A hidden path

Watching his next opponents from behind the crates, Jay learned the closest pair of them was standing to the right, while at least one more group of buccaneers stood further to the left.

Thinking about jumping into the water, Jay dismissed the thought as he had no idea where to exit the water. Getting wet was another downside, so he decided to take on the closest group first.

Taking the close combat attempt again, in order to keep it as silent as possible not to alarm all others on the platform, Jay left his cover under the use of (Hide). It would be quite troublesome if, how ever much more opponents there were, came as reinforcements, so he was thankful for the fog at least in this situation...

Getting closer to the two men, Jay spotted a damn parrot again as the same round symbol appeared over the bird. The circle got thicker the closer Jay got, so he went back a bit and tested out what would happen.

Just like he thought, it had been some kind of indicator to get spotted.

Taking out a bow, Jay got rid of the parrot with a single arrow skewering it midair.

The moment it fell down, the men got closer while one of them stopped after a few steps. Jay had analyzed them beforehand and knew it was a caster type from the skills he had and the one getting closer was termed swashbuckler.

That one had no real sailing related skills but one called [Diving LVL1], something Jay would kill to get.

And he did just that.

Dodging the first swing of the man's saber, Jay parried the second and instead of slashing himself when riposte lighted up, he spun around once and kicked out. The beautiful spin-kick not only broke most of the mans right rib-cage, it also hurled him down from the platform.

Looking down after him and ignoring the caster that by then had managed to finish a (Frostbolt), Jay got proven right with his past decision not to swim once more.

A humongous shark rushed out of the water from where the swashbuckler had fallen. Latter could be seen in the wide maw until it shut and the man got dismembered before the corpse got pulled into the depths. Somehow the kill still counted for Jay, what he then saw in his log.

Turning back to the Caster after mere seconds, he saw him trying to flee towards the center of the platform. But as he had gotten hit by his own spell and it even was critical thanks to Jay, the man was running in a kind of slow motion as he got partially frozen.

In a few swift steps Jay had arrived behind him and stabbed the dagger in his back.

Just as he pulled back the dagger again and the dead man fell forwards, Jay saw another pair coming closer from the right. They opened fire the moment his last victim made contact with the ground so Jay rushed over to them. This time one of them really had a pistol and it was the mature woman that came attacking with as rapier.

Though he encountered this type of weapon for the first time, Jay had no problem parrying the thrust of the woman. Sliding his sword along the rapier and then up, he slashed down on her while he grabbed the woman's wrist as it had passed him.

Thanks to the boost from riposte, he nearly bisected the woman.

Still holding her slender rapier in his left hand that had been empty as Jay had sheathed his dagger just before encountering the pair, he looked at the man that just then fired his pistol again.

The sound of it firing had by then alarmed anyone that was close enough and Jay could hear turmoil from behind the man. Waiting no longer for the man to reload his gun, Jay hurled the rapier in his left hand towards him.

The slender sword buried itself to the guard into the his chest and pierced the man's heart thanks to Jay's throwing skill.

Dashing after the thrown sword, Jay grabbed the sword back and let the buccaneer slide from it.

Looking up, Jay saw that he had again reached the end of the platform. He spotted a plank at the edge and as he took the last steps towards it, he finally really saw the ship for the first time. It was a massive construction and due to the fog he could only guess the size.

The scaffolding on the rump where the long plank led to hinted Jay the ship still wasn't finished. Suddenly he saw figures closing in over said plank, so Jay did the best he could do in this situation and kicked the heavy wooden plank so it slid from the pier.

Splashing sounds and screams, followed by even more splashing sounds and louder screams signaled him his plan worked out. Though the sharks victims didn't give him any Experience Points this time, he was sure they got taken care of.

Checking if there was another plank leading over there and finding none at the edge he was at, Jay listened to the turmoil coming from the scaffolding. It sounded like the rest of the workers were trapped and calling for help or trying to find another way to escape.

As there was no longer any use in hiding the corpses from the pier, Jay ignored the two dead buccaneers after he plundered them of the sparse coins they had.

The workers calling for help and the previous gunshots had alarmed pretty much everyone in the vicinity.

That got proven right again when Jay walked three steps away from the female corpse and stumbled upon the next group of three buccaneers.

From what he had seen the three men had been carrying crates from the platform showing he had reached the opposite end. The men dropped them though and directly went to attack.

Parrying the first incoming saber with the newly acquired rapier, Jay countered with a slash and had the first man down. The second got it the other way around and died to a rapier entering his left eye and exiting though the back of his head.

Only the third man had a different ending.

Jay took two long steps towards him while he was still trying to load his gun. Without using his swords he kicked the man so hard between his legs, he lifted from the ground. The moment the buccaneer was airborne, Jay fulfilled a beautiful spin-kick again and hurled the man from the platform.

The awaited splash though didn't come, only an unhealthy cracking sound, so Jay stepped onto the wooden plank affixed to the pier and looked down.

What he saw at the end of the short way down was a big flat rock peeking out of the water and forming a small island. He couldn't see the other end as there still was fog and some rock formations in between, but he found the man he had kicked down.

He lay motionless in an abnormal position close to the shore and looked like he had landed headfirst. Analyzing him told Jay that the man was dead, so he turned around and went back to the pier.

Sounds coming from the ship signaled to Jay that he had gotten too much of their attention and he decided to pull back for a while. Numerous steps getting closer told him he should hide for a while and then later take them on in smaller groups.

Still swiftly looking through the two remaining corpses, Jay again found only their sabers and some coins, then hurried on.

The steps sounded like they were on the small island and he had to hurry.

Taking the route along the outside edge in hopes he'd find the shore at the caves wall to jump down on, Jay had no luck.

He even nearly ran into a pair of buccaneers on patrol as well, but thanks to his (Parcours) skill he dropped down, slid along the first ones legs and cut them so the man fell down from the pier. The second couldn't react fast enough as they both hadn't pulled out their weapons yet.

One swift slash did the job and beheaded the man who then as well fell down from the pier.

Certain sounds coming from below signaled to Jay the corpses got taken care of, though this time the kills counted for Jay again. A set amount of damaged seemed like it had to be dealt to gain the Experience Points.

Looking back up and along the platforms edge, Jay suddenly spotted another plank lying close to the end where the pier was. Taking the risk, Jay walked there and then over the wobbly plank.

He hadn't seen the end or where it lead to and got surprised as it had only been about five yards when he again stepped on concrete ground.

Jay had seen dim light shining from the front as he had crossed about half of the plank and peeking around the thick natural pillar on his right, he found the source.

Some small lamps had been placed along a narrow path that ran along the caves wall to the right. On his left he only found some crates stacked in a not very big alcove.

Checking for any more opponents, Jay heaved a sigh of relief and sat down behind the pillar. He was sure the day had changed while he had been taking care of the opponents on the platform, so it was more than time to take a little rest.

And there was one more thing he needed to take care of. The last battles had been enough to finally level up his warrior job one last time and it reached twenty.

With this his blunder from back then could get taken care of and Jay gladly concentrated on his Job setting.

*Available Jobs*

| Hunter || Archer || Thief |

| Fighter || Brawler || Berserker |

| Summoner || Arcanist |

Jay had already thought about what to choose so he didn't hesitate, even when the newly appeared job sounded quite intriguing.

The job he took this time was one he was sure of would get finished in no time as it should be the lowest tiered of all available ones.

* Job changed*

| Warrior |

to

| Hunter |

***

Job: Hunter

Status adjusted

New Skills available:

[Trap LVL 1]

[Tracking LVL 2]

[Tracking] has reached [LVL 3]

***

Thankful the chosen Job at least had granted him a new skill and one level up for another one, Jay got even more surprised when he closed the screens displaying his Job information and got greeted by yet another one.

*System Notification*

[Tracking] has reached the required skill- LVL for deeper integration to the system. Do you wish to proceed?

[Yes ] [No ]

Surprised by the sudden option, Jay chose to take the risk. It was a skill he had used quite often, but until that moment the system had never offered something that wasn't beneficial for him.

As the skill was relatively common, he guessed there should be quite some women who had it, so even if this thought was a little evil, he shouldn't have that much problems to get it once again.

*System Notification*

Congratulations, integration succeeded. [Tracking] will from now on set a marker on your target and display it on your mini map. The skill now can also be set on a specific or general target.

[Ok]

Thinking about it for a few seconds, Jay got a wide grin and decided to test it out before going back over the plank.

But the moment he stood back up, two men appeared from his right on the path. Using [Hide] and taking cover behind the pillar he waited for them to arrive.

They only managed to take one step around the pillar when Jay stabbed both their throats with swords to silence them. He had managed to jump out of his hiding spot and get rid of them at the same time thanks to dual wield and a (Stab).

After this short skirmish Jay decided to take the narrow path first and check it completely before going back to fight the buccaneers. He still hadn't rested enough as well, so taking a slower approach was the better option.

Dismissing the two bodies by throwing them down next to the plank, Jay heard them fall onto the rocky shore in about two or three yards depth that was covered by fog.

Walking around the pillar and along a rock formation to his right that hid the small path from the pier, Jay carefully followed it as it made a turn to the left.

From there on he found caves on the left side and carefully checked them, only to find blankets and bags inside them.

Looking around inside with (Night Vision) as it was pretty dark and searching them through, Jay found nothing but shabby personal belongings.

Surprised by the makeshift quarters, he left the first cave and went to the second. Again he only found clothes, sleeping utensils and rubbish.

As there was nothing of worth to find, Jay left the second cave and went to the third. He hadn't ceased his alertness after the two bandits had surprised him and all the more after he learned the place he was at was something like the rest area.

This decision proved spot on in the third cave.

Two bandits were sleeping there in their sleeping bags when Jay entered the widest of the three caves. Sneaking up on them he ended the men one after another with a (Stab) and covering their mouths.

Following the path again after he left the cave where he simply left the dead men in their sleeping bags, Jay found no more caves and the path turned to the right again.

After passing a massive rock formation on his right he found himself on a slightly wider area where a small path led straight on and the wider space on the right ended after a few yards.

Deciding to check the wider area, Jay found another plank at the end of it. It was not even three yards long so he could see the platform on the other side.

His orientation told him this was another one than the platform he had fought on and comparing it with his mini map confirmed it. Seeing no one on the other side, Jay pulled the plank back to at least hear when someone comes as they have to jump over the gap.

Following the smaller path after he went back, there again were caves on the left side. Checking on the first one, Jay learned it was a bit wider than the other caves but no one was inside.

It looked mostly deserted and only a couple of blankets and bags was left.

Leaving that cave and following the couple of steps to the end of the path, Jay entered the last cave along it. This one wasn't empty again, though it was only a single person unside.

After a swift glance through the cave, Jay carefully closed in on the one sleeping inside a sleeping bag.

Standing next to his target with his dagger at the ready, Jay got a bit reluctant to simply kill her off.

Even with his (Night Vision) robbing nearly all coloration from his vision, he still could discern she was a beautiful young woman...