Riker stood in Scarlet’s cabin as he reported the information that he’d gotten from the prisoners they’d captured. It had taken some time to catch up with the rest of the fleet. The fact that they had to ensure their Hunters were as healed as possible also meant that there were some delays.
Scarlet sat silently as she pondered over the information. Riker gulped nervously as he wondered what she was thinking about. Finally, Scarlet addressed him with a restrained tone of voice. Clearly, she was furious at this information.
“How did these pirates discover this information? Do we know if it’s true or not?” Scarlet asked.
“We had a Death Mage inspect their souls when they were questioned. So, at the very least the prisoners think that what they know is true.” Riker said. “As for how they got it... apparently these ‘Followers of Radiance’ have been slowly reaching out to different pirate groups. The Hull Breakers haven’t been enough for them. It seems like they’re planning something big, but we don’t know what.”
Riker looked nervous as he conveyed this knowledge. This next bit was particularly disturbing.
“This crew refused to join. It seems like they were originally a part of a much larger pirate group. One that had several Adept Hunters as captains. There were none that were on the ships. Apparently, they were killed off, and these two ships were the only survivors out of twenty.” Riker explained. “Do we know anything else about these ‘Followers’?”
Scarlet remained silent for a moment.
“You can’t tell anyone about this.” Scarlet stated. Riker just nodded. He knew that he wouldn’t be asked this if it wasn’t important. “These ‘Followers of Radiance’ are nothing more than a cult from the mainland. They’ve caused countless issues in the Empire and other smaller kingdoms. It seems like they now want to make a mess of the Archipelago.”
Scarlet’s voice was filled with a restrained anger. She was furious at the fact that these wretched cultists were setting down roots in the Archipelago. She had heard the rumors from countless Cathedrals. Ezekiel’s story alone was one of the worst ones. It was likely that the cult was only here to kill Ezekiel.
Scarlet was already pissed off by the fact that psychopathic cultists were invading the islands. Having her ward being targeted was the icing on the cake. She wasn’t as close to Ezekiel as some of the other Scholars were. Yet she still valued him as a member of the Church. Even if it wasn’t official.
“Keep this under wraps for now. Focus on the mission only. When we get back to Sanafalls we can discuss things with the other Guild leaders and Grand Scholars. Hopefully we’ll be able to get more information as to where the Hull Breakers’ headquarters are. That way we can get them all in one go.” Scarlet said.
Riker just nodded his head. He knew that this was above him when it came to severity and importance. He wouldn’t be able to make any major decisions without the other Guild leaders present. Scarlet was in the same boat, as this was an issue that involved the entirety of the Archipelago.
As he left Scarlet’s cabin and ship, flying back to his own, Riker thought about the attack that would be happening tomorrow. For the moment, he knew that was all he needed to focus on.
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Ezekiel woke up feeling nervous. He and Shine had made great progress. The Void Spirit no longer felt bloated and strained whenever their mana was full. They had managed to create a useful technique that seemed to work in battle. Yet, Ezekiel still felt that they weren’t ready. They’d only been in one intentional battle. The one the day before. It was nothing like the running battles he’d had in the Senera Ruins.
“It’ll be okay. We’ve got this!” Shine said. They were nervous as well but were certain that Ezekiel would be able to get them both out of any trouble that occurred.
“Yeah. We’ve got this.” Ezekiel replied.
Dressed in his enchanted clothing with the best protection he had available, Ezekiel headed upstairs. His hands were fidgeting. The rings on his fingers felt like a safety net he dearly needed. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use them. Though he doubted things would turn out that well.
As he reached the deck, he saw that the rest of the crew was also ready for battle. It seemed like there weren’t any additional preparations to be made. Everyone was ready to fight.
“Ezekiel.” Riker called out. “Our part of the plan is mainly to clean up the stragglers. None of them are allowed to escape. But for you, I don’t care what you have to do. Stay alive, no matter what.”
Riker’s voice was solemn as he told Ezekiel what to do. Ezekiel merely nodded. The fact that this was not an exploration, and actually an extermination, meant that there would be no room for mercy if he intended to survive entirely intact.
Slowly, just beyond the horizon, Ezekiel could finally see an island in the distance. It was a significantly smaller island than Sanafalls. A part of him wasn’t certain how this island would have acted as a hideout for the Hull Breakers. But as they continued to get closer and closer, the waters around their ships grew restless.
A loud whale call sounded from the depths. Suddenly, a massive waterspout appeared from the middle of the small fleet. All of the ships were pushed away. The wooden hulls creaked and groaned as their integrity was tested. The only ship that wasn’t pushed away was the Scarlet Glacier. Atop the mast stood Scarlet, fully equipped in her enchanted armor, with swords in both hands.
To Ezekiel’s surprise, she wasn’t looking at the water below. Her attention was entirely focused on the sky. Towards the tip of the waterspout. Looking up to see what she was focused on; Ezekiel was shocked as he saw a massive figure growing larger.
An enormous whale was slowly falling toward the Scarlet Glacier. It was as large as a blue whale from Earth. But its flippers were larger than a typical whale’s. They were each longer than the whale’s body, and there were six of them. The whale’s mouth was also filled with fangs, but not like an orca. These fangs were like shark teeth.
Suddenly, there was a pressure that weighed down on the Gust Lord and its crew. Ezekiel felt like he was going to throw up. This was unlike any magical pressure he’d ever felt before. The previous times a Legendary figure had brought forth their mana were nothing like this. Those times had no intent in them. The Mages were merely using their higher amount of mana to pressure others. This mana was filled with a primal viciousness that Ezekiel had never felt before. There was no vileness like when he faced the rot. It was more like what he imagined staring at a massive predator that was trying to eat him felt like.
Scarlet’s mana then engulfed them as well. The might of two titans was brought to bear. As the Wild Glacial Spirit dove toward Scarlet’s ship, Ezekiel could feel Scarlet channeling her mana through the ship and into the ocean. Gigantic icicles shot out of the water. The Wild Whale Spirit was forced to twist their body in the air. Turning away from the ship it was trying to crush. Scarlet then jumped into the water, along with several other Adepts from the Church.
Suddenly, the Gust Lord shifted to the side. The Glacial mages on board had forced the ship forward. This was not their battle. They needed to get to shore, to make sure that none of the pirates managed to get away. There were still a few minutes out, but they had managed to confirm where the makeshift docks were located. Two ships accompanied the Gust Lord.
The bulk of the fleet went that way, while Riker’s ship peeled off to the side. They were going to check the other areas of the island. It was highly likely that there would be ships that were either beached, or tied up to cliff faces elsewhere. If any were found, Riker’s crew were going to destroy them before falling back to support the main group.
Ignoring the battle happening behind them and trusting Scarlet and her fellow Scholars to win their battle, Ezekiel and Riker’s crew traveled around the island. This went on for nearly five minutes before they found their first target. A ship roughly the same size as the Gust Lord was being pushed into the water from where it was beached.
Riker took the Gust Lord in to fight it. The other ships that were accompanying them continued onward. They couldn’t afford to waste time when there could be other ships getting away while they fought. It would be one-to-one ship combat. They’d all make one loop, stopping whatever ships they could before they regrouped at the hideout’s dock.
As they sailed closer to the ship, it was clear that the pirates on board were prepared for a fight. Worse yet, it seemed like the ship had at least one Adept on board. This fight would be far worse than the one from yesterday. As both ships increased their speed, Riker let out a curse. Knowing that this fight would be hell.
Given the size of the ships, the impact they made as they slammed into each other was devastating. It was so great, and the speeds so fast, that Riker couldn’t order his crew to jump before impact was made, else they would fly past the ship. This time, they all braced as best they could. This time, Ezekiel failed to keep his footing, and went flying forward. He barely managed to catch himself on a railing. He nearly jerked his shoulder out of its socket as he did.
Suddenly, the air was filled with screams and shouts of anger and death as the battle began in full. Ezekiel was forced to roll out of the way of a sword aimed for his head. He then locked blades with a Tier two pirate. The only thing keeping him from being pushed back was the fact that the Flame Mage he was facing had a weaker physique than him.
Shine grew brighter as they channeled their mana, and the sword in the Flame Mage’s hands broke. Ezekiel forced his arms to move as fast as possible. He sliced straight through the surprised mage’s throat. He was dead before he hit the ground. His head rolled away and off the ship.
An angry shriek forced him back as a gout of fire from the Hunter’s Spirit was spewed at him from above. Throwing caution to the wind. Ezekiel took a chance and combined his mana with Shine’s. They let out one of their Void Slashes. Effortlessly cutting through the flames, and deep into the eagle sized Spirit. The cut dug deep into the Spirit’s wings, and it fell in a spiraling heap. Taking the opportunity, Ezekiel charged forward and stabbed Shine directly into the Spirit’s chest.
“That was easy.” Shine said quietly.
“Don’t get cocky! They were just surprised! It won’t be that easy again!” Ezekiel said. He knew he needed to berate the Void Spirit else they would not take things seriously. They’d used up nearly a third of their combined mana so far. The fight was still far from over.
Looking around the battlefield, Ezekiel saw that most were occupied with their fights. The two crews seemed to be somewhat even, except for the fact very few of the pirates had Spirits. So, he decided to unknowingly take a page out of his parents’ book.
Using some more of his mana, he threw a few careful slashes and stabs towards the Guild Hunters who were fighting. The cuts that slashed through the pirate’s armor, or the bodies of unaware Spirits, were incredibly helpful for the Guild members’ fighting them. The sudden flinches and distractions utterly changed the tide of the battle.
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Unfortunately, Ezekiel was only able to do this a few times. He immediately retreated after his fourth total Void slash. The stabbing motion he made allowed for a deeper wound that pierced the chest of an unexpecting pirate. Moving back to the aft, he took cover near the stairs that led up to the helm.
This wasn’t an easy goal. He needed to dodge numerous errant attacks that crossed his path from other battles. More than one close call got his heart racing. Shine’s soul seemed to thrum as well, as the pressure from the ever-present battle frayed at their nerves.
Ducking under a dagger of ice, Ezekiel managed to get to where he was aiming for. As he took cover by the stairs, he noticed that the tide of the battle was slowly turning in the favor of the Island Hoppers. The once fleeing pirates were slowly being whittled down as the battle progressed. This wasn’t without cost, however, as Ezekiel could see several Island Hoppers Hunters laying on the deck. They were either holding their injuries, or lifelessly staring at the sky.
“Raaahg!” A sudden yell from behind him made Ezekiel dash and spin to the side. His mana was brought to bear as he forced himself to move as fast as he could.
The man behind him was a Death Mage that could’ve been the poster boy for the phrase ‘dirty pirate’. Yellow teeth, sunken eyes, a pale complexion, and Ezekiel could smell the man’s stench from several feet away. However, the thing that Ezekiel found most worrying was the fact that the man’s hair was as dark a purple color as his eyes. This was an Adept pirate. Ezekiel knew he stood no chance of fighting him. Especially since it would be impossible to catch this one-off guard.
Suddenly, Ezekiel felt the wood beneath his feet give out from under him. The previously sturdy and well-maintained planks had decayed to the point that Ezekiel’s weight was enough to fall through the deck. Landing in a heap several feet down, Ezekiel cried out in pain as he landed on a raised support beam. He didn’t break anything, but he knew that at least half his side was likely bruised.
“Ezekiel! Move!” Shine’s mental voice screamed at him to get out of the way.
Not even thinking about it, Ezekiel activated his Tempest boots. A massive gust of wind pushed him forward, and he was barely able to reinforce his body enough to survive smashing into another support beam. Ezekiel was now in the belly of the ship. Alone, save for the Adept level pirate that just jumped down the hole said pirate had made.
Ezekiel was not in a good situation. Since cannons weren’t a thing in this world, there were few to no openings in the lower levels of the ship. The small openings for oars when magic couldn’t be used were too tight to squeeze through. He was trapped. The pirate captain was slowly marching toward him.
“What’d we av ere?” The pirate slurred out. He looked like his mind was addled in some way. Perhaps alcohol or drugs of some sort. The unhinged expression made Ezekiel feel even more uncomfortable. Not just because he was afraid of dying. He was more worried about what this mad man would do to him before he died.
“A noice tasty morsel for ole Skinna to feast on!” The pirate said with a face splitting grin.
Ezekiel decided to ignore the implications of cannibalism for now. He needed to focus on getting out of here. Looking more closely at the pirate, he realized that his Void Slash wouldn’t do anything. The armor the pirate was wearing was surprisingly thick. He’d be surprised if he managed to cut deep enough to hit flesh.
He also realized that getting to the door to head back up the stairs would be troublesome, as the pirate stood between him and the stairs. Ezekiel couldn’t help but feel that this was a worst-case scenario for him. He clenched his fingers, channeling mana to activate his mother’s ring. He figured that the darkness it would make might give him and opening to escape.
Suddenly, the pirate threw his arms outwards, and Ezekiel saw a dark purple light emanate from the pirate. A sense of fatigue and weakness seeped into Ezekiel’s bones. He was barely able to stay standing. His grip on Shine was loosening. He felt like he could barely breathe as his sinus stuffed up and his eyes watered. He felt sicker than he’d ever remembered being. Falling to his knees, he just managed to force Shine’s tip into the floorboards beneath him. Propping himself up, Ezekiel absentmindedly realized that the wood beneath him was quite squishy. It too was decaying.
“Ezekiel! Ezekiel, get up!” Shine screamed in Ezekiel’s head. But Ezekiel could barely make out the words. He just felt so sick. So weak and tired. His head started tilting from side to side.
The pirate slowly approached him, cackling madly as he got closer and closer. He was still cautious. He’d seen what Ezekiel had done to the Tier two Flame Mage and Spirit just seconds ago. Yet even so, he was a Tier three, while Ezekiel was only a Tier one. He pulled a serrated sickle from his hip as he got within arm’s reach of Ezekiel.
“RUN!” Shine’s mentally shouted. For a brief instant, Shine’s voice was all that Ezekiel was aware of. He immediately channeled as much mana through his body as he could. The sudden reinforcement strained everything he had, but it gave him enough clarity to see what was happening.
The ground beneath the pirate had exploded and splattered upward. Shine had used their Vibration spell to make the rotten wood explode in the pirate’s face. The sudden loss of footing, as well as the spongy, rotten, wood chunks splattering across his face made the pirate stumble sideways. Thought of killing Ezekiel momentarily forgotten.
Ezekiel launched himself forward, activating his ring and boots midair. He went flying toward the stairs as a miasma of shadows consumed the cabin area. It would hopefully buy him a bit of time. The pirate went flying deeper into the ship. Ezekiel crashed through the door with a quiet grunt. He was already injured, both from the fall and from the overpowered reinforcement. He’d likely need healing before the day was over.
“YOU ROTTEN BRAT!” The pirate yelled. He had difficulty making his way through the darkness that Ezekiel had created. The fact that Ezekiel heard him trip and fall more than once proved that this had been an effective strategy.
However, Ezekiel didn’t focus on any of this. He ran to the top of the stairs. Ignoring the decaying wood all around him. He needed to get further away. If he didn’t, he’d fall through the floor again. That was the last thing he wanted right now. Falling down right now means death. Nothing else.
Bursting onto the deck once again. Ezekiel activated his boots. Ignoring the battle around him, he flew up to the top of the mast. Taking cover in the crow’s nest as the battle below stalled. He barely managed to cling to consciousness as he collapsed. His muscles were too weak, and his health was too diminished to keep him going. The sudden windstorm distracted most of them. But the only one who realized what was happening was Riker.
He had sensed the flow of the wind and had kept enough of an eye on Ezekiel to realize he was in trouble. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to go after Ezekiel when he fell through the floor. His own battle took priority. Luckily, he had gotten a hand from one of his crewmates.
They had just finished off the Adept pirate Riker had started a fight with when Ezekiel had flown out from the door leading to the cabins below. Riker ignored Ezekiel. He could tell that there was no more enemy Tempest Mages left in the battle. If there were, he’d have felt the changes in the wind. Instead, Riker focused on the man that was running after Ezekiel. The wood around him turning black and rotten, but not impeding him in any way.
A shrill whistle escaped his lips. His Spirit dove toward the Death mage pirate. He followed closely behind. He and his Spirit were both low on mana. But there were several Island Hoppers who weren’t in battle right now. All of them moved to assist. The Death mage was surrounded.
Looking around in fury, the man screamed at his opponents.
“I’LL KILL YA ALL!” He screamed as he let out a horizontal slash of sickly indigo energy. The Guild members who reacted fast enough either ducked or jumped out of the way. Those that were too slow fell to the ground with festering wounds.
Riker and his Spirit went over the attack. Riker pulled a half-staff off from his back. Attaching it to the pommel of his sword, he now had a rather short glaive. But one that would give him extra reach against the Death mage. He’d done this in the hopes of having an easier time dodging the pirate’s strikes.
Luckily, that large scale attack had used up a significant portion of the pirate’s mana. To the point where he and Riker were near even. But Riker had backup. The pirate didn’t. He was almost immediately overwhelmed as attacks came at him from multiple directions.
The only reason he hadn’t immediately been taken down was because the deck was rotting and made for a horrible surface to fight on. Only Riker and the Death mage had an easier time traversing the terrain. Even then it was only due to their elements. It was as he turned to block an overhand swing from behind that Riker flew forward, stabbing the pirate through the side, that the battle fully ended.
All the other fights had been wrapping up. Seeing that he wasn’t really needed for anything else, Riker flew up to the crow’s nest, where he saw a sickening sight.
Ezekiel was still afflicted by whatever it was that the Death mage had done to him. Riker knew that it was essentially a curse of weakening. It got worse when the difference in Tier between the caster and the afflicted was higher. His muscles weakened, his bones weakened, his immune system weakened. This made him extremely vulnerable to possible illnesses and physical damage. Thus, Ezekiel had been puking his guts up. Coughing blood, had lost control of his body’s functions entirely.
Riker didn’t notice it, but Ezekiel had sheathed Shine before he’d fully succumbed to his sickness. Shine was also quiet throughout all of this. They didn’t have a body, but their soul has somewhat been afflicted by the Death mage’s magic. This was reflected in the bits of rust that had appeared on Shine’s blade. Now hidden by the sheath.
Grabbing Ezekiel as gently as he could, Riker immediately brought him down to the deck. Trying to be careful but knowing he didn’t have much time. He called for a medic to come over as quickly as possible. Most were preoccupied, but upon seeing the state Ezekiel was in, a couple finished what they could before coming over to help.
“Lay him down. Gently!” The Life mage instructed. He had several cuts all over his body, and his Spirit looked exhausted, but he focused on the task at hand as best he could. His hands glowed with a bright verdant light as he channeled Life mana into Ezekiel’s body.
“This is bad. How long was he in contact with the Death mage?” The Life mage asked.
“Maybe a couple of minutes, but he got hit directly by an aura of decay. Then he forced himself to run with as much power as he could bring to bear.” Riker explained.
“His body's failing. I can keep him together, and maybe get him stable within an hour or so. But he won’t be fighting again today. The aura will also persist since his mana is too weak to fight it off. He’ll be bed ridden for at least a couple days.” The medic explained. “Several Life mages will also be needed to keep him going during this time. Even then, he’ll be weak until the aura can be purged from his system. We’ll need either another Death mage to do that for him, or he’ll have to wait a month for it to dissipate on its own. I would not suggest the latter. That method usually results in permanent damages of some sort or another.”
Riker winced as the medic explained everything. They couldn’t have accounted for an Adept Death mage taking an interest in Ezekiel. The element was so rare, even on the continent. Worse yet, no one had expected that there would be a hidden Adept when the battle had begun. The fighting started so fast that the possibility of one of the pirates hiding in the rear hadn’t been something they could focus on.
“Do what you can for now. Once we regroup with the rest, we’ll see about getting a Death mage to purge his system. If we can’t do that, then we’ll just need to keep him alive until we can get back to Sanafalls.” Riker ordered the medic. He knew that a couple of the crews had a Death mage on hand. But they would’ve been Apprentices at best. If they were still alive. They had been sent in with the main force.
He then turned away, unable to look at the child who had suffered so much under his watch. Orders were thrown about. Hunters found whatever valuables they could and cleared bodies off the deck. They finished in fifteen minutes and set sail to finish their inspection of the island. As they passed a few ships that were ordered to check by sailing the opposite direction, they got news regarding the other ships that had accompanied them.
The other two ships that had accompanied them were fit and seaworthy. Apparently only one of them had run into another ship trying to escape. The other ships that had gone the opposite direction had also seen two instances of ships trying to flee. As such, this one was undamaged from battle.
A brief interaction took place. The other ship had a couple of Life mages that were ordered by Riker to swap places with his crew’s tired Life mages. To finish healing up the injured crew and make sure that Ezekiel remained stable.
As the two ships departed to finish their rounds, Riker’s ship didn’t run into any other pirates, but had seen the damage done to the two other Island Hoppers’ ships. The damage wasn’t as extensive on either of them. But neither had to deal with a Death mage. One had some extensive burns, but those had been dealt with before the fires could spread. It’d still take some time for the Life mages to shape enough wood to fix it though.
Finally, after nearly an hour of sailing around the island, Riker and his crew made it back to the main docks. The lack of screaming and spells flying around indicated that the battle had ended. The fact that there weren’t any massive waves and waterspouts in the distance meant that Scarlet must’ve finished her battle. As the Island Hoppers were still alive, that meant that the Grand Scholar had won.
As Riker and his crew sailed into the dock, this was proven true as they saw Scarlet standing there. Waiting for them with a look of fury and concern on her face. Two Death mage Hunters with dark purple eyes stood next to her. She had been told by one of the earlier returning crews what had happened. Obviously, she wasn’t pleased, and Riker knew that he’d be getting quite the lecture.