Book 4 chapter 4

Zee clenched the hilt of her sword, her knuckles white as she waited with hushed anticipation. She could feel it, the scout ship creeping through the asteroid belt, scanning the rocks for signs of life.

The ship was a mere black dot, backlit by faint starlight, the only hint that it was a ship was the fact that it kept changing directions. She shivered, a chill running up her spine.

Something felt horribly wrong with that ship. Even the world river seemed agitated, its vibrant colors tinged a mottled grey as if tainted. It was the stain of miasma, the hallmark of an undead cultivator.

The thought made her both excited and pensive at the same time. She had never fought an undead before, though she had certainly heard of their prowess in combat.

Beings that cultivated pure death, who could turn a planet and all their people, converting them into unliving warriors. It sounded pretty terrifying, to be honest.

Her only consolation was that the undead were just like everyone else. They had to struggle, fight and cultivate to grow stronger. What's more, there was no way some big shot undead was out in a little scout ship doing what must be mind-numbingly boring work.

The undead were not mindless idiots, no they were selfish creatures just like everyone else. Her hackles rose, as the ship drew closer, the sense of wrongness growing stronger.

Zee wasn't sure if the scout ship had discovered their presence or not. Shortly after they had arrived at the wormhole emergence point two days ago, a portal opened and this scout ship came through.

Luckily for the ship and the crew, Captain Skern was a cautious spider, hiding the ship amidst a dense clump of the asteroid field while they waited for the wormhole to open.

It proved to be a smart decision, as the lone undead ship still hadn't found them yet. With bated breath, Zee peered over the edge of a large rock, clinging to one side while she watched the small scout ship draw ever closer.

At this rate, that little ship would pass right by their position in a few minutes and most likely discover them. Then it would attack, or worse, call for backup.

Judging by the strength of that portal, whoever was on the other side was far above her ability to deal with. After some silent deliberation, she made up her mind. She needed to crush this scout ship in a single devastating attack, not giving it a chance to fight back or call for help.

Without a method to warn the others of her plan, she simply moved, acting when the ship was about five hundred yards away.

She didn't even know if her finisher could hit something that far away, but she was worried it would notice her if it got any closer. The world river roiled around her, as torrential amounts of energy rushed through her channels, flooding into her sword.

Her sword fell like an executioner's axe, and reality split asunder. Space rippled chaotically just as the scout ship jerked to one side. Sadly for whoever was inside, It was already too late.

Her attack crossed the distance in a heartbeat. The small scout ship was violently cut in half, split from prow to stern, a large portion of the ship dragged into the tear in reality.

There was no explosion, no light show, just two separate pieces of the hull, spinning end over end in opposite directions. The devastation of her finisher skill, infused with a spark of compression had far exceeded her expectations, forming a twenty-meter-tall rift in space.

Zee was quite shocked by the power of her attack. She was fairly certain that the opening of the second inner gate wasn't the reason for this kind of increase in power.

Opening an inner gate should only offer larger energy reserves and quicker skill activation, with some increase to the power of her skills. Some being the optimal word. It shouldn't have made the skill twice as devastating as when she used it on that bear in the planar space.

Another more plausible explanation came to mind. Maybe the skill absorbed the rampant spatial energy in the vacuum of space? She shook her head, flipping upside down and propelling herself back towards Greg and Bastion who were nearby.

She gestured back to the ship. With the threat dealt with, they should probably go back. After cycling through the airlock, Bastion deactivated his collar, his expression curious.

"What the hell was that skill, it was way too powerful," Bastion asked.

"It's my new finisher skill, I thought I told you about it already," Zee replied, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"You did, but you never said it was that terrifying. How in the hell did you even power that? I know you are E grade, but you shouldn't have that big of an energy pool," Bastion said.

She smiled, "Someone sounds a little jealous,"

"I am not jealous, it's just unfair is all," Bastion said turning to Greg for help.

Greg ran a meaty hand through his thick curly beard. "To be fair, both of your skills seem unfair to me. I just shoot magic arrows at people while you two get bizarre powers that can cut space ships in half," Greg said dryly.

Zee beamed victoriously, "See, Greg agrees with me."

"He didn't agree with you, he was just stating a fact," Bastion replied.

"Exactly. Now, let's go tell the captain the good news before he comes down here to yell at us," Zee said, retreating down the narrow walkway.

"Fine, but this conversation is not over," Bastion said, rushing after her.

Captain Skern was on the bridge when they arrived, his legs tapping the floor plating in agitation. The spider might be peak E grade, but for someone of his power, he sure got nervous easily.

"What happened to that scout ship, I thought I told you to only attack if we were discovered," Skern asked, the hairs on his abdomen shaking in barely contained rage.

Zee folded her arms. "It was getting too close, so I cut it in half before it could discover us," Zee said.

His beady eyes locked on her, his front pair of legs grating together.

"That was you? You could have got us all killed with that stunt. What happens when his friends come looking for him, they will know someone is here," Skern said anxiously.

"You pay us to protect the ship, that is what I did. I couldn't risk the ship escaping, so I ambushed it," Zee replied calmly.

Captain Skern let out an exasperated breath, seeming to deflate.

"And so you did. Let's just hope their friends don't come back before the wormhole emerges. Now go back to your stations and wait there," Skern said, testily.

Zee left the angry captain, going back to her post. Getting scolded wasn't pleasant, but this wasn't the first time she had been yelled at.

Even with the scolding in front of the crew, she didn't regret her actions. On the contrary, that decisive attack could have saved them all. Returning to her post, she leaned on a bulkhead, letting out a tired sigh.

Bastion paused beside her placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Good job out there," Bastion said with a warm smile.

"I'm glad someone appreciates my efforts," Zee replied.

"Hmph, I always appreciate you," He said.

"You know, for a criminal, you are quite the sweet talker," Zee said.

Bastion beamed. "Of course, it's part of the trade, how else am I supposed to con people for their hard-earned cash?" He asked.

"No need to con me out of anything," Zee said, planting a soft kiss on his lips.

He grinned. "But that's half the fun," Bastion said.

They were interrupted as a soft red light blinked overhead, prompting Bastion to pull away.

A grating voice filled the ship. "All hands on deck, the wormhole is emerging," Captain Skern said calmly.

Zee couldn't see it, but she could certainly feel it. Her eyes widen. Waves of spatial energy bombarded her senses, as the wormhole began to emerge.

A vast gate, one that put the portal her grandpa opened in the planar space to shame suddenly emerged. The wormhole radiated a cold and detached aura, uncaring of anything but itself.

For a moment, she felt its mind brush her own. It seemed interested for a mere heartbeat, before dismissing her existence.

Zee was both incredibly relieved and disappointed. For some reason that dismissal made her feel lacking, like she was inadequate, not worthy of the wormhole's attention.

The wormhole took only seconds to properly open, its mere existence creating waves in the world river. It formed incredibly fast, yet Zee still tried to study it. She might as well have tried to unravel how a star works, given the complexity. Its formation was far too complex, what's more, it was shielded by that vast consciousness.

She only got small glimpses of the formation, and those were only because she was getting feedback through her spatial ripple skill.

They were mere echoes of that complex matrix and yet they were eye-opening. Compared to this entity, her tawdry attempts to open portals were laughable.

No wonder it dismissed her so easily. She was a mere spec of dust in comparison to this existence.

"Are you alright?" Bastion asked, his tone worried.

Zee pushed down the feelings of inadequacy, "I am fine, just distracted," Zee said.

She leaned on the bulkhead as she felt the ship humm to life lurching towards the wormhole. She braced herself, expecting something bad to happen. Horrible things always seemed to happen when a powerful spirit was involved.

Much to her surprise the transfer was seamless. It was the most effortless teleport she had ever experienced.

"Good job crew. We will lie low and wait for our contact to arrive." Captain Skern said.

There wasn't much to do, or see over the next hours. They simply waited around until a ship appeared through a portal with a burst of spatial energy.

The transfer of cargo was actually a dull event given that she didn't get to meet any of the people they were transporting nor the crew of the other ship.

It was maddening, they came all this way here and didn't even get to meet the other crew. It was upsetting even if it made sense. What kind of smugglers would reveal their contacts to outsiders like her team?

With their transfer, the ship went back through the wormhole before it could close, while the other ship went to an unknown destination.

Aside from that one little hiccup, the mission appeared to be a smashing success. All they had to do was survive the tedium of the long trip back, and they would get paid and the promised loan.

Or at least that's what she was thinking until they coasted back through the wormhole. They were greeted by a swarm of small ships searching the wreckage drifting through the asteroid field.

There was also a much larger ship, that radiated an unquestionable might. Whoever was aboard that ship was using arrays to blast out their aura, drenching the area in their presence.

Everyone aboard the smuggler's ship, Zee included, could sense that, an all-encompassing aura of death. Being this close to a pissed-off D-grade warrior was like being smacked upside the head with a shovel.

The presence of such a powerful enemy force was nearly enough to cause blind panic in most of the crew.

Thankfully captain Skern took charge and their little smuggler's ship. The ship was covered in a cloaking array and appeared to be unnoticed for the moment.

Zee prayed to no one in particular, praying that the cloaking array wouldn't malfunction. The entire crew of their little ship must have been thinking the same thing as the ship stealthily navigated the asteroid field.

Zee waited with bated breath, expecting the ship to be discovered at any moment. Nobody spoke, everyone, compressing their auras as much as possible, terrified they might be discovered.

The minutes passed, as the ship slowly crept away, hidden by its cloaking array, and the dense cluster of rocks making up the asteroid belt. Gradually the minutes turned to hours, upon which she could finally let out a huge sigh of relief.

Against all odds they avoided detection, leaving the asteroid belt and the swarm of angry ships behind. It had taken nearly a day of panic-inducing dread, but the crew got them out unscathed.

Some of them might need a change of pants, but that was far better than getting converted into undead, or being blasted to pieces by that warship.

After that harrowing experience, Zee and the rest of the crew were overjoyed for the long boring trip back. Two weeks of nothing to do was much better than that nail-biting day.

Thankfully they arrived safely back on Tartana in the middle of the night and were greeted by their not-so-friendly guide.

"Well, speak of the devil, you actually made it back," Nanut said unhappily.

"Shut your pie hole Nancy. I don't have the patience for you lizard crap, just take us to Rin." Bastion said, returning the man's dislike.

Nanut scowled. Despite his dislike of them, he lead the group to a large warehouse, where Rin was currently held up.

The crime boss grinned when he spotted them, tucking a communications crystal into his inner pocket.

"There you are! Welcome back. How was your trip?" Rin asked positively beaming.

Zee gave the others a who knows look before answering.

"It went well enough. I am sure Skern told you all you need to know," Zee replied.

Rin nodded patting at the pocket he had just placed the comm crystal in.

"That he did. I must say, you four impressed him. Skern is a grouchy old spider who doesn't impress easily, and yet he is already asking for you to accompany him on the next mission," Rin said.

Zee gave the others a sidelong glance. "The crew did most of the work, we were just along for the ride," Zee replied honestly.

Rin laughed, waving a hand through the air, "No need to be so humble. I heard all about your run-in with the undead. Cutting apart a scout ship and utterly annihilating the driver in one hit is no easy feat." Rin said.

She flushed, uncomfortable with the praise. Rin then turned to Yukna.

"And you, your skills are wasted on opening a shop. If you come to work for me I will pay you two hundred Ether crystals a month," Rin promised.

Yukna reached up and ran adjusting her spectacles, "That much? All I did was improve the cloaking arrays and stabilize the ship's framework arrays to properly contain the ship's energy," Yukna said.

"You say that like it's an easy fix. I only have four people who could do that and they are all swamped with work. Having another array specialist would be a lifesaver," Rin said.

"I don't really like the idea of traveling aboard those ships, on their dangerous missions," Yukna said, frowning.

Rin quickly shook his head," No, you misunderstand. I want you to stay here on Tartana and double-check all the arrays on my vessels before they go on their missions," Rin clarified.

Yukna scrunched up her nose at the offer. "I think I will pass. I would prefer to start my own business," Yukna replied.

Rin didn't look deterred in the slightest. "When you open you business, surely you will need clients. You could do contract work for me?" Rin asked.

Yukna thought on that for a moment, appearing uncertain. "I will, under the conditions that you stay out of my business affairs, and you do what you can to keep the Tenku clan off my back," Yukna said.

"Done." Rin grinned holding out a hand.

Yukna smiled taking his hand and shaking it. "So, what about that loan you promised?"

"Talk to Nanut over there, he will give you a loan for however much you need. He might even be able to help you find a place to your liking for a reasonable price, he knows a lot of people," Rin said, gesturing towards Nanut.

"Thank you, I will do that," Yukna said, walking off to talk to Nanut on the other side of the warehouse.

Rin gave Zee a beaming smile. "And what about you three? If you want, I have lots of work for you," Rin offered.

Zee bit her lip, "I don't know about these two, but I need a break from being aboard a ship for a while. If you find anything that is here on Tartana you need help with, I might be amenable." Zee said, making her decision.

"Same goes for me, especially with what you are paying," Bastion said.

Greg simply nodded, his expression unreadable as he scanned the warehouse for threats or liquor, it was hard to say.

Rin clapped his hands together. "Excellent. If something comes up, I will send you a message. In the meantime, go get some rest, I am sure you are tired from the voyage," Rin said.