The Supreme Level Up System

"This region hasn't been fighting against other nations for centuries, and it is relatively easy to make money here, so they have no reason to have war prisoners or people in debt to become slaves," Sauros explained. "The people you saw must be from other nations… in any case, this is another confirmation of the mess behind the curtains."

"Did they attack other places, or did they buy them?" Aion asked.

"That is hard to say… considering what you saw, I would guess that traveling to other lands would be too much of a hassle for them. Picking up a fight with them would be even more unlikely," Sauros replied. "I didn't hear them attacking other places aside from those four islands and merchant ships, so they must have traveled to waste the money they got and then bought the slaves."

That was a problem, either way, they couldn't kill the slaves, and they didn't have any more room on the ship. They also shouldn't let others know about their activities, so helping them will only be a big problem in the long run.

"We can't abandon them," Seris declared while looking at Aion as if she could tell what he was thinking.

"I never said that we should. I was considering the possibility since our mission is different, and we already have wasted too much time doing things unrelated to the mission," Aion explained. "Still, if we get enough treasure from their base, perhaps we can use that as a hassle fee."

"... You are such a good person, to the point that you even risked your life to protect me twice… so how come you are all about money?" Seris asked while frowning.

"I am all about the uses of money," Aion said. "Also, if one works, it is only natural for one to expect payment. No one can help me achieve my goals, but money sure can help it. So, I will use all the chances to get as much as possible."

Plus, there was the fact that money could increase Aion's status exponentially, so he had no reason to ignore the chances of getting as much as possible. Seris didn't know that, and it wasn't like it would change her opinion much. Still, she had a high opinion of Aion, so she thought that he would be more selfless.

Aion couldn't be that selfless when his goal was already too big, and trying to do too many things that collided with each other would only prevent him from doing things right. In any case, Aion could see where those two were coming from. Not only did they have some problems with pirates, but they also belonged to a family that decreased in number over the years for reasons unknown to Aion. Their family's mission was important, but they couldn't ignore the world's injustice while they focused on it.

"Putting in simple terms… they are a troublesome bunch," Aion thought. "I already died once trying to protect someone that wasn't that close to me. I should at least have the right to choose who I want to protect until the end."

After half an hour, the group finished their preparations and then approached the enemy's hideout while invisible. In the mean, they considered how they should proceed. Destroying the keels at night was possible if Aion used the helmets that Seris made, but it will take some time and mana. Their best option would be to invade with full power and prevent the enemies from approaching the ships…

"We will spread across the ships and use our magic weapons to attack them and prevent them from approaching," Sauros declared. "They still have some magic weapons with them, and maybe they built some armory on the island, but we still have the upper hand since their strength is the maritime battles… focus on surviving no matter what."

Aion sighed since everyone would be using their remaining magic stones to deal with the pirates… unless they found some among the enemies' treasures, they would waste another week returning to the second island to buy more. Still, Aion decided to take that as a lesson of what not to do in the middle of a mission. Focus on your goal, and forget about other things. You are not the world's cleaner to keep hunting bandits nonstop;;;

"We are here. Wait for a while longer until I confirm that they are still unaware of us," Aion said when he found his death knight floating in the air in the distance.

Sauros nodded, and then Aion began to fly toward the barrier, and once he crossed it, he made the death knight disappear. Things on the island had grown a bit quieter since the sun was going to rise in just one hour. Even pirates couldn't drink nonstop the whole night… even though they probably do that whenever they want.

"I guess we can do this since they are drunk and tired," Aion thought. "Still, I should check their ships for lookouts."

Aion approached the ships, and he could barely see some guys wrapped in blankets on them. If they were awake, he would have a harder time finding them.

Since Aion was trained to be a commander, or he trained with people that were supposed to take those roles, he felt a bit bothered by killing enemies while they were sleeping. Still, he didn't hesitate since their side would suffer a lot more if those guys caused problems… he kept his priorities straight and ignored his conscience for a bit.

In the end, Aion only found ten ships being guarded, and after disposing of the guards, he signaled for the others to come. Aion thought that the enemies would soon realize their approach when the ship crossed the barrier. However, it looked like he overestimated the enemies… they still were partying like nothing was wrong.

Using his magic, he helped the crew take their positions on the many ships around, and once that was over, they started the attack.