Nugget was having a bad day. Lucky for him, however, the winds of fortune were about to change.

It all started with disappointment, continued with an explosion, and ended with a delightful discovery.

The magical flying monster encyclopedia nestled open in his lap. Nugget sat comfortably on a bed in a tiny crawl space within the magical ship's hallway. He found the little haven behind a giant pile of the crew's laundry a few days ago.

There he found sanctuary and was now reading the exciting details of monsters he had never imagined.

The time quickly escaped him, enthralled by the tales of impossible beasts. But then he paused from his reading. A strange sound grabbed his attention. The party had returned from the tower and someone was playing music. Nugget left his newfound disaster manual in his hidey-hole, then followed the noise.

He ventured down the hall, peering around corners searching.

Then he found him.

Sitting on one of the dinning room chairs with his feet on the table was his target, Clemiticus. Beside the bard slept the floating whale Dog who floated silently, listening to the music like a lullaby.

Nugget watched him closely. He was practising with a new odd-looking lute. Nugget had seen him earlier that day practising on the hill but didn’t bother to listen.

Wow, he’s actually pretty good, Nugget thought. Far from perfect, though.

Each fumble on the strings was never repeated, instead a blue light flashed, relaying the gain of increased musical talent experience. Clemiticus was getting better.

So, Nugget sat on a nearby chair and listened.

Soon he was singing along with the bard and quickly learned the lyrics alongside the man.

A flicker of red flashed above as an unfamiliar voice whispered, “Nugget has gained intelligence.”

He turned around, looking for where the flash came from. Finding nothing, he ignored it.

After a few more hours of practise Nugget was surprised that his own singing had improved alongside Clemiticus, although he was far from perfect. But not bad.

“Nugget has gained intelligence,” whispered the voice from before.

That is so annoying, Nugget thought. Who’s saying that?

The invisibles servant’s eyebrows furrowed as he searched for the voice and once more found nothing. It was as if it came from beyond the walls.

Watching the bard closely, Nugget found himself more and more unwilling to go through with his Queen’s task. He couldn’t believe that this odd man was her enemy.

Yes, the Queen had her faults, oh so many faults, but she would be hard pressed to find a reasonable justification to kill the bard. Why is she so afraid of this guy? Nugget wondered. He’s harmless.

“Nugget has gained the ability: normalised conscience,” the voice whispered once more.

The next day went quickly for Nugget. He watched as Clemiticus practised and Melly fumbled about, looking for something she had lost. Thea helped Derrick organise the stockpiles, while the crew laid about around their cabin bored.

Plans were hatched and decisions made and Nugget was there for every step of the way.

The ‘party’ agreed that they would all attend Clemiticuses' performance except for Nuecus who had other more insane plans involving ropes and highly explosive gases. So, the invisible observer followed them all to the Golden Tavern and found a spot near the stage. Nugget wanted a front-row seat to which he knew was going to be a performance for the ages.

Clemiticuses’ song was even better in front of a live crowd. You could feel the energy and awe emanating from the audience. Even after all the practise he had done, this final rendition of ‘Homage’ was by far his best. A yellow glow swathed the mass of people, filling them with warmth. Nugget felt the magic pour down his limbs, sending tingling sensations across his skin. It was euphoric.

Then everything went to hell.

The doors blew inwards as Plant monsters appeared out of nowhere. They ruined the show, plummeting the entire world into chaos.

Nugget felt horrible. He knew it was his fault. Shame overwhelmed him when he heard screams from the public. Then another feeling washed over him. Nugget felt the burning urge to protect the innocent. Just like the others in the crowd, Nugget picked up his own weapon and charged.

His attacks started out slow. After a few successful swings, he was astonished to find that he had killed one of them.

Bing!

A red light flickered above him as a voice rang out.

“Nugget has gained combat EXP!”

“What?” he asked the voice.

But the red glow never responded. He shrugged at the confusing message and continued his flailing attacks. Each time he killed a monster the voice reported the EXP gain with the repeating red flash.

After his tenth kill, the voice reported, “Nugget has reached level two!”

His body tingled and vibrated as a surge of renewed strength filled his limbs. A smile fell on his lips as he sliced plant after plant.

“Nugget has reached level three!”

Another warm sensation flashed within his chest as more energy filled the servant.

“Here you go your Majesty!” Melly said.

Nugget turned to see the party. What met his vision filled him with both horror and determination. An enormous plant monster had destroyed the Golden Tavern and was now eating everything in sight. Above the battle was the floating form of the magical ship.

Within moments, the party members began climbing a rope ladder.

An idea unfolded in his mind. Nugget had a new plan.

The invisible servant sprinted as the last member, Clemiticus climbed up.

The rope shot up off the ground. Clenching his teeth, Nugget lunged and grasped the bottom rung and hauled himself up. The rope ladder twisted and turned as the ship rose higher and higher above the maw of the monster.

Nugget held on for dear life as the rope swung dangerously close to the twisting vines from below.

Straining his muscles against the force of gravity, he finally made it onto the deck, chest heaving. Even with his newfound power his muscles struggled from the formidable task. Ignoring the party’s conversation, he moved towards the door of the lower deck. He knew what to do, and how to do it.

The hallway was a lot longer in the magical vessel's ship mode. When he reached the familiar pile of laundry that marked his secret spot, he climbed up and toppled over onto his bed.

The book lay silent, safe, and ready for use.

With trembling fingers, he grasped the covers and climbed back over the laundry.

The ship shook every second as the fire fight outside escalated to ridiculous proportions.

Thea ran ahead of him with a gleam in her eye. The pretty girl was up to something.

When the two of them reached the Deck, Thea summoned a plethora of weapons to which the crew pounced, swiftly grabbing their favourites and began their assault. Nugget knew however that none of the weapons would be big enough. The plant was enormous and the only way to kill it was to conjure something that was equally large.

Nugget dodged a pink flying petal monster and ran up the Deck towards the helm. There, he could see the entire battle. There, he could finally be of use.

Ripping through the pages of the book, he found the page he was after. Yesterday, he was going to cast the summoning spell on Clemiticus. Then a certain string of words stopped him:

To smite your enemies!

Clemiticus wasn’t the enemy, how could he be. The Queen had been mistaken.

Nugget now stared at his true enemy and slammed his hand on the page.

“I summon thee. Monster from the embers. Monster from Legend. Dragon!”

Melly shot arrow after arrow. Each flicker of fletching sent a pink petaled plant to its death. Below, the ship sent volley after volley towards the monster below with barely any effect. Twisting over the rail, she loosed an arrow towards the boss. The tip dug deep into the flower with no visible damage. The plant was far too big.

Clemiticus danced beside her, slicing the nearby vines that swiftly grew over the prow. The smaller monsters were easy to dispatch. The only staunch opponent was below.

“Clem, what do we do?” she asked, shouting over the continual cannon fire.

He shrugged, “No idea!”

Bing!

“The party has gained combat EXP!” Fairy reported.

A massive vine as thick as a tree trunk flew between them and was swiftly amputated by a sharp sword strike. Grinning wildly, the King appeared between the severed vine sparing no one a glance as he continued to charge down another foe. Ed looked to be in his element and was showing off. In that moment, Melly decided she was wrong. There was no way Clemiticus was related to the King.

Ed was coordinated.

“This is all meaningless if we don’t kill the big one!” Derrick shouted.

Thea had run back downstairs to help the cannoneers below, leaving only a single turret behind to aid the dwarf. The craft whirled into action, sending small rocks hurtling towards the flying plants above them.

“Does Thea have one of those big boomy things?” Melly asked.

“She had only one,” replied Clemiticus. The bard didn’t particularly look unhappy at the prospect of the unending battle. In fact, he looked as if he relished the idea.

“Now this is grinding!” Clemiticus yelled.

Before she could think of anything constructive, she spotted something peculiar.

It was her book. The one she had lost.

On the other side of the deck, it floated and bounded up towards the helm. Fastening her bow over her shoulder, Melly ran towards it as it flew. A plant creature landed before her so she scooped up a nearby weapon and sliced it in half.

Ignoring the fairy’s declaration of experience gain, she ran up the stairs to follow the book when it froze in place, then opened.

Melly ran as fast as she could and was just about to reach it when a burst of magic surged from its pages. Red energy shot into the sky, sending a shock wave in every direction. The crew and monsters all fell off their feet as the force ripped through everything.

A dark cloud formed mid-air and a spark of flames burned from its centre.

Black wings spread out while a long tail unfurled. At around three times the length of the ship, the black dragon hovered over the plant monster, eyeing it like a mild nuisance.

A long vine flew skywards, aiming for the dragon’s flank, then instantly vanished. The sheer power and heat emanating from the flying lizard was enough to turn it into ash.

“Oh crap!” Clemiticus called out, “It’s a dragon!”

“No shit!” Derrick almost spat the words.

“Wait!” the King ordered. “Who is that riding it?”

Melly’s eyes widened in shock as she spotted the dragon's rider.

She recognised them.

“Mother!?” Melly screamed.