Salt and Blood [A Pirate LitRPG]

What makes a man powerful? Is it the ability to command other men? Possessing enough wealth for a private army? Standing at the head of a nation or a fleet? No, what makes a man powerful is the strength of his fist in times of demand

-Excerpt from 'Power and Influence: How to Rule a Nation,' by Sea-Emperor Vadaris Neptuna

As eight arcane bullets raced towards Rose's vitals, she panicked. She hadn't expected the midnight ambushers to be this strong.

Or rather, they weren't strong, but talented in sensing or using arcane energy. Their teamwork and coordination seemed to be excellent too.

After just three attacks they had locked onto her location and pushed her to the brink. Luckily for Rose, she was fighting in an environment that suited her. From the moment she'd slipped back into the sea, her core had thrummed to life once more, producing drops of divine energy.

She expended two of them to reinforce her body and summon another barrier. All of the arcane bullets shattered helplessly against it. This time they weren't even enough to break her guard.

Rose immediately shot off. She swam through the ocean like a shark on steroids towards the closest ship.

More shots were fired as she approached, but most missed by a mile. The sudden recovery and insane speed she displayed had thrown her opponents off.

She burst from the waves, lighting up her enemies on deck with the swirling energy gathered in her palm. While falling from the apex of her jump she launched it right into the centre of the small sailing boat.

Two shots were fired at her before it blew the ship into smithereens. One whizzed harmlessly past her shoulder but the other slashed through her torso, leaving a gash that started to bleed freely.

The flow stemmed as the gathered divine energy in her body spread its power through her flesh. It was equally potent as a destructive or restorative force.

After that their coordination was thrown off. The remaining forces on the three ships only shot her a few more times before they too were blown to pieces.

Once Rose had decimated the enemy's ships, it was time to return to her own ship. After taking a few moments in the ocean to recover her strength and gather a few more drops of divine energy, she leapt out of the water once more.

The scene which greeted her on the deck of the ship was a chaotic one. Everywhere she looked she saw blood and steel, sprayed across the deck and clanging in the air.

Corpses were strewn across the deck, most of them belonging to her soldiers. She clenched her jaw until it began to ache, knowing that she could have saved them if she had acted faster. Or if she'd been stronger.

However, mourning the dead in the middle of a battle was the act of a fool. There were still plenty of living soldiers on her side who she could save if she moved now.

The black-clad opponents were experts. They worked in perfect unison. Where an opening was left for an Emerlan soldier to strike, another assassin would appear to either block or strike back.

Despite their struggles Rose could tell that her men would lose if nothing was done soon. It was a good thing that she had returned now.

As she rushed forwards, drawing a cutlass, she heard a rallying cry from the door leading to the lower decks. A smile crossed her face as she swung at the nearest enemy.

"All of you gather on me! Don't let these treacherous bastards separate you. Remember what you are fighting for," Prince Everyn roared, rushing to meet the closest masked figure in battle.

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Despite being caught in a pincer, the enemies were crafty and quick on the uptake. A few orders were barked out by one man. The others reacted instantly.

They grouped up, forming a seven pointed star with two people at each point. In the centre of the star, the man who'd given the order stood, palms pressed together.

Rose felt the arcane stirring in the air, knowing he was using the time to prepare a powerful technique. If they allowed him to complete what he was doing, the outcome wouldn't be pretty.

Luckily, Everyn's cry had smacked the soldiers back to focus. Being attacked in the middle of sleeping or a lazy watch had caught them with their pants down, but the presence of their crown prince and Commander Axel had given them their wits back.

They spread out, surrounding the masked enemies and methodically working to break through the pairs defending each point of the star formation. Unfortunately their skills with the sword were far from the level that their enemies displayed.

Rose was beginning to grow confused about the origins of their attackers. They were definitely from Minenblum, but they didn't wear the uniforms of the navy or sail recognisable ships.

If they captured one alive they would have a thorough conversation with them to find out the answers to those questions. While the soldiers took on the enemies defending the leader in the centre of the star, Rose raised her cutlass high and prepared a technique of her own.

Usually, when two individuals tried to gather so much ambient arcane energy in the same spot, the two flows would interfere with each other. However, Rose decided to rely entirely on her own energy.

The resulting technique would be weaker, since the overall energy it contained was less, but the advantage was not having to rely on the density of energy in the surroundings. That was the usual situation, anyway.

For Rose, who had access to divine energy of her own making, the usual drawbacks of such a method didn't apply. Divine energy was far more powerful than arcane energy. A single drop produced in her core was almost as strong as the entire arcane energy output of someone with a freshly awakened core.

In less than two seconds her cutlass was sparkling with golden light as the power flowed through her circuits and into her weapon. There were too many people in the way, so breaking through directly would be difficult.

Instead, all Rose needed to do was interrupt her foe while he was concentrating. Her technique was simple. She finished preparing just five seconds after she began.

The leader of the masked attackers was still focusing with his palms pressed together. She saw the arcane energy swirling around him like a tornado, entering his body and leaving it through the endless orifices that led to and from his circuits.

She waited until a moment when most of the energy under his control was outside his body. Rose lowered her cutlass so that the tip was pointing at his solar plexus and released her technique.

Her aim was perfect. The golden beam of energy arced through the air, which shimmered and split from the raw power.

To her dismay, right as the beam was about to strike the enemy commander, one of the assassins broke the formation and threw themselves in front of her strike. The energy ripped and tore through his body, his flesh burning as it rippled through every cell like a wildfire.

Instead of interrupting the enemy's focus, all she'd done was take out one of the small fry. She began gathering energy for another attempt, but it was too late.

All of the arcane energy that had been swirling in the air was suddenly sucked into the leader's body. She lurched from a sudden wave of nausea.

The absence of energy, however brief, had caused an adverse reaction in her body. It was one of the lesser known drawbacks to advancing one's core—the more powerful it became, the worse the impact of being in energy deserts was.

The feeling passed as the ambient energy stabilised, but by the time Rose's focus returned, she felt any hope of a quick victory rapidly fading. The commander yelled out, two blue orbs glowing through his mask as he slapped his palms against the deck of the ship.

A visible barrier of energy shot outwards, sealing everyone on deck into a bubble. If that was the only effect, the man's sacrifice would've been pointless. Unfortunately, the barrier was just the beginning.

Rose watched arcane energy flowing from the commander and into each of the thirteen assassins that remained. Their movements instantly sped up to the point that their arms and legs became a blur.

The Emerlan soldiers fighting to break the formation suddenly found their situation reversed. Instead of the attackers, they were once more under assault.

With their slight advantage in numbers, it shouldn't have been a problem to hold out and slowly whittle their enemies down. However, the commander's technique had yet to unfold completely.

The third and final effect revealed itself as the energy continued to flow outwards, enveloping all of Rose's crew. Their own movements slowed as if they were attempting to run underwater.

The combined quickening of their foes and their own lethargic reactions led to seven of the soldiers dying within a few seconds of the barrier appearing. Rose cursed inwardly, clenching the handle of her cutlass as she prepared for another brutal battle.