A small navy of ten strong longships. A combination of eras and technology melded into a single construction intended for war. Ten minutes remained till their departure. An hour remained till their inevitable battle.

The jetty of the harbour was surrounded by the longships. At the end of the long bridge of wooden planks was Kazi, feet in the cold water, relaxing. He peered over his shoulder to a nearby longship, where William and Max were. The work was done, so the two were talking about their respective lives.

Max was super chill. He listened to William’s complaints about high school and how he often went to the gym. The Templar had removed his helmet, nodding along kindly. He was middle-aged with short cropped brown hair and visibly dry lips.

William took a moment to sip from a small wooden mug, the warmth of the liquid contrasting with the semi-cold sea breeze. The locals, as their plundered servants, gave them their food and drinks. William took a strange concoction that was a precursor to the popular Guinness drink in the modern day. A dry stout that was not half-baked and without the quality or quantity of today’s standards. A local coincidence, so to speak.

The Templar Max refused to drink. Instead, while William was busy sipping, he muttered, “Open inventory,” and pulled out a thick, black cigar and a lighter. In one quick motion, he lit the end of the cigar and took a puff.

Like a little kid, upon smelling the tobacco, William held his breath. Max took a long drag, and blew out the smoke into the air, looking over at William as he did.

William stammered out his question. “I-is smoking allowed for Templars?”

Another long drag. “Ah, no. Definitely not.”

“Then why…?”

“Nerves. I've never been to sea.” Max wasn’t looking at William, he had been gazing upon the sea. He snorted and continued to take deliberate drags from his cigarette, the ember casting a faint glow on his face as he exhaled a stream of smoke into the sea breeze.

“You said you were a boxer. Being afraid of the sea is a little weird.”

‘A boxer?’ Kazi thought to himself. ‘Ah, that’s why he was bad with the horse. He’s a journeyman. His grip was too rough.’

"You'll find most folks have odd habits," Max said. "Some pray, some drink, and well, I smoke. At least I used to.”

“...used to?” William asked.

Through the smoke and the flicker of light was a smile. “Before my daughter grew up and told me to stop. She was in elementary school and she was always proud of me. But you know how it is. They teach at school that smoking is really, really bad for your lungs. When I came home, that was all she would say. ‘Stop smoking, dad! Please! You’ll kill yourself!’ ‘Dad, stop! It’s gonna make you old!’”

Max laughed to himself. He stared at the cigar, smiling. There was more than half of it remaining. He tossed it into the sea anyway. At last, William exhaled.

“I miss her,” Max admitted. “I miss her so much. My wife passed away during childbirth. I had to quit boxing and put all my efforts into raising her. I did factory work to make money.” Another laugh accompanied by a smack to the chest. “These old bones are still good for labour.”

William smiled back. “If you make it to the top twenty, then you’ll be rich when you come back.”

“Yeah, crazy, right? Imagine that.” Max stared off into the distance. “I could buy her whatever she wants. It’ll be great.” He sounded awfully cynical about it. He stood up and put his helmet back on. “We should get warmed-up. It’s almost time.”

“Warm up? Oh, yeah. Sure!”

Neither the Templars nor the Holy Knights were joining Kazi and the mages. It was the Sapphire Order of Spectre 4 led by Reggie, the guy with the Brooklyn accent. The twenty members of that specific Spectre specialized in shields. Put simply, one Sapphire Order player for each longship.

Kazi removed his feet from the water and let them dry on the wood.

“Good luck.”

He pretended not to have noticed Cillian’s presence and perked up. “Oh, Cillain! Yeah, you too!”

Here, they would be parting paths. While the Templars and Holy Knights would be going to invade Dublin City, the mages (including Kazi) and the Spectre 4 members were going to do an ambush to oncoming Vikings.

“Your friend Noor told me to tell you to join her ship,” Cillian said.

So Noor wanted him on her ship? ‘She must want something.’ He didn’t mind. In fact, out of all the mages here, she was the one he trusted the most.

“You do good work,” Cillian praised. “So I’m curious: why haven’t you joined a guild?”

“Why? Hm. Since we might not see each other again, I suppose I can tell you.” Kazi smiled up at him. “I don’t trust big organizations and governments. All of them are corrupt to the barest bone. You could squeeze them dry and end up with oceans worth of blood.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Cillian didn’t expect that answer. “So it’s like that for you?”

“I’ve explored the world. I’ve done my fair share of work in various sectors. Blood is steeped everywhere. Everything is done through not sweat but agony, sorrow, and tears, and no one really cares about it.” Kazi opened his inventory and brought out a towel to dry his feet. He smiled despite not looking at Cillian. “And once you run out of blood and tears, they go for your bones. Once your bones finally decay, they use what's left of your corpse. After that, they throw you away. All of them. I just thought maybe I’d be able to create a small group where that wasn’t the case.”

“Then you’ve succeeded,” Cillian said. “I’ve met William. He is a bright young man.”

If only he was talking about William…

“Thanks,” Kazi replied. Now that his feet were dried, he put on his sailing boots that matched the black Garbs of Death. Cillian was intrigued though didn’t ask. Kazi got up and extended a hand. “Take care of him, will you? You have a good head on your shoulders. Keep it up and you might get promoted.”

“I thought you said you didn’t like big organizations.”

“I can dislike the organization but some of the people inside can be okay.” Kazi grinned. Cillian gave a nod and accepted the handshake.

“Oh, there you guys are!”

Speak of the devil and he shall come—it was William. He jogged over. “Hey, Kazi. I'm going with Cillian, I hope you don't mind.”

“You don't need me. You'll be fine.”

William rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. “Let's make it out of this alive then.”

Kazi smiled and held out a fist for him to bump. “It's a promise.”

“Yeah!” William was ecstatic about the fist bump. There was a type of innocence to him, especially when he grinned like that. It made everyone remember that at the end of the day he was just a teenager. “A promise.”

***

The twenty members of Spectre 4 had gathered, as did the fifty mages. The longships were forty feet long each and capable of housing thirty people at maximum capacity. To give the players extra space, they decided to put five mages and one Spectre 4 member on each longship.

“One wind mage here?”

“Yes, sir!”

“One wind mage?”

“Here!”

It wasn’t practical to have everyone rowing during battle, so Kazi had to plant one wind-based mage to control the sail and push the ship. As the lead strategist, he accounted for each and every mage. He didn’t have an idea of their abilities but since no one was too anxious he assumed things would be okay. If push came to shove, Kazi himself would hop between ships to make it happen.

Once everything was set-up, it was time to leave. Kazi came to his longship where Noor was. He was an extra, to speak. The Sapphire Order member was a young, short woman by the name of Carla.

“Think you can push this ship?” Kazi joked.

“I’ve mastered all the elements. I’ll be fine,” Noor said.

Her friend, Lala, laughed and said, “If she can’t do it, then no one can..”

Everyone took their positions, and the longships slowly began to disengage from the jetty. The rhythmic sound of oars dipping into the water echoed through the harbor as the sails were unfurled, catching the cold breeze.

Noor stood before the sail, pointed her gold staff forward, the purple crystal at the end glistening, and casted, “Breath of Eolus.”

They were not ready for the level of speed Noor had unleashed. The longship launched forward with a burst of speed, cutting through the water like an arrow. The crew members, caught off guard by the unexpected acceleration, clung to the ship's sides to maintain their balance. Lala started to scream as if she was on a roller coaster.

Where Breath of Eulus differed from Gale Burst was range. Gale Burst focused on a single focus, a ball of wind that was barely invisible. Breath of Eulus was a sweeping slash of wind, sacrificing length and thickness for width. An attack intended for multiple opponents now being used to push forward the totality of the sail.

Besides the sail, the side rudder steered the longship. Kazi didn’t mind the speed, it was the best way to leave the waters of the harbour but at some point they had to turn. Since no one else had the strength to control the ship at this speed, it was up to Kazi to steer.

“Okay, I think I went too fast!” Noor shouted.

His black hair whipped back and a big, toothy smile appeared on his face. “Let’s enjoy the ride, everyone!’

Laughing, Kazi glanced over his shoulder and saw the rest of the small fleet of longships leaving in unison. Slower, yes, but being coordinated gently by the winds of the mages.

A good minute passed before they began to slow down.

“Impressive, Noor, but we definitely overshot. Let’s take a right and get back to where we’re supposed to go.” The overshot was admittedly bad. Luckily, Kazi had a physical and mental map on him. As long as they didn’t get nervous, they would arrive on time.

“Uhh, Kazi?”

Noor had approached him, but her eyes were directed at the island ahead of them. Even on land, it had been in view. He tilted his head, puzzled. “What’s up?” he asked.

Noor nudged towards the horizon. He didn’t get it. Her eyes finally met his and she looked a little terrified. "I thought you of all people would sense it.”

Sense it? Sense what?

“I can sense magic but I can’t differentiate it. I’m not at that level yet.”

That was what she said back on the train. It must have been Magic Sensitivity, a skill that William also shared. Sun-young too if he wasn’t mistaken. Noor was sensing something, but what? No, the better question was how? How did they do it? Think. No, feel. Taste the air. Let the hairs on his arm stand up.

‘Ireland’s Eye. It’s an uninhabited island, there’s no need to worry about it. So why? What’s going on? I have to feel what’s on it. Feel. Feel. Feel…’

Simply…breathe….

‘Third Eye Meditation.’

He absorbed an influx of magic, filling himself with the sensation of receiving natural magic. Then he extended it outwards, touched what he could, and isolated it. First Noor, then his fellow passengers. One by one, he conjured up a abstract images of them. Blurs of light within the mental projection of his surroundings.

[ New skill learned : Magic Sensitivity! ]

“Ah!”

At that moment of understanding, at that mere instance of transcending into the world of magic, he felt it. He felt Noor and the shieldsman of the Sapphire Order, and then...nothing. Towards the island, he felt…empty.

"You see?" Noor swallowed. "The air…it's strange. I’ve been feeling uneasy ever since we got to Howth. It’s weird. It’s not giving me chills, it’s making me…empty.”

He glanced down at her. “You’re right.”

‘So that’s why she wanted me on her ship.’

She wasn’t hiding it either. “Good thing I brought you here. If this is the hidden objective, then it looks tough. I’m pretty confident in my abilities and Lala isn’t a push-off either. We can do this.”

Shoot. He should have figured that she wanted something from him—it was this. Whatever this was anyway. ‘I have to be there during the ambush. What if Jack goes on a rampage?’ He thought about it again. ‘He’s been biding his time, months now, he won’t ruin the very first raid. He’s a former champion, there’s a chance he’ll wait.’

There was a also a chance he would murder everyone.

“It’s right there,” Noor said. “Barely a kilometre away. If we’re lucky, we’ll be done in ten minutes flat!.”

Between gaining levels and a potential new weapon at the hidden objective or joining everyone else…

What should he do?