My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 74: Calm Before The Storm

Kace lay awake on his bunk as Grugda was still out cold in his own. He had begged for someone to retrieve his halberd to no avail. His emotions were in turmoil as he lamented the loss.

It was something that Kharja had gifted to him when he was still alive. So it held a lot of sentimental meaning to him. He had always carried it with him since that day. He let out a deep sigh within his mind.

If it were not for how much the actual physical object itself meant to him he would not have cared less. 'I guess it's finally time to use it...'

Kace felt dejected and had no enthusiasm for what he was about to do. A simple sabre had been given to him by the Quartermaster, Mr Thomas. This was done because of the Captains orders. Everyone had to be armed in case of an emergency.

The sabre rested against the wall of the ship beside his hammock. He had not even touched it since he was not recovered yet when he was brought here. Instead, Sophia, he delivered it later. Taking the weapon by its hilt it began.

The blade lengthened, turning black and ice blue. While the hilt and guard also took on a vicious new look with black and silver as the colour scheme. He admired the blade only for a short while. 'I'll save it for when I have no other choice. Maybe I got too reliant on the one style.' 

Focusing on the new blade he prepared his mana. Ready to use the second of the three abilities he had learned at level ten.

[Cursed Armory]

A display popped up in his mind of the weapons he had added to it over the past year. From clubs to spears moving on to swords and hammers. Each with its own unique design.

Scrolling along he found the halberd template. Selecting it with a thought, his sabre turned into a black liquid as his mana injected into it. A few minutes passed the sabre took on its new form. 

Kace had no idea how it worked but he was glad to have the familiar feeling of the halberd in his hands. Even if it was not the same one physically it still looked the part. Right now that was all that mattered to him.

Using it to lean on, he gently got to his feet. He made his way towards the stairs to the upper deck. Feeling the need for some fresh air. The ship rocked gently as he tried to establish his footing.

Cursing under his breath he stumbled. Almost falling back down the stairs. 'It would be a fine end after everything I've been through. I can see my gravestone now. Here lies Kace, Fearless Chimera and slayer of heroes. Sadly killed by a set of ships stairs. We never got to Wave goodbye.'

His mood was still sour when he eventually managed to safely emerge from below deck. In the distance, he could see the storm curtain that they had to pass through to get here. They had barely scratched the surface of the Island yet they were already returning.

He had no clue at all where to search next. His frustration had reached an even higher peak when he realised that Sophia had not counted as a pillar towards his quest objective, unlike Grugda. It left him with a massive headache.

'Either it has to be Sonja herself, or there's some other requirement.' He wracked his brain as he tried to find the answer. There was only a couple of ideas he could come up with though.

The first one was that only the most powerful one among their race would count as a pillar. Grugda had confirmed before that with the death of his own mentor he had become the most powerful of his kind.

The second was the possibility that the person had to be chosen by their own race. Which, again, applied to Grugda and only failed to apply to Sophia if other vampires still existed.

The third was that the person was chosen by random and he had just got lucky with Grugda. This was the most troublesome as well as the most unlikely. It was still a possibility that he could not afford to ignore though.

His eyes lingered on the storm before them. He was completely lost in his thoughts even as a part of the mass of thunderclouds detached itself from the rest.

If Kace was paying attention he would notice that the rain fell heavier within the new area. Obscuring anything that it may be hiding. It even appeared to change course as though it had locked the 'Freedom' in its sights. It moved swiftly over the sea, closing in by the second.

Another ten minutes or so passed before shouting came from above the crews head. A figure leaned out from the nest pointing towards the anomaly.

Me Penny quickly scanned the direction he was pointing. Quickly finding the source of the man's alarm. He was known for his quick judgement and even though he had never seen anything like it he only took three seconds to classify it.

"Everyone to arms!" He roared, making the curious crew members almost jump out of their skin. "Hostile force ahead! Prepare for battle!"

The crew's faces turned white at the declaration. They were in no fit state to fight anything. The crew they had left was barely enough to sail the ship!

Kace could only curse his bad luck. He assumed that it had to be some kind of sea-dwelling monster. 'I might get a nice new ability though.' He grinned, feeling like it was the first time in ages. His mood was soon shattered though.

Having heard the commotion Captain Raven burst out of his quarters and glanced around at the horizon. His eyes reduced to slits as he spotted the same thing Mr Penny had. The temperature plummeted by a few degrees.

"Ready the cannons!" Raven roared, his voice full of bloodlust. "Heroes are inbound!"

"Oh fuck me! Can this day get any worse!" Kace accidentally and sarcastically said aloud. Drawing hateful gazes from the crew who had the combined complexion of a snowflake now.