The Crimson Tale of Conquest

With the setting sun, bathing the city in a golden light, making it look as if everything was set ablaze. Unlike other parts of the city the wall here opened up once it reached the shore. Lucilla, with Sara on her back, and the others followed Cristina through the first district of the city, also known as fisherman village. Just like the other segments this was a large area, so not everyone or everything was related to fishing.

The reason for its name comes from the fact this segment held the docks and waterways that connected to Prosperity River. It also happened to be the very first segment built. Not counting the central area. The buildings here were made from stone just like the rest of the city, but the closer you got to the docks the more wood you saw. Especially if you go in the direction where the original fishing village in the area was located.

As they got closer to the edge of the city the distinct smell of the river became more apparent. The strong smell of fish was carried on the wind from the many fishing boats docked at the pier unloading the day's haul. Sounds of people working and laughing as they talked with each other could be heard even from their location.

Cristina led everyone from the busy location, where all the fishing boats and large transportation ships were located. Instead, she led them south where the private water vessels were located. There were few people in the area, and the further they walked, the less there were. Most of these boats belonged to rich merchants or someone that works for the city's government.

Eventually they even passed those. They found themselves in a very remote part of the port. Many of the different docks where empty, but there was on ship in the area.

"Here we, the 'MS Ann'!" Cristina declared opening her arms up dramatically as she presented the ship to them. It was on the larger side and was clearly a Gallion type ship. The Steel Wood haul of the ship reflected the setting sunlight in the distance. One it's side in big, bold, black lettering was the ships name.

The large crimson sails were folded into the mass of the ship. On the side were what looked to be something folded onto the side of its haul. The dark grey wood, that had the gloss of steel, looked to have seen some combat. Some parts of it were dented and scratched. Scorch marks could be seen here and there, most likely from Magi-canons.

The steering apparatus was located in a cabin on the stern of the ship. The entire ship had a strong aura, just being in its presence caused Lucilla's hair to stand on end. She as sensing the strong enchantment magic used on the ship. The window on the cabin of the Ship had especially strong enchantment magic applied to it, to keep the glass from breaking.

On both the port and starboard sides of the Gallion where what was clearly areas meant to hold Magi-canons. The Weapons designed to fight and destroy other ships or defend it from water fearing monsters and beast, where notably absent.

"... Wow, this is actually really incredible." Lucilla said voicing her thoughts. On her back sara nodded in agreement.

"It's incredibly impressive indeed. How did you precure such a vessel?" Morella inquired.

Whistling softly, Judieth took in the battle worn ship with interest. "How did you get them to allow you to have a ship like this?" Judieth asked. "These are usually used as warships, aren't they?"

Cristina smirked. "Well, I've had this here ship for'a long while, since I used this ta help defend the water's 'round the time the city was first being built, I was allowed to keep it." She puffed out her chest a little. Then, with a slight pause she added, "With the condition I removed the cannons from me ship."

"Hmm and this somehow survived over 700 years huh?" Judieth said.

"Thats right. I'm happy ta say I took care of my Ann. It's a perfect recreation of ma original ship."

"Then shouldn't this be called the 'MS Ann II?" Lucilla asked with a tilt of her head.

"The original wasn't called the 'MS Ann'." Cristina said. "It was the Known simply as the 'GraveHold."

"No way really!?" Judieth exclaimed with a look of excitement. "The infamous Pirates? The ones people said were finally killed by the Pirate Queen Hero? The ones that had traveled to every continent in the world to plunder and never being caught, including the 'Floating continent?' Said to have died in a fiery infernal as their ship plummeted from the sky over the Frozen waste?"

Judieth was hyperventilating. With every question she stepped closer to Cristina till she was so close to her face, their noses touched. Cristina was a little flustered to find someone that knew of her past so well. She didn't expect this group of people in particular to have even heard of her ship and crew, despite being important enough to have been recorded in history books.

"Is she famous or something?" The Monster woman asked.

"Famous? I would say she and her crew were on of the most prominent people around, they sailed the seas between the yea-"

"Alright let's get going. Don't want to keep the crew waiting now do I? Cristina said with a force smile.

Walking up the ramp to the deck of the ship, Lucilla wondered why the ship was named Ann instead of 'The GraveHold II,' if she went through all the trouble of recreating the original ship. Getting lost in thought her mind turned to wondering why Cristina was helping them. She turned her Golden-Brown eye's and stared at Cristina's back as she followed the Vampire Pirate. Her ruby red coat with gold lining swaying in wind. Lucilla squinted in suspicion.

She knew blood wasn't what Cristina was hoping to gain from helping them. The Vampire clearly wanted something else, yet she didn't even fight back against this deal that was in was in Lucillas favor by a large margin. 'Whatever it is she's hoping for seems to involve helping me for some reason. But for what?' Lucilla was completely lost on what the vampire's motives.

'I guess it doesn't matter right now. I'll deal with her later if needed.' She concluded as she steped onto the deck.

-- -- --

A couple of hours later the MS Ann Was leaving port. The sails were still folded, and the ship seem to be moving on its own. Lucilla looked on in amazement, the ship was going upriver, against the current and was still actively moving without hindrance. Lucilla was now out of disguise, considering the crew of two-hundred were either fey or intelligent monsters. So, with Crimson eyes sparkling with interest, as much as it can while glaring, the Monster woman approached Cristina.

"How is the ship moving?" She asked.

"What do ya mean? With a Magi-engine of course." Cristina said confused on why Lucilla would ask something so obvious. "What did you think the MS stood for?"

"Um, boss, anyone not familiar with ships wouldn't know that." Aliaa. the assassin looking Cat-folk spoke up.

"Huh? What you mean, this is just basic Knowlege."

"Too you, but not for people that have nothing to do with ships."

"... I suppose." Cristina conceded reluctantly.

"Also, Magi-Engines are normally only found in Air Ships, they aren't used for Water Ships."

"I get it, I get it." Cristina sighed before turning back to Lucilla. "What do ya want to know Lucy."

Too excited to notice Cristina using a nickname, she proceeded to ask her how it worked, an if they have this, what's with the sails. Ever since she picked up that book in the Library, Lucilla's interest in technology only grew. During that time between the meeting with the raid party, and finding out about Sara's disappearance, she was reading the History of technology book.

"Hm, well, I'm not an expert on the Engine myself but I'll explain what I can."

Before she talked about the Engine, she first talked about why they were on a Galleon in the first place, considering they were meant for sea travel and aren't suited for being on most rivers. The main reason was the size of the actual engine itself. A Galleon was the smallest possible ship that could feasibly carry a Magi-Engine, even when reduced in size.

These Engines were huge and took up a lot of space on a ship. The GraveHold was actually much bigger than MS Ann, but that was unavoidable considering she made this ship to for Prosperity River. The absolute vastness of the river, and how surprisingly deep it went, meant many larger ships could freely sail across its waters. There was still a limit and the settlements near the river and the countries they resided in agreed on a ship size limit. The Galleon being on the bigger side of things.

The Engine itself was powered by Refined Mana, stuck between a liquid and gaseous state of being. "It's kind of like a steam Engine but like in a steampunk style kinda." Was how Cristina described it, but no one around who knew what she was talking about. Neither steam Engine nor Steampunk meant anything to them. Cristina just sighed and said the Dwarves have steam Engines in their country and she'll show them an example some other time.

"Don't get me wrong, other places also have steam Engines." She said before pointing in the direction of the port again. "See how sum of them ships don't have sails. They use Steam Engins to run themselves. It's only recently that this technology has even left the Dwarger Mountain range."

Lucilla looked over with mild interest. She didn't know what Steam Engins were, but she understood that they seem to be similar to Magi-Engines.

"Anyway, the point bein' the Magi-Engin is like a more advance and fantastical version of a Steam one... Kinda." She shook her head. "It's really not, I could also say it's similar to any Engine really, just I feel like Steam makes more sense. Anyway, moving on."

Apparently holding raw mana in anything was extremely hard and a delicate process, and it grows even more complicated when trying to use it for power. Just getting the Mana into a physical state that wasn't a solid was extremely difficult, and that was just the first step. Things got even more complicated just precuring the materials.

Thanks to the Refined Mana being in a preputial state of being both liquid and gas, finding a container to hold said fuel was extremely hard. Cristina decided showing Lucilla would be easier than explaining it she would just have to show them Engine itself. Leading her deep into the ship, Cristina eventually led her to a door labeled Engine room. Without any hesitation she stepped through the heavy metal door, with Lucilla following closely behind.

Inside the room a large machine took up two floors worth of space. In the underbelly of the ship an Engine made with gleaming dark blue metal sat before Lucilla. Translucent Tubing stuck out from the machine as pistons pumped in a rhythmic motion, with belts running at high speeds, and cogs spun at a fast pace. The Redish-Orange Mana flowed through the translucent tubing, the amount of energy and power that could be felt was immense causing the hair on Lucilla's neck to rise up in alarm.

"As ya can see this thing is absolutely massive, and the amount of Fuel running through this thang is immense." Cristina said. "The amount of mana needed ta condense together to get it into any type of physical form is unprecedented."

The Dark Blue metal that seems to make up the machine was actually only a coating. The metal was called Adamantite. It was even more durable than Mithril, but unlike Mithril the dark blur metal didn't conduct magic easily. Matter of fact it would be more accurate to say it outright blocked mana from flowing through it.

Just like Mithril, Adamantite was a rare and precious metal. It was also extremely hard to work with since magical fire didn't work on it at all, making it so only those with access to strong enough heat source can forge with it. The cost to coat even a thin layer of the metal was immense. The cost of labor was also great.

Then there was the tubing used to move the Mana through the machine itself. The silver translucent tubing was in fact the intestines of a dragon. The level of difficulty of taking down a Dragon made anything from them valuable and rare. Dragon intestines happen to be especially designed to not only handle and hold mana, but even have it move through it.

The reason for using dragon intestine was simple. Not only do Dragon materials not rot, but the flexible intestine also meant it was able to handle the incredible pressure coming from the raw mana flowing through the machine. Anything weaker and less flexible would cause the thing to implode on itself.

"Honestly there's a reason why ya don't see ships using these things." Cristina said. "It's way to expensive to even get ya hand on one."

"Then why do you have it?" Lucilla asked.

"Heh, the GraveHold was a flyin' ship, having one of these things was necessary, otherwise you wouldn't get enough power ta keep the ship afloat." Cristina explained. "The very thought of havin' one of these in a regular ship is laughable, but since this is the original Engine from the original ship, I kept it."

"I see. Can this ship fly too?"

"Of course it can. We aren't flyin' though." Cristina said. "Anyway, if you want to know more about how this thang works ask on of the engineers.

"... Yeah...." Lucilla answered. Despite appearing to act aloof, Lucilla was still awkward around others. The thought of just initiating a conversation with someone she didn't know filled her with anxiety.

Cristina gave the woman in front of her an appraising look. Sighing she walked away briefly heading to one the thirty people on the ship in charge of Engine room. After a few minutes Cristina returned and handed something to Lucilla. It was a manual on the engine, explaining away the entire structure of the machine itself.

"Here, this should explain everything in intricate detail, right?"

"...." Lucilla took the book and with a small bow with her head to show her gratitude she left heading back to the top deck with a bounce in her step.