Micky had to stop his host from yelling.

  ‘We need to warn ‘em!’ Marnok protested.

  ‘We do, but you need to calm down first. Panicking will only make the situation worse,’ Micky said.

  He didn’t think there was any chance that the creatures were planning to let them go – the endless hunger that came hand in hand with their affinity simply wouldn’t allow them to ignore such a feast. If anything, it was surprising that they’d even held out this long, though Micky understood that was just a behaviour that they must have evolved after countless generations, to better their odds of getting a meal.

  Judging from their sizes, most of them were at Yellow or Orange, and they appeared to outnumber the sailors three to one. Micky could see the fight going either way, but the outcome would largely depend on how they handled it.

  The creatures likely understood that too. The only reason they hadn’t attacked yet was probably because they wanted to lure the men even deeper into their ranks, to surround them from every direction. Their shells clearly concealed their mana signatures, the monsters having long learned the value of patience.

  Micky was willing to bet good money that the creatures would drop the fa?ade in a heartbeat the moment Marnok’s people raised a big fuss or attempted to run away.

  ‘What should we do?’ Marnok asked upon listening to Micky’s explanation.

  ‘First things first. How close are you to activating the new core?’

  ‘‘Tis ready,’ his host replied. ‘I’ve only kept the last channel half-closed like ya told me.’

  Micky nodded internally. ‘Good. Activate it. No matter what affinity we get, the physical boost should come in handy.’

  While Marnok worked on awakening the organ, Micky paid attention to the sailors’ conversation. They were still locked in a heated discussion, trying to decide whether to prioritize food or treasure, and how to better manage the risk.

  The poor fools had yet to realize that food and risk had both already found them. Either way, the situation suited Micky just fine. The more his host’s crewmates dragged on, the more time he and Marnok had to prepare. Of course, there was always a chance that the monsters would get sick of waiting before they were ready, but there was nothing he could do about that.

  About a minute later, their core contained enough mana for Micky to get a feel for its type. He’d experienced most affinities enough times to recognize them by now, though he wasn’t necessarily as proficient with all of them. Thankfully, lady luck appeared to smile on him for once.

  ‘Water… nice!’

  It was merely a common affinity – which shouldn’t come as a surprise, really – but also the best one he could have asked for. Not only was he extremely familiar with it, he was also skilled at manipulating its combination with air. Fusing the elements from two separate cores was bound to feel a little different from having a single core with the composite affinity, but he’d played with enough cores and bodies in the past that he should be able to figure it out quickly enough if necessary.

  As an added bonus, he wouldn’t have to worry about Marnok going thirsty if anything bad happened to the other water users in the group.

  Along with the new organ came the familiar boost to Marnok’s physique. Their muscles grew twice as strong, their mind clearer and their senses sharper. Micky didn’t wait for his host to fill his core up, rushing to shape its contents into a concealment rune before the others noticed the oddity.

  ‘What are ya doin’? Ain’t we goin’ to use the water mana?’ the sailor asked.

  ‘Only if we have to. No need to reveal all our trump cards before absolutely necessary,’ Micky replied.

  Keeping the enchantment from falling apart was a lot harder while Marnok was actively drawing mana to the organ, though that should stop being a problem as soon as it was full.

  Either way, the added difficulty was offset by the fact that water mana was a lot calmer and slower. It didn’t affect Micky’s efforts nearly as much as air, and even though the currents inside the organ felt heavier, their movements weren’t nearly as dizzying. In hindsight, there weren’t many affinities more troublesome to pre-cast than air. Perhaps, Micky should have waited for a different host before attempting this.

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  ‘Oh well… what’s done is done. It was good practice anyway. Besides, I’ll need to learn how to do this with every affinity at some point,’ he thought with a mental shrug. Turning to his host, he said, ‘I won’t be able to focus on much else while I’m doing this, so make sure you survive.’

  Marnok nodded, before interrupting his bickering crewmates.

  “Oy! Shut yar traps for a moment!”

  The sailors threw him curious glances, but he ignored them.

  “No matter what I’m ‘bout to say, I need ya to remain calm. See ‘em black rocks around ya? Most of ‘em ain’t rocks. The smaller ones are beasts, bidin’ their time to bite ‘ar faces off.”

  “‘ave ya lost it Marnok? Beasts can’t survive without ‘em mana cores. ‘n I don’t see any,” one of the men said with a smirk. “Did the lack of food get to ya?”

  Many of the others snickered, only a couple looking like they were taking Marnok seriously.

  “Just listen. If I’m wrong, ya can ‘ave a laugh at me expense later. But if I’m right, we’re in big trouble. Good news is that we ain’t got to go lookin’ for food. We can eat plenty ‘ere.”

  “What do ya suggest?” the man with the red bandana asked, clearly belonging to the group more willing to entertain Marnok’s “madness”.

  “Keep talkin’ so ‘em don’t realize we’re onto ‘em. Whatever happens, don’t try to run neither. Does ‘nyone think ‘em can get through ‘em shells?”

  “I reckon only earth users can crack through ‘em big ones. Maybe fire can cook ‘em alive if we’re lucky. But we should all be able to handle ‘em small ones,” another sailor said.

  Marnok nodded. “Ignore ‘em boulders shaped like actual rocks. We all attack on me signal, focusin’ on those to me left. We need to carve a path back the way we came, so that we don’t get surrounded. Everyone good?”

  Some of the sailors seemed more willing to entertain Marnok’s proposition than others, though they all eventually nodded. Even the ones still thinking that this was a joke probably understood that they had nothing to lose if he was wrong and everything to lose if he was right.

  “Now!” Marnok yelled, unleashing a green crescent blade at the nearest semi-spherical rock, the spell cleaving about halfway through the glossy shell before coming to a halt. Blue blood spilled out of the crack, providing ample evidence that he’d been telling the truth. Not that the others needed it, as they’d already attacked several other creatures.

  A few earth users ganged up on one of the Yellow beasts. Its shell appeared even tougher than expected, the constructs unable to break through. The sailors settled for trapping the monster between a few stone pillars, its carapace barely cracking slightly where it collided with the spells. One of the fire users pitched in, finishing it off by pouring mana into the holes.

  Things weren’t looking great, however. This was about to turn into a massacre if every creature required several people working together to take down. The other sailors either attacked the smaller beasts or tried to push the larger ones aside, focusing on opening a path instead of wasting their time and mana failing to deal any actual damage.

  The beasts didn’t sit idly either. As soon as the men began attacking them, dozens of previously-still stones shifted at once, chitinous limbs unfolding one after the other. Sharp legs tapped rapidly against the sand, the crab-like creatures moving much faster than Micky had expected.

  Each sported two pairs of giant pincers, the limbs stretching twice as long as the crabs’ bodies, the afternoon sun giving their serrated edges an ominous red sheen as they clicked loudly.

  In mere moments, the army of creatures crashed into the group of marooned sailors like a tidal wave, the men doing everything they could to resist the onslaught while moving backwards.

  Beasts fell one after the other – the Orange creatures doing so far more frequently than the Yellows. Unfortunately, Marnok’s crewmates experienced plenty of casualties themselves.

  The first to fall was one of the sick Orange-borns. Micky wasn’t sure whether it had been the man’s grade or illness that had caused him to miss a step. Either way, the poor sailor’s leg ended up caught by an oversized pincer, causing him to lose both his foot and his footing, two massive crabs soon ripping him apart with savage glee. The second Orange-born performed a little better than his dead companion, even managing to outlive a couple of Yellow-born sailors before succumbing himself.

  While the sailors lacked the numbers or the tough exteriors of their opponents, they had a few advantages of their own to fall back to. Unlike the bulky creatures that kept getting in each other’s way, the men could stack their spells together a lot more easily. Retreating methodically, they bought themselves time to slowly whittle down the monsters.

  Before long, all the Orange beasts were dead, the sailors managing to open up a path out of the encirclement. They should be able to outrun the crabs if they chose to escape, but nobody seemed willing to do that.

  Whether it was out of a desire to avenge their fallen comrades, unwillingness to let all this food to go to waste, or pure spite toward the insidious creatures, the sailors decided to stay and fight, their coordinated spells gradually turning the battle in their favour.

  The crabs found it increasingly difficult to approach, dying one after the other as the men took turns holding the line or recovering their mana.

  Micky never felt the need to pitch in, focusing solely on his Internal Runecrafting throughout the battle. It was valuable experience, and it wasn’t like an extra water mage would have made a huge difference. Exposing his host’s second core would only bring them trouble down the line.

  Marnok never attempted to use his new mana type either. Leaving aside the fact that Micky had explicitly instructed him not to, he probably didn’t even know how to wield the affinity properly – certainly not at the same time as his air mana. However, his newly strengthened body definitely made a difference, allowing him to position himself better, preventing him from falling behind his companions and getting devoured by the monsters.

  By the time the sun was about to set, the earth users joined forces one final time to pin the last crab between a bunch of constructs, the beast letting out a screeching cry as the fire users emptied their cores inside its carapace.

  The sailors had won the gruesome battle and even found themselves some dinner!

  Or at least, the eight of them still breathing had…

  Book 1 on at no extra cost, grab a copy for your shelf, or listen to the audiobook on .