46 The Second Trial V : Sea Battles 1

I was forced awake by a loud explosion. The journey to our destination has been somewhat bland and uneventful, so I may have spent the past hour or two dozing off. Acheron shook violently, almost as if the sea itself was against her movements. I had no idea how close we were to our destination, but I couldn't help the surge of anticipation that went through me. A battle was what I needed right now.

*BOOOM!*

"Shit! What the fuck was that?" I asked as I ran up to the deck, Sky and Raven song close behind me.

"That would probably be some pirates shooting at our ass!" Raven song replied as we came up to see Qatar moving her bionic arm in the direction of three rapidly approaching ships.

"Well then what the fuck are you waiting for, shoot back!"

The pirates were coming from the right side of the ship, though if that side is called the starboard or port I have no idea. But our destination was about three hundred or so meters in front of us. There was a naval outpost of sorts, and it was currently on fire, which should explain why pirates were trying to shoot us down. It's not going to be easy, but we had to go through them to get to where we were going.

"Why don't you speed up".

Raven song asked Darke who was still at the helm and moving the ship at a cruising speed, maneuvering it, so that Qitar could get a clean shot at pirates who were rapidly drawing closer. That would seem like a probable option in order for us to avoid taking any damage from the pirates, but it would also be suicide.

"If we speed up without taking care of the enemies behind us, then we're going to be facing attacks from both the front and that back. Acheron is strong and fast enough to go through that barricade ahead, but she's not invisible. If we're not careful this baby will get sunk!" Dinah spoke up as she joined us on the deck.

Qitar pointed her bionic arm in the direction of the rapidly approaching ships, the joints of her hand began to glow and in tandem sigh that, hundreds of ports opened up from the side of the ship, and the turrets came flying out. And then Qitar clenched her fist, causing all hell to break loose.

*Pew* *Pew*

The turrets spat out laser and fire like a machine gun. Or maybe it was just one at a time, but because there was so much of them it made it seem as if there was only one gun shooting so rapidly. We were being attacked by three ships, and all three ships were reduced to a smoking pile of metal and smoke in seconds. I blinked for a while, wholeheartedly surprised by the sheer fire power Acheron had, I guess we could all say that my investment had paid off.

Ahead of us, a blockade of pirate ships were rapidly forming, and each and every single one of them had their cannons and guns pointed in our direction. It was a freaking fleet, and while it's possible for us to punch a hole through their blockade, we had to get close enough to be able to do that. But with all the fire power we had on this ship, not to mention a certain piece of equipment that was of the legendary grade, I doubted these ships in front of us would even stand a chance.

"Qitar prepare the Ion pulse cannon, and fire on my command."

"You got it captain!" She replied, as she shifted her bionic arm in the direction of the blockade and opened her palm wide.

There was a soft him coming from the ship, and her arm as pattern made to light showed up on her bionic arm. It began from her shoulders, all the way to her fingers before converging in the center of her palm, kind of like iron man's repulsors. The front of the ship opened up with a loud clang as the Ion pulse cannon rolled out, glowing an eerie silver blue. It would take a few moments for the cannon to charge, and it would be stupid to expect our enemies go what for us while our weapon of mass destruction got ready, so we needed a distraction, a very big one.

I walked forward until I was standing at the prow of the Acheron, Sky right beside me, and the sword of the sea clutched tightly in my hand as I pointed it at our incoming enemies. I felt the wind on the sea, the way it caresses her surface like a lover or a parent, but more like a lover because the winds touch would be wild and untamed at times, passionate in the way it shows it's affection, or it could be gentle and soft and filled with extreme care. But I was not just feeling the wind or the sea itself, I felt the life within it, their voices became a part of me as I became a part of them. I heard it clearly even before I called it out, I closed my eyes and I felt it, deeply, all the way to the depths of my bones. This was the….

"Call Of The Sea" *Whoooooooosh*

I opened my eyes and couldn't help but take a step back in shock and amazement as I looked at the sight in front of me, and looked at the sword in my hand. I didn't expect this to be honest, and the damn sword was not even my main weapon, but the power it had was insane. At this point in the game; after the update I wasn't sure if an equipment like this wasn't breaking the mechanics of the game, because right in front of me was a tidal wave of epic proportions, it was so large that the Acheron was like an ant at the foot of an elephant.

It completely protected us from the fleet of pirates ships on the other side, and it was not just horrifyingly majestic, it was also one of the most beautiful things I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. True power like I've never experienced it before, in a way I think I understand why this game was so damn addictive, or should I say this life. In here, fantasies become a reality, and you have power over your own destiny and future, you become your own god.

"Captain! The cannon is ready for discharge." Qatar spoke up from behind me.

"Very well then, fire at will!" as soon as I finished speaking I swung the sword of the seas to the side, parting the huge tidal wave in front of me in half, creating a path in the middle for Qatar to shoot through.

Based on the schematics of the Ion pulse cannon, it was mounted on a semi-gyroscopic swivel. With little corrections, the Ion cannon could release it's energy beam from sixty degrees to the left, right, upwards and downwards. With enough distance, that angle would be enough for us to take out an entire formation of fleets if they're lined side by side. Unfortunately we did not have as much distance as I would have liked, but at the very least we were far enough to do some serous damage.

*Hoooong!* *Boom!* *Swoosh!* *Bang!*

The cannon firing through all of us backwards as it's discharge roughly shook the ship and threw everyone on their asses including Qitar who was responsible for aiming the damn thing at out enemies. While she got some of them, reducing whole ships to molten metal on the sea, her falling back had angled the cannon's beam a little ways up, and straight towards an island in the horizon.

The entire thing went up in a fiery explosion as we could see the once green paradise go up in smoke and flames. We all looked at each other very confused as the players which was me and Raven Song received alerts about gaining a shit ton of exp. Dinah looked a little embarrassed as she said.

"I might need to upgrade the ships resistance to shock as soon as we get to a stable and safe workshop. This one is on me."

I had no idea what to say, and to be honest this was a little annoying. This might be a game, but I have stopped treating it as such, and I'm choosing to experience it as a chance for another life. However my reputation was already in the gutters due to the massacre at M.A.R.S, and now this shit has gone and happened. How the hell was I supposed to be a force for good when I kept killing people, many of them innocent of any crime. I could say that this was war, and as a soldier war was something I understood, but in the end that would be bullshit. This came as a result of recklessness on both my part, and the part of my engineer.

I can't go around and be throwing blames, seeing as I'm not perfect and everyone makes mistakes. So I'm sure one way or another, we would be making up for this. But that did not mean we were out of the clear yet, while Qitar had made a straight path forward for us, we still had enemies on both sides. Sure the shot from the cannon had probably put them in shock, and you would expect them to run away for their lives, but this were pirates. You couldn't use logic against them savvy.

But there was not a problem a swing of my trusty sword won't solve, at least for this situation anyway. Call of the ocean was overpower as fuck, anywhere I was on sea, as long as I used it, I could control the ocean for thirty whole fucking minutes. The four day cool down that follows made it totally worth it when you consider the kind of damage I could cause with this sword in thirty minutes.

Maybe I should have just used only sword from the start, if would have saved us a lot of trouble, and also I should have taken the ship out for a test run before we set sail. That way we would have been able to figure out all the little problems it had and fixed it in time too. This was just another proof of how lifeline this game was, even a ship would have performance issues after it's been built, just like real life.

I swung the sword, letting my intention be known to the sea as a huge tidal wave swept past, from the left to the right, grabbing all of the ships and smashing them together into a huge pile that soon caught on fire. I felt really stupid when I saw the outcome of me just swinging my sword, I could have avoided a whole lot of problems. But what's done is done and it can not be undone.

"Darke full steam ahead, get us out of here."

"Yes captain…"

*Booom!*

"Oh what the fuck is it now goddammit!" I yelled out in frustration as I was thrown forward onto my face.

"Captain we're under attack, and it's from another chosen of the trial." Mark explained as he cams up to the deck from the ships interior.

There was an ugly look on my face as I turned to see a trio of ships chasing after us, with their cannons smoking and aiming at us. I swung Thalasio Spathi in anger, sending a tidal wave towards them, but right in front of my eyes, my huge curtain of ship destroying water was turned into bubbles. And I was not the only one who's jaw was hanging halfway to the ground right now.

"What the hell was that?" Raven song asked as we all looked at the approaching ships.

"I don't know Raven, but Qitar what are you waiting for? Shoot those bastards!"