9 Fishing (4)

In the middle of North Blue, a crew was celebrating as a trench had been dug, allowing the ship to sail again.

Cheers and festive music truly added a nice touch of joy in this fearsome natural disaster where more than a few ships had been trapped and lost their lives, unable to find something to sustain themselves in these frozen ice caps.

Only one small step remained: pulling the ship out of the ice caps, but that step was ridiculously small compared to the Herculean task of digging a trench over hundreds of meters through the sturdy ice. It had taken days and they were 50 working, taking turns and using salt to further liquify the ice.

William's POV:

« Haha! Will, come on! Drink some Jackaar rum with us! It is pretty to loot such high quality liquor in rural islands like Kaya, after all! », a young man called Henry said.

Despite his silly antics and his ridiculous long hair, he was part of the better bunch of the thrash crew of the red Ghosts.

He had some skills when it came to stealing and raiding, though he was not at the level of Jackson or me when it came to fighting

I approached him, and he smirked: « you finally come to your senses! I knew you had it in you! No way a hero like you can ignore such good rum »

However he instantly sobered as I stabbed my knife a few centimeters besides his hand, piercing the ice layer he was sitting on, killing a fishman who was lurking below.

[You have dealt 140 damage!]

[Heavy Bleeding Inflicted]

I pushed Henry a way and took out my rifle.

*Shit*, I let out unwillingly...

I could see over thirty fishmen warriors. Although I did predict a swift response from the moment I decided to let out the ´princess' Garia or whatever her name was, I didn't expect her to come back with an army, three times bigger than the first wave she had brought.

Plus, each one of these fishmen was armored and wielded weapons. In other words, I found myself facing an army of trained humanoid monsters instead of a herd of beasts like I originally expected.

[Taurius - Level 34 Fishman

Title - Elder of the Black Shark Tribe]

I looked at Jackson, who then looked at me. It didn't take more than a few seconds before he shouted: « RETREAT! »

His voice truly was amazing, and I was pretty sure that even Arthur who was still in comatose from his wound heard him in his state.

He killed a few fishmen here and there, while Harry was coordinating the crew's effort to let The Crusader move back to the sea, deploying the sail of the ship.

I myself killed a few more sharks from afar, doing what I had planned to do in the first place.

Tenji was using his kitchen machette to cut down fishmen as well, but his leg was torn by a freaking harpoon.

Dozens of pirates were fighting as well, struggling for most, but hanging on.

Behind me, I heard Jackson's groaning: « Lara, come back to the ship! »

Lara frowned and talked back: « No way, no fucking way ! Tenji is injured! If we go now, he will... »

I didn't plan on doing that originally, but...She was my captain and I certainly didn't plan on letting her die like that, in a stupid attempt to save Tenji.

Had the enemies been a bit weaker, I would have considered supporting her, but...Level 34 was way out of my league.

*Splash*

I stabbed her in the back, avoiding her vital spot. She was shocked. But she didn't even have the time to be angry before she fell on the ground.

[56 damage dealt!]

[Strong Sleep Toxin Inflicted to the target]

I carried her on my back and jumped on the ship while shouting: « Go! What are you waiting for? »

Jackson frowned as he obviously didn't like my way of doing things, but seemed...thankful nevertheless.

Everyone knew how much of a dimwit Lara was, and Jackson knew it: the Fishmen who were attacking us were too strong.

*CRACK*

Before I could move, I felt my ribs break and a wave of monstrous pain reached my brain...

[You have received 84 points of damage!]

[Your movements are now impaired!]

« What the », I tried to mutter, but a hand choked my throat.

[You cannot breath!]

[Strength check...]

[you only have 21 points of strength! You are thus unable to break free from your opponent who have 38 points of strength!]

[You are losing HP!]

These were black, monstrous hands that were twice larger than normal.

« Kikukuku! », thé black shark man laughed/ he truly was horrible...

[Grate - Level 30 Fishman]

[New Quest available]

[Uncommon Quest - Reap what you sow

You have schemes and let an enemy to grind experience, but you weren't smart enough to interrogate your prisoners first out of greed. Else, you would have learnt of the great friendship between the minor water wolf tribe and the medium sized Black Shark Fishman tribe. Still, there is a lot to learn from mistakes.

Task - Survive (0/1)

Rewards - Perk based on how you managed to survive this tricky situation, 2000 EXP, 5 free attribute points, 3 skill points]

Pain...

That's what I was feeling right now...