Dimension Wave Chapter 20

“Oh, woe… such suffering had befallen me…”

Yamikage cries out loud, still sopping wet from her quick swim.
Sheryl successfully rescued her within minutes of her falling in the water.
Still, I didn’t think that would happen to her.
Something like this happened in the manga adaptation of the Three Kingdoms that I read before. In it, there was a fight called The Battle of Chibi, which took place on a river.
I don’t know the real history of it, but though they were hugely outnumbered by the Wei army, it was a victory for the Wu forces thanks to their tactics and strategies.
The takeaway is that Naval Combat is a necessary skill.

“… you mentioned something about practice, right?”

Before we set off, Sheryl said to Shouko that we’ll be practicing nearby.
Ms. Sheryl, surely, you remember what you had said.
She doesn’t answer me, so I look over to find her with her usual blank look on her face.
Surely, you remember, right?

“How strong is your Naval Combat, Sheryl?”
“Level 3 with 124 EXP. You?”
“Not too sure about Levels… but Rank II.”

Spirits are different than other races.
Honestly, EXP and Levels mean nothing to me.
My guess is that Level 3 is like a Spirit’s Rank III. I unlock ranks by spending time on boats, but it might be different for levels.

“Is it due to that skill that you are able to move so quickly on a boat, Kizuna?”
“Yeah. I unlocked it by spending 12 hours on a boat. You should consider it too.”
“12 hours may not seem like a long time, but it is not short either.”

Shouko seemed pretty pump to acquire Naval Combat too, but she seems just a little dejected after hearing how long it takes to unlock it.
It’s certainly true that it’s easier to unlock than Night Vision, but it does take longer.

“But how did you fall in anyway, Yamikage? Weren’t you casting Drain?”
“I, myself, understand not. I had fallen into the sea before I had realized.”
“… maybe you were too focused on channeling Drain and not on your feet.”
“Th-That mayhap be the case…”

It takes quite a bit of attention just to keep balanced on a boat.
If you s.h.i.+ft your attention to something else, like casting magic, it wouldn’t be a surprise that you end up overboard.
Does Naval Combat help with that? It’d sure be handy if it did.
If it doesn’t, then using magic at all means you’re as good as dead.
Of course, it’d be feasible if someone were to support you while you cast spells, but that’s not really realistic at all…

“Kizuna!”

Shouko suddenly calls for my attention, interrupting my imagination.
I looked over to see her eyes gleaming as if she was struck by a great idea.

“How about you, Yamikage, and I all hold hands in combat?!”
“… huh?”

What kind of fighting style is that?
Shouko is already kinda held back by us now, but this’ll at least keep her steady. Fortunately, her folding fan is a one-handed weapon. This would also prevent Yamikage from falling in when she uses Drain as well.
But… holding hands together like we’re all little kids?
Isn’t that super lame?
… like, seriously though.

“In that case, why don’t we tie Yamikage up to the mast instead? She’ll be able to use Drain that way.”
“‘tis an outrage!”
“No, you could be like a turret or something. We could mount you up there.”
“ Nay, prithee!”
“… don’t. You’ll spoil the view.”
“Oh, fine, I’ll let you off the hook. Only ‘cause Sheryl said not to though.”
“Avaunt!”

Jokes aside, what really should we do?
It’s lame, but holding hands would work.

“By the way, does that ballista in the back work?”
“It does.”
“How would I use it?”
“Pay up first.”
“Say whaaaat!”

That’s a lot to ask for after I paid for all the materials for the boat already.
I guess one single bolt costs a lot.

“That’s a shame… I guess I’ve no choice but to send you two to the bilge…” I quietly muttered out.

I was checking out below deck earlier and I saw a handpump in the bilge… what do they call that, a bilge pump?
Shouko and Yamikage will man the pump while Sheryl and I take 12 hour s.h.i.+fts up top.

“You most certainly do have a choice!”
“Dost thou mean to work us as slaves?!”
“Tsk! Didn’t think you’d hear me.”

Even though I muttered out so quietly.
Well, it’s only a boat for four. They’d be deaf if they couldn’t hear that.
But, still…
Holding hands and fighting together? That’s so embarra.s.sing though.
If that’s my reason why… they’ll totally give me h.e.l.l over it.

“Ugh… fine. It’s super lame, but we’ll do it your way, Shouko.”

In the end, I gave into her.
Well, slave-driving them would be totally nonsensical anyway.

“Okay!”
“I am overjoyed to serve such a great master as Miss Kizuna.”

Y’all are too selfish. Especially you, Ms. Dark Shadow.
Hmm?
Sheryl has a creepy and uncharacteristic smile on her face.

“… say goodbye to freedom if you screw up again.”

d.a.m.n, you scary, Ms. Sheryl.
Anyway, even though it’s a little weird holding hands all chummily, at least I can support both of them this way. It is what it is.

“Shouko, can you still defend yourself like this?”
“I shall try!”

This time, I’ll be supporting them like how we planned.
In my left hand is the defenseless Yamikage casting Drain.
If Shouko were to be aggressively attack, she’ll likely lose her balance. Instead, she’ll be standing up front to dodge and parry attacks. After Yamikage casts Drain, I’ll switch to supporting Shouko with weapon in hand. It’s a little tricky but we’re giving it a shot.

The enemy is a Brave Bird—a large bird-like creature that’s almost as big as half the boat.
I don’t know what kind of attributes it has, but it has a red stripe down it’s body. It’s kinda cool.
Last time I fought it, I realized I wasn’t strong enough and I retreated. But this time, with a full party, I think we have a chance.
Once Shouko and Yamikage acquires Naval Combat, I’m sure they’ll do just fine against it.
While I was lost in thought, Shouko has already blocked and sidestepped away from its attack. The Brave Bird turns around and comes back for another lunge at us.
I give Yamikage an impatient look as she finishes channeling Drain.

“Havest a taste of Drain!”

A black visual effect quickly flies towards the Brave Bird, hits it, and returns a few pellets of green light to Yamikage.
If you think about the damage it deals and the Energy gained from it, Drain is actually pretty strong.
But honestly, I’d like to see something that does even more damage, but Yamikage is so determined to use it. It’s not like I’m aiming to have the strongest party either, so it’s fine as long as we’re all having fun.
Plus, I’m kinda weak myself too.

“You’re up next, Shouko. Try not to get hit while I’m gone, Yamikage.”
“Aye, aye!”

Ugh, I’m getting impatient.
If we were on land, we wouldn’t have to take turns to attack; we’d be landing as many blows as we can.
But we’re on water now, so that’s too bad. I make my way over to Shouko with my Iron Boning Knife in hand.

“You good to go?”
“Yes. I am well-charged.”

Her fan glows brighter as Shouko checks on it.
Because of how we’re fighting, she has more time to charge up while Yamikage is casting.
That means the damage output is also greater.
If you think about it, the situation isn’t too bad.

“I’ll take advantage of the opening after you land your hit. Let’s do it!”
“Okay! Wild Dance, the Third: Cherry Blossoms!”

Her fan changed to a pale pink… to the color of cherry blossoms. Then comes a visual effect of flower petals and Shouko whips open her fan, forcefully cutting through it.
What she just did would be best described as “a flash”. That line she cut is probably the direction of her attack.
It’s probably not the most efficient attack against a singular Brave Bird, but since she charged up that long, it must be really strong.
Shouko staggers perhaps from swinging too forcefully.

“I gotcha.”
“Thank you.”

Keeping her planted is my job.
Shouko immediately turns to face the Brave Bird.
However…

“Yo… it flew away.”

I’m not sure if it flees after taking a certain amount of damage, but the Brave Bird suddenly and quickly gained alt.i.tude.
That giant bird took off in an instant.
What, so we wasted all our hard work?

fwoom!

The sound of metal sc.r.a.ping on metal came from somewhere behind me.
I turn my head and see Sheryl—with her usual emotionless expression—wrangling something at the stern.
Right, that’s the ballista—the weapon that costs a lot per shot.
I see what happened.
Sheryl fired the ballista before the Brave Bird could flee.
And, as proof, it begins to fall out of the sky.
I check my status screen to see that I’ve gained 700 Energy, meaning that we’ve slayed the monster.

“We somehow sc.r.a.ped by, eh?”
“Yep.”

Sheryl back at it again with her one-word responses.
700 Energy for each of us is pretty yummy, even with the party bonus.
The way we are now, of course there’s no way we can slay a lot of them. Still, it’s more efficient than the Forest of Eternal Darkness seeing how every monster here gives us quite a lot of Energy.

“So, how’s the ocean for experience?”

I ask Shouko, an ex-frontliner and knowledgeable about where to grind.
I’m sure there are plenty of places that are better, but Brave Birds are one of the weaker monsters out here. She should be pretty happy, right?

“… we earned more than I thought we would. It is comparable to what the monsters we fought on the frontline.”
“That’s good. It’d suck if the experience wasn’t good, seeing how we put so much into building the s.h.i.+p and coming up with tactics.”
“However, this is just the beginning, correct? I wonder what lies in wait ahead of us. To be frank, I would hesitate to call this an easy fight.”

I get what she means.
She said it’s on the same level as the frontlines.
But I personally know of at least a few more monsters that are stronger than Brave Birds.
That honestly makes me a little anxious…

“It’s piqued your interest, right?”
“… you are right. The great unknown is ahead of us.”

That’s antic.i.p.ation.
Adventurous, you could call her.
It’s the extremely simple emotion of wanting to go find out what you don’t know.
And it’s not just me and Sheryl; I’m glad that Shouko feels the same way.
We know nothing what lies beyond the horizon, which is why I want to go find out.

“Well, let’s go fish the bird out of the water. We gotta make some money back.”

I told Sheryl the truth about gutting weapons.
There’s no reason to hide it anymore since no one else is around.
We continued to fight so that I could get them their Naval Combat Mastery.

We’re still haven’t realized it yet, but a calamity is inching closer and closer to us.

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