We rest that night. I make a dredging net that night. In the morning, we dredge the land close to the reef. With the collected oysters from the dredge, I head back to Greed's island and make an oyster farm inside the crescent beach. Once we collect more fish, I'll add a net to cut off the crescent beach from the ocean. We don't have enough fish to make a fish farm yet. The measly amount of fish we've been collecting from the kobold village hasn't been enough to sustain an entire army. I'll have to re-adjust the fishing net to trawl instead of dredge.
We continue to travel to the ninja island. I've shown the net's to my tailors and they'll be making at least the same number as the amount of ships I have. Once I kill the pirates I will most likely continue to run fishing/trade ships through the oceans. Keeping the sea's clean of pirates from then on. We can't afford to have pirates retake the waters afterwords and it will help… Make trades... To the country we're at war with… Well, I guess opening up the ocean would allow for easier attacks against the other country.
Another few days of traveling and we've gotten enough boats with trawl nets to catch fish. A few hours of ship jumping, giving commands and re-adjusting the ships paths closer towards where my dosing sword is pointing. It is most likely pointed towards the ninja village. I'll have to check the navigation from the stars later once it gets dark. I hear one of the ships yell.
“Ships ahead!”
They're far enough away to have not spotted us yet. I call my troops to retreat on the other ships. All the generals jump onto the trap pirate ship. The turtles sink, readying for the surprise attack... As they get close I count the ships. One, two, three… Four ships… Maybe we should have just fought them normally.
I'll be the only one on the deck, when they get closer they'll only see a child and lower their guard. I'll say everyone underneath is sick and our captain has died in an attack from a monster. When they head underneath to help my crew we'll kill them then, open fire on their ships if they're in range… As the ships get closer I notice they look slightly different than this ship… Maybe this one or theirs are an outdated version?
Their ships are much closer to the water. They are also single level ships. With the top portion open… The ships are also very narrow, they look more like rowboats than anything else… That is also their method of transportation, the magority of the crew are rowing towards us, with no sails on top. What a weird look pira-. THEY OPEN FIRE. SHIT! I barely get a wind wall up to make their shots miss. The trajectory of each shot goes above the ship, if we had sails they would've hit them. I scream.
“ALL HANDS ON DECK THEY'RE NOT PIRATES!”
It should take them an entire minute to reload the six shots they just fired. It looks like that was all of the attacks they could make. The mana cannons they have are all at the front part of the ship. I'LL SINK THESE MOTHERFUCKERS BEFORE THEY GET ANOTHER CHANCE! I change into dragon form and fly at the closest ship.
They all look on amazed at me. I use my staple attack of taking a vial of explosive out of my mouth crushing it. Then filling my mouth with wind scrolls. I mix all my fire attacks and also mix in wind wall to increase the fires strength. A ship is instantly engulfed in flames. Each one of these ships contains around 20 people… My fire is being broken apart by something... But the men on board have still died.
Class learned Viking passive skill gained Energy Empowered Strikes- All melee attacks consume a portion of your rage to increase the speed of each attack
Level 1 Viking passive skill gained Lust for battle- The longer the battle goes on for the faster your energy returns
Viking level 1 to 13
Warrior level 37 to 38
Level 10 Viking passive skill gained Cold Resistance- Less likely to be harmed by freezing magic attacks and cold weather bothers you less
Secret Viking passive skill gained Ax specialization- Know the ins in outs of the ax, better throwing with less chance of ever missing your attack
Level increase to 36
Level increase to 37
Level increase to 38
I just killed 20 people in a single attack. I thought this would deter the vikings but this only encourages them more. They all start screaming and hollering… WHAT! They all start throwing things at me… I don't see any archers but the amount of axes and potions being thrown at me is incredible. I manage to fly out of harms way, back towards my ship before I get hit. What! The potions they were throwing froze the top layer of the ocean.
I head back in for my second bombing run. I can only do my explosion attack one more time with the amount of scrolls and vials my void tooth can hold. I'll save it for when it is needed. Some of the vikings have gotten off their ships and have started to run towards our boat. There are still around one hundred vikings but only around twenty have started running on the ice. My lizard men troops aboard and my generals are now outside the greet them.
I fly high into the air. Diving into a tail spin with Gear's shields spinning in front of me. We pierce straight through a ship and into the water. I change back into a human. The wings get in the way when trying to move around in the water. They aren't very good paddles compared to using my breath. I would do that type of movement but I don't have my helmet, it would be too dangerous if I used all the air in my lungs to propel myself.
I am under the ships. I start puncturing holes into the bottom of every single one, they'll either need to start bucketing the water out of their ships or have them sink. I jump out of the water with escape. Transforming into a dragon form mid air. My turtle ships have finally resurfaced. This is the first thing to confuse the vikings. The turtles broke straight through the thin layer of ice that would have restricted a normal person from resurfacing.
I start loading up another breath attack. I hear a viking yell out before I crush the vial.
“WHAT!? STOP MY BROTHERS! THESE ARE NOT OUR ENEMIES! DYING IN BATTLE AGAINST YOUR ENEMIES IS NOBLE. We know not who these people are! Let us first try to speak with them before we continue.”
Osmosis activated
The man is a well dressed viking. He is wearing a horned helmet and has a giant red beard. He must be the leader of the vikings. I land and speak with the jarl.
“We are not your enemies. This was a trapped laid to kill pirates. Since you attacked it on sight, it would seem you also are at odds against the pirates. We do not wish any harm to your drangs and thegns. Please speak of your mission here jarl.”
“I am not a jarl, I am a skeppare sent in our jarl of failing healths place… You speak as if you know of our culture young one. Perhaps you are from the forgotten isles to the far south of here?”
“I've met several of your people before while traveling the seas. You seemed like a rowdy bunch but not willing to travel this far before… At least without the tinges of exploration nipping at your boots.”
“HAHAHA! You've got that right, while we are known for our exploring, we did not come this far north because of that. The pirate leader has been continuing to expand their hold on the ocean and it is starting to get too close to our homeland. They've attacked a transport ship holding a few ceremonial pieces of equipment, forged several hundred years ago. We have come to get it back.”
“...You're force is far too small to engage with the several thousand pirates you are going to fight against.”
“...I see… It has gotten that bad has it… We have to head back to tell the jarl about this… We thank you for your help strange one. We'll be more careful on our approach of their base now... Sorry about attacking your ship...
“No, it was my fault, I should have noticed your ships were different beforehand and adjusted my strategy… Now let's get down to business… I notice your swords seem expertly made, I would like to see the ceremonial pieces if the normal army equipment is this good. Also you used strange potions that froze the waters quickly. Can you explain those vials too me?”
“Hmm, I can teach you both things but what do you have to trade for them?”
Stolen story; please report.
“...What would you like?”
“We're fans of fighting, fans of alcohol and fans of women. Any or all of these things can be used as currency.”
I cut open my arm while pulling out a few cups to catch my blood in. I begin to speak again.
“My blood is a strong wine, give it a taste and see if this is up to your standards. If not, I can always grab a few casks of beer for your long journey. I can't give you either of the other two things though.”
I sips the blood wine. Then drinks the rest in one gulp. He licks his lips enthusiastically. My blood is around one hundred proof… But it tastes like plain blood to most people, well that is what the kobolds have said. Some races are more likely to crave my blood after drinking it. Becoming addicted to dragons blood is a very easy way to get yourself killed. He licks the remaining blood out of the cup.
“This is the most delicious alcohol I've ever drunk... Bring me five bottles of this wine and I'll teach you everything about ice potions and our swords.”
“It will take a days worth of time to get that much blood wine. If you wish, we can tie our ships together and head to a nearby island until I get the payment.”
We tie our ships together. They patch the few holes in their boats and head through the portal. They're all amazed by my portal… Maybe showing them this is bad but they don't know where it is linked to. So, being outnumbered 3 to 1 and with us not showing any signs of betraying them. They would have no reason to betray us. I also use this time to bring up the nets of fish. I'll store them inside the crescent portion of the beach. This will keep the fish fresh until we decide to eat them.
The skeppare brings forth one of the swords. It is cold to the touch when I grab it. He begins to speak.
“This is a sword made from cold iron. It is different in many ways than regular iron. First, it is far stronger and tougher. Second it absorbs fire completely. It is strong enough to soak up fire from a dragons… Well… If you made a shield out of it anyways… HAHAHA I can't believe you are a dragon, it doesn't make any sense! Don't worry about my men either, it is an honor to die at the hands of a strong enemy.”
“How do you forge the metal then?”
“Ahh, I see you do know something about blacksmithing. Well you see, it had to be forged in a cold forge. The only way the blade can be tempered is by dropping the temperature low… Forges like that would be impossible to make around here. The temperature isn't low enough to temper the iron. Our islands are almost constantly in winter, so using ice water to chill the iron is possible almost all year around. The colder the temperature you can get the blade when forged. The stronger it will be."
“...Hmm, can we try something? I'd like to try cold forging a sword. Perhaps I can help make it better.”
“...I don't see how that is possible but you can try.”
I make a makeshift forge. The way it sounds they make swords, is equal to the temperature of ice saltwater. While I could just add more salt to water then continue to use my freeze breath to drop the temperature. I think using my breath to cool the sword itself down would be far better. Using freeze and bad breath in conjunction with dragon form and wind wall, I can make winds colder than water can get.
I place the sword into the makeshift forge. And begin breathing my freeze attack towards it. Everything is adding to me being the only person alive able to do something like this. So many different skills are being used here. Even my improved water affinity with my increased lung capacity. The skeppare's eyes widen as the color of the sword changes. It starts to glow light blue, than it continues to get darker and darker in color. Finally settling on a blue almost turning black. It takes five minutes of breathing to get it this color. The skeppare pulls it out and starts to beat on it with a hammer. Forging the blade far sharper, thinner than it was before. The original color of the sword was a light blue… It settles on a color similar to what it was when I was cold forging it.
“T-this sword is the same color as our ceremonial weapons.”
His hands are trembling with the weapon in them.
“SOMEONE BRING ME A SWORD!”
He yells at his men. One of them rushes over a sword and the person holds it. The skeppare swings the sword and it cuts through the other cold iron sword an inch… WHAT THE HELL! The original cold iron was harder than my steel weapons… To be sharp enough to cut through something stronger than steel… I bring out a regular steel sword and it cuts a jagged edge through it… These swords are extremely sharp. The skeppare continues to shake. He finally speaks.
“Y-y-you know h-h-how valuable this is to us? We have a total of six swords of this quality. The king uses one. Two of his jarls use them. Lastly, three were stolen transporting them by the pirates… I-if you can mimic what you've just done with all of our weapons… I can guarantee a strong relationship with the vikings as well as an enormous reward.”
“...Truth be told… I think I can make these swords even better if you give me a few moments.”
The skeppare can't believe what I just said. It doesn't register in his mind. To be able to make something even stronger than the few ceremonial pieces from hundreds of years ago. It does not register with him. He doesn't know whether to laugh, get angry or cry at what I just said. I start preparing.
I get around fifty wind scrolls that I had built up. I enchant the makeshift forge with freeze magic. Then add two bellows to each side of it, enchanting them with wind wall magic. I test them out and they made a tremendous amount of wind. Enough to not need to meld my wind wall into my spell… I still will to make it as strong as possible. I coat the next cold iron sword in my blood. It is the strongest alcohol we have right now. Meaning, it should have a really low freezing temperature. Plus if it's my blood, it might have cold resistance properties from the viking class.
I begin to go through the same method I had done before. This time adding in wind scrolls to keep my breath more consistent. Having to catch my breath drops the power slightly. With all the additions I made to the forge the sword begins to change color. Just like before it changes to light blue. Gradually getting darker, finally settling on pitch black. The metal is midnight black compared to the dark blue. It should be even stronger but we will need to test it again.
First ever created black cold iron sword Unique enchanting effect added
WHAT!? I cast detect on the sword. Rare quality, it now has the absorb heat, absorb cold enchants on it… What an amazing sword. Only a rare quality though, meaning it can be strengthened far further than it is right now. I grab the other sword I had made. It had no effects on it but just the superior quality it was made it valuable. It had the same properties as iron when it came to enchanting.
“I'll make these swords.”
Holding the black cold iron sword in my hands.
“But what will you give me in return? How much cold iron do you have and how much do you mine each year?”
“We collect around 1000 pounds of cold iron every year. We use it for everything, most of the heavy armor we wear is made from it. We aren't wearing it right now because heavy armor and oceans don't mix… We'll trade half of the swords made right now for your abilities to make these swords for us… That is all we have to trade... Once we make it back to our king... We can talk about a more suitable reward.”
...That is a pretty bad deal. It comes from the point that they don't have much on them. This is planning for the future though. If I make these swords and send them back to their homelands. Word will get back to the king and it could hold a valuable ally from my abilities to make these swords… Also the sheer amount of equipment I can make after they supply me with the cold iron.
“I'll trade you 20 of the black swords for my abilities to make these and also iron swords to replace the ones I take. Considering that these swords are higher quality than even your ceremonial equipment… Ceremonial equipment you were willing to send 120 vikings to get. And I'm the only one who can make them, I feel I should get the larger portion of swords.”
That trade off is over three fourths of the swords I make will end up in my hands. He agrees… I honestly don't think he could have turned me down, even if I had only given him one of the strengthened swords to return with. I figure it is better to keep them armed in case they are attacked on the way back home.
“It will take us over a year to make the return trip home...”
“I can make improvements to your ships to cut the return trip to your homeland down… That is a discussion for another time though. I'll continue to make these swords.”
I upgrade the rest of the swords for the remainder of the day. None of them are enchanted after the first one I made. I'll definitely make sure that the special one is one I get. Trying to deconstruct it would end with a 5% chance at learning the enchant… Not worth it. Going to sleep that night with the feeling of gaining a new ally. With my knowledge of their culture. I know they won't attack me in my sleep.