RCJoshua

Chapter 36: Scholars

They didn’t linger long after the food. With Kelda’s permission and a promise that someone would send word if the floating fortress reappeared, the group turned their attention back to the work they could still control.

When they went to the pile of wood, they saw Bunton had been workin...

Chapter 35: Debt

“Okay.” Bunton smiled as he finished dragging the trees out. As much as the man enjoyed felling them, it was obvious he relished this second part of the job. “Good work. The trees will calm down in a few minutes, so don’t mind them. First, we don’t want any branches. Stand back, because...

Chapter 34: Trees

After a brief misunderstanding about which bunkhouse was appropriate for Aethe to stay in at the moment, they determined that Elisa would have probably left some sort of sign for Aethe and that they could work out any complex changes to sleeping arrangements down the road. That led to a whole rab...

Chapter 33: Interested

Marco sat up in his bathtub. “It remodeled itself? The whole island? Like upgrades?”

“I know. It’s weird stuff. We have a couple scholar types who are trying to figure out what all that means, but for now we are all rich. Every man, woman, and child living here is handpicked and get...

Chapter 32: Island

Marco got the others up belowdeck, then took to the wheel and pursued the other ship with Aethe’s help. The pirates were heading in a single direction and, oblivious to their tail, didn’t even keep a watch as they sailed towards their home.

“There,” Aethe said as she pointed into th...

30 and 31 Changed

Hey guys,

We just changed chapters 30 and 31 for TSS. The main change is that Marco and crew are going to explore a pirate base before they visit the island. Besides that, everything is more-or-less as is.

Thanks,

RC

Chapter 31: Quiet

Back aboard The Foolish Endeavor, Elisa sat on a barrel and rubbed at her temples. “We should start loading over the ammo.”

“I can start on that,” Riv said, “once I check the powder for water damage. If it’s damp, I’m not hauling it.”

Aethe walked up from belo...

Chapter 30: Pirate Captain

Marco stepped forward, sword raised. The captain spotted him and smiled, then lashed the whip again, this time toward Marco’s feet. Marco jumped back but just barely failed at getting enough distance to keep himself safe. The edge of the whip cut his shin open, streaking the razors red as Marco...

Chapter 29: Choice and Risk

Elisa was no less taken aback by the question. Marco watched her open her mouth to explain just how it was known, and what kind of person knew it, then snap her talking parts shut again without saying a word. It was a few seconds before she really did talk.

“You know, it’s odd.” Elisa...

Chapter 28: Evil Class

Driving the boat out to sea meant slow going for a while. Marco was the most bothered by the speed, and the time that had seemed so short when getting to the capsized boat dungeon now seemed like an eternity when going away from it while fighting a deadline. The rest of the crew were visibly stre...

Chapter 27: Chances

“It’s like being hunted by a very polite predator,” Aethe said. “One that wants to make sure we’re well-rested before they pounce.”

They drifted along, feeling the calm soaking into them. Marco had the new route from Elisa but stayed on his current course. At some point, the shi...

Chapter 26: Explorer Ship

The next morning was the very first time Marco had ever felt relaxed on his ship. They took inventory of their food, which was now supplemented by a couple bags of monster crab. As they didn’t expect it to keep long, Riv was keeping a grill full of the stuff cooking as they worked through their...

Chapter 25: Crabshell Cladding

Aethe’s goodbyes, such as they were, were short. She made sure her responsibilities were distributed among the remaining elves, saluted her commander, and that was that. It was shockingly brief.

“You don’t need more time?” Marco asked for the third time.

“I don’t. And they...

Chapter 24: Misfits

As her people had been fighting off the crabs, Aethe’s senses had been feeding her information related to how the crabs approached, fought, and retreated. It was, she explained, exactly the kind of thing an Escort Scout was supposed to do. The idea was that she’d learn things by seeing, and f...

Chapter 23: Commander

Marco shuddered.

“Why didn’t you leave?” he asked.

“We couldn’t. Our ship was destroyed by the first wave. We have the ability to build another, but not quickly. The commander is the only one of us with combat skills to consistently survive, and there just isn’t enough tim...

Chapter 22: Crabwalk Island

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Dungeon Action Joined!

You have joined an active dungeon raid midway. You are now assigned to the [Renissian Elves Scout Team 334] as an ally. Your possible rewards are linked to what they’ve already accomplished, scaled against your own efforts from this poin...

Chapter 21: Trees

Marco was quickly realizing that the biggest problem at sea wasn’t monsters or pirates like he had expected. It was something much more mundane. It was water and food. Most of the time since he had been sailing, he was running low on water, food, or both. The expedition on 19-H helped, but thei...

Chapter 20: Charisma

Marco applied it to the ship with no further delay. If there was one thing that Marco had learned, it’s that upgrades to his ship were a good thing. Now that he was a captain, he had slowly but surely started to care more and more about his ship. He felt like no upgrade was too much for it. The...

Chapter 19: Zombified Captain

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Zombified Captain

The captain of this ship kept more of himself than his crew. He is a better thinker, fighter, and in all ways more competent. On top of that, he still has the muscles, sinews, and tendons that made him nearly invincible in his past life.

...

Chapter 18: Infested

The two ships collided with a splintering, groaning lurch that shot all of them off their feet. Marco twisted in the air to try and maximize for a safe landing. A few seconds before they hit, it had been clear to all of them that there was nobody to actually save in the water near the ship. There...

Chapter 17: The Hidden Sea

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Criminal Winds

The winds themselves assist with your chicanery. By expending your magic power, you can cajole your ship’s sailing speed faster in short bursts. Whether you are breaking blockades, outrunning the guards, or spiriting away a beautiful young lady,...

Chapter 16: Geas

Over the next thirty minutes, the larger ship kept on them. It was likely due to a combination of having a better ship, a faster navigator, stronger rowers, or all three. Any plans of easily shaking them evaporated. Elisa offered what tips she could, but even almost infinite knowledge wasn’t ma...

Chapter 15: Shackles

The notifications turned out to be the ship upgrades finally settling in. As Elisa introduced Riv to all the academic understanding of proper ship operations she knew, Marco pointed the ship in roughly the right direction and got down to the long-awaited fun part.

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Your ship has ...

Chapter 14: Justice

“Can I take these guys?” Marco whispered. “In a fight. If we had too.”

Riv took a second to answer. “Dello? Absolutely. He’s a Rower. He’s strong, but he can’t fight. Gamble? No way. His dad paid to have him leveled. He’s at fifteen, last I heard, with a spear cla...

The System Seas (synopsis)

Marco trained his whole life for one thing: to become a captain. He maxed every childhood achievement the System would let him, from diving to rigging to outrunning couriers up mountains. But when classing day finally comes, the System doesn’t make him a captain. It makes him a Gluttony...