The first shots came from our pursuer, ranging shots to increase accuracy. It wouldn’t have been an issue except one of the shots managed to land, disrupting our cloak and ruining our approach. The damage was minimal since it was an inert round but still, the shield flickered to life shortly after, Khikall doing his best to run all of the systems at once.

It didn’t take long for our quarry to notice us after that and now we were stuck between two ships firing on us. Khikall did his best to avoid the shots and return fire. It wouldn’t have been possible at all without the ship having so many features, like the targeting reticle.

I covered my eyes as the top side cannon sent out blinding beams of mana at our target. Unlike a laser, these beams of destructive energy were easy to see with the naked eye. The enemy shield wavered from the impact. They must have realized escape wasn’t an option anymore and turned to fire a broadside at us. Moments before I saw the flash of cannon fire, the Retribution lurched out from under me, and it was only thanks to Barcos grabbing onto me that I was still on the ship.

“You said it was safe to wait on the deck!” I yelled.

“No, I said it should be fine. I’m fine, so is Em’ah,” he smiled, pointing to an unfazed Em’ah.

“Well, what the hell, how do you keep from flying free?”

“Years of being aboard fighting vessels,” He smirked, “or a skill to keep your rooted in place.”

Dammit, I realized I should have kept that Solid Footing skill now. But how was I to know that was what it was for. In hindsight it made sense. All of the other ships I fought had open-top decks with railing on the side but they could dive just as easily as our ship and people had to adapt to changing circumstances. But I had never designed the Retribution to accommodate fighting on deck. It was flat on top because flat was easy to do.

I pulled out my control tablet and engaged one of the more esoteric defensive features at minimum power. I felt the magnetic force suck my feet to the deck as Barcos tsked in annoyance.

“That'll make fighting a bit harder but I guess I could use the resistance training.”

I just shrugged and Em’ah seemed unconcerned. It wasn’t surprising since she didn’t use metal of any sort. Her clothes and weapons were a part of her.

Speaking of weapons, I tested both my staves. Consuming Void was slightly affected but nothing I couldn’t power through if I had to. But Dominion and Destruction was unaffected. Probably because the ends were made from a mithril alloy that wasn’t magnetic. My armor was similarly unaffected, being made from hydra scale and mithril. The only reason my boots were magnetic was that they were just standard steel-toed boots.

I had no more time for testing as men started jumping from the ship in front of us and flying over. I really wished we could go on the offensive at times like this but it just wasn’t possible with the small crew size.

A shadowy form materialized behind me or tried to. I heard the scream as the teleportation scrambler did its job and the man fell below the ship.

The pirates were quick to change tactics though as they popped in above the field and dropped through the forcefield using that crystal dust or specialized poles tipped with mana crystals. It seemed the poles were single-use as their tiny crystals popped as they tried to absorb the massive amount of energy flowing through the shield. So not as effective as the dust. While most made it through, some weren’t so lucky and their bodies sizzled and popped as they impacted the defensive barrier.

I didn’t spare any more time for those unfortunate fools as I was already in motion, slapping aside an axe with the end of my staff. I used the magnetic defenses to my advantage, slapping the weapon low. It wasn’t enough to get it stuck to the deck but the added resistance slowed my target down just enough for me to use my metallic hand as a spear through his heart. The man had a look of shocked surprise.

I grabbed the man’s ribcage and hurled him into a group of three more attackers, knocking them all down. Em’ah zipped past me and stabbed the three downed men with her bone blades.

“Now this is a fight!” I heard Barcos laugh. I spared a moment to look and saw him engaged with six saber-wielding pirates, the motions a blur so quick, even I couldn’t see what was going on.

I felt a blade slam into my back before I saw the offender. It was that damn shadow teleport fuck. My armor had saved me from a possibly deadly blow as the man didn’t have the strength to push through its defensive properties. I spun around, quick swapping my staff for Consuming Void as the man tried to turn to smoke and teleport away anywhere. My staff flashed through his fading form, eliciting a scream of pain as the spiritual damage did its thing. The man vanished a moment later but I doubt he would return. With the combined effects of the teleportation scrambler and having taken spiritual damage, if he woke up before he slammed into the ocean surface, I would be surprised.

I spun around again, using my staff to block a sword swing, but only for a moment as my weapon vanished into my ring. The pirate, expecting resistance, was thrown off balance by the sudden lack thereof. I let the weak blow skitter across my armor as I punched forward, activating Reverberating Strike and Double Strike.

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The first blow was followed by an audible crack as my metal fist hammered into the side of his ribs. I quickly cast Shockwave and hammered a second strike home, sending the man cartwheeling across the deck.

More enemies were landing on deck so I needed to pick up the pace. Dominion and Destruction appeared in my hand again and I smashed the end of it into a pirate's throat, taking the enemy's mace to the side of my head. I staggered sideways at the blow and used Rejuvenate on the minor damage. Mostly to my pride but I was seeing double for a few seconds.

I recovered just in time to see a sword lancing for my neck. I knew I wouldn’t be able to snap my staff up quick enough to deflect the attack so I activated Time Shudder, rolling back a second and giving me the time I needed to block the attack. I'm sure to the pirate, it seemed like my weapon teleported into place. I used my free hand to blast him in the stomach with Energy Lance, which may have been a mistake from so close.

The force of the blast blew us apart and I crashed into the door to the ship. My opponent wasn’t as lucky as he went sailing off the Retribution.

I wouldn’t say these pirates were all that good but they fought with a ferocity beyond anything I had seen… besides myself.

I managed to get to my feet and survey the battle. Barcos had dispatched three of his six attackers and had a line of other dead behind him. Apparently, others thought to get in on the action. It took me time to spot Em’ah and I watched her cleave a pirate’s head clean off with a sharpened elongated arm bone before she vanished amongst the chaos to appear somewhere else, stabbing another pirate through the back.

I was glad she was on our side. I rushed back into the fight, this time leading with Charge and Unstoppable Force. Thinking to stop me, one pirate leaned into his shield to absorb the impact. He sadly misjudged the force of my impact. His steel shield caved in under the force of my fist as I heard his arm snap. It did save his life though as my fist was deflected slightly, only grazing his scalp. A flap of skin and hair was torn free as the man screamed and was shoved to the side. I went to stomp on his face but forgot about the force of the magnetism on my shoes. By the time I got my foot up, the ship lurched from under me again and I was momentarily airborne.

A series of explosions rippled across the forcefield showing that Khikall’s maneuver wasn’t entirely successful. What worried me was the last impact and not seeing a follow-up ripple from the shield. I crashed back aboard the deck along with any pirates that managed to not get tossed off by the motion. My downed opponent was gone, however.

I scrambled to my feet and turned in the direction that the last attack had come from. The pursuit ship had caught up. I felt something ominous and dove to the deck. A crimson wave blasted through where I had just been standing, slicing three pirates apart. I turned and spotted the source.

A bulky Lionoide with black and white striped hair was grinning wildly at me. “I had heard of your crew’s reputation, I’m glad it wasn’t all fluff and lies. Come, little pirate hunter, let’s see how good you really are.” I used Identify and groaned, of course, it had to be him.

Sarvis | Sanquine Slasher/Tactician | 25/15

I knew this was going to be a hard fight as I got into my battle stance and relaxed the grip on my staff. I need to be fluid with my weapon, something I had learned from fighting Barcos. I was just about to rush in when Barcos stepped in front of me.

“You are hardly a challenge for our illustrious captain, so I will be more than enough to deal with the likes of you,” he smirked at Sarvis.

When I looked to where Barcos had been fighting, all I saw were dead bodies. Had he been toying with them this entire time? What am I thinking, of course, he toyed with him, the lazy shit. And now that there was an actual challenge, he wanted it for himself. Well, you know what… he can have it.

“Have fun,” I said as I turned to the new pirates that were appearing on the deck. What had started with a two-way brawl had turned into a free-for-all. I had Em’ah to partially thank for this. She had the former slave pirates so disoriented they were attacking anyone and everyone that got close to them.

I rushed in, dodging another one of those crimson slashes from Sarvis. He had no more time to try and fight me as he was fully engaged with Barcos. If I had thought Barcos was fast before, holy shit was he fast now. As the two engaged their arms were a blur so quick I only heard the ringing impacts from the weapons.

I crashed into the closest pirate, using the leverage of my swing to spin me out of the way of a spear thrust aimed at my face. I jammed my open palm out at the spearman and released Frostwave. My attack caught five others but without Overcharging it, it wasn’t nearly as effective. I was about to cast Maddening Laugh when silence descended on me. Well probably not me alone but it did the trick, disrupting my spell.

I looked around to try and find the source but was unable to locate it through the melee. That’s fine, I didn’t need sound to cast my next spell. I located a group of three locked into a duel and threw an Annihilator Sphere at them. I had to aim high to avoid tearing up the ship though.

The first man’s head exploded into dust moments before a fountain of blood escaped the now lifeless body. The other two escaped the brunt of the spell but their weapons did not. That’s when I spotted the mage. It was quite easy to locate him when he threw a crackling ball of greenish-blue energy at me. As with the Enforcer’s attack, I felt nothing good would come from letting this attack reach me.

I used Time Shudder again to store my staff and pull out a standard mace I had as backup. I whipped the weapon at the oncoming ball of energy.

When the two collided, the ball exploded into a torrent of electrified acid. I danced back to avoid the dangerous liquid as it spilled across the deck, eating into the armor and melting any pirate that was unlucky enough to get touched by the substance.

After ten seconds the liquid evaporated, leaving a large section of the deck pockmarked and bloody. Already the mage was preparing another spell. Violet bolts of lightning were forming between his hands and grew in intensity as his hands grew farther apart. I raised both my hands, firing Energy Lance from one and my mana cannon from the other. The attacks exploded against a shimmering forcefield but the man staggered back under the dual attacks. I snapped my hand closed to recharge and rushed the mage as my staff appeared, the ends crackling with Imbued electricity and water. Two could play this game, asshole!