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ENVY
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Meanwhile, back in Lighthouse Point…
> [Welcome to the System Unlock process. Congratulations on achieving this milestone! Not all of your kind have been fortunate enough to make it.]
That's creepy. I guess The System's referring to Charity?
> [You highest Skill is: Daggers, Level 30. Therefore, you have Unlocked at 1st Rank, giving you 3 Open Skill Slots.]
>
> [Your Open Skills Slots are: Skill Slot 1: Daggers, Level 30. Skill Slot 2: Tailoring, Level 26. Skill Slot 3: Restoration, Level 25.]
>
> [Based off of your current Skill Slots, the System has assigned you the fundamental Scout Class. Unlock an intermediate Class at 2nd Rank.]
I guess I shouldn't be shocked.
> [Your Race has been adjusted to: Arcanic (Sealed). The System requests that you kindly do not open your Seal.]
…What?
> [Your Ryoku Pool has been Uncapped from ₹10,000 for an Unranked Novice. Based off of your current Skill Slots, your current Ryoku Pool is now: ₹151,869.]
Fifteen times stronger!? What!?
> [The System advises that you focus on Runes tailored to your chosen Class. You may now join basic Factions at lower-level positions.]
>
> [This completes the System Unlock process.]
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CYRUS
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Meanwhile, back in Lighthouse Point…
> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective COMPLETED: Reach Level 34 in a single Skill before your System Unlock Day.]
>
>
>
> [Welcome to the System Unlock process. Congratulations on achieving this milestone!]
>
> [You highest Skill is: Elemental Control, Level 35. Therefore, you have Unlocked at 2nd Rank, giving you 5 Open Skill Slots.]
Oh come on baby, here we go!
> [Your Open Skills Slots are: Skill Slot 1: Elemental Control, Level 30. Skill Slot 2: Curved Swords, Level 30. Skill Slot 3: Transmutation, Level 29. Skill Slot 4: Mercantile, Level 27. Skill Slot 5: Enchanting, Level 25.]
>
> [Based off of your current Skill Slots, the System has assigned you the intermediate Crusading Mage Class. Unlock a second fundamental Class at 3rd Rank.]
>
> [Your Ryoku Pool has been Uncapped from ₹10,000 for an Unranked Novice. Based off of your current Skill Slots, your current Ryoku Pool is now: ₹298,080.]
Oh Salvos. Oh Sweet Salvos. I think I'm gonna have a heart attack.
> [The System advises that you focus on Scrolls tailored to your chosen Class. You may now join any Faction at any non-leadership positions.]
Except for the only one that matters… But this is a victory, Cy. A sweet, sweet victorious day…
> [This completes the System Unlock process.]
"SECOND RANK!!!" he bellowed to the stars and dropped down on his back, arms spread out wide.
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JULES
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A strong eastward breeze swept past the barren masts under clear skies. Jules looked behind them, to the west, for the first time since they left Lighthouse Point.
Three. Two. One. The bottom of the sun kissed the shimmering waves's surface far off in the distance. Now.
“Rukia,” he shouted to the fox, to his entire team. “Sails up!”
Ropes slithered all around him. Sails unfurled from on high and flapped taut when the wind cracked them open. Their patchwork ship bolted toward Marina Veridia's bay.
“Cy—”
“Already on it.”
> « Activate » «« Light-Bending Mirage »»
Cyrus slammed his fist into the deck and activated a massive Inked Art they'd all placed on the ship while still in Lighthouse Point. The illusion scattered and refracted light around the ship, so that the waiting forces in Veridia's bay could only see waving lines of the sea. Hidden both by the Script and the blinding sun behind them, they hurtled toward the Shrine's cliff
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“We've got thirty minutes," Cyrus shouted. "But we’re in luck, it seems the weather will be clear all night."
“That seems to be a bad omen lately,” Jules said.
“Where's the smokescreen?” Katarina squinted one eye through a looking glass. "The mist should be here already."
“He’ll come,” Jules said. “I’m sure of it. Now—weapons?”
“Check.”
"Check."
“Inked Arts?”
“Check."
"Check.”
“Armor?”
“Check.”
“Few rips, but check,” Cyrus joked. Katarina couldn't hide her smirk. “Pussy?” Katarina slapped an unsuspecting Cyrus, who collapsed to the deck.
Whiskers leapt up on him and drew out his claws. “Check-mate.”
“Better focus, Cy.” Jules reached out a hand to pick him up. “If you joke, you die. If you die…”
“I don’t come back.” Cyrus grabbed Jules’ hand and got back to his feet. “I get it. Look—there she is.”
The city was massive, at least half the size of Aquilantis and filled with countless canals that originated from the sea. The many waterways were lined with walkways and bridges high above them, but rocky beaches surrounded the ports and the cliffs. One central port hosted ships with massive sails that boasted their Factions’ crests. The Hydromages, the Royal Navy. The Navigators and the Iron Maidens.
But no skull and bones.
“No sign of Maddie.” Katarina chewed her lip. “Jules, if this is a trap—”
“We’ve got to trust her, Kat.” Jules jammed his finger into their map, at the cliffs closest to the inner city. “There it is, the Shrine.”
“Target acquired,” Rukia shouted from the sails. She flipped down the mast and ropes and then took the helm. “Full speed ahead!” They surged into the bay.
Where are they…?
Parts of the ship’s mirage disguise shimmered and faded away. It reminded Jules of a piece of paper burning away, revealing what lies underneath. Then the weather turned for the worse.
Thank Salvos.
A storm emanated from a singular point ahead, between their current position and destination. Bells clanged from one watch tower, then three more, and soon the entire town’s arsenal of alarms rang and rang.
“Told you so,” Katarina said.
“Shit,” Jules shouted. “They’re late. Next objective: evasive and defensive action until they decide to grace us with their presence.” The first cannons erupted. Jules heard the high-pitched whine of their trajectory before they splashed into the water portside. “Rukia, open her up!
With the power of her own Ryoku, now uncapped alongside Jules' own Ryoku Pool, Rukia shifted and tilted them side-to-side to evade the cannons and other projectiles. Massive, iron javelin ballista zinged past the ship. A wall of torrential rain approached them from the side.
Good, they're finally here.
Cyrus shouted something Jules couldn't understand. Cyrus' Ryoku Shield enveloped the deck, just enough to protect the crew. Arrows rained down around them, but not on them, and littered the floorboards outside their Scripted barrier.
The mages’ assault followed. Icy spears fell short and long of the ship, though a few pierced through the sails and struck the deck. A massive surge in the waves came next. From the stern, a wave picked them up and thrust them in toward the port.
“That better be our guy and not the military!” Cyrus hung onto a railing for dear life; water whipped about his face
DUN! DUN! DUN-DUN!
“What the hell is that?” Jules shouted. Splashing water roared all around him and deafened his ears.
“Kamikaze whales and dolphins,” Rukia said, matter-of-factly.
“The hell’s a kamikaze!?” Katarina shouted. The ship reached the peak of a wave and titled nearly straight down to descend it.
“Nothing, something from a past life —”
CRASH!
A wall of water slapped Jules’ entire body. His eyes and nose and throat and lungs burned from the salt water.
What the—
Jules swung his sword at the Drowner. It shrieked before Jules cut off its head. A dozen more Kappas and Drowners surrounded them.
“We’ve been boarded!” Water poured from the sides of the ship, once again upright.
A white streak darted past him through the air. The beasts fell to the ground, one-by-one. Some fled and jumped overboard, the others died.
Damn, Rukia's already crazed with bloodlust.
It''ll be hard to contain her from here on out, Kaizen thought. Brace yourself.
You could have warned us about that part!?
Three cannonballs blew through the different levels of their ship. Lightning struck nearby, at the radial center of the storm—and then there appeared to be a brief ceasefire. Even the waves halted, and the shoreline grew still.
“Look who decided to show up,” Katarina said. She laid on her back, soaked, and gripped a post for dear life.
“Could have come a bit sooner," Cyrus said. "Ship's damn-near inoperable now, and poor Whiskers here almost lost another life." Rukia stood on her hind legs and howled at the moon, which began to shine through the receding sunlight. “…And our pilot's gone berserk.”
Whiskers sat on the deck. He blinked slowly. Water dripped from his drenched fur coat. His eyes were half-covered by tufts of clumped fur.
“If you say it,” Whiskers threatened Cyrus, “I will kill you.”
The Flying Dutchman’s bow erupted from the water’s surface. It balanced itself straight upward for a moment, then crashed down, upright. Its bow angled toward their ship. Black sails swept down its black mast.
Jules and his Party shouted at the ship—they cursed it and made obscene gestures for being late.
“They’re close," Jules said. "Too close."
The military resumed their assault and focused most of their artillery on The Flying Dutchman. Columns of water erupted from the sea to intercept the strikes.
Like a Leviathan’s blowhole. I hope August is watching.
The bell tower alarms tripled their pace.
“Is it just me,” Whiskers said, “or is The Dutchman about to collide with us?” The black ship raced toward them, and finally, for the first time, they saw him.
Davy Jones…
Cyrus’ jaw dropped. Jones was a pirate, clear as day. His black beard fell into long braids that seemed to shimmer and move, like tentacles with a mind of their own, their ends tied with tiny peg-legs. He wore a small tricorn hat with a plain skull and bones branded into it. His clothes were simple, just a white shirt, open at the chest, and beige breeches, all stained by the ocean’s salt. Davy Jones drew closer to them and appeared larger than life.
“Jules…”
“Hold steady.”
The Flying Dutchman screeched to a halt about twenty feet away. It must have taken an infinite pool of Ryoku to stop the momentum of not just the ship, but the water around it. But if I've got nearly ₹200,000 Ryoku, there's not telling how much an Alter has…
Davy Jones and Jules locked eyes. “You there—boy,” the Alter Pirate hollered. “Be ye Wrath?”
“This makes twice now that you’ve saved my hide. I’m in your debt.”
“Oh ho! I'll not help some miserable old cunt for the hell of it." Mouth on this one. "Like last time, I’ve me own reasons for coming here, laddie.”
“And for being late, I’m sure,” Katarina said.
“We’d better make it worth each other’s while,” Cyrus said. Jules noticed the intensity of Cyrus’ gaze, as if nothing else around him mattered but the Alter. Jones eyed Katarina and Cyrus suspiciously. His gaze froze on the sword on Cyrus’ back.
“Aye. What did the little lass tell you?” Jones asked Jules. Columns of water continued to intercept all attacks. And soak them.
But not Jones. Jules smiled. “That this’d be a fight for the history books.”
“Oh ho ho! Right she is as always, that little she-devil. Well, I promised her to distract and nothing more. Seems my part’s been played.”
“Jules…” Cyrus said.
“Let the chaos… Begin!”
“Make some distance,” Katarina shouted. “Now, Jules!”
“Rukia, pull off!”
Their boat shifted portside forty-five degrees.
> «« Release the Kraken! »»
Jones’ voice was heard over all else, the thundering roar of cannons, the endless splashing of waves. Jones already blocked their path to the cliffside, but on the other side of even The Dutchman, another wildcard appeared, when a squid-like head erupted from the sea.
At least three stories tall, the Kraken slapped its tentacles on the water. Its beak snapped with such force, it could be heard even underwater, and its eyes were bigger than Rukia's entire body. Its shriek forced everyone but Jones to cover their ears, even the Alter Pirates’ crew who had risen to their bow’s railing.
Once again, the military had a new target.
Rukia accelerated them toward the port. It was the right move given their new circumstances, so Jules didn't argue with her decision, but their progress was quickly stunted, when a riptide pulled them back toward The Dutchman and the Kraken.
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