Waking up with a yawn and a stretch. I open my eyes and g the captain room from my vantage point atop ay bookshelf.

  What the hell?

  “I swear I fell asleep on my pillow.”

  Frowning, I hop off the bookshelf and nd perfectly on the wooden floor. Not a carpeted floor, but that be fixed with time.

  I stroll out of my room, walk down the hall, up the stairs, and am met with the soft m light alongside a cool breeze. I blink rapidly as my eyes adjust to the light, and then look around. Boriss is at the stern. The Russian is leaning at the edge with a piece of eat and a cup of probably not water.

  When I turn to the helm, Myers stands at the core with a soft smile on his face.

  I stroll up to him with the silence my form allows.

  “MYERS!” I yell. The man freezes and quickly turns with a hand on his e. Upon seeing me and my grin, he quickly rexes.

  “You did not o yell,” He says.

  “Well good m to you too. It seems I overslept. You should have woken me.”

  He shakes his head. “It’s fine. High vitality allows oo require less sleep.”

  “Less sleep, but not no sleep.” I hop up to the railihe core. “But it's not the sleep that kept you awake. You enjoy helming the ship, don't you?”

  His aged eyes shift from me to the distant expense before us. “It has been three years… maybe four since I’d helmed a ship. It is nice.”

  We both stare silently as clouds pass us by. Only after five minutes does the y fall off.

  “Alright. Training time. How do I use the core?” I lean forward and pce a paw on the orb. “Do I just touch it here?”

  Myers flicks my paw away. “Careful. Cores t process multiple people.” he warns. “Do you even know how to manipute your mana?”

  I pout.

  “Maybe. Give me a moment.”

  I y eyes and gh the various ways I’d maniputed energy before. I go dowensive list from direanipution to meridiaually, I feel something throughout my body. It just flows, but not like blood. More electric, like nerves. I try to manipute it, but nothing seems to work.

  Then the memory emerges. When I’d transformed into a cat, mana had moved.

  I focus on the feeling of that movement. Then it shifts. Slowly, I shift the energy in my body, increasing the speed faster and faster until I have a good feel to it.

  When I open my eyes, Myers is staring at me, perplexed.

  “What?”

  “Your eyes are glowing.”

  “Yea, and? Glowing eyes after maniputing mana is a pretty normal phenomenon in most worlds. It happens quite often. Now, how do I trol the core?”

  He harumps at my question. “The core trols the movement of the ship's ambient mana. There are runes carved into the ship's rigging and pole. Sending mana to the runes will power the movement in that location. This works by iing your own mana and leading the ships mana to the location. The more mana moved, the more pressure the rune will apply, and the faster the limb moves. I suggest applying as little mana as possible so as to get a feel.”

  I nod.

  He removes his hand and I pce a paw on the orb. With a small effort of will, I thrust some of my mana into the orb… and then I feel it. Like aended limb, the entire ship seems to e into being. I feel the masts, the wood, the resistance of the wind, and the warm energy entering from the bottom of the ship. I feel the air as it impacts me as well as the slipstream f in my wake.

  With additional tration, I reize the runes across every area of the ship. Numerous i runes within the ship's hull are silent, but the rgest ones ected to the rigging and all three masts are firmly ected. I direana into the top mast and feel it shift an in the runes opposite dire.

  “Ohhh, the runes are a pushing force. This is pretty simple then.”

  I hop on the orb and turn towards the front. A grin rises on my face.

  “Full speed ahead!” I roar. I shove mana into the orb. All three masts shift, turn, and bend. All of the side sails open to their maximum. The ship lurches forward, doubling its speed.”

  “MEEEEOOOO.” The instinct takes me as I cry out iasy. When I look forward, Boriss is on the ground and covered in liquid. He waves his empty cup at me and then takes a bite out of the meat still firmly in his other hand.

  Turning around, I am met with Myers. The old man is unfazed by the shift in speed, though his eyes are ily staring at me.

  “What?”

  “Is this really your first time?”

  I roll my eyes.

  “First time using a core? Yes. First time using and maniputing mana to manipute retively simple engineering? No. Speaking of which, anyone create ruhey look like they are carved into the wood. I want to see about upgrading them.”

  He stares at me for another sed, and then sighs.

  “For simple runes, yes. But anything plicated or more than a single rune will require a [Ruh].”

  “I see. Hopefully it’s just a reendation and not some plic- hey!” Myers picks me up and then pces his hand on the orb. The ship rapidly slows.

  “What is-” I don't finish my sentence when I notice Myers' grimace. I follow his eyes. And then I see it. A ship rger than ours is heading directly in our dire. At the top of its three masts is a prevalent bck fg.

  I wiggle out of his grasp and hop to the railing. “[Pirates]?”

  He nods.

  “Shit. Boriss! Arm up. We might have a fight on our hands. Go wake up everyone else.

  The Russian salutes and then rushes into the ship.

  As he leaves, my attention reshifts back to the distant ship.

  “Are we really this unlucky?” I ask. “Will they bombard us or board us? How many [Pirates] are we dealing with?”

  “[Pirates] usually avoid major trade routes because of [Pirate Hunters]. sidering we are still on a major trade route, we are indeed unlucky. Moreso because that's a Destroyer. sidering we have no ons, they will most likely board us with numbers iwenties.”

  “Oh, perfect. Say, how much does a destroyer sell for?” I ask.

  He gives me the look that people who think I’m pletely crazy give me.

  But he doesn't give me an answer as a distant explosion goes off. Our eyes return to the pirate ship. One of its top masts falls down. The mast tilts over the side of the ship, but does not fall off. Instead, it da the side on thick rope.

  “Um, what's happening?”

  “The ship is being chased.” Myers announces.

  Indeed, right behind the pirate ship is another destroyer. This destroyer is far different than the [Pirates]. For o seems to have armor pting and a single mast. For another, it has two propellers at the stern of the ship and an exhaust trail from a metal der behind the single mast. At the top of the mast is a light blue fg with a golden lion's head in the ter.

  “I know that fg. It belongs to the Lion’s Maw.” Myers rexes. “The [Pirates] must have been running from him and wound up here.”

  Another mast falls off the [Pirate] destroyer and dangles oher side. With two masts down, the [Pirates] start to slow siderably.

  Myers strokes his beard. “You’ve got the [Captain] ow, correct? you tell me the name of the ships?”

  I raise an eyebrow at the old man. “I don't see any names on the hulls- also, is your eyesight really that bad? They’re not that far.”

  “Stare at the ships and ask for the name. You should see it.”

  I frown, but do as I am told.

  I gre at the [Pirates] vessel food two seds, and then it pops up right above the ship.

  Immi Huntress (Three-Mast Destroyer)

  Max Speed: 12 knots

  stru: Wood

  Modifications: Expae

  “Um, the [Pirate] ship is called Immi Huntress. The other ship is-” I focus oher destroyer.

  Lionsguard (Single-mast bustion Cored Destroyer)

  Max Speed: 27 knots

  struetal-Reinforced WoodModification: bustion powered propeller.

  “Lionsguard.”

  “And the [Captains] level?” he asks.

  “Uhhh, do I do the same thing? Ask the ship?”

  “No, find the [Captain] on the ship and then ask.”

  I squint hard, but everything on the ships is blurry. “As amazing as I am, my eyesight is only slightly better than a humans.”

  “Level one.” Myers murmurs softly. He reaches into his coat pocket and takes out a retracted spygss. He extends it and holds it in front of me.”

  While he holds it, I look through the spygss and adjust it with my paws. With the improved vision, I see the people aboard the [Pirate] ship. I focus on a guy rapidly pulling rope.

  Level 24 [Rigger]

  Then on anuy carrying debris.

  Level 24 [Carpenter]

  After cheg several more people, I finally found my target.

  Emberson Doresly: Level 38 [Pirate Captain]

  The man is rge in build, with muscles rivaling Boriss. He wears a tri, has a dirty u beard, armor pted coat thick coat, a cutss at his left hip, and pears to be a gun holstered to his right.

  “Emberson Doresly: Level 38 [Pirate Captain]” I tell myers. I then push the spygss to the other ship and, standing fidently at the prow, I instantly find the [Captain]. The man stands tall with broad shoulders. He wears a coat with built in pauldrons in the shape of lions. At his sides, two literal lions in full armor stand ready at his sides. Upon his head, a magnifit golden tri with a lion's tail extends upward like a feather.

  Leonidas Dhurina, the Lion's Maw: Level 67 [Lion-Prince Captain]

  “Leonidas Dhurina, the Lion’s Maw: Level 67 [Lion-Prince Captain]” I excim.

  Myers nods. “Two levels in three years. Not bad for the oldest son.”

  “You know him?” I ask.

  “I do- or rather, I know about him. He is the eldest son of [King] Mordred Dhurina, and one of the highest leveled in all of Burabden. He’s an [Expert] [Bounty hunter] with a specialization in magic on trol. Speaking of which, do you see the Rip-Terror?”

  An explosion rips apart the final mast with such force that several [Pirates] are sent off-board the ship. Their screams fill the air as they disappear into the p's core. With the st top-mast down, the only thio propel the ship forward are the ones on the side.

  Then my eyes see it. Something rapidly spinning orbits the pirate ship. The spinning thing flies to the Lionguard and nds directly in Leonidas' arm. The item is a double reverse-bde shuriken smothered in runes across its surface.

  “Yea, I think I see it. It’s big, taller than him, with two bdes.”

  “Rip-Terror is a legendary item, one of five owned by the kingdom of Burabden. If memory serves, three of his siblings wield the others, with the stro item wielded by the [King].”

  I watch, mesmerized as Leonidas grins hundrily. He raises Rip-Terror above his head, and the magical on starts to spin rapidly. Then it starts levitating above his palm. He steps forward, and then swings his arm as though throwing a ball. Rip-Terror accelerates forward, and only then do I hear the distant whistling. I watch, impressed as the bde sshes the ships deck, severing and sughtering [Pirates]. Like a butcher, he pletes several passes, ripping wood and flesh with ease. At the final pass, the bde cuts the [Pirate Captain] in half. With the captain dead, the on flies back to the Lionsguard. Leonidas catches the on with practiced ease and stops its spin. Then, he folds the bde so that it is only half as long before sheathing it to his back. His head turns to our dire for a moment, and theurns around. He yells an order and starts walking away from the prow.

  The Lionguard makes a sharp u-turn and then flies away from Immi Huntress.

  “Wait, why is he moving away?”

  “His job is done,” Myers says. “The [Pirate Captain] is dead.”

  “But, what about the ship? The loot? There's still [Pirates] aboard.”

  “It's not worth the trouble. He’s extremely wealthy. Whatever wealth he’d gain from pirates isn’t worth his time.”

  “What? Are you saying that he’s leaving perfectly good loot behind?”

  Before Myers answer, Boriss returns fully armored with Irmgard in tow.

  “rade, Vhat is happening?”

  “Loot Boriss.” I point a paw at the damaged pirate vessel. “We have loot!”

  “It’s dangerous,” Myers interrupts. Though the [Captain’s] dead, they still outnumber you.“

  “Loot and exercise is good,” Boriss grins happily. “We go now?” He asks eagerly.

  “Yup,” I nod to him and g Myers. “ I leave the helm to you?”

  Myers frowns. He g Irmgard. “They probably still have more than ten fighters aboard the ship. Are you ok with this?” he asks the single person who is most likely to go against such risk.

  Irmgard folds her arms. Her eyes turn to me. “Will you be transf?”

  “Of course!” I answer.

  She nods. “Then it should be fine.”

  Myers frowns at her. “This is risky.”

  “It's fine.” my tail swishes excitedly. “Just drop us off on the ship and sail away. If we die, the ship is yours. If we live and subdue the crew, return to us. Is that acceptable?”

  The old man goes silent for a long moment. He g the damaged ship and then us. He sighs. “Fine.”

  “Good. Now get us close. We’ve got some looting to do.”