Emelia made Adam park their airship in a cave on the northern side of Fallow's Glory when they arrived. There were a few other caves around the sheer cliff-side of the floating island, and she wanted them to explore those since they had time. The landmass it floated on went down really far unlike other islands they'd seen, and she had said there was an elaborate cave system.

"How long do we have exactly?" Adam wondered.

"About 3 hours or so," she said. "It's hard to say when exactly it'll get here, just that it'll be sometime after nightfall."

"Hopefully Captain Drew won't mind us being a little bit late with his map," Adam said.

"Night lasts at least 6 hours, so, if we're lucky, we should be able to get back to Windtop tonight."

Adam looked to his cube. "Let me know when there are 10 minutes to nightfall."

[Understood.]

The cave they parked inside was hardly any bigger than the airship, but it went quite far down, allowing the fins to hang without pressing against the rock.

With his barriers, Adam ferried them out from the cave and up onto the fertile soil of the island. Large trees covered most of the surface and a glowing mountain in the background showed the volcano they'd both seen in the images that Iffen had shared with them.

"Should we go to the caves first or check up here?" Adam asked.

"If you can fly us over the treetops, then we should be able to find the shipwreck that's on the island," Emelia said. "It has a Relic Chest but is swarming with man-eaters."

"Man-eaters? Do you mean cannibals?"

"Yeah. They're pretty disturbing, but they've only got primitive tools and what they can scavenge. Their strength comes from their numbers."

"Should be easy enough to deal with," he replied.

"If I remember correctly, it's actually possible to become friendly with them and help with some kind of ritual involving the volcano, which they worship."

"Really? How do you befriend them?" he asked.

"No idea. I just remember someone talking about it once. Anyway, I don't think we should bother with that. Most of the quests inside Stages are just to get currency and upgrades."

"What about the one from Iffen?" he asked.

"That one should be different," she said. "After all, boarding and overtaking the Golden Slug is meant to be something that a party does on the last day of the Stage."

"And you're sure we can do it?"

"I know what I'm doing," Emelia replied confidently. "You just need to keep yourself alive and provide a bit of backup."

"Wait… Am I just the chauffeur??"

Emelia laughed. "Now you're getting it."

"I'll show you I'm way more than that," he replied.

They got back on the barriers and Adam flew them over the treetops, almost circling the entire forest island before they spotted a clearing made by a medium-sized airship that'd crashed. Its masts were still intact, but the fins, propellers, and hull were damaged beyond repair, clearly the result of aerial combat. The ship resembled those of the Treasure Hunters faction they'd shot down earlier.

Like Emelia had said, strange figures crowded the wreckage, running up and down the tilted deck and coming out from within the punctured hull, carrying treasure, provisions, and pieces from disassembled ballistae along with their large bolts.

The unfortunate survivors of the crash were long dead, their bodies flayed and torn to bits. Bones, flaps of skin, and splotches of blood were the only real remains.

The man-eaters were lanky humans covered in decorative paint clearly made with blood and mud, as well as white and grey ash, and black soot. Aside from loincloths, they were completely naked. Their faces were angular with tufts of hair at the very peak of their scalps, their teeth were sharp like those of a predator, and their fingers had evolved into claw-like weapons.

How could anyone try to befriend these creatures…?

They hovered in the air unseen by the man-eaters below until Emelia dropped from her barrier, aiming herself feet-first down to the main deck.

Not to be outdone, Adam shaped his two free barriers into spikes and commanded them to aim for the man-eaters' necks while staying within his reach as he floated above out of danger.

The quick projectiles zipped back and forth, whistling as they flew and rapidly changed target after gouging out the enemies' necks one by one. At the same time, Emelia surged around on the deck, pulverising all the man-eaters that challenged her. As Adam's shrieking Winter Dancers appeared, the last few made a break for it, disappearing into the trees before Adam could catch them.

Within just a few short seconds, dozens of dead cannibals lay on the downed airship and around it on the grassy soil of the clearing made by the crash.

"We should hurry and loot it," Emelia said. "They'll be back with more."

Adam brought his barrier down to the torn-open hull, but then Emelia called him back up to the main deck.

"It's inside the captain's quarters," she said, pointing to the back of the airship, the part of it raised into the air.

Unlike the unicorn ship, the wreck was not so steep that they couldn't simply walk up to where stairs led to the door of the captain's quarters. Somehow the door hinges had survived the crash, but it was clear to see that the back of the airship had been reinforced, given the fact that its damage was mostly surface-level.

Inside the tilted quarters were furniture piled against the wall next to the door, as well as foodstuffs spilled on the floor, along with the shards and stains from a broken wine bottle. Somehow, a Relic Chest was just planted right in the middle of the floor, ignoring gravity's pull. It looked just like what a pirate's treasure chest ought to look like: gilded embellishments and latch mechanism, aged brown wood, and a rounded lid.

Emelia gestured for Adam to open it.

The Choice Ring he'd taken from Maalia's body glowed as he pushed up the lid. Golden light spilled out from within, and four holograms appeared.

"I forgot I got that upgrade," Adam muttered.

"It would probably have been better to pick something like a permanent Damage boost," Emelia said. "In the long run this really only saves you a little bit on Reroll Dice. Of course, it works very well with the Lucky Stone and Choice Ring," she noted.

Even though I know she's probably right, I do like having more choices. It should hopefully allow me to get a second general upgrade choice from Upgrade Chests.

< < Relics Available > >

< White Flags Chain-Sleeve (Rare) — Increases Player Defence by 10% | Increases Player Damage by 10% | Reduces Movement Speed by 10% >

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

< Scoundrel's Glove (Rare) — Surprise attacks against humanoids made by a weapon wielded in this glove inflict Haemorrhage, dealing 2% Health in damage per second for 30 seconds >

< Choice Ring (Epic) — Allows you to pick two options from a Stage reward. 1-Stage cooldown >

< Portsmith's Goggles (Rare) — Identify weaknesses in armour after looking at it for 3 seconds | Lowers Player Relic cooldowns by 5% >

"A second Choice Ring," Adam remarked.

"That's really lucky," Emelia noted.

The goggles could be alright, but I don't know if I wanna use the Choice Ring I have right now to grab them…

"Can you use any of the other things?"

"No, I'm good," she replied. "But the Scoundrel's Glove is really powerful, since it obviously deals an insane amount of potential damage. It just only works on humanoids."

"What was the item you wanted me to get?" he asked.

"It's called Cloud Skimmer Jacket," she replied. "It's similar to the Slothling Fur Coat, but has no durability that destroys it, plus the dash ability it gives is useful."

< < Relic Selected > >

< Choice Ring (Epic) >

Adam put the Relic in the Spidersilk Sack with the rest of the stuff he'd gotten from the other Players, and then they left the shipwreck.

As soon as they were outside, they heard the whooping and yelling of the man-eaters preparing to charge them from the trees.

"Time to go," Emelia said, and they both got onto Adam's barriers. The spells had survived the fight without any of them breaking, which was quite surprising.

Once they were in the air, the man-eaters broke from the trees and stormed the shipwreck, only to look up and see them fly away. Their outraged shouts and yells were followed by thrown rocks and wooden spears.

"Exploring is generally such a hassle in this Stage," Emelia said. "Having your barriers speeds things up a lot."

"I know, I know, I'm the chauffeur."

"I was only joking," she replied with a grin. "You killed half of the cannibals after all. My last time through this Stage, I killed 90% of all the enemies, if not more. The fact that you can keep up is impressive."

"Well, the Legendary Relic is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. I wouldn't be able to control two barriers simultaneously like that without it."

"Regardless, we should be able to make quick work of the Whale Eaters and Fallen onboard the Golden Slug."

They spent the next two hours scouring the cave system inside the island, which they'd accessed through one of the cliff-side cave openings. However, they had very little luck finding anything worth their time, aside from the scattered remains of three pirates, who had about a hundred Doubloons, as well as some notes about searching for a treasure under Fallow's Glory.

When they were close to nightfall, they finally found something worthwhile, but immediately ran into trouble. A large slate-grey Slugwhale with soft neon-pink-tipped spikes all down its back was guarding the ruins of a temple that seemed to be situated almost directly below the island's volcano.

The Slugwhale was large enough to physically block the entire entrance to the temple, and Emelia said it was one of the toxic ones, so touching it was not going to end well.

"I can take it out," Adam said as they stood out of sight of the large creature.

Emelia nodded and watched as he spun together three barriers, turning them into one. He wasn't trying to obliterate the treasure that might await them, so he refrained from fusing the barriers with a fourth one created by his wand.

Given the design of the ship they were hunting, it was clear that Slugwhales had quite large skeletons, but they weren't visible in the slightest through their squishy exterior.

"Where am I meant to aim my shot?" Adam asked as he shaped the tripled-fused barrier into a spike with a wide end and hooks protruding from it for maximum carnage.

"They have their organs, brain, and such all cluttered inside their skeleton. It's like a pod in the front of their body, near to the head. For a Slugwhale that big, it might be a metre-and-a-half long."

"So, if I can shoot down the length of its body, that'll work best, right?"

"Yeah."

Adam nodded. "Alright, let's do it."

Emelia jumped out around the corner and immediately the Slugwhale moved towards her, pressing its slate-grey body through the entrance pillars to the temple. She quickly back-pedalled as it charged her.

"Now!" she yelled, and Adam jumped out from the branching tunnel he'd been hiding in.

With a mental nudge, Adam fired the triple-fused barrier at the Slugwhale's head, commanding it through Alepheria's Mandate to stay in the centre of its body for maximum damage.

The spinning projectile whooshed down the tunnel and burrowed through the slug, the spinning motion and flensing hooks tearing its jelly-like flesh free and sending it cascading around it as a large hole was formed.

The reverberating thrum of the projectile shook the walls and floor of the cave system, making small debris and rocks bounce off the ground.

His projectile had failed to fully core the Slugwhale down the centre of its body, instead getting stuck somewhere in the middle of it. Regardless, it had clearly penetrated the skeleton and destroyed the organs within.

"Wow, its body actually held up quite well," Emelia muttered. "I thought for sure it'd explode."

"I'm guessing the flesh of a Slugwhale is quite impact resistant and can absorb a lot of shock," Adam said, staring at the dead creature.

"Real question now is: how do we get around it?" Emelia said.

Adam commanded the barrier to pull itself out of the corpse, but no sooner did it emerge than it disappeared, the initial impact apparently breaking it and triggering Last Stand's Fervour.

He resummoned his barriers, but then had a genius idea and switched to his wand.

"What are you doing?" Emelia asked suspiciously.

"Just watch," he replied.

Adam cast Necromancy on the dead Slugwhale, and it immediately stirred, pulling itself upright. Its mouth feelers and eyestalks shifted around in confusion, which led to an uncomfortable revelation.

Those I resurrect retain their sentience… That explains why mad enemies remain insane.

With a gesture of his wand and obsidian hand, the reanimated slug pulled its body back through the temple opening, making it possible for them to pass through and find what secrets awaited within.

This skill is really strong, but using it on a Player seems like it would have some really fucked up consequences if they're able to retain their memories, feelings, and personality…

Inside the temple, which was really just a set of pillars carved into a pocket of the cave system, they found spirals engraved into the floor, along with the bones and skeletons of several humanoids. There were a couple of normal treasure chests, which were full of treasure and coins, and Emelia had Adam lift them with his barriers to bring to their airship, even though she'd said they'd get the Gold-curse if they collected too many riches.

They also found a Relic Chest and an Upgrade Chest inside the temple. Emelia told him he could grab the Relic one and she grabbed the upgrade.

He watched as she was given four options just like him, showing she'd gone with the Rewards upgrade too at some point. Unsurprisingly, she ended up picking a Damage upgrade.

Adam opened his chest. Holograms of a metal belt, old leather boots, a black leather jacket, and a metal glove with a bear-trap on it appeared.

< < Relics Available > >

< Whale Eater's Snap Gauntlet (Epic) — Punch the gauntlet against a target to trigger the spring-loaded mechanism to snap and latch on to their flesh, inflicting 100% weapon damage. 30-second cooldown | Afflictions delivered with this Relic are twice as potent >

< Cloud Skimmer Jacket (Rare) — Increases Player Defence by 25% | Increases Movement Speed by 10% | Enables the wearer to rapidly dash forward while moving, consuming 20% Stamina >

< Treasure Hunter's Well-Worn Boots (Rare) — Allows for the wearer to traverse any terrain, mostly ignoring gravity >

< Heavy Belt (Rare) — Increases Player Defence by 50% | Reduces Movement Speed by 50% >

"I got the Relic you mentioned," Adam said with a grin.

"That was fast," Emelia replied, coming over to him.

The jacket was a sleek black leather thing with a lot of pockets and belt-straps around the arms. It didn't look like the sleeves were long enough to prevent him from using bracers. And he'd still be able to keep the Potion Belt around his right arm as well.

"That Snap Gauntlet is pretty nasty with an affliction build," Emelia said. "If you used that with Huntsman and a lot of afflictions, you'd be able to kill enemies so fast."

"Says the person punch-decapitating enemies," Adam joked.

"Stacking damage only gets you so far," she replied. "After Stage Ten you need something more than that to stay alive. It'll get to a point where most enemies you encounter pose a significant challenge, especially when the Absolutes start letting their spawn participate…"

"Sounds fun," he deadpanned.

"Anyway, you should get the jacket. The dash is much better than the description makes it seem. You can double-chain it to basically send yourself flying. Pretty powerful when you have a build centred around turning Speed into Damage."

[There are now 10 minutes remaining to nightfall,] Adam's cube suddenly announced.

"Oh shit, we'd better hurry," he said.

< < Relic Selected > >

< Cloud Skimmer Jacket (Rare) >

The jacket landed in his arms, and he quickly swapped it out with the Slothling Fur Coat, which he put in his Spidersilk Sack.

"Alright, let's go," he said, and they got on a barrier together, with the other two carrying the treasure chests stacked with Doubloons.

Adam flew their barriers through the cave system, taking directions from Emelia about where to turn, eventually seeing them out through the same cliff-side cave they'd entered through, but the world outside was now cast in a blue-ish light instead of gold.

On the northern horizon was a ship that was immediately recognisable to him.

It was the Golden Slug.

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