The Asshai's Bloodmage

 When we spotted a pirate ship heading our way we had a quick and serious discussion about what to do for the next attack. The ship attacking us was large. If we sent a small crew on the smaller ship they would be massacred, and if we sent a very large group the crew on the Valyria's Breath would be greatly weakened. It was a high stakes, but we needed to make this bet quickly and most agreed to send an elite group in close combat followed by a group of archers. It was my idea to take the boys with me, this included the 7 orphans and Ted as our archers. 

If the worst happened I would set both ships on fire and we would jump into the sea trying to get back to the Valyria's Breath. But it turned out they only put 20 men there. The timed attack of a scorpion shot when the archers came into range was crucial to our victory. Those 10 archers on the stern of the pirate ship could have caused many casualties on our side.

But in the end it turned out to be overkill to send the "top 10" to invade from behind. Sir Arthur could easily have been included in the top 5 along with his men, Omar was included because the knight refused to fight away from his lord, it made sense.

I volunteered because I could set both ships on fire if I needed to and I could also use my weapons to kill the archers while they were taking cover. That's when we got to the current situation. About 50 men boarded the Valyrian Sigh and Henry's 30 men had a hard time holding off those 50 men. There were the 6 single men who decided to join the battle already foreseeing that the worst could happen if they refused to help, the young newlywed Jack, Gordo, Esmer's apprentice Vitarys, Jhon, Omar's former pirate subordinate, my blacksmith and even our head chef... They all fought this time!

The women stayed in Jhon's VIP cabins with his father, along with Esmer's old butler and his grandson. The other men among the 19 passengers also helped. Thanks to this, we had many archers in the initial confrontation. And some others without any experience were placed in the scorpions and warned to retreat when it was no longer possible to shoot.

The enemy captain looked at me with anger, fear and pain, his leg was still bleeding from the bullet that had gone in there. The pain of a firearm was something he had never felt before, if he had known that my gun in his head was unloaded he would not have been afraid to attack me. After all the pirates were tied up, I helped the wounded first, I went to the man I saved near the scorpion and gave him first aid, taking the opportunity to check the cabins to make sure none had been invaded.

Inside the sickbay in the crew area, Omar and I observed 12 people with injuries ranging from minor to more serious. In this battle, even the ship's healer had to fight, but he was in a safer position due to my warnings. If we had lost him, we would have had even more difficulties now.

In this world, this type of profession was not exempt from combat. Jhon and Vitarys came to the infirmary and were also helping, since they are alchemists. I see them pouring strange liquids into the wounds and making the men drink anesthetics. Soon the wounds stop bleeding and the men show relief from the pain. Henry then arrives with a tense expression. It must be the report.

"In addition to the 12 men injured here, we lost 1 common passenger, 2 crew members, and 2 men from the single cabin."

When he finishes, I regret it tremendously. It was my decision that caused so many casualties. But there was no way to avoid it. One of the dead crew members must be the Ghiscari rookie whose chest I saw the enemy captain crush. I look at the Captain and tell him to prepare compensation for the men who died. Omar takes the opportunity to ask about the ship, its cargo, and the pirates.

"We were lucky this time. We were attacked by 80 men. 7 died from the scorpions and 1 was seriously injured. 18 were killed by you and the other men at the stern. 12 archers were eliminated by our archers, and in the end 43 men boarded the ship, with only 12 surviving after surrendering. We have already followed your previous orders and executed the injured. There is no cargo, just water and food for 80 men for 1 week. They must have a base nearby or they thought they could take all our supplies. The coins and goods they had, besides the weapons and armor, are also minimal. Let everyone take what they want from the loot of weapons and armor, especially those that do not belong to the crew. Their ship suffered some damage, but it is possible to repair it. It should be worth the same as the Sigh of Valyria."

Rafael nods and then begins:

"Leave these 12 men chained on the deck, I'll deal with them later. Prioritize the ship's repairs so we can leave taking it with us, and calculate its price, Omar and I will buy it so the men can divide their share in gold. Give some of the water from the other ship so the men who fought can take a proper bath. Tonight, hold a banquet in honor of those who fell and prepare their bodies to be cremated and have their ashes taken to their families."

Omar nods my orders to the Captain, sometimes he lets me make the decisions without saying anything, but I'm always showing him that he can also make his own different decisions. It's strange to have two leaders and another Captain, I always try not to take too much influence from Henry, he's the one who understands the dangers of the sea, but Omar and I won't fight or argue over something temporary like this trip. As I leave the infirmary, I see Jack helping a man who dislocated his shoulder. He was one of the best warriors in the last battle, I silently greet the faceless man and walk forward to where a large, round suit of armor is sitting.

"Are you okay, Fatty?" I ask the question looking at the fresh blood on the armor and the ax he holds.

"Yes, I'm fine. I got some dents in my armor and now I'm having trouble removing it from my body. Hey Rafa, did you hear that I caught 2 pirates with this beauty here, haha, aren't I amazing?"

"I don't remember you being that good with an axe. Is there anyone teaching you on board?"

"Yes, Mr. Arthur's subordinate swordsman accepted my commission to train me while we're on the voyage. He said he gave up the axe because he's too old now, but he used to be an old hand at that weapon."

"And how did you put on the armor so quickly this time?"

"When I was in a hurry I asked the newly married woman for help, she agreed and said she would help me if I stayed close to her husband during the battle. It's my fault, I should have recruited some subordinates when we were in Valyria."

"Okay, go see my blacksmith, he should help you remove your armor, after that there will be water for you to take a bath in your cabin. If you want you can recruit 3-4 people in the next town we stop. But remember to be careful, I don't want you to die to some random pirates, didn't you say you were going to become a great mage?"

He nods with his metal helmet and says he'll be careful. I take the opportunity to look at the system messages:

Keep as many crew members of your ship alive as possible 105/109

Kill pirates: 119/200

The pirate mission will be completed soon if it keeps up like this, but after this fight I'd rather not encounter any more pirates. It seems that the passenger count doesn't include the crew members of the other ship and the pirates in captivity. This means that this number won't increase and will only decrease. I need to be careful with these two missions, one is secondary and the other is special. Leaving aside the secondary mission that can give me a new function in the system or improve an existing one, I'm excited about the special mission. I don't know what I'll get, but I can't miss the reward. I quickly stop by my cabin where I reload the two crossbows and 3 pistols, then go to the deck after a while and see the 12 men already chained up.

I see the pirate captain again, he looks at me with anger in his eyes. I take a good look until I see 2 Valyrian half-breeds, I tell the men to put these 2 together with the 4 remaining test subjects from the other attack. Then I tell the crew to hold the Pirate Captain and not let him move. I remove the cloth from his leg and prepare to remove the bullet, one of the new Ghiscari crew members approaches and says:

"Chief, we didn't kill this one because he's worth a lot of money. I think his head must be worth at least 20 gold coins, his name is Jones "Bonebreaker". His first mate is also worth 3 gold coins, he points to another prisoner."

I have to remove what's inside his leg or he'll die, alive he's worth more right? The man nods and holds the captain tightly. I take a bottle of alcohol from my inventory and then a small pair of tweezers that I use in alchemy. He groans as the alcohol falls and I quickly stick the tweezers in looking for the bullet. When I find it, he screams a few times before removing it and throwing it towards the sea. I look closely at the wound, but I don't see any artery hit. I pour alcohol once more before drying everything and take out a small bag of gunpowder. I pour it into the wound and then quickly scratch it with a flint.

"ARGH"

A loud scream of pain, followed by a flash of gunpowder and the smell of burning flesh makes the crew around laugh at the pirate's suffering and some even applaud. The other pirates start to tremble with fear as they witness one of the cruelest ways they have ever seen to heal someone. I stand up and tell the Ghiscari man to take the two valuable prisoners to a place where they can be safely locked up. I look at the 8 remaining men and tell Captain Henry to take care of them.

When it is night, I see the number of dead pirates in my system increase by another 8.