by Tamryn Tamer
“Attack!” Captain Cage yelled while hiding behind a tower shield. “Fucking attack the cowardly fucks!”
“Are you sure?” Frost asked while dodging three incoming arrows. “I mean, this is a parley and I would hate to…”
“Just fucking attack!” Captain Cage snarled as an ice lance landed between his legs.
“If that’s what you want,” Frost said while drawing his espada from its sheath.
In a game, a hybrid class like spellblade would suffer from decreased magical or physical potency in exchange for its versatility. In fact, the selling feature of hybrid classes in games was their ability to use multiple different types of magic or abilities. But to ensure that the game wasn’t overrun with those classes, the developers nerfed their damage. In the end, purist classes tended to be optimal while hybrids fell by the wayside.
Nivara was different. A person’s magical and physical abilities were anchored to their level, not their class. In a game, a class like spellblade would suffer a significant reduction in both physical and magical damage to make up for their versatility. In Nivara, they were additive, or in some instances multiplicative.
Frost cast Gust, summoning a powerful blast of wind behind him and leapt onto the other ship while dodging and parrying income arrows. He quickly cast Wind Infusion on his sword, enchanting it with wind magic and greatly increasing the speed of his swing while offering an extra inch of attack range. Frost slit three throats before any of the enemy crew had time to realize what was happening.
“Back! Back!” a large level forty-three dark knight yelled while rushing from below deck with three other level forties trailing behind him.
Frost needed to avoid drawing attention to his power which was why he chose to present himself as a spellblade. Unlike other classes that were limited in versatility, a spellblade offered several useful tools that allowed him to justify his strength without drawing too much suspicion.
“Surround him!” the dark knight yelled as a pair of assassins and a holy knight circled him. “He’s only level forty!”
“So why are you so worried?” Frost asked while pulling his gem-encrusted parrying knife from his belt. It was a thick blade with a round guard covered in golem heart fragments. The gemstones massively enhanced the durability of the weapon, allowing it to deflect blows from most weapons without breaking. “Or are you waiting for me to start?”
Frost could sense all of them around him. Although he was presenting as a level forty, he still had the concept sense of a fighter in their mid-sixties.
He dodged a slash from the holy knight while spinning around to parry the backstab attempt of the first assassin. He continued to turn while casting Earth Infusion, reinforcing his espada with earth magic as the dark knight’s axe came down. The enchantment massively increased the weight and density of his weapon, allowing him to easily parry the heavyweight strike with his featherweight sword.
Frost swiftly twisted his body and dodged a pair of throwing knives from the final assassin as he cast Lightning Infusion, shifting his sword’s enhancement from earth to lightning. It was one of Sir Isaac’s favorite spells and was both offensively and defensively powerful. Although Isaac used it slightly differently.
Most spellblades fought like knights which meant they tended to use longswords, claymores, maces, and other weapons traditionally used by armored fighters. The weapons were powerful and capable of delivering devastated blows but they lacked the control of a wand and an espada wasn’t that different from an extraordinarily long wand.
With a flick of his wrist, Frost sent a controlled shock from his sword directly into the assassin’s chest, launching them into a large crate.
“Keep on him!” the dark knight yelled. “He’s a slippery one!”
“You’re not wrong,” Frost said as he slashed his sword at the ground while casting Freeze, creating a layer of ice on the deck. With a second quick slash Frost cast Splash, a simple spell that the children in the village used for water fights, increasing the slickness of the ice. The men stopped in their tracks and altered their courses to avoid the poor footing. “Really? You’re going around?”
Frost waited for the men to once again surround him before casting Flame Infusion on his boots. Once his leather boots were producing flames, Frost dashed across the slick deck, melting the ice as he ran across.
“See,” Frost laughed. “It’s easy!”
“Big mistake,” the dark knight laughed while glancing at the pool of water on the floor. “Get him!”
“Yes sir,” the holy knight shouted as the two rushed through the pool of water after him.
“I honestly didn’t think it’d be this easy,” Frost said, smiling as he smacked his lightning-infused sword in the edge of the pool of water.
“Shit…” the dark knight growled as he and the holy knight collapsed in the pool of electrified water.
The remaining assassin jumped over the pool while throwing daggers and Frost elegantly deflected them with his parrying knife. The assassin landed next to him and unleashed a flurry of attacks with his two daggers, driving Frost back as he avoided the slashes.
“You’re way too cocky,” the assassin growled as he performed a surprise backflip, narrowly clipping Frost’s chin with his heel. Surprisingly, Frost found himself off-balance the Assassin lunged forward with both of their daggers. “Gotcha!”
The assassin might have actually gotten him if Frost was actually level forty.
“Sorry,” Frost said as he increased his speed and avoided the attack while simultaneously taking the assassin’s head with his parrying knife. He briefly glanced back at Captain Cage and his crew to see how they were doing and was immediately irritated. Several were wounded and a few of them were dead as Cassia appeared to be casually blocking fireballs along with a few incoming arrows. She was definitely letting the men get hit.
“I suppose I better take this seriously since she’s not.”
Frost dashed toward the dark knight and holy knight climbing to their knees and took both of their heads with his espada before making his way to the assassin he’d launched into a crate. Another quick slice with his slender blade and the assassin’s head was on the ground with the others.
He continued his onslaught as he rushed toward the lower level crewmen, slicing off arms and heads while avoiding their weak attempts to stop him. The more enemies he eliminated, the less threatening the remaining ones became.
Frost quickly dashed backward as he felt a chill forming above him, narrowly avoiding a salvo of ice spears as they came crashing down. He enhanced his boots with a few small earth spikes and sprinted up the center mast toward the crow’s nest, his boots tearing into the wood with each step. He thrust his sword through the bottom and released a surge of electricity as the men in the nest screamed. When he heard them collapse against the floor, he removed his sword and climbed in the nest and took the heads of the four spasming men.
“Dammit Mitty!” Frost yelled at Cassia while pointing at the dozen wounded men as well as two dead. “I told you to protect the fucking ship!”
“I am protecting the ship,” Cassia said defiantly as she prevented an arrow from going through the sail. “See. Not the slightest bit of harm has befallen the vessel.”
“Fucking hell!” Frost shouted. “And the crew! And the fucking crew!”
“Don’t yell at me!” Cassia snapped angrily. “This is their fault! They should have listened to you sooner! Think of this as a valuable lesson for them!”
“Just fucking protect them all!” Frost snapped.
“Fine,” Cassia pouted as she created a massive barrier between the ships blocking all incoming projectiles. “But if that’s what you wanted you should have said so from the start!”
“You could have done that from the start?” Captain Cage shouted while looking at his bleeding crewmates.
“Don’t you start with me too,” Cassia said, her violet-eyes filled with hostility as she scowled at him.
“Wa
it,” Captain Cage said while pointing at Frost. “Are you just leaving your man…”
“Lord Sebastian will be just fine!” Cassia said. “Just watch!”
Frost cast Mist, summoning a dense fog and jumped from the crow’s nest. He landed on the deck and began tearing through the enemy ship’s crew like they were training dummies as they screamed. The fog slowly shifted from a gentle white to an ominous pink as spraying blood scattered everywhere.
He didn’t need his vision to tell where his opponents were and while under the cover of fog, he didn’t need to worry about holding back. He dashed from enemy to enemy taking hands, heads, and sometimes an entire torso as his espada shifted between the elements.
“We surrender!” Captain Everston screamed as Frost took another head. “We surrender! Surrender!”
“Captain Cage?” Frost yelled from the fog. “Do we honor surrenders?”
“From a ship that violated a trade flag,” Captain Cage growled. “I don’t know.”
“Please, we surrender,” Captain Everston shouted. “Show mercy!”
“Fuck,” Captain Cage snapped. “Fine! But I want to hear those swords hitting the fucking deck and if so much as one of you cunts spits in my direction you’re dead!”
“Understood,” Captain Everston yelled through the fog as several weapons clattered. “We surrender!”
Frost waved his hand and the fog slowly subsided, leaving a bloody residue across the entire ship and revealing the dismembered corpses. Only a handful of crewmen remained on deck but Frost sensed several more hiding throughout the ship.
“How?” Captain Everston trembled while staring at Frost. “You’re only a level forty…”
“Knowledge,” Frost answered while looking over the ship. Any hint of malice that his Fate’s Guidance ability had been detecting was replaced with fear. “Changing the landscape to…”
“Don’t give me that,” Captain Everston’s voice quaked. “I’ve seen battlefields and I’ve never…”
“Afraid you’re in no position to be asking questions,” Captain Cage growled as his crew placed a plank down to connect the ships. “You killed two of my men…”
“You killed…”
“You attacked under a trade banner,” Captain Cage interrupted while looking at the old man and his crewmates huddled against a wall. “You brought this on yourself.”
“That Kina was supposed to bring good luck,” Captain Everston growled while glancing at his cabin. “That cursed fucking cunt.”
“About her,” Madam Gardenia said, carefully stepping onto the ship while trying to avoid the blood. She failed spectacularly at avoiding it. Jasmine, Zinnia, and Iris followed right behind her. “Well, this is certainly hopeless, isn’t it? I’d like to see the Whitetail. Girls, find her.”
“Yes ma’am,” Jasmine said as her and the others began looking around.
“She’s in my cabin!” Captain Everston shouted. “You can take the cursed bitch. Just please…don’t let that fucking monster anywhere near us.”
“Monster?” Captain Cage chuckled. “He’s just a merchant from Zira. I’m the one you need to be worrying about.”
“A merchant?” Captain Everston shook his head. “He’s not a fucking merchant. Are you blind? He’s an assassin or a fucking warlord!”
“Agree to disagree,” Captain Cage said while delivering a powerful backhand, knocking Captain Everston unconscious. Captain Cage glared at Frost and then glanced back at Cassia. “I have to admit Lord Sebastian. You certainly don’t fight like a merchant.”
“Why thank you,” Frost said. “I practice.”
“Yeah, what specifically do you practice on?” Captain cage asked.
“Captain Cage,” Madam Gardenia sighed. “Lord Sebastian has earned a substantial amount of rel hunting monsters and selling their parts. I hope that answers your question. More importantly, where is that Whitetail?”
“We have her ma’am,” Jasmine said while dragging out the struggling Kina by the arms.
“Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Please don’t bring me to her!” Erena shouted while struggling to break free from the three women.
“Stop kicking!” Iris said as she attempted to hold the Kina’s legs. “Jasmine! Why do you get the arms?”
“Miss Whitetail, so nice to see you again,” Madam Gardenia, smiling wickedly as she approached the fluffy woman. A light coat of blood covered the tips of the white Kina’s fur, turning her pink. “I must say, you look rather adorable in this color.”
“I’m so sorry, please don’t…” Erena fell to the ground and buried her face in a pool of blood as she pressed her head to the deck. “Please forgive me Lady Bloodtail. Please…”
“Is there a reason she’s more terrified of you than she is of me?” Frost asked while glancing at Madam Gardenia. The beautiful fox-eared woman pulled a knife from her belt and began inspecting its sharpness. “Haru. Why is she so terrified?
“Lord Sebastian,” Madam Gardenia glanced at him. “You should return to our ship. This is a dispute between Kina and you’d rather not be here for it.”
“Please Lady Bloodtail,” Erena sobbed into the deck. “Please spare me. I’ll do anything. Please show me mercy.”
“Mercy?” Madam Gardenia leaned down and tugged on the fox-eared woman’s white hair, lifting her head. “Look at me and tell me you would have shown me mercy. You know the rules.”
“I haven’t harmed any other Kina,” the woman sobbed. “Please…I swear…this was supposed to be a trading expedition. You are the first Kina I’ve come across…please…I’ll never do something like this again…”
“Haru,” Frost stepped toward the women. “They’ve already surrendered and Captain Cage…”
“This isn’t a matter for the captain,” Madam Gardenia said while glaring at the woman. “Isn’t that right Captain Cage?”
“Lord Sebastian, Kina business is Kina business,” Captain Cage said while shaking his head. “They’re a protected species with their own rules. I’m not allowed to interfere.”
“Please Lady Bloodtail…” Erena begged as Madam Gardenia aggressively shoved the white-eared woman’s face back into the deck. “Please forgive me…”
“I’ll give you a choice,” Madam Gardenia said. “Your head or your tails.”
“Please don’t…” the white-tailed fox-woman sobbed. “Don’t take them from me…”
“Haru,” Frost shook his head. “I’m not letting you cut off her head or her tails.”
“Lord Sebastian, you don’t get a say in this matter. If her ship would have won, this woman would have killed me without hesitation and worn my tails like trophies. She will either lose her tails or her head and before you complain maybe you should look around at all of the men you killed. You could have spared most of them if you wanted but you chose to kill them because they attacked us. Well, she also attacked us and if they’d won, she would have chopped off my tails! My precious tails!”
“I suppose you have a point,” Frost sighed while looking at the bloody corpses littering the ship. “But when they surrendered, I stopped. I’ll be the first to admit that I find the line between right and wrong to be, well, I suppose transient works. It’s not fair to you but I don’t like the idea of you killing or mutilating her.”
“She would have cut off my tails and turned them into decorations,” Madam Gardenia said while grabbing one of her crimson tails. “And you want me to let her get away with it? Why? Because you’re attracted to her? She would have killed me, Jasmine, Zinnia, and Iris without a second thought and you want to let her get away with it?”
“Please lord,” Erena shifted her attention to him as she realized he was her best chance of surviving. She slowly started crawling toward him and Madam Gardenia stepped on one of the white Kina’s tails, causing her to cry out. “Please, I’ll do anything you want. Just please don’t let her harm me!”
“Haru, she surrendered,” Frost argued. “And from what I saw it didn’t seem like she kn
ew this was going to happen. She was hired to be good luck and happened to fall into some bad luck of her own.”
“I’ve seen you kill men as they fled in terror,” Madam Gardenia said. “And I know that you’ve killed men after they surrendered.”
“That’s different,” Frost said. “They pissed me off.”
“She pissed me off!” Madam Gardenia said.
“Haru,” Frost gestured at the weeping white-tailed fox-woman. “Look at her. She clearly regrets ever boarding this ship.”
“Admit that you’re only taking her side because she’s a woman and you want her,” Madam Gardenia said while scowling at him.
“Want me? Yes! Okay! Yes! You can have me if that’s what you want! I’ll be yours forever!” Erena pleaded as she wept. “I’ll sign a slave contract! I’ll be yours! Just please don’t kill me or take my tails!”
“You’re right,” Frost said while walking toward Madam Gardenia and the white-haired woman. He crouched down in front of the short fluffy Kina and patted her head. “I wouldn’t be sympathetic if she weren’t beautiful. But I also wouldn’t be sympathetic if you’d actually been injured. There’s a point of return and a point of no return. I killed the father of one of my best employees but I didn’t kill him. Right now, he could be plotting ways to get his revenge against me and I’m not only letting him but I’m providing him the means. Do you think I should kill him?”
“This has nothing to do with that,” Madam Gardenia snapped. “If your line of right and wrong is transient then so is mine. She can either choose between her tails or…”
“Please don’t let her!” Erena squealed as she wrapped her arms around his legs. “Please don’t let her! Please don’t let her!”
“Take your punishment Whitetail,” Madam Gardenia growled.
“What would it take to please you Haru?” Frost asked while stroking the head of the Kina girl crying at his feet. “I know you don’t want to kill her and you don’t want to take her tails. You’re kind and beautiful and the fluffiest…”