Well we are not crashing into the ground already so that is a positive at least. Right now in front of me are three ships, each coming at me at its full speed and I cannot dodge them. I am moving at my full speed already aimed right at them. To try to reverse my movement would result in something that is not pleasant.

Well, at least I seem to have caught the patrollers in front of me as off guard as I hoped. Turning the ship to the right, I have directed the ship diagonal to the direction of our enemies ship. I could go through them but that is a risk that I cannot afford. If even one of them has a charged cannon it will be able to do some serious damage to the ship.

The other side is not as lax I as I was hoping them to be. I can already see them charging up their cannons to shoot at me. Well, let's give them a few moments. There, that should be enough. I am now moving to the left taking the opposite ship by surprise.

Such a violent change in direction comes with its costs as I can feel the entire ship shake and tilt as it feels likes I am standing in a baby's crib. If everything wasn't fastened down, we would already have everything in the ship flying about. Already, the rope that is binding me to the ground has begun to take on some tension as it keeps me stuck to the ground.

Thankfully, this move is useful as the other side has already shot their cannons towards the direction that I have just escaped from. Three streaks of magic pass by me harmlessly as I keep running. That means all three have managed to waste their cannon shots this time. These are cannons of the fire element.

Fuck, the other side has already begun to reverse their direction. I wonder just how many mana stones they are burning to even do this. Well, this was to be expected. Still, I thought that I would be luckier. Leave it be, right now I do not have the time to think about this. Already I can feel the ships behind me charging their cannons again.

At least the ship has stabilized somewhat, as I again point the ship to the right. The ship is shaking like crazy now. This will be worth it as it will put me in the correct direction to the mayfire castle again. Right now the problem is the patrollers I have at my back.

I have enough of an head start that I don't need to worry about the patrollers catching up to me unless they burn everything that they have. They will still be able to follow me and shoot their cannons. If even one of those cannons manage to land a lucky hit on me I am screwed. The damage that it will do will force me to slow down my ship. Not one hit can be afforded.

Right now the three ships have begun to follow me. Ship one is right behind me, while ship two and ship three are to my left and right, respectively. They are trying to encircle me in such a way that they can now shoot me from the left and right as well. This way if I were to go to the left or to the right, they could still shoot me quite easily.

Fuck, who the hell taught them maneuvering like that. That is proper battle strategy. This is strategy and planning that no mere farmer is supposed to have. It is only possible with a proper military training. Granted, I had already doubted the archer to be from some army. That is the only way to explain the man's training. With this I realise he must have been pretty high up in that hierarchy if he managed to train a bunch of farmers this well. Well, here I was hoping that dancing would be enough to confuse the other party.

Shit, Ship three shoots at me this time. I barely dodge it by diving the ship downwards. The cannon shot passes above me, but I can already sense the other two ships come down to my level. Fuck, I don't know how many more turns I can pull like this. My damn ship is on the verge of spiralling.

Ship one shoots, which I dodge by going to the left. Ship two capitalises on this by shooting at me before I can react to it. thankfully, the other side also has aimed at me in a hurry as it seems to have missed me by quite the bit.

I can already feel ship three's cannon heating up. It is still above me, which puts it at a benefit while hitting me. The only way that I can counter it is to go up. As I do this, the ship begins to shake and spin like a top that has been just released. Fuck, the ship is spiralling.

Fuck, I wasn't supposed to spiral this quickly. How do I describe spiralling to you. For every move you make on a ship you are supposed to give it some time to stabilise. Even the least laggy of ships, it takes a few moments to stabilise.

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This means that a ship going to left will go to the left for a few more moments than you would expect. If you were to suddenly start moving the ship in this period to let's say the right, you have no idea what will happen. You could go to the right, or you could go to the left. Regardless of what happens, this is enough to cause the entire ship to spin, rolling around like a top out of control. There is also a little chance that you would be completely still but that is something you can only pull of with experience and a lot of training it seems. I have never seen it actually be pulled of at least.

In the time that I have been explaining this, the ship has been spiralling. For the moment I have temporarily disconnected myself from the sensory formations so I have no idea what the enemy might end up doing. It is a risk but if I don't do this, I will end up with everything in my stomach coming out. I am sure they won't be able to shoot at us. The spiral is too chaotic for any of them to shoot properly. Maybe, if the archer was here, things would have been different. Anyways, their cannons require some time to recharge.

How do I describe a spiral. Well the only way to describe it is that the entire ship is spinning like a top that has lost control. The main problem with it is the fact you are spinning so much. Right now the ship must be spinning from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom. That is the only way that this is so chaotic. Right now, I have no idea what is supposed to be up or down. I mean there is the rope that is keeping me steady, but I am just being pulled in all directions for me to be able to tell what is the ground.

Finally, the spiral has started to slow down. I feel like vomiting as I activate the sensory formations. (Well, there is a reason that people do not like to dance with their ships.) I could wait a bit more to prevent this sense of nausea, but that would be something that the other side would have expected me to do. They must have fully charged cannons ready to blow holes into my ship. They are just waiting for the ship to stabilise as well so they can aim better.

It takes me a lot to ignore my stomach as I note down mine and the other three ships positions. I am actually pretty close to the ground as I seem to have maintained my downward trajectory. in an instant I point the ship upwards. I do not have any wish to take a trip in the woods again. This time the ship won't be able to survive it.

Doing this causes the stuff in my stomach to come to my mouth. I forcefully swallow. now is not the time in which I can afford such distractions. The cannon shots that I have dodged were so close that I can almost feel the heat of the cannons as well on my formations.

The ship is still lurching like crazy but I am able to get the thing to go upwards. at least my nausea was worth it as I managed to get two of those ships to shoot at the ground. Ship number three has held its fucking shot though.

Well, it can try to shoot at me. This can at least not be anymore chaotic than it is right now. I keep my upwards direction for now. The ship is still shaking and spinning but with every moment it is getting steadier. If only the other side would give me a minute so that I can stabilise the ship fully.

That makes my task both harder and easier, as the ship becomes more predictable both for me and my enemies. Well, the only reason that I am still calm is the fact that I am overtaking these ships. In all of these exchanges, I have been getting farther and farther away from the other side.

Let's hope the enemy does not realise it anytime soon. Unlike my ship, which works on a reserve of ambient mana the other side relies on mana stones to power the ship. If they were to burn their mana stones without care they would be able to increase their speed twofold. The only problem they would be facing is the fact that they won't be able to maintain it for long. This is also considering the fact that they will have to use the same mana stones to power their cannons. Speed or attacking is the choice that they can make.

As I am thinking all this, ship number three takes a shot. Thankfully the other side was being painfully obvious about it, so I manage to dodge by going to the left.

Fuck, I come painfully close to spiraling again as I immediately go right. ship two shot their cannon the instant that I turn in that direction.

Fuck how the hell did the other side manage it this quickly. Duh, they are using mana stones. if they don't mind losing those mana stones they will be able to charge it in an instant. Fuck, why the fuck did I have to fight such a spendthrift group of enemies. even my heart is paining at the mana stones that they are wasting. You know I would be able to build them a new cannon with the mana stones that they are using right now.

These few moments of thoughts are enough to screw me as ship one shoots their cannon at me. The only reason that I am alive right now is that the other side has missed, their cannon shot streaming to the side of my ship with no way of hitting me unless I were to steer right into it.

Well, I won't put that completely on my luck as well. I am beginning to put those damn ships behind me finally. They are far enough away from me that they cannot aim at me with full confidence (or more precisely, recklessness) as they have been doing till now. The distance between us is growing quicker and quicker. Since I am not accelerating, the enemy ships seems to have finally slowed down.

Looks like I have seriously overestimated their reserves, with how they are slowing down. Why the fuck were they coming after us so recklessly. I can feel my mind enter into a panic as I fully activate my injured mana sense almost in instinct. Ignoring the stinging pain in my mana core, I can feel my heart drop as my fears are confirmed. Right in front of us is a massive airship with a mana shield training all five of it's cannons at me.