Dragon's Tale 98 (Patreon)

Watching the ship arranged for me by Theodora starting to move away would have been worry-inducing if it wasn’t for the great physical boost my transformation gave me, allowing me to swim faster than the ship could move — at least while in shallow waters — to the point of making me wonder whether I could swim all the way across the sea rather than dealing with the ship. 

Especially since I remembered how the beasts reacted to my presence, not just the domestic animals like horses, but also the magical beasts, Nemean Lion being one example. If the creatures in the sea reacted in a similar manner, such an achievement might be even more reasonable. 

I might have even attempted that if it wasn’t for my beautiful ally on my back. Her weight was not a problem, but her unconscious state certainly was, especially since I didn’t know how long this state would last after her exertion. Best case, she would wake up in a few hours. 

Worst case, a few weeks. 

And trying to balance an unconscious person on my back while swimming on open seas was not an attractive option compared to a ship, even an unknown one. I continued to swim, each length bringing me forward a shocking amount, allowing me to cut through the surface of the water, which was still rough after the recent surprise storm. 

I did my best to ignore the source of that storm, along with the fatalistic realization that just how close I had been to death, teaching me that, even after I learned how to use my most recent power up, I was not a peak existence in the world. 

Nowhere near close. 

I was still a sorcerer, one with the strength and confidence to fight and win against several sorcerers once I managed to get decent control of my power, but that didn’t change the fact that the power that I felt earlier surpassed that point in an incomprehensible degree. 

It wasn’t just about the magical strength, but the way they utilized it… 

“Luckily, it doesn’t come for free,” I murmured even as I remembered the conceptual chains that locked down the casters, showing that such a power didn’t come freely. If it wasn’t for my own unusual ascendancy experience, I might have assumed that it was being cast by the other six beings — the Archmagus as Xia called — to restrain the newcomer, a conclusion that would have been supported by their positioning. 

I didn’t think so, because I was familiar with the semi-sentient nature of the elements, far more than a sorcerer was supposed to due to unusual circumstances of my own Ascendance. And, if the four elements of Earth could rebel against my control, them restricting Archmagus was certainly not unbelievable. 

A process that was conveniently confirmed by my expanded senses. 

Still, it was a great lesson about arrogance. I sighed even as I started to swim, though a frown appeared on my face as I noticed the speed of the ship, faster than I expected. It didn’t take long for me to recognize layers of runic enhancements buried deep into its hull as I expanded my magical senses, but recognizing the reason was the only start of my problem. 

Almost all ships had runic enhancements, both to expand their speed, and to increase their defensive capabilities in case of a beast attack. While the seas were much safer than the open ocean, where disasters beast filled the place to the brim, making any voyage an impossible affair, some danger still existed. 

Yet, the level of runic enhancements on the ship was different, similar to the difference between a dagger carried for safety, and wearing a full set of legionnaire armor and weapon set. The ship could easily rival — maybe even surpass — some of the premier warships of the fleet. 

It wasn’t fully apparent at a glance as they were still running well below the maximum capacity, but that only made the situation more suspicious. 

If it wasn’t for the great danger the mainland represented, I would have turned and swam back to the shore, searching for a more viable option. If Xia wasn’t unconscious, I would have swam deeper into the sea, searching for another ship I could sneak in. 

With the situation forcing my hand, despite the nature of the ship, raising many red flags, I continued to swim toward it. Though, I did one thing differently, and did my best to stay under the waves — which was much more challenging with the necessity of keeping Xia’s head above water, preventing her from drowning. 

It was supposed to be a difficult affair to get closer to a ship on the open sea, but luckily, the earlier show of the brand new Archmagus from House Junia worked to my benefit for that purpose. The ship was running through emergency drills, focusing to gather its power to the limit. 

They were too occupied with their tasks to actually pay attention to the sea, though the intensity of their activity surprised me, the captain roaring order after order, his voice sharp and intense. The power radiating from the captain, clearly marking him as a sorcerer, would have made the situation more understandable — as he clearly felt the immensity of the power, a nuance a normal mage would have likely failed — but even then, his tone was too even, packing any kind of panic and surprise. 

My new senses allowed me to feel his fear, but it was too measured, too contained, to be the fear of the unknown. As if he was also aware that an Archmagus was restricted from acting. A suspicious level of knowledge considering I didn’t find anything about the subject even after raiding Patrician Libraries. 

The ship I picked as a destination was clearly more complicated than I had expected, but that didn’t make me turn back. Armed with my transformation, and a patrician weapon I could use, even without my magic, I trusted myself enough to contend against a sorcerer enough to go back to the sea. 

I expanded my senses, examining the layout of the ship wards, wards that were in the process of being activated along with the other runic schemes of the ship, which meant there were several great gaps along its detection surface. 

Gaps that I easily ignored as I let my hands into claws, easily climbing to the side of the ship, the runes that were supposed to resist such an attempt fizzling under my touch. 

“Check the side, some of the runes went off,” shouted someone, but I was quick enough to finish my destination before one could pay a glance. 

My destination, a little hatch on the side, was closed by a wooden board that looked like a part of the ship, but a careful examination revealed that it was a wooden window. Even better, my enhanced sense of smell showed that the room behind was currently empty. 

Without my sense of smell, I wouldn’t dare to enter there, because the room was warded several times, enough to conceal its contents even from my magical senses, and did so in a way that would avoid the attention of many others. 

Supremely suspicious. 

A poke of my hand was enough to destroy the rune that was holding it closed, and I slipped in. As I let it close, I heard a voice shouting. “The side is clear, but some of the runes are burned. Someone screwed up their part of the activation,” shouted the sailor tasked to catch me. 

I shook my head in amusement. I had deliberately destroyed more runes than necessary to give that exact impression, but seeing a simple subterfuge working was certainly good news. 

Yet, my good mood didn’t even survive until I placed the Xia down. The little room — more accurately defined as a full lower deck — was dark, almost pitch black, and the wards strong enough to block my magical senses did nothing to help my sudden sense of discomfort. 

At least, blocking what I could feel from outside. Since I was inside the wards, I could feel the magical objects inside the wards. And I felt many different magical items, giving the impression of weapons. 

I let my transformation spread once more, this time targeting my eyes, and just like that, the darkness turned into something much more manageable. 

However, regaining the ability to see didn’t help much to contain my growing discomfort, as I realized I was in an armory, one that filled the deck from side to side. 

The first thing I noticed was ballistas, a dozen in total, six on each side, the closest one directly in front of me. Their existence was probably responsible for the disguised hatches on the side. Ordinary ballistas were hardly an object for fear, but the one in front of me, every inch covered in silver runes to reinforce its structure, was hardly an ordinary weapon. 

And the bolts that were stacked next to it, even more, intense magically, were even more suspect. Just one hit would take down an ordinary ward, and a volley or two would take down any ward a sorcerer could erect without the assistance of external items. 

While a dozen ballistas were the most striking weapon in the warded secret deck, they were hardly the only weapon in the hold. A rack on the left was filled with spears, while an opposing rack was filled with a crossbow, their power and quality too uniform to be acquired by a trading ship, no matter how successful. 

Theodora owed me an explanation, a long one.