[You are bleeding out. You are losing 1% Health every 5 seconds.]

[Warning! Health below 5%. You are close to dying.]

Adam's eyes snapped open.

Then pain flooded his mind like a carpet of fire.

Adam screamed, but an integral part of his brain still retained its function, making him dig his remaining hand into the left pocket of his pants, grabbing the thing Belamouranthe had gifted him. It had been in his pocket all this time, waiting for a moment like this.

Adam yanked the blue apple-sized strawberry out of his pocket and shoved it into his mouth. More and more of his blood evacuated his body with every passing second and beating pulse of his heart.

< < Relic > >

< All-Mother's Fruit (Rare) — Consume to restore Health, Stamina, and Mana to 100%. Once consumed, the Relic disappears >

[All-Mother's Fruit consumed! Recovering Health, Stamina, and Mana back to 100%.]

The pain vanished immediately.

And with its disappearance his situational awareness returned.

"Adam!!" Emelia screamed, running towards where he lay sprawled on the deck.

"I'm fine! Focus on the ballistae!" he shouted.

Fwoosh!

Somehow, even with just the split-second warning, Emelia was able to pivot her entire body out of the way of the ballista bolt coming right at her.

Then she launched from the ground with the Spring Boots, flying over his head.

A loud crash came from behind him, but he was unable to turn to look, since the healing effects of the fruit immobilized his body while it repaired it.

I didn't see what happened to the boss, he thought while he struggled to focus on what was ahead of him.

The rise of the helm and captain's quarters were just blurry shapes, but he was certain that Emelia had already dealt with the Whale Eaters Captain.

I must've been out longer than I thought. All my wraith summons are gone.

Even without him consciously commanding it, his two barriers had been shaped into shields to protect him.

As sounds of destruction came from behind him, no doubt thanks to Emelia disabling the remaining ballista teams, Adam stared in morbid fascination at the right side of his body as the shoulder joint, upper arm, forearm, and hand regrew from nothing.

The healing went layer-by-layer, building up the bones first, then spinning the sinew and muscles like threads, before adding on the flesh and fat, finishing it off with the skin.

When it was finally complete and he could push himself up off the airship's deck, Emelia had returned, breathing quickly.

She opened her mouth and was about to say something, but was cut off.

< < Optional Stage Objective Complete > >

< Defeated the Golden Slug airship >

"We did it," Adam said.

Then Emelia grabbed him in a tight hug, pressing herself into him and squeezing as hard as she could without actually injuring him. She eased off and looked up at him, their eyes meeting.

To Adam, those purple spirals were no longer an ominous sign.

Emelia moved her lips to his and kissed him.

Adam didn't try to pull away, but instead he leaned into it more, wrapping his arms around her.

She's so small up close like this. She always seems much larger than everyone else because of her presence.

He felt her tense briefly, before relaxing into his arms, allowing him to take charge.

When they finally pulled away from each other, both of them were flushed and breathing quickly.

"We did it," Emelia repeated with a grin.

"Probably too late to ask this, but how are we meant to fly this thing with just the two of us?" Adam asked, realising that the fins on the side of the airship had stopped moving.

Emelia laughed. "I'll show you."

As they walked towards the helm, where the captain's control podium was, Adam realised that all the bodies were gone.

Probably a good thing, since otherwise this thing would smell like a corpse pit within just a couple of hours. But it is weird for all the people we killed to just vanish.

"I've heard the dead also disappear like this if you take over a settlement," Emelia said, noticing the same thing as him. "It's normal for a faction to be wiped out if you kill its captain though. But we should still see some small groups of Whale Eaters here and there."

"What about the Fallen?"

"They don't have a captain or a real headquarters. They're kind of just the default bad guys of this Stage."

"But couldn't they end up being one of the factions that we'd have to get the main objective item from? The puzzle mechanism or whatever it was?" he asked.

"I haven't encountered it myself, but if that happens, then you can find it at a nearby outpost."

They reached the helm and climbed the steps to the top. The podium with the six throttles and control wheel was at the front near the edge, raised up to give the captain the best overview of his vessel. Behind the podium, towards the back of the helm and the edge of the ship itself were three chests. A Relic Chest, an Upgrade Chest, and one that was dark-blue with metal teeth below the lid, making it appear like it might eat the hand of whoever tried to open it.

"That's a Captain Chest," Emelia said. "They always have the same Relic inside them, tied to the captain you killed. I've never seen this one in person, but I know what it is."

"There's no point in me opening it then," he replied and gestured for her to do it. "You did all the work, after all."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Not true," she replied. "Your wraiths cut him up and slowed him down a lot. I've heard he's an extremely mobile boss, but your summons let me kill him quickly."

"Regardless, I think you should at least open one chest with a Relic in it in this Stage, since I'm opening all the rest."

She smiled. "Very thoughtful."

"I'm also slightly worried the chest might be a spring-loaded trap," Adam admitted.

Emelia laughed. "That somehow wouldn't surprise me. They don't do Mimic Chests until later though."

"Seriously…?"

"They're easily revealed by tickling them," she replied. "It's kind of funny to see everyone tickling their chests before opening them, but the alternative is pretty bad."

"That sounds absurd. I can just imagine it: high stakes fighting concluding with everyone tickling their treasure."

Emelia laughed. "You kind of nailed it."

Instead of touching the Captain Chest, she kicked the bottom part of it, avoiding the metal embellishments and plates that covered it, as well as the intimidating teeth.

It popped open, showing a single item, similar to when Adam had defeated the Bumblebee in the previous Stage.

< < Relic Available > >

< Offal's Spring-Loaded Stilts (Epic) — Stomp the stilts or kick them into a target to release the mechanism, quadrupling the power of the move. 30-second cooldown | Can survive falling from any height >

His name was 'Offal'?

"Isn't that just a straight upgrade to your boots?" he asked.

"It's really good," she said. "The strength of your punches and kicks and other physical attacks without weapons are based on your general Damage stat, which means I can probably kill a lot of things by just kicking them now. I've never tried it though."

"As if you weren't frighteningly-powerful enough already," he remarked.

"I seem to recall you destroying half of an island when you went all out last time," she replied.

"There is one small danger with these stilts though," she added. "If you land on them from high enough up, it'll trigger the spring and launch you with a lot of power."

"I can see how that might be an issue," he said.

Emelia put on the stilts and handed Adam her Slothling Spring Boots, which he immediately equipped.

Adam had to look up slightly to meet her eyes now. "You're taller than me now…"

"Intimidated?" she teased.

"I mean, it was kind of the only thing I had going for me, since you're physically way stronger than me."

Emelia laughed.

Then she put her hands on his face and leaned in to kiss him.

"I've never been with a woman taller than me before," Adam muttered while their lips were still touching.

"You're such an idiot," she said with a smile in her voice.

"So, how do we control the ship?" he asked, looking over to the wheel and the six throttles.

"It's supposed to all be controlled from there," she replied.

Adam went over to stand on the podium. He pushed all the throttles forward at the same time, making sure they were evenly engaged.

The enormous airship shifted and moved forward with sudden speed. Since they were on a collision course with the island of Fallow's Glory, Adam pulled the wheel to the left and the fins on the left side of the ship drew together, while the ones on the right spread out more, causing the Golden Slug to turn rather gracefully.

"This is amazing," he said.

It also didn't hurt that from his vantage at the front of the helm he could literally see the entirety of the main deck, even though it dipped down in the middle and at the front.

"No wonder this airship is so powerful," he added.

Emelia came up next to him. "If only there was a way for us to handle all the ballistae from here, but we need a crew for that."

"Where can we get one?" he asked.

"The White Flags might want to give us a few people perhaps," she said. "It's possible to use them as guards, although they're quite expensive."

"Pretty sure we can afford it now," he replied.

"They keep all the treasures and such in the captain's quarters," Emelia said. "He's supposed to have quite the hoard, but I'm not sure how he avoided becoming Gold-cursed."

"Perhaps eating Slugwhales prevents it?" Adam guessed.

Emelia paused. "That actually makes a lot of sense. Slugwhales, and especially Slug Dragons, often hoard wealth, but they don't get cursed. I thought it might only affect humans, but it's possible that they possess something that inoculates them, and that eating their flesh passes that on."

Adam pulled all the throttles back, causing the fins to stop swimming through the air and slowly coasting the airship to a stop.

"I want to see what the key is for," Adam said.

"What about the other two chests?" she asked.

"Later," he said, hopping over the edge of the helm and landing on the deck in front of the steps that led down into the captain's quarters.

Emelia landed behind him a second later, her stilts producing a metallic sound as they cancelled out her fall.

Adam pushed open the door and they came into an enormous stately room filled to the brim with stuff. Statues, artefacts, gold coins and jewels in piles, weapons, casks of wine and rum, cured and smoked meats of countless varieties, and so much more filled up the interior, burying the furniture.

"Wow," Emelia said.

"We're rich," Adam deadpanned.

Emelia laughed. "It's like having a fortune in radioactive materials, right?"

"Do you think some of that meat is made from Slugwhales?" he asked. "I'd like to avoid getting cursed."

"Let's hope so," she said with a grin. "Though Iffen might be upset if he finds out."

They waded through the treasure to get to the back of the enormous captain's quarters where a giant bed was placed, the only thing not buried.

"Big enough for two," Emelia noted.

"Big enough for six, actually," Adam replied.

He panned around.

"I don't see the door from my vision," he remarked.

He pulled out the Slugwhale Key and touched it with his obsidian hand, seeing the origin of the pockmarked door the key led to.

"It has to be around here somewhere," he said confidently.

"It could also be at the front of the ship," Emelia said. They hadn't been able to get to whatever compartment the ship-eating maw at the bow led to when they came up through the lower floors.

"It makes more sense for it to be here," he replied, and she nodded.

"Perhaps there's a secret room?" she guessed.

Adam frowned. "Or a trap door buried by ten tonnes of treasure."

They rummaged around for a bit until Emelia pointed at something that seemed out of place. It was a rounded pillar made from the same material as the airship itself, bone and gold. It rose out of the treasure hoard like a lighthouse.

It didn't take long for them to notice there was a hole in one side of the pillar.

"It's a keyhole," she said.

Adam pushed the Slugwhale Key inside, and it fit perfectly.

He spun the key four times until a loud click came from the floor in the middle of the captain's quarters.

Then the floor opened as a trap door was released, dropping down on one end to create a ramp leading deeper into the ship. A lot of the treasure fell down the new opening, clinking and clanking as it all bounced down into the bowels of the ship's stern.

"Told you," Adam said.

They followed the trap door ramp down, and it led right to the foot of the large door that Adam had seen in his vision from the Slugwhale Key.

"I wonder where my quest object is," Emelia said.

"It would make sense if they kept that at the front of the ship," Adam replied. "I'm guessing the Slug Dragon they're hunting would be attracted to it, so getting it to focus on the front of the ship would make it easier for them to shoot it with that giant ballista they have there."

"Good point."

"Alright, here we go," Adam said and slid the key into the door.

The four distinct heads of the key slid into the lock, and he once again had to twist it four times like with the pillar before a click emanated from the door. The sound was followed by a tremor as some mechanism inside slowly pulled aside the two halves and revealed a dark chamber with a single pedestal in the middle.

There were some dusty skeletons on the floor, and the room seemed to have been left untouched for decades.

"This looks like a trap," Emelia said.

On the pedestal was a single item. It was a black box that was wider than it was tall, and it looked like it was made from wood.

Since Adam agreed with Emelia that it did indeed look like a trap, he sent a barrier out to grab the prize, shaping it into a hand and grabbing it with the fingers.

"You've gotten really good at that," she commented.

Adam grinned at the compliment as he recalled his barrier and the thing it'd picked up.

Then the floor started to tremble.

Oh shit!

He pulled the barrier hand back as fast as possible, just before the door snapped shut.

"Phew," Adam muttered.

"Not the first 'secret reward' I've seen where they did something like this," Emelia remarked unimpressed.

Adam dropped the item into his awaiting palm.

The wooden box turned out to be a compass. Its middle disc was clearly made from bone, and all the embellishments and cardinal directions were inlaid gold. The direction for north was a golden triangle.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Captain Fallow's Compass (Epic) — The object of thy desire is always within reach >

What a vague description.

"Is that what I think it is?" Emelia wondered.

Adam gingerly pressed his right index finger against the Relic, and a jolt went through him as his special hand's power activated.

Instead of a vision of its creation and history, Adam instead saw a single snapshot of the past.

A large meaty hand gripped the compass.

"Show me what I seek," said a deep voice.

The compass obeyed the command and the dial spun around in a new direction, the golden arrow for north pointing to where the man wanted to go.

Adam gasped as the vision passed.

"It shows us the direction to what we want to find," he said, amazed.

"This explains a lot," Emelia said. "There's no way Arturo could've found all those secrets by himself, even if he looped dozens of times. I mean, they're super obscure later on. Like, you need to follow several bizarre steps to find the trident in Stage Eleven."

"Maybe completing my Patron Quest isn't going to be completely impossible now," he said, staring down at the compass. "Show me what I seek."

The golden arrow spun around and pointed south-south-east.

"Let's get the Golden Slug to Windtop Cove, rest for the night, and then tomorrow we can chase down our quests," Emelia said.

Adam nodded, stuffing the compass in his left pocket and following Emelia out of the secret chamber.

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