I just...I don't know what I'm supposed to do about it. I don't understand what she wants. And even if I did I really am going to be leaving soon. That two month deadline I gave Mori has dried up and it's time for me to start sanitizing this ocean.
So on that note, let's move on to personal development.
With five of the 'Six Powers' already at my beck and call it was easy to reverse engineer the last and complete my set. [Shigan] may be the least versatile [Skill] in the rokushiki family but that doesn't mean I was gonna let it fall by the wayside. I don't envision myself using this one as much as I do its siblings. The idea of my finger getting coated in a strangers blood rather grosses me out. However, as the trees full of holes behind my house will attest, this doesn't mean I'm not proficient.
And speaking of proficient, [Geppo] is maxed. [Soru] maxed. [Tekkai] and [Rankyaku] are trailing right behind them in the low 40's and [Shigan] is already up to 26. The ultimate dream was to get them all to (50/50) before the two months were up but I suppose even [Prodigy's Shadow] has its limits. Without it, it would've taken me half a year to get them this high. I've touched on goal setting before and the reasons why I think it's important. What I failed to mention though is that there are three simple words you should always remember as well. And those are 'Ehh, close enough.' There were a few other [Skill]'s that saw some much more minor improvements but I won't waste time dwelling on them. Instead, shall we talk actual levels because my hands have certainly not been idle.
Zōken and his crew of miscreants weren't the only ones I've scooped up these past four weeks and the Exp has been rolling in. Honestly it's their own fault. If they didn't want their pirate careers to come crashing down then they shouldn't have wandered into the radius I've set around my island.
A mere 72 hours after I thoroughly trounced the kitty, Mori called me about intercepting a bandit turned seafaring cutthroat named Borbely. Easy job, easy 3 million. Man reminded me of a male version of Alvida. Hideously rotund with no skills beyond swinging a club around. The battle did teach me an important lesson though. Always use [Observe] on the fodder once the fight is over. If I hadn't I would've completely missed that his ships cook, a greasy potbellied fellow named Rusin, had his own price on his head for 400K. Plus there was a runaway thief working as a deckhand who was listed for 55,000 'Alive only'.
Don't ever forget the old adage about 'small things adding up over time'. It's those little prizes that are eventually going to help me reach the 'One Billion' mark. I don't think I can make it there relying on 'big hitters' alone.
Eight days later while Kiwi and I were out flying came my discovery of a ship belonging to Tiereney 'The Traitor'. Bounty 8.15 million. Tiereney was a naughty naughty boy who served as living proof that human greed makes you stupid. Once a decorated marine, Tiereney turned to the pirate life after stabbing his commanding officer to death when their ship reclaimed a rather large sum of pilfered gold. The story goes that he tried to convince his fellow shipmates to join in the mutiny in exchange for their own shares of the treasure...but none were receptive..which meant in his eyes...they had to go too. He was decently skilled. Certainly talented with that knife of his. Had I met him half a year ago he would've carved me up like a spring chicken. As I am now though, well, turns out fancy tricks with a dagger are pretty useless when dealing with someone who's not just faster than you, but can also turn their body tough as iron.
And lastly, there's my latest capture. My largest to date. Ingrid. The infamous captain of the Wretched Widow. Ingrid represented the turning point in my career as she's the first 'major player' in this ocean I've taken down. At 13.6 million it wasn't the woman herself that made her so formidable, speaking truthfully I found her ship to be scarier than she was. It was a big ugly thing with gray-colored wood and a weeping angel as its bowsprit. No, what made Ingrid such a known force in South Blue was the quality of her subordinates. Starting with her right hand there was Garna, a large barbarian-like woman wielding a great-axe with a blade half the size she was. Bounty 9.1 million. Third highest was Najeela, a redhead in plate armor dual-wielding a pair of niuweidao's. Bounty 7.45 million. Next up, Iwamori and Seshiro, a pair of men dressed as monks who's rippling muscles were best described as absolutely shredded. Bounty 4 million flat. Each.
By the time I had finished tearing my way through the entire 70-odd person crew there was so much value lying around that I simply had to call in the marines to pick them up. No way was I gonna haul them all in myself. Easier to just drop the anchor, sit on them for a few hours, and hand them over gift-wrapped en masse when the authorities show up. Either way I still get the rewards. Not to mention seeing that hideous ship get sunk by marine cannons in the aftermath was a treat all its own. All together the battles, combined with some small incidental daily [Quests], has been enough to rocket me up all the way to Lv. 52. Before we break down my stat improvements though we need to talk about Lv.50 because woo wee was that an eventful one.
I'll start off by saying that as expected it began with a points increase.
Stat points awarded per Lv up increased!
(20) → (25)
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