Chapter 513: Act 261 – The Shimmering Sea, The Seaway to Ampere Seale (Part 2)
The Naga tribe off the coast of the Shimmering Ocean is quite famous for its frequent attacks on trading vessels traveling the route from Ampere Seale to Graywind Port and then to Rubik. However, the Naga fishmen of the deep sea are not unified; they are divided into numerous tribes, both big and small. The most notable among them are the Koutao fishmen and the Shining Scaled Naga. The Koutao fishmen are found not only in the Shimmering Ocean but all over the Seven Seas of Vaunte, and they are the most notorious pirates of the ocean. In contrast, the Shining Scaled Naga have their own culture, language, and traditions, resembling more of a kingdom.
Most tribes in the deep sea survive by plunder, and the Naga are no exception. Dozens of tribes fight amongst themselves, but it is merely the sordid affairs of thieves; it has never been heard that there was a day when the trading vessels on this route did not suffer because of their feuds.
For pirates, sailors do not hold the same reverence as they do for the mythical Sirens. Brendel’s reminder caused everyone to snap back to attention. “But it’s really strange; merfolk rarely join Naga to plunder trading vessels.” Despite this, Captain James still voiced his confusion as he pulled out his pipe, patted it out, and tucked it into the pocket of his coat. He drew his sword with his right hand and turned to command the sailors to raise the arrow shields at the ship’s side.
“Watch out for spears!” he added.
In Amber Sword, the merfolk depend on the Naga, often participating in their wars, using their magical voices to help their allies win battles. In simple terms, they are like bards on the battlefield, but here, the battleground shifts from land to the depths of the sea. However, merfolk are typically benevolent beings; they usually refuse to partake in the plundering of human or dwarf ships (1). Yet, finding a couple of anomalies within a large tribe isn’t unusual.
At this moment, creatures from the sea surfaced. These beings appeared similar to humans, though their skin was a bluish hue, adorned with upright scale fins on their shoulders, arms, and spines. From beneath their cheeks down to their chests, they bore gill slits. They have nostrils, enabling them to breathe through both lungs and gills, but for the Naga, land air is too dry; they find it very uncomfortable to live away from water.
Naga lack hair, instead having beautiful azure nerve bundles in place of hair, which may seem odd at first glance but becomes beautiful once one gets used to it. Most of the surfaced Naga are males, possessing two pairs of arms, lacking prominent mammary organs, with angular faces painted with battle markings using special non-soaking dyes. Their muscles are well-defined, resembling robust human males.
However, Brendel knows that this appearance is due to their lower bodies being concealed underwater. According to legends, Naga are descendants of celestial serpents and are half-human, half-snake monsters. Male Naga have one less pair of arms than females because, in mythology, the Naga god aimed for females to be more dexterous, while males only needed to fight, thus requiring greater strength.
Nonetheless, these are merely legends. In reality, both Naga and fishmen excel at throwing spears. Male Naga wield two pairs of arms, using one pair to handle their favored tridents while the other pair uses short swords and shields. The seabed is rich in mineral resources, leaving them not short of iron and copper for weapons and armor. Naga are adept at using underwater volcanoes for smelting and forging weapons, employing unique methods to protect their equipment underwater. Therefore, their weaponry is not necessarily inferior to that of the humans on land. However, the most notable difference in the Naga’s weapons and armor is their elongated shields, which are specially made to reduce water resistance.
Seeing that the mermaids’ enchanting songs did not work, the Naga surfaced and employed their most common tactic, showering the deck of the Far Horizons with spears like falling rain. Unfortunately, Captain James, being experienced, had already commanded the shields to be raised—ship shields are essentially double-layered tower shields commonly found on Vaunte’s battlefield, usually hung upright on the ship’s side and pulled taut when needed. The steel spears thudded onto the thick shields like raindrops, but to no avail; the shields had been specifically designed to counter these common sea bandits. The Far Horizons is a large ship, thoroughly prepared; the Naga’s spears either became embedded in the shields or helplessly slid back into the water.
After a while, Gray Saint Mephistopheles, Charles, Andrigraphis, Xi, Medephis, Repal, and the Silver Elf princess also arrived on deck. Seeing them, James finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was unaware of the full strength of this young lord beside him, he knew at least Medisa and Charles were at the Gold tier. With two Gold tier experts present, even the flagship of a fleet under Erluin would be no match.
“What’s going on?” As soon as Mephistopheles stepped out of the cabin and saw those monsters on the surface, he calmly inquired. Captain James, unaware that this seemingly unremarkable middle-aged man was actually the greatest boss brought by Brendel on this journey, was taken aback by his level of calm.
The Gray Saint’s composure is not without reason; after all, this was the beginning of the Sword Year. Unlike after the Stone Slab War, where encountering a bandit could mean facing a civilized elemental. In this period, let alone in Erluin, even during the time when Mephistopheles’s duchy was still under Cruz, he was one of the top experts in the empire. An expert at his level, with a bit of caution, would find it incredibly difficult to encounter an existence capable of bringing them to their demise in all of Vaunte.
And several Naga warriors were even less of a concern.
“It’s the Naga,” Brendel replied, hand on his sword, not rushing to make a move. He observed the Naga warriors in the sea and found them somewhat familiar—despite all Naga appearing similar to humans, there are still distinctions between different tribes, such as the Shining Scales named for their colorful scales. The tribe in front of him bore a resemblance to the Grayfin Naga, and upon seeing their slightly whitish scale fins, he couldn’t help but step back slightly, pondering if this was merely a coincidence.
“Is this really a Naga?” The Gray Saint had heard of such monsters but, having been raised inland in the empire, he had never sailed the seas, and to him, Naga were merely hearsay. Watching these creatures, he couldn’t help but stare, turning back to ask, “Why do you always run into trouble wherever you go?”
“I…” Brendel never expected this serious fellow to make such a serious retort. However, only he would have such a leisurely attitude at a time like this. Unexpectedly, Otales also nodded in agreement, “I think this guy is right; you really do attract trouble wherever you go.”
“For Martha’s sake, I’m innocent!” Brendel silently protested. Back when he was still in the Amber Sword, he had struggled to encounter plot quests, but since crossing into this world, he feels like he’s on the edge of danger, with nonsensical incidents piling on.
However, Otales was merely teasing; encountering pirates at sea is quite common. Not only pirates, but there are also robbers and mountain bandits on land. Lords typically only manage the core areas of their territories. As one moves away from prosperous economic areas, law and order become increasingly chaotic. In the open sea, a region where no one can exert control, it becomes a paradise for illegal forces.
At this moment, the sailors began to fight back. Most ships traveling this route are armed merchant vessels that do not lack for weaponry. The sailors retaliated with crossbows, but their shots were rather off-target; it was less about eliminating the enemy and more about pushing them away. In the ensuing chaos, James’s crew suffered considerable losses as several long spears pierced through the gaps in the shields and struck a few of their men. Two unfortunate souls were even pinned to the deck, and the two’s assistant, who doubled as the ship’s doctor, took a look and declared they could not live.
However, Brendel retrieved a few bottles of low-grade holy water from the dimensional pocket and had Medisa pass them over. The quantity of this grade of holy water he obtained from Amann was staggering, and since the low-grade holy water was not very useful to him, he figured it could be used to buy a favor. He knew that building good relationships with these Ampere Seale merchants would be beneficial for his future development, not to mention that Captain James himself had a solid background.
Holy water is the most effective medicine in this world, primarily used for stopping bleeding and healing bodily injuries, which are usually the main types of injuries sustained in war. As long as one does not bleed too much and die, holy water can bring the dead back to life. However, this stuff is very rare; during the Holy War, the temple could only supply it to the most elite forces.
The two sailors, who were supposed to be dead, guzzled down the holy water, and their horrific wounds visibly began to heal at astonishing speeds. At that moment, not only the acting doctor but even James was stunned. Though his crew might not be particularly important, sailors who spend years at sea generally take life and death lightly, feeling that one’s head could be on the line. To be able to pull someone away from the brink of death is nothing short of a miracle.
Captain James, coming from a noble background and being well-traveled, immediately realized what kind of potion Brendel had given. His astonishment wasn’t with Brendel’s abilities but rather with Brendel’s generosity; using holy water so freely on an unfamiliar sailor was either extreme mercy or a grand-hearted gesture.
Seeing this scene, James hesitated for a moment, beginning to consider, from a noble and merchant standpoint, whether to deepen ties with this emerging power in the Cold Fir Territory. He glanced at Brendel, pondering if the rumors were true, that he hailed from a family with deep roots. However, he was curious why he was opposing Duke Toniger and Count Rendener?
His noble intuition quickly led him to think about the northern civil war: Royalists? Or perhaps the princess’s personal knights? Could it be that Karasu’s Highland Knights had begun to support the princess’s faction? Various thoughts flashed through the young captain’s mind like lightning.
Compared to the complex thoughts of the captain, the two sailors who had been saved from the grip of death were simply filled with gratitude. These sailors were merely the offspring of poor families; who would go to sea if they had other choices? Maritime ventures in this era carry immense risks, with a sailor’s mortality rate being exceedingly high. From what Brendel understood, it was only slightly better than the age of exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries. By saving these two sailors, he had effectively saved their entire families. Nevertheless, even so, he refused their insistence on kissing his boots as thanks.
As a modern person, this request was exceedingly awkward for him.
However, to onlookers, this only highlighted the broad-mindedness of this young lord. Unbeknownst to Brendel, his subconscious actions earned him tremendous respect among the sailors, for at that moment, the future officers of the White Lion Legion had already retrieved a batch of heavy crossbows from below deck. These crossbows were not your typical four-arm crossbows, as those would not meet the requirements for warriors at the Black Iron level. Brendel had Master Berun create a batch of crossbows specifically for the White Lion Legion’s officers, enhanced with enchantments to bolster their power. Each weapon was outrageously expensive, nearly equivalent to its weight in gold, but Brendel only needed fifty.
Brendel planned for the future White Lion infantry to use magic-guided bows rather than magical bows, as magic-guided bows require a miniaturized magic guidance device, which is Antinna’s area of expertise. Though the technology is complex, the cost is much lower. Of course, that’s still a distant dream; before that, the White Lion infantry could only make do with regular wooden bows. Brendel wasn’t wealthy enough to provide every soldier with a magic bow, and he felt that if he did, Romain would surely give him a headache.
Once the officers of the White Lion Legion engaged in battle, the tide of the battlefield changed immediately. There is likely no lord in this world, or even in all of Erluin, who has invested as much money in training soldiers as Brendel has. Drawing from his modern knowledge, he understood that armies are cultivated. In his training regimen, he strictly demanded that combat training be a significant portion of the normal training—consequently, Berun and Antinna had repeatedly complained about the funding in this area being unimaginably high. Supplies of arrows and repairs for weapons and damaged armor cost dozens of times more than similar expenses for other lords in Erluin.
In response, the master from the court had angrily stated that the money saved could have at least been used to raise a military force for the princess, capable of recruiting a force comparable to that of Brendel’s. However, Brendel remained steadfast in his beliefs, and this insistence finally bore fruit today.
The officers of the White Lion Legion fought with the experience of seasoned warriors who had faced numerous battles. Even the solitary flaw of never having seen blood was mitigated during the wolf tide, and their performance now was so fierce that even the most elite knights of Erluin would feel embarrassed. While those knights may be more seasoned in battlefield experience, they could not compare to the disciplined training and cohesive teamwork exhibited by the White Lion Legion officers.
The accuracy of the arrows shot by the White Lion officers was astonishing. Each shot seemed to have a mind of its own, honed through countless training sessions. The value of the arrows they broke would likely translate to thousands of tol, each of which today was reclaimed from the Naga.
Captain James could hardly believe his eyes; the officers of the White Lion Legion shot down over a dozen Naga warriors within just a few breaths, causing them to sink from the surface.
This was comparable to naval sharpshooters.
The Naga on the opposing side felt immense pressure; they never dreamed a merchant ship would possess such firepower. It was evident that this was a military vessel, with firepower that even the kingdom’s level-three flagship couldn’t rival. The only thing missing was that this merchant ship lacked cannons or crossbow artillery, or else they might have thought they had run into a genuine royal warship.
After a while, the skirmish led to just one officer from the White Lion Legion getting injured from pulling too hard on his crossbow, while over a dozen Naga had already become corpses. The Naga warriors, who had initially been shocked, transformed into fear. With a scream, they abruptly turned around and fled.
“They’re retreating?”
Both the captain and Brendel were taken aback. In their understanding, the Naga tribe was remarkably brave; even if they faced a setback, they would continue to fight fearlessly. They had never seen an attacking force turn around and run the moment their advance was stalled. Was this really the Naga? Could they be disguised fishmen? Brendel and James exchanged uncertain glances.
……
(Note 1: Generally speaking, only humans and dwarves in Vaunte are keen on commercial trade. The most common merchant ships on the sea belong to these two races.) (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
