Chương 78: Walk The Plank (4)

He didn't feel worried despite seeing his friend fall. He had just seen someone on the enemy ship being besieged by a whole horde of skeletons, about to be taken down. He couldn't discern this person's identity, but regardless, he knew he had to do something to help. And luckily, since he still had some unused cards left to play, he sent his remaining troops to the enemy ship to take care of those bastards.

Thankfully, they had gotten the job done, killing some of the enemies in that horde and saving the friend that had been in dire straits. As the sun neared its apex, shining its rays directly at his skin, Cayman gazed intently at the scene that had been presented in front of him. A ship that was identical to his contained his 'students' and a mob of adversaries. Both groups were wielding swords, and both groups had unquenchable desires to kill the other group.

This is what being a Hopper entails, he said to himself as he watched bones falling into the water and skulls being detached from bodies. This scene was nothing to him; if there was no blood being shed, it was impossible for him to call this a massacre. The person who had almost witnessed his life being cut short was being pulled up by someone else. Cayman ascertained that this person was Daniel due to his tall, muscular frame and the fact that he had just deployed this person mere minutes ago.

Daniel and the person who had been on the brink of death just moments ago exchanged a few words before supposedly telling them to sit by the side of the deck. He then began talking to a person who was undoubtedly Maya due to the shining golden crown on her head before they separated, each of them aiming to defeat a different skeleton.

"Stupid Leak bastards," Cayman cursed; unbeknownst to him, those words had been said aloud.

"Those little runts decide to hurt my friends like this. I'll show you all once I find you on this planet. You won't ever escape from my grasp and I'll make you all grovel in front of me before I kill you all. I'll show you." Cayman's face twisted into a face displaying enmity and resentment as he continued to stare at the fight that continued to transpire right in front of his eyes. His perpetual grudge with Devon couldn't even compare to his visceral grudge with The Leak.

The Leak had taken everything from him in the past, and they were out to take his sanity. That thought was too distressing to think about, so Cayman had repressed it deep into his unconscious mind long ago, never for it to be seen again. That fact held true until the first gateway was discovered on one of the enemy ships. That was when everything had truly flipped on its head.

"Should I go now, or should I wait?" Cayman asked himself.

"I can't tell when the optimal time to strike is. Those skeletons are right up my alley. I can one-shot all of them if I wanted to." However, despite spilling all of his thoughts out like a broken bottle of water, Cayman continued to cast his eyes at the fight in front of him, where Daniel and Maya had already defeated two skeletons.

"They're doing well. They'll definitely hold on."

"Yawn." Once Cayman heard the sound of this rude awakening, he instantly averted his gaze from the fight and faced the cabin. And that was when he realised he hadn't seen someone at all since the night before. There, in front of him, hobbling out of the cabin door and rubbing his eyes, was Devon. Devon was in no way, shape or form looking presentable.

His shoulder-length hair was dishevelled and tangled, his bangs were unruly and not properly combed, his eyes were red and his bad breath was the prominent smell that permeated the clean fresh air.

"What the hell?" Cayman murmured when he locked eyes with the rosy-red eyes belonging to Devon.

"Morning," Devon slurred, walking towards Cayman with his whole body affected by fatigue.

"Did you just wake up now?" Devon nodded lightly, brushing away tangled strands of hair from his face.

"You just woke up now," Cayman repeated, scrutinising Devon's features and letting his face contort into a scowl. Devon nodded again. Cayman's face went red. Veins bulged on his forehead and his bloodshot eyes were ready to burst. Devon just stood in front of him nonchalantly, waiting for the inevitable rant to begin.

"Do you know what time it is?" Cayman shouted in disbelief, his voice laced with nothing but hostility and enmity.

"Do you know how high up the sun is now? Have you seen it? It's almost midday! Midday!"

"Oh really…"

"Yes!!!" Cayman roared.

"Look at it for yourself." In a daze, Devon tilted his head to stare at the sun. The sunlight dappled his skin, making it paler than it actually was.

"Do you understand now? How the hell did you oversleep that badly?"

"Snoring," Devon replied, his voice muffled by his excessive slurring. He appeared to be inebriated and walking around in a heavily drunken stupor, but in reality, that was far from the case.

"Snoring?"

"Yeah, snoring. Couldn't sleep all night because of it. Could only fall asleep after everyone had woken up." Cayman sighed and buried his face in his hands. When he lifted his head again, he seemed poised to deliver nothing but scorn to Devon's face.

"So that's how it is," he muttered to himself.

"Is this really a reason for me to not blame Devon?" Devon let another yawn; his mouth was open so wide to the point where his lower jaw was on the brink of falling off. In Cayman's mind, just the sound of Devon's yawning was impossible to bear.

"Ben!" Cayman bellowed all of a sudden.

"Ben, you fucker! You set this up, and now you have to pay the price! This happened all because of you! Oh, when I see that boisterous face of yours, I'm gonna smack some sense into your non-existent brain!" Cayman's sudden outburst captured the attention of Ellie, who walked towards him and Devon at a leisurely pace. She stared at Cayman and Devon with her usual indifferent look.

"Ellie," Cayman said, trying to cool down after letting out a lot of steam.

"Did you just wake up as well?" Luckily for Cayman, Ellie pouted and shook her head lightly. At least her appearance was presentable: she was wearing clothes that weren't pyjamas and her luscious hair was neatly brushed.

"That's a relief. This little shit here only just woke up because he couldn't sleep all night! Can you believe it? All of that snoring resulted in this mess!" Ellie nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.

"I really am going to teach Ben a lesson! Tonight, all of the people who snore like bears growling will sleep on the deck! The deck, I say!!!"

"OK, shut up, you're hurting my eardrums," Devon slurred, still rubbing his eyes. Because of his appearance, some people might claim that his eyebags were just a result of horribly applied make-up, but on this occasion, those black bags underneath his eyes were real.

"Why are you telling me to shut up?" Cayman rebuked.

"Go and drink some coffee or something! You can't fight those things while being half-asleep! Come on! Get ready! You know better than this!" Devon just stood in front of him feeling flummoxed, literally asking to be slapped in the face by Cayman. However, before Cayman could lash out at Devon for being too unruly, Ellie grabbed him lightly on the shoulder, reassuring Cayman and trying to instill a sense of calm inside his body.

That prompted Devon to hurriedly run back into the cabin, his signs of being tired disappearing completely, lost to the wider world. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"I'm literally going to kill Ben when I see him on that ship," Cayman mumbled quietly.

"He really is going to get it this time." Ellie said nothing, remaining steadfast as her grip on Cayman's shoulders tightened. Cayman sighed before turning back to face the fight.

"Anyways, on the bright side, they're doing well, aren't they, Ellie?" Ellie turned around to gaze dreamily at the enemy ship and the others fighting on it. There was one person sitting on the side of the deck, reaping the benefits of having a front row seat to watch the fight. Other people were visible on the deck hacking down bones and detaching skulls from necks. Despite the scene becoming overly harrowing, Ellie didn't show any emotion.

Her body, her face and even her eyes remained unmoving as she studied every single small event with great detail. Then, after a while, she turned her head to look at Cayman and nodded.

"I know. Surprisingly they're a very good bunch, apart from Ben." Cayman said the words 'apart from Ben' with gritted teeth, his face showing another deep scowl.

"I think they'll do really well. They'll definitely excel as Hoppers. I think they can truly help us defeat The Leak and create the skill, don't you think Ellie?" Ellie gave Cayman a thumbs-up response, prompting Cayman to give her a wry smile.

"I thought so. Maybe it really was a blessing in disguise to stumble upon those kids. They're progressing really well. Very well." As always, Ellie didn't respond verbally to Cayman's sentiment.

"They really were the perfect seeds for my plan. Once they bloom into beautiful flowers, they'll definitely reach the pinnacle of the skill user system. We just need to believe in them." And with that, Cayman and Ellie both turned their heads to watch the people they nurtured themselves fight against adversaries that were a level stronger than them, swinging their swords with all their might and utilising their skills to perfection.

However, their time was unfortunately cut short by the arrival of Devon, who had finally sorted out his appearance.

"What is it now?" Cayman asked Devon sharply.

"Can't you see I'm having a moment right now?"

"It's not that," Devon replied, desperately gasping for breath.

"We've completely forgotten."

"Forgotten what?"

"The system," Devon continued, his breathing ragged and uneven.

"Check the system!"

"Why?"

"Check the number of mana beasts. Fifty-nine is not a natural number that the system would throw at us. Just check it!" Cayman complied, hastily opening his system window without even uttering a single word back at Devon. And he was in for another alarming surprise. [Mission 2/3: defeat the beasts] Beasts to defeat: 1) Skeleton pirate (advanced, 149/149) 2) Skeleton pirate (advanced/legendary, 25/63) 3)??? (?? /??)"Shit," Cayman cursed.

"You're right."

"What do we do then?" Devon asked desperately.

"Those beasts are not beasts that the kids can defeat easily. They'll eventually get tired and run out of mana. We have to do something."

"I know. I can't believe it." Cayman looked at the floor in contemplation, pondering over what was happening on this planet that constantly kept throwing surprises at them.

"We need to go. There's a second gateway on this planet."

I sat by the side of the deck with my knees propped up, leaning on the delicate wooden frame preventing valuable items on the deck from falling into the sea. As comfortable as I was, the scene I had gathered front-row tickets for was anything but comfortable; living, breathing skeletons were wielding swords and fighting my friends, who were also wielding swords, but were struggling and using up almost all of their strength just to fend for themselves.

Taking my eyes off the action for a few minutes, I stared at the mana crystal in my hands, the one that Daniel had handed to me when he saved me from certain death. It glistened in my hands, emitting an ominous, spine-chilling red glow that seemed to release an aura of danger. Without any second thoughts, I threw the crystal into my mouth with my frail hands, swallowing the aura of danger that came with it. It took some effort since my forearm muscles had essentially been torn apart from excessive use.

But eventually, I had mana circulating around my body once more. That meant I could finally use skills. [Skill, 'Recovery (advanced)', has been activated.] [Skill, 'Healing (advanced)', has been activated.] Clang! As soon as I activated my skills, I saw bones flying towards me. I thought I had to use my newfound reflexes to dodge them, but luckily, they were just a few inches short of hitting me.

"Argh!!!!!!" Ben's vehement battle cries dominated the air, seemingly echoing around the expansive ocean. He had a sword in each of his hands, and he seemed ready to cleave bones into tiny fragments.

"Come at me, you bony bastards!" Ben hollered, presumably not caring about my presence on the side of the deck.

"I'll slice you all right here, right now!" As soon as the pain in my forearms began to ease, I crawled my way out of danger, reaching an area where I was sure I wouldn't get hit. My eyes were still glued to the carnage surrounding Ben as he continued to push the group of skeletons trying to attack him closer and closer towards the edge of the deck, pointing the blades directly at the skeletons' ribs.

"Yeah, that's it," Ben continued speaking in a voice laced with conceit.

"Come on. Come on. Walk the plank." Instantly, my face scrunched up. Did he really just say that? Walk the plank? Was that really how he killed that many skeletons? The skeletons surrounding Ben also had their swords drawn, but that wasn't enough to deter Ben. Instead, in a risky endeavour, Ben continued to inch closer towards the skeletons, making this bizarre spectacle seem more like a scene from a pirate movie. That was when Ben struck viciously, his blurry moves slicing bones and clashing with swords.

I knew instantly that I had to get out of there. The formerly agonising pain in my forearms had mostly subsided, so I pushed myself up from the floor and started hobbling towards where Theo and Daniel were.

"Robert!" Daniel called out, instantly running towards me.

"What are you doing here? You should be resting. Don't tell me you want to fight again."

"I want to fight again," I replied with unwavering confidence.

"I am ready to fight again."

"Not yet. Take a few more mana crystals before you join the fight. It will make all the difference." In the distance, I saw Theo and Maya trying to block a few skeletons from wildly attacking me and Daniel. Hastily, I averted my gaze from them, reached into my pocket, pulled out at least five mana crystals and shoved them all into my mouth, swallowing them with one long gulp.

"That might be excessive, but OK."

"I'm ready to fight now. Now there's nothing stopping me." Daniel was about to say something else, but before he got the chance to, I had disappeared from his line of sight. [Skill, 'Teleportation (advanced)', has been activated.] [Skill, 'Speed (advanced)', has been activated.] Slash! Slash! Slash! In an instant, I seized the initiative and pounced, sending a wild barrage of sword strikes in the direction of the skeletons attacking Theo and Maya.

With a thousand slashes being unleashed, and with the beasts paying more attention to Theo and Maya compared to me, the skeletons fell, leaving Theo and Maya with bewildered looks etched onto their faces.

"What the…" Theo's words trailed off when he suddenly saw me emerging from the curtain of bones that had fallen swiftly onto the ground.

"There's no time," I replied.

"If we want to defeat them, we have to defeat them now."

"He's right," Maya said, affirming my statement.

"We have to defeat the ones on the deck now." Before Theo could open his lips again, I was no longer in his field of vision. [Skill, 'Teleportation (advanced)', has been activated.] [Skill, 'Speed (advanced)', has been activated.] Slash! Slash! Slash! Clang! Clang! Clang! With me being the only one facing a group of skeletons near the tip of the deck, all of my sword moves, despite unleashing a deluge of strikes and despite the fact that I was holding two swords, were easily blocked.

The predicament that I had gotten myself into was all but a farce, but at least I wasn't alone. Because in fights, you always have to be vigilant; you can't just be looking forward. Slash, slash, slash! With Theo lunging in to support me, all of the skeletons' skulls were separated from the rest of their bodies. The remaining bones all fell limp on the floor, and the swords that blocked my moves fell lifelessly, devoid of the strength that had been infused into it.

"I can't have you going off and causing trouble again," Theo said, holding out his hand.

"When we say you have to recover, you have to recover. It's an order." I chuckled and took his hand.

"We're all done here!" Theo called out.

"They're all gone on this side. What about on the other side?"

"All done!" Maya shouted in response.

"Everything's all wrapped up here. Ben's just thrown the rest of the skeletons into the ocean."

"Good. Now what we have to do is infiltrate the cabin and get Cayman to destroy the gateway if there is one."

"Understood." With that, Theo, Ben, Maya and Daniel all rushed towards the cabin door. Once the low, booming sound of footsteps evaporated and was sucked into the air, the door was pushed open and my friends burst inside, slamming the door behind them. As much as I wanted to follow them, there was still one thought looming in my brain, oppressing my other thoughts. I opened my system window in order to confirm my suspicion.

[Mission 2/3: defeat the beasts] Beasts to defeat: 1) Skeleton pirate (advanced, 149/149) 2) Skeleton pirate (advanced/legendary, 63/67) 3)??? (?? /??) There's another gateway on this ship, I thought internally. There has to be. I swear the number said fifty-nine when we first started this mission. With my suspicion confirmed, and once my legs had finally regained their strength, I trudged towards the cabin, my footsteps barely making a peep on the smooth, polished parquet flooring.