Next, I hurried over to the adventurers guild. While my plan would likely end up voiding my contract with Duncan, I currently had a good pile of silver coming my way. The Priestess shouldn’t have any trouble taking credit again and I was in a “use it or lose it” situation. It was time for a major upgrade.

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Name: Patrick

Titles: Trans-Dimensional Being

Feats: 26 [Apply]

Level: 3

Experience: 12

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Strength: 10

Endurance: 9

Dexterity: 14

Intelligence: 20

Attunement: 13

Charisma: 11

Luck: 18

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HP: 100

SP: 90

MP: 200

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I wasted no time in applying my new feats. It was getting harder to earn them while maintaining my old routine and I only had seven new points this time. I shouldn’t complain. Seven points were more than I would make by risking my life to level up after all. Sure, I couldn’t choose where to put these points but more than half went into my magic attributes all the same.

Earn the Respect of a stranger +CHA

Manifest your mana without formal instruction +Attn

Read 5 books +INT

Trade 1 gold worth of goods +CHA

Restore 60,000 Mana +Attn

Perform 5,000 basic calisthenic exercises +END

Cast a magic bolt without formal instruction +Attn

The skills were what I really came here for though. I had a budget of 20 silver and a mission to complete. Without many other errands to run, I finally took the time to investigate all of my options in depth. I started by checking out the Fiddles and Cleaning skills which had both passed level 50 on my last set of voyages.

Fiddles - Level 52

5 - Sonorous

10 - Perfect Pitch

25 - Sonic Missile

50 - Infusion

I was familiar with Sonorous and Sonic Missile from earlier. The first just made my music carry further which seemed more like an annoyance than anything else. It might be nice to have my music spilling out of a tavern to attract more people but I didn’t expect to be sitting leisurely in taverns any time soon. Sonic Missile would be useful for the coming conflict but I took a look at infusion just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything game-changing.

Sonic Missile - Costs 25 Fiddle Levels (2.5 silver)

- Project a concussive blast. Has a chance to temporarily impair the target’s balance.

- Effects scale with Charisma and instrument skill level.

- Targeted: 5 MP + 5 SP

Infusion - Costs 50 Fiddle Levels (5 silver)

- Magical effects become more efficient and focused

Sonic missile sounded great as always. Not only could it do direct damage, but it also scaled off of my Charisma so I could boost its power just by putting on my fancy pants. It even had a chance to cause a secondary effect! It would ultimately give me one more weapon at my disposal for the upcoming fight.

That was a problem though. I was already planning on using wands in the revolt. There was no guarantee that any of the slaves would be able to use my wands and I didn’t need more magical weapons than I could use. The whole plan revolved around letting the slaves do the bulk of the damage to the guards while I supported them from a safe distance. I figured they wouldn’t need much extra motivation to attack their oppressors. An opportunity was all it should take.

Ultimately, I wouldn’t have enough mana to batter down all the guards personally. My magic would be more useful if it was spent stunning guards and allowing the slaves to overrun them with superior numbers. I reluctantly moved on.

The description for infusion was frustratingly vague. Would it only apply to musical magic? If not, I could power up my wands instead of just taking another magical weapon. The obvious utility of infusion didn’t strike me until a minute later. I was already spending a good chunk of my time on the Sea Cow whipping up magical winds. We’d definitely need a way to keep ahead of pursuit if everything went well. Making our own wind would go a long way towards that goal and getting more efficient with that process could only be a good thing. Infusion went on the list.

Cleaning - Level 55

5 - Spit-Shine

10 - Elbow-Grease

25 - Lasting-Clean

50 - Eye for Detail

Most of the cleaning skills were related to cleaning as you might expect. Spit Shine let your spit act like some kind of polish. Elbow grease made cleaning faster and more effective. Lasting Clean caused surfaces to repel dirt for a few hours. Eye for Detail might actually be useful though.

Eye For Detail - Costs 50 Cleaning Levels (5 silver)

- Highlights anything that doesn’t belong

- Active: 1 MP / 10 seconds

Compared to the other cleaning skills, this was the only one it made any sense to choose. It was pretty expensive though. I put it on the list but left plenty of room above it.

Swimming - Level 43

5 - Buoyant

10 - Streamlined

25 - Swift

50 - Sea Born

The early swimming skills increased my buoyancy, decreased the stamina cost and increased my speed respectively but the last one was in a league of its own. Sea Born increased my water affinity! If I had just spent a little more time swimming I could have boosted my Mana regeneration by a huge amount. None of the swimming boosts would be very helpful in a land battle but I put Buoyant on my growing list. It was cheap enough and it might just keep me from drowning one of these days.

Diving - Level 27

5 - Surveyor (Improved vision while underwater)

10 - Calm (Decreased SP cost while underwater)

25 - Dolphin’s Lungs (Increased lung capacity)

50 - Creature of the Deep (Partially increased water and dark affinities)

Even Diving had a level 50 ability that could increase my magical affinities! I was kicking myself for not looking at these abilities earlier. Dolphin’s Lungs would pair nicely with Buoyant in terms of not drowning. It went on the list next to the swimming skill.

Jester - Level (32/54)

5 - Boisterous (Your voice becomes louder and harder to ignore)

10 - Misdirection (Improved effect of distractions)

25 - Acrobatic (Improved sense of balance and aerial control)

50 - Silver Tongue

I already had the most expensive ability from the Jester set but it was my fastest-growing skill and I was ready to get the next most expensive talent! Acrobatic looked pretty cool but I wouldn’t get much use out of it with my current build. Misdirection might be just what we need to kick off an effective slave revolt though and it went to the top of my list.

Sailing - Level 45

5 - Calloused Hands (improved grip)

10 - Sea Legs

25 - Voyager

50 - Salt Sprayed (Partially increased wind and water attunement)

Another skill with a level 50 ability increasing affinities! What I wouldn’t give for a handful of free skill points right now. All that was left was Calloused hands. It could be useful for someone trying to keep a sword in their hands but I didn’t even have a sword.

Navigation - Level 32

5 - Weather Eye (Improved Perception)

10 - Swift

25 - Homing Beacon (Place a Beacon. You can sense the beacon’s direction at all times.)

50 - Wind Swept (Increased Wind Affinity)

Once again, a useful increase in affinity was out of reach. Homing Beacon would help me navigate in fog, storms and other tricky conditions but it wouldn’t exactly be pivotal in my upcoming mission. Weather Eye made it onto the bottom of my list next to Eye for Detail.

Trade - Level (18/33)

5 - Charming Smile

10 - Light Mood

25 - Magical Contracts

50 - Gilded Intuition (You can ‘smell’ lucrative opportunities)

I couldn’t afford the only Trade ability left. It was painful thinking about how many free points I sunk into the Trade skill but it was also the reason I could equip myself with a small arsenal. I was pretty sure that four slaves holed up in the incomplete tower with crossbows would be a lot more effective than a single novice mage.

My only weapon skill, Spearguns, had a few passive and active abilities tied to it. They looked decent but I couldn’t imagine a scenario where I could use any of them. It was time to face it. Weapons that only work underwater aren’t super useful. Besides, I was going for a magic build. It wouldn’t be bad to have a backup weapon in case I run out of mana but I could do better than this shoddy old speargun I found in a lost & found bin.

There was one use for those skill points though. I could permanently lock the skill, stopping me from using spearguns with any proficiency forever. In exchange, I would gain skill with related weapons faster than normal. The 20 levels in Spearguns would translate to a 20% increase in related skill-gains. When added to the boost from my Trans-Dimensional-Being title I should gain levels in skills like Crossbows at a blistering pace.

If the bonuses turned out to be additive, I would be looking at a 270% increase in leveling speed. On the other hand, if the title bonus was applied after other bonuses that increase would soar to 300%! With that sorted out, I turned my attention to my last skill.

Mana Manipulation - Level 8

5 - Expulsion (Easier to push mana outside your body)

10 - Retention (10% increased maximum mana)

25 - Authority (Increased control of expelled mana)

50 - Adaptable (It becomes easier to gain elemental affinities)

Despite my daily training, it was difficult to raise this skill when I had a full-time job to attend to. The only skill I could afford looked extremely useful though and it went on the list. It was time to review my selections.

Infusion - Costs 50 Fiddle Levels (5 silver)

- Magical effects become more efficient and focused

Expulsion - Costs 5 Mana Manipulation Levels (50 copper)

- It becomes easier to expel mana

Misdirection - Costs 10 Jester Levels (1 Silver)

- Distractions become more effective

Minor Talent - Locks Spearguns skill (1 silver)

- +20% skill progression with mechanical ranged weapons

Eye For Detail - Costs 50 Cleaning Levels (5 silver)

- Highlights anything that doesn’t belong

- Active: 1 MP / 10 seconds

Weather Eye - Costs 5 Navigation Levels (50 copper)

- Improved perception (muted effect indoors)

- Active: 10 MP / 1 minute

Buoyant - Costs 5 Swimming Levels (50 copper)

- Improved buoyancy

Dolphin's Lungs - Costs 25 Diving Levels (2 Silver and 50 Copper)

- Improved lung capacity

I could buy all of the skills on my list and I’d still have 4 silver in the bank. Another look through the skills added a few more to my list. It’s not like I’d get anything out of saving the points now. I didn’t expect to be able to make use of another fountain anytime soon. I could have taken Homing Beacon but decided to increase my ability to escape danger and because I was almost always surrounded by water, that meant swimming skills. Diving would be nice but Dolphin Lungs would clean me out of Diving skill points.

Streamlined - Costs 10 Swimming Levels (1 Silver)

- Decreases SP cost

Swift - Costs 25 Swimming Levels (2 Silver 50 Copper)

- Increases speed

I could afford to buy all of the cheaper swimming skills and they might let me get out of a tight spot. With only half a silver left, I grabbed Calloused Hands. The grip strength might be helpful when I needed to climb the barracks and plug up it’s chimneys. That was a key part of the plan. It would simultaneously stop the guards from sending up any kind of distress signal while smoking them out, providing easy targets for the snipers.

Calloused Hands - Costs 5 Sailing Levels (50 copper)

- Improved grip

That was it. My decisions were made, now I couldn’t put off the unpleasant bit any longer. I pulled my leather belt out of my inventory and bit down on it before purchasing the skills. The cheap ones weren’t too bad but I nearly gave up on “Eye for Detail” near the end. It was only the thought that I wouldn’t be able to spend the silver or skill points later that let me finish my selections.

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General Skills

Swimming: (3/43)

- Buoyant

- Streamlined

- Swift

Diving: (2/27)

- Dolphin's Lungs

Jester: (22/54)

- Misdirection

- Silver Tongue

Fiddler: (2/52)

- Perfect Pitch

- Infusion

Sailing: (40/45)

- Calloused Hands

- Sea Legs

- Voyager

Navigation: (27/32)

- Weather Eye

- Swift

Cleaning: (5/55)

- Eye for Detail

Trade: (18/31)

- Charming Smile

- Light Mood

- Magical Contracts

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Weapon Skills

N/A

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Magical Skills

Mana Manipulation: (3/8)

- Expulsion

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Talents

Mechanical Ranged Weaponry: 20% skill exp bonus

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After making my selections I returned my belt to the inventory with a few new bite marks. My entire body tingled and stung like it just got treated to a thorough rub-down with steel wool. It wasn’t enough to keep me from testing out what new skills I could. With a thought, I directed energy to my eyes and activated my new cleaning ability. Yellow streaks flared into existence. Fingerprints around the basin, dirt tracked in from the door, even a little spider hiding in a dark corner were now glaringly obvious. Looking down revealed a number of stains on my fine clothes. When had they gotten there? After ten seconds they faded back to imperceptibility. It was neat, but it wouldn’t change my plans.

Testing out the difference Expulsion made, I took a deep steadying breath. I was distracted when after fifteen seconds of breathing in, I showed no signs of reaching my limit. “Dolphin's Lungs,” I thought and kept breathing in. It was a surreal feeling. More and more air rushed into me. I had no idea where it was going but it finally stopped nearly half a minute after I started.

Going back to my magical test I pressed my palms together. Instead of pulling the mana out a little at a time, I was able to actually force it out. The mana didn’t really like it outside my body and moved with the speed of molasses but when I put my lapis circlet on it felt like I had to actively hold it back. I decided to play around with my mana a little while I still had a little privacy.

I started by trying the Sages Cloak technique. I had never gotten it to work before, Spreading mana from my hands all across my body was just a little too tricky at my current skill level. This time, with one long exhale, I let mana seep out of my every pore and held it just on the other side of my skin. This was the more advanced method but Expulsion and my circlet made it possible. An insubstantial layer began to form. I kept pumping mana out until I felt it slipping away from my control to evaporate in the air.

The theory was pretty simple. Mana is harder to control the further it gets from your body. By keeping it in close, a competent mage should be able to hold onto a small amount of mana indefinitely. The technique should work as a minor, not so efficient shield from magical damage but its primary use was to work as a battery. By keeping control of mana just outside your body, you free up more space for mana inside your body. If I could maintain the cloak, I'd essentially be able to boost my maximum mana slightly. The main problem was the constant concentration required. Lots of practice might make it second nature to hold a cloak but that was still a long way off for me.

I finished the experiment by gathering the cloak up into my hands where the mana could be controlled more easily. Just shoving it away in a stream caused the mana to evaporate almost instantly. Next, I let it pool in my palm. When I had a few mana there, I thrust my hand at one of the obsidian walls and shouted “Buddha's Palm!” just for fun. When I made contact, the mana exploded. The wall hardly noticed, my wrist didn’t fare quite as well. It bent backward when the force had nowhere else to go. I hopped up and down cursing the stupid wall and shaking my numb fingers. The lapse in concentration caused my Sage's Cloak to puff away. I decided that was enough experimentation and put my circlet away before leaving.