Sky docked his ship on the nearest habitable island he saw.
"Jay, the girls are asleep so stay back and call me if anything happens."
"Yes, Captain." Jay sat down, placing his feet up while polishing his guns.
Not far away were the same Caribbean men who were following them docked their ship on the same island.
"Why are they here? They're not running away, right?"
"Doesn't look like it otherwise they would have been sneaky about it. Either way our mission is to keep an eye on them. And if they escape we can capture them and then they have to pay their debt then and there one way or another."
One the them placed a small piece of paper on an eagle's foot and sent it flying.
Sky looked around the whole island looking for anything of interest.
'Identify. This is a nice island. Identify. Do we need any food or something? Identify. No, I just need some antidotes for the poison. Identify. Identify…'
While sky looked around he also searched for any talented people.
'System, what are the odds of finding a talented person?'
{The odds are 1/10,000,000}
'That low? And I've already seen three.'
{Talent is also inheritable. The odds of a talented person passing on his talent to his/her offspring are 1/1,000 although they will inherit the same talent as their parent}
'Woah. Can a person be born with multiple talents?'
{Yes, but the odds of a person being born with multiple talents is still rare}
'And how many types of talents are there?'
{Too many to count}
Sky stopped when he saw a store that got his eye: an exterminator shop.
"This must be the place."
Sky walked in and saw many useful items an exterminator will need.
It was owned by a short man with a thick gray beard and had a thick build.
'Identify… he's strong.' Sky became weary of him.
The man in front of him has many red scroll abilities, and his stats are above 1,000 each.
"What do you need, kid?" The man asked Sky without looking at him.
"Some antidotes."
"Someone in the crew got poisoned or something?"
"No but I want to be prepared if that happens."
The man looked at Sky.
"Smart. Your captain is a smart man to be prepared. You have no idea how many times I've seen the complete opposite happen."
"Umm… I'm the Captain of my crew."
The man sized Sky from head to toe.
"Huh, you're young to be one but that's nothing I haven't seen before."
The man reached under the counter and pulled up a wooden box full of green potions. There were exactly twenty of the same green potions.
"These are all antidotes. 30,000 shells each."
"I thought only alchemists sold them at their stores?"
"They do but you can find antidotes in almost any exterminator store since they're simple to make."
"So you have mana potions and health potions?"
The man reached under his counter for two different glass bottles, one is red the other is blue.
"Each one is worth 40,000 shells.'
'Identify.'
{Low mana potion: Restores 500 mana}
{Low health potion: Restores 500 HP}
'They're honestly bad for me. Better than the ones I saw in the Land of the Dead but still bad.'
"Do you have any higher quality mana and health potions?" Sky asked.
"No, these are the best I could make."
"Oh… Then do you have a hundred of these antidotes?"
Sky made sure to identify the items and sure enough they were antidotes. They could cure all low level poisons.
"I do, but do you have three million shells?"
Sky placed several stacks on the counter.
"Well, guess you do."
The man pulled out several wooden boxes and Sky took the antidotes with him.
Sky did not mind spending three million shells. He can earn that much easily.
"Do you see anything else you like?"
Sky wanted the red scrolls and red grade items but their price range was up to twenty million each.
"Do you have auto injectors?"
"Of course we do. Exterminators need to be ready for underwater combat."
"I'll take ten."
"That'll be 200,000 shells."
Sky handed the money and received ten auto-injectors. They are reusable as you can empty any liquid potion inside the injector when it's empty. They are mainly used for underwater combat.
Sky looked around, although there were many weapons there wasn't anything he saw that was worth buying.
"Can I take a look at your red scrolls to see if they're worth the price?"
The man's right eyebrow curled up.
"You can read them?"
"Yeah. I can."
"Hmm… So young yet so smart. You'll definitely live long in this sea."
Sky read the red scrolls and they only increased his stats by 16-18 each.
Sky left the shop feeling happy to buy antidotes because he was ready to face the toughest red dungeon, the forest dungeon.
{Katelyn Haydie has joined the crew}
{Mabel Haydie has joined the crew}
Sky was surprised to see that.
'I forgot Jericho, as the quartermaster, has the authority to invite others to the crew. Guess now she can chat with them anytime she wants.'
Sky returned to this ship promptly where everyone was on deck. The girls eyes were red and tired, they had recently woken up after crying for several hours.
'It seemed Jericho told them what her father did. They must be angry at him for selling out his own daughter.'
"Okay, we are clearing dungeons… I mean portals on our way to Marjack. Time is of the essence so we cannot waste the next two weeks simply traveling."
"Sky, my mom and sister will be in danger if we bring them with us."
"Jericho, everywhere we go is dangerous. A few days ago we saw an island where everyone was killed because of a portal outbreak. I mean we are also in danger as of now because a fishmen or another sea creature could ambush us, or pirates. You see? There is no safe place here."
Jericho wanted to rebuke but couldn't because Sky was right. And she wished she could say that they should wait until they make it to Marjack first, but every day they don't earn money is a day closer to her entire family being enslaved.
Sky chose the nearest red portal.
"What are my mom and I supposed to do?" Katelyn asked.
"Your mom is strong, unlike you. You two should stay back on the ship and do not leave unless you have to." Sky said seriously.
"How do you know I'm strong?" Mabel asked.
"I just know stuff. It's how I knew about Jericho's ability in the first place."
Sky didn't give out any more answers.
Shortly after they arrived at the second portal.
{Quest: Red dungeons cleared: 1/10}
Entering the portal they were met with a freezing cold climate. The one thing that wasn't frozen was the water underneath him.
"Guess this is the cold mountain Mr. J told us." Jay said as he held his arms to keep himself warm."
"It's not an irregular dungeon either, thank g-g-g-oodness." Jericho said.
"Then we only need to worry about yeti's. Let's go." Sky, who was also freezing, went ahead.
Jericho followed him and Jay did as well.
"Take care!" Mabel said.
"M-m-mom, it's c-c-old."
On the way the snow reached up to their knees as they continued going up the mountain. For Jericho the snow covered the entire half of her body.
"Captain, can you please use a fireball or something to keep us warm?" Jay asked.
"Ummm…" Sky wanted to agree but he got something amazing just now.
{You have learned a new skill}
{You have learned a new skill}
{Cold resistance: lvl 1: 10% resistant to cold climates}
{Freezing resistance: lvl 1: 5% resistant to ice attacks}
As soon as he got {cold resistance} the cold he was feeling became a bit easier to withstand.
"Well… I can use this as practice. Flamethrower."
Sky shot out a flamethrower from his finger. Jay and Jericho got closer to it to feel the warmth.
The flamethrower was so intense it melted all the snow in front of them. The reason the flamethrower appeared so strong despite it being level 1 is because Sky's pyrokinesis was at max level.
"I never knew warmth was so precious until now." Jericho uttered rather happily.
"Same."
"Flamethrower."
Sky shot out a second flamethrower from both fingers on different areas to cover more ground.
"Aahhh, yeah, that's the stuff." Jay said.
"Wait, aren't we too useless in this situation?" Jericho asked.
"What else can the both of you do in this situation?" Sky asked but received no answer.
He did not mind helping them, as the captain it was his responsibility to help his crew. At least that is what he thinks.
Besides he knew it was a good investment to have them both grow stronger.
{You have killed yeti}
{Received: 2,000 exp, 3,300 shells}
{You have killed yeti}
{Received 2,100 exp, 3,530 shells, yeti fur}
{Jay Press has leveled up}
{Jay Press}
{Level 34}
{Skill level up}
{Flamethrower: lvl 1 → flamethrower: lvl 2: Damage 40/s. 20% chance to inflict burn status}
Sky didn't realize how easy this was going to be. In reality it wasn't easy for everyone, even if they have fireball it wasn't as helpful as flamethrower.
"Sky, I feel another treasure chest. And it feels… weird." Jericho pointed to a certain area.
"Weird how?"
"I don't know. I think it's a new type of metal chest I have never felt before."
'Wait, can it be?' Sky thought there can only be one answer.
Jericho led them and beneath the melted snow was a treasure chest sticking out.
"Wait, what?" Jericho and Jay were shocked.
They saw a gold chest.
So far they have only seen bronze chests and only two silver chests. A gold treasure chest was new.
To Sky this was amazing!
According to the system they can find four types of chests inside of red portals, bronze, silver, gold, and dark gold.
And depending on the grade of the portal the rewards also varied. For example: finding a bronze chest in a red dungeon gave him more money than one found in a green dungeon.
"I'll open it." Sky opened the chest and received the items inside.
{Received: 2,000,000 shells, shield of vigorous talent, 1x dungeon escape stone, 4x red scrolls}
{Dungeon escape stone}
{Crush it to force yourself and other party members inside a dungeon to the outside of the dungeon without completing it}
"Woah, that's a lot."
"What did you get?"
"Four red scrolls, money, a shield, and a stone only meant for me."
"What does the shield do?" Jay asked.
Sky took out the shield. It was a fancy gold shield with high quality engravings in it. The inside of the shield was reflective.
{Shield of vigorous talent}
{10,000+ HP when held}
{Health boost: Increase max HP by 100% for ten minutes: cooldown 1 day}
{Requirements: Vig: 200 Str: 200}
'Woah, I will definitely keep this shield for myself.' Sky could not pass up on 10,000 free HP. And when you combine it with the shield's ability, he could have 20,000 HP.
"I call dibs on the shield. It's too bad I can't use it now." Sky placed the shield in his inventory. Using the shield with an ice trident seemed like a great combo.
{Str: 126 + 80}
{Vig: 267 + 50}
Sky was getting really tired not being able to use amazing items because of his lack of stats.
The 50+ stats were from his title that granted him 50+ to all his stats. The additional stats came from the items Sky was wearing.
"What about the scrolls?"
"We'll look into that when we reach the boss room. I can't keep us warm all the time, you know? I don't have infinite mana." Sky said.
Sky kept leading the crew all the way to the top of the mountain. As they got higher the harder it was to breathe.
The flamethrowers Sky shot out constantly also were getting weaker due to the lack of oxygen.
Instead he relied on the wind to clear the snow up ahead while keeping his crew warm. Only he did not keep himself warm to increase his cold resistance skill.
While the yeti's were exposed as they did not have the snow to hide in anymore, Jay, Jericho, and Sky quickly put an end to them.
Reaching the peak of the mountain they made it to the boss room.
"Okay, while I recover my mana, let's see what type of scrolls we got. Since I kept the shield, Jericho, you pick what scroll you want first." Sky sat down and placed all four scrolls on the ground in front of him.
{Red scroll: Dispel curse: lvl 1}
{Red scroll: Increased Mind by 24}
{Red scroll: Summon war hog: lvl 1}
{Red scroll: Increases vigor by 43}
Sky's eyes shot up when he saw 'dispel curse' it was the perfect ability to get rid of curses.
"Sky, do you need 'dispel curse'?" Jericho saw a happy look on Sky's face when he read that scroll.
"Yes, it's very useful especially if we're gonna face other people or fishmen who can use curses."
"Then you should keep that scroll. You agree, Jay?"
"I agree. We shouldn't sell things that are useful." Jay has tested out the 'curse of slowness' and realized how powerful it was.
"Thank you, guys." Sky ripped the dispel curse.
{New skill learned}
{Dispel curse: lvl 1: Can dispel curses on the same level. Higher level curses are difficult to break}
"I'll keep the vigor scroll." Jericho said, it seemed like it would fetch a lot of money.
"I'll keep the war hog summon. Seems fun."
Jay was able to summon a war hog. It had large tusks, was huge, fierce, hairy, and had a thirst for blood.
"What about the Mind scroll? Anyone need it before I take it and sell it?" Jericho asked.
"I do. I really need it as well." Sky needed to increase his Mind stat to use two items he could wear.
"Then use it, Sky."
Sky nodded and ripped the Mind scroll.
{Mind: 200 + 50}
Sky smiled. It was the perfect number.
'Someone up there loves me.'
{Author's note: I seriously used a random number generator for all the scrolls and items}
{Mind has reached 200}
{Mana regen rate has increased: 100% → 200%}
{New skill learned}
{Mana pilfer: Steal the mana of others. Rate of mana you can steal from enemies depends on wearers Mind stat}
{Mind/s}
'Uhh… system, isn't this the same ability as the gloves?' Sky asked.
{It appears to be that way}
'So the gloves' ability doesn't work anymore?'
{You can stack the abilities together. So instead of stealing 200 mana per second from someone else, you can steal 400 mana per second}
'Even better.'
Sky threw his vigor gauntlets into his inventory.
{HP: 7,410/7,410}
Sky's gauntlets of vigor increased his HP by 1,000 which was huge but that was all they granted him. But wearing the galva gloves was worth it.
{Galva gloves: Red}
{Damage: 1,000}
{800+ HP when worn. 1,000+ mana when worn. 100+ Mind when worn}
{Requirements: Mind: 190 Int: 150}
{Mana pilfer: steal the mana of others. Rate of mana you can steal from enemies depends on wearers Mind stat} {Mind/s}
Sky took off his pants to wear the Mind pants.
"Sky, warn us!" Jericho turned around quickly. Jay simply closed his eyes.
"Sorry." Sky was too happy to care.
{Mind pants: red grade}
{500+ HP and mana when worn}
{Requirements: Mind: 200}
{Increases mana regeneration by 400%}
{HP: 8,710/8,710}
{Mana 5,685/5,685}
His mana was now higher than the Larry P. Head's was.
'Let's see I now have a natural 200% mana regen, plus 100% if I stand still, plus 400% with the pants, plus 50% with the sword of mid-intelligence, which equals to at most 750%. With my 200 Mind stat, plus 50 from the title, now plus 100 from the gloves is 350 Mind stat. If I were to combine that with my 750% mana regen per minute I get… 2,975 mana per minute.'
Sky was surprised. He is recovering a lot of mana. In just two minutes he could recover all of his mana.
Sky stood up from the ground.
"Let's kill the boss." Sky couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.
Sky pushed the door open. The entire room was covered in ice and it was cold.
In the center was an ice golem.
The Ice Golem was nearly as tall as the boss room itself. It was made entirely out of ice. It had a pointy head, two arms but no hands instead it had hammers for hands. Its legs were wide and thick. Its torso was heavily covered in ice as if to protect something.
'Identify.'
{Ice Golem} (Boss)
{HP: 9,000/9,000}
{Mana: 2,500/2,500}
{Str: 300 Dex: 10 Spd: 90 Int: 500 Mind: 300 Vig: 890}
{Sturdy ice body: Absorbs 10% of all incoming damage except fire attacks. Fire damage received increased by 200%}
{Chilly wind: lvl 9: Conjure a very cold wind that freezes all foes}
{Ice hammer: lvl 9}
{Ice shield: lvl 9: absorbs 9,000 damage}
"Remember what Mr. J said, "aim for the core that's on his chest." Jericho said.
"Allow me. Stand back." Sky was feeling confident today.
Using all ten fingers Sky produced ten flamethrowers and shot it out.
The heatwave was so intense the ice in the room melted. Jay and Jericho took many steps back to avoid the heat coming from Sky's flamethrowers.
{Dealt 1,200 damage}
{Dealt 1,200 damage}
{Dealt…}
Each flamethrower Sky used dealt 40 damage, multiplied by the 200% fire damage it received the damage increased to 120, multiplied by ten the damage totaled 1,200 damage per second.
And each flamethrower used 10 mana per second, 8 because of his -20% mana cost deduction. Sky was using 80 mana per second
The ice golem tried to fight back but all its attacks were ice based and they melted in seconds.
{Skill level up}
{Flamethrower: lvl 2 → Flamethrower: lvl 3: 60 damage per second. 30% chance to inflict burn}
After a while the Ice Golem boss fell to the fire.
{Ice Golem Boss felled}
{Received: 300,000 exp, 440,000 shells}
{Jay Press level up}
{Jay Press…}
{Jay Press}
{Level 43}
'Dang, he didn't drop anything. Maybe the chest will.
"Woah… doesn't it feel like the Captain doesn't need us?" Jay asked.
"It really feels that way." Jericho couldn't disagree. His strength is the reason why she believes he could help her family out of their debt. And it is also the reason they did not complain when he received three items from this trip, because he deserves it.
Sky walked up to the core of the ice golem.
{Ice golem core: belonged once to the ice golem boss}
{Can be sold or used as alchemy}
The core was squishy and felt organic rather than something man made.
Opening the chest he received some things.
{Received: 200,000 shells, 2x green scrolls}
'Can't win them all, I guess.'
"Let's go back to the ship."