My Unique Adaptation Skill in Another world-Chapter 19 - 18: Red water

The first night without Iori was hell.

Pirates came at them twice, once just after sunset, once in the deepest part of the night when exhaustion had settled into everyone’s bones. Both times, they struck from different angles, ships emerging from the fog with grappling hooks flying.

Both times, the crew fought them off.

But it was harder without her.

Leo stood at the railing as dawn approached, or when he assumed was dawn. The fog never changed, time became meaningless, marked only by attacks and the brief, desperate moments of rest between them.

His shoulder still burned where Iori had marked him. The aura scar pulsed faintly, a constant reminder of her presence somewhere in the fog behind them.

Somewhere, fighting alone.

"Get some rest," the Guard Leader said, stopping beside Leo. The man’s name was Kaine, a scarred veteran with gray threading through his black hair. "You’ve been up all night."

"So has everyone else," Leo replied.

"Everyone else has done this before." Kaine’s tone was matter-of-fact, not unkind. "You haven’t, you’ll burn out if you don’t pace yourself."

"I’m fine."

"You’re not." Kaine gestured to Leo’s hands. They were shaking—small tremors Leo hadn’t noticed until now. "Adrenaline crash, you’ll be useless in the next fight if you don’t sleep."

Leo wanted to argue, but Kaine was right. His body felt like it was moving through water, every motion requiring more effort than it should.

"Two hours," Kaine said. "That’s all I can give you, then you’re back on rotation."

Leo nodded and headed below deck.

He woke to shouting.

Leo bolted upright, grabbed his swords, and ran.

On deck, chaos had erupted again.

But this time, it wasn’t just pirates.

Creatures had come with them, smaller than the titans Iori was out there fighting, but still massive. Serpentine bodies thrashing in the water, tentacles reaching over the railings, jaws snapping at anything that moved.

The ship’s defenses activated.

Below deck, Leo heard the hum of magic building. The hull’s defensive enchantments flared, magic reinforcing the wood as creatures slammed against it, sending it crashing back into the water.

From hidden ports along the sides, magical cannons deployed. Crew members below deck operated them, firing bolts of concentrated energy that struck with thunderous impact. One blast caught a serpent mid-lunge, blowing a hole through its skull.

But there were too many.

"Boarders starboard!" someone screamed.

Leo ran.

Pirates swarmed over the railing. They rode the creatures’ backs, using them as living siege towers.

Leo met the first one with Defiance, the blade heavy in his hands. The weight manipulation made the strike devastating, the pirate’s guard shattered, and the man went down hard.

Resolve followed, punching through ribs.

The blade drank.

Leo had learned to pull it free quickly now. The draining effect was powerful but slow, four, maybe five seconds to nearly kill someone if he’d left it in, and maybe six or seven seconds to kill, useful if he had the luxury of time.

He pulled back, spun, and blocked a cutlass aimed at his throat.

The fight devolved into brutal close-quarters combat. No room for technique, no time for strategy.

A pirate lunged at him with a spear. Leo sidestepped, brought Defiance down on the shaft, and felt the blade grow heavier mid-strike, the spear snapped, but the blade continued it’s descent, cleaving the pirate in half.

Pull, turn, block, strike. The sequence continuing over and over.

His muscles screamed, aura burning through him faster than he could replenish it, without adaptation to correct his inefficiencies, every movement cost more than it should.

But he kept moving, small results from his training showing.

Beside him, Kaine fought with cold precision, his sword moving in tight, economical patterns. The man never wasted a motion, never overextended, every strike was calculated.

"By your left!" Kaine barked at Leo.

Leo spun, a pirate had gotten close to him. Resolve came up, caught the man under the chin, and drank deep.

The pirate collapsed.

"Pay attention to your surroundings!" Kaine continued without pause, already engaging another enemy.

Leo forced himself to focus, making sure not to tunnel vision.

Minutes bled together.

Then, finally, the pirates retreated again, the e creatures followed too, slipping back into the water with ominous splashes.

The deck fell silent except for labored breathing and the groans of the injured.

Leo collapsed against a crate, chest heaving.

Around him, crew members tended to wounds, more injuries this time some, even serious. Still no deaths, but it was close.

"They’re wearing us down," someone muttered.

"That’s much is obvious" Kaine replied, wrapping a bandage around his forearm.

Leo looked toward the fog behind them. In the distance, he heard it, thunder rolling through the mist, lightning flickering, brief and bright, roars echoing, muffled by distance but unmistakable.

Iori was still fighting.

The mark on his shoulder pulsed in response, warm and steady.

She was alive. Still out there.

"How much longer?" Leo asked.

"Two more days," the captain said, stepping past them toward the helm. His face was drawn, exhaustion etched into every line. "Hopefully two more days."

Two more days.

Leo closed his eyes.

"I can do two more days."

The second day was worse.

The attacks came faster, less time between them. Pirates coordinated with the creatures now, using them as distractions while boarding parties hit from unexpected angles.

The hull’s enchantments held, magic reinforcing against repeated impacts, the magical cannons overheated between volleys, requiring precious minutes to cool, crew members operating the defenses below deck rotated in shifts, but exhaustion was getting worse.

Leo fought through it all.

His body moved on instinct now, muscle memory taking over when conscious thought became too slow. Defiance and Resolve felt like extensions of his arms, their weight familiar despite the constant ache in his shoulders.

He learned to read the pirates and how energy to spend in each exchange. The reckless ones died fast, the skilled ones required more focus, and occasionally, there were the truly dangerous ones, who moved with real training, who forced Leo to actually work.

One of them nearly killed him. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The pirate was fast, faster than Leo. His blade came in low, exploiting Leo’s opening.

Leo twisted desperately, the blade grazed his ribs instead of punching through them.

Pain flared, hot and sharp, but he had no time to process it.

Leo brought Resolve up in a brutal arc, caught the pirate’s wrist, and carved through it

The pirate screamed.

Defiance took his head.

Leo staggered, pressing a hand to his side. Blood seeped between his fingers, but the cut wasn’t deep. It was painful, but manageable.

"If it’s not enough to trigger adaptation," he thought distantly. " Then it’s not enough to kill me."

He forced himself upright and kept fighting.

That night, between attacks, Leo sat with his back against the mast while a crew member stitched his wound.

"You’re lucky," the woman said, threading the needle with practiced efficiency. "Another inch and this would’ve opened your lung."

"Doesn’t feel lucky," Leo muttered in pain.

"You’re alive, that’s lucky enough."

She finished the stitching, tied it off, and moved on to the next injured person.

Leo watched the crew work. They moved like ghosts now, exhausted, and running on fumes, they were still pushing through, although now a few had died.

Kaine appeared, lowering himself down beside Leo with a grunt.

"How’s the side?" he asked.

"I just had it stitched."

"Good." Kaine stared out at the fog. "We’re close now. Maybe twelve hours to the edge."

"And then we’re out." Kaine’s expression was grim. "If we make it that far."

"The pirates will definitely push harder," Leo said.

"They will, they know we’re almost through. Let’s make sure to get through."

Leo touched the mark on his shoulder. It still pulsed, steady and warm.

"She’s still out there," Leo said quietly.

Kaine followed his gaze toward the fog behind them, where thunder still rolled and lightning still flickered.

"She’s keeping them off us," Kaine said. "The big ones, without her, those titans would’ve sunk us on the first night."

"It’s crazy that she’s holding for this long, though how long can she last?"

"Longer than you’d think." Kaine stood slowly, joints popping. "She’s an eighth star, daughter of a Transcendent. That woman was born for this."

He chuckled, walked away, leaving Leo alone with his thoughts.

The attacks continued through the night.

Waves of pirates, creatures surging from the water, the ship’s defenses firing until the cannons ran dry.

Leo fought until his arms went numb, until aura depletion made his limbs feel like lead, he could barely lift his swords anymore.

But he kept fighting, especially since everyone else was doing the same.

The crew never broke or panick. They just kept moving, kept fighting, despite how familiar death now seemed.

And in the distance, the thunder never stopped.

Dawn came, or what passed for dawn in the endless fog.

Leo stood at the bow, staring at the wayfinder. Its light pulsed steadily, cutting through the mist, the fog didn’t seem as thick anymore.

Behind him, someone shouted.

"Captain! The fog’s thinning!"

Ahead, the gray was lighter, not by much, but enough to notice. The oppressive weight of mana began to ease.

They were close.

"All hands!" the captain roared. "Prepare for final push! They’ll throw everything at us now!"

The crew moved with renewed urgency despite their exhaustion.

Leo gripped his swords tighter.

"One more fight, just one more."

The fog ahead continued to lighten.

And behind them, the thunder grew louder.