Rhys lowered the winch and tied a length of rope between it and the crate of choice. When he raised the winch back up, it dragged the crate out to where he could directly attach the winch’s hook.

It took a long time to do them all. Rhys was just one man, after all. Each time the rope or winch had to be adjusted, he had to do it manually, all of which took time. Still, it was more than worth it in Rhys’s eyes. The last thing to go in were the stacks or ironwood planks, which he tied up and winched in using the same method.

‘Right, feel free to absorb the crates with the crystals in and the ironwood planks,’ Rhys said to Zaxx as he finished bringing everything in. Zaxx had helped with the winching process, thankfully, so he was already aware of what Rhys had been able to secure.

‘I look forward to your choices,’ Zaxx said as the crates started to melt into the floor. Rhys still found the whole process disturbing at best, but it was also fascinating to watch.

Closing the cargo hatch up, Rhys paused and looked for the pistol and the firestarters, but they weren’t where he’d left them.

‘I moved the pistol and the artificed devices to your cabin, along with a significant portion of the spares and metallic components.’

‘Ah, thank you,’ Rhys said, grimacing a little. He also found the way Zaxx could move things unsettling.

He was trying to adapt to all of this as best he could, but he knew it would take some time. It did help how reasonable Zaxx was being, but somehow that also made him more suspicious at the same time.

Rubbing his face, Rhys headed up to the deck and to the helm. Without prompting, Zaxx displayed the status of the Endeavour once more.

The Endeavour

Status - Fully Functional

Upgrades

Hull - None

Power - None

Propulsion - None

Weaponry - None

Other - None

Weaponry

Swivel Cannon x 3 (2 fore, 1 aft)

Propulsion

Large Vapour Thruster x 1

Medium Vapour Thruster x 2

Small Vapour Thruster x 1

Sail x 1

Power

Akast Engine x 1

Hull

Engine Section x 1

Cargo Section x 1

Prow x 1

Available Units

Material - 20.4

Energy - 23

Fuel

Akast Crystal - 28 units (1 Energy Unit Equivalent)

Cargo

Supplies Shipment

‘Okay, twenty energy units, excellent,’ Rhys said, grinning as he realised that he had more than enough for two of the upgrades. ‘Zaxx, I would like the options for the thrusters again, please.’ Rhys watched as the writing faded away and new words were slowly written out to replace them.

Propulsion Upgrades

Power Rank 1 - Increases the thrust of all vapour thrusters by a minor amount.

Cost- 10 Energy Units

Efficiency Rank 1 - Increase the efficiency of all vapour thrusters, reducing power usage by a minor amount.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

Overclock Rank 1 - Grants the ability to temporarily boost the power of specific vapour thrusters, increasing thrust by a minor amount at the cost of durability.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

‘Wait, was there a difference in the thruster options to last time, and why does everything now have the word “minor” in it?’ Rhys asked, thinking back to the last time he read the options and not remembering them to be quite the same.

‘After deliberation, I changed it to try and quantify the level of change. This is to help you make your choices from an informed position.’

‘Right, thanks, I suppose. I’m still going to choose the power upgrade first of all. Should I choose what else I want now or wait for this to be done?’ Rhys gripped the wooden console tight. He had no idea how rough this was going to be.

‘I would prefer to do it all at once, but the choice is yours.’

‘Okay, let’s choose the other one first, in that case. Show me the hull and power upgrade options,’ Rhys said, releasing the console and focusing on two of the other upgrade categories he hadn’t looked at last time. While the gunnery upgrades were interesting, he had no intent to get in a fight any time soon. Besides, his lack of crew would make any upgrades worthless right now. The only other upgrade category would then be under “Other”, but Rhys needed to focus on more practical upgrades right now.

Hull Upgrades

Hull Strength Rank 1 - Increase the strength and durability of the Endeavour’s hull by a minor amount.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

Hull Repair Rank 1 - Allows the Endeavour to passively repair itself. Able to repair minor damage.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

Hull Growth Rank 1 - Reduces the cost of adding new Modules, Hull Upgrades and other structural changes by a minor amount.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

Power Upgrades

Power Rank 1 - Increases the output of the Akast Engine with a minor increase in crystal consumption.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

Overclock Rank 1 - Grants the ability to temporarily produce more energy than normal from the Akast Engine, at the cost of durability and a major increase in crystal consumption.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

Harvesting Rank 1 - Allows the Endeavour to passively charge itself from the Morca in the cloud sea, applying a minor charging effect.

Cost - 10 Energy Units.

Capacity Rank 1 - Allows the Endeavour to store a minor amount of excess power for later use.

Cost - 10 Energy Units

‘Huh, why are there more options for power than hull and propulsion?’

‘These are options drawn from yourself via our pact. Consider it a reflection of your own desires and knowledge.’

‘Hmm, I do find engines and energy fascinating. Thinking about it, wasn’t there four options for the cannons as well. Probably because of the fascination with energy again,’ Rhys said, muttering to himself as he considered Zaxx’s words.

‘What is your second choice?’ Zaxx said, his whisper interrupting Rhys’s flow and bringing him back to the moment.

‘I’m going to go for the hull growth upgrade. I didn’t pay for these crystals, so it makes it even more economical to spend them making future upgrades cheaper.’

‘As you wish. Please remain at the helm while I instigate the changes.’

Much like when the ship was claimed, a growing vibration ran through the ship, culminating in arcing violet energy jumping all around him. The energy seemed more controlled than last time, and the vibrations were coming in discreet waves. Rhys still made a panicked grab for the console, just in case, but, thankfully, the ship remained reasonably stable.

It all lasted for a few minutes at most, then slowly began subsiding back to normal. A few lingering sparks of violet energy were here and there, but they soon faded as well.

‘The upgrades are complete. Please amass further crystals as soon as you can. This was a most pleasurable experience.’ Zaxx said, his whispers bringing a sense of satisfaction with them.

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Rhys said with a quirk of his mouth. Zaxx made it seem so reasonable to acquire ten sovereigns worth of crystal. Still, he’d made that much just looting the cash in this cache. Maybe there would be someone back at Arn Gol with a large stock he could buy.

Thinking of Arn Gol made him realise how much time they’d spent in the cave. If the pirates hadn’t moved on by now, he’d be very surprised. Then again, a few more minutes wouldn’t make a difference, and he was starving after all that effort.

On that thought, he went down to the galley to make a sandwich and have a sit down, it had been an eventful day, and he needed a few minutes to mentally catch up.

-**-

By the time Rhys was ready to go, the clouds outside had gone dark, leaving the Endeavour as the only local light source. If they were higher up, that wouldn’t be a problem, but down here, he wasn’t going to risk flying around without seeing where they were going.

Taking down the lanterns to stop the light from giving them away, Rhys set up the new light devices he had belowdecks. The first went into his quarters, and the second into the galley, which basically covered everywhere he went on the ship right now.

The Endeavour came with some small quartz lights, but they had a gloomy atmosphere to them, not like these new devices.

With little else to do, Rhys set about copying the runes from the pistol into his notebook. He’d be able to work out their function with time and materials for experimentation. Time wasn’t an issue, and he didn’t mind spending a little on some experiments.

Of course, experiments were still a long way off right now. The first step was to get the runes transcribed for both the pistol and the light emitting devices. Once he could recreate them precisely, he could begin some tests to see what he might be able to put together. It was all very exciting.

-**-

When the morning’s light illuminated the clouds the next day, Rhys backed the Endeavour out of the cave they’d been in.

He had a definite itch on the back of his neck as they moved through the forest of spires, staying low in the sea as they made for Arn Gol. It felt like the pirates would appear out of nowhere at any moment.

It was only when they’d been on the way for an hour that Rhys brought them up out of the cloud sea once more. He didn’t even pause to appreciate the sun on his face before he looked around for any nearby ships, but it seemed they were alone.

‘Thank the ancients,’ Rhys muttered to himself as he pushed the thrusters to full and set their course to Arn Gol. He had a cargo to deliver.

He’d kept the thrusters on low as they’d been heading out, just in case. Now they were on full, and he could feel the difference in power. It wasn’t dramatic, but it was enough to make a difference. Maybe if they’d had this initially, the pirates would have given up chasing them. But then, if they’d not encountered the pirates, he wouldn’t have found the hidden stash.

It had been a terrifying experience, but he’d come out the other end better off for it.

-**-

The journey to Arn Gol took all of the remaining day. Thankfully, there were no issues or suspicious ship sightings for the rest of the trip. Even so, Rhys was thankful when he brought them down to land.

He wasn’t so thankful when he was told that overnight would count as one day, so he was all but forced to pay out for three days again. He almost didn’t, but it wouldn’t be worth the hassle to buy more days if they were needed. He’d just pay upfront and be done with it.

He did have a fair few things to be done here. The time would probably be welcome by the end of it. First of all, he needed to let the guild know he’d arrived. Secondly, he needed to go crystal and supply shopping. Finally, he really needed to find some crew.

He’d barely slept the night before, what with the panicking and stress of the pirate attack. Now that they were in a safe harbour, that was all catching up with him. He’d paid for three days, so he might as well take advantage and just get some sleep.

He could deal with it all in the morning.