Even though she wasn’t hungry, she left the room after a moment. People were scattered around the staff area with food; some sat in their rooms, while others sat by a massive table. Not wanting to bother the separated groups, she sat by the table, right beside Isabell and her mother.
The chef wanted to pour her a bowl of soup, but Navia held her open palm and said, “I’ll eat later. I can go much longer without food, so leftovers will be just fine for me.”
“I don’t know if there will be anything left…” Answered worryingly the chef, looking into the pot with soup, seeing as not much was left.
“I can survive without food for a week and will be fine. I’ll only get something to drink, thank you.” Navia reached for a cup and a pot with apple compote.
The captain regarded Navia for a moment, thinking she didn’t notice that. He then continued eating. “So what’s the plan, Captain?” Suddenly, Navia asked, making the man cough as he swallowed a potato.
“... We wait for help. At least a day had passed, and the ship didn’t come. The company will send a search party.” Answered Captain Oswold.
“So you want to wait for someone to help us, when we don’t know where we are, surrounded by monsters, with not much food left.” Navia pointed out all the dangers of the captain’s plan.
He remained silent except for August, who quickly stood up and was about to speak his mind, but the captain grabbed his arm. “You’re right. But we are just people, not warriors like you.”
“I would say that there are some of you capable of fighting.” Navia’s eyes turned to August, his face a mixture of feelings. Pride in recognition from someone from the order, frustration from this conversation, and their predicament. “Waiting is only postponing what’s inevitable. Taking some kind of action is a risk, but it allows us a chance of surviving this.”
Even the people who sat away from the people began to chatter about their conversation, acknowledging Navia’s point, but they feared the monsters outside.
“Do you have a plan in mind?” Asked the captain, putting the spoon on the table, and leaning closer to hear Navia’s answer.
“I don’t have one yet. Maybe one, but I am not sure about it.” Navia hesitated with an answer, but the man pressed her with a wave of his hand, showing that he wanted to hear it. “The only one that came to mind was me slaying all those monsters out there… But I am only one, and there are so many of them. It might take days…”
For Navia, this plan was fine, with only one problem being the number of monsters. All the people looked stunned, especially the captain, who expected some kind of real plan. “Well… Ekhm… That’s something.” The captain grunted in surprise.
“You mean to say you can kill all those monsters?” Asked August, interested in the plan, or at least part of it.
“I can but with so many of them…” Navia’s mind wandered into thinking about how much time it would take to kill all of the monsters on the ship, but she stopped once August stood up.
“Could you escort me to the top of the ship?” He asked with certainty, surprising the captain, who looked at him as if he had gone mad.
“I think I can.” Answered Navia, like all the people she looked at August, curious about his plan.
“What could you possibly achieve by going to the top of the ship?! It's completely dark out there! Even through the windows we couldn’t see much!” The captain shouted; for him, this plan was pointless.
“I have a flare gun. If I shoot it into the sky, we’ll get a better view of the cavern. Might even spot a way out of this place.” Stated August, not wavering even as the captain shouted.
His plan was good; no one dared to say no. Seeing that the captain didn’t press further and only grunted “Fine…” and left the table.
“I’m with you on that plan, but there is one problem… We have to do something about the door. I can only control a certain amount of blood at the same time, and I don’t know much about the distance. We need to lock the door in place without my dried blood.” Navia pointed out a second problem, before they could leave the staff area.
“That was your blood?” August was stunned after realizing what that substance that held the door in place was.
“Yes. My gate allows me to control my blood and turn it into whatever I imagine.” Navia used a fork to poke her skin, using just a few drops of blood, she created a small square block and tossed it to August.
As he caught it, he took a look at the object from up close and each side, admiring Navia’s ability, nearly forgetting that he was holding her blood. He then gave it back to Navia and watched as the blood turned into liquid, moving toward the small hole in the skin and sealing it.
“So you can basically create anything you want. Or at least imagine.” Stated August, still admiring Navia’s gate, audible in his tone.
“Almost. There is a limit to the amount of blood I can control at the same time. At most, I can create basic armor for my arms and legs with enough blood to make two short swords.” Explained Navia as she sipped on her compote.
“Even though it's limited, it's a great gate. I can only imagine how useful and versatile this power is.” August was lost in his thoughts, imagining himself with a power like that. It was a dream of almost everyone in the world to possess some kind of special power.
“Versatile… Yes… It’s just that I learned a single style of fighting in the Order. So most of the time, I fight with two daggers or a dagger and a short sword. Those are the weapons I feel comfortable with. I do try different things from time to time…” It was just a simple thought, but it made Navia realize that she can become stronger even without making her gate stronger. She lacked experience with other weapons.
Once August ate his portion of food, he went to the doors to think about how to hold them once Navia releases her blood. Another man had joined him, and both of them were talking, considering some options.
Navia was the only one sitting at the table. The idea of mastering different weapons made her wanna do it right now, but she had to wait for a safer moment. “If I want to master different weapons, I need to have better control over my power…” She took a peek at how August was doing, hoping she would have some time to enter her inner world, but it seemed like they had found a solution.
“Looks like you already figured something out?” Asked Navia as she stepped into the conversation between August and the second man.
“Yes. Something that would be impossible if not for this man.” August pointed his open hand toward the man beside him in a white shirt and a black vest.
The man gently bowed and introduced himself. “I’m Benedict, a goldsmith. When you busted the door, the hinges were ripped off, but they don’t look that damaged. If you could retrieve my special tool, we might be able to weld the hinges back into place.” Explained the man as he showed the hinges.
“Retrieve your tool… You don’t have it on yourself?” Asked Navia, understanding another problem that would need to be taken care of.
“Unfortunately, no. It should be in a room on this floor. I had a seat in the center row in the middle. There should be a dark leather bag with golden buttons, and inside it a metal stick with a golden tip and golden lines engraved on it.” The man explained, trying his best to add more details so Navia would be able to find the item.
“The problem of unsealing the broken door still remains… It’s good that we have a lead, but…” Navia was hesitant with the plan; leaving the door unprotected meant that people inside would be in danger.
“You said you can control a certain amount of blood. With the door sealed, how much control do you have left?” Asked August, eager about the plan they came up with.
Navia looked at the dry blood around the door and considered her abilities. “I will be able to create two daggers at most.”
“What if you took most of the blood and sealed only parts of it? I will stay here and hold them for the time you’re gone.” August pressed with questions, showing Navia that he was determined with this idea.
“We don’t know how long it would take me. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of monsters outside. It might take some time before I get to the seating area.” Navia considered the option, but she wasn’t sure if the man could protect the door by himself for an hour. Even with that, he didn’t show any doubt.
“If needed, I’ll hold the door for a whole day. I want to survive and help all those people, no matter what.” Navia was surprised to hear those words. Looking at him, she could see a new recruit of the order.
“You could be a great warrior. Consider joining the Order because you would fit with the rest.” Navia patted the man on the shoulder, recognizing his motivation.
August smiled for a moment and then took a deep breath, preparing for an action. He asked two more men to come to the door. The three of them took chairs to push out any monsters while August stood by the steel door, ready to hold them, while Navia took back her blood.
“I can create anything I imagine… Versatility…” Navia changed the blood she took into a sharp chain, pulling them toward her and out of the door. The last bit of blood turned into Morningstar, the same weapon she used in the corridor. If there are many monsters standing by the doors, she has to kill as many as possible at the same time. That’s when she split the chain into two, creating another Morningstar. “I’ll quickly clear the path, and you can close the door right behind me.”
August only nodded and waited for the signal. The rest of the people moved to the back of the staff area, scared that the monsters would get in, but some of them decided to watch, curious about what was going to happen and curious about the woman’s mysterious power.
Navia lifted both of her arms and shouted, “Now!” As the doors moved to the side, she brought her arms down, the morning stars flew forward, and the chains followed them. As they flew, she crossed her arms, the chains moving like scissors, cutting each barnacle on their path. At the same time, she dashed forward and pulled the chains back. August tried to close the door behind her, but he struggled a bit as they were very heavy.
Looking back, Navia could see that there was space for the Barnacles to go through. Quickly turning the chains into a rapier, and pierced the heads of the three closest monsters to the door. Two men dropped the chairs and helped August push the door to block the path.
Once the door blocked the entrance, Navia thrust her rapier at the door, and the tip of the needle turned into liquid and quickly dried, gluing the door to the wall on one side.
Her eyes darted from one corner of the corridor to the other, looking for the frogs. “Looks like their nature is to hide…” She thought, a bit glad that they weren’t here with her. “That lets me experiment a bit.” In her hand, blood grew and changed into a long and heavy cleaver. With just one swing, she was able to cut the five Barnacles in front of her in half, from waist up, something she couldn’t do with a dagger.
With each swing, she took a few monsters at the same time, making a clear path toward the seating area. Diminishing the number of monsters, Navia had a chance to experiment with different weapons. She turned the clever into a mace and swung it down at the nearest Barnacle, breaking its head and pushing the spine down.
Hearing the Barnacles getting close to her back, she turned the mace into gauntlets and punched a hole in the monster’s chest. Looking at the gauntlets, she tried to change them, focusing more on her fingers. Most of the protection moved to create long blades at the tips of her fingers. Like a wild cat, she slashed the monsters, tearing their skin apart. After killing five of them, she jumped back and resumed her advance toward the seating area.
Turning the bladed gauntlets into two daggers, she whispered, “The claws aren’t my style… It was… Weird...” Each Barnacle in her path fell down to the floor with a slit throat.
She was about to run into the seating area when she noticed a dim shadow on the floor. Instead, she slid into the room and threw a knife at the ceiling once she passed the doorframe. A limp body fell prone. “That’s why there were fewer barnacles toward this place. Because it's filled with frogs.” As Navia took out the knife from the monster’s head, more of them revealed themselves. “Can’t experiment with them on my back.” Using her blood, she created armor for her arms and a rough sword.