To say that Ezekiel was shocked to find out that Riker wanted him to become his daughter's tutor was an understatement. His own experiences taught him to be wary of others since he was a Void Mage. Especially those outside the Church of Ten, else they have unpleasant plans for him.
Yet, the man in front of him was apparently the father of a Void Mage. If he was anything like Ezekiel’s own father, then that meant that he wasn’t discriminatory against them. At least not in this instance. He wouldn’t be asking for assistance in helping his daughter get stronger if that was the case.
But Ezekiel was still suspicious.
“Why do you need me to tutor her? Don’t the Church facilities have access to the Void Meditation techniques?” Ezekiel asked.
“Well... That would be because I want the best for her. You made the technique, so you would be the best. Also, better to have an actual teacher with experience than a bunch of scrolls and healer supervision, right?” Riker said.
Ezekiel thought about it for a minute. He didn’t disagree, but he was still not totally sold on the idea of becoming a personal tutor. Not right now anyway.
“I’ll keep your request in mind. Please remember that I am a ward of the Church, as well as an affiliate Mage. I’m going to check with them first. How old is your daughter?” Ezekiel asked.
He didn’t think that the Church would be opposed to him becoming a tutor for Riker’s daughter. However, he would still check with them for a number of things anyways. Just in case.
“My daughter is actually ten years old. A bit more than a year younger than you.” Riker said.
“That might make things weird if I were to tutor her.” Ezekiel said.
Most of the time, children learn better from adult figures. This came from the authority that came with experience. Ezekiel wasn’t sure he’d be able to properly tutor a complete stranger with the same efficiency as an adult. He didn’t have a problem with his friends back home. Though, that was because he’d known them for years.
“I’ll get you an answer by the end of this mission. I’d like to speak with Scarlet a bit first.” Ezekiel explained.
“Understandable. For a mature kid like you, it makes sense that you’d want to get all your facts sorted out first. Blindly agreeing to a job gets you killed after all.” Riker said.
Ezekiel raised an eyebrow at Riker’s reply. He might just be pessimistic now, but he’d expected a more confrontational response. The fact that Riker had just brushed off Ezekiel’s concerns like nothing didn’t seem to match his character.
From the impression Ezekiel got earlier, he’d been expecting a bribe via friendly banter, or waving off Ezekiel’s concerns. That, or getting upset or desperate and practically begging or guilting him into doing it. The worst possibility was being thrown overboard. They were at the back of the boat, after all.
“Thank you for your understanding. I hope this won’t affect our current working relationship?” Ezekiel passively inquired.
“Hehe ... It won’t. I promise. But, food for thought, it’s never a bad idea to have a Guild Leader owe you favors.” Riker said. He gave Ezekiel a cocky smirk. As if to say that Riker knew better than Ezekiel.
“Now! Let’s get you to bed. I want you up bright and early in the morning to get ready for practice and chores. I figure we can train you once in the morning, then you do chores for the day. While this will let your mana recharge. Then, in the evening, you’ll train one more time before dinner. Good for a deep, restful, sleep.” Riker exclaimed. His mood had returned to the jovial attitude that he’d had when Ezekiel first met him at the docks.
As Riker pushed Ezekiel along, the young Void Mage couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous for the days to come. He knew they were going to be filled with stress and work. Yet he was looking forward to it more than he ever did regarding his research at the Church.
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Ezekiel regretted everything he’d ever done that could’ve possibly resulted in his current circumstances.
His present state of being was standing in what he believed was called a horse stance in his past life. Apparently, Riker was an incredibly good trainer. So go, that his entire crew had made it to the peak of Tier two under his tutelage. Thus, he was following Riker’s training instructions like mad. He figured that any instructions for him would be helpful for his own progress.
He could definitely feel the burn. The fact that he was forced to channel his mana to ensure that he could go for longer was also an aspect of this training. He was almost certain that his control would increase just from this one session.
Unfortunately, Ezekiel overlooked the fact that his bonded Spirit was a secret. So all the training that Riker was having him do was purely for Mages who wanted to fight. Good for Ezekiel, but not for Shine, who needed the experience that would allow his soul to grow.
“Captain Riker? I know I’m working and training under you right now, but please speak with Scarlet regarding the training I need. I was sent on this mission for a reason. While I appreciate the training, it’s not what I need right now.” Ezekiel grunted out.
Most of the crew around him were laughing and pointing at him. He could also see money passed back and forth. Apparently, they were making bets. On what, Ezekiel wasn’t sure, but probably regarding how long he’d last. Well, Ezekiel had no desire to let any doubtful viewer win. So he was going to keep this up until Riker told him to stop. Or he ran out of mana. Whichever happened first.
“I hope we can get to my part of the training soon. This mission was supposed to be about me.” Shine pouted from within their sheath at Ezekiel’s side.
The two still couldn’t communicate when away from each other. However, they did discover that they could be separated by a few feet. Just not across the width of the deck. Something that Riker seemed annoyed with. But he wasn’t willing to fight Ezekiel over it. Especially when Ezekiel told him that it was a part of his orders from the Church.
Hearing Ezekiel’s statement regarding the training, Riker looked at his bonded Spirit. Less than a second later, the winged snake flew off. Riker turned to Ezekiel. His expression was concerning. As if he was disappointed but also worried.
“I hope you’re telling the truth. Having a proper foundation is the most important thing when it comes to battle.” Riker said. “Keep that up for now. We’ll make changes depending on Scarlet’s reply.”
Ezekiel nodded, keeping his stance for now. It was only after several more minutes that Riker’s Spirit returned. There was a letter tied around it. Taking and reading the letter, Riker had an annoyed expression on his face. Tearing the letter up, he let the pieces drift into the water off to the side.
“Jim! Grab your sword. Sparring beings now.” Riker yelled to one of the other crew members.
The man in question, who had a stoney lizard next to him, looked shocked, as did most of the others who were watching. Very rarely did Riker let them get away with skipping their fundamentals when training. Riker gave Ezekiel a look. He nodded to let him know Ezekiel could drop from his stance. Falling to the deck, Ezekiel stretched himself out before climbing to his feet once again.
“No death blows, crippling, or knockouts. Other than that, push the kid as hard as you can. Hell, see if you can chip that sword.” Riker called out to Jim.
“Wait, what!?” Shine and Ezekiel thought in unison.
They barely had time to react when their opponent was upon them. Ezekiel pulled Shine from their sheath in an instant. Narrowly blocking a sideways swing to his chest.
“Aaahhh!” Shine screamed in fear and pain as they failed to channel their mana in time. Ezekiel wouldn’t be helping them, and he had to reinforce his own body just to not break bones.
“A Cavern Mage!” Ezekiel exclaimed.
He hadn’t expected that when he’d gotten on the ship. The diversity of Spirits was much smaller than when he was in Harkem. He’d seen plenty of Glacial, Tempest, and Lightning Spirits, but nearly no Flame or Cavern Spirits. In fact, other than Sasha’s, he’d not seen any Cavern Spirits that weren’t Wild, let alone on a ship like this one.
Jim didn’t say anything. He just continued to attack. Pushing Ezekiel further and further back. His blows with his hammer rattled Ezekiel’s bones every time he blocked. Shine was also growing disoriented. They were directly absorbing the blows. Luckily, they were improving their mana channeling much more quickly in the face of possibly being broken.
Ezekiel and Shine didn’t even think about counterattacking. Jim’s strikes continued to come from side-to-side. They didn’t let themselves fall into a pattern, however.
They knew that Jim’s attacks could change at any moment. Finally, after nearly a dozen sideways swings, Jim changed it up. He pulled on the handle of his hammer. Ezekiel’s block was avoided. Jim then thrusted the hammer forward, directly at Ezekiel’s face.
Fortunately, Ezekiel and Shine were expecting something like this. Turning his wrist backwards, just a bit, Ezekiel moved Shine into a horizontal position. Using his other arm as a brace, Ezekiel and Shine blocked the hammer strike with the flat of Shine’s body. A sharp ‘clang’ rang out as Jim’s hammer made contact. Ezekiel and Shine silently sighed in relief. They tensed a moment later when Jim continued his assault. This time mixing in vertical swings along with his blunt thrust strikes.
This continued for a couple minutes, until a sudden wave struck the ship from the side. Ezekiel lost his footing as it literally shifted out from under him. Jim, being used to this, took advantage of this. He threw himself forward, pushing against Shine, who was crossed in front of Ezekiel’s chest for a block. Ezekiel and Shine went flying. Rolling to a stop against the side of the ship.
The next thing they knew, a hammer was right next to Ezekiel’s face. Shine was still in Ezekiel’s grip but was laying on the deck. They both still had mana, but not much. It didn’t matter, though, as they had fully lost this spar. This was something that grated on the both of them. Ezekiel knew he was unlikely to win, but he was still frustrated. Shine even more so, as they felt that they were still too weak.
“I’m sorry.” Shine said.
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“Don’t be. I wouldn’t have lasted half as long if it were just me fighting.” Ezekiel said.
As Jim pulled his hammer back, Ezekiel climbed to his feet. He and Shine still had mana left, so they would continue to spar until they ran out. They only had a couple days to get as much sparring in as possible. Hopefully they’ll be able to make some improvements before then.
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It was when the group of ships were a day or so away from their destination that something unexpected happened. Ezekiel and Shine had finished their morning spar a few hours prior. Shine had regained all their mana by now. Ezekiel was still only halfway full.
Their progress in helping Shine develop was coming along smoothly. Shine had experienced enough growth to no longer feel pressured or strained when they were at full capacity. Similarly, it seemed that they no longer had difficulty channeling their mana. At least not when it came to steady control.
Shine still faltered during their fights. But not nearly as often. They were able to call on their mana much more quickly as well. It seemed like Carrian’s words regarding stress and pressure being necessary for growth were underrated. Of course, this might just be because Shine had never been pressured like this before. Their growth might be a one-time thing that would later slow down.
As Shine and Ezekiel were climbing up the ropes to the crow’s nest, a loud ringing sounded as a bell rang on another ship. Ezekiel and Shine immediately jumped down to the deck, falling in line as Riker pulled out a telescope. One of the ships was waving flags. Ezekiel could only read a few of the signals, but he knew enough to tell that they had spotted pirates.
“Are we getting into a fight?” Ezekiel asked one of the Hunters.
“Depends on how many ships there are. It might just be a couple of the others that break off and come back when they’re finished.” The Hunter said.
Ezekiel nodded. That made sense to him, as they needed to focus on the primary mission. The majority of the small fleet they had would need to reach their destination unscathed. Especially if they wanted to take the pirate’s hideout with fewer casualties on their side.
“Hard to port! Battle ready! Now!” Riker’s voice echoed as they broke off from the main group alongside two other ships.
“It seems as though Scarlet, and the Island Hoppers, want to deal with this now.” Ezekiel internally mused.
“Will you be okay? You’re not at full mana yet.” Shine asked.
“I’ll be fine. I have you to rely on.” Ezekiel said.
Even as Ezekiel said this, he still headed down into the ship to change into his enchanted garments. It was hot and humid on ships like this. So, he had stripped down to a simple shirt and shorts while working and training. If they were going into battle, it would be better to be prepared for the worst. Just in case.
It was only a few minutes later that Ezekiel came back up onto the deck. The other sailors all had their own enchanted garments on. None were very heavy, as weighted clothing was practically a death sentence if they fell overboard. The most he’d seen was boiled leather. With the right enchantments it could become stronger than steel. In this case, he was also certain that he was the least defended person here. At least in the case of armor. He couldn’t power the stronger enchantments for better armor after all.
“Ezekiel!” Riker called out upon seeing him on the deck. His face was grim, and the jovial tone had left him entirely. “I don’t know why, but Scarlet has informed me that you need to participate in this battle. As such, I won’t tell you to stay inside, but you’ll stay on this ship. If anyone comes aboard, you defend yourself, but don’t go looking for a fight. Understand?”
“Yes, captain!” Ezekiel exclaimed. He knew that this was a good chance to get Shine some experience. Yet, he also knew better than to risk his life pointlessly.
Riker nodded his head before giving orders to the rest of the Hunters on the ship. As they got into position, Ezekiel finally caught sight of the ships they were headed toward. There were two, compared to their three. They also weren’t as large as the ships from the Island Hoppers. Ezekiel figured that their crews would equal less than half the number of Hunters that had been sent to take them.
The crews were silent as they approached. Seeing that they wouldn’t be able to run away, the pirate ships turned towards the Island Hoppers. Suddenly, they picked up speed. The water around their ships began to move, even as the sails were taken down. They were trying to ram the Island Hoppers.
“Brace and launch!” Riker screamed as the ships reached a certain distance from each other.
Immediately, the three Island Hopper ships seemed to glow as Life Mages channeled their mana through the wood. The reinforced hulls practically crush the comparatively smaller ships. Ezekiel stumbled forward with a jolt at the sudden deceleration. By the time he regained his footing, he saw that half of the crew had jumped onto the other ships. Their Spirits accompanied them if they could fly or were small enough to be carried.
Similarly, the other ships had sent Hunters and Mages across to the Island Hopper ships. The pirates all seemed to range from Tier one to Tier two Hunters and Mages. The better trained and better equipped Hunters made quick work of the pirates that had jumped aboard.
That didn’t mean that Ezekiel was out of the fight, of course. He quickly found himself surrounded by two Tier one Mages, each equipped with cutlasses. One was a Glacial Mage, the other a Tempest Mage. Ezekiel was forced to back away as the Tempest Mage dashed forward with a gust of wind. The Glacial Mage followed up by sending icy needles at Ezekiel.
As he dodged the incoming attacks, Ezekiel was shocked to realize that the pirates he was fighting were roughly the same age as Marc and Ally. He knew that those who were raised in pirate enclaves were less able to rise through the Tiers than those with Church affiliations. However, it was so strange seeing people nearly a decade older than him still in Tier one. The only good thing he felt from this was that he wouldn’t be fighting a lethal battle against kids his own age.
Looking more closely at the Tempest Mage as he attacked, Ezekiel realized that his weapons weren’t enchanted. As he thought that Shine channeled some of their mana, causing their blade to dimly light up. As Ezekiel swung Shine at the man’s chest, his sword was forced backwards. It shattered after making brief contact with shine.
The shards of the blade flew everywhere, but most went into the flesh of the Tempest Mage. He screamed in pain as the shards went into his side and face. They were cut short, however, as Shine dug into the man’s torso. The gleaming sword cut nearly halfway through his torso before coming to a stop.
Ezekiel didn’t stop there. Though he wasn’t a fan of killing, he knew he’d need to in order to survive. His past experiences had taught him as much. Even so, the sight of a half-opened torso was unpleasant. Especially for the Glacial Mage. She was clearly close to the Tempest Mage, if the shrill scream of despair as he was cut down was any indicator.
But, even with the loss of her partner, she still tried to kill Ezekiel. This time much more cautiously than before. For his part, Ezekiel found it difficult to press his own attack. The Glacial Mage wasn’t just using needles to attack. She was creating patches of ice to throw off his footing. Clouds of mist that obscured his vision were formed from puddles.
She had also coated her blade with a layer of ice. Reinforcing it with her mana in a way that Ezekiel couldn’t just cut through. This meant that she could enter melee range without too much difficulty.
While the weight of her presence and mana wasn’t enough to match up to a Tier two, her skill was enough to make Ezekiel feel pressured. Worse yet, Ezekiel could tell that she was near or at the peak of Tier one. Meaning that she started this fight with nearly double the mana Ezekiel and Shine combined had, had at the start.
With this in mind. Ezekiel was extremely cautious to only use the bare minimum amount of mana to survive this encounter. Sparing a glance around him, he saw that most of the other fights had been finished. However, he knew that he needed to deal with this himself. While he hadn’t picked this fight, he knew he needed to finish it. Relying on others for the rest of his life wasn’t an option.
Trying to figure out how he could finish this fight, he knew that he should use his Void slashing spell. It was a trump card that he should save for more powerful opponents. That said, there was one new thing he thought might work.
“Should we try that new trick?” Ezekiel asked Shine.
“I don’t think it would hurt. It worked last time we used it.” Shine said.
Gritting his teeth, Ezekiel channeled his mana into his leg. He slammed his foot into the ground. The mana was released into the wood of the deck, much like how he channeled mana into his body or weapons for reinforcement. However, rather than reinforce the wood, he vibrated his mana. This vibration traveled through the deck, just as the Glacial Mage planted her feet.
The sudden vibration threw her off. She hadn’t been expecting a ranged attack from Ezekiel. He had only fought in melee up until now after all. As the vibration traveled through her leg, her knee suddenly gave out. Stumbling to the side, she barely brought her sword up in time to block Ezekiel’s strike to her neck.
It didn’t matter though. Ezekiel had reinforced his muscles in the strike. The Glacial Mage’s guard was weak, and Shine ended up cutting halfway through the pirate’s throat. A wet gurgling cough was all Ezekiel heard before the woman fell over. Frantically looking around, Ezekiel was on guard against any other opponents. He didn’t need to worry, however, as every other combatant was either dead, or about to be.
The Island Hoppers’ numbers were more than quadruple the number of the pirates at this point. It also seemed like several of the more powerful pirates had been knocked out and captured. They would likely be killed after being interrogated later. The Guild and the Church simply couldn’t afford to feed them for the rest of the journey. Especially if they were going into a much larger battle the next day.
While the rest of the battle finished, Ezekiel inspected the bodies of the Mages he had killed to see if there was anything of value he could take. One of the lessons he’d learned from the crew over the past couple days was that you keep what you kill when it comes to pirates. There simply wasn’t any reason to let anything go to waste. Not even the clothes off their backs.
Finding some coins and looking over their weapons, Ezekiel knew he wouldn’t get much from them. Hearing the sounds of battle fading, he turned to the rest of the ship. Everyone else was also looting the bodies of the pirates that had climbed aboard. Going so far as to strip them in broad daylight. After doing so, they tossed the bodies overboard.
It wasn’t long after Ezekiel had done the same when Riker and the boarding party returned to the ship. After exchanging a few words with one of the other Adept Hunters on the ship, Riker looked over to Ezekiel. He had a grim look on his face. Marching over to Ezekiel, the Guild leader looked down on the young Void Mage.
He clapped his hands on Ezekiel’s shoulders.
“Are you alright?” Riker asked.
For a moment, Ezekiel was confused. Then he realized that Riker and the Island Hoppers might not know the full extent of his history. They might not know he’d been on a Ruin expedition before.
“I’m fine. It’s not the first time I’ve had to kill someone in a fight for my life.” Ezekiel said in a neutral tone.
“Ezekiel, your emotions!” Shine chimed in.
Ezekiel immediately recalled his mana, and a fatigue he hadn’t felt settled on his shoulders. He visibly slumped, and Riker strengthened his grip on Ezekiel’s shoulder.
“Kid!” Riker exclaimed.
“It’s fine! My emotions are just suppressed if I don’t pay attention sometimes. Especially when I’m fighting for my life.” Ezekiel explained. “It’s just like falling from an adrenaline high. I’ll be fine.”
Riker still looked somewhat worried but didn’t mention it again. He just told Ezekiel to wash up and head below deck. One of the Glacial Mages was a great help with washing the blood off. After he was clean, Ezekiel followed his orders, heading below deck to take a nap in his bunk.
He hadn’t thought that a day like this would be so stressful. He’d been expecting a fight. He just hadn’t expected it to be one where he had the advantage. Hopefully tomorrow will have similar results. He’d just have to wait and see.
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“Now that he’s gone, what happened?” Riker asked one of the officers he’d left on the ship to watch over Ezekiel.
“It’s like I said. The kid did well. Scarily well. He managed to fight off two Tier one Mages. Caught one by surprise with that sword of his. Used that weird stomp spell that tripped up Jim last night. Got the Glacial Mage in the neck when her guard was weak.” The officer stated.
A part of Riker was glad that Ezekiel had proven himself to not be deadweight. Another part of him was concerned. He had wanted Ezekiel to tutor his daughter. However, if what Ezekiel said about his emotions was true, he wasn’t so sure anymore. Ezekiel’s eyes had been cold when Riker had first seen him after returning to the Gust Lord. It was a look that he never wanted to see in his children’s eyes. A look that he’d seen in the mirror more than once.
“Keep an eye on him. Discreetly. I don’t want him getting cocky tomorrow. His protection is our priority. Let the rest take care of the hideout. Understood?” Riker said.
“Yessir!” the officer replied.
Riker turned to the rest of his returning crew. They were hauling chests up onto the ship. One of the pirate ships was sinking. It had been damaged in the fight. The other was being prepped and readied by several crew members. No reason to waste a perfectly good ship that they could repurpose.
As the ships were now ready, Riker had them turn back to the small fleet they’d come from.
“Captain! News from the prisoners.” A Death Mage said. She spoke up as she approached Riker when he went below the deck. She held out a note for him from the interrogators. The fact that she didn’t convey it herself put Riker on edge. It meant that the information was not something that the crew should know about.
Riker read over the note quickly. His face twisted into a snarl as he called forth a cutting maelstrom of wind that shredded the note. The pieces were so fine that they were barely dust that spread through the cabins without settling on the ground.
It seemed like the Hull Breakers were under new management. This was bad news. He needed to speak with Scarlet as soon as possible.