Night. Open waters between Virturia and the rmaid Kingdom. War was about to begin.
Only our heads outside the water, I was floating with Marlowe a kiloter outside the atoll. The barge made of four ships welded together with elven Wood magic was a few hundred ters to our side. Ahead of us, a sight to behold.
"That's quite the fleet," I comnted about the big fleet of ships under different flags sailing or rowing our way. Mostly rowing.
"Indeed, it is, Your Highness. What will we do about them?" Marlowe asked.
I had to take my hat off to the guy. In the four months since he defected, he developed a transmutation spell to transform his golem body's half into a dolphin's tail. It got him a lot of tail too, as his shapeshifted tail is a male's. The girls were thrilled at the novelty but the toy-sized golem could be used just like that. As a toy. I let him to his own devices. So long nobody tells what they were doing in private, I don't mind.
"Nothing," I shrugged. "They ca here to rescue the prisoners. We don't need to do anything. Look, the prince in his shining armor is already signaling to them."
"You can't be that naive," the [Archmage] golem remarked with a non-gormandizing groan.
"I've lived more than ten tis your age, old man. Of course, I know they didn't send five thousand n to rescue five hundred. I can sense them hiding in the lower decks."
And I could feel their excess MP already fueling my new Energy stat. I'd deactivated {Erode Curse} so I could store it above my cap through {Manaborne Reservoir}. Dividing the amount accrued by a growing number was a bitch but so was not having enough Energy. I've been tailing the fleet for a few hours and was sitting at sixty million, a bit more than two tis my current cap. I wanted to have the extra Energy for a little stunt I was planning to do.
I returned the prisoners enchanted and valuable equipnt and towed the barge out of the atoll during high tide by shapeshifting into a freaking blue whale. Maybe I could just capsize these ships if they decided to get too close to our territory, but I knew they had enchantnt and defenses against large creature attacks.
"Are those pirate ships?" I asked pointing at the badly-patched ships sailing at the flanks of the fleet.
"Indeed they are. I think my forr King spared no expense to see you rmaids crushed. They have several mages too. See the lights? Those are no lanterns."
I couldn't sense the flow of energies at this distance, but the lights were too steady, too bright.
"Last chance to betray , Marlowe. You can join them and help the offensive," I joked.
"Sorry, Your Highness, but I'll have to disappoint you. Unless it's a deity you are against, I'll bet my gold on you."
I changed my title and pointed at my head. "Are you sure of that? I already bagged two of them."
The tiny golems resembled the person they were in life. They were obviously made of cloth as I didn't intend to make them alive as I did with the Silk-Folk in Windere. But they were too expressive. Note to self, don't make them too lifelike.
"I weep for Yznarian," the silk golem [Archmage] deadpanned.
I chuckled. "Well, they'll put the barge in their fire range now. How will they react?"
"Archers are already drawing arrows with oil-soaked cloth wrapped on the tip. The torches to ignite them are unlit but that's a fire cantrip almost anyone can cast." I raised an eyebrow at the [Archmage]. He shrugged. "I'm a [Diviner], Your Highness. Farseeing is one of the first spells one learns in my Path."
I cupped my hands and used an Air spell. "{Far Voice}! Prince Rhenius, they are preparing fla arrows to shoot at your barge!"
The prince in shining armor looked my way and waved a hand. He didn't look straight at and I suspected he couldn't see us.
"He didn't believe in your warning, Your Highness," Marlowe reported. "I know that kid. He's too stubborn, too naive."
"His problem. As far as I knew, I released my prisoners. They can fight for themselves."
"Fair enough, Your Highness," He replied without much conviction.
The bootlicking deanor of this [Wizard] was grating on . But the show was about to start. Hundreds of flas went alive in the ships and the next mont they were all flying in their pretty ballistic trajectories toward the barge.
Amidst the crowd, on the barge, I saw Lady Callisto. From this far away, she was the spitting image of my - Apricot's - niece Anjou. My heart clenched.
Softie burned two hundred thousand Energy on a D&D classic. "{Wall of Force}!" The barrier appeared over the almost rectangular barge as a plane, slanted toward the front. The flaming arrows pinged over the energy wall and slid down, falling on the water in front of it.
"I thought you said you wouldn't interfere," Marlowe poignantly remarked.
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Rhenius was looking my way. It was dark so he probably couldn't see . I doubted he spent any perks on improving his sight but it was possible.
Maintaining the barrier against the arrows still netted a positive MP balance even after the reduction for overloading my MP pool. I blocked the next two volleys and the fourth was apparently aborted. The ships prepared for boarding. They rowed, sailed, and ramd the stationary barge.
Behind the privateers, the military galleys from Virturia showed no activity as they waited for their turn. No battle stations, nothing. The archers stopped shooting. They might as well have buckets of popcorn based on their positioning. The soldiers in the lower decks were sitting or idling around.
Half an hour and the pirate ships reached the barge. I was already inside the military vessels, looting everything not nailed to the grou... hull. Exactly like a ghost, I flew through the hulls, sending all objects in range to my item box. It was ridiculously fast but they had a lot of stuff.
Rhenius' expedition force had skill and levels behind them but the pirates had numbers. The pirates went for a boarding operation. I think the military didn't allow them to have ranged siege weapons or bows fearing treason. I also doubted the real captains of any of these ships were on board. These n were throwaways.
They docked and the pirates poured into the barge. Rhenius started reaping the scallywags left and right. The ladies and non-combatant nobles were brought to the lower decks for protection. As ti went by, more pirates arrived. So ships were docking and boarding three ships away. The whole thing was looking like a Vietnase floating market. One where the only thing on sale was death.
A bloody lee ensued next, like the soldiers, knights, and nobles in Rhenius' expedition fended off the pirates. But as I said, they were outnumbered ten to one. More ships docked and dumped their n into the fray.
"Is it ti to join the fight? Prince Rhenius might die," Marlowe warned.
"He better not. I can bring him back to life, anyway." One of the reasons I accumulated this much Energy was that I now could resurrect all our key prisoners. The rank-and-file, however, were out of luck. And they knew it. "How much HP does he have?"
"He has about seven."
"Indeed. Let's go. I think so of these boats are ripe for the taking. Let's plunder so pirates."
We dove and swam toward the swashbuckling fight of the century. I heard a bugle and the ships started to get into formation. Overkill, in my opinion. The military ships slowed down while the pirates deployed Wind magic to get ahead.
Another half an hour and I finished looting all unattended items in the ships. Their food and freshwater reserves were gone. The land closest to them was a week away. Here's hoping they had good storage rings. I went back to the fight, the golem latched on my shoulder.
The fish were already feasting on the dead by the ti we arrived at the scene. I stored a dozen pirate vessels of varied sizes that were deserted. It disconnected the other boats from the barge, causing a lull in the rush of bodies. I also collected hundreds of bodies and kept their souls from departing to the final death.
Rhenius was covered in blood and guts, not a single shining spot on his armor. he didn't seem too wounded but I sent a jet of invigorating water over him and the knights closer to the prince. He was going to be my sister's father. I couldn't let him die.
"The military ships are loading the ballistae, Your Highness," Marlowe reported. Having a diviner for a spotter during night combat was excellent. His magical sight was unhindered by the darkness and he had a bird's eye view of the whole stage.
"I'll prepare the barrier. I have an idea to save so Energy."
This ti I wouldn't make a solid wall. Siege weapons held too much punch behind them. Instead, I made a field of {Force Bubbles} and only loosely bound them to the space where they appeared. Without feeding more MP to them, they would absorb so force but also deflect the ballista bolt, changing its trajectory and causing them to veer to the side. As they popped more bubbles, they wouldn't completely lose montum but ss up the aim and go off-target.
They fired and the bubbles made just that and more. There was the satisfying pop of them bursting. That's when I had an idea and tried to do just that. Fixing my gaze on the bolt that just hit the bubbles, I willed it into my item box. It vanished and I got the ntal confirmation it worked.
Leaving Marlowe in the water, I shapeshifted into a hummingbird and flew ahead of the bubbles, intercepting the bolts. The military soon stopped shooting, wary of the waste.
The fight against the pirates was on its last legs. People kept dying on the deck of the fused-galley barge. Now that I didn't need to defend against the bolts, I dove and looted the bodies and bound the souls as they fell. I recognized several of the nobles, including the irritating Lady Callisto.
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