I wake up in the morning, surprisingly still on the bed… I look over at Leaf. She tied her hand to the railing of the bed so she couldn't force me all the way off. Even though she still came close. Her body was turned towards me and had kicked me to the very edge of the bed. If the cloth she used to tied her hand was a little longer, I still would have ended up on the floor. I don't expect her to care so I crawl over her and kiss her forehead to try and wake her up.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

...She looks at me with a look of anger… What did I do? She continues talking.

“Ah… I'm sorry Kite I'm just… Not a morning person. Can you not wake me up unless it is necessary?”

“S-sure...”

Leaf is scary when she is angry… I definitely have to remember that. If it was anyone else waking her up… I'm fairly certain she would have been throwing punches… Especially if they kissed her awake. I let her sleep in… I really needed to talk with her more but it will have to wait… Again… Today is an important day though… We will be coming into range of the pirate island today.

I head to the ships. Darkclaw is on the ship giving commands… I should say Greed has taken over, we're closer than I thought.

“Slow it to a snails pace crew! We're less than a league away from the base, if we continue forwards now we'll be spotted!”

Most of the crew is confused by the dragon who is now speaking in nautical terms. I call out now.

“Listen to the dragon, if he says we're getting close that means we are. Slow the pace and tie the ships together, when I come back I'll give the commands for the mission. Someone, start gathering the forces to split them for this mission.”

I hear Lance yell from his ship.

“I'm on it!”

With that I call for Purple. Me and him head for the islands for reconnaissance. Flying a few miles is still a bit rough but easy enough, I wish I had a different flying variant than dragon. Perhaps I'll form a pact with Purple next just for the more convenient flying form. Then I remember I have griffin form… I hadn't used it in so long I had forgotten about it. I switch and the difficulty of flying is vastly lowered.

We come into view of the island. Me and Purple park ourselves on a nearby cluster of rocks. Looking over into the island… I've got an idea on how to scout the entire island with the help of the pirates.

“Purple… Can you do a flyby of the island and connect me with one of the dumber pirates?”

“...It will be difficult but if it is only one person I should be able to connect you.”

I doubt anyone would make to much of a deal if they spotted a bat flying. Even so, Purple is under the rule to try to remain hidden. It takes a few moments but I'm finally connected to someone.

“Hello there.”

“Huh!? Who is speaking to me… I don't see anyone around me…”

“I'm the god of balance… I'm speaking to you telepathically.”

“Tele-what now?”

“I'm speaking to just you through your brain… I need your help with something that only you can do.”

“I can't leave my post. I'm watching the equipment.”

“When do you get off your post?”

“The new watchers should come in 1 hour… This job is really boring but it is safer than most. So they said I should do it since no one would ever attack us.”

“That is right. And if no one would ever attack you pirates, why do you have to watch the door?”

“Yea... That is a good idea. When they come to take my spot I'll ask that.”

“You should just leave your post and come and pick me up and put me in your pocket. I'll keep giving you good ideas.”

“...What do you look like?”

“I'm in the form of a little mouse right now. But I'm not a little mouse.”

“How can I tell you apart from other mice then?”

“Well… I'll guide you to me. Then I can keep giving you good ideas and be close to you.”

I guide the pirate to myself. He notices me and moves to crush me but I tell him that I am that mouse. He is a taller and bigger than the average person. I can't see his hair color as he is wearing a blue bandana. He stoops and puts me into his pocket… It absolutely stinks in here. From here I can have him show me around the island and point out the more important objectives… The island is gigantic, it is a cluster of islands with planks placed between them to make it a giant base. Only two paths lead into the center of the base where the pirate ships are docked.

There are several buildings, all almost identical. With no way to differentiate between the barracks or the food storage building. It would be very difficult to pinpoint which buildings would be more valuable to destroy. Near the center of the base, overlooking the ships is the biggest building. Easily big enough to hold all of the pirates if needed. It looks far more heavily fortified then the other buildings. Made out of thick stone instead of thin wood. Even though it is so close to the ships, I see portholes for mana cannons. The pirate takes me back to his post. I continue my line of questioning.

“If I were hungry, where would I go to get food here?”

“Yea... That would be the mess hall. It is the closest building to the main one right there.”

He points at the building I was suspecting… I don't think that building matters though. I should have asked where the food is stored at instead.

“Where does the food come from though? You can't have all the food in the mess hall. If I wanted like a big amount of food where would I look.”

He racks his brain by my question… Maybe he doesn't know where the food is… Maybe this is a waste of-.

“That would be the 2 storage buildings. They are right beside the equipment building but are more guarded… I don't know why…”

It show's of how smart Gold is. She knows that an army lives off its stomach. You can take away armor but people will fight naked if they have to. If you're starving, you won't have the energy to even wear heavy armor. Her own men would also want to steal food over stealing equipment. If everyone already has their own set of gear. A different set of gear is less appealing than extra meals everyday.

“Wow that is a lot of information you just gave me… I guess that all makes sense though… Who is Gold though? If you meant where the gold is… I don't know. Our boss keeps it all secret. We only get our pay when we get shore leave every few years.”

“Wait… You can hear me even if I don't want you too...”

“Huh?”

So I can't think of… Anything bad now right now… Like about my arm- NO! Don't think about anything! Stay zen. Don't think of anything.

“Well… Instead of just repeating don't think of anything… Why don't you just not think of anything? Yelling don't think of anything in my head is kind of annoying.”

“Sorry… I'll try… I just… Think a lot more than most because I am a god.”

“Yea... That makes sense...”

We head towards his post still… I have to wait an entire hour of not speaking… I start to meditate until I feel him moving again. Has it been an hour?

“Yea… It's been an hour.”

“Well, can you show me around the island?”

“Yea… That thing you said about not guarding though… They yelled at me for asking.”

“Sorry, some people are just idiots.”

“Yea… I thought your question was good.”

“Can you show me around now?”

“Yea... You said you were hungry right? Let's head to the mess hall first cuz I'm hungry too.”

He takes me into the mess hall… I hear what sounds like bowls clicking together. I wonder what they-. I get a hot liquid poured on me. Son of a bitch that's hot!

“Yea... It stings a little against my skin too. How else was I going to feed you?”

I taste the liquid… It takes like some type of stew… It isn't bad but now I'm covered in hot stew. I hear another pirate yell out.

“Hey doofus! You eat with your mouth not your shirt pocket!”

At the same time I hear the pirate yell out in my head as well as out loud.

“My name is Defus, not doofus you idiot!”

He screams loud enough to startle me. The other person must have also been scared because he didn't make any other replies… I try my hardest to not think of anything in this time. After about 10 minutes of staying still Defus gets up and we leave.

“Can you finally show me around?”

“Yea… Which building do you want to know more about?”

“Can you go over each one?”

He leads me around the base. My little head pokes out of his shirt pocket. It takes about 2 hours for him to show me the buildings. Altogether there are about 8 barracks, 2 equipment, 2 food storage, 2 supplies, the mess hall, the main building and a ship docking building for storing items for later storage near the ship docks… I subtlety ask about the prisoners location… He said they are somewhere in the main building. If I had to guess, I would say walking from one end of the cluster of islands to the other would take around an hour… It is an extremely huge base… I call out in my head.

“Thanks for the help Defus. I'll make sure to consider you for my next demigod. Also, you probably shouldn't tell anyone about me or they'll think you are crazy.”

“Yea... Alright...”

I use the code word to break out telepathic bond. I can hear Purple wheezing heavily now… Is it really that difficult to hold the link for a few hours… Shit! We're going to have to put off the invasion if Purple is too worn out to link us together… Unless he can get some sleep before then. I jump into the water to clean myself off before transforming into a human and swimming to the cluster of rocks I am supposed to meet Purple at… He looks in bad shape… That did take a lot of of him.

We head back to the ships… If Purple isn't ready we can't do it. He is too important to the mission. Being the only communication between the different troops. He needs to be ready. Flying back to the ships, Purple starts to fall, unable to even fly with how worn down he is. I catch him before he hits the water but if he is in such a bad shape… I don't think he'll be able to hold a link up for very long between 6 people… I might have to rethink my communication strategy…

We make it back to the ships and I tell everyone we might not attack tonight. We still need to go over the plans more. I have to find a better way to keep in contact with all my generals… Coming up with an idea like this on the spot might be impossible though. I wish I would have known beforehand that Purple could only hold links for so long…

Think… THINK DAMN IT! This is too important to not have for this fight! I bash myself in the head trying and force some ideas out… I got an idea but… It might not work… It would only be a connection between me and my generals. They wouldn't be able to hear each other… I have to think of something better than that… That method also takes a huge portion of my mana for each person I'm linked with… FUCK! THINK DAMN IT! EVERYONE IS COUNTING ON YOU! Before my next step… I have to make sure my backup method even works.

I form a little slime familiar. This familiar is also an illusionist. It will mimic the idea of Gyzmo's. Where they will replicate the words I say, since I'm mentally linked with my familiars, the act should be instantaneous. If I didn't have the level 50 champion skill calm during battle... I doubt I would be able to use this method because the feedback from fighting would mask everything. The ability to block out all unnecessary noises is extremely helpful for communication purposes… I rethink which familiar I use… One that could go into their ears would work better but I don't know any creature like that.

The slime will have to remain in position between the persons head and helmet but sticking to it. Perhaps I could rig up a spider silk ear holder for them so they don't fall off… This idea is ridiculous… I still don't even know if it works. So I hand the slime over to Lance to test. I fly far enough away for him to not be able to hear and start to talk. When I hear Lance confirm he can hear me the test is a success… Sort of.

It will still take 10% of my mana per person… Unless I split the single slime up and see if it still works. I break the slime into three parts and give one to each general. Asking again if they can hear me with all three confirming… I now have to attempt it with more people I need to stay in contact with… It seems that we are still on for attacking tonight even if Purple isn't ready.