Chapter 197 Pirates

"Did you guys find any connection between the temples?" Aion asked. "Do they have anything in common for them to be in those weird locations? There must be some sort of connection between them... did you explain that? I don't remember."

"Yes, but to be honest, the underwater temple is quite weird," Sauros said. "The temples need to be in areas of high concentration of mana for the barrier to keep working non-stop. However, that isn't the case there… the barrier is quite small… probably because reaching it is almost impossible."

"So, we will need to stop at some places to gather some tools that will help?" Aion asked.

"That is right. Even if it is hard, people try to clear the dungeon now and then," Sauros replied. "Everyone needs certain tools for that to be possible. Things might be different considering your magic, though. Still, it is better to be safe than sorry."

Aion couldn't agree more. Since that was a field that he had never tested before, he couldn't be reckless and play it by ear… it was better to see how people usually try to clear the dungeon and then come up with his own ideas. Even though the ideas of others failed for who knows how long…

"What about those places that we are going to visit?" Aion asked.

"They aren't half bad. Since the population has to deal with pirates and monsters from the sea pretty often, they don't have time to wage war against each other," Sauros replied. "That being said, hiding our appearances is a given. We don't want rumors spreading around and people tracking our moves."

Aion wondered how he should fight underwater. Magic was probably the best option. Attacking with ice and earth projectiles might do the trick if they have enough piercing power. Still, to be able to do that, Aion will need a magic class where his resilience is stupidly low.

From that day onward, Aion noticed Sauros and Seris training a lot… it wasn't like they should fight at close range against underwater monsters. That would be close to suicide, after all. Some magic items will probably come in handy. Even without magic, other people could fight in the ocean…

Just to be safe, Aion decided to keep training in the Sniper class. If he uses his skill well, he might be able to use a bow even underwater and get rid of the limitations that a magic class would give him underwater. Thanks to that, one of the days that he was practicing… Aion found something in the distance approaching, and he eventually confirmed that it was another ship.

"Hey, there is a ship coming toward us," Aion said to the siblings that were training nearby.

"... You have good eyes, I can barely see them, but it seems you are right," Sauros said.

"Did they notice us a while ago and decide to attack us now?" Seris asked.

"I don't think so, we are moving at full speed, and we have magic tools that help our speed… Only a handful of ships can follow us," Sauros said, and they aren't supposed to be in the hands of pirates, but in this route…"

"What if they developed better ships or if they bought or stole them?" Aion asked.

"Pirates don't produce or raise anything, and they only pillage and destroy…" Sauros said. "The chances are small, but if they stole a ship just as when it was finished, I guess it would explain a lot…"

"Men! Prepare to engage in battle!" Seris shouted.

It seemed that those didn't even want to try to escape… they probably had some history with pirates. It seemed like a waste since they couldn't take any ship anywhere. However, the pirates probably had a few things, and they also could dismantle and get the parts that they wanted…

Aion jumped to one of the sails and looked at the enemy ship, trying to find a flag with a skull in it… as expected, they weren't dumb enough to do that, or maybe that kind of thing wasn't normal in that world.

"Are we going to get prisoners?" Aion asked.

"We don't have enough room for them, and we can't exactly stop on the ports with this ship," Sauros replied.

"I guess so…" Aion said while nocking an arrow on his bow.

Hopefully, Aion will be able to use the ship as materials for his weapons… while it would make him look even more suspicious to make such a thing disappear, it was high time for him to stop caring about that.

It didn't take long for Aion to finally see the enemies. He also found some of them with bows, and that saved him from the hassle of looking for targets… when they entered his range, Aion began to fire. The captains of both ships had the balls to keep moving toward each other. The impact was going to be quite insane… while Aion was firing the arrows, he wondered if their ship wouldn't get too damaged and then make them move slower…

You obtained 250 experience points.

You obtained 1500 coins.

You obtained 250 experience points.

You obtained 1500 coins.

…

As expected of pirates… they were filled with coins. In any case, before Aion could target his fourth archer, the ships collided, and he had a hard time preventing himself from falling. In any case, the sound of the armor layer of both ships colliding had been quite intense, but Aion didn't hear the sound of wood cracking.

Once the ships stabilized, the pirates began to jump over. In that world, jumping over a distance of twenty meters was easy, after all. Still, before they could land on their ship, Aion your Arrows on the heads of three other enemies.

"Aion, we can't lose a single member of our crew," Sauros decided.

"You are telling that to the wrong person. I am not everybody's bodyguard," Aion said. "Still, holding isn't my style when facing low lives…"