Chương 644: Chapter 643: Turbulent Sea

Barb Utsa"You should at least take a break for dinner," advised Hen.

"I will," I replied, but continued moving across the ship's deck. The sea is turbulent today, making it the best time to practice my latest skill. Feather's Grace. It is a balance plus movement skill. It is a rare skill among the Warrior Class, usually. Only those of Lv. 20 and above, get it. It is a fantastic skill, but I wish I had a pure movement skill since I already have Madam's Grace. These two skills are different; Madam's Grace focuses on flexibility of movement.

It works very well with curved, serpentine paths. Feather's Grace, on the other hand, works best on the straight path. Madam's Grace has mental aspects. It charms and speeds up my thoughts a little, —but Feather's Grace is really a physical warrior skill at heart. It boosts balance and, when I choose, lets me reduce five pounds of weight at will. I am using both of my skills together, on top of being very drunk. I need to practice these skills while intoxicated.

I fight best in this state, and practice will strengthen me. Bam! Once more, I crashed against the pole. Hitting my head hard.

"Fuck!" I cursed and massaged the spot. It would have really helped if I had skills like Rock Skin or Hard Body. I massaged the spot for a while before practicing again. It is much harder to practice the skills in a turbulent sea than in a calm one, but it is where I will learn the most. I have been at sea for two weeks. It is a great time to practice my skills, and I have been doing that daily, incorporating the lessons I learned on this trip into my practice. Especially the tips I got from Drakon.

That man is a truly powerful but also a great drinking partner. He is interested in me, which he never hid, but I didn't sleep with him. I liked the man and wanted him to be a friend. Sleeping with him would have only made things complicated. Minutes passed, and I practiced under the turbulent sea. The ship became tipsy, shifting its floor and sending water waves onto the ship's deck. Some directly crashed on me, and a few waves had nearly dragged me into the sea. The only thing that bothers me is the cold.

The water is colder than when we journeyed over three months ago, and I am getting wetter, making things even more difficult. I braved through it. I need to get used to it. My chosen path will make me fight in conditions worse than this.

"Sister Barb, it is getting dangerous. You should stop for today," said Gloria through the door to the deck. Hearing her, I stopped. I have been doing this for a while and am tired. She is also right about the danger, but there is a mage. If I slipped into the sea, she would haul me out. If it had been a calm sea. I wouldn't need the mage's help. With Graceful Madam, it may not be pure speed skill, but it has another element.

That helped me walk on water using it; the result was even better when combined with Surefooted. I had tried it many times in the calm sea. I am very good at it. I walked toward her, watching the turbulent sea on this dark night. The only light I could see was from a convoy of ships around us. We are traveling in a protected convoy, with mercenary ships protecting us. It cost a lot of money, but Master Silver paid unhesitatingly for it.

He shouldn't have; the trade route is relatively safe, and naval agreements between several kingdoms protect this vital trade route. I entered inside, and it was a lot better than the outside. It is warm and comfortable; many staff members sat in the common area. This ship is bigger than the one we came to Oton on. Currently, we have not only our people but also a good number of staff from the Tranquill Bathhouse. I looked at them before turning to my suite. It is the biggest on the ship and has a great view.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. However, the only thing I could now see was waves crashing on the window. I quickly removed my clothes and showered before walking out. The dinner cart was already waiting for me. I ate before sitting on the chair and watching the waves crashing against the large window. I am tired and want to sleep, but I have a game of cards with my teammates.

It had taken me a lot of effort to create a bond with them, but this mission had produced some distance. I tried to fix it but realized we would always have some distance. I will always be a madam, but I am also a mercenary. I will need to learn to live in both worlds. Knock Knock! A hurried knock appeared on my door suddenly. A frown appeared on my face, and I appeared by the door by the Madam's Grace.

"What happened?" I asked as I opened the door. The other side is Hen and Rev, and they have their business faces on.

"We have received the message from security that a group of ships is coming in our direction," replied Hen. Making my heart skip a beat.

"Hostile?" I asked. I genuinely hope it is not; the naval battles are dangerous, especially in weather like this.

"They don't know for sure, but they had asked to be prepared," she replied. It made me want to curse hard, but I took a deep breath.

"Ask them and also inform Lord Silver," I said.

"I already sent the message to Greltheaven," she replied. Since we are in the middle of the sea, it will take some time for the message to get delivered. I nodded and stepped back into my room. I picked up my sword, shield, and bag and left my room with them.

"Barb, what happened?" asked Tara, seeing me hurrying.

"I hope it's nothing, but it could be pirates," I replied in Privacy.

"Pirates!" she is shocked.

"We don't know yet, and it might be something else, but stay down here," I advised, moving quickly to follow after my team.

"Be careful," she said from behind. I nodded and kept moving. Soon, I reached the door, and the spell covered me before I stepped onto the deck. The heavy rain crashed against me, but it didn't wet me. A pale blue energy layer around my body protected me from it. I looked around and saw a turbulent sea, with lightning flashing every few seconds. It had become wilder than before, with waves crashing against the ship and splashing the water on the deck.

I looked around for the pirate ships when I saw the captain approaching us. He is an older man in his seventies with a crooked leg, but that didn't stop him from moving smoothly across the deck. He is a naval veteran who fought in many battles before joining the private shipping company. He stopped beside Rev and me with a bad expression.

"Pirates?" asked Rev.

"Worse, it is the bastards of Severfang Alliance," he spat.

"Shit!" I cursed. Before leaving, Master Silver had provided me with an extensive dossier of information. It had the information on the Severfang Alliance. It is a small alliance of pirates, but powerful, with every raid of them having at least ten Lv. 3o with them. They are also one of the worst. They murder, ravage, and rape. They take hostages, but rarely, preferring to loot and disappear.

There is a bounty on them, and many pirate groups in the alliance have been hunted and executed, but they fill back their numbers pretty quickly. There is no dearth of people wanting to join them.

"What is the command planning to do?" asked Rev.

"Right now, they are negotiating, but I am not putting much value in it," he replied before suddenly whipping his head to the left.

"Bastard!" he cursed. Looking at the two ships on the left, they are moving faster than the rest. It's clear they are running away.

"Shouldn't we be doing that as well, captain?" asked Rev, but the old man shook his head.

"It's the worst thing we could do right now,""Those bastards have surrounded us and are coming from all sides," he replied. He had just done that when I finally noticed things in the distance as the lightning brightened up the sky for a moment. I immediately whipped out the spyglass and looked. I could see the three ships, but I saw more of them as I moved the spyglass. These are small ships called cutters; pirates love them. They are fast and nimble, easy to loot and run. Boom, Boom, Boom!

"The negotiations failed!" the captain informed me, and at the same moment, I heard cannons from the mercenary ships. The mercenary company that the convoy hired is large and famous. They know how to deal with the pirates.

"Miss Utsa, please get back in the safety of the cabin; it's going to get ugly very soon," the Captain advised.

"Then I better stay here," I replied while Rev laughed. I took out the armor pieces and began wearing them a moment later.

"There goes my night in the legacy," he muttered under his breath and walked away before shouting orders to the crew. The mercenary ships have started arranging themselves around the ships. Two of them have arrived to our left and right, with mages forming a bridge and sending mercenaries to our vessel. Soon, a middle-aged bald man came toward us, with rain striking across his body. He had no spell or skill active against the rain and didn't seem to need it.

"Captain, Mr. Rev, I am Garid Cabe; I am taking control of the ship's security," he informed in all business voice before turning to me. He looked like he wanted to say something but simply sighed, seeing me ready to fight with armor and weapons in my hand. After a few words, he begins ordering men to their position. The cannons blasted toward the pirate ships, which were getting closer to us. Two of them had even reached the ships, which sailed faster in a panic, and I could see pirates boarding them.

I looked at pirate ships coming at us; nineteen of them were coming at us from all directions. We have more ships than them, but pirate ships are densely packed with men. Some don't even have guns to manage the weight of the boats. Cannonballs soon approached us, but mages defended while we waited for the pirate ships. Soon, the first pirate ships reached the convoy and went for the merchant ship. The security ships stopped it, but the pirate ship behind it moved ahead.

There are only seven security ships, so they can't stop all pirate ships. That's why they sent mercenaries to each ship. More and more pirate ships approached the merchant ships and began boarding them. I could see many pirates falling into the sea and getting killed in the process, but more were boarding the boats.

"It's brutal out there," said Hen. She is a veteran of many battles, but the naval battle is entirely different, especially when heavy rain and waves crash against the boats. Nobody on my team other than Elis and Yora has any experience in a sea battle. Minutes passed, and the pirate ship closed on us. It is crammed with people hollering and roaring madly, making killing gestures. Seeing it, I couldn't help but shudder.

"Mages and archers attack. Do not let the pirates board us," he roared while I readied myself. Drinking all the alcohol, I had stored in me before taking it out of the bottle and gulping it down. I have the feeling that this will be the most brutal battle, I have ever fought. Surviving will be challenging, but that is not the only thing I must do. I have to make sure none of my charges die, not the girls or the other staff.

I could feel the people looking at me strangely, but I didn't say anything and gulped the alcohol as much as I could with the Stored Gulp before taking the last of it in my mouth. Seconds passed, and by the minutes, pirates reached us, ramming their ship against ours.

"Board!"