Hat? I looked closely and found that all pirates wore one or another hat. Whale Throat and other pirates from the surface had an element of red color on their hat. But the two pirates guarding the entrance to the cave had rainbow colored ribbons on their cocked hats. Well, killing of gays is a God-pleasing business. Now it's obvious to me which side I should be on. After all, as a novice pirate, I should aim to kill the rich ones. Because only their fat bodies contain enough gold and other valuables.
Having decided on existential questions, I began to consider my two opponents. Both of them had level 4 and had around 250 health points. Judging by their appearance, they were wearing only “rags" of armor, so the protection should be minimal. One pirate carried a heavy broadsword, while the other was armed with a sword and pistol.
As I got closer, I started looking at the options of the future where I attacked these two opponents. First, it immediately became clear that they are in a group, and when one of them has been attacked, the second immediately goes to his aid. Second, opponents usually used skills related to weapon attacks. From "magic” they used only control spells. Because of my resistance, these spells only worked with 40-50% chance, plus the control time was minimal. To kill an opponent, I just had to deliver 4-5 strikes, which took less than two seconds. During this time, the pirates only managed to swing their swords once or twice. I could easily avoid these attacks. After all, I could foresee them. In addition, it was difficult to block my attacks, because I did not hit the torso or head, but their legs. The spear, in general, is very good for such blows, despite the fact that it is very difficult to protect against them.
After replaying several options of future, I rushed forward and attacked the "rainbow" pirates. Firstly, I killed the one with gun. I parried his sword attack, and then at the last moment I dodged the shot at point-blank range. I went into the attack so that the second pirate was separated from me by his partner, and while he was avoiding the obstacle, I already finished off one pirate and took up the second.
After four seconds, I came out of the future predicting trance and ‘looted’ the corpses lying on the ground. Surprisingly, 24 copper coins found from one pirate, and 51 from the second. Only during one fight I returned all my ‘transport’ expenses and even earned a little more. With a burst of enthusiasm, I ran into the caves, looking for the next victim. Another couple of pirates were found around the nearest corner. At the same time, they were already ‘red’, so they attacked me as soon as I came around the corner. But it didn't come as a surprise to me, so I only spent five seconds for this couple.
Alas, my further path was not as profitable as in the beginning. The pirates acted according to the legend, that is, they actively hid and even ran away as soon as they heard the sound of my footsteps. But as soon as I got close to them, they would rush at me, trying to chop me up. I had to perform miracles of quirkiness to avoid all their attacks. After all, even one hit of pirate would damage about 70 points of life. So, their two attack would guarantee to send me to rebirth. And the gunshots, that some of the pirates were armed, would kill me with one hit. Due to the difference in levels and the special skill of Snipers, a hit from a gun always would cause critical damage.
On average, 40 copper coins fell from each pirate. They met me in groups of two, sometimes three. I had to go around groups where there were two Snipers. These bastards acted in unison, so that as soon as I dodge the first shot, I would hit by a bullet from the second. And they could easily catch me right in the middle of the evasion movement, when I couldn't influence my actions. Movements without use of evasion skills were too slow to be able to evade at all. In the end, they shot at me almost at point-blank range. In addition to money, the pirates occasionally dropped weapons. It was ‘white’ and ‘green’, but in fact it was just garbage due to the lack of slots for talismans.
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My wanderings through the caves were unsystematic. There was a real three-dimensional maze, which was difficult to understand, even with a map. So, I just wandered in random directions, trying not to go in circles. Pirates usually ‘reborn’ only after an hour, so that I couldn’t ‘non-stop’ farm. The network of caves was simply huge, so if you went from one end to other, the pirates met quite steadily. And if I got stuck in some part of the maze, I had to get out of there to find the next target.
The caves were multi-tiered, from half-submerged ‘wormholes’ below, to decently decorated ‘Royal chambers’ above. After climbing into the ‘civilized’ part of the cave, I suddenly came across to another player. This was a level 4 Wizard named Dramg the Magnificent. I saw him in one of the lines of the future and immediately turned to meet him, but stopped around the corner, just looking out a little to see what he is doing. Meantime Drag used a simple and even primitive strategy, which could only be used by Earth mages.
On the level 2, the Magician receives a Paralysis spell, which will cast for two seconds, and then stun the enemy into a state of ‘loss of consciousness’ for 10 seconds. Dealing damage to this enemy could interrupt control, so this spell is usually used to “freeze” one enemy and to kill their allies in the meantime. At the level 4, a Magician could change their profession and become a Healer or Wizard. The Earth Element wizard was able to cast the Stone Projectile spell, which will cast for three seconds and could easily be interrupted. Plus, the target had to be inside a 90-degree sector all the time. But when the spell worked, a huge boulder flew at the enemy, causing 400 points of damage.
The Wizard which I met started his attack from a maximum distance of 20 meters using a Stone projectile. Considering that the pirates had an average of 250 health, the fate of the first target was obvious - he was literally smeared on the wall. After this crushing blow, the second pirate rushed to the Wizard, but the magician used Paralysis spell, spending only one second for casting. After the victim froze, the magician waited for the Stone Projectile’s cooldown and used it again.
If Dramg would require 2 seconds to cast Paralysis spell, the second pirate would have had time to run 10 meters distance and use one of his spells, which would interrupt Dramg’s channeling spell. After all, this Wizard probably had zero points invested in Resistance, so his spells will be interrupted by any push. Casting speed of the spell would be increased using an additional modifier spell, which was inserted into the second crystal of the talisman. Moreover, at level 4 this spell could be obtained only by knocking out a special crystal in which this spell already has. Such "magic crystals" were one of the most valuable things in the game, because that's how you could use the strongest spells that no player could learn.
It turned out that the individual in front of me in two days was able to knock out a very rare crystal, take the level 4, and then get to this “farming” place, where I got almost by accident. I decided that such comrade is worth to better acquaint. However, there was one problem. If he could use paralysis spell on me, it would actually mean my death. So, I had to appear next to him almost “nose to nose” to be able to get out of the attack zone and chop this Wizard into cabbage. Considering my level 1, this task was not trivial. So, I planned to actively witness the future and run away before the wizard would decide to attack me.
“Hi.” - I greeted the wizard as I emerged from the passageway.
“Uh-uh... hi.” – He slightly confused. - "What are you doing here?"
“Beating the pirates.” - I admitted.
"On the first level?" - He didn't believe to me.
"What is wrong? It is easy.”
“Easy? I see, you are not simple.”
“You too.”
“Ha-ha. Exactly. My name is Dramg.”
“Cheater.” - I introduced myself.
“Where do you mainly beat pirates?” - There was a hint of jealousy in the wizard's voice.
“Below. I came here by accident.”
"I'm on upstairs." - He sighed. – “Only here the passages are long enough.”
After hearing his speech, I realized that this Wizard is really limited in the use of his strategy. I preferred the lower levels of the caves, because all passages there were short and confused. This allowed me to suddenly pop up right in front of the victims' noses, preventing them from using ranged attacks. On the contrary, Dramg had to launch an attack at a distance of at least 18 meters, so that the enemy did not have time to approach.
"Can you show me how you kill pirates?" - He asked me.
“No. This is a trade secret.” - I refused.