Undead.
Jonathan had never heard of such a class in his life, in fact, even the word itself was new to him. But it wasn't hard to figure out what it could mean.
Two simple words.
He hadn't miraculously survived the fall and the gunshots. He wasn't dead, but he wasn't alive either. Not quite. That was the crushing truth. Of course, he wanted to deny it with all his might, but his new class didn't leave much room for alternative interpretations.
He thought he would scream, clenching his fists. Or even that he would burst into tears for all he had lost in the space of a few moments.
But instead, a laugh escaped his throat.
Insane.
Jonathan had to control himself.
The universe had another cruel surprise in store for him, on the stats page. He glanced at it several times, hoping that the numbers would magically change, just as he had done with the notification of his new class.
And with the same result. There was magic everywhere, but not here. Of course, nothing changed.
STRENGTH: 9
AGILITY: 11
ENDURANCE: 12
SPEED: 8
There were many more stats, but the message was clear. He hadn't become weak as a baby, but his stats had dropped dramatically. They weren't the stats of someone who had spent almost two decades in one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, they were more like those of a normal man, whose highest level of effort was probably carrying heavy crates in the port or in a factory.
Damn it.
"I've lost my family. My crew, my own life, and now this. Now this!"
It was maddening.
Or maybe he was seeing all these things precisely because he had already gone mad. No, he couldn't go down that road, distrusting what he saw and heard without reason. It would be the same or worse than being actually crazy.
He had to calm down.
Okay, he was facing one setback after another. But, as Jonathan had said before, as long as he was alive there was a chance. That hadn't changed.
Nothing had changed.
He could start over. He would.
Jonathan saw a crab crawling on the sand.
He might not be alive, but he was still hungry. His stomach was loud as it asked for what it needed. More than his rage, more than revenge, more than concern for his strange circumstances....
The important thing was hunger. Jonathan could afford to worry about such things when his stomach was full.
So he pounced on the crab. It was easy to grab it with both hands and sink his teeth into it. He tore it open with his teeth, starting to suck and swallow what was inside. It was very tasty. Fuck, he had never tasted anything so good in his life, he felt. This was what an empty stomach did.
"Someday, I'll sink my teeth into those bastards' necks, too." His eyes grew misty, staring into the distant future. His twisted smile offered an even uglier look with pieces of the crab dangling from his teeth.
He continued to bite the animal savagely.
Eating it while it was still alive and resisting, eating it raw.
But ah, it was truly the most delicious thing he had ever tasted anyways. This taste could only be surpassed by the day he would get his revenge. Who would he finish first, Leonard or the Count? That was the only question.
Because he would fulfill it one way or the other.
——
Leonard was on deck. He was the only one above as the ship passed through the darkness of the night. It suited him well, now he wanted to be alone and this place at night, so different from the day, was much quieter than the lower decks.
He was contemplating the sea, which appeared as black as the night sky. For a moment, he thought about jumping off.
Surely he would disappear beneath the waves before anyone noticed.
But that madness crossed his mind only for a moment.
With one hand, he pushed back his hair. Leonard noticed the sweat on his forehead. There was no reason to jump. He still had a life to live, long or short. And he had only done what he had to do.
Not long after, he heard footsteps on deck.
Leonard heard someone approaching him from behind.
He didn't turn around. His actions had opened the door to treachery. Pirates, in themselves, weren't very trustworthy as a rule. But everyone found it easier to betray a traitor. Everyone had supported him, or at least had stayed out of his way, doing nothing even if they could, which was the same thing. But still what he was saying was true.
Sooner or later, someone would eye his new position. And that person would act.
But it was too soon right now.
"What are we going to do now?" Oh, it was Richard.
He didn't understand his question. Leonard turned around to look at him.
"What kind of question is that? Nothing has changed."
Yes, nothing had really changed. Of course Jonathan was gone and his absence would always be felt, but crew members died all the time. The life of a pirate was dangerous.
Everything could change in an instant.
Everything could end in the blink of an eye. Most pirates were drunk with their dreams. Dreams of returning home rich, of becoming known all over the world. Most didn't go home, but sank and rotted in the deep sea, reduced to a pile of bones.
"We are pirates, and we will continue to search for riches until we have enough or they hang us."
Leonard was under no illusions.
Perhaps that was why he had survived for so long. Jonathan had been the same. And when he got carried away by his feelings, he had ended up dead.
"I can't help but wonder... if there was really no other choice. The captain..."
What?
"I am your captain now."
The man looked back at him. He clearly wasn't happy, but he had no right. His betrayal hadn't caught Richard by surprise. Leonard had been working behind the scenes from the first moment Jonathan declared his intention to drag them on a dangerous journey in search of a foolish and empty legend, with an even more foolish purpose. A suicide mission. For everyone.
If Richard was so loyal, if he had so many doubts...
Why would he open his mouth now? He had had plenty of time. He should at least have enough pride to be honest with himself.
Unlike him, Leonard had no intention of looking away from what he had done.
"Don't look at me like that. I don't know who you think you are, Richard, but there's no one who loved Jonathan more than me." He said it with conviction. Leonard was as good a liar as the average pirate, but he didn't need to lie in this case. "I wish things were different."
He would wish it until the last day of his life. If Jonathan hadn't lost his mind, everything would have been very different. Everything would have gone on as usual.
Too bad there was no turning back.
"But he left us no choice. He wasn't going to back out."
Leonard knew him too well to delude himself, but even so he had, in the first few weeks. Trying to convince him to listen to reason, knowing he would fail.
If that decision would only affect Jonathan, then Leonard would have simply walked away, wishing him good luck.
But if Jonathan went against Count Dracula, The Inmortal, there was no way they would spare his crew. The consequences would fall on them too. And on their families. At worst, they would be wanted men for the rest of their miserable lives.
Therefore, the tragic outcome had been inevitable.
Oh, Jonathan. Poor fool.
"No one loves him more? And what about Benjamin?"
Leonard frowned.
He hated to admit it, but he had no answer for that. Benjamin had taken a bullet for Jonathan, after all. Whereas he was the one who had shot him in the first place. The difference between them was obvious.
But still, his words were true.
No one had loved Jonathan more than he did. However, he didn't need this man or anyone else to understand that. It was enough for him to know it himself.
"You can think what you want. But, whatever you do, remember.... You're alive because of me. Because I got my hands dirty. While you looked away and benefited from my actions. I'm despicable, but you're even worse. A cowardly worm."
Would it come now, after so much provocation? The first betrayal?
If so, he would let it pass with a finger or two, rather than kill him for that. It would have been his fault for provoking him, after all. Leonard didn't intend to build a bad reputation as captain, make things easier for any potential enemies. No pirate captain wanted to be thought of as a softie, but building a reputation as a tyrant would be just as bad.
That wasn't what happened.
Embarrassed, Richard looked down, gritting his teeth. And his fists. He could be filled with rage. But he knew he was right, so he was only directing that rage at himself. At least for now.
Richard turned away. He walked quickly back the way he had come, as if he didn't want to give Leonard the satisfaction of seeing him run away.
He wouldn't have been satisfied even then, though.
Most of all, Leonard felt numb.
He watched Richard walk away in the moonlight until he disappeared into the lower decks, leaving him alone in the endless night.
——
Jonathan approached the cave where he had died. He stood at the edge of the entrance, staring into the darkness with one hand resting on the wall. Just staring.
His head was a mess. Too much had happened in too little time.
He needed some time to organize his thoughts and draw up a plan of action. The first step would be, naturally, to try to understand what had happened to him.
"Perhaps the artifact the legends spoke of was this." Talking to oneself was a sign of madness. But, to be honest, he wanted to hear someone else's voice now. Besides, maybe it would help to think out loud. "But how did I change? The water?"
It was the first thing that came to his mind. The water in the cave flowed into the sea, but there the dose of whatever it was would be too diluted to take effect, he supposed. So it would make sense.
In that case, he had already inadvertently "found" what he had come to this remote island for. Whatever the explanation, he had a new class: Undead.
He was now someone similar to the Count, his greatest enemy. Or maybe he was just like him. Maybe that class was what had allowed him to live for hundreds of years, and maybe he could take the Count's power for himself, take it away somehow.
Before leaving the island, he had to explore it thoroughly. Make sure he wasn't missing anything, that he wasn't jumping to conclusions. The Count had to die, and Jonathan wasn't sure he could make the return trip without his crew and his ship. An ordinary crew would never have made it all the way to the end.
He entered the cave without fear.
After all, Jonathan was the only inhabitant of this island now. He explored a little, but saw nothing he hadn't already spotted. He sat down on the shore to drink from the water, thinking that this could have happened to him by accidentally swallowing water after the fall.
He didn't feel anything different about himself, however.
Perhaps because the transformation was over. Or maybe because the water wasn't the answer after all. He emptied his flask on the shore and refilled it with that water. Just in case.
He was thinking such things as he might have an affinity for the water on this island because of his new class. Affinity brought special benefits, such as restoring your energy or other parameters. For example, the Swordsman class had an affinity to fire. A normal person would just burn to death, but they could heal themselves by sticking an arm or their whole body in the flames.
Like a sword being tempered.
Yes, I could do that. It was a thing of the past. He hadn't gained a new class, but the Undead class had replaced his old class. That was why he had lost so much.
He shook his head.
It didn't matter. Jonathan had to keep moving forward.
The ground shook.
Jonathan thought it was an earthquake and ran to get out of the cave before he ended up buried alive. Seriously, what a ridiculous end it would be after the miracle of having defeated death.
But it wasn't an earthquake. It was footsteps.
Before he came out of the cave again, some kind of giant entered through where Jonathan had done so. With difficulty, its head grazed the ceiling, but it made it through.
Jonathan stopped suddenly and took several steps back.
He had pistols on him. But, though he hadn't checked, they must have been ruined when he fell into the water. Jonathan unsheathed the sword. A ridiculously small thing, compared to that three eyed giant; two in the face, one in the chest. He had never seen such a creature. A species native to this island, he supposed.
The giant's skin was a sickly green and seemed to be peeling off, but it's not as if he was so lucky that the monster was dying and could get out of this without lifting a finger.
The monster didn't seem to be dying, quite the contrary. It was full of vitality.
Like him a moment ago with the crab, it had come to satisfy its hunger. That was all, it seemed to him.
"Even so, don't think I'm easy prey." Now Jonathan was talking not only to himself, but to a monster that could not understand him. Surely he should leave this island soon.
The giant roared. It didn't seem amused.
It tore a chunk out of the wall effortlessly and threw it at him. Jonathan planted his feet on the ground, strengthening his position. Not yet. Wait a second. Wait.
Jonathan brandished the sword.
He had been afraid he wouldn't be able to react at the right moment, but his attack connected. The rock exploded into many pieces. They fell to the sides and above his head, none of them reached him.
Jonathan felt a rush of adrenaline, as if he had already been victorious.
He had just proved that he could handle an attack. Not even if he could repeat it.
Weak stats, no Class Skills or my Unique Skills, now that I'm... an Undead.
I don't know if I can do this, but I have to try.
Had to start somewhere. Defeating this monster seemed like a good way to gain experience points, to start getting back everything that had been stolen from him.
He took a deep breath.
Jonathan ran straight at the giant, holding the sword with both hands in front of him. As he was, the thing could break him with a single blow. But if you don't take risks, you can't win.
"I'll gut you!"
The giant didn't move.
Maybe its reactions were slow, in any case, he had to take advantage of it. He jumped, landing on one of its legs and thrust the sword right into its knee.
Or tried to, at least.
Jonathan's strike was right on target, but the blade failed to penetrate the creature's thick flesh. It simply bounced off.
Unsupported, Jonathan fell backwards to the ground.
Literally at the giant's feet.
The Secrets of Eternity Island, Part 2: END