Wild Dragon of Rome 8 (Patreon)

As the bell continued to ring, I looked upstairs, trying to decide what to do. Once activated, I had no idea how to stop Dragon Heart from emitting mana. Every other time, it stopped once the drop of blood evaporated.

The drop of blood was already absorbed into the center, with no way of removing it. I couldn’t stuff it back into the box. It was enough to keep the dragon heart hidden when it was inactive, but things changed when activated.

Leaving the dragon heart here and going up was not a viable solution either. It stayed unnoticed under several layers of magical wood only because I was absorbing the majority of the mana it let out. The mana build-up would soon turn noticeable if I left it at lower decks before going up. 

I enhanced my hearing as I listened, wanting to understand the source of the alarm. If they were organizing a defense, hiding would be easier. No one would bother counting. If it was an emergency raid, or a boarding attempt against a target of opportunity, it would be harder to hide.

In such a case, they would probably pay attention to the new recruits to see how they performed. So, my absence would go unnoticed.

Still, I decided to stay in the hull, and blame the guy that sent me here if discovered, saying that he ordered me to stay there no matter what, and I thought that a ship-wide alert was a part of it. Hopefully, they would buy it. If they didn’t buy … well, that was a thought for the future. 

The perfect strategy was a luxury. 

Instead, I enhanced my hearing to listen to them. It was a wasteful trick, using more mana than enhancing my strength with Earth, but I ignored it. If there was one thing I didn’t lack, it was mana. 

“I see the captain’s boat,” someone shouted. “He’ll be here in two minutes. Everyone looks sharp!” the lookout shouted. I sighed. It wasn’t the worst possible case, but then it wasn’t the best. The captain had been a common topic of gossip among the crew. They enjoyed the tales of their captain’s incredible bravery and scary violence. 

Annoyingly, those tales focused more on the violent and gory details of his fights rather than the technical details of his achievements. He was a strong mage, of water element, who loved to use his magic in creative executions. That was it. 

Admittedly, stories didn’t even explain his strength properly. But, since a simple and violent mage like Publius was willing to follow him, he had to be strong. And, since he was able to operate as a pirate successfully while maintaining his political relationship, he must be intelligent as well. Or, at least, he had enough low cunning to make dealing with him very dangerous. 

His arrival was not good news for me. I had been hoping that his absence would have lasted longer. The last thing I needed was another mage that I needed to hide from. Even with the mana wood blocking my presence, it would be difficult. 

I stayed downstairs, desperately draining dragon heart’s mana, hoping that it would stop emitting mana before the captain’s arrival. 

Breathe in. 

Breathe out. 

Feed the elemental cores. 

Breathe in. 

Breathe out. 

“Finally,” I muttered as the dragon heart finally turned inert. I put it back in its box, and climbed the stairs as fast as I could manage without creating commotion. I was at the upper deck before the captain’s boat had arrived. 

On the deck, Publius was shouting orders as he tried to establish a semblance of order, dealing with the worst of the mess on the upper deck, but the sailors moved around in confusion. 

I was glad for that lack of discipline, as it allowed me to mix the crowd without alerting anyone. I grabbed a mop and moved to a concealed corner, furiously cleaning. 

At the same time, I clamped over my elemental cores, locking them hard to keep my presence down. It was going to be painful, as in my current improved state, suppressing it got even harder. It would take merely ten minutes for the pain to start. 

I had no choice but the suffer until the scary captain arrived. 

I skulked behind as an ordinary boat started to approach. It was a small one, without a sail, designed to rely on oars. Not something designed for open seas, and trying to travel on it should count as suicide, either by monsters, or by bad weather. 

Yet, despite having no sails, the boat moved forward rapidly, far faster than it was supposed to be possible. The water itself was pushing the small boat. 

Captain was strong. Stronger than I expected. Pushing a boat with his own magic was not a simple achievement, requiring both raw power and control to display such speed without shattering the small boat. 

A dangerous man indeed. 

I moved to the middle of the new recruits, right behind the tallest one, hoping that their presence would make me even less worthy of attention. 

With the speed of its boat, the captain arrived at the ship in a few minutes. To my surprise, the crew didn’t throw a rope ladder to the side, but that was answered soon. A column of water burst from the sea, lifting the boat he was on until it dropped both on the deck. 

The display didn’t make me feel any better. He was even stronger than I expected. 

As he stepped out of the boat, I took note of his looks. An older man, with hair more white than black, with a few wounds on his face, showing he had lived a hard life. And, if his crew’s fearful shift was any indicator, he made his crew live through the same. 

“We have the cargo. Set a course to the meeting spot,” he said as he leaned down, and lifted a large bundle. A human-shaped one. Alive, and aware enough to struggle, her muffled cries enough to reveal her gender, but nothing more. 

A kidnapping. 

No wonder we had been idling in the open seas for a week. Initially, I had assumed that it was to find a good target for piracy, but the captain and his bundle suggested otherwise. I wondered what was going on. It was clearly not for slavery. Not because the crew seemed too upright to dabble in such a reprehensible trade, but even the most expensive slave wouldn’t bring enough money to justify them spending more than a week without doing anything. 

Nor it would justify such a competent mage taking action by himself. 

My thoughts were nothing more than idle curiosity. I pitied the unlucky woman as I watched the captain carry her to a room, but not enough to try to intervene. I wasn’t stupid enough to throw myself into what would be a pointless gesture of martyrdom. Against three mages, and a ship full of sailors, I would have no hope of resisting. 

I couldn’t help but remember one of the favorite sayings of the old man. Mercy was a luxury that belonged to the strong, and the weak could only borrow it, and hope the interest wouldn’t ruin them… 

And, considering my enemies didn’t just include a trio of pirate mages and their violent squad, I couldn’t even afford to borrow it. 

At least she was treated far too valuable to suffer any indignity. 

I wasn’t surprised when the captain left the room a minute later, his expression still the same. “Anyone that dares to touch the cargo, I’ll cut them in small pieces and feed them to fish!” he warned. He didn’t shout, but he didn’t need to.

He flared his mana, and a thick rope of water rose from the sea, shifting threateningly. Then, that water column sank into the sea like a tentacle. When it pulled back, it was holding a sea turtle of second order. The beast was strong. Even with my most recent improvements, I wouldn’t have wanted to fight with it. I might have dealt with it on land, but it would have taken several minutes as I slowly chipped it down. 

Underwater, I couldn’t even escape it. Yet, the beast of second order that could easily kill me snapped its mouth a couple times helplessly before the water tentacle tightened around it, and its shell gave a violent crack. 

He didn’t need to shout, indeed. 

“Cook it,” he said. “I need all of you strong when we arrive at the island.” 

He was a good leader. Strong and merciless, but also smart enough to turn his display of intimidation into a reward. Already, I could see the new recruits looking at him with a mixture of fear and respect. 

I made a decision. I was going to leave the ship, even if they wanted to return to Britannia for the deal. 

That man was too dangerous to stick around…