Roseus sat on the deck, surrounded by the many members of his crew. At their centre was a lantern that fought back the darkness of the cave, lighting up all of their faces.

In total, there were eleven of them. Roseus had learned all of their first names.

Kruger. Twenty-seven-year-old man. Weathered and ugly. Ex-navy sailor who met Roseus in a tavern.

Petyr. Feminine-looking man. Purple hair. Great fencer who chose the pirate life.

Silius. Wise man. Navigator of the crew. Wears glasses atop a stern face.

Jackson. A young man that always smiles. Master of the sails and carpentry. Known Dawn since childhood.

Lucas. Fourteen-year-old boy, and youngest of the crew. Tall, but missing his left hand. Orphan who chose the pirate life.

Adriana. An eighteen-year-old girl with short black hair and a talent with guns. Friend of Roseus for years.

Lyna. An ex-government nurse with dreams of sailing the seas.

Pip. A small, acrobatic fifteen-year-old girl with the ability to climb anything. Friend of Lucas One-Hand.

Lavender. A devout purple-haired believer of the five orthodox gods of the Halo Empire. Lyna’s younger sister.

Then, of course, you had Dawn, daughter of the great pirate Stellar. An all-round useful crew member, and first mate to the captain.

And finally, Roseus, captain of the ship, despite arguing against it.

...

"Before we set sail, there are a few things we have to discuss," Roseus spoke, removing his sword from his waist and tossing it down on the floor next to his pirate hat.

Everyone stared at it carefully.

"Take turns holding the sword," he then said.

Everybody did as he asked. One by one, they lifted the sword, and each person that did was met with great surprise.

Most of the crew members had never seen a Treasure before, as they were only found at sea, possessed by the government, or sold in illegal organisations.

The only people who were familiar with Treasures were Kruger, who had once sailed the First Ocean on a navy ship, and Lavender, the devout believer.

Eventually, the sword ended up in its sheath.

"As you all know, my father, Captain Redeye, set sail a decade ago today. He was a good man, and the reason I’m here today is so I can follow in his footsteps."

"Aye," a few members of the crew grunted, showing their agreement.

"But honestly, if not for what happened to me today, I would have stayed home. My father sent me a message through some sort of magical method. Says that I should conquer the seas and the gods."

Everybody’s brows rose.

"Like the prophecy," Dawn said, mind full of thoughts.

"Like the prophecy," Roseus repeated as he lifted his hat. "That message included these treasures, most important being this set of clothes. If I wear the entire set, I’m shown the route that my father travelled way back then."

Roseus looked over at Silius, the navigator. His face remained stern as he adjusted his glasses.

"It’s certainly helpful," Silius said. "I can help us navigate the tide and adapt to the weather, but finding the nearest islands would be much harder. However, there are a few problems with this."

Everyone sat and listened as the wise man spoke.

"First, we must take into account that the Redeye Pirates set sail many years ago. The navy patrol routes are not the same, and neither are the monsters of the sea. Even if your father’s route was perfect, we could follow it exactly and still end up shipwrecked."

Roseus shifted in his seat slightly. He didn’t like the thought of being shipwrecked and being left as food for the monsters of the sea.

"And our second problem is our strength. Whilst Dawn has done a good job stocking up the ship with ammunition and weaponry, we lack one thing that made the Redeye Pirates so successful."

"We have not awakened," Roseus finished for him.

Silius nodded, letting him know that he was right. "That is our largest problem. The majority of us have never even been to the seas, let alone stayed there long enough to be blessed with the powers of the sea."

Suddenly, a crew member cleared their throat, drawing attention to themselves.

It was Kruger, the ex-navy. The man had messy black hair, a stubbly beard, and a thick, muscular build. His face was hard and mottled with a few scars, though none were as severe as the scar that claimed Dawn’s left eye.

"I’ve awakened, and it ain’t difficult to do either. ’Tis why the empire is so keen on keeping us out of the waters. Wouldn’t want us gaining enough strength to start a revolution, y’know."

Roseus’s attention was piqued. From his guesses, Kruger was one of the most valuable members of the crew.

He leaned forwards in his seat and spoke, "Kruger, what can you tell us about the awakenings?"

The weathered man chuckled beneath his breath before speaking.

"Don’t need to tell you anything. I can just show you."

Everyone looked perplexed as the man suddenly placed two fingers on his temple and closed his eyes.

At first, Roseus wondered whether the man had gone crazy, as ten seconds passed without anything happening.

Then finally...

[AWAKENING STATUS — SHARED]

[Name: Kruger]

[Crew: None]

-SAILOR SYSTEM-

Overall Rank: Rookie (12%)

Navigation: Rank I

Ship Management: Rank I

Weather Sense: Rank I

Treasure Sense: Rank I

Ranged Combat: Rank II

Melee Combat: Rank I

Deck Agility: Rank I

SKILLS:

- Fast Hands (Lv.1) → Slightly faster reload & draw speed

- Piercing Shot (Lv.1) → Slightly increased shot penetration

SUPREME SYSTEM

Patron God: None

(No pact established)

EQUIPPED TREASURES

- None

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The extensive amount of information flowed into Roseus’s mind as though it were his own. From the looks of it, it seemed everybody was seeing the same thing too.

"What you’re seeing is what I saw after spending time at sea. As you know, the water itself gives us power. Being a shooter, I was soon gifted with skills that help me with guns."

As Kruger explained this, Roseus only became more desperate to set sail.

After reading the various possible skills, he started thinking about just how powerful he could become.

But there was something else lingering on his mind.

"What is the Supreme System?" he asked.

Kruger’s face lost some of its confidence. The man scratched at his beard for a few seconds before speaking.

"That... I was never a high enough rank in the navy to learn about. Rumours say that eventually, the sea gods reach out to ya. Says that you can make a pact with ’em to earn strength that outpowers the standard sailor."

The crew was quiet for a while as they considered the concept in their heads.

Then, Dawn sighed before speaking.

"Guess we will find out once we set sail, won’t we?"

~~~

BlessedPen: Check out the auxiliary Chapter for a more detailed explanation of the power system.