"Take us to them then, Nila. We can sort this out in a hurry if they don't do anything unusually dumb."
That's all the direction the Wave Rider needs to bring the ship back on course through the channel, gently gliding to a stop in front of the two pirate vessels.
"We surrender. Call off the monsters and we'll face your judgments. What laws do you follow?" One of the Captains, a large, swarthy human with curly hair and black eyes calls across the distance between the ships.
"The laws of the Wave Riders." Nila declares, striding out to the bow with a confident swagger. The announcement makes them look both defeated and hopeful. Nila already said the Wave Riders don't usually kill Pirates, only whip them and loot them, so they'll likely live to see another day, just penniless.
"We understand Wave Rider. Send your men across and we'll empty the holds to you." He's got a point, the Snapping Turtles don't fit below decks.
Cain motions for the First Mates he Summoned to head across to gather anything of value, keeping the rest either on the Queen Rose or in the air aboard Dragons in case the Pirates decide that a hostage situation might get them all emotional and change their minds about the looting and whipping.
Nemu sends the Felians she Summoned, and Evangeline sends the Seraphim. She also flies over herself, landing in the rigging, her Aura calming everyone down.
They don't take the food or fresh water and have the crew turn over the equipment they're wearing, leaving them in their underwear.
They've likely got more gear in their inventory, but there's no good way to make them turn it over without a lot of extra work, so Nila decides it's best to just let it slide. Half their crews are dead anyhow, they've paid a pretty heavy price.
On the second ship, they find one very teary-eyed Elven pirate, cradling the body of a young adult female, that was likely his relative. The others have taken the deaths in stride, even if they were lovers. His grief is much greater than usual for those in his line of work.
"Please, can't you do anything? I'll do anything you want, my life is yours if you can save her. It was her first trip away from home, her mother never even got to say goodbye before she sneaked out to join the crew behind my back." The man asks, looking at Evangeline, who looks helplessly at Cain.
"I don't have a resurrection spell until after level 200. Can you do anything? Make her a Puppet or something?"
Neither ship has a surviving Healer visible, the Summons are very meticulous about getting rid of them, but Cain does have one option.
"I can use a spell, that will resurrect her in a way. But the price is high, since I'm no cleric. It will bring her back to life for a time but as a Supporter. Like a Summoned creature, she will be entirely bound to my will until I release her."
With some luck anyhow. It's taken a while to loot the ships, and the spell has a time limit after death.
The pirate grits his teeth, hating the idea, but unwilling to see her die like this, here in the ruins of an ancient battle. "Do it then. As promised, I'll pay any price for her life."
Cain activates the skill and the body of the girl jerks upright, quickly healing under the influence of Kone and Su's healing Aura now that she belongs to Cain. She immediately falls to her knees, hugging the older man tightly before turning to Cain.
"Leafen, level 213 Forest Stalker at your service Sir. That is my father, Hallem."
"Greetings. My name is Cain. You should understand in advance, this pseudo resurrection might not be permanent. I don't know what will happen when I release the spell, but until then, I will take you to Assah, so you can say goodbye to your family properly and then we can discuss the rest."
"That's fine. I knew the risks when I signed up. We attacked a vessel we couldn't take, it's a risk of the job. More than a few militaries disguise special forces vessels as merchants to hunt Pirates." She's misunderstood what sort of vessel they attacked, but that's also understandable, given the circumstances.
Nila gestures for the Dragons to bring the two Elves to the Queen Rose before addressing the pirate crews. "We've gotten our spoils, now I'm sure everyone knows the price for attacking a Wave Rider Crew and failing."
Fifty lashes each. It takes more time than expected, as the only ones with a whip are Vala, and Nila after Cain gives her the one from the Demon dungeon he had in his inventory. But in the end, the punishment is served, and they'll have to heal the slow way unless they've got potions stashed somewhere in their inventory.
Nila orders the crew back to positions and gets the ship moving, while Cain waits until the Pirates are on the horizon and no threat before releasing the extra summons.
The younger Elf is still staring at herself as if she's not convinced anything is real at the moment. "This is a strange feeling. It's my body, but there's something in my brain that says I must serve you. Even if you give a suggestion, or look like you want something, it forces me to want to do my best to please you and help you. It's the strangest thing I've felt in my life. If this still counts as being alive."
"You've got a pulse, and that's your actual body, not a clone of it, so I would say you're alive. But what happens after the spell ends, I have no idea." Evangeline looks curious to find out, looking the Elf over as if she might change somehow without warning.
"Your level changed as well, to match the Summoner. But you've still got your second advancement class." Her father has a confused look on his face, but is doing his best not to release her from his arms while she inspects herself to see if there are any visible changes.
"Your mother will meet us in Assah. We can have one last dinner together as a family then I will ask the Summoner to release you. I'm glad to have you as long as I can, but seeing you living as a slave to a merchant hurts too much to watch."
"It's not that bad. The spell makes me happy to help, I don't think I've ever been this content with my life. But I did die and it might upset the natural order if I remained alive too long afterward."
Cain has The Supporters rush them back to Assah at full speed, switching clones when they get low on mana. This technique more than doubled their rate of travel and soon they're tying off to the docks, a collection of onlookers gathered to see the strange pink ship that moves with such incredible grace, like a Wave Rider Raiding ship.
That includes one distraught Elven woman who rushes out to meet them, their two passengers disembarking before the ship is even stopped to take her in a family hug.
"Come back later and we can talk." Cain waves them away with a flick of his hands and steps onto the dock to greet the Harbor Master.
A small fee is paid for the city entry and the bureaucrat leaves them to their own devices, namely dealing with inquisitive dockworkers and sailors.
The pink oak of the ship attracted a lot of attention, especially with the mint green, gold, and gray sails making her so distinctive coming into the harbor. Carlos has come over to check her out and inspect their haul of goods from the Pirates, laughing at their misfortune to pick on the one merchant vessel they should never have attacked.
All afternoon they chat and visit with the other Sailors, having the nearby restaurant deliver them a dinner to go with the abundance of alcohol they gained today. They drink and share stories until nearly midnight when the sailors all head to bed and the Elven family of three returns with somber looks.
Leafen steps forward with a serious look and kneels before Cain as if she's planning to beg him. "I've made my decision and said my goodbyes. Will you agree to release me and call my father's debt paid?"
The parents both look distraught, and Cain isn't sure if it would be worse to say yes or no, but it was her choice, so after a few moment's deliberation he reluctantly agrees.
"It has been a pleasure meeting you Leafen. I see no reason you need to remain as a Summon, you've made amends with your mother, and I'm certain your father will agree to my terms that he doesn't return to piracy." The older Elf nods his agreement and Cain continues.
"So, consider your debts paid and clear." With that, he releases her from the [Eternal Solace Denied] spell effect. Only, she doesn't fall dead. She's still kneeling there, looking at him.
Cain looks at the Elf, and she falls over with a solid thud, but then she begins to laugh incredulously.
"I'm not dead. I'm still alive, and Free. I'll never forget this, I thought it was the last day of my life." She dances happily around the dock, almost falling into the water before Nila grabs her.
"If you're not careful, it will be. Look at your status."
"Leafen, Species Elf, Forest Stalker level 1. I am level 1. I have 40HP. If I bump myself wrong I might die. You saved my life."
"What did you do?"
Cain doesn't know how to answer that, he just ended the spell.
Evangeline comes to the rescue for him. "If I can suggest a theory, when he brought you back, it was as a Supporter, matched to his level. You were alive and in your own body, but an [Supporter] in every way. So when he released you, you simply became Leafen again, but you didn't have a master whose level you could match anymore, so your body kept working, but your level reset to 1."
"You might be right. I don't have access to any of my previous skills. It's like I'm a Random Roll transfer that just arrived in this world. Level 1 with a second advancement class."
"If you'd like, we know a nice lady in the Beginner Valley that specializes in training new arrivals. You've got experience, so you should do well in her care, and moving you away from the sea might help keep you out of trouble." Cain suggests with a smirk. Char would have a great time with a transfer who has already gone to level 200 once before and had to start over.
Sure, they could power level her, but then how would she learn her lesson?
