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Salt and Blood - Chapter 54
🕑 Added 2024-10-24 10:37:41 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 53 | Table of Contents | Chapter 55 >>
1.54 - Big Game Fishing
Take care of your tools and they’ll never fail you. A poor workman blames his tools, forgetting to look at his own faults. I’ve had the same rod for half a century and she works even better than the day I bought her.
-Quoted from Tullius Kingfisher
Water dripped onto the deck from her clothes. Rose wanted to change into a dry outfit, but there was no time. The serpent was bearing down on them and their only defences right now were the dozen cannons on the deck below.
What she did have was a brief moment to check her status. If even Trent wasn’t able to take this monster down, then she wouldn’t be able to hold back.
Name: Rose Everblue
Race: Human
Occupation: Apprentice Scholar 9
Title: Apprentice
Available Titles: Murderer, Apprentice
Bound Items: Sunsplitter 51
Skills: Cleaning 11, Reading 11, Fishing 14, Swimming 10, Writing 13, Butchery 9, Cooking 7, Herding 2, Focus 14, Drawing 11, Sailing 15, One Handed Weapons 5, Blades 13, Pistols 11, Firearms 5, Unarmed Combat 2, Endurance 6, Precision 6, Arcane Attunement 3, Light Attunement 4, Stealth 5, Athletics 8, Toxin Resistance 2, Appraisal 1, Climbing 1, Crafting 1, Dual Wielding 7, Arcane Resistance 1
Traits: Sensitive Line, Deft Hand, Good as New, Tunnel Vision, Endless Inkwell, Quick Consumption, Knot my Problem, Reliable Duelist, Steady Slash, Smooth Strokes
Despite her fears, Rose knew what she needed to do. To give them a fighting chance against the greatest foe they’d ever faced, she would need to equip the Murderer title once more.
While it had drawbacks, she could mitigate them by staying away from Felix and Nasar as they fought. If only I could walk on the sea like Trent.
After they escaped this convergence she would need to ask him what the secret was. No doubt he would refuse to tell her and offer a cryptic riddle.
She realised with some dread that this would be the first monster she’d battled without the smug bastard at her side. He’d become part of her life. Just this once she wanted to prove her own strength; show not just her captain but all the crew that she could stand on her own two feet and face her fears.
She waited as the serpent drew closer. Her pistol would be useless here. The cannons only scratched the sturdy scales, so a bullet would be like flinging a speck of dust.
Felix was inside, tending to Trent. He wasn’t a big fighter, even though he was skilled with the sword. She’d seen him carve a few of the pirates into pieces back on Unrequited Love.
Trent’s crew… It was funny how the world worked sometimes. She still resented him for his actions, but the rational part of her brain recognised that was just because she’d formed a bond with the merchant crew.
Rose would have no qualms about raiding a merchant ship if they encountered one on the way to Zoria. She might even enjoy it.
Nasar was at the wheel. She would need his help to kill the colossal serpent, but at the same time worried about being near an ally with Murderer active.
As it stood she barely reached halfway to the creature’s head. There was still some time before they were in range, so she rushed to the railings and started to clamber up the rigging.
Hand over hand, she ascended with practised ease. The first time she’d tried to climb the ropes, thinking they were taut and steady, she’d done a double spin and almost sprained her ankles, left hanging in testament to her embarrassing failure.
Skill up!
Climbing 1 > 2
In just ten seconds she was perched atop the crow’s nest, now seeing eye to eye with the monster. A cocktail of emotions tumbled through her brain.
Fear, excitement… rage. This bastard would pay for almost killing Trent. Summoning Sunsplitter to her hands, she twirled the blades in turn.
Sparkling radiance danced across the deck as the blades carved the daylight apart. What did it mean to have a light affinity; to be attuned to the light?
In that first convergence it had been blinding and all-consuming—a source of fear. The little campfire had been the opposite. Maybe it was the same thing. For the island, that blinding light was protection.
Skill up!
Light Attunement 4 > 5
Light Attunement 5 > 6
Two levels at once? That’s new. A gurgled screech pierced her eardrums, making the sails flutter from the force of the serpent’s roar.
She wanted to dance with her cutlasses and paint the ocean in a dazzling rainbow, but her enemy was upon her. In a display of navigational finesse utterly unexpected from a chef, Nasar managed to duck the ship’s mast under the serpent’s jaw as it shot forth.
Biting down on empty air, its eyes told a tale of confusion. Rose was mere metres away. There would not be a better chance than this.
Legs coiled like a spring, time slowing as she watched the pupil larger than her head swivel to follow her. The snake was too large; too slow to react.
She exploded forwards, the force of her jump actually snapping part of the crow’s nest. Unfortunately for Rose, that knocked her off target.
Skill up!
Athletic 8 > 9
It was agonisingly ironic of the tide to reward her for a misstep. Still, even missing her original target wasn’t a disaster.
Sunsplitter buried itself into the serpent’s flared nostrils and she dragged the twin cutlasses through the monster’s flesh as she fell to the deck below.
Skill up!
Blades 13 > 14
Grinning as she plummeted, Rose put her cutlasses away and grabbed onto the rigging. Her shoulder jolted as it caught, but she managed to clamber onto the ropes.
The sails were stained with the beast’s blood and it reeled, splashing more across the deck. A deep gash ran down its face, from nostril to jaw. Any damage was worth dealing, but her aim had been to blind their foe from the outset of battle.
She also lacked one vital ingredient to gain the advantage—power. Resigning herself to fate, Rose sighed and brought up her status.
With a single thought, Apprentice became Murderer. She staggered, tripping over and smacking her face into the tiny part of the mast that jutted out of the centre of the crow’s nest.
Dark impulses clawed their way into her mind. Her eyes swivelled, looking for a target to vent her frustration. There were none, save for the screeching serpent.
Even in her vengeful state, her body knew that it was too far a jump. Without realising, Sunsplitter had found its way into her hands, nestled in her tight grip like it had never left.
The serpent locked eyes with her, slit pupils narrowing in fury. Its own blood dripped onto a forked tongue as it hissed, widening its jaw.
There was a pop as it dislocated and continued to widen. Oh no. She needed to close the gap, but her foe refused to advance.
A terrifying, dazzlingly brilliant idea struck her. Testament to her improved mental fortitude, she returned Sunsplitter to her inventory even while under the effects of her title.
Perhaps it was because it knew she still sought the death of her enemy. Rose leapt over the edge of the crow’s nest and grabbed hold of the closest rope, riding it down to the deck.
Racing to a wooden chest by the doorway to the cabins, she threw it open the moment she got close. Rummaging through a pile of furs, fabrics, and spare planks she eventually found what she was looking for.
Clutching it in one hand, she didn’t bother to close the chest as she raced back towards the mast. Halfway there, she paused and considered whether the height would even be an advantage anymore.
It wouldn’t. Rose changed directions and made her way to the edge of the ship, planting one foot on the top of the railings.
This was a gamble. Rose felt the pressure weighing on her shoulders. Too much rested on her. Nasar wasn’t able to leave the wheel—not while the serpent loomed overhead.
She closed her eyes, letting all the useless worries fade away. Leaning on Focus, even the violent impulses of Murderer were dulled.
Sylack, if you’re listening, then I implore you to bless this foolish girl. I never treated fishing with the proper respect, even though I enjoyed it. So, let me make it up to you with the catch of a lifetime.
Something tugged on the rod. Her eyes snapped open and she whirled around, but there was nobody there. Odd, why is it shimmering?
The rod she’d chosen was an ordinary wooden fishing rod, with nothing special about it. Yet, she could feel a gentle resonance between the polished rod and something deep inside her; something arcane.
Attempting to pull on the feeling, she was surprised when instead of the intoxicating draw of the tide, there was a hard rejection. It felt as though she’d run into an invisible wall headfirst.
No matter. Regardless of the odd occurrence, her goal hadn’t changed. She believed in her god and the tide. Turning back to the oversized serpent, she gripped the rod in two hands and lifted it high over her head and a little behind.
Above her, the serpent’s jaw had grown wide enough to swallow Liberty whole. Here goes nothing.
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