Firstly, a warning.
The opening section of this chapter is lemon. If you don't want to read a lemon between Skye and her Spirit Dancer, scroll down to the first line-break, that's where the lemon ends, and no more happens for the rest of the chapter.
Secondly, I've decided the economy of Overlord is stupid and not thought-out at all, so I'm not using it. I've retconned the past chapters so 100 copper is 1 silver, 100 silver is 1 gold, 100 gold is 1 platinum. According to the wiki, 30,000 coins is equivalent to 300,000 days of work of a craftsman. 3 gold coins are enough to feed a normal family for a month in the New World. The discrepancy here is that the craftsman earns roughly 0.1 gold coins a day, so with 30 days, he has 3 gold coins. There is no extra there, none at all. So fuck it, my system is the new system =D
And finally, this story is in fact going to be yearly apparently, because I genuinely only finished it literally this morning xD
Chapter 3
Skye moaned, lips kissing at her neck as her Spirit Dancer reached her hands behind her back and removed her bra, freeing her breasts for Skye to see.
She felt hands moving to her own back, unfastening her vest then tugging it up and over her head. As it came off and left her in her skirt and bra, she felt the hands of her Spirit Dancer come to rest upon her small mounds, gently massaging them before tugging her bra off, exposing her chest to the air. One hand rested on one breast while she felt lips close around her other breast's nipple, mouth open and gasping as the experienced tongue swirled around the nub, teeth gently grazing it as the Spirit Dancer suckled, tugged and teased her.
Her other hand deftly reached down and unfastened the side of her skirt, the obscenely valuable and world-shakingly rare garment being thrown off the bed like trash as that same hand came to rest on her stomach, making slow and impossibly arousing swirls around her toned belly. That hand steadily drifted down in swirls until it came to a stop on her mons pubis, gently rubbing and nudging her on that sensitive patch of skin and almost making her buck her hips.
Evidently her Spirit Dancer knew how strongly Skye was affected as she took her lips from Skye's nipple, though not without a strong suck and subsequent pop that sent a jolt through her body, smiling at her as she shifted up to plant kisses along her chest, her collarbone and neck, then rising up to lock their lips together. Her tongue flicked out and slid across Skye's lips then against her lips, slipping inside as she gasped and opened her lips when her Spirit Dancer brushed a finger against the nub between her legs. Her own tongue was pushed down and lavished with attention by her Spirit Dancer's far more experienced tongue, which sent countless more shivers through her body at the pure sensation of pleasure she received.
A hand slid along the underside of her thigh, nudging her legs open wider as her Spirit Dancer settled herself in place laying atop her, lips parting with a trail of saliva joining them, her breathing heavy as she gazed up at the beauty laying on top of her. She opened her mouth to speak, but her hand rose from its place on her breast to plant a finger across her lips, her Spirit Dancer lowering her head to beside her ear. "No words." She whispered quietly, then lowered her head to her neck, grazing her with her teeth and making her mewl.
She flinched as she felt those teeth close on her neck lightly, though relaxed at the gentle petting that her Spirit Dancer planted on her ears, her other hand working its way tantalizingly slowly back up her thigh. She felt a small amount of pain as those teeth dug into her neck, and the urge, the instinct to move her hand to the hair of the Spirit Dancer and yank her attacker away was strong, but she clamped down on it, feeling the teeth recede and a tongue begin lapping at the bitten area.
Skye could tell by the feeling that her Spirit Dancer had just marked her...and the thought made her almost gush, the idea that someone like her had just claimed Skye as a partner. It was incredibly arousing, and as she felt those soft lips kissing along her neck then working her way down her body, she vowed silently that she would try her best to be a good partner, even if she doubted to ever get as good at sex as the Spirit Dancer was.
As the kisses reached her privates, they stopped, her Spirit Dancer gently touching her body as she looked at Skye, then placing a hand against her mons pubis, the question clear. She bit her lip and nodded, watching as her panties were slowly drawn down her legs. Curiously, as they were removed entirely, her Spirit Dancer then grabbed her bra and took something from it, revealing it to be a strip of material she didn't recognize. She bunched her panties up then mimed putting it in her mouth and tying the material around her head, her eyebrow raised as she watched Skye.
It, admittedly, took a few moments before her lust-addled brain put together what she wanted, then a few more moments of indecision before she nodded, opening her mouth. As her panties were placed inside she immediately tasted her own juices, then felt as the black material was placed around her head. Curiously, the band steadily got thicker and tighter until the garment was firmly held behind her lips. Refocusing, she saw that the Spirit Dancer was holding another black band, this time miming tying her hands together.
She nodded again, more eagerly this time, raising her hands to the headboard. As the Spirit Dancer leaned over to tie her hands up, she tipped her head up and nuzzled the exposed breasts that were dangling above her face, getting a surprised gasp in return. In response to her move, the Spirit Dancer lowered her chest so Skye's face was between the two breasts, yanking on the material she was binding her hands with and making them extra tight. Not uncomfortably tight, but tighter than the one wrapped around her head.
Finally, she took two more pieces of black material, her bra now just a bundle of fabric with no supports, answering the question of where she got those things from, taking ahold of one of her legs and placing it beside the corner of the bed where there was a raised nub, glancing back to see Skye already nodding, then tying her ankle to the nub, keeping it so her arms were fully stretched and that leg was fully spread, then doing the same on the other side. The Spirit Dancer got up on the bed and surveyed her work, leaving Skye feeling exposed and vulnerable.
It was the most amazing feeling she'd ever felt as every inch of her body was on display. The Spirit Dancer then knelt beside her, holding a finger up to her lips before then casting something, her hand disappearing into nothingness then returning holding...what could only be described as a sex toy. Interestingly enough, it looked like something that would come from Earth, pink and plastic and very well-made. She was exceedingly curious about how she came into possession of it, but the gag her mouth was filled with put a stop to that quite neatly.
As she watched, more toys were produced, as well as bottles of what she could only assume were either aphrodisiacs or some kind of lube. Her eyebrows raised further and further as more and more toys were brought out of this pocket space that her Spirit Dancer had, and she was tempted to break the restraints around her hands and take out her gag just so she could ask where the hell all that came from.
As if sensing her curiosity, her Spirit Dancer grabbed only a few more toys, already having littered the bed with them, and smiled. "We are not just bound to this world, we can visit many others. Some of which..." She gestured at the toys, but Skye was already contemplating that knowledge. If they could visit many other worlds, the chances of her being picked as a master became even more astronomical. She glanced at the Spirit Dancer, who smiled back at her, picking up one of the bottles and opening it, then pouring it languidly over one of the buttplugs.
Shifting a little uncomfortably, the Spirit Dancer smiled and shook her head. "Several days you have been here and have partaken of food without needing to...'relieve yourself'." Just that one sentences assuaged her main worry of causing an embarrassing mess, and as she felt the tip of the toy press against her body, she curled her toes and moaned behind her gag as the toy was slowly nudged into her body. As the plug pulled itself into place snugly, she took a few heavy breaths, the feeling of a plug being put inside of her somehow far more intense than it had any right to be.
A little bit dazed from the stimulation, she didn't see as the Spirit Dancer picked up a long double-ended dildo and poured the same liquid over it, but felt it as it pressed against her vagina, sliding inside before she could do anything. Her head rocked back as a sensation a hundred...no, a thousand times better than the last time she'd had sex rocked her body, the tip of the dildo being held inside as she shuddered. When she stopped, she felt the toy slide in a little further, and while it wasn't nearly as earth-shatteringly good, it still felt way better than a normal cock being pushed into her.
Inch by tantalizing inch went into her, and idly she wondered whether she had a hymen that had to be broken, though that thought went out the window as she felt the dildo bump against something. Lazily raising her head up, she watched her Spirit Dancer swirl the dildo around a little before drawing it back a little then pushing it forwards again. Idly she wondered what her plan was, since the dildo was really considerably long now that she looked at it properly, combined with what she felt sliding inside of her it was at least the length of her arm.
Those idle thoughts went straight out her mind as she felt a little resistance against the dildo, then it slipped inside of her, deeper than anything she'd ever felt before. Her head fell back limply to the bed as the dildo slipped ever deeper, hitting what her mind vaguely remembered as the other end of her womb. With a light nudge, she could feel the end of the dildo slip between her pussy lips, biting down lightly on her gag as the toy was slowly slid a little out of her and then back it, the toy bending inside of her womb to accommodate just a little more.
She whined as she felt the head of the double-ended dildo slip into her, her vaginal lips closing around it and hiding it within her moist folds. Breathless, she gazed at her Spirit Dancer, watching as she raised her fingers to her lips and licked them lightly, then lowered then and grasped ahold of the dildo, pulling it slowly out of her, inch by inch. By the time the toy was fully removed from her, she was about ready to break out of her restraints and shove the toy back inside of her, but the chiding look from the Spirit Dancer stilled her before she could act on her urges.
The reason for that became clear as she watched her perfect face lower down and burrow between her legs, tongue grazing slowly, almost languidly across her lower lips. Skye jolted as she felt something prod the plug that was still firmly lodged inside of her other hole, the toy being swirled around, tugged on and pushed in deeper. When it was suddenly removed, she would have raised her head in curiosity, but the tongue that slipped into her vagina distracted her, and by the time she gathered herself enough to look, another toy was being pressed against and then inside of her ass.
She could tell it was a dildo of some kind, but startled when she felt the Spirit Dancer push it all the way inside of her, no flared base to stop it from going fully into her. Before she could try to see what the Spirit Dancer was planning, she felt a second dildo head press against her, fingers slipping inside and nudging the first dildo to the side, the toy smoothly gliding in and leaving her jaw slack as the two toys filled her. When she felt a third dildo join them with no sign of pain that should have come from her body being stretched so much so suddenly, she closed her eyes and decided to stop fretting, as her Spirit Dancer obviously knew exactly what she was doing.
Skye then watched the Spirit Dancer rise to slip off the leather pants she'd been wearing, her panties following suit and leaving her just as naked. Her leg went over Skye so she was staring at her back, then she slid back, planting her crotch directly over Skye's face then lowering, burying her face in between her legs. She felt the Spirit Dancer move, working at the toys inside of her as well as playing with her pussy, amused by the thought that Corrupted Corsair meant she didn't need to breathe, so the Spirit Dancer could keep her face buried in her pussy and ass, and was doing so gladly.
Fingers pinched at her butt, startling her and making her clench unconsciously, the three dildos causing her to let out a light moan which in turn made the Spirit Dancer sit up, wiggling on her face as she put her weight down on her. She couldn't tell what the Spirit Dancer was doing, but when she got off of her face, she saw the blindfold she was holding as she slipped it over her eyes, blacking out the world as her Spirit Dancer sat back on her chest.
Next, she felt something being placed around her neck then tugged tighter, just enough to be pressuring her without being painful. Then, the Spirit Dancer surprised her by removing her gag. When she opened her mouth to speak but couldn't she was actually pretty surprised, and the finger that closed her lips told her all she needed to know. Hands ghosted down her sides as she relaxed again, coming to rest cupping her ass. They then began tugging and teasing them, doing euphoric things to the trio of dildos still stuffed in her butt as she felt kisses being planted on her neck and lips, each one being unpredictable and surprising.
Sure, she could have tried and probably succeeded at detecting where the Spirit Dancer was and would kiss next, but that took the fun out of it. Just like how she could easily break her restraints, and barring breaking those she could snap the wooden bed parts, to take control of the situation. Being laid bare, her legs spread and arms tied above her head, blindfolded and silenced with three toys in her ass and a beautiful and experienced summon sat on top of her with plans to fuck her brains out? Ruining the fun of that would make her want to die.
A new toy then nudged her ass, practically drowned in whatever weird lube the Spirit Dancer was using as it slid into her. It brushed against the three dildos, and they each parted to let it slide right up into the middle of them all. The toy itself wasn't too big, but the way it shifted the toys inside of her more than made up for it. As the base of the toy slid inside, she realized there was some kind of tube attached to it.
But before she could puzzle out what it was for, she heard a sound a bit like a rasping breath, and the toys inside of her shifted a little. It repeated, and with the third time she realized that the Spirit Dancer had put some kind of inflatable inside of her and was pumping it up. Fingers worked their way inside, and she felt as the Spirit Dancer took ahold of one of the dildos, her other hand presumably working the pump for the toy. Then, surprising her, she felt as the dildo was pushed further inside, past the inflatable toy.
Then the second and third dildos followed it, forming a snake of toys inside of her butt. A few pumps later and then the toy was tugged on, each pull removing it from her little by little. A pop and a feeling a bit like...well, something not too nice to think about and the toy slipped free from her. With nary a minute to recover she then felt another, new and bigger toy be positioned against her butt.
As it slid inside, she felt the shape, a bit like a traffic cone, stretch her hole open widely. Her mouth was wide open and if she had her voice she'd be moaning loudly, but only silence and the sound of slick things rubbing together was being made. Just as her ass began to feel too stretched, the toy suddenly slipped deeper into her, the new and much bigger stretch making her tug her legs and hands without meaning to. The toy, a buttplug she realized, locked itself inside of her, and with that, held the three dildos deep inside of her. Her mind went over those few words contemplatively, but as she had already learned, her partner wasn't one to leave her idle, already ready with another dildo to slide into her pussy, and deft fingers working at her sensitive spots.
Maybe a bit fast, but it was definitely worth it.
Blinking awake, Skye stared at the ceiling, a smile creeping onto her face as she remembered last night.
She sat up, the bed empty as her Spirit Dancer had gone back to the Harlequin Court after their activities, grimacing as she realized that her underwear was rather soaked through and wouldn't be a good idea to wear. Tossing the garment into her inventory, she dug out a new pair of panties and a bra, putting them on idly, then reaching down to where her leather skirt had fallen and standing up, wrapping it around and binding it to her waist, finally recovering her leather vest and trying to tie up the bindings on the back. Eventually she gave up, tossed it in her inventory then equipped it from there, feeling it form around her body and tie itself up perfectly.
Glancing at the barren bed, all the toys that had been used having been put back into the dimensional pocket where her Spirit Dancer kept them, the only sign of their activities was the second bed in the room, which was thoroughly ruined and covered in fluids. Wincing, she made a mental note to give an extra silver or three to the innkeeper for making such a mess, even if she didn't regret it even slightly.
Quite the contrary, she felt light and free, and more importantly happier than she'd felt in...well, in years. That wasn't to say she hadn't been happy in the past, her time spent in Yggdrasil was great, but...well, when admitting it to herself, she couldn't deny that this was a wish come true. Sure, she might lack modern comforts like televisions, showers, computers and augmented reality, but in return, she was literally living as her character. There was a reason she spent so much of her time playing Yggdrasil, and it wasn't because she loved her real life.
But here...here she was totally free to do whatever she wanted to do. If, and that was a big if, she wanted to just unleash her most devastating magic upon the city, she was more than able to. But that brought to mind something she'd read online once. Anyone was allowed to do whatever they want, but they had to deal with the consequences. Yes, she could just rampage around, but she'd have the consequences be people constantly trying to kill her, as well as making it impossible to just be in normal society like she was now.
For right now, being free to do what she wanted to do amounted to deciding spontaneously to wrap thin white wool bandages around her hands like a boxer, then head out of her room and down to the inn. "Uhh, want to say right now...sorry about the mess in the room, and here's a few silvers for the trouble. The sheets are all still in one piece but might need an extra washing." She flicked the aforementioned coins onto the bar, the innkeeper rolling his eyes and taking the coins, evidently used to people making a mess.
"That's alright lass, but thank ye kindly for the recompense. Most would just leave it and not say a word. I'll send one of the girls more used to it to do it, and by the time you come back tonight it'll be right as rain." She smiled at him, slipping onto one of the stools. "So, what do you have a hankering for? A bit late for breakfast but I'm sure Chryssie'd be willing to whip something up, unless you're looking to get a headstart on the day with a little early-morning drinking?"
The smile that had receded from her lips came back as she fought back a laugh, shaking her head. "Nah, I'm really just looking to spread word of what I'm looking for. I figure that the more people who know, the higher chance someone who has seen it will tell them, and the word will spread until it gets back to me." The barkeep raised an eyebrow. "There's this ship, called the Grand Larceny. I'm looking for it. Three masts, and three decks, with metal-wrought magical cannons, 70 on each side, that make a bang audible from kilometres away. The crew are pretty haphazard, there are dark elves, goblins, halifrond, regular humans and demi-humans as well, they'd be impossible to mistake for a regular crew."
The barkeep obviously had his attention caught by this description, and he thumbed his chin. "Well, I don't doubt that word would be spread fast of such a ship, which I'd assume is a pirate vessel?" She nodded, since chances were high that without her, the crew would be following their karma rating, which typically sat at around -300 points, leading them to somewhere between Evil and Great Evil, her own being sat at -500, an Extreme Evil rating, on account of all the piracy and murder she'd committed. "Then I suppose that with an arsenal of 140 magical cannons powerful enough to be heard from such a distance, word would fly faster than raven, owl or even spell."
She smiled despite herself. It was true, the Grand Larceny was pretty much the scourge of the seas in Yggdrasil, part of the reason few dared to roam the seas that she and her crew were sailing. 140 guns was the maximum she could put onto the biggest ship she could build, and it was made of the most valuable and durable materials she could find. A few bits like the mast wood she could have gone for more expensive and ornate but less durable, but she didn't make the Grand Larceny to show off, she made it to be unbeatable in naval combat.
And it was. The ships beforehand, when she was still levelling, sure they'd been sunk, but when she made the Grand Larceny, it became...unbeatable, a legendary vessel. The best cannons she was able to craft with her powderslinger cannon specialisation, crewed by the most well-armed naval combatants in the entire game, all of whom were at level 90, aside from the more special members of crew, named and max level. The ship had never been sunk, partially because she was the only player to go so absolutely insanely-focused on being a naval captain, partially because the ship was the result of thousands of hours of tireless work.
But, before she got too lost in her thoughts she snapped herself to attention again. "So yeah, I'd appreciate if you could spread the word, and if I hear back that it's been found...-" She subtly took a gold coin out of her pouch with the hand not resting on the bar and spun it on her fingertip, dropping it into her grasp. "-I'd be rather...grateful." The innkeeper nodded to show he understood. A single gold coin, 100 silvers, that was a rather significant boon considering that to rent a room with two beds was only 5 copper coins, a twentieth of a silver coin. That was like renting out 2000 rooms.
"Right you are. I'll spread the word for you, though I hope you'll keep in mind that I can't say a reward is forthcoming, else people wouldn't be so forthcoming to say where they got their information from, and might just try to get you to pay them directly, aye?" She rolled her eyes, taking a few extra silvers and planting them on the bar. "Thanks for your custom. Now, how 'bout that late breakfast?"
She smirked and shook her head, heading out of the door and onto the street, stretching her arms above her head. Picking a direction at random, she ended up coming across a bookshop, poking her head in and getting curious when she saw how dimly lit it was. She spotted a man sat behind a counter reading from a book, his eyes flicking up to look at her before dismissing her and going back to his reading. "Steal a book from this collection and your fingers will be on the floor before you could lift the book." He said quietly when she outstretched her hand to pick a book up.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this was a book store. Unless you expect me to just buy a book without even looking at it?" She said back at him with a glare, ignoring the look he gave her ears as she turned back to the shelf. She had decided that morning that she didn't want to bother with tucking her ears up into her hair uncomfortably. If someone wanted to judge her for them, they were welcome to. But if anyone tried to fuck with her, well she wasn't about to put up with it...that was a weird thought.
The man made a 'tch' sound and started reading again. "Intent-based magic, so unless you really intend to-" He cut off with a grumble as she picked out a book and read the back, humming to herself. It wasn't that the book stood out to her, it was the point she was making to him. Plus she was inwardly smirking at the knowledge that at any point she could draw one of her flintlocks and put a minie ball through his head.
"You got any books on alchemy?" She said casually, tucking the book back where she got it and facing him. He stared at her for a moment, then jerked his head to the side, a shelf near him that had books with titles like 'Twelve Steps to the Philosopher's Stone' and other potion-based names. Humming softly to a song only she could hear, she headed over and began looking through the books, occasionally tugging one off the shelf and reading it. The only one she saw that might be useful was one on common potion ingredients and how they were typically used, taking it over and planting it on the counter. "How much?"
"Two gold coins." She raised an eyebrow at that, folding her arms over. If that book cost two gold coins she was a dragon in disguise. After a moment he closed his book. "I said, two gold coins. My shop, my rules, my prices." Sighing, she picked the book up and put it back on the shelf. "That's right. Not like you could afford anything in here. Where'd you get the armour, stolen from some poor adventurer?" She shut her eyes and silently counted to five, resisting the urge to slam his face into the desk. "Or maybe mommy and daddy bought it for you? You know, before they got banished from the country as all you rodents should have been."
Turning around with a smile on her lips, she walked back to the counter, staring him right in the eyes. "I'd be a lot more careful than that if I were you." She said as she opened her pouch. "Mithril plate, and what's this? Oh, it looks like I could have bought that book. Well, what do I know huh? But I'll tell you one thing. You say a single word to me again, and I'm going to tear your head off, turn it inside out, put it where the sun doesn't shine, then make your corpse walk out into the street clucking your arms like a chicken before shitting out the excrement that is your head."
Skye turned and left the shop, slightly bemused with her own actions, even as she heard no word of a retort from the guy she just threatened. She had gotten a sneaking suspicion that her karma rating had been affecting her, though it hadn't really happened around the orcs. It took something to set it off, but when it did, she was way keener to be violent than ever before. The guy who threatened her and her Spirit Dancer, the empire scouts who shot her, and now that surly asshole, they all incited her anger and they all ended up way worse off for it. Well, the last guy was just terrified, but the others ended up rather dead-shaped.
Tucking her hands into her vest pockets she idly pondered where she wanted to go next. In reality, she wouldn't mind just going back to the inn, summoning her Spirit Dancer and spending the day with her, but that would be wasteful, even if it promised to be pleasurable. No, her main goal was as it had already been, to hunt down the Grand Larceny. While they were all incredibly strong, she didn't want to find out that they'd gotten killed by something and she could have found and helped them.
It was unlikely, sure, but still a possibility.
"Lass, I don't think going after that ship is a good idea."
Raising an eyebrow, Skye glanced over at the innkeeper, waiting for him to elaborate. "The ship was reportedly engaging in piracy when it came across a flotilla of ships from the Re-Estize Kingdom. One ship...you were definitely not exaggerating if what I've been told is to be believed. That one ship took down the entire flotilla with minimal damage and a scant handful of survivors. The crew of that ship...well, you already know that most of them aren't human or even demi-humans, but they showed no mercy, their halifrond scoured the waters around the wrecks, and those that survived their slaughter did so just by pure luck."
That...didn't sound right. Her crew had plenty of life-detection spells, there was no way they'd leave survivors alive, not unless they were doing so...deliberately. Now that made a hell of a lot more sense. They wanted the word to get out on where they were, so if she was out there searching for them, she'd be able to find them. "Don't worry, I know how to handle them. Fingers crossed after I find the ship, they'll stop harassing the coast as much." At his look, she shrugged. "I have an in of sorts with them." She then distracted him with a little sleight of hand, bringing out the promised golden coin and planting it on the bar, keeping it pinned under her finger. "Now, my only question is whether anyone knows that I'm specifically the one searching for the ship."
"Nobody aside from myself. All I said was that somebody would pay well for the information, and nothing else." Glancing between his eyes, she raised her finger, amused at the speed that the gold coin was snatched up. "Thanks greatly for your business. You want any more information then? Maybe on ships travelling that way?" Skye shook her head, leaning against the bar.
"No, I'm going to go cross-country up north, then follow the coast. Chances are that I'll be able to hunt the ship down in short order. And with my plate, nobody'll question why I'm hunting the ship down." She flicked her plate, which had been upgraded from Mithril to Orichalcum the day before thanks to her single-handedly clearing out a nest of hydras and bringing back one head from each of the beasts. It wasn't an official quest, because the cave where they were nesting wasn't near to anything important, leaving a wide swathe of land for the hydra to hunt. Because of this, no mission was funded by the guild, and the one who brought the quest to the guild had no money to afford to pay for the listing.
Of course, while she undertook the quest, she didn't do it out of the kindness of her heart. The man owed her a debt for the cost of the quest, as well as the dozen and a half individual hydras she killed, the heads of whom had to be identified as each belonging to an individual hydra. The quest itself, eradicating a nest of at least a dozen hydras, was rated as being an Orichalcum-class quest, owing to the fact that they are individually hard to kill, regenerating injuries faster than damage can be dealt. The fact there were so many of them, meaning dozens if not hundreds of heads that could attack individually, was why it was not rated as being a Mithril quest.
That meant the listing was estimated at a cost of a platinum coin and ten gold coins. Added onto that was the hydras, each of which were two gold and fifteen silvers, and the man who brought the quest to the guild was in debt to her for a platinum coin, twenty-five gold coins, and eighty silvers. But the real kicker was the fact that she was taking a quest that was above her skill level. Because of that, when she came back unscathed and with twelve confirmed kills, all by her lonesome, she got her plate bumped up to Orichalcum, meaning she was now allowed to take Mithril-rated quests all on her own.
Idly, she debated whether it'd be worth it to have one of her Spirit Dancers register with the guild, that way they could be regarded as a two-person team and get rid of the annoying solo-adventurer restriction. Then her thoughts turned to how she'd be received by the guild if it was revealed that she could summon familiars. From what she'd gathered in her reading, the Slane Theocracy trained their mages until all were at least capable of summoning Angel Guardians, a level 15 summon she vaguely remembered fighting in Asgard.
It seemed that the Slane Theocracy guarded closely the facts about its capabilities, since there was absolutely no information about whether they could summon anything stronger. There was a chance that the fairly small library just hadn't had a book regarding that, but the idea that they were blocking information fit perfectly with her picture of the religious country, so for now, that would be her running theory. "Right...well, I know I don't really need to be telling you this, but be careful. They slaughtered those men, you hear? Neither plea nor bargain nor threat stopped them from butchering those sailors in the water or on the wrecked hulls of their ships. If this 'in' you have with them doesn't work, they'll tear you apart."
"You do remember the fact that I'm the one that killed the kraken those ships brought in, right? I'm dangerous on land, sure, but in the water, I don't think even the Thirteen Heroes or the Eight Greed Kings could beat me." She could see that the innkeeper didn't believe her, not that she really cared. Fingers crossed, the crew of the ship wouldn't just attack her, not if they were letting rumours spread of their existence. That spoke of logical thought, the kind she was banking on not attacking her for some inane reason.
As far as she could recall, none of them would have any reason to attack her aside from just generally protecting the ship, all of the crew had backstories that cemented their loyalty to her, so if they acted upon that, which was what she was hoping for, then they would sooner shoot their own heads off than attack her. There was the chance that they were just being sloppy and running off combat AI that wouldn't recognize her as a friendly, but if that was the case she could just dive down into the depths and evade them. The halifrond would be a bit annoying, they moved really fast in the water, but she could still avoid them, and with her faster speed, as long as she didn't let them corner her, she could just swim away. "I do, but don't get complacent. If they catch you...well, the crews they caught were all men, so..."
Skye rolled her eyes. Sure, they were all men, but she doubted her crew would do something like that, even if they all had horrifically low karma ratings. Sure, there were some humans, as well as humanoids like dark elves and goblins and kobolds, but really, she didn't see any of her crew actually doing that. Maybe if she had a succubi crewmember she'd be more worried, but she never did, for the sole reason that she didn't like their appearance much. All of her crew appealed to her in some form or another, from the seaweed-like surface of the halifrond to the smooth, almost doll-like skin of her dark elves. Succubi just didn't appeal to her, a simple but reasonable reason. "I think I'll be fine."
The innkeeper shrugged and turned away, letting her return to her thoughts. With the Slane Theocracy being basically the only country that had a significant quantity of mages able to summon, they'd definitely take notice of her. They were very much so a human-supremacist country as well, so the idea of her, a demi-human, being able to summon 'familiars' stronger than their own creations would definitely piss them off. But then...why should she care?
She was intending to find the Grand Larceny again, and while indiscriminate slaughter put her off a little bit, and she intended to curb any extreme actions, she couldn't honestly say that engaging in piracy didn't appeal to her. Maybe it was her karma affecting her, or maybe it was just the fact that, unlike in Yggdrasil, where the only ones foolish to face the Grand Larceny were those who were either overconfident, or didn't know better, here they couldn't just do that. Ocean trade was absurdly important for shipping large quantities of material around the world, and while magic made this slightly less important, it was still so critical that they would never be able to ignore a ship like the Grand Larceny.
More likely than not, they would make attempts to attack her and the vessel, and after those failed, they would probably try to pay them off. She had no real need for gold or trinkets, though maybe she could get one of the kingdoms to back them, at least to the point of having a place they could go and not have to constantly be wary of attacks. Sure, she had a lot of material, but if she kept the ship out in waters taking damage, even minor amounts, eventually she would run out of materials to repair with.
The biggest issue wasn't in finding the materials, since her Corrupted Corsair job meant she could turn lower-tier ship materials into higher-tiers, and as long as it worked, she could produce what she needed. No, the issue was in getting those resources. If they had to be wary whenever going to shore to harvest wood, metal and anything else they needed, it'd be an unnecessary hassle. Plus, they needed a place to offload ill-gotten cargo. In the game, any port she hadn't attacked recently would accept her stolen goods, another boon of Corrupted Corsair, but in this world, she would have to actually have a port willing to take them and buy their cargo.
The Roble Holy Kingdom was out immediately, they hated demi-humans and would never accept an actual deal with her, not as the captain of the ship. The Re-Estize Kingdom was out as well, for the reason that it was their flotilla the Grand Larceny had sunk. They would most definitely look for recompense for that event, something she wasn't willing to consider.
That left only a few countries. The main issue was that they had to have a coastline and a large enough port city. The Argland Council State had potential, but they weren't likely to accept her offer thanks to the fact that they cultivated peaceful relationships with the other countries. Having the Grand Larceny ostensibly on their side strangling naval trade would definitely not help them.
The Baharuth Empire and the Karnassus City-State Alliance she immediately put to the side. They practised slavery, and the Baharuth Empire only gave rights for the human 'slaves', who were indentured servants more than slaves, going into slavery willingly to pay off debts. With the exception of the dwarves, demi-human slaves had no rights. From the moment they had a slave collar or crest placed on them, that demi-human slave ceased to have rights to anything. And despite the fact she'd only actually physically been a demi-human for a few days, it seriously got under her skin to think about it.
The Karnassus City-State Alliance was only a little bit better. Demi-humans inhabited the country in high quantities, but there was still slavery of both humans and demi-humans. And sure, she was letting her own personal feelings sway her decision, but slavery really pissed her off. Killing someone was final, it was an ending, but slavery? That was prolonging the torture, forcing someone to serve against their will. No, she could ignore the action itself, if a master passed her by with slaves, she wouldn't fly into a frenzy and beat the shit out of them, but neither would she willingly open relations with a country which allowed slavery so easily.
Really, all that left was the Draconic Kingdom. They were inapplicable thanks to the fact that they were constantly under attack from their neighbours, a kingdom of 'beastmen', basically demi-humans. That meant the Draconic Kingdom probably didn't look too kindly upon demi-humans. This was a problem because aside from that same kingdom of beastmen, there were no other countries with coastlines in the known world. Perhaps in the far east, beyond the endless, monster-infested wastelands, there were other countries, but none had ever been recorded.
And that country of beastmen...well, they would definitely be happy to accept her and the Grand Larceny if their recorded history of violence was any indication. They didn't practice normal slavery, which would have been a point in their favour, except that it was because their form of slavery was to turn humans into...well...livestock. Their idea of good food was human meat, with regular meat from animals being regarded as close to cannibalism, and eating 'plant-food' like bread, fruits and things that weren't meat was for the lower and weaker beastmen.
So, with that country firmly out on its ass, that left...nobody. Going down the list, each one being picked off for one reason or another, she reached the end of her list and had not a single potential country. Some, like the Karnassus City-State Alliance were because of her own personal desires, whilst others were because of ideology or events out of her control.
Leaving a handful of coppers on the bar to pay for her room for the night, Skye headed upstairs, into her room and blocking the door behind herself, then flopping down onto the bed with a growl. She needed to find a decent choice for a backer country, and failing that, a safe location to weigh anchor. Goods wouldn't be an issue, she could take the cargo, dump it in her inventory, then go and sell it.
If she really had to, she could take one of the human members of her crew and enter a country like the Baharuth Empire, feigning slavery while her 'master' sold their accumulated goods. It'd rankle her to do it, but if it was a choice between that or running out of materials for the Grand Larceny, she'd just have to deal with it. What would have been useful was for her to have Disguise, a tier 3 spell which would let her change her appearance at will for a certain period. In the game it was only about ten minutes, but with how different magic was to her now, it would probably work for a lot longer.
The only problem was that she never learned it, and even though she did have a learnable book for the spell, she was at her maximum capacity for spells, owing to the fact she most definitely wasn't specced as a magic caster, and had never increased her capacity. Bringing up her interface, she swept her hand through it, looking at her various spells, and trying to find one she could sacrifice. They were all just so useful though...maybe she could ditch Create Water, a tier 1 spell that produced potable water.
Sighing, she shook her head. She could cross that bridge if she came to it, there was no point chopping trees for a new bridge if she didn't even know if she'd need to...build one? Skye rubbed her face, grumbling at her abysmal analogy as she got to her feet and extended her hand. Easily going through the chant to summon a Spirit Dancer, she watched the purple ball of energy swirl around before disappearing to reveal the same Spirit Dancer as before. "Oh? I thought you intended to summon one of the others for tonight? Not that I'm complaining~."
Skye let a smile tug at her lips as she sat back down on the edge of the bed, the Spirit Dancer tilting her head to the side before joining her. "I...well, there's two things I wanted to talk to you about...three actually. Firstly, I wanted to know...do you have a name? I keep calling you Spirit Dancer in my head, and...well, I never thought about it before. And wow, now I sound like a bit-" Skye's eyes widened as the Spirit Dancer planted a finger rather firmly against her lips, glancing at the beautiful woman to see her glaring at her.
"You are not allowed to finish that word." The woman transitioned to cupping her cheek, her other arm reaching around to gently wrap around her. "And, to answer that question, no, we do not have normal names, just our appearance distinguishes us from one another. Other Spirit Dancers have been named by their masters before, but it is entirely up to you to choose whether you wish to name us or not." Humming in agreement, Skye let herself be pulled further onto the bed, ending up laying down with her head on the Spirit Dancer's lap. Unbidden, a noise that most definitely was not a low, rumbling purring came from her throat as fingers began gently toying with her ears. "Now, you had other things you wanted to talk about?"
Skye had to take a few moments to cut through the pleasurable sensations from her ears and answer the question. "Yeah, I...wanted to ask whether you'd be happy to be summoned more regularly? Coming out with me, acting as my partner, all that kind of thing. I...would say something self-deprecating here, but I don't want my ears pinched." The Spirit Dancer laughed gently at that, two fingers coming together to lightly press her ear.
Not enough to hurt, but enough to make her feel it. "And you'd be correct, Master. I...would like that, very much, though I worry that my attire would attract much attention. I do in fact understand that mortals have a very irritating sensibility for propriety, and attire such as my own would attract much unwanted attention." Skye agreed, her clothing was very skimpy, and would make literally every head turn to look at her. But that could easily be solved by just giving her different gear to use.
"Okay, now my last question. How...well do you get on with other races? Like halifrond and dark elves and stuff? I mean...you remember before, and I've brought you out on the Grand Larceny before, but I thought it'd be way better to ask you than to just-" A finger across her lips cut off her slightly too-fast speaking, making her cheeks redden as she slightly dipped her head. "Sorry."
"Don't be, Master, though it's obvious exactly what answer you're hoping for. You have nothing to worry about in regards to the crew of your ship. They are, after all, your own creations in a way, you shaped and moulded them to be who you believed them to be. How could I not love them for that fact?" As she spoke, she cupped Skye's ears and curled them, cutting off her response as another noise, which was still not anything like a purr, came from her lips. "May I ask a question of my own?" Skye raised an eyebrow, nodding up at her. "When do you intend to summon the other Spirit Dancers? They are all rather jealous of the affections and attention you have lavished upon me, and I fear that leaving them too long will not be...conducive to your freedom as they work their 'frustrations' out upon you."
Skye's eyes widened, mental images of...many different scenarios passing through her head, all of which ended up with her as a fucked-silly ball on the bed. "Right...I really should...get on that. Uhh...can you make sure that I can still be normal tomorrow? I really do want to head out of the city tomorrow, and if I have to spend the entire day bedridden from exhaustion as a result of their...'frustrations', that wouldn't really help. Oh, and...do you mind if I call you Skyra?" She raised her shoulders lightly and dipped her head as the hand brushing her ears froze. "I just...I really like you, and I tried to think of a good name but couldn't and so I figured what the hell I'll just use my own and change it but if you hate it I understand and I'm sor-" Again her words were cut off, but this time it was as her Spirit Dancer tipped her head down and planted a kiss on her lips.
"Nothing in this or any other world would make me happier."
Glancing over her shoulder, Skye watched as the outskirts of Loras faded into the distance.
Thanks to the innkeeper, she'd managed to hitch a ride on a trader convoy heading north along the border wall of the country, and her payment was just in her presence. She was already well-known thanks to her very rapid ascension from a nobody to an orichalcum rank adventurer, and having her guarding the convoy for free was a significant boon to the group. She could have just gone alone and crossed the country on her own, but she did also want to see the border wall, and since the convoy was going to be sidled up alongside it for much of their journey, it was the perfect time to investigate it.
Plus, it meant she didn't have to walk. She could also have just summoned Lupin and rode him, but that was much less comfortable than riding on a wagon, especially using several layers of fabric to act as a cushion. While Skyra had tried to temper the...attentions of the other Spirit Dancers, it didn't help that Skyra had been teasing them beforehand, mostly just by being the one Skye kept summoning. And since Spirit Dancers only swore themselves to one master, and had already spent countless eons in the presence of each other, when she finally summoned them, they were very thorough in their...ministrations.
Not that she regretted it even slightly, it brought a grin to her face as she thought about the Spirit Dancers. Being treated as she had, adored and loved for the night...it honestly made her chest hurt a little just remembering the pure adoration she was lavished with. She didn't want to go back to the normal world even before that night, but now, even if someone was stood in front of her offering to take her back, she'd probably shoot them before they could even finish that sentence.
Maybe she was in a coma or something and none of this was real, but even if it was all just fake, she didn't care. It felt real, and the new things, the emotions and the sensations she had felt since she opened her eyes to the new world...it didn't feel like something her mind could conjure up on its own. She had never been treated with such care and love as the last night with her Spirit Dancers had given her, and she wouldn't change it for anything.
Shaking her head, Skye turned her attention towards the convoy. There were ten wagons, each carrying various supplies that the head trader intended to sell at various towns and outposts along the wall. They weren't going all the way to the coast, but to a town a few kilometres from the coast, so she could just summon Lupin when she got there and ride the rest of the way. The journey would take a few days, owing to the fact that the convoy was going to be stopping to buy and sell cargo at the various spots they were passing by, so if she felt like it, she would just leave the convoy with little hassle.
Letting a smile tug at the corners of her lips, she leaned her head to the side, resting it on Skyra's shoulder. The Spirit Dancer was wearing some better armour, though thanks to the fact that it seemed some game systems were still in effect, she wasn't able to equip armour made from Terravore Leather, meaning she had to make do with armour that wasn't as protective. It was still better than the default equipment she had been equipped with, but it irked Skye that she physically couldn't equip Skyra in the best armour possible.
Amusingly enough, it seemed that her rising fame greased some wheels, since Skyra got privately tested by the guildmaster and rated at a mithril plate after battling him in the same way Skye had done. They didn't do any quests, not having the time for anything like that when the convoy was leaving on the same day, but that didn't matter too much. Skye was the one responsible for taking quests, and so long as she had at least one other adventurer, she didn't have to deal with the step-down quest system, she could now take Orichalcum-class quests freely.
Her ears flicked as Skyra reached up to run her finger along their edges, prompting Skye to shiver lightly at the sensation. Even if this wasn't reality, if she was stuck in a simulation or a coma dream or something, she didn't care. It was worth it for moments like this, where she could just close her eyes and enjoy living in the moment. She adored her life as it now was, with little stress, no real obligations, where she was free to do what she wanted, with who she wanted, and whenever she wanted to. It didn't matter that maybe it was all just a product of her imagination. All that mattered was that she was...more than content with her current life.
Skyra leaned over to brush her nose between Skye's ears, her warm breath tickling her ears and making her rock her head further to the side. With one arm over her shoulders pulling her closer to the Spirit Dancer, Skye knew she'd do anything to preserve moments like right then. In real life, she'd never felt so...safe, so loved. She'd had partners before, but the ones that weren't just one-night-stands turned out to be assholes or cheaters...or both. But the pure adoration from her Spirit Dancers left her able to really trust them to not betray her.
Maybe it was a form of attachment disorder or something, but, then again, did it really matter? If her Spirit Dancers did end up betraying her in some way, it probably meant she was already broken and would probably be in the process of butchering whatever caused their betrayal. She tried and subsequently failed to picture a scenario in which Skyra would betray her.
...Okay, definitely some kind of attachment disorder, if her thoughts so quickly went to being betrayed. Of course, she'd been betrayed before, so it was perfectly understandable that she would want to make sure she was safe wearing her heart on her sleeve again for her Spirit Dancers, but it was still a bit upsetting that she was even considering the fact at all. Just for once, she wanted to be able to trust someone else to not tear her to pieces. She let her eyes drift shut, leaning more into Skyra's side and letting her lips drop a little even as she felt the arm along her shoulder tighten slightly, her thoughts turning darker for a moment.
...If her Spirit Dancers somehow ended up betraying her, the world wouldn't survive her hatred.
"I...you have no idea how tempted I am to kick your ass right now."
Staring down the guard in front of her, Skye resisted the urge to do just that. Their trader convoy had gone through the first two towns with no issues, just more than a few stares and the odd hostile look. Then they'd come across this outpost, and the guards didn't seem too keen on letting her inside, on the grounds of her being a demi-human. Never mind the fact she'd been with the convoy the entire time, and the fact she'd already been in two other towns with no issues whatsoever. It wasn't operational security or any bullshit like that, since the entire rest of the convoy, including Skyra, were allowed inside just fine, it was just because she was a demihuman. "Rules are rules, no demihumans are allowed in the walls of the outpost. You can camp outside and rejoin the convoy after they're done, or you can leave."
Glancing at the head trader who was waiting inside the walls, who simply frowned and shrugged, she folded her arms. "Fine. You can tell the head trader that I appreciated being able to travel with him, but that a certain stupid rule means his orichalcum-class protection, who isn't even being paid by the way, will be going on without him or his convoy." Flicking the string holding her plate, she let the guard see the bronze-coloured plate for a moment, then turned on her heel and started walking away, ears twitching in irritation as Skyra fell in beside her and reached over to rest her arm across Skye's shoulders.
Sure, it was petty, but she was pissed. Travelling with the convoy meant she could just lounge about on the back of a wagon with Skyra all day, and outside of a single goblin that ran away the instant it saw the convoy, they'd not even seen anything dangerous. And now, just because of the fact she had wolf ears on her head, she was having to either wait for the night, since the convoy planned to stop in the outpost for the day, or to just keep moving.
Of course, because she could just summon Lupin and another Amarok Wolf for Skyra to use, who didn't tire even carrying a person for hours of nonstop running, they'd be able to make it to the coast by the time the sun came up, so really, it was a bit of a blessing in disguise. Her soreness had gone away pretty quickly, and as long as the wolves didn't run too quickly, she could easily lounge upon Lupin's back as she did when he brought her from Balosar to the coast. Skyra would probably have a harder time of it, being lower-levelled and with far-inferior stats, but since she was also much, much older than Skye was, she would probably find a way to ride her wolf without an issue. Maybe she'd ridden one before?
It was possible, Skyra had explained how while they only had one master and didn't have sex with anyone except for said master and other Spirit Dancers, they still visited other worlds, learning techniques and getting toys, ropes, things they could use to better please their master. That meant that maybe Skyra had ridden an animal the size of Lupin. Skye glanced at Skyra. "Hey Skyra, have you ever ridden an animal before?"
Or she could just do it the simple way and ask her the damn question. "I...can't say that I have, Master. That is, presuming that you mean as transportation." Skye stopped mid-step, planting her foot and blinking at Skyra. "It was...an interesting experience, and several Spirit Dancers I know took inspiration from the...'unique anatomy' to change themselves, reflecting those qualities." Skye closed her eyes, silently counting to three and exhaling, shaking her head.
"Right. Just...I'm not even gonna touch that." Holding out her hands, she recited the incantation for her Amarok Wolves, focusing on Lupin and summoning him, then summoning another wolf, this time with no focus, simply drawing a new one into existence. She tipped her head to the side as Lupin padded up to her and started grooming her, letting him lick her ears and hair a few times before shoving him off. "Okay, that's enough buddy. Now Skyra, I know they don't have saddles or, well, anything like that, but they have thick enough coats that you should be able to hold on easily enough."
Skyra nodded, watching as Skye grasped ahold of Lupin's fur and flipped herself up onto his back with ease. She shifted around a little before laying down on her side, propping her head up on her elbow and watching, a grin on her face. "Well, go on, he won't bite...unless you want him to." Of course, Skye didn't expect to be able to make Skyra blush, so she wasn't too put out when the woman simply laughed off what she said, but it still would have been amusing.
No, the female Spirit Dancer showed no hesitation as she grasped ahold of the fur on the other wolf, hopping and using her grasp to guide her, a point in her favour. If she'd simply pulled on the fur to lift herself up, she would have possibly caused discomfort to the wolf. Skye was light enough that she could do it without even making Lupin a little uncomfortable, but Skyra was much bigger than her, and thus had more mass, meaning more pull on the fur she was holding. "Well, find a good grip I guess. We'll start off slow, but even at only a moderate pace, we should hit the coast before sunrise."
Skyra nodded, shifting around on the back of the wolf before settling down in a position as if she were riding a horse, one leg on either side of the wolf and her hands clasping the fur on the neck of the wolf. Skye shifted a little, then patted Lupin softly a few times. He took the signal and started to walk, steadily increasing his speed as the other wolf matched them.
For a while, Skye kept an eye on Skyra, making sure she wasn't about to fall off. To her credit, it only took her a little while to find a comfortable position and was able to simply spend the time looking at their surroundings. That was one bonus to being on a wolf instead of on the back of a covered wagon, they were able to see all around them, instead of only out the back of the wagon.
Twisting slightly, Skye rested the back of her head against Lupin's, looking up at the sky. There was probably some racial trait making wolf-riding so easy for her, since when thinking about her journey across the desert around Balosar, she definitely should have fallen off at least a few times for lounging on Lupin's back so carelessly. Or maybe it was just because of her high agility and dexterity, that was also a possibility. Or it was just because Lupin was moving in a way that wouldn't knock her off.
The possibilities were endless.
Slipping off Lupin's back, Skye watched with unconcealed amusement as Skyra did the same and stumbled lightly before finding her feet.
As she suspected, riding the wolves meant they reached the coast before the sun had even started to creep above the horizon, the coming morning being only hinted at by the soft blue colour of the sky as it brightened. Skye ambled forwards, reaching the end of the short cliffs that marked the coast, peering down at the waters below. With a short nod, she folded her legs and sat down, patting the ground beside her as Skyra raised an eyebrow at her legs now dangling over the edge of the cliff. "Morning picnic."
The Spirit Dancer stared at her for a moment before rolling her eyes and hiding a smile, heading over and joining her on the ground. She dug around in her inventory and picked random interesting-sounding foods out, but not before finding some cloth to put the food on. Crafting items had become more than just that, as evidenced by the fact that when she took out said piece of cloth, it was large enough to serve as a picnic blanket, further reinforcing her notion that things were definitely different to what she was used to. She'd need to go through her menus at some point and see if she could still craft things as normal, because if not, she'd have to be careful to not burn through all her ammunition, or at least her more valuable ammunition.
They ate their early-morning picnic breakfast, the quiet comfortable and not stifling, neither bothering to try and fill it with something as silly as small talk. If they wanted to say something they would, but instead they just enjoyed the company, the beautiful view and the delicious food, a nice break from several hours of riding wolves. Skye also made sure that Lupin and the other wolf got some food, even if they didn't need it and would just vanish back into the warp to be summoned at a later date, another thing she would have to investigate.
The world obviously worked in a different way, and some things remained whilst others didn't, like the fact nobody seemed to have appraisable levels. That left her in the odd situation of having to individually discover what was changed, what was unchanged, what had vanished entirely and what was entirely new. Balosar and all the kingdoms and countries she had so far heard of were all nothing she had ever heard about from Yggdrasil, as well as monsters she didn't recognize the names of, items, currencies, all new things that definitely were new, meaning there were countless other new things to discover in the world.
After they ate their fill, the pair mounted up and continued down the coast. While they did so, Skye thought about whether or not bringing Skyra to the ship, when they found it, would be a good idea. She was a fair ways underlevelled compared to the crew of the Grand Larceny, so if things did end up going pair-shaped, she didn't want to accidentally cause Skyra to get injured or killed.
If it was just her and the Grand Larceny and the crew turned against her for whatever reason, she could definitely outrun them, even the halifrond. Sure, they were racially advantaged against her in the water, but she was still faster, stronger and tougher than any of her crew, so unless the transfer had also changed something about how fast the others could travel in the water, she could easily outrun them.
The one thing she refused to do was kill any of her crew. Skye had no idea if they would be able to be respawned, so if they died, there was a chance they'd disappear forever. Maiming them was fine, that was why health potions existed, but outright killing was banned except in exceptional circumstances like if they miraculously managed to corner her, forcing her to choose between them and her.
She did love her crew, but she loved herself a lot more.
"Are you sure about this?"
Rolling her eyes, Skye glanced at Skyra and smiled. "I'll be fine, I promise. I just don't want to accidentally get you killed because they turned on me. Fingers crossed they won't turn on me and I'll be able to just summon you again, but if they do attack, you won't be able to outrun them in the water." She could tell that Skyra was still uncomfortable, but after a quick kiss, the spirit dancer disappeared in a twist of purple fire and left her standing alone on the beach, staring out at the ocean, and the Galleon drifting along.
They had found the vessel just by riding along the coast, a little surprising but she supposed maybe they were hunting for coastal targets. Whether they'd sighted her yet she didn't know, but if they had, she'd need to be ready for underwater combat. She checked her weapons, switching out her pistols to her high-level ones and then doing the same with her daggers. Her crew were all tough, so she'd need them if she wanted to actually be able to ward them off.
She retained her hope that they would react to her normally, react as Skyra did, but if they didn't react to her with anything other than aggression and battle-lust, she would need to think of something else. She couldn't just leave the Grand Larceny floating around uncontrolled, but she also didn't want to sink her own ship or kill any of her crew, some more-so than others.
If she had to shoot them a bit that was fine, Skyra had already demonstrated her own durability against a few monsters that got in their way on the journey north, so hopefully even if she hit a vital spot they wouldn't just die, they would act as though they'd been shot in a game. Idly trailing along that line of thought, she double-checked that her weapons were secure, then took a running leap and dove into the water, her arms and legs smoothly cutting through the ocean as she swam at an almost leisurely speed towards the ship.
Rolling over to face upwards, she gazed at the sun from the safety of the water covering her, not that it really hurt her to look at the sun anyway, admiring the ripples of light that shimmered through the ocean. This was what she had always been wanting with Yggdrasil, the pure freedom of gliding around under the water. In the game, there was always the distance of virtual reality, she could never properly 'feel' the water flowing around her as she cut through it. It was difficult to properly put into words exactly how amazing it was to go from the detachment of virtual reality into actually living as her character, to really, truly being the one swimming through the water.
Skye drifted through the water for a while, before her eyes affixed onto the hull of her ship. Continuing to endlessly twirl her legs and push against the water towards her target, she debated whether going in with her weapons ready would be best, but eventually decided that not doing so would be best. Even if surrounded, she could certainly jump off of the ship, none of her crew would be able to stop her.
Finally, after an admittedly nerve-racking extra minute, she drew up beneath the rudder, matching the speed of her ship for a few moments. She settled herself, ready for a quick escape or for a fight, then kicked herself along and up the side of the ship, building up to a burst of speed that kicked her out of the way and over the railing, coming to a solid landing on her ship as she immediately took in the crew all around her.
They were all there. Everybody was there. Kris, Ansash, Skrell, Victaia, all the crew she had spent literally years around. As she looked around, so too did the crew focus on her in surprise. She warily kept her hands around her weapons, only to blink as they all quickly dropped to their knees with cries of 'Captain!' practically shaking the ship. While she was bewildered, the diminutive form of Kris came hobbling out of the crowd followed by Ansash, both of whom were looking at her in pure awe.
Well, Kris was at least. Ansash, being a Plague-fester without any facial features, couldn't exactly emote, but she got the sense that he was just as surprised to see her as the rest of her crew. "Cap'n, is really yew? We all seen ya jump from th' ship when that krak'n whacked the Grand Larceny good. Then w'all woke and saw ye wern't to be found in the waters, which were far diffrent to the depths we were plumbin'."
Skye stared for a moment, before letting a grin come to her face as she practically lunged forwards to hug Kris and Ansash, much to their physical and visible surprise. "I finally found you all!" She said heartily, prompting a loud cheer from the crew as they heard her speak. After tightly hugging the pair and laughing at Kris as he pretended to choke to hide the fact that there were tears in his eyes, she released them, taking a step back to just...just stand there.
Her fears weren't founded, the crew remembered her, not as the one who had picked them up from where they had been and made them into her crew, but instead as their captain. "Cap'n, what happn'dya?" Kris asked her tactlessly, reminding her that she did kind of owe them at least some kind of explanation for what the fuck had happened, even if she had no idea either.
So, she sighed, leaning against the railing. "The end was coming, not that any of you knew it was happening. When that kraken showed up, the end was literally seconds away, so I jumped, expecting that I'd never see any of you again. And then, I woke up in the middle of a desert, the ocean nowhere in sight, nor the Grand Larceny. So I decided the best thing to do would be to see if I could find you and, well, here I am." Skye gestured widely at the ship and the crew. "As for what comes next, well, why should we be any different to what we were before?"
Her question was met with silence for a moment, and she wondered if maybe the rumors she'd heard about the Grand Larceny living up to it's namesake were wrong, but then the entire crew erupted into cheers, shouts of varying degrees of vehemence and joy being bellowed out as the ship collectively went crazy. "HOWEVER!" Her sudden and piercing shout instantly silenced the entire ship, drawing their attention. "We will have to be a little more cautious in our actions. Kris, Ansash, Victaia and Bell, come with me so I can explain. As for the rest of you, I want the ship to be fuckin' sparkling and ready to get underway at top speed by the time we're done, aye?"
In response, the crew all returned her 'aye' as one, prompting her to nod as she made for the Captain's Cabin with her chosen four in tow. Once inside, she went to her comfy chair behind the desk and sat down, eyeing the crude topographical maps that she quickly realized were of the coastline near them. Evidently the crew hadn't just been fucking around aimlessly. "So captain, what do you mean by being more...cautious? We're pirates, we aren't exactly cautious." Victaia was the first to speak up, ducking her head back when Kris looked at her in irritation.
"The world has changed." She said bluntly, her words succeeding in immediately capturing their full attention, four piercing gazes affixing themselves on her. "First, I have to ask whether you all remember how we used to acquire more loot than we should, or items that weren't logical to gain from certain tasks? For example, killing a kraken and getting boots or gold from it." The four of them looked between themselves and nodded as one as they returned their gazes to her, causing her to smile thinly. "Now, that no longer is an option. Everything has changed. Because now, we have to source everything directly. Weapons, ammo, powder, materials, all sorts. I have all of our items with me in my own personal storage, they weren't left behind in any fashion, but while we worked up a very considerable supply, we can't simply use it without thinking about how we will replace it, or else we will run out eventually."
Kris then raised a hand, prompting her to look at him and nod. "So what you're saying is we should be finding alternatives, try'n to make our own powder and shot, that kinda stuff? We'd sacrifice power, sure, but s'better than having no shot to shoot. Only probl'm would be running into bigger prey, but tha's why we'll keep the good stuff back." Skye nodded along as he spoke, a grin on her face.
"Correctamundo, ten points. I've already run into a kraken, and they are piss-weak compared to the kind of quarry we're used to. In general, it seems the world we're in now is a lot weaker than Yggdrasil, the world we previously inhabited, so for the most part using weaker equipment will be fine. However, we need to find somewhere to source more powerful equipment that we can use in appropriate situations. I still have my crafting abilities, but we'd have to find the resources to actually use, so we might be stuck in a dead-end in that regard."
Bell then drew their attention as she opened one of the many pouches that adorned her body. "Actually captain, I've been making notes of everything we've uncovered so far, thanks to your divine wisdom bestowing upon me my abilities, and I believe that there may be resources hidden amidst the depths that we could utilise to our advantage. The Grand Larceny is a divine vessel after all, befitting one such as yourself, and has already-" Kris suddenly jumped lightly and gave the overly-formal woman a swat to the back of her head, cutting her off with a shake of his head as he landed once again, his face a masko f innocence as Bell turned venom-filled eyes onto him.
"Wha' Bell means is that Ansash found some rusted cannon barrels on the seabed, so we might not be quite as resource-starved as we first assumed. There were no powder or shot of course, but tha' could jus' mean the barrels were knocked off a vessel ages ago and left ta rust." Turning her attention to the Plague-fester and away from the fact that Bell looked just about to turn into her true form and tear her First-mate to shreds, Skye watched him make some gestures and clicking noises, tilting her head to the side as she listened.
It was quite odd, but it was almost like what he intended to say was now jumping into her brain, letting her translate what he intended to say. "Barrels burrowed in sand, molluscs say has been for long as living memory. None know how or why cannons are there, too simple to pass down." Skye smiled, reaching out to pat on what could vaguely be defined as a shoulder. Sure, he looked absolutely horrific from an appearance point of view, but she'd written his personality and vividly recalled it, he had a heart of gold the absolute sweetheart.
Well, as much a heart of gold as a mass-murdering pirate could have.
"Ships sighted, starboard side, twenty kilometres out and closing!"
Blinking, Skye took her attention off of the charts she was perusing courtesy of Bell, getting up from her chair and quickly making her way out onto the deck of the ship. Turning her attention in that direction, she shook her head as she spied nothing thanks to the simple fact she wasn't high enough to see around the curvature of the planet. Glancing up at the crow's nest high above, Skye walked around and up towards the afterdeck, not taking the wheel from the helmsman, she had literally no reason to do so after all. "Take us starboard towards those vessels, thirty degrees."
She did however completely countermand the pilot, not that anyone on the ship would question her. "Thirty degrees starboard, aye." The helmsman responded, turning the wheel and sending the ship on her new heading. "New heading is 273 degrees." He announced after the turn was done, making her grin despite herself. While it was cool that everyone was alive, what was better was that they at least somewhat kept things orderly.
The helmsman made a turn, reported the new heading, which the pilot would use to track where they now were. "Maintain course and speed, break to port if we come under attack." She said, heading back down off the afterdeck and then down the steps to the highest gundeck. Already Kris had roused them into action, getting cannons ready with low-level powder and shot, preparing rifles and flintlocks and swords and armour of all sorts in entirely uncontrolled chaos, befitting a literal pirate ship. "I want the centre-most cannons port and starboard loaded with redspark powder and galleon-buster cannonballs in case our foes are tougher than we can handle with low-class munitions." She hollered out over the general din of a ship preparing for battle, the resounding "Aye!" that met her bringing a far wider grin to her already smiling face.
After heading down to the other two decks and repeating her order, Skye clambered back up onto the deck of the ship, just in time to see the tip of a crows nest peek above the horizon for a moment before the sway hid the vessel again. Smirking, Skye leapt towards the nearest rigging and climbed her way up higher, spying the oncoming ships for herself, and allowing her smirk to widen when she did.
It was a pair of cogs escorting three of what could only be called upscaled galleys sailing towards them. But what was telling was that the galleys had their decks covered with crates and coverings. Cargo ships, quite literally the bread and butter of pirates. The ships were guarded by two cogs which were fairly small ships, and from where she was hanging, she could see quite clearly that the ships had neither gunports nor a very large ram on the prow.
All that left for them to use against her ships were arrows, magic, boarding, or fire. Magic would go very poorly for the enemy ship, as the Grand Larceny was an absolute behemoth, and coated with Enscripted Wood, which was all but immune to anything below Tier 9 magic, whilst beneath that were more physically durable woods in case something breached the outer wood layer. Regular fire would fail to even scuff the surface of the ship, for obvious rarity reasons, so unless they happened to have a container full of high-level fuel to use, that left attacking the crew.
And, if her investigating whilst searching for the Grand Larceny was any indication, that would go just as poorly. Each of her crew would be able to curb stomp anyone she had met so far, so honestly, she was not very intimidated by the oncoming ships. Though, she was still confused by one simple fact, and that was why those ships were approaching her vessel.
The Grand Larceny was a Ship-of-the-Line with three gundecks, 140 guns and an attitude to match. Five comparably-tiny ships really shouldn't have been approaching them. Even if they didn't identify the gunports as spaces for magical cannons, the sheer size difference of the two ships should have warded away those ships from approaching. "Anything chasing 'em?!" She yelled out upwards towards the crow's nest.
"Nay captain, looks like they're coming of their own accord as meat for the slaughter!" The lookout cackled out, leading her to roll her eyes as she slipped back down towards the deck. They would give her a warning if they did spy anything extra, but if those ships wanted to literally sail right up to the Grand Larceny and offer themselves to be the first she plundered in her new life, she would be all too happy to oblige.
"Roll out the guns, aim for the masts and any spellcasters you see, fire on my command!" A moment later she heard the thunking noise of the wooden gunports being yanked open, the guns following through as they were pushed into place and locked there. "Ansash, ready for boarding?" She said, glancing over at the plaguefester in time to see him nod. "Then when the sails for each ship go down, take the halifrond and go board. Take out their magic casters first and foremost, we don't want them getting a chance to send out a mayday. Then go for their command structure, anyone who looks important. If you need to, split the group up to take on multiple ships, but don't spread yourselves too thinly, we don't want to risk someone powerful amongst them."
Ansash chittered and clicked in response then departed, his point coming across just fine, almost embarrassed that she was worried that he might make such a rookie mistake. "Victaia!" She hollered out, waiting for the few moments it took before she was in front of her. "Get up onto the cap on the topmast and keep your eyes on Ansash. I know you'd love nothing more than to leap into battle after him, but you can do way better work up there making sure he doesn't get hurt fighting something dangerous." Victaia's face dropped for a moment before rising again as she nodded and quickly started to climb her way up the mast.
Whatever conclusion she had drawn that perked her up again, Skye had no idea, and had no time to think about it as she returned her attention once again to the oncoming ships. They weren't flying any flags, so she couldn't identify them by any of the ones she already knew of, and even if she could, she didn't really care anyway. They were approaching her ship, that was akin to walking into the jaws of a bear and expecting it to not bite down on them. "Take us port twenty degrees!"
Skye felt the ship beneath her turning once again, watching as the side of their ship began to fully reveal itself to the oncoming ships. Skye waited patiently, watching as more of her cannons had the ships in their firing arcs. She waited some more, watching as the ships reacted, turning to meet her new heading, clearly on an interception course. "Fire!" She called out, and a moment later, all hell broke loose.
From the starboard side of the Grand Larceny, 64 of the 70 cannons unleashed their shots. Each cannonball, which was measured at ten inches, weighed a whopping 127.5 pounds, so rounded up just because she liked even numbers, each of those 64 cannons were 128-pounder guns. The entire ship rocked to the side a little as they fired in one colossal volley, sending quite literally a wall of metal death at the ships. Most of the shots were aimed high by their gunners, aiming for the mast, and as their shots flew through the air, breaking the sound barrier as they did so, they proved that despite being brought into reality, none of them had lost their skill.
Kris had obviously organised the gunners to their targets, as each ship received a roughly even number of shots, and those shots didn't hit the enemy masts...they obliterated them. A few shots went into the hulls of each ship, far above the waterline, but the vast majority sheared through the air where the mast used to be after the first shot hit, the 128-pound spherical projectile having completely destroyed the comparatively pitiful wooden beam in a single hit. It was the most blatant and flagrant display of dominance and ability that Skye was surprised just a hint that the ships didn't immediately start waving white flags. "Seems like we won't need those galleon-busters after all." She muttered to herself with more than a hint of amusement.
Still, it was good to be prepared. Her ears easily detected Ansash and his boarders dropping through the surface of the ocean to go and board the crippled vessels. They weren't just crippled by their masts being blasted to splinters either, the shots from the few who aimed at the ships themselves ripped absolutely unstoppable destruction through the entire width of the enemy ships, raking them from bow to stern internally, as evidenced by the storm of wood that blasted out of the rear of the oncoming ships and filled the water behind them, each ships descending into pandemonium when they were hit.
A scant minute later, whilst the Grand Larceny turned to approach the beleaguered vessels, Skye observed Ansash and the other halifrond leaping out of the water and up onto the ships, quickly killing any resistance that tried to form and utterly cowing the remnants of the shellshocked crews. "Tha' were...depressin'ly easy, like all tha' res'." Kris said as he moved to stand beside her, prompting her to shrug.
"They wanted to approach us, so they can blame it on the stupidity of their captains. We'll be relieving them of any valuable cargo, leave the survivors though, I want word to spread of the Grand Larceny. Good job with that by the way, leaving the survivors to spread the word was a good idea, made sure I would actually hear of you." Kris chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. It was obviously Kris who had made that call, none of the others had the authority over the crew that he had. Plus, he was smart. Once he had seen that the enemy ships had no 'normal' cannons, even the biggest ones, he knew that the Grand Larceny would be unique, which would help spread the story.
She chatted with him for a few minutes whilst they approached the ships, and once they pulled alongside one of the large galleys, the crew threw over boarding hooks and pulled the two ships together. Ansash was on a different ship, as some were still putting up some small amounts of resistance, but the halifrond left to watch over the crew were still arrayed on the deck, so as she hopped across, she could see the crew of the enemy ship were suitably surprised to see her, as she didn't exactly cut an imposing pirate captain kind of look with her height or furry ears.
"Alright then, who here is highest up the chain of command?" She asked, tapping her foot when no answer came from the crew. "Alright, let me put it in simpler terms. Give me someone who I can give our terms to, or we slaughter every living soul on this ship, throw you all overboard for the sharks, then set fire to the ship and leave it to sink after taking everything valuable." She said bluntly, watching the crew for a moment and smirking when most pairs of eyes came to settle on one man. "You then." She said bluntly, watching him look around for a moment before dipping his head. "So, what kinda stuff were you carrying? Spices? Alcohol? Timber? Slaves?"
Skye threw out a few random cargo options, watching the man shake his head to each. "No-no, we were carrying tea, sugar, salt, s-spices and pre-precious gems. The captain would-would know more but he um..." The man looked at a rather horrifically mutilated corpse blankly. Evidently the man had pissed off Ansash or one of the halifrond to end up quite like that Pirates of the Caribbean guy, his eyes were gouged out and he was in, to put it simply, a fucked up state.
"Sounds pretty simple to me. So, any idea why your dearly departed captain, or whoever had made the call amongst this small fleet, thought it was a wise idea to approach us? It was pretty fucking obvious your ships, numerous as you might have been, had no magical cannons, so approaching one which clearly had them, or at least their equivalent, seems like a stupid fucking idea to me." The man shivered at her words, hunching in further on himself, if that was even possible.
"He-he wanted to pay you to escort our ships to a port in Roble. He had some kind of special cargo to deliver, he didn't tell anyone what it was though. We just-just know that he hid it in his cabin and didn't let anyone inside." Skye hummed, looking between him and the other sailors before smirking. If that wasn't a trap she'd eat her hat...well, if she was wearing a hat at least.
With a shrug, Skye left the crew where they were, calling out over her shoulder for the crew to loot all the valuables out of the cargo crates and pile them up on the deck of the Grand Larceny. She meanwhile headed to the aft of the ship and into the captain's cabin. Within, it all seemed fairly normal, nothing seemed out of place or like it was more valuable than anything else. Palming her chin, Skye looked over everything with a keen eye, each ornament or odd bauble, resolving to simply jam her dagger into the lower spine of the man if he had lied to her. Killing him, that was easy and quick, but paralysing him and casting him adrift on a piece of wood, that was a fair revenge. But, it seemed not to be, as Skye's eyes fell onto a wardrobe. It wasn't really anything special, just a standard wooden wardrobe. But what stood out to her was what her ears were able to detect, which was the sound of steady breathing coming from the wardrobe.
Her curiosity piqued, as she had deliberately given whoever was in there a nice big opening by turning her back on the wardrobe, Skye moved over to the door and opened it without any prelude, raising an eyebrow at the tied up elf boy that was somehow still asleep at the bottom. She hadn't exactly been quiet entering, and the ship had just been hit by multiple cannonballs, and yet that brat was somehow still asleep?
Still, it was something worth investigating, since apparently, the boy was special cargo. From the fact he was tied up and gagged, he likely wasn't there willingly, and since he was still asleep, either he was a stupidly heavy sleeper, or he was drugged, either was possible really. Reaching down, Skye picked him up by the collar of his clothing, noting the fine material as she did so, then gave him a once over. No visible injuries, he looked like a pretty normal elf child to her, and if his features were 'aristocratic' she had no idea, she wasn't exactly good at deciding that kinda stuff, so for all she knew he had the features of a god-child.
With that done, Skye gave another glance around the room, then departed back out to the deck, still hauling the unconscious child in one hand. Once she was outside, she called out towards the kneeling crew who had been grouped up. "Okay, who can identify this brat?" She said with a small degree of forced irritation, watching as the men and women all immediately looked over. Unfortunately, she could tell immediately that none of them recognised him. There wasn't a hint of recognition on any of their faces. "Okay, how about theories or ideas? Who 'thinks' they know who this might be?"
That was again met with blank faces, as none of them wanted to risk earning her ire. "Fucks sake. Alright, here's the deal. You lot get to stay here on your now much less ladened ship and can try to rig up a way back to shore however the hell you choose. When you get back to shore, I want word to spread about this brat, because that should flush out whoever wants him." She said plainly, whilst internally she tossed about the idea that maybe the brat was just utterly worthless.
After all, there was a chance that he was being transported for some utterly inane reason like sexual slavery, instead of being some kind of ransom child or bargaining chip, in which case just ditching him on some driftwood and leaving him to his fate would be nice and easy. "Why should w-" Skye pulled a flintlock and without a moment's hesitation put a shot between the eyes of the woman who spoke up, gesturing with the smoking end of her gun and a questioning look on her face, daring anyone else to be as mentally deficient as her, whilst at the same time the corpse slammed down against the wooden deck.
"Honestly, some fucking people are genuinely too stupid to let live to infect the gene pool." Skye muttered under her breath, tossing the empty flintlock away and shaking her head. Turning her attention to the pile of loot that had been gathered, she opened up her inventory and gleefully devoured the entire pile in one big go, turning her eyes back onto the crew. "Right...mention this to anyone and I give you my personal promise that I will find you, lash your soul to the maidenhead of my ship, and have you spend a hundred years trapped there as punishment."
She capped it with a grin that showed just a few too many teeth, turning after a second to hop back onto the Grand Larceny. The other ships had been brought to the ship by the halifrond, using hooks and their power to simply tug the ships into place, which meant gathering the loot from the other ships was easy. One had been carrying demihuman slaves that were going to be sold off to a few noble buyers in the Roble Holy Kingdom, to which Skye simply moved the crew for that ship to another ship, then told the ex-slaves that they were now in charge of getting themselves out of their situation.
Since most of them were young, female and 'delicate' as one particularly unhappy demihuman had put it, albeit quietly and assumedly out of her hearing, they probably weren't going to make it to safety, but that was totally not her problem. They could put in the work to get themselves to shore, or they could get killed by monsters or re-enslaved, it just depended on how hard they were willing to work.
Already the ship she had looted originally had set up a crude pulley and were working on fashioning a makeshift sail, so it wasn't as though they lacked the materials, the ships had hammocks for fabric, and there was wood around that could be used to make small frames for sails. Nothing like an actual mast, of course, they didn't quite have that level of ability or material, but enough to get the ship moving somewhat.
The third galley just had regular cargo, nothing special, and the two cogs were carrying some minor amounts of cargo but nothing to write home about. All in all, for the cost of just 64 cannonballs, which was about four tons worth of generic metal balls, and enough powder to load each cannon, they had stolen a little less than a thousand tons of assorted goods from the five different vessels, all without suffering a single casualty or setback.
All in all, it was an exceptionally profitable first haul. If she had the patience, she would have also made some money ransoming off the crews, but keeping them all in check sounded like a major hassle, and so sending the ships off after they had been stripped of all their goods was the easiest option. That still left the problem of the elf brat that she had shoved into her cabin, leaving Bell to keep an eye on him at the same time as she was copying the charts that the ships had been carrying to properly map out the world.
But, she could keep an eye on one tied up brat until she could see if he was particularly valuable. Some part of her reminded her that she was being a bit cruel to a child that possibly hadn't done anything wrong, but she was literally a pirate who had just ordered plenty of deaths...and that made her pause. She had actually just done that, and felt literally nothing. Those crews had done nothing to her or her ship, and if they boarded them, knocking their crews out would have been piss-easy, but no, instead, she decided to just shoot first and kill any resistance off.
When that woman had started to talk back, she shot her without any hesitation. An actual, living, breathing woman, who had hopes and dreams and possibly a family waiting for her to come back home, and she'd shot her just like that...and honestly, even now as she thought hard on that fact, she realised that she didn't actually care that much. She cared more about the powder and shot she had used up than about the fact she had actually killed a person in cold blood. Every other time she could handwave it away somehow, but even when it was unequivocally her own actions that made her shoot the woman instead of backhanding her or doing something nonlethal, she honestly didn't care.
A question for the philosophers she supposed.
Her lips curling upwards, Skye turned her eyes onto the 'sleeping' form of the elf-child.
His breathing had changed, as clear as day to her sensitive hearing, and she could hear him trying to keep his breathing steady and unworthy of notice. He didn't move or make any visible indication he was awake, which led her to wonder whether he'd been trained in situations of being taken captive, since most children his age would have likely not been nearly as smart. Or perhaps he had already learned from his previous experiences to not draw attention.
Whatever the case was, he was awake, Skye knew he was awake, and he didn't know that Skye knew he was awake. Rather than address it, she merely turned her attention back to the book in her hands, flipping the page after she was done loudly enough that he undoubtedly heard it. The book itself was actually a treatise on 'Martial Arts', the New World equivalent of skills from Yggdrasil, and it was fairly bland.
The only notable thing about the martial arts described was that they weren't rigid like spells, but were instead completely open to uniqueness, each warrior developing their own unique martial arts. The 'Head Warrior' of the Re-Estize Kingdom for example was known for his martial art 'Sixfold Flash of Light', which was an attack that sliced six targets at the same time. There were standardized abilities like Physical Boost, Mental Enhancement, Cutting Edge and other such 'basic' martial arts, but for unique abilities, they were obscenely hard to copy, for reasons that the treatise didn't go into, presumably because the writer just didn't know. After all, those standard abilities were still martial arts that someone made, and yet, others could learn them with only moderate difficulty.
Flipping another page, Skye flicked her eyes over to the elf again, curious to see how long he would last before his curiosity or fear overcame his resilience. If he managed to make it an hour she would be honestly quite surprised, but then again, maybe he had spent that time in the wardrobe being perfectly still and silent because if he moved, made noise or caught the attention of that captain he would get punished, she just didn't know, since the only ones who could tell he were either being picked apart by marine life, or were currently trying to pretend to have not woken up.
After about half an hour had passed with no indication that he was going to move, Skye got bored of her book and put it away, then leaned back in her chair, watching the side of his face as he was laid down facing up. Since he still wasn't moving, Skye took a guitar from her inventory and began to idly pick at the strings, debating what kind of music she felt like playing, eventually settling for He Was A Good Stalker, simply because she was actually able to play it. If she had others and had the required instruments something like Modern Day Cain would be funny, but alas, she did not, and so had to stick with only simple things.
As she played, she recalled that Bell and Kris both had backstories that involved being able to play music, so maybe she could get them to play some music with her, it would be nice to just relax with the characters she had spent literally years messing around with. Bell was able to play the lute, which was close enough to a guitar that she felt she'd be able to get her onto playing guitar easily enough, while Kris, funnily enough, was able to play the piano. And not just play it, but play it well, at least as far as his backstory went, since he had once played to the satisfaction of a Goblin King.
When the song was finished, Skye simply began a different song, then another, going through a few songs she knew how to play by heart, eventually giving up when it became obvious that he wasn't going to be drawn to reveal that he was awake by her playing some music. Not that she really expected him to, it was more just passing the time to see if he was actually patient or not. "Alright brat, drop the act, I could hear your breathing change easily enough. I want to know why you were being kept on that ship." She said bluntly, watching him and rolling her eyes upon him not reacting at all to her words.
Skye got up from where she had been seated and walked over, picking him up with one hand on his collar, then shaking him vigorously. That managed to coax a response at him as he opened his eyes and glared at her, yet didn't even say a word. "Good, you aren't comatose. Now, I want to know why you were on that ship. If you feel like not telling me, that's fine. I hope you're able to swim really well, because we're a good fifteen kilometres from shore and I'm not feeling particularly patient." Again, he didn't give her a response beside maintaining his glare, so Skye was left to sigh. "That's cool, you might think you're important or valuable, but to me, you're dead weight right now, so you'd better make yourself valuable to me or you'll end up as food for the sharks...or my crew depending on if they get hungry and decide you look too tasty to let you swim away."
That succeeded in getting at least some kind of response, a moment where his eyebrows raised before his glare came back into effect. "Huh, you're one tough cookie. Alright, I'm done with you. Sink or swim for all I care." She muttered halfheartedly, carrying him along as she exited her cabin and stepped out onto the deck, moving towards the railing on the side of the ship closer to shore while she felt him looking around at her crew.
Once she reached the railing, she gave him a look, and upon him still just glaring at her, she shrugged, reared her arm back, then hurled him overboard, watching him flail in the air before his head hit the water backwards and flipped him so his back then slammed into the ocean surface, knocking the breath out of him as he quickly plunged underwater. Leaning onto the railing, Skye watched the area he'd gone under, and after about ten seconds, he emerged from the ocean, spluttering and flailing.
After a moment to get his bearings and stop splashing around in a panic, he looked around, spotting her ship first, then continuing to turn and spotting absolutely nothing all around. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell ya, since we're so far from shore, unless you were up high, you won't be able to tell which way is heading to shore!" She said with a cackle, grinning when he floated in place and stared directly at her.
When he raised a hand towards her, the other keeping him afloat, her face pulled into a surprised grin as he cast a spell at her. It was only Magic Arrow, no triplet maximize or boost magic on it, so when he finished the spell and shot at her, she didn't even avoid the spell. Instead, she took out one of her daggers and placed it in the path of the projectiles, blocking it with the flat of the blade, then put the blade away and replaced her elbows on the railing as she watched the elf boy, just to see what he'd do now that his magic had utterly failed.
Unfortunately, she was let down when he simply began swimming away from her ship as quickly as possible. "Knock him out, bring him back, keep an eye on him for me." She said to her side, where several of her crew had gathered to watch the show. Several of them leapt to follow her command, leaping off of the ship and cutting through the water towards the fleeing elf child with ease, knocking him back and hauling his unconscious body back to the ship.
Sure, she couldn't be bothered to deal with questioning him, but that didn't mean she didn't intend to keep ahold of him until she was sure he wasn't valuable in some way.
I know, it's not over 20,000 words, but I honestly couldn't make this longer, I just ran out of steam entirely and there's only 4 hours until this is due to go up, so I figured it being slightly shorter would be fine.
I don't know if I'm actually going to end up writing Chapter 4 of this for a while, but I do intend to at least upload something next year on the same day =D