After weeks of sitting around, the Retribution finally got to fly again.

Knowing we were leaving, the harbor was a beehive of activity. Cobbled together crews were drilling aboard the other captured pirate ships. The people knew it wasn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when another enemy would appear.

As soon as Khikall got us away from the docks and any possible collision, I engaged the cloak. It was far more effective now that I could enable and disable the automatic recharging system. The massive disruption of mana we used to leave in our wake was now a tiny trail.

I hadn’t had time to figure out a way to smooth our passing completely but this would have to do. I also had Em’ah watching for trails from a crudely assembled periscope. Now she didn’t need to be on the deck to use her Mana Sense skill.

Speaking of skills… I had picked up a few from the last fight. I also managed to finally hit level twenty in my Maw of the Void class. I stuck two of my stats in Strength, one in Endurance, and two in Agility since I wanted to bring them above the tier one threshold of twenty. I brought up my stats to see the changes.

Paul Fuller | Mantra Enchanter/Maw of the Void | Level 21/20

Strength: 22(+2) modifier x22

Endurance: 21 modifier x40

Agility: 22(+2) modifier x22

Perception: 18 modifier x22

Intelligence: 25 modifier x40

Wisdom: 16 modifier x22

Charisma: 11 modifier x22

Luck: 16 modifier x22

HP: 840(924)

Stamina: 462(508)

Stamina Regen(M): 880

Mana: 1000

Mana Regen(M): 352

They were straight-up monstrous. Most people of an equivalent level would have one maybe two tier two stats. But I had four thanks to my luck finding horde dungeons. It was too bad Fiona and I hadn’t been able to delve into that undead one.

I clenched my fist, feeling my muscles stretch and bulge. I don’t think I would ever get over the feeling of power that accompanied a stat increase. I didn’t look any bulkier or faster but it felt like my body had unlocked hidden potential. My movements were crisper, I felt better, and I had to take care not to damage things by mistake now. Yeah, that was a thing when you got physical stats above tier one.

I had tested my strength against some of the scrap armor from the Retribution. While it wasn’t easy, I was able to bend the compressed titanium sheets with both hands. Thankfully my master-crafted replacement hand was able to keep up with the new demands of my body.

It was no wonder Obidiah Kooth had knocked me through a wall and shattered my Area of Denial shield. Had he placed his stats in Agility instead, I don’t think I would have been able to touch him.

Next, I looked at the skills I kept from the pirate fight. I had already dumped most of them to the Void to try and get better skills but some were keepers, especially the one I nabbed from the mage.

Unstable Mana Vortex: Creates a vortex of unstable and dangerous mana that tears through a set path in a random fashion. Anyone hit by this vortex is dealt 10% of their mana pool in the form of direct damage and is subject to a damaging random magical effect. Any active magical effect or spell on the user may be turned against them as well, causing further damage. Triggered effects only last for five seconds, Mana Vortex lasts until it reaches 50m from the caster. Cost 150 mana, cooldown 30 min

This skill was nuts. While the base damage was low, or non-existent if the target had no mana, the other effects would more than make up for it. If you couldn’t predict what spell was coming at you you couldn’t defend against it. You could use a generalized defensive spell but that would just feed the Mana Vortex another way to cause you injury. Heck, I lost count of how many active spells I had on me at any given time.

I did a quick count, at a minimum I kept six abilities active, and up to as many as eleven. That didn’t even account for my magical items which I had a lot of.

Before our little spat, I mentioned the spell to Khikall, he grimaced. “That sounds a lot like what happens within a mana storm, only on a smaller scale.”

Since then, I hadn’t been able to test the spell. Its chaotic nature made testing it on the island a bad idea. Using it aboard the ship would probably be worse. But I would find a use for it eventually.

The next spell was interesting.

Halo of Indifference: Creates a halo of golden light around the caster that prevents and negates any mental effects. Will activate automatically to purge any harmful mental attack that could incapacitate the caster. Lasts 10 min. Cost 75 mana 75 stamina, cooldown 2 hours

I could have really used this spell back in the Jackal Pit. I also had a sneaking suspicion that this spell would have completely negated the magic of the slave collar but I sure as hell wasn’t about to test that theory. I kept this skill for one single reason, automatic activation. While I had my mental defense ring and the title that increased my mental defense, I wasn’t immune to attacks on my mind.

The last ability I kept was Sticky Grip. It essentially made it impossible for me to lose grip, either on my hands or feet, and it worked through shoes and gloves. It was an inexpensive and long-lasting spell so I simply added it to my buff list to run constantly.

There was a downside to the spell though. Grappling or kicking someone was a bit more difficult. I had to actively will my grip to release. This applied to walking as well. Thankfully I got plenty of practice with the skill and I was able to relegate it to the back of my mind most of the time. I still occasionally stumbled when my mind wandered and I found my feet stuck to the ground a half-second longer than they should have been.

***

I was getting increasingly antsy. We had been out of the dock for over a day and had encountered over a dozen small scout ships. We managed to destroy all but one as it zipped off into the distance when it came across us fighting another ship.

We trailed the ship but lost it when the mists rolled in. We ended up having to skirt away from where it headed because one of those mana storms, Khikall told me about, was brewing. My mana barometer had spiked so hard it broke and Khikall had to wrench the ship sideways to avoid the ominous multicolored fog.

Just looking at the phenomenon made my head feel itchy. And even being in close proximity made some of the ship's systems react oddly. Thankfully nothing stopped working and Khikall got us above the storm and away from danger… or so I thought.

Sitting dead center above the cyclone-sized storm was a group of fourteen ships. The ship we had been chasing led us right to them… or them right to us.

Our emergence above the mist didn’t go unnoticed. The stealth field was still rippling oddly by being too close to the storm and we left a pretty clear trail of mana vapor where we exited.

“He’s there!” I heard Khikall say through clenched teeth.

“…Who?” I asked but realized a moment later, the only person that got Khikall this angry was Captain Grulaine. I made the smart decision. “Get us out of here, we can’t take fourteen ships.”

It was too late though. Over two dozen small attack craft were already racing to intercept us. I strapped in and started activating the weapons before I radioed the others. “Strap in, we have incoming ships!”

I was pretty sure Barcos was either sleeping or keeping Em’ah company in the back by the periscope. I was pretty sure the two had a thing going on but it wasn’t any of my business.

The Retribution lurched in a roll and dove back toward the waiting mist below. I didn’t question Khikall’s decision. If he thought it was safer in the turbulent mana, then he was probably right.

We weren’t going to make it before the enemy ships arrived though. I watched as they grew closer and I could see cannons had been replaced by nasty-looking harpoons with mana heart tips. “Shield breaker harpoons. They mean to capture us, spin the ship to make it harder for their weapons to stick.”

Khikall gave a curt grunt before he started spinning the ship like a top. This made it harder for me to hit my targets but it was a worthwhile exchange. I fired at the same time three harpoons pierced our shield. Two deflected off the hull but the third almost gained purchase as it tore a line through the titanium armor. I wanted to know what the hell those harpoons were made of that they could tear through armor like paper.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to find out the hard way. I scored one kill before the Retribution dove below the mist. The only problem was, this enemy fleet was heading directly for the island we used as our base. We may have been away for a day but if we made a beeline back it would only take a few hours to get there. It was only our bad luck that a mana storm and the mist had covered the enemy’s tracks. We needed to get back to warn the people and prepare to defend the island.

I won’t lie, for a moment I did consider just up and leaving but I had grown to like some of the people on that island. They were all hardworking and never complained about their previous situations. Honestly, I felt more akin with them, than I did with anyone in Saint June, other than, Martin, Fiona, and Ska.

How did I know this pirate fleet was heading toward our island? Well, there wasn’t another island within days of our current location and even this island was out of the way. It’s what made it such an attractive base for pirates. Thankfully, the mana storms didn’t pass over islands. Something to do with the reason why the islands floated that broke the storms up before they got close.

Not that this information helped us at all. The enemy would use the cover of the mist to get close to the island. Without the ability to see, most of our defenses would be of little use. That’s why I needed to get the captured ships in the air. Three ships against fourteen were better than one.

***

The island was a hub of frenzied activity shortly after we arrived and told everyone what was going on.

The first person to approach me was surprisingly the Guild representative. “Captain Fuller, a moment of your time if you please?”

I sighed and walked over to the well-dressed man and his entourage. “You’re going to have to make this quick, we have incoming pirates.”

“Yes, about that. The Guild ships cannot take part in this conflict, unfortunately… unless that is you have decided to accept Director Tolish’s generous offer?”

I had expected this response since I heard rumors about the Guild ships not engaging in the defense of the Avuilian capital. And while it was tempting to take him up on his offer here and now and join the Guild, I wasn’t quite ready to accept yet. “I haven’t come to a decision on that matter yet.”

“A pity then. I wish you luck, Captain Fuller, and if you and your people survive I am sure we will meet again.” With a curt nod, the man turned around and his party headed straight for their ship which was already beginning to cast off from the dock.

I ground my teeth in frustration, but a few more ships weren’t going to do much to win this fight. It was eventually going to come down to a ground battle because the enemy wanted one thing, me or my ship. Well, they were going to have to kill me before that happened and I wasn’t going to go down easy.