Through wind and waves, the magical vessel carried the crew further East past the volcanic isle and then turned South. The journey had been longer than Melly expected but she knew their goal was getting closer. By Clemiticus’ luck, the trip had gone by with no major incident, except for a mild panic attack the day before. At around noon they had spotted a flash of wings on the horizon. It was the Black Dragon. The giant creature glided around the perimeter of the volcanic isle and spared them only a single glance.

Melly sighed at the memory. After flying the magical ship, she was jealous of any creature who could fly.

“Land!” Rupert called out. “I see land!”

Melly looked up to see a dark shape over the horizon. They had finally made it to the continent of Righter Landom and they were safe. Hopefully Clemiticus’ nonstop chattering about sub classes would end once they made it to town.

“Ready the bleating ship!” Nuecus commanded and waved his arms around. Rupert who was too close to the old man’s flailing arms flinched behind the helm.

He repeated the order to his men as he ducked under another floundering arm. His men immediately rushed around deck and got to work. As the ship approached the beach, the sails rolled up. The vessel made a sharp beeline for the shore, showing no signs of stopping.

“Are you sure about this?” Rupert asked.

Nuecus swatted the pirate’s shoulder and laughed, “Brace thy booties for impact!”

Melly bent her knees and grabbed the closest railing as the ship darted towards dry land. She spotted Clemiticus as he poked his head out from below deck.

“Are we there yet?” he asked, then instantly flew forward.

The ship smashed into the coarse sand of the beach, forcing much of the crew off their feet. The ship showed no signs of slowing as the impossible vessel crawled up and out of the ocean. The wood bent and shrank while the mast dissolved. Wide wooden wheels popped out of each side and rolled forwards. The stern of the ship disappeared under Melly’s feet, leaving her floating above the sand.

Bing!

“Melly has entered the zone: Righter Landom!”

“Nuecus has entered the zone: Righter Landom!”

Momentarily panicking, Melly fell onto the sand next to Rupert as the ship's remaining features turned back into the shape of a wagon. The last vestige of ship shot Clemiticus out like a cannon.

“Clemiticus has entered the zone: Righter Landom!”

The swashbuckler landed with a thud, then rolled to his feet.

Once the wagon was on flat ground, it abruptly spat out a multitude of confused pirates as they shrieked in protest. Red lights flashed above their heads while the wagon rolled to safety. Rupert looked up at the red light, then scowled.

Clemiticus mirrored the bandit and looked above his own head.

“What the heck?” Clemiticus spat.

Above him, flashing red was the word:

Outlaw.

“What does that mean?” he asked. “Fairy!”

The blue creature flickered into existence. Its expression turned strained as it observed the text above Clemiticus and his pirate compatriots.

“Yes, master?” Fairy said cautiously.

Clemiticus pointed at the word above his head, then at the myriad of red words above the rest of the crew. “Why do we all have ‘outlaw’ above our heads?”

Fairy nodded nervously and explained, “You have just entered a land that outlaws piracy. If you wish to enter town, you must not select piracy as your primary profession.”

“How? What?” Clemiticus said confused and annoyed.

Melly fought down a chuckle as she watched the swashbuckler struggle under the peculiar set of rules.

“Don’t worry!” Fairy said reassuringly. “You can temporarily toggle your swashbuckling profession off while on land.”

Clemiticus turned to the fairy hopefully.

“There’s a drawback though!” Fairy quickly added.

“Always a catch,” Clemiticus sighed.

“You won’t be able to wield or wear your pirate items. You will lose all skills and stat points from the swashbuckling class.” Fairy informed them. “To toggle the swashbuckling class back on you will have to travel back to the ocean.”

Clemiticus nodded thoughtfully, then looked over at the rest of the crew.

“They are bandits by trade.” Clemiticus muttered.

“Bandits are also prohibited in this land.”

Rupert laughed nervously. His crew had slowly surrounded him with confused looks of desperation. The red text flashed overwhelmingly.

“Can they toggle both piracy and banditry off?” asked Clemiticus.

Fairy nodded then said, “They will be classed as mercenaries.”

The soon to be ex-swashbuckler smiled then commanded, “Let’s do it!”

Fairy flicked its wrists. Before them appeared a large blue box of light. Clemiticus walked towards the floating menu and navigated the strange list of options. After finding the list of bandit names, Clemiticus unchecked all the boxes labelled piracy. One by one the pirate’s sailor attires fell to the floor leaving them with only basic equipment. Rupert, the last remaining pirate, sighed as he too transformed, becoming an honest mercenary.

Then it was the swashbuckler's turn.

“Squawk!” Skittles flew into view and perched on Clemiticus' shoulder.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye for now,” Clemiticus spoke softly to his feathered companion as he unchecked the profession box labelled swashbuckler.

In an instant, his coat vanished, leaving him in his original travelling attire. His shoulder burst into a cloud of feathers as Skittles the parrot disappeared.

“Chirp! Chirp!” Skittles whistled.

Clemiticus' jaw dropped as he eyed the tiny bird on his shoulder. The parrot had not vanished, but instead transformed into a much smaller bird.

“Fairy, what’s going on?” he asked.

Fairy examined Skittles then answered, “Skittles, the parrot has lost his piracy skills. He has transformed into a Red Cardinal songbird.”

“What?” Melly swore.

The songbird bounced on Clemiticus' shoulder, then flew in a circle above his head, chirping all the way.

“Awesome!” Clemiticus smiled.

The mercenaries all looked at one another and gathered their lost items under the orders of their leader.

Clemiticus knelt to gather his fallen cutlass and pistol, then turned to the pile of large red feathers.

“Hey Melly.”

She looked at the kneeling scavenger and raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah?”

“You think these feathers will make good fletching?” he asked while gathering them into his pocket.

She hadn’t thought of making her own arrows till now. There hadn’t been a need. Each time she had used all her arrows she had either gathered them back up or looted more from fallen enemies. Thinking back to the battle on the ship, the only time she had run out of arrows.

If It weren’t for the luck stat she had gained, Melly wouldn’t have been so fortunate. She then made the conscious decision to either learn to make arrows or get Thea to craft them. Either way, the man had a good idea. Melly nodded as Clemiticus stuffed the rest of the feathers into his endless pocket.

It took around thirty minutes for the party to organise themselves for the next journey. Thea and Derrick had led the horses out of the magical carriage and fastened them to the front. With a few minutes of free time to spare, Melly and Clemiticus took the initiative to scout the area.

The two walked away from the beach and into the line of trees. The smell of the forest was fresh and inviting. The trees within grew tall. Their leaves were a deep dark hue, much greener than any Melly had seen before. Clemiticus’ little songbird flew ahead and flittered between the trees. They could drive the wagon through the gaps but it would take time.

“Ah, there!” Clemiticus called out while pointing. “I found a road!”

“Really?” Melly huffed as she jogged to stand beside him.

True to his word there was a dirt path. It was dry and looked well-travelled. Definitely a good sign.

“Let’s grab the others?” she asked.

Clemiticus simply nodded as they made their way back to the wagon.

Thea was feeding and petting the horses as Nuecus held the reins. The old Thaumaturge looked far more in his element while sitting in control of his wagon.

Clemiticus then, with Thea's help, guided the horses away from the beach and through the trees. Melly sat beside her father who was whittling a piece of sea flotsam into the shape of a dragon. The dwarf was humming a cheerful tune as the party moved their way through the dense forest and onto the road.

Their next stop: Skull city.