Perhaps due to the fact that the contingent had gone up from five to almost forty, the road to Coria ended up being long and boring. No wild beasts attacked them, and they didn't run into anybody of interest along the way. The road was ever so slightly sloped uphill, and after a few hours of chatting, everyone decided to simply press on in silence, so as to keep alert and focus on conserving their energies.

The road was the same long, boring walks Nero had been doing for the past few days and, quite honestly, a part of him was starting to get a little bit tired of them. Where was the magic in all this? The only things he knew were the Blood Pact summoning and the barrier that Sharmon had taught him -and Nero would definitely have the sorcerer teach him that counter-spell thingie he had seen back at the crawler's cave-, and sure enough, Nero had made use of magic during all three exams, but if these were the way for "common people" to get accepted... then what a bad way to open up to the common folk.

Like, sure, you can't just accept anybody into the College, since most people wanted in, but at the same time, it all felt so... elitist.

Being completely honest, the only reason Nero had made it that far was because of Sharmon. If the sorcerer hadn't accepted his summoning, then Nero would have gone back to the library while everyone laughed at him, just like that poor Brian kid. That first test, the following chess exam, the whole medal test, the fight with the golem, the events at the crawler's cave and now their excursion to Coria had all come out of Sharmon's presence, with Araven playing his own part with the healing and the laser-cutting. Hells, the sorcerer had even put on a freaking magic show for the people of Trena.

But the college had taught him nothing so far, and once he made it inside... what would he learn? Was it really that amazing of a place? Was it worth all this trouble? All he could do at this point was to hope so and press on, since at the end of the day, he needed a career... he needed something to make a living off of once his guardian wasn't around anymore. Nero was young, sure, but he wasn't a fool. Once grandma Lonia was gone, he would have to work both copying books AND selling them, or just buying and selling books.

As Nero trekked the serpent-like dirt roads that lead to Coria, images of himself standing behind the desk of the bookstore, waiting for a customer to walk in, started to flood his mind. He imagined himself wiping dust off surfaces and books, changing prices every week or two due to the constant state of inflation -Nycea just wouldn't stop emitting coin- and arguing with customers over why is everything so damn expensive and how it was not his fault that the state kept devaluing the money.

He imagined himself standing there in wait for customers, inside the store he had lived all of his life in, ten years from now, twenty years from now, thirty years from now...

Was that really the life he wanted to lead?

Hell no. That's why he had learned the summoning spell in the first place. Even if Nero highly disliked Armorica -or at least the state that it was in-, it all sure beat that future of him aging and withering away among the yellowing books. Without the Blood Pact, without Sharmon, he would have probably never gotten on a ship and sailed away, getting to walk up and down the roads of another region with its crew, he wouldn't know any spells, any magic at all, he would not have ever met Araven or Rina or any of the others, and he would have had none of the little excursions the College kept sending him off to.

No, he would be stuck there in the same place his dear grandma Lonia was in right that second, wondering what kind of life he could have lead if he had picked up the courage to learn that one spell from the mysterious red book.

Soon, Nero thought, soon he would be a student, wearing his uniform, attending class, and enjoying his youth among like-minded people. He just had to believe. Believe in Sharmon, believe in ser Eldrich, believe in himself.

Right now, what they needed to do was to retrieve the ship.

Coria came into sight a few hours into the trip, just like Ferguson had said, and since the party had left Trena rather early, it was still around noon when they stepped inside the most important town in Armorica.

It was... a little better than Trena. There were some houses made of stone instead of the all-wooden port town further south, and some roads were even cobbled...! Damn, Nero hadn't seen that since literally Port Hope; Coria looking like the middle-ground between the misery of Trena and the touristic vibes of Port Hope, though leaning more towards resembling Trena.

The streets were still dirty, and they didn't look that much safer, either.

The docks were a little bigger than Trena's, though not that much bigger. The group wasn't exactly hoping to find the ship moored there, ready to be boarded and taken back south, but it was still a mild disappointment in it not being present. However, if the evidence they had gathered was worth anything, surely they would be able to find out something.

It didn't take them long. Elena sent the crew all over the town to find clues and instructed them to be back in an hour while they asked around the docks themselves. Unsurprisingly, an old boater was able to give them a very important clue:

"A big ship? Yeah, it moored here yesterday, but left a few hours later. She was pretty big, I ain't seen nothin' like that in many years, I tell ya."

"Do you have any idea where it could have gone?", asked Elena.

"Well, north."

"Is there somewhere you can moor a ship like that further north? Like another town, or maybe a beach?", asked Nero.

The boater laughed, showing an amused smile with almost no teeth.

"There's only one place a vessel like that can go if you take 'er further north, and that be the Dead Man's Alcove."

"The... what?"

Ferguson crossed his arms.

"The Dead Man's Alcove is a grotto... a sea cave, an hour by ship further north.", he explained.

"And let me guess... it's home to pirates.", said Nero.

The boater nodded.

"Aye, aye...! Those crooks have taken the cave for 'emselves. They been messin' up our business for months, now."

"Have the local authorities tried to do anything about this?", Nero asked Ferguson.

"We have... but the only time we sent a bunch of boats into the cave they got peppered with arrows and explosives. Three of our men died without making it far into it."

Sharmon also crossed his arms.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"The front entrance of the cave is likely a bottleneck the pirates take advantage of."

"That's exactly what happened.", Ferguson confirmed.

"So, that ship belong to y'all?", asked the boater.

Nero nodded.

"Yeah. She's our captain."

"SHE be the cap'n? Holy smokes, what I wouldn't give to be part of that crew...!"

"It would probably cost you your life, haha...", laughed Nero.

"Aye, I'd gladly give it away for m'lady here!"

He bowed to her. Elena didn't seem very impressed, but said nothing; Nero guessed the boater was being useful enough for her to let his improper comments sail by.

"Thank you for your assistance, kind boater. May we refer to you again if we have further questions?", asked Araven.

"Aye, aye, anytime...!"

"Alright, thanks! Have a nice day.", Nero smiled at him and the group took some distance from everyone at the docks, gathering against the wall of a deposit that was not being transited at the moment.

"So, the Dead Man's Alcove...", said Elena.

"Getting a boat and sailing in through the entrance would probably get us all killed...", Araven thought.

"Even if we kill a bunch of them, the moment you look in one direction, you get hit from another...", said Elena.

Nero rolled up his sleeves -the weather in Armorica was a little hotter than in Nycea- and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"I mean... what we're here for is the ship, right? Maybe there's a way to avoid fighting...?"

"We're gonna re-steal a stolen ship from a buncha pirates, kid. We are going to have to shoot someone.", said Elena.

Nero gulped. He wanted to avoid violence if it could be helped, but it seemed like Elena was dead set on having someone killed over this. Sea people were scary...

"The boy is right, however. Our priority should be to retrieve the ship, either by subterfuge or assault. We should be clever about this and only get rid of those who get in our immediate way.", said Sharmon.

That sounded... not much better than what Elena wanted. It looked like the sorcerer was also pretty convinced that someone would have to die, if only as a requisite to get this job done.

"You mentioned subterfuge. What do you have in mind?", asked Araven, tying his blonde hair in a long tail.

"Sometimes sea caves such as these have open ceilings, product of them collapsing over themselves."

Ferguson nodded.

"Sea caves sometimes collapse unto themselves due to the combined effects of wind, rain and the sea itself eroding them over time."

"Alright, so?", asked Nero.

"An opening in the ceiling could give us an entry route that would avoid the bottleneck that is the main entrance.", said Araven.

"Hey, that's a great idea...! The Dead Man's Alcove is actually known for having an open ceiling...!", said Ferguson.

"A surprise leap from above, we go in guns-blazing, take our ship and make a daring escape.", said Elena with a smile.

"Now you're just romanticizing this...", said Nero. Was he of all people really trying to be the voice of reason here, with three adults and a very rational friend present?

"What're you talking about? It's the best idea we got, kiddo. We can't go in through the front, ask where the ship is, board it, wave the pirates goodbye and sail back happily, y'know.", said Elena.

Nero crossed his arms, deep in thought.

"No, I know that. It's just that there's several holes in this plan... no pun intended. For starters, how do we know it'll land us in the section of the alcove where the ship is, or in a section that will lead us to the ship? If we fall into a pit that is disconnected from the rest of the cave, we'll literally be trapped in a circular dead end, for example."

"Such a thing will likely be visible from above. The skies are clear, and the sun is up.", said Sharmon.

"Alright, can we trust we'll land somewhere close to the ship, then?"

"We cannot be sure of that.", said Sharmon.

Nero shook his head, almost not listening to him anymore.

"What's the distance we have to jump down? Can we make it? We're also not taking into account it's thirty five people we're talking about if we include the crew, and they aren't mages. Can we all drop safely? Do we leave someone behind? If we do that, how do we avoid getting surrounded immediately? Where the hell is the ship, by the way? Surely not right under the opening, that would be stupidly convenient. The more I think about it, the more I wonder, is there any way for this plan to actually work...?"

Elena crossed her arms.

"You worry too much about everything. Girls won't like you if you're like that."

"I'm not trying to pick up girls, captain, I just wanna be careful with this...! You keep talking about shooting, but I think the first deaths we should keep in mind are ours!"

"Sharmon, tell him something, will ya?", she said.

"I agree with him."

"Wha...? Really...?", the disillusion in her face was evident.

"His questions are valid and we should consider all the variables in order to succeed."

"So we're still going ahead with the plan...!?", asked Nero.

"Of course we are, boy. Now, I want everyone present to find a solution to all of his points."

The group took a moment to think but soon enough everyone began chipping in their ideas.

"If we do it like this...",

"Right, and that would mean we could then..."

"...kinda risky though. What about...?"

By the time the rest of the crew had started to assemble at the docks, the leading party had finally decided on exactly how they would do the hit.

"Does this satisfy your concerns?", asked Elena.

Nero sighed.

"More or less."

He had to admit, they had been able to come up with a very... sophisticated plan of action.

The group headed back to the crew that was waiting on them. They were able to relay more or less the same things they had learned from the boatman, with the added benefit that the grotto was apparently not that big and didn't have ramifications, meaning the ceiling opening would either drop them right above the ship or close enough for them to assault it, dispelling the one doubt that nobody could shake off Nero before. Also, it appeared that the pirates weren't more than twenty people, something that played very much in the group's favor.

Elena told the crew to double-check their equipment and ordered them to follow the group out of Coria along the littoral without giving them any details yet. After one hour of trekking through the northern wilds -still no signs of plagued animals, luckily enough- the grotto came into view.

"That's it. That grey rock formation that extends forward into the sea is the entrance to the Dead Man's Alcove.", said Ferguson, pointing his finger in the distance.

"Alright, girls, listen up! We've all confirmed the location of the Vista. Those bastards are outnumbered and basically cornered themselves in a rat hole like the bunch of idiots that they are! We're gonna go in there, steal all the booty we can find, retake our ship and get out of there! Any armed hostiles you see, you shoot on sight!"

Wait, what? Take their loot...!? That wasn't in the discussion!

"Unfortunately, we can't just go in through the front, but we've devised a plan of action that will guarantee our success, as long as you mama boys don't cower in fear. Now, listen up, because I ain't saying this twice, and I don't wanna see any, and I mean any, fuck-ups...!"

The crew listened intently, and nodded in approval as Elena relayed the plan to them.

"Any questions?"

"None, cap'n!"

The group then guided the crew to the alcove, sending scouts ahead to make sure the pirates themselves didn't have spotters in the wilds, and after another hour of careful trekking, they were just a hundred yards away from the grotto.

"Okay everyone, let's get in position.", she murmured.

The crew nodded, preparing their guns.

The leading group approached the grotto from the road above, and silently placed itself on the edge of the hole, looking down. The ship wasn't directly below it, but it was close enough that it could be seen moored further into the cave. Nero noticed that it really wasn't that big; you could only fit a bunch of ships and a few people in there. The jumping distance was about twenty feet.

Elena got passed a bunch of ropes by the crew, and she did her best effort to get them ready without making too much noise.

"We're all set.", she murmured.

"Very well", said Sharmon, "let us begin the operation..."