While Ame was just sitting on the deck fishing, casually getting 3 fishes unto the deck, although 1 of them leaped back into the sea it was still a good harvest.
Ame remembered that he still hasn't used his quest rewards and so he went back the Cabin and checked the [ Ship ] section first since it said it can improve his ship here.
[ Ship ]
Name: S.S. Ame R. Ica (Changeable)
Type: Sloop (Requirements not met to upgrade.)
Durability: 100/150
State: Rubbish
Facilities/Structures/Parts:
• Hull (Rubbish/Fractured)
• Keel (Rubbish)
• Mast/Sail (Deplorable/Loose)
• Captain's Cabin {Super tiny} (Poor/Rotten/Withered)
• Deck (Rotten/Withered/Fractured)
Upgradables:
• Hull (25 SP)
- The armor and protection of the ship. Improves the hull's endurance. Fixes the wooden fractures around it.
• Keel (20 SP)
- The backbone of the ship. Increases the Ship's overall durability. Slightly increases resistance to Lateral Forces.
• Mast/Sail (15 SP)
- The ship's legs and feet. Fixes the sail's stitches and holes. Slightly increases the speed of the ship.
• Captain's Cabin (10 SP)
- The captain's cabin. Slightly increases the Cabin's space and size. Adds a single shelf for miniature objects and a tiny chimney. Increases the material's sturdiness.
• Deck (10SP)
- The floor of the ship. Slightly increases Deck weight support limit ship durability. Fixed the wooden fractures around and creates a tiny storage compartment below the deck (Able to store a single barrel or a small container.)
[ ]
"Hm... Based on my observations around the ship, the deck isn't that important since I think it can still support me just fine, same with the Cabin. I didn't even know the Sail had some holes on it, but since it is still carrying us somewhere, I think it is still fine to delay its upgrade later. Right now, it's either the hull, or the keel. The wave currents were strong sometimes and I definitely think that it is important, however it is definitely not close to capsizing. The hull is the most alarming since I could see some small cracks outside from, and if one day one of those cracks gives in, I might be in a whole lot of danger. So there's one correct choice after all." Ame immediately chose to upgrade the hull of the ship.
[ Upgrading the ship's Hull ]
[ Upgrade completed! ]
[ Your (Rubbish Hull) has turned into (Shoddy Hull) ]
Faint light surrounded the hull of the ship, this mesmerizing scene was witnessed by Ame who just stood there being mesmerized by the current scene. He peeked down the external hull and he immediately saw the small cracks being visibly mended, effectively making the ship much safer than before.The hull material also looked much more vibrant before, removing a bit of the withering on it.
"Wow, that was cool! That upgrade was really worth it! Although now I have no more SP left to spare." Ame just sighed and shrugged, "Oh well, I always earn it by sailing everyday anyways, i'll get the points necessary for upgrades in due time, if the plank gives me some quests to complete as long as they aren't bad, that is."
As if the "Plank" Heard him, a display of words appeared on it.
[ We would absolutely not give you bad quests, only hard ones :) ]
Followed by another message.
[ Congratulations! Your ship's rating has improved to (Pathetic Ship)! ]
[ SP gain per day has increased to 3! ]
"Oh cool! So it will take... 7 days to upgrade the keel!" While celebrating, Ame remembered that he unspent Luck of the Sea Fates. He immediately entered the Luck of the Sea section and set the spin slider to 2, it's all he had anyways.
[ Congratulations! You have received: ]
• 1x Reinforced Wooden Staff (White++) - Poke and smash those bad guys! Can't guarantee it won't break though.
• Staff Mastery Lv. 1: 0/100 (Green)
[ Assessment: That staff is a better alternative to smack bad guys in the face than our trusty paddle wouldn't it? We can't have it breaking after all. I also threw in that skill so you can poke people better! Thank me later~ ]
"Woah, a new skill and a weapon! This one isn't dangerous and it's still effective! Just what I wanted, thank "Plank"." Ame bowed at the plank.
Now, we must all be aware than Ame thinks that the plank is a living person or at least a method communication to him by another person helping him. Which is the truth? Something else, not from this world is communicating with him through it, not that he knows anyways.
[ Quest alert: Save the barrel ]
Description: There's a floating barrel near your boat and it seems there's something inside it in need of help!
Rewards: 25 SP, 1 Crate worth of Dried meat.
Tip: Maybe your first friend? Who knows? All that matters is that you should help.
[ ]
Upon reading the quest, Ame immediately went outside because he was afraid that the person inside might be in danger if he couldn't get it in time.
He left the cabin and look around him, and just infront of the ship, there was a floating barrel in his reach. Ame grabbed the barrel and hel felt it very heavy but he still tried his best lifting it and he eventually succeedes bringing the barrel to the deck.
Ame opened the lid of the barrel only to see a young man the same age as him qearing a straw hat. The young man with a straw hat woke up and climbed out of the barrel while looking around him.
[ Quest completed! (Save the barrel) ]
Rating: Flawless!
Rewards: 35 SP, 1 Crate worth of dried meat. (Bonus Reward applied for a Flawless work!)
Note: Oh hey look, a strawhat boy in a barrel! Sounds like something that would become an artifact on a specific game!
[ ]
The young man stepped out of the barrel and sat on the deck as he looked on Ame and smiled, "Thank you saving me friend! My name is Monkey D. Luffy, the future Pirate King!"
Ame looked at Luffy after his declaration, he has no idea what a pirate is nor what a pirate king was, but as long as they aren't bad people then its fine.
Ame laughed and said, "You're welcome! My name is Ame L. Jelk, you can call me Ame for short. A normal Sailor, aiming to explore the world!"
Luffy then stood up and looked ahead the ship and asked, "So where are we going Ame?"
Ame replied, "Honestly I'm not sure where we're headed, but I did come across a village yesterday and saved them from a bandit though I forgot to ask them where I am and where I should be headed... " When he finished his sentence, he realized that it was stupid of him to not ask for a map or a compass, or even advice to where he should be going.
Luffy laughed at Ame's antic and said, "Well that's fine, as long as we're moving we are bound to see an island sooner or later!" Luffy looked at Ame and asked, "Ame, join my crew!
When luffy said "Crew" He meant a Pirate crew. However, Ame has no idea what a Pirate is, much less what a Pirate crew was.
Ame just thought that it was a normal sailor crew or something so Ame found nothing wrong with it and nodded in agreement, "Sure, but what do we do?"
Luffy explained excitedly, "Well, we explore the world! Gather more crew and friends, explore the world while we follow our dreams, get treasures, help anyone that needs help, while becoming stronger so we can defeat anyone that hurts anyone especially our friends!" He then spread his arms out as he declared.
Ame understood what Luffy meant, atleast in luffy's explanation, being a pirate is about Exploring, Making friends, Treasure finding, and Helping other people, while occasionally beating bad guys like the thug he defeated yesterday.
Everything sounded good in Ame's ears so he didn't have a problem and completely accepted being om luffy's crew. Luffy however, also said what being a pirate means him only. But that's a story for another time.
Luffy's stomach growled loudly and he looked at Ame with a pitiful expression, "Do you have some food there Ame?"
"Oh yeah, of course! I have quite a lot of food since the villagers yesterday gave me quite a lot as thanks." Ame went inside the cabin with luffy on tow. The cabin was indeed a bit cramped with 2 people inside it but it is still bearable so he didn't mind it too much.
Ame quickly grabbed some of the fruits, vegetables and dried meat he received from the reward earlier and handed some of them to luffy, who which proceeded to gomble up his share of the food thoroughly, leaving no crumbs nor waste.
Seeing luffy straight up shove all the food into his mouth left Ame speechless. "Was it normal for a man's mouth to stretch wide enough for a lot of food to go inside at the same time?" He thought, he wanted to go and ask luffy about it but figured that it should wait until they finished eating.
The two of them chatted about chatted about where luffy came from and how he got inside the barrel. Both laughed and talked, sharing a good time together with some food. The only thing missing would be a good cup of rum, wine, beer or whatever would be a good refreshing beverage.
Ame then asked Luffy about how he was able to stretch his mouth so wide despite humans not being able to normally do so.
Luffy explained to Ame that it's the power of his devil fruit called Gomu Gomu no Mi turning him into a Rubber man with elasticity incomparable to humans, in exchange for his ability to swim. Luffy told Ame that he received his devil fruit from a man called shanks too but Ame didn't pay attention to that part at all.
Luffy couldn't explain anything more about devil fruits in general other than his own because he never really paid attention to anything else aside from adventure stories from his caretaker back at his village.
Ame was listening attentively to everythong Luffy said, it felt like a whole another world to him at that point, the existence of cool powers but for him, it didn't matter if he had one or not. Especially after hearing that Luffy couldn't swim anymore due to his devil fruit, Ame felt that it was necessary for him to be able to swim just in case luffy accidentally falls into the ocean so he could save him.
An unknown amount of time passed by and Luffy felt sleepy, he asked Ame if he could sleep in the bed to which Ame just naturally agreed to.
Seeing Luffy asleep. Ame went outside the cabin with his new staff, wanting to train his staff mastery and side step skills. However before that, Ame upgraded the ship's keel and his Cabin since Luffy is now staying at the ship.
[ Upgrading: [ Keel ] and [ Captain's Cabin ]
[ Upgrade completed! ]
[ Your (Rubbish Keel) has turned into (Shoddy Keel) ]
[ Your {Super tiny} (Captain's Cabin) has turned into {Very Tiny} (Captain's Cabin) ]
Faint light has once again covered the entire boat, concentrating on the upgraded facilities. The Captain's Cabin visibly became bigger in size as a tiny chimney appeared on its roof and with the walls and roof becoming more vibrant like the hull indicating its increased sturdiness.
Ame can't really see the upgrade on the ship's keel but he could already feel that the ship was much stable because the ship suddenly didn't shake as much as it did a while ago.
[ Title unlocked: Age of Deploration ]
Condition: Have most of your facilities be at the level (Deplorable)
Effects: Makes the ship less prone to shaking and capsizing.
Rewards for unlocking: Reparing Lv.1 (Blue): 0/100.
Note: The Age of Exploration for our dear Sailor has finally arrived! Oh wait, not exploration? Deploration? Well whatever!
• Repairing Lv.1 (Blue): 0/100
- Increases the user's knowledge and skill in terms of repairing objects, gadgets, structures, anything!
Note: Handy manny? Oh wait, Handy Ame?
[ Your SP gained per day has now Increased to 5! ]
[ ]
"Woah, I got a new skill and a title? Those seem incredibly useful! Especially since I need to repair the ship by myself sometimes too, and the plank's notes are still very funny too." Ame has no Idea that the "Plank" was indeed, mocking him and his luck. Although he doesn't seem to be considering that possibility.
After all the ship improvements and rewards, he finally began training his [ Staff Mastery ] and [ Side-step ] because that's all he has at the moment. He had to work hard if he wants to protect other people too.
As time passed by, Ame never slept and kept training and practicing his skills. Sweat and fatigue has filled his body until he finally dropped down due to exhaustion and slept on the deck.
Luffy woke up, he noticed that Ame wasn't inside the room so he took a look outside, only to find out Ame lying down, dead asleep and with a staff by his side, it didn't take Luffy long enough before he guessed that it was due to exhaustion from training.
Luffy didn't wake up nor move Ame since he didn't want to disturb him, he just took the fishing pole from the cabin and some worm bait to begin fishing on the deck.
[ Staff Mastery has leveled up to 2! ]
- Slightly increases the speed of your thrusts.
[ Side-step has leveled up to 2! ]
- Speed increased to 1.4x.
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{Chapter 2 - Fin}