Double-length chapter!

Each and every member had at least an armor of some kind to be always ready. Tension was in the air but not all were affected by it. The ones who knew that constantly straining all of one’s self would be detrimental in the long run kept calm while also being vigilant for any signs of an attack. The first cannonballs, coming from the front, were directed towards the first ship and were repelled by a three meters long transparent golden square, this information was available thanks to the various means of communication between the ships and between the players. As the galleons at the sides came closer, the people with more eyesight could see that some enemy ships, those going in the gap between each vessel of the expedition, moved in groups of two.

“They intend to encircle every single one of our ships!”

Someone had shouted at some point. Certainly, this tactic would prove to be an annoyance for the fourth ship, which would have to navigate through all of the encirclements, where all the strongest people resided. Probably, the enemy’s tactic was to eliminate the expedition’s strongest combatants so that even if, by luck, some ship survived this and then even managed to land after a long journey, they would have no chance in establishing a colony in the new continent.

Aisha and the rest were not on duty when the first cannonballs attacked their ship, which was the second. They all got up to rendezvous with the other group of people and to find a place where they could readily go above deck and lend a hand. In the time before the attack, they had the time to make presentation and establish the roles of everyone, so that they wouldn’t get in each other’s way. The first group to defend managed to hold on for three volleys of attacks, quite impressive as they had to protect the vessel from all sides. Still, they had called for a change after the second volley, saying that their mana and stamina would be depleted in the next one, which in the end did happen.

The second group held for another three, and after them it was Aisha’s group and the other group’s turn. Their position was slightly different from their predecessor, who choose to put three people at bow and three at the stern, then six people each for the port and the starboard. Now there were only four people distributed between the bow and the stern. Seeing this, many frowned thinking that the groups’ power had gotten to their heads and now they could not reason correctly. Indeed, all 18 of them were quite confident in their abilities.

Ka’henya and Atlas were at the front, behind the bowsprit, and the plan was for them to deal with the cannonballs in rotation; one would continue to defend until their MP was half spent and at that point they would step out to recuperate while the other did the work. Also, Conqueror requested Ka’henya to test whether or not she was able to take control of the cannonballs. Instead, Atlas was given this position because he was the one whose spells had the best range/cost ratio between the two groups, effectively incrementing the time the two of them could defend the bow on their own.

Esraen and a mage from the other group were at the stern, the first used various techniques to shoot arrows (such as shooting two arrows one behind the other to deviate the trajectory of the cannonball, or shooting three arrows at the same time each going to three different points with the same distance between them, forming a triangle, which would instead detonate the projectile) while the latter used the wind (to either slice the cannonballs, thus making the explode, or to change their course with the aid of wind currents). The second group’s people mostly specialized in one-versus-many tactics, with the consequence of them having little to no skills for single targets, that is why three of the four members placed at the bow and the stern are from Aisha’s group.

Said group’s member had four people placed at the extremities of the two rows on the starboard and the port, they would had the most space to cover, not only because they were responsible of the people near them in case they couldn’t stop the projectile, but also because as the enemy ships completely surrounded the vessel, the attacks practically came from all angles and at different/random intervals. The change in attack pattern was quick, denoting a new phase of the battle and a change in the flow of events. Later, after their turn had ended, they all had learned that a powerful NPC in the third ship had launched a long-ranged beam attack, destroying the galleons behind them, effectively reducing the number of their ships in half, and also some of the galleons in front of the fourth ship. It was expected that they would receive orders to help the fourth ship, the main force of the expedition.

As for why the four people in the second group had to babysit the people at their side, it was because those people were the ones specializing in close combat. One of those was Matagi, who resorted to throwing daggers Electra had previously enchanted, and at her other side there was Aisha who used her bow and enchanted arrows. 70% of the reason why Aisha was successful in either destroying or repelling the cannonballs was thanks to the priest beside her, who used debuffs and barriers to slow down or temporarily block the projectile. While this helped Aisha, Matagi and the two men at the other side of the priest, it also meant that there was once again a person less defending this side of the ship.

Conqueror and Electra were on the other side, on the port. Conqueror was in-between the people from the other group, one assisted him while the other had to concentrate on multiple cannonballs. Electra instead was tasked to help Gaea and Rie, who would also be helped by the player from the other group situated at the end of the line, to do this she actually flew a bit ahead of the ship in order to be able to hit the cannonballs sooner. Gaea and Rie used what buffs they had to help the other five, but it wasn’t enough as one time Electra had to stop a cannonball which had gotten too close to the ship. To ensure its destruction, Electra had gotten close, maybe too close, as she suffered enough damage to have her HP halved. While it did not damage the ship, it made ones watching the two group wonder if they had chosen the right displacement of positions considering their classes and abilities.

With the change in the enemy’s attack pattern, the members of the two groups didn’t get much rest as they could only rest six at a time; one each from the bow and the stern, four from the port and starboard. As only when one’s mana fell below 50% could one rest, there were times in which more people needed to take a break, causing temporary distress. The mental pressure and fatigue that also accumulated over time wasn’t negligible, it had made the members edgy and unfocused after an hour of constantly defending the ship, hearing explosions right near them, trying to find the right time to use the right skill, paying attention to the others, paying attention to the their MP.. They hadn’t even noticed the eighteen people coming up from under the deck until they had been swiftly replaced.

Some staggered and fell to the ground, exhausted, but all were panting. The eighteen worn-out people remained like that for a few minutes before they went back to their own rooms to rest. Considering how many people were on the vessel, and the admiral’s estimated time on when they’ll make contact with the galleons, everyone would not get more than one turn. It was with this consideration that they all went to sleep, only to be briskly woken up by the sounds of people rushing in the corridors outside their cabins, by the incessant knocking on the doors and also by some players/NPCs shouting “ENEMY APPROACH!”

Of course, it wasn’t like the enemy came faster than expected (well, not by much) but more like Aisha’s group was so tired they had slept until this moment. Outside their rooms, players and NPCs orderly walked in a fast pace toward the door, knowing full well that blindly running toward the deck would only hinder others and slow down their response to the enemy. When there was a gap, other people would join the queue, and nobody cared, or dared to complain, about others cutting the line. Conqueror, Electra, Esraen, Gaea, Rie, Matagi, Ka’henya and Atlas didn’t miss their turn, but Aisha just quietly waited for everyone to pass and go upstairs.

‘It won’t be a problem if I don’t hurry and go, for now surviving has priority.’

For players, dying, now or before they found a new spawn point, meant going back to Xin Jue and having to wait for the next expedition. For NPCs, well, for them it was simply the end. Those are also possible excuses as to why no one complained if some guy cut ahead of them in line. And just like that, Aisha was the last person coming out of the first floor of the resting department. Certainly, the vessel was spacious, but it could not hold on the deck all the players and NPCs at the same time, that is why only the people in the first floor were called, along with the people capable of flight/long jumps from the lower floors.

Looking around, Aisha could notice that the ship had taken damage, not much but not little either, but establishing whether it was before or during the close fight with the galleons would be difficult and futile, it would not change the situation in any way nor would it give more information about the enemy. Or so they thought. It would be something they’d regret later on.

Esraen had a cold, detached look as he aimed and killed the enemies on the ship and on the others. He had climbed the mainmast halfway up, accompanied by Electra and Gaea. Gaea had initially escorted him to the mast before taking off on her own, while Electra stayed with him and guarded him, just like some other NPCs and players were doing. Rie stayed around the mizzenmast, along with some other priests/esses, and buffed and cured everyone close enough. Atlas had positioned himself near a plank that connected the two ships, aiding two NPCs with the role of tanks. Atlas had tried making the enemy boat catch fire, but it was an utterly useless attempt, more or less, as he only got some unknown enemy player killed. That’s right, the enemies too, were both NPCs and players, they certainly had a quest to stop their expedition.

Ka’henya slipped through the enemy lines along with other assassins, as it was dawn it was easy for her to blend in with the shadows with the aid of her skills and drain the life of the enemies. At the same time she controlled her chakram to slide over the floor and cut the tendons of as many people as possible. It was a daunting task to perform both actions at the same time with such control, but it seemed like to Ka’henya it wasn’t too much. There’s to say that she wasn’t the only assailant, so the additional confusion and disorientation the others caused also helped her maintain her pace.

Conqueror fought the enemy head on with a white broadsword clad in lightning, he used the enemies’ attack as a chance to disrupt their balance and at the same time he stunned them by using the electrical charges his sword released, then he either killed them with a counter-attack or hit them in the face, with the sword’s guard or a punch, making them stagger backwards and then at that time Conqueror would kill both him and the one behind. Obviously, when more enemies attacked him he changed strategy, but not more than three people had ever attacked him as he fought alongside other warriors.

Also, the reason his broadsword discharged lightning wasn’t because of an enchant from Electra, but because he was an elemental swordsman. The differences between an Enchanter and an Elemental Swordsman were blurry, the most noticeable though were that an enchanter could permanently apply to a weapon not only elemental affinities but also unique ones, plus they could make combinations. Instead, elemental swordsmen are restricted to use the 8 basic elements: light and darkness (they are counted as one), wind, water, metal, earth, lightning, fire, ice. Another difference is that elemental swordsmen can use those elements for mid-range attacks, while the enchants worked only on contact with the enemy. This peculiarity made them similar to Dhyāna Monks, the differences being the weapons they used and the fact that the monks concentrated more on the spells aspect while the elemental swordsmen concentrated more on sword techniques. Elemental Swordsman was also a rare class, rare than the Dhyāna Monk, as only a few knew how to obtain it.

Matagi was one of the “warriors” fighting alongside Conqueror, but he fought near the foremast while Matagi stayed near the mizzenmast, near the priests. She battled while always minding her position and she never went too far away. Ever since she had first fought with Conqueror, Matagi realized that compared to her sword skills, her footwork was somewhat lacking, that is why she had recently asked Trevor and her own teached a training aimed at improving it, and now she was also using this chance to further increase her efficiency; in this occasion where she could be separated from Aisha for some time in case she died, training her footwork came second in comparison to her “life.”

But why did Matagi try not to move from there? There reason is simple: no matter the circumstances, abandoning Aisha’s side was taboo. After her failure to protect Aisha in the fight with the spirit at the beast-kin village, Matagi began feeling like she wasn’t taking her role seriously enough. If Aisha had been, for example, the President of the U.S.A. and Matagi her bodyguard, distancing so much from Aisha and even leaving her to fend for herself was an extremely shameful act which, to her standards, could even be considered treason. She would not betray her trust again. She would not break her promise again. Thus she stood and fought there, in front of Aisha, as her loyal and deadly sword.

Aisha’s eyes looked, watched, stared, glared and analyzed the situation. One third of the people able to fly protected the archers on the masts as they all also had long-range attacks, the remaining two thirds attacked the galleons that made up the semicircle in front of the ship. The mages with large-scale spells mercilessly tried to destroy the ships at the back, the priests were near the stern for this reason too. Clearly, destroying the enemies that would be in the way of the fourth vessel had the priority.

Currently, the enemy had formed two rows of encirclement around their ship. The damage to their boat was at around 20~30% while the enemy had half its initial number of ships. Aisha had taken to snipe, or trying to, the officials of the enemy with the aid of many buffs and the enchantments Electra provided beforehand on her bow and arrows, making them move faster and also augmenting her aim/proficiency. While this was all well and good, she had been doing it only to not be the sole person to have not moved a finger during the battle. ‘It would ruin the group’s reputation.’ was her reasoning. Her real part in this fight was actually supporting the priests: with Primordial Fear, Predator Instincts and Death’s Eyes she could point out who needed a heal the most, if the enemy had infiltrated their ranks and stun them for enough time to get them killed by the warriors in front, and lastly, cure with Divine Healing the priests if they fell into critical condition and the other priests were busy. The reason why she also needed to do so was because her Predator Instincts would not detect inanimate objects, thus arrows and the like could “easily” pass through her defenses.

About an hour later, the NPCs and players that had been fighting and surviving non-stop until now were slowly being replaced by the people on the second floor. As the ones flying about were already all called upon, there was no one to substitute them, so they had taken to divide in groups and fight in turns to better manage their stamina, health and mana. Sometimes drinking a mana potion or two, Aisha had an easy time sustaining this battle state for so long, her mental fatigue wasn’t anything worth noting too. Still, Matagi ordered her to go downstairs together and rest, even if for a short time. Two hours after the start of the battle, their fourth ship safely joined up with the third and were about to finish destroying the enemy galleons. The first ship, although not inoperable, was almost half destroyed, but at least their enemies had been reduced to a third. As for their own enemy, one row was annihilated and now they were about to finish destroying half of the second encirclement.

And then, a giant shark jumped up in a parabolic trajectory from under the first ship, its clenched jaw avidly keeping it in place before it fell back down in the water on its stomach while at the same time its jaw and teeth broke the ship-rigged vessel in half and leaving the deathblow to the members of the ship to the force of gravity and the countless other, now-visible, aquatic monsters roaming about in the sea waters near them.