I tell you, once you know how to use it properly, there’s nothing a well-cared for fishing rod can’t do.

-Excerpt from ‘The Art of Fishing’ by Salomon Tzu

As the tangled ball of whirling arms and legs drew closer, Redhawk realised it was actually a teenage girl. Where the hell had she come from?

One moment the sky was clear and the next it was raining kids… His eyes widened as he realised the flying girl had come from the direction of the ship they were chasing. It was an attack.

He scoffed, stepping forward to intercept her as she fell. What could one woman possibly do against his entire ship and crew?

The bastards they were chasing down weren’t taking them seriously, it seems. His men stepped aside, with many standing slack-jawed as they watched the strange scene unfolding.

“Stop lazing about and start firing!” he roared at the ones who’d stopped moving.

He enjoyed an audience to witness his magnificence, but these useless louts needed to understand their place in the Swordshark Pirates. The woman drew nearer and a melodic scream reached his ears.

If this was her attempt at a battle cry, it was a feeble one. Redhawk let out a booming laugh, planting his feet on the deck and swinging his cutlass back.

“Let me show you what happens when you don’t take Mansville Redhawk seriously,” he cried with a ferocious glint in his eye.

When the girl was close enough to reach out and touch the mainsail, he stepped forward. Preparing to swing his blade, he stumbled with wide eyes as a deafening explosion echoed across the ocean.

A whistle of wind in his ears made him give up his strike and leap to the side, right as a jagged splinter of wood shot through the space his head had just occupied. Looking in the direction the splinter had come from, he froze.

What? His brain stuttered as he tried to process what he was seeing. The Swordshark Herald had been split in two, right through the mainmast.

The back half of the ship was sinking into the churning sea and he could see men scrabbling for stable footing. Many had already drowned.

As he watched, a tendril of pure darkness exploded from the ocean and lanced through the poop deck. It speared a few of his crewmates on the way and carved the broken ship into more pieces.

At that moment, there was a blinding flash of light. When his eyes readjusted he saw a column of fire reaching to the skies; a blazing inferno that consumed what remained of the rear end of Swordshark Herald.

In the moment when all hope was lost, he witnessed a spark of resistance igniting. Dozens of blades sprung from the sea and pierced the abyssal tendril.

It burst into a spray of… ink? That showered the murky waters and covered the sea in a thin black film.

That had been Commodore Sharksbane’s signature strike. While the ship’s fate was sealed, perhaps the battle was not yet lost.

Right then, he heard a tear of fabric and his focus snapped back to his own ship. The girl was no longer flailing, but instead held a wooden rod in her hands.

The mainsail was torn in two and her body suddenly jerked to the side before swinging in an arc under the mainmast. Realising he had no time to worry about the fate of the others while his own vessel was under threat, Redhawk barked a few orders at his men and raced towards the rigging.

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The girl looped back into the air and landed gracefully on the beam. She whipped the rod in her hands and he saw a glint of silver tearing through the sail.

Redhawk launched himself up the ropes a metre at the time, cutlass held between his teeth. In a few seconds he had climbed halfway up the mast.

Another large rip appeared as the flash of silver returned to the girl’s hands. She had a strange expression on her face. An odd blend of excitement and fear.

He would show her fear.

***

Rose teetered on the beam as she landed, but managed to keep her balance with graceful steps. Flicking her wrist, she unwound the hook from around the beam and pulled it back to her.

Skill up!

Athletics 10 > 11

Endurance 7 > 8

Along the way, it tore another rip in the pirate’s sail. Glancing back to Liberty, she saw their ship pulling away from the pursuers.

Even if she couldn’t win the battle, at least she’d bought the crew time to escape. Yasmin had been confident as she threw her into the lion’s den, so she hoped the terrifying woman had an escape plan in mind.

Then again, in the brief time she’d known Yasmin, the woman had bordered the line between unhinged and calculating. Who knew if this was a thought-out plan or just a whim?

Looking at the deck below, she saw the pirates scrambling around. This high up they were tiny, looking like dwarves as they scurried to clamber the rigging and compensate for the torn sail.

One man in particular soared above the rest, already a third of the way up the rope ladder. He clutched a cutlass in his mouth and his eyes burned with rage.

He sported a scarlet mohawk, an assortment of golden rings in his ears, and a shiny golden tooth. Now that was a pirate. Even knowing she would soon face him in a life-or-death battle didn’t stop Rose from appreciating his aesthetic.

However, she had some time before he reached her. One woman against dozens of ferocious pirates weren’t favourable odds. So, she needed to thin the herd.

For a brief moment she toyed with the idea of equipping her new title, Godtouched, but decided against it. She was fishing, but the widespread boost of Quintessential Skill still seemed more potent.

Looking around, she picked out a few pirates who were standing still, gawking at her. Idiots. Even she knew that you don’t stop moving once your life's on the line.

She felt the mystical influence of her blessing as she reeled back the rod, a gentle guiding hand. Not directing her, but subtly shifting her perspective as she prepared to toss the hook.

Her arm shot downwards and the rod whipped through the air with a crack of soft thunder. The hook sailed towards her unsuspecting prey and the line whirred as it reeled out.

He stumbled backwards as the hook appeared in front of his face. The moment it dropped below his chin, Rose yanked the rod upwards.

A scarlet mist sprayed across the deck as the hook tore into his throat. His head jerked backwards and she instantly felt the line grow heavy as he fell. An instant kill.

Skill up!

Fishing 21 > 22

Precision 6 > 7

Rose smiled, the thrilling sensation of progress filling her with confidence. In the next few seconds her arms were a lethal whirlwind, delivering death from above to the unsuspecting pirates.

Skill up!

Fishing 22 > 23

Two more pirates fell to the deck. By now the others had realised what was going on and those who dared to stand still were few and far between.

The majority of her foes were now scrambling up the rope ladders attached to the mainmast or the second mast. They had vengeance painted on their faces as they raced towards her.

Skill up!

Precision 7 > 8

Fishing 23 > 24

The splashes reached her ears right as the man with the red mohawk reached the top of the rigging and clambered onto the beam. Staring at her, he had a wild grin on his face as he pulled his cutlass out of his mouth.

Light flashed off his gold tooth and he twirled his cutlass as he strode towards her. Rather than rushing, he was taking measured steps while observing her.

The hook whipped through the air and returned to the rod, a few bloodstains marking the shiny metal. She slung it over her back before equipping Sunsplitter from her inventory.

He whistled. “Pretty swords. I’ll be taking them along with your head, little wench,” he growled, lunging forwards.

Despite there being two metres between them he somehow closed the gap in a single step and swung his blade directly at her head.