As pathetic as it was, a very small part of Kruxe had been praying that he had seen wrong, that the flag that he had seen hoisted on the ship wasn't the very one he had seen the night the breezing Ania sank.
It wasn't that Kruxe didn't want to save his mother, but that after escaping with his life and thinking back on the things that happened that day, he realized how close he had been to death.
Were Blaun and Cletina not there, he would be dead by now.
Remembering the unseen movements of the captain of the ship had him shivering and then the thought of that sickle that had been going for his head had him taking a gulp.
Not for a moment did Kruxe ever think of running away after confirming that he had recognized the right ship, but with his understanding and reasoning, he found himself scared and unsure of what next to do.
He looked around to spot any help and it was then that he realized that there was no one in sight.
The dock which should have been filled with soldiers attacking the ship or trying to board was just quiet and empty, the only piece of action happening for meters around being a single docked ship occasionally firing its cannon.
Making more such realization, Kruxe found his body getting heavy and his breathing getting ragged, his arms wanting to tremble but he tightened them and looked at the dock once more and then the ship.
"I either die here today or I come back with Mom, that's all there is to it, "Kruxe decided.
With this thought Kruxe took in a deep breath and just as he released it and was about to move, a voice sounded.
[Hello candidate]
Not forgetting the need for stealth, Kruxe quietly froze, and then he pressed his back to the wall of one of the buildings of the alley he was in and then he looked left, right, and up, nothing coming into his sight.
"Perhaps down," Seth thought about to look but then the voice sounded again.
[I'm in your head, we can communicate with thoughts.]
"Who are you" was Kruxe's immediate thought and question.
[The one who saved you from drowning, remember.]
"You're real," Seth thought in shock.
"Where, what.., forget that, what do you want, I don't have time for you right now"
Seth was stumped, shocked, and wary of the voice in his head, but the truth was that right now, he truly had urgent matters to deal with.
[Sorry for the interruption. My initial plan had been to have a proper introduction with you when you were in a much calmer state and place but seeing as you are about to head into grave danger I believe we must have a bit of interaction now.
Recognizing that you are in a critical situation, I will tell you the benefits you have been granted as a candidate for the position of the Heir to the mad pirate.
Before your eyes, a screen with words will appear and if you wish to make it disappear all it takes is a thought]
Kruxe had just received this information when a blue square light appeared in the air and hovered in front of him, having words that the voice in his head read out written on it.
[
In light of your current state of armament you have been gifted a double-barreled flintlock: Gun strength= 200pp, infinite ammo, 30 seconds reload time.
In light of your current strength and knowledge, you have been gifted 3 lives. For your duration as a candidate, were you to be killed, such a reality would be cancelled three times and you would be returned to pristine form
In light of your lack of experience, you have been gifted a reveal option: for the duration of your candidacy, you can use this option to see the strength of any individual who is at most two ranks above you. There is a limit of 3 Individuals a day.
Other than your life bonus which will activate automatically or at our discretion, you need just a thought to activate the others.
All items given by me can be stored and taken out with a single thought.
At any time you can ask a question, if I can, I will answer it.
]
Kruxe was left speechless at the words he had just read, his mouth opening and closing, he wanted to ask a question but hesitated, and then the next second a brown sleek double-barreled pistol appeared in his hand.
"Are you really real" Kruxe couldn't help but ask, disbelief in his tone as he looked at the gun in his hand.
[I am real]
Just like he had read, all it took was a single thought and a gun had appeared out of thin air in his hand, and then with another thought it disappeared to god knows where,
Kruxe did this several times till he finally had to accept that this was reality.
Kruxe so badly wished to fire the gun for further confirmation but his current location didn't allow for that.
Kruxe looked at the blue scream in front of him with shock, each of the various gifts shocking, the second gift being too good to be true, and though he wanted to ask more questions, he took in a deep breath and calmed himself.
With a thought, Kruxe had the blue screen in front of him disappear and then moved back to the end of the alley.
He looked around at the still silent dock area, and then with the gun in hand which he hoped actually worked, he rushed forward crossing the wide empty road and moving towards the ship