Chapter 15 – Small Victories

TORAI WAS A KARMA USER just like Jack and Daisuke. He inherited his karma from his mother, who died in service and used to be a Captain in United Alliance Navy as well.

He vowed that he will never forgive any treasure hunters and he will hunt down every single one of them that will try to enter Port Royale for as long as he was stationed there.

His ability let him create thunderclouds that granted him the ability to fly short distances and produce lightning. And although he was still young, he became a Captain in United Alliance Navy thanks to his ability and leadership skills.

“Alright, here we go!” Torai held Jack as he flew towards one of the enemy’s ships. The hunters tried to shoot them down as they got nearer with their rifles, but Jack was able to block the bullets and Torai would dodge as well.

Torai landed Jack on the nearest ship.

“You go ahead! I’ll take care of this!” Jack urged.

“Keep safe!” Torai flew away, leaving a scorch mark from where he was standing.

“Always the flashy exit.” Said Jack. “Alright boys, show me what you got.”

Jack activated his Karma, making his skin patterns lit even brighter with vibrant green color, and created his signature Jackfruit Mace. Although he was outnumbered, he still charged toward the hunters on the ship. He simply dodged and blocked the hunters then countered with his mace.

The other ship of the Fishbone Hunters was already at the harbor. Daisuke and Hammer were still exchanging blows when the Captain of Fishbone Hunters, Shiruce, and his men landed.

“Gyahahahaha! At last! It’s time to take over Port Royale!” Shiruce exclaimed.

Hammer stepped back away from Daisuke and joined Shiruce. “What took you so long, brother? Those elves got Sera!”

“Elves?! What elves?!” asked Shiruce.

“Those two. But that male elf looks weird though. It got dark skin”

Shiruce ordered his men. “You guys join the fight! Assist the Great White Sharks!”

The Fishbone Hunters roared as they engaged the U.A. footmen.

“Great. More enemies,” said Raijin.

Daisuke joined Riku and Raijin. “Those hunters. They are the ones who attacked our village years ago.”

“Yeah. I remember,” said Riku. The Council said they retreated though.”

“Riku, Raijin, can you handle those small fries?”

“I think Riku can handle them. I’ll just deal with the Great White Sharks lackey and help the footmen,” Raijin immediately headed towards the fight between the footmen and lackeys.

“What?! Ugh. Fine,” Riku resigned as she prepared her magic spell.

“Then I’ll leave them to you. I’ll deal with their captain,” Daisuke used his ability to launch himself towards Hammer and Shiruce who were further at the back, behind the treasure hunters.

Daisuke and Torai landed at the same time. Torai was surprised to see Daisuke again now that he knows that Daisuke was the avatar of Ariyani. However, now's not the time. There was a more pressing issue in front of them.

“Hey, Daisuke! It’s good to see you again,” greeted Torai. He did not need to force a smile as he was actually glad to know that the avatar was on their side.

“Likewise,” replied Daisuke.

“So, how do you want to handle this?” said Torai as more thunderclouds enveloped him.

“I’ll take care of the captain of the hunters.”

“You know him?”

“Not personally. But he attacked our island years ago.”

“Okay. Then I’ll deal with Hammer.”

Daisuke charged toward Shiruce. Hammer tried to intercept him, but Torai released a bolt of lightning from his thunderclouds to stop him from his tracks.

“Thanks for bringing the Fishbone Hunters here, Hammer. Now, it's time we deal with the Great White Sharks as well,” said Torai.

“Don’t get too cocky just because you are a Karma user.” Hammer charged Torai, blocking every lightning attack with his magic-imbued battle hammers.

Meanwhile, Daisuke began to charge Shiruce with his wooden arms.

“You look more like a human for an elf!” said Shiruce as he deflected Daisuke’s attacks.

“I wasn’t really looking forward to meeting you. But since you’re already here, I’ll make sure you’ll pay for what you did to Cobalt!”

“Hmph. I remember that brat. A useless one!”

Daisuke's eyes glowed green as he continued to attack.

* * * * *

Only a few remaining Great White Sharks lackeys were standing. Those remaining were the strongest among the lackeys that were still able to fight multiple footmen at once. Other lackeys helped the fainted ones.

“Hey! I’m not done with you guys yet!” Raijin charged the remaining lackeys.

Using his electric tonfa, he managed to electrocute the lackeys. He would block and hit his enemy with his tonfa, and when he sees an opening, he would electrocute them with the electric end.

But soon, more Great White Sharks lackeys arrived. The U.A. footmen were now outnumbered. Most of the U.A. members were still stationed at the headquarters to guard and others were at the warship dealing with the Fishbone Hunters.

“Damn it! Where did these guys come from?” Raijin stepped back as he changed into a defensive stance.

Raijin and the footmen were pinned down on the harbor. The lackeys surrounded them with no way to run. Behind them were the burning boats that the first group of lackeys destroyed.

“Hahahaha! You’re all done now!” said one of the newly arrived lackeys. “Men, slaughter them!”

But as soon as the lackeys tried to attack Raijin and the footmen, fishermen came running and shouting that was led by the dwarven tavern owner, Boris.

“No Great White Sharks shall be left unscathed!” shouted Boris. He took a runestone from his pocket and it turned into a black battle hammer with red gemstones. “For Port Royale!”

The fishermen, armed with just about anything, charged the lackeys.

“Alright! Footmen, charged!” shouted Raijin.

The footmen shouted as well and charged the lackeys.

Needless to say, it was total mayhem at the harbor.

Raijin fought his way through the lackeys and met with Boris.

“Hey! I never knew you could still fight!” said Raijin.

“Hoho! I never had this much fun since I came here,” Boris laughed as he smashed a lackey with his hammer.

“We better deal with these lackeys quickly. There are still hunters over there!”

“Lead the way, lad!”

Riku did not have any problems with the Fishbone Hunters. And that did not stop her from having fun herself.

Using her magic, she chanted another magic spell. “Rosaeus Armatura!” Her body was then wrapped with a rose plant-like medieval body armor.

After the completion of the armor, she created a rose whip and rose shield. The hunters were shocked at first, but they continued to attack Riku nonetheless.

Riku blocked the hunters’ attacks with her shield and countered with her rose whip. She managed to wrap a leg with the whip and tossed the unfortunate hunter towards the other hunters.

Unable to land a hit and unable to get any closer, the treasure hunters were frightened to fight the armored elf.

“What? If you guys will not come to me, then I’ll go to you!”

Riku tossed her whip, then charged the hunters. “Germinio Phrenesia!” Rose plants suddenly grew all over the place and Riku rode over it like a wave on her rose shield. Those who were unlucky got wrapped around the thorny plant. The spell Riku used almost depleted her mana and she was unable to maintain her rose armor.

She had to kneel for a while just to catch her breath after using a mana-draining magic spell. “So this is how Daisuke feels when he overuses his ability. Not bad.”

Jack did not have any problem either with dealing with the hunters on the other ship of Fishbone Hunters.

He destroyed most of the ship he landed on --- the masts, the wheel, and even the rudder—so that it may not continue to sail towards the harbor. Then, he created trees whose roots blocked the cannon windows and even wrapped around the cannons.

“Damn it! Why is there even an elf here?!” shouted one of the hunters on deck.

“Attack that elf all at once! He's just one elf!” shouted another.

But even with the number of hunters on the ship, Jack simply dodged them and destroyed every part of the ship as he goes.

When he saw that the ship was completely useless, he went to the other one. He abandoned the ship he was in and went to the other ship that was still firing the cannons toward the warships of the U.A.

“This is some tiring task,” said Jack, out of breath.

He simply repeated what he did on the other ship, and when he knew that the ship was now totaled, he signaled the warships. He took a lifeboat to get away from the ships he destroyed as fast as he could. When he was far enough, the warships closed in and fired their own cannons. Soon, the enemy ships were nothing but wreckage.

Jack looked at the ships as they capsized. He saw the remaining hunters jump into the water. Two of the hunters’ ships were destroyed as fast as they came here on Port Royale. How unlucky, Jack thought.

He looked around the harbor and saw the ongoing battles; Fishermen dealing with the Great White Sharks, Riku taking care of the hunters that managed to land on the harbor, and Daisuke and Torai fighting Shiruce and Hammer respectively.