Loopshard - Chapter 131

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Loopshard hit 6500 followers on RR! \o/

I'm also close to 150 paid members on Patreon, which is unchartered territory for me. I think my previous PB was 125 or something, so we'll already far ahead of that. I really appreciate all the support on this story!

Today is another long-ish chapter like last time. I think they start to bloat a lot when I begin describing things in more detail xD

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Chapter One-Hundred-and-Thirty-One

< < Settlement Discovered > >

< Morgan’s Rest >

Adam steered the Creaking Madam towards the safe haven after sailing them through the Floating Sea for the last hour or so. The journey had been relatively short since he’d been able to navigate according to a cluster of peaceful-seeming melodies and didn’t have to veer off course except to avoid islands. Despite Jabari and Ellen both wanting to get off at the first island they saw, Adam made sure they got to a settlement first, since they ought to be able to briefly get a look at a map.

Morgan’s Rest was bigger than Adam remembered Lenny’s Landing, but still not as big as Windtop Cove. Like the other settlements, the whole thing was held aloft by a balloon from which ropes, chains, bridges, and walkways criss-crossed the space below like a strange spiderweb. It was tethered to a donut-shaped island, hovering above the opening in the middle, and unlike the other two settlements it didn’t have a port for ships to dock in. That meant that all of the ships, even the ones owned by the White Flags, were moored to the edge of the donut island, which grew a verdant forest atop of it and had porous nutrient-rich dark soil. Pathways were carved through the trees, but Adam could tell that there were guards hidden throughout based on their blood melodies, and he was willing to bet there were dug-in ballistae as well, just waiting for an excuse to start blasting.

Even though there was no port, there were small wooden docks with retractable bridges that the ships attached themselves to around the island. As Adam brought them towards one of these docks, he noted the other airships around them.

I think I see ships from each faction except for the Fallen, which is a good sign.

Adam directed the others to grab the anchors and toss them to the White Flags workers waiting on the wooden dock. No one seemed to question how effortlessly he’d steered the ship or how easily he understood the docking procedure.

They probably just want to get onto land.

Fighting on an airship is quite precarious, after all.

Lasse gathered up the valuable that Adam had found aboard the Fallen’s airship and put them in a linen sack that he tossed over his shoulder.

Once they stepped off the Creaking Madam, walking across a bridge that’d been attached from the dock and onto their starboard side, Ellen asked, “How do we make sure no one steals our boat? This is a pirate world, isn’t it?”

“No one will steal yer boat, missus,” said one of the White Flags men who’d helped moor them to the dock.

Ellen scoffed. “Easy for you to say, pirate.”

He gave Adam a look like, “Can you believe this bitch?”

“I think they have a code of honour,” Adam remarked. “And I don’t know if you noticed, but there are a lot of ballistae hidden amongst the trees.”

“So, is this a safe zone?” Jabari asked as they walked off the dock and into the island forest.

Two White Flags guards in white cloth and chains attire came walking towards them right as he said it, their harpoon spears in hand.

“The Cook would like to speak to your crew,” one of the guards said, looking at Adam.

Ellen who was at the front of their group turned to stare at Adam as well, probably upset that he was being perceived as the leader.

Or maybe I’m just projecting that kind of personality onto her because her patron makes her inherently distrustful…

“Does he run this place?” Adam asked.

“That’s right,” said the second guard. “He’s been looking for an unaffiliated crew like yours to run a job.”

“We’re searching for the Godstone,” Cathy said. “If we help him, will he help us?”

“Morgan is a magnanimous man,” the first guard said. “Come on.”

They turned around and led Adam and his ‘crew’ through one of the paths through the forest. There were several branching routes, and they were undoubtedly a part of the defence of Morgan’s Rest.

Jabari clapped Cathy on the back and gave her a thumbs up. It seemed he was commending her for working up the courage to ask about their main objective.

She smiled in return.

While they followed the guards to the settlement, monkeys, snakes, and small rodents were all around them in the thick of the trees, making their presences known by fleeing when they came too close. Adam could of course tell they were there by their melodies, but they were easy to filter out because the song they emitted was fundamentally different from that of other humanoids.

I wonder if it’s because their heartbeats are different?

The others pulled a bit ahead as Adam brought up the rear, but then Julie broke off to walk next to him.

“How much do you know about the White Flags?” she asked.

“We’re not doing your quest now,” he reiterated.

She grinned. “Nothing wrong with scouting ahead and planting the seeds. The Lady told me that it is safest to use people’s natural distrust against themselves.”

“If you want me to help you, you’ve gotta listen to me,” Adam said. “We don’t do this until the last day.”

Julie put her hands on Adam’s chest and pushed him into one of the trees. “I could end it all now,” she said. “I have that power.”

Adam put his hand on her cheek and immediately shot a small glob of his own blood into her body. It wasn’t enough damage to trigger his bleed affliction and she didn’t even seem to register the pain. It also had the added bonus of removing his boon’s protection on her, since it lowered the damage of the first attack taken by 50%.

“And now, so do I,” he said.

Julie’s grin only widened, revealing her elongated canines. “The Lady said you were much more than you seemed. But I know that you need her. If you fail her tasks, she will take everything.”

Adam supressed a frown. In the back of his mind, he’d known this to be the case. After all, for an Absolute who controlled blood and flesh, it would be no challenge at all to fuck up his mind as punishment for his failure. And she knew damn well that any normal punishment would be ineffective against him, since death itself was no threat.

Adam pushed Julie off of him and then turned around to face a monkey that stared down at them from one of the trees. he fired off his Blood Bolt Ring, killing the animal, and then he harvested its blood and flesh.

With his ability to track the living creatures around him, he massacred the lot, taking everything they were made of and bringing it all together to form a human effigy of flesh that was filled with their blood. As a last touch, he lifted it up into the air and attached it to a tree above by a noose made of an intestinal rope. It would allow him to teleport to this place from quite a long distance away and he doubted the guards would notice it since the trees were dense.

“I can tell by your blood that you are scared of the Flayed Lady,” Adam then said, returning his gaze to Julie. “You need me just as much as you think I need you. In truth, I can escape her punishment, but you cannot. If you don’t do as I say, I will explode the little ball of blood I put inside your brain.”

Julie paused for a moment, then her eyes lit up. “I can feel your blood inside me. How exhilarating. Picking the Lady was truly worth it.”

She’s not right in the head…

“Let’s get going before the others start to worry,” Adam said, following along the path the guards had taken and tracking them with his Mandate of Blood.

Although there was an undercurrent of fear in Julie’s melody, it was overpowered by one of joy and carnal desire. To call her crazy would undoubtedly be an understatement, and he wondered how much of it was caused by her worship of the Flayed Lady and her ‘gift’, and how much was just part of who she originally was before the Trials started.

When they caught up to the others, Lasse and Ellen both gave them a curious look, while Jabari and Cathy seem to have not even noticed their absence, engrossed in each other’s company as they were.

From there the walk through the forest only lasted a couple more minutes before they reached the centre of the donut-shaped island. A bridge led from the forest and up to the floating settlement and it moves slightly in the wind. Below the bridge was the large hole in the island that led down to a freefall through clouds that would ultimately terminate at the bottom of the world.

I wonder where Alepheria’s lab is at this time.

With my teleportation spell, I can get the Legendary staff without having to actually fight the Voidspawn Apex.

Last time it was below Windtop Cove, but I wonder if the same is the case this time.

The guards led them to the middle of the structure where a round building was placed and connected to all the major walkways like a hub. There were smaller pod-like buildings and chambers here-and-there, seeming to only be designed for sleeping.

I don’t see any vendors, Adam noted as they went up a bouncing walkway to the central part of the settlement.

As they came through the open doorway, the smell of food wafted over them and Adam realised this was where the leader of Morgan’s Rest resided, since a big man stood inside a kitchen right in front of the entrance, working several pots and pans at the same time. He looked quite similar to Shiff, the Quartermaster who ruled over Lenny’s Landing, since he was a brawny hulk with a big black beard and had chains wrapped around his arms. Unlike Shiff though, he was completely bald, and the left side of his face had been heavily scarred by something acidic, but it seemed to be an ancient wound since his skin had regrown over the injury as best it could. Over his chains and white cloth he wore a stained apron, which gave him a whimsical and slightly absurd look.

The main building was similar to the Captain’s quarters in Windtop Cove in that it was shaped like a torus and was thronging with people. Unlike Windtop Cove though, it wasn’t just designed for the settlement’s leader, since there was also a section for the vendors, as well as a small area that looked like it housed a portsmith.

I wonder if we can do the same trick that Emelia did with Captain Drew to get an early upgrade to our ship for free.

When the cook spotted them, he quickly served much of the food he’d been working on, handing it out on wooden plates to pirates of every faction who were hanging around near his kitchen. Then he hopped over the counter that separated his kitchen from the rest of the floor.

He stuck his big paw out and Ellen shook it.

“Welcome to Morgan’s Rest!” the big man said, his voice like a bear’s roar mixed with forty years of heavy smoking. “I’m Morgan, and you fine folks are right on time for lunch!”

“Your men said you had a quest for us,” Jabari replied.

“That I do! Come, come!” Morgan replied, waving them over to the counter and shooing away some Cloud Skimmer pirates who were sitting on the wooden barstools placed there.

“You’re lucky you know how to cook, Morgan,” grumbled one of the pirates.

“You keep talking like that and my men will throw you down the hole, Davies,” the cook fired back.

The Cloud Skimmers didn’t push it further and just left with their plates of food. It looked like some kind of stew with biscuits on the side.

Everyone except Adam and Julie sat down on the barstools, and Morgan quickly served them six plates of stew and biscuits. Jabari and Cathy dug in right away, while Lasse sniffed the food first before taking a small bite of a biscuit. Ellen, Julie, and Adam didn’t touch their plates.

After serving a few more pirates, Morgan returned and rested his big arms on the counter in front of them.

“I’m sure my men must’ve told ya, but I’ve got a bit of a request that I can’t rightly ask of anyone else, allegiances being what they are and so on,” he whispered, although his voice was still quite loud.

He pulled out a crinkled map from the pocket of his apron and it was dotted with several soup stains. As he placed the map down in front of them, Adam leaned forward to look, absorbing as much information as he could.

Windtop Cove is all the way to the northeast on the edge of the map, but I don’t see Lenny’s Landing on there at all. Iffenguard isn’t shown either, but Mast-Chewer’s Nest is to the far east.

“We’re here,” Morgan said, putting a meaty finger right on Morgan’s Rest on the bottom of the map. “I need you to go here,” he continued, moving his finger west to an unnamed half-moon-shaped island marked with a skull.

“What will we find there?” Adam asked.

Morgan looked around and he registered the nervous note in the man’s otherwise calm melody.

“A slugwhale,” he whispered, this time his voice barely audible above the sounds of the chatting pirates around them and the bubbling pots in the kitchen.

Ah, he can’t say it out loud or ask another faction, because the Drakes are probably protecting the slugwhale.

“What do you need it for?” Adam asked.

“I want to cook it, of course,” he replied. “They’re supposed to be delicious.”

< < Quest Unlocked > >

< What’s For Dinner? >

< Bring the body of a Slugwhale to Morgan the Cook >

Adam laughed. “Sure, we can bring it to you, but we need some things in return.”

“Such as?” Morgan asked sceptically.

“An upgrade for our ship’s hull,” Adam started, “and the whereabouts of the Godstone.”

“I don’t know its whereabouts,” Morgan immediately replied, “but rumours abound within my settlement of a special treasure that was discovered not far from here. It is some manner of mechanism, they say.”

“Which island was it found on?” Ellen asked, leaning closer to study the map.

“Every cook knows when to guard his recipe,” Morgan replied, pulling away the map.

She frowned in response.

“What if I share some news that might be of use to you?” Adam asked.

“Such as?”

“The Fallow’s Fallen have gotten bolder,” he replied. “We were ourselves attacked by two of their airships.”

“Two? At the same time?” Morgan asked. “They normally hunt alone, more spoils for the victor and all that. They’d never do something like hunting in packs. Not anymore.”

“Adam is speaking the truth,” Julie said, backing him up.

“Hmm. This warrants further investigation,” Morgan remarked, clearly taking her at her word. “Very well, I’ll tell you where the mechanism was found.”

He pulled out the map again and indicated a triangular island northwest of their location called Anchor Hole. It was not as far away as the island with the Slugwhale and they’d be able to go there before doing his quest, although the island was greyed out on the map, which Adam took to assume they wouldn’t be able to access it without a special upgrade to their ship.

Of course, I can fly us there, but I’d have to reveal more of my powers to the others.

“Thank you,” Adam said. “And what about the hull upgrade?”

“Talk to my son over there,” Morgan replied, folding away the map again and pointing to the portsmith over in the next section of the round building. “Also, I want the delivery before tomorrow night.”

“What do we get in return?” Ellen asked him.

“Oh, I’ll make it worth your while, don’t you worry.”

With that, they left his counter and Morgan started summoning his men to discuss what Adam had told him about the Fallen.

Adam brought his plate of food with him and ate as they went over to the portsmith, as did Julie, although she just seemed to be imitating him, which was odd.

After a quick chat with Morgan’s son, Adam had secured them a hull upgrade for their ship and the portsmith had run off with some other kids to apply it right away.

They continued on to the vendors where Lasse dumped out their haul of stuff.

“How much is this worth?” he asked the weapons vendor, who was a blonde voluptuous lady in a purple corset and beige pants with bandoliers full of knives strapped to her torso and waist.

“I’ll give ya 500 Doubloons for the lot,” she said.

“600,” said the guy selling Relics. Unlike the golden skeleton who sold Relics in Windtop Cove, the vendor here was an old man in a frilly white shirt and dress pants with a chain belt who leaned on a metal cane.

The woman glared daggers at the old guy, but then she sighed and nodded towards him. “Sell it to him, then come use your Doubloons with me.”

Adam looked through their wares while Lasse traded the valuables for coins, but like Emelia had told him, the rarities were unrelated to Luck, since everything they sold was either Common or Uncommon. It also seemed that Adam’s Vendors meta upgrade didn’t apply to them, nor did his Rewards upgrade, because both of them only sold three items each.

< < Relics For Sale > >

< Morgan’s Stew (Common) — Consume to replenish 50% Stamina and 25% Health over 1 minute >

< Rum (Uncommon) — Reduces damage taken by 25% for 10 minutes >

< Chain Bolt (Uncommon) — Fire from a ballista to launch a chain at any enemy vessel, dealing extra damage to masts. 1 use >

I’m willing to bet that the Rum has the side-effect of making you completely wasted, Adam thought. Otherwise it would be way too strong for an Uncommon Relic.

< < Weapon Types For Sale > >

< Scout (Common) >

< Harpooner (Uncommon) >

< Swashbuckler (Uncommon) >

The Harpooner was tied to the harpoon spear that the guards carried, the Swashbuckler had a chain-wrapped sword and shield, and the Scout just had a rusty dagger.

They might be good once evolved, but I’m guessing their main strengths would be to fuse them with one of the starter weapons like Beck mentioned. I’m pretty sure that’s what Emelia meant as well when she told me about how Harpooner and Javelineer would work well together. It’s just strange that she didn’t know about Fused Weapons, but Beck did. Then again, she wasn’t very good at finding secrets and perhaps she was too focused on doing things the way she knew would work, rather than trying out something new.

“Are we buying anything?” Lasse asked.

Adam shook his head. “I think we should save the money for now.”

“The rum is useful,” Ellen commented.

“It’s 500 Doubloons, miss,” the old guy said.

“That’s expensive,” Jabari muttered.

Ellen nodded.

“Maybe it’s easy to collect coins in this Stage?” Cathy guessed.

Should I tell them about the gold curse? Adam considered, before ultimately deciding that he would wait until it was relevant.

“We should get back to our ship,” Adam told them.

“I wish we could get the map that Morgan had,” Jabari said as they walked towards the exit.

“Don’t worry, I remember most of the points of interest on it,” Adam replied.

“Really?” Ellen asked sceptically.

He nodded. “Just trust me.”

Julie put a hand on Adam’s shoulder and he instinctively hardened his flesh against her touch, trying to pre-empt an attack from her blood. “I trust you, Adam,” she said and grinned at him.

Lasse stopped and looked between them.

“Are you guys dating?” he asked. “You seem to know each other from before the Stage.”

Adam frowned while Julie’s grin just widened. He pulled his shoulder out of her grip and strode ahead of the others.

“Let’s get going,” he said, leaving them to catch up.

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