Reborn As a Pirate - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Ice-toothed Sabretooth Fish!
Time always seems to vanish in the blink of an eye during training sessions.

Ryan, deeply engrossed in mastering the enigmatic [Storm Sword Skill – Breaking Waves], was jolted back to reality by the sudden rocking of the ship and the alarmed cries piercing through the hull. The salty sting of sweat clung to his brow as he seized a hefty wooden stick, hastily making for the deck without pausing to change his drenched clothes.

Could the Stalker be upon them?

As he stepped out, the crisp, cool air of the sea washed over him, and the horizon melded sea and sky under the soft hues of the approaching dusk. Ryan’s eyes darted across the deck, finding no signs of an enemy vessel. His pulse quickened as he grabbed a nearby pirate, his urgency palpable. “What’s happened?”

The pirate’s face was a canvas of shock and dread. “Sir, Mr. Ryan, it’s a sea monster!”

“Sea monster?” Ryan’s brow furrowed slightly.

Ryan recalled when he first heard the term during his training on the “Night Watch Path.” As implied, a sea monster was a formidable creature inhabiting the depths, with powers ranging from menacing to monstrous. Even the weakest among them possessed a spiritual aura that made them a challenge for the untrained.

It was rare for sea monsters to assault large vessels, as these beasts were scarce and usually reclusive. A pirate ship, typically lacking specialists, would often pay a steep price to fend off such threats.

Wasting no further time on questions, Ryan surged towards the ship’s railing, scanning the waters intently.

It didn’t take long for him to spot the “sea monster.” Partially concealed beneath the waves, a sinuous, sharp dorsal fin sliced through the water. The creature was nimble and swift, circling the [Black Rose] before it picked up speed and charged directly at the ship.

As the beast burst from the water, Ryan got his first clear view of the formidable creature. It was a massive entity, roughly seven or eight meters in length, with a robust body shaded in blue-purple that shimmered against the water. Its head was large, dominated by a sword-like snout that comprised a third of its body length. The tail was stout, ending in a broad crescent-shaped fin, and as it swam, it resembled a bolt of lightning streaking through the sea.

The creature’s pointed snout glinted with a chilling, metallic luster as it cut through the waves, akin to a swordfish, yet uniquely terrifying in its formidable presence.

Ryan’s face was a mask of urgency and determination.

He knew all too well the danger the sea monster posed, if it breached the ship’s hull, they would face catastrophic flooding. Out here on the vast ocean, a sinking ship meant certain death for everyone on board.

The sea monster, resembling a ferocious swordfish, darted through the water with such velocity that Ryan found himself unable to react swiftly enough to intercept it. As the beast lunged towards the ship’s underbelly, ready to strike a fatal blow, a sudden light blue barrier materialized in its path.

With a sharp, resonant “Pang!” the impact echoed across the deck, causing the pirates to flinch in empathetic pain, reminiscent of the jarring stings of childhood collisions.

The barrier shattered, and the sea monster, repelled and seemingly in agony, retreated swiftly into the ocean’s depths, disappearing from sight.

Ryan’s gaze snapped towards Freni and Cecilia, who had quietly taken positions at the deck’s edge. Freni’s witch hat, a striking blend of white and blue, fluttered in the sea breeze, her eyes shimmering with a light blue glow that matched the faint luminescence under her eyes.

Ryan rushed over to Freni, urgency threading his voice, “Lady Freni, was that your doing?”

“First-order sea monster, an ice-tooth saberfish,” Freni replied, her tone laced with a somber gravity. “A notoriously vengeful creature.”

“It moves incredibly fast in water, faster than our ship could ever hope to escape. But it’s unusual for an ice-tooth saberfish to initiate an attack on a large vessel…”

“Could it have been provoked?” Ryan pondered aloud.

Freni shook her head, choosing not to speculate further as the sharp dorsal fin of the ice-tooth saberfish once again sliced through the water’s surface.

“We must deal with this immediately,” Freni declared firmly.

“Both of you specialize in close combat, which isn’t ideal for engaging this type of enemy. Leave this to me. I need you to focus on defense and support.”

With those words, Freni’s form blurred and morphed into a pool of dark blue liquid that vanished from the deck. Moments later, she reemerged standing on the ocean next to the Black Rose. Beneath her, a surge of light blue energy mingled with the seawater, creating a platform that held her aloft, highlighting her delicate figure against the vast sea, ensuring she did not sink.

Ryan watched Freni’s back with a mixture of awe and uncertainty in his eyes.

Since returning from his travels, where his avatar had capably assumed his duties, Ryan’s own combat prowess had markedly improved. However, the gray-font notification that appeared whenever he encountered Freni and Cecilia still starkly warned: “This person’s strength far exceeds yours. Avoid engagement at all costs.”

This revelation was startling.

Though merely first-level professionals like himself, his spiritual strength, enhanced by his talent [Soul of Another World], matched that of any standard [first-level pirate]. Yet, the system still classified them as “invincible” in comparison to him, a designation far more daunting than the “heavy pressure” exerted by the dragon-headed Cancer.

This realization underscored a disturbing fact: Freni and Cecilia possessed capabilities surpassing those of formidable foes like the Dragon-headed Cancer, stirring a mix of discomfort and curiosity within Ryan. How could two first-level practitioners diverge so vastly in strength?

As Freni later shared some general and exclusive secret techniques, Ryan began to grasp the extent of their specialized skills, tailored to amplify their combat effectiveness far beyond peers of their level.

Thus, Ryan harbored strong confidence in Freni’s abilities. Even against a first-order sea monster leveraging its natural habitat, the odds were squarely in her favor.

His concern momentarily shifted to the structural integrity of the ship, particularly the section targeted by the ice-toothed saberfish. “Let’s check the lower cabin for any damage,” he instructed, summoning a few pirates before his gaze returned to Freni.

Time ticked by, and the ice-toothed saberfish, previously repelled, gathered its resolve for another assault. It circled briefly before launching a ferocious sprint towards Freni, who stood poised on the sea.

As the monstrous fish closed within ten meters, Freni effortlessly raised her hand, making a grasping motion in the air. In an instant, a massive hand formed from the faint blue liquid surged from beneath, clamping around the seven or eight-meter-long beast and wrenching it from the water.

Ryan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Was this a technique typical of a [First-order Scholar]? It seemed unlikely. More probably, it was some kind of exclusive secret technique, or perhaps a unique power of the “Sea Witch.”

With a single, swift move, Freni had subdued the ice-toothed saberfish. Her display of power was not just impressive, it was overwhelming against the first-order sea monster.

No wonder the system’s prompts had always declared him “invincible” in the face of Freni’s strength.

Just as Ryan was about to let out a breath of relief, his eyes suddenly narrowed in alarm.

The water behind Freni erupted violently as two more ice-toothed saberfish breached the surface. Concealed in the deeper waters, they seized the moment of distraction to launch a bold assault.

“Not good!” Ryan’s heart clenched in dread.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a blur of movement.

“Ding——!”

In an instant, Cecilia materialized behind Freni, positioning herself between the attacking saberfish and Freni.

“What a close call!” Ryan exhaled deeply, his realization of the vast chasm in skills between himself and the two women becoming painfully clear.

He hadn’t even fully registered how Cecilia had darted to Freni’s side with such astounding speed. If she had been an adversary, Ryan knew he would stand no chance.

“Boom!”

The [Black Rose] shuddered violently beneath them.

Ryan’s gaze whipped around as his pupils contracted in shock. The sharp prow of an ice-toothed saberfish had pierced deep into the ship’s hull.

The fourth ice-toothed sabertooth!

It had cunningly exploited the chaos of the initial attack to strike at the [Black Rose].

“Damn it!” Ryan’s face twisted in fury and panic. The breach in the hull was already letting water flood in, and if the saberfish continued its assault, enlarging the breach, the ship and all aboard were doomed.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ryan leaped from the deck, his hands tightly gripping the large wooden stick, and he brought it crashing down on the head of the ice-toothed saberfish with all his might.