It’s been about two weeks since the captain let me onto his ship. During that time I’ve become acquainted with the leading crew members and have gotten used to the way this crew works.

The crew totals to around 200 members, with about 120 having been members for at least a year. The crew is run by the “Big 3”, each having the most experience and longest membership among our members. They are in charge of managing and maintaining the various affairs of the Maelstrom and its crew.

There’s Michael, the “Old Bull”, the captain of the Maelstrom and its crew.He’s seen his fair share of hardships and strife and in exchange, he’s developed a calm and collected demeanor, using his past experiences to help him push forward, earning him the respect and loyalty of his men.

Then there’s Drac, the “Devil’s Taskmaster”. Michael’s second in command and the Maelstrom’s Quartermaster. Cold and hostile to even those within the crew, he’s been nicknamed the “Devil’s Taskmaster”.

Finally there’s Holms, the “Money Man”. Holms is the Maelstrom’s boatswain. Holms maintains the crews equipment and supplies. In addition, he’s also in charge of the crew’s funds. He can be pretty stingy when it comes to money related matters, but he’s not heartless. If a fellow crewmate needs the money due to family or health related problems, he’ll be willing to fork over a few extra dollars from his own pocket.

In addition to the “Big 3”, the crews hierarchy looks something like this:

“Big 3”- The leaders of the crew

Staff members- These are the members of the crew that hold jobs that are necessary for the crew to function. This would include the cooks, navigators, and doctors. There are around 5 designated cooks, 2 navigators, and 2 doctors.

10-man officers- As a way to relieve some of the pressure off of the Big 3, these officers are placed in charge of 10 members of the crew each. They are responsible for the actions of these 10 crew members and assign roles each week in terms of what jobs need to be completed. In total there are 20 members of the crew that hold this rank.

Regular crew members- This would be the 168 remaining members of the crew. We are ranked at the bottom in terms of our influence.

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The crew itself is listed as a “jack of all trades”. We take on various types of jobs at various levels of difficulty. This, in part, is the reason behind the large number of crew members. By having a large roster of members with various different skills, we are able to accept a wide range of different jobs.

Now, in terms of pay, the crew goes by one rule: You don’t work, you don’t get paid. You’ll only be paid if you take part in the various jobs that are offered, and Holms will distribute the pay later based on how much you contribute to the mission.

This has left me in a rather complicated situation. Who needs a theif on a ship? Although I do have various..... unique skills, we have yet to find any job that would need a “thief”. To solve this, I decided to broaden my skillset. I’ve been going around the to various other crew members - cooks, blacksmiths, doctors etc. - and asking them if they would be willing to teach me a few techniques.

Within this last week, I’ve learnt some blacksmithing, general medical care, as well some basic combat techniques. Each of these skills will eventually aid in me getting a better position on board the Maelstrom.

My relationship with many of the other crew members, however, isn’t that great. Everyone’s got some beef against me because of the way I entered the crew, especially the other new recruits. I’m known as the one weakling that begged his way onto the crew. I can accept being called a weakling. Honestly if it wasn’t for the captain, I wouldn’t even be here, so I can understand their sentiment.

Today we docked at the port of Xylphas, a commercial trading hub for crews that specialize in various fields. I disembarked with the rest of the crew and followed them to our destination, where we would be able to pick up jobs. The city of Xylphas was like one giant market. The streets were filled with prospective customers looking for good bargains from the thousands of shops lined the streets. Even so, we managed to pass through relatively easily. This was more or less due to the captain, as soon as people saw him they made a path. The captain was a well-renown sailor who’s legend has been built up by both rumors and truths. In this city where most of the population hold seafaring jobs, he could be considered the equivalent to royalty.

We soon arrived at our destination, the town hall. All prospective jobs are posted on a bulleting boards that line the perimeter of the building. I skimmed through dozens of job flyers, searching for one that I could complete with the skills that I had recently acquired. I was planning to take an easy job for myself to see where my level was at. While I continued to look through the various flyers, a hand suddenly grasped my shoulders.

A deep, rough voice asked, “Hey rookie, what do you think you’re doing?”

I turned my head to see who had grabbed my shoulders and saw a familiar face. The man was Van Drake, the 10-man officer who was in charge of several new recruits, including myself.

“Hm? I’m looking for a job, is there a problem officer?” I asked.

Van Drake questioned me with a puzzled look. “Eh? What do you mean looking for jobs? Don’t you know that the first job rookies take is with their squad?”

He waited for a few seconds, and after seeing that I still had the same confused expression on my face, he sighed, saying, “So you really don’t know? As a method to make sure that rookies are safe during the first few jobs they undertake, we make them take on a single job as a group. It’s pointless for you to be looking for solo jobs right now.”

After he finished speaking, I finally grasped the situation and asked, “Ah, I see, but then, what job will we be taking?”

“The job? It’s not that hard of a job. We just need to travel to the one of the nearby towns and bring back various medical supplies that they produce there. We’ll be using one of the Maelstrom’s skiffs to get there and transport the goods back,” Van Drake said.

With my questions answered, I continued to silently follow along my 10-man officer. Van Drake was one of the few lower ranked crew members who didn’t have that many problems with me, and so I tried to not get on his bad side. Little did I know, however, that this job would prove to be more dangerous than I initially expected.