Sometimes it takes tragedy to bring out the best in something

  -Excerpt from ‘Silversea Saga’ by Norris Howell

  Rose knew that the battle was not over the moment she allowed the miniature sun to explode. It had struck true, burning off one of Commodore Foulter’s arms, but somehow the man had survived.

  Skill up!

  Light Attunement 21 > 22

  When the blinding light dissipated she saw why. Prince Everyn was on the ground, bleeding from a dozen wounds. Ice covered parts of his body and his breathing was shallow, but he had managed to stay conscious through force of will.

  Rose saw a strange look in his eyes when their gazes met, but they would have time to talk when the battle was won. Because it was not yet won.

  Commodore Foulter was surrounded by a barrier of ice attuned energy covered in faint cracks. A few seconds later those cracks expanded and the barrier shattered, the energy vanishing before the shards of ice could reach the frozen sea.

  Rose was confused how the man could continuously pull out such overpowered defensive skills while so injured, but she soon got her answer. He coughed, spewing blood all over the ice and staggering backwards.

  In his hands, she spotted an amulet of some kind. However, it suddenly shattered and turned to dust at the same moment.

  He glared at her, the hatred in his eyes almost tangible. “Utterly unbelievable!” he snarled. “To think that I had to use every last charge of master’s amulet just to defeat a fucking child.”

  She frowned as she met his gaze unflinchingly. “That’s not very nice. You shouldn’t curse,” she admonished her opponent.

  He froze, jaw dropping at her remark. He facepalmed and sighed deeply as she continued to frown at him, before lowering his arm.

  A cutlass of ice appeared in his hands and he started taking slow steps towards Rose. “I guess I shouldn’t have expected much intellect from a mere child. Honestly, the fact you have pushed me this far is impressive,” he said, gaze never leaving hers. “If someone like you is allowed to grow freely, you might even threaten Minenblum one day.”

  He was just a few metres away from her now and began to slowly raise his frosty cutlass into the air. “I will not allow that to happen.”

  However, before he could make a move a deafening bellow silenced everything and made the ocean tremble. It was as though a thousand foghorns were blaring at once, stunning everyone present.

  Everyone except Rose, who had known exactly what was about to happen. Because she was the one who had caused it.

  While she was freeing herself from the icy prison imposed on her by the commodore, she had naturally used the ability of her blessing to call to the denizens of the deep. Not for assistance in her own fight, as she was confident in beating the rude officer all by herself, but for something a little… flashier.

  Following the deafening sound, the ocean itself parted as a colossal whale breached the surface. It had appeared between Rose and the shore. She was grateful the waters weren’t too shallow where the commodore had decided to drop anchor.

  In a single fluid motion, the whale swallowed all three ships whole, including the frozen flagship. Its mouth slammed shut as it pierced the water and dove into the depths once more, satisfied with its meal.

  Rose noticed that it had purposefully left quite a few of the navy soldiers uneaten. The little fish had to eat, after all.

  “What in the gods’ names is that thing?!” Commodore Foulter exclaimed, fear creeping into his expression for the first time since the battle began.

  Rose didn’t answer. There was no need. It was time to finish this battle once and for all. It had gone on for far too long and she still wasn’t certain of the fate of her parents.

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  Drawing the broken Sunsplitter, she rushed at the commodore while he was still in a daze. When she was just a few steps away he reacted, his instincts too strong to be overcome by a little shock.

  Well, a big shock, but he still recovered nonetheless. Her left cutlass slashed towards his neck and he was forced to block with his cutlass of frost, while the blade in her right hand was thrust at his gut.

  Her arm shook as he smashed her blade aside and a small circular shield of ice appeared on his stomach. However, it was hastily formed and her cutlass shattered it, leaving a shallow cut before he twisted his body away.

  Rose was relentless and didn’t allow him any reprieve, following with more slashes. The speed and intensity of her attacks only grew as she became more confident and the damage accumulated on the commodore.

  The sound of shattering ice and the clashing of blades rang out across the sea. Prince Everyn watched with rapt attention, not wanting to miss a moment.

  He was frustrated he couldn’t end things himself but the Emerlan Isle losing outright was not a desirable outcome, so he cheered the girl on internally. Many of her strikes were blocked or parried, but plenty broke through Foulter’s guard.

  It was made more difficult by the fact she had a damaged weapon, but it didn’t dissuade her or slow her barrage in the slightest. Suddenly the commodore stumbled, one of his ankles slipping on the ice.

  For a man who wielded ice attuned energy as his primary weapon to slip on his own ice… was not a positive sign.

  The battle quickly went downhill from there and soon he was on his knees on a tiny island of ice. It rapidly melted as the sea water smashed against it.

  Rose looked to her right, realising that she had to end the battle now. A colossal wave reminiscent of a tsunami was bearing down on them, courtesy of the whale’s earlier dive.

  It wouldn’t injure her, but it might give the commodore a chance to slip away. Sure, the fishes would probably kill him if he escaped into the sea, but Rose didn’t want to be denied the satisfaction of taking him out herself.

  Nasar’s death had been tragic and she still felt the loss deeply, but it had taught her something about the tide. Killing more powerful foes would grant genuine progression to skills and the cultivation of arcane energy.

  In order to achieve her goals and to be able to stand against the coming invasion, she needed more strength. So she had no qualms about killing the rude invader to claim it.

  Her blade descended, meeting a final, desperate barrier of ice. The broken half of Sunsplitter shattered at the same time as the ice, but she had a second blade.

  Commodore Foulter’s head went flying an instant later, his expression permanently twisted in indignation and fury. A fitting end for a vile man.

  You have slain [Ashwin Foulter]!

  Accumulated merit:

  2 Occupations Completed

  11 Titles Acquired

  1 Soulbound Items

  2★ Earned

  Flowing Core

  Skill up!

  Dual Wielding 16 > 17

  Once more, Rose read through the summary of a dead man’s achievements. She learned Commodore Foulter’s first name—Ashwin—and also that he was far less impressive than Nasar had been.

  Rose was also curious how someone over a decade older than her only had about twice as many titles and an arcane core of the same level. Was it really that difficult to advance the level of one’s core?

  The rush of power was far less intense this time and she barely buckled as the sparkling storm of arcane energy rushed into her body. In fact, the opposite was true.

  After the intense battle she’d been utterly depleted and this burst of energy was exactly what she needed to rejuvenate herself. She stared into the water at the falling head, a few fish already racing each other to the fresh meal.

  “Next time you shouldn’t curse so much. It brings bad luck,” she said as she kicked his headless corpse into the ocean.

  That kicked all the nearby fish into a feeding frenzy and she smiled as she watched the cute little buggers devouring her foe. A few moments later she turned around, one final task to do before returning to the remains of her village.

  “Prince Everyn, I assume?” she asked as she helped the fallen swordsman to his feet.

  The gigantic doori swam over during this and lifted him onto its back with some help from Rose. Once he was sitting comfortably, though looking rather forlorn, he answered.

  “Indeed, I am Everyn, Crown Prince of the Emerlan Isle. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, young heroine,” he said, puffing up his chest and doing his best to look regal.

  Rose had to contain her laughter at that. Then again, he was only behaving as his station dictated.

  “Nice to meet you and thanks for the help. Not sure I could’ve won without your distraction,” she said with a thumbs up.

  He looked as though he’d been shot when she said that, but quickly recovered. “Ahem, well… I only did what was right. I’m sure that me weakening the commodore was essential to our shared victory,” he coughed, going a little red in the cheeks.

  Wow, he is shameless! Rose realised. Nonetheless, it was expected of a Prince to act like this. As long as he didn’t take too much of the credit he could share in her glory.

  She hadn’t killed the commodore for fame anyway. It had been done in vengeance.

  Her gaze turned back to the shoreline where the still burning ruins of Fairwater Bay greeted her. It was time to face the difficult truth.