Admiral-ble Goblin

An Extra Deck Hand

Chapter 2

I was nearly all out of mana beer. A bit tipsy. And only a couple of joints away from finishing my sloop. My Boat Builder skill was at level 24 and I used the last of my mana beer to install the final butt block, the centerboard, and lastly, the mast. The ship stood askew on the sand due to the jutting centerboard beneath.

[Quest complete: Build a sloop!]

[Congratulations! You have completed your first quest!]

[Reward: Common canvas headsail. Common canvas mainsail. 20 common bronze ranked admiral loot chests.]

I felt the weight of my reward not a moment after I read my system prompt. It felt like I was carrying a bag of rocks. One by one, I withdrew the loot chests from my inventory and put them aboard my ship via a peg ladder. I recognized the chests. They were similar to the ones I’d seen other goblin captains use for their hoards.

Which reminded me of the 15 barrels in Hawkin’s cellar full of silver. I wanted to have those aboard my sloop with me, but it deserved some more thought. I’ve seen way too many goblin ships sink at sea for me to be comfortable with my hoard aboard.

I put all the chests below deck near the stern and went through them one by one. There was a lot of rope. A cracked monocular telescope, a handful of nets, a decorative mask in PegTooths liking to be hung as the figurehead.

I never did like dead goblins for a figurehead.

I also received about a dozen bailing buckets. A cot. A compass. Cartography supplies. Fishing line and fishing tools. A wooden ship’s wheel. I also received about 25 skill books. Lastly, the headsail and mainsail.

After putting the sails on backwards, I smacked my lips and huffed almost the entire time I untied the knots and switched them. By then it was late afternoon and I was hungry. I went to check on Thrush to see if he wanted to share some onions with me, but I couldn’t find him. Looked for an hour. Even used my new telescope, but all I saw was a pair of shark fins slicing the surface of the sea.

“Sharks!” I shouted. “Thrush! Thrush, look out!”

I knew Thrush could handle himself against goblins and orcs, but sharks? When he was sleeping! And when Thrush slept, he was out for days. He wouldn’t see the sharks coming, and the tide of the sea…

Pegtooth, I thought. The sea had been stealing Thrush! Bringing him out further and further to sea!

I dropped my onion, ran back to shore and tried to push my sloop to sea. I heaved and heave-hoed, but the sloop wouldn’t budge.

“Help!” I called out.

Hawkin was half an hour up the trail, but I had no choice. I once more threw off my boots for more speed, and raced up to Hawkin’s cabin. I cut through switchbacks to save time and tumbled more than a few times.

When I arrived, I was out of breath. Couldn’t speak. Abigail and Hawkin pleaded with me to calm down and catch my breath, but I couldn’t. I just pointed down the trail and managed to hoarsely whisper, “Danger!”

The humans shared a look, then reacted. Abigail shared some of her Speed attribute beers with Hawkin and I before we set off. Then I was bolting down the trail, slamming into trees left and right.

The first tree broke my nose. The second one split my bottom lip. The third one put a bump on my head and made me dizzy. The fourth one came out of nowhere. Somehow managed to get me from behind, but at that point I’d been tumbling along. Somersaulting down the trail.

By the time we arrived at my sloop, Abigail was worried about me and asking to see my face.

“There’s no time for me,” I said through my nose, clogged with blood. “Thrush is in trouble! He’s gone and there’s sharks at sea!”

“Is that what this is all about, Barnacle-eyes?” Hawkin said. “I wouldn’t worry about Thrush if I were you. Thrush is Thrush. He can handle himself.”

“Not when he’s sleeping,” I said. “Help me push my sloop out to sea! We’ve gotta get him before the sharks do! Please, will you help?”

I prayed to them with my hands.

Abigail smiled and said, “let’s give you all the help we can.”

I directed them on where to push, and we all put our backs into it. It wasn’t enough. The sloop was too heavy. I began circling the sloop in a panic.

“It’s alright, Barnacle-eyes,” Abigail said. “I’ve got just the thing.”

“An attribute beer,” Hawkin reasoned.

“I don’t like to brew this one. But I think this is a special circumstance. I’ll need a barrel from you, Hawkin.”

Hawkin withdrew a barrel from his inventory. A big one. One of the 15.5 gallon ones. Abigail pulled water from the sea, filtered the salt, added grains and hops, and a handful of plant based ingredients. Maybe a gem, a crystal or two as well.

All the wort went into the barrel. It was corked and then the wort fermented in the blink of an eye.

“All done,” Abigail said. “Third Hand attribute ale.”

She pulled the cork and beer gushed out in a fountain. It formed the shape of a hand nearly as large as Abigail herself. Her face had gone stern in concentration and focus. The hand made of beer and foam moved out toward the ship. Pressed against the stern. Pushed.

The sloop began to slide across the sand and I hopped up and down in excitement. The centerboard cut into the sand at an angle.

“Come on!” I said. I ran along the starboard side and climbed the peg ladder. Hawkin followed and Abigail continued focusing her magic ale on pushing us out to sea. I felt the sloop grind through sand and rock until it finally floated at sea and righted itself.

While Abigail climbed aboard, I managed the fore-and-aft rig to take us north. Hawkin and Abigail asked how they could help. I put Abigail on the wheel, and Hawkin on the rudder. With my directions, we sailed into the wind, straight for where I’d last seen Thrush.