By the time we landed in Navarone again, I had a bumper crop of feats ready for harvest. I couldn’t resist visiting the adventurers guild first thing. I had just enough EXP to level up again but I wanted to apply my hard-earned feats before I did anything else.

Impress three vendors who specialize in different fields +Cha

Use a disguise to evade a pursuer +Cha

Assist in the defeat of a monster five times your level +Luk

Learn to read Navarosi without formal instruction +Int

Resist the poison of a Sea Lion +End

Restore 15,000 Mana +Attn

Provide heartfelt charity to 10 people less fortunate than yourself +Cha

Trade 1 Silver worth of goods for five times its value +Cha

Complete 500 basic calisthenics exercises +Str

Flip a coin 500 times while balancing one-legged on a ship at sea +Dex

Complete 1000 basic calisthenics exercises +End

Restore 30,000 Mana +Attn

Predict the outcome of a coin-toss 1000 times +Luk

Complete 2000 basic calisthenics exercises +Str

Complete 15 voyages at sea +Luk

With a rush to the head, the power of the earth mother flowed into my body. I had improved by every metric. Not by much in most cases, but with 26 feats under my belt I gained more Stat points than most people would in five whole levels! Only my Endurance was still below the double digits! I thought about bumping it up with my extra point for being all extra-dimensional and stuff but shook off the irrational need for a psychologically pleasing number. I would probably get another point by the next time I made landfall in Navarone. Besides, I had an idea from the wording “Resist the poison of a Sea Lion”. It wouldn’t be very fun but I should be able to collect different types of poison and use them to raise my Endurance. Better Poison resistance might just save my life from some sneaky anti-mage type down the road.

With the Feats applied, I mentally jabbed the [Level Up] button. I used four of the extra points to bring my Intelligence from 16 to 20. The remainder went into my Attunement, bringing it to 13. Given how inefficient attunement is without an affinity, I decided to focus more on intelligence which seemed to be related to reading and learning. It wouldn’t be too useful on the ship but chances were pretty good that I wouldn’t be able to level up again anytime soon. Experience was pretty thin on the ground when all my time was taken up by sailing and trading. Besides, my mana-regeneration ring acted like five whole points in attunement and I did not need to play that damned song of storms any more hours a day than I already did. I took a moment to appreciate my updated character sheet.

---

Name: Patrick

Titles: Trans-Dimensional Being

Feats: 26

Level: 3

Experience: 2

---

Strength: 10

Endurance: 9

Dexterity: 14

Intelligence: 20

Attunement: 13

Charisma: 11

Luck: 18

---

HP: 100

SP: 90

MP: 200

---

I was glad to finally have a hundred HP but I wasn’t sure what to do with the 15 skill points that came with my new level. A brief scan of the catalog showed that all tier 1 skills have abilities costing 5, 10, 25, and 50 levels. At 100, you could purchase the next tier of the skill. Without the time needed to puzzle out the descriptions for 36 abilities, I ended up putting all the points into trade again. It was pretty easy to grind out skill levels with my Trans-Dimensional Being title so I reasoned that I wasn’t losing anything too valuable and trade was kinda my primary focus right now.

---

General Skills

Swimming: 41

Diving: 25

Jester: 54

Fiddles: 28

- Perfect Pitch (identify musical notes by ear)

Sailing: (27/39)

- Voyager (+10% sailing speed)

- Sea Legs (Dex penalty reversed)

Navigation: 18

- Swift (+5% travel speed)

Cleaning: 38

Trade: 31

- Charming Smile (+1 Reputation)

- Light Mood (Doubled carrying capacity)

---

Weapon Skills

Spearguns: 20

---

Reviewing my skills showed the good progress I’ve been making. Jester was getting plenty of practice and finally broke through level 50. It seemed to benefit from my fiddling as well as anytime I told a story. That extended to whenever I incorporated a little showmanship into my trading. Sailing, on the other hand, hadn’t progressed as much as I would have liked. More time fiddling meant less time sailing and I was splitting my time almost evenly between those two activities when the ship was underway.

I might not have had the time to read up on all 36 abilities related to the nine skills I was practicing but there was time for one I had my eye on as well as the level 50 ability related to the Jester skill.

Weather Eye

Requirements: Navigation Level 5

Effects: You are more likely to notice important details. (muted effect when inside)

Primary Uses: Recognize brewing storms and predict which direction they will move. Spot dangers at a distance.

Cost: 50 copper

Silver Tongue

Requirements: Jester Level 50

Effects: Your stories become more engaging and believable.

Primary Uses: Entertain an audience more effectively. Distract or Swindle a target with greater ease.

Cost: 5 Silver

I didn’t expect the descriptions to include recommendations for how the abilities could be used to break the law but I guess the Guild doesn’t care so long as they get their cut. Weather Eye sounded as cool as ever but Duncan had the storm-watching handled. I checked what the level fifty ability was before pulling the trigger.

Like the Wind

Requirements: Navigation Level 50

Effects: You have experienced the freedom that only wind can know.

Primary Uses: Increased Wind Affinity.

Cost: 5 Silver

Okay, I was definitely going to save those points. It was pretty hard to improve my navigation as it was and I was starting to regret spending the extra points on trade. There was nothing I could do about it now though.

I wasn’t completely sold on the Silver Tongue ability. It had a cool name and a useful effect but it cost so damn much. After teetering on the edge of indecision for a minute I dipped my finger into the basin. If I was going to swindle more slave-owners, a silver tongue would be invaluable. I didn’t realize my mistake until my finger was locked in place and the Skill-level counter started spinning down. If the level 10 abilities felt like a static shock, and level 25 abilities felt like touching an electric fence, what woul- Aaagh!

My mind went blank. It felt like a team of workers took sledgehammers to every joint in my body at once.

“I made a mistake” I groaned to noone in particular as I pushed myself off of the floor. I moved gingerly but didn’t have the time to wait and recover. I took a look at the level 25 Trading ability.

Magical Contracts

Requirements: Trade Level 25

Effects: You can create binding magical contracts.

Primary Uses: Ensure business dealings remain above board. Ensure workers remain loyal.

Cost: 2 Silver and 50 Copper

It was pretty tempting. I was operating in underground markets for the most part so it might not be the most useful skill for me right now, but it would let me take part in larger, more legitimate deals. It might be smarter to save the points for the level 50 ability but by that time I would probably be done with the Sea Cow and the trade skill would be mostly useless. With a little hesitation that was more about the pain I would feel than the cost of the ability, I dipped my finger into the basin once again. The electric shock felt doubly unpleasant on my throbbing joints and I decided that was probably enough for one visit.

As I was paying my bill to the priestess I asked about the shocks.

“Why does it hurt every time I get a new ability?” I asked.

“The Earth Mother does not give away her powers for free. Everything has its cost. You must be willing to endure hardship commensurate to the granted ability.”

“Isn’t that what the devotion is for?”

“Devotion is required of course, but to transform that devotion into an ability, another cost is needed. In this case, pain is used to prevent those without sufficient desire from advancing.”

“Oh, okay, but I nearly blacked out from a level 50 tier-one ability. How could I possibly endure a higher-tier ability?”

“If your body is unprepared, the divine energy may overwhelm it during ability transfer. The best way to counteract this effect is to improve your body by gathering essence and boons. ”

“I see, thank you.”

She bowed slightly

“It is my pleasure to serve the children of the Earth Mother”

“Unless they’re broke” I muttered under my breath as I turned to leave. The priestess was suddenly standing between me and the exit. I jumped in alarm, glancing back at the empty desk just to make sure there weren’t two of them. For once, the serene smile was replaced with a stern expression. Her lips were pressed into a thin line before she opened her mouth to offer a rebuttal.

“That is unfair. Nothing gives me more joy than helping people receive the gifts they have rightfully earned from our Mother below. We may have gotten off on the wrong foot but most people who visit my fountain have put great thought into their choices. Only a special few charge in with no clue how things are done.”

“Uhh, sorry. I guess I’m still a little sore about the way you had a few cutthroats pat me down last time we met.”

“That is perfectly understandable but you must realize that a Fountain merits the highest level of security we can provide. As such, our guards can be a little, overzealous on the rare occasions when they get to come out of hiding.”

I glanced nervously around at the reminder that in addition to her spooky abilities, she had a handful of trained killers lurking somewhere in this open and well-lit tower. I made a quick apology and an even quicker escape.