The village of Hailey Road, once a quiet haven nestled between the cliffs and the sea, was now a battleground. The pirates came in waves, swift and brutal, and the villagers were ready, their desperation painting every strike with a raw urgency.
The first clash was chaotic, the air thick with the scent of sweat, earth, and fear. Lewis stood at the forefront, his heart pounding in his chest, his mind sharp despite the adrenaline coursing through his veins. The sound of blades ringing against one another filled the air, echoing through the streets as Arthur fought beside him, guiding him with the subtle gestures of experience, urging him to stay focused.
The villagers had courage. That much was clear. But courage was not enough against those who fought for a living, those who had learned the art of war in the harshest of ways.
One of them locked eyes with him. He had a small axe in his hands, but it quivered. The man was trembling.
"Kid...run and I will spare you", he shouted, but his voice betrayed his fear.
Lewis sighed. He knew that day would come. The day he would have to kill. He had done it so effortlessly in the game, yet doing it in reality was a different story. He drew his blade, and the years of training engraved in his muscles and bones showed. He easily deflected the desperate charge of the lumberjack with a flick of his sword, using the man's momentum against himself.
[Basic Swordsmanship I] did provide him with an overwhelming advantage. Physically, he was probably slightly weaker than the big lumberjack, attribute-wise. But a skill could make all the difference. Combined with his superior dexterity, the villager stood no change. Drawing his sword again, this time, Lewis made a thrust. The sword punctured the man's chest. He dropped to the floor. Lifeless.
[You have killed villager [Harvey Done]. You have earned 10 points of reputation with the Leviathan's crew. You have earned 10 EXP]
From a distance, an elderly man dropped to her knees. His kin, maybe his father?
However, Lewis felt no remorse. It was a battle. They would have survived had they not attempted to defend what was theirs. But they decided otherwise. This world was unkind. Two more villagers charged at him.
Arthur saw this, and intercepted them. With a skillful sword cleave, he cut their torso deeply. The bleeding was too harsh, but a second blow killed them both. A simple thrust as well, puncturing their abdomen like a spike.
Lewis was impressed, but did not have much time to admire the man. A woman charged at him with a scythe.
'The willpower is amazing', he gasped, 'but I am a pirate'
Tamsin Wells. The baker's daughter. She stood her ground with a scythe in hand, swinging wildly, her eyes locked on the invaders with a fierce determination. It wasn't the weapon or the strength that caught Lewis's attention. She wasn't simply surviving; she was fighting for her people.
As the last of the defenders fell or fled, Lewis couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. He could see it now. This wasn't just about looting or survival for the Leviathan's crew—it was about the harsh reality of piracy. Seeing her charge at him, he smiled bitterly. His superiority did not feel good. But he knew that he needed to grow stronger. These NPCs were a product of developers' whims. Or at least, he thought so. That's why he found nothing.
But as his blade parried the scythe, he could not help but wonder.
'Why does it feel so bad then?'
The woman clearly did not expect such skills from him, and this cost her life. His sword beheaded her.
The battle ended swiftly. The pirates had the advantage, but it was clear that there had been losses on both sides. The villagers had been outmatched, their fighting spirit crushed under the weight of years of peace and ignorance. But the price of the raid was heavy for both.
Lewis stood among the fallen, his chest heaving, his blade slick with blood. Four. That's how many men he killed. Five if you counted the baker's daughter. All in all, half of the village had been decimated. A couple of elderly and kids remained, unscathed from the massacre.
"We...we surrender", the mayor finally said, dropping to his knees. Not the first time he attempted to, but the first time the pirates listened.
James laughed in a diabolical air: "BAHAHAHA, bring on your cattle and riches then. And you know what will happen if I find anything hidden. Men, raid this village! Kill those who resist!"
The crew roared. Lewis shrugged and joined in the fray.
Innocent? He wasn't. He just became a murderer. The previous Lewis killed. But this time, it was him who killed innocents.
Virtue? It did not exist in this world. Only a relation of power.
Greed? Nobody loved money more than he did.
As such, joining in the looting only made sense.
A couple hours later, the walls were burned, the heads of those who resisted attached to pikes as a reminder of the Levianthan's passage. This was part of piracy. Slaughter, looting. And to forget all of this, there was nothing better than alcohol.
There was no honour in this fight. But they won. They celebrated the loot. And more importantly, they grew stronger with each kill.
The world rewarded slaughter. NPCs and players alike, would accumulate experience.
Once the threshold was reached, you would awaken provided that you also reached the preliminary conditions.
[Battle log]
[Skill Proficiency Increased: Basic Swordsmanship +6 → 50]
[Skill Proficiency Increased: Dirty fighting +7 → 22]
...
As [Basic Swordsmanship] reached 50 points of proficiency, something quite magical happened. A blue light overwhelmed him, and his body grew stronger. The process happened almost immediately, so nobody noticed.
But Lewis could tell. He did not need a system.
He had awakened.
His body felt stronger.
His hands more dextrous.
His eyes sharper.
His potential? Much deeper.
[You have become a Level 1 Warrior. You have earned the perk [Swordsman], granting you additional growth rate in sword-related skills]
[Your strength has increased by 2 points]
[Your dexterity has increased by 1 point]
[Your consituttion has increased by 1 point]
[Each level up will result in an increase of strength by 1 point and 1 free attribute point]
[Name: Lewis Steel | Class: Level 1 Warrior (60 / 200 EXP)
Attributes:
STR - 7 → 9 | DEX - 10 → 11 | CON - 7 → 8
INT - 6 | WIS - 6 | CHA - 8 (+1)
Title: Leviathan Heir (+1 CHA, +3 CHA on the Leviathan and its crew members)
Perk: [Swordsman] (+10% growth rate in sword skill proficiency)
Ailment: Gambling addiction (30)
Skills: Swordsmanship I (50), Deck Agility (34), Dirty fighting (22), Sea sense (17)
Miscellaneous skills: Silver Tongue (31), Sharp Card (27), Knot mastery (20), Ropework (18), Mast Climb (12), Weather sense (10), Basic Navigation (8)]
He had become a warrior. A full-fledged awakened. He had achieved something that would have taken him years originally. Talent? Talent was related to the body. And the previous host trained for years, and only achieved mid 30s proficiency in swordsmanship despite having access to meat on a daily basis and having a private teacher who already awakened.
No, he had no perk initially, so he was definitely not talented initially.
His secret? Knowledge. He had played the game enough to know the mechanics of how the game worked. Sparring did increase proficiency, but you had to understand the concepts, integrate them in your swordplay, and then use them in real situations. It was the observing of Arthur's combat and attempts to replicate his sword play that allowed him to grow this fast. And if you dug deeper, it was all related to the fact that he thought not as an NPC, but as a player.
If he did not gain proficiency, it meant that he was not going in the right direction, but if he did, then jackpot. Reproducing this tens, hundreds of times in the past week allowed him to achieve a monstrous growth rate. And just like that, he became the fourth awakened of the Leviathan.