"
More silence.
"No."
"Did anyone identify a source?"
"No."
"Did anyone die?"
"No."
"Then perhaps."
Another.
"It was an accident."
The captains hesitated.
Because unfortunately.
That sounded reasonable.
Very reasonable.
Then Kel pointed toward the sailors.
Who instantly looked terrified.
"Several people were practicing."
Another.
"They lacked experience."
Another.
"The objects traveled farther than expected."
Another.
"My apologies."
The sincerity in his voice surprised everyone.
Even Raven.
The merchant captain slowly lowered his weapon.
The luxury captain sighed.
The pirate captain scratched his head.
Then asked.
"So."
Another.
"You accidentally attacked us?"
Kel nodded.
"Yes."
Silence.
The pirate captain stared.
Then laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed harder.
Soon.
The merchant captain laughed too.
Then the luxury captain.
Then the crews.
Because honestly.
It was too ridiculous.
Far too ridiculous.
A spoon.
A fork.
A hairpin.
Starting an international incident.
Nobody could stay angry.
The Legend Grows
By sunrise.
The story had already changed.
Naturally.
The first version.
"Sailors accidentally launched objects."
The second version.
"Sailors learned Nameless Throwing Art."
The third version.
"Three ships were attacked."
The fourth version.
"A spoon declared war."
The fifth version.
"A fork attempted assassination."
The sixth version.
"A hairpin bombed pirates."
The seventh version.
"The Ocean Itself Feared Nameless."
Kel learned about these rumors later.
His response was simple.
"...Why?"
Nobody could answer.
Not even Raven.
Because somewhere between reality and storytelling.
Logic had drowned.
And by the time the sun rose above the horizon.
Every ship sailing those waters knew one thing.
If you ever saw a spoon flying toward you.
Run.
Because somewhere nearby.
An idiot was practicing a technique invented by a man who refused to give it a name.