I awoke to the gentle splash of water against the ship’s hull. There was a light breeze that brushed past my face, and I opened my eyes to calm blue seas and clear blue skies. The morning sun warmed the bare skin of my face and arms, and it was then that I realized a light brown coat had been draped over my chest like a blanket.

It was a soft fabric but also worn from daily use. It was in a design I had not seen before, a simple but comfortable garment that further supported the idea that I had traveled far from home. I sat up and looked around for its owner and found her curled up at the front of the boat like a cat. I hadn’t had the chance to see her much last night. My focus had been on the fish and the shark, and the faint light from the small flames wouldn’t have given me much detail regardless.

Kiria was wearing a white shirt and dark blue pants accented with strips of emerald green. Her fair skin complemented her golden-brown hair, which was medium-length and reached down to her shoulders, and her triangle-shaped ears were drooped, resting flat against the top of her head.

Wait, what?

I blinked and rubbed my eyes to reset my vision. I stared for a good minute, my mind struggling to process the information being fed to it. Were those…cat ears? And is that a tail wrapped around her arm?

Okay, well if I wasn’t convinced before, I sure was now. I had been transferred to another world. A world with magic, monsters, and cat girls. Among other fantasy beings, I was sure.

A feeling of anxiety came over me, and my heartbeat quickened. What now? Was there a way for me to get home? Had I died and been reincarnated? If I was stuck here, then what would I do? Where would I go? How would I survive in a world in which I knew nothing? I had no family, no friends, and no resources.

My thoughts continued circuitously in this manner for a while before I eventually calmed myself and remembered what Professor Reyes had once told us. Take each problem step by step. I don’t need to solve everything at once. I just need to decide what the next question is and come up with my best answer for it.

I felt a familiar tingling sensation in my head and remembered the status screens that had provided useful information to me. With a thought, I opened the boxes, which had been pending my mind likely since the previous night.

Skill Advanced: Throw Lv. 1 → Lv. 2

Skill Acquired: Mana Charge

Throw Lv. 2 — Propel an object in your hands with increased accuracy and power proportional to 2 times the user’s Dexterity and Strength attributes, respectively.

Mana Charge Lv. 1 — Charge a skill with mana to increase its effect. The mana cost is 10 times the value of the enhancement multiplier.

Level Up:

Strength +1

Vitality +3

Dexterity +1

Intelligence +2

Wisdom +3

Once again, I had a lot to take in. Not only did I have a new skill to work with, but I had met the conditions to “level up,” thereby increasing my personal statistical values. I didn’t know exactly what they did, but I could infer at least a bit from context. I wondered what decided how much the stat increases were, and I still had no idea whether my values were on par for my age and level or if I was above or below the average.

My overall status reflected all of these changes at once.

Name: Micah Cedano

Race: Human

Age: 18

Level: 2

Class: Materials Scientist

Job: None

Titles: World Traveler

Blessings: Nature, Voyager

Health: 180/180

Mana: 0/1597

Strength: 19

Vitality: 22

Dexterity: 22

Intelligence: 26

Wisdom: 21

General Skills:

• Throw Lv. 2

• Mana Manipulation Lv. 2

• Mana Charge Lv. 1

Class Skills:

• Heat Transfer Lv. 3

• Electrolysis Lv. 1

Job Skills:

• Accelerated Comprehension [LOCKED]

Divine Skills:

• Bounty of Mana (Nature)

• Omnilingual (Voyager)

• Omniliterate (Voyager)

My stats had gone up, but my health and mana capacities were unchanged. My full health indicated that Kiria had healed me before falling asleep, which I was thankful for. She must have been low on mana after all that magic fighting, not to mention the [Tailwind] that had pushed us to safety. My mana was still depleted, so she must have only had enough to close my wounds this time. I was somewhat concerned that my mana hadn’t regenerated yet, though. Several hours had passed since I spent the last of it, which meant that it wasn’t restored by sleep and didn’t come back over time. At least I knew it was possible to gain more mana, even if I didn’t know how yet.

[Mana Charge] must have been what gave my final [Throw] the punch it needed to stun the megalodon. I had thought that all skills needed mana to use so I channeled the last of it into my arm at the end. But maybe basic skills like that didn’t need mana, so when I used it the skill was overcharged? I still didn’t know why throwing something was a special skill at all, though. Sure I played various ball games as a boy — who didn’t? — but it was no more than I did anything else. And if I had a skill for throwing, why didn’t I have one for catching or something? Or what about walking? I did that plenty. And why was one of my skills locked?

I sighed, shaking my head at all the questions I had. I could potentially pose these questions to Kiria, but if they were common knowledge here that would give away my ignorance immediately. Knowledge was power, and ignorance could easily be held against you. Meanwhile, I had nothing on me except my pants and a borrowed coat; I didn’t need to disadvantage myself any more than I was already. Not until I gathered a lot more information about the type of world this was and how much danger I was in.

Now that I thought about it, my situation wasn’t much different from being dropped into the middle of a foreign country without a cell phone. I couldn’t call for help directly, but I could ask for directions from those around me. And an added bonus was that my [Omnilingual] skill apparently functioned as a universal translator. That was the biggest hurdle solved right there.

My lips curled up slightly as my outlook brightened. I was by no means an optimistic person, but maybe — just maybe — I could consider myself a fortunate one.

I stood up and stretched my arms out wide, enjoying the strain in my muscles as they loosened after the long night. I considered giving the coat back to Kiria but felt awkward about being half-clothed. Although I wasn’t exactly a shy person, especially after growing up with a hundred siblings, there was a difference between going for a swim without a shirt and going to class without one. She would probably be fine with lending it to me for a bit longer, and if she asked for it back I would.

That decided, I donned the brown coat and fastened the buttons running down the middle. It was a decent fit, only a tad smaller than I would have picked out myself. Maybe Kiria was close to my age. She certainly looked around 17 or 18, but I had no idea if such metrics held for her race or this world, even. If this world had elves then guessing their ages would be practically impossible if all the stories about them were true.

There was nothing else to do for now but wait. The deck of the small boat, between where Kiria and I had each been sleeping at each end, was littered with dead glowbites; some more whole than others. I could smell the blood and guts on the wood but it seemed my nose had already numbed to the stench. I was thankful for this since I think I would have thrown up had I suddenly encountered such a scene in my everyday life.

I sat on the edge of the boat and dipped my hand into the water, watching the current divide and flow past on either side. I enjoyed the gentle push on my fingers; the light breeze on my face. The ocean felt different today. No longer did it seem empty and indifferent. Instead, it was vast and vibrant. The bright blue water welcomed the morning sun, imbued with an energy I could only describe as beautiful.

“Nyaaaaa,” a waking yawn drew my attention to the head of the boat. Kiria’s eyes blinked open and settled on me. “Morning,” she greeted tiredly.

“Good morning,” I replied with a deferential nod. “Thank you for lending me your coat. Would you like it back now?”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Kiria shook her head and stood up on her toes, stretching her arms high above her head. Her tail reached up to her the top of her arched back. When she dropped back into a normal posture, she continued, “You used your shirt for that fire, right? That really helped, so go ahead and keep the coat as thanks! We’ll get ya some new clothes when we get to the island. I’m sure someone’ll have something.”

“Thank you,” I smiled. “I appreciate it. And thanks for the rescue as well. I wouldn’t have survived the night without your timely assistance.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kiria said, spinning to face the front of the boat. She studied the ocean for a few moments before turning back to grab a rope connected to the sail. “We drifted off course a little bit, but we’re still heading in the right general direction. We should be there in a couple hours.”

The sail rotated on its mast slightly and I felt the boat begin a gradual turn to the right. I understood nothing about what was happening, but it was clear that Kiria was an experienced sailor. I was quite impressed. “How do you know where we are? Everything looks the same to me.”

“Experience, mainly,” Kiria answered as she made some final adjustments. “I know which direction I set out in, and I can use the sun’s position to the left as a sign that we’re moving southwest. I have the [Navigation] skill from my [Scout] job too, which gives me a greater feel for my location as long as I can see my surroundings. It’s super helpful for exploring new places since I don’t have to pay as much attention to where I’m going and can always find my way back home, haha.”

“I see.” It somewhat dumbfounded me that such a useful ability existed, nonchalant application aside. “That sounds very convenient.”

“It is!” Kiria replied with a wide smile. She stepped back from the sail and sat on the edge of the boat like me. “I haven’t been a [Scout] for very long though, so it’s still at a low level. I heard that high levels of [Navigation] let you know exactly where you are within a few sems, like you’ve got a map in your head. I’d love to have that, but it’s so hard to train.”

Now that got my attention. Kiria knew about her skill’s level, which meant that it was likely common to be able to access one’s status. If her job was [Scout] and her [Navigation] level was still low, then it must be difficult to advance beyond the beginner stages. I couldn’t tell if there was a cap, but it seemed that it was difficult to develop a skill as it leveled up. Given how useful a mental GPS would be, it made sense for higher levels of a skill to require more effort to train. I wondered if I could get that skill as well, or if I would need to become a [Scout] to acquire it.

“Is [Navigation] restricted to [Scouts]?” I was a bit worried I was asking something taboo, but my concerns were instantly dispelled.

“No, there are a few jobs that can grant the skill, like [Explorer] and [Sailor],” Kiria explained. “Of course, if you train long enough you may get lucky and acquire it as a general skill too, but you know how random general skills are.”

I nodded in agreement to maintain the illusion that I was from this world. “Yeah, I learned the [Throw] skill for some reason, but I don’t remember doing that much more throwing than anyone else.”

“Right?” Kiria's lip curled up as if sharing in a joke. “I got the [Climb] skill, but I hadn’t climbed any trees since I was a kitten! I prefer to [Air Hop] so I’ve barely used [Climb] at all. My sister told me that the advanced level of [Climb] lets you scale any surface with ease, but I think she just wants a good laugh at my expense.”

I chuckled at the face she made when describing her sister’s attempted practical joke. It was obvious that she was close to her sister, which made me happy. I may not have had the privilege of belonging to a real family, but I treated the other kids at the orphanage like my siblings all the same.

“So, what’s your job?” Kiria asked me, swinging her legs to and fro over the water. I worried for a moment that she could fall, then remembered that she could walk on water and jump on air. She’d probably be fine.

After a moment’s consideration, I answered, “None at the moment, but I was a student before I left.” I couldn’t lie about having a job when I didn’t, but I also wanted to avoid suspicions of vagrancy in case it was frowned upon. I also decided to keep with the story that I had set sail on a ship, and hoped that both my lack of any sailing expertise and ignorance of any names of real locations in this world would remain uncovered until I had a chance to learn more and figure out a solid cover story.

“Oh! A [Scholar], then!” Kiria exclaimed, splashing some water with a sudden kick of her feet. “I’ve never met a [Scholar] before. All the academies only admit rich nobles. You talk funny, but you don’t act very noble-y. Are you a noble?”

“No,” I laughed and shook my head. “I managed to get a merit scholarship to attend, but had to work in the evenings to scrounge up enough money for food and rent.”

“A rare class! That’s amazing!” Kiria’s eyes gleamed with excitement. She bounded over and slid next to me on the ledge. “What’s it called? What’s it do?”

I was surprised by her enthusiasm but saw no harm in answering. Maybe I would learn something from her response. “My class is [Materials Scientist], and I’m not sure how it’s supposed to work yet. My first skill, [Heat Transfer], lets me transfer heat from myself into an object, or take in heat myself. My second skill, [Electrolysis], sends a weak electric current through something I’m touching, but it couldn’t even hurt those fish from yesterday.”

“Wow…” Kiria said quietly, deep in thought. After a few moments, she continued, “I’ve never heard of [Materials Scientist] before, but your two skills almost sound like skills from the [Fire Mage] and [Lightning Mage] classes. They don’t do enough damage compared to [Fireball] and [Thunderbolt] though, so maybe your class isn’t combat-focused like the others? But if you can control two elements, your class must be an advanced class like mine.”

“You can control both wind and water, right?”

“Yeah!” Suddenly upbeat once more, she said, “I started as a [Wind Mage], but after spending a bunch of time in the water it advanced to [Storm Mage] and I got access to water skills too! I’m a lot better with wind though. It’s so much easier to practice since there’s air everywhere.”

Interesting, so classes were not permanent. Maybe if I tried hard enough I could use mana to manipulate other elements and gain another class or replace my current one. “Was it hard for you to advance your class?”

The nod of Kiria’s head dispelled my notion of a battle-ready class. “It took me years of practice, and I probably only managed because my mom is good with water magic too. She helped me a lot.”

So it wouldn’t be impossible for me to pick up another class, but it would take so long that it wasn’t worth pursuing. I wasn’t averse to extended projects, but I needed to consider my short-term survival. I should probably try to level up my current skills and hope they became more useful, but the fact that I struggled to fight off a bunch of fish was somewhat demoralizing. And in a world of magic, who needed a materials scientist, anyway?

Perhaps sensing my mood, Kiria smiled and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Micah. Even if your class doesn’t have any combat skills, you can still learn to fight if you want. You don’t need the skill to learn something new. And besides! You have the [Throw] general skill! That’s pretty lucky, you know? You can carry around a bunch of throwing knives like an assassin, or hurl a giant boulder if you get enough strength! And I can help you learn how to use a sword too if you decide to stay!”

I couldn’t help but smile at Kiria’s positive outlook and demeanor. She was right. Anything I didn’t know, I could learn. After all, I was a student, wasn’t I? Learning was what I did. I may not be the smartest or the fastest, but there was no schedule in this world I needed to keep up with. I could figure things out at my own pace. And who knows, maybe I’d even manage to pick up some materials science knowledge on the way with my mysterious class. It wasn’t hard to guess why my class ended up what it was, though I did find it a bit odd considering I still hadn’t finished the introductory courses for it.

Kiria and I continued to chat about nothing and everything. She told me stories from her childhood where she would sneak away to play with swords that were too heavy for her. I related stories from my months at university and what it was like taking classes about extraordinary topics that went right over my head. It was a fun and comfortable conversation that never got too close to anything specific as if she knew I was trying to avoid certain topics.

Soon enough, the unchanging view of the ocean changed. Far ahead on the horizon, I could just make out a spot of grey emerging from the sea. Kiria took her position at the head of the boat to control our approach, and I moved to the low bench directly behind the pile of fish pieces.

The boat sped through the water, unhurried yet swift. No magical wind propelled us what with my companion out of mana, but the sail billowed without any slack. It was as if nature itself was escorting us home.

I watched the distant island grow as we grew closer, greys giving way to green plants and white sand. Around it on either side, I could now spot dozens of smaller islands spread throughout the clear calm waters. Some of these islands were connected by thin strips of land, while others stood nearby yet separate.

“Welcome,” Kiria began, and with a dramatic wave of her arm, continued, “To the Crescent Moon Archipelago.”

We sailed past the outermost two islands and entered a bay of sorts, with smaller islands forming an enclosed region of bright blue water. Birds cawed overhead, flying in a ‘V’ formation toward their next destination. A group of dolphins breached the water ahead of us and to the left. I stared in rapt attention, amazed at seeing the familiar animals up close in their natural habitat. They dove back down into the water and leaped up again, joyously playing underneath the clear sky. Looking down into the water I spotted schools of fish swimming near the boat, curious and unafraid. This was such an abrupt difference from what I’d seen of the ocean thus far. I turned to Kiria, questions dancing on my tongue.

She giggled, obviously pleased with my reaction. “Beautiful, isn’t it? The Crescent Moon Archipelago is a region blessed by Mother Nature. Thousands of different species call this area home.”

I could make out more details of the islands now that we were closer. One to the right was covered with dense forests and connected to a second island barren with rocks. Another island to the left seemed mostly flat and uninteresting until a geyser suddenly erupted from its center, spewing searing water high into the sky. As it rained down, a pack of what I could only describe as rock lizards moved into range and enjoyed a natural hot shower. “How is it so different here?” I asked, looking around at all the sights.

“We don’t know for sure, but [Explorers] have surveyed part of the archipelago underwater and found a wall of rock surrounding the area just beyond where the outer islands lie,” Kiria explained. “The water is warmer here and protected from the rest of the ocean, though the mouth of the bay we’re sailing through is fairly deep.”

“Incredible,” I remarked, stunned by the wide array of biodiversity I had already seen just looking at these islands from afar. “That large one in the middle — is that where your home is?”

“That’s right,” Kiria nodded. “We call it Luna. There’s not too many of us here yet, but that should change soon.”

“Oh, so you’re colonists, then?” I asked.

“Something like that,” Kiria smiled. “I can’t wait to get back. I hope they’ve started cooking lunch already, I’m absolutely starving.”

The mention of food suddenly reminded my body that it, too, had not eaten anything in quite a while. I felt a pang in my stomach, and said, “Yeah, I’m pretty hungry too. I don’t have any money or something to trade, but maybe I can help out and work for a meal?”

“Ah, that’s right!” Kiria’s eyes widened. “You haven’t eaten since before the manastorm! I’m so sorry, I completely forgot to bring provisions. And here I was thinking that I’d helped.” Her tail drooped down to the floor and her eats flattened against the top of her head.

I rushed to reassure my downtrodden savior. “No, no, you’ve done a great deal for me! I’d still be floating in the middle of the ocean if not for you. Or worse, fish food! I truly appreciate you coming to search for survivors of that storm. Thank you, Kiria.”

“Really?” Kiria brightened, looking up at me hopefully. “Could you maybe tell the chief that when you meet him?”

“Huh?” My brow furrowed, confused. “Sure, I don’t mind, but, why? Won’t he already know if you were sent to look for survivors?”

“Ah…haha, about that…” Kiria trailed off, looking askance and not at all like the warrior cat she had seemed to be earlier. “I maybe kinda sorta forgot to ask permission to take the boat out.”

I stared at her. “You mean you stole it.”

“Steal is a bit of a strong word, don’t ya think?” Kiria equivocated with all the grace and tact of one of my kid sisters back home when she’d been caught swiping food.

I sighed in resignation. “Well, it’s too late now to do anything about it, and you did rescue me. I’ll do my best to communicate to your chief your courage in rescuing me from the glowbites and that megalodon.”

“Thanks, Micah!” Kiria hopped and twirled to the front of the boat as if willing it to move faster. On the final approach to the shore, she steered us toward a sandbank that protruded out to the water, perhaps a makeshift dock for the boat. People from a camp further inland had noticed us and began to gather on the sand. Kiria waved at them energetically. “Heyyy! I’m back!”

The boat floated over the bank and settled into the sand. A pair of men — also featuring cat ears and tails — stepped to either side of the boat and raised some rope that I hadn’t noticed from underneath the sand, tying it to anchor points on the hull. Meanwhile, a woman with dark brown furred ears I did not recognize and a bushy tail stepped forward, focused on Kiria. “Welcome home, Kiria. It is good to see you, and my boat, in one piece.”

“Ah, Madam Fir,” Kiria smiled weakly. “H-hello. It’s good to see you too.”

“Indeed,” Madam Fir replied with a smile that did not reach her eyes. “So, tell me, where have you been the past day? If I recall correctly, Fisherman Crantz was scheduled to take this craft out yesterday to catch food. Did you, perchance, volunteer to take his place?”

“Uh, yes! Actually!” Kiria lied. It was almost painful to watch. “Look right here, the fish I caught!”

She gestured to the collapsed pile of glowbite fragments in various states of disrepair. The blood had been drained in variable amounts between individual segments, and some bodies were far more whole than other ones. The cuts where wind magic had sliced and diced the fish were extraordinarily obvious, even to my inexperienced eye, and I could tell when Madam Fir made the same observation by the raise of her eyebrow.

“An impressive catch,” Madam Fir began, and Kiria’s expression grew optimistic. Until the stern woman continued, “And who do you expect to clean the oil from these dismembered pieces?”

Kiria visibly deflated once more and desperately searched for help. From me.

“Pardon me, Madam Fir,” I stepped forward and introduced myself with a slight bow. “My name is Micah Cedano, and I had the privilege of being rescued at sea after my ride was destroyed in the manastorm. My apologies for the inconvenience my savior’s actions have caused, but know that she saved my life from certain death. Therefore, I wish to aid in making amends, beginning with the cleaning of these fish, and humbly request that Lady Kiria’s punishment reflect her heroic actions.”

I rose from my bow and caught a faint look of surprise on Madam Fir’s face. It swiftly shifted to a look of satisfaction, and I steadfastly ignored the wave of admiration and gratitude emanating from Kiria’s direction. “I am pleased to meet a child with manners. Our Kiria could learn a lot from you. As for these…fish, do not concern yourself with them. You must be hungry after this fool girl neglected to bring along with her any provisions either for herself or for anyone she intended to rescue.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kiria look away. I was certain she was reflecting on her decision-making over the past day. Or I hoped so, at least. “I am, indeed, thank you.”

Madam Fir clapped her hands together. “It’s settled, then. Please accompany me. We should speak with the chief and can eat at his residence. As for you, Kiria, you’d best get started if you want any of these fish to be ready in time for lunch. Yours, to be precise.”

“Ah! Yes, Madam Fir!” Kiria bowed quickly and began to gather the glowbite remains in a sack one of the men handed to her.

“Please, follow me,” Madam Fir spoke, walking back toward the settlement. I moved to comply, sending an apologetic look to Kiria, who smiled and waved me off.

Before I could step off the boat, however, I heard an enraged “Human!” I flinched and spun my head to the source only to find a very angry wolf boy thrusting a spear straight toward my face.