[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 255 – Ghost Pirates

Ghostly skeletons climbed up the side of the Wavedancer. Rusted, barnacle-encrusted weapons clamped in their teeth promised an agonizing end. Mostly broad, curved scimitars, and knives made for slashing rather than stabbing.

Really hope magical tetanus isn’t a thing here, Sam thought to himself.

Komachi strummed an instrument. A wave of healing magic flowed down the side of the Wavedancer. Silvery flames erupted from the ghosts’ ethereal bones, knocking a few of the pirates off the side of the ship and into the choppy black sea.

Sam stepped up to the edge of the deck as a pirate ghost grabbed the railing. He flipped [Bloodbane] in his bare hand and stabbed down into the ghost, piercing right through its skull and displacing its spine with a satisfying series of cracks.

He destroyed the ghost in that single blow, its bones falling to pieces to join its brethren. Using any of the sword’s traits was completely unnecessary, though he was itching to try all of them out.

How could I not? I have this cool new sword.

You defeat the [Skeleton Ghost Pirate Buccaneer (Level 30)].

You gain Experience for slaying a decent challenge monster!

You defeat the [Skeleton Ghost Pirate Skirmisher (Level 30)].

You gain Experience for slaying a decent challenge monster!

You defeat the [Skeleton Ghost Pirate Buccaneer (Level 30)].

You gain Experience for slaying a decent challenge monster!

Sam brushed the sodden hair out of his eyes. It had been getting long, even before getting entangled in the Alzahan Empire’s Dead Echo.

Good thing it wasn’t entirely in effect here. That or the Lumanots were restoring some portion of reality. Enough to allow him to gain Experience while in the Empire proper.

That sure hadn’t changed while he was in the Proving Grounds’ Remnants.

Sam quickly searched the distance. A few ships were still on the Wavedancer’s tail. Though few were as swift as the one attempting to board. It was already pulling up alongside the Wavedancer.

Skeletal ghosts were readying throwing lines with grapnels on the ends. And there was that squall again, lingering on the horizon.

The dark wall of death reminded him all too much of the Maelstrom. Did its insidious nature somehow infect him and hitch a ride to the Empire’s past?

Even I’m not that unlucky, Sam thought to himself.

Sam raised [Bloodbane], taking aim. With the adrenaline surging through his veins, it wasn’t easy keeping his hand steady. His Dexterity could use some enhancing to balance out his incredible Strength.

It was becoming clear that he had passed some threshold for his Strength that was creating an imbalance with the rest of his stats. Despite having high Dexterity as well, it was almost half of his Strength.

“I don’t have much luck at this sort of thing…” he admitted. Most of the time, when Sam threw his sword at an enemy, he lost it for good.

Thankfully [Bloodbane] could be recalled back to his grasp, eliminating the issue.

A fellow sailor kicked another ghost pirate off the side of the ship, then pointed at a sharp slant. “Did ye adjust for de wind, lad?”

Sam hastily shifted his aim. Then Komachi batted his arm, moving it over just a little more.

The sailor gave a hasty nod before clashing blades with another ghost. Komachi jumped onto the lean sailor’s arm, spun around and kicked the ghost’s skull clean off its shoulders. It had significantly more difficulty fighting the sailor after that.

Narrowing his eyes, Sam threw his sword. [Bloodbane] flashed through the eddying fog like a bolt of lightning.

Ruddy light blasted apart the steering wheel of the pirate ship, obliterating one of the more decorated ghosts beside what he assumed to be the captain.

You defeat the [Skeleton Ghost Pirate First Mate (Level 33)].

You gain additional Experience for slaying an even match monster!

Level Up!

Your [Swordsman] Job has reached Level 37.

+9 Strength | +9 Vigor | +5 Agility | +5 Dexterity

+3 Bonus Points

Man, I’ve missed this. Sam took a deep breath of the salty air. It had been too long since the invigorating power of a level up rushed through him.

Even across the roar of the sea, he could hear the pirates’ screeching howls for revenge.

Sam stood up on the rail of the ship, grasping the rigging with one hand and using the other to taunt the pirates with a rude gesture. “What are you waiting for?!” Sam shouted above the rolling thunder that moved ahead of the squall. “I’m unarmed! Come and get me!”

That was enough to draw the ire of the ghostly creatures. Many preparing their grapnels for other sections of the ship instead threw them at Sam’s feet. He had to dance quickly out of the way to avoid being caught.

Over a dozen lines were cast toward him. The pirates didn’t even need boarding planks. They could walk across the interwoven lines of rope as easily as any board.

Sam grinned at the deep line of ghostly creatures. Several of the crew members came to his aid. Sam waved them off with an unconcerned gesture and they went back to defending the ship.

Not all pirates had been baited, but enough that Sam was beginning to doubt the brilliance of his plan. Komachi jumped back onto his shoulders, spreading scintillating notes of healing magic across the ship’s deck.

I probably should have tried the recall skill before this, he realized. If it didn’t work as he thought it did…

Sam shrugged his broad, rain-slicked shoulders. If not, he’d deal with it. No use worrying.

Once the pirates were more than halfway across the lines, nearly 20 deep, Sam used [Recall] on [Bloodbane].

His grin spread into a massive smile as the blade did precisely as he had hoped. It dislodged itself from the deck of the pirate ship and launched itself in a spinning guillotine of death through the rear of the skeleton crew and straight into his hand.

By the time Sam held [Bloodbane] aloft, nearly half of the skeletal crew was taken out.

And now I have a handy little bridge!

“Heck yeah, Sam!” Komachi cheered. “Let’s get ‘em!”

Sam jumped up onto the now clear rope bridge and ran to the pirate ship’s deck. He laid about him with [Bloodbane], using every ounce of skill that he picked up from both Zarishna and Salii.

Using [Tactics: Rolling Strikes], Sam punched or kicked out with a limb, then slashed with his sword. The alternating damage types buffed one another, creating a positive feedback loop of ramping destruction.

The ghosts got some cuts in. Nothing that his high Vigor combined with Komachi’s healing couldn’t mend.

Sam noticed that without his usual heavy armor, he was significantly more agile and responsive. Still, he missed the protection it offered. He especially didn’t like the nasty debuff he got from those blades. It cut his Dexterity by a third. Fortunately, Komachi quickly got rid of it with [Cleansing Aria].

By the time the captain leapt onto the deck to face him, Sam hardly realized he was facing a pseudo-boss monster. Komachi let loose a bead of magic right into the captain’s face, blinding its sunken eyes.

Sam pivoted on the balls of his feet. So practiced and calm amongst the rising and pitching deck, he slashed down with [Bloodbane] in one smooth strike.

The captain was sheared clean through. His ethereal bones collapsed to the deck and burst into ghostly flames.

You defeat the [Skeleton Ghost Pirate Captain (Boss) (Level 35)].

You gain additional Experience for slaying an even match monster!

The Wavedancer’s sailors let out a raucous cheer.

Sam was turning back to the Wavedancer when something caught his eye. He looked to the captain’s quarters, the rotten door hanging ajar. The gleam of gold didn’t escape Komachi’s treasure lust. He could hear her heavy breathing above the thundering storm. Sam burst into the room and spun around, expecting an ambush.

None came, which was more than a little disappointing to the battle-frenzied Swordsman. He took a deep breath and looked around the room. The back half of the chamber was filled with gold. Coins, goblets, jewels, and a fat chest banded in precious metal.

Most of it was waterlogged and tarnished from being at the bottom of the sea.

“There’s so much loot, Sam!” Komachi cried, leaping down to pour everything she could grab into her expanded inventory.

He wasn’t sure exactly what he saw just then. Does Komachi have a marsupial pouch?

She seemed to. The little golden cat hunched over a pile and scooped with her front paws like she was digging. Instead of spraying gold and silver all over the place, the pile shrank at an alarming rate.

Sam reached for the chest rimed in salt crystals and hauled it up into his arms. “I’ll just take this then,” he told her.

Before he got the words out, the rest of the pile was gone. Komachi looked just as smug as could be. “Yee,” was all she said.

Shaking his head, Sam came up onto the deck to find a few of the Wavedancer’s crew tentatively setting foot onto the pirate’s ship. “We thought maybe…” one of them said, looking at Sam curiously.

“Aloha! All taken care of,” Sam told him. “Here.” He tossed the heavy chest to the man. Despite being a professional line hauler, the man struggled to hold the chest up.

Sam felt a little guilty. Sometimes he forgot that other people lacked his Strength.

Though he felt a lot less guilty when he saw swirls of energy appearing all over the ghost ship’s deck.

The pirates were reforming.

Sam hissed through his teeth. He figured killing them would be enough.

He sublimated the urge to farm Experience by repeatedly slaying the monsters. There was simply no time. The Wavedancer was already under attack by another ship on its starboard side.

“I’m going to sink the ship,” Sam warned the crew. “Might want to get back to the Wavedancer.”

They didn’t need to be told twice. Throughout his weeks aboard the Wavedancer, Sam had proved his skill and prowess multiple times. Whether by slaughtering a krillkiller that nearly capsized the ship or by hauling materials back and forth to make hasty repairs.

Nobody on the Wavedancer suggested that he might not be able to pull off such a superhuman feat.

Not anymore.

Once everybody was safely on the rope bridge back to their ship, Sam took [Bloodbane] in both hands.

The skeletons were reforming faster than he could gather his focus. Using his Breaker bloodline, Sam formed weak points in the deck below him. Weaknesses that would lead to a catastrophic chain reaction.

“Komachi, buy me a little time.”

His cat looked at him and nodded. She began strumming six different instruments at once while Sam fell deeper into his focus.

Skeletal shrieks filled the surrounding deck, but he trusted Komachi. She would give him the time he needed. Notes of [Discordant Elegy] rolled through their ranks.

One after another, the weak points formed until Sam had them lined up to his liking. Using his bloodline like this was more difficult, but the payoff was tremendous.

Slamming [Bloodbane] into the first weak point, Sam shattered the deck just in front of the mainmast. The collapsing boards, already rotted from being submerged in the ocean, took the entire mast with them.

The resulting shockwave collapsed the second weak point, and the chain reaction went off from there.

It’s like knocking one domino into the other, Sam thought as the weak points went off in a pleasing chain reaction.

Surrounded by ghostly skeletons wreathed in silvery fire, Sam scooped up Komachi and made for the unraveling rope bridge back to the Wavedancer.

You destroy the [Haunted Pirate Ghost Ship (Level 40)].

You gain substantial Experience for slaying a tough match monster!

As soon as Sam landed on the deck, the lines were cut by Salii with her thick, curved dagger. The Wavedancer listed sharply in the other direction.

Shit, should have thought about what sinking a ship tethered to another would do, he mentally scolded himself.

The look the Talmoori gave him was one of sheer respect, however, not admonishment.

She was off again in a flash to find another battle to win. Sam was fast on her heels.

The Wavedancer was not out of danger yet.