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The winds called out over the still sea like a lion's roar heard an island away. Lanterns flickered in a citrus daze from carved out openings among the buildings. They flickered in unison to the stars beyond, where so little earthly light reached that the swirls of purples and blues in the night sky reached across the horizons. A soft string instrument twang in peace as a pair of hooves clopped on worn cobblestone streets. His own lantern swung to his movements as he searched like a blind man for his lost sight. His eyes, like ruby gems, shined to the steep, brown, jagged shoreline down below. Lantern light flowed like waves over his physique; it burrowed past the quarter circle, royal purple cape to reflect off his soft, bright golden fur. The winds gently rippled through his white hair and played with his pointed, golden ears. He glanced past his brown, crescent ram horns to the white walls of buildings. Yet the same rose around him; steep stone stairs pointed down or up to their own whims. Every building started the same; a blue ball, cut in half like a dome, that sat atop white, boxy abodes. They distinguished themselves through tiny details, like twins in tuxedos wearing different pins to tell them apart. One had a flowerpot on its window sill, another had a lazy, smiling cat curled up in candle light. One of them wafted faint cheers and merriment with a clink of unseen glass as the lone ram walked past.

By now, he recognized one building. It reflected the light of his lantern for the third time that night as he stopped to tug at his vambraces. Not even the light was slim enough to trickle between his thick forearm and the iron vambrace with a bronze border, yet with his prying fingers he pulled out a folded and crumbled note.

"Okay," he said, already unfolding the old note. "I should be in the right place. It said so, didn't it?"

His eyes leapt from left to right as his large hands fed the letter higher, like a typewriter flooding it with letters.

"A birthday gift for you. Travel beyond the forests. Solve the riddle of the--ok, I did that. Solve the ancient lock. Defeat the guards of the sea in a contest of strength. Find Gelicea village. Arrive by the night, where star and sea frolic in harmony, and there you'll find your gift. This should be it."

What few clouds concealed the moon parted. Silver rays washed over the small, domed homes and the mighty ram. Like a curtain falling before him, the rays fell into every crevasse of his muscular form. From bulging arms, to a proud chest, and to every ripple of thick thigh muscles, only his bronze-bordered, iron vambraces and greaves kept the moonlight away. The light flowed like a silent river downstream, as if the moon ran down the steps with arms out wide to reach every jagged rock. His eyes followed it down the longest and loneliest of steps, to a small set of brown stones that fell into the sea. A bright twinkle, like a fallen star, guided the ram to a plateau of brown rock barely high enough to beat back the surrounding waves. Something long and blue shimmered in its light.

No lantern could outshine the smile the ram shined. His hooves clip-clopped as he pranced on the spot, clapping his hands.

"Finally! There it is!"

He ran so fast that the one-handed, morning star flail stored on his back threatened to shred his cape. The star itself clanged against the jagged stone cliff side. His large, domed, bright bronze shield joined in the clamors as an occasional bump into the stone stair wall rang out like a gong. His ears didn't even twitch in the sounds. The glimmering reward grew before his eyes as he descended to sea level. His hooves came within inches of the shoreline as he froze still. The letter in his hands flew upwards as he scanned the very bottom of the note, reading it aloud.

"When you find it, you must honor the gods of sea and sky. It lies in a sacred place, where no evil can reach it. You need no--."

The paper snapped, still in his grip. He squinted at the last words.

"You need no protection from war, nor ways to wage it here. Leave all weapons, shields, and armor behind. Cosmetics like capes and necessities like common decencies are exempt."

He slowly lowered the letter to look at the prize. About ten yards out sat a shimmering bar, but any other details couldn't come out between moon rays and seas. The waves chattered around him as he sighed out.

"Ok. It's only a short swim. It'll be fine."

He reached around to remove his morning star flail first, using the star to pin the note to the stone ground. Then came his short bow, which he pulled from in between his backside and the cape. Finally came his large shield, easily large enough to cover one of his arms or his entire chest, which sat atop it all to shield it from wind and waves. With that, he dived into the waters and swam for the rocky outcrop.

The brown plateau of stone offered the perfect ledge to pull himself out of the water. He stood looking out to a rocky outcrop island larger than it first appeared. With a footprint the size of a large trireme, the entirely flat island only had a few square stones on the other end for elevation. The waves notably calmed as he approached the lone pillar with his prize. Halfway towards it, both the seas and the winds calmed to a standstill. Combined with the splashes of water over the island, it felt like he was walking atop the surface of the water that reflected the stars above like a perfect mirror.

Only one last note remained in his quest as he approached the bright pillar. It swished from a silent breeze, as if trying to squirm its way out from the large rock that held it in place. The ram took the note, opened it slowly, and read aloud:

"If you are Victor Volt, skip ahead."

He opened more of the letter, skipping past a page of sentences. Then he began once more with a faint smile that grew with every sentence.

"Dear Victor Volt, congratulations. Your quest has come to its end and before you lays the prize you've earned. You've solved many puzzles, saved many people, and beaten by your proud strength the guards of this magnificent prize. We, myself and a friend named Leviathan "Levi" Thassakles, do humbly grant you - mighty paladin Victor Volt - your prize. It comes with much guidance from Levi, and most importantly, it comes with not only his but also his mother's blessing - the goddess of the seas herself. May your combined strengths show both the beauty and brutality of the seas themselves, and show for all what ram and minotaur strength combined can do."

Volt squinted harder to read the smaller font. Here, instead of clear and typed words, it now took on messier writing yet made by a person's hands.

"P.S. - From both of us Volt, Happy Birthday big guy. We hope you enjoyed the quests, and here's too many more heroic Victor's like you to come. See what I did there? Signed with appreciation and care, Balans and Levi."

As the letter lowered, it revealed Volt's smile - one brighter than the moon above. What few gleams he saw at first glinted once more before him, peeking out from under a purple tarp tossed over the prize with stones holding it in place. He removed the stones and swished the tarp away like a magician with his wildest trick. The greeting he received felt like a trick.

He glanced to a large, sapphire and bronze, ordained, shimmering, gleaming, and fashioned galley oar. Its paddle looked oversized to the rest of it, which from tip to tip measured ten feet long.

The smile shattered. He couldn't help but glance back at the note. An arrow pointing to the back of the letter peeked from under his thumb. More words gleamed on its other side.

"It's an enchanted oar, made of a Sapphire and Bronze Adamastos, carved with Levi's blessing and my runes. Yes, it's your prize. Don't judge a book by its cover."

The mighty oar shimmered in the moonlight, as if it smiled like a newfound puppy to its adoptive owner. Volt relented with a faint smile, shrugging to himself. He extended his hand for the oar, reflecting that it was just a LARP: "They probably ran out of--."

It felt as light as the wind. His eyes widened, as he couldn't help but twirl it, which made the winds around him roar like lions. Its solid sapphire body flickered in a moonlight daze, reflecting countless runes stylized like ancient Greek spelling. Along its shaft read "Thassakles", which twinkled at the end as if to wink to Volt. It felt lighter than a baton twirling between his arms despite its vast length. It swung faster than flags caught in a hurricane, despite the oar's paddle size. He stepped back to give it more room as the smile grew back on his face.

The oar twirled and swung as easily as his cape. With a few final twirls, he rested the oar against the island's surface. Its bottom end tapped against the rock as Volt had to gaze skywards to see the other end of it. It felt like he glanced up at a distant basketball hoop on a long pole. Yet as he did, he felt the winds gently build around his form. Swishes of breezes whooshed up his body, following his muscular contours, and slowing to a stop by his chin. The building swell of wind rippled his thick cape as water leapt from the sea. A clump of water the size of a snowball landed right where his hand gripped the oar and formed around it like a seal. The ram felt the oar lighten even more while his grip melded naturally to the oar's shaft. From within, a swell of a different kind pried open a wide smile as Volt felt a newfound passion consume him.

With wide motions, Volt slashed the oar around. In each swing, the oar moved so much wind that it roared in the motions. All around him, and with each swing and combat maneuver he gave, the winds and seas followed his lead. With every slash, the waves slashed at the sky. In every jab forwards, the winds flowed from his oar like a calvary charge. Twirling it like a baton summoned a waterspout that swelled with every twirl. Volt envisioned enemies his size, then enemies larger than him, and the oar claimed more imaginary victories against them. All around him, the seas and winds churned ever more, sloshing and sprinting to life around him.

The gathering energy consumed his form. He didn't just witness it from the surrounding waves; he felt something swell within him like the waves. The building winds that raced around him clung deeper than just his fur; he felt the winds rise within him, as if they flowed up his bones in rejuvenating waves in every gust. Before long, only his cape tugged at him, trying in vain to restrain him. Every few swings, he loosened the cape around his muscular traps and neck, only to feel it tug once more. His inner sensations mirrored the surrounding nature; in every practiced swing, he felt even more wind bellow at his command and the seas rise ever higher. Try as he could, no amount of swinging his new weapon fatigued him. In every attempt, he felt the energy to try twice more, and in every two swings, he felt he could swing four times more. His one hand fumbled about the cape's button to loosen it once more while he gave it his all.

A sixth sense bloomed within Volt. Starting first with battle tactics, his movements soon flowed to an inner beat. His mind echoed the soft twangs of the village music, letting them merge with the winds and seas commanded by his oar. Waves as high as his height rose with his oar as he began a silent dance with his prize. He reached for the skies with his free hand, viewing past his gargantuan arm muscles. The stars above slipped past his grasp by a hair's width. The heavens above twinkled even brighter than he first saw them, as if they formed spotlights painted in purples and blues. His cape shook in the winds, forming streaks of purple that blended with the powerful waves in sapphire blues moving with him. His whole body glistened like a disco ball in water drops; as if the sea and winds embraced him like a lover. The music in his heart swelled with the final crescendo of the night. He swung his oar to the sky, directing winds strong enough to form a small tornado through his oar and to the heavens. Water spouts twirled around the entire island as he slowly brought his tingling, creaking, softly cracking, and popping muscle groups to rest against his body. With a final, loud, and proud tap of the oar against the island, Volt posed like a hero of antiquity out to the sea beyond.

He heaved deep breaths in and out of his nose as his smile persisted. He glanced at the paddle of the oar, which now rested at his eye level. One curious eyebrow raised as he realized how close the oar's paddle was. A final, teasing gust of wind traveled up his mighty legs. His eyes shot wide as he felt the wind smack somewhere strange; his muscular glutes. He tried to reach around, but something new stopped him. He gazed down at his broader, stronger shoulder muscles. His star-bright, ruby red irises took in his boulder-thick biceps and forearms, having to widen every second to process the sight.

Yet the smile never faded. He looked down to get his bearings; the stone pedestal looked like a small kicking stone to him now. He could barely see past his pecs to a tiny, white speck that must have been the letter he once read. With two loud thuds, his hooves cracked into the rocky outcrop island, which now felt as small as the floor plan for a tiny bedroom to the ram. In silence, he strode to the other end of the island, taking in every enormous step as the winds tickled through his short, stubby ram tail now exposed by his small, royal purple cape. The gap between island and shoreline shrunk; what felt like ten yards looked less than five. The waters came up to his thickened pecs as he wadded across the gap to the mainland.

As he stepped out of the water, he felt the stones softly crack in spiderweb-like patterns out from under his hooves. The gleam of his shield brought his attention to his paladin gear he left moments ago. He kneeled down on one knee to better glance at the pile. His much larger hands sorted through it. A shield that now could only cover his lower waist like a metal loincloth shined with a fresh wash of sea spray. His bow felt like a tiny violin bow in his hands, as only with the moonlight could he make out the glimmer of its string on close inspection. Even his trusty morning star flail, what reliably bonked every bad guy on the noggin from distant lands far and wide, felt like a toddlers prop. Glancing down at his armor parts, he couldn't help but chuckle. Perhaps the vambraces could get attached to his new weapon; for sure, they're now the right, small size they could substitute as metal handles for his oar. The graves that once covered his shins could instead cover the tips of his horns; the thought of avoiding any scratches on his horns brightened the smile on Volt's face.

"Maybe I can get used to this."

He held all his gear in one hand as he slowly rose and turned around. Yet the water caught his attention. A smirk trickled onto his face as he gently set down his adventuring gear again. He unbuttoned his small cape and let it flutter down to his gear. With just the ore in one hand, he gently gestured it out to the waves before him. The surface calmed instantly, where a two yard wide spot in the ocean sat as still as the surface of a lake. With the stars and the swirls of purple and blues beyond serving as a backdrop, Volt broke out the biggest leg flexes and poses he knew.

In each one, he could barely hold back from laughing in excitement. Every man, if swelled enough with strength, has that one muscle group that they were exceptionally large in. For Victor Volt, it was in his legs and glutes. From teardrop thighs, to sculpted quads, and to every flex and pose in between. Even as a paladin, he could give orcs a run for their money. But now, reflected by the surface of the sea and teased on by the tickling wind against his tail, Volt could easily beat giants in that contest. His thighs threatened to explode with teardrop-within-teardrop levels of muscle mass, sculpted and finely tuned, listening to his every flex. With the remaining drops of water adorning him like a fresh coat of oil for a bodybuilding show, the poses only brought out a blush from the ram. He even let his upgraded glutes and the backs of his thighs join in the show with the strongest poses he's ever given.

"Oh," he said, smirking towards the seas. "I'm definitely getting used to this."