If fighting head-on doesn't work, what are my other options?
Escape into the sea, cultivate the heavenly demon dagger arts for 100 years, then come back and beat the young captain and his entire sect!
If only...
From what I've seen thus far, he can only teleport a distance of exactly 10 meters, no less or no more. So, if I were to find a confined space, his teleportation would be useless, but then again, he wouldn't hold back on his wind slashes, and in a confined space, dodging those would be near impossible.
With my ability to slow time, I could dodge a few, but that would only work for around 6 seconds until I'm out of mana.
The battle came to a standstill as the captain continued gathering mana while I surveyed my surroundings with no intention of attacking first.
There was only one peculiarity about the situation.
The two pirates were observing the sea, and the pirate on the crow's nest had yet to join the fight.
With those three in the fight alongside the captain, I would definitely been cornered and thrown into the sea by now, yet the captain still refuses to call for them.
Is he trying to show his power and superiority?
"I don't need your help, you dumb mundane humans. Watch this pirate sect leader solo this guy!"
No... if that were the case, he wouldn't be pausing to gather mana after every encounter. Who would think highly of someone who has to recharge every few seconds?
Then, does the captain care about their survival?
It would make sense, as I could kill those 3 mundane pirates before my eventual death.
As the captain unsheathed his broadsword, indicating that he had enough mana, I examined his face.
Not only 10 minutes ago, I had ruthlessly killed 5 members of his crew, yet his facial expression remained devoid of any emotion.
Surely, he would be angry if he cared about his crew. Well, could he be hiding his emotions so as not to seem weak in front of me?
As the captain charged at me once again, I formulated and decided on a plan.
The first step: get some distance.
I was at the front of the ship with my back to the sea, and my destination was the pillar of the crow's nest I had used earlier.
Slowing the pace of his charge, the captain swung his broadsword twice in succession, releasing two wind slashes.
One aimed at my current location and the other at my right side.
The correct and only way to avoid the slashes would be to sidestep to the left.
This was quite obviously a ploy by the captain to trap me once I moved to the left, yet the captain had methodically eliminated any other chances at dodging.
The plan was clearly well thought out.
This trap was impossible to avoid and would undoubtedly lead to the captain cornering me. After that, my death was assured as I could not dodge his massive broadsword with the limited space on the ship's edge.
From there, I would either succumb to the sword and die or fall into the sea and drown.
Yet, the captain had failed to take one thing into account.
Sure, he's special for being one of the few people able to utilize space magic to teleport. But then again, I'm the only one in the entire world capable of manipulating time.
Of course, the captain couldn't have predicted this given a million chances, but then again, one must expect the unexpected.
As the wind slash aimed at my right neared me, I raised my hand and tapped my eye.
The speed of the captain charging from the left at me remained the same, but the right slash, which was inside the area of affection, slowed to the point where it almost stopped.
As I stepped to the right, the wind slash aimed at my previous location whizzed past me and disappeared into the dark blue sea.
Maybe the luck gods were real!
I didn't even have to formulate a plan of action; the captain handed it to me!
After tapping my eye again, I ran and returned to my previous position.
Within seconds, the captain and right wind slash had reached their destination, but I was nowhere to be found.
As the captain confusedly turned around, he saw me standing behind the two pirates with each of my daggers pressed to a neck.
"Make a move, and they die."
Following a short pause, the captain's indifferent expression changed, but no negative emotions were present this time.
Only a wide smile spanning across his entire face.
My grip on the daggers tensed as the captain took a step forward.
Was I wrong? Did he not care?
What was the reason for not using the mundane pirates to attack me?
Taking another step forward, the captain finally spoke his first words to me.
"You must really not know how things work around here."
Suppressing my shock, I calmly maintained my position and responded.
"Get any closer, and they're dead."
Of course, this was an empty threat.
These two guys were the only bargaining chips I had in a gamble for my survival.
Ignoring my instructions and calling my bluff, the captain took another step forward. By now, he was only 7-8 steps away from me.
"I hope you're not stupid, kid. Why do you think I've left these two pirates be during the fight?"
Briefly glancing away from the captain and at the two pirates, a feeling of fear overcame me.
The two pirates remained oblivious in the face of death by my hands. They ignored the cold sensation of my daggers on their necks entirely.
They simply continued staring at the sea...
"w-what's g-going o-on..?"
Taking another step forward, the captain continued.
"I don't know what trick you pulled back there, but wasting that opportunity was stupid."
If I hadn't run towards the pirates and instead ran towards the captain's backside, I would have completely surprised him, allowing me to have an uncontested counterattack.
While killing him with that would have been impossible, it would have given me a chance to inflict serious damage.
Did I make the wrong decision?
But then, why is he slowly walking towards me when he could teleport and fight with me immediately?
Does he need more mana?
This was a game of poker.
Instead of checking by counter-attacking the captain, I had raised the bet by using the pirates as hostages.
Was it a mistake, maybe?
But I wasn't going to fold now.
It was time to double down... I'm going all in.
Back on Earth, my friends would constantly joke about going to Vegas and going all in on black, but here I was doing the same thing.
If it didn't work out?
Jump.
As the captain took another step, I grabbed one of the pirates and pushed him off the ship.
Instead of looking at the pirate's descent into the water, I returned my attention to the captain.
Was he bluffing this entire time as well?
A subtle change occurred on the captain's face as he turned his head to the right and watched the pirate fall.
A shrieking voice sounded from the right of the ship.
"CAPTAINNN, BUT YOU SAID THA.."
*SPLASH*
Without skipping a beat, I immediately attempted to take advantage of the situation and said.
"I warned you, didn't I? One more step and the other goes."
"You fool, you really don't know when to give up, do you? Kill him, see if I care."
As those words left the captain's mouth, I could feel the pirate's body quivering under the pressure of my dagger. However, his expression remained neutral.
Lifting his head to face me, the captain made direct eye contact and stepped forward.
Well, we both went all in.
Isn't it time to reveal our cards..?
This whole dream has been strange from the start.
Why would they imprison me in the cell instead of killing me immediately?
The pirates on the ship didn't know anything about the details of this expedition.
As an awakened, you can sense whether others are as well, so the captain knew from the start that I was special, yet he left mundane humans to guard me.
He knew I would escape; rather, he planned for my escape.
He knew I would massacre the pirates on board.
He wanted them to die.
This ship was never going on an expedition; this ship was going to be a graveyard.
But why? These pirates have no money or material value to offer to the captain.
That begs the question: what value do these pirates hold?
Only one word comes to mind.
Sacrifices
How does that connect to the constant and unusual observation of the Sea?
The Sea
The captain spared me so I could do the dirty work by killing the crew, and then he planned to sacrifice me along with them.
Sacrifices to the Sea.
This theory was further confirmed by the captain's peculiar expression after the pirate was dropped into the Sea.
With the captain now only 4 steps away from me, I had to make a decision.
"I'm going all in on black."
Tilting my head upwards, I returned the captain's eye contact. A smile appeared as I raised my right dagger and left daggers.
However, I didn't stab them into the pirate; those daggers pierced right into my own hands. Grabbing the pirate's shirt with my blooded hand, I didn't hesitate as I threw him off the ship.
If you can't beat them, join them.
Not skipping a beat, I immediately infused my daggers with mana and threw both of them right at the captain.
Maybe, if it were one dagger, the captain could dodge it, but with two, he couldn't.
Well, he couldn't without teleportation.
In an instant, the captain teleported 10 meters back.
But by the time he reappeared, I was already on the ship's opposite side, right next to the bodies of the two drunken pirates I had disposed of earlier.
Grabbing the bodies with both hands, I immediately hurled the bodies off the side of the ship.
From the opposite side of the ship, a voice echoed.
"Think you can beat me at my own game?"
The location of this voice was the captain, who was currently holding 4 bodies: the bodies of the two pirates in the prison room, the body of the individual pirate, and the body of the pirate on the crow's nest.
Within an instant, those bodies were sent flying off the ship and into the Sea.
Rubbing his hands together, a smile appeared on the captain's face as he continued.
"Well, we're right back to where we started, aren't we?"
"4 corpses to 4 corpses."
"Seems you've figured it out. The 5th must be one of us."
"Why do all of this..?"
"The more corpses sacrificed, the more power Leviathan grants to one. Imagine what I'd get from sacrificing an awakened...haha."
Leviathan...? The water serpent.
A mythical creature?
Why is there an S+ ranked beast in my E RANKUP DREAM?
Looking at the approaching captain, I didn't even bother to prepare.
My daggers were gone. However, it seemed the sacrifices had restored my mana capacity.
That mana wouldn't be nearly enough to let me survive, let alone kill the captain.
With a sigh, I turned my back to the captain and calmly said.
"... I fold."
Without waiting for a response, I jumped off the ship.
The goal of the dream couldn't have been to kill the captain; that was simply impossible at my level.
So, then, he has to die, but I can't kill him.
What if I had a little talk with his boss?
As I dipped into the water, an intense cold overwhelmed me, sending shudders down to my exoskeleton.
However, that feeling of coldness was soon replaced.
Replaced by fear.
An indescribable amount of fear.
The mere pressure this existence emitted elicited fear.
When the feeling of fear reached me, I didn't hesitate as I raised my right hand and tapped my eye.
As I opened my eyes, I looked towards the source of this fear I felt, and not even 10 meters away, I saw a creature.
Its jade-colored body seemed to stretch for miles with spikes running down it on top.
Its head was adorned with scales that glistened like gems, and its pointed snout contained twin nostrils that flared as it stared at me.
Although I couldn't tell, its eye seemed to sparkle with interest as it stared at me. It felt like if I made eye contact with the water serpent any longer, the pressure would immediately kill me.
It didn't immediately kill me... is that a good sign?
I had gone through all that work to sacrifice 4 mundane humans to it, so maybe the Sea Serpent was giving me an audience?
Surely, he would rather have me as a worshipper than that captain. After all, I'm not just a generational talent; I'm one in a trillion talent at the minimum!
Who else can manipulate time?
Feeling the mana rapidly draining, I slowly gestured my head toward the ship.
When I turned my head back to the creature, it was no longer there. The water serpent, which seemed to span over a hundred miles, had somehow disappeared?
Turning my head back towards the ship, I glanced, but it was no longer there. There was not even a trace left of the ship...
Just as my mana was about to run out and the time-slowing was about to deactivate, a bright light enveloped me, and a screen appeared.
[You have completed your Dream!]
[You have completed a hidden mission inside your Dream!]
[Sea God Believer] --> [Unlocked]
[Calculating Completion Rate [--*--] ] ---> [Error: Value cannot be calculated]
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[A/N: Back to school and academy stuff for a while after this]