Going to that bar had been more fruitful than Eden had expected. His original intention had merely been to gather information, he was not even sure of whether he should pick pirates or the navy for his main mission.
But he knew he could not pass on joining Barbossa's crew. He doubted there would be any character more important than him on the island. Now that he knew that his follow up quest was to increase his reputation, being on the ship of a 'main character' was undoubtedly the best option, as he was bound to be at the center of everything that was to come.
Aside from joining his crew, Eden also learned a bit more about the context of this world. Eden had never heard of the Cobra, despite remembering which ships Barbossa had been the Captain of in the movies' timeline.
He started as Jack Sparrow's first mate on the Black Pearl, before leading a mutiny and becoming the cursed Captain of the Black Pearl.
Then, he died in the first movie, was resurrected in the second and sailed with Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann to the end of the world on an unnamed ship. He then took the Black Pearl once again, before getting his leg chopped off and the Pearl stolen by Blackbeard, which prompted him to join the Navy to get revenge.
Finally, after murdering Blackbeard, Barbossa would go on to steal both his sword and his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, before eventually dying as the captain of a pirate fleet, still commandeering the Queen Anne's Revenge.
And the Cobra was in none of these movies. Additionally, Barbossa looked younger, leading Eden to the conclusion that they were before the timeline of the movies.
It was quite some time before the first movie too. Eden did not remember the exact timeline by heart, but he was pretty sure Barbossa had been the Black Pearl's captain for about a decade before the first movie. The mutiny must have been fomented over some time as well, likely a year or two, if not longer, so he had to be more than a decade before the first movie. Possibly more.
Another point of interest was how his fame as a Monster Hunter had spread to this world. Just like for his Tutorial, Dreamland had given him a sort of identity. He simply wondered whether it would be as extensive as it had been for his tutorial, or if it was only a matter of reputation.
Titles were also much better than he had expected, since Eden doubted he could have joined Barbossa's crew so easily without it. He probably would have needed to prove his worth to even have a shot of joining his crew, had it not been for it.
Kure's attack would probably not have been enough to prove his ilk.
But, above everything, this interaction with Barbossa showed Eden the big difference between a Tutorial world like Friday the 13th, where he was the only player, and a true mission world like this one.
That is, NPCs.
Back in his tutorial, Eden had felt like he was dealing with programs, one dimensional characters that followed a strict stereotype and hardly deviated from it. It resulted in a world that felt fake despite living it personally, and while it had helped Eden in the end, it would have been disappointing for every world to be similar.
Actually, Eden had noticed back in his tutorial world that the more he interacted with the characters, the more they evolved away from their stereotype. Had he stayed for the entire duration of his mission, he might have witnessed a true change.
This mission world was different, fortunately. The mission had just started, but everything already felt more lifelike. Apparently, Dreamland put more effort in forging worlds made for a multitude of players, or perhaps Tutorials were made the way they were to make things easier for new players.
Anyway, while leaving the Garland, Eden said he had other things to do, which was not a lie to leave. Again, Eden's title made him privileged, allowing him to join an important crew without much effort, but there ought to be other ways to join them. Side missions to prove one's worth.
Although Eden was already part of Barbossa's crew, it did not mean these side missions had necessarily disappeared. Besides, his crew was probably not the only important one. There ought to be at least one similarly important on the Navy's side, and while Eden did not care for joining them, these missions ought to have additional rewards.
And even if these missions were unavailable, the mysterious lord of the island was intriguing, and a good lead for potential side missions.
Since he did not have meta-knowledge, he would have to find out more about these the old way. The bar had been the first place for leads, but not the only one he had in mind.
As Eden reached the more civilized portion of the city though, he came across a surprising scene. At first, there did not seem to be anything amiss. Civilians walked the streets calmly, just as they would in any other civilized city, showing their full trust in the local government.
But then, out of nowhere, a group of people dressed in black approached, some with guns visible. They were obviously out for violence, and Eden's first instinct was to retreat, thinking they were a mob of players out for his bounty.
Eden reached an alley, a hand on his sheathed machete, and ready to take the Necronomicon's Copy out at any time, but it was not blocked. That was odd. Even if they were idiots, the first worry of any attacker should have been to block his exit route.
The group in black stopped, and without any warning, started shooting. Not at Eden, but into the crowd of civilians.
Wariness turning into curiosity, Eden did not leave, but instead watched the massacre from a safe distance away. A quick use of Analysis showed him that the crowd was truly made of civilians, and were not players in hiding.
Turning to the men in black, they all had their status hidden, but Eden had no doubt they were players. Now, the question was, why would players bother to massacre NPCs?
The players were not very thorough either as several NPC civilians managed to flee, yet none of the Players in black tried to chase after them.
Quickly enough, the local guards arrived, supported by several Navy squads as well. But the players did not flee right away, deciding to stall the armed troops to continue their slaughter of civilians, showing that their goal truly was this seemingly senseless slaughter.
But Eden knew that this was anything by senseless. While he did not know what exactly their goal was, he knew that this would trigger something.
What truly intrigued Eden though was how these Players could know about this.
This seemingly meaningless chaos revealed their identity to Eden, however. When Eden had refused her offer, Lady Phoenix had told him he would soon come to regret his decision for not joining a guild, because he would be giving up on a lot of advantages.
Back to the slaughter, the Players in black looked like they were ready to stand their ground to the death if needed, when they suddenly pulled back. The guards tried to chase them, but as they did there was a big explosion in the middle of the group.
This stopped the guards and soldiers in their tracks, a large number of them dead and the rest afraid of another similar explosion, allowing the group in black to quickly disappear, leaving behind dozens of corpses.
Knowing that staying here any longer would only invite suspicion on himself, Eden prepared to leave, when he felt something brush his mind. It was instantly crushed by Soul Overlord, of course, but the feeling was familiar. It was not the first time he had felt it.
At first, he had been unable to tell, but maybe because of his strengthened Wisdom, or the sheer number of times it had happened, Eden was now able to feel it when Players used Analysis on him. That was one of the ways he had known there were Players back in the Garland, as he had felt several uses of the skill the moment he entered.
Looking around, Eden saw a tall man approaching him. He did not look hostile, but his build alone was intimidating. He looked quite similar to Guts, being a tall mass of ripping muscles, the main difference being that he wore light leather armor instead of the Berserker Armor.
His hand still closed to his machete, Eden used Analysis on the guy.
[Name: Drakon]
[Title: Ironside]
[Talent: ?]
[HP: ?/?]
[MP: 60/60]
[Strength: 12]
[Agility: 10]
[Physique: ?]
[Intelligence: 6]
[Wisdom: 4]
One of the reasons Eden had known the people in black were Players was their behaviour. The other was the third entry in their status pages. Although it was filled with question marks, probably shielded by special skills or equipment, the number of entries never changed.
This was the easiest way to differentiate between Players and NPCs. Of course, there certainly existed some high level items that could allow one to shield it, but as a rule of thumb, all Players would have their Talent listed in their status.
After all, as far as Eden knew, every Player had a Talent. Most probably had not awakened it, and they might vary in power, but they all had one. He did not know much about it since their Talent was every Player's secret, but he could make some personal observations.
As for this man, Drakon, he looked decently strong. All of his physical attributes were above Eden, especially his Physique that was at least 15, and while his magical attributes were average, they were unlocked. He also had a Title, though its worth remained to be seen.
Tilting his head, Eden asked, "Do I know you?"
Drakon stopped a safe distance away from Eden, close enough to quickly shorten the distance between them, but far away that they would both have the time to react if either decided to attack.
At Eden's question, Drakon shook his head, and even leaned against the wall next to him, which meant putting himself in a disadvantageous position were a fight to break out between them. Had it been the average player, Eden would have taken it as a beginner's mistake, but considering Drakon's behaviour until now, he read it as him showing he was not here to make trouble.
"You may not know me, but I do know you," his lips curled up into a smile as he added, "Though I doubt any Players doesn't. But I'm not here for that. I want to join Barbossa's crew."
Eden raised an eyebrow at this, as it meant Drakon might become a potential ally for this mission. Something he was not opposed to, seeing how he had acted until now, and his stats.
Still, Eden said, "You don't expect me to do this out of the kindness of my heart, do you?"
"Of course not. I can exchange the favour for information. Something of vital importance to you, but which you would only find out too late if I don't tell you."
Eden narrowed his eyes at the man, replying with only a single word, "Cryptic."
He was fishing for more, but Drakon only smiled leisurely.
After a couple seconds of silence, Eden put down his terms, "I want the explanation first. If it really is valuable, then I will speak to Barbossa. I would give you my word, but I doubt it holds much value to you, but one of us has to make the first step, and you're the one asking for something."
Eden expected Drakon to haggle over this, but the man merely laughed, "Sure. You're not my only way to join his crew, and breaking your word would harm you far more in the long run. And the short run, too."
Eden did not react to the threat, and Drakon's laugh lost its sharp edge as he added, "Alright, we should move first if we don't want to get interrogated. And believe me, we don't."
Eden nodded silently, and followed him off the scene of massacre.