The trip from the orc forest to the town where I met Fiona took only three hours. I was curious about the state of the town so we flew over, remaining invisible.The barracks were easily recognizable and still stood. It seemed fewer people manned the walls, but perhaps they were just out on patrol.I did spot a few patrols, but I was surprised to see some of them were civilian patrols. No wall had been erected so the Sulid and other creatures were still about as I had spotted a few groups of those. There were some makeshift walls, set up to block off streets but it appeared that the locals and the Royal Guard had not joined forces. From the air, it was easy to see the mark of delineation, separating the north half of the town where the old citizens lived, and the south end where the barracks resided.Martin saw this too and chimed in. “Are these people dumb, why haven’t they come together there is no way they can survive like this forever.”I shrugged, “There were a lot of older peopl
“An understatement,” the tired-looking Commander replied. “Also complete and utter bullshit. Did you notice how he left off a specific timeframe?”I nodded. “I thought maybe he just didn’t know how long it would take for your men to arrive.”The man gave a half-hearted smile, more emotion than he had shown other than looking tired. “A man of Lord Durbin’s position could have easily figured out how long it should take. No, this was a calculated choice on his part. No matter how hard we would push to get there, he can say we did not follow his orders. A tasteless trick by nobles but effective.”“So, he wants to get you under his thumb, and have legal recourse to take everything from you?”“Potentially. He would likely execute the lot of us instead of keeping us around.”“You really think he would go that far?” Martin asked.“Why wouldn’t he? As far as the Asharon Kingdom is concerned, he is in charge over here.”“Why not contact your king then,” Martin inquired.The Commander chuckled m
The deal took Martin three weeks to hammer out. Most of that was wasted with that stupid council, mainly just the one woman. She kept trying to control everything and considering her class was called politician, it was no surprise. The fact that her level was only seven, spoke volumes of her talent.Nothing changed until they brought in someone who had the Identify skill. I didn’t recognize the man and he didn’t recognize me or Martin. But that didn’t stop him from turning pale when he read off our levels to the councilwoman. After that, the woman was less of a pain in the ass, and Martin was able to push through a meeting between the two groups.I saw well-hidden relief on most of the other councilors' faces. After having to perfect a stony exterior or face punishment as a slave, it was easy to see the telltale signs. It seems they had been hoping to come to some agreement with the Commander but were bullied by the woman not to offer anything in return. I didn’t know what she had on
The dry dock was ready and the old barge rested on pillars of stone a few feet above my head. I was examining the bottom to check for any issues I would need to deal with before attaching the plates. There was a thick layer of barnacles that needed to be removed but they proved to be not as strong as I was as I scrapped them away with a wide blade, enhanced with magic.The creatures were between levels two and eight. I had the mages take care of them, essentially free experience though it didn’t add up to a lot.The dirty work took about two hours and I finally had a clean…ish underside. It was still rusty from lack of maintenance but it would have to do. Since this was being designed to be as rugged as possible, I would be welding the plates in place. As with the fortress, there were more plates than needed and half could fail and still keep the barge aloft. It wouldn’t be fast, there wasn’t enough surface area in the front or rear to mount a significant amount of the mover plates. A
I found Martin where the Marshall said he would be, but he was in a meeting. I decided to hang out with Fiona until his meeting ended.“Been a while, how’s everything going?”“Good, but having to wait around can be tiring. I don’t know how Martin can enjoy politics this much.”I chuckled, “just another challenge to conquer. Much easier than dealing a fatal blow to another person I imagine.”“I guess you’re right, at least I still have our evenings together,” she added quietly.“Is something wrong?”“No… well, not exactly, just something not physically possible.”“…”I didn’t want to think about her and Martin getting intimate.Fiona sighed, “I want to be a mother.”“… oh… OH. Can’t get pregnant because you revert to your spectral form?”She nodded sadly.“Well, it doesn’t seem like it will be that way forever. I mean, you’ve gone from being dead to having a physical form.”“I know, but it seems like all progress to expanding that ability has come to a halt recently.”“Do you think it
I spent the remaining day practicing with my new staves just to get a feel for them. I was more than happy with the results.The morning to leave came quickly and I was standing next to the freshly christened barge. Silk Road was the name my employees had decided on for the craft. I thought it was a bit presumptuous but didn’t argue about it. There were certainly worse names they could have gone with.The barge rested in the same parking lot as the fortress, the ramp extended to allow the merchants to get their carts aboard. It seems a few more merchants had decided to take my offer as more than previously agreed to my offer got on board. That was a good sign that they saw this opportunity in a positive light.Fiona was spending the last hour with Martin before we left. Who could blame her, we were going to be gone for nearly two weeks. In that time we would hit up eight different towns and also cross the Spine to hit up that town we freed from the Cartel goons.The last wagon of good
The night went by quickly and we left early in the morning the next day. Javier and Maria were quiet but studious as I showed them the simple controls to the barge. I let each have a turn with the controls to the horror of the merchants as we plummeted a hundred feet when Javier bumped the height lever.“Careful,” I said in admonishment. “That lever is very sensitive to height adjustments, and while the barge can’t rise very quickly, it can fall as fast as gravity allows.”The kid nodded his ashen face from his position on the floor. He had fallen when the barge came to a sudden stop. I hadn’t intervened in the error as I knew it would level out. I was also the only person braced for it to happen as everyone, including the merchants, had fallen.“Monitor the controls while I go out and see if anyone needs healing.”“Please, Mr. Paul, let me,” Javier said, getting to his feet.I nodded as the kid moved past me on slightly wobbly legs.I turned toward Maria, “try not to crash us into th
After fixing the Retribution and rounding up most of the hidden pirates, my small group set sail again. Everyone was in good spirits after our little battle, even Barcos. Mostly because there was enough booze on the island to make even him happy.The first island we stopped at had no merchants willing to brave the trip, even with our insurance that we would be protecting them.It wasn’t much of a surprise to me that they refused. I would have refused in their place as well. It wasn’t like they knew who we were, for all they knew we could be leading them into a trap.Knowing this was the case, our next three stops didn’t go any better. It wasn’t until we made it to the fourth island that a man approached us as we drowned our repeated failures in the local bar.“Are you, Captain Paul, of the Retribution?” the unassuming man asked.I surveyed the bar but nobody else seemed to be paying attention. So it seemed this man came alone. That was odd. Not odd that he approached us, we had been a
Was the person in the mirror really Henry and not an international supermodel?Henry could not help but wonder.However, Mia's reaction told Henry that it was not an illusion.Mia's mouth was wide open as she walked to Henry's side in shock. She looked at him in the mirror and was amazed."Oh my God, Henry, I never realized that you're so handsome! Gosh, you look so good."As Mia spoke, she couldn't help but touch Henry's firm chest."Oh my God, these firm pecs are worth dying for…"Henry looked at Mia, who was acting like a pervert. He shook his head helplessly and slapped her hand away."Alright, now that I've changed my clothes, let's hurry to the banquet before we go late. I'm not known for attending any events late." Hearing this, Mia finally came back to her senses. "Ah, yes. We have to hurry over. With such a handsome companion by my side, I'd like to see if those little b*tches will still show off in front of me," Mia proudly said as she pulled Henry's arm.After that, they q
Martin strode down the hall of the capitol building with a worried smile on his face. He was a bit greyer now but he still oozed charm and confidence. Time had been kind to him.The city had become a booming metropolis in the ten years since Paul returned, after his year and a half of being missing. Martin knew something had happened because one day a bunch of massive flying ships had come from nowhere and obliterated the ships that had been harassing the city non-stop for over six months. They had quickly taken care of Lord Vik’t and his remaining forces, the man managing to flee back to his homeworld before the Guild caught him.When Paul had returned, he had returned a quiet man. You could see the loss in his eyes. But the man pushed on and his businesses flourished, producing the Earth’s mightiest warships and most advanced runic items. Then five years after Paul returned, he took a fleet of ten of his capital ships and vanished for another year.When he returned again, the ships
As soon as the pirates realized the Guild ships were approaching the island, they broke off the fighting and retreated toward the edge of town to dig in. They weren’t stupid enough to attack the Guild but it seemed they wanted to ensure there wasn’t an accidental incident.One of the Guild ships docked and the Captain stepped off to greet the three of us. I had been carried over by Barcos and Em’ah on the same chair she plopped me in the night before. My legs were looking less like mashed potatoes now and instead looked like mushed putty. It was hard to ignore the sensation of the bones moving around within my shattered legs but I was managing.“Captain Paul, I hope this wasn’t a last-ditch attempt to hold off your enemy. I can assure you, we will leave for safer shores immediately if it was.”I ignored the man’s condescending snark before replying. “You have the agreement from the Director?”“I do,” he smiled. “Do you wish to review it?”I nodded and he produced a stack of documents
Groaning, I opened my eyes. All I saw was darkness. I tried turning my head or moving but it seemed like I was pinned in place.I fought down the urge to panic as I evaluated my condition. My arms were still broken, the sharp stabbing pain when I tried to move them told me as much. I could breathe though so my organs had healed after the beating I had taken. That was something at least.Seeing as I was in no immediate danger of dying, I checked my skills. My blood ran cold as I saw what remained of my abilities.[Rejuvenate][Multicast][Eye of the Storm][Aura of Rage][Calcifying Strike]Frostwave][Orb of Darkness][Energy Lance][Overcharge][Tempest Ball]That was the sum total of all the skills I now had. They had stripped me of every ability I had stolen from them along with every ability my second class gave me by default, making it impossible to recover skills by stealing them from others.I let out a morbid little chuckle as I lay there. Tears of frustration leaked from the
Those two words seemed to freeze everyone in place, but it wasn’t magic that caused it, it was fear. My body was frozen along with everyone else but my eyes rose into the air, tracking two creatures as they forced the magical fog away from the entire area with some ability.It was hard to tell by their alien physiology but I got the distinct impression they were looking directly at me. The initial fear was subsiding and people were starting to move again until the larger of the two squid-like creatures cast a spell. I managed to get off an Identify before the spell hit.[Ulq | Void Hunter/Maw of the Void | 47/41][Xiph | Psy Commando/Maw of the Void | 45/42]My body shook as I realized they were here for me but not a single person or even the entire pirate armada currently assembled here would be able to kill these two creatures.I felt the spell wash over the area and everyone was frozen again but a halo of golden light burst into existence above my head, washing away the spell’s eff
The meager fleet of ships I was now in charge of, rose from the dock and slowly spiraled into the air to get above the mist. The chaotic coloration of the mana storm was visible in the distance even through the mist. That meant the enemy was almost upon the island.The Retribution was the first ship to breach the thick covering and it was no surprise to see the enemy ships had spread out in a crescent shape to surround the island. Enemy fast attack craft zipped toward our location and I double-checked that everything was working as it should. I had also turned the mana accumulator back on.I sometimes wished I had been able to fit multiple layers of shielding on the ship. But my experiments in that regard had not gotten anywhere. Shields that close together acted like soap bubbles. Either they popped completely or merged together, but it didn’t increase the strength of the shield when they did. The only way to prevent this was to have separate bubble shields that only covered a certai
After weeks of sitting around, the Retribution finally got to fly again.Knowing we were leaving, the harbor was a beehive of activity. Cobbled together crews were drilling aboard the other captured pirate ships. The people knew it wasn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when another enemy would appear.As soon as Khikall got us away from the docks and any possible collision, I engaged the cloak. It was far more effective now that I could enable and disable the automatic recharging system. The massive disruption of mana we used to leave in our wake was now a tiny trail.I hadn’t had time to figure out a way to smooth our passing completely but this would have to do. I also had Em’ah watching for trails from a crudely assembled periscope. Now she didn’t need to be on the deck to use her Mana Sense skill.Speaking of skills… I had picked up a few from the last fight. I also managed to finally hit level twenty in my Maw of the Void class. I stuck two of my stats in Strength, one in Endura
I watched as the workers placed the last armor panel in position and began to weld it into place. It had taken a few weeks to repair the damages from our fight but the Retribution was looking almost new.The replaced sections were clearly visible by the heat transfer in the titanium. I could easily fix that when I turned the thermal defenses on. It should make everything a uniform color. Paint would work too, I suppose, but why cover up the beauty of the metal.It was a good thing the ship was complete, over the last few days, we had been getting reports from the Guild merchant ships that were stopping to trade, and they weren’t good.Large fleets of pirate ships spotted raiding islands. The Capital of the Avulian Protectorate was sacked and all of the leadership missing. The remaining fleets of the Protectorate were attacking any ship that wasn’t theirs or the Guild's. Cities burning due to the slaves I helped free, it was madness and it was spreading.Already I could hear concerned
Captain Grulaine hissed in annoyance as his second in command handed him his “orders”. His second flinched back and hurried out of the room. If he hadn’t, Grulaine may have cut him down in a fit of pique. It galled Grulaine to be under the thumb of another. He had gotten rid of his father for that very same reason. And now thanks to a series of unfortunate events, he found himself beholden to the damn pirate king Black Gar’s lap dog.How was he to know the repair yard where he went was controlled by that snake. If he had he certainly wouldn’t have agreed to the loan to effect repairs to his cannons and ship. Repairs that had taken far longer than necessary, and left Grulaine on the sidelines as the entire protectorate seemed to be crumbling around him. An opportunity-rich environment he wasn’t able to take advantage of.But that wasn’t the most galling part. He found that his repairs were delayed on purpose so Gar could tighten his stranglehold on the local pirates. By the time Grulai