《The Crystal Forest》Chapter 16
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Valen runs up to the deck, the sailors already taking a position, awaiting their captain's orders. On the railings, David holds a spyglass to his eye, aimed towards the sea. Walking towards the captain, Valen passes the first mate as he directs the sailors.
“So what have we got,” Valen asks, standing next to the captain.
David takes down his spyglass and hands it to Valen. Valen promptly takes it and aims at the far speck in the distance.
"As you can see, there is an orc ship currently attempting to board a Radanian trader," David explains.
Valen merely nods as he looks at the two ships. The Radonian ship has both masts down with a great deal of damage to the hull. The orc ship, on the other hand, is possibly just as bad. The front of the ship looks very shoddy, as though they have taken damage and were forced to fix at sea. But that is not what attracts Valens attention. Their sails are burning, and some of the deck is on fire. Orcs are running to clear the flames while others are attempting to board the Radanian ship.
"As you can see," David continues "the orc ship is in a pretty bad spot, but the Radanian's are just as bad," David pauses, choosing his next words carefully." That orc ship…...is the same one that shot my own ship. I…..want to give those orcs a broadside." David explains, his fist's clenched tightly.
“No,” Valen answers.
David looks up, sighing lightly, understanding that such a stupid risk is not worth taking.
"We are instead going to board them," Valen answers, interrupting the captain."Can your sailors fight?"
"Errrr…..yes. all of them have been trained by Alfred." David nod's, excitement reaching his eyes." I have never boarded before but should be simple enough. We can just come from the other side and attack the distracted orcs."
"For a captain, you suck at physical combat," Valen answers, the captain taken aback from the insult."I was trained in the military, and military 101 teaches that if you're going to attack, you do it loudly and unexpectedly.
David looks to Valen, trying to understand what the heck the young man is talking about.
"Get your sailors and cannons loaded. We are going to get nice and close to the orcs, and you are going to fire your cannons. But, you are going to fire one cannon in ten-second intervals. The loud noise, crashing sounds, and vibrations will disorient the orcs, making them much easier to deal with."
David just looks to Valen, slowly understanding the plan. "We should aim towards the cannons," David exclaims "This would make sure that they do not fire back."
"Wrong," Valen quips."We don't want to damage the cannons. We are boarding to take them. What's the point of boarding in the first place then?"
A blush sprouts on David's face, realizing that all he was thinking about was revenge."You’re right," he says, calling his first mate over.
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“Prepare the cannons, and prepare to board,” he tells Alfred, who just nods, running back towards his men.
"Alright, captain. I am going to put on my armor," Valen says, taking his arms off the railings.
"You're going to fight?" David's face scrunches up.
"Of course. I may not look it, but I am quite strong," he answers, walking back down into the ship's hold.
David looks at Valens retreating form with both worry and deference.
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When Valen descends down to the ship's hold, he finds Lin sitting with Diva, eating pancakes.
"We are about to engage and board an orc ship," Immediately Diva gets up, nods, and heads towards her room. As she leaves, Valen turns to Lin, her mouth filled to the brim.
“Eat quickly and go to our room. I don’t want you anywhere near the fighting.”
Swallowing quickly, Lin looks at Valen."Kick Ass," she answers in English, her tongue attempts to lick the cream that's stuck on her nose.
Valen just nods and heads towards his room, passing Diva, her sword firmly attached to her back.
Entering his room, Valen releases his mana. With but a thought, his trademark black custom military armor forms on his body. With another thought, a black case forms on the bed. Slowly opening it up, two massive 500 nitro revolvers gaze back at him.
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Wang Shui spins his Guandao around his body with expert ease. The enchanted polearm glows with a blue light as it absorbs the water from the air, forming a sheen around the mithril blade. With a flick of his weapon and a twist of his hips, the liquid instantly freezes and flies off the blade, piercing the chest of an orc as he attempts to board the Radonian ship.
Without breaking his motion, he sweeps forward, slashing a distracted orc from the side, absorbing the blood, and flicking his weapon towards another, the frozen blood ramming into his neck.
But even with Wang Shui's help, it is clear that the Radonians are quickly losing, as more and more orc's are boarding the ship. Clicking his tongue, Wang Shui starts to feel the onset of mana exhaustion kicking in. His glowing blue eyes slowly start to dim, as the complicated mana strands that surround his taut muscles slowly deconstruct, his increased strength slowly going away.
“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!”
The sound of a cannon going off is heard in the distance, quickly followed by a rumbling deck and the orc ship spewing wood. Looking towards the direction of the sound, he finds a massive ship on the other side of the orc galley, its cannons aiming downward. Atop the Galleon, two figures jump off and land on the orc ship. One figure is an Amazon, her eyes are completely black as her horns glow red. A manic smile can be seen on her lips. The other figure, one covered in a menacing black metal, holding some silver objects in his hand, lands directly on top of an orc. The sheer weight forcing the orc to the ground, his insides crushed from the momentum.
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Immediately another cannon round slams into the orc ship; the deck rumbling again. As Wang regains his footing, he finds the black figure pulling up the silver objects in his hands. A loud flash and explosive sound emanate from them. Looking towards where he was aiming; he finds an Orc sailor, standing still in the air, his head completely missing from his body.
Captivated is a word wang would describe himself, as he watches the figure aim and blast, orc's dying with every shot. Another cannon blast goes off, rumbling the deck, orcs continuing to lose footing, panic evident in their ranks. Quickly regaining his own footing, wang looks for the armored figure, finding him standing gallantly, orc guts littered around him.
A cannon round goes off again, but this time there is no striking of hull. The round slams into the black armored figure, striking him in the head, breaking his armor, and forcing him to fly back and slam into the burning orc mast, wood splitting from the impact.
Immediately Wang's ears are drowned out by more cannon rounds impacting the orc ships hull. Looking over once again, a small army of dwarfs jumps off the ship, their bodies smoking from untrained mana enhancement.
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Valen exits the ship's hold, his signature black armor glinting in the sunlight. Checking his holster, he finds that the two magnums are securely held at his hip. Finding the others looking over the railing, he treads towards them.
"Are we almost ready?" Valen asks, his voice slightly muffled from the multi-sheet carbon fiber ballistic helmet on his head.
Turning around, a variety of reaction is seen from Valen's visor.
David squeals with fright, slipping and falling on the floor, fear taking hold. Alfred is much more subdued, grabbing for his ax, only for it to slip from his grasp, impaling the floor. Jessica merely takes a stance, her battleaxe glowing violently on her shoulder. Diva just glances at Valen, nods approvingly, and then turns her head back towards the orc ship.
"Valen, is that fucking you?" Jessica asks as Alfred rips out his ax from the floor.
"I did say that I was going to put on some armor didn't I?" Valen answers, a hidden cheeky smile on his lips.
David slowly gets off the floor, a massive blush on his dwarven face can be seen as he glares at Valen."You look like your wearing the skin of a monster, not fucking armor," he answers, slowly regaining his breath.
"It will be useful," Alfred says, his eyes tracing the lines of Valens armored suit."If even half the orcs have a reaction like our captains, then this battle will be over quickly."
A burst of laughter from the surrounding dwarfs awakens Valen to the audience behind him. Attracted probably from the captains effeminent scream.
“Oy, you lousy shits,” David yells, glaring at the others,”get to your stations, we’re almost there,” he points to the orc ship that they are slowly approaching.
A few tense minutes later the ship is slowly getting into position. With thirty seconds to lose, Valen opens the channels of his mana. Mentally taking hold of his mana, he slowly feeds his muscles, their size growing by the second. Right before the point in which Valen would feel pain, he stops increasing the mana quantity, allowing for a sustained stream of energy to course through him, his skin smoking from inside his armor.
Grabbing the two revolver's, he finds that their weight is significantly more manageable with his stronger muscles. Turning towards Diva, he finds her black horns slowly turning red. At once, a field is released around her, encompassing her surrounding by over 10 feet. The whites of her eyes quickly turn pitch black like her irises. Before Valen can ask what she is doing, the first cannon sound goes off.
Taking a deep breath, Valen jumps off the ship, accidentally landing on a confused orc, crushing him to the deck.
Standing back up, Valen looks at his surroundings, the orcs quickly noticing him. Bringing his arm up, Valen takes aim at an approaching sailor and pulls the trigger. The gun slams slightly back, his stronger muscles taking the recoil with ease. The bullet travels through the barrel, eviscerating an orcs head.
Valen continues to take down the enemy in bloody explosive ways. The deck around him starts to quickly fill with the dismembered remains of those that dare oppose him.
Looking towards the other side of the deck, he watches, mesmerized as Diva dances her way through the orcs ranks. Eight orc’s surround her, but she dodges every strike with but a hairs length. Her sword dances menacingly through the air, cutting bone and flesh with utmost precision.
Distracted by the dance of death, Valen does not notice an orc gunner turn a cannon towards him. As soon as the cannon takes aim, a loud explosion goes off, striking Valen in the head, ripping a chunk of his armor off, and denting his helmet. The momentum carries him back into the orc's mast; cracking and splintering the wood.
Before Valen loses consciousness, he hears more cannon shots go off, and then immediately the war cries of the dwarfs can be heard as they jump into the fray.
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Kang quickly finishes off the last invading orc, the Radonian ship finally free of invaders. Breathing hard, brow covered in sweat, Kang looks towards the orc ship. Immediately a loud cheer goes off as he looks towards the back of the ship. The Amazon holds the bloody head of the orc captain by his tusks. Her other hand holds a sword dented and covered in blood, but she alone has not a speck on her.
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