Luckily, they only talk for a few minutes before the goddesses leave and then I end the soulscape. After that, I head out to the balcony, drop shapeshift, and wait for Lin to climb on. Once she is seated on my back, I take off and fly west to look for the pirate base.

From the maps, I know the general area where the base should be located. With the ship's speed it will take two days or so to reach the area of the base. Flying, we should be within the area of the base in just a couple of hours.

"Lin, what is the fire spell with the biggest area of effect that you know?"

Lin says "Rain of fire. It covers an area of a couple of hundred feet."

"Okay. When we get to the base, you are going to cast that spell and I will enhance it."

Lin says "Like you did with the storm spell? Is that really a good idea?"

"Probably not, but I want to try something."

Lin says "An experiment? The goddesses warned me about your experiments!"

"Don't worry. It will be fine. I will keep you safe."

Lin says "I'm not worried about myself. I am worried about how much of the surrounding area you are going to destroy."

"It is a pirate base, I doubt there is anything left nearby."

Lin says "Yeah, that is probably true. I just hope the pirates don't have any slaves or prisoners."

"Oh, I didn't think of that. I will scan the place first to check."

Lin says "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me. I will always do what I can to avoid killing innocents. However, if there is no way to save them, then I will have to let them die. I can't let the pirates off, they are a threat to the ship."

Lin says "I understand. All I ask is that you try, nothing more. Even if they can't be saved, just checking first is good enough."

"Did the goddesses ask you to try and teach me to be more cautious?"

Lin says "They might have mentioned it, but is it such a big deal to think before you act?"

"I guess not."

Lin goes silent, so I don't say anything either, she has won this round and she knows it. We stay silent the rest of the way to the pirate base and when we reach it I start circling as I scan it. There are over two dozen ships docked in the port which makes me happy.

Lin says "Are there any slaves or prisoners?"

"I am still checking. There are no elves, but telling humans apart through their mana isn't easy."

Lin says "Is there anything that I can do to help?"

"Not unless you know a spell to determine someone's status."

Lin says "No, I don't, but I know one to see people's emotions."

"Hm, that could work. Slaves or prisoners would have strong negative emotions. Alright, teach it to me and I will give it a try."

Lin quietly teaches me the spell and I quickly adapt it so that I can use it while scanning. However, it only shows me really strong emotions like rage or despair. There are a couple of thousand people in the town below, but most of them don't show any strong emotions.

Lin says "What do you see?"

"I can see seven people with strong emotions. Two are feeling rage, the other five show despair."

Lin says "Are they all together? Can we rescue them?"

"No, none of them are together. Three of them are on ships, the other four are scattered around town."

Lin says "Then we will have to sacrifice them, I guess. Should I start my spell now?"

"No. Teach me the teleportation spell you used."

Lin says "You don't know how to teleport? Yet you can open a gate?"

"I can teleport, but it only works on myself and it hurts like hell."

Lin says "I guess it would be hard to learn how to teleport on your own. Alright, I will teach you, but I don't see how it will help."

Lin teaches me her teleport spell and then she begins casting her fire rain spell. As soon as I learn the teleport spell I lock onto the seven people with strong emotions. Then I teleport them a couple of miles inland and leave them to fend for themselves.

After that I turn my attention to enhancing Lin's fire spell, which she is casting with pure mana. If I was trying to interrupt the spell it would be much harder, but enhancing it is easier. Because we are both using pure mana, our manas join together beautifully.

As Lin has been casting the spell dark clouds have been gathering above the pirate base. However, when she finishes casting her spell, nothing happens at all. She stares up at the clouds in confusion, waiting for something to happen.

"Relax, I modified the spell. Nothing is going to happen until I add a catalyst."

Lin says "You should have told me that sooner! I thought I had messed something up!"

"Sorry. I was busy with the spell as well."

Lin says "Then why didn't you tell me before I started casting it?"

"Because I wasn't sure if my idea would work. I told you it was going to be an experiment."

Lin says "So, now what?"

"Watch and see!"

With that, I fly up to the clouds at the center of the pirate village and take a deep breath. As I hold my breath, I infuse the rest of my mana into it and then release it into the clouds. The clouds my breath hits immediately turn red and then it quickly spreads to the rest of the clouds.

As soon as I am done breathing out I turn and fly towards the edge of the clouds as fast as I can. The clouds start giving off more light until it looks more like sunset than the middle of the night. I can even see people coming out of the buildings down below to look up at the sky.

Lin yells "What was that? I thought I saw something moving inside the clouds?!"

"I can't be sure."

Lin says "What do you mean you don't know?!"

"I told you, it's an experiment."

Before Lin can respond, there is movement in the clouds and she gets her answer. Long, serpentine dragons made of fire come out of the clouds and head towards the ground. Unfortunately, we haven't cleared the clouds yet and one of them is coming towards us.

Before it can hit us, I grab Lin, roll onto my back, hold her against my chest, and wrap my wings around her. Having my wings closed means that I start losing altitude, but protecting Lin is more important. The problem is that I have no idea how strong the spell might have gotten.

'Absorb!'

Absorb Successful: +1 Evolution Point!

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Fire & Lightning Mastery has progressed to level 5!

Fire & Lightning Mastery

Level: 5

All Fire and Lightning spells have an extra 50% effect.