Gigi and Yvette sat back-to-back against the metal bars separating them. With the child being such a low level, the two were unable to rely on her hidden message spell due to lack of available mana. This meant they would have to communicate in whispers to avoid being spied on by the guards.

“So, you said you had a way to get us out of here?” Yvette muttered under her breath. “What is it?”

“Well, I know we can get off the ship super easy,” Gigi responded, “But I don’t think I can get out of the cell.”

“And that means?”

“I’ve got a spell that can help us out.”

Yvette narrowed her eyes, slightly intrigued. It was hard to imagine a level 4 mage having access to anything useful, but you could never tell with a saint.

“Show me.”

“Huh?” Gigi squirmed in confusion. “Wadyou mean?”

Did no one ever tell this child how to use her system? Yvette was struggling to imagine how such a lack of care could be given to someone so important, but it seemed like there was a lot about Gigi that didn’t make sense.

“I’m going to use a generic spell. Just allow it when the prompt appears.”

With a flick of the wrist, Yvette invoked [Inspect]. Unlike a standard [Status] check, which could be used even by those without a system, this spell allowed its caster to see the specific stats and features of another mage’s system. Technically she could have just used it without Gigi’s permission due to their significant difference in levels, but it felt like a bad idea to give the girl any examples of poor etiquette.

—

Spell List

Air:

• Whisperwind

Water:

• Hydrojelly

Cloud:

• Feather Fall

—

She cocked an eyebrow, noting the three rather interesting spells that popped up. None of them looked combat focused, with Hydrojelly seeming especially frivolous, but the other two could be assumed to be useful in their own ways. Guessing that Whisperwind was the message spell, she expanded the description of Feather Fall.

—

Feather Fall

Concentration, 10 Seconds

10 Mana

Negates all impact damage from falling caused to the user and anything they hold in their hands.

—

Yvette let out a loud snort, forcing her to be silent for a few minutes afterwards to let the attention she drew fade away. Once she was sure that the guards had forgotten about her outburst, she whispered to Gigi again.

“So that’s your plan? We both jump off the airship and hope you can time your spell right?”

“Is that bad?” Gigi responded nervously.

Yvette scratched her chin. “Hmm… You’re level 4, so your maximum mana is 15, yes?”

“Yep.”

“So you will be useless in the escape. I will need to handle every opponent on my own.”

There was no response other than the anxious shifting of a scolded child.

Yvette’s expression shifted into a vague slip of a grin. “Good.”

“Huh?”

She stood up and stretched herself off, no longer bothering to conceal her speech. “One must always know their limitations. You will not be a hindrance.”

“A what?” For once, Gigi was the one to look baffled by her conversation partner.

“Are you confused by my mindset or my vocabulary?”

The girl tilted her head. “Both?”

Yvette cracked her knuckles one after the other. “It doesn’t matter. I accept your proposal. Do  you know where the armory is?”

“Uh…” Gigi massaged her temple as if trying to force her brain into working. “I heard a bunch of people talking about ‘the goods’ over that way with [Whisperwind]. Maybe that’s it?” She pointed in the direction of the brig’s entrance, likely indicating the next room over.

“...They put the armory right next to their prison.”

“Maybe?” Gigi looked very lost.

Another voice interrupted. “Hey, what are you two chatting about?”

Yvette turned to see Jules shouting at them. She decided to ignore the red-faced pirate for now and focus on her surroundings.

The brig they were held in was fairly large for a non-military ship, holding three cells divided by metal bars. Each cell was locked with a keyhole, and the only obvious exit was a door in the wall opposite to the center cell where Gigi was held. Between dealing with two guards and unlocking two doors, there didn’t look to be a way to get out of here without making a ruckus and spending more time than she would have liked.

Additionally, she was going to need to get both her own focus and Gigi’s if this plan was going to work. Besides the obvious issue of the carefully timed [Feather Fall] being useless when you factored in at least a minute of channeling, Yvette knew she wouldn’t be able to fight off all those guards without her combat magic.

Not that she felt too confident with it either. These pirates weren’t amateurs, and had been able to overwhelm the trade ship she’d been guarding with minimal effort. Their captain wasn’t quite at her level, only being level 26, but he had a good lineup of air magic spells. One of them had managed to knock her out before, and she hadn’t even gotten a good look at what it did.

As much as she wanted revenge for being humiliated, this wasn’t the time to get carried by emotion alone. Her priority was to escape, and she would need to keep her cool to ensure a mostly defenseless child survived alongside her. 

She began to formulate a mental checklist. First, get the key and unlock her door. Next, knock out the two guards without making too much noise. Then-

“I asked you a question, damn it!”

Jules’s voice had only grown more irate after being ignored. His finger was on the trigger of his musket, the lock pulled back in preparation to fire. The man was looking for an excuse to cause problems, which was just fine for Yvette. It made step one far easier.

Putting on a cocky smile, she strode forward and leaned heavily on the bars of her cell’s door. She began speaking in a mocking tone while making direct eye contact.

“Yes. You did. What of it?”

“What?”

“You’re weak, Jules.” She flicked a lock of her long, blond hair over her shoulder. “Your threats have no meaning to me.”

“The hell do you think you-”

“Shut up.” Yvette interjected, “Or at least do something about it. Your cowardly shouting benefits no one.”

At that final jab, her target lost his last bit of restraint. Lunging forwards, he grabbed Yvette by the collar and pulled her face into the cold metal bars. Or at least, he tried to.

Yvette had put a significant amount of stat points into her Strength, taking it to her level’s maximum rank of C. Though far from remarkable in the grand scheme of things, it was more than enough to overpower a common criminal. Her casual grip on the bars didn’t budge as Jules strained pointlessly against her. Leaning forward further, she whispered one last thing into his ear before getting to work.

“Bastards like you are barely worth the effort.”

Jules was able to see her hand moving for his throat clearly. With her Agility never having moved past F rank, Yvette was slow enough that even an idiot like him could keep up. It didn’t matter at all. A systemless man like him would never be able to stop her attacks no matter how early he saw them.

The other pirate could barely react before Jules’s head cracked against the bars of the cell. Swearing loudly, he fired a musket ball directly into Yvette’s left shoulder.

She winced as the projectile hit her, but didn’t slow down in unlooping the key ring from the unconscious pirate’s belt and working on unlocking the door. At her level, Earthen Skin was easily able to block the damage from an ordinary gun. Especially with the weak powder that a bunch of pirates could afford. The worst she’d be feeling later would be a mild bruise.

The pirate had managed to unsheathe his sword by the time the cell door opened, but it didn’t make much of a difference. The heavy body of his companion slammed into him with incredible force, slamming him against the far wall hard enough to dislocate both of his shoulders.

Gigi could only stare slack-jawed as her savior calmly unlocked her own cell. The older woman had been cold before, but the sheer lack of emotion she showed while effortlessly taking down a pair of hardened criminals was downright unsettling. It was only when Yvette flashed her a small smile that the child felt safe enough to speak.

“Is this… what people are like down on the surface?”

Yvette glanced back at the pile of men she had just created. The wall they had impacted was cracked and stained with droplets of blood.

“Sometimes.” She responded dryly.

“...Ok.”

Without another word, the two turned towards their one path towards escape. In the distance, they could hear the sound of thumping footsteps rushing closer to investigate the sounds of combat.

Positioning herself in front of her new charge, Yvette began to channel streams of silt magic into her palms. She would deal with the scared child once they had escaped. For the time being, she could only afford to focus on what lay ahead of her.

She could only hope that her own strength would be enough.