Chương 69: Why Does The Number Keep Increasing?

The night was young. Despite everything in the distance being mere silhouettes, there was no room for sleep. The moon shone brightly in the navy blue sky, casting whatever light it could muster down on the sea below. Stars dotted the blue background randomly, creating intricate patterns akin to a child's drawing. And on a ship, watching from afar, stood three 'teenagers' gazing at another ship in the distance. All of the specific details were missing, since they were merely staring at opaque black shadows.

These three people were Cayman, Ellie and Devon.

"How's your sickness?" Devon asked bluntly, breaking a seemingly strange silence that would most likely trail on if nobody spoke. Despite Cayman averting his gaze and staring at Devon with a face full of disdain, Devon didn't shudder nor flinch.

"Yeah, it's better," Cayman replied with not a tinge of hostility in his voice.

"I came out here to get some fresh air. The waves are practically non-existent now, so I shouldn't have any issues." Devon nodded, continuing to gaze at the ship in front of him. It was at least a kilometre away, but the fact that the sea was just a flat expanse of water made it seem like less. There were some people fighting on the deck, and due to the light from inside the cabin, Devon could also see people fighting inside the cabin.

What appeared to be skulls went flying, and Devon also managed to catch a glimpse of a few bones tumbling into the sea, never to be seen again unless people made the lofty decision to dive all the way down to the bottom.

"They're doing well," Cayman said, turning back to look at the fight in front of him.

"There's no need to worry about anything. They seem to have it all under control." Devon's face depicted a subtle wry smile. Maybe the relationship between him and Cayman really was improving.

"Do you secretly wish that you were there, fighting those beasts?" Cayman asked, although this couldn't count as pestering.

"Do you secretly wish that you're the one defeating those beasts and cutting the bones to shreds?" Devon let his head fall, and after a while, when he lifted his head again, he opened his mouth to speak.

"I actually do," he muttered, his voice weak and lacking any confidence.

"I wish it was just me and my clones on that ship fighting whatever monsters those are. Skeletons, I think they said they were. I wish I could do that and claim that ship all for myself." Cayman chuckled, something he thought he would never do whilst standing near Devon.

"The night is still young. You can join them if you wish. Go and have some fun." Devon returned his light laughter, something which belied his visceral grudge with Cayman. Again, he began talking.

"I can't just yet. Unfortunately as a trainer, you can't do everything yourself. You have to make your trainees suffer, to push them to their limits, before you can intervene. That's exactly how I feel now." Those were words that not even Cayman could refute since it was something he used to preach. He remained silent, affirming Devon's words and staring off into the distance like how Robert would zone out in class. Suddenly, there was a light breeze which tousled Cayman's hair, however, he remained unfazed.

Devon and Ellie's hair fluttered lightly in the wind, dancing happily as they swayed from side to side. Cayman then turned to Ellie, expecting a stoic, steadfast demeanour. However, instead, she gave Cayman a light smile, something she had been doing more often since landing on Planet 500.

"Yeah, I know," Cayman said, as if he understood exactly what Ellie was thinking.

"I should give them a chance before I go in. They're not newbies anymore. They're at the advanced level now. They really do grow so fast it's insane." What Cayman got in response, however, was a pout and a face-palm reaction from Ellie. Cayman then turned to face the action again. Although they weren't front row seats to the action, they were still in a really good area to watch all the carnage. After all, the sea can truly distort someone's view of how far something is.

Someone might think an island in the distance could be reached by swimming to it, but in truth, that island could be tens of miles away, impossible to reach using just manpower alone. So in truth, the enemy ship could be several kilometres away and Cayman wouldn't know it. There were at least two people fighting on the deck. One of them was wielding a sword, and another was using brute force to push their way through the enemy lines.

"Is that Theo? Or is that Ben? I can't tell." Unbeknownst to Cayman, he had said those words out loud. He wasn't really someone who voiced his thoughts publicly, but they always say that people can change during their lifetime.

"I think it's Ben," Devon replied.

"Theo's punches are stronger. They would surely be enough to fling a skeleton's head onto the very top of the ship's mast. Unless he's just hiding his raw talent. I don't know, since they're so far away." Again, Cayman chuckled. He then discreetly turned his attention away from either Theo or Ben on the deck, staring at the other person on the deck instead.

His sword moves were sloppy and not perfect, but they weren't going to be perfect if they were coming from a person who had only been in the Hopper business for a month. This person's moves were effective, though. They dashed from one side of the group of adversaries to the other, slicing them down whenever they found an opening. Cayman saw this person decapitating one of the skeletons and pushing the rest of the body into the sea, where he could see water droplets moving up and down where the bones fell.

Then, this person unleashed their main skill, and from that main skill, Cayman instantly knew who this person was. Robert Ryan.

"He's holding up very well," Cayman mumbled quietly, hoping that Devon couldn't hear his wholesome remarks.

"He's doing very well. He really is."

"It's a shame he has the eyes," Devon replied, which would usually be a caustic remark, but this time, it did nothing to hurt Cayman's feelings.

"That's really gonna halt his progress as both a skill user and a Hopper." Cayman nodded and sighed.

"We'll just have to wait and see if his condition gets worse." His attention wasn't focused on Devon, but on the person he presumed to be Robert. From here, he couldn't see the infamous glowing yellow eyes, which appeared to be a good sign. For now.

"So that must mean Maya and Daniel are inside the cabin," Cayman said, continuing to voice his thoughts out loud.

"Hopefully they're doing well. Well, they should be doing well." Devon smirked.

"Well, since they're holding up well, let's check the mission progress. They should be nearly done with the mission now, since with five of them, 125 advanced-level skulls shouldn't be a problem."

"That's not what you're really thinking," Devon said flippantly.

"I know that you just want another ship to yourself since this one smells like shit." Cayman pouted but did not pounce at Devon once those words were said. After all, he really did want another ship, a ship that had a cabin that didn't smell of vomit so that he and his team could have a good night's sleep. The ship that they were on still carried a faint, lingering smell of vomit. He opened his system window to check the details, and when he did, his face immediately contorted in revulsion.

[Mission 2/3: defeat the beasts] Beasts to defeat: 1) Skeleton pirate (advanced, 85/136) 2) Skeleton pirate (advanced/legendary, 0/59) 3)??? (?? /??) Devon noticed Cayman's sudden change in facial expression and began to debate about whether or not to open his mouth. Eventually, he settled on opening his mouth and speaking, since the chances of Ellie opening her mouth and speaking were negligible.

"What is it?" Devon asked, his high-pitched voice carrying a hint of worry.

"What's going on?" Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"Open your system window and check the mission log." Devon did as he was told.

"Look at the number of beasts. I swear that said 125 when we first started the mission."

"I'm pretty sure it did," Devon muttered.

"It says 136 now. Wait, now it says 138."

"It's gone up again. It's saying 139 now." Cayman's head fell into his hands.

"It's just going to keep increasing," he grunted.

"No matter what they do, it will keep going up. I've seen this before. I know what it is."

"So are the kids in trouble then?" Devon asked frantically, desperately seeking an answer.

"If they are, we need to go."

"They're not gonna be in trouble because the beasts are easy for them to defeat. The problem is that they're engaged in a never-ending fight and they don't know why. Our priority is to get them out of this fight before fatigue overwhelms them."

"How do we do that?"

"We need to go," Cayman replied curtly.

"We need to get on that ship and save them. They won't last in an endurance fight. We need to get them out of this fight. We need to play our part. And then we need to solve the problem of the increasing number of beasts."

"Huff, huff, huff." I was certain that I had defeated all of them. The deck was a mess; bones were scattered all over the place, skulls were flipped and lying on the floor like broken Halloween decorations and a small puddle of blood stained the polished wooden flooring an ominous shade of red. Someone had gotten injured during the fight. I could tell since skeletons don't shed blood.

"That has to be all of them," I said out loud, making sure that nobody had heard me prior to opening my mouth.

"I need a break." [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (advanced)' has been activated.] [Skill, 'Recovery (advanced)', has been activated.] I reached into my pocket and pulled out an advanced mana crystal, stuffing it into my mouth and forcing my system to digest it. I didn't know how much mana I had used up during that fight, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Huff, huff, huff." If I could remember correctly, Theo and Ben had been fighting on the deck as well, meaning one of them had gotten injured. I turned my head and scanned the entire deck, but there was no sign of them anywhere. It was just me and the glistening night sky in the middle of the sea. I couldn't lose focus, however, because I still had a mission to complete. Theo, Ben, Maya and Daniel were not on the deck, meaning they had to be inside the cabin, all fighting the remaining skeletons.

And just to be extra sure about that fact, I opened the mission log to find out. [Mission 2/3: defeat the beasts] Beasts to defeat: 1) Skeleton pirate (advanced, 138/142) 2) Skeleton pirate (advanced/legendary, 0/59) 3)??? (?? /??)"What the hell?" I couldn't help but let out that question. If my memory is correct, we should only be defeating 125 beasts, not 142, and I usually have a perfect memory.

Also, the number of beasts the system tells us to defeat shouldn't be a far-fetched number like 142, it should usually be a number ending in 0 or 5. So what was going on? Why was the number of beasts increasing all of a sudden? I scratched my head and scurried towards the cabin. I needed answers, and I needed them quickly. Although we had nearly reached the target, a part of my brain told me that there were going to be more beasts waiting for me when I reached the cabin.

At least my suspicion that we had defeated more than 125 beasts collectively had been confirmed. Clop, clop, clop, clop, clop! I threw open the door leading to the cabin, heavily expecting Theo, Ben, Maya and Daniel to all be fighting skeletons inside. However, what I saw was out of my expectations. The cabin was full of bones covering the floor and not leaving a single area of wooden floor exposed, but it was devoid of any living people. A disconcerting atmosphere was palpable, and all that did was breed trouble.

"Something happened," I whispered to myself.

"They should be here." I wandered around, being mindful of all the bones on the floor. Some of the bones were like daggers that could stab my feet at any point. Being stabbed by one of those bones would be akin to being stabbed by an enemy's weapon. Clop. Clop. Clop. Goosebumps were forming on my arms, and a chill ran down my spine. In this eerie, torch-lit wooden cabin, there was just me and a pile of bones. They were tantamount to broken Halloween decorations.

But this was exponentially scarier than anything happening on Halloween. This couldn't be compared to Halloween. This was literally my worst nightmare. I was finding my missing friends on this weird and wonderful ship and I had no idea where they were.

"What is this?" At the far end of the cabin, there was a door. No, it wasn't the door leading to the deck and the fresh, clean outside air. It was a door leading to somewhere else. With my heart racing and about to explode, I pushed open the closed door, revealing what appeared to be a set of stairs. Oh my gosh, I said internally. What the hell have we got here? Clop, clop, clop. As I descended the wooden stairs, I had to quell my worries and focus on the journey ahead.

My heart rate was only increasing, showing no signs of decreasing. My face was pallid. Clop, clop, clop. Clop, clop, clop. When I reached the bottom, I expected my friends to be fighting frantically, trying their best to fend off the skeletons. But that was not what I saw at all. Ben and Maya were leaning on the wall, their faces painted with lethargy.

Theo, who was sweating profusely, was trying his utmost best to defeat the skeletons charging towards Ben and Maya, whereas Daniel, who had been cornered, was hastily swinging the swords in his hands. They were all drained, and their bodies were heavily laced with fatigue.

"Oh my gosh." Although I was speaking out loud, none of them had the capacity to turn around and listen to my comments. Not even Ben and Maya seemed to care even though they weren't fighting.

"Hey!" I shouted, trying to do something about the situation.

"Let me help! You guys all look worn out." That was when Daniel turned to stare at me. His eyes were wide open, and his face depicted a surprised look. However, this wasn't the time to care about and meticulously scrutinise facial expressions. I took out my sword and began swinging it at the remaining skeletons in the room. [Skill, 'Teleportation (advanced)', has been activated.] [Skill, 'Speed (advanced)', has been activated.] Slash! Slash! Slash! Again, skulls went flying and bones scattered.

I wasn't fazed, but Maya let out a shrill scream when one of the skulls flew towards her. She had to dodge to evade the wild skull. Slash! Slash! Slash!

"Theo!" I shouted.

"There's not much for you to do now. Just rest. Daniel and I can deal with the rest of the skeletons."

"OK," Theo replied, dripping sweat on the floor and making the floor slippery. He ceased all actions and trudged towards the wall where Ben and Maya were slumped.

"Robert?" Daniel was shocked at my arrival. I smiled imperceptibly.

"How did you get here?"

"By defeating all of the skeletons outside," I replied, casting a fleeting gaze at Daniel.

"The deck is free from skeletons now."

"Nice one." Slash! Slash! Slash! I checked the mission log again. [Mission 2/3: defeat the beasts] Beasts to defeat: 1) Skeleton pirate (advanced, 141/145) 2) Skeleton pirate (advanced/legendary, 0/59) 3)??? (?? /??) Sure enough, the number of skeletons had increased again. There were some skeletons at the back of the room, but they weren't attacking us; they were just standing firmly with their swords at their sides, staring intently at the fight and appearing to be guarding something behind them.

We could still fill our quota with the skeletons Daniel was defeating. Slash! Slash! Slash! [Skeleton pirate (advanced, 145/145)]"That has to be all of them," I said once the remaining skeletons that weren't attacking us were defeated.

"Hopefully the number doesn't increase again." Bang! Clop! Clop! Clop!

"What's going on in here?"

"Huh? Cayman?" Daniel's jaw dropped to a level where I thought it might fall off. It was an unprecedented sight, seeing Cayman, Ellie and Devon all in front of him.

"Ellie? Devon? What the hell are you all doing here?" Ellie simply smiled, seemingly casting her gaze at me, whereas Devon's face was blank, losing all of its usual colour.

"Move," Cayman ordered, his commands absolute. Daniel flinched, hurriedly making room for Cayman to pass. Then, silence ensued. Nobody dared to make a noise as Cayman marched towards the far end of the room where the two skeleton guards were. In one fell swoop, the two guards were on the floor as an untidy pile of bones. It was one of those 'if you blink, you miss it' moments. Fortunately, I didn't blink. Cayman then stepped to the side, his face contorted to the point where no words could describe it.

His usual scowl couldn't be used to compare his contemptuous facial expression.

"It's one of those… I can't believe I'm seeing one in the flesh." What did he mean by that? I needed more information about the situation before I could delve deep into my Night Hoppers knowledge. All Cayman was doing at that point was making the situation even more precarious than it was.

"This is bad." What was bad? However, I was going to get my answer very shortly, as Cayman then turned to face us with his bizarre hardened face.

"I've found the reason why the number of beasts keeps increasing." Carry on, Cayman! Please, don't raise this palpable sense of suspense!

"There is a gateway on this ship."