Limitless Seas, Chapter 18.

Chapter 18.

“Ok Lucian, where does your family live, let’s go meet them,” Larson ordered.

“They have nothing to do with this, I’ll work for you, but I won’t see them come to any harm,” Lucian demanded. Stopping in his tracks, Larson reared up on his coils, looming over the merchant. Lucian shrank back at first, then stood defiantly. He had a backbone under his meek exterior, Larson liked that. There was really nothing the man could do, according to the contract, which Larson had skimmed over inside the office. There was a lot of legal mumbo jumbo that prevented Larson from exceeding the limits of the contract, the main one being that he couldn’t hold a bondservant past their contract date, but other than that, just about anything goes. Larson opened the contract the relevant portion and pointed it out to Lucian.

Should the signer of this contract refuse the legal commands of the contract holder, he will be branded by a Bondbreaker and subject to summary incarceration or execution at the direction of the contract holder.

“I mean your family no harm; I just want to see the measure of the man that will be working for me for the next ten years,” Larson asked. Lucian pointed toward a small side street, leading Larson toward the rundown section of town. The man was silent as he tromped toward whatever hovel his family was housed in. Larson followed a good distance behind the man, watchful for any trouble in the seedy neighborhood.

“Hey Lucian, what are you doing back here, I thought you were off to the mines or some other, equally unpleasant line of work,” A voice called out from the front of a seedy tavern. Larson opened the distance between him and Lucian watching as a trio of thugs wearing mismatched leather armor started to follow the hapless merchant.

“Maybe he jumped his bond, that’s it, we’re going to have to bring him in, along with his whole family this time I think,” one of the men said. Two of group were younger while the one doing all the talking had some age on him along with a cruel gleam in his eye. He wasn’t going to let Lucian be, he wanted trouble, which was just fine as far as Larson was concerned, these men were no better than land pirates, picking on the weak for amusement or profit.

“Stop, Lucian, don’t make me ask you again,” the leader spoke, Larson followed behind the trio as they tailed Lucian. The men all held daggers now, subtly trying to hide them from the crowd. The crowd wasn’t going to be a problem, they seemed to sense that some trouble was brewing and had suddenly found other places they needed to be. Larson pulled his shield and spear from his back and closed the gap between himself and the trio of thugs.

“Look, Nax,” Lucian said, addressing the leader. “I’m on contract now and I’ve got nothing more for you to take. I’m done with you and your Shining Tower thugs,” Lucian said, almost in tears. His eyes widened in surprise as he watched Larson approaching from behind the thugs, weapons in hand.

“No, you got something else for us, you got a wife and child. Sure, we can’t take them to the bondsmen, but we’ve got other, less reputable, clients that would pay good money for them. You tell them to come along quietly with us and I won’t kill you, might hurt you a bit, but I won’t kill you,” the man named Nax said.

“My bondholder won’t be happy with you assaulting his worker,” Lucian replied.

“I don’t care about your stupid bondholder,” Nax started to say.

“You really should care, since he’s right behind you,” Larson said as he thrust out with his spear, the twin prongs of the weapon easily piercing the cheap leather armor the thug wore. The other two men stood there stunned at the sudden, and violent, appearance of the large naga. Larson didn’t waste any time, activating both charges of his shield bash ability to target the men. The shield clanged twice as it lashed out faster than Larson thought possible. It was a completely different feeling than using his mana, and a bit disturbing as his body responded to the ability and acted somewhat out of his control.

The blows cracked into the men, knocking them from their feet, but not doing much damage. Larson thrust again at Nax, who suddenly wasn’t there. The man disappeared and instantly reappeared behind Larson, his cheap knife driving deep into Larson’s back, causing pain to sear into him and blood to flow from the wound as the man twisted his blade.

The leader of the trio was out of tricks at this point, and Larson imbued his spear with water magic, adding slashing damage as he struck. Twisting around, Larson ignored the burst of pain that flared as the blade in his back was ripped out. Blindingly fast, Nax almost dodged Larson’s blow, and only one tine of the spear caught his hip. While only a partial blow, it was enough to release the magic held in the spear. The thug’s hip was flayed open, dropping him to the ground as the man tried unsuccessfully to pull the slashed open flesh together and staunch the blood that was pouring out.

One of the younger thugs regained his feet only to meet the spear imbued with bludgeoning damage. What it did to the thugs’ head wasn’t pretty and Larson could hear Lucian retching in the alley as the final thug stood and backpedaled away from the angry naga. Larson was having none of this, reaching out with his tail and looping a pair of coils around the man before he could get out of range.

Reveling is newly enhanced constrictor power, Larson began to squeeze, feeling and hearing bones crack as the man shuddered once before expiring. He dropped the dead thug to the ground and confirmed that Nax was bleeding out rapidly, and no longer a threat. His own health was down by a third, with more ticking away by the second. Larson stopped moving, allowing the bleed effect to expire and his body to start the healing process. Lucian, had backed up against the wall of the alley, still terrified over the explosion of violence he had just witnessed.

“Lucian, find their coin purses and strip off any armor that isn’t damaged or soaked in blood. Set aside their weapons, also,” Larson ordered. Acting in a daze, Lucian fumbled with the task, obviously uncomfortable with touching the rapidly cooling corpses. “Don’t let that little skirmish shake you, Lucian. These men meant to harm you and your family. It’s only fair they contribute to some form of restitution,” Larson told him. Lucian did as he was asked, passing his finds over to Larson.

One of the cloaks the men wore wasn’t too soaked in blood, so he used that to bundle up the weapons and armor. The coin purses held only a handful of scales and a single fin, not a huge haul, but better than nothing. Each of the men was armed with a dagger, poor quality weapons, but they were sharpened to an evil edge. The armor wasn’t all that great either, and he could only salvage the somewhat decent quality boots from the dead thug Nax and a two sets of leather bracers that were still serviceable.

Looting from the petty thugs reminded Larson that his own gear left a lot to be desired. His weapons were of good quality, but he had no armor and wore only a threadbare and stained shirt. At least he didn’t need pants, the scales on his lower body were about as tough as leather armor. One of his priorities would be to buy some clothing that was presentable, it wouldn’t do to have the captain meet the new crew that his officers were gathering, while he was dressed in rags.

“We’re done here, get moving,” Larson ordered, passing the bundle of gear to his bondservant to carry. “Tell me about this Shining Tower group, are they the ones that burned you out?” Larson asked.

“Yes, sir, they’re the ones. The have a headquarters in the warehouse district and do their shakedown scam over several of the poorer neighborhoods,” Lucian said, his hatred of the Shining Tower was obvious, they were to blame for his downfall.

“How many of them are there?” Larson asked.

“Nobody knows for sure, but they had three or four groups like Nax’s running the streets. I’m sure there’s more at their warehouse, but I have no idea. I hate to say it, but they’re going to cause you trouble now that you’ve killed three of their members,” Lucian said.

“They can try,” Larson replied. His bondsman didn’t answer and stopped at the front of rundown tenement building. The place looked like it was about to fall down, and an old drunk that was passed out in front functioned almost like the building’s own, stench filled welcome mat. Up a set of rickety stairs, Lucian stopped in front of a door, knocking once before opening and entering the one room apartment. Larson followed him in, weapons at the ready in case this was some kind of trap.

“Daddy!” A little girl of about six or seven called out, running to embrace Lucian. The man dropped the bundle of gear and picked up his daughter, holding her tight as tears streamed down his face. The child’s mother tried to place herself between the daughter held in Lucian’s arms and the giant naga with the spear pointed at her. The woman was young, in her late twenties and had probably been beautiful at one time, before their hard life had worn her down. Seeing there was no danger, Larson stowed his weapons.

“I take it this is your family Lucian,” Larson said.

“Yes sir, what do you plan to do to them?” Lucian asked.

“Dear, is your guest from the Shining Tower?” The woman asked, her voice cracking in fear.

“No, Nyla, this is my bondholder, Captain Larson. He asked me to bring him here, but I don’t know the purpose of it,” Lucian answered.

“The reason I brought you here was to take the measure of the man I’ll be working with. A man who cares for his family first, and who’s family obviously cares for him, is someone I want to do business with,” Larson told them.

“Daddy, is he a snake man?” The little girl asked, her parents trying to shush her before she offended Larson. Instead, Larson chuckled at her outburst.

“Children are wonderful, they speak their minds with no guile. I suppose I am a sort of snake man little one. I’m from a race called the naga,” Larson replied.

“I like your scales, they’re shiny,” the kid said.

“I’m sorry, sir, she doesn’t mean to offend you,” Lucian started to argue.

“No worries, Lucian, she’s just being a kid. What’s your name little one?” Larson asked.

“I’m Millie, pleased to meet you,” the girl said, trying to curtsey while still in her father’s arms.

“Pleased to meet you as well, Miss Millie. Can you play on your own for a bit? I need to talk with your mommy and daddy,” Larson told her. The girl scampered off to play with a threadbare doll that was on the only bed in the room.

“What can I do for you, sir, you hold my contract,” Lucian said.

“First, I’ll do this,” Larson said, taking the rolled-up contract and lighting it from the single candle burning at the table. The paper burned down slowly, Lucian watching with confusion. Throwing the remains in a wooden waste bin, Larson summoned a bit of water to quench the flame before it spread.

“Why?” Was all Nyla asked, holding her husband’s hand in a tight grip.

“Why? Because I won’t have someone work for me unless it’s of their own free will. The pirates I had no problem selling to the bondsmen because they tied to enslave me, you’re just a man who fell on hard times and needed a break. You’re free to do what you want, but I have an offer for you, it will take a lot of work, but I think you’re the right man for the job,” Larson said.

“Thank you, sir, I don’t know what to say, you’ve given me ten years of my life back. Tell me your deal, I do whatever you want,” Lucian offered.

“I want to set up a shop in town, a place where I can sell off goods and things that I might acquire. You’re an honest man, and I trust you to watch over things while I’m away at sea. What do you say, Lucian, do you want to open a store again?” Larson offered.

“Yes, yes he does,” Nyla replied for her husband, who just nodded along.

“But I don’t have anything to start a shop with since the Shining Tower stole or burned everything I owned,” Lucian argued.

“That won’t be a problem, while I don’t have the funds to start our store just yet, that should be taken care of itself in a day or two. For now, take this,” Larson said, dumping some coins out of his pouch and pushing over a pair of landsmen gold and a pile of scales. “This should get you a place in a better part of town, this is no place for a child to grow up. This stack,” Larson paused as he stacked up ten scales on the table. “is for Millie to get a new toy with,” at hearing the word, toy, Millie perked up, but to her credit, stayed where her mother had told her to stay.

“Lucian, I want you to start scouting for locations for our business, somewhere close to the warehouse district or with a separate warehouse since we may also be dealing in bulk cargo. This time make sure to budget for some decent security. When the Gull Dropping is in port, you have an entire crew of that can swing a sword, but while we’re gone, you’ll need to find some skilled and reliable guards. I’ve got some plans to work out and I’ll be in port for a time while my ship is being repaired. Once you found a home, send me a message on where you’re at. Make finding a shop location your priority, I have a feeling we’ll be supplying you with some goods in the not too distant future,” Larson ordered.

“Yes, of course, I’ll get started as soon as we find a place to stay. I don’t know what to say, thank you doesn’t seem to be enough,” Lucian told him.

“You can thank me by working hard and making our business a success. As far as a salary, let me know what you think is fair. You’ll also receive a cut of 10% of the net profits from any business you manage for me, agreed?” Larson asked.

“Yes sir, Captain Larson, we agree,” Nyla said for her husband.

“Good, I’ve got things to do, so for now, get out of here and find your family a new place to stay,” Larson told him.

“What about the Shining Tower, they’ll be looking for me and for you,” Lucian said, the fear returning to his face.

“They won’t have to look very hard, since I plan on paying them a visit real soon,” Larson said. He stood up to allow them time to get their move organized. They didn’t look to have any furniture and he had left them enough coin to at least buy a few new things once they found a place.

“Oh, one more thing Lucian. Do you know somewhere I can have a magic item identified? I picked this up, well, you don’t want to know where,” Larson said, showing Lucien the necklace that he had picked up from the makon mage.

“Hmm, if it’s not too powerful I may be able to help. Any merchant worth his salt learns the simplest divination magic. Keeps the customers honest to know the shopkeeper can spot a fake,” After handing over the necklace, Larson watched Lucien mutter a few words and run his hand over it, before handing it back. “There, you should be able to understand what it does now.” A system prompted appeared when Larson held the necklace again.

Lesser Mana Stone Necklace of the elements. This item provides a small boost to the wearers mana pool and regeneration rate and can only be used by elemental mages.

That was perfect for him, Larson put the necklace on and saw his mana bar expand a small bit. It wasn’t enough to, say, cast another Imbue Weapon, but the extra bump would be nice when channeling his Command the Currents. As far as the mana regen increase, he would check it out later back at the ship. Remembering the other item that he was curious about, the bag of strange red crystals, Larson passed it over to Lucian, who tried to identify it for a moment before shaking his head.

“No luck with this one, it doesn’t appear to be magical, but it is strange and perhaps an alchemist might know more,” his new partner advised.

Larson said farewell to the family and made his way from the rundown tenement, heading back in the direction of the port and his waiting ship.

As far as these Shining Tower goons, they would be the perfect way to test his new crew’s combat abilities, as well as provide some further funds. If they’ve been shaking down a whole section of businesses, they had to have a reasonably full piggy bank. It would be a piggy bank he had no qualms with smashing.