They all had red bandanas, scruffy shirts and long cargo pants. If I managed to get a hold of one of their uniforms, then I would simply be able to walk freely around this area, or so I thought. Still, I knew where a uniform was, and I should be able to fit in if all goes well.
A quest popped into my mind.
Quest Alert:
Exterminate the pirates:
Reward:
Seafarer Slot (Uncommon)
5 Million Beri
+2 To Agility
Y/N
I accepted, why shouldn't I?
I rushed over to where I had left the gorilla and pirate body and took the clothes off the man lying dead on the floor.
"No homo…" I tried to hold it in, but I just had to get it out.
"No necro either… cunts." I quickly put their uniform on and hid the guy under the dead gorilla like I was playing a prehistoric hitman game, and I made my way to the centre of the island, to where the camp was.
After a few minutes of running I managed to come back, and the chest was still out in the open with a few stacks of cash and gold rings still left inside, I shoved those into my inventory and I looked at my surroundings. The pirate captain fella was still standing by the chest, I just noticed.
"Any reason yer late?" He said.
"I was fightin' off a chimp, they're some surprisingly strong buggers." I said, trying to come up with the best response for this scenario, I mean, they probably killed the animals here.
"Aye, here's an extra 50 grand for yer troubles, whatsyername anyway?" He said as he handed me the cash.
"Ivar." I said, anxious about what might happen if he didn't recognise the name.
"Ah, Ivar, I'll try n' remember that, not good with names though so don't mind me." He said, planting a heavy hand onto my shoulder. "You look like a strong lad, why don't you stand guard with some of the others on that watchtower over there." He said, pointing towards a tall construction in the distance.
"On it, sir." I said as I ran off to the watchtower, I didn't know how I could dispatch the others there but I'd see what I could do.
I climbed up the shoddy ladders and not before long I was up there with 2 other guys.
My goal was to take both out silently and out of sight, I knew the captain might be checking on that watchtower because he sent me over there, so it needs to not look suspicious.
I crouched down and I looked like I was fiddling with my shoelaces, I looked over to one of the men close to me and and the one a bit out of range and behind me, I decided to take my machete that I stole on the old island and execute my plan.
I bashed my arm against the closest one's knees and simultaneously used the extended reach of the machete to hack into the other's knees simultaneously, both fell to the floor and I needed to quickly snuff them out. I slammed the machete through the head of one and my hand into another one's face, using Strong Punch to ensure he was down.
+500 EXP for defeating fodder (2x)
I slipped my machete back into my inventory and got back up.
The captain was watching these guys fall from the watchtower, but the wooden railing didn't let him see me snuff these guys out, he looked a little suspect from here and I did have a response prepped just in case he did indicate some sort of confusion.
"Yahaha, I tied your shoelaces together!" I shouted and pointed at the floor, laughing.
I crouched down and patted down their pockets just in case they had anything good to steal, they had a few wads of cash and some gems here and there which seemed like a pretty good haul to me.
I looked out from the watchtower and saw that the captain was walking away. I had no use being here anymore so I looked down from the railing of the watchtower to figure out my surroundings and who was where. I saw some people not too far off from some bushes, I wanted to get the drop on them and by that I mean the literal drop.
"I think I can survive this."
I perched onto the railing and leaped onto the two of them, my arms were wide out as I tried to bellyflop onto the two and snuff em out quick and easy.
It didn't go too well for either of us.
Splat!
-140 HP
+500 EXP for defeating fodder (2x)
"Argh, shit." I slowly got back up, patting myself from all the dust that rose from me smacking into the earth, I dragged the two by the legs and tossed 'em into the bushes before I then entered the bushes, sat down and started Meditating to recover.
It didn't take too long until I felt decent, Meditation did level up in the meantime too so I was happy about that.
If I remember correctly, there were 50 or so people who congregated around the captain, so that meant I had a lot to take care of.
After dealing with about 25 of those rascals and gaining three levels in Sneak Attack, I managed to meet up with Ben yet again, he was wrestling a few tigers, I told him about the pirates in the centre of the island and he let me deal with those guys on my own, there was enough rabid animals for him to deal with.
I went off on my merry way and encountered a lone pirate just standing there, now was as good a time as any to just assassinate him and get on with life, but I did want to experiment a little with using Hasshoken combatively.
I slowly approached the man and as I got near him, I started humming loudly enough for him to pick up on it. He turned around to see what that noise was and was surprised to see me looking up at him with a big grin plastered on my face.
I managed to channel my Hasshoken through my body fast enough to where the vibrations were circulating in my hand by the time he turned. I pounced forward and combined Strong Punch with Hasshoken, aiming for the forehead. I felt his brain ever so slightly rattle in his skull as I threw the punch.
Hasshoken (5/150)
+100 EXP for upgrading a skill via natural means
Awesome, it might be something viable for combat in the near future, just a couple of levels and I should be able to constantly channel it-
The horn sounded out into the distance, I might as well come over and see what the captain has to say, when all the pirates disperse I should be able to track some down and get 'em.
I ran over to the centre of the island and saw a relatively tiny amount of people rush over alongside me.
The captain was obviously frustrated, he was wiping the sweat off his brow and gripping his handkerchief hard enough to strain the liquid out of it.
"Where the fuck are me men, aye!? T'fuck happened?"
Everyone stood silent.
"Why's there only, what? 20 Of ya? Explain it to me, please." He shouted. There was no response. "If no one's gonna explain it, then I'll- then I'll fuckin'-"
"I saw a dead gorilla somewhere, I was seeing if we could cook it and I saw a body under it, one of our men." A man piped up and said.
"I saw some men in the bushes flat as a pancake." Another said.
"Well- Why didn't'ya guys tell me about this, what the fuck were you lot thinking, keeping this a secret."
More silence.
"Alright, fuck it, scour every inch of this damned island and bring me the killer." The whole crowd shouted 'aye!' And we were off, I followed a search party of 4 and I took note of the general direction the other search parties went in.
As soon as we were deep enough into the forest, I started humming rhythmically in order to trick the others into thinking I was just trying to fill out the silence of the jungle. Instead, I wanted to experiment, I was thinking if I could store multiple of what I called beats. I could store a hum into my fist and keep it there, but what if I keep humming and send those vibrations a bit higher up my hand, I could expel one and have them each follow along behind the other beat so that I could have 'em go again in quick succession.
I tried doing this, but I couldn't concentrate on more than two. Still, this levelled me up in Hasshoken.
Hasshoken (6/150)
+100 EXP for upgrading a skill via natural means
I tried transferring one beat into each of my fists which was possibly, albeit a bit of a strain on the mind, I needed to expel them immediately, and I have 4 perfect targets.
I crashed my fist down on the back of one's skull with a Strong Punch infused with Hasshoken. I sent another one of those strikes into a different man, they were both killed immediately.
"Wuh-"
"Huh?-"
Two startled men turned towards the heavy, meaty thuds that I had just produced. I reeled back my fist far back and shot it forward into one's face, sending him flying back into a tree.
The other tried to take out his gun but I just slammed my fist into him like I did all the other guys.
"Dumbasses."
Hasshoken (7/150)
+100 EXP for upgrading a skill via natural means
I guess there's two ways to upgrade Hasshoken, it has a lot to do with the mind, so obtaining theoretical knowledge helps, such as when I conceptualised beats, and practical usage helps too. Not a hard concept to grasp but I felt like mentally noting it down.
Another thing that is noteworthy is the fact that every level slightly increases the speed my hums can traverse my body and enter my fist.
So now there's what? 19 people left? That should be easy enough.
I dusted off my fist as I took down what seemed to be the last normal member of the crew with a Hasshoken infused punch, which increased the level by one, making it (8/150).
Now I just need to square off against the captain, he looked like a big lad, he must've been tough to raid a marine vessel, but I think I could take him.
I switched to my normal outfit and reviewed my inventory, which was filled with wads of cash and various gems. I had already gotten the 5 Million Beri from the quest, but it seems like I needed to get rid of the main asshole to get the rest of the rewards. I don't know how a +2 to agility pertained to what I was doing, but I'm sure as shit gonna take what I could get.
I rushed off to the centre of the island and slowed down when I got close, I pulled my lips up into a smile and walked into the big man's field of view.
"Hey, how's it going, your whole crew got decimated but at least you're fine."
"TH'FUCK DID YOU DO!?" He screamed.
"I hunted some animal poachers." I said, I knew I was a little hypocritical in saying this but I did want something cool to say. I then started rhythmically humming, charging a beat into each hand. "I really don't like bullshit, so can we skip it and get to the fight already, because I feel like we're gonna get there soon enough, trust me."
The man gritted his teeth and cracked his knuckles, getting ready for a fight. He took a massive cutlass that was scaled proportionately to his size and aimed it towards me.
"How fucking dare you, you swine!" He shouted, stabbing the blade into my chest.