The buildings were clean and tall. It was a far cry from any of the other places I had visited in this world. There wasn’t a grid pattern, but there was still some order. The streets formed a large concentric circles with spokes leading to the central plaza. That meant that you could see the Adventurers guild from literally any of the spoke-streets. It dominated the center of the city. As we drew closer, I marveled at the floating golden symbols that revolved in the air around it. I watched as a bolt of arcane power leaped from the peak of the building only to rebound from one symbol to the next, causing each one to ring like a muted bell before it shot back into the magical lightning rod it came from.

This was more like it. I could barely contain my enthusiasm when we stopped at the Merchants Guild which had a prominent place on the edge of the open square occupied by the Adventurers Guild. The Merchants guild looked like an imposing fortress more than a bank and the heavily armored guards flanking the only entrance watched the crowd like predators, just waiting for a thief to pounce on.

Duncan pointed out the very obvious adventurers guild and the slightly less obvious clock tower off to the left. He reminded me to be back at the ship on time before climbing the marble stairs of the bank and flashing some kind of badge to the guards.

I turned back to the overtly magical guildhall, gulped, and started towards it. Despite all the anticipation leading up to this event, I was breaking out in a cold sweat.

The Guildhall was a layered affair with swooping red-tiled roofs. It looked a lot like a pagoda but there were plenty of design features with a clearly magical effect in mind which set it apart. The golden symbols were the most obvious feature but I spotted sparks crackling among the curls that grew from the edge of each tiered roof.

When I got closer, I could see droplets of water just hanging in the air around the tower, sparkling like crystals in the hot sun. The massive wooden double-doors were inlaid with silver runes. This whole illiteracy thing was really starting to get on my nerves. Every sign I passed seemed to taunt me.

I took a moment to breathe deeply, trying to calm down. The single guard on duty gave me a friendly smile. He was much less intimidating than those at the bank.

“First time huh? No need to be so nervous. The Guild is a direct conduit to the earth mother. She’s never granted a blessing that was harmful.”

His attempted encouragement made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. I thanked him and stepped forward but in my head, I was cursing him. He may as well have been waving a big red flag proclaiming “Something is about to go horribly wrong”. Every time I got closer to my goals, something always came up. Why should this be any different? I braced myself for the other shoe.

The inside of the tower was just as grand as the outside. A golden inlay on the floor depicted the earth-mother with her ever-present blindfold. Her many arms clutched all sorts of things. Instead of simple representations, there was an actual axe, hoe, hammer, wand, a basket overflowing with grain, even an open bowl of milk embedded into the floor. The rest of the building was completely open. It was one large space except for the central obsidian pillar, wrapped with a pink marble staircase and the small receptionist’s desk set its base.

I walked up to the desk and the resident priestess behind it. She wore white robes, a blindfold, and a serene smile. I was about to introduce myself when she addressed me.

“Welcome to the fold brother. May the Earth Mother reward your efforts.” She steepled her fingers and bowed slightly.”

“Uh, hi. I’m here to level up?” I ended the statement like a question, hoping this priestess would be able to take the lead.

“Of course, but first we will need to register you as an official adventurer.”

The words ‘official adventurer’ woke me up like a splash of cold water. It was actually real. I was going to finally become an adventurer!

“Alright! How do I sign up?”

“All you need to do is give me your permission and I’ll take care of the rest.”

I barely kept myself from jumping at the opportunity.

“Are there any fees or obligations related to becoming an adventurer?”

The priestess smiled knowingly.

“Becoming an adventurer is the right of all free peoples. There is no fee for registration.”

“Okay! Let's do it!” I pumped my fist in the air in my excitement.

In a flash, the priestess slashed my forearm, spraying blood across her table but getting none on her immaculate robes. I recoiled in surprise and pain. The serene smile never left her lips.

“Ow! What was that?” I protested, rubbing at the wound only to realize that it was healing in real-time. A few seconds later the wound was closed.

“Blood is the currency of the soul. It contains unique identifiers that cannot be imitated. Now that we have a sample on file we will be able to recognize your unique signature automatically.” She explained while wiping her elegant silver blade. She returned to her earlier pose with hands clasped in front of her. I didn’t see where the knife disappeared to.

“You have quite a few points saved up. This... This is rather impressive even for a new-comer. Please follow me” She turned and began climbing the stairs behind her. Even with the blindfold, her steps were sure. I followed her up to the fourth landing and she laid a hand against the pillar.

A section of the seamless pillar slid to the side, revealing a small room.

“All decisions are permanent so please take all the time you need. You can find a catalog of abilities, their skill-point costs, and their effects just inside. May the Earth Mother find your efforts worthy.” With that final benediction, she turned and made her way back to the ground floor.

After I stepped into the pillar and the door closed behind me, the only light came from a shallow basin on the far wall. I was in a wedge-shaped room and the basin was at the point closest to the pillar’s center. A steady drip of water fell into it and glowed with an inner light. Rippling waves of light played across the walls and suffused the air. It felt like I just stepped into the inner sanctum of some church. If this water carried divine essence like Theodore insisted than there might be some truth to that.

I looked around for the catalog and found it embedded into the wall behind me. The pages glowed softly making the markings easy to read. Unfortunately, I still had no idea what alphabet I was looking at. Learning to read just jumped to the top of my priority list. If I could learn about the available options, I’d be able to optimize my build much more efficiently. I couldn’t resist using the guild now that I was here though. Even if I didn’t make the best, most efficient choices I really wanted to level up. It was probably best to save the dessert for last though.

Following William’s instructions, I stepped up to the basin and looked into its shimmering water. The surface smoothed and I found myself looking down through the water at a familiar scene. I was paddling through warm, shallow waters. The image soon shifted and I saw myself diving down to the seafloor. Next, I was standing on a table stomping my foot in time with the clapping patrons as I played my fiddle soundlessly. The image finally shifted to Jerry and I hauling on a rope while a wooden deck bucked under our feet. I touched the water. It tingled almost like I had dipped my finger into a bag of pop-rocks.

The resulting ripples cleared the image and a list written in the same font as my notifications floated to the surface.

---

Skill: Sailing

Level: 39

Available Abilities:

Calloused Hands

Sea Legs

Voyager

---

I sank my finger through the surface of the water while holding my breath. As soon as I touched the word [Voyager] it felt like my finger was caught in a vice. No matter how hard I struggled I couldn’t pull my hand free. I started to panic as the displayed level dropped quickly. The numbers stopped spinning abruptly when they reached 14 and a jolt shook every joint I had. Immediately after, I was confronted by a notification floating in the air instead of the water.

---

You have attained the ability [Voyager]

10% increased speed for any ship you are aboard

---

Is that a passive speed boost? Could it work even if I’m not doing anything? Damn, that’s handy. This single ability should shave at least half a month off of my contract duration and I don’t even have to put in any extra effort! On top of that, it probably meant more copper for early arrivals! When I looked back in the basin, the other two abilities were still there. [Calloused Hands] sounded pretty handy but Duncan’s talk about growing callouses turned me off of that idea so I selected [Sea-Legs]. The numbers spun again and came to rest at 4 as another jolt ran through my body. It wasn’t nearly as intense this time though.

---

You have attained the ability [Sea-Legs]

Dexterity penalty for being aboard a sea-going vessel is reversed

---

I wasn’t aware that I was under any kind of penalty but there were plenty of times when the rocking ship’s deck robbed me of my balance for a second or two making it hard to keep working. It looked like the penalty was somehow turned into a bonus. Looking back at the basin revealed a changed notice.

---

Skill: Sailing

Level: 4/39

No abilities are available at this time.

---

The message drifted back into the basin and I was confronted with a scene of myself peering through Duncan’s sextant. I let the images continue to shift and play out as I ran through what just happened again.

There were three skills. The first one cost a lot of points and hurt like touching an electric fence. The next cost less and only hurt like static from a doorknob. I spent… 35 levels, the second purchase was 10 so the first must have been 25.

I should really have gotten some paper and a pen before doing this. I decided to at least select the remaining skills and see if any abilities jumped out at me. My swimming skill at 38 gave me a few skills that sounded like they would be useful in the water but I decided to save the points. I didn’t really need that skill right now. It wasn’t like I was fishing for dinner anymore. Besides, there might be an even better ability costing more skill points. The same logic saved my Diving and Jester skill points but when I got to Fiddles, I just couldn’t pass up one of the options.

---

Skill: Fiddles

Level: 27

Available Abilities:

Sonorous

Perfect Pitch

Sonic Missile

---

The Sonic Missile was sorely tempting. A magical attack spell was just one selection away but attack capability wasn’t my primary concern right now. [Perfect Pitch] was much more useful at this point and ten levels drained out of my fiddle skill as I was treated to another minor static shock.

---

You have attained the ability [Perfect Pitch]

You can now identify the note and scale of any sound you hear

---

I took out the fiddle and experimentally ran the bow across the largest string. It was embarrassingly out of tune. It wasn’t even the wrong note, it was some in-between non-note.

I grinned. Perfect pitch is like a cheat code in real life. There isn’t a musician alive who doesn't get a little envious around those lucky bastards who have an instinctive feel for frequencies. Now I was one of those lucky bastards. Plans shifted in my head as I adapted them to this new ability.

---

Skill: Fiddles

Level: (17/27)

Available Abilities:

Sonorous

---

I left the rest of those points alone and moved on to Navigation.

---

Skill: Navigation

Level: 12

Available Abilities:

Weather Eye

Swift

---

I jumped at the Swift ability and was awarded with another mild shock and a new ability.

---

You have attained the ability [Swift]

5% increased travel speed

---

“Hooka-chaka!” I yelled, pumping a fist in the air. Another movement speed bonus! It should stack with the [Voyager] ability but even better than that, [Swift] applies to all kinds of travel, not just seabound vessels!

My Navigation points dwindled down to 2 and I moved on. Weather-Eye sounded pretty cool. I’d have to make a point to train that skill a bit more. The cleaning skill came up next. There was a surprising amount of cleaning that went on onboard wooden ships and the skill was up to 16 but nothing jumped out at me so I left the points alone.

Trade was up next but with only 4 levels there weren’t any abilities available. I had plenty of merchandise though. I should be able to level that skill before I leave the city again. The only skill left was Spearguns. Like swimming and diving, it just wasn’t that important anymore so I banked the points until I could get more information. I brought up my skill screen to check the damage.

---

General Skills

Swimming: 38

Diving: 22

Jester: 44

Fiddles: (17/27)

- Perfect Pitch (identify musical notes by ear)

Sailing: (4/39)

- Voyager (+10% sailing speed)

- Sea Legs (Dex penalty reversed)

Navigation: (2/12)

- Swift (+5% travel speed)

Cleaning: 19

Trade: 4

---

Weapon Skills

Spearguns: 17

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