Chapter 1
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Survival is one of the core elements within humans, thus exploring the world and discovering land that would be hospitable for humans was necessary. Unfortunately many untamed beast laid waste to almost all of the world's lands and seas. Many men set out to explore the mysteries of the world and engrave their names into history forever. One man… Captain Rory of North Estoria discovered an item so rare that it was said to contain the power to destroy the World. Due to his love for the land, Captain Rory hid the artifact away, never to be seen again, but only after creating a large continent capable of hosting human life… Estoria. The world government and Other Explorers set out to find this mystical item, but Rory never told a soul where he hid it. After months of defending this secret… Captain Rory was executed by the Government of Estoria. The search for the item continued and many Pathfinders clashed, leading to a bloody battle for ultimate power and fame.
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After ten years many explorers gave up trying to find the item and the government decided that it would be best to let the item's history fall into obscurity but everyone would soon be pulled back into this quest by one boy, creating the race… for the North Star! A boy with brown skin and short black hair began running through a forest. He wore a red jacket that was unzipped and had a white t shirt underneath while wearing a pair of jean shorts, and a pair of sandals on his feet. As the boy ran, the forest began to open and led to a cliff edge. The boy had a gleaming smile filled with adventure and hope. "Today's the day!" the boy says passionately as he then jumps off a cliff and below him was a small town. "TODAYS THE DAY I GO AFTER THE NORTH STAR!!" The boy yells with a brazen smile.
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The boy lands on the stone path within the village as a few of the villagers smile and wave at him. The boy began to run through the village with unbelievable speed. "Today's the day isn't it Erick?!" One of the villagers exclaim. "Go get the North Star Erick!!" A little girl yells out to him. "It's dangerous so be careful Erick" a woman holding a baby in her arms says. Erick ran past all of them with a boisterous smile on his face until he reached the boat harbor. The harbor held dozens of wooden ships and there was a large white building to the right of it. That is where Erick ran, into that white building and as he entered the building there were hundreds of men and women crowding the room
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"Woah, Are all of these people Pathfinders?"Erick says aloud with amazement. "Sure are" a voice says from behind him, causing Erick to turn around curiously. There stood a slimmer man with black hair sticking up, he wore a white tshirt with black jeans and he held a cup in his hand. "It's pretty muggy in here, you wanna drink?" The man says as he places the cup in front of Erick's face. "Uhh sure!" He says with an ecstatic smile as he grabs the cup and begins drinking it. 'Stupid kid, I put 10 poisonous berries in that drink, there's no way he'll survive. Just one less Pathfinder to deal with' the Man thinks with a mischievous grin.
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"Thanks sir!" Erick says with a smile. "What the-" the man reels back with a completely shocked face causing Erick to look puzzled by this sudden action. 'That kid should be dropping dead right now, maybe the berries need a little more time to take effect' the man thinks to himself with confidence. The man rubs the back of his head. "Ahh no problem, I know how these things can be" the man says nervously. "What's your name kid?" The man asks with a straight face. Erick smiles widely. "My name is Erick Drake and I'm gonna find the North Star" he says to the man, causing his eyes to widen a bit. The man sticks his hand out to shake Erick's hand. "I'm Jonah" the man says as they lock hands. "See ya around kid" Jonah says as he walks off with a sly grin. 'I think I found him Francis.' Jonah thinks to himself with a smirk.
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Erick looked farther ahead and saw a line of people waiting at 10 different booths. Erick stepped behind a group of five men wearing biker coats and large helmets with different patterns of spikes on each of them. 'Oh that's right, I should have an exploration team. Oh well… I'll have to figure that out later' Erick thought to himself. As the line got shorter and shorter and Erick got closer and closer to the booth his smile widened more and more. 'Im so close… so close to starting my journey' Erick thinks to himself with joy. As the person in front of him stepped out of the line, Erick stepped forward and was at the booth. There was a heavyset lady with small oval glasses on her face, she had white hair and bore the sweetest smile Erick had ever seen.
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"Can I have the captains name please?" The woman asks in a cheerful voice. "That's me!" Erick exclaims as he points at himself with his thumb. "Great… and what is your name?" The woman asks while nervously smiling. "Oh, uhh… Erick Drake" he says to her. After the woman writes his name down on a piece of paper she looked up at him again. "And the name of your exploration team" the woman asks, causing Erick's face to sink and grow pale. "I… don't really have one of those yet" Erick says while rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.
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"That's no problem… just make sure that each time you add a ranking officer to your Team you find the nearest Exploration post and have them put into the system legally as a part of your squad. " the woman says with a smile. "You have thirty days to find the officers of your Exploration team or you will be at risk of a government bounty being placed on you and your team." the woman says politely. 'THIRTY DAYS?!?' Erick thought as his face sank with despair. 'No way I can find an exploration team in one month' he thought to himself. "And finally, are you in possession of a Berry power?" the woman says to him. "No ma'am!" Erick says with an ecstatic face as he rubbed the back of his neck once again. The woman looked at him with an annoyed face. 'Does this kid even know what he's getting himself into?' The woman thinks to herself.
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"With no berry power I highly recommend you don't set out for sea just yet, especially as a captain." the woman says to Erick with a worried face. "Hey don't tell me what to do! I'm gonna find the North Star, you don't think I know what I'm doing?" He says as he pokes his nose at the woman. "I'm just trying to help you. There are Pathfinders worth hundreds of millions of Estos, it's just a little foolish is all I mean." she says with a genuine face. Erick's eyes widen as he hears this. "So… they're like pirates?" He says with a wide smile. "No, you idiot! Pirates aren't real, we are Pathfinders, explorers of Estoria… but not everyone upholds the true value of exploration." the woman says with a saddened face.
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"Hey." Erick's says bluntly causing the woman to slightly jump in surprise. "Who has the highest Bounty ever?" He asks bluntly. The woman pauses for a moment before she speaks. "Captain Rory for sure. I heard that the day he retired his bounty was ten billion coins and before he died he threw ten million of it into a river past East Estoria but that's a suicide mission for almost any Pathfinder so there it remains" the woman says. Erick's eyes widen along with his smile. He jumps in the air excitedly, almost hitting the ceiling with his head. As he lands onto the floor he points at the woman with a wide smile. "That's it then, I'll go get Captain Rory's treasure and then buy the best Exploration team ever and that's how I'll get the North Star!!" Erick exclaims causing most of the people in the building to stare at him as if he were insane. "Thanks lady!" Erick exclaims excitedly as he turns around and walks out of the doors of the building.
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Erick burst through the building doors with confidence and a smile on his face. "How'd it go Erick?" a familiar voice says from beside Erick. Erick turned his head and saw Jonah leaning against the building wall. "Oh. Hey Jonah, it went great, I'm headed to east Estoria now!" Erick said with a smile causing Jonah's eyes to widen a bit. "Wait you don't mean you're going to-" Jonah asks him with a concerned face. Erick smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm going to find captain Rory's Bounty, you already know about it?" He asks with glee. Jonah chuckles slightly. "Of course I know about it kid… you mind if I join your Exploration team?" Jonah says with a smirk. Erick looks at him with doe like eyes. "Didn't ya hear me kid?". "No thanks!" Erick says with a smile.
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Jonah jumps up in shock. "WHATTT?!? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? ANY CAPTAIN WOULD BE LUCKY TO HAVE ME." Jonah yells in a high pitched and offended tone. "Of course I know who you are, you told me earlier. You're Jonah" Erick says with a smile. Jonah pulls up his shirt and on his stomach was a large scar, shaped like the letter x. "I was the junior navigator for the most famous navigator ever, Francis de Gama" Jonah says with a wide and proud smile. Erick looked at him with a bland face. "What? You aren't impressed or something?"jonah asked him with disbelief. "Mm. Not really" Erick says bluntly. "How can you not be, I'm a great navigator, second to none. I can help you find Rory's treasure and the North Star." Jonah says while putting both hands on his hips as if he was a superhero.
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"Yeah but… you tried to poison me earlier and I don't want that kind of Person on my exploration team… since you're such a great navigator though I can't wait to meet you at the North Star!" Erick says as he walks toward the docks and waves Jonah goodbye. Jonah stood there with his mouth wide open due to shock. 'Who the hell does this brat think he is and more importantly how did he know about the poison?' He thinks to himself as his face begins to boil with anger as Erick walked away. Erick walks past dozens of amazing boats but there were three that stuck out to him. One made completely of steel with pink umbrellas crossing each other on a black flag And another that was wooden but had vines all throughout the ship and on a green flag was a black star and the last one was a completely black ship but the flag was grey and on the flag was two letters that were 'GB' in gold colors.
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'Those ships are massive, I bet their captains have eaten a berry from fruit island already' Erick thinks to himself in awe of their great ships and then he got to his own ship and his face sank in embarrassment. There in the water was a small wooden ship with a white flag and on the flag was a glossy black oval. 'I paid thirty thousand for this?! I can barely fit 4 people on this thing' Erick thought to himself with regret but then he fixed his face to smile widely again. "Ahh whatever, as long as I get Rory's bounty me and my crew will be fine.' Erick thinks to himself as he steps onto his ship proudly. "A name, I gotta come up with a name for her." Erick says while stomping his foot and holding his chin. "AH I GOT IT… The Black Pearl." Erick says ecstatically. "You the captain of this ship?" A deep voice says from behind Erick. As Erick snaps his head around he sees a tall man with a rather muscular build standing on the docks. He wore a black trench coat and black leather pants with black leather boots and on his head was a black and red top hat that was freakishly long. He had long black hair flowing down to his hip and dull eyes with a clean shaven face.
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"Yeah… who are you?" Erick asks in a defensive tone. "I am Captain Grey Beard of North Estoria" the man says with a deep and calm voice. Erick looked down at the man's waste and saw two pirate swords on each side of his hip and then Erick looked up at the man's coat and on his coat were nine skulls engraved on it, with different initials in each of them. "Grey Beard? You don't even have facial hair and what's with the skulls, it's kinda creepy" Erick asks while making a distressed face. "Each Pathfinder I defeat writes their signature on my coat, to prove that I've taken their bounty but If you give me 75,000 Estos then you won't become one of my victims at sea." Grey Beard says to Erick with a sly grin. Erick looks at him with a blank face that then turns into an offended and surprised face. "ARE YOU AN IDIOT OR SOMETHING!?!!" He yells at Grey Beard, screaming in his face now.
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Grey Beard looks back at him with a confused face. "If you wanna take me out then do it, I'm headed for east Estoria now so I'll meet you there, Lame Beard" Erick says as he pulls the bridge, that was going from his ship to the dock, back onto his ship. "Do you know who I am? I am captain Grey Beard, the head Pathfinder of North Estoria, the successor to the great Captain Rory of North Estoria. Take this opportunity now boy." Grey Beard says with a stern tone. "Well let me tell you who I am. I am Captain Erick Drake of south Estoria and I will find the North Star!" Erick says in a stern tone back to him. Grey beard's eyes widen a bit from this declaration but they quickly returned back to normal. "Tsk, have fun kid, Without a crew you'll never survive The lands beyond east Estoria." Grey beard says as he turns to walk away. "See you at sea… Captain Erick." Grey beard says as he looks at Erick with a smirk and then walks off toward his ship.
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Erick smiles back at him. "Yeah, I'm sure it'll be a blast… Captain Grey Beard." Erick says with a wide smile. Erick turns back toward the sea with a wide grin. As Grey beard was walking to his ship he had a straight face. 'Why was he so… irritating?!' He thinks to himself as his face then filled with disgust. "I'M READY!!" Erick yells as a gigantic metal wall comes up from the water on each side of his boat, completely sealing off his boat from the rest of the harbor. The water began to rush The Black Pearl toward and out into the sea as a phone began to ring behind Erick, causing him to turn around and walk toward it with a confused face. "Hello?" He said with a confused tone. "This is President Kakpa and I would like to thank you for your service but I would like to inform you of a few rules" the voice said over the phone. "Ahh Okay great!" Erick replied ecstatically.
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"Rule one, every Pathfinder throughout the sea is given immunity,by the government, from the law. Rule two, any bounties can only be collected after you retire as a pathfinder, all Estos on deck are fair for use. Rule three, the last and most important rule, if you kill another Pathfinder or do not produce an item of value after defeat… you will be charged with murder and or theft, there will also be a government bounty placed on your exploration team. Additionally, once you consume a berry from fruit island you will no longer be granted immunity by the government and can be charged for your crimes, but please be aware that the Exploration Corp will still do business with you despite this. Do you have any questions Captain Erick?" President Kapka says in a preppy voice. "No sir, I think I'm all set!" Erick says back to him. "Great, well then happy sailing and may god be with you" President Kapka says as he then hangs up the phone.
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Erick places the phone down and then walks over to a satchel lying on the deck. He sits down beside it and opens it up, pulling out an old looking piece of paper. As he opened it up he realized it was a map of Estoria. King island was right above North Estoria, Fruit island was right below East Estoria , Beast island was to the right of North Estoria , and Love island was right below South Estoria. There also seemed to be plenty of small islands throughout the entire map. "Woahh, it's a map of every island known to humans and so if I'm here then I need to go… wait… I don't know where I need to go" Erick says with a discouraged face. "Now I wish I would've brought Jonah with me" he says with a regretful face and an aggravated tone. "Lucky for you then, huh?" A familiar voice says from behind Erick.
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As Erick turns around he sees Jonah standing there with a smirk on his face. Erick jumps up with shock. "HEY I TOLD YOU I DID'NT WANT YOU HERE!!!" Erick yells while pointing at him. "Calm down, you obviously need a navigator and plus the real reason I poisoned you isn't what you think." Jonah says to him with a straight face. "How else could it be, you tried to kill me dumbass!!" Eric says back annoyed and angry. "It was just to test for me to see how your body would react… but you didn't die, which draws my interest toward your quest for the North Star." Jonah says back with a smirk. Erick grunts with a slouched face. "Do you know how to get to East Estoria?" Erick asks while gritting his teeth and handing Jonah the map. "Of course I do Captain Erick" he says as he grabs the map with a grin on his face.
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Erick was lying down at the front of his ship and looking out to the sea. "Hey Jonah?" Erick asks suddenly. "Yes Erick?" he says back. "You said you were training under Francis right? Did you ever explore with him or Captain Rory?" Erick asks. "Yes, several times. In fact, he did the same test I did on you whenever we first met and I got this scar on the same voyage that Francis was killed." Jonah says back to Erick. "What happened?" Erick asks with curiosity on his face. "I was eight years old when Francis had asked me to join him on a voyage with Captain Rory but this wouldn't be any regular voyage… we were going to uncover islands past West Estoria… Captain Rory and Francis wanted to be the first to do so but once we set sail it became clear why no Pathfinder had dared to go there." Jonah says as his face begins to sadden. "What happened to you guys?" Erick asks again even more curious than before.
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"None of us saw what it was, except for Captain Rory and Francis. They protected the entire Exploration team but when everything cleared… Captain Rory was the only one of the two that lived. It was a tragic day but that was the day that showed me what being a navigator truly means." Jonah says now boasting a slight smile, causing Erick's eyes to widen a bit with shock. "Oh yeah? And what's that?" Erick asks with a smirk. "The willingness to not only guide but battle alongside your captain is what makes a navigator a great asset, no matter if we die." Jonah says while looking at the sea. Erick chuckles as he stands up and then smiles at Jonah. "Well Jonah, I think you'll be the greatest navigator ever, even greater than Francis was." he says with a smile. "Oh yeah?" Jonah says sarcastically. "Definitely!" Erick says with confidence. "And why's that, Captain?" Jonah says as he looks at Erick. Erick smiles at him. "Because… if I'm gonna find the North Star I'm gonna need the greatest navigator to guide me there." Erick says while looking directly at Jonah, causing Jonah's eyes to slightly widen with shock.
Chapter end.