Salt and Blood [A Pirate LitRPG]

It is in our moments of greatest panic and fear that the most genius inventions are thrust into our heads as if a gift from the gods

-Quoted from The Mad Tinker

Jason grunted as arcane energy raced into his swelling core from the surroundings. Rose had a hand placed against his back and was doing her best to siphon off as much of the energy as she could to lower the intake.

It was a delicate balancing act. He was at risk of his core exploding if the awakening process didn't end soon. However, if Rose cut off the flow of arcane energy too soon she would risk crippling him by interrupting the process.

Usually it ended on its own once a person's core had filled after the mind-core connection was created. But for some insane reason, Jason continued to greedily absorb arcane energy as if he were a whirlpool.

She observed the way the energy twisted and writhed in the air. Almost every spark in their surroundings was racing to enter his body.

It was as if they preferred the environment that awaited them inside his core rather than the natural balance in the world outside. It made no sense.

Rose looked at Jason's eyes. They were almost glazed over, staring into space. She frowned, thinking back to what she'd said during her lessons to Daniel.

Jason had been listening in from afar and taking insights, rather than getting direct instruction. Had he performed a step wrong and messed something up?

The energy in the air didn't tell her much. Rather than following any kind of logical pattern it was erratic. A chaotic rush to enter Jason's core where every single mote and strand battled each other for dominance.

So while there was no pattern there was at least a goal the energy had which she could observe. Inside his body it was a different story.

The moment the energy entered Jason's core it seemed to grow as lifeless as the boy himself. It began rippling lazily.

Even now the energy that filled his circuits was barely flowing. It was as if it was tar, rather than arcane… fluid? Rose wasn't sure. It certainly wasn't behaving very fluidly.

Oh! He's such a damn fool. I see it now, she suddenly realised the problem. It almost made her want to laugh.

The answer was so ridiculously simple. In fact, it had been staring her right in the face—or rather, into space.

Knowing Jason, he had sat down and listened to her giving the lesson while bored. The boy didn't have many thoughts beyond training playing with the crabs.

What had the first part of her lesson been? To empty your mind of any distractions or thoughts.

Rose had spent plenty of time repeating that point and going over its importance. That was for Daniel's benefit, because the boy had the opposite problem to Jason—his mind was far too busy.

However, for Jason listening at the side, the idiot probably managed to literally empty his mind of all thoughts, including essential subconscious ones like self preservation, breathing, and regulating his circuits and core.

Your occupation has advanced!
Apprentice Scholar 41 > 42

The level gain for her occupation was a little strange recently, but she wasn't going to complain. The issue facing Rose was that even now she knew why Jason was in peril, she wasn't sure how to direct him to fix it.

His core continued to swell, the wall straining as it went beyond safe limits. If this continued it would burst.

All of the energy contained within would disperse and he would never be able to manipulate arcane energy again, leaving him a cripple. That was the best case scenario.

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It was entirely possible that the energy in his core wouldn't simply disperse, but would react aggressively, causing a devastating explosion that would kill him instantly—and likely Rose along with him.

"Jason! Wake up, you dumb brute," she shouted, waving her free hand in front of his face.

It didn't work. She shook his body, tapped him, and continued shouting. Nothing snapped the boy out of his daze.

The amount of energy continued to increase to the point that even Rose was feeling the strain in her own core. Her core could contain far more energy than Jason's, but it had already been close to full and absorbing this much more was putting a strain on it.

Skill up!
Arcane Resistance 17 > 18

Unlike the near-comatose Jason, Rose was able to somewhat compress the energy inside her core, giving her slightly more space. That wasn't a permanent solution, but it would give her the freedom to continue trying to save the foolish idiot.

"Aaargh! Dumbhead! Wake the hell up!" she roared, tapping his shoulder increasingly hard.

Jason continued to dumbly stare into space ahead of him as his core swelled to a dangerous level. The outside of his core started to crack.

Only thin hairline cracks at first that appeared across the entire surface, but that was the beginning of the end. Once the first cracks appeared it put her on a very short timer.

With everything to lose, Rose resorted to a method she hadn't wanted to until now, given that it might cause the awakening process to be interrupted. However, if she did nothing, Jason's core would probably explode and kill them both.

Even if it didn't, he would be as good as dead and she didn't want that to happen. So, with a final shout of rage, she raised her free hand and channeled a little of her arcane energy into her palm, forming a thin coating.

Then, she slapped Jason across the face.

The sound rang out across the entire beach, startling Daniel out of his own meditation. Even Everyn's head snapped to them from where he'd been practicing his swordsmanship.

When he noticed the chaotic flows of arcane energy his eyes widened and he moved to rush forward, but thought better of it when he saw Rose's face. Jason's head had snapped to the side from her slap and a red handprint was imprinted on his cheek.

Rose glared at the boy, whose eyes still seemed dull and unmoving. She wanted to scream in annoyance.

Suddenly, his eyes moved and he blinked. Jason looked at Rose's face, then down at his stomach, then his eyes shot open as wide as saucers before he cursed.

"Calm down! Take control of your core and shut off the absorption of energy," Rose told him, pressing her hand against his back and siphoning as much energy away as she could.

Skill up!
Arcane Resistance 18 > 19

He simply nodded and closed his eyes, his forehead scrunching up in focus. The energy in his body which had been utterly lethargic until now slowly began to move.

First his core started to swirl, then small trickles were pushed out into his circuits. It took a few seconds, during which his core continued to swell, but soon the energy was cycling through his body, albeit rather slowly.

However, that was the key to fixing the issue. Once his energy had begun to cycle it was far easier to speed it up and soon it was racing through his body, becoming his.

After a few cycles his eyes snapped open and with a grunt of exertion, the energy in the air around him suddenly froze. There was a huge cloud which had been rushing in through any opening possible, but it suddenly found no route to enter.

Rose smiled and exhaled, falling flat on her back. Unfortunately, she had failed to stop herself from absorbing the energy in the air.

All the time she'd been helping Jason, Rose had been absorbing arcane energy into her own core and then begun to compress it. Actually she'd never thought to compress it before as it hadn't been necessary.

She used such a ridiculous amount during her battles that it drained fast enough to mean making more space had never been a necessity. If she'd only compressed it a little, perhaps she would've been fine.

However, she passed a breaking point. Suddenly, Rose heard a loud groan inside her head and felt an immense pressure descending on her abdomen.

Skill up!
Arcane Resistance 19 > 20
Arcane Attunement 23 > 24

She shot up into a sitting position and stared at Jason. He was covered in sweat and panting like a dog, but seemed stable. He'd awakened his core.

Good, I don't have to worry about him.

"Thanks for the help, Rose. I don't think I'd have made it if not for you," he said with a beaming grin.

She wanted to reply, but the pressure in her core was building to an insurmountable level. It felt as if it had been plunged into the depths of the ocean.

Rose barely managed to paint a strained smile on her face, but it seemed to satisfy him. Rose wasn't sure what was happening at first, but as more energy began to gather around her, she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

Through helping Jason with his own awakening, she'd inadvertently began her own advancement to the next stage. Having begun, there was no turning back.

It was do or die.