Chapter eleven C

The sun was about halfway to noon when Sasha reemerged from below the deck and walked around the entire outside of the vessel until she sat back on the other side of the tiller.

The day was warm, and Sasha looked far more relaxed as she turned to me and asked, “Eric, how was the boat steering itself?”

I chuckled softly as I said, “Magic of course. In reality what it’s doing is sensing where we are along the river and keeping us in the middle. It’s also looking out in front of us to see if there’s anything in the way and how deep the river is in guiding the boat accordingly.”

“Wow. That seems like it’s a very powerful enchantment. How are you able to do so much? If it’s not too impolite of me to ask?”

“Sasha, I want you to remember that when we are alone, I’m just Eric. And I really do not view you as a slave but an equal. Is that understood? I know when we are in public people might overhear us and I’ll have to act differently, but I truly do not enjoy it.”

“I know you might not like it, but it’s all I’ve known. And I enjoy you being my master, and it makes me feel good, and protected, and worth a whole mountain of gemstones when I feel like I’m being a good slave for you.”

“I understand, but as you’ve even said it’s all you know. If it’s something you genuinely enjoy after you’ve had a chance to be normal around me, than I will continue. Until then I want you to just be normal, and do whatever you want. Is that understood.”

“Yes, I do. But even when you tell me to be normal and do whatever I want, it still a command so I don’t see what your problem is with it?” Sasha said as she shook her head with a bemused smirk on her face.

“Well, I suppose you’re right, but still just as you’re going to have to get used to being around me, I am still trying to get used to being in this world. The fact that you have four beautiful tails and fox ears is still something I’m trying to come to grips with. In my world all of this was just fantasy. Seeing all of this in vivid reality is still a little jarring for me.” I said as I took in the sight of the beautiful white-haired kitsune sitting across from me.

“Well, I suppose we’re just going to have to practice then. I can’t believe how lucky I am.”

“Yeah, about that. I know you showed me your statistic sheet but I was wondering if I was able to show you mine?”

Sasha’s face got that dumbfounded expression again as she said, “You would show me your statistic sheet. Well, I suppose it’s okay, but really you should never offer to show anyone your statistic sheet. And if a guard asks or anyone else only show them a partial one.”

“Okay I’ll keep that in mind Sasha, here take a look.” I said as I focused on my statistic sheet. I was able to quickly grasp how I could change the display to show only what I wanted. I made a flicking gesture toward Sasha, and she appeared to be reading something in midair. ‘I can’t see it either good to know.’ I thought.

I watched as Sasha looked over my sheet and her eyes went wide, and shock overtook her. she looked at me, pale face, and smiled nervously. “What is it now?” I asked playfully.

She gulped, “your…your affinity is so high. I never… it should not be possible.”

“Yeah. I figured they were high.”

“No. high would be forty percent. Insanely high would be sixty five percent. One hundred percent, that’s unheard of.” Sasha said as another ghostly smile crossed her face.

“Really?” I questioned.

“Yes. To get into the magi academy you need at least ten percent in one affinity. Even the mages of the ninth legion, the heroes of the army don’t have affinities this high. I bet the shadow guard of the ninth aren’t even this high. And they’re the heroes of heroes. They have songs sung about them in taverns, they kill dragons and great beasts, giants and…” Sasha trailed off.

“Well good I wanted all the advantage I could get.” I said, smiling.

“The exalted magi, powerful and bold, in shadow the fate of the Empire they hold. On ward march the ninth, through dungeons deep and old, on ward march the ninth, over plane and mountain tall, on ward march the ninth, the legions fist of power they hold.” Sasha said in a sing-song voice.

“hum.”

“Well don’t ever show anyone this if you can help it. I doubt the emperor even has affinities this high.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

We rode in silence for a long time. Sasha would look over at me, study me, then face the front quickly. Back and forth she went, mulling something over in her mind.

Finally, she got up and said, “I’m going to go and try and make some lunch. Want me to make you something?”

“Thanks Sasha.” I said as I beckoned her to come to me. I pulled her down onto my lap and lightly kissed her again. Her face flushed deeper, and she softly giggled, nuzzling my neck before heading down below.

She came back up later with sandwiches and a bottle of light wine we drank, bypassing the bottle back and forth.

It was clear that she was still nervous. But as we ate and drank, she seemed to settle more into herself. The warm, happy energy that she had so easily exuded began to come back; she was obviously coping with the changes much more easily than I was.

“Hey Sasha, I can’t help but have noticed your face when you saw the size of my sailboat. Is there something wrong with it?”

“I’m sorry about that Eric. It’s just, you spent so much money back in Laga’vast. I was kind of expecting you to have some great galleon river ship. Now that I think about it the fact that you didn’t have any servants should have tipped me off.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking since were headed to the capital of the Empire, what would normally be expected of a noble?”

“About that. I don’t know if you should try and pass yourself off in the capital. You will more than likely be questioned by the guards and Royal inquisitors. And I can see from your statistic sheet you do not have any noble ranking. Laga’vast is a major frontier city, and if you had spent more time in the city, I’m sure you would’ve been questioned about your nobility. In the capital though I’ve heard they take that really seriously. I would suggest that at most trying to pass yourself off as a rich merchant.”

“I was afraid of something like this. You mentioned that people who enter the mage Academy receive a title of nobility, do you know of any other ways?”

“There are only three ways I know about. The first of course is the mage Academy. The second is if you do really well in the legions, but I don’t know what all that entails. The third is if you survive fifty battles in the combat arena.” Sasha said.

“Looks like I’m just going to have to decide on a way to get my nobility title. How big of a ship do you think I should have?” I said as I pondered the possible courses of action.

“Maybe double the size of the ship. I don’t really know, but rich people usually always have large ships.”

I pondered what Sasha had said for a while and began to design the ship I wanted to build in my head. It was well past mid-day when I found an appropriate sized river Inlet that I could sail up. Taking down the sails and using the enchanted force engines I had created, I guided the ship up a smaller river.

“Where are we going Eric?” Sasha asked.

“Oh, it’s a bit of a surprise. That looks like the perfect spot.” I said as I found a shallower part of the river that I was going to be able to begin my construction on.

When the sailboat was in position, I stood up and linked my mana to the ship. The entire thing was constructed out of oak except for the stays. Normally willow would’ve been a horrible wood to choose. The fact I could basically keep the wood alive added an amazing amount of flexibility and strength.

I let my mana seep into the boat, began to flow, and connect to every part of the vessel. I flexed my will and cast the plant manipulation spells I knew. Roots of the two types of trees immediately shot out from the bottom of the boat and dug deeply into the mud. They fanned out in all directions and began to soak up water and nutrients from the soil at an alarming rate.

Sasha sat in the back of the boat transfixed as the entire vessel began to quiver and undulate gently. It took nearly 2 hours, but I finally grew the vessel that I had envisioned. It was 65 feet (20m) long and rose 6.5 feet (2m) above the water. Wood railings lined the deck, and the mast was now easily 70 feet tall.

Everything was essentially the same except much larger. I doubled the size of the rudders and added an additional one connecting them inside the vessel with stainless steel gears. The back of the boat had expanded greatly. On the left-hand side, as you exited the inside of the ship, was a captain’s chair and pilots’ station that sat on a small raised platform. This ensured that one could see over the front of the boat if one wanted to steer the ship.

The inside of the boat had a massive dining table, booths as well as benches for lounging. In the back, I made a captain’s quarters with its own private bath. The galley had tripled in size and could now easily accommodate multiple people. In the front two-thirds of the boat, I created cabins with bunk beds that could easily accommodate 12 to 14 additional crew members. I had formed large windows around the dining and sitting area, and it filled them in with double panes of thick crystal glass. It was quite a modern-looking sailboat, and with the added touches of Magic, I was going to make it as spectacular as possible.

As the vessel grew itself, I wove durability and strength enchantments along with repair enchantments into the very fibers of the wood themselves. I continue to add the silver and brass embellishments wherever I saw fit along the vessel. The bathrooms got faucets that would summon water, along with showers and toilets. I added soft flickering orange mage lights embedded inside of diamonds that sat within brass wall sconces. The entire thing began to become a work of art, and as I worked, Sasha watched on in slack-jawed amazement.

By the time I was done with everything, the sun was beginning to touch the far horizon. I had the roots slowly undulate and move us to the deeper part of the estuary before I had them sever themselves from the ship. The sailboat slowly began to turn in the river as the autopilot I had created took over and pointed us downstream to the much larger river.

Ensuring that we were on the correct course, I sat back down along one of the benches next to Sasha and said, “well the only problem I have with this larger vessel is I don’t know if I purchased enough sail material back in Laga’vast to make sails for this monstrosity?”

“I… I didn’t know this was possible. I can’t believe I just saw that. You just… I mean… You just made it grow… From nothing.” Sasha said, completely dumbfounded as we floated down the river.

“We’ll just put your mind at ease, I didn’t grow it from nothing. I used plant magic to send roots into the bottom of the river and just accelerated the natural growth and guided it. Still impressive, but not formed from nothing.”

“Might as well be.” Sasha said as she rolled onto her side to adjust her blue-tipped foxtails.

“So, what you think now, big enough.” I said, emphasizing the big enough part.

“Yeah, I would definitely say it’s big enough now. Eric, I hope you know that there is probably not a mage alive on the planet that could do what you just did.” Sasha said as her blue eyes gazed at me, and she bit the bottom of her lip, looking at me with longing.

“For a slave that was working in a tailor shop you seem very informed?”

“My story is a long one, and there are not many happy parts to it. I can tell you that when I was younger, a little girl, I was owned by a noble girl who was just a year older than me. I stayed with her for five years and that’s where I learned most of this information; from her family and the other slaves of the household. The rest of that story….” Sasha said as she began to trail off.

“It’s okay Sasha, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. But if you ever feel like you need to, I’ve always got an open ear.”

“Thank you, Eric, you will never know how much your small kindnesses mean to me.”