Water Magician

Editor: Tseirp

“Bring us alongside the starboard of the large ship. We’ll board from there!”

“Understood!”

The helmsman responded to Captain Gorick’s orders.

Both the large ship and the ghost ship were stationary.

The ghost ship was massive.

Its deck was much higher than that of either the Lone Dark or the large ship.

Boarding a ship with such a high deck was challenging.

Conversely, boarding a ship with a lower deck was easier.

You just needed to toss a rope and slide down it.

The decks of the Lone Dark and the large ship were at roughly the same height.

With perfect maneuvering, the Lone Dark pulled up to the starboard side of the large ship.

“Toss the ropes!”

Ropes were thrown toward the large ship’s deck from both the bow and the stern.

The bow and stern were much higher than the deck.

Throwing the ropes from such a height created a slope.

Using that slope…

“Board!”

Captain Gorick’s command echoed.

The first to move was First Officer Lena.

She slid down the rope from the stern and landed gracefully on the large ship’s deck.

The crew of the Lone Dark followed.

By that time, the deck of the large ship had already become a living hell.

“We’re the Suje Kingdom Navy! We’re here to help!”

As they boarded, the crew of the Lone Dark shouted.

Making it clear that they were allies and had come to assist.

The crew of the large ship had already lost morale.

It was essentially the same as giving up.

But now, reinforcements had arrived?

Here, in the vast open sea?

Come to think of it, there was a ship they had told to flee earlier…

“The navy?”

“That’s right! We’re the Suje Kingdom Navy from the Archipelago! Don’t give up!”

The enemies boarding from the ghost ship were… skeletons.

They were skeletons.

Skeletons weren’t particularly strong.

Of course, there were some special ones, but most were not too formidable.

However, there were a lot of them.

And some of them seemed to know how to use their numbers to overwhelm.

Moreover, some carried weapons…

All the skeletons on the large ship’s deck had knives.

“I don’t think they’re marines… but they can board other ships?”

“Of course. If sailors on a warship can’t board an enemy vessel, they’re only half-trained.”

Chief Engineer Gunno answered Ryo’s question.

They were standing on the deck of the Lone Dark.

Ryo and Abel had never done ship-to-ship boarding, so they were left behind.

Gunno, as a senior officer, had been made the Lone Dark’s acting commander.

This meant the captain and first officer had already boarded the enemy ship.

Although they were at the bow, they could still clearly see what was happening on the deck of the large ship.

“Skeletons, huh…”

“With knives, they’re troublesome foes.”

Ryo said, and Abel nodded in agreement.

To defeat skeletons, blunt weapons like clubs or hammers were effective.

On the other hand, edged weapons like swords or spears tended to slide off the bones without dealing much damage unless struck perfectly.

Knives were even worse in that regard…

“They’re a pain for sailors who use knives as their main weapon.”

“Ah, I see.”

Ryo finally understood Abel’s point.

The large ship they had come to help was apparently a warship from a country called Bor.

Naturally, its crew were soldiers.

Like the Lone Dark’s crew, they should have been used to fighting…

In a world where ship-to-ship combat was common, being able to board and fight was expected.

They could board, so it wasn’t surprising they could be boarded as well. That happens often enough in battles.

So, the crew should be able to fight, too…

Yet, the large ship’s crew was at a huge disadvantage.

Ryo had been wondering why…

The problem was the mismatch in weapons.

Weapon compatibility cannot be underestimated.

The Lone Dark’s crew also mainly used knives.

They were supposed to, but…

“Take that!”

“Break!”

“Hit!”

Shouting these words, they were swinging something.

“Is that…?”

“Hammers. In ship-to-ship combat, sometimes you board the enemy ship to break through the hull and sink it. That’s when you bring those.”

“I see.”

Abel asked, Chief Engineer Gunno answered, and Ryo nodded in understanding.

If the enemy crew was too strong to overpower, sinking their ship by smashing the hull was a valid strategy.

Ship-to-ship combat, which looked straightforward, had its complexities.

“If the large ship’s crew had known they’d be fighting skeletons in advance, they might have prepared such weapons. They probably have them in the armory.”

Chief Engineer Gunno said, shaking his head slightly.

The importance of prior information.

On the deck of the large ship, intense combat raged, but the crew of the Lone Dark was holding their own.

They had been aware that skeletons were their enemy before boarding.

There was no sign of them being overwhelmed.

However…

“They just keep coming.”

“I’ve cut that rope several times already, but it keeps getting reattached.”

Ryo and Abel were focused on the rope connecting the ghost ship to the large ship.

The skeletons were using it to slide down and board.

Neither of them had set foot on the battlefield that was the deck of the large ship.

They remained on the Lone Dark.

Of course, neither Ryo nor Abel was just lazing around.

The crew of the Lone Dark had boarded first to save the crew of the large ship.

Their initial goal was to drive off the attacking skeletons, a temporary fix.

But that alone wouldn’t resolve the situation.

The victory conditions were unclear.

What needed to happen for everyone to be saved?

What would end the ghost ship’s assault?

If this were a game, the victory conditions would be explicitly stated, but reality doesn’t work that way.

They had to figure out how to achieve victory on their own.

The enemy was skeletons.

In other words, they didn’t tire.

The longer this dragged on, the more disadvantageous it could become for the humans… maybe.

Even that wasn’t certain.

There was just too little information.

That’s why Ryo and Abel weren’t jumping into the fray; they were stepping back to observe the situation as a whole.

As for Chief Engineer Gunno, he was guarding the Lone Dark.

The remaining crew, mostly engineers and cooks, stayed behind.

In other words, everyone else had boarded the large ship…

Though even those left behind were fully armed.

“Hey, skeletons don’t have magic stones, right?”

“Of course not. You’ve been an adventurer longer than I have, Abel. Why are you asking that?”

“Well, you see…even those talismans and spirit tags use magic lines to channel magic power instead of magic stones, right? I was wondering how skeletons work.”

In response to Abel’s question, Ryo grimaced and shook his head.

“Good observation, as expected from a former A-rank adventurer. But those skeletons don’t have anything like magic lines attached to them.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“You already knew?”

“Skeletons you encounter while adventuring don’t have magic stones, and no one knows where they get their magic power from… but they still move. It’s always been a mystery.”

“That’s true. It is strange. Are skeletons the only ‘monsters’ without magic stones?”

“Maybe wraiths… or shadow stalkers too? There aren’t many like them though…”

Abel thought for a moment, looking up.

Before his words trailed off.

He was staring at the ghost ship’s forecastle.

“Abel?”

“Just now…I think I saw something from the bow of that ghost ship.”

“Something? Could it be the boss?”

“Yeah, the leader of the enemy. It’s possible. I thought I saw something glowing blue, but…could it be that we have to defeat that thing to end this?”

“Glowing blue…What is that? I’ve fought strong skeletons like Skeleton Arcs that are immune to magic with everyone from ‘Room 10’, but none of them ever glowed blue. Oh, and I’ve also fought a skeleton swordsman stronger than you in a dungeon… again with ‘Room 10’—but it didn’t glow either.”

“A skeleton swordsman stronger than me…?”

“Amon awakened and defeated it. That was the moment Amon began his path as a master swordsman.”

For some reason, Ryo boasted about Amon’s achievements with an air of superiority.

“I see…well, whatever. The crew of the Lone Dark is still holding out fine for now, but who knows how long that’ll last.”

“True. Well then, shall we have Abel storm the enemy’s base?”

“Wait a second. Why just me?”

“Good catch! This is the perfect moment to send a frontline swordsman deep into enemy territory and settle things!”

“I think you should come too, Ryo.”

“Dragging a rear-line magician to the frontlines? As expected of the brutal swordsman Abel, you sure live up to your name.”

“Stop giving me weird titles.”

Ryo’s suggestion of a new nickname was quickly rejected by Abel.

“Fine. I’ll go with you, but you’re responsible for fighting whatever dangerous thing that approaches, okay? I’ll take care of the other skeletons.”

“Uh, sure…”

“Well then, Gunno-san, we’re off.”

“Eh? Oh, uh, okay? Take care?”

Gunno didn’t fully grasp the situation.

He overheard Ryo and Abel talking about boarding the ghost ship, but…

How exactly were they planning to do that?

“Let’s go. ”

As Ryo chanted, frost erupted from the deck where they stood.

It quickly grew into a massive ice pillar, lifting both of them high above the ghost ship’s deck.

The frost pillar kept rising until it reached about halfway up the ghost ship’s mast.

From there, the two looked down at the deck of the ghost ship.

“Swarming…like ants.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty gross.”

Both Abel and Ryo grimaced.

It was understandable.

The deck was so packed with skeletons that there was barely any space between them.

There were easily over a thousand.

“”

A few moments later…

Thud, thud, thud…

The sound of heavy objects falling echoed through the air.

The fell through the air.

The ice walls, created high in the sky, came crashing down onto the ghost ship’s deck, crushing the swarming skeletons.

“Ahh, that felt refreshing.”

“You never change, do you…”

Ryo nodded with a satisfied expression, while Abel shook his head slightly.

He had seen Ryo’s magic countless times, but every time, Abel couldn’t help but think how terrifying it was.

It made all strength, speed, and technique meaningless.

A magic that demonstrated the fearsome power of a magician.

The frost pillar shrank a bit, lowering them to the same height as the ghost ship’s deck.

Ryo and Abel leaped onto the deck.

It had become a frozen wasteland.

And the crushed skeletons were vanishing.

“Not bad.”

The moment that voice echoed.

Clang!

The sharp sound of clashing swords rang out.

Abel had blocked a sword, faintly glowing blue, with his beloved blade.

“Nice! Very nice, swordsman! You’re a worthy companion for the magician who cast that spell!”

“Yeah, thanks.”

The blue-glowing man laughed as he praised Abel, who responded with clear displeasure.

“It’s been a hundred years since someone stepped onto this deck. Last time, it was just one. Now, there are two of you. What to do.”

As soon as the blue man’s monologue ended—

Clang!

Once again, the sound of clashing blades filled the air.

This time, Ryo had parried with his sword Murasame.

The attacker was a woman, also faintly glowing blue.

“I’ll make both of you my thralls, to serve me forever.”

She said flatly, without a trace of emotion.

“This is quite the problem. I’m a magician… yet here I am, crossing swords.”

Ryo remarked, his voice louder than a mere whisper.

And the faintest hint of a smile playing on his lips.

“Ryo’s a battle maniac after all.”

Abel muttered under his breath, though Ryo didn’t hear him.

Thus, the battles on the ghost ship’s deck had begun, two duels unfolding simultaneously.

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