Salt and Blood [A Pirate LitRPG]

A long time ago, in an ocean far, far away…

-Excerpt from 'Ocean Battles' by Jorge Yucass

The golden haired youth marched forward with his blade outstretched. The tip drew a drop of blood on Daniel's neck and he was forced to walk backwards to avoid his throat being pierced.

"What are you doing? Who the hell do you think you are?" Daniel hissed, his confusion and fury seeping into his voice.

"I should be the one asking you that, peasant! You dare reprimand me?" the man snarled, his arm pulling backwards to draw the blade overhead.

He began to swing downwards. He didn't want to kill the boy immediately. For daring to insult him, the peasant would have a slow and painful death.

Right before he could finish his swing, a large hand gripped his bicep and held it firm. He used his shoulder to rip it out of the vice-like grip, but found himself unable to move.

The sky spun above his head and he felt a hard impact at the base of his spine. Dazed, he looked around to see that he'd been thrown onto his backside.

A shadow loomed overhead. Staring upwards, Second Prince Alyn met the empty gaze of a giant. "Now, that's no way to introduce yourself to the crew," Jason tutted.

A sharp slap stung the prince's face. His neck snapped to the side as a red hand shaped welt appeared on his cheek. "Behave yourself or we'll throw you overboard."

"You-!" Alyn began to exclaim but a series of slow claps interrupted him.

Raucous laughter rang out across the deck. All the gathered soldiers were silent, staring at the scene with a mixture of disbelief, satisfaction, and fear.

Everyn's hand slapped down on Jason's shoulder. The boy looked at the crown prince, standing tall and observing him.

"Jason, you should come and live with us. If someone disciplined Alyn like that every time he threw a tantrum perhaps he'd soon grow into a man," the crown prince chuckled, laughing at his own joke. "Also, I'm glad to see you up and about," he added.

It seemed that Jason had made a full recovery. Rose briefly checked his circuits, seeing that there was still some damage but he was mostly fine.

A few stifled laughs came from the surrounding soldiers. Being part of Prince Alyn's unit was seen as a punishment among the royal legions. All of them respected the crown prince a thousand times more.

Seeing such a scene made all the torture of the past few weeks under the second prince worth it. Despite his mockery, Everyn reached out a hand to his brother.

"Always so damn arrogant, aren't you Everyn?" Alyn snarled, slapping the hand away and standing up with his own strength. "I was hoping the Minenblum Navy would cut you down to size, but it seems even they are incompetent fools."

Everyn was prepared to retort, but a gentle thud followed by the slow tap of footsteps interrupted him. Before anyone could react, a gust of wind blasted everyone away from the second prince. A silver flash preceded a lightning fast slash of her cutlass.

The blade descended upon Prince Alyn like the reaper's scythe. He saw his life flashing before his eyes, unable to react.

Right before it cleaved his head in two, the blade halted. The wind generated by the rapid slash blew his hair to either side of his face.

The entire ship had fallen silent as night. "Now, that strike was about as powerful as that of the commodore your brother fought to a standstill," Rose said, her grinning face pushed up against the prince's. "If that level of power is considered incompetent, what does that make you?"

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She didn't answer the question, letting it hang in the air. Everyone knew the answer, but there was no need to give it voice.

Rose withdrew the cutlass and sheathed it in her belt. Turning on her heels, she marched back up to the poop deck.

Every single person on board had their eyes glued to her as she walked with an easy gait. Once she was standing beside the control panel, she turned to look down on all of the people on board.

"While you're on board this ship, you're a member of my crew. I am in charge of this mission, which means whatever I say is law. You are no longer a part of the royal army or whatever dungheap you crawled out from, but a single blade poised to cut Minenblum where it hurts. The one wielding those blades is me. If you have a problem with that, feel free to complain, but don't go crying when you end up like doori-dung-for-brains over here," she finished, pointing at the still frozen Second Prince.

No one uttered a word. Daniel had a smug sparkle in his eyes, relishing in the terror painted across Alyn's face. Jason looked as unbothered as ever, while Everyn had a shit eating grin on his face.

"Wonderful. Now that we've established the ground rules, let's finish getting ready to sail. I want to be out of this harbour by midday. From now until the moment we return, consider your lives forfeit. Eastfel Bay falls or we die. Any other outcome is unacceptable," she declared.

At once, all the soldiers erupted into action. They scurried across the deck and harbour like ants, bringing the rest of the supplies on board. They set sail an hour before noon.

***

Skill up!
Sailing 15 > 17

Rose was surprised to gain levels in sailing, considering the ship was powered entirely by the arcane engines, but would never be upset at improving her skills. Everything was going smoothly.

The journey was estimated to take two weeks. They were taking the long way around, travelling around the northern coast of Derridas in order to avoid detection by any ships near Minenblum.

If the enemy knew they were coming, all of their preparation would be for naught. The moon was a silver crescent in the night sky, surrounded by a blanket of stars.

Rose, Daniel, Jason, Everyn, and the commander of the soldiers joining them for the mission were gathered on the poop deck. They sat around a barrel, drinking cheap wine as Rose explained the plan.

"I'm still not sure I understand the purpose of the mission," Commander Axel said, rubbing the day-old stubble on his chin. "Why are we attacking them rather than staying to defend our coasts?"

"Didn't my father explain the mission to you?" Everyn replied, raising an eyebrow.

"The King did brief me. I know what we are doing. I don't understand why."

"It's quite simple," Rose said, placing her cup on the barrel. "Minenblum needs the support of its citizens if it wants to wage war on us. The other countries watch and do nothing because they fear they will be next. No one thinks they can stand up to Minenblum. By striking them where they believe they are safe, we turn those beliefs upside down."

"Smart. You really came up with that strategy all on your own?" he asked her, cocking his head to one side.

"I had great teachers," Rose replied with a melancholy smile.

"Anyway," she continued. "Now that we all understand why we are embarking on this suicidal venture, let me tell you how a group of thirty brave warriors will tear down a city."

"Twenty-nine brave warriors and one arrogant fool," Daniel interjected with a snort.

Rose silenced him with a glare. "Whatever faults the second prince may have, he's still joining us on this mission. If he puts his life on the line for the Emerlan Isle and follows us into battle, he is worthy of respect."

Daniel looked as if he'd been forced to swallow shit, but didn't respond. The commander nodded at her words, an appreciative expression on his face.

"We have a very short window to act. Eastfel Bay is naturally defensible thanks to the cliffs, but that is also their weakness. It means they won't spot us approaching until we are almost at the walls. Usually a single ship would get blown to smithereens before anyone on board had a chance to disembark, but we have a unique advantage thanks to Elmer Saff's generosity."

The group chuckled at her remark. All of them imagined the old man's fury at losing one of his most prized creations and relished in it.

"A single blast from the arcane cannons on board will vaporise the walls and throw the city into chaos. Under the cover of darkness, when the moon is barely a slit in the sky, that is when we make our move.

"Some innocents will die, but don't go out of your way to kill ordinary people. That is not our task. Anyone who raises a blade against you is game. But mostly, the goal is to destroy the city itself. Fire and steel. Arcane power. Show them that even in their homes they are not safe and escape to the ship before the first rays of dawn."

All of them had steely, grim expressions once Rose was finished. Perhaps not all of them understood the gravity of what they were preparing to do, but they soon would.