After the Cross Adventurers had been patched up by the village doctor, the island threw a party for their saviors. Much to the doctor's dismay, the adventurers had jumped at the idea of a party.
Luna and Shinzo held a drinking competition with some of the town's people, happily chugging away at the sweet rum. The girls in the island fawned over Octavius as he ate cake, a happy blush brushing his cheeks and Aline and Paolo danced together alongside the village boys.
The party waned on until midnight, the Cross Heart Adventurers drowning in their addictions. Luna had her arms draped around Shinzo's shoulder, ginger ale clutched tightly in her hands. She laughed loudly, Shinzo dragging the drunken mess to the ship.
Like Luna, Aline was wasted. Paolo had her on his back, Octavius dancing off his sugar rush beside them.
Luna pouted, her glazed eyes staring enviously at Aline. "I wanted to be on the captain's back, lucky Aline."
Aline giggled, hugging her captain's back. "Paolo is short, but strong enough to carry me."
Paolo chuckled, arranging her on his back. "I'm not as short as Octavius."
"Don't mock my height," Octavius said with a wobbly frown then ended up laughing.
They climbed into their ship and Aline yawned, snuggling into Paolo's back. "I'm going to sleep."
Luna removed her arm from Shinzo and staggered towards the rooms. Paolo grabbed her waist as she almost planted herself on the floor, his arms tightening their grip on both girls hanging on him. "Be careful."
She giggled and Paolo smiled, leading them to their rooms. "I'll take you guys to bed."
"Aye, aye captain," the girls mumbled.
Octavius' frowned immediately Paolo left, his eyes looking at the dark street. "Someone was following us."
"I felt it too… Paolo probably did too and didn't want to worry the girls."
"I wouldn't have bothered, but that blood lust. The person was hiding it so well that I almost wouldn't have caught it."
Shinzo yawned. "Let's go to bed. We shouldn't worry about it since they weren't attacking."
Octavius nodded, squinting his eyes into the distance. He didn't notice the retreating gold haired person, so deemed everything was okay before walking away.
.....
It's early the next morning and Iverem stood in front of the Cross Heart Adventurers ship, holding a red envelope. Paolo took the envelope from her hands, his crew gathering to see what it said.
"It seems the guild would like to double your level and your reward," she said. "You deserved it for protecting the core."
Shinzo's eyes gleamed. "You mean we get four hundred thousand egon this time."
She nodded. "The core is really important and what you guys did basically saved us. The guild would like to keep the situation under wraps, so you have to keep it a secret."
Paolo grinned. "No worries, we only did it because it was our job."
"Anyways, who is coming to take them away?" Octavius asked.
"A world adventurer has been tasked to take both the core and our prisoners," Iverem said. "They'll be here before the sun sets."
"A world adventurer huh," Paolo mumbled.
"Let me give you some advice Paolo if you want to make it as an adventurer. You have to steer clear of the world adventurers. They are one of the five pillars of the world. One of them has the power to destroy a whole continent. I remember when I first became a guild member, I worked with one was. He wore a hat over his eyes so you couldn't really see it. In an instant, he wiped out a whole hundred fleets and caused huge trembling in whole East Sea, it was terrifying."
The five adventurers stared at her in shock, the accomplished feet of the world adventurers stunning them silent.
Luna stroked her chin. "By your description he is probably Asher Baruch, the youngest world adventurer."
A grin spread on Paolo face. "It looks like we've really hit the jackpot with this one."
Shinzo smiled along with his captain. "If we meet strong guys, that would make this even more interesting."
"You guys could die you know?"
"Once we set out to sea, I think dying was already in our itinerary," Aline said.
Iverem smiled, the adventurers in front of her unbelievable. "You guys sure are foolish."
Octavius smiled back. "Well I can't deny that."
Wandoo ran up to them, his breathing ragged. "When are you guys leaving?"
"Now," Paolo replied. "I want to quickly get to sea."
He pouted. "Already, we wanted to treat our saviors to a banquet. There was going to be a lot of alcohol and sweets. The town boys also wanted to do a warriors dance for you. And to top it all, there's a competition where the winner gets fifty thousand egon. It was going to be so fun."
The mouth of the adventurers, except Paolo's, watered, their eyes gleaming.
"Alcohol."
"Sweets."
"Boys."
"Money."
Iverem smiled at how obvious they were,
The crew turned to Paolo. "Let's attend."
"If we attended, you guys wouldn't want to leave."
"Lies," they said in unison.
Paolo sighed. "Fine, but we leave when the sun is about to set."
.....
Paolo groaned, dragging the crew members away from the town bar. Aline and Luna hung over his shoulder, their heads swaying, Octavius on his back; legs clutched tightly on his waist and he used Shinzo's shirt to drag him on the ground.
The four complained from their positions, Paolo getting a headache.
"This isn't fair, I was about to hit my sixth bottle." – Luna
"I agree, the girls were about to give me some velvet cake." – Octavius.
"What a mean captain, taking me away from those abs." – Aline.
"And I was about to win too." – Shinzo.
"Idiot," they all said at the same time.
He ignored them, meeting Wandoo, Ameh and Iverem at the harbor. He waved goodbye for his crew, climbing on board the ship and dropping the hunks of meat on the ground.
He brought out a quest. "Our next location is Analus Island. They need a bunch of adventurers to protect the island from pirates. It's a level thirty quest and worth five hundred thousand egon."
Shinzo's eyes gleamed, his body jolting up on the ground. "Five hundred thousand."
"That's a good idea. Analus is the island that is close to the Alba border, so after the quest, we cross to Alba for the rank rising exam," Luna said.
Paolo nodded. "That's one of the reasons."
Luna looked at the sky, smiling at the setting sun. "Everything seems clear. Shinzo raise the sails, Octavius the helm, Aline get the anchor."
They all did as they were told and Paolo stood on top of the head of the ship, pointing forward. "Okay guys to Analus Island."
The ship moved forward, Shinzo jerking the ship to life. Vulkan Island hadn't fully disappeared before they bumped into trouble. A giant pirate ship had obstructed their view, the Jolly Roger waving in the wind.
A man in a long coat, the preferred clothing of people on the sea, stared down on them from his overtly big ship.
"They must be that pirate group I heard about that bully young adventurers with their overwhelming ship size," Luna said, whistling lowly. "What a big ship."
"Young adventurers, prepare to die!"
What the owner of the ships did not know was that a certain ship lurked behind them, holding a person with a bucket hat over a set of long black hair covering his face. A flag waved in the air, a B in bold red engraved on it.
Both the Cross Heart Adventurers and the pirates prepared to battle, calling off their weapons. Before either side could prepare, the pirate ship exploded into bits. An ear shattering explosion that left the East Sea on its knees.
Just like that, the pirates were gone.
"What was that?" Shinzo mumbled.
"A big ship like that, instantly annihilated."
Standing in the midst of the rubble that formerly held the pirates, the ship with the B flag pulled forward. The wind shifted the hair of the person with the bucket hat, green eyes glowing.
He bowed at them, their ship sailing past them easily. The crew stared stunned till he finally disappeared.
"It's him," Octavius said.
Beads of sweat at the power displayed to them rolled down their faces, the air turning still. A choked laugh escaped Paolo's lips.
"So that's the power of an adventurer handpicked by the government, a World Adventurer."