133. AXE FISHING: RUKU.

I think Gwaed’s mission must be to upset the Captian as much as possible. They spent almost an hour arguing whether she could bring her new bonds onto the ship. I think she paid him some more coins, promised to feed them herself, and not let them mess everywhere. Both the Condor and the Coyote are scavengers, so they eat just about anything. I think she went from the Captian’s office to the head cook and negotiated the disposal of the scraps that would normally be thrown overboard. She came to me to ask me to catch some fish as well, and in exchange, she would help me learn from Wai. The skin abilities are difficult to learn, but she has more experience than I do in that. She also wants me to catch some high oils fish for her alchemy. So that means Tuna, Swordfish, Mackerel, but mostly Herrings. Herring oil is often used in lamps. The captain lets me keep lines out as long as I supplement the food supply. It works for me. I wonder what will happen if the Captain finds out Gwaed is experimenting with Fire Alchemy on his wooden ship.

Apparently, Gwaed also has a new class and Skill. The Scry skill lets her see someone, and she has tested it on the Assassin, who is still on the Imperial Warship. I heard her mutter that she hadn’t had a Novice Skill in a long time. Like most people, including me, she has been coasting along on what we know.

I have two new Skills to level as well. I have discovered Suction Grip will not work on porous surfaces, like the sail. Solid surfaces only. Fortunately, I caught myself on a rope before I went for a swim. I do go for a swim regularly when the ship is moving slowly enough in a light wind. I can move through the water fairly fast. The first time I stayed submerged for over twenty minutes, the other sailors thought I had drowned and pulled up the rope I dragged to climb back onto the ship. That gave my Suction Grip its first real workout, and it levelled to Apprentice as I worked my way up the hull. I wouldn’t have made it the whole way, but one of the sailors heard me and lowered a rope.

Everybody became aware I had a Water Affinity at that point. There was a lot of speculation about why I was working my way on the ship as a regular seaman. The one person brave enough to ask, I shut down with, “It is better you don’t know.” Obviously, rumours are flying through the ship. They will die down. There is still a long way to go.

Wai doesn’t come swimming with me, but he does regularly dip into a bucket of seawater to level his Purifying Water skill. He does not like it, but it is getting easier. I use the skill every day. I do try to keep it for when I am swimming as discharging waste is easier then.

We had a pod of dolphins join us yesterday. I was able to join them in the water, and we had fun swimming and leaping. It brought back some good memories and provided some entertainment for the crew. I was made aware of how out of practice I was. The first few leaps where I tried to show off with summersaults ended up with me crashing back into the water rather than the graceful dive. I soon got back into the swing of things, with all sorts of acrobatic manoeuvres in my leaps. It was a whole lot of fun. I think the Dolphins also enjoyed it, and we coordinated some leaps together. It was only simple stuff, nothing like what Opo and I used to do. Dolphins are fun animals.

Gwaed’s condor, Esgyn, gained weight fast. He couldn’t fly for over two weeks, but that passed quickly. When Gwaed decided he was ready, I helped her to get him up to the crow's nest so he had space to launch the first time. He flapped his wings a few times. I suppose he was getting the feel of them again. Then he was off. Three flaps, and he was soaring over the ocean. We were far from shore at this time, so the ship was the only place for him to land. I think Gwaed summoned him back after only a short time. After that, he would fly for longer and longer. Sometimes he would be out all day, returning to be fed. Sometimes Gwaed would stop us from feeding him as he had eaten while out. The land might be over the horizon from us, but not for Esgyn.

Pybyr, the coyote, was fast becoming the ship's mascot. He wormed his way into everybody's favour. I even caught the first mate slipping him a snack. That crafty coyote was into everything and seemed to get away with it. I think he must have already learned Stealth from Gwaed, as he was nowhere to be found when there was trouble. Maybe that was a natural ability of his. When I talked to Gwaed, she had taught him Stealth and Stalk. She was surprised he didn’t have something like Stalk, but I guess he was young. She spends an hour after breakfast every day training him. She said he was a slow learner. He seemed a bit too intelligent to me, but maybe that was what she meant.

Wai generally spends all day with me, except when I go swimming. He likes to cling to my forearm, but if I am too active, he will cling to my upper arm. That way, we can work together when I have some downtime on shift. I have been examining his skin with my Sense Spiritual. I am concentrating initially on the poison glands. They are spread all over his body but concentrated on his upper body. At first, he didn’t know how to trigger the poison consciously. It was an automatic defence mechanism. I enlisted Pybyr’s help, as I figured if he didn’t have Poison Resistance, he would soon. With Pybyr growing and barking at him, Wai soon learned how to trigger the poison. I think it was the increased intelligence working. I think I am getting close to figuring it out.

I was on the day shift and suddenly looked up and searched the horizon. My Ocean Sense is telling me something is not right. I was on deck, so I had less of a view than if I was in the rigging. I couldn’t see anything, but I had too much experience to ignore it, and I made my way toward the First Mate to report. I was just approaching when Gwaed rushed out of the cabin area.

“A swarm of flying fish are approaching. Esgyn spotted them about ten minutes out.” she said.

The First Mate immediately rang the all hands on Deck bell. Flying fish don’t actually fly. They leap and glide. The trouble is their fins will slice through soft things like flesh, and that is what the Monster swarm will feed on. They won’t penetrate hard surfaces like the hull and masts, but they will tear through the sails and rope. Everybody got out, lowered the sails, and removed as much rigging as possible. We removed everything from the deck we could, similar to storm preparation, and then everybody went below deck, and battered down the hatches.

I say they because the Captain wanted someone in the Crows Nest to keep an eye on things. The Flying fish shouldn’t get that high. But there are no guarantees. I volunteered as my Whirlpool Shield, along with my Tough Hide should give me some options if I need to do something in the swarm. I kept a shield, a one-handed axe, and my usual knives. Individually Flying Fish are small and fast but easy to kill. The best technique would be to shield bash them to the deck and chop them with the axe, hence my equipment.

With there being no food available on the ship, i.e. flesh they can eat, the swam should just roll over us and carry on. However, this is also an opportunity to get some Spiritually enhanced flesh for our bonds. Gwaed told me about the benefits of feeding Spiritually enhanced flesh to our bonds, so I am keen to get some for Wai, and I know Gwaed wants some for her bonds. My plan is to stay in the Crows Nest until the bulk of the swarm has passed, then slide down onto the deck and pick off the stragglers.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I was in the Nest watching the swarm approach when my Sonar picked up movement on the deck. I looked, and Pybyr trotted around the corner. I swung myself out of the nest onto the mast and controlled slid down. Suction Grip wasn’t designed to control a slide, but it could be made to work that way. When I reached the deck, I noticed Merch was riding on Pybyr. Then Gwaed came around the corner. Gwaed was covered in fur but only dressed in what I would generously call rags. Not even any armour, although she had a shield and hatchet.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“The three of us want to get the Tough Hide Skill,” she replied. “We thought this would be a good opportunity. Rat Fur is good and waterproof, but it is not tough.”

“You are mad,” I said.

She grinned, “We can duck behind the leeward side of the cabin if we need to. We should have enough Blood Rejuvenation between us to survive and level it. I am also hoping Merch and Pybyr will also pick up Blood Clot to stop the bleeding. They will certainly discover the benefits of it.” She grinned again.

She is crazy, and I am starting to pity her bonds.

“How big is the swarm?” I asked.

“From what I can sense through Esgyn, it is quite large. It might take 30 - 40 minutes to pass.”

“That is big. I suggest we start in the lee of the cabin as the front of the swarm is always the worst.” I took my own advice and put the cabin between the swarm and me. Wai was on my forearm that was carrying the shield. I started Whirlpool Shield, which swirled over him. I was hoping he would learn Whirlpool Shield and possibly Tough Hide. I think that Tough Hide might be incompatible with his natural skin abilities, so I wasn’t pushing it. I will also be using Water Sprint a lot in this fight. Whirlpool Shield and Water Sprint are two essentials I think Wai should definitely learn. His small size and speed are his best defence. I engaged Tough Hide.

The swarm hit us with fish everywhere. The water was churning as they were in the water as well as in the air. The fish could alter their trajectory to a certain extent, but most of it was from their initial leap. Some didn’t make it and hit the cabin and bounced. They tried to wriggle their way back to the water, but I started clubbing them with the back of the axe or the edge of the shield and chucking them into a tub I had prepared. Gwaed was copying me. Pybyr was grabbing them and chomping down with his teeth. I saw he had small cuts around his mouth where he got close to the fins. These were closing quickly. Merch just huddled on Pybyr’s back. Smart rat.

Then Gwaed decided it was time to move out into the swarm. She was definitely crazy. She called Pybyr and Merch out, and they started to take some injuries. Gwaed used the shield mostly to protect her face. I saw fish hitting their fur. Gwaed almost never bled, which I assume was her using Blood Clot. Pybyr started bleeding as the injuries were mounting beyond his Rejuvenation. I saw Merch also take a hit. I was worried about Merch, as she was so small that one of these fish could easily remove a limb or a head if it struck right. She was Gwaed’s bond and Gwaed’s responsibility.

Gwaed started bashing fish towards me to put in the tub. I wasn’t mad enough to leave the lee of the building yet. Pybyr would grab them with his mouth and then toss them my way. I might need a bigger tub. I was expecting to be the only one fishing in this swarm and only with the stragglers.

Pybyr was losing a lot of blood. Merch also had some injuries, but Pybyr was who I was mostly concerned about. Coyotes were fast, but he was losing a lot of blood. I then saw Gwaed shield them and place one of her cuts against one of his, and I am going to assume she was doing a Blood Infusion. She did the same to Merch. Then they carried on.

I saw them being reasonably successful, so I ventured around the corner. My shield and Whirlpool Shield immediately started taking hits. Then one broke through and hit my Tough Hide. I engaged Water Sprint and Enhanced my Physical Agility Attribute. I was able to dodge the worst and start picking my kills, choosing the larger fish to attack with my Fast Strike Skill. I was keeping my Animal Bond open to Wai so he could sense everything I was doing. I took some repeated hits that cut through my Whirlpool Shield and Tough Hide, but my Regeneration was my highest-level Master Skill, so it wasn’t a problem. Thanks, Wai.

After ten minutes of this, I moved back into the lee of the cabin to rest. The tub was overflowing, and we were piling dead fish around it. I don’t know if the cook on this boat has the specialisation to prepare Monster meat for sentient consumption. I suspect he doesn’t, as the Captian seems to be budget-focused rather than quality-focused. The state of the ship screams that out. I am not sure what we will do with all the fish. I can keep it reasonably fresh for a week or so with my Refreshing Mist Skill, but it won’t last forever.

I take a moment to see what Gwaed, Merch and Pybyr are up to. They are all still alive. There seems to be less blood around them. I am not sure if that is because they have levelled their Rejuvenation, learned Blood Clot and/or Tough Skin, or something else.

I also check on Wai now that I can take a moment. I see he is added Whirlpool Shield to his abilities and is merrily circulating water around my arm. I notice something different about the water. It is a different colour. He has expelled poison from his skin into the Whirlpool, and it is slowly expanding into my Whirlpool. I look at his status; he has also created a new Skill, Poison Water. That is what I want to learn instead of fiddling around with glands. I concentrate on Wai’s poison spreading into my Whirlpool Shield and encourage it to spread and to be stronger and more concentrated. It took about five minutes of intense concentration, in which I took several hits from Flying Fish. It was worth it. I got the Skill Poison Water, and I can add poison to any of my Water abilities. It is very weak at Level 1 but will get stronger as it levels. I definitely owe Gwaed for encouraging me to bond with a salamander. I would never have considered them.

Time to get back out there and see if Wai can learn Water Sprint. The density of the fish was lessening as the front wave had now passed. It was easier to dodge and pick my target. I had Water Sprint active, and I suddenly thought Wai would only learn it if he had to use it. Wai was not keen on that idea. As an example, I pointed him to Pybyr and Merch and their ripped and scared fur. That was the exact reason he didn’t want to try it. I lowered him onto the ground. He strengthened his Whirlpool Shield, engaged Water Sprint, and darted off to bury himself under the dead fish. I doubted he was coming out again, but he learned the skill, which was what mattered.

I sent encouraging feelings through the bond, and I got slapped in the face by a fish for my trouble. That will teach me to get distracted. It was a big fish with sizeable fins. It had sliced through my Whirlpool Shields and Tough Hide and sliced me from hairline to jaw. Fortunately, it missed the eye. I could grow a new eye these days, but I don’t want to see how long that might take.

Time to concentrate on my own Skills. I killed the fish first and noticed I got a Monster Kill For it. I hunkered down behind my shield and got a knife to cut open the fish, and there was a monster core. Amazing. I figured a swarm of this size would have several Monsters as part of the swarm, but I did not expect to kill one. I tossed the fish to one side of the main pile and told Wai that he might want to start eating that one as a reward for learning the skills. I caught a glimpse of his tail disappearing into where I had cut out the core. I smiled. He was going to make good use of the Water Sprint Skill.

There were 15-20minutes left of this swarm. I need to use it to practice and hone my skills, as I have been lacking in practice time. I have a Skill called Spear Fishing. I wonder if there is a Skill for axe fishing? Time to find out.