'Looks like Father already knew about it long ago…' Leylin immediately arrived at his own conclusion after listening to the baron's words. Had he not promptly made the decision to send Isabel away, the baron would perhaps have dealt with her upon his return.
After that, terrible rumours might have spread, and his cousin might even have 'died of illness'. After all, the churches in this world did not even slightly tolerate the followers of devils and demons, and even their friends and family would be implicated.
With a tacit mutual understanding, the father and son went to the banquet, as if they had completely forgotten about Isabel.
The banquet was bustling with noise and excitement. Xuno, that wandering bard who had been seen at the port lately, had come to perform. His voice was as sweet as a skylark's, and the few short poems he recited earned cheers from the whole hall.
However, when it was over, Leylin saw that Xuno was invited to his father's study room. It seemed like the Baron had not invited him purely for the performance.
However, that meant nothing to Leylin. He was planning to move out after the banquet, giving the pirates their orders and settling matters regarding the trade.
Of course, he had to ease the tension in his family's relationship with Viscount Tim, handing over the prisoner and signing an agreement.
...
*Thump!* A crisp slap landed on a young man's face, making his fair skin swell into a bruise.
"Gods, how could I have gotten such a stupid child like you!"
A furious middle-aged man dressed in exquisite noble attire stood in front of the youth. Complex designs were sewn in with golden thread on the fringe of his clothing, fully in the elven style. Exotic rings laden with precious gems lined all ten of his fingers in varying colours, and a few of them emitted powerful magical light.
This was the person controlling the Baltic archipelago, the younger blood brother of the Dambrath King. It was Marquis Louis.
The king obviously was not stingy when it came to titles, bestowing a dukedom upon him, but Louis evidently thirsted for power. Hereditary land was something even the children of the King might not be able to obtain.
Marquis Louis was very satisfied with the kingdom's offshore development and the growing trade profits. The only thing that made him frown was that in this vast open sea, there was some land that belonged to small noble families, as well as a bunch of disobedient and barbaric pirates that were a thorn in his side. Hence, when his useless son begged for some territory, Marquis Louis had agreed.
However, looking at Viscount Tim in front of him now, he couldn't help but feel resent for failing to meet his expectations. "You're a disgrace! You do things without following any kind of rules. Not only do you try to assassinate someone on the continent, you can't even take care of the sea! You even lost the Black Tigers…"
At this point, Marquis Louis felt a little sorry. While the deaths of those filthy despicable pirates didn't faze him regardless of numbers, a rank 10 fighter like Steve was still a capable underling. On top of that, his own group of bandit assassins had been lost.
"Also!" Marquis Louis' chest kept heaving up and down as he flung a letter at Tim's face. "Look. This came specially for us from Griffith. Not only did you gain no advantages at all, you even pushed the Faulen Family towards those hicks!"
Tim let the letter smack on his face, feeling the unceasing stinging pain that caused his eyes to be filled with fiery fury.
Viscount Tim looked extremely similar to Marquis Louis, though he was much younger and had a pair of long and narrow eyes. He was now bowing respectfully, "Father, please give me another chance! As long as you assign Boruj to me, I can definitely…"
"Scram!" What answered him was only a hysterical yell from the Marquis.
The door slammed shut, and Tim gently caressed his swollen face. The stinging pain doubled the fury in his heart.
The surrounding maids and the like naturally did not dare provoke Tim, who was in this state. All of them fervently wanted to be ostriches so they could bury their heads in the carpet. However, another noble youth strolled in with a mocking expression.
"Haha… my beloved little brother, you seem to have met with some trouble!"
"Big brother!" Tim clutched his face, feeling dazed and awkward when looking at the new arrival. This was the marquis' first son, born of his primary wife. Hee would one day take over the Baltic archipelago. Given that his mother was a noble as well, his status was much higher than that of Tim, who could only rely on the whims of the marquis.
"Oh my, are you injured? Quick, get a priest!" The young man shouted at the servant behind him, as if he was an elder brother caring for his younger brother. However, Tim could see the mockery deep inside his eyes…
"Damn it. Damn it!" Only when he'd walked out of the mansion did Tim's expression darken. "I'll never let the people who've humiliated me off. I swear on it!"
"And then there's the Faulen Island, and that little noble called Leylin. I'll definitely force you all to hell and have you repent there!" Tim's expression was sinister, like a savage beast that was letting out howls of pain.
...
Leylin naturally knew nothing of this, but he could somewhat guess what was happening. However, his attention was now focused on other matters.
The place that Leylin had chosen to hide away in was at the other end of the Faulen Island. Since they hadn't occupied this place for a long while, they didn't have as many farmers and slaves as they'd need to occupy the whole island. Leylin chose this area because there were few people, and also because he favoured the low-lying shoal nearby. Such a level terrain was very rare on the Faulen Island, and enough for Leylin to do a great many things.
Up till now, Leylin had only built a few wooden plank houses nearby, as if preparing to go into training. He was kept updated on his family through Jacob.
"The prisoner was handed over, but Tim refused to sign an agreement?" Leylin stared at the coastline in the distance, his eyes flashing.
"Yes, young master!" Jacob stood behind Leylin, looking humble and respectful. After the few battles before, he was completely subservient to Leylin, and his loyalty could even be comprable to Baron Jonas'.
Staring at the blue surface of the sea for a long while, Leylin suddenly laughed and spoke slowly, "Seems like he's unreconciled to this."
"That's for sure. However, he hinted that there would be no attacks against our family for now. The Baron has also agreed."
"It's just temporary peace. His plans were disrupted, so he needs to reorganise everything. We need to amass some strength here." Leylin could already tell what this was. It was no peace, just a temporary armistice. Once they reorganised, they would definitely attack the family once again.
Of course, Leylin did not mind this, what he needed right now was time.
"How's the preparations on the slaves we need, the coarse sugar and the fishing boats?" Leylin enquired. This was the preparation for the sugar and fish floss trade that he had brought up with the baron earlier.
"I've already found a merchant in the port, and he's willing to give us a channel for the slaves and sugar. As for the fishermen and fishing boats, an announcement has been pasted on the territory; commoners who come willingly will get a discount from taxes…" Jacob reported deferentially.
"Good. Don't worry about the finances. Steve's little treasury should somewhat be enough for the initial investment. Father has already to let me use everything…" Before handing the slave over, Leylin had naturally squeezed out all the value that Steve had left and obtained his precious wealth.
He'd also learned of the locations that had treasured buried in them. Pirates usually used gold which was a stable currency, and the habit of hiding it on barren islands.
It all added up to around a thousand gold coins, which was enough early money. There would be more money required near the end, but Leylin had already prepared Isabel and the pirates for that.
"Slave trade? I'll need slaves that are proficient at carpentry and masonry. I don't mind if they're pricy…" The Dambrath Kingdom was expanding into the seas, and numerous barren archipelagos were found.
There were many natives, tropical forests, minerals, primordial creatures on the islands. Of course, there were also many diseases and death. As the commoners of the continent rarely agreed to follow their master and find new land, slaves were essential if one wanted to completely develop an island.
Marquis Louis of the Baltic archipelago was the one with the most profits from the trade. He had a tremendous supply chain that had deals with pirates and its own slave hunting outfit.
Untrained slaves were naturally the lowest class, and could only be used in wrestling rings or as sacrifices to gods. Once they were tamed, natives would be worth twice as much, and if they could plow land or had skills with carpentry and masonry, the price would keep going up.
However, they were still the lowest of the low. High-grade slaves were actually Professionals, or gorgeous women who had gone through special training. Every one of them could be sold in the continent for an astronomical price!
-x-X-x-
"Slave trade, hehe…" Leylin snickered. While Marquis Louis' business was focused on the slave trade, Leylin wouldn't believe that the Baltic archipelago wasn't involved in the sugar trade and the like. At the most, they would be side businesses is all.
He knew very well that if he was successful in forming a supply chain with this, his profits would be massive! It would bring about a lot of envy and hatred, causing conflict with Marquis Louis.
However, even if he didn't delve into these two very profitable businesses, the Faulen Island wasn't going to be ignored anyway. What was the point of trying to get along with them?
As he was speaking to Jacob, a group of slaves were rushed along to the beach by his soldiers, accompanied by carriages of food and the like.
"Jacob, let's go and take a look as well." Leylin brought Jacob to the front of the group.
"Young master!" The soldiers bowed, and the slaves lowered their heads, peeking at their future master with humble eyes.
"Are these… the natives of the outer sea islands?" Leylin knew that most of the slaves traded in the outer seas were natives. In fact, the higher grade ones were picked out and sent back to the mainland. Transporting slaves from the mainland to the outer seas was expensive, and slave traders would be satisfied if they didn't make a loss with such a thing.
The natives here were very short, coming up to Leylin's shoulder at the tallest. Most did not have any clothing, revealing their thin limbs and tanned skin. It reminded Leylin of chimps.
"Young master, there are a total of twenty slaves. With three of them being carpenters and another two stonemasons, it comes up to a total of 321 gold coins…" In reality, the price of these stonemasons and carpenters probably took up more than half of the total price.
"Mm…" Leylin nodded. Even this slight amount had caused him to spend a portion of his recent profits. Relying on slaves in order to build up the business he was thinking of was a pipe dream, Leylin wouldn't put his hopes on it.
"Your mission is to build a camp for me here. Of course, fences are necessary as well." Leylin naturally did not understand the language of the natives, but that was no issue for wizards. Comprehend Languages could solve that. While these low-ranked spells could not analyse the languages of demons, the heavens, and all sorts of highly ranked languages of law, it would be more than enough for these natives.
After hearing Leylin's words, the group of slaves began to get restless.
"Quiet!" Leylin flicked his finger, and a ray of lightning shot out.
*Pila!* As if something huge had happened, many of the natives crouched down or even knelt after the violent streak of lightning passed.
Rank 0 spell: Lightning Lure!
"As you can see, I am a wizard that possesses immense strength. These fully equipped soldiers will continue to monitor you, so don't even think about escaping or you'll all be hanged. On the other hand, if you're hardworking and complete your task in time, I'll give you a reward, and even dismiss you from slavery." Leylin's hands glinted with sparks, making him look like a god in the eyes of the slaves.
In reality, wizards had always been rare existences in the World of Gods; there likely weren't many even serving under Marquis Louis. This abnormal strength was the best way to terrorise these natives, having them believe he was a spirit of the elements or worship him like a god.
At this moment, there was a disturbance amongst the slaves. One of them who looked rather old crawled to Leylin's feet, kissing the ground. "Powerful being who grasps the power of lightning, Nunooker is willing to listen to your teachings and obey your commands!"
"Very good! Nunooker, you shall lead these slaves from now." They'd already been tamed by the trader's leather whips, so Leylin could understand this situation. Whatever it was, the first ones to surrender their loyalty to him would be rewarded.
Nunooker was elated and he kowtowed again and again, "Esteemed master, Nunooker will definitely manage your assets well."
"Mm… Tell them that those who are diligent will have enough black bread and fish soup." After taking care of these matters, Leylin retreated to his own room. He just had to give the slaves a general idea, they would do the rest. The remaining bit would be left to Jacob to handle.
The first thing the frenzied slaves built were a few simple and crude houses. These would be their temporary residences as they built to the plans that were created by Leylin, making good use of every inch of land here.
Night fell. Having stuffed themselves with black bread, mushy fish meat and seaweed soup, the slaves slumbered deeply. In their eyes, someone like Leylin who possessed extraordinary strength yet was benevolent enough to let them eat well was a good master that was hard to come by.
A few soldiers patrolled next to the slaves' accommodations, swapping out from time to time. While it wasn't likely that the slaves would escape, Jacob had still arranged this.
In the deep, quiet night, the soldiers huddled around a bonfire. They looked listless, their eyelids about to fall shut at any moment. None of them noticed that their young master had left.
Fly! Leylin's body soared into the air, flying at a speed of 60 feet a second. He quickly left the vicinity of the camp.
"I can finally fly, but it's so slow!" Having grasped rank 3 spells, Leylin now had the ability to fly again, but the speed was not enough to please him.
In reality, wizards that could fly not only possessed the ability to quickly leave the battlefield in dire situations, but also to turn into death gods in the skies. Since most troops lacked the ability to fend off aerial strikes, wizards could hover in the air and cast spells from above like a nightmare!
Under the bright white moonlight, the surface of the sea was clear and gleaming, having a cold aura. The deep sea was filled with dangers, and numerous sea monsters began foraging for food in the night.
A black pirate ship was still, anchored on the surface of the sea. A swordswoman with a black longsword was standing on the deck, clad in skintight armour as if in wait for something.
*Whoosh!* A dark shadow slowly appeared by the horizon, and then turned into a human figure.
"Cousin Isabel, Robin Hood!" Leylin landed on the deck and acknowledged the two.
"Kid, why are you only just getting here!" Isabel whined, though there was no trace of discontent in her expression.
"Young master!" Compared to her, Robin Hood was more respectful. After all, a wizard that could fly had immense destructive power when above the sea. Robin Hood knew this very well.
Most of the times, such wizards could send their opponents on their way before the ships could even line up with each other for battle.
"Call all sailors to deck!" Leylin commanded. Followed by a disturbance, numerous sailors gathered together. Amongst them were guards originally from the Faulen Family, although most of them were Black Tigers.
Now, however, all that was left in their eyes was fear, and their numbers seemed to have lessened. Leylin scanned the area, and Isabel lowered her head with burning cheeks. Robin Hood stood out, "Young master, in order to tame the pirates, we had no choice but to kill a few people to set a precedent…"
'That's probably not all…' Leylin glanced at Isabel but did not pursue this further. All he needed was for these pirates to be obedient anyway.
Leylin's eyes scanned the crowd. He then announced, "I have gathered you now because I'm planning to establish a private raiding fleet!"
It seemed like these people had already had their suspicions. They accepted the truth calmly, and the eyes of Robin Hood and a few others even flushed red with desire.
There were few truly good men who accompanied Baron Jonas to the barren island as he developed the territory. His companions had likely done all sorts of things in their free time, including playing at piracy. They might even have had the baron's tacit approval and support/
Leylin made plans for the family of those who had been guards to move to his camp. This would allow him to care for them, and control the spread of the news. While it was impossible to hide this for long from the baron, things would have all been done by then and he could do very little to interfere.
As for the pirate slaves, loyalty, justice and things like that didn't compare to money for them. As long as Leylin achieved victory after victory as he led them to gain wealth, they wouldn't mind even if their leader was a demon!
Of course, his subordinates now were a standard mob, and Leylin urgently needed a victory to stimulate them.
'On top of that, I need to maintain my reputation, and I'll need to disguise this Black Tiger ship. At the very least, I'll need some remodeling…' Leylin stamped the deck under his feet.
"Don't call me young master in the future. Call me Captain or Sire, is that understood?" he commanded. While it sounded dreadful for a noble to partake in piracy himself, it was nothing new. However, he still needed to maintain a reputation. He couldn't do such things openly.
If Leylin were to be killed during a raid, the baron could not take revenge openly, and at most, do something in private.
"Yes, Captain!" Robin Hood quickly reacted.
"Good! Weigh the anchor! Set the sail! Let us plunder everything!"
-x-X-x-
A pirate ship drifted quietly in the pitch black of the night. A crimson skeletal flag fluttered in the wind, holding an aura of death.
Within the captain's room, the rocking hull did not affect Leylin the least. He was now on the upper levels with Isabel, Robin Hood and a few others, discussing their current target.
"We have over fifty sailors, but their quality is…" Robin Hood shook his head, evidently not thinking well of the sailors that had recently pledged their allegiance.
This was the truth anyway. Without the threat of death, they would not have submitted so quickly. However, having them show their loyalty was practically a joke. If there was a chance, they would definitely betray Leylin and escape without hesitation, even plunge a knife into his and the others' hearts.
"I know this very well, but loyalty can't be developed in just a day or two. Time will also help us phase out the people who intend to disobey…" Leylin's voice was very calm yet held an exceptional callousness. Isabel and Robin Hood felt like they could see the near future of the many pirates, and their executions by Leylin for all sorts of reasons.
"I'm planning to develop a base to produce fish floss on Faulen Island. We'll need a lot of money and slaves for it, and it's too much to handle if we depend on our territory alone. We need to get this done, by hook or by crook." Leylin stuck a dagger at a point on the map.
The primitive method of the accumulation of wealth was a drawn-out process. If one wanted to speed it up, there would definitely be blood and sin involved. Leylin did not have the skills to slowly guide an industry. He would only go on raid after raid to quickly build up a production line. Marquis Louis hadn't given him much time, and he was running out.
Leylin never believed in random outside protection, believing that it would only bring about tragedy to entrust his life to someone else. Hence, he would rather take some risks to increase his strength, and expanding his trade profits was just one part of it. After this was done, he'd launch a series of attacks to set his opponents back in the region.
While Isabel and Robin Hood were unaware of Leylin's thoughts, the murderous aura that he emanated caused them to involuntarily shiver.
"This is… the Half-Merfolk Island!" Robin Hood was the first to recognise the name of the island that Leylin had his eyes on, and he gasped, "There's a famed group called the Merfolk Pirates occupying the place!"
"A group that Marquis Louis controls," Leylin added coldly. How could he not have pried open Steve's lips for such information? The man had been the captain of the Black Tigers, after all.
It was undeniable that a rank 10 fighter had a stronger will, but he was only able to hold on for half an hour longer than the assassin from before.
'Hehe… He's but a cripple in body and mind now. Even if Marquis Louis heals him, he'll have a headache over this!' Leylin snickered inside. If there were grades for torture and interrogation, he would definitely be a grandmaster.
Having gone through his hands, Steve had completely broken down. Perhaps even if the highest-ranked priest cast Regenerate and other spells on him, it would be difficult for him to return to his previous state.
Leylin suspected that Louis' side would just kill Steve right away, it wasn't worth inviting a high-ranked priest to cast divine spells. Even if many priests cast divine spells to heal others for a fee, it was very expensive to invite a high-ranked one. Even the sale of a rank 10 fighter couldn't cover such a cost.
"The outer seas right now are just being discovered and developed. There's no order here, only chaos…" Leylin's palm caressed the map on the table, covering a large area, "Numerous adventurers, nobles and pirates rush to this place, but they can't even get to developing 10% of the islands. Just 10% alone signifies an astonishing amount of profit and wealth!
"Our final goal is to subdue or eliminate all the pirates in this region, making us the undisputed kings of this dark world. Let all those of other flags end up struck down to the bottom of the sea!" Leylin's voice was low, but these calm words seemed to be filled with an allure that caused Robin Hood's breathing to grow rough.
In some areas, Leylin was even better than a devil at persuasion and negotiation. The promise of a beautiful future seemed to have moved the first mate.
"We have a huge advantage here, compared to those regions where the power struggle is complicated. There are no extremely powerful organisations to hinder us, only our greatest enemy in Marquis Louis." Leylin smirked.
Marquis Louis had control over the Baltic archipelago and practically over 60% of the new trade in this region. Hence, he'd become the rule setter here, and his profits were unimaginable to most.
Leylin's goal was to eliminate him and become the boss! The smart followed the rules, while the wise created them themselves. Leylin was going to completely destroy Louis, and make his own laws.
To attack Louis, it was necessary to first eliminate his subordinates and the pirates he commanded.
"Do you still have anything against my decision?" Leylin glanced at Robin. As for his cousin? As long as this had anything to do with Louis' family, she was likely eager to join.
"No, Captain! I obey your every command!" Robin Hood immediately bowed, pledging himself with a serious expression.
"Good! There are only three large pirate organisations in this region, the Black Skeletons, Tigersharks, and Barbarians. Once we annex the Merfolk Pirates, we'll be somewhat comparable to them." What Leylin did not make clear was that the two of these three pirate organisations were linked in countless ways with Marquis Louis, and the Marquis might even be the one in control from the shadows.
If any of them had been sent to attack Leylin's family, his only choice would have been to escape with Mistress Sarah. However, Louis had evidently underestimated Leylin's side. That was why Leylin had managed to seize such an opportunity. Things would not be as easy the next time.
"Black Tigers, Merfolk, Black Skeletons and Tigersharks. These look like all of the pirates that Louis' family has control over…' Leylin's eyes glinted, 'If two of them are taken care of at one go, I'm sure he'll have a spectacular expression on his face!'
Robin Hood was a very good navigator, and after Leylin sent down the order he immediately used the stars to determine the location of the ship. He altered the shipping route so that they headed towards the Half-Merfolk Island.
The Black Tiger gradually left the shallow seas in the tranquil night, heading for the more mysterious and treacherous deep waters.
'It'll take a day or two of travel to get to Half-Merfolk Island…' Leylin's eyes twinkled. With the help from the A.I. Chip, his calculative abilities still far surpassed his first mate and navigator even without a moving scale or any tools.
Just when Leylin was about to blow out the lights, a disturbance was heard. There were even sounds of weapons clashing, causing Leylin to frown.
"What happened?" Leylin furrowed his brows, putting on a coat and heading out. Isabel walked over from the room next to his.
When they got outside, the yells and curses grew even clearer.
"The sailors are rebelling?" Leylin indifferently walked with Isabel to the deck.
Many of the prisoners stood together on deck, holding machetes and all sorts of weapons. They had forced Robin Hood and a few soldiers into a corner.
Compared to the thirty to forty people here, Robin Hood's few subordinates seemed lonely and weak.
"How senseless!" Leylin flicked a finger, and a few pirates that were in the way turned into ice statues. The rest of the pirates moved away in fear, allowing Isabel and him to walk all the way to the deck.
"My apologies, young master! After hearing that we're going towards the outer seas tonight, the sailors all began to rebel!" Robin Hood's forehead was beaded with sweat as he explained to Leylin.
Many dangerous sea monsters liked to forage in the night, and unless they were exceptionally powerful fleets, nobody dared to head towards the deep seas now.
On top of that, these pirate captives weren't all that obedient from the start, and were full of rebellious spirit. They were also a majority, which meant that it wasn't unexpected for them to rise in revolt, especially with people deliberately stirring up the situation.
"Seems like Isabel and Robin Hood listening isn't enough to control them…" Leylin sighed from the bottom of his heart, and then walked ahead, "Put down your weapons, or you'll regret it. When it comes to the outer seas, I can ensure that your safety is guaranteed."
"Don't believe him! This son of a bitch and the woman from before just want us to die!" Just when the pirates were hesitant, a voice sounded from amongst the crowd.
"Come here!" Leylin's eyes narrowed, and the mooring ropes placed at the ship's railing seemed to gain lives of their own. They began to wave around, charging into the pirates like a python as they wrapped around one with triangular eyes, pulling him out.
"Vulgar maggot, did you think I can't do anything against you if you hide in the shadows?"
With a flick of Leylin's finger, a boiling hot fireball rushed out! It rumbled as it hit the bound pirate, lighting him up like a torch with sparks flying everywhere. Miserable cries sounded out, causing many pirates to retreat with fear on their faces.
"A wizard! It's a wizard!" The pirates exclaimed. Most of the pirates had melee professions. True tall, rich, and cool wizards were a rare sight even amongst huge pirate groups.
-x-X-x-
Wizards were often more intimidatingly powerful than high-ranking fighters, knights and other such Professionals.
"I'll count to three, and if you don't put down your arms and kneel in surrender, you'll follow his example!" With a tug of the rope, the charred remains were immediately scattered into the ocean. This intimidating strength immediately made many pirates think of retreating.
It was a pity that this was the ocean, and they were surrounded by water as far as the eye could see. Even if they wanted to run, they had nowhere to go.
"One." Leylin's face twitched as he announced without any hesitation.
"Two." Two rays of ice flew out, turning the fleeing pirates into ice sculptures.
"Three!" Leylin's eyes were filled with a heavy killing intent.
These terrifying eyes finally led to the collapse of the pirates. They abandoned their weapons one by one, and knelt on the floor while weeping bitterly.
"Robin Hood, tie them all up!" Leylin rubbed his hands together. After all, he could not possibly kill all of these captive pirates. If he did, who would sail the ship?
In this world, a captain could only fight to the death in the face of mass mutiny. However, powerful people like him could put down their entire crew with a hand tied behind their back.
"As you command, Captain!" Although this was not the first time they had seen the young master's power, the soldiers' eyes were still filled with respect.
Given that those pirates didn't dare to rebel, the soldiers on the deck could easily control them. Even if there were troubles on the ship, Isabel would resolve them before Leylin could even grow impatient.
Isabel would've taken care of the situation this time even if Leylin hadn't. It was just that the situation would have ended up with many pointless deaths.
In the end, all of the captives who had taken part in the rebellion had been tied together and gathered on the deck. The soldiers and the rescued pirates who had not taken part in the rebellion erected several enormous wooden crucifixes there.
Leylin peacefully stood in front of the pirates, but he did not say a single world. However, this made the pirates begin to tremble in fear. Leylin was determined to go through with this purge, and did not have any intention of letting them off.
"Find me the leader of the rebellion!" With Leylin's command, as well as the pirates identifying each other themselves, several wild and untameable ones were pushed out from the crowd.
"There's only four or five? This is far too few!" Leylin shook his head, "Robin Hood, pick one out of every five to kill!"
Soon after, the remaining pirates huddled together in alarm. Robin Hood counted here and there, and every fifth pirate was immediately dragged out by the soldiers. This repeated until 5 poor devils had been chosen.
This was a method from Leylin's previous life, called decimation. It was a way of investigation, used similarly to what he had employed to execute criminals.
"This is your sentence." Leylin waved his hand, and his subordinates quickly swarmed around the criminals, binding them on top of the crucifixes.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!* The other pirates were alarmed by the sounds as several nails were hammered into the offenders, even if they avoided the vitals. Drops of blood ran down the nails.
"Bastard! I won't let you off!" "Even if I die, I'll drag you to hell with me!" "My lord, please spare us! Please spare us!"
Blood-curdling screams rang out, intermixed with curses and pleas.
"Aren't you lively? I hope you can be like that tomorrow too!" Leylin smiled faintly.
This method of crucifixion was very inhumane. The targets inched closer and closer to death as they gradually bled out. The sort of fear it induced could lead to a nervous breakdown in normal people.
These physically strong people could perhaps stay alive until the second day. However, that was of no use; it only meant more insane pain and torment.
The violent sunlight of the sea would drain them of every drop of moisture in their body, until they were mummified. And in the end, they could only chose between bleeding to death, dying from sunburn, or dying of thirst.
Many of the captives who thought of this scene were so frightened that they couldn't help but wet themselves. They didn't even dare to meet Leylin's eyes; the smell of urine spread.
"As for the rest of you, I'll be gracious and show you mercy. You will only receive ten lashes. Now all of you, clean the decks immediately! If I see even a single speck of dust tomorrow, you'll have to lick it clean! Do you all understand?" Leylin shouted.
When grace was absent, the fear of death was an effective deterrent. Of course, the prerequisite was that one needed enough power. Still, who amongst Leylin's subordinates could surpass him in strength?
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!* Leather whips specially soaked in seawater were used to punish these pirates. On one hand, the salt in the water would prevent the wounds festering, but on the other hand, the pain would be even more severe.
These lucky pirates did not dare to grumble, and they began to clean up the deck even more quickly. Those who were currently crucified were deeply reminded of their betrayal.
'Fear me, respect me, hate me!' Leylin stood at the ship's bow like a tall mountain, filled with a deep and immeasurable strength.
'The hate and resentment of an ordinary person seem to result in some additional spiritual force and soul force emanating from them.' Leylin shut his eyes, sensing the respect from the pirates on the ship.
'What a pity… If this number was multiplied by a thousand times, and continued for over 10 years, it would be possible for me to comprehend divinity, and become a divine being.' The power of fear was a standard tool for demons and devils. It was very effective, a god only needed to absorb the energy of faith arising from mortal fear. His subordinates' shifting moods had allowed Leylin to touch on a path to divinity.
'Pity. This method is completely undesirable, not to mention what the churches would do once they discover me trying to spread fear to become a god. Perhaps their first course of action would be to come and destroy me…' It was very foolish to peep into the realm of gods without even becoming a Legend.
"Cousin, aren't you going to rest?" Isabel arrived at Leylin's side at this moment. She was the only one who would dare to do so.
At the same time, Leylin noticed that Isabel was looking at these condemned convicts with eyes filled with regret. Naturally, she wasn't regretting their deaths, but she felt it was a great pity to lose so many sacrificial offerings.
"My dear cousin!" Leylin began as he watched Isabel, "You shouldn't just act according to the other party's wishes when dealing with an abnormal life form. Sometimes you need to negotiate, and even refuse… Perhaps this can help you."
Leylin took out a black notebook and passed it over to her.
"Rules of Negotiation with Abnormal Entities- Demon Edition!" Isabel let out a low cry. This book contained knowledge about demons, and to the churches it was a standard demonic item.
"This is part of my teacher's collection, I copied it out using magic. Perhaps it can help you, don't let anyone else see it," Leylin smiled faintly. In fact, this was from Beelzebub's memories. After all, he was the commander of the devils' army, and he had a deep understanding of those demons that were his enemies.
At the same time, devils were also the greatest experts in deceit, threats, and modifying contracts. With Beelzebub's knowledge, the least it could do was to ensure that she wouldn't suffer too big a loss when making deals in hell or the abyss.
"Even if you sell your soul, make sure it fetches a good price. Don't be swayed by a few words and offer it up without thinking it through. That would simply be too foolish…"
"T-Thank you!" Isabel hugged the black notebook close, as if it was her entire world.
"Also, it seems like we won't get any rest tonight…" Leylin waved his hand and said to Isabel, "Be careful!"
"What should I be careful of… AH!" Isabel was rather doubtful, but she immediately felt a huge jolt. As she was still firmly holding onto the notebook with both hands, she almost fell to the deck.
At this moment, a pair of powerful hands held her up steadily.
"If you feel that the storm is too much, go back to your room and leave this place to me," Leylin's words were filled with self-confidence, and it seemed to give her a great sense of security. Isabel agreed in a rather foolish manner, and really walked back to her cabin.
Yet after a short moment, she'd changed into her leather armour and grabbed her longsword, rushing back out.
"I've put away the thing you gave me!" Isabel's face was flushed as she flusteredly explained.
At this moment, Robin Hood's voice rang out, sounding completely exasperated, "Tigershark! It's a Mutant Tigershark!"
The expressions of the people on the ship immediately changed greatly. The Mutant Tigershark was a type of deep sea monster. It possessed an enormous body larger than ordinary whales, and it had a savage nature. It particularly enjoyed hunting at night.
This Tigershark's body could easily flip over the Black Tiger. Such a thing was exactly why these pirates were so afraid of sailing at night.
"What are you panicking for? Calm down now!" Leylin's voice spread immediately, charged with a pacifying force. In just a moment all of the alarmed pirates calmed down.
The ship's hull was tilted to an alarming degree, and it was tipping further. It was like a powerful monster was shaking the bottom of the ocean. At this moment, everyone on the ship could only pin their hopes on Leylin, the wizard.
Isabel stood the closest to Leylin, and she discovered that he had a strangely excited expression on his face.
"Finally! I've been waiting for this. This opponent is mine, don't interfere!" Without even waiting for her to respond, Leylin immediately jumped off the deck of the ship.
-x-X-x-
The bitterly cold seawater seemed to chill one to the bone as the mountainous black figure suddenly appeared in front of Leylin.
As the A.I. Chip finished scanning, the Tigershark's stats appeared in front of him. [Mutant Tigershark, Estimated Stats: Strength: 7+, Agility: 2-4, Vitality: 13+, Spirit: 3. Abilities: 1. Sharkskin: A Tigershark's skin has a slight resistance to physical and magical attacks. 2. Lesser Regeneration: Slight ability to restore a certain amount of life force.]
"Not bad, not bad. With this physique and abundant energy, it's worthy of being called a deep sea creature…" Leylin's eyes seemed to glow a crimson red.
Aquatic Swiftness! A glowing enchantment draped itself over Leylin's body, and he obtained greater speed in the water. It made him as nimble in the water as he was on land.
An enormous sound wave spread out, causing massive vibrations. The forcefield around Leylin's Mage Armour creaked, as if unable to bear the attack.
The Tigershark seemed to care very little for the insignificantly tiny Leylin, and it occasionally used its giant dorsal fin to smash against the Black Tiger. It looked like it wanted to flip the ship over.
In this situation, Leylin immediately arrived at the back of the Tigershark, and climbed up the coarse surface of the shark's skin.
"According to the perspective drawing on the map, it should be here!"
Numerous shadowy daggers suddenly appeared from Leylin's hand as he shouted, "Cloud of Daggers! Ice Knife!"
*Shlook!* The ice daggers plunged into the Mutant Tigershark's back, making it suddenly swing its entire body around. Copious amounts of fresh blood poured out from its wounds. Its sharkskin seemed like paper under Leylin's attack.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!* At this moment, the Mutant Tigershark's body seemed to become a burden to it. As it was so enormous, it could only violently shake its body and hope that this would throw Leylin far away. It was to the point where the Tigershark once slammed the part of its body where Leylin was against the ship. It seemed to want to crush Leylin to death.
However, long before that enormous collision could occur, a glowing dagger that was the colour of blood appeared in Leylin's hand, the Devilblood Dagger.
"Its artery is here!" Leylin's eyes seemed to glow, and he stabbed down.
The Mutant Tigershark bellowed with rage, and its movements momentarily stilled. Afterwards, it began to sway and twitch even more violently than before, which made Leylin feel like he was riding a rollercoaster.
Leylin used Adhesion, and was finally able to stick firmly to the Tigershark's body like a lizard. He felt a strong heat flowing from his palm, the dagger in it like a greedy devil that was relentlessly absorbing the Tigershark's life force.
Accompanying the absorption of life force by the Devilblood Dagger, the Mutant Tigershark's back began to atrophy first, exposing dried-up and eroded flesh. Following this, the corrosion began to spread. The Tigershark's death throes were extremely violent. It gave up on the Black Tiger, and began to travel at a great speed into the sea, swimming deeper without stopping.
However, Leylin remained unmoved by the situation. The Tigershark had such a powerful body that the boost he gained from it was very considerable. He listened to the A.I. Chip's constant prompts and saw his own slowly increasing stats, clearly feeling the surging life force of the creature constantly being drained. The Devilblood Dagger converted its life force into another form of energy, and transferred it into his body.
Finally, the Mutant Tigershark had one last spurt of movement before it stilled. Its malevolent eyes lost their lustre, and it slowly fell towards the seabed like a sunken ship, dead.
It did not end just like that. The Tigershark's originally glistening skin had completely dried up, now looking like ancient tree bark even as it had shrunk to half its former size. If it was dissected, then it would be possible to see that the Tigershark's internal organs had also lost all their life force and had become a pile of waste.
[Beep! Host has killed the Mutant Tigershark, and received a boost from the Devilblood Dagger. Strength has increased by 0.1, vitality increased by 0.3, spiritual force increased by 0.009.] At this moment, the A.I. Chip sent over its final summary, and Leylin noticed his updated stats.
[Leylin Faulen. Race: Human, Rank 7 Wizard. Strength: 2.6, Agility: 2, Vitality: 4, Spirit: 7. Status: Healthy. Feats: Sturdy, Erudite. Spell Slots: Rank 3(1), Rank 2(3), Rank 1(4), Rank 0(???)]
'This Tigershark seems to be much stronger than the assassin from before. However it only raised my stats a little, and the most it did was to raise my vitality by 0.3. My spiritual force doesn't seem to have changed…' Leylin's expression was a little gloomy.
As his stats increased, and every stat broke through 10, the Devilblood Dagger would grow less useful. He would eventually grow completely immune to its effects.
'However, the open sea is full of resources. Many drops of water make up an ocean [1. Little things add up], so it should be enough to let me advance to become a rank 9 or even rank 10 wizard…' Leylin's expression clouded over.
This was one of his plans. The Devilblood Dagger's flesh devouring ability meant that outside of high-level Professionals, the only place that had enough flesh to feed it was the open sea. The bodies of deep sea creatures were terrifyingly massive, and organisms full of life force could be found everywhere.
Naturally, these monsters all had their own intelligence and faith, so slaughtering them as one pleased would damage one's reputation and could even attract an intervention from the gods of other races. It could even draw the attention of druids, who were all lunatics and naturally hostile towards those who destroyed nature.
Now however, the blood on the Black Tiger had attracted the spontaneous attack of many monsters so it wasn't possible to give them preferential treatment.
One could imagine that in the near future, more than one sea monster would be attracted by Leylin, and all of them would become an unending stream of life force, pushing forward his advancement.
Leylin's body split open the surface of the sea with a loud splash, and he landed on the deck.
"Cousin Leylin! Are you alright?" Isabel looked at him worry in her eyes.
"I'm alright, continue sailing!" Leylin waved his hand, and all the sailors who heard his command suddenly became sluggish.
He was alright, but it was clear that the terrifyingly powerful monster from earlier was still howling unstoppably on the seabed. They could guess at the powerful battle that occurred after Leylin jumped into the sea, while standing on the deck.
It appeared like their captain could kill even a Mutant Tigershark!
Very quickly, even the most frightening pirates looked at Leylin with eyes filled with respect. They only admired the strong, and now that Leylin had revealed his savage nature, he had also exposed his own powerful abilities.
This carrot-and-stick method was enough to subdue these old pirates. The subconscious actions of theirs made Leylin smile at the scene that would occur many, many more times in the future.
After the battle of Half-Merfolk Island, he would possibly possess an army of pirates that only listened to him.
...
Under the sunny and cloudless sky, Robin Hood's eyes were filled with unconcealed respect as he reported from behind Leylin. "Captain, we will arrive at Half-Merfolk Island in half an hourglass' time!"
"I know, pass on the order. Prepare for battle!" Leylin looked out towards the distance, and seemed to be rather distracted. Yet Robin Hood did not notice that, and immediately began to carry out his order.
In reality, Leylin was experiencing an enormous change at this very moment. Ever since he had fought that Mutant Tigershark, he had also attacked various other sea monsters. Under Leylin's Devilblood Dagger, they all became gifts of experience which helped his stats steadily rise.
The most important thing was that after the boost from this power, the A.I. Chip's rate of analysing the Weave had increased greatly. Many rank 0 and 1 symbols glowed in front of Leylin, as if forming the mystery of the universe in their array.
Only when he heard a sharp and clear ring did Leylin snap out of his trance-like state. The A.I. Chip displayed its newest progress in front of him.
[Beep! Rank 1 Weave has been fully analysed! Progress is 100%]
[Weave Analysis Progress: Rank 0 Weave: 100%. Rank 1 Weave: 100%. Rank 2 Weave: 13.61%. Rank 3 Weave: 0.45%]
The higher the rank of the Weave, the harder it was to analyse it. This was especially true of the rank 3 Weave, the analysis of which hadn't even reached 1% yet. However, Leylin was already very satisfied.
[Beep! Rank 1 Weave has been fully analysed. The host now has all rank 1 magic models, and spells will not be deleted. Host is exempt from forgetting magic!] The A.I. Chip's prompts came incessantly.
Leylin now felt that a layer of the Weave had been uncovered, and many rank 1 spell models, from the most basic Alarm to the Endure Element spells and even frightening spells like the Necromancer's Ray of Enfeeblement were displayed before him.
After the breakthrough of the rank 1 Weave, not only did was he exempt from all the limitations of rank 1 spell models, he could directly use spiritual force to perform magic. It even gave him a lot of authority within the Weave.
It could be said that the benefits brought about by the advancement were of greater help to him than advancing to a higher rank as a wizard, especially when he was on the verge of attacking Half-Merfolk Island.
Leylin couldn't help but glance over his stats:
[Leylin Faulen, Race: Human, Rank 7 Wizard, Strength: 3.5, Agility: 3, Vitality: 4.5, Spirit: 7.9, Status: Healthy. Innate skills: Sturdy, Erudite. Spell slots: Rank 3 (1), rank 2 (3), rank 1 (???), rank 0 (???)]
Day after day of sailing, as well as constantly attracting sea monsters, had made enormous contributions to his strength.
'My spiritual force has reached another bottleneck. I might be able to break through after this battle.' A month had yet to pass since Leylin broke through to rank 7 as a wizard.
This frightening pace of advancement was something even your average genius wouldn't be able to match. His speed was absolutely monstrous.
Naturally, Leylin could only advance so quickly because of the Devilblood Dagger's work, and even more so because of his strong foundation. It was because of his foundation that he could control the explosive increase in his life force and stats. In his situation, Isabel would long since have gone insane or become a devil.
"There's a fleet ahead!" The pirate in the loft called out suddenly.
"I see the flag of the Merfolk Pirates, it's their battleship!" Leylin did not feel particularly alarmed by this news. This sort of sneak attack couldn't be successful over and over again.
The Merfolk Pirates would have long made preparations around their lair, and it wouldn't have been difficult for them to spot him.
"Call the sailors out, prepare for battle!" The most important thing about naval warfare was long-distance ranged attacks and boarding. Under Robin Hood's roar, tens of pirates and sailors stood out, their hands suffused in the blue light of weapons slicked with poison.
The Black Tigers who went up against the Merfolk Pirates had a look of great apprehension in their eyes. Only the weapons in their hands and Leylin's presence could calm them down slightly.
"These pirates need to undergo a longer period of training..." Isabel and Robin Hood came to Leylin with worried expressions.
"Don't worry, the battleground is the best teacher. Death will help weed out the trash. After all, if they still lose to the enemy even with the weapons I provided, then I won't care even if they die," Leylin's expression was completely cool.
"This type of weapon…" Robin Hood raised up the longsword in his hand. The edge of the blade was suffused with a blue glow, which was clearly a powerful toxin. He had personally tested this poison, and discovered it had a powerful paralytic effect. Even a shark could not endure it for more than a few breaths.
'This sort of poisonous weapon could fetch a price of more than ten gold coins in the black market…' Robin Hood unconsciously licked his lips. He had a quiver of poison arrows on his back, which when combined with his archery skills gave him the confidence to challenge a rank 5 fighter.
'I didn't expect the boss to have mastered alchemy as well…' Robin Hood glanced at Leylin with eyes full of respect. Such an achievement made him feel even more fearful. If he ever offended his boss, he probably wouldn't even realise how he died.
In reality, those poisonous reagents were a result of Leylin's boredom. He was already a grandmaster in the field, and after familiarising himself with the flora and fauna of the World of Gods over a few years, his experience naturally translated into results.
The raw material of these poisonous reagents was the juice of the most commonly seen pike fish on the Faulen Island. No matter who looked at it, they wouldn't associate that fish with deadly poison.
Even cousin Isabel envied Leylin's poison, and although she did not apply it to her own longsword, she still asked him for a small bottle.
"Isabel, Faulen guards!" Leylin commanded.
"Boss!" This group of people were small in number, but they had the highest loyalty towards Leylin. Once they heard his command, they immediately assembled by his side.
"Pick up your weapons!" Once Leylin issued his command, the guards brought out their longswords. The icy blue glow they emitted filled many pirates with fear.
"Although I've already boosted their damage once, it's better to have more insurance," Leylin pointed his finger, and a shining spell entered Isabel's black longsword.
This was Enchant Item, a rank 1 spell which could boost weapon damage as well as defence. Although Isabel had not soaked her own sword in poison, seeing her sword immersed in a layer of magical light caused a joyous expression to appear on her face.
After a weapon had been enchanted, even temporarily, its power far surpassed that of poisoned weapons. Of course, enchantments were more expensive as well.
However, Leylin's act did not stop there.
Enchant Item was cast again and again and again as Leylin added a layer of enchantment to the weapons of all his own guards.
"Cousin,will you have enough spells after this? Don't tell me you've used up all your spell slots to enchant weapons?" Isabel stood at the side as she watched the guards, and even the pirates, receive the same magical light to their swords. Her eyes were full of envy and she almost even drooled.
Enchanted equipment would increase an individual's battle strength by leaps and bounds. Imagine if you struck someone, and your opponent's weapon snapped in half, and even their armour would not be able to stop your sword. How would that make you feel?
With this support, those guards now had a lower chance of dying. This was Leylin's goal, as these talented people were his true capital and the core of his strength. Family was still family, and they would receive differential treatment right from the beginning. Leylin surveyed his surroundings and was very satisfied with the result.
"Did you see that? Demonstrate your loyalty to me in the future, and you shall have whatever you want!" Leylin shouted. Paired with his earlier use of magic, his voice was full of persuasive power.
At this moment, a small fleet appeared in the waters. It was a group made up of a battleship as large as the Black Tiger and two smaller boats, advancing in a threatening manner as they surrounded Leylin's ship.
One could even see numerous pirates on the decks, as well as a pirate flag of a merfolk skeleton on their flagpole.
"Welcome them on board. Prepare for a battle on the sea!" Robin Hood shouted. Many sailors could not help but firmly grasp their weapons, the only thing they could rely on to make themselves feel safe.
'The Merfolk Pirates are close to the Black Tigers in strength. However, they have nearly 200 sailors, including merfolk, shark people, and even other marine tribes…' Leylin's keen eyes allowed him to see farther than others, distinguishing the characteristics of the opposing marine tribes. His eyes glowed with interest.
'I wonder… What is the difference between the marine tribes here and the ones from the Magus World?' Leylin knew that this question would soon be answered. Because after this battle, he would have an enormous number of test subjects to experiment on.
*Bang!* As soon as both sides were within a mile of each other, the opposing battleship let out a massive explosive sound. An enormously long harpoon was shot out towards them.
*Shua!* The terrifyingly fast harpoon had immense kinetic energy, and only Leylin was able to see its orbit through the air.
Fresh blood flew into the air, and a great number of pained cries immediately rang out. The harpoon penetrated several of the less able pirates who didn't duck in time. It pierced through the Pirates, stringing them together like an iced candy haw on a stick[1. Red hawthorn fruit covered in liquid sugary syrup, with a stick piercing through the middle of 6-7 fruits. Street snack]. It even pierced through the floor of the deck and embedded itself there.
Fresh blood flowed from the harpoon, and the more tenacious pirates still managed to issue cries of pain as they attempted to struggle. This made the other pirates retreat, their eyes filled with fear.
'These bastards! Luckily I never thought of depending on them!' The dismal performance of the pirates made Leylin shake his head. He then winked at Isabel, and used a Flight spell to soar into the sky.
Once Leylin got closer, he could hear the commotion on the opposing ship. "Wizard! The enemy has a wizard!" "Prepare your bows and arrows!"
Powerful spell casters had a strong reputation that spread throughout the continents of the World of Gods. Why a respected wizard would join the pirates and suddenly attack was something the Merfolk Pirates could not understand. However, the fear had already taken root, leaving them bewildered and open to attack.
The fluttering arrows soared into the sky, but lost their energy mid-air like kites with their strings cut. They swayed here and there as they fell.
At Leylin's height, if they wanted to really threaten him, they had to have a Professional who used bows, such as a Ranger or an Archer. However, it was obvious that the opposing group would have a limited number of these talents. The few times they tried to attack him, Leylin easily dodged them.
Once a wizard could fearlessly shoot his spells from the air, calamity would begin.
Fireball! Gust!
A massive fireball flashed in Leylin's hand, and immediately exploded on one of the smaller ships' sails. Magic fuelled its flames, and the Gust spell caused it to spread. The entire ship went up in fire.
*Splash! Splash!* The sailors who had been set on fire jumped off the ship one by one, and were struggling in the middle of the ocean.
By the time the other small pirate ship faced the same fate, some of the men on the main battleship had gone mad.
"Damn it! Where is this damn wizard from?" The Merfolk Pirates' leader was a strong man. Only the two faint traces of scales on both sides of his cheeks hinted that this person had once won the blessing of a devil, and possessed the power of a demon.
Currently, the pirate captain looked at how half of his force had been destroyed, and almost went mad. He would never have thought that he would clash against such a mighty wizard. Seeing that the wizard was able to fly and skilfully cast spells in mid-air, he had to be at least rank 7. He could even be a powerful rank 8 or 9 wizard!
With this sort of strength, he could become a noble on the continent. So why was this wizard coming here especially to bother him?
'I don't really want the other two ships, but this main battleship is rather good!' Leylin purposefully lifted the effects of the Flight spell, and landed on the Merfolk Pirates' deck.
"What? This foolish wizard dared come here by himself?" The captain of the Merfolk Pirates was overjoyed, "Get up there! Kill him!"
Two odd-looking pirates, with the heads of a crab and a squid, swarmed around Leylin and surrounded him completely. Their eyes were filled with ferocity.
*Puff! Puff!* The air seemed to twist, and two sharp daggers which looked just like a pair of poisonous snakes appeared and bared their sharp teeth at Leylin.
"Mm! This Sneak of Shadows is comparable to Mankeh's…" Leylin had a ferocious smile on his face, "What a shame that you squids alone aren't enough!"
In a flash of blood-red light, the Devilblood Dagger appeared in Leylin's hand. As he held the dagger, he seemed to transform into the image of a night elf, his every act and every move seeming to be filled with a unique beauty.
"Shadow Dance!" With the A.I Chip's support, Leylin used a skill that could normally only be used by high-ranking rogues and assassins. The blood-red light turned into a whirlwind, immediately dragging the two assassins into itself.
The dagger's lifesteal greatly surpassed that of a vampire. Once stabbed by it, the two assassins were instantly turned into corpses, falling to the floor.
*Bang! Bang!* Metal weapons clashed against each other loudly, and the mermen closest to Leylin fell to the ground. As traces of their blood-red energy was absorbed by Leylin's dagger, they completely lost all of their life force, to the point where their corpses would scatter into dust at the lightest touch.
"He's a devil! A demon from the abyss!" This horrifying scene scared all of the ferocious pirates so much that they wet themselves. All intelligent creatures feared the unknown. Although they could usually kill without even batting an eye, they had apparently never seen this sort of tragic manner of death before.
"As expected, personally harvesting lives myself is the most enjoyable experience…" Leylin's lips quirked up into a rather evil smile, "Bull's Strength! Cat's Grace!"
Two rays of magic light flickered, and after receiving the boost of strength and agility, Leylin seemed to become death incarnate, reaping the lives of all the pirates around him. While he was killing, countless rank 0 and rank 1 spells shot out from Leylin's hands without stopping.
The Devilblood Dagger was not some ordinary metal weapon. Of course, it did not have any effect on a wizard's spellcasting, but without the Weave impeding him, Leylin's movement was even quicker and smoother.
"As expected! On of a shipful of pirates, all of them have close-ranged professions, and there's not a single Conjurer…" Leylin was like a tiger amongst a flock of sheep. His eyes swept across the entire ship, as if he was hunting for prey.
If anyone of the Conjurer profession came out to fight, even if they only had the Web or Grease spells they would become rather troublesome.
However it was a pity. The Merfolk Pirates were secretly controlled by Marquis Louis, and he wouldn't put a Sorcerer or other high-ranked Professional with a bunch of pirates. Perhaps only the three largest pirate groups would have a Sorcerer in their midst.
"Did you see that? Our boss has already destroyed two of their ships, and there's only one left. Get up there and kill them all!" Robin Hood lay on top of a railing, and after seeing Leylin's success in battle, he roared loudly from the back.
At this moment, the pirate prisoners also let out a wolf-like howl, "Kill them! Kill them!"
The pirates who previously completely lacked morale now exploded forth with 200% of their fighting spirit and hot-bloodedness, loudly roaring at the Merfolk Pirates as they clashed in battle.
The battle between the ships would erupt at any moment, when they came side to side.
"We can't continue like this! Fuck, where are these pirates from? They're so strong and they even have a wizard supporting them, and they're still coming here to cause me trouble?" The Merfolk Pirate captain looked as the sight of his underlings being killed one by one, and the Black Tiger pirate ship advancing quickly ahead. His expression grew even uglier.
Yet at this moment, the wizard was clearly advancing with thoughts of destroying the captain, and whatever ideas or hopes he had were all for naught. This captain understood very well that even if he chose to surrender, perhaps the normal pirates would end up alright, but he and his confidantes would absolutely be forced to walk the plank.
At this thought, his eyes gleamed ruthlessly. He tore off the cloak on his body, revealing stainless steel armour beneath.
"Make way! Archers, prepare!" As he was forced to an impasse, the captain prepared to personally enter the fray. After all, as the captain of the crew he was very strong.
"Battle skill— Charge!" The pirate captain was completely wrapped up in a dense layer of qi. He charged forwards like a battle tank.
"He should be a rank 10 warrior, and his armour and ring…" Leylin quickly retreated, his gleaming eyes making the pirate captain shiver.
At this moment, the A.I. Chip had already collected the captain's stats and displayed them to Leylin. [Name Unknown, Sex: Male, Estimated stats, Strength: 11+, Agility: 5, Vitality: 8, Spirit: 3, Predicted Fighter Rank: 11. Evaluation: Dangerous! Armour and ring are radiating magic, deduced to be magic items!]
After his Charge skill, the pirate captain swung from his waist, and the broadsword in his hand began to rotate like a windmill. "Ha! Battle skill— Whirling Slash!"
*Bang! Bang! Crack!* The sword flew like the wind everywhere he went, slashing most of the deck open. Wooden splinters flew everywhere.
This battle skill was something the captain was very proud of, and something he had learnt very recently. He had to work hard under a Professional fighter's guidance for three years before he had managed to gain their recognition and tutorship.
However, this was all worth it. After learning this skill, he had used its terrifying revolving strength to kill several warriors of a higher rank than him, and finally gained the treasured position of the captain of the Merfolk Pirates.
Needless to say, his opponent was only a wizard, and even if he had the abilities of a rogue, he could not beat a warrior of similar rank to him.
The pirate captain's mouth split open into a wide grin. If the wizard was caught by Whirling Slash, then he could almost see his body being torn apart.
"You have a rather good battle skill there, it's a pity that you're too slow…"
*Puff!* The sound of a heavy hammer hitting leather rang out, and a layer of protection suddenly burst from the captain's armour, offsetting the dagger's attack trajectory. Even so, the tip of the blood-red dagger left a very deep mark on his chest.
Seeing that his armour had almost been cut through, the pirate captain's face was filled with triumph at his luck.
'What a pity! If I hadn't used a rank 3 spell slot to memorise Flight, then one Dispel Magic could have broken through his defense just now and killed him.' Leylin's figure hadn't stopped at all, and he charged once again through the group of pirates. Several severed heads were sent flying into the air, and fountains of blood gushed out.
Before it had the chance to touch the ground, the blood was absorbed by the dagger in Leylin's hand. All the small cuts to his body healed immediately, as if they had never been inflicted in the first place.
"This ability… You're a vampire!" The pirate captain seemed to recall a rather unpleasant memory, which made him cry out in alarm. This ability to absorb life force and and his quick regenerative ability, was very similar to that of the rumoured vampires.
*Bang!* A huge impact spread across the deck like a grade 8 earthquake.
Just when Leylin had single-handedly contained all the pirates, the Black Tiger smashed against the side of the ship. Many small boats hooked onto it, and pirates climbed the cables aboard. A great number of them waved their glowing blue weapons as they came on deck.
These weapons which had been soaked in Leylin's poison did a great deal of damage to the Merfolk Pirates. Even the tiniest cut would paralyze them and drop them to the ground, to then be killed by their enemies.
The magic weapons that Leylin had enchanted, used by the guards, were even more formidable. Isabel took the lead like a Valkyrie, and many Merfolk Pirates were killed so quickly that they died in confusion.
"What? Thinking of escaping?" Leylin's face was wreathed in smiles as he looked at the ugly expression on the pirate captain's face.
"Ha! Battle skill— Blast Slash!" It was clear that this pirate captain knew that unless he could thoroughly shake Leylin off his trail, he didn't have a single hope of escaping. After his expression changed, he charged forwards immediately, his broadsword shining like a blade of light.
Just as the captain was charging towards Leylin, the ring on his right hand suddenly emitted a beautiful burst of magical light.
"Swift Explosion!" The sudden blessing from the spell increased the captain's attack speed fivefold. If his enemy did not notice this, they were sure to regret it.
However, Leylin had long anticipated this. He only smiled at the pirate captain, and gave him a signal, "Grease!"
*Clang!* The deck immediately became impossibly slippery, and the expression of the charging captain changed. He completely lost his balance.
"I already know about all your trump cards. Under these circumstances, you only have one fate, and that is to peacefully walk the path of death…" Leylin seemed as graceful as a dancer as he began to step out, his elegant figure flying over to the Merfolk Pirate.
A severed head flew high up into the air, and soon after blood rushed out from his neck.
The Devilblood Dagger let out an icy-cold laughter after it had feasted on the fresh blood, and its wings seemed to become even more true to life, as if the demon sealed within it had recovered.
-x-X-x-
Leylin put the Devilblood Dagger away. He sensed that he had absorbed an enormous amount of life force, and it had all been transformed into spiritual force. Having already reached the peak, this additional energy pushed him to a breakthrough.
[Beep! Host has gone through a battle. Devilblood Dagger has completed the energy conversion! Spirit +0.1]
[Host's spiritual force has reached 8, rank has increased. Host is now a rank 8 wizard.]
[Host has advanced to rank 8! Number of rank 3 spell slots increased by 1, number of rank 2 spell slots increased by 1.]
A few prompts jumped out all at once, and Leylin's mouth curved up into a wide smile in response.
Converting almost all of this Merfolk Pirate captain's flesh had given him an increase of only 0.1 in his Spirit stat. However, it helped him break through the threshold of a rank 8 wizard, something that many low-ranking wizards on the continent couldn't even beg for.
'However, it's better not to let others know about this strange way of breaking through. Otherwise I will definitely become a public target…' Leylin stood aside and watched the guards clear up the remnants of battle on the pirate ship.
In reality, after the Merfolk Pirates' captain had died, the battle could be said to have been decided. Many Merfolk Pirates suffered a collapse in morale, and they either tried to escape from the ship or threw away their weapons and surrendered.
Leylin did not take action again after that, but he coldly watched Isabel and the others clear up the last of the pirates.
"This time, we don't want prisoners. Archers get ready, kill all those pirates who jumped into the sea!" On hearing this cold command, the pirate crew's fighting spirit grew even more fierce.
Yet Leylin showed not the slightest concern. He looked at his status window which had changed. The A.I. Chip displayed the newly collected data.
[Leylin Faulen, Race: Human Rank 8 Wizard, Strength: 3.5, Vitality: 4.5, Spirit: 8, Status: Healthy, Feats: Sturdy, Erudite, Spell Slots: Rank 3(2), Rank 2(4), Rank 1(???), Rank 0(???)]
A rank 8 wizard did not have the ability to access a deeper level of the Weave. The only benefits Leylin received were two more spell nodes. What was more important was that the advancement had increased his contact and authority within the deeper levels of the Weave. This was bound to be of great help to the A.I. Chip's analysis.
As Leylin continued to advance in rank, the speed of the A.I. Chip's analysis would only increase.
'With the Magus World's standards, a rank 5 Professional is on the level of an acolyte. A rank 10 Professional is on the level of a rank 2 Magus, and someone at rank 15 compares to rank 15. A rank 20 Legend would enter the realm of Morning Stars…' After living in the World of Gods for so many years, Leylin had developed a very deep understanding of how ranks were calculated here.
'A rank 25 peak-ranked Legend is equivalent to a Radiant Moon Magus! If it's like this, then the divine would be equivalent to a rank 6 Breaking Dawn Magus. A demi-god here would be equivalent to a semi-rank 7 Magus, which is the same rank as my original body…'
'The weak minor gods are the same as rank 7 Magi who have comprehended laws, and the major gods are similar to Magi who have fused laws, and are rank 8 beings like the Mother Core who've found their own path…'
At this point, the entire power rankings of the World of Gods began to unfold before Leylin. Although it was possible that some ranks did not entirely correspond, but on the whole Leylin believed in his own deductions and the A.I. Chip's simulation had never been wrong. There were also no holes in its logic.
'Although this native body is making rapid progress, in reality my current strength is only equal to a rank 1 Magus of the Magus World…' This comparison rendered Leylin completely speechless. It seemed that he still had a long way to go on his path to becoming strong in the World of Gods
"Boss! We've cleared out this ship completely! Victory is ours!" Just at this moment, Robin Hood appeared before Leylin and reported with a face filled with excitement. He didn't seem to care about the traces of blood still left on his face.
"It's already finished? Have the casualties been counted yet?" Leylin had a neutral expression on his face. He had personally completely destroyed the most powerful opponents and even half of the normal crew. If his sailors couldn't achieve victory under these circumstances, then he would need to completely reevaluate his strategy.
"With the weapons you gave us, many comrades only received slight injuries. Three have died, and five were seriously injured. We've already eased their suffering and sent them on their way…" Robin Hood spoke with a trace of helplessness in his voice.
Severe injuries on the sea were like a death sentence in this era unless one was lucky enough to have a cleric or other precious healing skills or items on them.
"Mm, keep track of them. Calculate and distribute rewards accordingly when we're done…" Leylin suddenly hit himself on the head. "Oh right! After we capture Half-Merfolk Island, set out again and bring the family members of the pirates who surrendered to us to the Faulen Island. Give the families of the dead ones a pension."
This was really to cut off the pirates' escape route, and grasp their family members in his palm. With this, the chance of them betraying him was now very small.
"As you command, boss!" Robin Hood clearly understood Leylin's intentions, and nodded vigorously, not daring to object at all.
"We really do need a cleric to raise morale and heal wounds. It seems like we can't do with them."
"If you have no objections to rank, then I know a few…" Isabel came to Leylin's side at this moment, with a strange look in her eyes. Leylin scratched his nose, as he clearly knew why her expression was different.
It was easy for her to relate to what he had done before, and it was also the reason why he had ordered for there to be no captives, decisively slaughtering all the Merfolk Pirates in a hurry.
His subordinates, on the other hand, were still on the other ship and couldn't see his actions across the wide sea. Even though he had left those mummified corpses, a wizard had skills which could achieve the same effect such as Absorb, Vampire's Touch, and Life Drain, so nothing could be proven.
Although this could fool Robin Hood and the others, but it definitely could not fool Isabel, who was also a follower of a devil. Her expression showed that she'd discovered something.
However, they were both on the same boat. Leylin believed that Isabel wouldn't betray him, because the church would never accept her either.
"Take a group out to sail this battleship. We'll go together to Half-Merfolk Island!" Under Leylin's command, they rushed to clean up the marks left by battle. The two enormous ships then sailed towards Half-Merfolk Island together.
At this moment, the pirates' eyes were filled with fanaticism and emotion. After all, they knew very well that after Half-Merfolk Island had lost their entire pirate group, the defenceless girls would not be able to refuse their tyrannical advances. Also, the Merfolk Pirates had been in business for many years, and the wealth they had accumulated had made their eyes green with envy.
Before they reached land, Leylin gathered his troops together.
"I'll say this once again!" Leylin's gaze swept across the group of pirates. Through continuous shows of power, they did not dare to betray Leylin's slightest command, and their loyalty to him had even increased considerably.
"We currently need their wealth and their slaves to work for us! We even need them to join us and become fresh blood. If they dare to resist us then immediately kill them without discussion, but I need captives. Understood?" In Leylin's view, the family members that survived the pirates would be very rebellious, but they would make good slaves. Even if that wasn't possible, then they could still be sold for a tidy profit; so what was the point of killing them all?
Humans were a very valuable resource on the sea. Even island natives had special teams of slave catchers enter the jungles and brave the difficulties of disease and monsters. They would then bitterly struggle against different tribes to get their hands on some more slaves.
"Don't worry, boss! We know what to do!" Robin Hood began to laugh, and the sound of it was an ugly as an night owl's hoot.
Leylin nodded, knowing how his underlings, who were like complete animals, would behave after they took over Half-Merfolk Island. Perhaps they wouldn't murder the prisoners, but the islanders would suffer a lot of abuse.
Leylin decided to turn a blind eye to these sort of things. In any case, an appropriate amount of deterrence was necessary, and perhaps this would be beneficial to keeping his rule over them stable. After all, pirate women didn't have any chastity to speak of, and it was in their instinct to follow the strong…
Eagle Eye! After the spell took effect, half of the island appeared before Leylin's eyes.
'Mm, it looks like there are the beginnings of a small hamlet. Not bad!' In his field of vision was a tiny port, and next to the port there was a developing wheat field. The pirate captain that had died at his hand had some talent in running the place. Surprisingly, he knew to gather people to reclaim the wasteland, and he'd really produced results.
It was a shame that all of this had been so conveniently given to Leylin.
Seeing the Merfolk battleship return, and even bringing another ship back, the port burst into an uproar. There were even people who thought that it was the Merfolk Pirates returning victoriously, and began to gather at the port to welcome them back.
It was not until the ship drew closer that they realised that the deck had traces of a fierce battle. The flag which represented the Mermaid Pirates had changed hands. Only then did they cry out in alarm and scatter everywhere, just like wild ducks whose nest had been disturbed.
"Brothers, get to work!" Robin Hood's booming voice rang out, ushering in a burst of excited cries.