"In the sacred solitude of self-reflection, the Lodestar illuminates our path to wisdom. It guides us to embrace the power of progression and embark upon a transformative journey where we awaken our souls and unlock the hidden potentials within."
On Reflection
2nd bearing Verse 1
The Light of the Lodestar
A rush of emotions ran through me. Relief, knowing that we had survived the encounter unscathed. I couldn't help but feel a surge of triumph, a sense of pride in our ability to overcome such a fearsome opponent. Yet, amidst the relief and triumph, the immense size and power of the creature we had faced left me in awe and a little fear. It served as a reminder of the vastness of the ocean and our own insignificance compared to the level of sea monsters it hid.
. . .
I retreated into the quiet space of my mind to consider my progress.
. . .
Level: 45
Title: Lord
Métier: Singer Lv 11
Metier: Sailor Lv 10 -> Lv11
Metier: Merchant Lv 5 -> Lv6
Name: Callen Kai Caelus Silversea
Age: 6 years (Old World 8yrs) 4 months
General Experience: 123,000 /3,276,800
Health: 1587/1570 Stamina: 1576/1576 Mana: 1570/1570 Psi: 1570/1570
Trait: Long-Lived, Fast Learner, Super Senses, Source of Mana, Quick Witted, Celerity, Durability, Supreme Strength, Charming, Lucky
Vitality: 156 -> 157
Endurance: 156 -> 158
Strength: 156 -> 157
Dexterity: 156 -> 158
Senses: 156 -> 158
Mind: 156 -> 157
Clarity: 156 -> 158
Magic: 156 -> 157
Charisma: 156 -> 157
Luck: 157 -> 158
Free Points: 30
Skills Tier 1:
Dance (LV100) Singing (LV79-> 80) Sailing (LV79-> 83) Trading (LV75-> 77) Meditation (LV75) Time Sense (LV79-> 80) Sneak (LV55->57) Acting (LV 55->56) Drumming (LV55)Whistling (LV50) Farming (LV50) Balance (LV54 -> 55) Knots (LV50-> 52) Draw (LV50-> 52) Listening (LV50) Stitching (LV50) Humming (LV50) Insight (LV45-> 47) Glide (LV45) Poise (LV41->43) Grace (LV41->43) Charm (LV40->42) Composure (LV40->41) Ambidextrous (LV25 ->29) Silent Step (LV25 ->29) Inspect (LV25 -> 29) Lie (LV25->26) Deft touch (LV20 ->24) Posture (LV20->22) Riding (LV20) Cook (LV20) Sketching (LV20->21) Drafting (LV20->21)Etiquette (LV20) Appeal (LV20) Sight (LV20) Scent (LV20) Detect (LV20) Taste (LV20) Measurement (LV 10 ->15) Blacksmithing (LV10) Carpentry (LV10) Mining (LV10) Teaching (LV10)
Fishing (LV43 ->53)
Tier 2:
Sense Mana (LV63 -> 65) Quick reflexes (LV63 -> 65) Eavesdrop (LV63) Spellcraft (LV54 -> 55) Spellsong (LV50 ->53) Order (LV40 ->44) Linguistics (LV40) Memorisation (LV40) Recall (LV40) Composition (LV40) Pain Tolerance (LV35 ->36) Stealth (LV34 -> 36) Mind Sense (LV25->29) Knife Arts (LV22 -> 25) Misdirection (LV22 -> 23) Haggling (LV20 ->22)Observe (LV20 ->25) Martial Arts (LV20 -> 22) Transplant (LV20) Cruising (LV16 -> 18) Dart (LV 18) Heal (LV13) Poison Tolerance (LV10) Treasure Sense (LV5 ->10) Intimidation (LV6 -> 9)
Tier 3:
Expel Mana (LV62 ->63) Mana Manipulation (LV62) Gale (LV63) Echolocation(LV62 -> 63) Absorb Mana (LV40) Boil (LV50) Ignite (LV40) Melt (LV40) Command (LV40) Deception (LV23 -> 24) Bargain (LV20 ->21) Freeze (LV20) Racing (LV14 -> 15) Analyse (LV12 -> 13) Flash Step (Lv13) Seismic Sense (LV11) Danger Sense (Lv4 -> 7) Smuggling (LV5) Telepathy (Lv1 ->2)
Tier 4:
Block Status (LVMAX) Iron Man (LV64 -> 65) Parallel Processing (LV37) Material Manipulation (LV31) Stone shaping (LV30) Mana Drain (LV 30) Flight (LV17) Sonar (Lv1 ->9) Seafaring (LV6 -> 7) Air stepping (Lv1 ->2)
Tier 5:
Mind fortress (LV21) Multiple minds (LV3) Omniglot (LV25) Weapon Prodigy (Lv21->22) Music Prodigy (Lv31) Polymath (Lv10) Enigma (Lv1)
I smiled at my progress. My other multiple minds joined me in the room with my status. I stood there silently, taking it in momentarily, while Callen chipped in, “Made the most in Fishing since we last checked.”
“It jumped ten levels with the death of the Cephalopod.” The son of a sailor added.
“Followed closely by Sonar with eight levels.” Grinned Caelus. “Treasure sense did well with five levels.” He continued happily, my merchant self always keen to make money.
All in all, I had been pretty busy. Contemplating my gains helped to distract me from the method I gained them. I felt my body calm.
“Now that we have our heads on straight, we could gain a few more levels.” Callen pointed out.
“What?” I asked.
“Well, there were a few injuries . . .” Caelus chipped in.
. . .
A few hours later, the cephalopod corpse had been harvested, and the bloody remains washed off the deck. I had failed to gain any skinning or harvesting skills as I had been otherwise engaged.
I was the only healer on board, which meant I was in high demand.
We had survived the attack with very few injuries considering the monster we had faced, but plenty of people had been injured in the process, if only lightly. Stats would do a lot to keep the infection out, but healing was always preferable.
I was limited in my skill, but my large well of mana, along with the fact that I had hardly used any of it, meant that I had been able to work my way through the crew healing the more serious injuries and leaving only the light, shallow or superficial ones for their own bodies to deal with.
Looking at my status, I see those real-world injuries, rather than practice ones, were significantly better at levelling up the skill.
Ding! Heal (LV 13 ->17)
I was distracted from my navel-gazing by Captain Kashif heading to where I had taken my moment's respite.
“Where too next, Lord Silversea?” the man had always been polite, but there was now a level of respect to his words that had not been there before. Battling a giant cephalopod could do that to a man.
“On to Wester Levante. We can stop to pick up the mail.” I did not elaborate further, but seeing how our investments pan out would be good.
“Any chance of any more treasure on the way?” He asked, clearly interested in what I had managed to achieve.
While many of the crew had worked on harvesting the Cephalopod, the remaining who were not injured had hauled up the goods left behind on the sunken wreck below. Outside of the Captain’s chest that we had already looted, we had been able to haul up amphorae, some damaged but some still with their seals unbroken and still full of olive oil. We had also salvaged pottery, vases, plates and bowls. Along with some farming tools and weapons, all of which would be extremely useful as our population grew in bursts and starts to provide them with tools of the trade and weapons to defend themselves with.
“We will have to see.” I hedged. This was the only wreck we had seen so far, but if we circled the islands, keeping my senses open, who knew what else we might find?
. . .
With the delays caused by battling the behemoth and hauling up the hoard it had been guarding, we did not make it to Wester Levante till after nightfall. With the harbour closed, we weighed anchor off the island's coast, intending to land with first light.
We could have managed with my senses, but there was no reason to risk the ship or startle the islanders awake. Or so I thought when I fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the waves that night.
. . .
“Time to wake up.” The whispered words made no sense I was roused in the early morning hours when it was still dark. It could not be far past midnight, and a quick look at my internal clock confirmed it.
Why was I being woken?
“What?” I hissed, grumpy and a little bit out of sorts from my rude awakening. I could be a morning person or a night owl. What I did not handle well were changes to my routine. I did not think I would be getting back to sleep after my sudden awakening tonight.
“Time for some infiltration training.” Namir grinned at me in the dark, his cat-like eyes catching the light.
“We’ll give you a minute to get yourself dressed and up top.” He disappeared from sight but not from my senses as I made him making his way to the top deck to meet . . . my grandfather, Arawn. Sometimes the two of them took far too much pleasure in their on-the-spur training moments.
They were all memorable, and I would have liked to have forgotten a few of them. Hopefully, this one would be more positive than negative. I rushed through dressing and armed myself before cat padding as silently as possible to join the pair above.
“Took you long enough.” Arawn gave a not-so-silent dig at my tardiness.
“I didn’t know we were meeting,” I replied. “Why are we meeting?” I asked now that we were all gathered, clearly ready for something.
“Scouting,” Namir answered abruptly.
“But we will be there tomorrow,” I whined, still slightly disgruntled by my early morning wake-up call. “Besides, it isn’t like we’ve never been there before or don’t know what to expect.”
“A scout is never surprised because he scouts out the dangers in advance.” Namir lectured.
“Caution is always warranted when arriving somewhere new.” Arawn agreed.
“Fine,” I sighed. It looked like we were going for a midnight run.
“Ready?” Namir asked.
“Ready,” I replied reluctantly. This was never as easy as they made it look on the open sea instead of the lagoon. Also, as evidenced today, the monsters below our feet were much larger out here than the lagoon we had grown up next to. I did not want to swim in the dark out here even if I could now keep control of my mana and keep it within my body.
“Follow me.” Namir motioned before sprinting off the side of the ship. For a beastkin that disliked water, he sure spent a lot of time running over the top of it.
I made sure to follow him at full sprint. But I was not going to attempt to copy them tonight.
The challenge with the sea was the waves attempting to trip me up as I crested them. I couldn’t count the number of times they had tripped me up, attempting to practice this at home with them. So I cheated, and before I hit the water, I used my mana to fly close behind him as he sprinted along the top of the waves.
Arawn followed close behind me, and I was sure he was probably smirking at my method. If there was anything Namir might be envious of, it was my ability not even to put a single foot on the water. Grinning, I overtook him and then circled back behind him again.
Frustrated, He shook his head and said, “Take this seriously.”
I fell into formation, with him ahead and Arawn behind. It took only a few moments before we arrived on Wester Levante. We had arrived further south of the town and would go over the southern wall rather than in through the dock, which was always better guarded.
It was a good game flying low to the ground and avoiding pasting myself on anything as I followed in Namir’s footsteps as he transitioned off the water onto the sand, then rock, then soil. As he smoothly made his way up the small cliffs to approach the town from slightly further inland.
It wasn’t long before we were sweeping our way over the wall, and for a second, I worried that we might trigger an alarm. Still, our arrival went unnoticed as we reached Namir’s favourite perch in town, the Church of the Lodestar’s tall tower, where we could overlook the whole town.
“Which one is the mayor’s home?” He asked.
I easily pointed it out from my father’s descriptions and the fact that I could see our homing pigeons nesting in a coop on the roof. Hidden from view from the street, it was immediately obvious from our current vantage point looking down on the town.
“That one.” I pointed it out.
“Well, let’s go say hello.” He commented.
“I thought we were scouting out the town,” I asked, confused.
“What better method than to ask a native.” He grinned.
“It’s a little early. I doubt he will be happy to be woken up,” I replied, remembering my brutally early wake up less than an hour earlier.
“You are his Lord.” He answered unwaveringly.
“Yes and no,” I answered.
Through Mercurio and our efforts, the Silversea family now owned all the land outside of the port town on Wester Levante and a fair amount of the free space within it as well. If the mayor ever wished to change anything without knocking anything down, he had to ask us for permission. Politically, even though we owned the land, our Lordship’s estate was currently limited to Wester Ponente, even if practically we did. It would require more paperwork in the capital for our holdings to be requalified as our estate, to include Wester Ponente, Wester Levante and Little Wester. Until then, technically, he was not our mayor but Wester Levante’s.
“Either way, he received a bird detailing we would arrive today. It would be remiss of us not to make him aware of our arrival at the most immediate possibility.” Arawn seemed to enjoy the idea of waking him up as much as Namir enjoyed waking me up. “See you at the coop,” he said before dropping over the side of the building silently.
It was with those words that an informal race began to get there. You would have thought that flying a straight line from point A to point B would have allowed me to win. But being able to constantly push off the ground before leaping to the top of the house meant that they could constantly accelerate with the strength of their stats. In contrast, I was restricted to how quickly I could fall and then slowed by transitioning that force into forward momentum.
They won.
Despite losing, I was smiling when I joined them again. “I’ve missed this,” I murmured in response to their questioning gazes.
“What sneaking through the dark?” Arawn asked. “We could always do this more often.
“No, being on my own or at least limiting my chaperones to you two. The ship can feel a little crowded, what with everyone watching me all the time.” I explained how much pressure I felt under to live up to some unknown Lordly level. The only example we had on how to behave was Lady Acacia, and I sometimes suspected she was asking for far too much from us.
“Don’t worry about it for tonight, and enjoy the break.” Arawn shrugged his shoulders, pulling out a lockpick set. He considered it for a second, then handed it to me. “Like we practised.” He added.
We often practised with various puzzles and locks to work on building up the dexterity stat. I never actually unlocked the skill for it, though. Perhaps tonight it would be different.
With my height, I didn’t have to kneel down to look through the lock. It was already at eye height. I fed the turning tool in, then the pick. Pre-tumbler locks were a lot easier, provided they weren’t magical.
A few moments later, I was rewarded with a click as I unlocked the door and the skill.
Ding! Lockpicking (Lv1)
“Yes,” I whispered with exuberant joy meant it was obvious to my companions that I had unlocked more than just the door.
“You got one?” Namir asked.
“Lockpicking,” I smiled. “But it wasn’t harder than many of the locks you have had me work on, so it doesn’t really make sense,” I added, a little confused.
“Training will only take you so far. It takes a real moment of skullduggery to gain the experience and the official skill, even if you were capable of it long before.” Arawn explained, putting his hands out for his tools to be returned.
“Right, right,” I said, realising that despite the practice we had gone through other than the church heist, I hadn’t ever actually stolen anything and certainly not used any of my skills to do so.
Quietly we tiptoed down into the Mayor's house. We needed no light to show us the way; our senses and skills were more than capable enough for the task. We found the man sleeping alone.
Namir wasn’t above some petty theatrics and had me seated in an alcove with a lamp illuminating me and Arawn standing behind me before he dragged the man awake with a hand over his mouth to prevent his screaming.
I watched his fear turn to confusion, then comprehension feeling somewhat villainous in my men's methods. Still, we were making a point that we were not to be trifled with, talked around or betrayed. Each tutor had a different lesson to teach me, and some were darker than others.
“My Lord.” The man finally stammered out once Namir’s hand was removed.
“You received our bird. You were expecting us today,” I replied, leaning into the role my tutors had already formed for me.
“Of course, of course.” He hastened to agree, attempting to sit up a little straighter as if that would somehow help his bargaining position. “But with the sundown, I was not expecting you till land until at least sunrise.”
“We came a few hours early.” I smiled. “Do you like the surprise?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Um . . . well,” He struggled to find a politically acceptable way of addressing his lord. I’m hardly at my best for so many new faces at such an unexpected hour.” He cautiously responded. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked.
“The Silverseas haven’t heard from you for a while now and thought it might be best to have a private conversation before the young lord formally arrived tomorrow.” Arawn continued. “We were less than pleased to be surprised by the arrival of an envoy from each faction. We can only assume they bypassed here altogether.” He finished leadingly and looming over the poor man still in his nightshirt, having failed to have left his bed.
“Ah yes, that’s right.” he delayed awkwardly.
“Are there any other possible reasons for taking so long to reply to our visit that we failed to receive a reply before we left?” Arawn continued the mildly alarming interrogation.
He seemed to steel himself before he started, “We’ve had a new investor in the town who is putting me in a difficult spot.”
“A new investor hardly seems to be a problem,” I answered, confused.
“A noble investor, Baron Corus, has bought up any empty plots within the town and is making offers on the rest.” The man anxiously continued.
“Then we should have been informed,” I responded a little crossly. This was supposed to be the little kingdom we were building.
“He was most persuasive in preventing me from informing any of others.”
“Were you threatened or bought?” Arawn asked tiredly.
“A combination of both, he has bought out our debts and made crystal clear the consequences of failing to comply. I am under contract and could not send anything to Wester Ponente until the new year.” He looked relieved to have finally gotten that off his chest.
“Why would Baron Corus suddenly be so interested in Wester Levante?” I asked him.
“You can ask him yourself tomorrow. He’s here.” The man replied.
"In the sacred solitude of self-reflection, the Lodestar illuminates our path to wisdom. It guides us to embrace the power of progression and embark upon a transformative journey where we awaken our souls and unlock the hidden potentials within."
On Reflection
2nd bearing Verse 1
The Light of the Lodestar
A rush of emotions ran through me. Relief, knowing that we had survived the encounter unscathed. I couldn't help but feel a surge of triumph, a sense of pride in our ability to overcome such a fearsome opponent. Yet, amidst the relief and triumph, the immense size and power of the creature we had faced left me in awe and a little fear. It served as a reminder of the vastness of the ocean and our own insignificance compared to the level of sea monsters it hid.
. . .
I retreated into the quiet space of my mind to consider my progress.
. . .
Level: 45
Title: Lord
Métier: Singer Lv 11
Metier: Sailor Lv 10 -> Lv11
Metier: Merchant Lv 5 -> Lv6
Name: Callen Kai Caelus Silversea
Age: 6 years (Old World 8yrs) 4 months
General Experience: 123,000 /3,276,800
Health: 1587/1570 Stamina: 1576/1576 Mana: 1570/1570 Psi: 1570/1570
Trait: Long-Lived, Fast Learner, Super Senses, Source of Mana, Quick Witted, Celerity, Durability, Supreme Strength, Charming, Lucky
Vitality: 156 -> 157
Endurance: 156 -> 158
Strength: 156 -> 157
Dexterity: 156 -> 158
Senses: 156 -> 158
Mind: 156 -> 157
Clarity: 156 -> 158
Magic: 156 -> 157
Charisma: 156 -> 157
Luck: 157 -> 158
Free Points: 30
Skills Tier 1:
Dance (LV100) Singing (LV79-> 80) Sailing (LV79-> 83) Trading (LV75-> 77) Meditation (LV75) Time Sense (LV79-> 80) Sneak (LV55->57) Acting (LV 55->56) Drumming (LV55)Whistling (LV50) Farming (LV50) Balance (LV54 -> 55) Knots (LV50-> 52) Draw (LV50-> 52) Listening (LV50) Stitching (LV50) Humming (LV50) Insight (LV45-> 47) Glide (LV45) Poise (LV41->43) Grace (LV41->43) Charm (LV40->42) Composure (LV40->41) Ambidextrous (LV25 ->29) Silent Step (LV25 ->29) Inspect (LV25 -> 29) Lie (LV25->26) Deft touch (LV20 ->24) Posture (LV20->22) Riding (LV20) Cook (LV20) Sketching (LV20->21) Drafting (LV20->21)Etiquette (LV20) Appeal (LV20) Sight (LV20) Scent (LV20) Detect (LV20) Taste (LV20) Measurement (LV 10 ->15) Blacksmithing (LV10) Carpentry (LV10) Mining (LV10) Teaching (LV10)
Fishing (LV43 ->53)
Tier 2:
Sense Mana (LV63 -> 65) Quick reflexes (LV63 -> 65) Eavesdrop (LV63) Spellcraft (LV54 -> 55) Spellsong (LV50 ->53) Order (LV40 ->44) Linguistics (LV40) Memorisation (LV40) Recall (LV40) Composition (LV40) Pain Tolerance (LV35 ->36) Stealth (LV34 -> 36) Mind Sense (LV25->29) Knife Arts (LV22 -> 25) Misdirection (LV22 -> 23) Haggling (LV20 ->22)Observe (LV20 ->25) Martial Arts (LV20 -> 22) Transplant (LV20) Cruising (LV16 -> 18) Dart (LV 18) Heal (LV13) Poison Tolerance (LV10) Treasure Sense (LV5 ->10) Intimidation (LV6 -> 9)
Tier 3:
Expel Mana (LV62 ->63) Mana Manipulation (LV62) Gale (LV63) Echolocation(LV62 -> 63) Absorb Mana (LV40) Boil (LV50) Ignite (LV40) Melt (LV40) Command (LV40) Deception (LV23 -> 24) Bargain (LV20 ->21) Freeze (LV20) Racing (LV14 -> 15) Analyse (LV12 -> 13) Flash Step (Lv13) Seismic Sense (LV11) Danger Sense (Lv4 -> 7) Smuggling (LV5) Telepathy (Lv1 ->2)
Tier 4:
Block Status (LVMAX) Iron Man (LV64 -> 65) Parallel Processing (LV37) Material Manipulation (LV31) Stone shaping (LV30) Mana Drain (LV 30) Flight (LV17) Sonar (Lv1 ->9) Seafaring (LV6 -> 7) Air stepping (Lv1 ->2)
Tier 5:
Mind fortress (LV21) Multiple minds (LV3) Omniglot (LV25) Weapon Prodigy (Lv21->22) Music Prodigy (Lv31) Polymath (Lv10) Enigma (Lv1)
I smiled at my progress. My other multiple minds joined me in the room with my status. I stood there silently, taking it in momentarily, while Callen chipped in, “Made the most in Fishing since we last checked.”
“It jumped ten levels with the death of the Cephalopod.” The son of a sailor added.
“Followed closely by Sonar with eight levels.” Grinned Caelus. “Treasure sense did well with five levels.” He continued happily, my merchant self always keen to make money.
All in all, I had been pretty busy. Contemplating my gains helped to distract me from the method I gained them. I felt my body calm.
“Now that we have our heads on straight, we could gain a few more levels.” Callen pointed out.
“What?” I asked.
“Well, there were a few injuries . . .” Caelus chipped in.
. . .
A few hours later, the cephalopod corpse had been harvested, and the bloody remains washed off the deck. I had failed to gain any skinning or harvesting skills as I had been otherwise engaged.
I was the only healer on board, which meant I was in high demand.
We had survived the attack with very few injuries considering the monster we had faced, but plenty of people had been injured in the process, if only lightly. Stats would do a lot to keep the infection out, but healing was always preferable.
I was limited in my skill, but my large well of mana, along with the fact that I had hardly used any of it, meant that I had been able to work my way through the crew healing the more serious injuries and leaving only the light, shallow or superficial ones for their own bodies to deal with.
Looking at my status, I see those real-world injuries, rather than practice ones, were significantly better at levelling up the skill.
Ding! Heal (LV 13 ->17)
I was distracted from my navel-gazing by Captain Kashif heading to where I had taken my moment's respite.
“Where too next, Lord Silversea?” the man had always been polite, but there was now a level of respect to his words that had not been there before. Battling a giant cephalopod could do that to a man.
“On to Wester Levante. We can stop to pick up the mail.” I did not elaborate further, but seeing how our investments pan out would be good.
“Any chance of any more treasure on the way?” He asked, clearly interested in what I had managed to achieve.
While many of the crew had worked on harvesting the Cephalopod, the remaining who were not injured had hauled up the goods left behind on the sunken wreck below. Outside of the Captain’s chest that we had already looted, we had been able to haul up amphorae, some damaged but some still with their seals unbroken and still full of olive oil. We had also salvaged pottery, vases, plates and bowls. Along with some farming tools and weapons, all of which would be extremely useful as our population grew in bursts and starts to provide them with tools of the trade and weapons to defend themselves with.
“We will have to see.” I hedged. This was the only wreck we had seen so far, but if we circled the islands, keeping my senses open, who knew what else we might find?
. . .
With the delays caused by battling the behemoth and hauling up the hoard it had been guarding, we did not make it to Wester Levante till after nightfall. With the harbour closed, we weighed anchor off the island's coast, intending to land with first light.
We could have managed with my senses, but there was no reason to risk the ship or startle the islanders awake. Or so I thought when I fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the waves that night.
. . .
“Time to wake up.” The whispered words made no sense I was roused in the early morning hours when it was still dark. It could not be far past midnight, and a quick look at my internal clock confirmed it.
Why was I being woken?
“What?” I hissed, grumpy and a little bit out of sorts from my rude awakening. I could be a morning person or a night owl. What I did not handle well were changes to my routine. I did not think I would be getting back to sleep after my sudden awakening tonight.
“Time for some infiltration training.” Namir grinned at me in the dark, his cat-like eyes catching the light.
“We’ll give you a minute to get yourself dressed and up top.” He disappeared from sight but not from my senses as I made him making his way to the top deck to meet . . . my grandfather, Arawn. Sometimes the two of them took far too much pleasure in their on-the-spur training moments.
They were all memorable, and I would have liked to have forgotten a few of them. Hopefully, this one would be more positive than negative. I rushed through dressing and armed myself before cat padding as silently as possible to join the pair above.
“Took you long enough.” Arawn gave a not-so-silent dig at my tardiness.
“I didn’t know we were meeting,” I replied. “Why are we meeting?” I asked now that we were all gathered, clearly ready for something.
“Scouting,” Namir answered abruptly.
“But we will be there tomorrow,” I whined, still slightly disgruntled by my early morning wake-up call. “Besides, it isn’t like we’ve never been there before or don’t know what to expect.”
“A scout is never surprised because he scouts out the dangers in advance.” Namir lectured.
“Caution is always warranted when arriving somewhere new.” Arawn agreed.
“Fine,” I sighed. It looked like we were going for a midnight run.
“Ready?” Namir asked.
“Ready,” I replied reluctantly. This was never as easy as they made it look on the open sea instead of the lagoon. Also, as evidenced today, the monsters below our feet were much larger out here than the lagoon we had grown up next to. I did not want to swim in the dark out here even if I could now keep control of my mana and keep it within my body.
“Follow me.” Namir motioned before sprinting off the side of the ship. For a beastkin that disliked water, he sure spent a lot of time running over the top of it.
I made sure to follow him at full sprint. But I was not going to attempt to copy them tonight.
The challenge with the sea was the waves attempting to trip me up as I crested them. I couldn’t count the number of times they had tripped me up, attempting to practice this at home with them. So I cheated, and before I hit the water, I used my mana to fly close behind him as he sprinted along the top of the waves.
Arawn followed close behind me, and I was sure he was probably smirking at my method. If there was anything Namir might be envious of, it was my ability not even to put a single foot on the water. Grinning, I overtook him and then circled back behind him again.
Frustrated, He shook his head and said, “Take this seriously.”
I fell into formation, with him ahead and Arawn behind. It took only a few moments before we arrived on Wester Levante. We had arrived further south of the town and would go over the southern wall rather than in through the dock, which was always better guarded.
It was a good game flying low to the ground and avoiding pasting myself on anything as I followed in Namir’s footsteps as he transitioned off the water onto the sand, then rock, then soil. As he smoothly made his way up the small cliffs to approach the town from slightly further inland.
It wasn’t long before we were sweeping our way over the wall, and for a second, I worried that we might trigger an alarm. Still, our arrival went unnoticed as we reached Namir’s favourite perch in town, the Church of the Lodestar’s tall tower, where we could overlook the whole town.
“Which one is the mayor’s home?” He asked.
I easily pointed it out from my father’s descriptions and the fact that I could see our homing pigeons nesting in a coop on the roof. Hidden from view from the street, it was immediately obvious from our current vantage point looking down on the town.
“That one.” I pointed it out.
“Well, let’s go say hello.” He commented.
“I thought we were scouting out the town,” I asked, confused.
“What better method than to ask a native.” He grinned.
“It’s a little early. I doubt he will be happy to be woken up,” I replied, remembering my brutally early wake up less than an hour earlier.
“You are his Lord.” He answered unwaveringly.
“Yes and no,” I answered.
Through Mercurio and our efforts, the Silversea family now owned all the land outside of the port town on Wester Levante and a fair amount of the free space within it as well. If the mayor ever wished to change anything without knocking anything down, he had to ask us for permission. Politically, even though we owned the land, our Lordship’s estate was currently limited to Wester Ponente, even if practically we did. It would require more paperwork in the capital for our holdings to be requalified as our estate, to include Wester Ponente, Wester Levante and Little Wester. Until then, technically, he was not our mayor but Wester Levante’s.
“Either way, he received a bird detailing we would arrive today. It would be remiss of us not to make him aware of our arrival at the most immediate possibility.” Arawn seemed to enjoy the idea of waking him up as much as Namir enjoyed waking me up. “See you at the coop,” he said before dropping over the side of the building silently.
It was with those words that an informal race began to get there. You would have thought that flying a straight line from point A to point B would have allowed me to win. But being able to constantly push off the ground before leaping to the top of the house meant that they could constantly accelerate with the strength of their stats. In contrast, I was restricted to how quickly I could fall and then slowed by transitioning that force into forward momentum.
They won.
Despite losing, I was smiling when I joined them again. “I’ve missed this,” I murmured in response to their questioning gazes.
“What sneaking through the dark?” Arawn asked. “We could always do this more often.
“No, being on my own or at least limiting my chaperones to you two. The ship can feel a little crowded, what with everyone watching me all the time.” I explained how much pressure I felt under to live up to some unknown Lordly level. The only example we had on how to behave was Lady Acacia, and I sometimes suspected she was asking for far too much from us.
“Don’t worry about it for tonight, and enjoy the break.” Arawn shrugged his shoulders, pulling out a lockpick set. He considered it for a second, then handed it to me. “Like we practised.” He added.
We often practised with various puzzles and locks to work on building up the dexterity stat. I never actually unlocked the skill for it, though. Perhaps tonight it would be different.
With my height, I didn’t have to kneel down to look through the lock. It was already at eye height. I fed the turning tool in, then the pick. Pre-tumbler locks were a lot easier, provided they weren’t magical.
A few moments later, I was rewarded with a click as I unlocked the door and the skill.
Ding! Lockpicking (Lv1)
“Yes,” I whispered with exuberant joy meant it was obvious to my companions that I had unlocked more than just the door.
“You got one?” Namir asked.
“Lockpicking,” I smiled. “But it wasn’t harder than many of the locks you have had me work on, so it doesn’t really make sense,” I added, a little confused.
“Training will only take you so far. It takes a real moment of skullduggery to gain the experience and the official skill, even if you were capable of it long before.” Arawn explained, putting his hands out for his tools to be returned.
“Right, right,” I said, realising that despite the practice we had gone through other than the church heist, I hadn’t ever actually stolen anything and certainly not used any of my skills to do so.
Quietly we tiptoed down into the Mayor's house. We needed no light to show us the way; our senses and skills were more than capable enough for the task. We found the man sleeping alone.
Namir wasn’t above some petty theatrics and had me seated in an alcove with a lamp illuminating me and Arawn standing behind me before he dragged the man awake with a hand over his mouth to prevent his screaming.
I watched his fear turn to confusion, then comprehension feeling somewhat villainous in my men's methods. Still, we were making a point that we were not to be trifled with, talked around or betrayed. Each tutor had a different lesson to teach me, and some were darker than others.
“My Lord.” The man finally stammered out once Namir’s hand was removed.
“You received our bird. You were expecting us today,” I replied, leaning into the role my tutors had already formed for me.
“Of course, of course.” He hastened to agree, attempting to sit up a little straighter as if that would somehow help his bargaining position. “But with the sundown, I was not expecting you till land until at least sunrise.”
“We came a few hours early.” I smiled. “Do you like the surprise?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Um . . . well,” He struggled to find a politically acceptable way of addressing his lord. I’m hardly at my best for so many new faces at such an unexpected hour.” He cautiously responded. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked.
“The Silverseas haven’t heard from you for a while now and thought it might be best to have a private conversation before the young lord formally arrived tomorrow.” Arawn continued. “We were less than pleased to be surprised by the arrival of an envoy from each faction. We can only assume they bypassed here altogether.” He finished leadingly and looming over the poor man still in his nightshirt, having failed to have left his bed.
“Ah yes, that’s right.” he delayed awkwardly.
“Are there any other possible reasons for taking so long to reply to our visit that we failed to receive a reply before we left?” Arawn continued the mildly alarming interrogation.
He seemed to steel himself before he started, “We’ve had a new investor in the town who is putting me in a difficult spot.”
“A new investor hardly seems to be a problem,” I answered, confused.
“A noble investor, Baron Corus, has bought up any empty plots within the town and is making offers on the rest.” The man anxiously continued.
“Then we should have been informed,” I responded a little crossly. This was supposed to be the little kingdom we were building.
“He was most persuasive in preventing me from informing any of others.”
“Were you threatened or bought?” Arawn asked tiredly.
“A combination of both, he has bought out our debts and made crystal clear the consequences of failing to comply. I am under contract and could not send anything to Wester Ponente until the new year.” He looked relieved to have finally gotten that off his chest.
“Why would Baron Corus suddenly be so interested in Wester Levante?” I asked him.
“You can ask him yourself tomorrow. He’s here.” The man replied.
