"I'm gonna be sick." Rex grabbed his head as a force pulled him all around while psychedelic lights danced in his vision. Then, with a sudden jolt, he was sitting in an oversized chair of sorts. "What just happened?" He leaned towards closing his eyes to stop his view from spinning.

"Recall spell, Captain. Medic, tend him, please." The girl from earlier approaches with the woman in tow. "Manage with this; for now, and we can connect soon." The girl hands over a bottle with a glowing liquid in it. The woman downs it quickly to tend to Rex.

"I'm here to help." A sweet voice followed by a cool icy blue, glowing hand patted his shoulder. "This is all I can do, for now, I'm afraid, Captain." The glow faded as she stepped back to join the group.

"Thank you." Rex felt much better and slightly refreshed after the magic faded. He began his breathing exercise to calm himself; he could feel more energy with each breath. “Here’s what's about to happen, people. My patience has been wearing thin due to recent events. So!” Pushing himself off his chair and hopping down the three steps to the floor. “I want you to keep it short and simple. The better you behave, the better my mode. You!” Rex pointed to a random person in the group. “Who are you?”

“Docket, sir.” A man dressed in gray clothes with a crew cut and medium build answered him. Stepping out of the lineup, he was a good head shorter than Rex was.

“Quick reply, good. Why are you hear Docket?” Rex stood and looked down to meet the eyes of a stubborn glare.

“It was work or death, easy choice.” Docket replied while trying to stand taller. Even though he was stronger, he felt a sort of unease about the man questioning him. Rex quirked an eyebrow at the answer.

“So you were you one of the previous crew of the ship or an invader of it?” Rex’s glare had a dangerous light to it.

“Crew! Kitchen staff, sir!” Docket decided to trust his gut like always and not show hostility. Rex had a sudden shift of expression. “The Spirit said we can work to earn a ride home safely!” He emphasized the last bit. Rex stepped back, allowing him to rejoin the line with the rest.

“Is that the deal for all of you?” Rex walked back up the stairs to the throne. It was the only seat in the area he saw, and he was not about to sit on the steps. A murmur of yes was his answer. “So those that want a ride back go stand over there.” He pointed to his left. “Anyone interested in a different deal stands over there.” He pointed to his right. The group of people slowly split up to the two sides.

“What do you mean, Captain?” The medic woman tilted her head in confusion; she and the girl were still standing in the middle.

“Simply put, girly, if you want a ride stand over there if you want anything else besides that. So choose so that we can move on.” Rex sighed as he snapped his fingers in impatience. The medic looked a bit taken aback; the girl just pulled her hand to join her aside. “For all of you wanting a ride back, I assume you know what sort of duties need to be tended to, right?” Rex was met with nods and unsure stares. “You’re dismissed; get to work! Those of you with a job, pick someone to follow and help them out.”

The group on the left ran out of the room to do their tasks, while the unsure ones followed behind Docket to the kitchen. Rex motioned for the others to come back in front of his seat. He looked over the few before him, and they were all giving him some kind of different looks laced with a hint of hostility.

“I am Pr-” A large-built man with following blond hair stepped forwards, his haughty voice began to speak out. Rex held his hand, and the man closed his mouth with a sneer.

“Don’t test me, son. I am in no mood to deal with children and their temperaments.” Rex stood up, towering above the blond man. “Remember now to keep your answers short and sweet, got that, Blonde?” Rex gave the man a wide-eyed hard stare while pointing between Blonde’s eyes.

“Yes, sir.” The blond man replied while holding his anger back.

“Good boy! I’m calling you Blonde from now on. So why are you here, Blonde?” Rex fell back on his oversized chair, relaxing a bit while watching the emotions flash across the blond man’s face.

“My name is Pre-” He began.

“Blonde.” Rex held up a finger.

“It’s Pres-” He began to shake with a red face.

“Don’t make me call you dumbass, Blonde.” Rex held up a second finger.

“My name is Blonde, sir….” Blonde’s face fell to the ground as a trail of blood dripped from his clenched fists. He took some breaths as he thought about his vengeance later. “I was part of the party before it was attacked, I was imprisoned during, and now I’m here...sir.” Blonde glared at Rex, lounging on the throne.

“Interesting, so what do you want, Blonde?” Rex brought his hands together while leaning forwards. “What sort of deal do you want?” A sinister smile couldn’t entirely hide behind his hands; the group shivered a bit, except an angry Blonde.

“I demand you release me from this collar and get me a proper life field tool.” He touched the dark green collar around his neck, and it shocked his hand away. “This is no way to treat-” Blonde didn’t get further.

“Mute.” Rex blinked as Blonde tried to yell something, but nothing came out. “I can’t believe that worked.” He held his chin, watching Blonde try to shout while getting sparked at for trying to grab his neck, only to touch the collar. “Stand still.” Blonde stood still like a statue. “You, what is the collar you all are wearing?” He pointed to a short girl with bright ruby red hair next to Blonde.

“It’s a Servant Collar, sir. Sir Spirit gave us and all other prisoners a choice to wear them and live or reject and die.” She would not look him in the eyes, keeping her view pointed to the steps below him.

“What does it do?” Rex raised a brow at the new information.

“It gives the Master of the item full control over the one wearing it. It does have certain limits due to divine power of the system, yet it means we are Servants now, sir.” She dropped her head a bit further down.

“Why did you accept it?” Rex was starting to get curious now.

“I just want to survive, sir. It was the chance I have at getting out alive.” She was quivering, seemingly holding in some pent-up emotions. “But I’m not sure I should.” Her voice was quiet.

“Look me in my eyes, and tell me what you want.” Rex wasn’t sure if she was crying or not. She took a moment to gather herself to look him in the eyes. Her golden eyes were inflamed with rage and hatred instead of sadness. “So then, why are you here before me? If you wanted to survive, why not follow the group from before?”

“I want revenge more. I want to kill the bastards that murdered my little brother.” Her eyes and hair shone with an intensifying glow briefly before the collar stopped her.

“What makes you think I can help?” Rex watched the others go through some slight reactions. Only the younger-looking girl next to the medic held her composure.

“You’re a human! So you should know something about the nobles from the Malcolm Empire.” She pointed at Rex, who was blankly staring at her making assumptions. “I want you to get me close to one certain family.” Her eyes had a murderous gleam to them. No doubt she was imagining doing something horrible to her targets.

“What do you mean, human?” Rex was confused for a moment till he realized something he was overlooking. He was only an alien magic spaceship, and these ‘people’ only looked humanoid, so he ignored their more minor different details. “What are you?” Staring hard at her, he found her ears were human-like but had a point to the top of them. Her hair and eyes were inhumanly naturally colored as well.

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you, and how did you pirates get such a spirit to work with you?” She tried to climb the steps closer to him, but he held up one finger. Thankfully she was more intelligent than Blonde. “I’m a Sun Dwarf.” She stepped back into line, calming herself down.

“Interesting. Sadly Goldielocks, I might be a human, but I never heard of this Marty Imperial place.” Rex waved the mention of some random empire away while focusing more on figuring out who was what now. “Just think of me of an Ancient Human that was Captain of the ship this one destroyed recently, and since pirates stole it, I commandeered it and accepted it as compensation for my old ship.” He watched the girl’s confidence slowly crumble. “So Goldielocks, want to try again?” She nodded slightly.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“I apologize for my previous outburst, sir. Please allow me to join your crew, sir.” She snapped to attention, standing a bit straighter. Blondie next to her had wide eyes with some fear in them. Rex burst out with a few short laughs.

“What made you change your tone so quickly?” He narrowed his eyes at her, judging her reaction.

“No one in their right mind would disrespect the Malcolm Empire, sir. I believe I can achieve my goal if I follow you, sir.” Her head was tilted back a bit as she avoided solid eye contact, choosing to stare above the throne instead.

“Welcome aboard, Goldielocks. I was told that my gun should be in the armory, be a dear and fetch it for me, please?” Rex smiled while motioning towards the only door leading out the room. “We can talk more afterward. Blondie, go guard the door.” Rex snapped as the two got moving, one with a bit more energy than the other. “Now your turn, buddy.”

“Smith, sir. I was the old Defense Gaurd, hoping you might be hiring.” A decently aged gentleman stepped up. His slate grey hair went well with his weathered sunkissed skin. He looked like a hard worker through and through. “I’m not as fancy as the lass, just a humble Dwarf I am, sir.” He noticed Rex looking him over. “We may have more similar features as humans more than elves, yet the differences only truly show once the magic flows freely.” He let out a peal of loud belly laughter, which echoed out.

“What sort of work can I expect from you, Smith?” Rex was happy the third person turned out to be more intelligent than the rest so far. “Just be warned that I have absolutely zero tolerance for those that try to use me.” A hint of anger from past memories escaped his lips. Unfortunately, it seems it’ll take more than a friendly attitude to fix his mood.

“Simply put, sir, I used to set up and head the defense troops. Then, when we enter an Event Field, it was my job to guard the Castle against enemy raids.” He stood a bit taller and prouder, remembering some of his past moments. “Otherwise, I assist in the management of defense members onboard.”

“You’re hired Smith! Now, get to work on setting up whatever we need to the max of what's possible. We will need all we can to survive.” Rex had a grim look on his face.

“Do we need to go that far, Captain?” Smith was a bit confused at the order. He had never maxed out a Castle’s defense before.

“Better safe than sorry. It’s my first event as Captain, so humor me a bit.” Rex could just feel that something big was coming; only time would tell if it was for better or worse. “Give me a tour of things later. For now, prepare for the worst outcome.” Smith gave a short nod and headed off.

“Three down, you four to go. I’ll save you two for last.” Rex pointed at the medic and the girl next to her. “So, which one of you wants to go first?” There were only two left, one who looked like a young boy with bright grass green hair and an imposingly large man standing slightly behind him. Rex smiled as the young boy was about to speak. “How about it, big man?” His eyes stared at the large man while the boy froze with his mouth open.

Glancing down at the boy to his side, the large man shakes his head as the boy turns red. “Linus. Guard. Protect. Client.” Linus pointed to himself, then the reddened boy to his side. He stared at Rex, just watching while waiting.

“Care for new employment?” Rex wanted a follower who didn’t talk back that much. Linus shook his head no. “They why the collar?” He pointed at the boy again. “Your job isn’t over yet, so you accepted it to still protect this brat?” Rex looked at the large guy in disbelief. He nodded yes. “Now, I really want you to work for me. I need someone with that kind of devotion! Boy!” Rex stood up and pointed dramatically at the kid.

“Huh?” Green haired boy was caught off guard at the sudden shift of things. His eyes were wide in confusion since he daydreamed of things instead of listening.

“You’re on my crew now, Greeny.” Rex clapped his hands together, making him blink a few times.

“Huuh?!” Greeny was getting upset at this nonsense.

“Since you’re part of the package, big man, it looks like you are part of the crew now to Linus.” Rex sat back down, leaning his head on his right arm. “Linus, take Greeny with you to help Smith out with setting up the defenses. Let Greeny get some real-life experience while you guard him closely, making sure he does his work while staying safe.”

“Hm.Captain.” Linus grabbed Greeny, who tried to complain, but a quick mute from Rex shut him up. Rex could have sworn he saw Linus smirk a bit at that. He was turning towards the two left. Now that Rex was looking for it, he saw they had longer pointier ears, unnaturally silky-looking hair, colors that no human could have as well. Their bodies seemed elegant and delicate, yet he bet they were studier than it appeared, magic being a thing now.

“Why do you two have no collars?” Rex noticed they had on two bracelets instead of collars like the rest. He was trying to be a bit gentler since one of them healed him up, and healers were always worth protecting.

“We are already part of the crew, Captain.” The girl held up her arms, showing off the bracelets. “These are Bonding Cuffs. Instead of a deal of servitude with collars, we asked Sir Spirit to form a bond so we may work for him instead.” She bowed her head low. “I was the previous owner of this Starship, and my Spirit gave herself up to your Star Spirit so that we may serve the new owner.” She kept her head low as the medic woman followed her lead to bow as well.

“Can you try and say that again, but this time, much simpler like I have no clue what your common sense is. Now go on.” Rex waved her to repeat herself. She was a tad shaken but coughed and gathered her thoughts up.

“My Spirit stopped the ship; we tried to escape but failed. Then you showed up killing all the pirates. Your Spirit forcefully takes over the empty core. My Spirit now serves your Spirit. We work for Sir Spirit, so you are already our boss!” She tried to make a cute face, but her outward appearance didn't fool me since I knew she was an elf.

“It was you!” Rex was livid. “You! You crashed and ruined my ship?! I had to wear a giant meat suit as a body thanks to you!” If he weren’t so tired, he would have tried to hit her over the head at least once. After taking some breaths to calm himself a bit. “Well, since my ship is destroyed thanks to you, I hope you don’t mind me taking this one?” He glared at her while she avoided his eye contact. “I thought you were the previous owner….” He had a bad feeling in his gut.

“I might have been since it was my spirit driving it, but I’m not the real owner of it.” She shivered a bit when she mentioned the actual owner. “It belongs to my Grandfather. He sort of doesn’t know I took it.” Rex just facepalmed, a loud smack echoed loud enough for Blondie to turn around and look in from his guard duty spot.

“How old are you, girly?” Rex just sighed at this turn of events.

“I just turned 121, which is why we were using this for my party.” She shyly answered while looking at the ground. Rex sighed once again, muttering something about children. “Don’t treat me like a kid! I’m a full-fledged adult elf!” She stomped her foot in anger.

“Congrats, I’m calling you Kid for now. So go off and do whatever you do, Kid, get outta here.” Rex shoed her away while holding his head. He just knew she was nothing but trouble waiting to happen. “Now, hoping I saved the best for last, should I keep calling you Medic?”

“My name is Jo-Leanna. I’m close with, um, Kid. Her father asks me to watch out for her, and she can be a handful.” She sighed while touching her cheek, seeming to remember Kid’s many moments. “I enjoy studying Spirit Magic, while my magic focuses on healing and support type spells.” Her hands glowed an icy blue for a short second. “Kid, she helps me with potions while the magic is limited.”

“What do you mean limited?” Rex was overjoyed at having access to the healing magic of all things, but the limit she mentioned worried him.

“Everything is limited when traveling the Astral Sea.” Jo-Leanna tilted her head as she explained some. “Everything here runs on magic, life support, the ship, the Spirits, your magic.” She began to list many things. “The only way to replenish your spent magic is by entering a Field with a magic source. So once the Event and our Defensive Fields connect, we can begin to recover all the spent magic before we travel on.” She held out her arms, then tucked them behind her back.

“So this is like a rest stop of sorts? We just refill our ship’s magic supplies and take off when full?” Rex liked the sound of getting moving again. Sitting in one place after facing pirates was never a brilliant idea.

“Not exactly, but you can learn more through the System once we connect and update.” Jo-Leanna perked up. “Every time you leave a Field, your actions and achievements pile up while away from the System. Once you reenter a Field, it updates your status, making you stronger!” She seemed excited. “I feared I was about to be updated into a slave for those pirates, but now I wonder how surviving a pirate attack will help me? Will I get a title, maybe?!”

“What does a title do?” Rex wasn’t sure if he heard her correctly. It sounded almost game-like to him.

“It’s a boost given by the System to those who achieve a certain thing or task. It isn’t always given out since no one knows how to unlock them; they just show up with some powerful gift usually.” She gave him a shrug as she told him. “Titles aren’t permanent either; they come and go so use it well if you have one.”

“I don’t remember you being this chatty while I was strapped up.” Rex watched Jo-Leanna brush her silvery-blue toned hair back while her electric blue eyes looked away.

“I don’t know why, but your Tier 0 body couldn’t handle magic at all. Just talking made your eyes and ears bleed out. So I didn’t want to talk you to death just yet.” She smiled a bit at her attempt to joke about my earlier traumatic experience.

“You have plenty of time for that later, and let's go see how everyone else is doing.” Rex tried to get up, only for him to fall back into the chair, harder than he liked. “Or maybe I’ll just wait here.” Jo-Leanna was by his side in a flash with her glowing soothing touch. “Waiting is better.” Just as he relaxed, a significant surge of color flowed straight out of the walls, passing over everything. Patterns of light unseen before started to hum to life.

“We have connected. The magic is here.” Jo-Leanna glowed brighter as the magic washed over the room.

“So this is magic? Neat.” Rex closed his eyes, feeling his energy restore itself. “This just might be enjoyable after all.” He had a slight smile creeping up his face until a large explosion shook the room. “Great, now what?”