Transcendent will

By the time Dunn and the others came out, Feishman had already been hacked to death by his own men. Even a [Martial Artist], whose combat prowess ranked among the best in the second tier, had no room to fight back against a dozen or so Professionals of the same tier.

Even Green would have had to rely on [Red Beak]'s sharpness to stand a chance of winning.

Without a Transcendent weapon in hand, Feishman's fate had long since been sealed.

Seeing Dunn and the others emerge, Annie immediately chuckled and gestured for Dunn to look at the mangled Fisherman on the ground. Her meaning was clear: you're not much good, are you? With such a huge advantage, you still let one get away.

Dunn instantly understood his meaning from Annie's expression, and the corner of his mouth twitched. You nasty little brat. Just you wait. Let's see how you beg me in a moment!

"Who's this?" Suddenly noticing Hawkins following quietly behind Dunn, Annie couldn't help feeling puzzled. Why was this man still alive?

Seeing Annie's expression, then looking at Feishman, whose corpse no longer looked human, Hawkins shuddered.

By now, how could he fail to realize that they had been the real prey, the ones targeted from the very beginning?

"Let's talk inside. There's no point standing out here in the rain. The rest of you should head inside too. Arrange for some men to settle the prisoners in the caves at the Ruins so they can shelter from the rain."

With that, Dunn led the officers into the house.

They had barely sat down before Annie impatiently asked Dunn, "What are we keeping this man around for?"

The moment Annie spoke, Hawkins was so frightened he could barely stay seated, and his whole body began to tremble.

Although Annie hadn't specified whom she meant, there was no doubt she was talking about him.

Now that Annie had subdued all the pirates outside, the usefulness Hawkins had claimed for himself no longer held up at all.

That was why, ever since coming out, he had been cowering like a quail, terrified they would notice him.

But the inevitable still came. Hearing Annie's question, Hawkins immediately looked imploringly at Dunn, afraid Dunn would casually order him chopped up.

"A [Wave Chaser] is still very useful." Dunn explained his thinking to Annie. "People with high intelligence are very hard to find. Who knows how long it would take to train one ourselves?

"And with how sought-after [Wave Chasers] are, recruiting one isn't easy either. Taking in this ready-made one will save us a lot of trouble."

Hearing Dunn's explanation, Hawkins immediately breathed a sigh of relief. So Dunn had never agreed to take him in because he needed him to deal with the pirates outside. He had wanted his [Wave Chaser] class.

If the classes best suited to life on the Sea were ranked, Wizards would undoubtedly take first place. Wizards could accomplish what ninety-nine percent of the world's Career Abilities could do. However, Wizards with a formal lineage were only considered fully trained upon reaching the third tier, when they could venture out to gain experience.

Even then, most Wizards chose to keep their heads down and continue studying the mysteries of magic.

Moreover, those wealthy Wizards rarely ventured into the dangerous seas themselves. As for self-taught Wizards, well... their abilities in every respect left much to be desired.

Second place belonged to [Wave Chasers]. Their ability to manipulate ocean currents was extremely useful on the Sea. During the earlier storm, apart from the [Black Pearl], the [Chasing Waves] had been the only ship not to lose any crew.

Any established fleet on the Sea had to have at least one [Wave Chaser].

Their third-tier advanced class was [Tide Rider]. In Dunn's memory, that spectacle of towering waves was the most striking display of Transcendent power he had witnessed in his life so far. Although, in the end, that person had still been utterly thrashed by an [Oathkeeper]...

"So that's it." Annie nodded in agreement. [Wave Chasers] really were important, and Annie fully agreed on that point. "Hey, Dunn, tell me what happened in the Ruins."

"Let Green tell you. I need to check a few things first."

Seeing Annie go to Green to learn the details of what had happened in the Ruins, Dunn took the Career Card out of his pocket.

A stream of information flashed across it.

[Based on your personal traits, you have awakened the Career Ability-Conqueror's Color Haki]

[Your talent-Conqueror's Disposition has awakened]

[Based on your will attribute, you have gained the Transcendent feat-Iron Will]

[Based on your personal traits and Career Abilities, you have gained the career feat-Conqueror]

Name: Dunn Campbell

Age: 20

Level: 10

Tier: second tier

Class: Pirate Captain

Talents: Aberrant, Heaven's Favored, Conqueror's Disposition

Strength: 17

Agility: 10

Stamina: 22

Charisma: 11

Intelligence: 12

Perception: 12

Will: 20

Career Skills: Rokushiki

Career Abilities: Plunder: (omitted)

Ship Animation: (omitted)

Conqueror's Color Haki: display... the spirit of a king.

Feats: personal feats: Aberrant, Reduced Pain Sensitivity, Sleepless

Transcendent feats: Supernatural Toughness (stamina), Supernatural Recovery (stamina)

Iron Will (will): greatly increases resistance to charm and beguilement abilities.

Personal career feat: Conqueror: as a conqueror, you should naturally possess will beyond that of ordinary mortals.

His strength had increased by one point, a gain brought about by Plunder activating when Conqueror's Color Haki had blasted the Ancient Pirate King to death.

His intelligence had increased by two points because he had absorbed the Ancient Pirate King's consciousness fragments.

Of course, those were merely minor details. The real surprise was his will attribute: twenty points. Transcendent will!

Although Transcendent will's contribution to combat was limited to resistance against certain control abilities, making it unquestionably the weakest of the seven attributes in terms of boosting combat prowess.

That did nothing to change the fact that Transcendent will ranked first among the seven attributes in importance. After all, it was the "ticket" to becoming Legendary.

How many fourth-tier Professionals in this world were stuck at the threshold of Transcendent will, unable to advance an inch, with no hope of becoming Legendary in their lifetimes, only to die full of bitterness? Some old monsters had even been stuck for decades until their minds grew twisted.

Yet now Dunn, a Professional who had not even reached the third tier, already possessed Transcendent will. It was no exaggeration to say that, although he was currently only a Second-Tier Professional, he already had one foot in the Legendary realm.

If word of this got out, those old monsters would probably go mad with jealousy, then band together to wipe him out.

Although this journey had been somewhat turbulent, compared with what he had gained, those setbacks were practically negligible.

As for his several brushes with death, Dunn's stance was that he hadn't died, had he?

Smack!

A crisp sound pulled Dunn out of his immense joy. His private celebration interrupted, Dunn frowned slightly and looked toward the sound.