Salt and Blood [A Pirate LitRPG]

Destruction and corruption are far easier than creation. To build on the achievements of greater men is easier than forging your own path, but that doesn't mean it is shameful

-Quoted from Elmer Saff, of Saff & Company

Daniel pulled himself out from underneath the enormous, buzzing tidestone. He wiped the sweat and oil from his brow with a sleeve that was already stained with grime.

He glanced at the whorls that had splashed into view while he was working. It was rather distracting the first few times but he'd grown used to it while fiddling with the machinery.

Skill up!
Arcane Engineering 12 > 13
Arcane Attunement 4 > 5
Shipcrafting 15 > 16

It had been almost a week since Rose and Everyn had left for Greengate. He'd been left alone on the ship with only the big lug Jason for company.

He had to admit, after he'd moved past the fact that Jason had been a bandit and that he barely had two loose screws to knock together, the silent giant was decent company. Often, the boy would sit there meditating while he was tinkering with various facets of the complex machinery in the ship's bowels.

At first it had been understandable but utterly bewildering to explore. On the surface the design seemed simple. There was the control plate, powered by the tidestone, which delivered arcane energy to the various sections of the ship—mainly the engines. However, the deeper he delved the more intricate and inexplicable the system became.

Daniel had started to wonder if this was truly the work of Elmer Saff or if it had been taken from a sea further inworld. Then again, the cruel old bastard had almost five decades of experience on him and plenty of motivation after the death of his two sons.

The first few days he'd spent simply observing how the machinery activated and deactivated. Jason ran up and down the ship's decks flicking switches and pressing buttons at his command.

He had to admit, Rose had been right that awakening his core would make all of this far easier. When he'd only been able to see the machine's physical workings he could guess at its function, but barely begin to understand how it did things.

Now that he could actually see the arcane energy thrumming and buzzing along the etchings and circuits it was child's play. After three days he had felt confident enough to make his first minor modification to the ship.

A few local men had been hired to help out, using money Rose had left him. He wondered where the girl had managed to find so much gold and toss it out as if it were dirt on the side of the road, but he wasn't going to complain.

More shocking than that were the incredible skill gains he was making. He remembered back in the village. Everyone thought that mastering a single skill over a lifetime made one a master.

How utterly foolish that seemed now. When Rose had told him how many traits she had he'd fallen to the ground in shock.

Even at his much improved rate of levelling he still couldn't understand how she had done so much in so little time, but perhaps she was just a monster. Seeing how easily she carved the soldiers apart in all their fights only solidified that belief.

"Alright, remember to be precise. Do exactly what I tell you. If you mess up by even the slightest margin this entire thing could explode in our faces," Daniel instructed the two labourers.

He would have preferred to do it himself, but he unfortunately needed to adjust the control plate at the exact same time as they connected the extra conduits to the engines. Otherwise, it would definitely blow up.

"On the count of three," he began, taking a deep breath and lowering the sharpened chisel to the metal plate. "Three, two, one, now!"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The moment he finished speaking he touched his tool to the metal, carving a sharp, clean line that joined a swirling spiral to a curious geometric rune. Arcane energy instantly flowed through the line, adjusting the overall flow.

He held his breath. Watching. Waiting for it to go wrong.

His heart was pounding in his chest. He could hear the racing of his blood. However, nothing happened even after ten seconds had passed.

"Ha… Hahahaha! I did it!" he exclaimed, leaping to his feet and rushing to embrace the nearest of the two labourers. "We did it!"

"Woah, calm down kid," the man chuckled, prying himself free from Daniel's grasp.

The other one rapped a fist against the new conduits. "Are you sure this thing would explode if we did it wrong? Seems sturdy enough to me," he muttered, eyeing the engine's shell.

Daniel's eyes shot wide open and he grabbed the two men's arms, pulling them away from the engine and racing to the other side of the room. His gaze never left the engine.

"What the hell did you do that for? I told you, it's sturdy as a damn doori," the man snapped, yanking his arm back.

Daniel was about to snap back when a thrumming whine cut through the tension. It buzzed three times. He stared at the engine, watching with mounting horror as the arcane energy flowing through it started to whirl and flicker.

"Fuckfuck shitshit," he cursed, tapping his foot wildly. "What the hell did you have to go and do that for, you fool? If this thing explodes it will take the whole damn harbour with it."

The man's face drained of colour and his friend shot him a filthy glare. "Sorry," he muttered sheepishly. "It seemed sturdy enough…"

Daniel scoffed. "Just pray it settles."

Unfortunately for the three men, the flickering didn't settle. Instead it grew, erratic flashes and sparks of arcane energy darting through the engine and flickering on the control plate.

Did I connect the wrong switches? But I was certain… Daniel wondered to himself. Should we run? No, we'd never get far enough to escape the blast radius. Note to self: always do it yourself.

Jason suddenly slid down the ladder, crossing the distance from the ceiling to the hull in two seconds flat. "What the hell happened? I felt the disturbance from the main deck," he shouted, gaze darting wildly around the room."

"We were doing the first upgrade, but it went slightly wrong," Daniel replied, deciding that throwing the poor labourer under the carriage was of no benefit. "We just have to pray it doesn't blow us all sky high," he added with a sigh, waving at the flickering engine.

Jason's eyes locked onto the engine. They narrowed and then opened wide. He rushed over to the metal shell, then reached out a hand to touch it.

"What are you doing! Don't touch it, you'll kill us all," Daniel cried.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," the boy shot back, placing his other hand against the shell and closing his eyes to focus.

Daniel could only watch in silent horror as the giant boy did whatever he felt was necessary. Ultimately, he had no idea himself how to fix the error and they were probably going to die either way. Better to let him try.

Skill up!
Arcane Attunement 5 > 6

Daniel could only laugh at the whorl that splashed into view. What good would another skill level do if he was too dead to use it?

All of a sudden the arcane energy which had been steadily growing more chaotic erupted like a wildfire. The tidestone let out a piercing whine and the control plate was flooded with arcane power.

"Fuck, I'm sorry for being such a damn fool. Gods, Goddesses, if any of you can hear me, I, Darnas, promise that from this day forth I'll never gamble again if you save my life!" the labourer who'd started this mess cried.

"Shut up Darnas. Don't lie to the pantheon," the other one scoffed. "Die like a man."

Daniel narrowed his eyes as he watched Jason. What had gone wrong? Even with the chaos all around him the boy was as still as an ancient tree.

Their life was in his hands now. All Daniel could do was watch. A buzzing hum came from behind him. He turned around. The pit in his stomach dropped deeper when he saw that the other engine had flared to life and was going wild.

"Jason! Whatever you're doing is making this worse. If we're going to blow up anyway, we can at least try not to take the whole damn city with us!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"Why isn't it working like last time," Jason muttered to himself. "It's all wrong. Wrong."

The three men watched in horror as the arcane energy grew wilder and wilder until eventually the entire machine was filled to the brim.

Well, sorry Rose. I hope you don't hate me for destroying your ship. Although I'll be dead, so it won't matter to me, he cursed ruefully.

In a single breath, all of the arcane energy in the room exploded outwards from the engines, suffusing the air in less time than it took to blink.

They could only watch as their lives came to a shocking end.