The sea rocked the large boat back and forth as it sailed across the ocean. Their exact location was about 200 nautical miles away from the elven nations in the rocky waters of the Purple Sea. It was named as such because of the frequent lightning storms near land that collected large amounts of lightning mana in the air.

The cargo sailboat was manned by a crew of 20 people. Among the crew were various repairmen and navigators along with two pairs of mages that worked alternating six-hour shifts without stopping. In the center of the boat, one wind-aligned mage would read the winds and help guide their path while also giving the boat a boost. The second mage on duty would calm the waves and push the water behind them to help speed the boat along as well. After their six-hour shifts were over the second pair of mages would repeat their tasks while the others rested.

Jarron rested his head on the side of the bird's nest. Next to him was his bag with his lunch of dried meat and bread. He had first joined up with the dwarf and elven crew of the Hearty Gourd last year when he had graduated school with the knowledge required for [Scout].

After taking another bite of the bread from his bag, Jarron scanned the horizon with his telescope. The waters this afternoon were not rocky. To the port side, clouds were growing in size and indicated a local storm. The captain had already redirected their path around it in the early morning before he had taken his spot on the ship in the morning.

Looking below him, he saw his crewmates below him keeping themselves busy. Focusing his elf ears he heard some of the louder workers speaking.

“Todd get over here. The birds are starting to get jittery.”

“Why did we have to put them on the upper deck then? There should’ve been some room for them.”

“They like the fresh air, and I can’t put them there anyways because we did manage to fill the entire storage space with goods this time, unlike last month.”

As the two of them continued chatting the two birds also squawked and moved around in their cages. Each of the birds was taller than an elf and had a wingspan of three. Each of the birds sported a bright yellow beak and had black feathers speckled with brown and white.

Jarron soon got bored with the goings-on of the people below him and returned to his lunch. He watched the open sea once more and noticed another ship in the distance. Sliding down the ladder after observing the ship once more he went to the captain's quarters.

Knocking on the door he waited patiently. At this time of day, the captain was likely meeting with various crew members about the current state of the ship. It took a minute but soon the old dwarf captain opened the door.

“What do you want boy?”

“I’ve spotted a ship in the distance heading in our direction. I already went over the ship routes in my head and I don’t think we are supposed to encounter other ships until tomorrow along our route.”

“Very well. I’ll have the first mate shift our course towards the storm a bit. Go tell the druid to perform a probe. Hopefully, it is just one of the unmarked trading ships.”

“I understand. I’ll take care of it now.”

Jarron turned and headed to the stairs and jumped down them into the crew quarters. With a few quick knocks, he alerted the druid who was currently resting in his room. In response, out stepped an older elf with graying hairs and a short, trimmed beard. He also wore a simple slim-fitting robe which was traditional for all of those trained in magical arts or one of its related crafting fields.

“Hello, Jarron. How may I be of assistance?”

Jarron was well acquainted with Ferrow the druid. He had first introduced Jarron to the crew of the Hearty Gourd and helped him find work here on the boat.

“I spotted a boat by the horizon heading towards us and the captain wants it checked.”

“I can take care of it. Just point it out once we get above deck.”

Jarron and Ferrow went above deck and up to the front of the ship. “It is there,” said Jarron pointed a bit off-center from the ship.

“Yes, I see it now. Step back and you can watch me do some magic,” said Ferrow. Ferrow took out a small book from the inner pocket of his robe. He flipped through the pages quickly until he found the spell he was looking for.

Ferrow spoke the words in a constant rhythm before putting the spyglass to his eye and finishing the spell. Magical energy entered the spyglass which only he could see. The clarity of magnification increased dramatically and his sensitivity to magical energy increased. He studied the ship through the spyglass for a bit longer before putting it back in his cloak.

“What did you get from reading the aura of the ship?” asked Jarron.

“They are still too far away from us to get a good reading, but the number of people on their ship should be about the same amount as ours and there are some magically attune people aboard their ship. They should know about the same as us if they know the same spells. Go tell the first mate to keep redirecting the ship away and towards the storm for a while longer. I’ll perform another scry and aura reading in twenty minutes or so.”

With the instructions given to him, Jarron returned to the other end of the ship and relayed the information described by Ferrow. The first mate listened patiently to Jarron as he spoke while occasionally shifting the wheel of the ship.

“I’ll keep that in mind. For now, we’ll keep our current course. I’m not sure if they are pirates or not, but sightings and attacks have increased since the changes in the elven war effort. Even before then they were never great at patrolling their waters. Personally, I think they were just being cheap because us dwarves don’t like water much, so we don’t have a large navy.”

“I’m going to return to my station then. Expect another report from Ferrow.”

The first mate dismissed him, and they both returned to their duties. When Jarron returned to the crow’s nest he noticed it had gotten colder than before. He put on a light coat in response and waited for the ship in the distance to continue in their approach. It didn’t take long as both ships were moving at speeds that required the assistance of magicians.

Down below deck their ship's water magicians had slowed down their use of water magic for speed and instead to move the rain away from the boat. It had first started as a trickle before a complete downpour which was only abated slightly by the magic. The rain pouring directly on their boat was now slowed and stopped like a sifting tool blocking stones from passing through.

The ship was also treated along with many of the items above deck to resist water damage and other weather effects such as sun damage. This reduced the long-term maintenance costs needed for a ship of this size. These treatments also helped to weaken direct force attacks which most often hit the ship during rough waters.

Ferrow frowned as he performed his second scan on the unknown ship which was going to pass them soon. When he looked through his spyglass new phenomenon occurred that worried him. When looking through the magically enhanced spyglass there seemed to be a fog over the ship. He could no longer see the life auras of those on the ship nor their magical auras. This led to an obvious but most likely conclusion. The ship was heading to them and was interested in illegal activities.

Theft and ship battles were something Ferrow had dealt with once before, but he had also gone through several drills and training activities which the rest of the crew had done as a part of the Ruby Staff Merchant Group requirements for joining.

Turning around he ran to give his report to the first mate. He listened patiently before yelling out a command to the ship. Ring the bells. Everyone is to get into positions for confrontation in a few minutes. In response, crewmembers yelled back ‘ring the bells’.

Crewmates began rushing out from under the ship soon enough and the captain also stepped out from his quarters. Ferrow moved back to the cages of the birds and began opening them up.

“Take to the skies. I will give you more commands later. Stay safe.” As the doors open both birds opened their wings wide and flew high into the sky. Ferrow began chanting and connected his mind with theirs. This would help with commands, and he would be able to cast additional spells on them without direct line of sight.

Jarron watched the birds leave their cages as he was packing up his bag. Tucking it away he pulled out a crossbow and slid down the ladder. Other crewmates ran back and forth preparing for the engagement. Along the side of the boat, heavy crossbows were attached to tripod stands with ammo being carted around to each of the stations.

On the other ship, similar preparations were being made and weapons were drawn. The wizards of both sides attacked first with arrows following soon after. With the sparks of magic hitting each other the battle started.