Chapter 84 - Ghost Ship

My Instinct yelled at me to run. But no one panicked on the ship. Where could we run even if we wanted to? We couldn't as we were at sea. The sailors were ready, and I saw Tina on the deck with a new gauntlet contraption that she had been working on. The Ghost sh.i.p.s sails with a phantom wind came closer to us.

It was eerie, and a peal of laughter started to sound over the calm foggy breeze. "Hehehehehehe," Echoed loudly, growing louder as the ship came closer. Soon they were close enough, and skulls appeared over the edge of the ghostship's railing. The single sail stopped its phantom wind, and words sounded over with bone-chilling intent. My instincts cried out as each word sounded.

"Ghasitph Frankiton Hourish!" Sounded knowing not what they meant, my eyes narrowed. The Bunny-kin sailors grew more serious as green glows appeared on the other boat. I was contemplating my next actions as more unknown words sounded in the eerie silence.

The sh.i.p.s closed, and I started to channel my power when I felt a similar presence on the other ship. A B rank was on the other side. Our mana clashed as I tried to suppress the other side. They tried the same, and I kept the mana suppression from coming down upon the mages and sailors.

"Combat initiated!" I yelled out, and hooks flew out from their side as well as our own. We took to the defensive side, ready for whatever came our way. Soon skeletons started to jump onto ropes that were hooked onto our ship, swinging over as the sh.i.p.s closed the gaps with hooks from either side. Their Galley was taller, making us have to climb up if we wanted to engage. I watched for the B rank on the other side. None seemed to appear as sailors engaged with swords with seaweed ridden skeletons. I decided staying on the ship wasn't a good idea. I opened the world into the void and stepped into it. I transferred myself in a short jump onto the mast of the ghost ship.

My mind sobered further as I stood on the mast, looking down. The flood of skeletons was ridden with seaweed were joined with rotting zombie corpses from various races on the mainland. I watched a corpse of a bunny-kin slumber forward into the crowd looking to sweep our ship. I felt the B ranker under the ship, and I started to come up with a theory that I was pretty sure was true. Necromancer Lich. I had only heard vague stories of them. They were rare on the mainland since most nations shunned the Necromancer in general. I did not understand why until I met undead.

The eerie feeling that ignited my instincts made me hate them instinctually. I created a simple firebomb down upon the deck of the ship casting with my staff. That took the attention of many undead, turning to look at me. Then that B ranker moved as the zombies and skeletons ignored me again. I want to fight in the open with my ability to change positions in a smaller area would be a handicap. The B ranker came up the stairs of the galley from below. My instincts cried out to me.

All I wanted to do was run away. Flee in fear of the thing coming up those stairs as the skeletons and zombies lumbered towards my ship. I got tired of waiting and threw more fireballs into the pile of corpses on the deck below.

This got the d.e.s.i.r.ed results I wanted that slow walk of the other B ranker came up faster. This thing was clearly intelligent, knowing that patience with their instinctual aura of dread would make me impatient or nervous. I was nervous but not for the reasons they thought. This was my first battle in the 'Big leagues.' Before was amateur hour in this world.

The Thing that appeared before me was another seaweed ridden skeleton. It was different, though, as the eyes had rubies inlaid in them, and it carried a staff as well. It was a rotting piece of metal... The rotting metal was unique to me, and it was the best way I could describe it. It had a black orb at the top, and our 'eyes' locked.

Something sparked in that matching of eyes, and mine narrowed. Then it happened two apparitions appeared. They floated as the Lich cast, and the black gem glowed. I hesitated no longer, and I started casting a mana bolt at the apparition. I knew nothing of ghosts, and when it was shredded, I had a hard time suppressing a cheer. The situation didn't change as more apparitions appeared, and I started to shoot mana missiles quickly as they were summoned. Something primal screamed at me to destroy them. The Lich watched me with an unnerving stare. I wasn't sure what would come next as I wasn't used to this magical conflict type. That was when he moved.

He raised his rotting staff, and a green glow came from it. I jumped into the mass of corpses as that glow released at unnerving speed towards where I was standing. The battle didn't pause as another lined up in his staff, and I fueled my muscles with mana, destroying skeletons and zombies as I moved. I crushed them beneath my foot as I moved. My speed reached a new dimension as I moved with precision, crushing corpses as the lich continued to attack me. I would retaliate with fireballs and mana bolts, clearing zombies and skeletons that now actively tried to attack me. My body moved on reflexes and instinct as I used old training to make up for my inadequacies.

I was pissed off with myself as I had to keep guiding my body more than I should be. None of my training was in muscle memory since I didn't practice enough. I was relying on the old instincts of what was arguably a young kid when I learned. Still, my experience from my last life paid in spades as the lich continued to fail to hit me with that green bolt. Every time that bolt landed on something, it would rot. That was deadly to the touch, and I weaved through the corpses. When I almost got hit, I grabbed a zombie hand, entering the rotting meat of a dead s.u.c.c.u.b.u.s, I believed. I pulled it in front of me, barely saving myself. The Lich used a mana shield with robust mana to block my shots at him as I moved around the deck, dodging his attacks.

I almost ignored it as I crushed the skeleton with a quick jab to their hard skull shattering it. Still, there were only so many corpses on the galley, and most left the ship to attack my own. The bone and rotting meat covered deck were all that was left, with only the Lich and I stand upon it. The sounds of fighting on the other ship continued to echo with the yells of men and women fighting.

The Lich and I stopped attacking each other for only a second as his number advantage disappeared. So did my meat shields to stop those rotting bolts from killing me. The Lich could predict where I would move after some time watching my movement. I knew this might happen since I couldn't stop myself from growing comfortable with a pattern. This was a fighter's problem. No matter how much we try to train it out, we fall into this problem. No one can be truly random.

The staredown didn't last, though, as the Lich started that eerie laugh again. "Hehehehehehehe," I had a bad feeling as the green bolt multiplied into two, then four, eight, sixteen. I grew serious, and I started a mana shield around myself. The Liches eerie laughter continued to ring in my ears, and those bolts came at me. My legs moved, and I pushed more mana into them. The bolts missed but turned, and those that missed chased me. I smiled as they centered towards me in a group no longer spread out. The aimed center of mass and I waited for only a split second as they neared me at astonishing speed and opened a rift into the void. They disappeared, and the eerie laughter ceased as his mana shield rotted with his own spell. Confusing the lich.

His concentration shattered, and in that split of a second, I opened another rift into the void, leaping into it as fast as I could, and appeared before him. Unable to react in time, I body checked the lich into the rotting ship's wood. I charged a large mana bolt and copied it myself. His second mana shield he appeared to have gotten just as I checked him. His new mana sheild shattered as I released point-blank mana bolts as fast as I could conjure them. An eerie scream echoed out into the world as his mana shield cracked, and I used my foot to shatter his skull.

I still heard the echoes of battle on my own ship and quickly used a rift to get back. The fighting was nearing an end with few casualties on our side. I decided the fight was good to toughen spirits and only sent mana bolts down to kill if I saw someone about to be hurt. The Fog around us started to dissipate as the battle continued to its final stages.

The sailors' loud cheer echoed out in our victory as the final zombie fell with its head decapitated. The fight was harsher, and I wondered how I was so different, finding them much easier to crush. The thing I came back to was that I was B rank. That instinctive disdain towards their attacks. The numerical advantage if I didn't know how to move quickly and dodge would have been bad. I would have been swarmed to death or used more mana than I would have liked.

I smiled, and I rifted back to the ghostship. The rotting wood started to degrade, and I went below deck. I smiled as I saw the storage of goods and treasures. Plunder! It was ours by rights of the sea to take it for our own. I smiled as I heard deck hands climb upon the rapidly aging ship. This would need to be moved soon, and I called up to them.

"Come down below deck!" I yelled out, and the first to come over was Betsy with a large smile. She whistled in amazement at the assortment in storage. Soon deck hands came down, and we all started to pull out whatever we could get our hands-on. I had Emily watch over it, so none of the Sailors got any ideas over our spoils of war. I would give them a bonus at the end of the trip.

I went back and talked to the Captain of the ship. "How did the battle go?" I asked him, and he had a serious expression.

"You're thinning the numbers was integral to us surviving. Ghostsh.i.p.s are not as uncommon as you think, Chelsea." He looked at me with a serious expression, "Most are pirates because the mainland rejects them when they are found. If they successfully getaway, they become our problems. There are things. Necromancers can do on the water that other mages simply cant. They are the domain of the dead and rotting. They hide their research away and are seldom found... This was a powerful necromancer. The credit for this win goes to you, Ambassador Chelsea. Your power proved integral to our victory and light casualties." He turned to me and bowed. "Thank you for saving our lives."

I waved it off. "Nah, Do not worry about it. I would have fought even if it was a C rank Necromancer. This was an eye-opening experience for me, and If I am not going to lie..." I turned to him with a smile, "I am happy it happened. An open sea is a dangerous place, and I am sure B rank necromancers are rare on these seas. That doesn't mean they don't exist. I needed this fight against this deathly figure. His reign on the open seas plundering trade lines for bodies and plunder is over." I said with a hint of finality.

"You are right. Many sh.i.p.s go missing, and we can only guess why. There are dangers in the sea, but that makes it lucrative as well. Many risk their lives out here. You have the first choice to eighty percent of the plunder from the ghostship Ambassador Chelsea. It's only right you did the majority of the work..." I wanted to refute it, But he spoke first, "Don't contradict me. I looked on the deck of that ship... We were dead if that many zombies and skeletons came over..." He walked away from me.

I thought about it and kept my mouth shut as I watched Sailor's happily moving what they could onto our galley.