After a few minutes to frenzied whispering, Mithandra laid out her plans.

First, Kynos would scout the crew quarters which were usually above the hold. If they were asleep, he would massacre them all. Then, Kynos would scout the deck with the cannons, and massacre everyone silently. As Axal sabotaged all of the fire crystals with water, Kynos would scout the deck above, and silently massacre everyone. Finally, as Mith and Axal prepared a small boat for escape, Kynos would leave a few pouches of non-sabotaged fire crystals around the deck and light the sails on fire.

In short, Mithandra clarified, Kynos would be doing almost everything. She then pompously told Kynos that he at least had to be able to keep up with someone called Ramirez and pointed authoritatively towards the ladder leading to the crew quarters.

Unbeknownst to Kynos, Mithandra had arrived at a hypothesis during their time together: Kynos was a psychopath.

Observations showed that he had curiosity and obsessed over the goal of revenge, but he felt most emotions very shallowly and seemed to have no qualms with her instructions to carry out 'experimentations' on small animals during magic practicals. She would be testing that theory in full.

Kynos nodded before Axal could protest, and clad shadow over his head and the front of his body, leaving only his eyes and air holes showing. He poked his head through the hatch carefully, then immediately ducked it back.

The hatch from the cannon deck was opened, and someone was climbing in. He heard sounds of a struggle as a pirate kicked another awake for his shift. The first one collapsed into a bunk and began snoring in moments, and the other grumbled as he left. Kynos turned around to see Mith covering Axal's mouth. He said an unnecessary “shhh” and climbed out of the hold.

His first victim was the recently entered pirate. Covering the man's mouth with a shadow, Kynos stabbed a pitch black dagger into the man's throat. The man convulsed a few times before a final twist sent him to his death. Kynos had been told to use this method my Mith earlier, and the very thing she taught him the night before was to use shadow like weapons and armor, instead of as a projecting attack.

His first kill caused a vague sense of discomfort, but he neither trembled or grew queasy as the smell of iron drifted from the wound.

The other 17 or so odd men were dispatched one by one with the same method, and Kynos only sped up with each kill. Finally, he climbed up the hatch leading out and poked his head onto the cannon deck.

A dozen cannons on small carts sat around, many of them aimed at closed hatches. A single pirate patrolled the room, but unluckily for him, his back was turned when Kynos had poked his head out to look. Before he had a chance to react, a shadow gagged his mouth and a blade slid past his spine, squeezed between his ribs, and penetrated into his left lung. The man died without a struggle.

Kynos leaned back into the crew quarters to signal to Mith that it was safe, and saw Axal dry heaving halfway across the room. Mith gave him a thumbs up, the sign to proceed. He hoped his friend would be alright, the cannons needed sabotaging.

Grabbing three pouches of crystals, Kynos moved towards the slanted door lead to the deck. As he neared it, a cutlass burst through and made contact with the black film covering his chest. He staggered back quite the distance from the impact as the woman pirate captain kicked in the door.

“I thought I smelled blood, and what in the cursed sea are you?” The woman pirate was struck with surprise at seeing a small boy covered head to toe in a black, undulating film.