Chapter 41: Book 1: Chapter 17 (Part 1 of 2)

“Hang on a sec. I don’t think that will matter. I’m fairly sure there are too many shallows on the river, especially around Grand Rapids for a sizeable vessel to pass,” I lamented. “That’s why I’d planned to ride to Grand Haven, as it abuts Lake Michigan.”

“Damn,” Jackson swore. “You’re right, that’s what happened to the river taxi. It ran aground last summer when the water level dropped. We’ll have the same problem now.”

I grinned despite the disappointment at Jackson’s use of the word ‘we’.

<Ha!> Quixbix cried with far too much volume.

Shana winced at the same time as me, meaning she heard his cackle of joy.

<It would seem the newbie hasn’t read everything> he stated smugly.

“Quixbix, do you have something useful to add to the conversation? Or are you just being an arsehole?” I groused.

Jackson had been on the verge of saying something, probably wondering why we winced, but then shut his mouth, the answer provided.

<Only that the exterior of a Dungeon Ship is malleable to the Core’s will. It requires the dungeon to expend some of its collected energy to do so, but provided you’re not moving over land, they can cross shallows, rapids, reefs, dams, etc. that regular ships would find impassable. To be honest, if they had the energy, they could cross land as well> the imp informed me.

“Cheers, Quixbix. So, my imp tells me Dungeon Ships, being dungeons and not real ships, can cross impediments like shallows or rapids that would stop other vessels,” I related to Jackson.

“Oh, cool,” he chirped. “In that case, yeah, as I was saying, one of the locals started a river taxi to take people from here to Grand Rapids and back. People told him it was a stupid idea, even with a flat-bottomed boat. Anyway, at the edge of the Northwest corner of the recreation area there is a sharp kink in the river with a small inlet and last summer he overshot the curve and tore up the bottom of the boat in that inlet.”

“The boat was a write-off, my Ma thought he did it deliberately for the insurance. The wreck is still where he ran aground, the county wants the owner to pay for its removal, but he wouldn’t stump up, so there it remains.”

“How big is it, exactly,” I asked.

“I’m not sure, but it could seat thirty people comfortably,” he replied.

“What do you think, Quixbix? Will that be big enough?” I quizzed the imp.

<Yes, that should be enough. The exterior of a Mark One Dungeon Ship isn’t that large, it will appear to be a medium sized sailboat. The spatial magic dungeon’s employ gives you more space below deck than the exterior suggests> he answered.

“Like the Tardis?” I asked.

“What’s like the Tardis?” Jackson interrupted with excitement. “Are Dungeon Ships bigger on the inside?”

<I’ve no idea what a Tardis is, but bigger on the inside is an apt, if simplistic description> Quixbix grumped, unhappy at being gazumped.

I nodded confirmation to Jackson, and he squealed with delight.

“That is so fucking awesome,” he crowed.

“Excellent, well it seems like we have a plan. What’s the best way there? Is there a path through the woods in that direction?” I asked Jackson.

“Nah, we’d be better off walking North through the trees, there is a dirt track that leads up to the main road, then we can go left down the road and it’s off to the right. We will have to cross the train tracks, but then you’re at the inlet,” Jackson relayed the directions.

“Okay then let’s go,” I announced and patted Shana on her backside.

We got up from the picnic bench when Quixbix piped up.

<Don’t you have some more gear to distribute> he said and made a reproachful clucking sound.

Of course, I had earned several more pieces of ‘Bound’ gear. They were in my inventory, and I examined them quickly.

Helm of the Bound

Leather Armour (M) Damage Mitigation: Low HP +30 (25) Stat +1 (Dex), Skill +5 (Archery), +5 Hit Points May only be worn by someone soulbound to Torin Carter. All bonuses bar the damage mitigation are increased by Torin Carter’s applicable levels and only utilises one armour slot. Stat and skill bonuses are contingent on the bearer’s aptitudes. Durability: 100/100 (Can always be repaired even if reduced to 0 durability)

 

Gloves of the Bound

Leather Armour (M) Damage Mitigation: Low HP +30 (25) Stat +1 (Dex), Skill +5 (Archery), +5 Hit Points May only be worn by someone soulbound to Torin Carter. All bonuses bar the damage mitigation are increased by Torin Carter’s applicable levels and only utilises one armour slot. Stat and skill bonuses are contingent on the bearer’s aptitudes. Durability: 100/100 (Can always be repaired even if reduced to 0 durability)

 

Leggings of the Bound

Leather Armour (M) Damage Mitigation: Low You are reading story Corsairs & Cataclysms at novel35.com HP +30 (25) Stat +1 (Dex), Skill +5 (Archery), +5 Hit Points May only be worn by someone soulbound to Torin Carter. All bonuses bar the damage mitigation are increased by Torin Carter’s applicable levels and only utilises one armour slot. Stat and skill bonuses are contingent on the bearer’s aptitudes. Durability: 100/100 (Can always be repaired even if reduced to 0 durability)

 

Each of the ‘Bound’ gear items had the same descriptions as the Bracers. I handed them over to Shana who was the only one of us who could use them fully.

Jackson, not being soulbound to me, couldn’t make use of them. In return, Shana gave him the three pieces of leather gear she replaced. He only had enough armour slots to activate the leggings and the helm along with his mantle, but he would still get the armour mitigation from the gloves.

However, as both Jackson and Quixbix simultaneously pointed out, without Mana activation, the durability loss on the gloves would be heavily accelerated. With a durability of ten, the gloves could take two maybe three hits before they became unwearable.

The last thing I checked out from my rewards was the Token of the Bound.

Token of the Bound

This token can be applied to any of Torin Carter’s Bound armour gear to improve any of the Damage Mitigation, Hit Points granted, Stat Bonus, or Skill Bonus. Please note these improvements are static extra’s and will not scale with Torin Carter’s level. The number of tokens required for improvement varies.

 

The tokens were for improving the ‘Bound’ items. I would drill down into the exact token costs later, though it didn’t take a genius to figure out that higher bumps would require more tokens. On the face of it, the armour mitigation would likely be my priority as the rest would all naturally improve when I did. That was also likely to be the most expensive to improve.

With that sorted, Shana retrieved her bike which we had left in the trees down by the small lake.

Jackson clipped his mantle in place while we waited for Shana to come back. When the mantle settled on his shoulders it seemed to ripple and the colours shifted from the orange and red to an emerald and forest green that matched his fae flames. The new colours didn’t scream caster quite as much as the originals, which was a step in the right direction.

Jackson had room in his inventory for the bike and then we trekked North through the trees. We came upon the dirt road Jackson had mentioned after we walked for ten minutes, and then mounted up onto the bikes from there. Luckily, we’d thought to collect a couple of spares back at Mike’s Bikes, so Jackson didn’t have to run to keep up.

When we got to the end of the dirt track it turned onto a proper road, my attention was grabbed by a collection of buildings that I could see over the trees in the opposite direction we planned to head, and I stopped.

“What are those buildings over there,” I queried Jackson and pointed over the trees.

“Ah, they would be Ionia’s biggest source of gainful employment,” he chuckled. “Three correctional facilities, four when you count the reformatory a bit further East.”

“You have four prisons in Ionia? Bloody hell,” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, but I heard nobody can go inside anymore, not even the prison employees,” Jackson remarked.

I focused on the nearest building and analysed it, sharing the results with the group.

Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility

Owner: The state of Michigan Access: Access is currently restricted to those given express permission by the Governor of Michigan. Mana Enabled Security: Level 10 Protection and Restriction field. Thirty P-10 Sentinel constructs. Durability: 10,000/10,000

 

“Quixbix what is a P-10 Sentinel construct?” I asked the imp after reading the information.

<P-10 means it’s a level ten P-grade creature. The Sentinels, and the protection and restriction fields are one of the few safeguards imposed by the Framework during integration. All prisons get them, to keep the prisoners in, and everybody else out. Although the local authorities, in this case, the Governor of Michigan can give people permission to enter or leave. Otherwise, the Sentinels will seek to stop you> Quixbix explained.

“Okay, I suppose that’s comforting in a way,” I said.

“If it’s these Sentinels that are running the place and not prison guards, how can convicts whose time is up be released?” Shana inquired.

<The Framework knows the hearts and minds of people. During integration, the existing inmates would have been assessed and the Sentinels programmed accordingly with appropriate sentencing. Interestingly, any genuinely innocent prisoners are released. More interesting is how few actually are> the imp chuckled and continued. <This is just a stopgap to prevent criminals from running rampant in the first few weeks or months. It won’t be long before people, monsters, or both come knocking and overpower the Sentinels. Then those fields will be brought low.>

“Alright, that is enough of a distraction. Let’s keep moving,” I ordered.

Fifteen minutes later, at Jackson’s direction, we reached the train tracks, and I could see the inlet on the other side of them. There was a low wire fence that was supposed to keep people out, but it was in poor condition and had been pulled up at the fence posts, probably by kids, so you could pass under. I held the loose rolled up part of the fence and Shana and Jackson ducked under quickly and I followed them.

Unsurprisingly, we didn’t have to worry about speeding trains as we crossed over the tracks. The inlet side hadn’t been fenced off and we easily wandered down to the embankment.

The drop in the river depth in the height of summer had uncovered most of the inlet, barring a few pools of river water which stubbornly held on. The exposed riverbed was muddy, but there was a slightly raised silt bank that had baked in the summer sun longer and was firm enough to walk on without giving way dangerously. This would get us close enough to the stranded water taxi to climb aboard.

The boat was flat-bottomed and rectangular. The vessel was roughly ten metres long and maybe five metres wide. There was a small pilot station at the front and at the back where the motor and propeller would be housed, the machinery was missing, presumably salvaged for cash. The central deck where customers would have sat used to have a roof on metal struts, but the roof part had been damaged and pulled down in the year that it had been left here unprotected. Only the metallic frame remained to suggest what used to be there.

The outside of the boat was covered in graffiti tag marks and there was a pile of plastic crates wedged against the side, which screamed that the local youths had visited the wreck more than a few times since it was beached. There was no sign of any youngster’s now and the crates were conveniently placed to get us aboard.

<This will do. It would probably be best if Shana and the new guy stay on the bank. Once you place the core crystal, the boat will be consumed as the core converts it into a Dungeon Ship. Torin, you won’t be harmed as the core’s master, but there are no guarantees for them> Quixbix interjected when we stopped on the bank.

“Quixbix has counselled us to hang back, Jackson,” Shana filled him in. “We could be hurt when the transformation begins.”

Jackson took several nervous steps back from the bank at that and I chuckled at his reaction.

“I thought this was fucking awesome,” I teased.

“It is, but I’d still rather not die to be impressed,” Jackson justified glibly.

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