chapter 115
POV: Princess Verrona, Captain of the Crimson Falcon
We dropped out of FTL. Immediately, the powerful sensors on the ship started gathering data in the area that surrounded us. In just mere moments, we confirmed that we were in the right place.
Here is where my quarry is. This is the last lead. That exchange of skills really did make it difficult for me to track down whoever got those skills. A part of me suspected that perhaps I needed to go follow another trail after this, but the chances were still good that my target was here and still possessed those skills.
“We have arrived at Titan’s Feast, Mistress,” the pilot announced. I just let it go; obviously, I could see that, but my annoyance was taken away by the image on the screen.
There were thousands of ships here, as this was one of the resting and resupply stations for many space adventurers who hunted space monsters. It was a dangerous area, especially because many space monsters were drawn to this place.
The reason was quite obvious: it was the huge body of a titanic space monster. It was massive in size, as it was nearly 14 kilometres in length. It still looked like it was alive, which it was.
This one had a really particular set of skills. Its carapace and muscles weren’t anything special, but many ships were constantly harvesting parts. The thing that was so special about this space monster was that it couldn't die and constantly regenerated.
It was one of the wonders of this galaxy. It had been dragged into this location over thousands of years, as the regeneration rate depended on the ambient mana density. The faster it regenerated, the more profits it brought in, but it was also a target for many space monsters, as it was a true feast for them.
Through its head it had a huge pillar of metal. That was what was keeping it brain-dead. Remove that, and you would have a terror reawakened.
For a moment, I thought of how feasible it would be to remove that, but it would take a titanic effort. You would need to deal with all the ships surrounding it and then destroy that gigantic pillar.
That terror it would cause would be delicious.
“Found our target, the ship Sky Piercer is still here. Are we going with the usual tactics?”
“Are we in the Crimson Falcon?” My words were like whip cracks, each one of them causing everyone to flinch.
“Besides that, the Sky Piercer is not so easily taken by force. No, they have another weakness, and that's their party members, as quite a few of them like to enjoy hospitality outside their ship.”
“Understood, we will start the search now.”
“Excellent. Get us a location close to their ship. I’m guessing they won’t be too far away. All our combat units start preparing, but first, I will try diplomacy. The rulers here are not kind to anyone breaking their laws; perhaps we can do this without a fight.”
My words seemed to stun everyone. I could understand why; I usually used force for everything, because most of the time, everyone was beneath me. The Sky Piercer’s captain, however, was someone known and dangerous. This needed to be handled carefully.
We descended into the city built onto the space monster’s spinal column. This area was kept clear, so soon we were surrounded by tall walls of flesh and chitin. This city connected the outside world to the depths of this creature, where millions toiled to harvest the constantly growing flesh.
“Mistress, we managed to get a berth a few blocks away from where Sky Piercer lays. As soon as we touch down, our scouts and spies will find our targets.”
“Excellent. Keep me informed. I will go to my room.”
Meditation was important for my skills and affinities. In my family, all of us had similar skills, with all of us having the same six core skills. I found that this place was quite good for practising Sense Aura. The vibrant life all around helped me focus on the more detailed nuances in how auras worked.
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This helped keep down my annoyance that, after two days, they still hadn’t found our target. Then finally, it happened; I finally managed to rank up Sense Aura. It was nice to finally have all my core skills at least in the Adept rank.
A crackle of electricity sparked between my fingers. Now I focused on my Moonfire affinity, and with my new understanding of aura, I imparted some of that into these sparks. Now, instead of the usual blue light, it was more muted in colour, and I could see a bit of flame as they sparked.
Finally, I could do this more easily. It will only be a matter of time before I can impart this to my weapons. Then I will no longer have to stay underneath my father's command.
“Mistress, we finally found them.”
“Excellent, I will head out right now.”
I dressed in my best battle attire that still showed off all my assets. Two of the targets we were going after were humanoid mammals and males. Those types almost always had weaknesses that I could exploit with my body.
They were in a club not too far away. It was nighttime, so there were plenty of people going about, looking to get their minds off regular life. The music here was quite electronic. Elves usually didn’t like music like this, but I enjoyed the chaotic nature of it.
As I walked in, a few heads turned, and I could already see the thoughts that they had.
Two approached, and I could see that they had intentions that would be more pressing than just asking for a dance. Their minds felt weak.
“Kiss each other,” I said, using my Command skill. Both of them hesitated, but as I suspected, their minds were too weak to resist. Looking back, I saw them being thrown out because they started to fight each other, disgusted at what they did.
Oh, this place could be so wonderful if I didn’t have a job to do. Unfortunately, my targets were in a VIP section, so I couldn’t approach without them getting guarded.
I had to agonising stay behind the bar, drinking a cocktail that wasn't the best, and constantly having to deal with idiots trying to get under my skirt. This was annoying, but my patience paid off.
One of them finally exited the VIP area and went into the bathroom. I saw a few females follow in—rookies. That was being too pushy, he was part of a reputable party, so I would have guessed that didn’t work, and I was right, as a few minutes later he walked out alone, with a few following with downed faces.
As I hoped, he headed toward the bar to get a few drinks before going back. There was sort of an empty area around me, so someone as strong as he saw this as a good way to get what he wanted quickly.
After he placed his order, he looked around and properly looked at me, not just a glance. A simple inviting smile was all that was needed from me.
“Hi there, my name’s Wryan. What’s someone as lovely as you doing in a place like this?”
“Well, I have found that interesting people usually visit places like this, who might have some interesting things for sale.”
“Oh, really now, and what interests you, lovely?” He seemed pretty drunk and obviously wasn't the best at talking with women, but I also wasn’t completely disgusted by him, which was a big positive for his character.
“Mainly, I like to find interesting skills and interesting men,” I said while touching his shoulder, my fingers tracing the muscles there.
“You might be in luck then. We got lucky a while ago, and I do have a nice set of fire-type skills, some quite niche.”
My fingers froze for a moment. That was wrong. From what I know, they should only have one fire-type skill. Damn it, that undocumented skill swap really messed everything up.
“That's unfortunate. You see, I quite dislike fire, at least in skills, but not in desire,” I said while bringing my chair closer to his. He now had a stupid grin on his face.
“Oh, that’s unfortunate. But you said something about collecting men, what did you mean by that?” he then pulled back just a bit and sobered up. “You aren’t a slaver, are you?”
I got really close to him and whispered into his ear. “I collect men in a different way, a more intimate way.” As soon as I finished saying that, I placed my hand on his thigh.
He tried to hold back his reaction, but I saw the small swallow of nervousness. “How about we go to a more private place?”
It took a bit longer, but he finally cracked. What followed was quite passionate, as it seems he had quite a lot of pent-up stress, and I did manage to get the needed information.
As I returned to my ship, I headed straight to the command centre. Everyone straightened up immediately as I entered.
“Our target is Remi Graves. Find out everything about him and where he is.”
This has turned out to be quite an excellent trip. Unfortunately, when I got back to my room, there was a message waiting for me. My mood immediately darkened.
My father, that idiot. He sold me off to get married for political gain. Then I played that idiot’s message that I was supposed to marry.
My informants attached information about him, and the more I read the more I knew that he wouldn't survive one night with me, as I would simply kill him if he tried to do anything like that to me. That, however, would end really badly for me.
The more I read the angrier I got. My father knew me well enough that he didn't order me back, but my soon-to-be husband did, wanting to get married as soon as possible. He truly seemed to have a death wish.
I had been so occupied thinking of what to do that I almost missed someone waiting at the door.
“What is it?”
“The information you wanted about Remi Graves.”
Damn it, already. Now it would have been best if he hadn't been found. I indicated to him to continue.
“He is a space adventurer, a captain of his own ship called Forward Horizon. He's human… humanoid?” He seemed a bit confused with his own report, but moved on quickly. “There wasn't anything special until…”
“It seems that he was the one who came up with the switch idea for the skills.”
This was getting conflicting. Now I wanted to find him so that I could torture him for sending me on this time-wasting chase for those four skills.
“Last known location is the forge system called Dralun.”
Why did that sound familiar?
“It’s dwarven-owned.” He continued, waiting for an outburst that never came. Instead, I was smiling, which confused him.
The dwarves and elves had a binding species agreement that even I needed to follow. If I were to approach that system I would need to inform them of my true intentions, which I obviously couldn’t do, which meant that we would need to wait until he left, or we found him somewhere else.
Remi better not show up anywhere else. “Is there anything else?” I asked, and was surprised when he spoke up.
“We have found out that one of the battle barges, named the Fourth Colosseum, will arrive in a few days.”
Things were getting better and better. That meant celebrations, a grand tournament with a lot of fighting. Those battle barges were huge, kilometres long, with dozens of huge arenas. That one should also be captained by my uncle.
That was going to be a nice way to spend time until Remi Graves once again showed himself. It will also give me time to figure out what to do with my soon-to-be husband.