Job: [Ship Captain]

Level: Level 19

Job Skills: 2

Ship Size: Frigate

Primary Jobs Available: 8

Support Jobs Available:5

Maximum Job Capacity: 22

Primary Jobs

[First Mate] level 13: Irmgard Von Braun level 15 [Sword Officer]

[Quartermaster] level 17: Cillian Wallace level 22 [Merchant]

[Security Chief] level 10: Boriss Smirnov level 20 [Skirmisher]

[Chief Carpenter] level 14: Emma level 31 [Rune Smith]

[Head Chef]: N/A

[Chief Physician] level 7: Nepenthes level 21 [Druid]

[Artillery Chief]: N/A

[Navigator]: N/A

Support Jobs

[Boatswain] level 2: Auranta level 39 [Air Mage][Gunner]: [Cook]:

[Carpenter]:

[Rigger]:

[Physician Assistant]:

“Two levels on both Boriss and Irmgard. That’s not bad, especially Boriss. He should get a new skill.” I rub the side of my neck as I talk aloud. “Hopefully it’s something good. He’ll need it if he’s to win the whole tournament. Then again, most of his competition is young and inexperienced on account of his level being too low- so he has that going for him.”

I glance at Red’s floating eyeball of a body. “Anyway, want to explain to me how I got a level in my [Captain] class?”

“That information is restricted.”

I sigh. “Yea, I thought so. Let's just end this meeting for now. Morning should be just upon me.”

With the white world disappearing, the real world comes into existence as I awaken. I yawn and then wiggle outside of Julias grasp. The woman, to my surprise, continues to sleep deeply, completely unbothered by the loss of her fluffy pillow.

Yawning and stretching my body, I leave the young woman who’d offered me her room to sleep and exit into the hallways. Then I make my way to another room. I open the door, walk down the room and hop up to the cat-sized opening.

The bed shifts as a naked woman leans up with sleep-crusted eyes. She blinks at me.

“What?”

I wave a paw towards the woman. “Go back to sleep, Faelisa. Nothing to see here.”

I exit through the opening and hear the rapid rustle of bedsheets. With a grin, I rush down the estate and make my way to Gino.

My arrival is met with the kid already awake and eating stew. So focused on his thoughts and eating, that he doesn’t notice me get on his table.

“Gino, are you ready for your next match!” I yell, completely starling him.

“Quasi!”

“Yes, that’s indeed my name. Now, are you ready?”

“Y-yeah.”

“What’s wrong? Feeling nervous? Thoughtful?”

“Kinda confident.” He answers.

“That will get you killed.” I say.

“Not about the tournament,” he corrects. “I made good money from betting with the coin you gave me. I’m more confident now about having enough to buy my sister.”

“Well, you better. She’s a very nice and odd young lady. I’d prefer to see her with a better future than a [Slave] with extra steps.”

“Yeah. “ He answers, then blinks. “You’ve met my sister?”

“Not just met her, I slept with her too.” I hop off the table.

“What!” he yells with eyes wide.

I give the man a grin. “Eat fast and I’ll tell you on the way to the tournament.”

________________________________________________________

Though the idea that he has a bounty on his head is disturbing, that bounty can’t easily be claimed on the second day of the tournament. Once again he strips down to near nothing, but grabs the dagger he’d obtained from the last round. Then he moves to where all the other [Gladiators] are huddled against.

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[Gladiators], a job taken by those who fight in the ring, isn’t necessarily a useful job to have in winning combat. Instead, the job generally offers skills in regards to survival. Skills like Slowed Bleeding and Calmed Mind make it more likely that a [Gladiator] will survive instead of die outright. Currently, Gino woke up yesterday with the [Gladiator] job. And as of today, that job has risen to level four. Not enough to be useful, but he hopes that at level ten, he’ll obtain a skill to help him survive.

Once he arrives, he finds that the [Gladiators] are huddled around a chalkboard. Reading it, he finds that the teams of five have already been chosen and the names posted. As he reads through the names, he can’t help but smile when he finds his own right next to Boriss. Glancing around, he finds Boriss sitting on a bench in the corner with three other men.

The three men seem to be around his age, maybe a bit older. Two of them have a muscular build while the third is covered in lean muscle and carries a spear. The other two wield a Greatsword and a Greataxe respectively.

As he approaches, Boriss notices and grins. “Gino, you are now comrade vith me, yes?”

“Comrade?” he frowns.

“That’s his word for allie or teammate.” The lean [Gladiator] explains. He then extends his hand with a smile. “Names Michael, [Spearman]. Nice to meet someone who doesn’t look like he’s all about smashing things with a big weapon.”

“Uh, yea.” Gino accepts the handshake. “Gino, [Rogue].”

“Smashing things is fun, Micheal. Maybe you’d enjoy it more if you didn’t dance around all the time with your pointy stick,” The guy with the greataxe taunts and extends his own hand.

“Names Agris, [Barbarian]. It’s odd seeing a [Rogue] as a [Gladiator], but I don’t mind.”

“Well I do. A [Rogue] is just going to slow us down in this match. I doubt he can kill beasts with that toothpick.”

Micheal sighs. “And that’s Baldric. He’s a [Warrior] with a constant dick up his ass.”

“How about you go shove that spear up your ass,” Baldric growls.

Micheal chuckles. “See what I mean.”

“You three seem to know each other,” Gino says.

“Cause we do. We’re all contracted [Gladiators] to Gladius. We’ve trained and battled with each other before.”

Gino frowns. “And you’re all part of the same team? That doesn’t seem random.”

“It’s never random,” Baldric interrupts. “The royals just tell everyone that it is so that people think it’s fair and spend more money.”

Micheal frowns. “It’s not always like that.”

“Yes it fucking is and you know it. This whole team is so that Boriss and Gino don’t accidentally get killed this round.”

“The Royals want me alive?” Gino asks.

“[Rogues] are rare and Boriss is already a fan favorite. They probably saw how Boriss saved your life with that pike throw and then later threw a dagger at your feet- so they put you both together and are making us three babysit,” Baldric explains.

“Ha, big Russian baby,” Boriss chuckles while everyone else gives the man an odd look.

“Vhat? Is joke, yes?”

The four stare long at Boriss who grows more and more confused.

Thankfully, before Boriss attempts to explain, a ringing bell attracts everyone's attention.

Micheal sighs. “Looks like it’s time to find out what's on the menu today.”

Micheal, Baldric, and Agris start heading towards the sound. Boriss and Gino share a look.

Then they follow the three.

_____________________________________________________________

The stadium is once again packed and just as loud as the previous day. Though this time, Myers and Clay are both present. The child looks eager and happy while Myers wears an annoyed grimace. He’d not want to have clay see bloodshed, but Quasi does have a point that life is cruel and it’s better to realize that in a controlled environment.

From an elevated stand at the side of the arena arrives a man wearing a toga. As he arrives, the crowds begin to calm down and wait for his words. When he arrives, the man, an [Announcer] looks at all those present.

“Welcome back to the second game of the tournament. For this second round, we have divided our fifty members into ten teams of five. Each team will be tested against the greatest and most dangerous beasts we can provide. It will take courage, skill, and possibly a bit of luck to survive this challenge.”

The [Announcer] points to the battlefield below, which has been significantly restructured. Instead of weapons, numerous pieces of armor are strewn across the arena at the corners of the coliseum except for a single location. Like the weapons, they do seem to have a quality to them.

“For this challenge, the teams will be on a time limit to obtain armor for themselves. Armor of a quality proportional to the dangers present.”

The [Announcer] clicks his fingers and numerous gates open throughout the arena. From these gates, monstrous chained beasts exit either in great numbers or in smaller, but larger form.

“We have monstrous wolves, armored salamanders, vicious lions, deadly griffins, Lethal Chimeras, enormous basilisk, and even a royal wyvern.”

The crowd goes wild when the monsters enter, screaming with the bloodlust that many of these beasts feel not only for the crowd, but for one-another. The only thing keeping them from killing each other are the chains that bind them to a location at an arena corner. It is also at those locations where the armor is located- with the best pieces located near the basilisk.

“The team will need to distract or defeat these beasts to obtain the armors they protect. What beast you fight- if any- is completely up to you. Just know,” The man grins towards the audience. “Some of those armors are runed.”

His last words have the crowd cheering even louder. Even Gond, who’d joined Quasi today, leans forward in interest. “That’s not normal.” He says.

“What’s not? The Runes?”

“Yeah.” He nods. “Generally, these tournaments avoid runed equipment because it can give an edge to a weaker fighter to beat a superior one. It makes it so individual talent alone won’t fully carry you through the fight. I hope the runes aren't too strong.”

“The audience seems to like it.” I comment.

“They like it because it’s new, but it may not be a good fit for the long-term health of these tournaments.”

“I can understand that.” Quasi nods. “But, I imagine those runed armor pieces are going to be located by more dangerous threats like the Basilisk or the Wyvern- though that wyvern seems pretty beaten up. I mean, it’s missing a piece of its wing and it looks kinda old.”

Gond chuckles. “That wyvern is Hellion, an old fart considering he’s been around forever and still lives. He’s old and injured, but I’ll bet you my life that he’s the most dangerous beast there. At his prime, those chains wouldn’t have any chance of holding him, especially so if his breath still worked. He’d melt through the chains and slaughter the rest of the beasts.”

“Fuck. Well, Boriss will probably try to fight that.”

“He’ll be dead.”

“I doubt it, but we’ll see. He just got a neat new skill.”

“Unless it’s an activatable one, I doubt it will help.”

“We’ll see about that,” I say and return my attention to the arena.