Chapter 30 Making Deals

Torn returned to the Capitan’s cabin and quickly picked the lock holding the ships log and the Capitan’s journal chained shut. Rapidly reading through the ships log he noted that several crew members had been discharged once the ship had reached port. That would explain why there had only been 9 crewmembers and Draik the Capitan. The rest of the log dealt with inventories and supplies, the things needed to sail a ship.

Opening the journal Torn began to read, it dealt with a number of shady deals and meetings, including human trafficking and smuggling. The final entry mentioned meeting the cloaked one tonight to deal with Reona and the details of what happened to the rest of her Guards and Torn.

Smiling to himself Torn closed both books and put them in his bag. Then making his way to the deck he cloaked himself within Shadows and waited. He had lit to lanterns, one of the foredeck and one on the aft deck but the middle of the ship was in shadows. As he waited Torn noted that there was a small blinking tab on the lower rate of his interface, opening it he saw that it was the combat log of his recent fight.

Scrolling down he read,

You have attacked a sailor, critical hit, you have hit the sailor with claws for 800 hit points.

The sailor is dead.

You have hit two other sailors with a crewmember’s body and knocked them down for 300 hit points each.

You have dislocated the arm of a sailor for 300 hit points.

You have used the weapon of a sailor to attack a sailor, critical hit for 900 hit points, the sailor is dead.

You have been attacked, you have been punched for 25 hit points.

You have kicked a sailor in the stones, critical hit you have crushed the testes for 900 hit points the sailor is dead.

You have been attacked, you have been kicked 3 times for 150 hit points.

You have broken the leg and crushed the foot of a sailor for 500 hit points.

You have kicked and broken the hip of a sailor for 250 hit points.

You have applied a bleed effect on the sailor from the compound fracture of the leg.

The sailor is losing health at 3 points per minute.

You have cast Dragon fire at a sailor, the sailor has breathed in the Dragon fire.

Critical hit, the sailor’s lungs exploded for 1200 hit points, the sailor is dead.

You have stabbed the sailor; the sailor is already dead.

You have been attacked by a sailor, you have used claws and punctured the lungs of a sailor.

Critical double hit for 1800, the sailor is dead.

You have thrown a knife at the head of a sailor.

Critical hit for 850, the sailor is dead.

Wow, I had not expected the recent fight to be broken down into mere numbers, it seemed to real for that. I had never been a person to try to squeeze the numbers and theory craft on combat, but looking at the battle tab I thought it might be worthwhile to have a look.

The problem was that a lot of my abilities and buffs were unique, I had planned on having an advantage in the game but things had gone so far left that all I could do was try to level and power up what I had to work with. I might be able to find some new spells and abilities with the game if I ever had a chance to actually work at grinding and leveling up.

The creak of the ramp signified the end of my musings as I began to scan the deck. He was stealthed and I could not see him, but I could hear him as he slowly made his way to the mast and then began to climb, stopping about ten 3 meters from the deck he settled in to wait. We stood there for an hour and then he began to descend, I waited for him to get halfway down and then I shifted as the ship bumped the dock from a large swell.

I stared at the cloaked man as he dropped out of stealth and dropped to the ground, once he landed he pulled what looked like a flintlock from behind his cloak and fired it at me all in one smooth move.

I also was moving and just before he manage to get the shot off I threw one of the sailor's knives I had kept. The knife hit him in the arm spinning him around and causing him to drop the gun. He moved damn fast and jumped off the side of the ship onto the dock with a muttered curse.

I could hear his footsteps as he ran up the dock, I wanted to chase him but was having s ome trouble of my own. The ball he had shot at me was both physical and magical in nature it had left an ionized trail as it left the gun and hit me in the left shoulder. The impact knocked me backward and spun me around, slapping me against the wall of the aft deck.

I slid down to the deck with my back against the wall, the effect of being shot was a huge amount of pain and the total loss of control of my left arm from the electrical discharge the ball had carried. I sat there and let the nanobots go to work as well as casting my healing spell. I heard the ball drop out of the wound and then felt the wound begin to close. I continued to cast my healing spell, I had virtually unlimited mana now and I wanted to be at full health before I began to track the cloaked figure.

Once I felt stable enough I stood up and picked up the ball then walked to the dropped gun, grabbing it I examined it. The workmanship was excellent and the design similar to a 17-century flintlock. The weapon did not use black powder; the ball was dropped into the barrel and it would stick to a magnetic plate. The handle of the gun held 4 stones. They were all connected to the chamber where the ball was held in place.

As I examined the stones, my Perception focused in and I soon could see that each of the stones were capable of being loaded with a spell, they were like a permanent scroll that had to be recharged after each use. The largest stone held Mana, the next one would take a fiery enchant, the last two took an electrical enchant and a frost enchant. At the bottom of the gun, on the grip was a small spot that held ten of the small balls.

Each of the balls was enchanted to receive the other enchants and to discharge them once the hit something. It was a damn fine piece of work and I knew where it had come from, Banhammer. If this was the kind of tech he was making whoever he was building these things for would be overpowered and more than capable of taking over any other kingdom if he equipped the army with this gear.

The electrical stone was out of power, so I decided to try to recharge it using my electrical discharge ability along with my Perception. It took several attempts but it finally succeeded. Suddenly a window opened and I read,

You have modified a piece of technology, do you wish to claim it, Yes or No?

I claimed it and watched as another window opened, and I read,

The balance of power is shifting new technology is entering the world, you have a choice, to stop this technology or to enable all people to have access to it. Make your choice.

I thought for a minute, and realized that this was another game changer, my choice would impact how this game would develop. I suspected that tech was here to stay, once people had wind of it could not be hidden. I decided to spread the tech around and received confirmation of my acceptance of the quest.

I loaded the gun and slipped it into a pocket on my cloak, then made my way down to the dock. I could clearly see the blood trail with my Dragon eyes activated and I slowly followed cloaking myself in Shadows. The way led off the docks and into the town, we traveled for quite a distance climbing higher as we went.

The area was no longer lower-income the houses and shops were far more upscale. I eventually reached a building that was clearly Dwarven made and it was here the trail of blood drops ended. I would not be finding any answers here, and the sun would soon be up along with the townsfolks.

Turning around I made my way back through the town and reached the docks without too much problem. It was time to check on the ladies I thought as I boarded the ship. Entering the cabin, I saw that Tasia was still sleeping but Reona was awake. I greeted her and waited not sure if she would remember identifying me or not.

She looked at me and nodded, then said, “My thanks for rescuing me, I was in a lot of trouble, they had drugged us, and then were planning on selling me to some minor noble. What has happened to my guards?”

I looked away for a minute and then said, they were all killed with the exception being Tasia, they were planning on keeping her alive for a while.” Shrugging my shoulders, I finally felt like I could relax, it was clear that Reona was still very fuzzy on everything, they must have really drugged her.

Reona stared at me and then said, “I have one question for you, how the hell did you get here. We left you battling in the middle of the ocean. The Capitan has insisted that we flee while we could and while we had argued he was in control of the ship.”

It was a tough question as I had no intention of revealing what had really happened. Thinking for a few seconds to compose myself I said, I managed to defeat the Orion the sea giant. When the fight was finally over I could see that you were a fair distance gone by then so I swam to the portal. It was better than drowning in the middle of the ocean. Once I went through it I eventually made it to nearby land and then found my way here.”

It was a half-truth, but better than a lie. I continued and asked “So now what, we are here everyone is dead but you and Tasia and the original plan is no longer possible. We could go to the local governor and explain the situation but that would require revealing more about our mission than I feel comfortable sharing.”

Reona nodded, I could see that she was troubled by what our choices were. I had been thinking that we needed to leave this town as soon as possible and that getting off the ship would be a good start. I was not sure if the cloaked man from last night would be back but my guess was he would and he would bring some help.

Reona asked me, “Do you have any thoughts on what we should do?”

I nodded and spoke, “Yes the first thing is to move you and Tasia off the ship, then after you fully recover we will look at joining a caravan or even forming one, and heading inland, the goal is the same to get to the king of the Dwarves.”

Seeing her nod, I continued, “I have looted the ship and money is not a problem at the moment, safety is, I would hate to abandon the ship but being safe is more important. However, it is possible that a deal might be made with someone about the ship. The Capitan and his crew will never be returning.”

Hearing a “That is good, I hope that bastard rots in hell.” The words came from where Tasia was trying to get up and they gave me hope that both ladies were finally recovering. I walked over and sat down near Tasia and asked, “How are you feeling”

“Better, “Tasia replied. “Those damn drugs were powerful but I think I can function.” Giving me a wry grin Tasia said, “Now would be a good time for you to practice against me, you might have a hope in hell of winning.”

I smiled it was good to see that what had happened had not overwhelmed her. I quickly brought her up to date on the plan, we would head into town and find an Inn, I would then try to arrange for us to join a caravan or even start one. I would also see about selling the Golden Ass.

The women quickly began to clean themselves up and go through their belongings, it was not long before everything was sorted out and the ladies were dressed in leather armor and had weapons belted on. Tasia had two small swords with a dagger at the back of her belt. Reona had one sword and one dagger belted on.

The both kept their faces covered with scarves and were not recognizable. I would not want to meet them in a dark alley, they had a look of competence and skill, clearly, they were not playing around. I also gathered all my gear and with my armor on and weapons at my side I felt that we might just have a chance.

We left the ship in the predawn light and made our way up into the town. I had marked an Inn when I had returned to the ship we purposefully moved towards it. Few people were up yet and those that were up had already begun the day’s work. Once we arrived at the Inn I suggested that I do the speaking and seeing the girls nod I led the way in.

Once inside I noted that several of the tables and booths were full, we made our way to an empty booth and sat down, soon a server appeared and asked what we wanted. I ordered a large breakfast for us along with coffee. We did not talk much and once the food arrived we all began to eat, finally stopping when we could not stuff any more into our bodies.

I asked the server to send over the Innkeeper and once he arrived we introduced ourselves. I mentioned that we would be staying for several days and that we were hoping to join a caravan as guards.

His face brightened and he quickly said, “My brother is going to be leaving in two days, he could always use more guards, he will be doing a full circle of the inner towns and villages then hitting the central high plains after that he will head northward towards the Duns. There have been some rumors of trouble with the Dwarves so he may not progress past the first village before returning. It will take about 4 months to get there, are you willing to contract for the 4 months?”

I nodded, this was a stroke of luck, but before I signed us up I asked for the full terms. I did not want to get into a situation where we would end up owing money at the end of the job from having to pay for food or shelter.

At this point Reona spoke up and suggested that she negotiate the terms, that was a great idea, and so a readily agreed to it. Tasia was looking somewhat worn out, and I asked if rooms were available, there was only one but it held a large bed the Innkeeper said with a wink.

People always assume and the always assume incorrectly I thought as I took the key. Turning around I grabbed Tasia’s bag and then with a short see you upstairs we left the dining room and made our way to the room. Once we entered I put the bags down and helped Tasia to the bed, unfastening her armor I tucked her under the covers and watched as she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Sitting on the only chair I leaned my head back and soon drifted off it had been a long night. Hearing the door open I was instantly awake with a sailor’s knife in hand prepared to use it if necessary. Seeing Reona enter the room I made the knife disappear and waved at her.

She gave me a smile and began to speak rapidly, “Torn have negotiated a great deal. We will be traveling not as just guards but as caravan merchants. We must buy two carts and the beasts to pull them as well as merchandise to sell and trade. Once Tasia wakes up we will go shopping for what we will need to take and what we need to trade.”

“That sounds good,” I replied, “while you are doing that I will get the beasts, is there any particular type to choose?”

Reona thought for a minute and then said, “Oxyacs are the best but have a look at what is available. Oh, I will need some gold to fund this expedition also about 5000 should do.”

I reached into my bag and pulled out the chest, opening it I counted out 10000 gold, giving half to Reona I pocketed the rest and then put the chest back in my bag. Magic bags, I love you I thought. It was great having that much storage handy along with no weight restrictions.

Looking at Reona I could see that she was tired, and to tell the truth, I also felt tired, being shot had taken more out of me than I had thought. “Let’s rest for the morning,” I said, here you get into bed, and I will cover you up. Smiling at Reona I was gestured to the bed.

Seeing her give me a strange look I said, “No worries, your honor is safe with me, we are a team and we need to trust each other.” Reona slowly nodded and then crept into bed, I pulled the covers up and gently brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

“Sleep now, we have much to do later,” I whispered. Going back to my chair I sat down again and closed my eyes, remembering the last time Reona had been in bed with me. It was before she had betrayed me, we had spent several hours making love and laughing and giggling at life. It was a good memory shadowed by what had happened later but still a good memory.