I spend the next day talking with everyone at the fortress. It's been a while since I've taken a break for the sake of talking to people. Lance and Zergnar have been sparring ever since their first match back in the raid area. Not a single day goes by where they aren't sparring. I'll leave them too it.

I see Kora running around with the gnolls in the mining section. She's wearing a hard hat and directing them with a paper of recent discoveries of ore on it. Most likely looking for big veins of gems or ore. She hasn't spent a single day lounging. Constantly busy helping anyone who needs it. Some of the demon tribe are also helping with mining now.

I see Trice and it reminds me of Ashley… She left the fortress shortly after her sister died to live with family in Shienta. I haven't seen her in over a year… I don't know what happened to her since then… I speak to Trice, she's been busy going over her equipment.

Making sure everything is in order and that she has some extra vials of poison on her. She seen me using them in that way and started copying me. Being able to throw poison is a far better method for using it than spitting it. Not only can you increase the distance but also the glass can cut them for the poison to work. She also asked for a Gear backpack like mine. So she's been weight training so it wont strain her once it's made. Once I've finished making everyone their new equipment, I'll make her a Gear mk2. With all the changes I can think of and one that would suit her better.

Leaf is flying around solo on Bloodyclaw. She also claimed a griffin for her own but likes Bloodyclaw more. When Zergnar isn't searching the area's with Bloodyclaw, Leaf is riding her. She's up to an impressive height… Maybe I should give her Morpheus to use since he could protect her better than a regular griffin… I've started to worry about her more since I went through Greed's memories… I don't want anything bad to happen to her in the upcoming war… Maybe I should tell Lance's group they're not needed…

Brick is talking with some of the demon tribe. It looks like he's apologizing to them. They don't seem to be listening to him though… It is an uphill battle for him to get them to understand why he did it. Both of their tribes are almost wiped out on this side of the continent because of the pre-war skirmishes. I don't expect them to forgive him instantly but they should realize they are in the same position his tribe was in until I asked for their freedom.

Epieoth is with some of his tribe too. Laughing and enjoying his time away from battle… It starts to make me feel worse for Brick. He has no family to be happy with. Epieoth see's me and we talk for a few moments.

“What happened to your aura… It is different than before.”

“What is different about it?”

“It looks like your aura is mixed with mana… I've never seen something like this before. It also looks like a portion of your red aura is missing... Like their is less of it.”

“I formed a blood pact with Darkclaw… That might be why.”

“What!? I can't believe this… Do you know how risky that is? I've known warlocks who went their entire lives without risking it. Even with perfect conditions the chances of death are still high.”

“It was worth the risk.”

We conclude our talk. I still have people to meet or check on today. So I keep it brief. He continued to talk to me about his lack of ranged attacks. Maybe I'll implement something to make up for that in the weapon I design for him.

I visit the stables next. We have far more griffins now since they hatched and are now almost fully grown. Most of my pets are in here. Darkclaw greets me by jumping on top of me. He's around the same size as me right now. I play with them for a few minutes but have to leave soon afterwords. I bring Darkclaw with me since he was disappointed. He is still a baby when it comes to his attitude.

I see Sock training with the new guardian/white mage troops. With not much attacking power, they need someone who can fight them to practice with. A few of the demon tribe and gnoll troops are mixed in with them. I feel sorry for whoever goes against Sock though.

I head to the sick bay. We used to use the unending fire source to light the mines… It ended badly with the oxygen levels dropping to dangerous levels. After flushing fresh air in with a few wind scrolls, I replaced the light sources with polished rocks enchanted with turn undead. It works similar to the sun and is able to light up any room without their being negative repercussions to them. I also have shades for them to make the rooms darker for sleeping in.

In the sick bay I see both Pokodo and Gargarz, they're busy treating some of the miners that are injured from a collapsed mine shaft. It sometimes happens but fortunately it has only been small cave-ins. Another nature mage gnoll fortifies the walls, they also use support beams to increase stability. Sometimes that isn't enough to stop the cave-ins. Both look busy so I leave them.

Heading to the main room of the fortress, it has the rest of my generals and pets. Blue is talking with the gnoll cooks… No Ashley to cook for us anymore, food tastes different since then. Less vegetables mainly with the lack of any non gnoll cooks. Some demon tribe members started cooking but they're all juniors compared to the gnolls. Gnolls eat far more meat than would normally be possible for someone that tiny. It would be a problem if we hadn't worked out good methods for self sustaining our resources.

I can't wait until we get a fortress made near the ocean. That will open up new foods including fish. One thing I gained from Greed is the appetite for seafood. I also wouldn't mind making a brewery here for the sake of our troops morale. Celebrating with some alcohol after a hard day of training would help them… I also wouldn't mind drinking if I had the chance.

Kline is talking with some of the demon tribe and gnolls children. He's a big hit when it comes to stories from a humans point of view. He's a good storyteller. His favorite story is how I managed to defeat the basilisk. It gets more ridiculous every time he tells it though. I think how the story goes right now... I beat the basilisk when I was sick. While saving over a dozen men who ran off crying in the woods, all with one hand… The gnoll and demon tribe children look at him with amazed eyes at the story.

Leon and Nargzar have become fairly close friends. They often spar like Lance and Zergnar but they also compete in other ways… Like races, weight lifting. Right now it's an eating contest. A group of people are surrounding them, cheering and placing bets on who will win. Leon has the size advantage but Nargzar is a gnoll, which means he has a voracious appetite.

It's a very close but Leon barely scraps a win out of it. He gloats over his victory for a few moments until he upchucks the food he just stuffed into his face… Days like today remind me why I need to keep getting stronger. Once this war is over maybe we can have a few more peaceful days like today.

The next day I'm going to take off as well but Greed urges me to finish his memories. At the same time he doesn't want me to finish them...

“Maybe you should just stop where you are… The next part of my life… I sort of fall off the wagon so to speak.”

“It should be fine Greed. With everything you've been through I sort of understand why you've done what you have done.”

“If you say so… Just remember I warned you… This next part in my life even I don't remember much of it.”

Kite going through Greed's memories

Me and Tezuna head to his island. While there I picked up a few weapons to have my blacksmiths learn how to make them. Since I was going to use them, I also tried to learn the ins and outs of each weapon. What each one was good at. It is an island in the east part of the ocean. Tezuna said it was to remain a secret to everyone besides myself for the sake of his villages safety. The least I can do for him is listen to his requests.

The next few years are a blur. I barely remember anything but what I do remember isn't good. The few moments of clarity when I'm not high on drugs is spent thinking about what I've become… Most of the females on the ship I've slept with… A few are claiming to have had my children. I treat them better if they do, just a little better though… At least when I'm sober.

While high on mana crystal dust. I struck one of my children for touching my gold. I thought he was trying to steal it but it turned out he was just looking at how pretty it was… I can't believe myself! I'm such a scumbag… I need to sober up permanently. I work on getting better… Before I realized it I had fifty ships under my flag. The years I spent blacked out weren't wasted I guess... As hard as I try, I can't quit mana crystal dust.

I defend my ships against the country's ships. I hate sinking them but it is either us or them. I hate that I have to kill… Or I would if I felt anything. The only thing I care for is money. Most of these ships have nothing of value on them. Only the mana cannons which we don't need. The country's fleet wasn't taking us seriously. If they would have attacked with the full force of their fleet instead of small detachments. They might have beaten us.

One last big attempt. They send around one hundred ships to try and finish us off. I know the seas like the back of my hand. I employ several tricks to decrease their numbers. Hit and run tactics with traps set up if they decided to pursue. The final battle takes place between a cluster of islands.

Having forts already build on some of the islands we start to lessen their numbers. The area between the islands is also shallow, some of the ships are being stranded then blown up. The rest of the ships were outmaneuvered by my smaller and faster ships. By entering this area they sealed their fates to die.

We beat them. The bulk of their fleet is now gone. A few ships manage to escape but with the heavy casualties our their side, it is a complete victory for us. We only lose a few ships and most of the pirates swim to shore. Losing only a handful of men. I decide to make this patch of islands the main base for the pirates.

We loot the ships that were sunk. Being so shallow we can search the insides just by diving. We managed to get a big haul of loot, mana cannons, weapons and gold. Several hundred gold worth. Pushing the amount of gold the pirates have collected to exceed over one thousand gold... I see my men eyeing that gold now... With no rivals we will once again fall back to basic pirating.

A few years later and the ships trying to stop us pirates stop coming… We've beaten an entire country in a naval war. Through blind luck on our part and the lack of naval experience on their part. We've easily sunk over one hundred ships with a fleet half that size.

The things I've done for the sake of money is terrible. I know I'm going to die soon… My insides hurt any time I move. I think my insides might be going bad from all the drinking I've done and drugs I do... I can't let this money cause my pirates to kill each other after I'm gone. All I wanted in life was to sail the seas… I feel like I had forgotten myself, not having enjoyed that for a long time. It's too late to change that now.

I head to my island. I have to save my men from themselves. I buried the gold beside Lindsay… I think she would like that… I wish I could be buried next to her… I'm going to sacrifice myself to my men though… I sent Tezuna back to his village. I don't want him to foolishly try to save me from the pirates. Without a target or a scapegoat they might try to blame and fight each other. Keeping the pirates together, the friends I've grown close to. This is the last thing I can do with my life. I head out on my rowboat towards where the fleet is positioned…

Kite's point of view

I come out of Greed's memories crying again… How could someone so cold, so heartless through some parts of his life. Be such a good person the other times… Greed speaks up.

“You understand now… I was an awful person my whole life. I became what I hated the most in life… All for the sake of money at first... I decided to change at the end, that doesn't make up for all the bad things I've done though.”

“Yea but look how many people it saved. Money is what makes the world go round. Without it we can't buy food or weapons to protect ourselves. Lack of willingness to spend money would get men killed… Even so you were willing to spend almost all of your money to avenge Lindsay… I… I could become just like you if anything happened to Leaf.”

“Heh... Made it... Just in time...Yea… I guess… This is… All I… Could do… For you… Seeya Kite...”

Greed dissipates into your mind

Trait upgraded Kind--> Just- Can take control of situations where you are required to be more brutal, can see from everyone else's perspective, far stronger mentally

Trait upgraded Greed--> Fair- Know when to save money and when to spend it, better at seeing the value of everything

Thief 30 to 60

Level 50 Thief skill gained Evasive stance- Take a stance that decreases chances of being hit (Combines with berserkers stance and complete defense to make Perfect stance- Increases all stats, armor, magic defense, block and evasion)

Fighter 26 to 50

Level 50 Fighter passive skill gained Combat expertise- Able to read the flow of battle and predict movements of enemies, increases chances of dodging and getting critical strikes

Blacksmithing Ninja weapon recipes added

Ninja location revealed

Mental map expanded

Title learned Captain- Know how to perfectly operate a ship

Job level increased Burglar 15 to 50

Job level increased Woodworker 28 to 55

Job level increased Construction 33 to 65

He was probably struggling to hold on until now… Goodbye Greed…

(Kite stats before) (strength- 330) (dexterity- 330) (intelligence- 350) (stamina- 430) (total = 1420)

(Aegis 20 stack stat boost before) (strength- 1650) (dexterity- 1650) (intelligence- 1750) (stamina- 2150) (total = 7200)

(Kite stats after) (strength- 340) (dexterity- 410) (intelligence- 360) (stamina- 460) (total = 1570)

(Aegis 20 stack stat boost after) (strength- 1700) (dexterity- 2050) (intelligence- 1800) (stamina- 2300) (total = 7850) Advertisement Support "Master of Learning (Color coded)" PayPal Patreon Previous

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