Chapter 47: Danger at Sea 2
Chapter 47: Danger at Sea 2
“Hold her for a bit.”
“Ah? Yeah…”
Leifina let out an awkward laugh as she was handed Lia.
The mysterious fairy-like child, caused her maternal instincts to kick in without her even realising.
“Mom, I’m hungry…”
Lia said as she pointed at Leifina’s chest, clearly wanting some milk.
Leifina however froze and stood there with a blank expression.
“Lord….”
“Give her this to drink.”
Woohyuk took out a bottle of milk that he had prepared in advance from his Sage’s Pouch.
Watching her sip the milk, Aris spoke up.
“You need to find a way to control her.”
“I will need to tame it properly before that happens.”
Because of her ridiculous amount of mana in her body, it would be troublesome if she decided to throw a tantrum.
Dragons had become a thing of legends on the continent. After the war between Gods and Demons, they had moved to another plane, in search of a new home.
Because this had occurred a very long time ago, there wasn’t a known method of raising them.
“It is quite a special creature to be able to speak so soon. It must have learned the human language while it was waiting in its egg.
Dragons were highly intelligent creatures and could quickly learn just about anything.
Woohyuk searched around in his Sage’s Pouch before fishing out a light blue dress.
“Use it to cover Lia.”
It was some spare clothes he had collected due to Elizabeth’s help.
“Oh, it’s so cute!”
Aris shrieked as she saw her being covered in the dress.
Completely unlike the mad Demon that was hell bent on destroying the world just a few days ago.
It felt like being so close to Asura made her quite a bit more docile.
“Since she is able to speak, she’ll need a friend.”
Woohyuk called over Song Anna and Undine so that they could all get along.
“You girls play nice.”
“Sister…?”
Lia gave them a smile, and Undine smiled back.
“Hello, my name’s Undine and I’m a water spirit.”
“I, I’m Song Anna.”
She stammered, dazzled by the cuteness of their new friend.
Leaving the three girls behind to play together, Woohyuk stared at the vast expanse of sea as he planned his next moves.
‘First I’ll need to get my hands on the Seven Color Rainbow Ring.
Crafting high grade items like that would also require the use of Scrolls.
Of course even if he had the required Scrolls and raw materials, it still couldn’t be crafted without someone who had the Blacksmith class.
Not to mention that they would have to be decently skilled as well.
‘I’ll need to find Dexter for that.’
The Seven Color Rainbow Ring was a S Grade Item. It had only been due to pure luck that Isaac had managed to obtain it.
He obtain the instruction manual for the Seven Color Rainbow Ring’s explaining the crafting method what materials were required, all due to dumb luck. He even managed to meet up with Dexter later on, finding someone to craft him his ring.
He had learned this from Isaac’s boasting in the past.
‘It all began at Landium.’
The port city that served as a trading hub to nearby regions, would soon become a battlefield.
Naturally Woohyuk was the only person that was aware of this.
He actually didn’t know all the details, which was why he was in such a hurry. It would be annoying if he missed the event.
“What drives you to work so hard?”
As Woohyuk was busy accounting for a number of variables, Irene approached from behind.
“To desire to put an end to this nightmare.”
“Will that bring you happiness?”
Irene asked, staring at him with her golden eyes with a look of interest.
“Maybe, at least everyone else will have a chance to find happiness.”
“Do I count among those?”
“Of course.”
“It seems that it was a good decision to follow you after all.”
Although she had become his vassal, Woohyuk hadn’t commanded her to do anything as of yet.
His sole intention was to help her figure out her own identity, and thanks to his help Irene was changing little by little.
“It’s too early to tell, there is still a long and treacherous path ahead.”
“I’m ready for it.”
She should have died, but Woohyuk had given her a new chance.
For the first time she was given the freedom to make her own choices, and had decided to follow Woohyuk a while longer.
Irene looked out into the horizon, a sight which she had never seen before.
Everything was so foreign to her, and yet at the same time mysterious.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak once more.
“Boss, big trouble!”
Jung Sanghoon who was posted up on the crow’s nest shouted out.
“What is it?”
“We have several pirate ships coming our way!”
Jung Sanghoon could see quite a bit further than them due to the spyglass installed up there.
It was an emergency, so Woohyuk called everyone to gather above deck.
“You guys can just stay here for now.”
There was no need to use all of his party members for this.
All he had to do was sweep away any enemies before they came too close. After all, he was nigh invincible when at sea.
“Ooooh Ooh!”
As he summoned the young Kraken, it popped its head above water and bellowed.
The pirates that had come over to loot the ship were stunned, but quickly opened fire with their cannons.
Bang! Bang!
There were several boats in their fleet so they had a decent firepower, but it was far from enough to take down the Kraken.
Attacking into that was basically the same as committing suicide
“Cr...azy!”
“What is that!?”
Despite being young, the Kraken was more than big enough to blot out the horizons when it raised itself above the water.
Despite being tamed by Woohyuk, its unbridled nature came out when faced with pirates in the sea.
It could even temporarily affect the weather in currents for a short period of time.
Cuooooooooo!
The pirate ships lost their ability to navigate their vessels as they collided with one another.
“Captain Dirk, what should we do now?”
“... Shit.”
It was too late for them to turn back, as fear spread among their ranks like a virus.
Every time the Kraken swung one of its tentacles, a ship would be smashed into pieces with a loud crashing sound.
Any that fell into the sea became prey for the circling sharks.
“Captain! What are your orders!”
A pirate shouted out while desperately clinging to the ship’s mast.
If things continued they would be annihilated, they were desperate enough to try just about anything.
“Sigh…”
Dirk examined the monstrosity before them, it was quite clearly a Kraken. Did they even have any chance against such a mythic creature?
As he began to accept his fate, an unknown half-man, half-fish creature jumped onto their deck.
Triton.
Upon seeing such a foe the pirates quickly drew their cutlasses.
“Kill this monster!”
“We won’t die so easily!”
Since they already knew they were about to die, they at least wanted to go out with a bang.
Unfortunately for them, Triton was much stronger than they had expected.
Sasasasak!
Numerous Ice Arrows flew across the deck. Even if lately he had mostly done menial tasks, he was still a Demigod after all.
Despite the many debuffs he continued to suffer from, he could still easily deal with such small fries like these pirates.
“Who..who are you?”
“I’m just following my master’s orders.”
Triton had high expectations of Woohyuk upon seeing the potential he had in him.
That’s why he had chosen to support him as much as possible.
He believed that Woohyuk was well aware of how unfair the System was, and that he would be sure to join the Gods’ side.
“Master? You are that monster’s minion! ”
“No, don’t misunderstand.”
The one he served was far scarier than that Kraken would ever be. Even humans would have to fear him soon enough.
Thinking of the Demon Energy that resided within Woohyuk, Triton stabbed Ranghilt onto the wooden deck.
* * *
“Kuuuk!”
Jung Sanghoon kicked Dirk that had been tied up by some rope, urging him to keep walking.
Including him, several other pirates had been captured alive.
“You had quite the large crew.”
Woohyuk said in a flat tone.
He stood before the group of pirates holding Jake’s Pocket watch in one hand.
“They’re all dead… Because of that damned Kraken….”
“Weren\'t you the ones that tried to plunder us?”
“That….”
Dirk had no retort. Obviously they had come to engage in some looting, but if he told the truth, he was likely to have his head chopped off
“Which Fleet are you with?”
“We are part of Sea Snake’s Fury, a group that was led by a Pirate King before he died about three years ago.”
Pirates were adventurous and free spirited, they would often join new groups only to leave after some time.
That was unless someone with the right influence and charisma appeared to reign over all the sea.
For that reason there were several Pirate Fleet.
All the groups had their own defining characteristics, because people that had a lot in common would often join up on the same Fleet.
“A Pirate King? What was his name?”
Hearing his former title, Drake appeared on the deck.
Naturally all the tied up pirates had an expression of sheer terror upon laying eyes on him.
“Wahak!”
“It’s a Ghost!”
None of them recognized Drake’s face.
Dirk finally understood everything.
“No wonder the Kraken didn’t attack this ship, it’s because this is one of those legendary Ghost ships.”
“When I ask a question, you answer rookie.”
Drake placed the edge of his cutlass against Dirk’s neck.
Although he was acting rather impulsively, Woohyuk decided to let it slide.
‘He had said previously that he knew the location of a certain treasure.’
Although it wasn’t the right time to do so right now, eventually he’d like to explore the sea and search for new opportunities. Finding treasure and succeeding achievements that had never been done 40 years ago.
Who knows, there might be a key treasure that could only be found at sea.
“Re... Red Beard, Barbarossa…”
“Barbarossa? Who would have thought that it would be that punk that would succeed me.”
“Wait, Could you be the first Pirate King?”
Now that the Sea God’s curse had been lifted, any pirate worth his salt, including Dirk, knew the story of the first Pirate King Drake.
Drake nodded and removed the cutlass from his neck.
“I’ve been living a nameless existence for some time now, the life of a ghost, even if it hadn’t been my intention.”
“Oh…”
Dirk muttered to himself with a looked of incredulity.
Francis Drake. Regarded as a hero among pirates, and the owner of many Secret Treasures.
One day he had suddenly gone missing, and there were rumors flying around of how he had been cursed by the Sea God.
“How are the pirate groups divided these days?”
Barbarossa was betrayed and killed by his own crew member, Edward Teach. The men under him split up, some following Edward while others formed their own groups.
Edward Teach, otherwise known as Blackbeard. The entire seas were now in chaos due to his ambition.
The Sea Snake’s Fury which Dirk belonged to were enemies with him.
‘Looks like we can keep him alive.’
Woohyuk thought to himself as he continued to listen in on the conversation between the two pirates.
In the past the chaos in Landium had been connected to Edward Teach, and Dirk just so happened to have some information about him.
‘Hopefully we might even be able to get in touch with Sea Snake’s Fury.’
Back then when he had interrogated Isaac he didn’t learn every single detail, so a bit of information gathering was necessary.
After summoning his ghost crew members to watch over the imprisoned pirates under Dirk, Woohyuk spoke with Drake.
“Do you aspire to be the Pirate King once more?”
“Not at all, I was just curious as to the current state of affairs.”
Even though the Sea God’s curse had been lifted, Drake was unable to step beyond the black mist that enshrouded the Abyssal Ship.
That was one of the main reasons he had decided to follow Woohyuk and use the chance to repay his gratitude.
“The weather is suddenly taking a turn for the worse.”
“The sea is a fickle mistress as always.”
Dark clouds could be seen gathering on the horizon. As the waves began to rock the boat, Woohyuk pulled out his Deep Sea’s Orb.
‘A storm is coming.’
With the orb he could observe what was occurring far away from them, in another part of the sea. Based on what he saw they could expect strong winds and toppling waves.
It was to a point that he wasn’t sure if he had enough mana to control such weather.
Still, giving it a try would be much better than just standing to the side and watching.
“Haha! Not to worry Captain, this ship is strong, she can take it.”
Drake grabbed hold of the wheel as he let out a wild laughter.
At the same time large raindrops began to splatter on the deck, falling from the dark clouds above them.
Woohyuk had his party hide below deck, while he and Triton went to the ship’s bow.
“Is there anything you can do?”
“...Well.”
The debuff placed on him was too restrictive, so even if he now found himself at sea, in his element, he still wasn’t able to calm a storm of this level with his ability alone.
As Woohyuk continued to stare at him with an apathetic look, Triton finally caved
“Okay, I will try”
He was ready to prove that he could be trusted with such important tasks.
As Triton held the Deep Sea’s Orb, the ship that was previously being rocked around by rough waters, seemed to calm down somewhat.
By influencing the sea’s currents, he was able to at least stabilize the vessel somewhat.
“Quite a good job.”
“I am after all a Prince of the sea, not some fisherman you hand a rod to in order to catch a meal.”
He had so much to complain about.
Woohyuk decided to give him a little encouragement.
“If you help us weather this storm safely, I will appoint you as first mate.”
“You finally acknowledge my abilities.”
“Right, so from now on you will be in charge of catching all the seafood we consume.”
“....”
He wasn’t sure anymore if he will ever be treated properly in the future.
Triton stared out into the sea, almost tearing up as he thought about his situation.