Chapter 17 - Ride on the waves
"Enjoy the show"
Cyrus and I have just come down a staircase leading to a platform where there is a bell hanging from a wooden pole when he says this sentence. Cyrus then reaches out and rings the bell as loudly as possible. Off the wharf more than a kilometer away, several sailing boats seem to be cutting through the waves in several directions.
As the bell has just rung, at least five boats turn in the direction of the dock and appear to be rushing while spreading their sails.
"Rangers don't like having a boat docked directly so they have to stay out and wait. As soon as someone rings the bell it's a race for the customer. It also makes it possible to be sure of finding a good ship for the traveler, even if it is not always the most comfortable. "
While Cyrus explains the situation to me, the boats one by one attempt different maneuvers to get as quickly as possible towards the quay. Most are simple one-sail boats, but one seems to go faster than the others. A trimaran cuts through the waves towards the quay without worrying about the others behind it who are in smaller boats. To his right, a two tiny sails ship is in second position. The other ships, seeing the advance taken by the first two, have either already given up or are continuing the race without any real conviction.
Strangely, the two sails seem to be approaching the trimaran by using an effect of water suction by the latter to move forward and gradually gain ground. The trimaran began to move in the direction of the two sails to strike it, but the latter suddenly slowed down by changing the direction of its sail and passed behind it to dodge it.
The man on the two sails then seems to throw something on the trimaran and all of a sudden it slows down suddenly while its captain starts screaming.
Finally the winner will be the two sails which gradually slow down as they approach the quay while the others take off again.
- Alala, what a show-off this guy. Using a trimaran to win a race for two clients, seriously. So, gentlemen, what can I do for you? I am the captain of this ship, the Windy. She is not very comfortable, but she can do things well. Especially when I'm there to help her.
- We would like to go to the thieves tower if possible.
- No problem, that will make three pieces of silver M'sieur le Guide. Sit where you want, but watch out for the sail. The wind is changing direction quickly today.
The boat then leaves in the opposite direction with us. I had never been in a boat before. The feeling is quite strange and I keep my hand firmly on the wooden ledge. At least it doesn't make me sick, even if Micha isn't reassured by the movements.
As we pass near the trimaran, it begins to shout curses in our direction to which the captain of the Windy is happy to answer by flipping him the bird. Apparently the trimaran is immobilized and appears to be in poor condition.
"Sorry about that, but if he had run into me with such a monster, he would have sunk me and could have killed me. I'm Joe, happy to serve you. Don't worry about him, if he has enough to pay for a trimaran to run errands for customers, he has enough to pay for repairs.
I gave him the change of his coin, let's say. All it takes is a rope with a hook and an anchor to calm this kind of person. "
Cyrus shakes his head slightly as he listens to him, but I imagine that's because Joe's way of doing things is questionable when it comes to justice.
Joe on the other hand looks to be in his thirties even though he is wearing just a canvas shirt and pants, with no other equipment than a flintlock pistol in his belt he looks like he know what he's doing.
He firmly holds the rudder at the back of the ship with one hand and a rope that seems to let him handle the sail with the other. The ocean slowly passes by as the boat passes off a beach covered with trees engulfed in water and which appear to be part of the forest that lies between the tower of the rangers and the druids one. The boat travels quickly and the trip is done in silence.
The Pirate Tower soon appears and Joe takes a wide turn to avoid it, I don't understand why he is doing it, but all of a sudden I see the docks: hundreds of docks. The Pirate Tower seems to reach ocean level and acts as a port where at first glance thousands of different ships are moored. Two-masted ships, oriental ships, schooners, junks, and even larger ones such as galleons or three-masted line ships. Joe seems amazed at my admiration, but Cyrus explains to him that I have just arrived in the tower and that I did not have time to see everything.
Cyrus then takes the time to explain to me how the pirate class works with Joe's approval nods from time to time.
"The pirate class trains you to master a ship and how to navigate your way in the ocean. At the beginning of the training, you become a sailor on a vessel commanded by your instructor and you go through all the roles before having the approval of your captain. Then you can either choose to enlist on a ship that needs crew, or buy a small ship that you own. It is a very difficult class that requires a lot of mental and physical preparation, knowledge and maintenance. "
Joe adds that buying a galleon is generally stupid since you have to find a crew of a reasonable size to navigate and it is very difficult to do. From what he told me the most difficult point of the class is to find a crew and that some classes allows to do without one like slaver, of ghost captain or in the same kind necromancer captain. .
There are of course the gunmen class in the pirate tower who are easily recruited and as a last resort the military guilds can provide but you need to join their fleets.
From what he explains to me, all the countries of Earth have sent soldiers to the tower who have organized themselves and took the pirate tower for their headquarters. They chose this tower because it provides access to gunpowder and make them able to manufacture bullets for the weapons they brought from earth and some they also manufacture on site.
- But if they have guns, they must have a hell of a lead in the tower, right?
- Of course not, that would destroy the class system and we would just have to distribute firearms at the entrance and say "have a good visit". There are regulations put in place by the tower. Sure, you can defend yourself well with a modern gun, but having one on you when you walk into a floor-world takes you to places you don't want to be at all. Then there's the fact that a gun doesn't improve, but a climber with classes and skills can. You can easily pass low-level worlds with a gun, but at some point, wizards make impenetrable shields, armor blocks such projectiles, and monsters get tougher. It happens as soon as the second or third world if you are unlucky.
He then explains to me that rejecting the class system using modern guns tends to make the tower "mean" on where you get sent. Places with an army of monsters, in the middle of a hurricane, in the desert, on a battlefield …
Having a good gun will apparently be taken into account as a huge advantage and since the Tower of worlds seems to test people in the worlds, it's not the best idea to have one.
The landscape scrolls again and we finally arrive near the thieves' tower. The area appears to be covered with buildings of different sizes and structures making the corner labyrinthine and covered with alleys and dead ends. Joe leaves us on a quay and with a farewell sets out again in the direction of the waves.