Aftermath for the Quests

Kirou was currently making his way back to the Seaside Village via the ships used by the pirates. He needed a secure way to transport all the women and children that were captured back to the village without injury and in a timely manner, and .... it's not like the previous owners had much use for these ships anymore.

As for controlling and navigating the ships themselves, Kirou had no part in that as he lacked the necessary experience and skill needed to do so. Instead, this job was taken over by the captured women that were previously held captive in the resting area of the camp by those pirates. Apparently, they were part of a crew of sailors that got captured at sea.

Their ship had recently gone through a bad storm and most of the crew got injured in the process. Those that survived the storm thought that things would be fine when another ship passed by in their time of need. Sadly, their hopes were dashed as this ship was filled with pirates.

When the pirates found and boarded their ship, seeing the state that the crew was in, they quickly finished off the men and captured the women. After securing the women on the pirate ship, they set the previous vessel on fire, forcing the women to watch as their ship and the remains of the men on it sink to the bottom of the sea.

After that, they were brought to land, where the pirates used all of the women as their means of entertainment in-between harassing the Seaside Village. With the death of the pirates and the destruction of that camp, these women saw it fit to repay their youthful rescuer by aiding him in transporting all the captives back to the village.

While Kirou was relegated to the role of passenger, he started looking over the messages he received from the system. Out of all of them, he was more concerned about the skill that he accidentally created at the end.

Skill: Wire Manipulation - Puppet Master

Skill Level: 1/5

Rank: B(S)

Cost: 3%-95%(HP, MP, EP)

Cooldown: 3 Hours

Skill Creator/Generator: Kirou

Description: A skill created by the player [Kirou] while in a frenzy as he was dealing with the pirates. Through the use of Wire Manipulation, Kirou was able to bind and control the crew members on the pirate ship. The skill allows the user to manipulate targets, as if they were puppets, using his wires as the control medium. To achieve this, the user needs to utilize all three sources of energy and have mastered the weapon [Wires]. The amount of energy used from each source depends on the size, the amount, and the mental state of the target in question. Should the user attempt to use this skill on a target stronger than them, they will face a backlash, forcing the user into a state of unconsciousness for 30 minutes and revealing their location to the target for the entire duration. This skill can be used on targets up to 3 levels higher than the user (10 at max rank), assuming the target is in a weakened state or mentally unbalanced.

Usage of this skill is HIGHLY cautioned.

Kirou frowned deeply while looking at this skill. While he cared not for the lives of the pirates he killed and what he did to those that he captured, this skill represented something he did in anger and leaned towards the evil alignment. He never once claimed to be a nice man but Kirou understood very clearly that those who use evil techniques are hated, regardless of the reason for them using those techniques.

'Just looking at Brother Fox's situation with his weapon and how both Bladesmith and Old Wolf reacted when they saw me craft that medallion, I can more or less guess the kind of treatment I'll receive if this skill is revealed in public,' Kirou mused to himself with his head tilted to one side. Thinking back to both situations forced a deep sigh to escape Kirou's lips.

"Tis a good thing that I made sure that none of the former captives saw me use this skill, or I might have needed to silence them," he mused to himself silently. Immediately, all the former captives on each ship felt a slight chill creep up their spine. It left as quickly as it came, but it was enough to spook everyone.

Back on the ship when he killed the pirate crew using the skill, the captives were already knocked out before they made it to the camp. What Kirou placed in front of the area where they were kept was something to ensure that they remained asleep and block their sights should they wake up anyways. Just a few disposable toys Kirou made in passing.

Thinking up to there, Kirou decided to discard his thoughts on this and focused more on what he should be doing next.

'Immediately after I finish handing in these quests, I'm returning to the <Shadow Palace>. I should have enough materials on hand to construct my own ship and I need to build those three sets of armor for me and the girls. They've waited long enough for them and it's about time for me to wear proper gear again.' With his mind made up, Kirou rose to his feet and approached one of the female crewmates to get some info on how to manage a ship. Even if it wasn't knowledge that he can make use of with the boat he plans to build for himself, it never hurts to have a bit more information.

As for what he plans to do with the evil skill he created, he decided to seal it away for now, since it's not a skill that's necessary to his usual combat style in the first place. There might come a day when he needs to use it again, so he'll cross that bridge when he gets there.

*******

It's been around 5 hours or so since the Garuda player and his squad learned about what had happened in the Seaside Village and accepted the Village Head's quest to destroy the camp and rescue the kidnapped children.

Unlike Kirou who was traveling alone and had his <Shadow Teleportation> skill to make use of in correcting his path while traveling, the members of the <Beast Kingdom> guild had to make use of many scouts and pathfinders. And it also doesn't help that this was a fairly large squad of players traveling together, as opposed to Kirou who traveled alone. Even then, their finding the place in just 5 hours is a testament to their work skill and efficiency.

That being said, late is late, and they only arrived at the party long after Kirou had already settled the bill. In fact, Kirou and the ships were only a few minutes away from shore at the Seaside Village when this group finally made it to the camp belonging to the pirates, a fact that will come back to annoy them at a later date.

Upon arrival, the group surveyed the camp. Just like Kirou, the group's initial assessment of the area was that it was a former Dwarven Village that was taken over by the pirates. Even then, the Garuda player told his men to be careful as they carefully searched this camp for their targets.

As the group explored the village, they came across various places where they found marks of battle. This made the group take extra precautions in their approach as they looked around.

"It seems like that Lycan was here, just like the Village Head had stated if these battle scars are anything to go by," mused the Garuda player to himself as he and his group found themselves deeper in the camp.

That being said, the Garuda player and his group grew concerned at the fact that they were capable of going deep into the camp without finding anything to show what happened to the pirates or the hostages. The group was very much aware that they are inside a game, but even then, some form of evidence should show the whereabouts of both targets, even slightly.

It was around fifteen minutes later, while the group was searching the hill behind the village when the group came across a peculiar cavern in the hill. This cavern just so happened to be the one that Kirou had found the children in.

Unlike when Kirou had originally found it, the cave has been expanded by roughly three times to house all the captives Kirou had taken from the pirate group.

Besides just housing the captives, this newly expanded cave served another purpose. And it was for this purpose that the Garuda player and his squad are currently audiences to.

There are roughly twenty bodies inside the room, each bound to a surface of the room. Besides the entrance that the members of the <Beast Kingdom> entered from, another in the back that seemed to lead elsewhere, and a path in the middle to connect the two, bodies with severe cases of torture were distributed all around the room.

Some bodies hung from the cave ceiling by thin wires sewn into their bodies, others were held from walls by the victims' own limbs indented into the walls themselves, and the remainder scattered on the floor facing a mix between the two extremes. Honestly, a few members of the squad grew sick at the sight before them, having to excuse themselves to throw up in an untouched corner of the room.

As for the Garuda player, seeing this told him that whoever did this to those men was after information. And going by the lengths that he could see, the Garuda player was sure that whoever did this was also punishing them in the process of collecting the information.

With this thought in mind, the Garuda player then turned his sights toward the other entrance of this cave. This sight before him was disturbing enough, but he had a nagging feeling at the back of his neck that the perpetrator behind this didn't stop with these men.

Having come to that conclusion, he followed the open path to the other entrance and disappeared inside. Seeing their leader entering deeper, this group of players, now free of their virtual lunch, followed behind him with a bit of trepidation in their step.

The moment the group entered the next cavern, the Garuda player stopped dead in his tracks. The players behind him also stopped and observed the scene in the room before them.

This room differed from the previous one in that the occupant of this room was still alive. Unfortunately, that's where the similarities ended. In fact, this room could be said to be worse as even a layman could see that whoever set up this room spent more time and effort on it.

In this cavern lay the captain of the pirate ship that Kirou dealt with hours prior. Just like the men in the previous room, the captain's body had marks of severe torture all over. Wires sewn into his arms and legs were used to hold his body above the ground while his torso was bare and covered with cuts of varying sizes, small trails of blood flowing from each cut.

These injuries are bad enough, but they didn't stop there. From looking at the pirate captain's face, the Garuda player can see that one of his eyes had been removed. As if noticing something, the Garuda player decided to approach the bound and strung-up pirate captain and observe his body a bit more, only to turn away after confirming what he wanted.

From the Garuda player's observation, there was a mass present in the captain's mouth and he could confirm that it was the missing eyeball. Another thing about the pirate captain was that his tongue was missing. The Garuda player wasn't sure if this was a result of the torture for information or something else. Either way, the Garuda player understood very clearly that whoever did this wanted the pirate captain to suffer badly in his final moments.

Speaking of, it was at this point that he discovered how this pirate captain was clinging to life through all these life-threatening injuries even though his remaining eye had already lost the light of life. Above the pirate captain's head was a very thin wire, upon which a liquid was traveling down to his body. Upon closer observation, the Garuda player realized that it was a very potent health potion that most of the top players would give an arm and leg to get.

Seeing one being used in this fashion made the Garuda player's eyes go wide for a split second before they narrowed into slits. He stayed like this for a few moments he unsheathed his weapon and finished off the pirate captain. Following that moment, he led his squad out of the cave on the hill and then away from the camp at the fastest pace possible.

As the group was traveling, the Garuda player thought to himself, 'I don't know what that Lycan discovered while carrying out this mission, but it must have been quite disturbing if he ended up doing this kind of thing to the pirate crew. Now I need to rush back before he hands in this quest, otherwise, I'll miss my chance to learn what happened in that camp.'

As if to mock the Garuda player's thoughts, it was around this time that he received a notification from the system, informing him that the missions to destroy the pirate camp and rescue the children have been canceled.

This prompt made him urge his group to hurry with their return to the Seaside Village. Sadly for him, by the time he and his group arrive, Kirou is once again long gone, this time taking extra with him.