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Salt and Blood - Chapter 58
🕑 Added 2024-10-28 12:54:40 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 57 | Table of Contents | Chapter 59 >>
1.58 - Calm Before the Storm
One of the most intriguing mysteries of the ocean—to me, at least—is how intertwined blissful calm and raging fury are when it comes to storms. The ocean is never calmer than before the most violent storm; the eye of the storm is a sanctuary of utter stillness amidst the devastating rage of the wind and rain around it.
-Excerpt from ‘Breath of the Sea’ by Hellemere Feldas
Attempting to harvest [Serpent’s Kiss ★3]...
Rose tried to still her shaking hands. Harvesting was handled by the tide and whatever arcane processes it employed to extract treasure from the remains of beasts. They often hung awkwardly by her side as she harvested treasures.
Harvest success!
[Serpent’s Kiss ★3] obtained!
The world slowed to a stop around her. Rose wasn’t sure how to react to the whorl. The evidence was before her eyes but she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.
This was a treasure beyond level 100—an epipelagic treasure. For a village girl like her to have something like this was… wrong. No, I shouldn’t belittle myself. I’ve come a long way in these short months.
Even with her confidence restored Rose tried to look at the situation rationally. Why had she managed to succeed here, but fail so many times with the lesser treasure.
Regardless of the reasons, the result was clear. Opening her inventory, Rose was curious to see what exactly [Serpent’s Kiss ★3] was.
Her first epipelagic treasure was unassuming. At a glance it seemed to be one of the monster’s fangs, as was fitting given the name.
While she wouldn’t want a kiss from that colossal serpent, she couldn’t contain her excitement. Was it perhaps a poisoned weapon? Would she even want to use poison? It seemed an underwhelming way to dispatch one’s foes.
Pulling it out with a thought, the size of it surprised her. In the inventory it was small compared with Sunsplitter and the various glands of the salamanders. Yet her hand barely fit around it.
Keeping it, she turned to the final piece of the snake. Unlike the others, this one didn’t draw her in, pulling on her mind with the allure of treasure.
And yet it had an oppressive presence, one that threatened to drown her the deeper she focused on it. It reminded her of the tidestone in her first convergence, which could only mean one thing.
The serpent itself had been the core of this convergence. Trent had never told her that a monster could be a convergence core, but then again she’d never thought to ask.
This was the reason he’d been fighting so desperately and even gone as far as to taunt it into a life-or-death battle. Thinking of the strange messages regarding the convergence earlier she suspected the reason why the first breach had halted was this serpent being a second core.
Could she manage this? Trent hadn’t allowed her to deal with the first one, but she’d been a naive girl then. She still was, in many ways, but she felt that she could handle it.
Nasar was with her, his stoic presence reassuring her that even if something went wrong there wouldn’t be any danger to her life. Sometimes Trent didn’t offer that same comfort, given his permanent smirk and cocky demeanour. He was a reliable captain overall though—mostly.
Walking up to the scaly flesh, the air grew viscous, slowing her approach. Pushing against the resistance, Rose advanced until she was close enough to touch the serpent’s final remains.
There was no whorl greeting her, no offer to uncover the secrets that lay within. She’d not had the chance to witness Trent harvest the tidestone, so she knew little about the process.
Walking a circle around it, Rose saw no clue as to what might lay within. She might be mistaken about it containing the convergence core, but there was only one way to find out.
She pulled Sunsplitter from her inventory and brandished the twin cutlasses aloft. They sliced through the air towards the scaly flesh, halting halfway through the tough meat.
Even dead, the monster’s body was far too tough for her to cut through. With a sigh she pulled the blade back out and raised it up for a second swing.
Her second strike carved straight through to the stone below and the hunk of meat fell to the ground with a wet slap. A step to her right startled her, but it was only Nasar approaching.
“Not half bad,” he muttered, running a hand along the severed flesh. “Technique needs work and those skinny arms of yours are far from suitable, but you might have a career as a pirate chef ahead of you. If you fancy giving it a shot, of course.”
Rose paused, contemplating the offer. It was unexpected. While his statement seemed outwardly harsh, there was a compliment hidden within. “Thanks. Maybe I’ll join you in the kitchen to cook this big bastard,” she replied.
Nasar nodded in reply. He likely hadn’t expected an immediate answer, but seemed satisfied with her decision. Even if he hadn’t extended the invitation, she may have watched him prepare and cook it anyway—cooking fascinated her.
Her cut had unveiled a fragment of blue crystal, buried in the snake’s body. Her guess had been right on the money. There was a tidestone within; the core of the convergence she sought.
What followed was a flurry of action as her blades twirled, tearing through the hunk of snake meat. Learning as she went, the cuts grew cleaner, cutting through more of its body each time.
A few beads of sweat rolled down her temple as she let her arms hang by her side. With her final slash, Rose had managed to cleave the entire way through the thick segment in one go.
Skill up!
Butchery 9 > 10
You have earned a new trait!
With the Grain: Carving up the corpses of your foes and an endless number of beasts has given you some insight into the best way to hack flesh from bone in as few cuts as possible. You can quickly uncover how to carve through corpses you encounter, even if for the first time.
To Rose, this particular trait meant far more than the others she’d picked up along her journey. While every single trait improved her abilities, this one offered something much more valuable—the potential to make harvesting treasures easier.
She had no treasure to test it on as she’d already dealt with the two here, but she was sure they would find some more in the coming weeks. The tidestone in front of her glowed brightly, casting an illuminating hue across the island and making the nearby water sparkle.
It was covered in blood and bits of the sea serpent that were stubbornly clinging to its surface; even in death the monster seemed unwilling to part with its good fortune. What could Trent have stolen from it to enrage it enough to venture out of its lair when it was already sitting on this?
She turned to Nasar, who observed the blood-soaked spectre before him with impressive neutrality. “I think you should look after this. As Trent mentioned, I can’t utilise it yet and carrying it around is asking for trouble,” she said, not quite committed to the decision but aiming to be sensible regardless.
“Don’t be silly. That man is far too cautious for his own good sometimes. Tidestones aren’t just for extracting energy to empower yourself, but have a lot of utility as a trading tool and power source for technology,” he explained with a wave of his hand. “You could try experimenting a bit. Maybe you have a hidden talent for tinkering,”
With the decision made for her, Rose turned back to the alluring stone. This one was misshapen and jagged, far from the smooth and pristine convergence core that she’d mistaken for an egg.
Provided it wasn’t too heavy, she could carry it back to the ship. However, she hadn’t seen Trent lugging tidestones around so there must be a way to store them.
Either he had a similar artifact to Nasar, that magical bracelet that could hold the entire corpse of the serpent, or there was a trick to it. Touching a hand to the stone, Rose gasped.
Skill up!
Arcane Attunement 3 > 4
Struck by lightning. That was how she felt in the instant her skin made contact with the tidestone. A hammer of arcane energy blasted into her mind.
The fact her skill had levelled up from a single touch was testament to the raw power contained within the crystal. Just as kids ignored the warnings of their parents and often paid the price, Rose hadn’t taken Trent’s warning seriously until experiencing the raging, lifelike energy inside the stone.
Steeling herself, she stepped forwards and placed her palm against the stone a second time. This time she was prepared for the onslaught of energy, but that still didn’t lessen the blow.
Keeping her hand against it felt like dipping it in boiling water. Hundreds of searing tendrils of arcane energy burrowed under her skin.
Skill up!
Arcane Attunement 4 > 5
She felt like the tendons in her fingers were being torn apart. This wouldn’t last much longer—if the energy continued to seep into her body it would collapse from within.
Rose closed her eyes and focused, deciding to give her idea a try. Attempting to direct her will into the stone before her, she heard a subtle pop and the pressure vanished.
Opening them once more, she saw that the tidestone had disappeared. She pulled up her inventory, intending to check if her theory had merit—perhaps Nasar had stepped in to stop her killing herself instead.
Inventory [7/12]
Sunsplitter 51
Salamander’s Rejuvenation Gland 24
Salamander’s Rejuvenation Gland 26
Salamander’s Rejuvenation Gland 23
Salamander’s Flame Gland 28
Salamander’s Flame Gland 31
Tidestone 74
Alongside treasures and equipment fashioned from them, it seemed that tidestones could be stored in one’s inventory. She’d had a suspicion, as they were treasures of a sort. The value of the tidestone eclipsed everything else she owned.
In a few days of battle, Rose had become the richest person to ever hail from Fairwater Bay. She didn’t know the market value of a tidestone, but it had to be a tidy sum given how Trent drooled over them like a starved beast eyed meat.
“Marvellous job, Rose,” said Nasar, clapping her on the shoulder. “Let’s head back to the ship, I imagine this place won’t hold up for long now and we should make sure we aren’t near the danger.”
As if the world was listening to them, a splash sounded in her ears and she narrowed her eyes at the message displayed before her.
WARNING!
Convergence core has been harvested, breaching is imminent.
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Comments
Eric M
Shouldn't her inventory listing include the two treasures she just harvested from the serpent?
