The cloud sea was ever-present. It might shrink sometimes and grow larger at others, but it was always there. Rhys had never been beneath it, but he knew there was a second layer, called the Misting, a place of fog and dim light. Beyond the Misting was the Abyss, which stretched down endlessly into the stygian darkness below them. The mere thought of what lay beneath his feet made Rhys shiver. Some stories said that anyone who fell overboard would just fall forever, while others said the abyss itself would eat them.

By contrast, further up in the blue skies above him was a second layer of clouds, but they were wispy and sparse, nothing like the opaque mass below him. Some of the books he’d read stated that cloudships could travel above those smaller clouds but that the air became too thin to breathe, making even the hardiest of expeditions eventually turn around.

As they drew level with the small group of spires that Rhys had chosen, the clouds above them parted and bathed it all in sunlight, giving the whole area a calm and tranquil look. With the bright light as a guide, Rhys took hold of the tiller and guided them over to one of the larger spires, this one almost a hundred metres across. While trees and rocky protrusions covered a good portion of the spire, there was a decent-sized space where cloudships had clearly landed in the past.

Rhys eased them down toward the ground by carefully bringing the lever back and slowly descending the Endeavour. He moved slow and steady, keeping an eye on his altimeter at all times, and eventually managed to land the Endeavour with only a moderate impact.

‘Have we arrived?’ Zaxx whispered, the words bringing an unusual sense of urgency from the other being.

‘Yes, and I don’t see anyone else nearby,’ Rhys said, checking the sky around them as he finished turning off the engine. Without the runes reducing their weight, the Endeavour settled into the rocky terrain with a slight groan. Then sound made Rhys wince a little, but he knew they’d be fine. The Endeavour was a hardy ship.

‘I will claim the Endeavour now then. Please remain calm.’ Zaxx’s words immediately filled Rhys with dread, a sensation that was only further justified as the entire ship began to vibrate slightly beneath his feet. The vibration steadily built until an audible hum started to emanate from all around him.

‘Zaxx,’ Rhys said, growing more worried by the moment as small arcs of violet energy started to spark between different parts of the ship. Each spark was small but surprisingly bright. With each spark that Rhys saw, the vibrations coursing through the ironwood beneath his feet seemed to intensify. Before Rhys could take any more action, the vibration peaked in a ship rattling explosion of sound that deafened Rhys for a few seconds. The accompanying sparks were now more like miniature lightning bolts as they jumped across the Endeavour.

‘Ahh, it is done. I am bound to the Endeavour, and it to me.’ Zaxx’s voice was clearer now. It was still a whisper, but it felt more like it was being spoken from nearby rather than from far away.

‘What was with the weird energy flashes and the vibrations? Have they damaged the ship?’ Rhys carefully looked around the deck for any sign of the energy he’d seen, but there was nothing.

‘Side effects of the binding process, and no, the Endeavour is unharmed. Would you like me to take off?’ Zaxx’s voice was filled with smug pleasure as he offered to helm the ship for Rhys, but that was where the artificer drew the line. He was the only one piloting this ship right now.

‘No, you’re not to pilot the ship without explicit permission from me,’ Rhys said quickly, fear making his heart pound as he considered what the bound creature could do if freed from the need for his input. Of course, for all he knew, Zaxx could do it anyway. Not for the first time, Rhys felt like he was in over his head with all this.

‘Very well. I await your commands,’ Zaxx said, his tone sharp and more than a little condescending.

‘Yes, well, good,’ Rhys said, coughing into his hand uncomfortably as he moved to take the ship’s instruments in hand. Grabbing the ventral thruster lever and slowly bringing it up, Rhys felt the rumble of the thrusters beneath the ship, but nothing seemed to be happening. He was loathe to push the lever all the way. Last time they were already off the ground at this level of force.

‘Engaging runes.’

Rhys flushed as he realised he hadn’t sent power through the weight runes that enabled the cloudship to fly. Part of him wanted to thank Zaxx for fixing the error, but another part cringed at how easily Zaxx acted on his own.

Rhys’s worries were soon put to the back of his mind as the Endeavour was thrust into the air by the ventral thrusters, rising on a plume of vapour until they were above the tallest tip of the island.

Rhys dialled back on the ventral thrusters once the Endeavour was at a sufficient altitude, halting their ascent. Frowning in concentration, Rhys brought the rear thruster online and pushed it steadily to full after a brief moment of consideration.

It was wasteful to use the full power of the thruster. They didn’t have a huge amount of akast crystal to fuel them, after all. Despite that, Rhys wanted to put the ship through its paces a little to find out what it could do.

The steady rumble of active thrusters grew louder as the surrounding air was sucked in and propelled out the rear of the ship, a steadily growing plume of water vapour forming as they skimmed the top of the cloud sea.

The steady acceleration sent wind whipping down the ship with growing force, but Rhys found the ship’s pilot’s protective screen and latched it in place. Little more than an ironwood rectangle with a thin layer of cloud quartz in the middle, the screen was enough to stop the impact of the wind and make it wrap around the helm.

The whistling wind was still loud enough to drown out everything around him, making Rhys laugh with delight as they reached top speed for the ship.

Reducing thrust to two-thirds power, Rhys lowered the protective screen and started to adjust their course so that they were back on track once more.

‘That was a pleasant experience, feeling the amount of energy pulsing through my hull. We should do it again sometime,’ Zaxx said, his words causing the young artificer to smile and nod. For once, they were in complete agreement.

-**-

They carried on in the same manner for the rest of the day, eventually coming to a halt over a small spire and landing the Endeavour. Rhys didn’t trust Zaxx to carry on without him, and it would be wasteful just to hover when they weren’t underway.

Zaxx didn’t comment on this, but Rhys still felt the tension it put on their agreement. They’d used each other to get what they wanted, but that didn’t mean that Rhys trusted Zaxx.

Still, his new quarters were far more comfortable than his old closet of a room above the workshop. Not to mention that sleeping the whole night through was a novel and rewarding experience.

Waking some time after dawn, Rhys manned the helm and set the course for Arn Gol. They’d be there by mid-afternoon if they stuck to the same pace as yesterday.

‘I believe that now is a good time to discuss my new, and closer, bond with the Endeavour.’ Zaxx’s whispers ruined any enjoyment Rhys found in the morning sun, but that was only to be expected.

Grunting his assent, Rhys locked the helm to its course and waited for the eldritch creature to continue.

‘As I mentioned before, my kind can see reality as it truly is and manipulate it somewhat, within certain limitations, of course. The main issue is that we lack the creativity of your kind. However, through our bond, I can use the framework via which you view reality to act as the fulcrum on which I reshape it. Do you understand?’

‘Frankly, no, not really,’ Rhys said honestly, a little confused by all this talk of reshaping reality.

‘Then let me demonstrate. Latch in the pilot’s quartz screen and observe.’

Rhys did as he was asked, latching the screen into place and watching it apprehensively. He wasn’t sure what Zaxx had planned, but after the bursts of energy from the “claiming”, he was a little concerned.

To Rhys’s discomfort, after a moment, the quartz rippled and darkened in places, eventually forming purple letters one by one as though Rhys was watching an ethereal hand write them in the quartz.

The Endeavour

Status - Fully Functional

Upgrades

Hull - None

Power - None

Propulsion - None

Weaponry - None

Other - None

Weaponry

Swivel Cannon x 3 (2 fore, 1 aft)

Propulsion

Large Vapour Thruster x 1

Medium Vapour Thruster x 2

Small Vapour Thruster x 1

Power

Akast Engine x 1

Hull

Engine Section x 1

Cargo Section x 1

Prow x 1

Available Units

Material - 10

Energy - 2

Fuel

Akast Crystal - 12 Days (1 Energy Unit Equivalent)

Cargo

3 Shipments of ironwood (60 Material Units Equivalent )

6 Flasks of Ironwood Sap (12 Material Units Equivalent)

‘That’s….. a lot of information,’ Rhys said eventually. He had no idea what else to say to such a summary as this.

‘Yes, I can provide a consolidated version in the future if desired, but I thought it best to demonstrate the true extent of my abilities first of all.’

‘Okay, so what does this part about upgrades mean?’

‘Pick a category. I will show you an available option.’

‘Alright, propulsion,’ Rhys said, already in love with the feeling of moving fast. As soon as he spoke, the purple writing disappeared, only to be slowly replaced by a smaller section of text.

Propulsion Upgrades

Power Rank 1 - Increases the thrust of all vapour thrusters.

Cost- 10 Energy Units

Efficiency Rank 1 - Increase the efficiency of all vapour thrusters, reducing power usage.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

Overclock Rank 1 - Grants the ability to temporarily boost the power of specific vapour thrusters, increasing thrust at the cost of durability. Cost - 10 Energy Units

‘You can do this?’ Rhys said, reading the options available with a huge grin across his face.

‘This and so much more. I am generating these upgrades using you as a reference. As you experience new things and understand more of the world, I will be able to do more.’

‘That’s amazing. Show me the weaponry upgrades,’ Rhys said, eager to see more. Almost immediately, the writing faded away, new letters replacing it steadily.

Weaponry Upgrades

Power Rank 1 - Increases the raw strength of all cannons.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

Efficiency Rank 1 - Increases the efficiency of all cannons, reducing power usage per shot.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

Compression Rank 1 - Compresses the generated shots of all cannons, improving the cohesiveness of all shots. This increases the effective range of all cannons.

Cost - 10 Energy Units.

Enhanced Shot Rank 1 - Applies a secondary effect to cannon shots on demand for additional power usage. Rank 1 Effects - Fire, Ice, Force. Cost - 10 Energy Units

‘So, what are these “Energy Units”, and how can I get more?’ Rhys asked, intrigued despite himself.

‘They are a representation of the drain that altering the ship in this way will take. Essentially, the greater the change to the ship, the greater the drain on the energy I hold. Sources of energy, such as akast crystals, will suffice. Enough crystals for ten days of flight time should be enough for one unit.’

‘Ten days?’ Rhys felt the blood drain from his face in shock as he remembered that the Endeavour was half as efficient as a regular ship, so that was actually twenty days worth of crystals. Half a sovereign usually bought eight to ten days of fuel from the prices Rhys had seen. That meant at best a full sovereign, and at worst one and a half, per energy unit.

Leaning on the helm console, Rhys tried to keep his breathing steady as he realised that even if he spent all of his remaining eighteen sovereigns on akast crystal, he could buy only a single upgrade outright. Sadly, he just couldn’t justify that kind of expenditure at the moment.

Zaxx didn’t reply to his words, giving Rhys the chance to consider it a little further. Twenty sovereigns was a lot for who he used to be, but that wasn’t him anymore. He was the Captain of the Endeavour now. He had the capability and the power to trade and make money. He could even mine some crystal himself once he had the equipment.

It might take time, but he had nothing else to do right now. Satisfied that he had a few long-term goals to work toward, Rhys nodded to himself and turned his eye back to the map. He’d be in Arn Gol before he knew it.

-**-

Arn Gol had the traditional spire format, unlike the flat top of Arn Creth. Three separate districts stretched from the very tip of the imposing spire, all the way down to the tip of the cloud sea. From what he remembered, the higher up the spire you went, the wealthier the people that lived there.

Each district had an area of docks and warehouses, but the Rhys was under no illusion that he would be welcome at the highest of the three. Instead, Rhys set his course for the lowest, and busiest of the three. He had no expensive cargo, no reputation and no money for expensive docking fees. All of which meant Rhys was heading down to what he could afford. Maybe he could work his way up over time.

His practice with the thrusters and helm controls meant that Rhys didn’t crash as a dock worker waved him down into an open berth, but the landing was definitely on the rough side.

‘Hail the ship,’ a bored voice came from the docking slip that came out to the berth Rhys had parked in.

‘The Endeavour,’ Rhys called back as he ensured everything was off, moving over to the railing to look down at the person calling him.

‘What?’ The speaker was a middle-aged man with beady eyes and a badly receding hairline. True to his unkempt appearance, the man’s shirt was stained with grease, and who knew what else.

‘The ship, it’s called the Endeavour,’ Rhys said proudly, sighing as the man just shrugged his words away.

‘Whatever, it’s five bits a day. Payment upfront, please.’

Rhys was silent for a moment as he considered how long he’d be here. It was a hundred bits to a sovereign, so it wasn’t a huge amount, but Rhys was also still finding his footing, and every bit counted. Quite literally in fact.

‘Three days, I’ll be down in a moment,’ Rhys said after a bit of deliberation. Three days would be plenty of time, enough to ensure he could take his time with everything and not rush through it all.

Grabbing what he needed, he headed to the boarding hatch and paid the bored-looking official waiting for him. Grunting his thanks, the man lumbered back down the docking slip, leaving Rhys to lock up the Endeavour behind him.

‘Well, here we go then,’ Rhys said, looking up at the towering spire before him. This was his first arrival as Captain. He hoped the first of many.