Silence. Jake had been surrounded by silence since the very moment he reincarnated. Yet he never noticed, because he’d always had Roger with him. If not Roger, then it was Kyrie. And he was too distracted with Spirit growth and other arbitrary growth in the moments between.

For once, he had none of that. He could clearly sense the beings around him, as he realized it wasn’t ‘sight’ in the way humans perceive it. He moreso passively felt the Spirit surrounding him, with living beings containing extra energies within them that he saw as Vigor and Insight. At the very least, he could sense it in the Soul Intents around him, as the Wisps were much more dense and couldn’t be seen through.

Why was this something he noticed? Because for once, he was being left out of the loop, and nothing around him made any noise as a result. He saw a lot of wiggling, auras changing shapes and pointing at him. But nothing made any sound. Not the water surrounding them, nor the fishes swimming in and out of broken portholes, nor even when Kate slammed a block of mud through a desk and smashed it to pieces. Absolute silence surrounded him.

At first Jake considered going to sleep to avoid the nigh-absolute sensory deprivation, but one ‘look’ at the beings around him told him that was a bad idea. There was no telling whether any of these beings that clearly didn’t like him, much less trust him, would decide to destroy him. He was sure they’d face no repercussions for it either, as he was a complete outsider, no matter how he looked at it. It didn’t matter that this was his boat, and the current captain had been his subordinate, as that wasn’t the current truth.

The current truth was that he was worthless to the people around him. His growth was clearly slow, his perception was limited, and his understanding left something to be desired.

Complex Reason increased to 8/10

If that wasn’t a clear sign he was right, he wasn’t sure what would be. However, the improved clarity also gave him an idea. He was still capable of sensing his surroundings, which probably meant he’d also be capable of improving his perception. So he expanded it.

What followed was a pounding unlike any other in something akin to his head. The vision he just received was something unexplainable to even the most intelligent of humans. There were no gaps, not even the most minute of holes. He could see Kyrie to what he considered his left, Torvin and another unknown Soul Intent behind him, Kate in front of him, and more than 15 other beings packed into the room around him.

The last part was what hit him hardest. The smorgasbord of energies surrounding him was beyond what any mere human would be able to handle. In fact, he was certain if he were human, he’d be unconscious.

He gradually expanded it back outwards again, starting from slightly less than ‘normal’ vision and working his way back. Once Kyrie came into view he took a break, as that increase was already almost too much, and he hadn’t even started going vertically yet.

Kyrie was currently aggressively jabbing an aura finger at Kate, who had a smug aura surrounding her. Kyrie suddenly stopped pointing at Kate, proceeding to retract her aura to something akin to embarrassment or shame. When nothing happened for a few seconds, Jake expanded his vision slightly above him to where most of the other beings were.

A few Wisps could be found among the multitude of beings, and they clearly had amused and even smug auras as they shook with laughter. Some were even pointing at Kyrie as they laughed, though none too openly. Not that it mattered, as Kyrie could clearly feel every last one of their gazes as she shrunk in on herself until she barely had an aura.

Kate then slammed down the mud cube on the remains of the desk, which made the surrounding beings cease their laughter. She clearly didn’t do this out of kindness however, if the sheer amusement her aura gave off was any indication. Kyrie seemed to compose herself somewhat at this, the shame surrounding her being mixed with anger and even disgust.

Kyrie pointed at Jake and the disgust in her aura tripled. That couldn’t be anything good. She was the closest thing to a positive connection to the community he had and that was clearly gone. Out of concern, he continued to expand his senses as far as he could, hoping to see behind himself as well.

Just as it grew to be too much, his senses finished expanding. He finally did it. He could see every last inch of the room he was currently in all at once without the splitting ‘headache’.

Skill Unlocked: V.S.I. Sense

Wonderful, now he was assured he wouldn’t lose the ability. With that in mind, he opened up the skill desc-

Wait, why was he doing that? There were very important events going on around him, and yet he was immediately engrossing himself in self growth again. It almost didn’t feel voluntary, like an addict subconsciously indulging in a vice. Jake cleared his mind of such thoughts and focused back on his surroundings.

This was the perfect moment to do so, as the door behind him swung open right after that. Well, not quite swung open, as it was made of pure Earth Spirit. It was more akin to warping around the being entering the room, neatly closing itself once they were inside. And considering the Soul Intent that wasn’t Torvin warbled slightly as this happened, he assumed they were responsible.

The being that entered the room was unlike anything he’d seen up to that point. It was a rather large orb made almost entirely of Vigor, with multiple odd angles on the exterior like plating made for glancing off blows. This was clearly a Life Intent, but the size and armor told him it was definitely more than Inferior. Perhaps Minor or even Lesser?

One thing that was certain was that the being behind him was Morkin. Morkin rolled up to Jake from behind, as close as he could get before he was blocked by the orb of Water. He was clearly sizing him up, but without a direct Insight connection, Jake had no idea as to his intentions.

[What is your name, cur?] The words were filled with an odd malice, almost as if it was only surface level.

Before Jake could say anything, Kate spoke up with genuine malice thick on her words.

[Answer with care, you Dark heathen. You are speaking to Lord Morkin himself.] Kyrie’s Aura clearly did something akin to rolling her eyes at the word ‘Lord’.

[My name is Locke.] The only person on the boat who knew that name had been Roger, so Morkin shouldn’t recognize it.

[That voice… I can’t quite place it…] Morkin seemed to shake in place, which Jake realized was him shaking his head. [Did you use Dark Spirit on my ship?]

Jake winced at the words ‘my ship’ but said nothing. [Yes, but-]

[Then you are no longer welcome here. If you are still here by tomorrow you will be executed.] Morkin was clearly not bluffing, so Jake held his tongue.

[Morkin, I was explaining earlier that he was unaware of the law, therefore exile may be unjust.] Kyrie had spoken up in his stead, her manner of speech quite different from her usual casual tone. She then pointed at Kate angrily. [It was at that point that Kate changed the ruling to Conduit duty and… assigned him to me.]

A few Wisps shook quietly with laughter, causing Kyrie to shrink slightly. Apparently being assigned a Conduit was as shameful as being one.

[Why is this, Lady Kyrie?] Kyrie flinched at being called a Lady, but Morkin paid her no mind.

[It was my responsibility to ensure he was aware of the law, but I was unable to do so. Kate then decided a punishment was fitting and assigned him to me.] Her aura started bubbling with barely controlled anger by the end as well as undertones of disgust.

[Is this true, Lady Kate?] Morkin had rolled away from Jake and situated himself in the center of the room by that point.

[Y-yes, milord, I believed-]

[Then it shall be so. Locke, you are hereby exiled from the Blue Rose. Kyrie, for the next 20 days, he shall be your Conduit. I expect you to be utilizing him in every moment and monitoring him.] Kyrie practically exuded shock, while Kate was the very picture of mirth and smug superiority.

[But that would exile me too! You can’t be serious!] Kyrie had lost most of her composure, her aura shaking with shock and even mild desperation. [I could die out there!]

The last part surprised Jake. He hadn’t noticed anything particularly dangerous aside from the nearby heat vents, but even that was easily avoidable. Of course, they were at the bottom of the ocean, which wasn’t exactly known for its safety.

Morkin rolled over until he was just under Kyrie, then whipped out with a lash of Earth Spirit that dragged her down to him. [Then let it be a lesson on doing your duties properly, lest another cur such as this make his way in.] He stated all of it in a barely audible whisper, as if anything higher would result in shouting.

An Earth Spirit net then went out and yanked Jake out of the orb and pulled him right next to them.

[And you. You will never take this boat back, and I promise you that she will die if she tries to convince me to rescind the exile. And we both know you’re too caring to let that happen.] Considering the lack of responses from the beings around them, it was clear Morkin only said this to him.

[Sure thing, Morkin. Boat’s all yours.] Just as he feared, Morkin figured it out. Well, the man was no idiot, so it was only a matter of time.

Morkin then left the room with all the other beings, continuing on until he was roughly 10 meters away from the boat. At that point he released his control on them, then turned and left without so much as a goodbye.

His connection with the boat now thoroughly wiped away, he reoriented himself and made to find his way back to Roger. Kyrie silently followed along for the time being, seemingly resigned to her fate. Jake decided not to bother her for the time being, at risk of her deciding it’d be easier to just kill him.

He didn’t even make it a meter before something started barreling towards their location, clearly looking to use them as sustenance. Before Jake could so much as think, a shield of Water Spirit flew out in front of them and the being crashed into it harmlessly. Immediately afterwards, an inordinate number of needles stabbed out of the shield and turned it into a living pincushion. Or rather, ex-living, as it clearly expired before them, the energy within it slowly dissipating into the atmosphere. By the looks of it, it had been a Life Intent, making the ease with which it was dispatched even more impressive.

[Gather the Vigor before ya bite it.] That was all Kyrie said to him as she retracted the shield into her aura, and it was all the prompting he needed.

He floated over to where its remains lay and began collecting the Vigor. As he did so, he could see the bit of Insight it contained slowly reveal itself.

Vigor +14

Vigor 15/15

Skill unlocked: Inferior Vigor Gathering 1/5

Inferior Vigor Gathering increased to 2/5

Inferior Vigor Gathering increased to 3/5

Inferior Vigor Gathering increased to 4/5

The rush of Vigor entering him increased decently by the time he had finished; what was only droplets at first became a light pour. Jake could feel his mist thicken until it was a cloud, making him aware of just how vulnerable he’d been.

[Was I really that close to death this entire time? Also, what do I do with this Insight and leftover Vigor?] He was surprised to find the being had absolutely no Spirit, leaving him wondering just how it had reached that point.

[Whatever ya want with the Insight, just don’t collect it if ya don’t want your mind scrambled a bit. As for the Vigor, armor up your strands. That’ll improve ya bit by bit. Of course, it’ll cost ya Vigor, so don’t overdo it. And yeah, ya’ve pretty much been knockin’ on death’s door this whole time. I’m actually shocked ya made it this far with so little.] Kyrie’s aura was shrugging by the end of it, an odd gesture considering she didn’t have shoulders.

[I see…] Jake prepared his mind for a difficult process, as he knew this couldn’t possibly be as easy as she made it sound.

Jake reached his Insight out to some of the Vigor strands and started tugging on them, willing them to become shorter but thicker. To his surprise, they actually listened quite easily, compressing themselves obediently. He then began imitating the armor he saw on Morkin but on a smaller scale, creating plates at various angles with solid Vigor beneath to reinforce them.

Vigor successfully reinforced; Vigor Capacity +5.

Vigor -10

VIgor 5/20

Skill Unlocked: Inferior Vigor Armor Creation 1/5

Vigor +15

Vigor 20/20

Jake would’ve asked how it could’ve possibly been that easy to improve, but after unlocking the skill he quickly realized it was genuinely designed for meatheads.