Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Wrath Scale Islands.
This was a large island connecting the south sea to the east sea. Because the desert route had been cut off by a powerful force, many traders had begun to turn to sea transportation. This was the territory of Ashrod, one of the three pirate kings. Although his forces were strong, his focus was not on the trade between the south coast and outer islands. Instead, it was on the cross-ocean trade between the eastern world and the western world. Although slavery, black market, and smuggling were lucrative trades, to this pirate king, more value was found in spice, silk and tea trading.
In this world, the weight of the spice would get you the weight of gold.
The continental shelf plate, which was divided by the desert area from the east to the west, had an amazing demand for these luxury goods. Because of the huge wealth gap of social classes, nobles often possessed huge wealth. The nobles had accumulated huge wealth from taxes, manors, trade, mines and so on. In terms of living needs, these nobles put a lot of money on these expensive luxuries because of their pursuit of enjoyment.
Among them, wizards were also a group who needed spices. They would use these special incense to help them meditate and improve their concentration, which in turn would help them understand more difficult and complex spells.
Soran was only a half-baked wizard. Gloria, a professional wizard, would always have incense on her person.
That was how Ashrod accumulated his wealth.
At that time, Ashrod who had some Naga Siren characteristics, but a human face, stood on a warship. He looked at a masked man in front of him, and asked, “what’s the news from the port Tylon?”
The masked man bowed his head slightly and answered, “the Throat Cutter had become famous, and all the pirates near the Shipwreck Bay have joined him. Because he killed Swamp King, his reputation seemed to have reached the west coast. Some time ago, he led a large number of pirates to the port Tylon and finally forced the priest there to come out to meet him personally. Now his reputation in port Tylon is incredible! ”
“I’m afraid he would soon replace the Swamp King as the new pirate king.”
After hearing that, Ashrod became worried. He looked at the sea as he thought about the matter.
The masked man hesitated then whispered, “Lord Ashrod! Shall we kill him now? Otherwise, if he becomes more and more powerful, he will bring trouble to us. ”
Ashrod shook his head and replied, “It’s not time yet.”
“Since he could kill the Swamp King head-on, he is probably not weak. Besides, he also has the protection of the sea goddess. To attack him head-on would mean provoking the goddess of the sea. The Naga Sirens still do not completely support me, so I do not have a strong backing yet. We can only wait and see what happens with the Naga Siren royalty. If they succeed, killing the Throat-Cutter would be easy! ”
The masked man nodded gently then suggested, “How about we send someone to assassinate him? If we let him be, he might disturb our plan.”
Assassinate?
Ashrod smiled and said slowly, “he is a Rogue who is close to legendary. There are not many people who can assassinate him on the whole south coast. He probably has some hidden powers, otherwise, he couldn’t have killed the Swamp King. ”
The masked man looked around, then leaned close and murmured, “I heard that there is a mysterious organization in the mainland, which was called “Everything is one”. There are many assassin masters in this group. As long as we can afford the price, we may be able to hire them. ”
Ashrod became silent after hearing this.
He was slightly unhappy because the price of hiring a legendary assassin was not small. However, he nodded after thinking for a moment, “send someone to contact them, if you can invite a legendary assassin, that would be the best, but remember not to disclose our identity. There is a lot of wealth brought back from Devil Island, which should be enough to feed those greedy guys. ”
The masked man nodded and said, “Yes, your honor, I’ll get to it.”
Ashrod smiled and let out a cruel expression, “If we could kill him, we’ll have one less problem.”
“Damn that priest!”
“If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have this problem.”
Port Tylon.
Soran and the Naga Siren priest walked side by side toward the Sea temple.
The people around him could not help but show a little awe and fear in their eyes. Everyone could tell that he forced the priest to bow her head—the crowd realized how powerful this person was!
Soran needed a reputation.
With a great reputation, it would be easier for him to open his trading routes to the outer islands.
“The fall of a pirate king [legendary battle]: December 1675, a new moon. Your rapid rise attracted the attention of the Swamp King. He intended to kill you first and sacrifice your blood to the ancient Abyss demon lord [Dagon]. But what people didn’t expect was that in the absence of reinforcements, you led pirates and Waresharks to kill the Swamp King. You have gained a great reputation in this battle; even the areas nearby had begun to spread your stories. [Legend Rating + 5] ”
This was the Legend Rating he got for killing the Swamp King.
However, this was not it. After Soran had forced the Naga Siren priest to give way, another notice relating to Legend Rating popped up.
“Compromise of the Sea priest [folklore]: December 1675, new moon. You took the power of victory and gathered your pirate army to port Tylon, forcing the chief priest of the Sea temple to compromise. The body and warship of the Swamp King had shocked the people on this island, and your reputation began to take root in this chaotic area. Furthermore, the Naga Siren priest welcomed you personally, which greatly improved your reputation. You will have more influence in the nearby areas. [Legend Rating + 2] ”
Sure enough, Soran’s decision was right. Battles were not the only way to acquire Legend Rating.
Forcing the priest to compromise had given him two points of Legend Rating—almost equal to the amount gained from a legendary battle.
Soran’s Legend Rating was now 21!
Don’t belittle the 21 points he had. He was able to gain so many pirates in such a short time because he had a high Legend Rating. His reputation had now spread all over the south coast. Even other cities along the coast knew of his rise, so there were many pirates paying homage to him. As a high-grade profession, it was not enough just to have strength.
Temple of the sea.
Soran and the Naga Siren priest went in while the others waited outside.
As soon as they entered, Soran glanced at the priest, then said in a deep voice, “Who is supporting Ashrod? I don’t believe a pirate king dares to disobey the order of the Sea temple! He can’t have no supporters behind him! ”
She replied, “he is the pirate king supported by the Naga Siren royal family. Because there is the support of a royal family behind him, I couldn’t command him.”
A Naga Siren royal family?
Soran frowned slightly and said suspiciously, “how could it be? Just the support of the Naga Siren royal family? How dare he disobey the orders of the Sea temple? Is he not afraid of the wrath of the sea goddess? ”
“Unless they are planning to…”
Soran seemed to have thought of something. A fuzzy memory appeared in his mind, which upset him.
These rascals!
Did they think that they could let that monster out because the sea goddess had gradually not been answering their prayers?
This was only the early stages of the Avatar Crisis.
Because the strength of the sea goddess had weakened, she had let go of some of the weaker believers and was only answering the more important prayers.
Did they think this is an opportunity to overturn the sea goddess?
There was a flash of surprise on the face of the priest. She didn’t think that Soran would know something so secret, because it was taboo and rarely mentioned in the sea temple. She looked at Soran and said in a deep voice, “we must find a way to kill him! You and I can kill this fool together! ”
Soran gently shook his head and replied, “It’s not time yet.”
“He is after all one of the pirate kings. If he has the backing of a royal family, we don’t stand a chance to win.”
“Unless you could utilize the divine powers of the sea goddess!”
The priest was silent.
The sea goddess had fallen into a deep sleep. If she could mobilize the divine power of the sea goddess, then there would be no need of Soran’s help; Ashrod would not have disobeyed her either.
The Avatar Crisis had begun to brew!
In the next year or so, there would be less and less responding to prayers from the gods. Many priests would gradually lose some of their divine abilities, while many low-level priests would completely lose their abilities.
All of this would last until the gods come to the material plane as Saints; then they would answer more prayers.
In all respect.
This truly would be a good opportunity!
At the same time.
Somewhere at the outer islands—a group of drows was having an important discussion.