Eden did not know why Don Rafael was reacting in this way from the mere sight of him, but he knew there was no place for hesitation.
Don Rafael was much faster than Eden, and Eden was pretty sure all three of his physical attributes were beyond 20, but there had been some distance between the two, giving Eden the time to unsheathe the Common Rank blade at his hip, and parry the incoming strike.
The moment the two blades collided, the steel of the Common Rank sword broke cleanly, but the strike was deviated. The Pirate Lord coiled back like a snake for another strike, but the moment he parried the first strike, Eden spun around, sprinting to the exit, while Guardian stood between the two, parrying the second strike.
"Stop him!"
"I cast Strengthened Fireball!"
The two voices overlapped, and the pirates at the entrance only had the time to take a single step before a ball of fire the size of a soccer ball exploded at their feet, instantly engulfing them in flames.
Eden did not know whether he had killed them or only injured them, but he did not care as his goal had been met, and the exit was wide open.
The spreading fire from his spell would only help with his escape.
Hearing the ruckus, all nearby pirates headed for them, and Eden did not have the time to check for loyalties, so he leapt down the ship carcass he was on, plummeting down several meters.
As he was about to land solidly on his feet however, Eden suddenly felt a great sense of danger come from the side as his time perception slowed down dramatically.
Whatever the danger was, it was coming from high, was extremely fast and would take him out.
So, instead of landing solidly on his feet, Eden used the momentum of the fall to roll forward, dodging what he realized had been a sniper shot as the ground on his left exploded and a thunderclap sound reached him.
It was quickly followed by a second bullet, and this one was not alone as Eden felt danger come from both sides as well as… under him?
Though strange, Eden trusted his Talent.
"I cast Mists of the Underworld!"
In a moment, a bullet burrowed into Eden's left shoulder, a dark sword cut into his side, another missed him, two hands burst out of the ground, missing his ankles, and the area became covered in darkness.
Silently casting Dark Vision, the still shadows surrounding him clearing up slightly. His vision was still obscured, but Eden could now see the figures of his assailants with rough details.
They were unfamiliar to Eden, but he could guess where they were from. They were Players, and probably from Shadows. The two attacking him both used a Shadow Gladius, after all.
The sniper was too far for Eden to see, but the Mists of the Underworld should shield him from any his shots.
This made the one who attacked from below the biggest danger. The moment they realized they had missed him, they burst out of the wooden floor, as if the ship had been made out of plaster, revealing the figure of a woman.
Where the other two assassins were visibly lost in the mist, already on the retreat, she landed solidly, her body tensed in a stance, the handle of her sheathed sword held tightly.
At the same time, Eden felt his connection to Guardian falter, meaning his Evil Servant had been killed, and Don Rafael might be on his way here.
Swallowing the groan of pain that threatened to reveal his position, Eden did his best to ignore the pain coming from his damaged shoulder, and silently cast Dark Pool on the ground.
Finally, Eden took out a Common dagger he had picked up from one of Morgan's men, and threw it up in the air.
The moment it left the cloud, a loud sniper shot once more echoed, but the dagger was not hit as it fell back into the cloud, landing with a metallic clang right at the feet of one of the two male assassins.
Eden did not stick around to see what happened though as the moment he heard the sniper shot, he knew this was his opportunity, and leapt out of the cloud of darkness, down from the current ship remains.
Eden free fell for a good couple of seconds, fault of the weird architecture of the place, behind he landed with a loud crack.
He tried to land with a roll, but he must have jumped around twenty meters in height, and even with his enhanced stats, landing on the hard wooden boards hurt like hell.
His left shoulder was pissing blood by now, fault of the bullet lodged in there. It must have been shot by a Tier 0 Player for it to have failed to pierce through.
Looking up, the cloud of darkness was still there, and no one was following him, which had to mean the distraction had worked. He should also have left the sniper's range or view.
A sniper was powerful, but in a chaotic place like Shipwreck City, many angles were blocked, which worked to Eden's advantage.
He had no doubt they were good trackers though, and so he did not linger around.
Shipwreck City was a veritable maze because of the way it had been built, which worked in Eden's advantage as all he wanted was to lose his assailants.
He roughly stuffed the wounds on his shoulder and side with cloth to stop as much blood as possible from leaving his body. As for the few droplets that still fell, the city was home to so much violence that the fresh blood merged perfectly with the dried blood left from past duels.
Eden jumped down a few more levels, stopping not far from the thick base of the city as he sneaked into the bowels of the city.
The ships making the edge of the city were all relatively new, and was where the more influential pirates would reside. It was a part of the city that could be called rather charming, as it offered a view on a good portion of the city, as well as the caldera protecting the pirate city.
The insides of the city, in comparison, were filthy.
There resided the older ships, the first ones that had been used to construct the city, and had since been covered in a literal mountain of other boats. They had not seen sunlight for decades, if not a century for some, nor any other kind of light for some deeper parts.
The bowels had this constant stench to them as well, one that was a mix of putrid piss, excrement and gallons of dried blood.
All in all, it was the perfect place to lose his tail.
As he walked in deeper, Eden saw the many unfriendly eyes directed his way from the shadows, the low light not bothering him thanks to his Dark Vision.
Dark Vision, as a 1st Circle Spell, struggled to see through the Mists of the Underworld, but it could easily pierce through this naturally dim environment.
This allowed him to make his way to a more desolate area, where he finally got to sit down.
After taking a moment to just breath, Eden laid back against a 'wall' and retrieved the piece of clothing he had used to clog his bullet wound, and bit onto it. It was drenched in his blood, and had the taste of iron, but he ignored it as he took a blade out of his Inventory, a clean one, and summoned a Strengthened Fireball in front of himself.
Instead of throwing it out however, Eden simply let it hover in front of him, half formed, and dipped the blade in it.
Mastering the spell not only allowed Eden to cast it better, it also gave him some control over the spell itself, such as delaying its formation.
Still, he could not hold it indefinitely, and as the fireball started reaching its full size, which would inevitably launch it, he dissipated it.
As much as burning Shipwreck City would satisfy him, now was not the time.
Besides, the blade was already gleaming red hot, and so, Eden carefully inserted it into his wound.
He could not help but release a scream of pain, muffled by the bloody rag he was biting into as he closed his eyes, doing his best to concentrate on his Talent.
It was an almost impossible endeavor with the pain he was going through, but he still managed to use it well enough to feel his shoulder, and the bullet in it.
The wound sizzled from the hot metal, and Eden's HP cascaded down as he carved into his very flesh to take out the bullet. Fortunately, it had not splintered inside, and he was able to take it out whole.
As the bullet fell to the ground with a revolting splash, fault of the pieces of flesh accompanying it, Eden screamed once more into the rag, before putting the blade into his Inventory.
As much as his body wanted to shut down, Eden knew he could not. He almost chugged down his last remaining Minor Health Potion because of the pain, but he stopped himself from doing so, taking out the Skull instead.
Eden did not even meditate to recover his MP, fearing he would fall unconscious if he did, and allowed his MP to naturally recover within this necrotic energy-dense environment.
The necrotic miasma also served to form an invisible protection barrier for Eden, as it was invisible to the naked eye in this environment, and would debuff anyone trying to approach him.
Finally, Eden looked up at the cramped ceiling, which was just the keel of another ship, and sighed softly.
He had never expected to go very far with Drakon, the man had warned him that he would not be able to already. Still, Eden had followed because he figured making a good impression on a Pirate Lord could only be beneficial.
In the end, all he got was an ambush. Well, that, and some information, and a target.
By now, the Pirate Lords most certainly all had a faction standing behind them already, and none of them were friendly to Eden. It was Shadow that had attacked him just now, as far as Eden could tell, but he was sure that if he presented himself on the doorstep of any other faction, they would act just the same.
Eden's original plan had been to use Don Rafael and Drakon's guild as a proxy to fish in the troubled waters, keeping a distance but remaining an actor, even if a minor one, to look for an opportunity.
Eden could only plan so far, he was not omniscient. That did not mean he had to stop at the first failure though.
Now, everyone important knew he was here, and would be guarded against him, meaning that soft and subtle approach was no longer impossible.
Leaving Shipwreck Island in his current state would also be impossible, as not only would the docks most certainly be watched by Players, but Don Rafael seemed intent on killing him as well.
Considering Eden's true goal was to reach whatever was connected to the Skull, something had to be done.
So, why not go big?