Although it was tough to make out the shape of the islands they sailed past and the others told him they ought to stop and check repeatedly, Adam kept driving their vessel west until he was sure that they’d reached the right place.
Sothing Adam had been curious about, concerning slugwhales and slug dragons, was the fact that they seed to always stay around in places abandoned by humans. Iffen and Mast-Chewer both subsided within the ruins of large fortress islands, and the slugwhales he’d encountered alongside Elia had followed a similar trend. He didn’t have any assurances that this theory was absolute, but he used it to guide them since he didn’t have a photographic mory and only possessed a vague idea of where exactly they were supposed to go. After all, their ship didn’t possess a compass.
“I think I see it,” Lasse yelled down from the crow’s nest.
Adam couldn’t sense anything in the distance, which he’d been able to with so of the other islands, since those had possessed man-eaters, pirates, and wildlife. Nevertheless, he felt certain that Lasse had spotted the right place, because when it ca into view Adam saw that it had an abandoned village with buildings made of stone and wood. It looked to have been abandoned for a while, since moss and tall weeds grew everywhere.
Just to be sure, they circled the island before making landfall, and Lasse said he briefly spotted a creature within. He described it as a sli, which Adam supposed was close enough. Since he hadn’t seen a shell on it, Adam knew it was one of the hostile types.
If I rember correctly, Elia said that the ones that have a shell are friendly unless they have children with them, the ones without a shell and soft spikes on their back are aggressively territorial of the islands they live on, and any which have ringed spots or glowing colours are toxic.
The island had a half-moon shape and the middle of it was crowded with buildings, while the rest was like a dense jungle. Since they didn’t want to be attacked as they moored the ship, but also didn’t want to trudge through the jungle, they ended up tethering their ship to the trees right on the border of the abandoned village inside the bay ford by its curved landmass.
“Should we leave soone to protect the ship?” Ellen asked.
Adam nodded. “That might be a good idea, since we’re not completely hidden here.”
“I can stay,” Cathy imdiately volunteered.
“Then I will stay as well,” Jabari said.
Lasse looked between the two and Adam could read his lody quite easily. He thought they were unlikely to pay much attention to their surroundings.
Adam patted Lasse on the shoulder and nodded towards the island. “Let’s go,” he said with a grin.
Ellen seed to catch on and sighed before pointing at the two. “You’d better take your job seriously. No fooling around!”
Cathy’s face imdiately turned beet-red and Jabari tried to say sothing, although he tripped over his own tongue in his hurry to argue that it wasn’t like that.
“Have fun, guys,” Lasse joked as the four of them stepped off the ship and into the jungle.
Julie kept looking back towards the pair as they vanished from sight and Adam had a hard ti deciphering the lody that emanated from her.
Is it jealousy? Anger? Fear?
It was like several competing emotions boiled within her, but then they simply vanished when she t Adam’s eyes, once again replaced by so sense of desire.
But a desire of what, exactly?
Ellen walked at the front of their group, attempting to smash her way through the dense undergrowth with her mace but accomplishing very little.
“You should help her,” Adam told Julie.
She didn’t question it and just went up to the other woman, imdiately slicing through the weeds and vines with a liquid blade of her own blood.
Ellen frowned at the sight at first, but then said, “Thanks.”
“What did it look like exactly?” Adam asked Lasse as they eventually erged from the jungle and reached the first of many overgrown houses.
“It looked like it had feathers or sothing,” he said. “And its body was white like milk. It was quite large and I saw it near the centre of the settlent, next to a stone tower.”
Adam nodded. It may not be toxic then, but seeing as it’s the only thing here, as far as I can tell, it must be quite strong. There aren’t any other animals in the jungle, so perhaps they’ve all been killed.
“We can’t let our guard down,” Adam said. “It must be dangerous if it’s the only creature here.”
“I’ll try and appraise it if I see it again,” Lasse said. “I only caught a glimpse last ti.”
They passed the approximate location of their target on to the two won leading them through the village.
“Do you think it has ranged attacks?” Ellen asked.
“Why do you say that?” Adam replied.
“There are strange holes in so of the buildings,” she explained. “I thought they might’ve been from airship ballistae, but I think the holes are too small for that.”
After half a minute more of walking, she found one such hole and Adam saw it was the size of a fist and perfectly round.
“Maybe it fires spikes?” Lasse guessed.
“In that case, we should not give it a direct line of sight,” Ellen said. “We’ll stick to the sides of the buildings that aren’t facing towards the tower.”
By now they saw the tower as they walked, since it was a story higher than the other buildings, and based on the way the buildings were placed, it seed like a central feature of the settlent, with all of the streets leading towards it. Fortunately though, weeds and hanging moss provided concealing curtains for them, so they were able to get quite close without being shot at.
While they walked, Adam wove the spell pattern for Heart Lance using his Spidersilk Needle and draped it over his right arm. He was already wearing a woven construct for Shade Barrier, which was wrapped around his torso like a second shirt. It required a lot of Mana to complete, but he had felt it was necessary to get it done before Julie seized on an opportunity to strike him down. Especially because he had discovered that a close-up attack, like how he’d injected his blood into her by touch, wouldn’t trigger the Blood Mage Choker’s barrier. The most difficult part, besides the fact that it took a long ti to make, was that he’d had to make the spell pattern without anyone noticing.
Good thing no one has a Mage Aspirant’s Cowl like , Adam thought. Otherwise I’d be lit up like a Christmas tree to their eyes.
When they reached a building with an unobscured view of the tower from the street on its right side, Ellen crept up along the back wall before slowly peeking out from behind it and down the street towards where Lasse had seen the slugwhale.
She imdiately jerked her head back and pushed both Lasse and Julie away from the edge, just as a spinning white spike tore across the side of the building, puncturing a hole through where she’d been standing and continuing onwards into the house behind them.
Lasse pointed up and Adam gave him a boost, easily lifting the guy up onto the sloped wooden roof of the building. He seed surprised at Adam’s strength, but then quickly locked in and army-crawled towards the top of the roof, while the others backed away from the wall altogether. Monts later, a second and third spinning spike flew through the wall, proving their retreat to have been a solid choice.
Lasse had the Scope of Insight held to his eye as he poked the top of his head above the middle ridge of the roof. He stayed put for a full three seconds before rolling to the side just as a spike tore through the roof he was on. The impact was powerful enough to break several of the planks and the rest broke under Lasse’s weight.
He imdiately fell into the building.
“Shit!” Adam exclaid.
Ellen imdiately ran past the wall and out in front of the building, directly in the line of sight of the slugwhale. Suddenly a large golden bubble appeared around her, three tres tall and six wide. A white spike hit it a second after it’d appeared, but instead of piercing through it got stuck instead.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Hurry!” she yelled back to Adam and Julie.
“I’m okay!” Lasse called out from inside the house, erging through the door a mont later.
“Get inside my shield, it will make it stronger!” Ellen told them.
The three of them obeyed and joined her on the inside, passing through its golden wall like it was made of light and smoke.
The next spike that hit the bubble simply deflected off the side, flying through a nearby building instead.
“How do we take it down?” Ellen asked, holding her shield out in front of herself. Adam saw how golden Mana flowed from it and out into the bubble.
“Can I shoot through this?” Adam asked.
“No. It blocks all attacks from going through it,” she replied.
“How does it know who is foe and who is friend?” Lasse wondered.
“Anyone can walk through it,” Julie guessed.
“That’s right,” Ellen said.
Lasse pointed down the street and towards the stone tower. “Its weak point is at the front of its body. The rest just seems to be like jelly."
Adam nodded. “Got it.”
Before Lasse could attempt a ranged attack, Adam stepped out through the front of the golden bubble, just as a projectile flew past him on the left.
He lifted his right hand and triggered the silken construct on his arm, creating a ball of blood inside the palm of his glass hand. He squeezed his fingers over the ball in the shape of a beak and fired the spell.
A shrill whistle echoed across the village as the beam of pressurised blood flew from his hand and down the moss-covered street, hitting the front of the large white slugwhale that resided at the bottom of a broken-open stone tower. Another of its white spikes flew back towards him, fired around the sa ti as his spell, but Adam quickly stepped to the side to avoid it, though his Blood Mage Choker activated anyway and partially deflected the projectile away from him.
His spell had perfectly pierced through the front of the slugwhale, tearing through the organs gathered within its ribcage, just like how he’d killed one during his last visit with Elia.
[Elite enemy defeated.]
Ellen’s golden bubble died away, the Mana returning to her shield.
“What was that?” she asked.
“It’s a spell I learnt from a special vendor,” Adam replied.
“I don’t think I could’ve landed that shot,” Lasse praised him.
“Do you think the others will get credit for that?” Ellen wondered.
“They might be too far away,” Adam said.
“We should rotate who guards the ship so that no one is left out on Points,” she decided.
“It’s only 100 Points they’re missing out on,” Lasse said. It was obvious he’d done alright in Stage Six to be making such a comnt.
“It could be more,” Ellen argued.
With the coast clear, they approached the tower and the dead slugwhale. It was the size of a minivan.
“It’s a lot bigger up close than I realised,” Lasse comnted.
“How are we going to transport it back?” Ellen asked. “I don’t think the four of us can carry it.”
“Julie and I can lift it if we combine our magic,” Adam said. “But we should probably bring the airship back over here. I’ll go back and fetch it.”
“We’ll look around for chests,” Ellen replied.
Adam traded a look with Lasse.
The Archer nodded.
After running past so buildings, Adam lifted his body up into the air and flew back towards the Creaking Madam, his grafted tail trailing behind him uselessly.
Maybe I should weave so more spells and wrap them around my tail, he considered. I’m not really using it for anything.
When Adam landed on the ship, he didn’t see any signs of Cathy and Jabari, but then he looked up into the crow’s nest where they were busy making out.
Oh for fuck’s sake…
“Guys!” he yelled. “Get down here and help
untether the ship!”
“Adam!?” Jabari called back, imdiately turning around and hiding Cathy behind himself. “When did you get here??”
“Maybe if you hadn’t been so busy, you would’ve spotted ! We defeated the slugwhale and I’m bringing the airship over to the others so we don’t have to carry its body that far.”
To their credit, they both worked double-ti to get their airship free from the trees and then they worked the sails as Adam headed them to the village.
Once they reached the old dock for the island, the pair tethered the ship and Adam hopped overboard, heading back to the tower.
Lasse was the first to spot him when he returned and he was holding a weird stone in his hand. The three of them had managed to pull the slugwhale out of its hole in the tower, and Ellen and Julie stood next to a wooden Relic Chest they’d found within, talking quietly.
“Look what I found,” Lasse said, showing Adam the stone as he ca up to the large body.
< < Collectible Relic > >
< Ambergris (Rare) — A fragrant waxy substance found within a Slugwhale>
“Good find,” Adam said. This is the trophy that Elia was talking about.
“I thought it was only fair you got it,” Lasse said.
“Thanks,” Adam replied, putting it into his backpack. “Guess what I saw when I returned to the ship.”
Lasse shook his head with a laugh. “I knew it.”
“Yeah, we probably shouldn’t leave guard duty to them next ti,” Adam said.
“Let’s not tell Ellen,” Lasse whispered conspiratorially. “She’ll definitely make them scrub the deck.”
Adam grinned. “I suppose
embarrassing them must have been punishnt enough. I can’t really fault them for it, given the circumstances.”
They went over to the chest where the other two stood.
“Are the two lovebirds not coming?” Ellen asked.
Adam shook his head.
She gestured to the chest. “Well then, do your trick, lucky boy.”
Adam kicked the Relic Chest and it popped open.
< < Relics Available > >
< Boom Bolt (Uncommon) — Fire from a ballista to launch an explosive projectile that sticks to an enemy vessel, exploding after a few seconds. 1 use >
< Treasure Hunter’s Well-Worn Boots (Rare) — Allows for the wearer to traverse any terrain, mostly ignoring gravity >
< Cloud Skimr Jacket (Rare) — Increases Player Defence by 25% | Increases Movent Speed by 10% | Enables the wearer to rapidly dash forward while moving, consuming 20% Stamina >
< Scoundrel’s Glove (Rare) — Surprise attacks against humanoids made by a weapon wielded in this glove inflict Haemorrhage, dealing 2% Health in damage per second for 30 seconds >
Adam could imdiately tell that Julie wanted the glove, and so did he, but anyone could see that it was a Player-killer item.
“Mind if I grab sothing this ti?” Adam asked. “I’ve been looking to swap out my Slothling Fur Coat.”
“I’m fine with it,” Lasse said.
“ too,” Ellen agreed. “You killed the elite after all.”
Adam t Julie’s eyes. “Did you want the jacket too?” he asked her.
“You can have it, Adam,” she replied, clearly not wanting to state the fact that she desired the murder glove.
He grabbed the jacket and swapped out his fur coat, putting it into his backpack.
Although it imdiately reminded him of how he’d died in his fourth loop, he was glad to be wearing the Relic that Elia had recomnded for him.
“Alright, let’s get the slugwhale back to the ship,” Adam said.
He and Julie summoned the blood they needed by activating their Relics, and together they lifted the white slugwhale into the air. Like Lasse had said, its skin had the appearance of feathers or large leaves running down its body, making it look almost like a weird sli sheep when considering the milky-white colour.
“I wonder if it will even taste of anything,” Lasse comnted as they walked back to the Creaking Madam. For so reason, Ellen was looking at Adam as they walked, a strange lody emanating from her.
Concern? No, I think maybe it’s distrust?
Why? What did Julie tell her?
The other Blood Mage walked in front, avoiding Adam’s gaze.
Leaving her alone with anyone else is a bad idea.
I’ve gotta curb that going forward.
They managed to get the slugwhale back to the ship easily enough, and both Cathy and Jabari were quite surprised to see the creature. They were also very attentive and responsive, helping way more than usual.
“What’s with you two?” Ellen asked, making the pair freeze up.
“Maybe they were just bored on the ship, since they had nothing to do,” Adam suggested, casting the pair a knowing smile and making Cathy’s face light up red.
“I don’t mind staying behind next ti, if necessary,” Ellen said.
Suddenly they received an announcent.
< < Quest Updated > >
< What’s For Dinner? >
< Return the body of the Slugwhale to Morgan’s Rest >
“It may be better if we all go together next ti,” Lasse suggested. “Adam has a way of knowing if there are enemies nearby.”
Adam paused briefly, but then said, “That’s right. We should probably be fine.”
“Is that sothing you got from your Patron?” Jabari asked.
“It is,” Adam replied, even though they were clearly talking about different Absolutes. “I got a Legendary Relic in the last Stage and my Patron transford it as a special gift for .”
Julie’s lody suddenly changed, taking on a strong envious tone.
That’s right, focus on , not the others.
“I was given a Changing Stone,” Jabari said. “But I haven’t used it yet.”
“What does it do?” Adam asked.
“It lets
change my appearance,” he replied.
I guess that’s a fitting reward for Nharlla to give?
“I didn’t get anything since I failed my quest,” Ellen said.
“ neither,” Cathy added.
“I was close to getting my quest object,” Lasse said. “Then one of the idiots in my group blew up the lab and it was turned to ash…”
“Did any of you get punished?” Adam asked.
“I got a warning,” Lasse replied.
Cathy nodded, as did Ellen.
“It seems that if we fail this ti, then it’s going to be bad,” Ellen said. As the words left her mouth, she was looking right at Adam.
He guessed she was fishing for a response about the Cloud Leviathan, but fortunately Jabari turned to Julie and asked, “Did you do your quest?”
“I did,” she replied. “The Lady was proud of my performance.”
That ans she killed soone in a way that employed a lot of scheming and so kind of betrayal, since that’s what I was praised for, when it ca to killing Jun.
“Your reward is the blood armour you’re wearing, isn’t it?” Lasse asked. Since he had access to the appraisal skill, he would already know the answer.
“It was made to suit only ,” Julie said, her voice full of pride.
Adam cleared his throat.
“Since we’re all eager to complete our quests, let’s not waste more ti and head out,” he told them.
“Did you get a new armour?” Jabari suddenly asked him.
Cathy nudged him in the side, imdiately stopping him from whatever he’d been about to say.
“It looks good,” he added with a fake smile.
Adam smiled back.
She just reminded him that I’ve got blackmail on them both, and it seems they’re really scared of making Ellen mad.
Adam turned to Ellen.
“You should’ve seen these two when I got back to the ship earlier,” he started.
Both of their lodies skipped a beat.
“What? Why? What were they doing?” Ellen asked.
“They were scrubbing the deck,” Adam said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Ellen nodded. “You must’ve been bored. Sorry about that.”
Jabari and Cathy froze, but then uttered so aningless “It’s okay” and “Soone had to do it” phrases, before glaring daggers at Adam the mont Ellen turned away.
He grinned and clapped his hands.
“Let’s get going.”
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