Limitless Seas 2, Chapter 25.

Chapter 25.

Another boom sounded out over the estate, causing Larson to haul himself from the water and onto the dilapidated pier. They had been at it for a week, and progress on a working cannon hadn’t gone well. Everything that Bug Bartholomew and Felica tried, didn’t have enough strength to stay in one piece given the powerful blast that the sand created. He wasn’t an expert, but his gut instinct told him that the explosive sand was more powerful than regular gunpowder. It would mean his weapons could fire with a smaller charge, preserving their supply, but also meant that the weapons they were trying to produce needed to be stronger to survive the ordeal.

“I’m going to see how the latest test went, the bracing on the pilings is holding up well enough, so you can finish up the walkway planking,” Larson ordered to the work detail he had organized to repair the pier.

He had spent the last few days underwater, adding bracing to the leaning pilings and slowly pulling them back into the proper position. With that done, they could finish things up and not have to worry about falling through the rotting planks every time they needed to move back and forth from the ship. He would have to make a supply run in the Sea Venom in a few days and unloading everything using a rickety pier wasn’t something he wanted to do.

“Heading to the latest explosion?” Narbos asked as Larson walked past the estate on his way to the draw where the experiments were taking place.

“Yes, and hopefully, they’ve done it this time,” Larson said.

“Mind if I join you? I’ve not had a chance to check out their experiments yet, been too busy on the pier and around the estate,” Narbos asked, Larson waved him along. The necromancer had lived up to his bargain, so far. He’d pitched in with the repairs around the estate, and his mastery over dead things was used to help straighten the pilings that Larson had been working on.

A tendril of the faintly red-tinged smoke that the sand gave off curled up from the draw, showing Larson exactly where the team was working. As he looked down into the draw, he could see that they had another failure on their hands. A crudely shaped cannon barrel had cracked open at the touch hole. Some of the crew were working to haul it back to the forge where Felicia would melt it down to be cast into their next design. It was frustrating to see failure after failure, and Larson was many things, but he wasn’t an engineer.

“Any progress?” He asked.

“No, we can cast the barrels fine, and drill the touch hole for the sand, but it just won’t seem to hold up. I think I’ll try some different materials, maybe steelwood might hold up better,” Bug advised.

“I did make one discovery that might make things easier on our oversized friend here. There was a way to bond a portion of his blood into a solid form and by using filler material, I cut down significantly on the blood needed to create a reaction to the sand. The flint you mentioned that were used on the weapons of your old life was the inspiration,” Sarvo said, handing Larson a small stone flecked with red. The alchemist carefully measured out a few grains of the sand, indicating that Larson should hit them with the stone. He tapped the grains and they ignited immediately.

“That’s good news when we get the rest of the cannon ready, this will help simplify the firing process, not to mention we can use them in personal firearms as well, whenever we get around to creating them,” Larson said. Narbos walked over to the cannon, examining it with magic, black tendrils snaking out to touch the fractured metal. The necromancer then looked over the steelwood that Bug had mentioned.

“This was once a living tree, mana enhanced, but once a living thing. I believe I may be able to help you in your design,” Narbos said.

“How dark magic guy helpses?” Bartholomew asked.

“Show me what shape you need this to be in,” Narbos asked. The ogre engineer and Felicia started showing him diagrams and explaining how they wanted to reinforce the area around the touch hole. They all seemed to forget about Larson, engrossed in their work. Larson left them to it, Narbos’ help might be the breakthrough they needed or yet another failure. Eventually, he’d have to call it quits on the experiments and have the ogre work on some ballistae and catapults that they knew would work.

Felicia would be at the forge for hours, casting and shaping another barrel for the test cannon, and Larson had no idea how long it would take Narbos to try and do his thing, either. To pass the time, Larson checked in on the progress they’d made in the main bunkhouse and estate. Damaged areas were patched, and the leaking roof had been fixed. They still lacked any furniture, but at least he would at least leave the place in a much better condition than when they found it.

Gilroy was working on dinner but did let Larson know they’d need a supply run soon if they wanted to eat something other than the fish that seemed easy enough to catch in the cove. The fish population had exploded since there wasn’t anyone to fish in it other than Lonnie and his son trying their hands at it when they craved a fish or two for dinner. After the evening meal, the estate and the ship were both quiet as everyone except for the few on watch tried to rest after another frustrating day of hard work.

Larson didn’t need much sleep and had taken to making the rounds both aboard his ship and around the manor, talking with the crew on watch. He liked the quiet times but was still frustrated at the lack of progress they had made; not to mention he was itching to take on the pirates once again. According to the talk around the harbor, nobody knew exactly how many pirates plied the waters nearby, but there must be a sizeable anchorage somewhere close by for them to operate out of. There would be good plunder wherever the pirates were based, plunder, and perhaps a few more ships to add to his fleet.

The next morning, Larson took the Sea Venom out to run some drills with the crew. They were his more experienced crew, but that didn’t mean they were anywhere close to where he wanted them to be yet. The system identified an average level of three for their sailor class, and he knew if he kept working them, his efforts could eventually get them up to his level. Sadly, his leveling was slower-paced given his class and the fact that he was a naga. Despite being only level five, he felt confident he could take on just about anyone he had met, save for maybe Wrend and Bug Bartholomew. Mages could be a problem, one that he would reserve his Venom Spit ability for if they proved too powerful.

As they worked close to shore, Larson heard the faint boom of the cannon once more. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, it was likely another failure, but a second boom a few minutes later piqued his interest. Felicia had worked all night to repair the cannon barrel they had used the day before, and there was no way that she had time to finish repairs on it and build a second weapon built from scratch. No, if there was more than one boom, that more than likely meant the gun had held together for at least one shot.

He turned the Sea Venom back toward the cove, and hearing more booms on the way, his hopes rose. Once tied up at the pier he had to resist flying straight down to the testing area, first seeing to his ship and crew before heading out. As he neared the draw, another boom rang out and a cheer from the small team working on the cannon project followed soon after. Looking down into the draw, he could see red smoke still billowing from the barrel of the cannon, and Bug Bartholomew carefully measuring out more sand for the next shot.

“You know, a tiny scratch on your hands that you didn’t notice would blow us all to pieces,” Larson said, slithering down to join them.

“Very astute observation. I believe I shall have crewman Dredge handle measuring the charge. As you can see, captain, we have done it,” Bug said, a stupid smile plastered on both his faces.

“Excellent, I see the bracing around the touch hole, is that your work Narbos?” Larson asked. A band of steelwood about two inches wide was fastened to the iron cannon barrel, adding support to the weapon right where the touch hole was placed.

“Necromancy wins again,” Narbos said smugly. He could be as smug as he wanted to be if that helped them create the weapons that Larson craved.

“We were just trying out some different charges to see if the barrel will hold up. Once that’s done, we’ll test the range of the weapon as well as try out some different mounting options,” Bug Bartholomew added.

“Don’t let me stop you, get to it. What size shot are you using?” Larson asked. The test cannon wasn’t a huge weapon and the round iron shot was only about the size of his fist, but he knew the power that could be unleashed by even a small cannon.

“This is a four-pound shot, but once we're satisfied with the design, I was going to scale it up to twelve pounds,” Felicia said.

“The lighter four pounders will prove useful as well, fill it with small iron balls and you have what we called grapeshot. Up close it’ll clear the enemy decks as quick as a fireball would, and without as much collateral damage,” Larson said.

They went over a few things, and he showed them how it was useful to pre-measure the sand into a thin sack so they got a consistent amount for each shot, and it would cut down on reloading time, which was going to be a challenge with crews unused to the task. Since the sorcerer’s sand didn’t ignite when it was hot, they were able to eliminate the need to swab out the cannon to quench and embers before reloading each time. Bug Bartholomew and Sarvo had also been working on creating more firing flints for them, the odd stone and solidified blood amalgamation was going to be needed in quantity.

“We’ll finish testing this gun today and start on the larger weapon tomorrow. We’re going to need more materials as well to make the gun carriages,” Felicia added. Larson would leave early tomorrow with the Venom to gather everything they would need. While he was gone, the team would keep working. He assigned Dredge to start training the crew on the weapon once it was done, they would need to become not only sailors and warriors but also gunners aboard his ships.

He hated to leave just as they were ironing out the details of their invention, but Larson had given them all the advice he could, and further development of the weapons was in their capable hands. The best use of his time would be in securing everything they needed to produce more of the weapons and train the crews on how to use them. He would take a skeleton crew back to Stratwall Harbor, it was a short trip and he wanted to leave room to take more of the new crew back with him to the estate. Hopefully, Tarley had been getting a good response to his recruitment efforts, they were far behind the maximum number of crew he could have on each ship.

When they cast off the next day, the seas were calm, and the ship made good time. He had eight sailors and Shada aboard with him, everyone else was left to their work back at the estate. He was a little concerned with an attack on the estate from someone aligned with Lord Mox, but with Bug Bartholomew, Narbos, and his marines, any attackers would need quite the force to cause Larson any trouble. Not many people knew they were even out here, and unless Lord Buxton was blabbing about it, an unlikely occurrence since that would put his son at risk, they shouldn’t attract any unwelcome visitors.

“My captain and my mage, I have grown in power and can now grant you a portion of it,” Cassia announced as Stratwall Harbor came into sight. He could see that she had finally permeated the entire ship and the Sea Venom was sailing better than she ever had under her guidance.

Cassia the Sea Venom has reached Level 5. Your link with your ship has improved, but your bargain will always require some sacrifice on your part. Maximum mana is now cap at 90%.

Cassia’s Command the Currents ability has improved, granting her greater control over the seas and wind around the Sea Venom. Speed is increased by 5% and the effects of dangerous weather conditions are reduced by 5%.

New Ship Abilities Unlocked:

1. Regeneration. As long as your ship is not completely destroyed, Cassia will slowly mend it, repairing damage and restoring the ship to its original condition. This is a lengthy process and is not intended as a replacement for damage control parties.

2. Cassia has gained a version of your Create Water ability. She can now generate up to five gallons of fresh water each day. The ability can be used on any container connected in some way to the ship.

Just as Casia gains power from your link, you too have access to new powers.

New Ability unlocked: Serpent’s strike. Once per day, Captain Larson may summon Cassia’s power to attack an enemy. Upon activation a giant serpent head will strike at your target, dealing bludgeoning and piercing damage as well as applying your current level of venom.

“Impressive, Cassia, I’m eager to see what we’ll accomplish with our new skills,” Larson said.

“My captain, as you grow in power, so shall I. One day, we will claim the sea as our own,” Cassia said. Larson sent her feelings of approval, that was what he wanted, to rule the waves of this new world. With magic, gunfire, and cold steel, he would take it from pirates, corrupt city lords, or anyone else that might stand in his way.