Chương 20: Fire, Fire, Fire!

Edwin put a finger to his lips and slowly approached the door. Shelly and Nythera crept behind the table. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK Nythera and Shelly ducked completely behind the counter, eyes peeping out from the sides.

"Who is it?" Edwin called out tentatively, poised to dart back if anything happened.

"Edwin? Open the damn door, Kronan's crying out here, I already feel more like a fish than a man. Let me in. hey did you know it's raining like this all the way to Halsbury. Quite the downpour really, unusual for Everon. I wonder if anyone's going to drink this rainwater, I mean it should be quite safe…"

"Leo, is that you?" Edwin cut in.

"Yeah? Who else would it be in this blasted weather?" The familiar voice called back. Edwin opened the door and a sopping wet Leo strode in, a puddle forming beneath him.

"Got anything warm to eat? Or drink? Even with my constitution it's kinda cold out there, there was a wicked wind coming off the Eastern mountains today."

"Leo why did you come all the way here in this weather?" Shelly handed Leo a hot cup of tea.

"Lance sent me, said there were some strange folk walking around the town, he heard about a scuffle with the Priest of Kronan and sent me running here. Apparently a few were also caught in Halsbury." Leo took a sip of tea.

"Yeah… I ran into a few of them, but managed to get away. You can go tell Lance I'm fine when the rain stops." Nythera said.

"Thats good to hear, we weren't really sure where you were. Lance wants you on the boat, its ready. Your ship, they mounted a bunch of ballistas to it, and some metal sheets. It looks really cool, lets go take a look, I want to see you sail it. Lance said you could do that alone is that really true? There's no way." Leo shot out.

"The ship is already ready? that was fast."

"It's waiting at the docks for you, it looks like a menace to steer though, those ballistas weigh a ton, how can you reload and aim three ballistas and steer the ship at the same time?" Leo asked with another sip of tea.

"Thats a secret, I'll head there first thing tomorrow. I'm going to bed." Nythera said, pounding up the stairs, dripping water everywhere.

"See ya tomorrow." Leo called back. Nythera pulled off her sopping wet clothing and collapsed onto the bed. Where in bloody blazes is Talvik? She drifted off. … Nythera woke up and stretched like a cat. She got up and went downstairs, grabbed a cup of tea and sipped it at the table, content to rest.

"I see someone got a nice night of sleep, you should head to the docks once you're ready." Shelly said, coming down and grabbing her own cup of tea.

"Yeah yeah I know, next time some bastards try to murder me I'll unload an entire ship's worth of ballistas on them." She sighed.

"Lance really ought to round the lot of them up, how did they even make it to Myrraval undetected? Incompetence." Shelly said. Nythera departed for the docks, strolling through the slick streets of Grandport, still wet from the night's downpour. Heh, I know this city now! It won't trick me again. Wonder if I can find Red's Shop again? The docks lay before her, the busywork of sailors ceaseless. Looking around, she couldn't seem to find Lance.

"Oi, Miss, we got ya ship over this way." A sailor called out and waved his hand. Nythera followed the sailor over to the far side of the dock. There was a ship that stood out clearly from the others, several ships had ballistas mounted, but only one had three of them. The prow had a ballista and two more flanked it, facing forward at an offset. Sheet metal lined the hull, but there were large gaps where wood peaked through. One large main sail and a jib were all the ship had for power.

This thing is not going to be very fast, it's got a lot of extra weight, but as long as I don't sink or run out of flux, I can keep firing. Nythera climbed aboard her vessel, it was clearly an older, retrofitted ship. She undid the docking ropes and activated Synchronized Thunder. She could feel the vessel under her command, itching for orders to be given. The sails unfurled and tightened with a snap, the whole ship lurched forward. She was nearly knocked off her feet.

The ballistas pivoted at her will, prepared to annihilate any enemy she encountered. At every turn, the ship seamlessly tacked and jibed, the sails moving in command. She let the skill guide her commands, interpreting them for her. The wind whipped by her face and she sunk into the feeling. The next time someone tries to kill me. Three ballista swiveled to face a tree by the waterline. I'll just annihilate them with overwhelming force.

If they don't have time to fire back, don't have anywhere to run, and can't block my shot, they are dead. Three shots rang out in perfect sync, the bolts flew and slammed into the trunk from three slightly offset angles. New bolts were lifted and reloaded into the ballistas automatically. She felt her flux straining. Hyper-flux: 4/39 Yeah, I don't think I'll be using this stuff very often.

Synchronized Thunder (lvl 3>4) (1 tokens) She got one skill level after spending the entire morning aboard the ship, returning to the docks to seek out lunch. It was fish. Nythera went out again that evening, hoping to score an additional level, but it was all for naught. This leech ring… is REALLY slowing me down. But Borris said I can't remove it without a frack hammer and I still want the free point bonus. Nythera was able to return home without incident.

For once, I am not attacked by someone's minions, a murderous cult, or the inquisitors. The next morning she got up to the sound of Leo calling at the door "Hey time to go to the dungeon miss witch, lets go go go." he called out. Nythera and Leo cleared the dungeon in record time, this time they were assisted by Godric and Cenric, two delvers that had been assigned by the Council to ensure Nythera leveled as fast as possible. Level Acquired!

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Level Acquired! Aether Culverin (lvl 5>7) (2 tokens) Flux Sight (lvl 3>4) (1 tokens) Artillery-Command (lvl 2>3)"How many levels did you get?" Godric inquired while he cleaned his bloodied axe.

"Uh, two levels and three skill levels." Nythera reported.

"What in the blazes? For a level twenty something that's all you got for a full clear?" Godric stood up and grabbed her hand. He towered over her, a mass of muscle and hair.

"fucking leech ring, what in Kronan's piss are you playing at here girly." Godric snarled.

"We don't have time for you to play games, I am going to get Lance to find me a frack hammer. This is a complete waste of our time." He said. Cenric approached the pair "Brother, let the girl have her ring, if she dies it's on her head, she took the risk." The brothers looked remarkably similar, both gigantic, blonde men. Wasn't there a place in Vathrial with people like this? Sure wasn't Greymere.

"Look, if she dies in this upcoming war, it's not on my head, but it does affect me. The last thing we all want is Damien getting his claws in Myrraval. She has a responsibility to be strong." Godric retorted.

"A responsibility I WILL carry out, I didn't get the domain core by being weak, I didn't survive multiple assassination attempts by being weak, and I won't let Damien take MY fucking island." Nythera declared. Her flux Culverin had materialized mid-speech, pointing straight at Godric.

"Alright alright, little lass, I've seen what that thing can do, keep your dumb fucking ring." Godric backed off.

"You need to learn your place, how dare you question what I'm doing with MY life." Nythera practically screamed, heat coursed through her. Her culverin tilted to the side.

"Look look he gets it ok. Calm down." Cenric said. FIRE! The cannon roared, a shell smashing into the stone near the dungeon entrance, sending shrapnel everywhere. Godric dived beneath the resting table, Cenric to the side. What, what the fuck am I doing? Heat faded from her body.

"Kronan damn it girl, how much heat are you at? You lost your damn mind?" Godric cursed from beneath the table.

"Im sorry, I don't know what came over me." She mumbled, stumbling out of the palisade with Leo in tow. This ring, and the cloak… just how much are they affecting me?

"Wow that was crazy, you sure are crazy miss witch." He blabbed. Nythera looked over her stats and allocated her free points more carefully this time. Two went into Resonance, six into Flux Control and two in Flux Quality. A few more levels and I'll be able to use Aether Culverin without problems. That is, if I can get my damn emotions in check. Nythera and Leo split up in Halsbury, Nythera seven sparks richer now. Why did everyone else get to keep all the items? Not fair.

She made her way back to Grandport, alone, Leo was needed elsewhere in the coming days before the war. The fields now lay bare, their crop having been harvested days ago. Before long, she was yet again standing in front of Borris' shop. This item better be good.

"Hey Borris, here for my new staff! It done yet?" She yelled.

"Aye, no need to yell, I'm right here." Borris got up from behind the counter. Borris pulled out a large staff and slammed it down onto the counter.

"I outdid myself making this beauty really, it's a proper Cinder-tier if ever there was one." He said. Nythera looked expectantly at Borris.

"Well? Get on with it, what's it do?" She asked.

"Alright missy, always in such a rush. It's called The Siege Rod, ten Flux Control and plus thirty percent reload rate, I'm honestly not sure what reload rate is for, I think archers used it? Lastly it boosts breach depth by 20%. Those are not small numbers missy, this is powerful for a Cinder tier, I'm just not sure for whom." Borris admitted. The rod was metal, glowing strands woven throughout the iron, sputtering as if there were actual embers inside.

A crystalized deep purple rock sat at the top, encased in strands of iron. The anchorbreak tooth sat beneath it, flush against the iron.

"How do I use it? Do I need to wield it for the effect to work?" Nythera asked. This is fantastic, Aether Culverin will become unstoppable with this. She picked it up, feeling heat flow throughout her body.

"No, you can clip at your belt and it'll work just fine, it ain't a sword. If you try to get two of them, the effect for both will turn off unless you have one in hand, it is your tool or weapon slot. Just be careful, don't want your Ember-frost scale getting too unbalanced." I guess power comes with a price, I'm just going to have to eat the heat cost for now. At least it's easy to use. She clipped it straight to her belt, tying it in tightly. She felt heat spread through her arms.

"What exactly will this heat do? What happens if I unbalance the scale?"

"You let it get too hot and you'll become unstable little miss. Every cinder tier item is a plus twenty to your heat, every ten heat is a two-point-five boost to all your hot equipment effects. At forty heat? You've got a nice 10% boost. Not bad" He remarked.

"But seriously watch out, don't run too hot or too cold." he warned.

"I'll be fine Borris, thank you for delivering the item. I'll be back again later to spend some coin." Nythera said and bolted straight for the docks. I wonder if the rod affects the ship mounted ballistas too? Flux: 3, 503/4, 060 Good enough. She hopped aboard her boat, the dock was full of ships that had come in from fishing and practice drills today.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing?" A grumpy looking sailor walked up.

"I'm taking MY ship out to sea, it's none of your business." Nythera declared.

"Uh, you can't do that, all ships are to be docked and inspected immediately, Lance's order." The sailor said.

"Tell Lance he can fucking stuff it, I'm going." The sails unfurled and the ship lurched forwards out of the pier on its own. Nythera launched a barrage of bolts against another innocent coastal tree, this time the bolts actually went straight through it and flew into the forest. This rod is the best thing ever! Maybe the culverin can now kill multiple people in a row? She thought giddily, restraining an urge to unleash another salvo on more trees. As the boat tacked, Grandport came into view.

Black smoke was rising above it. It appeared as if the entire dock was aflame. Three ships sailed away from Grandport at top speed. An attack? Already? I thought Damien wasn't supposed to get here for another week? She banked her ship straight for Grandport. As she approached she couldn't make out any enemy ships, no targets to launch a barrage at. Every single ship is torched. Not a single fishing ship had gone un-scorched.

Much of the docks themselves were aflame as well, sailors running with water and a handful of mages blasting them with magic, but they were ants against the storm. The fire appeared to have a will of its own as more and more of the docks collapsed into ash and fell to the water below. Nythera circled nearby several more times, unsure of where to go. Fuck it, I'm beaching this ship, can always fix it later. She turned straight for the sandy part of Grandport's coast and left the burning shoreline.

Driving the ship straight onto a beach, she hopped off and sprinted for the docks. I'm going to annihilate Damien. When she finally reached the docks, she found no signs of bloodshed or fighting. Just a bunch of very unhappy sailors.

"What in the blazes happened here?" She called out.

"It's the miss! She's ok!." The sailors swarmed around her. One particularly big, older fellow came to the front.

"It wasn't Damien, we've been betrayed. Reachman sent his men to destroy the fleet. It's likely the ships in Amplewood are also down. The only ships we know of that made it are Weird Frank's and your ship." He explained. I am going to obliterate Reachman when I get my hands on that bastard.

"Any idea when Damien's assault is coming?" She asked.

"Not a clue, we got no more ships to warn us anymore, and Grandport has no diviners. They could be on their way right now. We alerted Lance, the delver's battalion is en route right now." The dockmaster admitted. At that moment, a familiar silver bird swooped down onto her shoulder. He's finally back! Where the Hel has he been this entire time?

"Look, I need to go get ready, I'll be back for my ship soon, can you prep it for me? Thanks." She said hastily, running down the streets towards Edwin's.

"Sure no problem!" He waved back.

"Oi you heard the miss, lets get this ship back in the water.".

"Talvik, where the Hel did you go? Could have really used some help." She whispered as they darted down crisscrossing alleys.

"I was… cleaning up some loose ends. Nothing for you to worry about, Child. What you should be concerned with is the armada approaching from Karaveth" he said nonchalantly.

"What, they are coming right now?" She halted and ducked into the shadows between two buildings.

"You're joking right? The entire fleet was just burned to a fucking crisp and now you're telling me Damien is on our doorstep?"

"It is so, Child. I see you have been busy, you should not have put on that ring, this new wild skill you acquired is going to become a significant problem, potentially lethal, if you don't find a way around it." Talvik deflected.

"Lethal? What do you mean my skill will kill me?" She asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes Child, have you even done the basic calculations on your skill?" The bird asked, somehow his bird face seemed to be scowling at her.