Chapter 258 – Tempest

Chapter 258 – Tempest

 

It had been years since his teachers had vanished from the archipelago. Any attempt to look for them quickly ran into a dead end. The Republic might have some clue, but Kai wasn’t about to show them a connection with his previous identity.

Can it be a coincidence?

He had never learned the butler’s full name; surely he wasn’t the only Elijah out there. Leafing through the pages, the journal recounted the owner’s mundane life right up to embarking on the Intrepid—his teacher just part of a group of tourists from the mainland. Kai quickly picked up a suspicious pattern in the wording: the diary was encrypted. He might have missed it if he weren’t used to breaking down arcane runes.

It fell on my head while the Fulcrum was active. I should have known.

“Are you hurt?” Flynn whispered, still hidden in Shadow. “What’s that?”

“I’m not sure.” Kai stored the journal in his ring. They’d have time to worry about it if they survived. The whims of Fate didn’t ensure the journal would be beneficial or even useful. “Yeah, I—”

“Did you hear that crash?” The young pirate’s voice echoed from the companionway.

“We’re in a storm, you idiot! Things tend to get flung around.” Ander’s grouchy tone made them freeze.

“But it didn’t sound like furniture crashing. More like a human,” the raider grumbled. “Anybody there?”

Kai slowly stood up, careful not to step on debris and broken glass. He was about to follow Flynn into the corridor, when the tilt of the ship made the door slam shut.

Can’t I get a little more Luck?

“That just sounded like wood to me. Do you seriously expect them to respond either way?”

“They could be another adept of Urslah who lost their balance.”

“Don’t say his name out loud,” Ander hissed. “After all the ruse to not get recognized. The praetor will skin your soul if he hears you.”

“What does it matter? They’re all going to die or get captured anyway.”

“They could have a transmitter.”

“Those don’t work in a mana storm, and we also have a disrupt—” The sentence was interrupted by a slap and a low thud.

“Just go check,” Ander growled. “We need to find the spy’s cabin before the ship sinks.”

Dammit!

Gritting his teeth, Kai carefully tried to pry open the door. It was stuck. His arms were still weak, and the more Strength he applied the more it creaked. Without the soundproofing runes from the ship active, he could distinctly hear two pairs of boots moving closer beneath the groans of the Intrepid.

Hallowed Intuition offered no guidance. If he kicked down the door, they would chase after him. Hiding wasn’t an option either. Each corner of the cramped cabin was fitted with furniture without a single cranny to accommodate him. Even if the pirates couldn’t pierce his cloak of Shadow, chances were they would step on him.

Kahali’s wrath! I prefer it when the Fulcrum doesn’t sabotage me. Ambush it is…

While the healing potion had let him regain some sense in his arms, using a sword was still out of the question. That left his magic. The Sanctuary had taught him to refill his reserves whenever he got the chance, so he had recovered a decent stash. Fighting in close quarters wouldn’t be ideal, but it wasn’t like he had another choice.

“C’mon. Check for your mysterious specter,” Ander growled outside.

The door screeched but didn’t open. “It’s… stuck.” The younger raider wrenched the handle.

Kai crouched beside the bed veiled in Shadow, fingers clenched around his wand. With the Intrepid channeling all its mana into the hull, a porthole periodically obscured by the stormy sea was the only source of light. He’d get one shot at taking them by surprise, he couldn’t fail.

Flynn will know what to do…

“Just give it a push,” Ander sneered. In a burst of splinters, the door swung open shining light from the corridor. “Now, go look.” A broad figure in black shoved the shorter one forward.

The raider carefully squinted at the dim room, rapier in hand. His gaze briefly lay on Kai before moving on to the other corners of the room.

“Any rats?” Ander watched from the threshold.

For a moment, Kai hoped the man would throw a glance around, shrug and leave. No such luck. The younger pirate stabbed the bed and wardrobe with his rapier, body tense to respond to any attacks, while Ander cut off his escape route. The marauder was too distant for an effective ambush, and Kai didn’t dare move a muscle for fear of being heard.

Spirits please, no yellow grades.

Delaying as far as he could to lull them into a sense of complacency, Kai was forced to respond when the shorter man was about to stab him. Seven ice shards shot forward from different angles—the limit of what he could achieve with Split Mind.

The raider Dashed back in a burst of Darkness, struck down a projectile and dodged two more. With only his profession at Yellow, he was too slow to avoid the rest of the shards. His body crumpled against the wall with an ice bolt through the heart, already dead.

Should have chosen a safer career.

Kai darted to the other end of the cabin, expecting an attack or an enraged scream. Neither came. The second pirate watched him from the doorway without a hint of panic or surprise.

What…

“You knew I was there.” Kai scowled in disgust. He didn’t know why he felt so enraged at the betrayal of a murderer, but he did.

The man kicked the body of his companion with a chuckle. “He wasn’t too bright, was he? Always a smartass, just like his bastard brother.” He leveled a two-handed longsword at him. “I’m afraid I must kill you now. You know, dead people can’t talk.”

Instead of replying, Kai released a volley of ice shards. His opponent was fully into Yellow, if he got cornered into the cabin he was as good as dead.

Instead of pressing, the man sidestepped out of the doorway. “Ice and Shadow at your age. Quite impressive.” He whistled. “Who knew we’d find a mage line on this ship? Too bad your daddy sent you without an escort.”

What’s up with monologuing villains?

His age and red profession must make people underestimate him. Caught in a stalemate, Kai readied his spells and refilled his reserves.

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“Maybe I should go call someone else…” The pirate mused, slightly raising his voice.

Lazy coward.

“Sure. Then you can explain to them how you let the other guy die.”

“No one will listen to dead meat,” he scoffed.

“They don’t need to believe me to spread rumors. You said the guy had a brother, right? He might be interested.”

“Uh, I always hated arrogant brats. If you’re so eager to die, let me help you.” Ander spat and summoned a blade of Darkness with a slash.

The inky blackness moved deceptively fast, eating through the ice shield for his head. Kai cast a revolving water bubble to slow the attack but was surprised when that stopped the attack entirely.

Hmm… it weakens the more it has to eat—

Ander charged, wielding a blade coated in Darkness.

With no space to dodge, Kai covered the floorboards in ice to disrupt his footing. He was ready to flood the cabin when the Intrepid lunged at a sharp angle towards the raider. The man slipped on his spell and fell back through the entrance.

Thanks, that’s enou—

The vessel continued to tilt to an almost ninety-degree angle with a creak of wood. Kai grabbed onto the nailed bedpost to not plunge toward his foe; images of sinking to the bottom of the ocean swarmed his mind. Just as he thought the Intrepid was about to capsize, a rush of blazing mana snapped them back into an upright position.

I need to get out. That was too close.

Drenched in cold sweat, Kai failed to capitalize on his foe’s weakness. The marauder had stabbed his sword into the wooden boards outside the cabin to not get thrown away. “Cursed Abyss. You’re lucky, bra—” He spun to swing his longsword at his back.

Shadow retreated in a flash of Lightning—not before leaving a dagger in his lower back. Flynn hadn’t wasted the opportunity.

Ander gritted his teeth to pull out the dagger. “Fucki—” He threw himself behind a toppled wardrobe to avoid the hail of ice.

Body Augmentation flooded Kai’s legs to escape from the cabin—the pirate was faster. Ander forced him back with a slash and turned to snatch a throwing knife out of the air. Caught between two attackers, he slammed the broken door shut behind him.

Naturally, you picked the squishy mage.

With his back against a wall, Kai unloaded a blizzard of ice and water to overwhelm his opponent with the sheer number of spells he could cast. He wasn’t the only one trapped in the cabin.

“Pathetic.” The marauder sneered as a ring glowed incandescent on his finger. A shield of black flames rose from wall to wall to devour every Water spell. The man advanced toward him, holding the barrier. “Die…”

The longsword clattered to the floor. Ander lowered his gaze to where a spike of ice protruded from his gut. “H— how—” His last words were cut short when another dagger pierced his back. The black fire extinguished into wispy motes as he collapsed.