Caleb forced himself to breathe as the world rocked around him like a storm-tossed sea. He pressed his fingers to his temples as he sat on his bed in the great cabin, but it only helped a small amount.

Numbers flashed and swirled by in his vision like the spinning reels on a winning slot machine. One line came into sharp focus.

Congratulations, Soul Traveler. You have reached Level Thirteen!

Even though he’d turned down the intensity of the Leveling-Up light-and-scent show, his head still reeled. It took him a moment to realize that it was from his already-unsettled emotions regarding King Nevin’s double-cross.

I should have seen that coming. I didn’t ask enough questions. I didn’t prepare a backup plan. I walked us right into Nevin’s castle, where he had all the advantages. I could’ve been killed or lost Tavia and Shaw. I’ve lost my damn edge!

He heard a plaintive miaow at his side.

Caleb looked to see Breena sitting on the bed next to him. The calico splashcat looked up at him, her eyes wide and concerned. He put out a hand to pet her, and she rubbed the top of her sleek head against his palm.

“Hey there, kitty,” he said quietly. “What’re you up–”

Before he could say anything else, Breena pushed his hand out of the way with a butt of her head. Then she all but shoved her way into his lap and settled down.

Caleb surrendered to the inevitable and began petting her in earnest. Her orange, white, and black fur was so sleek and dense that it almost felt a bit oily. Still, it was kitten-soft, and enjoyable to touch under his fingers.

Breena began to purr.

The rhythmic vibration passed out from Breena and into Caleb’s body, soothing him. Her comforting weight in his lap felt like a warm sea anchor. The conflicted emotions roiling in Caleb’s gut smoothed out, and he felt the muscles in his lower back unkink a notch or two.

He let out a breath and mentally skipped past the Level Thirteen announcement. The jangle of scent and lights crested and then faded away.

Caleb reached out and used a finger to flip over to his updated Character Sheet. Yet again, he’d received minor but significant upgrades to his skills. And he spotted a potentially interesting new skill under his Corsair Sub-Specialties.

Name: Caleb Ledger Level: Thirteen Class: Wizard / Corsair Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Individual-Specific Specialty: XP Edge - Enhanced 39% Wizardly Sub-Specialties: Weathermancy, Craft with Iron Corsair Sub-Specialties: Charisma Boost, Dead Reckoning, Piratical Flair, Depth Sense, Bluff Assist, Swap XP for Gold Existing Buff / Debuffs: Innate Charisma increased 8% Potential Buff / Debuffs: Corsair abilities shall slowly decrease or be revoked by an individual who does not conduct himself properly or wear appropriate attire for extended periods. Unspent XP 240

He then took a look at the changes to his two areas of spellcasting.

Weathermancy Spells available for individuals ranked up through Level Thirteen:

Call Up Mist Move Fog Thicken Clouds Wind Cast, Minor Wind Shift, Minor Dancing Lights Increase Ambient Humidity Decrease Ambient Humidity Squall Burst St. Agobard’s Fire (43) Wind Cast (45) Wind Shift (45)

Caleb nodded. After getting the full Wind Cast spell as an option in Level 12, he’d been expecting the accompanying Wind Shift spell to come up next. As before, he’d done the best he could with the ‘Minor’ version of Wind Shift. But getting more powerful wind-based spells was always welcome.

That is, once I can afford to activate them. Another wave of bitterness ran through him as he thought about Nevin and his psychopathically spoiled daughter. Now we’re going to be short of food as well as gold.

Breena shifted on his lap so that she was upside down. Her purrs went up another notch as Caleb gently rubbed her tummy. Again, his emotions calmed down to a dull roar.

“You cats are something,” he remarked. “I’m glad I don’t have to pay for this therapy, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work.”

The splashcat merely yawned, showing a flash of white teeth. Then she went back to purring. Caleb turned his attention to the second of his two areas of spellcraft.

Craft with Iron Spells available for individuals ranked up through Level Thirteen:

Magnetize Needle Locate Metal Shard Hold Metal Shard Mend Forge Crack, Minor Extend Forge Crack, Minor Sense Metallic Weapon’s Qualities Sense Value of Coinage Align Metal Object (18) Change Metal Object’s Buoyancy Heat Dispersion Mend Forge Crack (25) Extend Forge Crack (25)

Once again, he’d been expecting this spell since Level 12 had given him the Mend Forge Crack spell. Having a more powerful version of the Extend Forge Crack spell certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Caleb flicked over to the screen describing his latest Corsair-based skill. This one sounded interesting, especially in the circumstances he found himself in. And the information under Lir and Danu’s Helpful Hints made him sit up and pay attention for once, in part because it was so much longer than the description of the skill itself.

Swap XP for Gold: This ability allows you to swap 5 experience points for 1 gold crown.

Lir and Danu’s Helpful Hints:

We recommend that you use this skill only in extreme circumstances. Gathering XP is important, as it’s the only way to reach higher levels. This goes double for your case, since your talent is burning XP in exchange for boosting spell power! Congratulations! You are progressing nicely as you become a ‘mid-level’ adventurer. Keep up the good work and try not to die while you’re at it. We recommend that you seek out challenges that are appropriate for your level of expertise and not push limits as things shall only get tougher from here. To do otherwise would be reckless and result in confrontation and violence, which ends in things we recommend you avoid. Speaking of things getting tougher from here, after Level 13 you shall only be receiving a new Corsair Sub-specialty every other level.

Well that sucks, Caleb thought sourly. These sub-specialties are doing a damn sight more to help me out than ninety percent of my spells!

Still, the situation was what it was. He might as well rail against the tides or the change of the seasons, as far as he could tell. And perhaps he could at least try to put the latest ability, Swap XP for Gold, to the test.

He made his decision and then felt in his pocket for his remaining gold coins. Caleb jingled them in his hand as he counted them. He’d been left with fifteen coins after he’d burned through them activating some more spells. Then he took a second look at his remaining XP.

Unspent XP 240

Caleb did a little math in his head. While he did want to try out the new skill, he also didn’t want to burn through all of his XP. Aside from going up levels, they’d proven invaluable when boosting his existing magic. But he figured that going through around half of them would be fine for now.

He decided to envision the word and number combination: Unspent XP 140. The image of the words silently bursting into flame popped into his mind, so he went with it. With a silent poof! the phrase vaporized, and a number of gold coins fell into his hand with a clink.

Breena rolled over, her ears perked, as she heard the noise. Caleb quickly rubbed her behind the ears, soothing her and bringing her purrs back.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Sorry if that startled you.”

A quick glance at a line on his Character Sheet confirmed the change.

Unspent XP 100

He then re-counted the coins in hand. Sure enough, the additional twenty-eight gold coins were extra-shiny. As if they’d been teleported there directly from some unearthly mint.

Who knows? Maybe that’s just where they came from. Either from Lir and Danu’s personal coin forge, or they disappeared from inside some Jaladrian vault somewhere.

Either way, he now had forty-three gold coins in hand. Enough to activate the one Weathermancy spell he’d be intrigued by for a while now. He concentrated, and the coins vanished from his open palm. They were replaced by a brand new screen.

Saint Agobard’s Fire: This spell allows you to cast a more powerful version of Spectral Fire upon any object the caster wishes. Spectral Fire is an enchantment from the Eldritch class of spells, akin to Dancing Lights.

This spell does not burn or cause objects to combust. The caster can select for the spell’s colors and additional ephemeral effects. Duration is 3 minutes per level attained by the caster.

Okay, Caleb thought. As I guessed, it sounds a bit like an at-will version of Saint Elmo’s fire from back on Earth. I should be able to put this to use somehow. But will the cult of Myr be familiar with it? Lord Captain Delacroix is an Eldritch Magic Wielder.

A rap came at the door.

“Captain,” Sienna’s voice called, “The wind’s picked up. We’re going to be drawing nigh to those bombards again very soon!”

“I’ll be right out,” he called back.

Caleb gently picked up Breena and set her aside on the bed. For her part, the splashcat simply mumble-purred in slight annoyance. Then she turned around and curled up again to continue sleeping.

“Thanks for...well, whatever you did just now,” Caleb said, as he stood up. He gave her a final rub behind the ears. “I’ve got to see if Nevin’s people have done anything with the stuff the Myrkur left behind at that fort–”

A thought struck him.

The stuff the Myrkur left behind...

Caleb pushed his way through his cabin doors and back onto the quarterdeck. Donal and Sienna looked over to him from the helm. He went over to the rail and saw where Harper O’Breen was examining the work Tavia had done on Shaw’s flank wound.

“Shaw!” Caleb called. “Are you up for one more mission today?”

“Thou but hast to ask, Captain!” came the bluff reply. “For I am always ready to battle for thee!”

“I’m not sure you’ll have much, if anything, to fight,” Caleb said. "In fact, I'd like you to retrieve something for me.”

The griffin cocked his head curiously at that. But he nodded eagerly as Caleb explained his idea.