It’s been over a week since they’d left Kyoshi, and Myers can’t help but find himself relaxed. He sits upon the now padded throne with a single hand resting upon the crystal. For a moment, he’d thought the good mood is somehow an effect from the throne, but a simple test of not sitting on it shows that not to be the case. His good mood is a result of pleasant weather, pleasant food, interesting company, and his general love for piloting ships.

  A flex of his mana shifts the to descend downard in preparation. He looks up at the crows nest where Gino dozes off with a casted arm dangling from the side. Myers had seen the severe injury, the crushed and ripped apart arm. It is an injury that unless you had an expert Phytonid [Healer], the arm would need to be amputated.

  Instead, a low-level Phytonid [Druid] can do the same thing, albeit much slower.

  “Gino,” Myers calls, waking the young man up.

  Gino stands and leans over the side. “Did you call me?”

  “Yes. We’re going to exit the slipstream. Can I ask you to warn everyone to grab hold of something?”

  The kid nods. He hops off the crows nest and expertly rides down the ropes using his feet and a single arm. It’s a feat that would be considered quite impressive if Myers didn’t know Gino is a [Swift Rogue].

  “Make sure to wake up Quasi this time. We don’t want a repeat of last week.”

  Gino blushes as he rushes past to give a warning.

  ________________________________________________________

  I tap my chin in thought at the levels of my crew.

  I sigh aloud and then glance at the floating eyeball. “Alright Red, I’m done here. Let me wake up.”

  “Acknowledged”

  One moment I’m surrounded by white, and then next I’m back into my feline form. Not a moment after I stand and stretch does Gino rush into my room.

  “[Captain], you’re awake!” He exclaims, oddly surprised.

  I yawn. “I am. What’s the rush? Are we getting attacked by pirates?” I ask eagerly.

  “Or are there [Pirates] to attack? I’m fine with either choice.”

  “N-no. Myers says he’s leaving the slipstream.”

  I grimace at the memory last week where I was rudely awoken from my nap by the powers of gravity. Funny how a cat's ability to write itself doesn't work well after waking up midair.

  “I see. That means we’re nearly at our destination.” I take a stretch before hopping on my bed. “Thanks for the warning this time,” I tell the flushing kid. “Makes sure everyone else is also warned.”

  I rush out of my room, down the hallways, up the stairs, and finally the deck.

  “Myers, are we almost there yet?” I hop on the armrest of the throne.

  “Yes. Once we exit the Slipstream, we should be able to see the island Nivis.”

  “And the tower is on the island, right?”

  “Inside, actually.”

  “So like Kyoshi, but without the Fenrimorph infection.”

  “Nivis is much larger and maybe just as dangerous, if not in the same way.”

  “Explain.” I say.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Everyone is ready!” Gino arrives on the deck.

  Myers grunts. “It may be better to show you instead. Hang on.”

  I hop on Myers shoulder and extend my claws lightly into his coat.

  As soon as I do, Myers leans the forward while simultaneously causing the ship to descend. Exiting and entering a slipstream as a Frigate class is considered both difficult and dangerous. It is a process where a single mistake can lead to injury or even death of crew. But for Myers, the old man does the maneuver with as much ease as he drinks his unsweetened bitter tea.

  As soon as we exit the slipstream, he levels the ship, granting us a perfect view of over a dozen distant vessels, including a very familiar one.

  Once again, my path crosses with the infamous Valentine and his incredibly impressive ship. As for the other odd fifteen ships, they look to be converging towards the [Pirate Captain].

  “Are those [Bounty Hunters]?” I ask aloud.

  Myers shakes his head. “There isn’t a bounty hunter alive stupid enough to try to fight Valentine. Can you see the fleet's flag?”

  I squint.

  “Looks like six eyes surrounded by horns.”

  “Then that’s the inquisition fleet. And If my guess is correct, that fleet is supposed to be heading to Kyoshi.”

  “So why do they look like they’re about to fight Valentine? I mean, they do have the numbers advantage, but a lot of their ships don’t look built for combat and only one of the ships looks like it can compete with the .”

  Myers sighs. “Valentine is hated by every nation and has the second highest bounty after his life. Killing him is going to result in levels, fame, and wealth enough to buy multiple islands. Even so, the Inquisition shouldn’t be this dumb. What’s the fleet's capital? That should be its largest vessel.”

  “Give me a moment.”

  With a shift of mana, I transform into my bird form. With my improved sight, I’m able to get a much clearer picture of what I’m seeing. What I see is a massive ship somewhat similar to the with three notable exceptions. The ship is cored, it has a large cannon on its deck, and two propellers at the stern of the ship- one on each side.

  With a mental command, I am greeted with additional information.

  Though both ships are of the same class, Valentines is still larger, faster, and has more hull integrity. Granted, the massive cannon on the deck looks powerful. I transform back into a cat and explain the details to Myers.

  Myers brushes his beard. “Other than the Manacore cannon and Mana Propellers, the is your basic capital vessel.”

  “Can it fight the ?”

  “It’s a genuine threat. The Manacore Cannon destroys hull integrity and disables regeneration while the Mana Propellers offer rapid positioning. It’s an ideal ship to lead a fleet, but it is nowhere capable of being Valentine's equal.”

  “You make it sound like they don’t have a chance.”

  Myers leans back into the backrest of the throne. “They don’t. If we’re very lucky, they might force Valentine to use his skill. But I doubt it. For now, watch and learn what the pinnacle of ship combat can do.”

  “I will.”

  I stretch my back and lay down just as the first shot is fired.

  A glowing projectile exits the Manacore Cannon of the . It moves quickly, much faster than a shot from a cannon, barely even arcing. The Bone-leviathan reacts gracefully. Its wings extend and flap, shifting the massive battleship to the side, avoiding the projectile.

  After the first volley, the Bone-Leviathan and the enter within broadside range of the other. They turn and unload. From the side of the nearly a hundred projectiles explode towards the . In response, Valentine releases six glowing broadsides from its rotary cannons in a flurry of firepower. A literal rain of explosive projectile strikes the in a shower of glowing light. An Arcane barrier manifests over the Grand Ravine, protecting the deck and internal crew from anything that doesn’t land on the hull.

  With each impact, the hull integrity drops rapidly, reducing hull integrity to a fourth of what it was.

  As for the , barely ten-thousand integrity was lost. Even then, the integrity is regenerating.

  “When it comes to firepower, few vessels can beat the in a direct trade.”

  “Because of those rotary cannons, right? Are they rare or something?” I ask.

  “Somewhat. They’re created in Lapis and are used solely for Gemma warships.” Myers explains. “Not that other ships can use them if they could get their hands on the weapons.”

  “Because you need specific skills or something?” I guess.

  “Weight.” Myers corrects. He then points a finger, “the rest of the fleet has arrived.”

  Returning my attention, I watch as the numerous other ships converge on Valentine, but the [Pirate Captain] maneuvers rapidly, unloading broadsides while dodging most projectiles with maneuvers more akin to a bird than a ship. In a matter of minutes, half the fleet is either destroyed or too damaged to continue. At the same time, the is only down another ten-thousand hull points.

  “This is absurd.” I say. “Why are they still fighting? Shouldn’t they retreat?”

  “The Inquisition never retreats from a fight they start.”

  I sigh. “Right. Honorbound culture. Do they even have a plan or are they just trying to make him waste ammo?”

  Myers grunts. “They’ve been trying to get close enough to board.”

  “Really? It didn’t look like it. Wait! Could they even fight his crew?”

  “Their ships are too slow to get close. As for fighting his crew, Inquisition fleets are known to carry hundreds of [Samurai] including one or two named [Samurai]. They have both numbers and levels to be a threat.”

  “So that’s a no.”

  Myers gives a slow nod.

  The next five minutes are a slaughter as more and more of the fleet is butchered. During this entire time, thehovers away from the fight, regenerating its hull and occasionally trying to snipe with its Manacore Cannon.

  As the last of the supporting fleet is destroyed, the only two ships remaining are the Grand Ravine and the .

  The two ships had engaged once at the start, with the being the clear winner.

  Myers leans forward as the two ships accelerate towards each other like at the start. This time, the reactions are different. Where the turns and unleashes a broadside, the doesn't do the same. Instead, the ship seems to speed up, going faster and faster. The propellers at the rear of the ship create a vortex, tripling the ship's speed. At the same time, the prow of the ship starts to glow. The barrier protecting the ship becomes visibly crimson. The barrier twists and turns, rotating like a drill.

  “What the hell is that?”

  “It’s a skill called [Ramming Vortex].” Myers says coolly.

  “Wait! You can get skills for your ship?”

  I got no answer from the old man. Instead, we watch as the releases its broadside directly at the . As each projectile strikes the battleship, thousands of hull-points are removed.

  But not fast enough. The charges forth and reaches the . Practically a meter from impact, the disappears into a silver mist, only to immediately appear right behind the .

  Myers releases a breath. “[Astral Step]” he whispers.

  The slows and turns, its hull integrity nearly spent. The ship turns and aims its Manacore Cannon at the .

  At the same time, the opens its skeletal mouth to reveal an enormous barrel. The eyes of the dead beast glows a fiery crimson. A charging vortex manifests around the barrel, glowing more and more crimson every second.

  The first to fire is the Manacore Cannon, its projectile aimed directly at the open mouth. As the projectile nears, a wave of lightning manifests from the deck, intercepting the projectile.

  “Quasi,” Myers says slowly. “You’re about to witness the very reason why Valentine is the most feared pirate in the world.”

  The finishes charging, the barrel and teeth glowing crimson.

  Then it happens. The air ionizes first, sparking around the ship, followed by a loud bang. What releases from the barrel is a glowing teal projectile aimed at the The ship turns and barely dodges the projectile.

  Not that it matters.

  Whatever is keeping the projectile together shatters, releasing its internal payload near the battleship. One moment the teal ball glows brighter, and the next it is replaced with an island sized hurricane of fire and plasma that engulfs the alongside everything a mile in diameter of the explosion.

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