Limitless Seas 2, Chapter 17.

Chapter 17.

Once back aboard the Sea Venom, Larson wanted to review the changes from attaining a new level, but he would put it off long enough to see what kind of treasure they had managed to swipe from the Hypogean Realm. He called an officer’s meeting before they set sail back to Stratwall Harbor, including Wrend and one of his soldiers so they could split their haul.

“Hey, be careful, there, it wouldn’t be unlike the imps to rig that with some kind of trap,” Wrend warned as Larson pulled the chest from his inventory and dropped it on the floor of his cabin. He was stronger than he had ever been as a human, but he could still feel the heft of whatever was inside it.

“I’s cans open it,” Bartholomew offered, picking up the footlocker-sized chest in one hand. The chest wasn’t locked and when the ogre flipped open the latch, a needle shot forward to pierce his finger.

“Oww, that hurt!” Bartholomew howled, causing everyone in the cabin to cover their ears to protect them from the booming voice of the ogre.

“Let me look,” Shada said rushing forward to check on the injury.

“No need, it is merely a pinprick, and though the needle was poisoned, our hearty constitution has proven too much for whatever concoction the imps have created,” Bug said, waving Shada back. He tinkered with the lock a bit, pulling out some small tools to disable the poisoned needle trap. It was bizarre seeing the giant two-headed ogre working the delicate tools with his oversized hands, but Bug Bartholomew proved to have a delicate touch when it came to mechanical things.

“Well, let’s dig in and divvy this up, fifty-fifty was the split, and I claim the first pick,” Wrend said, motioning for Larson to open the chest.

Larson flipped up the lit, more than a little concerned there might be some other trap that the ogre had missed, but it was fine, and the heavy lid clanged open without any further problems. Inside was exactly what he had been hoping for, several bags that clinked with the sound of coins when he pulled them from the chest. Wrend’s soldier and Tarley took charge of counting out the coins while Larson dug deeper into the chest. A smaller pouch that contained some gemstones was found and passed over to the counting team. As the last of the coin pouches were removed, Larson could see the gleam of steel as a small shield was revealed.

With a tug, the gleaming shield popped out of the chest. It had been wedged in pretty well, and it was protecting several more pouches below it. As he passed the shield over, Shada took hold of it and began to chant, summoning a faint green glow over her hands and eyes as she stared at the item. This was new, an ability of some sort that she hadn’t used before.

“What are you doing?” Larson asked. Shada ignored him for several moments before replying.

“When I last leveled up, I unlocked the ability to identify minor magical items. This shield has a limited enchantment on it to help block incoming attacks,” Shada answered.

“That’s handy enough, but keep on with it, Captain,” Wrend said, motioning toward the final items in the chest. There was a smaller chest and two cloth-wrapped bundles remaining inside. The first cloth-wrapped bundle turned out to be another of the makon figurines. Shada tried to identify them, but the enchantment proved to be beyond the power of her spell.

“What dat?” Bartholomew asked as Larson unwrapped the next bundle, this one much larger than the other. Instead of a makon figurine, this one was that of a two-headed ogre, a very unexpected find. Shada confirmed the figurine had a faint magic aura, not powerful, but one that her limited spell couldn’t decipher.

“Do you think that will summon a swarm of Bug Bartholomew’s kin instead of a swarm of makon?” Ibn asked.

“I have no idea, it’s something we’ll have to get identified back in port. That and the makon figurines. We’ll need to find someone who’s discreet, if such a person can be found in that port. Lucian might be able to point us in the right direction,” Larson told the group.

Unable to contain himself, Bartholomew snatched the figurine from Shada’s hands. As soon as he grabbed it, the ogre began to howl and shake, flickers of light shone on the figurine before being absorbed by the ogre’s skin. As the rest of them moved to help, A flopping hand knocked back Shada and Ibn and one of the ogre’s legs landed a solid hit on Wrend’s chest, sending him slamming into the wall. The other soldier drew his sword, looking terrified, but determined to defend his sergeant.

“Hold your blade, he’s not attacking, he’s helpless,” Larson said, watching the ogre drool more than usual at the side of his mouth as the convulsions continued. Bug Bartholomew was too powerful for them to hold down, and all they could do was keep their distance and wait as the flickers of light from the figurine faded and the ogre’s convulsions slowly began to subside. When it was safe to approach, Shada pushed healing magic into the ogre, who seemed to be recovering quickly.

“Oy, what was that all about,” Wrend growled as he stood up, hand on his blade.

“Uh, we’s sorry, the magic rock statue was tellings us stuff, and we’s couldn’t stop the flopping,” Bartholomew said.

“My brother is correct, I apologize for any injury or damage we caused, it was completely outside of our control,” Bug added.

“What was outside of your control?” Larson asked, confused over what had just happened to the ogre.

“A relic of our people, something lost through time and now rediscovered. It taught us something, but it’s something that will take time to sort out in our mind,” Bug answered.

“How does an ogre relic wind up in the Hypogean Realm inside of imp’s loot chest?” Wrend asked with suspicion.

“It was a powerful artifact, and it wanted to be found by one of my kind. An image was placed in my mind, the first thing it taught me was how it had sat forgotten in an underground treasure hoard for untold centuries. It sensed our presence drawing near and it used most of its remaining power to relocate itself close to us. I suspect the artifact arrived inside the chest just before I opened it,” Bug told them.

“You said it taught you something, what did it teach you, and is it any danger to you or my ship?” Larson asked, rightfully wary of mysterious and powerful artifacts that downloaded knowledge into the brain of one of his officers.

“I don’t know yet, our minds are trying to sort it out. Whatever it’s teaching us isn’t meant to harm us, it’s lost knowledge coming to light once more. It will reveal itself in time and as soon as it does, I’ll let you be the first to know,” Bug offered, while Bartholomew just whined and drooled some more.

“Whatever it is, that counts as part of your cut of the loot since the ogre used up whatever it was,” Wrend said, not at all concerned about mysterious knowledge given to some ogre he’d likely never see again once they parted ways. Larson was much more concerned, but it was a mystery he couldn’t figure out here. He would just have to trust the ogre was capable of handling whatever had happened to him, and wise enough to ask for help if there was a problem.

“Okay, let’s see what else is in here,” Larson said, pulling the smaller chest out and opening it for all to see.  Inside were a pair of bronze bracers, a necklace, and a drinking stein made of bone and bronze. Shada used her ability on the items, all three were revealed by her new ability. Larson laid them out with the rest of the loot as Shada shared what the system had identified the objects as.

1. Makon Figurine. This figurine holds magical potential, but your skill at identifying them is too low to understand their function.

2. Two-headed Ogre Figurine. This figurine once possessed powerful magic but is now drained of that power.

3. Prescient Shield. This round steel shield is enchanted with minor protection spells and can sense incoming attacks and inform the wielder of impending danger.

4. Gauntlets of bear’s strength. These gauntlets imbue the wearer with extra strength. Once per day, the gauntlets can be activated to double the strength bonus for ten seconds.

5. Necklace of Missiles (14). This necklace can be activated to launch a ball of magical energy at any target within a line of sight. The missiles do minor piercing damage and are very difficult to avoid. There are fourteen remaining activations on this item. Once all the charges are expended, the necklace will crumble to dust.

6. Barkeep’s Bane. This drinking horn is magically enhanced to fill with average quality ale a random number of times per day. The number of times it can be filled varies from 1 to 10 but will never give the maximum or minimum 2 days in a row. To power the device, a copper coin must be sacrificed by tapping it on the bottom of the drinking horn.

Larson wanted all the items, of course, but they had agreed to let Wrend have first pick.

“Well, I’ll take this as my first choice, and since you’ve already used up the ogre figurine, I’ll take this as my second choice, your go, Captain,” Wrend said with a smug grin plastered on his face as he snagged the gauntlets and the necklace. He was right, the ogre figurine had been used up by Bug Bartholomew, so it would rightfully be counted as his first choice. He had wanted the gauntlets, they were powerful, but large bulky things, which is probably why one of the imps weren’t wearing it. Sadly, he needed to take the makon figurine as his second choice to show to the Sea Lords of Stratwall Harbor, which meant that he would likely miss out on the shield.

“For my last pick…” Wrend hesitated, his hand reaching for the shield, before changing his mind and scooping up the drinking stein, giving it a try by tapping the bottom with a coin. A frothy ale filled the cup and the sergeant downed it in two gulps, a look of satisfaction on his face.

“The shield is ours then. Do we have a count on the coins?” Larson asked.

“Aye, Captain, we’ve got a total of 14,229 scales, 8822 fins, 3319 landsmen gold, and 42 of these coins that we think are platinum. We’ve divided up the gems by color and size, but none of us are qualified to put a value on them, but we did the best we could. Each party will have about two dozen of the stones,” Tarley advised.

“Those platinum coins are used by the dwarven clans, each one is about ten gold,” Wrend told them.

“You keep those, it’ll be harder for me to spend them in the isles,” Larson said. They divided up the coin, with Larson getting more landsmen gold to make up for the value of the platinum. He looked to Tarley who nodded at the valuation, Wrend hadn’t tried to cheat him on the unusual currency.

“Not a bad haul all around, more than enough to fund our trip home, fill our purses, and put a little bit into the company coffers.

“I assume our agreement still stands regarding Shada?” Larson asked. If things were going to go sideways with the Imperium soldiers, this was when it would happen. Wrend looked at Shada in disgust, the same expression on the face of the other soldier in the room.

“I’ll abide by it. As far as the Imperium is concerned, she’s assigned on permanent detached duty to watch for any more portals, and you’ll send word directly to me if another of these portals pops up. Other than that, she’ll stay out of Imperium lands or we’ll have to pay you an unfriendly visit. Also, if word of our deal gets out, Ignominia will come for the lot of you,” Wrend said, reluctantly agreeing to the terms.

“Good, the journey home should be swift, but don’t grow lax, the sea has more ways to kill you than you can imagine. Tarley, on the way back, work out the shares for everyone. Be sure to deduct the shield from my share, I’m going to keep it and donate my old one to the armory. If you’d like, recruit someone to take your place on divvying up our plunder. I’ll have the final say on who gets the job, but I’d like it to be someone you trust and who has a head for numbers,” Larson said.

“Will do, Captain. I’ll head back to the Lost Soul and we can get underway,” Tarley said. His cabin emptied of officers and soldiers as they made ready to sail. There was a stiff, but favorable breeze and it should speed their way home. He was worried about Bug Bartholomew, but the two-headed engineer seemed almost back to his usual self as the knowledge that had been forced upon him was still being sorted out in the dual minds of the ogre.

The crew went about their tasks with a pep in their step as word got out of a sizeable haul of coins from their journey to the Hypogean Realm. There was nothing like the promise of a fat purse to raise morale. Once the ship was squared away and Larson confirmed they were on course, he headed to his cabin to find out what options he had opened up with his new level. He had just closed the door when a wave of exhaustion hit and he slumped to the floor, unable to even slither the short distance over to his cot. It must have been that time once more for the long sleep his body seemed to need every now and then. At least it happened now and not in the middle of the battle they had just won. Strange sounds and voices were heard as his vision faded. Pain and weakness flooded him as his mind powered down into a dreamless state.