He widened his stance, squared his shoulders, stretched his hands into the sky, and shouted at the top of his lungs-

“The Long Dong of The Empire!!!”

Roth facepalmed, Ralf clapped, Xander rolled his eyes, and Joseph just didn’t know what to think.

“...Really?”

Pat nodded.

“Yep.”

Irfan grinned from the side.

*****

Knowledge Gained (+).

Why would you ever record such useless Knowledge?!

They were on their way back. Xander got the book with the list, just as promised.

They didn’t talk much. The dragoncat was studying the list, frowning. Ralf was sitting right beside him, occasionally pointing at some names.

Joe and Irfan exchanged a few words about the future of their transparent friend. Hunter was pretty sure, that she would be lost in a Tearing one day. Joseph was a little bit more hopeful - he was confident that the Lady would get to the Capital at the end.

Ghastly Wail was their next destination, and Joe was wondering, what this place was all about. Irfan shrugged - he never liked to go down on the ground, unless it was a wild, unexplored territory, full of animals and prey.

Joseph looked back at Stone Maw Island.

He had a truly great time there. His friends from before would have surely preferred a quiet lounge near the sea, spending their time soaking in the salty water underneath the warm sunlight, tasty food, a soft bed, and free internet. Out of that entire list, he received exactly one thing during his ‘weekend’ - and that’s only in addition to hostile squads full of walking toxic WMDs, living magical tank, gas with brains, and a lonely Ghost in a big house.

Joseph has felt a lump in his throat.

He was missing the place already.

This apocalyptic island had provided him with the best vacation he ever had…

When they arrived back to the ship, Xander excused himself, told to Joseph that today he will not be able to give him his practice lesson, and went to find the Captain, to discuss the names they got on the list. Ralf followed him, nodding to Joe as he was leaving.

Roth and Pat were preparing to leave as well. Joe stopped them for a moment.

“Excuse me, doc… Can you teach me Magic sometime?”

Pat smirked.

“What, you are asking everyone for lessons now? They are going to ask for money soon, you know.”

Joe nodded.

“Something like that. If they will take part of my share as a teaching fee, it would be fair, as long as the lesson is good.”

Roth scratched his chin.

“Did you see anything during the time I was performing the Spell back on the island?”

Joseph shook his head.

“Then, unfortunately,” Doctor sighed, “I can’t help you with practice, only theory. Which is useful, but with practice, it would be much more effective…”

Pat interjected.

“If I remember correctly, you picked up ‘The Ways of the World’, right? Right. Then, most of the things you need are in there.”

Roth put his hand up.

“Not really. The book is good, but it is very long and contains explanations and descriptions of the World in general. Which is not something you really need at the beginning, when you study Magic.”

“It does have an article about Awakening, no?”

Mage nodded.

“It does, but… there is no point to read the entire book for it. Tell you what, young man, let’s talk about it after Ghastly Wail. Maybe we’ll figure something out. In the meantime, if you manage to find an article about Awakening in this book, might as well read it. Do be careful, Magnus’ writing is… loaded. Very, very loaded.”

“I’ve noticed, doctor,” Joe smirked.

“Then, see you later, Joseph! Have a great day. If you ever need anything else, you know where to find me.”

They left. Irfan shrugged and excused himself too. Joe was left all alone.

There was an entire day ahead, before the sunset. It was barely past eight in the morning. Sun was going down at around nine o’clock in the evening.

He had some ideas. Exercise - finishing the Extracts book - getting some shooting training - maybe talking to Theo. He should be able to get at least two until dinner.

“Still can’t decide what to do?”

“Oh, Ailuros. How are you doing?”

She waved her paw.

“Doing good, thank you, thank you! But I have a message for you. From Ralf.”

What could he possibly want from him? Unless… Oh, god damn it.

“Is it about the glass on the ship?”

“Correct! Come with me, I’ll show the corner of the Hold, where they keep non-blingy stuff.”

At least he wasn’t doing this with his hands only.

*****

It wasn’t too bad. Sure, the summer sun didn’t help, but his body wasn’t tired at all. Inner State was doing its job, and he got most of the glass into the sack in about half an hour. The smallest grains were still there, but without vacuum, or something similar there was no way for Joe to pick them up, so he didn’t bother.

He put the full sack in the corner that cat naji showed him. It was to the right from the entrance to the elevator area, behind an empty crate. Buckets, brooms, rags, and empty sacks were simply thrown into that corner, with minimum resemblance to any kind of order.

At least sailors were keeping the ship somewhat clean. Joe didn’t see a lot of dirt around, only dust from time to time. He remembered the words of Alchfrid about Roth and smiled.

As dinner time came rolling around, Joseph walked into the Kitchen. Ralf was there, humming a song and stirring a stew in a pot with a huge spoon.

“Kid! How are ya?”

Joe nodded in greeting.

“Almost strained my muscles again during exercise, but managed to stop in time.”

Ralf grinned, filling the spoon with a stew.

“I am giving you the privilege of being the first to try today’s dinner. Wanna do the honors, Sir?”

“Sure, I would like to.”

Joe took the spoon.

“How was it?”

“Pretty good… maybe just a bit of salt wouldn’t hurt.”

The cook put a lid on the pot, then sat down on the stool.

“Keeping up with the training, as I told you? Good thinking.”

“Got anything from the list?”

He frowned, putting his hand on the forehead.

“A lot… No, that’s not right. We know some names, so it was useful overall… but nothing that we could use at the moment because we have no concrete plan. Me, Roth, Zan, and Alchie agreed to run full speed ahead to the Wail, spread our findings around, and see what we get out of it.”

“So it all hinges on how the meeting in Ghastly Wail goes?”

“Pretty much. There won’t be a meeting, per se - we are not military, no need for dogshit bureaucracy in our free void. We just leave messages, see if anyone is there, and talk to them. Maybe it would be as Cap says - we will work together for a while, then butt heads again because of one stupid reason, or another.”

“Deadly gas, new weapons, and the potential threat of direct attack are not considered a good reason?”

Ralf laughed.

“Oh, kid, you have no idea! The last time, when we were ambushing the entire convoy of Imperial ships, which had bellies full of gold, right in the middle of the fight, two of our… “allies” began to shoot each other in the back, because they couldn’t decide between themselves, who gets a hoe they both slept with back at Ghastly Wail!”

Joseph put his hand on the forehead.

“I see…”

“So there you have it. Whatever happens from now on, will depend on a lot of things. But first, we have to get there.”

“You might have just jinxed us, Ralf.”

He grinned with all of his teeth.

“Well, more opportunities for you!”

“I honestly have no idea, what my position even is.”

Ralf found that very amusing.

“Me too, kid! By 'paper', you belong to my crew. But I have no intention of keeping you around me all the time. Seeing the way you handled that island, that would make you a scout, or a part of the strike team. Something like gunman, or vanguard, in military terms.”

“A foot soldier, then?”

The cook chuckled.

“Does it sound that bad? It gives you a lot of freedom, too, which you are already abusing anyway. Not a lot of people on the ship get to spend their free time however they please.”

He had to admit that Ralf was absolutely correct.

“Well, it does sound like a good opportunity. You are right.”

He received a nod.

“Then, how about sharing this portion of stew with me? Be my guinea pig, as Roth says, before the crew comes growling.”

Joseph was more than happy to do that.

*****

It was almost seven in the evening when the alarm rang throughout the ship. Joseph dropped the Plants, Poisons, and Extracts he was reading and got up from the chair.

The crew was running towards the Upper Deck. Joe followed them outside.

The black-red ship of the same size as the Morning Star was approaching them from the right side. The man at the front of the Imperial vessel was waving the white flag.

Alchfrid put his hand up, gesturing gunmen to prepare, but not shoot. Joseph stood to the side of the Captain, holding the rifle in his hands. Xander took another side, and Ralf was on a small platform above, outside of the Control Room, taking aim.

The ships aligned. The soldiers on the other side were armed with weapons that Joe had not seen yet. He squinted his eyes, trying to discern them. Joe noticed a long one with a bunch of pipes and a tank underneath (actual flamethrower?), one with a long crystal barrel, with a bunch of cylindrical details on the sides and wires, connected to them - not unlike his new pistol. As well as one giant rocket launcher-like construction, that one soldier was carrying on his shoulder, with four long cones, covering the barrel, made out of crystal.

Nobody made the first move. The guy with the white flag was still waving it, but the tensions were only building up. Alchfrid had his hand on his saber, Xander was strung up and ready to shoot at the first opportunity. Joseph was carefully observing the positions on the other side, holding the rifle near his shoulder.

“Why so intense, Captain Alchfrid of the Royal Conqueror?”