Liam was gd that his group made it through the first small test without much trouble.

  Everyone looked rgely satisfied with the deal.

  Only Liam knew how much wealth a good alchemist was able to amass. In his old life the top alchemists had their own shops, protected by their guilds.

  More than one of them turheir lives around, rising from a normal citizen to an ultrarich person.

  Liam didn’t have any crete p but if Balm showed some talent he might discuss business with her.

  Somewhat annoyed by the group pressuring her good friend, Cye didn’t make much of a spectacle out of it as she revealed the st piece of loot.

  A blue sparkle immediately attracted everyone’s attention.

  Even Radiant Shield fot his rolepy as he announced his surprise:

  “An unon item!”

  “And even a neckce. Super rare!”

  “What effects does it have?”

  Cye posted the information in the party chat.

  [Phera’s experimentCategory: Unon

  Level requirement: 4

  Intelligence +4

  Agility +6

  Effect: Increase the rank of a single skill of your choosing by two.

  An experimental subject of Vasily’s student Phera. Dissatisfied, she eventually sold it.]

  Everyone observed the neckce’s stats, not quite sure what to make of the neckce.

  However, Liam was quite ied in it, as it would e in handy after his css ge.

  With the expert speaking up, the others were somewhat relut but still handed over the neckce to Bleary Mirage.

  “Thanks guys. Don’t worry I’m sure we will find equipment for everyone.”

  “It’s alright. At out levels we discard equipment quickly anyways.”

  Finally, all the loot was distributed. Liam chose to rank up his [Brutal Strike], not because of the damage but because of the stun effect.

  Knowing that the cliff hid high leveled monsters Silver Bde led the party along the path towards the pirate vilge.

  Soon, human voices reached their ears. The pirates sounded drunk, singing of imaginary adventures.

  The enviro around the party ged subtly as many trees were cut down, obviously used for the wooden houses which came into view gradually.

  The pirate vilge was located uhe cliff side, occupying a surprisingly vast space. It wasn’t built on one pin but rather on higher and lower ptforms.

  Unnecessary, tacky decorations adorhe wooden paths.

  In the distan impressive bck ship could be seen.

  While Quickstep stared at the pirates with a gaze as if wishing to join them, Balm threw out a question:

  “Such a big ship must have cost a lot! they even make enough moo pay for it?”

  Everyone was thrown off by the question, not sidering such a problem.

  “Maybe they stole it?”

  “Who cares. The key is that it will be ours after the quest. Whether it likes to or not.”

  “It doesn’t look like we get there.”, ented Silver Bde.

  Liam shook his head.

  “Guys, let’s trate on the quest. We get our hands on the ship ter.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Quickstep eyed Bleary Mirage suspiciously, not yet regarding him as all-knowing.

  Liam just shrugged his shoulders.

  “panions, Bleary Mirage is right. Let us not discuss whether to… fiscate… the ship yet. First, we o retrieve the trident!”

  As Radiant Shield spoke up as well, the group focused ba the quest.

  Silent Acacia knew his job and approached the pirate vilge carefully, shooting an arrow.

  “Oi! Who interrupts our drinking session?”

  A small group of pirates yelled angrily as they stood up from a few crates and chased after Silent Acacia, a cup in one hand and sword iher.

  Silver Bde readied her shield as she quickly used [I].

  [Drunken Pirate FighterRank: on

  Level: 6

  HP: 250/260

  Status: Poisoned]

  Silver Bde quickly made the e between drinking and a poisoatus as the pirate tumbled towards the group.

  Bang!

  Suddenly a gunsh out. Silent Acacia felt the hair on his neck stand up, hastily throwing his body forward.

  [Stance -8]

  Proving that he was indeed a pro gamer, the thief narrowly dodged the bullet. He looked over his shoulder at a pirate standing at the back.

  [Drunken Pirate ShooterRank: on

  Level: 6

  HP: 190/210

  Status: Poisoned]

  The pirate shooter had trouble reloading his small revolver, naturally making its attack speed extremely low.

  Additionally, he had to keep walking forward as Silent Acacia left his range, deying him further.

  Cye flinched from the loud sound, staring ahead with wide eyes.

  “They have ranged fighters!”

  “Hmpf. Let’s show them, Cy!”, excimed Balm as she opened fire.

  “Right!”

  [-60!]

  [- 51!]

  The first pirate already lost a huge k of HP before he even arrived.

  “Good job!”

  “Don’t save on MP!”

  “Got it!”

  The mages went to work. One pirate died unjustly, not able to engage in close bat.

  But the rest crashed into Silver Bde’s and Radiant Shield’s defense, easily held back by the two tanks.

  Meanwhile Silent Acacia stared at the pirate shooter. He knew his team could easily deal with these week mobs, getting more ied in his personal duel.

  He stopped his retreat, firing an arrow.

  The pirate shooter staggered drunkenly, maybe trying to avoid the arrow but it was useless.

  Liam khat ter in the game enemies would begin dodging, but now they were still more or less iorial.

  Silent Acacia hit the pirate squarely in the chest.

  [-55!]

  The thief was delighted by the damage he dealt with his new bow.

  But he knew not to be distracted as the oppo raised his on again.

  Bang!

  [Stance -8]

  Silent Acacia dodged smoothly, answering with a [Flurry].

  [-66!]

  [-66!]

  “Are you kidding me?”

  Silent Acacia rolled his eyes as the pirate only had a sliver of health left.

  He dodged atack, shot once more and the oppo finally dropped to the ground.

  Turning around with a smile on his face, he looked into seven faces patiently waiting for him.

  “Well done, babe!”, cheered Quickstep half-seriously.

  Silent Acacia was somewhat embarrassed, turning around quickly to pull more mobs.

  The party tinued in a steady rhythm, fighting their way through the pirate vilge.

  All the drunken pirates were unfortunately interrupted in their leisurely lives.

  At first a few of the group members were unfortable with fighting human enemies but it helped as the unintelligent pirates always repeated the same lines.

  During the fights Liam studied the group. Silent Acacia, Silver Bde, and Quickstep were defihe best among them.

  It was quite impressive as Silver Bde relied on her martial expertise to rival two pro pyers.

  up were Radiant Shield and Cye, one also a martial artist, and the other a veteran gamer.

  Balm was able to keep up with ost of the time but showed some weakness when attacked by a rge group. Sihe young woman expihat she aimed to bee a healer, Liam hoped that she improved her ability to cast under pressure.

  Lastly, Sun’s Knight was the most casual among the group. Liam could see the annoyan his face as he found it difficult to keep up. It would show iure if he chose to improve ive up.

  The party didn’t know Liam’s thoughts, tinuing to fight left and right.

  Silver Bde had decided to explore the pirate vilge, raising everyone’s level in the meantime.

  Liam soon reached level 4, but it would still take some time until Silver Bde made it to level 5.

  On top of that they found two wooden treasure chest, getting a new sword for Quickstep and a helmet which was given to Sun’s Knight.

  Altogether it took two hours until the party reached the deepest part of the vilge.

  Before them was a rge ptform, stairs going upwards from the right a. A few pirates were gathered around it, all of them looking stern without any signs of being drunk.

  Radiant Shield signaled everyoo stay back as he used [I].

  [Pirate FighterRank: on

  Level: 7

  HP: 330/330]

  “Careful, those guys are tough.”

  No one revealed any pyfulness, knowing full well that the strong enemies were ing now.

  Guarding the stairs were two tall female pirates, wearing bandanas around their heads, most likely elite oppos.

  “Acacia, you know what to do.”

  The young thief nodded his head as he carefully pulled a small group, quickly retreating.

  “Cye, Balm!”

  [-48!]

  [-38!]

  [-62!]

  [-50!]

  Damage numbers popped up as the mages mixed normal attacks with skills, weling the pirates fiercely.

  “Not bad!”

  The pirates appeared angry as they approached, their faces grim, their sabers hag at the tanks.

  [Stance -7]

  “Damn, I won’t be able to tank long.”

  “Focus them one by one.”

  The rest of the group reacted quickly. Attacks rained down on the oppos.

  [-52!]

  Liam dealt siderable damage, the pirate quickly dropping below one hundred HP. His party members followed.

  “Why?”

  With a sad expression, the pirate dropped to the ground.

  His panions didn’t appear to care for the loss, readying their attacks.

  Silver Bde and Radiant Shield watched closely, fully focused. As soon as the pirates’ swords moved, they directly used [Brutal Strike].

  With two pirates stunned, only one was able to attack. This was a on strategy to minimize the damage.

  Uhe two tanks’ lead, the party worked together calmly, defeating the few pirates one by one.