The Sacred Isles, a group of twenty-seven islands spread out in a crescent shape, complete with more islands towards the thicker part of the crescent, as well as larger islands. The waters in the shallower areas around the islands are brilliant blues and vibrant greens, leading onto pale shores or to the cliffs or stony beaches. Some have thick forests on them, others are just pure beaches, and there are mixes of those all over as well.

Resting at the heart of the largest island, which sits in the thickest part of the crescent, is the Water Shrine. We can see it from the boat as we dock, most of the island consisting of just sand and stone with some trees here and there. There are buildings as well, shacks constructed all around.

Most of the buildings here are actually shops, with a few inns. For most people, they live on other islands, where it's easier to get to their jobs fishing or farming or hunting or gathering or crafting. This island's main purpose is to attract tourists and act as a central market.

Some of the passengers on the ship will pay for smaller boats to travel to other islands, while others will stay here on the central island.

I have my hood up, concealing my face. Even though I'm not really hiding who I am now that we're away from the kingdom where I'd be recognized easily due to my strong resemblance to my brothers and father, I realized that I should probably wait on letting my identity be so obvious here on the island. I won't be deepening my voice, though, just hiding my face so that anyone here who knows Calvin from his visits won't immediately recognize me.

Drake and I will head to the Dungeons on the various islands first, building up our Class Points so that we can add more Levels to our Classes. If I remember correctly, there are a total of four Dungeons on the islands, and we'll have to do them on separate days because of where they're located. However, that should be enough to earn us a fair few Levels. I don't think it will be enough to take us up to Tier II of our second Class, nor Tier II of our Primacy Class, but it should still benefit us well.

My mother will be a little upset we delayed coming to her for up to a week, but she'll understand that I wanted to get the Dungeon runs out of the way first. But if I'm walking around with my face visible, she's going to hear about me being here sooner.

"It's been awhile since we had a ship come in," I hear someone tell Peter as Drake, Fang, and I step off the ramp. "No one wants to brave things too much, with the wind having faded so much. Even if it's returned for now, the risk of it fading again is too much right now."

"Time is money," Peter tells him. "And we already lost a lot of money. The wind had returned for a couple of weeks already, so I felt it was safe to set off."

"Peter," I approach him. "We're going to head off to the Crystal Dungeon to get our Ascension Skills, then we'll settle in at an inn here for the night. We'll run the four Dungeons starting tomorrow morning."

"There are five if you want to do the Tier II Dungeon," Peter tells me. "That will probably help you a little more."

"It would," I say. "I wasn't aware there wasn't a Tier II Dungeon. Then again, most records don't list them."

"It's on one of the further islands, at the eastern peak of the crescent," he tells me. "It's bothersome to most people because there's a tendency for half of the rooms on the second floor are traps. Usually three out of four runs."

"Second floor?" Drake asks. "I thought only the trials had multiple floors?"

"A Dungeon's Tier," I say. "Dictates not only the minimum Class Tier you need to be in order to enter, but also how many floors it has. A Tier II Dungeon has two levels, a Tier III Dungeon has three, a Tier IV Dungeon has four, and so on. They're also larger. They have to have a minimum of ten rooms on the first floor, and at least eighty percent of that on the second."

"It's a little more than that," Peter informs me. "A Tier I Dungeon caps at ten rooms on the first floor. A Tier II Dungeon has between eight and twelve, a Tier III has between ten and fourteen, and so on, increasing the minimum and maximum by two each Tier. The one here has ten rooms on the first floor and eight on the second, so it's an eighteen-room Dungeon."

That Dungeon alone will give us a decent boost in Class Points. Five runs of that will give us around a third of what we need to get a Tier I Class up to Level 25.

"We'll do that one last, then," I tell Peter. "Let us build up a few more Levels before heading into it."

Not that Drake needs it, but I, personally, would prefer to have a higher Level before attempting a Tier II Dungeon. Each descending floor in a Dungeon is more dangerous than the previous.

"Good luck," he tells us. "I'll see you around."

"See you," I say. "Good luck with your business."

"Thanks," he responds.

Drake, Fang, and I walk away. I already found out where the Crystal Dungeon is, it's here on this island. That makes it easier to do it today, even though it's nearing dinnertime. When we reach the access ring, we find that it's surrounded by a ring of water as well, a bridge spanning from the sand to each gap between the stones.

"I'll wait here for you two," Fang sits on the sand.

"See you in a few," I tell him, then Drake and I walk across the bridge.

"Why are you getting an Ascension Skill?" Drake asks me.

"You know why."

"I haven't understood it," he says. "I am fine without you healing me during battle, and will only grow stronger. You won't be able to do much as it is right now, too."

"It's not just that," I tell him. "Though being able to heal you would be useful, it won't be much until I have some stronger, since a Lesser Heal won't matter a whole lot if you're getting injured badly enough to need it in a fight."

"Then why?" He asks.

"For when I do get them," I tell him. "And if we come across a Skill Dungeon that gives me a buff ability. It's better to be prepared for that, yeah?"

"But couldn't you use the Class Points for Levels now?" He asks. "And worry about that later?"

"Definitely," I tell him. "But I'd rather do this now, because again, you never really know."

"Okay," he says.

"Good luck with yours," I tell him.

"Thanks."

I place a hand on the access stone and the menu pops up. I run through the selections, picking the Blessed Map Ascension Skill Trial, then confirming I want to spend the 100 Class Points on it. As soon as I make the confirmation, I find myself in a chamber the size of a normal Dungeon room. Inside of it stand fourteen training dummies resembling the one in the Healer Class Trial, and before me is a table with fourteen healing rods on it, an access stone in the exact center of the room.

In my vision is a message with the requirements for the Ascension Trial.

Use the healing rods on the training targets. They will use Lesser Heal. Each one possesses enough minor injuries to completely use a rod, and each rod will only work on the first dummy it is used on. You will not use up any Mana performing this. You have ten minutes. You must restore at least fifty percent of the injuries which can be mended with them on each dummy to complete this Ascension Trial. Skills will not work.

With little time to waste, I grab a few healing rods and immediately get to work on the nearest target, treating the cuts and bruises on it that the rod will work on. These perform a Lesser Heal, so I can't waste time trying to use them on bigger injuries, but I also can't waste time going too far past half of the minor injuries.

Just in case, I go up to three-fifths of the minor injuries, to ensure that I'm at or above the threshold, then move on to the next target. Only an idiot would attempt to fully heal each target, which makes this rather easy.

Then again, this isn't a combat Class, and it's not a combat Skill. While it's still useful in battle, it makes sense it wouldn't be tough. Drake's Ascension Trial is probably more difficult than this, though for a normal person. Someone as strong as him wouldn't have any issues, I'm sure.

I work swiftly, going straight for any injury I immediately deem as minor, then shifting to slightly-more severe ones until I believe each dummy has enough taken care of, then move on to the next. There are fourteen dummies, representing a full team with me as the sole healer.

As I finish healing up a cut on the fourteenth dummy, a message appears in my vision.

You have completed the [Blessed Map] Ascension Skill Trial! You have received the Skill [Blessed Map] and a bonus 5 Class Points

With a minute to spare, too. Yeah, anyone who tried to fully heal even one of the targets would fail. That falls in line with the Skill, though. It allows us to use healing and buff Skills on anyone in the same room as us, but it works on everyone in the room. It also works with decreased efficiency.

A rather basic representation of the Skill, but it gets the job done.

I return to the access stone and place a hand on it as I set the rods in my hands on the table, then confirm my departure. A moment later, I find myself outside. Drake is standing beside Fang, who has stood up to talk with him.

"So you're telling me that the Fountain of Youth might actually exist?" Fang is asking.

"No," Drake says. "I'm telling you that it does exist. The Ancient Elders created it. I remember hearing stories about it."

The Fountain of Youth is mentioned in several of our ancient tales, but no one's ever found it. Even the few records we have of ancient times claim it to be mythical, nothing more than fantasy. Supposedly, it turns the old young again and halts the aging of the young.

Drake is claiming it's real?

"Where is it, then?" Fang asks as I walk over to them.

"Hidden," Drake answers. "According to the stories I was told, the Fountain of Youth on this world was hidden behind one of the most complex and most dangerous puzzles the Ancient Elders created. Only the truly talented and skilled can reach it."

It's good to hear him explaining things, but the look of frustration on his face says it's mostly because he's trying to argue his point with Fang, who clearly does not believe him. Time to step in before I find out what the full argument is.

"What did your Ascension Skill Trial consist of?" I ask.

"I had to use Bash and Arc Slash once on each of ten targets," Drake turns to face me. "I had to do both of them on a single target within five seconds, so I used Arc Slash, then ran forward and punched them."

"Isn't that 200 Mana?" I ask. "You don't have enough for that."

"I didn't use Mana," he tells me.

There he is, back to not explaining things unless the answers are pulled out of him.

"The Skills didn't use Mana to use?"

"No."

"What was the challenge to the trial?" I ask. "Other than the time thing. There had to have been an additional restriction, right?"

"There was."

"What was it?"

"I could use Arc Slash and Bash ten times each," he tells me.

"They had ten charges, then?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Okay," I say. "That makes sense as a trial, then."

It had even less wiggle room than the trial for Blessed Map did. It's Drake, though, and he has the speed to perform it with ease.

"Come on," I say. "Let's look for a tavern. There are a few of them here."

The argument between Fang and Drake seems to be over now that I interrupted it, though I can tell that Fang is stewing on it a little. Not in anger or anything, he's just bothered by the claim that the mythical Fountain of Youth exists.

I can understand that frustration, it's been sought for a hundred thousand years. If it had been found, then whoever drank of its waters would pretty much have to hide themselves forever. Keeping the secret wouldn't be easy, even if they moved around regularly.

Maybe Drake misunderstood what the Ancient Elder still alive said? Or maybe it was something from others, and the story became believed as truth? I'm sure I'd have heard of a Dungeon or trial of some sort that was that hard, even if no one ever completed it.

What could be the most complex and most dangerous puzzles the Ancient Elders ever created? I'll have to ask Drake about that sometime, but not anytime soon. If I ask it anytime soon, he and Fang will probably want to continue their argument.

We check out a couple of taverns before finding one with vacancies. I'd forgotten that there were travelers who were also stuck on the Sacred Isles right now, too. Ships aren't sailing from the continents, but they're also not sailing from the Sacred Isles, either.

With how long it's been, most of the travelers are bored, and instead of still exploring the islands or whatever, are just staying here on the Shrine Island, waiting until a ship will set sail off of it. If no one else leaves before we do, Peter will probably make a decent profit on his way to the eastern continent. He'll probably have to put a high price on the tickets just to decrease how many people want to go.

I pay for a room for the three of us for seven nights. That should be enough time for us to complete all five Dungeons, plus wait an extra day to prepare ourselves.

Or rather, for me to prepare myself for seeing my mother. Especially as I know she'll receive word I'm here at some point. With people knowing my identity, it's only a matter of time before it gets out, even with my hood up. But I'll keep the hood up anyway just to delay it until then. At least I don't need to use the deeper voice anymore, though. That much is a relief.

"Is that a humeox?" Drake nudges me as we take a seat in the dining room of the tavern.

I look over at the person he's indicating, a woman in her twenties with white hair, triangular white fox's ears atop her head, and a large, thick, bushy white fox's tail coming out in the same place that Fang's wolf's tail comes out on him.

"Yeah," I answer. "She's a humeox, a human of the fox tribe. The humeoxes are all white foxes, much like how humewols are all black wolves."

"Okay," he says. "I'm hungry."

"That's why we're in the dining room, Drake."