World Sphere - 187 - (Patreon)

Chapter 187

Leda confirmed, “It is the Crackling Sparrow. They have two forward aether cannons according to the bounty sheet.” She scanned the document. “These pirates have multiple mages on board too. Fire and ice magic is noted.”

I nodded that I heard. Bleiz asked, annoyed, “Are you going to jump over?”

“No, I am just going to try and get my lightning elemental inside their sphere,” I said as I started evasive maneuvers.

The pirates, realizing we were not running but turning to attack, supercharged their aether shields. The sphere around the Crackling Sparrow shimmered in the light of the sun. I thought the aether diverted to the shield would make it more difficult for them to fire their aether cannons, but I was wrong. They fired the cannons in staggard shots. The Maelstrom was just too agile a target to hit as we did a pass-by.

My lightning elemental appeared in front of the pirate ship, and it couldn’t divert as they crashed into it, destroying the elemental on their aether shields. I had hoped to get it inside their envelope but misjudged the timing. “Aether shields are down. We should ground them with our disruptor cannon,” Leda advised.

“It would be easier, but I want the ship intact to loot it and maybe sell it in a nearby city,” I said, coming around for another pass. This time, the enemy spun 180 degrees as we approached from behind at speed. They fired their cannons staggered again. The maneuver surprised me, and both shots splashed against the shields.

Well, that was not true; the first shot briefly dissipated our powerful aether shield as veins of green ran along it, causing feedback to the runes. I now knew how the Crackling Sparrow got its name. Loud pops accompanied the veins racing over our aether shield. The aether shield needed to be reset, but it was down long enough for the second shot to get through.

The Maelstrom shook, and a large section of our hull plating on port side was blown away. “Damn it,” I swore as we passed over their ship and I dropped another elemental. I missed again, and the elemental pursued the pirate ship but could not catch it at their speed. Leda had raced off the bridge to assess the damage with Bleiz.

“Father. Not. Fight. Well.” Kiara’s voice entered my head while watching out the viewport. Her tail twitched anxiously in some fear of crashing maybe.

“Yes. I made a mistake. The pirate aether cannon was specialized and took down the shields.” I explained to the phantom cat through our link. I circled wide while waiting for Leda and Bleiz to return with a damage report.

Leda was back first, “No damage to the control runes, but we are missing large sections of plating. My guess is our aether shields will be at half strength, and the invisibility runes will not function. We got lucky they didn’t hit the forward viewing window.”  I grimaced as that was true. The repairs to the Maelstrom would cost tens of thousands of gold.

I had read about different aether cannons, and one that targeted just aether shields was in the text, but I hadn’t given it much thought as the artificing work to make them was much more complex than normal. Also, all you needed to do was clear and reset aether shields from such a strike. I should have realized there was a purpose to the staggered shots. “If I ever decide to play with my food again, remind me of this incident.”

“Oh, I will remind you of it more often than that,” Bleiz quipped.

Leda had her spyglass out. “They have artificed harpoon throwers on deck. Probably grapplers.”

“Well, I am done playing,” I announced. I increased the Maelstrom’s speed and made another attack run on the Crackling Sparrow. I cycled aether to charge the disrupter cannon and lined up a shot. The pirates, seeing my speed, sensed the trap and dove toward the surface in a corkscrew.

I closed the distance again, and when the pirates tried the same trick by turning 180 degrees to fire their cannons, I angled away rapidly, and both shots missed by a large margin. I returned to my position and closed, firing my disruptor. Their shields flared, and the ship jerked hard right as inertia stabilizers failed. A few pirates flew into the air. I didn’t stop my pursuit and fired again when the runes saturated again. When the second shot connected, it disrupted all the runes.

The Crackling Sparrow began an uncontrolled drive. I frowned as their speed increased. The crash was going to destroy the ship. Leda drew my attention, “Two of the pirates who were blown off the deck are flying.” She put down her spyglass and pointed.

I used my telescopic eye spell and found the two pirates together. I turned the Maelstrom and summoned a new lightning elemental. The dragon elemental drove toward the pirates. One of the pirates had a wand out and was casting rapid micro fireballs at the death coming for them. The elemental dodged most of the fireballs and soon slammed into the pirate, carrying it away in its jaws.

“The Crackling Sparrow didn’t crash.” Leda announced, drawing my attention.

I shifted my gaze to the pirate ship. Its descent had slowed and it looked to be landing. I surmised, “They must have a secondary aether crystal. My guess is their aether cannons were tied to it but it doesn’t have enough power to keep the ship aloft.”

I watched as the ship made a hard landing on a small lake. A large splash and ripple forming around the ship. “How long before they can take off?” Bleiz asked.

“A few minutes. They just need to purge the chaotic aether from the runes and draw fresh aether from the crystal.” I looked, and the lightning elemental was returning with two dead pirates in its claws. We would search them for loot before dumping the bodies. I veered the Maelstrom and opened the cargo bay. “Make sure they are dead and take anything valuable.” I sounded like a pirate myself. Neoma and Tibault were already in the cargo bay, and Bleiz went with the cats to assist. I raced toward the downed pirate ship and had the lightning elemental use the last of its aether to attack the ship.

Lightning, fire, and ice spikes lanced up at the draconic form as it danced over them. It must have siphoned some aether from the two flying pirates, as it should have expired by now. It expended the last of its aether, breathing a bolt of lightning across the deck. It didn’t matter as I had only used ten percent of my aether, creating the first two elementals. Even before I cast the next, I felt the spell form ready to evolve at level thirteen. I had planned to use the evolution to increase the siphon ability from 1% to 3% but instead chose the option to be able to have two elementals summoned at once.

Moments later, two lightning dragons descended on the hapless pirate ship. I had commanded them to only use their claws and bite to avoid damaging the ship further. I was tempted to try and save the crew of the pirate ship because somewhere among their number was a skilled artificer. To transfer the power runes from one aether crystal during a crash took someone special. But the Maelstrom had already suffered serious damage, and I didn’t want to risk it.

We watched from high above as the pirates fought the lightning elementals. When an elemental fell, I cruelly sent down another to replace it. Soon, the draconic elementals were clearing the lower decks. When I felt my connection to an elemental vanish, I just sent another to replace it. When the drakes emerged victorious on the deck, I landed the Maelstrom on shore and flew myself over to the Crackling Sparrow. My two drakes guarded me as I inspected the charred corpses of the pirates.

A lot of the wood on deck had the burned prints of the lightning drakes as they rampaged. Tier five elementals were extremely powerful. I moved to the command deck to find two dead elves here, still smoldering, and the scent of burning meat was strong. I laid my hand on the runes and sent out my metal sense. They had cut the runes to the primary aether crystal and had been trying to re-establish it after crashing in the water. It wouldn’t take me very much to finish their work. I let the elementals lead me below deck to view the aether crystals.

The forward compartment had a large tier-five aether crystal tied to their aether cannons. I confirmed the runic patterns on one of the cannons that targeted aether shields before exploring the rest of the hold. I established a privacy bubble around myself to purify the air as I went. The elementals had melted most of the crew’s eyes with their intense attacks to make sure they were dead. The primary aether crystal room was in the center of the ship. It was probably just far enough away from the forward crystal not to interfere with it.

I was happy to see a decent-sized tier six crystal. Probably worth upwards of fifty-thousand gold. It was still half charged, so I reconnected the runic feeds. I took out my comm stone, “The ship is secure. I am going to move it out of the water. I think the hard landing caused some damage to the hull. The deck is tilting slightly to port, so it is probably taking on water.”

The disruptive, chaotic aether had damaged the runic feeds, so I had to spend some time repairing them. I could see why pirates did not use the disruptor cannon more widely. The damage they did was extensive and usually resulted in crashing the ship. I moved the pirate ship to the shore, next to the Maelstrom. Bleiz and Tibault came out of the forest. “Some predator tracks in the area. They are probably large bears, by the looks of it. I suggest we do not stay too long.” Kiara and Adrial trotted out of the woods after them and obediently sat in front of me.

“No. Smell. Danger.” Kiara noted. I gave her a pat, and Adrial forced her head into my hand, seeking the same.

“Loot the bodies and inventory the cargo on the Sparkling Sparrow. Leda plot us a course to the nearest city to sell the ship. I expect we can get 200,000 gold for it in addition to the bounty.” I announced.

Bleiz smartly added, “I will see if any of the others match the individual bounty sheets we have.” I nodded, having forgotten about that. They were usually small, accounting for a few hundred gold, but the captain was always worth something.

I stood on the top deck of the Maelstrom with my two feline companions, keeping watch. One skyship flew high overhead an hour later, but I don’t think they spotted us due to their elevation. Leda had selected a human city called Alpine Point. It was marked as a friendly trade city just six hundred miles away.

The stolen cargo of the pirate ship was impressive. Six dozen crates containing bolts of textiles of all grades. Crates of engraved silver dinner place settings, fit for a noble. And finally, a chest of raw, uncut gemstones—mostly emeralds and sapphires. I didn’t know how much the cargo was worth, but I guessed maybe twenty-thousand gold conservatively. Just a drop in the bucket for my growing expenditures.

The pirate crew had a decent amount of low-quality artificed gear. Swords, rings, armor, and utility devices. When added together, it was a sizable amount, maybe another twenty-thousand, but I planned to hand it to Remy to clean and place in our magic shop at the Dungeon Academy. The variety should help raise the shop’s reputation.

Leda was piloting the Crackling Sparrow and flying the flag, which indicated it was a prize ship as we took off. Neoma and Tibault were on board with her as I shadowed her from above. It was a three-hour trek to the Alpine Point at the Sparrow’s top speed. A small city nestled in the crest between two snow-covered mountains. They had one dungeon outside the city and a second dungeon entrance high up one of the peaks, according to the maps.

The Crackling Sparrow was recognized as we approached, and two small cutter skyships insisted on boarding her before we landed. The bodies of five charred pirates on the deck helped convince the marines on board that Crackling Sparrow was indeed a captured vessel.

We didn’t have to wait long after landing for a representative from the Adventurer’s Guild to come out and inspect the ship and bounties. He completed a very detailed inspection, even assessing the size of both aether crystals on board with an artifact. “No cargo?” He asked after touring the ship. It was not against the Adventurer’s Code to keep the cargo. If I returned it to the owners, they would purchase it back at half the value, so there was not a lot of incentive other than gaining goodwill and easily liquidating it.

“Nothing, I am turning over,” I stated to the disappointed Guild representative.

“Very well.” He scribbled on his ledger and handed it to me. I looked it over as it had the pirate bounties and ship bounty on it minus a small processing fee to clear the Crackling Sparrow’s title from the pirate roles in the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Can I post the ship for sale here? I already stripped the aether cannons,” I inquired.

“Straight sale or auction is fine. Do you want me to facilitate for a nominal fee?” The Guild Rep asked interested.

“Can a sale be made in less than a day? And your fee?” I returned.

“Just 1% of the sale price. I know a number of merchants and others who would be interested. Are you leaving both aether crystals behind?” He asked.

I considered taking the smaller tier-five crystal, but it would not be of much use other than a short-range trader. “No. I am leaving both.”

That evening several interested parties came and toured the ship. By morning the winning big was accepted. Between the sale of the ship and the boundaries, my coffers had 234,500 gold added to them. I also still had the cargo and lesser runic items. A quick trip to the Adventurer’s Hall to get both my cards punched for completion of the bounty, and we were back in the sky.

“Are we going to continue hunting?” Bleiz inquired.

“No. Back to Skyholme for repairs and to observe Toblan’s first attempt on the Spire.” I said. The trip had not been as profitable as I hoped, but it was something.

Leda laid in the course and took the helm while I retired to my cabin to review the assortment on runic items and upgrade and repair them if possible. I was curious to find out if Sana had found out what had disturbed Kiara as well.