novelIn the Sea (2)
| ← Ch.131 | Ch.133 → |
The boat rode the wind and propelled forward. Vincent maneuvered the boat with ease.
"Let's see."
Said Vincent as he looked around.
"We are about halfway there."
I feel suspicious.
That was because no matter which direction we looked, all we could see was ocean.
Not even a rock could be seen.
Without any landmarks and nothing but the blue ocean, how could he know?
"Are you measuring our trip by time?"
Vincent laughed.
"Haha, you do when you go far into the sea. This here is just the front lawn, you could take a nap on the boat and wake up and still know where you are."
"That is possible?"
"Live your whole life on a boat and that's possible."
Vincent laughed loudly and rowed.
Despite being on our way to fight with our lives on the line, his face was bright.
A really bold person.
He is worthy of others' trust.
Time went by like this.
"We've arrived."
Said Vincent.
"You're saying the pirates will pass here?"
"Yes, I'm sure we will be able to see them with from here with just our naked eyes."
"By the way, are you a good swimmer?"
I asked. Speaking informally to an elder, it still felt really awkward.
Vincent laughed.
"Of course. You could believe it even if I said my ancestors were fish."
"During the fight the boat may shake so much it may flip, many situations can arise so be careful."
"Yes, don't worry about me."
Vincent leisurely took out his fishing pole and began to fish. What a bold person indeed.
A little later, lifting the large fish he caught, he smiled.
"Would you like to eat?"
"I'd love to."
"Originally you should grill this but eating it raw is good too. It has a good chewy texture to it."
It seems the Arena world also has sushi.
"Is it tastier cooked?"
"Yup. But it's a hassle to make a fire here and the smoke will draw the attention of the pirates too."
"I can grill it. Sylph, Kasa!"
I summoned my two spirits.
-Meow.
-Bark!
"Grill the fish for me. Sylph, spread the smoke out so it can't be seen."
The two spirits immediately followed the command. Kasa grilled, Sylph dissipated the smoke.
Sizzling, the smoke rose from the fish.
"Oh, it's being grilled quite well."
Excited, Vincent got three plates and divided the fish. It was such a large fish that even split three ways there was more than enough.
The calm before the storm.
We peacefully chattered and ate.
"They're slowly starting to come in."
Said Vincent as he stared far off.
I looked at the direction he was gazing in but I couldn't really see anything.
Vision buff level 1 gave me 1. 0 vision but I didn't see a single dot.
Cha Ji-hye seemed to be having the same issue. She wrinkled her face and tried to see something, it was kind of cute.
"Haha, I have pretty good vision."
I do think I've heard before that fisherman who always look far into the seas have good eyes.
I re-summoned Sylph and sent her in the direction Vincent pointed us in.
The scene Sylph saw began to be relayed into my brain.
Before, it was a series of images that were relayed to me but now it was more like watching a live stream video.
And not only that but if I think of an order, it would get delivered right away.
It's too much to do a complex order but I could give simple orders like scouting or to return without opening my mouth.
With the spirits reaching superior level, their connections to me grew that much more as well.
Through Sylph, I was able to see the pirates.
Multitudes of pirate ships were sailing in a giant wedge formation.
By my count, there were no less than 32 ships.
With such big number, they were able to make a bold and confident approach.
With this force, it wouldn't be a stretch to say these weren't your average pirate.
'Because of the Chinese exam group. '
The Chinese exam groups' examinees has inflated the number of pirates.
With the Aman empire's power holders, the black magicians plus the cartels, the chances are high that it is the work project of the Chinese exam group.
"Weaponize, AW50F."
The AW50F was summoned. It is such a heavy gun that the boat shook a bit.
Vincent, at the sudden appearance of a giant metal thing, was surprised.
I got my basic balance back and stood, raised my gun, and assumed a shooting position.
Physical strength buff intermediate level 5 plus the synthetic muscle suit, the weight and recoil wouldn't be a problem but being on a small boat, there was a big danger of losing my balance.
'Come. '
I waited for the pirate ships to approach within a reasonable distance.
In the real world, the current sniper record was an Australian special forces' record set in Afghanistan for 2, 815 m.
The gun used for that record is similar to mine. With a 12. 7 caliber bullet, the anti-material sniper rifle Barrett M82A1.
If it were me, I'm sure a distance over 5 km would be possible. With my bullet revision at the master level and combined with spirit summons with the shooting skill, it wouldn't be a problem.
But in order to actually cause damage, I needed to wait for the ships to get closer.
Finally, they were close enough that I could see the ships with my own eyes.
It was such a clear and bright day that even from afar, I could see the pirate ships clearly.
'Since they're in a giant wedge formation, I should shoot the lead ship first. '
I aimed for the mast of the first ship.
"Sylph, Kasa, prepare to shoot."
-Meow.
-Wal! (Bark!)
The two spirits sat atop each shoulder. There were two big things on my shoulders but they have no weight and so did not affect my shooting stance.
"Sylph, get rid of the sound of the bullet."
-Meow.
Sylph swatted me on the cheek with her tail letting me know she understood. So cute.
There was no special need to aim while shooting. Sylph used her tail to aim the barrel for me and I immediately pulled the trigger.
Pooshook-!
The bullet ripped through the air as it flew ahead.
Thanks to Sylph's power, the bullet was stronger and split through the mast of the first ship.
With immense power, the mast tilted and fell.
One mast with a giant sail broke and fell causing the pirate ship falters.
'Good, one more shot. '
This time, I shot down the rear main mast.
Pooshook-!!
The main mast fell without the need for a 2nd shot.
In an instant, suddenly without sails, the foremost pirate ship just teetered, unable to move forward any further.
Then the ship tilted in the direction the two masts fell in.
'Ah, if both masts fall in the same direction, it'll cause the ship to tilt that way. '
I sent my thoughts to Sylph. Sylph, acknowledging she understands, nodded her head.
With the ship suddenly stopping, the giant wedge formation broke apart.
I picked my next target and without holding back, pulled the trigger.
I followed with two shots and two masts fell to the left and that ship too fell over on its left.
As the pirate ship began to sink, the pirates let down their emergency boats and began escaping into the ocean.
Being able to sink a ship with two bullets, I had a big sense of achievement.
"Pretty incredible."
Mumbled Vincent with a surprised face.
I said to Vincent.
"We should start moving now too. They'll be chasing after us."
"Yes, yes!"
Vincent began to row his boat.
I moved to the back, chose my next target, and pulled the trigger again.
The mast fell without effort.
Already, three of the pirate ships unable to continue on.
***
"What is it?"
Said Heising who came out onto the deck frowning.
"Leader!"
The pirates, with obvious looks of confusion, bowed their heads down to Heising.
The leader of pirates from the Chinese examinee group, Heising.
In the Arena, he had the power of controlling the pirate army.
Heising scanned the waters.
The giant wedge formation that the ships were supposed to be in were now a scattered mess.
On top of that, three of them have fallen and were sinking. Those on board were quickly escaping but everything was still a chaotic mess.
"What happened?"
Asked Heising.
Then, a middle aged man that was wearing a peaked hat, approached and reported.
"We have been attacked and the three foremost ships are sinking."
"The enemy?"
"That is...... we can't tell from what kind of enemy it was or even what kind of attack we were hit with."
And then.
Pooshook-!!
The sound of something coming fast,
Bba ji jik!
The very ship that they were on, the foremast shattered and fell to the right.
"Uack!"
"It's our turn!"
The mast that was holding the sails fell over and the pirates started to panic.
Heising's face wrinkled.
"It's him."
Heising could tell right away it was an attack from Kim Hyun-ho.
The only thing unexpected was the fact that the sniper rifle was strong enough to shatter the mast in one blow.
"Leader, uh, over there!"
Screamed a pirate that was observing from the main mast watchtower.
Looking carefully in the direction the pirate pointed it, he could see something floating. It looked to be a small sailboat.
"He's attacking from there."
Heising gave an order to the captain.
"Full speed towards the enemy."
"Yes!"
He rang the horn letting everyone know of the charge.
The pirate ships all moved forward.
But the ship that Heising was on had a shattered foremast and couldn't move forward.
On top of that,
Kwa ji jik!
Another bullet shattered the main mast.
The wooden trunk split and like a tree felled with an axe, it fell.
"Uaak!"
The pirate in the watch tower of the main mast screamed.
Kooong!
Eventually the main mast completely fell.
With both the foremast and the main mast fallen to the right, the pirate ship tilted to the right as well.
"Acck!"
"Hold tight!"
The pirates all slid towards the tilted side.
While keeping his balance, Heising glanced around and found the captain clinging to the broken mast.
"Take care of this on your own."
"Um, what?"
Heising put his full strength into jumping. His figure flew up into the sky like a bird.
Just like that, Heising disappeared from the tilting ship
The captain had no idea how to handle his sinking ship.
On the other hand, Heising had moved to the ship next to it and shouted at the Chinese examinee group members.
"Gather around the masts and protect it! He's shooting them down."
"Yes!"
The corrupt examinees that specialized in defense held up their shields to protect the foremast.
But it was a useless.
There was no one able to see the bullet coming with their naked eye.
Thus, not knowing where the bullet will land, they couldn't defend ahead of time.
Kwa ji ji jik!
The bullet hit above where none of the examinees could reach.
The examinees that were wrapped around the mast to protect it could do nothing but stare dumbly at the falling foremast.
Heising scoffed.
At this rate, the whole pirate fleet would become obsolete from just that one Kim Hyun-ho.
"Magicians, protect the mast with defense magic! And increase the speed a bit!"
"Yes!"
The examinees that had magic as their main skill began to use their defense magic.
"Let down one boat!"
Even amongst the chaos, a small boat was let down.
Heising, with one other examinee, jumped down onto the boat.
"Row."
"Yes!"
The other examinee began to row the boat as told.
Standing still, Heising stared up ahead.
'On this day, I'll cause your premature death with my own hands. '
| ← Ch. 131 | Ch. 133 → |