Chapter 2: Running Errands for Others

As the sounds of fighting reached the deck, Liu Zhi instinctively tightened his grip on the curved blade in his hand. The weapon was, in truth, a half-length sailor's knife, better suited for combat within the confines of a ship's cabin, slightly shorter than a standard sword or saber.

The moment he gripped the blade, Liu Zhi was struck by a sense of helplessness—he had no idea how to use it. He reckoned that, at best, if he charged ahead with this knife, he could only hack a path forward with brute force.

This realization, just as he was beginning to adapt to his current circumstances, slowly bred a growing unease within him. This was not his world, and most importantly, aside from his memories, he seemed to possess no other useful skills.

As worry gnawed at him, his vision suddenly blurred, and a torrent of data-like images surged before his eyes, washing over his senses like a flood, finally settling into a peculiar status screen.

[Name: Sandro]
[Class: Necromancer]
[Level: 0]
[Title: None]
[Attributes: Strength 1.1, Agility 1.0, Constitution 1.3, Spirit 2.9]
[Active Skills: None]
[Passive Skills: Magic Knowledge Level 3, Necromancy Knowledge Level 4, Basic Science Level 3, Basic Language Level 2]
[Experience: 0]

“What the hell is this?” Liu Zhi couldn’t help but exclaim as he stared at the status screen. Hadn’t the memory fragments just now said that Sandro was a necromancer about to graduate? What was going on here? Why did everything feel straight out of a game?

He stared at the status window and tried calling out, “Quest? System? Mini-map?”
But nothing responded.

Instead, his voice drew footsteps toward the cabin. Liu Zhi had no time to investigate further. He swung the knife, quickly stashed the pendant back in its small box, and shoved it behind several large crates.

At that moment, the cabin door was kicked open. Liu Zhi, prepared for this, didn’t even look to see who it was—instead, he brought his blade down hard.

The intruder was a pirate reeking of salt and brine, a sailor gripping a curved blade. He had meant to survey the cabin, but was greeted by a flash of cold steel. Yet as a pirate who had survived many a fight, he swung his knife up to parry Liu Zhi’s strike.

Liu Zhi had put all his strength into that blow. He wasn’t sure what a strength stat of 1.1 meant, but figured it should be somewhat above average. To his surprise, the pirate blocked the attack with ease. Liu Zhi reacted quickly, and while their blades were locked, he lunged forward, stabbing at the man’s throat.

The pirate hadn’t expected such a move and failed to react in time, but he quickly fell back, dodging the strike. This alone showed he was a battle-hardened foe.

But Liu Zhi’s attacks came in a sequence—no sooner had his knife thrust forward than his foot lashed out. Even if the pirate hadn’t bent back dramatically, he would still have taken a kick; as it was, his awkward retreat left a vital spot exposed, and Liu Zhi’s boot landed heavily.

The pirate staggered backward several steps, and Liu Zhi seized the opportunity to bring his blade down hard, slashing the pirate’s body.

Liu Zhi, however, had little experience in combat. He managed to carve a wound into the pirate but failed to kill him, merely inflicting a serious injury.

In this era, naval combat was fraught with peril; so long as a pirate wasn’t dead, even gravely wounded, he would struggle to rise and fight on.

Liu Zhi’s brief moment of relaxation gave the pirate his chance. Guts spilling from the gash in his belly, the pirate kicked out at Liu Zhi with all his remaining strength.

Liu Zhi was knocked to the floor, unable to steady himself. The pirate tried to sit up, but his injuries were too severe; he couldn’t even lift himself.

Instead, the pain jolted Liu Zhi back to his senses. He quickly sat up, lunged at the pirate, and hacked at him again and again with the curved knife, not stopping until the pirate was dead.

Staring at the corpse on the floor, Liu Zhi let out a long, shaky breath.

At that moment, a flicker of red light appeared before his eyes, and he saw the number ‘+35’ flash past.

Examining this carefully, Liu Zhi’s face lit up with excitement—he had gained experience points for killing the pirate.

This discovery was a revelation. Experience! That was a precious thing. It seemed that this, at last, was his golden finger—his cheat.

After studying the experience gain and finding no immediate use for it, Liu Zhi set the matter aside to deal with the corpse. This was, after all, his cabin. The stench from his daily living had already made it barely tolerable; adding a corpse to the mix would make the place uninhabitable for the rest of the journey.

He stood, walked to the body, and was about to drag it out when a strange sensation welled up inside him.

The body is too frail to become a zombie; the soul has dissipated, making it impossible to create a ghost...

What was all this about?

Forcing himself to pull his hand away from the corpse, Liu Zhi thought to himself that this must be the effect of Sandro’s level four necromancy knowledge.

Still, perhaps it was for the best—at least he didn’t feel any malice or disgust at killing and handling the dead.

Just as he was about to drag the seemingly useless corpse outside, Liu Zhi suddenly paused—he realized he hadn’t yet checked the body for loot.

He set the pirate’s curved blade aside and began searching the man’s body.

Soon, Liu Zhi had found a walnut smoking pipe, a small pouch of silver coins, a silver dinner fork with ornate engravings, an object that looked like a whistle, and a tattered piece of parchment.

Had it not been for the pirate’s ragged clothes, Liu Zhi might have stripped those off as well.

He threw the corpse outside the door and shut it tightly.

His attention then turned to the items he’d just acquired. Aside from the parchment and the silver coins, the other objects glimmered faintly with a strange light.

He studied these glowing items for a long time, but couldn’t decipher their purpose. It was the piece of parchment that finally drew his full attention.

[Skill Book Detected: “Basic Sailor Swordsmanship.” Prerequisites: Strength 0.8, Agility 0.8... Prerequisites met. Would you like to spend 30 experience to learn this skill?]