Return to the Game of Thrones - Seamenship and Captain of Guard! (I)

Kai found himself swinging in a hammock, staring up at the musty and moist wooden roof.

He sat up and saw that he was wearing a thin, loose shirt over torn shorts. His feet were damp and naked.

Then he looked around.

It was a big hall crammed up with many dusty yellow hammocks, which gave a hint that they might have been white a few ages ago. The floor was also wooden, long, soggy timber running across from one side of the hall to the other. Wooden casks were lying about in two of the four corners, and the entire hall reeked of a strong, bitter smell of booze and piss.

A sudden creaking noise from his right caught Kai's attention.

Kai was on one side of the hall, with nothing but a wooden wall on his right, and now, words were appearing on the wood as if someone was scratching them out using a sharp knife. Even the noise had an edge, he realized, wincing with every letter.

…

[

Congratulations Contestant Kai Stormborn

You have triggered a Side Mission

…

Main Mission: Three heads of the Targaryen Dragon

Side Mission: Elementary Seamanship

Side Mission Summary: Black Betha, a galley captained by Ser Davos Seaworth, is stationed at Dragonstone's harbor. In the absence of the Onion Knight, the ship is under the command of the Quartermaster Matthos, Ser Davos' son.

You are a newly hired ship's boy who is apprenticed to be trained in the ways of seamen. The second mate, Raul, will oversee your training and will assign you all the work any seaman ought to do on the ship.

Once the second mate deems you worthy enough, he will present you to the Quartermaster for inspection. You must get Matthos' acknowledgment to proceed to the third part of your Main Mission.

Side Mission Objective: Get Elementary Seamanship Ability

Side Mission Time Limit: 1 week

…

Do you accept the side-mission?

]

…

Wow! Kai was gobsmacked. The Systems itself is rewarding an Elementary Ability directly through a Side Mission?!!

From what Meg had told him, only the most luckiest and worthiest Contestants chanced upon Abilities, and that too through Hidden Missions or as the reward of Main Missions.

Then there was the Elementary Seamanship. It was one of the the most sought-after Abilities for those who wanted to make a name for themselves in the Random Worlds of One Piece and the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Kai also noticed that there was no introductory notification this time.

Maybe I will get it after completing this mission, he guessed and accepted the mission. The black bar of Abnormality Limiter has returned, though.

After the mission's acceptance, all the words etched on the wood disappeared.

More rows of words followed this disappearance, whose structure suggested a personal nature.

…

[

Congratulations Kai Stormborn on completing your Officer Qualifying Mission

Reward: Captain of Guard

As an officer, your post grants you the following privileges:

 1. +10% Mission Credits (all rewards) - subject to change with higher posts

 2. +5% chance to get a second random Item as a Loot

 3. Can form a Party of up to 4 members

 4. Free Party Mission Assignment once a Main Mission

Notes:

 1. Party Mission Assignments must be initiated by the Captain of Guard

 2. Party members can join an ongoing mission of the Captain of Guard, given the mission assigned to them by the Captain matches their equivalent floors

 3. Party members from floors higher than the Captain of Guard's floor will have their Stats restricted to match the mission grade assigned to the Captain

 4. Captain of Guard can not kill a Party member without presenting an exclusive Side Mission related to it and after its subsequent approval by the System

]

…

It was quite a lengthy description, Kai noted. He went through the notification, being afraid not to catch all the hidden meanings behind those sentences.

So, Kai thought after a few moments of deliberation, if I were to add a 6th-floor Contestant into my Party and make him come to my mission, then the System would restrict his Stats? Reasonable.

It was reasonable, indeed, but Kai could also tell the obvious advantage of it.

The top-class Organizations could rear many Captains of Guard by adding higher floor Contestants to their Party. Sure, the System would restrict their Stats, but it couldn't restrict their experiences.

It's a typical young-master advantage, Kai reflected, sneering.

It was then the voice boomed from outside.

"Ship's boy!" a powerful, manly voice called out. "Come out, you fucking whoreson!"

The smile vanished.

Kai's eyes narrowed, and in utter seriousness, he contemplated what would happen if he were to just go out and kill this person.

He jumped out of the hammock like a snake and donned the shoes lying on the floor. With brisk steps, he walked out, and was greeted by a man twice his size. He was bearded, broad-shouldered, and had a receding hairline.

Behind him, Kai could see a towering mountain, bellowing out thick, gray smoke. Under the mountain was an even magnificent castle.

Kai wasn't an ignorant Contestant anymore. He had a powerful Item that served as a knowledge bank. Meg had already told him about all the things he needed to know regarding this world.

That mountain was Dragonmont.

And that castle was one of the major settings in the world of Game of Thrones.

The Castle of Dragonstone!

*

*

Evening, Day 3rd

Black Betha

A smack at the back of his head sent Kai rolling on the deck.

"This is how you tie the knot, heh?" Raul asked, throwing the rope at Kai. "Get up! Do it again. Get up, I say or…"

Kai pushed himself to a crouch and picked up the rope again. Someone had tattled on him, he knew. He wasn't a welcome sight on the ship. Not when they didn't need a ship's boy who had the charms of a perfumed lady. His Charisma seemed to have run away, and Kai, after many smacks and curses, realized that this Attribute was a fucking unreliable cunt. That he was a mute hadn't acted in his favor, too.

Every joint in his body ached as if someone was stabbing them with needles.

Kai had thought that him being a Contestant and having so many high Attributes would let him have a peaceful time following the orders and do an incredible job. Oh, how wrong he was!

Kai shuddered upon recalling those arrogant thoughts.

Not that the Stats hadn't helped him, but the relentless work they made him do had made them almost useless. Meg had told him repeatedly that before reaching the 3rd Set, Contestants were nothing but a stronger version of their human self, kind of like super athletes. It was their Items and Skills that made them stand out too much from the normal humans.

Kai learned that truth bitterly.

In the last two days, the heaviness had clung to his eyes like an anchor to a ship.

One moment of relief, and he had woken up with a smack, like the one banging inside his head now. And God, they hurt. Kai grimaced in pain. What troubled him the most was that he could not even try to resist the beating, as it wasn't expected of a 14-year-old to get hit by that giant man and remain standing. Only once he had remained on his feet after Raul had kicked him for not climbing the foremast quickly, and that had brought down his Abnormality Limiter by over 25%.

I should have known that it isn't easy to get an Elementary Ability, Kai thought, somehow tying the right knot. It needed me to fool a higher floor Contestant to get the Elementary Pokemon Trainer. Tch! The outwardly simple nature of getting Pokemon Trainer has made me go soft. Big mistake.

When he shifted to give the knot to Raul, he found the second mate had already gone.

Fuck! Kai cursed, hurrying off to do the next chore.

**********************

Bonus Chapter Deal:

 1. 60 Power Stones per day: +1 Bonus Chapter

 2. 85 Power Stones per day: +2 Bonus Chapters

 3. 500+ Powers Stones (at the end of the week): +3 Bonus Chapters