The team goes after a card nobody has found before.
Raphael smiled at his team members once the group had split up to find the card's questline starting point. There's always an easy way to find this information, it just requires a little bit of sleuthing.
"Alright gang. When it comes to finding quests, we're looking for someone that sticks out like a sore thumb." He looked from stall-to-stall, gauging the NPCs' personalities, "Look for anyone miserable in the bustling crowds. Or someone's overacting that isn't being registered by the other characters. We find that, we'll find our quest giver."
"~"
It took a bit of time, but they eventually found a lone woman looking out at the sea. What set her off from the rest was her dead eyes, the miserable selection at her store being offered consisting of a couple types of fish, not enough to be a wide selection, but enough to set her off from the rest.
Bingo! Raphael approached the woman, dropping a few keywords to try to trigger her. Only When he mentioned Plot of Beach, did her tune change. Her eyes filled with sorrow, drifting out back to the sea, "Pirates rule this city…"
It was a little weird hearing this, since pirates would technically be roaming the streets at all times. But at no point, pirates or anything of that nature roamed the streets. Something sounded off about this quest…
The woman continued with her information dump, a dull look in her eyes, "There's a legend about an underwater cavern called Sea God's Grotto located somewhere in this area. Patch of Shore is the entrance to it. A few years ago, having heard of the legendary cavern and its treasure, 15 Pirates arrived in this city. Razor and the fourteen devils…"
That happened to coincide with the number of players in their group, although one less. That would explain why he could never find a way to trigger this quest the last time he came to Soufrabi. You needed to meet a player number threshold.
But considering the average number of members per group is between five and three, it would require multiple groups to be willing to team up. They managed to get lucky.
"The city fishermen were all tortured and killed." The NPC took a long drag of her lit cigarette, letting out a long breath over her produce. That definitely wouldn't make anyone want to purchase her produce, not that it mattered, "The pirates murdered anyone who knew about Patch of the Shore. If you get rid of the pirates, I'll tell you what I know."
So this quest was a case of removing the obstacles in order to receive the major prize. But given that she is probably the last living person to know about Patch of the Shore, Greed Island intended it to be that way.
Still… that gnawing feeling ate at Raphael. Something wasn't right about this quest. He needed more clues.
"~"
Now that everyone was aware of the quest, some of the members were a little confused about the quest giver. Even Raphael remembers speaking to her at another time, and she never mentioned anything about pirates.
So either the pirates are new, or they needed the player count to initiate the quest.
Hanse let out an annoyed huff, "When we visited a few months earlier, we couldn't find a single clue. We even spoke to that character, and they didn't mention anything about Razor."
"That's because there's sixteen of us." Raphael pointed to every member in the group, "It's Razor and the fourteen devils. You need a minimum of fifteen players to trigger the quest. There are other quests like this, a few that require at least two or three players to initiate the task."
"But how does it know we're a team of fifteen, and not a random group of players that happen to be in town at the same time?" Kazsule hummed at his question, frowning from the lack of answers being supplied.
"How would the game character know that information?" Souheil offered another question to the pool.
"Accompany…" Raphael offered, "The game masters made the condition. Unless you come with fifteen or more, the requirement will not be fulfilled. If we came here as separate groups, it wouldn't have triggered either, even if we met the player count requirement. We needed to come as a single group."
Killua smirked, "It wouldn't have worked if we walked here either. You need an Accompany card, and the location to be discovered by at least one player."
The solo member of the group, Goreinu sighed, "This is brutal…"
Killua caught that. What could Goreinu possibly be grumbling about? "What?"
"Oh, nothing."
Raphael ran a thumb across his chin. Goreinu must know the card count. Since there are fifteen devils, that means there will be possibly fourteen mini-bosses and the mega boss, Razor, we'll have to defeat. This card could be a SS Rank, it has to be somewhere between one and five slots, at maximum. Given that most of the other SS Rank cards are three slots, except for Blue Planet, this card is most likely going to be three as well. And there are six teams here. This could end in a massive argument… I suppose it'll still be good to gather information, even if we can't obtain the card with this group.
With the information the group had gathered, they headed towards the pirate base.
"~"
It seemed like the NPC hadn't known the pirate's true base. But there was a pub, some of the members frequented a lot. When they walked into the building, they were greeted to the sounds of booze being chugged, mild banter being initiated amongst a couple of members.
There were four people dressed in the same gear; brown khakis, elf style shoes, a white sleeveless shirt and a dark blue hat with pom poms ending at the corners protruding from their hat.
Neither of them cared about the large group entering the bar. All that mattered to them was the free alcohol one of their team members was handing out over the counter. When the largest man of the four grabbed the latest bottle, the man serving at the bar piped up, "Looks like we have some uninvited guests."
After taking a long swig of his drink, he belched up a loud burp, clearing his mouth of any spilled alcohol before addressing the large group, "And who are you guys supposed to be? As you can see, we've already booked this place for the night." Taking another swig, he waited patiently for one of the members of the group to respond.
Kazsule looked at the group, eyeing up each member. They didn't seem that tough. This would be an easy quest if they only had to deal with these four members, "We're-"
"Get lost, weaklings!"
The man frowned, "We've come here to kick you out of the town."
The pirates stared at the group for a couple of seconds, momentarily surprised by the situation. It seems like some players have finally shown up, with the right amount of members. They burst into laughter at the joke.
"Are you serious?" The more muscular man of the four grinned, eyeing the sixteen members down, "It's been a long time since I've heard those words."
Someone has already triggered the quest? Raphael wondered why nobody had obtained the card then. Were they too weak to beat it? Or was this all a ruse, a way to push the narrative that nobody was strong enough to force them out of town.
It was at this moment the largest of the men stood up, stepping closer to the group with a small bottle of whisky in his hand. He tilted the bottle towards the floor, splashing it across the ground, "Don't bother talking about forcing us out." He made a circle around him, grinning as he pulled a lighter out to light the ring he just made, "Just use force to make us leave. I don't care who attacks me…"
He moved into a stance, something that a sumo wrestler would initiate, smiling maniacally at the players, "Or all of you can attack me at once. I don't care. If you can force me out of this ring, I'll take you to see our boss."
"We just have to move you out of the ring?" Zeho stepped up to the challenge, pouring aura into his muscles. Veins protruding from his skin, oozing with newfound strength. He exhaled a deep breath, smiling at his enemy, "If it's brawn you want, I'm your man."
This isn't good… Raphael continued to observe the player taking forever to strengthen himself. There's clearly a difference between him and the pirate. He'll be lucky if he even leaves a scuff mark at this point. But there's another problem. These pirates weren't acting like usual NPCs. What is going on?
Zeho raised his arms, lunging towards the pirate. He wrapped his arms around the massive man, exerting all his strength into throwing him backwards. He didn't budge. No matter how hard he pushed, the large pirate refused to budge.
"You're pretty strong…" The pirate smiled, wrapping his arms around the player, pulling him into a tight hug. Standing up, he hovered them over the burning fight, the man now screaming in agony as the fire licked at his feet.
"Please, stop it! I lost. Let me go!"
This wasn't typical NPC behaviour… this was stereotypical human behaviour. The moment Raphael took a step forward to end the fight, Gon was rushing forward. He slammed his foot across the pirate's face, causing him to drop Zeho right onto the fire.
Zeho rolled away, slapping away the fires in a panic as Gon addressed the pirate, "He admitted defeat. So why didn't you drop him?"
"I explained the rules…" The pirate gloated with a huge smile, "And you already lost." He pointed at the area outside the fire ring, "You stepped out of the ring."
"Eh…?"
"I said nothing else about admitting defeat. Since you already kicked me in the face, that counts as you stepping in the ring."
"Oh!" Gon looked mortified at his action. He didn't think that would count as being inside the ring, since he never stepped into the actual ring, "Crap! Can I get a redo?"
Killua chuckled, grabbing onto his friend's shoulder with a cheeky smile, "Rules are rules…"
"But-"
"I know how badly you want to use your new technique against him, but save it. Trust me, this isn't the right time to use it. I'll make him regret not having a throw down with you instead."
"Hey, fat ass! How about you have-"
Raphael grabbed Killua's shoulder, pulling him aside, "One second. Before you go into the ring and suplex the asshole. Why don't you let me deal with this?" I need to confirm something, without alerting them or the others.
Killua took a peek at the man from over his friend's shoulder. Every second they wasted talking about dealing with the man, the more pissed off he's going to get. So there's no harm in wasting his time.
They had a back and forth, the sumo wrestler's eye twitching as he continued to be ignored. Why were the two boys wasting his time? Their lack of action infuriated him "Why don't both of you take me on, instead of wasting my time?"
The two ignored his radiating rage, continuing to make their case to the other.
Eventually, Killua piped up, "That's brilliant. Have fun…" If he was going to be honest, he still preferred his idea. If the pirate wanted to torture the man by holding him over a burning ring of fire, lighting his face up using alcohol should be fair play.
But Raphael was going to be a different kind of cruel. He was going to make sure that the pirate got a taste of his own medicine.
Raphael moved around the ring, keeping far from the pirate. He'd rather not step into the ring while he's right at the edge.
"Are you done having your little chit-chat, kid? Or are you going to waste my time by walking around the ring?"
"I won't…" Raphael stepped into the ring with a sweet smile, "Now do try to keep me entertained."
"Ha…" The man got into a stance, "I'll make you regret wasting my time." The man charged towards the kid, swinging his hand to grab the boy.
Raphael moved to be barely out of the man's reach, a little off to the side. Since he was still in the ring, he wasn't out.
The man swung again, the boy once more avoiding him by an inch. He grew frustrated with the teen avoiding him, always remaining an inch out of his grasp, "Stand still or fucken hit me kid!"
"If you say so. Ko!" Aura pooled into his fist, his words not replicating his actions. If the pirate guards his body with Ryu and not Ken, he'll know something isn't right.
The man brought his arms up, protecting his body from any incoming attacks. And right on cue, aura circled the man's body, prepared for an attack from any direction. Once the boy makes a move, he'd be ready to grab his arm and twist his body like a pretzel.
Raphael swung his fist. When he was within an inch of being grabbed, the man made the wrong move.
"Got you-"
Raphael pulled back his fist to his side, swinging his whole weight into a single kick. His foot met some unguarded nut sacks.
The man's voice raised several pitches higher, grasping onto his family jewels. The kid had kicked him right in the nuts, not an ounce of his strength being held back, "You fucken…"
Raphael moved to the man's back, swiftly booting him while he was down on one knee. The action caused him to stumble out of the ring, still clutching onto his groin.
Raphael flashed the man a smirk while he was down, "If you can burn a man, a crotch shot is an equally viable option."
"I'll…" The man got up, glaring at the kid. How dare he equate his nuts to torturing a man for his own enjoyment "I'll make you-"
He was swiftly kicked down by one of his companions before he was able to move. The wrestler grits his teeth, frustrated with the situation.
The pirate made the rules and still lost. He had no right to get upset with the teen for kicking him in the nuts, "You made the rules and still lost! Don't get upset… Bopobo."
He lost, and now his fellow pirates are making sure he follows the rules "Yeah, my bad…"
Between Bopobo reacting to the kick to the crotch, the fact he got angry, and the other pirate not only kicked him, but warned him from breaking his own rules confirmed a suspicion.
These weren't NPC… these were actual people. The fact that nobody was reacting to this casual reveal was concerning. Yeah, it's supposed to be a known secret. But not everyone can hide the fact they just dealt with humans, and not a random NPC.
Unless they have a superb poker face… they should've had some kind of reaction to this situation. But he couldn't say anything. He'll be breaking a cardinal rule.
It probably didn't help that he was trying to get out of explaining that Greed Island was a real place when Killua questioned him weeks ago.
"You guys…" The muscular pirate looked towards the group of fifteen. Looks like some of them might be tougher than they look. The kid with white hair, the boy that kicked Bopobo across the face, and the one who went for the nut shot, "Come with me. I'll take you to the boss."
"~"
The group were led out of town, up the hill to a massive complex overlooking the sea. It didn't look like a pirate hideout, considering it stood out like a sore thumb. Then again, neither did the pirates look like ruffians, they only acted as such. So why, would Razor and the pirates even need such a big building for fifteen people?
So when they entered the building, they were at least expecting that sort of mischievous, drunken banter. An argument or two, perhaps a chair being used as a sledgehammer across someone's back, but as soon as the doors opened, nothing could prepare them for what they were about to witness.
It was a large gymnasium, with multiple pirates practising different sports. From boxing to sumo wrestling, basketball to soccer. Hell, some even seem to be playing volleyball.
"Your boss…" Raphael paused to take what he was seeing, "is in here?" Was the boss some kind of gym bro, an exercise junkie? Actually, why was the whole group putting up this kind of facade, acting so arrogantly at the bar…
When all they were, was a bunch of sports junkies.
Something wasn't right here…
"He's over here." The man gestured to the one guy not in a uniform. He was holding a volleyball, overlooking a group practising.
While everyone was wearing the silly pirate uniform, he was in a pair of gym shorts, a white t-shirt and a pair of sneakers…
This guy dressed up as a high school coach, and was the leader of the pirates. This man was Razor.
This by far, was the weirdest quest he was officially a part of.
"Boss, we have some guests."
The man merely glanced at the group, giving them a once over. He couldn't see why they were there. But since they were brought to him, they were either new recruits or… his eye caught one of the rings. They were players, which meant they must have passed the first hurdle, whatever that was "Who are these guys?"
"They want to chase us out of town."
"Chase us out? Ahh…" Razor offered a smile.
Killua felt like something was off, but he couldn't place his finger on it. Something about the man's presence oozed problematic.
With a bounce of his ball, another pirate caught the volleyball "If you're here to kick us out, why don't we have a contest." Razor issued a challenge to the group of players, "If you win, we'll leave the island. However, we choose the contest. How does that sound?"
"And what if we lose?" Goreinu interjected. There's always a catch to these kinds of deals.
"Nothing…" The man smiled, "You'll just have to leave town.
Kazsule smiled at the demand. If they lose, they just have to leave town, switch up their group and return, "Let's do this!"
"The theme of this battle is sports. Each of these members will challenge you to a match in their best sport. One win per person!" The man guested to the group, "The first person to eight wins will be the victor."
The goal seemed simple enough… but there were sixteen of them, and only fifteen Devils in total, "There's sixteen of us, and only fifteen of you. Does that mean one of us will have to miss out?"
"Yes. You can choose whoever gets to go next while we…" The man turned to one of his crew members, giving him a silent nod.
"I'm up first. I'll go with… boxing."
Razor gestured a thumb towards the ring "Who's up for the first round?"
"I guess-"
Killua latched onto Raphael's shoulder, pulling him back so he could whisper in his ear "Let someone else have a go. We have a chance, but with some of our team members, it's best we observe their skills so we know what we're working with."
His friend was right. If he could beat a pirate no problem, then Killua, Gon and Bisky could too. Zeho already lost, which means they know that man is weak… but the others… they could be much worse.
Montreux held up a hand, placing it onto the teen's shoulder, "We need to earn our keep too. We'll keep you as a crutch…"
Raphael gave a nod, the man getting into the ring. He had a pair of gloves fitted to his fists, smiling the whole time.
"There's one special rule. You may use any item created by Nen."
"What?" Kazsule was the first to freak out, others joining the cause.
But to Raphael, this was a huge red flag. They said Nen, not magic. Nor did they mention anything about their book. Other NPCs didn't react to Nen like they did with the magic system. They called it cheating when a spell card was used against them, but here… it's not only allowed, they called it for what actually was, Nen.
Or was this just some elaborate ruse to test who was listening to what he was saying. If so, they failed the initial test.
"It's fine…" The boxing pirate dismissed the group's concerns, "I'll be fighting with only my fists."
The pirate leader looked towards the group, seeing only a handful had an honest reaction. Five people in total… the same five that oozed strength.
"Did you want to tap out?"
"Nah…" Montreux hopped on the spot, stretching out his body and limbs for the fight to come. He doesn't need spell cards to win. In fact, he saw this as the worst match up to his opponent. He had an ace up his sleeve, a way to knock him down without having to move from his spot. "No, I'm still going ahead."
"Fight!"
The man continued to smile, the pirate slowly inching his way forward, smiling the whole time.
"I know what's going on here…" Montruez pulled back his fist, ready to throw a punch, "There's a reason you chose boxing!"
He threw the first punch at a distance, launching a bolt of Nen at the pirate. The boxer flinched, avoiding the bolt of aura.
"You're also an Emitter, right?"
Had this man caught onto what the pirate leader said? He's acting like he knows what's up, but that was the most basic form of attack as an Emitter, launching aura. Unless, that was also a test.
"We're fighting at close range, within a finite space. This is the ideal situation for an Emitter."
No, you're wrong… Raphael thought to himself. This is the best situation for an Enhancer. If he pins an Emitter to a corner, unless that Emitter has a distance creating ability on hand, his ranged attacks would be useless in that fight.
"However…" The man pulled back his fist once more, "You made one mistake!" He began a barrage of attacks, launching ball after ball of aura at the pirate, pelting him with multiple attacks "Not anticipating that my power could be stronger than yours!"
It was here those who were watching, who weren't cheering on the man, could see one huge flaw with his method of attack.
The pirate's hand disappeared right as he began his flurry. There was a void between them, a disembodied hand connecting with Montreux's chin.
If one pirate has a Hatsu, they all must have one too.
And unless other members of the group do have a Hatsu, they have no chance of winning this with their line-up.
The group was silent when Gon uttered the line, "It was a simultaneous hit."
Montreux fell to the floor with a heavy thud. He was down for the count. The pirate had won when he got back up after being pelted with all those balls of aura. He was tougher than he looks… or Montreux was much weaker than he let on.
In any case, considering what happened with Zeho earlier, and the fact that everyone was confused as to why they lost, it would be impossible to win at this point.
They had no chance of winning…
"Wha… What happened?"
"He got punched in the chin."
"How? From that far away…"
He felt a poke in his back, the teen turning to see what they wanted. Killua was looking right at him, suggesting for him to remain quiet.
"If none of you could see how, we're screwed. It was a Hatsu. And if one pirate has an ability…" Raphael looked at the leader, who was now grinning smugly, "They all do."
Leaning down, Razor checked Montreux's pulse, "It seems he's out cold…" Standing up once more, he gestured to the group, "Looks like this is a win for us.
"Looks like I'm up next…" A man with a soccer ball resting on top of his finger smiled, "I'll go with juggling soccer balls.
"I'm up-"
"Hold it, Gon!" Killua gestured for all members of their group to huddle together. As much as winning a point is important, they needed to completely lose to the pirates without giving away any details about themselves.
"Lose no matter what. Our team is too weak to beat them. We'll need a stronger group than this."
"Aww…"
Killua frowned at his friend, "Gon, we have no chance. Let's at least figure out what some of the games are, and plan around how we can beat them."
"That would be wise. But some of us need to fake it. I'll take this game instead, pretend I'm going to try to win, but lose on purpose. The aim is to most likely get the other to drop their ball."
Raphael raised his hand, "I'm going to take a stab at this." He closed the distance to the pirate, smiling when he was offered a ball.
"A kid? I'll make sure not to injure you."
"How thoughtful…" He bounced the ball a few times since the game wasn't in session, testing the firmness of the ball, "I assume Nen is also allowed in this game."
"Of course. And we can attack each other, it's just your hands aren't allowed to touch the ball once the game starts."
His ability probably helps him knock the ball into my hands. That's helpful. "Sure."
"You can also move anywhere inside the building. Whoever drops their ball first, loses."
"Easy enough."
"Okay! Let's get started. Ready… Go!" The two dropped their ball, Raphael using the side of his foot to tap it up into the air, "But you never mentioned anything about touching the other's ball. He kicked it up a little higher, the pirate preparing something in his palm.
A Conjurer, possibly Emitter… Raphael jumped up, kicking his ball hard enough to send it flying towards the pirate.
He made it look like his goal was to make the ball bounce into the pirates, but he used a little more force, the ball curving right at the end to completely miss the pirates ball. It bounced off to the side, effectively making it seem like he lost. But given the pirate's reaction, he wasn't expecting it to curve towards the end.
"Oops…"
"Why didn't you-" Raphael shot Asta a glare, telling her to keep quiet? Just because she's seen it, doesn't mean he wants the others to know.
Yes, his ability would work best in this type of match. But they all needed to be prepared to beat the pirates. With a combination of cards, they could still win, but they needed to lose the first round of games "Don't say anything. I just misjudged my aim…"
"Hey, Big guy?" Killua pointed at Bopobo, "I got robbed of my match with you. And since Raphael lost, "I want my turn."
"If you do what your friend did to me, I'll break every bone in your body, brat!"
Killua got into the ring with the other, aura pooling around the man's body. Since he's doing sumo wrestling, and he hasn't explained any of the rules, the game must be the same.
You go out of the ring, you lose…
"Bopobo…" Razor warned the pirate.
"Right…" The man let out a frustrated sigh, "You step out of the ring, you lose. You can use any form of Nen to defeat your opponent."
With a nod, the leader waved his hand, gesturing for the fight to begin.
He stomped his way towards Killua, arms raised up, "I'll crush you!"
Given the way his defences were enhanced, knocking him back would be impossible. Enhancer, probably…
Killua moved to the side as the man waved his hands down. The boy pretended to slip, his foot skidding out of the ring.
Veins protrude across the pirate's forehead, a single eye twitching in disgust. The kid did that on purpose.
So when he saw the apologetic smile, the oops being uttered, it took every ounce of his self-control to not just slam the kid into the ground and crush his neck beneath his fingertips.
"Another win for us."
"~"
After Bisky lost on purpose, the other players at least tried to secure a win. But they were no match. That was until the last one, Goreinu threw in the towel.
He lost on purpose…
Which means, he knows a little more than he's letting on. He did seem a little hesitant earlier, a complaint slipping out of his mouth by accident. When the basketball hit the ground, the pirate grinned widely, they had secured their final win.
"That makes eight wins… we're the victors."
"Get out." The basketball pirate taunted, smiling eagerly, "We'll continue to do as we please in this city."
Even as they walked away, a single pirate refused to accept his win. The group walked out of the gym, away from the quest. Now that they knew what they're up against, with a little digging into the game's mechanics, there was still a chance to win with their line-up. They Just needed to come up with countermeasures.
A/N: Leave a review, it helps inspire me.