It took Yvette a while to remember that Gigi was there. In her defense, it’s a bit hard to think about anything in particular while fighting for your life. The survival instinct has a habit of drowning out everything else.

Shaking herself off, she turned to the child and noted what had apparently been taken from the armory.

Gigi now had quite a bit more on her, including some more… questionable items. The girl had picked up what appeared to be a beat-up old cello, which was now strapped to her back with a long strap. She carried an oversized yoyo in one of her hands, which appeared to have been converted into a focus if the sigils carved into it were any indication.

She had also collected a variety of accessories. None of them looked very valuable, more resembling random trinkets and pieces of trash that she had wrapped with dull wires. The decorations hung from her poncho and various bracelets, so many of them squeezed onto some parts that she now sounded like a quiet set of wind chimes every time she took a step.

Yvette was relieved to see that her armor had also been found. The steel plates had been gathered into a large burlap sack, which Gigi now struggled to drag along with her as she panted under its weight.

Wordlessly, she strode over and took the bag for herself, slinging it over her shoulder with ease. Gigi looked confused at this, voicing her concern soon after.

“Aren’t you going to wear that?”

“This armor can take a long time to put on properly. We shouldn’t give them any more time to prepare.” Yvette responded as she began to walk towards the stairs leading upwards.

Gigi scrambled to follow, now unburdened by the heavy armor. “Didn’t you beat them all, though?”

“No. The captain is not a fool. No matter how strong a mage may be, running out of mana will always be a death sentence."

“Oh, yeah. Do you… still have any?”

Noting this, Yvette checked her [Status] quickly.

—

Mana: 63/75 (90)

—

“...I’m fine.”

Yvette had been a bit worried about that. She had a habit of casting too many spells during fights, which could put her in trouble sometimes. With a Spirit rank of D-, she still only regained three mana every ten seconds. It was hardly debilitating, but it was a good thing that the fight hadn’t gone on long enough to cause any issues. Though realistically she only needed twenty more in order for the last step of this escape to work out.

After taking a long breath to settle herself fully, she turned her back to Gigi and crouched down.

“Get on.”

“Huh?”

“Get on my back.” Yvette repeated. “You need to be touching me for [Feather Fall] to affect both of us. We’ll need to run once we get up there, so this will make it easier.”

Gigi hesitated. “Won’t I be too heavy?”

“You’re thin and I’m strong.” Yvette said impatiently. “Just get on.”

“O-ok.”

Gigi cautiously climbed onto Yvette’s back, holding herself on by wrapping her arms around the older woman’s neck.

Yvette was surprised by how many bones she could feel on her back. She could tell the girl was skinny, but a body like hers could only be achieved through years of malnutrition. Wasn’t she supposed to be a saint? How dire must things have been in Fuir if this was the state of one of their most cherished children?

Pushing the thought aside, she stood up and brandished her sword. Moving was a bit awkward with both a human being and a sack full of metal on her back, but she felt she could still run at roughly the same speed as usual. Staring trepidatiously at the stairway before them, she began to move forward.

Yvette had expected a trap to be waiting up above for them, but she hadn’t thought that it would be so… obvious. The remaining pirates on the ship had been organized into a firing range, with nearly twenty muskets aimed directly at her. Additionally, four more mages stood with spells ready to fire. 

A stone mage levitating a sharpened piece of flint, two fire mages holding balls of flame, and an ice mage manifesting a crystalline bow. None of them were stronger than the ones that were killed down below, but they were at least properly spaced this time. And of course, none of them could compare to the captain himself.

Standing at the very front, the well-dressed man certainly had a presence to him. Yvette had seen his type often back in the army, always putting forward an air of bravado to keep the troops motivated. It was foolish for the leader to be so vulnerable, but that was sort of the point. Crazy men had a talent for motivating others, and this one’s expression seemed especially deranged.

In his hands were a pair of cutlasses, both converted into foci with sigils carved into the metal. Realizing she hadn’t gotten a good look at him the first time they had run into each other, Yvette gave his [Status] a look over.

—

Darius

Level 26 Sky Raider

Attunement: Air, Vacuum

—

She raised her eyebrow at his choice in alignment. Vacuum wasn’t particularly hard to access, being only the negative alignment of air, but few people ever bothered to choose it. The element was tricky to use properly, relying on a good amount of skill to match most alternatives. There was always the chance that this Darius had picked the alignment to look tough and never managed to make it work, but that felt like a bad assumption to rely on.

It was only once Yvette had decided how to approach this that she realized he had been talking the entire time she was analyzing him.

“... a lot easier. So, what do you say?”

Looking to her sides for the person Darius was addressing, she realized that he was talking to her. Yvette felt confident in guessing what he had just said, but she still felt a little bad about it. Better to just go along with it rather than look like an idiot. Furrowing her brows in feigned indignation, she pointed her sword directly at the pirate captain’s throat.

“Not happening.” She said as confidently as she could manage.

Seemingly fooled by her act, Darius shrugged and began channeling air mana into his swords. “Well, your loss. Get ‘em!”

In that same moment, Yvette reached her free hand down to her scabbard, using it to cast [Mana Purge]. A wave of silt magic burst from her, cascading over the pirates in a wave of grey energy.

Darius swung his swords, expecting some sort of spell to come out of them, only to realize that his channeling had ceased completely. All around him, his mages also yelled out in shock as their held spells destabilized and burst in their faces. Shots rang out from the startled gunmen, filling the areas with stray musket shots and foul smelling smoke.

[Mana Purge] was Yvette’s most expensive spell, costing a full twenty mana. In exchange for draining over a fourth of her entire mana supply, the effects were remarkably useful. The wave tangled any magic it came into contact with, stretching and distorting whatever spells they were a part of. Any unprepared mage will find their channeling being canceled suddenly or even turned back on them. It was a shame Yvette didn’t get to see any explosions this time, but things did work out more or less how she planned.

Realizing that her scabbard would probably be more useful for the time being, she sheathed her sword and pulled the blade and covering out together. Now holding a blunt weapon and focus all in one, she charged to the side.

The captain almost looked more surprised at her running away than he had when his spell was canceled. Yvette couldn’t imagine why, as she had no actual reason to fight any of them. Sure, it would have been nice to get revenge on the one who knocked her out, but that didn’t really matter that much. It’d be best for her conscience if no one else died today anyway.

With their muskets a full minute away from being reloaded, the pirates could only watch in dismay as Yvette charged them head on. Using her enhanced legs, she leaped over their heads and landed right at the railings before the open sky. Crouching down to leap off into the beyond, she felt a gust of wind to her right.

With a slight turn, she saw Darius looking at her with an enraged look on his face. By the looks of it, his choice in stats and spells had been focused around speed. Knowing that people like this were her main weakness, Yvette could only brace herself for the incoming impact.

With a smirk, the captain reversed one of his blades so the pommel faced Yvette’s gut. Vacuum magic channeled around the smooth base, creating a small space where nothing existed. He let out a low chuckle as, for the second time, Darius used a spell capable of disabling the mercenary’s defenses entirely.

“Shoulda taken the deal, friend. Hell of a lot easier that way. [Void Pulse]!”

As the pommel struck, Yvette couldn’t feel any impact whatsoever. Instead, she felt all of the air in her body exit through her mouth in an instant. Her vision swam as she swayed on her feet. All of a sudden, it was as if the world was spinning around her.

She had been prepared this time, and that was the only reason she hadn’t been knocked out like when she was captured. Still, she could tell that her concentration on [Silt Armor] had been broken. At his level, Darius’ next attack would easily be able to take her out. Unable to steel herself like with the first strike, Yvette was at the end of her rope.

Yet somehow, nothing happened. After around five seconds, she was able to settle her vision enough to see the man choking on the ground. A large bubble of water clung to his face, covering his mouth and nose. His fingers desperately clawed at the water, which… was working? The liquid seemed to have been converted into a far thicker substance, which was able to stick to surfaces and be molded like wet sand.

Yvette turned to look at the girl clinging to her back. “[Hydrojelly]?”

“Yep!” Gigi looked incredibly proud of herself.

“Still have enough for [Feather Fall]?”

“Ten mana exactly!”

“Good.”

Another voice called out. “Hey! Don’t move!”

By now, the rest of the pirates had gotten over their shock and drawn swords. Yvette now faced twenty blades pointed directly at them, along with the four mages holding up the back. Said mages had clearly learned their lessons, not holding any kind of magic that could be turned against them. Not that it really mattered.

Yvetter just tilted her head, as if she was confused. Calmly, she raised both of her hands in mock surrender. Still holding onto her focus and armor bag, of course.

The voice called out again, more nervous now for some reason. “Alright, now get down!”

Yvette snorted at that, which seemed to be the closest she ever got to laughing. “Very well. Good day to you all.”

With that, she leaned backwards and fell over the ship’s railings. The pirates rushed forward to look over the side, desperate to see if they could get their prizes back. Staggering back to his feet, Darius gasped for air while scanning the cloudbank for any trace of the two mages. Unfortunately, they had already vanished beneath the white sea before he managed to scrape the [Hydrojelly] off of his face.

With a growl, he grabbed everyone’s attention and sent them back to work.

“To your stations! Now! Whatever happens, we are not letting those assholes get away with this!”