Salt and Blood [A Pirate LitRPG]

All it takes is a single flap of a butterfly's wings to change the course of destiny. The tiniest actions can have catastrophic consequences

-Excerpt from 'Silversea Saga' by Norris Howell

Rose held her breath as she yanked the tidestone rod out of the etched plate of metal which controlled the tidestone engine of the metal ship. She'd studied the flow of arcane energy for a long time and was almost certain this was the right rod to remove in order to shut down the engine.

However, there was always a chance that she'd been mistaken and everything would go wrong. A second passed, then another, and then five more.

Rose finally exhaled, her shoulders slumping as she realised nothing had gone wrong. In fact, all around her the arcane energy flows were beginning to trail off.

The four metal prongs that held up the tidestone lifted out of the metal plate until four echoing clicks sounded out at the same time. No more energy flowed into the system and what little was left gradually faded.

Whirring and thrumming machinery grew silent all around her until the only sound was the crashing of the waves against the metal hull. Each one made a clang that produced a deep, resonant hum throughout the belly of the ship.

Your occupation has advanced!
Apprentice Scholar 39 > 41

You have earned a new trait!
Studious: You have begun to walk the path of a scholar. Taking note of how the world around you functions has become something of an instinct and you absorb knowledge a little faster than the average person.

Her occupation had passed a threshold and she had also earned herself a new trait. Unlike skills which gave traits at level ten, twenty-five, fifty, and then one hundred, her occupation hadn't granted one until level forty.

At a glance the trait seemed remarkably similar to the natural buff from the occupation itself, but the wording was a little different. She would learn faster.

It was easy to dismiss such a trait—Rose planned to live a life of adventure on the seas—but depending on how broadly it applied it could be wondrously useful in future. Her occupation had helped her take the engine apart, after all.

The bassy hum of the hull as the waves crashed against it was eerily beautiful. Rose walked up to the tidestone. Looking up at the precisely carved facets of the enormous gemstone, she cracked a smirk.

Minenblum wants to invade my country but all they've managed so far is to send their officers to their deaths and make me a richer woman, she chuckled to herself as she placed her hands against the tidestone.

With a grunt and a heave, Rose lifted the tidestone clean off the ground. The four metal prongs resisted but with a series of pops they slipped out of the stone and fell to the ship's hull.

Once she had the stone in her hands, Rose tried to put it into her inventory. She almost fell over as the weight in her arms vanished in an instant.

In her inventory she was able to inspect the tidestone to see its level. When the whorl appeared in front of her she gasped in shock.

Tidestone ★53

Rose was a rich woman now. She had been wealthy already by the standards of the Bluestone Sea, but with this tidestone and the four others powering the rest of the fleet she would be richer than nations—certainly her own nation, at least.

Only an empire on the scale of Minenblum could spare such expense on an experimental model of ship. Their country also bordered the Sunblessed Sea, an ocean that held more danger than the Bluestone Sea, but greater riches in turn.

With her mechanical heist complete, there was nothing left for her in the underbelly of the ship. She gathered arcane energy in her fist, preparing to blast the engine apart.

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Right before she destroyed the wonder of arcane engineering, she stopped. The energy in her fist dissipated and she smirked.

Why would she destroy the ship when she could simply steal it? The tiny little vessel which they'd sailed here in was only a half measure due to Prince Everyn's incompetence in securing them a suitable ship.

While it was a little larger than she wanted for her strategy, the technology it possessed changed everything. Speed wasn't as much of an advantage when the Minenblum Navy possessed those devastating arcane lightning cannons.

It was far better to fight them on their terms. The general strategy would remain the same—hit and run with full confrontation where possible—but this ship would be more suited to handle the advanced weaponry.

For now, Rose kept the tidestone in her inventory. Leaving such a treasure where someone else could stumble upon it went against her creed as a pirate.

What kind of pirate raided a ship and didn't take the loot? A poor one, that's who. With her mind made up, she made her way back towards the upper decks.

The sounds of battle reached her ears as soon as she approached the ladder. The clang of steel and the crack and roar of gunfire.

There were only five of them, which meant most of the chaos was caused by their opponents. However, the fact the ship was in such pandemonium was a positive sign.

It meant her crew were still alive.

Rose expected them to hold their own. If they died instantly after all the effort she went to in order to train them, she would be embarrassed.

A navy soldier yelled and rushed at her the moment she pulled herself through the hole in the deck and off the ladder. He waved his sword clumsily.

His footsteps were awkward and she couldn't sense a drop of arcane energy in his body. She sighed.

Like a bolt of lightning, Rose flashed on the spot. In a single fluid motion she hooked the man's ankle and drove an elbow into his chest.

He smashed into the deck and gasped for breath. Rose straddled him, arcane energy swirling around her fist.

It only took a single punch to end his life. She grimaced at the sight of his corpse. She only felt disgust killing weaklings like this. It was a waste of her strength.

She stole the man's cutlass, needing a weapon to engage in melee combat. Sunsplitter had shattered and either needed repair or recycling.

Perhaps when this war was over she could pay a visit to that mysterious smith in Eastfel Bay. Then again, it might be too big a risk.

Entering the lion's den when there were so many unknown dangers and enemies on the level of Trent and Yasmin, or perhaps even stronger, would be foolish. Rose had never been a reasonable girl, but she wasn't suicidal.

More soldiers threw themselves at her as she advanced towards the main deck. Most of them hadn't even awakened their cores.

The simple cutlass danced in her hands, the crude tool turned into an elegant instrument of death. Rose reached their old ship, buried in the planks of the third deck.

Bloody corpses were strewn around where her crewmates had fought their way out of the encirclement. She was about to leave the deck behind when she heard the creaking of planks right behind her.

Wind rustled her hair as she threw her body backwards, bending her spine to an eighty degree angle as a blade swished through the air above her face. She spun on her heels as she sprang upright.

A navy soldier with a single badge pinned to his chest faced her, holding a straight-edged sword in each hand. She hadn't encountered another dual wielder until now.

"Die, scum!" he yelled, lunging forward and swinging both swords in a cross slash.

Rose had expected more from a man who'd snuck up on her while barely making a sound. It seemed stealth was the only thing he had going for him.

Intelligence certainly wasn't, given the cliche trash opening line. She blocked the cross slash with a simple step, his blades clashing against her single cutlass.

Even with the strength of two arms pushing down on her blade, Rose held her own. More than that, she was pushing the man back.

His eyes burned with fury. He snarled and broke the tension, pulling one sword back and thrusting it at her stomach.

However, Rose was far stronger than he expected. The moment he drew his arm back she shoved forwards and smashed his other blade arm aside.

With an acrobatic twist she avoided his gormless thrust and plunged the cutlass into his eye. It squelched as she pulled it out, flicking the blood and brains onto the deck below with a grimace on her face.

Skill up!
One Handed Weapons 10 > 11

The commodore had put up the best fight of all the soldiers, but even he had fallen without much effort. With every life she reaped, Rose understood she had outgrown the Bluestone Sea.

All that kept her here was the desire to defend the Emerlan Isle. Once the threat of Minenblum was alleviated, she would head for the Sunblessed Sea.

Or perhaps the Aetherstone Ocean, cutting all ties to her past away and embarking on a new adventure. She would begin by carving apart the second commodore.