of a Minion, Birth of a Captain

Hail the **** for their bravery
Tried to escape fighting 53
The surrender of her last 16 crew
Couldn’t save her boards from the briny blue
They’re down, downed and drowned
Downed and drowned and never found…

“Well, I mean, there’s not that much to tell you.” She says, placing her fist on her hip. “They used to be dropped by specific bosses in different areas and kinda level locked because of that. But now with the update, every player that manages to do the sheer minimum with a character has one.”

“What do you mean level locked?”

“Well, usually to first get a claimant crystal you had to defeat a boss that was specific to your spawn area. So like if you spawned in Pottstown, you would have to fight an angry sea witch or something similar. It was a basic thing that every adventurer had to do, and thus everyone was guaranteed to get the crystal. But now they just… hand it out for reaching level three. Kinda made it feel less like a reward, if you ask me.”

You rub your chin in thought. “Did you beat one of these bosses?”

She nods. “A couple of weeks ago. Hence why I was fine giving you the free one they gave me with the update.” She smirks, having outplayed you a bit by giving you something completely worthless to herself.

However, you’re more intrigued by the information than what worth she thinks the crystals have. “I see. And what exactly is the purpose of the crystals?”

“Base building and guild joining.” She says. “Whenever you wanted to claim a plot of land, or a building in a city that you bought, or just secure your place in a guildhall you would have to spend your claimant crystal. That let you be able to customize specific areas of where you used your crystal and have the choice to respawn there and teleport there if things got dangerous.”

“I assume then that carrying multiple was more common than not? After all, if you want a plot of land and to join a guild then multiple crystals were needed, right?”

She nods. “Plus if you wanted some of the upgraded housing you would need more than one.”

You raise an eyebrow at that statement. “Explain what you mean by “upgraded housing.”

She shrugs. “It's what it sounds like. If you wanted to build a house or a castle or farm or something, you would only need one crystal. However, if you wanted your base to be mobile, like a skyship or giant turtle home, you needed more crystals as they were just pricier.”

You look down at the two crystals in your hand, a wonderful thought entering into your head as you learn this important fact. “And pray tell, how many crystals would something like, say, a ship cost you? Not a skyship, just a regular seafaring vessel.”

“Two.” She says before her eyes go wide. “Wait, you… that only works for players! The crystals don’t do anything for monsters!”

“Correction. They didn’t do anything for monsters. But if that update made changes to how lairs are made and made it to where I can get my hands on these crystals, then what's to say that I can’t do something like return to a life of a proper sailor?”

“Well… because…” She seems stunned, and sinks back a bit in thought. “Wait, is that what the last part of the update meant? Can monsters… I mean he’s just a… but he has the crystals and…”

You tune her out a bit as you turn back to your drowned, who are all looking at you in confusion and curiosity. “Lads, you all heard the lady. These little red gems,” you hold up the crystals so they all can see them clearly. “Are something the adventures use to make homes and bases. Something that, until today, was exclusive to them and them alone. But it looks like the gods are turning to favor us now, so I say we take this opportunity and seize it!”

“What are you saying?” One of the drowned asks.

“What I am saying is it’s time we all get back to what we did in life! We’re gonna use these crystals, resurrect one of these ships, and return to a life of sailing the high seas!”

The drowned all murmur in shock and surprise, none of them having thought such would be possible. “But… we’re just drowned. Shadows of the sailors we were in life…”

“And don’t you think we could be more than that?” You respond, swimming closer to your compatriots. “Men, the gods gave us a new power today, one that could mean a second chance at life! I was just a drowned before today, and now look! I have crystals gifted to adventures, I killed one just a few moments ago, and if all goes according to plan I bet I’ll be standing on the deck of a ship again! We could be sailors! Not just bundles of XP waiting for some soggy adventurer to kill us!”

“The adventures won’t like us doing somethin’ like that.” One of the drowned says. “We’ve got a lot in life and they have theirs. We stay down here to get killed while they get to sail the seas.”

“Well maybe they should learn it's not a role exclusive to them!” You say with a bit of a snarl. “In fact, we’ll be more than just sailors. Those adventures want to be up there with their loot from people and monsters like us… well maybe it’s time we appropriated it back into monster hands! Kill a few more adventures and get rich on the high seas!”

“Wait you want-”

“That’s right!” You say, tossing one of the crystals into your other hand before drawing your sword. “We aren’t going to be drowned anymore! Today, lads, we are gonna use these crystals from the gods, raise ourself a ship, and become pirates!” You swim around your drowned, sword still in hand as you perch yourself on the bow spirit of a ship. “Imagine it lads! A crew of ghostly drowned, now powerful and raiding the seas we once were confined to! Loot!” You see some smiles come across their faces. “**** against the adventures!” More smiles, these ones a bit crueler. “And above all, a second chance at life and a true adventure for the ages!” At that, all the faces before you are grinning ear to ear, with some of the drowned pulling out weapons in their excitement. “Now, WHO’S WITH ME?!”

“AYE AYE!” The drowned shout out, fists and weapons being raised along with their cries of joy.

“THAT’S WHAT I LOVE TA HEAR!” You shout back. “So! Let's get this show on the road! Which of the ships in our graveyard is the most put together?”

Everyone talks amongst themselves for a moment before one of them shouts out “There’s a sloop north of here that has minimal damage, captain!”

Captain. You love how that word sounds, and the feeling you get as you’re called that. You look out to see who said that, and notice it’s the drowned who talked with you earlier. “Fantastic! Then that will be the ship we raise to the surface! Everyone, I want you all to go around and raid the other ships for parts and weapons. Anything you think we will need on our new ship, bring on over!” You look at the crystals in your hand. “I have a feeling the magics of the gods will repair the ship, but just in case I want every man here helping to get that ship into sailing shape!”

Then, as they start to disperse you call out to get their attention. “Oh, and while I am thinking of it… think of some names for yourselves.”

The others look confused at that. “But… we’re drowned. Drowned don’t need names-”

“Ah ah ah.” You say with a smirk. “You aren’t just drowned. Now you’re pirates. And pirates are legends who deserve names! After all, who will the adventures learn to be afraid of if we never have a name?”

The others look at each other and nod in agreement, before one of them calls out to you. “But captain, what’s your name gonna be then?”

That was… a very good question. You knew it was something you had to come up with, after all, if everyone needed a name that would include you as well. And to be honest, it had been a random thought that creeped into your mind every now and then, mostly in regards to what your name once was and what it could be again. But all dives into your mind only came up with blanks as to what you once were named.

But now? Now you had a chance to create your own name. Something to define yourself going forward, not bogged down by whoever or whatever you were in the past. And as you think of this, a single name comes to mind. Was it yours once? Maybe. Maybe it belonged to a random man you knew, or perhaps it was just a random bout of inspiration brought on by the gods. Either way, the name felt good, felt right.

You smile, looking at the blade in your hand and the crystals in your other. “Call me Captain Avery Matthews: Terror of the Drowned.”

As you say that, another pop-up fills your field of view, this one being your character sheet. You’re slightly confused, as you didn’t intentionally summon it up, but upon reading it the reason for its appearance becomes well understood.

Avery Matthews, Level 3 Drowned
Monster, Undead, Explicit
Experience to level up- 100 / 300
Attributes
STR 32 (+2) DEX 21 (+1) END 21 (+1) CHA 26 (+1) MAN 27 (+2) APP 16 (+1) PER 32 (+2) INT 33 (+3) WIT 33 (+3)
Skills
Athletics 50 Awareness 40 Endurance 40 Melee 61 (+1) Performance 25 (+5) Resistance 85 Sail 60 Stealth 30 (+5)

As you take a look through your feats, you notice that most of them are still the same, with the only difference being a single new feat at the very bottom.

Feats
Commanding Aura - You have a keen way of garnering loyalty in those that choose to follow you. When fighting alongside your followers, each person gains +1 Strength for each ally within a 10ft radius.

Now THAT was interesting. Doing a quick couple mental calculations, you could potentially have every single one of your drowned around you, giving each of you a +25 in Strength! Granted, that would be a dumb move as only a few of you would actually be able to attack effectively and you would all be **** to a blast attack or any sort of piercing damage but still! There was a distinct possibility for some stupidly high attack power.

It was a bit of a shame that the gods did not seem to accept your full status as Captain quite yet, but you were sure with time that your character sheet would change to reflect this too. After all, all you managed to do was get a bunch of drowned to call you captain. You had yet to gain the main thing any true captain of the seas needs: a ship. However, you can see your fellow drowned already getting to work pulling bits and bobs from the other ships over to your new ship, with one of the drowned- no. One of the pirates organizing supplies into distinct piles.

Just as you are about to swim over and check the progress, you feel someone tug on your hand. Quickly spinning around you see… Anna?

“You’re still here?” you ask. “I figured you would have left when I went to go talk with the crew.”

“Yeah… um… I was going to but…” She reaches up to scratch at the back of her neck, and you notice that she shrunk the air bubble to be only around her head, similar to what she did for the guy you killed. “I… I’ll be honest, you sparked my curiosity in an **** way. Like… I mean…” She sighs and looks back into your eyes. “You can’t be serious about all this.”

“Why not?” you say, crossing your arms.

“Well… and no offense intended but… You’re just a drowned!” She exclaims. “A drowned at the bottom of sea only intended as XP fodder for people looking for treasure!”

“Sure. I was only that. But now with the power the gods gifted me I am going to-”

“Become a pirate? But that’s impossible!” She yells out. “You’re just… just a minion! All you guys do is stay in spawn areas and die! But now you… your…. I mean…”

You sigh. “Look, just say it. I won’t be offended.”

She looks up. “You’re acting like an adventurer. Someone with hopes and wants and dreams. Someone who wants to grow and become better than what they currently are. And… you’re not supposed to be able to do that. Not according to the rules of the ga-world.”

You give her a small smirk and a shrug. “Probably. Or at least I wasn’t supposed to act like that before today. But it seems that the gods have finally decided that we monsters deserve a bit of pushback against you adventures. We deserve to have our chance to grow and become true enemies for you all. You all get to be adventures… we get to be… bosses.”

She looks at you for a moment, carefully studying you and causing you to feel a touch awkward. Then, to break the tension she finally speaks up. “I wanna come with you.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I HAVE to know what is going on, and if this is all possible!” She says, her voice now starting to be fueled with excitement. “You’re a minion who managed to decide that he wants to be a boss monster! And if this works… I mean holy shit the amount of rules and changes this makes to AI and coding and…” She then starts to babble on and on using various words you’ve never quite heard of and figure it to be nothing more than adventurer nonsense. Finally after almost a full two minutes of going off about something called “adaptive programming” and “learning algorithm” she stops and looks at you. “So, to summarize. You are interesting because you are breaking rules I thought you couldn’t break. So I want to come along and see how far you get. How many rules you manage to break and how smart and strong you become. Plus if you do manage to become a legend, I want to be there watching the legend grow.”

“So you want to join my crew?” You say with a small smile. You would love to welcome the sexy lass aboard, but as you say this she shakes her head.

“No. I don’t want to affect how you and your crew do on your own, at least for now. I want to see that a group of monsters can, without help from an adventurer, actually manage to do all the stuff you talked about.”

“Then you’re looking to be a passenger.” You say. “Sorry, but my ship ain’t a ferry. We aren’t taking stowaways or passengers.”

“What if I were to pay you?” She asks. “Pay for my passage aboard your ship until I think I’ve seen enough, at which point I either leave or join the crew fully.”

You look over to your men, who are all starting to gather at the ship, and scratch your chin in thought. “Well, considering you’re living and we’re undead, the price of taking you along is going to be pretty hi-”

Just then, you can feel Anna’s soft hand caress you, her fingers softly rubbing against your now hardening bulge. “I can most definitely afford it.” She says with a purr.

“I thought you said you weren’t a whore.” You say with a smug grin.

“Call this… information gathering.” She says with a wink. “After all, I need to see how well you adapt to new and… different environments and stimuli.”

You smile and reach around, grabbing her ass and pulling her close. “Tell ya what then lass. Once we get the ship above water, and get the crew settled in, you are going to deposit your first payment with me for passage. Sounds good to you?”

She smirks. “Sounds good to me, Captain.”

Oh you loved how that sounded on her lips. “Then in that case, welcome to the ship. I’m Captain Avery Matthews.”

“I’m Anna Celestus.” She says with a small bow.