Chapter 138: The Calm

SKY Ocean Hunter finishes talking with an ecstatic Calypso he has just told her to collect her squad and prepare them for a mission personally led by him. He had rejected other players in Sunken Reef like the Naga Warden Blackbeard because he is proving to be an excellent commander in the Rafts. His sailing prowess has made him a premier protector of goods and has even started offering to other players going to Red Iron Island. SKY Ocean Hunter had to reject a few players he wanted to take with him as the only Gorgon in the entire guild. Unfortunately, Arth and Lyra are too low level being in their mid-twenties. The only other option was to take the Siren Greenhorn but Calypso and she are in direct competition as she is also building her one Gorgon squad in the black Ocean Chapter. SKY Ocean Hunter loves the internal competition amongst squads it has made them extremely dynamic and resistant to interference from outside forces.

SKY Ocean Hunter waits on the western beach for another shipment of rafts to arrive if everything goes well today. He can leave early and let Tyr handle the final round of construction on the building. The rafts come in from the open sea. They all for the most part have the sail upgrade made by Alexi and MJY. They have been working together as a lot of shipwright skills translate well into carpentry. Along with other lifestyles, players from Sunken Reef Alexi will soon have enough to start their own shops. Especially with Medium Bunz away with girls smaller operations are starting to pop up. The diversity amongst lifestyle players means that they will be able to provide themselves with most if not all tools and upgrade materials in house. The problem is that instead of levelling up most of Sunken Reef is dedicated to getting them started. 

For now, SKY Ocean Hunter believes the leaders will be enough to handle most situations plus all situations. Umbra who has been stealthily creeping up on SKY Ocean Hunter gets swept up by his tail. An imprint of a woman is in the sand and SKY Ocean Hunter starts laughing. SKY Ocean Hunter stretches out his hand and the [Vanish] skill that Umbra had used is undone. She has to rub the sand in her hair for a bit.

Umbra says, "You got me, the real boss. What gave me away this time?" She has only managed to get him once and that was the very first time. Styx has told all those who possess the void element like her to practice all the time on leaders even offering a cash incentive. Umbra has managed to get almost everyone except Tyr, Styx, Ninth Immortal and the only person she is genuinely afraid of Frey. Even now she doesn't know what happened. 

SKY Ocean Hunter says, "Soft sand leaves imprints." He points at her circular pattern she had been stalking him a while. He managed to figure it out because she didn't go through the natural flow of footsteps. he going to keep that bit of thought to himself for now. She is growing quite quickly. He rubs some sand off her shoulder taking a look at the void hunter. She has changed a bit the dark black leather has strong hints of red now. 

Umbra says, "I will make a note of that. Could we talk about something? It is really important and I think you should hear it first. Before I tell Styx or even report to the intel network." SKY Ocean Hunter and Umbra travel from the beach to the small imposing guildhall. His office is the best place to have this chat of hers. Others who have been with Umbra salute her and go about their business. In the sparsely decorated office is a small desk. As a Naga, he has no need for a chair rather a comfortable carpet is rolled out. He signals for her to sit on the chair. She brings out a series of notes she has made handing them over for SKY Ocean Hunter to read. 

SKY Ocean Hunter says, "How long do we have until they succeed?" The notes are a detailed report of Frost Empire and Silver Grass Island, they have been trying to clear a dungeon with a sailing ship as a reward. The issue is that the dungeon also has symbols that were in the Temple of the Gods where Styx was. The symbols clearly lead to a secret area that they have been unable to figure out so far. 

Umbra says, "On the sailing ship probably too late already but they don't have a strong lifestyle force. So they probably need a week to gather the necessary people and another week to get the ship sail ready. Of course, it is probably depending on how well they do that they get the highest reward. This means the ship will be fully functional but I doubt they can do that. Thaw is a very selfish leader he wants all the rewards for himself so is using low-quality players." She has observed Forst Empire for a while now and thinks that they are a powerful guild each leader is powerful and builds squads to themselves more powerful. This means they have a lot of items and skills but the guild as a whole is not very strong. 

SKY Ocean Hunter says, "That's fine so that means about a month. It would be stupid to start an attack without proper training and the rank 2 oceanic dungeon takes a few days to get to." SKY Ocean Hunter is a Naga in other words a Sea folk. This inborn trait means he has an intimate relationship with the ocean. Also, most sea folk have an innate understanding of naval matters. He is going through a few more sheets that Umbra had collected about the gateway related to Styx. They will have to tell him about it but the amounts of guards make it a tricky situation. However, SKY Ocean Hunter needs him to discover his epic item and this might help a lot with that. SKY Ocean Hunter and Tyr already have one rare item for the seals on their epic items. 

Umbra says, " Did you see what I circled here and here. I couldn't get any closer on my way back but someone with a flying pet like Ninth Immortal might be able to." Purple Orichirum island used to be open but ever since the Dargavs guild arrived they have completely cut it off. They don't have info on how the biggest most densely populated island is doing. Every player has been removed.

SKY Ocean Hunter says, "Leave them be, for now, they only have ten members I'm sure they are very strong but for now, wait and see is best. We have our own things to do, Styx didn't get the answer I was hoping for from the Adventure Association. So I have tasked Medium Bunz with deepening our relationship with the Mint." He didn't like doing it but he has little choice they are mostly open guild operating in a species-environment. Having the Mint around will force open a lot of closed doors. Andromeda is already fighting a lot because of the discrimination she is receiving she has even gotten into a few fights.

Umbra says, "I have read the reports Tyr prepared. I will tell the others so we can protect ourselves. It was a good idea on your part to form the chapters we can use their own rules to shield the rest of the guild." The Mint is a dangerous organisation probably the most dangerous because they are very patient. Umbra believes they are walking a fine line but she can't wait to see which they fall it should be exciting either way they go since leaving the Mint is a thing legend only. 

SKY Ocean hunter and her go over the new wave of recruits sorting out which Chapter they belong to. While not set for the most part they have three parts to each chapter that must be filled. In general, it is the three kinds of groups of players. This work takes about another hour or so to complete. He also keeps up on the local gossip and goes about in the guild. He is happy that most competitive players are living and interacting with each other. Also, the mandatory rank zero dungeon requirement for Sunken Reef admission has necessitated the formation of place holder guild. Coral Reef guild is now a training guild for members zero to ten. Then they can apply for Sunken Reef admission. It is run by Tatiana as an extension of Sea Cloud Strider the largest chapter having more than thirty thousand. 

calypso whips her team to go faster she can barely contain herself. She and SKY OCean hunter will be going on an adventure together. She hopes with all her innocent heart that they can become friends during this time. He is an inspiration to her. She knows him form another game but she never had he couage to approach him. A mutual friend gave her SKY Ocean hunters Referal code so she could start in a similar area as him. However given his status she used her intro week to become a river lord.