11: News about Dragon. Countdown to the era of pirates. Going to the sea for the first time

December 3, 1495, Age of the Sea Circle

Four months have passed since the birth of Orion's siblings.

The pair of twins, named Sophia and Dante by their parents, truly inherited all the family's good genes. Just a glance at their beautiful little faces was enough to tell.

Perhaps due to the effects of the reward the system had granted him for his last mission, the little babies enjoyed very good health from the start and had never gotten sick.

In addition, Orion's parents also benefited from this health buff and seemed brimming with energy. He had begun to worry that if his parents continued to live so vigorously, he would probably have a new sibling soon.

During these months, several things had happened, both in the world and in his personal life.

For starters, an important figure had appeared in the newspapers: the Freedom Fighter named Dragon.

Despite being a remote village, newspapers still reached his village, although not as frequently. He liked to read news about the outside world whenever he could, although most of the time there weren't any major events in the headlines.

The news about Dragon had been the first time the system had responded in an indirect way to a named character. Upon reading the brief information written about this individual in the newspaper and learning that he was a man wanted by the world government, the system had issued an alert.

*Ding*

*You have found information about a VIP character.*

*VIP characters are people who appear in the original timeline and whose importance to the future of the world is fundamental. Coming into contact with these types of characters can generate great benefits for the Host. However, it is advisable to maintain a certain degree of caution, as interacting with this type of character increases the danger level the Host will face exponentially*

*VIP characters have different levels, ranging from 0 to 5 depending on their importance. Currently, the system is not updated enough to determine the level of VIP characters the Host encounters*

The emergence of these notifications confirmed something Orion already suspected: not all named characters were created equal. The named characters he had encountered so far didn't have much influence in the original story, and their influence on the future of this world was limited. In other words, it could be said that the named characters who weren't VIPs were somewhat like extras in the original story.

Orion checked his favorability screen and saw that the name "Dragon" had appeared there, and his favorability was 25. So this warrior fighting for freedom was likely a kind-hearted person who considered ordinary people like Orion as potential allies.

Orion still didn't know much about this world. Giolla hadn't told him much about the outside world, and mostly wanted to talk about art. One of the main items on his to-do list was to investigate further about the world he was living in. Only if he had enough information could he make decisions he wouldn't regret later.

According to the system's description, this world was rotten, which was why the global improvement system was in operation. From that perspective, Dragon's fight likely aligned with his own goals.

So Orion had decided that, if possible, he would seek out this VIP to see if they could cooperate. This idea, of course, was something that would take a long time to materialize, since with his current level of power and influence, he had no qualifications to attempt to make contact with a VIP of such magnitude and importance.

Another event that had occurred during these months was related to Shyarly.

The little mermaid with prophetic abilities had told him that next year, a great pirate era would begin, where countless people would take to the sea and become pirates.

This had worried Orion tremendously. He didn't doubt the little mermaid's prophetic abilities, since they had been recognized by the system. Therefore, upon hearing that the number of pirates would increase massively, he couldn't help but clench his fists in anxiety and think about the attack Pacific Town had suffered some time ago, where his two parents had nearly lost their lives at the hands of pirates.

On that occasion, the attack on the town had been by a small, low-level pirate crew. But what would happen if ten, a hundred, or a thousand similar crews suddenly appeared in the nearby areas? Could he defend this small town with the power he currently possessed?

The answer in Orion's mind had been a resounding "no."

He had greatly increased his power, but after all, he was just an individual. Even with Giolla's help, he didn't know if he could keep this small town safe.

The Great Age of Pirates would start next year, and before it arrived, Orion had to do everything he could to increase his power as much as possible. Only by possessing more power could he feel safe in this tumultuous world; everything else was secondary.

Luckily for him, the system seemed to have listened to his concerns, and a new mission emerged to help him.

*Ding*

*New Mission Available*

* Mission 04 - Leveling Up

Description: The situation in the world is rapidly deteriorating. Soon, one of the most tumultuous eras in the history of this world will begin. You will need to have a minimum level of power if you want to have even a chance to try to participate in the coming conflicts and change the world for the better.

Objective: Increase the level of any combat skill to level 3

Reward: Random power-up box (may contain weapons, Devil Fruits, advanced techniques, etc.), system points, large increase in the Host's innate talent (increase of at least one large level) *

This mission was undoubtedly just what he needed right now. If he managed to complete it, his power level would increase dramatically, and he would likely be able to earn a place, however small, in this One Piece world.

The problem was that he currently didn't have enough system points to increase the level of his swordsmanship, which was his highest combat skill. To increase his swordsmanship to level 2, he would need at least 1,000 system points, although this amount was decreasing very slowly day by day, since the level of his skills also naturally increased if he trained them. His swordsmanship level increased daily, but the increase was minimal, probably because his innate talent remained within the parameters of a normal person.

For example, Gion, whom he had taught swordsmanship himself, could advance about ten times faster than him, or perhaps even more. This demonstrated the monstrous difference in talent between him and a person who could be considered a swordsmanship genius.

His only option was to find ways to increase his system points quickly, and so far, the only two options he had to achieve this were through completing other quests, or by influencing and changing the future of named characters like Giolla or Gion.

Something that frustrated Orion was that despite Giolla having lived near him for a long time and interacting with him daily, he hadn't gained as many system points as he had when he had given the wooden sword to Gion.

He speculated that this might be because the mission involving Giolla was "blocking" his ability to obtain system points from her.

Another option, which he hoped wasn't correct, could be that, despite their interactions over the past year, he hadn't managed to change the original future to which she was destined in the One Piece story.

More than once, he had wondered if there wasn't an "inertia" in this world that kept the characters in the story on a certain course. If that were the case, it would be much harder to achieve major changes from small actions, and he would have to dedicate much more time and effort to change the original story.

For now, however, these were all just his guesses. He didn't yet have enough information on the matter to get a definitive answer.

Whether the appearance of Dragon, and the prophecy about the beginning of the great pirate era, were major events worldwide.

In the other hand, the changes that had occurred in the global improvement system today could be considered a matter of much lesser importance to the world, but of vital importance to him!

Today, December 3, 1495, the system had been updated once again, and a new feature he had been waiting for for a long time had been enabled.

The new feature was: the map!

For Orion, who had no knowledge of the original history and no access to books or any other source of knowledge, the existence of the map feature in the system was like an oasis in the desert.

Now that he had this feature, he could travel the world with greater safety and confidence.

The only bad thing about the map displayed in the system was that it was almost entirely black!

Only the small Pacific Town, where he resided, and a portion of the surrounding mountain territory were visible. The rest of the map was obscured by a dark fog, similar to the one that appeared in certain tactical video games in his past life.

Evidently, the system wouldn't give him a shortcut, and he would have to investigate the world on his own.

However, Orion was pleased because the system map was very detailed and even had several markers of important locations. For example, it marked the exact location of Giolla and Gion.

Giolla was on the outskirts of the village where he lived, while Gion was a great distance away, surrounded by the dark fog.

As for why the map indicated the location of these two people but not other named characters, such as Shyarly, Orion surmised that it was likely due to the favorability of these two people.

Gion's favorability rating remained at 92, and Giolla's had risen to 90 in recent months. After reaching that number a couple of months ago, there had been no further change, and it seemed to be "stuck" at that level. Something special would likely be needed to raise that number, and perhaps only when the eccentric artist's mentality was completely stabilized could that number increase again.

As soon as the system map was enabled, another system notification appeared along with the new feature.

*A system-compatible power source has been found nearby*

*The Host is advised to seize the power source before it is found and consumed by someone else*

Seeing the new system notification, Orion's eyes lit up. What he needed most now were ways to increase his power, before the new age of pirates began next year.

If he could obtain this power source, perhaps he could take a step forward on his long journey to the top of this world!

Orion looked at the map and saw a large, motionless exclamation point in an area of ​​the map within the all-consuming, dark mist. Although he knew the location of the power source, he had no information about the surrounding terrain.

What he was certain of, however, was that this power source wasn't on his island. The distance it appeared on the map was similar to the distance to Gion, albeit in the opposite direction.

This gave him a headache, since he would have to go out to sea for the first time if he wanted to search for the mysterious item.

He could ask Giolla to accompany him, and she would undoubtedly be the best bodyguard, but the beautiful artist wasn't completely stabilized yet, and he feared she might decide to kidnap him mid-voyage, for a romantic trip around the world or something similar.

Based on his understanding of the woman, Orion was certain she might attempt something like that.

But if he didn't travel with her, he'd have no choice but to ask one of the fishermen who owned small fishing boats to help him travel to the location indicated by the system. However, the problem with this was that he couldn't leave immediately and secretly, and Giolla would likely find out he was trying to leave the island without telling her.

Just thinking about Giolla and her yandere tendencies, Orion couldn't help but feel a chill run through his body, and he immediately dismissed the idea.

Finally, only one option remained: Take Giolla's small boat and leave immediately without telling the beautiful artist of his departure. He could justify his departure by leaving a note with some semi-reasonable reason, like he was looking for a magic elixir that would help them consummate their love, or something similar.

Given Giolla's high favorability , a reason like that would probably work, and at most he'd have to apologize when he returned and spend some time trying to make her happy.

However, there was another problem with this approach, and that was that he had no knowledge of navigation!

In the small Pacific Town, it was impossible to find books, much less specialized books on a specific subject like navigation, and of course he had no experience aboard ships, so it was impossible for him to acquire the navigation skill on his own, at least not in a short period of time and without study materials.

Luckily for him, in the list of skills that appeared on the system screen, there were a large number of skills that were grayed out and appeared as unlearned. The number of these skills wasn't too large, but every now and then a new skill was added to the grayed-out list.

Among these grayed-out skills, there were two he would absolutely need if he wanted to venture out to sea. These skills were "Navigation (0)" and "Swimming (0)."

That's right, Orion had never learned to swim, and he doubted whether he would be able to float naturally if he jumped into the sea.

In his previous life, he had never had any interest in swimming, and in this life, he had been completely occupied with training other skills and trying to earn system points, so he had never bothered with learning to swim.

Now that he had to go out to sea in a small boat, it was essential that he knew how to swim, otherwise he would perish in the slightest accident.

Orion had never purchased one of these deactivated skills, as the system had told him it was more expensive than normal to activate a skill this way. Even a simple skill like "swimming" required a number of points that were not cost-effective. Therefore, Orion was reluctant to use his precious points to unlock these skills.

However, now there was a huge incentive before him. The mysterious power source compatible with the system made his mouth water just thinking about it, and he didn't want to wait too long and risk someone else finding it. If that happened, he'd have nowhere to cry in regret!

He selected the "Navigation(0)" skill from the list and "purchased" it using the system points he had available.

The skill was no longer grayed out and was added to the list of skills he had already mastered. At the same time, a large amount of navigation information entered his mind, and his system points dropped from 561 to 311.

The information took a long time to assimilate, and when the process finally ended, he felt a slight fatigue. Although it wasn't as pronounced as the fatigue he had felt when he had increased his swordsmanship level.

Seeing how his points had been reduced by almost half, Orion felt a great deal of bitterness. These were points he had earned with great effort, and in an instant, they were gone.

However, this bitterness didn't last long; after all, he realized he hadn't wasted them. The Navigation skill was an excellent investment for him at this point, and it was worth every point.

He tried to increase the skill's level, but the points he had weren't enough to do so.

Then he bought the "Swimming" skill and upgraded it to level 1, which consumed another 70 points, leaving him with only 241 unused points. It was truly expensive to buy a skill from scratch, and this was reflected in the "Swimming" skill, which had cost him 50 points to activate level zero, and only 20 points to increase its level.

If it weren't truly necessary, he would never have wasted his points like that, but there was no other option; he had to leave as soon as possible, and he didn't have time to acquire the skill on his own.

Orion thought about what excuse to give his parents to explain his sudden disappearance. After all, he didn't know how long it would take to find the power source and return to the village.

Finally, he decided to follow the same course of action as with Giolla. He would simply leave a note saying he would be gone for a few days, and that they shouldn't worry, and he would obediently face the scoldings and reproaches when he returned.

Wasting no more time, Orion wrote two notes and prepared what he needed for his first voyage off the island where he had lived for the last nearly six years of his life.

In the early morning of December 4, 1495, a small boy set sail for his first adventure. His small boat, which only had room for one person, had only a barrel of water and some dry provisions he would eat along the way.

Setting sail for the first time, Orion felt a sensation he hadn't felt in a while: the thrill of adventure, the freedom of making his own way.

The young boy's appearance, with his eyes illuminated by the rising sun on the horizon, sailing in a small boat, was similar to that of the protagonist of the original story of the world he found himself in. Although he would never know it, since he had never had the pleasure of witnessing the beginning of that wonderful adventure.