117. The Core (I)

“These will be your leaders. Listen to their commands as if they were my own,” said Captain Gilmore. He then turned around, leaving them all alone.

The crew members strutted over, shouting and grunting roughly at the Players. Some even pulled on the females with a cackle, throwing a few Players into a guarded frenzy as they protected their own teammates.

Snow felt an unnatural gaze, staring at her hungrily. She felt an uncomfortable shiver, telling her whoever it was coming towards her. Slowly turning around, she locked eyes. Her hand rested on her sword on her hip.

Compared to all the others, this man was a lot cleaner and more sophisticated than the rest. His clothes were neatly pressed. With a cocky, but sly smile, he beelined towards Snow.

Dairen felt the intrusive gaze, stepping forward to block the man’s view. “What do you want?”

“Move aside, boy. I would like to speak with the young lady.” The man reached out to grab his shoulder.

“No.” with a flick of his right hand, Dairen stopped the man’s advance.

But this didn’t bother the man at all. Instead, he stood his ground.

“I am second in command, Larsen. I’ll be taking her with me.” Larsen pointed at Snow.

“No.”

The man gazed down at Dairen, getting annoyed at him. “You have no jurisdiction here.” With a rough grab, he pushed Dairen aside.

Snow hand twisted out of Larsen's grip that felt similar to a vice. She tugged away, glaring at his rude and brash behavior. She already didn’t like him.

“I am not your toy.” Snow hissed between her lips. Her posture became straighter than before as her magical energy around her body crackled with life.

Larsen froze, taking a good look at Snow. His eyes scanned her, but he didn’t reach out again. “You and the girl behind you will be part of my team.”

Snow was curious about who he was talking about, she gazed over her shoulder and noticed Angie stuck very close to her back, peeking out from the side. When Larsen gave her an interested look, she squeaked and hid behind Snow’s shadow.

“We will join you too,” Dairen spoke out against the idea that Snow and Angie were going with the pervert.

Even Mike shook his head in agreement, crossing his arm in front of him.

“No, you have already been chosen by one of my subordinates.”

A hunched crew member came over with a slight wobble. He grinned at them, waiting for them to come over. Both Mike and Dairen didn’t budge. Instead, Dairen stepped forward to block Larsen’s even further away from his prying eyes.

Larsen rolled his eyes. With a snap of his finger, the walls mechanically open up, slinging out a choker. It flew towards Mike and Dairen, putting them into a collar.

With a painful zap, both Mike and Dairen crumbled onto the ground.

Alarmed at the sudden show of force, Snow’s hand quickly went to her sheathe. She ran straight forward, lunging the sword towards him.

Her coldness rising, her mind sharpened, ready to take the man’s head with one quick swing.

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But out of nowhere, a magical shield was erected in front of her, completely blocking her strike.

Snow’s sword repelled off Larsen's magical shield. She quickly changed her tactic, this time magic vigorously swarmed around her like angry bees.

Even Larsen could feel her chaotic power of light that turned dangerously demonic.

“Kill me now, the two will be dead.” Larsen threatened, but Snow could tell that there wasn’t much courage behind his voice.

Snow took a step forward.

Larsen took a step back. He frowned even deeper than before that she wasn’t taking his words very seriously. It took a moment of him to realize that she was bent on killing him.

“Do you not value your friend's life?”

“I do.” Snow encroached closer. Her magic hit against the barrier with an array of swords of light. Each strike was deadly, leaving behind a crack. Larsen stood tense, trying not to waver, but Snow could tell that he was about to break down.

“Put your magic away!” Larsen yelled out in a hurry. “I’ll set them free.”

Snow froze, her sword of light hovered in the air, ready to hit the last strike.

“How would I know you are telling the truth?” Snow didn’t believe that Larsen was the type to agree, mostly because in the short period that they have met, her opinion of him was low.

“Pirates Honor.” Larsen held up his hand in front of him, showing that he wasn’t going to take back his thoughts. Still, his words were not enough for Snow.

“I can tell you don’t believe me, but we are in front of everyone, and a Pirates Honor is something that we can never go back on in this ship.” Larsen seriously spoke, which was different from before. “I am also the vice-captain of this ship, and my words are second to the captain’s.”

Snow considered what Larsen had said, but she still didn’t completely believe him. She didn’t quite understand why he would resort to such petty tricks to get her to follow.

“Look,” With a snap of his finger, the collar around both Dairen and Mike snapped on. It tightened around their neck, choking them fell onto the ground. They heaved and coughed, trying to stabilize their chest. “I’ll show you that I am true with my words; first.”

Dairen got up wearily, shaking off the pain. When he was about to attack Larsen, she raised up her hand to stop him.

“Take care of the others. I got this.” Snow replied. She knew that she couldn’t have him keep getting hurt over and over again. Plus, she knew that there were rules that the dungeon wanted her to follow and she needed to know what kind of event that this dungeon wanted them to do to get to their destination.

Killing Larsen was an ideal solution, but the consequences coming from it could spark off something that she did not want. She needed the crew members to continue to pilot the ship, while they made it towards their destination.

“But-”

Snow shook her head, telling him that she wasn’t going to take a no for an answer.

“That’s a good girl.” Larsen had said with a smirk. His beady eyes were pleased with Snow’s decision. “Follow me.”

Larsen sharply turned around. He left as both Snow and Angie followed behind.

They continued to move through the intricate ship halls. The other Players themselves followed after their own, huddling together like pack rats as they were introduced to their jobs.

Larsen, Snow, and Angie entered a large room. A hissing sound escaped from her side, making Snow slightly jump. Intricate designs of steam machines chugged their mechanical engines into motions. A puff of powerful heat blew out from the side as a whoosh of wind sucked away the heat.

A groan of wheels chugged into motions—loud clunk of metallic contraption hiss and cluttered, telling everyone that it was working. Hundreds of thermometers that looked similar to a clock were present on the right, while on the left were more black and metallic tubes criss crossed into each other.

Snow felt a bit cramped, staying inside the very walls as she ducked from banging her head. A few times, she wasn’t lucky as the pipes that jutted out from weird angles got her.

“Where are we going?” Snow asked as she rubbed her head. She caught another pipe that she had to duck just before she hit her forehead again. This was the first time, she wished that she was a bit smaller to squeeze through the halls without hurting herself. While Angie was doing a fabulous job, squeezing her way through.

“You will see.” Larsen didn’t say anything else as he continued onwards.

For a few more minutes, they continued through the engine room. Eventually, Snow saw a large metal door behind two large boilers that hissed out steam every few seconds.

Larsen reached over and opened the door, letting the hot steam escape.

Snow stepped out, unable to see but fog and a green light. A sucking sound of wind pulled out the fog up the ventilation, allowing her to see again.

Large round machines were situated in the middle of the room. It glowed blue with power, telling Snow that this room was a lot different than the rest. Strangely, she thought she could hear the heartbeat thrumming against the very walls. Hundreds of black tubes ran up and down the sides.

Larsen stopped in front of the machine. He turned around towards them.

Snow once again felt a disgusting gaze from Larsen himself. She wanted to punch him for staring at her.

“Your job is simple,” said Larsen. His hand waved towards the machine behind him. “Fuel the ship with your magic.”

“What?!” Snow blurted out in shock. To hear that she was going to be used as a battery pack for this whole ship was outrageous. “Are you out of your mind?!”

Her hand was already reaching towards her side, ready to kill him for his insanity. She wasn’t going to willingly just go in there to magically fuel the machine. There was no reason, too, unless...

“We need someone like you. We need a temporary replacement before we reach the castle in the sky.” Larsen gave her a knowing look that told him that he knew why they were all here for.

Snow didn’t like it. No, she despised it.

“The problem with this ship is that it runs on magical energy, but a normal person can’t feel it. Even the people that you have brought along with you can not handle the strain of just entering in a pool of magic without a high level of magical control, but you.” Larsen pointed towards her. “You're different. You must have entered into a mana pool before and lived to tell the tale.”