Rhys woke early, as usual, the next day so that he could get down to the galley and get a hot cup of fresh tea without needing to wait for the kettle to boil. It was such a small thing, but it was worth getting up a little earlier for.

Following their normal routine, Tom was only a few minutes behind him, putting him right on schedule to take advantage of the water Rhys had set to boil. Tom had long since stopped questioning the speed with which Rhys could acquire his morning tea, which was for the best.

Oliver and Lucy had returned after Rhys the night before, both of them joining Tom and Rhys in the galley over the next hour.

‘Captain, you mentioned last night that you wanted to discuss what we were doing with the salt. I was going to sell it today. I have a few contacts that would pay well for it. What do you have in mind instead?’ Oliver asked, cocking his head to one side.

‘Well, I’ve gotten a job from Kraus and Sons to take a shipment from here to their branch in Arn Allinor,’ Rhys said, grinning as Lucy and Oliver gave him the same shocked expression. ‘You still have the time to decide if you want to stay on, you all do, but I’d like you to help me prepare for the voyage. I have some capital that I want you to use to buy goods for us to sell in Arn Allinor, alongside the salt and goods that I’ve bought today. That being said, have you ever been to Arn Allinor before?’

‘Yes, Captain, but I’ll ask around and get an idea of what sort of things are in demand there at the moment. I’ve already decided I’m staying on, so I’ll get right on that for you.’ Oliver said with an eager expression that lit up as Rhys passed him the four sovereigns he’d received from Otto. It was only fitting that the money from Otto would go toward making the trip profitable for them.

‘Excellent, I’ll leave that to you then,’ Rhys said with a grin, happy not to have to worry about that side of things.

‘Anything you need me for, Captain?’ Lucy asked, leaning back in her chair with a single raised brow.

‘Nothing in the short term, but Tom did bring up our security earlier. Do you have any experience with that side of things?’ Rhys asked, rubbing his jaw in thought as he considered Tom’s suggestions once more.

‘A little, but only from the fringes as a weapons officer. Why?’ Lucy asked, cocking her head to one side with interest.

‘Well, if you could spend some time with Tom and come up with a few ideas for what we could do to better protect the Endeavour, that would be ideal. I don’t mind if it’s internal or external security. There are pirates in the area, and we’re starting to carry more and more cargo, so we’ll be a tempting target for them.’

‘Understood, we’ll sit down after this, if that works for you, Tom?’ Lucy said, sitting up straight as she shifted into her professional manner, sharing a nod with Tom as he confirmed that he was free.

‘Good, I’m heading out into the spire, but I’ll be back this afternoon. If you have any short-term ideas we can implement, tell me then. We’re setting off for Arn Allinor first thing tomorrow, so make sure any business is wrapped up by then. Any questions?’ Rhys asked, waiting a moment for a response before clapping his hands and rising to his feet. ‘Oh, and there is some cargo being delivered shortly, Tom, if you could take care of that.’

‘Of course, Captain,’ Tom said, before looking over to Lucy and gesturing to the kettle with a questioning expression.

Leaving them to it, Rhys headed back to his cabin to get some walking money and his jacket. He was going to head up to the next layer of the spire today, so he wanted to look presentable.

Oliver walked past him on the way out but didn't notice him. The cargomaster was muttering under his breath about something and frowning in concentration. Rhys dodged around him and headed down to the docks, not wanting to disturb him.

When he passed the ship that both he and Tom had been wary of that Rhys realised that he hadn’t followed up with the other man about that. There was another ship or two in the docks today, each with several crew working to offload cargo onto artificed carts for transport. In the midst of all that, the small ship that Rhys had spotted yesterday sat quietly, a few crew moving around on deck as they watched the other ships.

Still getting a bad feeling about it, Rhys gave them a wide berth as he headed off the docks. He’d definitely talk with Tom and Lucy when he got back.

-**-

It took Rhys around an hour to find the path up to the next tier of the spire, which was a rune-powered lift station. There were three lifts in total, two for passengers and one for cargo and goods, each moving independently and at a good speed.

The design was quite similar to what he’d seen in Arn Dukatt, but they were powered by runes directly, so it was a far more efficient operation. The cost to make them would have been considerable, but the benefits were clearly just as high.

Taking his place in the small queue, Rhys patiently waited until his turn. Boarding the lift with a dozen other people, Rhys kept to the side of the group and watched as they rose into the air.

It was mesmerising. There was something fantastic about watching an entire level of the spire, which was a city in itself, receding below them. The lift was smooth and fast, delivering them to the next tier of Arn Gol in no time at all.

The first thing that struck Rhys was the higher quality of building materials. It was such a small thing, but it was so noticeable. The tier that the Endeavour was docked at used ironwood primarily. This tier, however, used a lot more stone from the spire.

Paying attention to the nearby buildings, Rhys realised that some of the stonework used to build a few fancier buildings looked to be a different shade to the rest. Could it actually be imported from a different spire?

In Rhys's eyes, the cost of importing so much stone to build with was sheer insanity. Though, he knew his view of ironwood was skewed due to how prevalent it was on Arn Creth. It might be that building with imported ironwood wasn't that much less than with stone. Something he'd have to look into, as a cargo ship captain, he wanted to be aware of any potential trade goods he came across.

Simply wandering for some time, Rhys admired the clean and orderly layout of the tier. This was his next goal as a ship’s captain, to be docking at places like this. Of course, he could dock here right now if he wanted to. It wasn’t that they restricted who docked here. You simply had to be able to pay your way.

Higher docking fees and more expensive supplies were just the tip of a hidden spire as far as cost was concerned. Rhys was on the verge of making quite a few sovereigns, but that only mattered when he had the coins in his hands.

No, Rhys lacked the funds to be basing himself at this tier, for now. When he had more contacts and more sources of work, then he would be able to change.

It was interesting, though, that the Kraus and Sons branch was on the bottom tier of the spire, not up here on the middle tier. Rhys had seen several quite fancy-looking shops around, quite a few of which seemed to be in the same niche as Kraus and Sons.

Rhys continued to wander for a time, spending a little money at a street vendor offering some fresh treats and delicacies.

Once he was satisfied, Rhys headed back to the lifts to look into heading up to the next tier. To his surprise, there was a fee to do so.

Rhys had expected some form of restriction to keep the various tiers of the spire separated. Still, a fifteen-bit fee to head up there was extravagant. There was no way that Rhys would have been able to afford that regularly if he was a local here on the same wage that he had at Arn Creth.

Rhys wasn't in the mood to pay for the privilege of getting to the top tier. Instead, he headed back down to the third tier and toward the docks. It was early afternoon now, so he’d grab lunch on the way and then check in with Tom and Lucy.

-**-

‘Captain,’ Tom said as Rhys walked into the galley. Tom and Lucy were sat at the table, empty plates stacked to one side from what Rhys assumed had been their lunch.

‘I thought I’d check in on your security review. What are your thoughts so far?’ Rhys asked, taking a seat at the table with them.

‘Well, it’s a twofold problem,’ Lucy said with a yawn and a stretch. ‘The first is keeping us safe in the air. The second is keeping us safe at the docks. Given our current capabilities, the first is more of a problem than the second.’

‘Really?’ Rhys asked, a little surprised at that. He’d have expected it to be the other way around.

‘Absolutely, we might as well have no weapons when it comes to fighting other ships. Our one advantage is speed, but if we’re fully laden, a pirate Hawk will catch us.’ Lucy said, her face grim as she spelt out the situation.

‘A Hawk?’ Rhys asked, repeating the unfamiliar word back to her.

‘A small but fast ship, one that is used to catch and board lighter merchant ships, like the Endeavour,’ Tom said, an unusually grim look on his face.

‘But we could go down, hide beneath the clouds. I’ve done it before,’ Rhys said, a little shiver running down his spine as he remembered that terrible journey.

‘Would you be so willing to do it again now that you’ve seen one of the horrors that lurk below us?’ Lucy asked, raising a single brow at him in question.

‘No, you’re right. It would have to be dire for me to risk that,’ Rhys said with another shudder. The kurador would never be far from his mind on any trip, but the idea of coming across one inside the sea itself was downright terrifying.

‘Exactly, and it’s that fear that pirates use. That and being able to catch ships before they can get away. Even the bravest of captains have to come up to check their bearings, and when they do, the pirates will catch them.’

‘So, what can we do?’ Rhys asked with a frown, not liking the picture she was painting at all.

‘Bigger, better guns, weapons for the crew and more crew to fight back if it comes to that. Sharpshooters will try to pick one or two of us off if they get close enough, but that works both ways,’ Lucy said with a grin. Given how accurate she was when drunk, Rhys didn’t doubt that Lucy would be a terror on any unsuspecting pirates.

‘We can do that, but it’s going to be expensive,’ Rhys said, sighing as he mentally kissed his profits goodbye. The guns for the crew would be bad enough, but the guns for the ship would be ruinous.

Of course, there was always the possibility of upgrading what they had via Zaxx, but he had no idea how he’d explain that. He also had no idea if that would carry over to any new cannons he bought. He’d have to ask Zaxx.

‘True, but a lot of it carries over to dockside protection as well. The extra crew in particular. There aren’t too many threats when we’re docked, thanks to the security the Captain’s Guild provides to the whole area, but it’s foolish to rely on them totally.’ Lucy said with an open palm and a shrug. ‘You have to choose which threats to secure against with what you have.’

‘Well, I’ll check the available crew roster at Arn Allinor and see who might be available. We can look at getting some weapons for the crew as well.’ Rhys said, rubbing his jaw in thought as he considered his funds and the best way to use them.

‘Sure, it’s as good a place to start shopping around as any. Now, I’m going to head into the spire and get some shopping done, unless you need me for anything else?’ Lucy asked, waiting until Rhys shook his head before getting to her feet and giving them a wave as she headed out.

‘Oh, Tom, have we had the deliveries yet?’ Rhys asked, thinking about the cargo he’d ordered the day before.

‘Yes, Captain, eight pallets in total. Oliver had already gone, so I got them all sorted out and signed for them.’

‘Excellent, I’ll be in my cabin for a while. Give me a shout if you need me,’ Rhys said, leaving Tom to make himself a fresh cup of tea and heading down to his cabin.

‘Zaxx, I have a question,’ Rhys asked aloud as soon as his cabin door was shut behind him.

‘Yes, Rhys?’

‘If I were to buy a weapon upgrade on the Endeavour, could I then replace the guns and keep it? Or would it remain on those guns? For that matter, if I bought an upgrade and then took the cannons off the Endeavour, would it still work?’ Rhys asked, new questions coming to mind as he spoke, making him realise just how little he knew about the whole process.

‘The energy cost is required for me to establish the effect by the rules I am bound to. The actual process costs me nothing, and any ongoing costs are born by the weapons themselves in this case. Now that you are considering energy costs, the information you see will be updated to reflect this. As ever, remember that your own concepts and understanding entirely dictate the information that flows between us.’

‘Wait, so what about the thrust increase that I bought?’ Rhys asked slowly, knowing what Zaxx was about to say.

‘The thrust upgrade came with a minor, yet measurable, increase in energy usage.’

‘Abyss damn it, Zaxx!’ Rhys growled, rubbing his face and cursing under his breath for a few moments. ‘I wish you’d told me this sooner.’

‘As I said, I am restricted by you. If you do not ask the questions, I can not answer them.’ Zaxx said, his whispering voice strained and frustrated, which made Rhys feel a little better.

‘Fine. I’m going to practise my runes. Tell me if someone approaches the ship or if anything of note happens,’ Rhys said, shaking off his irritation as best he could. He was getting quite confident with these new runes. It might be worth investing in some materials to create a few items. He had a lot of time to himself on the trips between spires. He might as well put it to use.