The wind whipped across the deck, carrying the scent of salt and sea, filling the sails with a steady breeze. The ship swayed slightly as it cut through the waters of the Tempestuous Sea, the rhythmic creaking of wood and the occasional call of a seabird echoing above.

  The endless blue stretched out in every direction, the horizon a faint line where the sea kissed the sky. It was peaceful. But even in the tranquility, the sea was wild, an untamed force beneath the surface.

  I stood at the bow of the ship, the wind in my hair, taking in the expanse of water. It had been two weeks since we set sail from the Volcanic Islands, and I’d found myself quickly promoted to the title of Captain of the ship. Not because I knew shit about sailing—quite the opposite, really—but because I was the strongest bastard on board.

  It was simple logic for the Valtherians. The strongest led, even if the leader didn't know the first thing about the ship's ropes, winds, or currents.

  In my past life, this would be like promoting someone to brain surgeon because they were good at Operation… the board game, not the medical procedure.

  I’d gone from a nobody on the islands to the strongest aboard this ship in mere weeks. Even now, I caught occasional glances of disbelief from the crew. Some of them still weren’t used to it—to the idea that the ‘white-haired weakling’ had become the one leading them.

  Thorvyn’s memories could help if I tapped into them, he had been to the sea before, but honestly, I didn’t want to risk it. He’d never been to such a large ship before. So, I let the others handle the sailing. My job was to lead the fights, to swing my ax if we ever encountered anything threatening—like a pirate ship. But in the last two weeks, we hadn’t come across anything of the sort.

  Just sea monsters.

  The monsters we’d seen were big, though. The barbarians called them [Sea Kings], but for all their size, they weren’t that high-leveled. The biggest one we fought barely scraped into the Second Ascension.

  Ragna had told me stories, though—stories of beasts deep below the waves, creatures so massive they could split a continent in half with a flick of their tails. But I was pretty sure that was just the kind of barbarian bullshit that thrived around campfires and too much alcohol.

  Still, defeating the sea kings wasn’t an issue. I’d gained a level after chopping through a few of them. [Level 29] now. For reference, I had gained only one level in the last month before sailing as I was busy with tribal stuff. There was a lot of stuff to do as a part of the coming-of-age ceremony. The sea monsters were good EXP. The increase in strength was noticeable. Every bit counted.

  Although my weapon, my father’s ax… the handle was chipped. The blade was fine, but at this rate, it might break. I was fairly confident it’d hold a few dozen fights, but I should probably get the handle fixed.

  “Oy, Thorvyn! I think there another monster!” one of the barbarians yelled from the other side of the ship.

  I turned, feeling a buzz of excitement rising in my chest. “Another fight? Hell yeah—" I paused, freezing on my spot. When did I start loving this so much? Thorvyn’s barbarian blood was definitely rubbing off on me.

  I hurried over to the railing where a group had already gathered.

  Ragna stood at the front, her emerald eyes locked on the horizon. Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but take a good look at her. She’d changed compared to the first time I met her. Wearing a different set of barbaric clothes, with the fur of an animal around her shoulder, her hair tied in a single braid. Tribal tattoos swirled across her skin, an addition that I and the others shared after our coming-of-age.

  She scanned the water with that sharp gaze, eyes narrowed like she could see things the rest of us couldn’t. “There!” she pointed suddenly, her voice filled with certainty.

  I followed her finger, and sure enough, a massive serpentine shape burst from the water. Its body glistened in the sun, a mixture of scales and fins, while its head—large and fish-like—turned toward the ship. It coiled around, sending ripples through the water that rocked the boat.

  I glanced up, searching for something, and I found it.

  Floating above its head were faint letters.

  [3rd Ascension].

  Earlier Sea Kings were barely Second Ascension, easily handled. But this one… third ascension. It’d actually put up a fight.

  It was around the dragon’s level. That explained why Ragna looked a little more serious this time. But still, nothing we couldn’t handle. I supposed the system hadn’t mentioned this perk of [Dragon’s Eye], letting me see the exact ascension rank of enemies. I wasn’t going to complain about it.

  “Not bad,” I muttered, my hand instinctively reaching for my ax strapped across my back. I didn’t bother wasting time. Gripping the weapon tightly, I took a deep breath and leaped upward with all my might.

  The monster's head rose high, towering as tall as the ship's mast, and I shot through the air like a cannonball.

  In that moment, suspended between life and certain death-by-digestion, I had a profound thought. Philosophy never prepared me for being a human cannonball.

  The beast turned, its eyes locking onto me, and with a sudden dive, it lunged forward, aiming to swallow me whole. Its jaws gaped wide, and rows of razor-sharp teeth glinted in the sunlight.

  My face went serious. What a dangerous thing.

  I let the power of the [Elemental Fury] flow through me, tapping into the cold, salty air that surrounded us. Ice was fitting here. The moment I called on it, I felt the familiar chill creep into my weapon. Frost crackled along the ax’s blade, growing and expanding until the head of the ax was encased in a massive block of ax-shaped ice.

  With a roar, I swung the ax down with all my strength.

  The frozen edge cleaved through the air and met the Sea King’s head with a satisfying chime followed by a crack. The ice shattered as it sliced cleanly through the monster’s skull, splitting it open in one powerful blow.

  Blood sprayed across the deck, painting the wood in a deep crimson, as the creature’s head dropped onto the ship. Its body followed a second later, crashing into the sea with a thunderous splash, sending waves rippling out in every direction.

  Almost immediately, smaller fish swarmed the carcass, tearing into the remains of the Sea King like a feast. The ocean was as merciless as the land.

  I landed back on the deck with a thud, wiping the spray of blood from my face as the familiar ping of system notifications filled my vision.

  [You’ve killed a Sea King – Level 31!]

  [You’ve leveled up!]

  “Whew,” I heaved out as the notification settled in and a fresh wave of energy rippled through me. Third Ascension, finally. The power boost was real, for I could feel it thrumming through my veins, crackling at my fingertips.

  Ragna stepped up beside me, a grin on her face. “Swift work. You level up?” She asked and I gave her a nod, making her lips widen. She immediately threw her arms up, letting out a loud cheer. “Everyone, Thorvyn’s reached [Third Ascension]!”

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  The rest of the crew turned at the sound of her announcement, their eyes widening with realization. A second later, they erupted into cheers, roaring across the deck like a storm.

  “Third Ascension!” they shouted in unison, banging their weapons against the wood and stomping their feet in rhythm. “Third Ascension, Third Ascension!”

  “Guys, calm down-” I tried to stop them, for the ship trembled violently, but they didn’t listen. A short feast started for no reason, and the celebration went on for what felt like an hour, the cheer growing louder as the excitement spread.

  If there was a System achievement for "Most Likely to Sink Your Own Ship Through Celebration," we'd definitely unlock it today.

  …

  I yawned, lying on my back, as the celebration came to an end around me. I felt relaxed and lethargic as my mind began to drift away to sleep. But a shout startled me awake.

  “Oy!” It belonged to one of the lookout barbarians. “There are ships ahead!”

  The last bits of cheering died down instantly. My eyes snapped open, and I shot up to my legs. I walked over to the scout and standing beside him, I narrowed my eyes, following his pointing hand toward the horizon. There, just barely visible in the distance, were two ships.

  In the last two weeks, we hadn’t seen a single boat—hell, the only sign of life was the occasional hungry sea kings—but now there were two ships ahead.

  However, something wasn’t right.

  The ships were too close to one another, and one of the ships, the larger one, was clearly clashing against the other. I could see flashes of fire and smoke. “...Looks like one’s a pirate ship,” Ragna stopped beside me and muttered, her tone grim.

  15th day of pilgrimage. We encountered pirates.

  ****

  We were growing closer to the ships now, our sails full of wind and the sea slapping lazily against the hull. I stood next to Ragna, eyes fixed on the approaching vessels.

  The wind carried the scent of salt and something else—something that stunk of danger. As we had guessed earlier, the larger ship had a black flag.

  “Yep, it’s a pirate ship,” I said.

  Ragna shielded her eyes with her hand, squinting at the distant scene. "When your eyes get so good?" she asked, voice sharp, her gaze never leaving the horizon.

  "Class," I replied, keeping my answer short. No need for long explanations.

  "Oh." She didn’t say anything more, and neither did I. Now wasn’t the time. “There about one… two… three dozen of them. They more than us,” she said.

  Is she bragging? Somehow hr eyesight was still better than mine. Did she also receive a skill related to that? Or was my Skill just not that good?

  As we neared, the details of the pirate ship became clearer even to my eyes. The second vessel, a merchant ship by the look of its tattered sails, was already overrun. Civilians, bound and kneeling, huddled together on the deck of the pirate ship. The pirates stood around them, grinning, weapons ready. It wasn’t hard to figure out their plan.

  The bastards were planning to use the civilians as shields, expecting us to hesitate if we decided to fight them. They had no idea who they were dealing with.

  Not for long though. The closer we came, the more those pirate smirks began to falter. One of them, a thick-necked bastard with a tattered hat, stood a step ahead of the others, which I assumed meant he was their leader. His eyes narrowed as he spotted us.

  I could see the confusion on his face—this wasn’t the encounter he’d been expecting. “What the hell?” he shouted, spitting into the sea. “Is that some poor barbarian ship? Ugh, fuck me.” He turned to us, his tone dripping with venom. “You lot! Leave now, don’t act up, and we won’t have to kill ya.”

  “I don’t like him,” Ragna shot me a quick glance. I met her gaze for a second before turning back to the pirate. I scanned the scene properly—pirates, grinning like they’d already won, and the civilians, terrified and trembling. I spotted the civilians, their clothes. Looks almost like Victorian times? So is the whole world like that outside?

  I’d seen vague illustrations in the Shaman’s books, but seeing these people—dressed like they’d stepped out of some Victorian novel—made the outside world suddenly very real. It also brought questions. Was I just near a continent similar to the Victorian era, or was this entire world like that?

  While observing their clothes, my eyes fell upon the women sitting among them, their clothes torn, eyes wide, as they had their hands tied. My eyes twitched. It seems before our ships approached, the pirate bastards were about to throw a party.

  My grip tightened around the handle of my ax.

  I let out a slow breath, rolling my shoulders to loosen them. Then, I set my ax down from where it had been resting on my shoulder, holding it lazily in my hands as if I considered his offer of a truce.

  The pirate captain’s smirk widened, indeed mistaking my relaxed posture for surrender. The Ascension floating above his head surprised me enough to make me frown.

  [2nd Ascension]

  That weak fool.

  He looked imposing enough for merchants, but my [Dragon’s Eye] saw through him instantly. Only 2nd Ascension. He posed no real threat. Yet he dared act up so much? It was astonishing where he got this confidence from.

  "Guys," I called out in a voice casual but loud enough for every one of my barbarians to hear. Behind me, I could feel them stirring, their hands tightening on their weapons, eager for a fight. My eyes flicked back to the women on board, how they crossed their arms over their chests, to the way they flinched under the pirates’ gaze. Anger simmered just beneath my skin. "Make sure not a single one of the civilians gets hurt. Kill all those pirate bastards!”

  "RAHH!"

  The roar of the barbarians shook the air as they leaped forward, weapons gleaming under the sun. Almost two dozen of them hurled themselves at the pirate ship, their feet barely making a sound as they landed. Steel met flesh in an instant. The pirates weren’t ready for this.

  “Argh!”

  “Fuck-”

  The pirates shouted in pain.

  Ragna was already on the deck, her club moving like a blur. It smashed into the first pirate’s chest, caving in his ribs with a wet crunch. Blood sprayed across the deck, but she didn’t stop. She was already swinging at the next one, her eyes locked with a predator’s focus.

  "Ha! More blood for me!" Beric, a towering mass of muscle whom I had come to know in the last two weeks, shouted from the other side of the deck. His warhammer came down with a thunderous impact, flattening two pirates at once. Their bodies crumpled like paper beneath the weight of his swing, and he laughed, his voice echoing over the chaos.

  Another barbarian, Jarl, was cutting through the enemy like a whirlwind, his twin axes flashing in the sunlight as they sliced through limbs and torsos. He ducked beneath a wild swing from a pirate’s cutlass, his movements too fast for the eye to follow. In a blur, his axes found flesh again, burying themselves deep into the pirate’s neck. The man gurgled, blood bubbling from his throat as he hit the ground.

  "C’mon, why pirates be so weak!" Jarl growled, pulling his axes free in a spray of blood.

  Their English is so broken, I’m still not used to it. I noted and observed the other side of the ship. Ketta, a Valteria small in size but just as fierce, dodged a pirate’s clumsy strike and rammed her elbow into his gut, winding him. Before he could recover, she slammed her fist into his face, sending him crashing into the deck. She spun, fluid and fast, catching another pirate by the throat. Her fingers tightened, and with a grunt, she lifted him off the ground before slamming him down like a sack of grain.

  The pirates didn’t stand a chance. They might have been used to raiding defenseless merchants, but we weren’t some weaklings sailing for trade. They had no idea who they’d picked a fight with.

  I spotted the pirate captain, eyes wide as he realized his mistake. “D-damn barbarians!” He shouted in frustration. His crew was falling fast, and panic flashed in his face as he barked orders, trying to rally the remaining men. He turned to flee, but he didn’t get far.

  “Not so fast,” Ragna appeared in front of him, expression serious, as she slammed her club against his head. He must have barely been 2nd Ascension, for he did not survive such a powerful strike. His head exploded into a puddle of blood.

  The rest of the pirates faltered seeing their captain fall. Haldrek was quick and deadly as he cut through the others like they were nothing. His blade found the throat of a man who seemed to be the vice-captain, and in one clean motion, the pirate’s head separated from his shoulders.

  It rolled across the deck before coming to a stop, the life draining from his eyes.

  He was the last one. A sudden silence fell over the ship.

  Blood dripped from the deck, pooling beneath the fallen pirates, their bodies littering the ground. My barbarians stood tall with their weapons dripping red, breathing hard from the fight. Part of me cringed at the blood, remembering the soldier’s code I once believed in. Another part of me—the barbarian part—relished the fight.

  I couldn’t deny it felt… natural now.

  The civilians were still bound and terrified, but they were safe. They looked up at me, unsure, waiting for what came next.

  I hopped down onto the deck, the sound of my boots hitting the wood breaking the sudden quiet. The civilians flinched as I approached, wide eyes trembling at me.

  “...Free their restraints,” I ordered after taking a good look at them. “And be gentle about it. They have fragile bodies.”

  They hesitated, exchanging confused glances. But after my earlier display of power, none were willing to openly challenge my command. They moved without hesitation, cutting the ropes that bound the civilians’ hands. One by one, they were freed, some collapsing in relief, others simply staring at us in disbelief.

  We must’ve seemed like a godsent gift to them at that moment.

  However, I had different plans. I just hoped they wouldn’t mind.

  Here's a picture of Ragna from this chapter, on the ship.

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