The Lord of the Seas - An Isekai Progression Fantasy [ Currently on Volume 2 ]

The moment Rosalia hit the water, the cold tore the breath from her lungs. It was like crashing through ice and the chill surged straight into her bones, stealing her warmth and numbing her limbs. She didn't scream, she couldn't; not unless she wanted to drown. Her instincts kicked in, forcing herself to keep her mouth shut as her body sank beneath the waves.

The chaos above faded almost instantly—the roaring wind and the shouting of sailors were swallowed by the muffled silence of the deep. The world turned dark and green, bubbles rising in slow, ghostly trails past her vision. Her eyes flicked open, wide with panic. She kicked her legs, clawed the water around her, disoriented and terrified.

And then she heard his voice in her head.

It was Lukas, using the Crown to connect his mind to hers. He was not just going to leave her to die.

"Stay calm, little one."

His voice wasn't spoken aloud—but within her mind. A tether formed through the bond they shared, one that pulsed like a lifeline through the haze of her panic.

"You're alive. And you are going to be okay."

Her breathing slowed even though she wasn't breathing air.

Her Mana responded to her fear and need, wrapping around her like an invisible membrane that let her breathe, kept her alive. Rosalia felt it—the water filling her lungs. But instead of drowning her, it began to sustain her; filling her lungs with what she needed to breathe beneath the surface.

"I'm scared…" Rosalia whispered into the silence of her thoughts.

She had to do something. The people on board the Merchant Guild's ship were still in danger. And Lukas expected her to keep these waves at bay? How on Hiraeth could she even do something like that?

"You should be scared," Lukas replied. His voice wasn't cold nor was it meant to be cruel. But it was firm. "The seas are not gentle. It is not some beast you can tame. It does not belong to you. And it never will."

Lukas' words had such deep meaning but it was lost on the young girl. Rosalia could barely think clearly yet alone deeply to grasp the knowledge that Lukas was trying to impart on her.

So she reached for the Mana again.

She summoned it like she had during their lessons—urging it to rise, to obey, to let her shape it the way she had seen Lukas do so many times before. And for a moment, it worked.

Around her, the currents bent to her will. A swirling vortex coiled at her feet. But it worked only for a moment.

The ocean resisted her authority. It fought against it, pushing back against her command. The pressure of the water seemed to intensify around her, as if lashing out against her attempt at control over the seas around her. She tumbled in its currents, spinning upside down until she couldn't tell where the surface was anymore.

Disoriented and nearly nauseous, Rosalia cried out—not with sound, but with her mind—and Mana responded in brief flickers, wild and chaotic.

Then Lukas' voice returned, steadier now.

"I said it to you once and I'll say it again. It may have worked against Soren but if you truly want to wield this Divinity, simply imitating the spells that you have seen me cast will not work for you, little one."

His words echoed all around her.

"You are trying to force the sea into shapes it doesn't want to take."

Rosalia clenched her jaw, her arms held tight at her sides as her heart thundered in her chest.

Lukas had realized this during the last few weeks as Rosalia had practiced using the Divinity of the Seas. And it was a realization that she would have to come to herself.

To Rosalia, a human girl who had never truly known the ocean, the seas had always been something distant—something sacred. But now, she was beginning to understand them. Not as a force to be tamed, but as something alive. Something ancient. Something that needed to be heard, not commanded.

She could never hope to control it.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Not like Lukas did, for he was born to rule the Seas.

But what Rosalia could do...was guide it—showing the path it could take to flow. The seas could be calm and serene. But they could also be violent, even merciless. And both of those truths could exist at once. To let the water breathe… to feel the rhythm of the tides and the pulse beneath the waves…that was how Rosalia Elarion learned to wield the Divinity of the Seas in her own magnificent way.

Not through domination. But through direction.

She extended her hands, and the raging currents didn't halt—they shifted, redirecting where they should have went.

The very strength that once threatened to tear the vessel apart was now propelling it forward, catching the hull with powerful surges that pushed the ship along its course like it had been chosen by the sea itself.

And Lukas watched it all unfold through her eyes, through the Crown that connected his mind to hers.

The Princess of Easthaven rose slowly from the depths, the waters gathering beneath her feet as if kneeling in reverence.

A luminous platform of solidified liquid carried her up, droplets of seawater glinting around her like stars. The Divinity of the Seas shimmered around her in a form that was utterly unique—not the forceful, unrelenting might Lukas was born with…but something gentler. Something far purer than Lukas' Divinity.

When she stepped back onto the deck, drenched and breathing hard, the entire crew stared in awe.

And Lukas laughed. Not mockingly. Not even out of surprise. But he laughed out of sheer wonder.

Because she had done it.

Rosalia hadn't just wielded his Divinity—she had reshaped it, made it hers, and the ocean followed her direction. The waves around them didn't calm but they no longer fought against the ship. The currents now danced at its sides, lifting the vessel higher and faster, cradling it like a favoured child of Oceanus himself.

Lukas turned his gaze skyward for a moment and exhaled deeply.

The Divine Knight had been right.

This girl was truly a wonder.

And in that moment, Lukas knew.

No matter what war waited ahead and no matter what gods or kings would rise to oppose them, it was his responsibility—his duty—to ensure that this girl had a future. Because if there was any hope for the future of Hiraeth, any hope for humanity as a whole, it would be because of people like Rosalia Elarion leading the way to greater height.

The princess held on for as long as she could—thirty full minutes of guiding the sea, directing its violent strength into something graceful, something purposeful. But Lukas could feel it—the slight wavering in the currents, the uneven pulses of Mana that emanated around her, the slow trembling in her stance.

She was reaching her limit. She had already shown him more than enough so Lukas stepped in to take her place. Quietly, gently and without a single word.

The ocean stilled, like an old friend recognizing a familiar presence.

Lukas' Divinity of the Seas slipped into place seamlessly, calming the waves and taking the burden off Rosalia's shoulders.

Compared to her, he barely had to exert any effort at all. But that didn't lessen what she'd accomplished before his eyes.

Give her a few years and Rosalia might very well give Lukas a run for his money.

Her knees buckled, her breath ragged and her skin pale from the sheer amount of Mana she'd called upon.

But just as she began to collapse, a pair of arms caught her.

"Woah there!" Jesse exclaimed, steadying her with a grin stretched wide across his face. "That was...amazing, Rosalia!"

She offered him a breathless smile, too tired to speak, but the spark of pride lit her eyes.

Lukas let them have their moment, but his gaze drifted elsewhere—out across the waves toward the distant ships of Nozar's fleet, their dark sails cutting clean through the ocean like sharpened blades.

At the stern of the nearest vessel to them stood a hulking figure, unmoving and unmistakable.

There was no other living man who stood as tall or as large as he.

The King of Nozar.

Even from this distance, Lukas could feel the weight of the Daerion's watchful eyes. And he knew—without question—that the King had been observing closely what had just happened.

Daerion had seen Rosalia's power. Her control and her potential. Although the King of Nozar did not know of her true ability, that did not change that a girl, who was barely twelve, was wielding the elemental magic of water at a level that mages in their forties couldn't dream of. The Kingdom of Nozar had many mages. But they had none quite like Rosalia Elarion. Or even Jesse Ilagron as they knew him for that matter, Lukas was sure Daerion had taken note of Velena's grandson and his control over the winds as well during their travels.

Lukas felt a flicker of unease settle into his chest. He glanced at Rosalia, still in Jesse's arms, smiling in her exhaustion. She was a miracle, yes—but miracles invited attention. And in foreign lands, that kind of attention could be dangerous.

It was why King Magnus had been so reluctant to allow her to travel to Nozar with them.

He turned his eyes back toward the king's distant silhouette.

It was too far to be certain but something told him that they were both staring directly at one another.

Lukas reminded himself of the promise he'd made to the old man that night.

No matter how powerful this empire was.

No matter how vast its armies or cunning its politics.

He would bring Rosalia back to her grandfather. Even if it meant going up against the strongest empire in Hiraeth.