Writer's Note: Hello! My work time frame is unchangeable and sometimes I barely come home just to sleep and wake up for a few hours before work again. Either way, releases come as when they come. What kind of setting should my new side story have? So far, none of the side stories clicked like my main. My seasonal ends Jan 2, I believe, so releases should be back to normal then. The ship continues sailing on and encounters another problem. This time, it is not Lance's fault. Enjoy.

Chapter 28: Attack at Sea

Three weeks had passed since Lance's two halves fused together. The lava chains could appear at will now. Lance would using them atop the deck like whips. Furthermore, it was as if the lava chains had a mind of their own. They constantly burned or dimmed, grew or shrank, and the chains could also spray molten lava if Lance desired.

Lingqi learned the truth and was horrified and shocked when she first learned of Mei and Lance's past. She learned Mei and Lance, formerly Guo Yang, were the cause of the Day of the Eye and Snake. The panther, still unnamed, had already seen glimpses of its master's past and was not shocked at all. It took Lingqi three days to adjust to seeing Mei and Lance as human and not monsters.

Of course, Mei had to take precautions. Unnoticed by Lingqi, Mei's dark spirit energy invaded and hid inside her Soul Realm. If Lingqi had traitorous desires, Mei's spirit energy would react and self-destruct. Lingqi's cultivation would be damaged and she would be easily killed by Mei or Lance without much resistance.

Mei did not know it, but her constant observations of Guo Yang and Lance had changed her slightly. Her experience with the Eye of Darkness had also changed her. However, these changes only made her more cautious and not devious or evil. The Eye of Darkness was nothing but evil, and Guo Yang was just devious.

"Still at your usual spot I see," Mei said as she found Lance sitting on a bone throne at the bow of the ship. At his side was the panther and he had a skeleton snake on his lap.

"Do you know what's great about the undead?" Lance asked as Mei appeared beside him. "They don't need to breathe. They don't need to be bathed or fed. They don't even sleep. The only problem is that undead minions consume quite a lot of mana to make. In terms of mage cultivation, I am at the mage equivalent of the Spirit Forming Stage. It must be because my practitioner cultivation is tied to my magic that my mage cultivation is accelerated. Still, the best part is that I don't need to spend mana to sustain bone minion summons."

"How many did you make?" Mei asked looking around and seeing none but the animate skeleton snake.

"It's been three weeks. Naturally, the amount of minions would be short. That is, if I summoned bone humanoids. Tinier creatures, consume barely any mana at all. Also, my red neidan has its own ability. While jade neidan absorbs spirit energy without me needing to meditate, the red neidan can convert my spirit energy into mana if need or with a single thought," Lance said. "Let's just say that fishing won't yield you anything during this voyage. There might be treasures in the sea and nothing will be tolerated to find them."

"You made a bone shark?" Mei asked.

"No. No," Lance said, sighing as he shook his head. "My mastery over magic is not that profound. I merely made a few dozens of bone fish to make a school of them. Even a creature at the Element Adept Stage would be eaten alive. More than one, I'll lose a few fish," Lance shrugged and turned to his panther, an orb of fire appearing in his hands. "Eat this. As my magical beast, we are bound by our souls. Just having the elements of darkness and wind is not enough. Fire will suite you well. Become a variant."

"Yes master," the panther purred and ate the ball of fire. Immediately, scorching heat spread over its body and its fur displayed cracks on its body, flames appearing from within. Lance flicked his wrist and a bone cage appeared below the panther, catapulting it into the sea.

"Such a thing, why did you do it?" Mei asked, stunned.

"To survive in the world, strength is necessary. Look at all that I have done. Is it not vastly different than the world you knew? We are entering a land, a continent, where such magic is common. Their powers are not bound by the elements. There are similarities, but it is also vastly different. Even the warriors of that land will have a different path to power than us cultivators. They use mana, you use spirit energy, and I use both. I am being prepared," Lance said. "Are we not on an adventure to explore the world? To do so, you must learn of it. Adapt to it. The world you knew is gone. We are the foreigners now. Our power is the one that is alien and dangerous. Necromancy is uncommon, but practiced in that land. Tell me. Are you prepared?"

"What about Lingqi?" she asked.

"Think about it. The auction house said they had the potential to reach the level of Earth Mortal, not to be one. It is my belief that the Eastern Continent from whence they came also has their own path to power. Magical beasts are the same regardless, but humans are not. Have you ever seen Lingqi cultivate spirit energy or fight while she has been with us?" Lance asked.

"No. I haven't, but she claimed her father was from the Pangu Continent. She must have cultivation similar to ours," Mei answered.

"However, she was born and raised there," Lance smiled as he stood up, his bone throne disappearing as he turned to face her. "My dear sister, i encountered three people after I slayed the crown prince. All of them were women and one was especially....hospitable. She was their mistress and her two bodyguards appeared from the shadows. I detected no spirit energy from them. At all. Otherwise, I would not have had by back to them. So tell me. Is my assumption wrong?"

"Then what am I to do? Become a mage?" Mei asked.

"Oh no. According to some books I liberated from the passengers of this commercial ship, being a warrior is akin to a practitioner. A party should really only need one mage unless the party numbers more than ten or you lack a healer. Clerics, they call them. Unlike us, only a cleric can heal other people besides themselves," Lance grinned as he handed her two books. "This will help you blend in well."

"It seems you know much about the world," Lingqi noted as she walked up to them. "It's true. The methods of each continent are usually different. It is because the source of energy is different for each part of the planet. Of all the continents, the seventh continent is the most strange and dangerous. That, is your Pangu Continent. It is because the amount of spirit energy is incredibly denser and more pure there than in the rest of the world."

"You heard us talking?" Mei asked.

"Yes. I didn't mean to pry. However, I did not know how to approach you all on the subject," Lingqi answered. "He is right about warriors of the southern continent. Only two continents are known by the names of a compass: south and east. It is because they are the two largest continents of nine. Your Pangu Continent is but the smallest continent wedged in between the two. Warriors of the southern continent also have mana, but cannot use it to cast spells. They use mana in a different manner, using it to augment their physical prowess or magical items."

"In other words, you will be an unstoppable warrior princess," Lance laughed. "Crushing skulls here, decapitating there. Pretty much all the stuff you did before but without the practitioner arts."

"That's it?" she asked.

"Mana is also strange in that it makes your body stronger, faster, and more beautiful as you become stronger. Even a woman with embarrassing body lines would become a top beauty as the mana would dissolve the excess fat and leave the curves as they should be. Well, to men's eyes," Lingqi said. "My continent has a similar method. It explains why my body is so...lustful."

"That's for damn sure," Lance nodded, thinking of his first time back at the capital. "They're alright. Anyway, the panther should finish having its fun soon. Then it's on to round 2. I sense many life forms up ahead. They seem clustered, according to my spiritual sense. I reckon they're pirates. We're gonna have so much fun killing them all. I wonder what treasures I'll find this time."

"Pirates! Pirates! Man your stations. Arm the mana cannons! Get your asses moving!" a sailor cried from above the sail as he spotted a pirate ship with his magical telescope.

"How many clicks?" one of the sailors asked.

"About eleven on our starboard. They'll be here soon!" the sailor answered.

"Everybody on starboard. I want all windows on the star board side boarded and secured. All civilians are to hide below deck. Those who can fight are asked to stay topside. We'll focus on long range assaults and try to damage their sails," the captain roared as he appeared on the deck.

"Welcome back. I imagine it was successful?" Lance asked as the panther leaped aboard.

"Yes master. I have successfully attained my third attribute," the panther said, its black fur now with a streak of scarlet around all four of its ankles.

"Good. We will have them put to the test soon. Pirates are coming. My undead fish will take care of those who try to jump ship. They will also drill a hole in which I will enter. Their treasures should be of use to us," Lance grinned.

"We'll come with you," Mei said, Lingqi nodding.

"Can any of you breathe underwater? I can. I have the affinity for it. I will leave it to you to assault them from above. Try to keep the fight contained on the deck while I secure enough of their cargo. Panther, you will secure this ship's deck and help the sailors on the defensive," Lance ordered.

"Yes master," the panther bowed its head.

"I don't like that you're going alone. You're not going to do anything reckless, are you?" Mei asked.

"Let's just say, I would ensure they still have their life boats. They're going to need it," Lance grinned and jumped ship, vanishing beneath the ocean's surface after a dive.

Lance spread out his arms and let the water flow around him. Skeletal fish, white fire burning inside them to symbolize flesh, arrived and swam beneath him. Lance closed his eyes and began to meditate, controlling the water around him. After a few spans of breaths, he arrived before the hull of a black ship covered with barnacles near the bottom.

"Seems these pirates don't take care of the hull. Barnacles ruin the wood of a ship after all," Lance said as he put a palm on the hull. A lava chain appeared around his right arm, burning the water before it followed the arm in a spiral. The chain then drilled outward and a hole appeared in the ship.

"Kill anyone who falls from this ship," Lance ordered the minions before going inside, using his ice element art to seal the hull. He looked around first, eyes narrowing as he saw two men look at him in shock as they had heard water rush in.

"IN---!" a pirate began before Lance appeared behind him by teleportation, breaking the man's neck from behind with a squeeze as he side kicked the other pirate in the solar plexus. The pirate coughed and drooled uncontrollably as he fell onto his knees and gagged. Lance took out the broken great sword he bought and beheaded the coughing pirate with ease.

"Well then. Time to get pilfering," Lance said cracking his knuckles as he proceeded in opening all the crates he could find. No matter what it was, he checked it first for anything note worthy. Those of value, he stashed into his storage ring. Then, he proceeded up the stairs to the next level. He noticed less crates there as well as several crates of food and rum.

"Alcohol?" Lance frowned as he checked the food before storing them. He paused as he ran past a few cells near the stairs up. A man in chains stared at him, his beard and hair dirty and stuck together from being imprisoned so long. The man looked up and saw that Lance was dressed differently than his captors.

"You. You're not one of them. You can free me!" the man cried, overjoyed. "You got to let me out. They sank my ship and kept me hostage all this time.

"Why did they want you? You some kind of noble?" Lance asked.

"No. No. Look, I got a key. It's the key to a chest in the captain's cabin. The damned pirate bastard stole the chest from me but couldn't find the key. See, the key isn't an actual key but a small marble. Enchanted and the like. I can give it to you if you free me," the man begged.

"I don't see a key," Lance said, the man quickly grabbing the bars as he made a subtle glance at his own belt. "Ah, I see. So you have the key. Must be something valuable. Sounds like trouble to me."

"Wait! I can help you. I am a a mage of the southern continent. You look like a smart lad. I can get you accepted into a mage academy," the man said but cried out in pain as Lance grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled hard. The man's face hit the cell bars, the man holding his face in pain as Lance pulled on the belt's ornament on the buckle. The man looked down in shock as Lance took the black marble on the ornamental belt buckle.

"I read a lot of books as a child, in that library. The hero always does something stupid and lets the witness live or an enemy go. I'm not that naive. Sorry," Lance said as he ran his great sword through the bars and pierced the man in the stomach, the giant blade destroying most of his organs before Lance pulled it out.

"Master, the fight has begun. We're exchanging fire from the mana cannons," the panther said through their mental link. Lance later heard several booms and was blasted back as a massive hole appeared a few feet above him. He looked at the nearest window and leaped through, his great sword back in the ring before his body dived into the sea. As his fish minions escorted him back, he saw a few pull back to kill some pirates who fell overboard.

"Welcome back," Mei said as Lance appeared back on ship, the two crouching down as another blast appeared around them. "Find anything?"

"When their ship reaches ours, I need you to sneak into the captain's cabin and find a chest. Stash any chest you see as well as any treasures. Don't let anyone know what you're doing. Cover yourself in darkness. We don't want people to suspect anything. Something of value was stolen by the pirates. Some troublesome people might question those aboard the ship when they come for it," Lance said. "Oh, and steal a mana cannon. I want to study those."

"I'll handle that," Lingqi said as she appeared with the panther.

"Then we have our objective. If anyone's suspecting you, kill them too," Lance said. "The whole world is against us. Think of it that way. We have no allies here, and greed lies in the hearts of men. Do not trust even the sailors."

"Is it always like this?" Lingqi asked as she and Mei waited with the sailors for when the pirates try to board with planks.

"Sometimes. This can be considered less...bloody and not Lance's fault. Those pirates are to blame," Mei said as the pirate ship sailed and arrived a few dozen feet parallel to the merchant vessel.

"This is gonna be fun. Kill them all gents," a pirate laughed as they slammed planks onto the ship while others rode ropes and dived onto the sailors below.