An era is never more contentious than when technology shifts. New inventions always bring chaos to the battlefield, with those who adapt quickest to the changing tides emerging as the victors.

  -Excerpt from ‘The Power of Artifice’ by Xlat Goldback

  Rose had never witnessed anything like it. Not in terms of the raw power of course. Accompanying Trent, Nasar, and Yasmin had allowed her to witness unforgettable feats of might and magic.

  However, the weapon that the Minenblum fleet unleashed on their little ship was unlike anything the Bluestone Sea had seen before. The shift in the arcane energy and the brief flash of light was all the warning Rose had.

  She tried to warn the others but her voice was drowned out by the deafening roar of thunder that followed the firing of the arcane cannon. A bolt of arcane lightning burst from the mouth of the ash grey cannon.

  It didn’t travel as a cannonball would, instead flashing five kilometres across the sea in a single moment. The ocean was split in two, the water evaporating around the beam of refined arcane energy.

  They were spared a fiery death by metres, the arcane lightning narrowly missing Silent End. However, the proximity to the devastating beam was enough to set the hull aflame and blast them to the deck. Daniel slipped and almost fell over the edge, but Rose maintained enough balance to rush over and catch him before he could plunge into the depths.

  Their attack had begun abysmally. Facing unknown and deadly weapons mounted on unfamiliar ships, Rose had a fearsome challenge ahead of her. It would test her wits and her ability to lead.

  Her strength alone would not be enough. Ensuring her crew made it through this ordeal alive was equally important as dealing a heavy blow to the enemy fleet.

  If this was a random encounter at sea, she may have made the decision to retreat before escape was truly impossible. However, the revelation of Minenblum’s new weapons made that option an absolute impossibility.

  Allowing them to reach Albumott would mean accepting the destruction of the town. If Commodore Foulter had almost levelled a village with regular cannons and just three ships, then this fleet would leave nothing in its wake but scorched earth and slaughtered innocents.

  That was an outcome that Rose couldn’t accept. Even if it cost her a greater price than she’d been prepared to pay.

  “Prepare yourselves! Full sail. We stand between the people of Albumott and these invaders,” Rose yelled.

  Once, she’d seen Trent use the power of his strikes to propel their ship forwards at a ridiculous speed. She knew she was far from his equal, but if nothing was done the deadly arcane cannons would blow them to smithereens before they could get close to the fleet.

  She raced from the prow to the stern of the small ship, watching the boys as they raced to adjust the rigging and keep them sailing straight ahead. Turning her gaze to the fleet in the distance, she saw the other ships were charging in a similar manner, gathering the ambient arcane energy towards them.

  She sniffed the air, trying to read the flow of energy. Rose surmised that only two or three of the ships could charge the devastating cannons at a time, given how hungry they were for arcane energy.

  Skill up!

  Arcane Attunement 18 > 19

  That would change if they had an internal source of power, but if they only relied on the ambient energy, charging the cannons was rather slow. She suspected that despite the improved ships, Minenblum wouldn’t commit so many tidestones for an invasion of such a tiny nation.

  While they were a hegemon of the Bluestone Sea, their resources were not infinite. The first of three cannons began to glow with crackling energy as she reached the stern of Silent End.

  As she inhaled the salty sea spray, Rose realised there was a major flaw in her plan. She had no cutlass.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  She emptied her belt, the collection of weapons and gadgets falling to the deck with a series of clanks and bangs. Looking over the assortment, she frowned.

  There was a dagger, a flintlock pistol, a powder bag, and her coin purse. None of them would be particularly effective at striking the ocean. Are we doomed to fall before we can even mount an attack? she sighed internally.

  Rose rubbed her temple with her hand, face scrunched as she felt the gathering energy in the distance crescendo. Soon another blast of arcane lightning would ravage the ocean’s surface and possibly tear their ship apart.

  Something scratched the skin of her temple as she rubbed her hand up and down. She winced and removed her hand, glancing down to see the ring around her finger, which had cut her.

  Nasar’s ring glittered in the grey light of the sea. Rose’s eyes widened. In her moment of need, he had stepped up once more from beyond the grave.

  She sent a wisp of her own energy into the ring, searching for the item she knew lay within. A sleek handle appeared in her left hand, the polished wood smooth to the touch.

  The blade was razor sharp as it always had been—Nasar made sure of that. The knife had a simple appearance. At a glance, it could be mistaken for an ordinary, if extraordinarily well made, kitchen knife.

  However, Rose knew the truth. This was a bathypelagic artifact. The most powerful, high level weapon that she’d ever held. If this wasn’t enough for what she intended then nothing would.

  The crackle of energy in the air reached its zenith, the hair on the back of her neck raising in anticipation. Another blast was on its way.

  She heard the boys yelling behind her as they did everything they could to prepare. It was rather futile, but she admired their dedication to the cause. Lifting the chef’s knife above her head, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  In her mind, the image of Nasar carving the gigantic sea serpent into dozens of perfect fillets in an instant was as vivid as the day it happened. She remembered the fluid movements of his body, even though she hadn’t been able to see all of them at the time.

  Rose wasn’t delusional enough to believe she could come close to matching his refined technique, but even a fraction of Nasar’s skill would be enough for what she wanted to do.

  The cannon roared as the energy in the air went wild. In the corner of her eyes, she saw the creeping white of the arcane lightning. In her ears, she tuned out the yells of the men on board the ship.

  Reaching into her core, Rose directed her own energy through her circuits and towards her arms. Using arcane energy to bolster her physical body was something she had extensive practice with. This would be an extension of that same technique.

  The ocean screamed as the lightning tore across its surface. The water evaporated and the air shimmered as the superheated energy carved a direct path towards the Silent End.

  The Minenblum Navy had corrected their first mistake. This second blast was on a direct course for their ship.

  Prince Everyn yelled as the beam approached. “Take cover! Face your death as heroes.”

  His words fell on deaf ears. Suddenly everyone’s stomach lurched. The ocean beneath them vanished, the arcane lightning disappearing behind them.

  All of them turned in unison towards the stern of the ship, where Rose was cackling like a madwoman. An unfamiliar knife was clutched in her left hand.

  Of them all, only Everyn could sense the arcane energy that crackled around her. He glanced at the knife, his eyes widening as he realised what it was.

  At that moment he stumbled and fell, the tall caught grabbing his arm and planting it against the mast. “Watch your step, my prince,” he warned.

  The air rushed past them as they soared into the sky, leaving the ocean behind. The arcane lightning dissipated, but the next cannon was already preparing to fire.

  Unfortunately for them, the cannons were mobile enough to adjust on the fly and they watched as it turned to face them even as they flew over the water’s surface.

  Rose jumped down from the poop deck, twirling the knife in her hands before it disappeared into thin air. She noticed Everyn staring at her strangely and flashed him a grin.

  “How is that possible? You-” Everyn began to say but Rose pressed a finger against his lips.

  “Now isn’t the time for questions, prince. Now is the time to kill some invaders,” she declared, pulling a strangely shimmering fishing rod from thin air.

  The arcane energy in the surroundings was drained, with the little that remained going wild as the cannons fired one after another. The third cannon was almost charged, preparing to blast them out of the sky.

  Rose let the hook of her rod go slack as she tossed it back over her shoulder. “Remember all those times I knocked you on your ass back on that beach?” she asked the five men.

  They looked at her with determined expressions, nodding in unison. She chuckled while raising both hands high into the sky, wrapped around Divine Serpent’s Lure.

  “The soldiers down there have sticks that are a little pointier, so try not to get hit this time,” she said as she snapped her arms downward and the fishing line sailed towards the navy flagship.