"Who sent you?"

"Eh?"

Who sent me? Umm… what? Nobody sent anybody apart from you? Don't you remember?

"Heheheh~ Don't play dumb. This whole ship's bait, no? That means the info's wrong too, I'm guessing. Mercenaries, yeah? Heheheh~ I know I'm right.

"Ahhh~ It's nice to be smart!"

He chuckled to himself while holding his slight beer belly that stuck out from his black leather trench coat. I nearly facepalmed at his stupidity, but I held myself back. At this point, it was almost confirmed that this man was a Master martial artist, so I can't risk breaking my stance.

I glanced over at Master, but he still hadn't moved an inch. Actually, barely anyone part of our ship moved after the pirates boarded our ship. It seems that I'm a pretty great distraction, at least.

Ugh~ the pirate's leader, if he even is the leader, has some insane pressure. Coupled with me just having the wind knocked out of me, I feel like total shit. If I want to end this without getting beat up any more, I'll have to use… diplomacy.

"...pirate," I said harshly.

"Girl," he responded with a joking grin.

"Why are you here? You said that you were looking for someone. Who is it?"

Shit. My diplomatic tone just makes me sound like a snob.

"Hahahahah~ still playing the fool? Fine, since you gave me such an entertaining show, I'll indulge you."

He took a few steps closer, but I responded by taking a few back.

"...well, girl," he started, "the details aren't all that impressive. We were contracted to bring in a certain martial artist. T'be honest, I wasn't given the specifics. All I know is that whomever survives our raid is the one we're looking for, courtesy of the captain."

That's… not helpful in the slightest. If this guy wanted me dead, I would be (assuming Master doesn't step in), so I can't be the target. They could be after Master, but I'm not sure they would survive his wrath, so could there be another Master martial artist on this ship?

I find that highly unlikely. Statistically, two masters on the same random boat is improbable.

And, the captain told him that? That must mean there is more up there.

"So, ring any bells? Or are you telling the truth?"

"-Does it really matter? You're going to fight me regardless," I retorted. "I'd find it hard to believe otherwise."

"Heheheh~... I'm not so sure 'bout that. You're Advanced, yeah? I can tell you haven't been one for long, but you still look soo~ young. Tell me, how old are you?"

I don't think I should tell him that. He'd probably-

"14"

""-Wha-"" both the pirate and I said in unison.

Simultaneously, the pirate and I turned to Master, who had stood up.

"The fuck are you on about? That's not possible! She's clearly older than that! 14 year olds don't slaughter a group of pirates before they hit the deck, or at all for that matter! Let ALONE reach the Advanced stage!" the pirate yelled.

Master shook his head, "It's true."

"B-but," he looked me once over, "...that's"

"It's not impossible. If you think, you'd be able to figure out how, Nellyn."

"*Gasp!* You're not… Cysand-

"no, wait… how is it possible she's Advanced? It isn't possible! Unless you-"

He paused in the middle of his sentence and stared at Master. Master reciprocated his gaze without blinking.

"you didn't- did you?"

Master looked the wide eyed pirate dead on and nodded his head.

"...y-you! You mad man! How'd she survive that procedure? You crazy fucking psycho! You know well 'nough that's the worst way to go! But you did that to a child!"

"You're one to talk," Master scoffed.

Wait wait, this guy's talking like he knows Master?

"Master, how do you know this pirate?" I asked.

The two of them paid no heed to my question. The longer the pirate master called "Nellyn" looked into Master's eyes, the more he began to shake. Eventually, he was crouched down and breathing heavy.

Suddenly, he slapped the sides of his face and stood up. "Boys!" he shouted. "Get back on the ship, now."

The pirates immediately began to protest.

"What the fuck do you mean?"

"We still haven't avenged our brothers!"

"Yeah! If we leave now, I'll never live it dow-"

"NOW~!!! Leave now unless you want us all killed!"

"..."

Every single pirate, passenger, and crewmate was stunned by Nellyn's sudden outburst. Despite my heightened senses and elevated state of mind, even I was taken aback. Upon closer inspection… is he… shaking?

"... Sir, with respect to ya, the captain personally told all's to complete this mission 'at all costs!' We can't go runnin' 'way with'r tails between'r legs!!" one pirate retorted.

"Nellyn~" Master said in an ominous tone, causing him to shake even more. It seemed that now, Nellyn was in deep contemplation. It should be safe to assume his Captain is a powerful individual, but he must know how powerful my Master is as well by his actions.

"I will give you ten seconds to leave this ship," Master said quietly.

Shit!

"10"

"You fucks! Do you know who we're dealing with!" Nellyn yelled.

"9"

I've got to take cover.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"8"

"Nellyn! Stay'n fight! As fourth in command, I order you on the Capn's name to fight!"

"7"

I took cover silently by hanging off the edge of the ship closest to me.

"6"

"What's an old man to ya? 'Cmon! He's definitely bluffin'-"

"*Shua~*"

A feeling of dread swept over the entire ship. All of the pirates apart from Nellyn stopped moving. Moments later, they all fell to the floor. At the back of their heads was a thin slit that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, but I knew what happened.

Twisted Vision. A 1st division technique that tricks the opponent, and with enough skill even the onlookers, into believing you are in one place when in fact, you are in another. Master got behind them and simultaneously executed each one before they even knew he moved at all.

Coupled with the dirty trick of not finishing the count, they stood no chance.

"I warned you, Nellyn."

"Shit! You fucking monster!"

Nellyn readied his battle axe and steeled his nerves. His entire carefree attitude when dealing with me was completely gone. It was almost as if he were a different person.

In an instant, Master's presence elevated greatly, nearly making me lose my grip. Thankfully, I quickly buried my fingers into the wood I was holding onto to prevent this from happening.

From his item compressor, Master retrieved a thin, one handed longsword without a hand-guard. The blade was made from a matte gray material, and the hilt was simply wrapped in a black leather. Still, its quality was evident from the apparent sharpness and feeling of danger it emitted.

Obviously at his mental limit, Nellyn charged Master.

"*Crack*"

His speed was, as to be expected of a Master martial artist, insane. Just a simple dash broke far, far past the sound barrier. I was sure no technique was used in the approach, but I still was having trouble keeping up despite increasing the level of HSM even more.

The whole boat creaked and swayed from the pressure emitted by this dash, which knocked most of the crew and passengers off their feet.

Once in range, Nellyn stomped his foot down and tensed up.

!!!

In the middle of the movement, Master's sword flashed. Its trajectory was headed right towards Nellyn's cranium. He had started up an overhead swing, making him unable to react…

Or so I thought.

"*Clang!*"

Out of nowhere, Nellyn's axe slid down through his grip and parried the strike and then immediately returned to its previous position. Such an insane movement could only be a technique, but it seems that it is not in our grimoire, so I didn't know which it was.

He returned to his swing, snapping the axe down so fast it tore the air itself.

Master's face remained calm as he redirected the swing so precisely that it looked like it passed through him.

Nellyn didn't take the time to marvel at the feat, and twisted his feet and pulled back on the axe for a false edge strike aimed at Master's armpit. In this moment, Nellyn received hundreds of deep gashes all over his body, but his muscles clamped up on the gashes almost the moment they appeared, slowing the bleeding.

Nellyn's attempt at a forceful trade made Master give up on inflicting any serious damage, so instead he repositioned behind Nellyn.

No, he didn't reposition, it was Twisted Vision yet again. Master had never been there to begin with. Nellyn understood this and initiated one of the most universal 2nd division movement techniques out there, Skidd.

Despite its awkward learning curve, as described in the grimoire, many choose to learn it. It allows the user to slide across whatever surface they please in whatever direction they please on a moment's notice provided at least a single body part is on the ground.

While not being the fastest, quickest, farthest traveling, or quietest movement technique, it keeps the user in contact with the ground, allowing for it to be canceled during the movement.

During the movement, Nellyn stomped the deck.

"*Boom~*"

The entire deck in front of him shattered into a million pieces so fast that the particles didn't have time to catch up, leaving them suspended in mid air. Surprisingly, the railings and the boat itself was left intact. It seems this technique was made with naval combat in mind.

It seems he's attempting to create distance, get Master to jump, or to force him to take a roundabout path.

Counterintuitively, Master instead chose a fourth option by bolting straight towards Nellyn, right through the shattered deck. Defying all logic, he ran across it as if it was perfectly intact.

It seems that Nellyn isn't used to fighting Master martial artists, or even Advanced martial artists for that matter. It is a (relatively) simple thing, crossing such terrain. If I wanted to, I could run across water if I built enough speed. A Master martial artist could change directions using a dead leaf as a foothold, let alone thousands of chunks of hardened wood.

By the look on Master's face, I could tell he was going to end it then and there. Once he touched solid deck, his image blurred even to me with HSM active. I felt a wave of nausea hit me as I saw Master's image split into four different hazy clones.

At once, all four began to flicker in and out of vision. Flickerstep is basically a toned down version of Oblivion that didn't make you forget a person was there nor completely block them from your vision with the upside being it was easier to accomplish and faster to begin, perfect to use in tandem with the already hard to focus on clones created by Mirage.

Nellyn had no time to react, leaving his only option to guess which one was the original and sweep his surroundings starting with that one.

During that moment, Master had arrived within range, and each clone had surrounded Nellyn. At once, they all lunged out, piercing Nellyn's head.

From my angle, there was no damage done, meaning the "clone" on the opposite side of Nellyn was the real one. Confirming my assumption, the other three dissipated.

Master pulled his sword from Nellyn's head and recalled his sword into his item compressor. His attack was so perfect that blood hadn't even gotten on it, removing any need to clean it.

Knowing the fight was over, I removed my fingers from the wood and nimbly hopped back onto the deck.

This was one of the few fights between Master martial artists I've ever seen. I assume the reason it was so reserved, if that's even a word you're allowed to describe a Master martial arts fight with, is because of the environment we're in. Had they let loose, this ship would be in two by now.

The tops of my hands had a fair few splinters embedded in them from the explosion Nellyn caused. That coupled with my head bleeding from the impact I took after redirecting Nellyn's thrown axe in addition to the nausea I felt from witnessing Master perform Mirage and Flickerstep at once forced me to take a second to collect myself.

Once I was done with that, I walked up to Master's side.

"So, what now?"

Master picked up Nellyn's axe. "We go speak to the captain. That group wasn't even close to half of their crew, so getting this over with here and now saves the most time."

His answer was about what I had expected, and what I wanted to do. Loose ends always come back to bite you, so if we can deal with this now, that's one less thing for me to have to worry about.

The two of us dashed towards the pirate ship and sprinted up its walls silently. When we cleared the railing, we were met with over a dozen wide eyed stares. The other 50 odd visible pirates hadn't even noticed our arrival.

Without hesitation, Master walked past the pirates towards the captain's quarters. Any who found their eyes drift our direction seemed to have no clue what to make of the situation. I mean, how many times have they been boarded? My guess is less than can be counted on a single hand.

Master kicked open the large double-door to the captain's quarters with a "*Bang*". The room was a little disheveled with a few gold coins and food scattered across the ground, and only had a few "normal" pieces of furniture, including the extremely out of place gold and mahogany desk placed at the far end just in front of a massive glass window.

The desk was far too extravagant for a pirate ship, so I assume they took it from a ship they raided and the captain took it for himself.

The rest of the room was lined from the floor to the ceiling with weapons. Again, most had no coherence with the rest of the ship or its crew members, implying they too were spoils of war.

Finally, I found myself looking at the only other person in the room. The second I did, a chill went down my spine. An unnaturally tall, lean man sat awkwardly in a chair too small for him. His overall height must have been close to 2.5 meters, but I couldn't pinpoint it due to his current position.

A decent portion of his face was covered by long, thick, pitch black dreads, many of which had thin gold rings haphazardly strung along them. One of his eyes had a thin concavity that spanned the whole iris, which was gray in color. The other one had a piercing blue color.

He had far more scars just on his face than I could count, namely due to the fact that many of them overlapped each other. Not a speck of hair was on his discolored face, but it was clear that the scars were to blame. Had that not been the case, his chiseled jawline and strong brow would have made him quite handsome, but they only served to increase his intimidating figure now.

He looked Master up and down, and soon stood up.

"...Cysandoth…" he said in a raspy voice.

Master dropped Nellyn's axe on the floor. "Who sent you after me? Nobody should know my movements, and those who do don't know who I am."

"...

"... so… is Nellyn dead?"

"*Sigh*" Master shook his head. "Yes, he didn't listen to me."

"...oh…"

"-Ottoman, answer my question. Who sent you after me? And did they really not tell you who it was you were chasing?"

"...

"...I … can't answer that-"

"*Slam*" Master slammed the doors shut so hard, nearly every free-standing item in the room fell over. "Ottoman, you're still in my debt. Answer the damn question or I'll sink your fucking ship."

"...they didn't tell me their name…" he said quietly. Although his tone of voice seemed meek, I knew from how his actual voice sounded that the scars on his neck didn't come from shallow wounds. The discoloration alone makes it hard to believe that he can even speak to begin with.

Master shook his head disappointingly. "Ottoman, I know you. How long have you been doing this, huh? How can you NOT know who commissioned something? You'd at least be able to find out their name."

Ottoman, the pirate captain, made a gurgling noise, which might be his version of a growl. He sat back down in his undersized chair and began sifting through his extravagant desk's drawers.

After finding what he was looking for, he threw a single piece of paper at Master. It flew straight and fast, indicating the use of the Perfect Throwing group of techniques.

I never thought of using a regular piece of paper as a weapon before…

.

.

.

======

Cysandoth's POV

Ottoman has been a fucking pain, but I'd be crazy to expect any different.

At least he's giving me what I asked for-

He threw a piece of paper to me.

On it was a short description of the request written in black ink; "The target is a Master martial artist. Our informants tell us he has boarded the ship called 'Gwyndella', a cargo ship turned passenger vessel headed from Sienna Port to Donellia City. Deliver him to us alive. We will discuss the drop off location as well as the reward, if you manage this much."

Below were a few notes Ottoman had taken down.

First request… highly secretive… dangerous… ah! Here. "Possible name of organization: Colies"

-Wait… WHAT? Colies?

It can't be.

Is it? Is this just a coincidence? I mean, Colies are disgusting creatures, so an organization that orders hits from pirates having that as their namesake isn't a stretch in the slightest. Still, for Öthe to have such a reaction to one, their involvement with her trauma cannot be ruled out.

I looked over to Öthe, who was innocently looking around the room. Taking the contents of the room into consideration, and her looking around isn't entirely wholesome, but at least she doesn't know about this.

Shit, this is getting more and more complicated. I believe that finding Master's killers first is our main priority… but…

…if these fucks tortured Öthe…

I'll burn their fucking organization to the ground.