General Pew and the second vessel that came to shore with him leave immediately with Prince Sven, rushing back to the capital so that they can drop him off and rejoin the armada.
Cain watches the graceful exit of their ships, how they tweak the water and wind magic to maneuver in close quarters, the smooth way they build up the speed and how their crews adjust the sails so precisely to gather every bit of the wind and save on mana usage.
It’s extremely impressive, and really highlights how a well trained crew can get so much more out of a ship than a bunch of amateurs, as Cain’s Puppets are. Sure, they have Apprentice sailing skills, but that’s really only enough to know their way around the vessel without getting lost on which line is which.
Even the Supporters from the Wave Riders that control their spells aren’t as graceful, though much of that is likely due to the slight design differences and material changes between the warships and the merchant spec Queen Rose.
“Who would have thought the Monarchy would be overthrown? What sort of people would do that?” One of the Elven Dragon researchers asks sadly. He’s a younger Elf, one that wasn’t alive during the Great War between species, and having lived in this peaceful communal lifestyle since birth, the idea of wiping out entire bloodlines was foreign to him.
“Angry ones. Appeasement never works in the long run; it only encourages your opponents. The more you give, the more they take. The Landis Royals gave them everything they asked for and the revolution took the entire country as a bonus. It happened many times in my world after a charismatic leader whipped the population into a fury. Kingdoms, countries, even entire Continents fell before the revolution was stopped, either because the leader obtained absolute power or they were stopped by force.”
The Elf nods along with Cain’s explanation, taking notes. Many bystanders look deep in thought, including Misha, but Mythryll understands his point right away. It’s easy to forget that although their old worlds were pretty similar and they’re all here now, they’re not all from the same world or time. Because of that their experiences and values can be somewhat different.
With all the excitement for the day having drained everyone’s energy, an executive decision is made in favor of relaxing at the hot springs before bed. There aren’t many visitors there this evening; only the Darklight Host, the Dragon researchers, and a handful of older Elves who were also there yesterday. The hot water is pretty relaxing; it must soothe the aches of old bones.
The conversation isn’t as relaxing as the water, unfortunately. The visit from the Elven armada had turned the talk to war, and many of the older Elves, even the middle-aged ones, were alive when the last great war happened. The humans might have forgotten the horrors of the vast war that spanned all five Continents over these last few hundred years, but here in the Elven kingdom, they still have soldiers serving that fought in it.
The consensus among the local Elves is that the Elven Kingdom should hold their Forests and let the humans fight among themselves. The Green Orcs will be happy to give them the fight of their lives without bothering anyone else, and the Orcs have a good chance at winning the continent outright of they go on the offensive.
According to the locals, the Orcs might have a smaller and landlocked empire, but they outnumber the humans and Elves on the continent, thanks to their propensity for multiple births.
Cain also knows they’re always up for a good fight, and a mob of humans invading their kingdom would be a cause for celebration.
Going back to the ship doesn’t happen that night; exhaustion wins out over the allure of soft beds, and everyone ends up sleeping in large hammock beds that the Elves string up in the cavern. The old folk insists that the heat and humidity are good for preventing illness, and Cain is far too tired to argue the point, joining the others in a big tangle of bodies for the evening.
Fortunately, both the waterfall and the hot springs are steps away when it comes time to freshen up in the morning before everyone gets dried off and dressed to see what’s for breakfast and decide what they’re going to do next.
Touring the continent still seems like a lot of fun, and the Castle should be able to defend itself with the guards that are there, but at the same time, they don’t want to abandon the Guild. They’re higher level than the average of the Eastern side of the continent, and have the ability to Summon Dungeon Boss level monsters to help them fight, but there’s only so many of them in total, and having Cain’s ability to call on huge numbers of additional summons could save a lot of lives in a siege.
They’ve been on the lookout for a Guild item or skill that can call members to a specific location as well. None of them are sure such a thing exists, but it sounds reasonable, so it might. After the Ogre war in Sunnybrook, the ability to gather everyone quickly caught Char’s eye as something that would be incredibly useful to have, but now it’s become a much higher priority.
Guild messages are exchanged over pancakes and fruit, with the ultimate decision that coming back through a war zone would be a huge mess. From what the Guild has heard, most of the Navies along the coast have joined the revolution, and the nonhuman island kingdoms have locked down entry and called for support from other Continents.
RhickJaymz has declared Assah an open port and called foreign enforcers to see that it stays that way. A ship full of fourth advancement fighters from deep in the Northern Continent’s frigid mountains have answered his call in exchange for knowledge from the Library, and they have Dragon Riders among them.
Their Dragons are allies, not a summons, so transfers more than a hundred levels below them will do nothing to the mounts themselves. Even if they were taking damage, Dragons of that level would destroy any Central Continent fleet that tried attacking them before they could even fire a second volley from their Cannons, so the port should be safe for now.
RhickJaymz has reportedly put multiple quests out for materials as well, since providing books to the mercenaries nation is the deal, and most of what they need are class exclusive or high rank skills that require multiple rare ingredients to inscribe. The Darklight Host is gathering what they can, since they’re spread out enough to have access to many different dungeons, but some of the items simply don’t come from this side of the continent.
They have the house in the Demon Capital now, home to no fewer than six different dungeons, but they’re all over level 200, so the number of members that can do them is limited. Char has trained up two full groups of First Advancement fighters though, and with the Epic Quality [Personal Guard] summons available they can do content a good bit higher level than themselves, racing through the levels compared to any other guild they know of.
They’re still picky about new members though, as they don’t want fools or treacherous sorts messing up the family vibe of the Guild. The higher level core members almost feel like family Elders to the newer members, and Char and Cid have gone to great lengths to see that they’re held in high esteem as the founders who provide strength and stability and not an old generation to be replaced in all but name.
Char informs them that the Quest scrolls that begin the quest chain to enter the Beginners Valley while over level 100 have all been brought to Graska, essentially locking all elite forces out of the Valley, and the northern pass is being heavily guarded by an alliance of Fae, both light and dark.
They would also have to get through Montauk to attack the valley, and it’s pretty well fortified, as the defenses were upgraded after the attacks by the former Guardians to include traps, siege weapons and additional defensive spells. The fighting is still a long way from there at the moment, focusing near the coasts and only having moved inland inside of Landis.
With that in mind, and an estimate of two months before any significant force might come for either the castle or Montauk, the decision is made to carry on instead of going back. It’s almost the same distance to Assah in either direction from where they’re sitting anyhow, and there’s hope for them to save time going home through the Demon Kingdom.
Dimnys does have some good news for them on that front as well. If Blood Sands Castle is attacked, the Demon King is willing to send them multiple battalions of Demonic mercenaries. For a price, of course, and the Dwarven Master Smiths will equip those who are going at a discount.
That’s enough to put Cain’s mind at ease. If the demons are going to help them, they shouldn’t have to fear much from an army on the East side of the continent thanks to the level difference. Lancelot and a few others are over level 200, but more than one such person per army is remarkable in that region.
Without that fear of imminent danger, they decide to carry on past the mountains, towards what the Elves inform them is an unstable kingdom called Skyview. The leader there is uncertain, as the local Elves’ information is limited, and the Skyview Kingdom has been fighting about the rights to the throne, but the royalty was or are humans, while most of the Kingdom is Beastkin. The two species mixed freely in the kingdom the last time the Elves heard news of the commoners, so it should be fairly comfortable for the Darklight Host.
They restock the ship with wine, tea, and fresh fruit before plotting their course. As is the case with most smaller coastal nations, the capital of Skyview, Karrack, is a Port city. The Elven capital is well inland, reflecting their love of the Forests, so they won’t be visiting it this trip, and Cain wants to get past the mountains to look for a place to the purchase as a Guild House, which will give them Guild bank access in most of the Southern Ocean.
They’re bound to run into Elven Navy patrols along the way if they stay near the coast, which might be able to give them more information about current events at their destination. With that in mind, they don’t want to head too far out and risk missing them all, causing them to go in blind.
Nila has laid out a plan that should be easy sailing, avoiding the known hazards, and still close enough to land that they’ll likely meet a coast guard patrol. The route she had planned will be three days to the border and a half-day to Karrack if they hold their usual cruising speed.
With magic involved, sailing is now like a bus tour. You can make your way across the continent in under a week, a much different experience than Mythryll recalls sailing to be. Her family used to rent small boats to sail on a nearby lake, and a complete circuit of the lake could take all day if the wind were low.
On the first night, the Giant Armored Octopus manages to find something to fight. An Epic Quality Leviathan at level 175. The leviathan of this world is not classed as a whale or squid but as an aquatic Dragon. It’s still got clawed front legs, but it has adapted to have large fins instead of wings the membranes much thicker and the wings smaller than those of flying Dragons. The rear legs are more like tentacles that end in long webbed toes that can either claw enemies or spread and be used for propulsion. The tail likewise has top and bottom fins, fully adapting the Dragon for life underwater.
The fight took place far beneath them, but Cain noticed it in the logs and recorded the Leviathan to add to his slowly growing collection of sea creatures. With the leviathan to make up his legendary summons and the Giant Armored Octopus, he now has a pretty solid Naval force for most situations, they’re just not matched to be conveniently tripled with Ancient Resistance.
When they do finally meet with the Elven Navy, the ships are on high alert and nearly to the border with Skyview. According to them, only one Skyview Royal remains and has been appointed to the throne. A thirteen-year-old human named King James.
The kingdom is still welcoming to all races as far as the Elves are aware, but things on the land have started getting bad, with Goblin and Gnoll attacks being widespread all across the country, thanks to the depleted state of their military and the less populated state of their wilderness.
The capital has quests up for them, which is good news to the Darklight Host. They all love hunts, especially with Cain around. It’s even better when it’s quests to play hero and rescue low-level villagers. Those ones just always make you feel good inside.
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