The Blue Pearl [Solo]

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

A few hours ago, a young Swashbuckler set off by himself from the small coastal town, with not so much as a horse whistle or a pet or another fellow human being to accompany him as he set off for his destination. Okay, he did have Skuggi, but he wouldn’t have had Skuggi with him if he did not put this trip off for, what, a month? Two months? ‘A long time’ should be correct. Felt like half a year though.

Not for the first time, he wondered if his first priority should have been to obtain a horse whistle, no matter how poor quality it was. At the very least, it could shorten his travelling time. Walking the whole way had been a new experience in itself, but it made difficult travel, for the roads which horses and carriages and wagons full of goods bound for one place or another was often long and wound around areas with poor terrain, which would not impede a person on foot as much as a person with a carriage.

iI should have probably gotten a map tooi, he told himself, so he might know when to go off the road to take shortcuts to make this journey less painful than it already was without a bloody horse. Mentally adding another item to the long list of things which he should have done, he moved on, learning from the dozens of mistake he made. It surprised him how many problems he encountered which he did not foresee; but that was all part of the learning process. He had never really travelled from Londinium before, save for the Sarum expedition. But back then, he went with a big group of Adventurers, so he never really noticed the things they did to overcome his current problems, much less the things they prepared beforehand. Hopefully, he could learn from this and obtain a better understanding of travelling, so that he may be better prepared for any future expeditions. Surely even the most idiotic of people would be able to learn from wasting many days walking, having trouble lighting a fire because he totally forgot to bring a flint and steel, finding shelter under trees because he didn't bring a tent, running into water problems several times because he didn't stock enough water and had to buy from the nearby villages (there were no tents and other useful appliances in these villages, but he did obtain a set of flint and steel in a metal tinderbox along with some char cloth to help start a fire), and the list of problems went on, too many to count.

If he had a gold coin for the number of problems that arose, he would have gathered a good handful of gold coins by the time he finished the journey on foot to reach the port.

As a result, it took him many days, probably more than he should have taken, to arrive at the port he wanted to reach, and take a ferry to the location he wanted to visit. Securing a boat was another issue, for the place he wanted to get to was dangerous, and few boats would even dare to sail for it.

It took him another three days to find a young sailor, eager to prove that he was worth his salt to some old captain, who was willing to take him to the place and back. Of course, this was not before he agreed to hand over some of the treasures he could find as recompense, along with a fair bit of Gold as the base payment. That was how he ended up on a small sailing craft, one which could probably only fit a dozen people at best, sailing towards his destination with a crew of said sailor and a few experienced sailors who he had to hire separately by bartering with a couple of potions he had made beforehand just for that occasion and, of course, more payment in Gold. Not to mention the expenses he incurred during his stay in the port town.

~

Word count: 682
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 682
Notes: A random, 5k word solo I wrote a few months back. Too lazy to polish up. >insert 'deal with it' image here<

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

The journey to the Graveyard of Ships was uneventful, to say the least. He found out he was not vulnerable to the sea sickness, but Skuggi was; a plant with a pumpkin head doubled over on the floor was no joking matter, so Skuggi was sent to rest in his tamer slot less it began to vomit bombs which will probably explode in his face.

A cold wind blew over his face as he arrived at the location which may hold the answers he sought. What stood before the Adventurer was a shipwreck; to be precise, the Graveyard of Ships, a place where many ships which once sailed the seas attempted to cross, but only ended up as part of the decorations. At least, that was the in-game description of the place. He had chosen a good time to come; the waters were choppy, but according to the sailors, this was one of the calmer seasons. Saltwater sprayed in his face, and the small craft found anchor next to a old, wooden ship tilted to one side, its mast long taken by the storms that frequent the area, after navigating a tough passage of jagged rocks and sharp pieces of debris. The ominous skies, while threatening a thunderstorm with a dark and gloomy feeling, did not release the droplets of water gathered inside of it.

The men secured the boat to the old shipwreck, and the Adventurer took his cue to move out and find treasure. Or at least, that was the story he told the sailors. While he was, in theory, searching for loot, there was only one piece of loot which he wanted. Wanting it was also a little incorrect. If he were given the option of having it and getting killed or not having it and surviving, he would choose surviving, although he could not technically die.

There were two reasons for that. The first reason was that he did not like the experience of dying. He had managed to keep on living so far, but as his levels grew and he explored new terrain, the challenges grew accordingly. Life would be easier with a party, but this one was rather unsociable and had few people to count on. He would rather push on alone. The second reason would be that he did not, in actual fact, want said piece of loot. His purpose was not to obtain it, but rather to confirm the existence of it.

That would lead to the question of, what is this object, and why was its existence so important? To answer that, one would have to go back to a few weeks before, roughly two weeks before he left the city of Londinium for the port.

~

Word count: 455
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 682 + 455 = 1137
Notes: N/A.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

Some time ago, a queer event known as ‘a lazy person actually doing something productive’ occurred in a dusty old library in a poor location with a small selection of books and a old, generally unattractive old man as the owner. Not exactly the best place one would decide to call his lore repository, but all of the more popular places tended to have a fair number of people. Sure, a library is supposed to be quiet and it often does end up being quiet, but he could hear the hustle and bustle of the city from the windows, not to mention the hushed whispers as people muttered about research, lore and other things throughout the library. Thus, the place he had chosen as his main information hub, an unpopular choice with almost every reason pointing to the decision to not choose as one’s main information hub, was the exact place he had chosen to find information.

Of course, being the person that he was, it was unlikely that he would stop by often; often enough to have his face remembered by the frail old man who would often complain of the lack of customers to him, but not often enough that one could hope to catch him there when they needed to find him for any manner of reason. Not that it was even possible, though. If someone was desperate enough to check places he might appear in, gold would come raining down from the heavens to engulf the populace of Londinium in what would probably end up as a massive inflation in the every market, which would lead to a rise in the general price level due to demand pull inflation since everyone would be holding a lot more money.

Anyway, it was in this bookstore that he found a book detailing the Graveyard of Ships, and more importantly, some of more notable ships which fell in those waters. One of those ships, in particular, was known as the Wooden Bull (terrible naming sense, in his opinion), and the captain of the ship, Captain Nyle, was known to be an amazing fighter. According to the book, he was to be wed to a certain Mairai, his childhood sweetheart. While the book was quite general and skipped out on plenty of detail, it was written that Nyle sailed to a coast in another continent, quite possibly somewhere around the Iceland, in modern context. While there, he obtained a beautiful blue pearl, said to have been pried from the cold, dead hands of a ferocious drake, a prize which he planned to take home to his beloved. Typical fantasy romance story.

However, fate had other plans for him, and cast him and his crew into the Graveyard of Ships in a particularly vicious storm, where he supposedly met his end. The tale was recounted by a surviving member of the crew, one who managed to stay afloat atop a broken piece of the Wooden Bull until the storm calmed and a passing merchant ship found him and brought him aboard.

Now, that was quite the sad tale, but since he had some free time on his hands, and nothing else to do around here, he decided he might as well pay this place a visit. With all the recent happenings, he wondered how much of this was real, and how much of this was simply flavor text. He did not know if there was ever a planned quest for this area, but now that there was no way to have ‘quests’ started, he decided to check it out and see if he could turn up anything.

In the worst case scenario, it would just be a wasted trip, with a fair chunk of gold disappearing from his wallet which he would no doubt have to make up for with a lot of crafting work, which he would have to find since large commissions were hard to come by, especially with the current state of the economy, which would add pressure to this trip to ensure it was not a waste, which would no doubt affect his current mental state, which would affect his battle capabilities, which would…

However, all that mattered not at the present moment. Thinking about it would only hamper himself and set him up for failure. To cover part of the cost, it would probably be wise to examine some of the other ships for any loot he could find.

Entering the ship that the crew had secured the boat to, he carefully navigated the ruined ship with difficulty, as boards gave way where he stepped on it, his surroundings groaning with every step he took, as though informing his unwelcome presence that it could crash on to him at any moment. The wood was dark brown, mouldy in some places and heavily soaked in water, making shifting it around to get around the ship a pain and generally unpleasant. Fortunately, the ship did not contain any mobs, which would no doubt want to open holes in the Swashbuckler, and with this environment, the best he could probably do was use Ante Up to fend them off. Also, making the decision to search the ship made him realize something: How was he going to find the correct ship, and how was he going to find the captain’s room? Any markings on the hull to identify the ships might probably have faded with time, or broke off and was part of the rubble surrounding the fallen ships. If he was lucky, he could probably find it in a few days or so.

In any case, he decided to complete the search on the boat he was on, in case it was either the ship he was looking for or a random piece of loot might be hanging around since people don’t come here too often. Of course, that might change later, when more Adventurers show an interest in the Graveyard of Ships. One step behind me, he thought to himself. Then again, it could be the other way around, for he doubted others had not already been here.

~

Word count: 1020
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 682 + 455 + 1020 = 2157
Notes: N/A.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

After what seemed to be two full hours of searching which was probably only around twenty minutes, he found what seemed to be the captain’s room of this unknown craft. A cursory examination of the room revealed what was once a rather well-decorated room, now just another ruined room with a massive hole for a ceiling. He would not have noticed had it not been for the size of the room, which was much bigger than the sailors’ rooms, and the fact that there was a desk with a ruined journal tucked in one of the broken drawers. Flipping it open, he found that the writings were marred, the ink damaged by the water which probably came in through that big hole in the ceiling. It was quite obvious that some of pages were maps, though. Also, he quickly determined that the ship was named the Infernal Triton, thanks to the words etched onto the journal’s cover.

Since it was the captain’s room and all, there was bound to be some loot hanging around, so he got to work examining every inch of the room, careful not to break anything as he hunted for a locked box or something which hopefully contained at least some jewellery for his efforts. His poking around soon proved successful, for under the pillow was a small locked metal case, which he broke without a second thought with his sword. What came out was a simple silver necklace adorned with a small sapphire. At last, a prize! He would, at the very least, not go back to the boat empty-handed. Sweeping the rest of the room yielded nothing more, and since he had obtained something from it, he decided to move on. He was not particularly well-versed in ships, so the locations of any loot on board would be lost on him. At the very least, he could check each captain’s room for loot, then move on to the next boat.

Following the giant hole in the ceiling, he made for the top of the ship, and once he reached the top, he peered over the edge to check on the crew. Yeap, they were still there. He was worried about whether or not they would escape and leave him behind, which would mean teleporting back. Then again, that would probably mean that he could keep all the loot he found to himself. He could probably make a tidy profit by turning in the silver necklace.

Examining his surroundings, he decided on the next ship to board. The Infernal Triton had crashed into another ship, so the most logical approach would be to try to cross over the smashed parts by jumping over. The distance should not be a problem for his Adventurer jumping strength. He lowered his center of gravity, then dashed across the ship, the boards creaking as he moved towards the next ship.

Then he made the jump.

~

Word count: 486
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 682 + 455 + 1020 + 486 = 2643
Notes: N/A.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

While he was still hanging around in mid-air, it occurred to him that the wood on the next ship might not be able to take his weight given the age of the ship, and cave in on him. He waved his arms uselessly from side to side comically, attempting to lighten his landing somewhat, but it was too late, not that the random flailing did anything for him. Upon landing, the wood caved in with a loud crack, just as he feared it would, and he tumbled painfully into what lay beneath. Perhaps the men at the boat would glance up from the sound, or perhaps they were too preoccupied with keeping on the lookout for telltale signs of a random skeleton sneaking up on them. There should be quite a few in this area, leftovers from the days when pirates, upstanding sailors and merchants alike roamed the seas and ended up here. I should be careful.

Or at least, that was what he would have thought, if he did not just smash through some wooden planks and landed hard on the wooden floor below the deck of the ship after rolling a few times on the cold, wet wood. Rubbing his head painfully, he got to his feet and came face to face with the first mob of the day.

The lone [Pirate Skeleton] he encountered was level 14: Pitifully weak compared to his level of 45. The [Pirate Skeleton] was, as one would expect, simply bones held together by some queer forces of attraction wearing ragged, moldy and torn sailor clothes consisting of a pair of fairly intact brown pants with patches all over, a greenish yellow shirt with a giant gash where the man’s heart should be and a dark red cotton jacket with holes here and there, which likely belonged to the man himself before death claimed him in this graveyard. The man held in his right hand a chipped and dull scimitar, the sheath nowhere to be seen on his person. The physical appearance of the [Pirate Skeleton] did not frighten him, nor would it frighten most of the Adventurers who had already went beyond the starter mobs surrounding the town of Londinium. What was truly frightening about the skeleton, was how the two hollow sockets where its eyes should have been seemed to be staring straight into his very soul. That sight made him stiffen up, momentarily making him forget the fact that he outleveled the [Pirate Skeleton] by enough that the mob would not attack him unless it felt threatened by his presence. He had seen his fair share of mobs and cut them down, but never had he been faced with something that seemed so… dead, yet alive, as though it were a messenger from Hell.

The [Pirate Skeleton] observed him, its head twisting at a inhumane angle as they exchanged stares, neither moving. After what felt like an hour, which was only really fifteen seconds, the [Pirate Skeleton] took a step back, then another, and finally turned its back on him and walked away. It was then that he released his breath; something which he did not even realize he was doing as he stared down the [Pirate Skeleton]. Inhaling a few deep breaths, he paused momentarily to examine the cause of his fear. Was it the fear of death? Possibly. Despite being a solo player, he had managed to avoid death so far; an achievement many cautious Adventurers had also achieved, but he was one of the few solo Adventurers who currently had zero deaths. Perhaps the experience of dying could be helpful. He had heard many say that their mental fortitude improved after dying once, though they seemed to have little recollection except for, “you can see the old world again”. From that explanation, it was likely different for everyone, and he doubted people would be willing to share such private details anyway. It was clear that at least one death could be beneficial, though: Maybe he should not be so afraid of dying.

~

Word count: 675
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 682 + 455 + 1020 + 486 + 675 = 3318
Notes: N/A.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

Once he composed himself, he took stock of his surroundings, carefully observing the scene for any movements which would indicate the arrival of a mob. As with the Infernal Triton, the ship he was in was in disrepair: Broken boards, doors fallen on their hinges, water gathered in puddles everywhere. Generally, a terrible place to be, one that he would not have arrived at if it did not mean learning what could be important for his future actions. Despite his desire to just escape, he began to systematically search the ship he was on, starting from what he thought was the back of the ship since he was closer to it. If memory served him correct, the back area was often the storage area, while the front was where the captain’s room was most likely to be found, so he might get lucky and find something in the back.

Except, of course, his luck was not so great today. When he stepped into what should be the storage area of the ship, he was greeted by a wave of foul smell, the kind that appears when you leave food alone for too long and it becomes rotten. Ah, right, there was going to be a lot of unused food in the cargo hold, food that would eventually rot since it was left there for who knows how long. Covering his face with his arm, he trudged on through the nauseating smell, looking around for anything shiny. It was not ten seconds before he gave up, though, deciding that the thick rotting smell could have its treasures if it wanted them so badly. The captain’s room was bound to have a nice piece of jewellery, unless someone was here before him. That would definitely suck. He watched his step as he moved towards the front of the ship, checking each room along the way as he did so in case he got something nice. He encountered several [Pirate Skeleton] of various levels, and every time, he would look into their empty eye sockets, trying to rid himself of the unknown fear. Each time, it would still get the better of him, and he would end up paralyzed until the [Pirate Skeleton] decided it was time to leave. He sighed as he made his way towards the other end. Was his inexperience so dreadfully impeding, that he could not overcome this obstacle before him?

Deciding that he could use some company, he summoned forth Skuggi from his tamer slot. The plant had thankfully recovered from the terror that was the journey by boat, and was erect as though nothing of the sort had ever happened? “What seems to be the problem now?” A wheezing sound came from the plant monster while the subtitles appeared in front of him to read. He almost wished it could talk. It would definitely be less creepy to the outsider looking in on such conversations.

“Nothing. Just checking to make sure you’re fine. The mobs around here aren’t too strong, but it never hurts to be cautious.”

“It is a good decision. I will scout ahead.” The [Ripper Jack] turned away from him, making a soft scraping noise as it did so, then foraged ahead while he lagged behind, checking each room to make sure there were no skeletons trying to ambush them, and at the same time on the lookout for anything shiny and possibly valuable. Thankfully, he encountered no further [Pirate Skeleton]. Of course, it was only [Pirate Skeleton] he did not find.

Traversing the narrow hallways littered with an increasing number of rubble, he found Skuggi waiting for him at the end of the hallway. Jerking a plant finger up ahead, the words appeared in front of him. “Is this what we’re here for?”

Following the direction pointed by Skuggi, he moved past the [Ripper Jack] and entered the next room.

~

Word count: 647
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 682 + 455 + 1020 + 486 + 675 + 647 = 3965
Notes: N/A.

[Icyferno]

Status: Healthy / Rested

~

What lay beyond, awaiting him was the interior of what was no doubt the captain’s quarters of this ship. A small private cabin to oneself, all it contained was a mattress on a long destroyed bed frame, a desk and a chair, with the remnants of some bits of paper on the table underneath a wooden carved box. The main feature about the room was, however, the [Captain Skeleton] sitting on the chair. Unlike the its skeleton crew, this particular skeleton chose to remain lifeless on the chair, which was clearly owned by the former pirate.

Judging by the lifeless look on the skeleton’s face when he entered it’s field of vision, he assumed that it was safe to say that it was not going to attacking him anytime soon. So he focused his attention on the carved wooden box.

Unlike the rest of the room, it seemed to be in a better condition; the years evidently having little effect on the wood, and when he reached it and picked it up, he noted that the wood was damp, but still strong. Perhaps it was made of fine wood? In any case, there was no lock on the box, so he casually opened it, only to reveal an exquisite treasure.

It was a blue pearl, with a deep color that almost entranced him. Even with his lack of appreciation for jewellery, he could see that what he held was a treasure that few could ever hope to match. The sphere, untouched by the ages, was without a doubt worth at least thousands of Gold. Why was it here? Why had none taken it before?

As if to answer his question, there was a slow grinding noise right in front of him. Looking past the pearl, he now saw its guardian: the skeleton which lay lifeless on the chair just a moment ago. And this time, it was most definitely not dead, one skeletal hand already gripping tightly onto a scimitar which was swinging towards him with strong killing intent.

Surprised, he leaned backwards, dropping the box as he drew both of his swords together to block the incoming strike.

But it never came.

Surprised, he saw that the [Captain Skeleton] had stopped the swing mid-way, opting to pick up the box instead. Those clumsy, bony fingers clung tightly to the box and dumped it on the table. The deed done, the skeleton dropped back to its chair, but instead of returning to its earlier lifeless state, he felt the gaze of the captain of the ship boring into him. Watching, waiting for his next move.

“It seems like you failed to take the pearl.”

The words appeared in front of him, as they always did, yet its appearance made him jump slightly in alarm. Guess that as far as the courage of an ordinary student was going to take him.

Taking a second to calm himself, he returned a reply while his gaze never left the [Captain Skeleton]. “The main purpose was to find out whether the lore written in books was true. Judging from that pearl, and the skeleton’s reaction, I think it’s safe to say that the lore written in those dusty old library books are true to some extent.”

“You don’t want the pearl?”

“Not that I can take it from something that wants it that badly.”

If a plant could sigh, then this one definitely did. “I can’t believe we trekked for days, just to see some damned pearl… Shouldn’t you take it for yourself? The next party that comes here would no doubt seize the opportunity.”

Skuggi had a valid point, though. Anything that doesn’t become his property now, was only going to be the property of the next random party that came along. But a lingering feeling remained in his chest, and thus he blurted out some excuse.

“I’ll at least let him stay with his treasure for a while more.”

Another sigh. “Fine. Then, are we done here?”

... He guessed so. He turned around to leave, his business concluded. As he left the room, he almost swore he felt a wave of gratitude come from the [Captain Skeleton]. Was he starting to imagine things…? Did the skeleton still have lingering thoughts?

Regardless, he made the return trip to the boat without incident. It was as if all of the [Pirate Skeleton] he had met before simply dissolved into thin air, and left a straight route for him to return. Heck, there was even a fallen mast which was definitely not there before when he got to the area where he made the jump just recently. Guess he made the right choice back there.

He made it back to the sailing craft he initially arrived on in one piece, and was surprised to learn that the sailors were not attacked even once while he was gone. As if by a stroke of luck, the one thing which could have killed them never appeared, so it was a brilliant stroke of luck that they were safe while he was out.

"Speaking of which, why did you remain behind? It's not like I can't teleport home, you know." He asked curiously, because why put yourself in danger for no reason?

The sailor closest to him smirked. "Well, you said you were gonna give us a token you got from the trip, didn't you? Don't tell me you forg..." What the Adventurer just said probably registered in the sailor's mind.

"Wait, you could teleport back! Why the hell have we been sitting here waiting! I demand compensation! Compensation!" Amazing how a fact could turn a jovial sailor into a slightly angry one. Naturally, he rejected it. Actions taken through one's own volition should not be taken as working. It's more of them doing it out of their own free will.

And so, the Swashbuckler concluded his brief journey to the Graveyard of Ships, which probably only lasted an hour or so. Really, he had been quite stupid in this endeavour, making a bundle of mistakes along the way, doing stupid things, and generally being a weakling.

One thing was clear, though. He had a lot cut out for him, not just in terms of combat experience. If he was to survive in this world, he would need to outdo his current self.

For a brief moment, he thought of the one phrase from his old world, where it is said that one's enemy is oneself. Then the thought faded as the port came into view, and with it, the dread of dealing with these idiotic sailors.

~

Word count: 1099
Total word count (Swashbuckler): 682 + 455 + 1020 + 486 + 675 + 647 + 1099 = 5064
Notes: N/A.