Stay on the Wing

by Michael Atamanov

  * * *

  I returned to my companions and told them the reason for the alarm on Tipsy Gannet. Soon the wood nymph, and then all the others also saw the ship after us. The long dark bireme had a predatory monster on the bow baring its teeth and was going much faster than our merchant galley. Two rows of oars were methodically lowering into the water, pulling through, and rising up. A big slanting sail drove the pirate ship over the waves, its black flag flapping in the wind.

  "They're definitely gonna catch us," the wood nymph said, stating the obvious. "There will be a boarding battle, and we'll be dragged into it one way or another."

  "Well, maybe it’s for the best?" Max Sochnier suggested, not overly confident. "Amra is invincible, so we should take advantage of that. Set him in front, and the pirates will shoot him from afar. It's a good opportunity for us to make a scene about a pirate attacks, as testers I mean."

  "I'll try. It's currently one thirty, I've got just four and a half hours of invincibility left, so it would be dumb to miss the chance."

  All the same, Valerianna wasn't in such an optimistic mood:

  "There must be over a hundred pirates on a bireme big as that. There aren't even thirty defenders on this ship, including our group. Of course, we still have to see what levels they are but, it seems to me that NPC's tend to all be around the same level in the same region. So, they should be around thirty, plus or minus a few levels. That means they'll take us with sheer force. Sure, Amra is invincible, but that won't stop the pirates from wrecking everyone else. What's more, our enemies might free the oarsmen slaves of nonhuman races, thus increasing their numbers."

  "Can you stop them with magic? Like, maybe reverse the direction the sea is flowing, or tear through their sail with a big icicle."

  My sister shook her head "no," and I understood why perfectly: using spells would take too much mana, and the effect wouldn't very last long. What was more, we were out of magic range. My other suggestion — sending out VIXEN to rip a hole in their sail — was blasted by all the others. There were too many enemies for them to allow a flying wyvern to just calmly tear apart and break their rigging. A heavy pause followed, which made it all the more surprising when the Naiad Trader spoke up:

  "I'll stop them! I can poke holes in the bottom of their bireme with my trident, then they'll have bigger problems to deal with."

  The tall giant looked the naiad and his weapon from top to bottom, after which he shook his head skeptically:

  "You think you can do that with your big fork? It won't work. You simply lack the Strength to get through those thick boards. Although... Your idea isn't bad, you just need a different weapon, and some help. Let's go together. We'll need a tree trunk. Any of those palms on the islands will do. We'll also need a bundle of rope and a couple of the metal bars from the hold we’re using for ballast. Just a couple minutes to get ready, and we’ll be on our way. Make sure you don't leave me and the naiad behind afterward, though. I really don't want to become a new Robinson Crusoe on these tropical isles!"

  Under the Black Flag

  THE CAPTAIN took the news of our planned attempt to stop the pirate bireme with surprising ease, and said ambivalently:

  "Sure, give it a go. Then, I’ll send my galley over to that narrow channel between the islands. Based on the waves, it can't be too deep there, so you'll be able to work the stakes into the sandy bottom, making the strike on the bireme even more grave. Though it's a pity to lose cargo, a new ship would also cost money. For some reason, I was feeling generous and paid the crew wages and expenses for this voyage in advance..."

  I was somewhat taken aback by the man's value system — for the captain, the potential loss of money was the only thing that mattered. The lives of his crew had no meaning to him, much less those of his oar slaves. The captain himself, from what I could understand of his words, was not afraid to die in the battle with the pirates at all, because he had long-ago purchased a teleportation scroll to a safe port and kept it on his person at all times.

  "Without the ability to slip away unharmed, I’d never set foot on a seagoing vessel," the captain said in self-satisfaction, but at that patting the inner pocket of his doublet. "Sometimes, you end up in a nasty typhoon, or the ship gets caught on reefs, or sea snakes attack, or like now, you get set upon by pirates. In all those situations, I can be standing on dry land in a blink of the eye next to a branch of the Most Reliable Bank of Gremlins. Insurance covers part of the losses, and a week later I’ve got a new ship and crew. It's a pity about the lookout, though — he's a clever lad. He could have gone far, if not for these pirates..."

  To my view, this was all somehow incorrect — I was accustomed to a captain going down with his ship, or at least being the last to leave it, not just abandoning his crew and saving his dear self. Although it was possible that, from the captain's point of view, the behavior of the undying also seemed incorrect and even cowardly — we, after all, did not have to fear a final death and, even in the most extreme situations, were guaranteed to survive, even if that meant being reborn.

  A sharp command sounded out from the overseer on the oar deck, and oars lowered from both sides of the galley. A drum started booming, and the ship lurched forward from the synchronized movement of two dozen oars.

  From behind me, I heard two splashes — the first was barely audible, while the second was a deafening boom, as if someone had chucked a stone the size of an automobile into the water. It was the naiad and ogre jumping overboard, at which Shrekson sounded to have belly flopped. Not long after, a message came in from Valerianna Quickfoot:

  "We totally forgot that Shrekson doesn't know how to swim. It's a miracle he didn't drown. His height helped, as well as the fact that the water here is relatively shallow. I helped our friend reach the shore by making a current. But you should go down into the hold to eat the live fish while everyone's busy."

  It was a reasonable suggestion, so I went right down the stairs into the hold. Once down there, I saw Taisha lying doubled over on the bags of dried fish. The girl was still troubled but now, my companion was expressing at least some interest in what was happening, and asked why the drum had suddenly started up, and if they could possibly stop, because the loud rhythmic sound was making her head spin. I told her about the pirates after us. The goblin beauty went silent for a bit, then said:

  "I don't want to end up in the mitts of orc buccaneers, they always have very harsh methods of treating their prisoners. And with female captives, well... What do you think Amra, should I commit suicide? You did say, after all, that I am now impossible to kill, so it won't be too bad — I'll just pop up somewhere else, alive and well. By the way, where will I be reborn if I die?"

  "Taisha, I can't say for certain. You don't seem to be able to use respawn stones like normal undying. So, most likely, you'll respawn where you died — either on a galley teeming with bloodthristy pirates, or in the middle of the open ocean, where you'd then have to come ashore somehow. And how would I find you after that in the huge Boundless Realm? So, you should give up the idea of suicide, and try to survive unless it gets extremely bad. But in general, you're right, we'll have to take care of this problem somehow in the future. For example, make you a teleportation scroll like the captain of the merchant vessel has, so you can always run away to a safe place in case of danger."

  Letting my ailing NPC companion rest, I went away from the stairs and used my Vampire Bite in a hidden spot on the fish, my eighth new creature in half a day.

  Damage dealt: 109 (Vampire bite)

  Experience received: 56 Exp.

  Object received: Mullet meat (food) * 2

  Racial ability improved: Taste for Blood (Gives +1% to all damage dealt for each unique creature killed with Vampire Bite. Current bonus: 20%)

  Achievement unlocked: Taste tester (28/1000)

  My endurance went down to zero, wasted on the bite. My big-eared goblin fell face down, smacking his forehead on one of the cast-iron bars, which served as ballast against th
e high buoyancy of the galley. Damn! If it weren't for my invincibility, I'd surely have a bump from that. Despite the pain, I stretched out my lips into a happy smile from ear to ear — I was successfully leveling my vampire skills, and had already begun to feel the effect of its coefficient increasing my damage. And that was, after all, only the beginning! What would happen when the damage done by my Amra increased not by a pitiful 20%, but let's say, 300%? All the same, I didn't have time to think it over for long. I got a private message from my sister:

  "Amra, I need your help. Our friends already made the sharpened stake from a log, and dragged it ashore. But the ogre can't swim, and Max Sochnier can't drag the log into position on his own. I also jumped overboard and am now underwater. I'll help the naiad as much as I can but, as you know, my Strength is very low."

  "And how can I help here? I don't have gills, or underwater breathing spells!"

  "Amra, don't be silly! For another few hours, you're invincible, so water cannot kill you!"

  She was right. Had I really turned into such a complete pinhead? Clearly, this was evidence of the sleepless night and sixteen hours of playing with just two small breaks: one to talk with the director and the other to prepare the video clip I was planning to upload this evening. Struggling to stand, I dug around in my inventory and got out the last of the Strength Restoration Elixirs I was keeping for emergencies. This seemed like a sufficiently dire occasion, so I popped the cork and poured the bitter orange liquid down my throat. My Endurance Points instantly went up by a third.

  "Don't poke your head out, wait for me here!" I ordered Taisha as I ran up the stairs.

  While I was in the hold, the pirate bireme had made significant headway on our merchant galley. There was now less than a kilometer between us. Irek and Dar pointed me to a sharpened log bobbing in the ocean. On the shore nearby, the ogre was frantically waving his paws, no longer capable of helping his companions. Not wasting time, I climbed overboard and went headfirst into the water. I was expecting to bob back up, hoping to get a sense of my character’s buoyancy via the Archimedean force, but the laws of the game world were much simpler: Amra could not swim, so I sank like a stone to the very bottom.

  Anyhow, the descent was not very long. The depth was just four meters, maybe five. I felt hard earth underfoot and opened my eyes. First of all, I noticed a bar with bubbles pop up. That must have been the countdown until I drowned. I watched it in alarm for some time, but it didn't go anywhere, remaining at maximum the whole time, so I stopped paying it any mind.

  The rays of the bright midday sun easily penetrated the water and lit up the underwater world vibrantly. I could see just fifteen meters, but that was plenty for me to look around. The sea floor in the channel between the islands was quite clear — there was light sand mixed with small stones and shells. In some places, there grew bundles of shaggy seaweed. I didn't notice any dangerous undersea beasts, so, after getting my bearings on the mini-map, I walked toward my two nearby allies without fear. The waves were the biggest detriment — here in the shallows, the passing rollers pulled, spun and tossed my goblin every which way, knocking me off my feet. I got a few messages about successful Agility checks, then a double skill raise:

  Acrobatics skill increased to level 9!

  Dodge Skill increased to level 10!

  I either felt the level-ups immediately, or I was simply getting the knack, but it got easier to walk after that, and I soon saw my friends not far away. The wood nymph was inside a big air bubble helping the naiad hold onto the log, which was quite buoyant. The bright red fins on Max Sochnier's back were extended. Our friend was not wearing shoes, so his long flexible webbed toes were now visible. I came closer and asked how I could help. My sister shuddered in surprise and pointed me to a pair of metal bars lying not far away on the sea floor.

  "Those ones weren't attached well, and fell off. You need to hammer them back into the log. While you're up there, try to wedge in some stones so they'll hold better this time."

  Mission received: Bottom from below

  Mission class: Normal, group

  Description: Damage the ship as it goes by using an obstacle set in its path

  Reward: 800 Exp.

  Would you look at that! We were already going to do this without any quests, but with the reward, it was even more pleasant. I walked up to the nearest bar and tried lifting it.

  Successful Strength check

  Experience received: 8 Exp.

  All in all, bearable, though I was straining. I brought it nearer my friends and went back for the other. At that point, the main problem became clear — I'd never manage to hammer the slippery metal spike deep enough into the gnarled log.

  "Faster! The pirate ship is already on the mini-map!" Valerianna spurred me on, but it still wouldn't work.

  I couldn't see the ship yet, but I could hear the sound of the beating drum through the water from afar, as well as the splashing oars. At the last moment, I thought to get out my throwing net and use it as a rope bag, placing the two metal bars in it and hammering the net into the log. Now, not only the mavka, but also the naiad and I could see the ship on the mini map. Based on that, the bireme was on course to pass about fifteen steps to our left, so we hurried to reorient. Soon, I managed to see the pirate ship up close — the big black mass was racing directly for us. Either the orc captain was taking a risk, or he knew the area well, but he was blazing through the shallow water. There couldn't have been more than two meters below the ship's keel. With our combined forces, we hammered the log at an angle into the sea floor and managed to get away just a few seconds before it struck.

  Bang!!! The sharpened stake went right into the bottom of the bireme on the right side and, breaking boards, carved out a five-meter-long hole. The ship spun in place and started tilting severely. A few of the bireme's oars reached the sea floor, and one nearly chopped my goblin in half. It was a miracle I dodged it. The water around grew cloudy from sand being raised from the bottom, and the many air bubbles coming from the hole. I could no longer see anything in the murk, though I did clearly hear the scraping of the long heavy oars breaking on the bottom, and the frightened screams of the oarsmen.

  Mission completed: Bottom from below

  Experience received: 800 Exp.

  Experience received: 460 Exp.

  Experience received: 512 Exp.

  Experience received: 390 Exp.

  ...

  Exotic Weapons skill increased to level 8!

  Exotic Weapons skill increased to level 9!

  Dodge Skill increased to level 11!

  Stealth Skill increased to level 15!

  Level twenty-nine!

  Racial ability improved: 65% resistance to poison

  Woah! I was again thrown off by the mass of changes to my character, though they weren't so extreme as when I got a few levels in a row earlier. I slightly caught my breath and quickly skimmed the messages before my eyes, trying to figure out what was going on. Either the stake dug into the sea floor had been interpreted by the game system as an Exotic Weapon (and in fact, it was quite an exotic mode of dealing damage), or it was interpreting my use of the net in the construction of our trap.

  In the crash, over forty pirates died, and we got experience for all of them. Even divided between four players, it was enough for me to level up. As it was, it should be noted, enough for the others — Valerianna Quickfoot hit thirty, and Max Sochnier reached twenty-six. I couldn't see Shrekson from underwater, but I suspected he was also at a higher level now.

  "Done deal. Now let’s go ashore to the ogre, wait for the dinghy from Tipsy Gannet and go back to the boat," the mavka suggested, leading by example. We all got our bearings in the murky sea and set off for the beach.

  * * *

  Seeing the huge, bulging titan trying to hide himself on the white sand beach with nothing but palm branches was a spectacle that was nothing short of hilarious.

  "I don't see anything funny here," said Shrekson, offended. "I had t
o watch the pirates somehow. Over on the next island, they took their bireme out into the shallow water, lashed it up, and they're dragging it onto the sandy beach now. The island is tiny, just bushes and sand. There aren't even palms or any other trees. So, unless the orcs have boards and resin with them to repair the ship, they'll be stranded there for quite some time."

  Max Sochnier shook his head skeptically:

  "We shouldn't underestimate them. The passage to our island there is very narrow, and a division of one hundred fifty pirates is almost sure to have some members who know how to swim. So, they'll be able to swim over here for materials, cut down trees and ride the logs back."

  The wood nymph stood in contemplation for some time, then announced:

  "Based on the map, their bireme has at least three large dinghies, so the pirates don't even need to know how to swim, they can row here. We shouldn't stay here on this tiny island if we don't want to come up against a gang of enraged sea robbers. But for some reason, I don't see our galley anywhere around here..."

  What? Overcome by anxiety, I scrambled through the plants to the opposite side of the little island. Far in the distance, I saw a white slanted sail on the sea. Below it, the oars were flying up and down at a rapid pace, showing that the captain was not planning on slowing down, much less turning back.

  "Damn! What thankless scoundrels! They abandoned us!" panted the naiad trader as he jumped on shore next to me.