Ivory knelt at a low table with Xei Shi eating a delicious breakfast of rice and locally caught fish. He was still in a high of excitement—after getting over the initial horror of 'seeing' (and then hearing) the translation of phrases and words in his head, he spent a while just reading random text in a brochure, before going out to see Xei Shi.

She was as curious about his Skill as Ivory was. They tested it by Xei Shi reintroducing herself and her business, as if speaking to a native who had not been there before.

Xei Shi wasn’t actually an [Innkeeper] but a [Hot Spring Owner]. He heard her Drathian, but a… voiceless kind of sensation told him that she had said [Hot Spring Owner]. Xei Shi scoffed at the translation; she had said the nuance was missing, but it was accurate. There were a few actual inns on Dejima, this just wasn't one, she had said.

Xei Shi then rattled off a few of her Skills in Drathian. [Occupant: Regulate Temperature] and [Hot Springs: Neutralise Odour]—seeing an almost right angle of a woman clap giddily was a sight to see. It was a Skill that was exceptionally specific, and the fact that Ivory, a foreigner, could understand some of her language (even if it was due to a Skill) made her touchingly happy. The Skill's parameters were a bit unclear to her, though—Ivory put this down to some grammatical function of the language.

That was then, and this was now. She had given him a run down of her business, finished their meal, and were making some light conversation.

"I've never been in a hot spring before." Xei Shi grinned, nodding.

"I am not surprised. Foreign lands may have magically heated pools, but few are fuelled by the earth itself," she explained. Ivory wasn't surprised. “We never close our doors. Talk to me any time, or my daughter, who operates at night."

Ivory nodded as he nibbled on some pickled seaweed. He was keen for that.

Ivory almost choked as he saw Nozumu standing at the doorway. When did he get here?!

He bowed to Xei Shi and exchanged a greeting in their native tongue. Ivory heard only Drathian with his Skill which was terribly useful: it was the same word in both languages, easily recognisable. He bowed to Ivory.

"G'day."

"Wha—" Ivory managed before a coughing fit washed over him. Both Xei Shi and Nozumu came over to him, with the former giving him a great thwack on the back. He wasn't choking, so it was a useless reaction to have—Ivory nonetheless was shocked into recovery.

"What the hell?" he spluttered. Hearing a pretty well enunciated Australian greeting from a fantasy Asiatic humanoid peacock was not what he expected. "Say again?" Xei Shi had metaphorical popcorn at the ready as Nozumu smiled excitedly.

"It's my new Skill! [Language: Australianisms]. I do not know what that means, but did you understand what I said?" he asked.

"Holy shit," Ivory thought. "What the hell is happening? How is that a Skill?"

"Y-yes. It's a greeting from where I'm from. Australia is the town I'm from. In Terandria. Small place. Funny colloquialism. Err, slang." Ivory considered for a moment. "Onya."

Xei Shi looked at the two laughing youths in amazement. These whippersnappers had acquired an esoteric and potentially new Skill respectively. She decided to take them both down a peg. She coughed into her hand, getting their attention.

"Congratulations for levelling, you two. Your new Skills are useful—Ivory, once you leave Drath, I fear its use will suffer. And you, Beastkin. Your seniors will be pleased—but think of your own use."

Her level of language was a bit above Nozumu's, but he got the gist.

"Hey, a Skill's a Skill! Better than nothing." Ivory said, defensively.

"I am encouraging you to think, boys." She did not elaborate further.

"Okay, geez," Ivory muttered. He motioned for Nozumu to sit with them. "Get anything else?"

As it turned out, Nozumu received a semi-equivalent ability to Ivory's [Translation: Drathian Proper Nouns]. [Translation: Spells, Skills, Classes]. Equally as wordy, any spells, Skills or classes in Drathian would be translated to speakers of the 'common' language. Conversely, any 'common' spells, Skills or classes would be translated to Drathian for Nozumu. He had won the lottery with that one.

Ivory instinctively reached into his pocket to check the time, and then remembered. Drat.

"So, where are we going to today, Nozumu?" Ivory asked.

"I did not expect you to be awake. I woke up early and thought I would wait here until you woke up." Nozumu put a talon to his beak in avian rumination. Ivory raised an eyebrow and stopped himself from saying 'what's the time'.

"How early is it?"

"Sunrise—it is still quite dark." It was Xei Shi who responded. Ivory's eyes bulged and mouthed an 'oof'.

"Oh!" Nozumu exclaimed, rumination talon now held aloft. "Do you like animals?"

"That… yes?"

"We would need to leave now. They return to the sea come morning—"

"Let's do it. Don't tell me, I want it to be a surprise." He saw Xei Shi's expression, which to him read 'or they'll be gone.'

"I will join you. I have business with the [Fishermen]."

"Ooh." Flying sharks? Megawhales? Mermaids? Ivory's mind whirled. Whatever it was going to be wouldn't be some run of the mill fish, if it was worth going to as, essentially, a tourist destination.

And just like that, the three of them were off. To both youths' surprise, Xei Shi was leaving them in the dust! All the better, both thought—time was of the essence.

As the trio power walked back the way Ivory had come the day before, Ivory was quizzing Nozumu about his [Stargazer] class and Skill, now that he could understand them.

"It was not long ago, when the moons were full—" Ivory's eyes bulged. Plural? "—and all were encouraged to engage with their class so that they could take advantage of the moons' power. [Lunar Mages], [Starlight Archers], [Moonkissed Anglers], [Lunar Weavers]... 'An empowered generation', we were told." Xei Shi was nodding along, but Ivory was floored.

"What about your other, um, classmates? That have the same class as you?" Nozumu crossed his arms.

"I do not think much happened. We were encouraged to practise what we wanted to do after we finished our tutelage. Most levelled and received a Skill. I was made a [Stargazer]... it was such a rare sight, and anyone would be in awe of them!" Nozumu said, a tone of defensiveness in his voice.

"I mean, you know what I think about this. I wanna know what Skill you got."

"[Astral Sight]."

"I see. Well… do you want to level up in it? It seems pretty straightforward."

Nozumu turned in confusion, and Xei Shi began to listen more intently to their conversation. Nozumu's confusion confused Ivory.

"What? Why are you giving me that look?"

"Straightforward. How do I level then?"

Ivory held his hands up.

"Hey, I said it seems straightforward. I could be wrong! But I would have thought you'd just… admire the stars? The moon—moons—the sun, all that. That's what… [Astronomers], [Astrologers] and some [Fortune Tellers] do."

"You're quite knowledgeable," Xei Shi interjected. She knew vaguely of those classes—not requiring a translation from Nozumu—and they were… esoteric.

"Australia, the town I'm from, practises it. You know, 'make a wish when you see a shooting star'? stuff like that. Full moons being lucky… no?"

"Australia seems like a strange place," Nozumu quipped.

"Aha, ahehe, I suppose! Say, aren't we going back the way we came yesterday?" Ivory managed, trying to change the topic.

"Yes, it is. We're just about to come on to the beach." Success.

They actually made a pivot left along a different natural pathway, instead of walking along the pier. Ivory enjoyed the wild trees and plants that populated along this path. It was wild, yet it seemed cultivated in a way—the plants were growing in a sort of chaotic uniformity; the trees' branches jutted out similarly, allowing walkers the opportunity to full take in the scenery.

"Does a full moon really give luck?" asked Nozumu. It was Xei Shi who responded.

"It is said that on a full moon, fish are easier to catch. [Fishermen] who return with bountiful nets say the full moon gave them luck. If that were true—which it may be—it would be due to the curiosity of the fish, being drawn to the moonlight. It is possible that a [Fisherman] has a luck based Skill during full moons, however."

Nozumu was nodding his head, ever the student. Ivory on the other hand was in shock.

"So you actually can just get lucky from Skills? How is that fair?"

How Xei Shi laughed.

"Fair," she repeated. "How, indeed."

Ivory was new to this 'system' of magic in this world; ignorance was not only expected, but guaranteed. But to someone from Earth, the concept wasn't alien. Film and literature utilised magic and the supernatural liberally, after all. Ivory knew that he struck out like a particularly sore thumb when he first arrived in this world not long ago—he could, back on Terandria, now be a convincing sheltered person, up from a complete anomaly. This conversation now with Xei Shi gave him the impression that he had graduated up from generally ignorant to ignorant of some of the more… intricate aspects of this world. Specifically, it was Nozumu not knowing about luck Skills that caused him to feel this way. It wasn't just Drathians being learned in an arcane way, either.

Perhaps it was even more the case in this world that age equalled wisdom.

Nozumu craned his neck around some shrubbery and turned back to the group, grinning.

"We are here."

Ivory ooo'd and followed Nozumu's lead once more. He turned the corner—

"Oh my god," he breathed. "Seals!"

The vast stretch of golden sand was littered with a multitude of seals, varying from a metre long, all the way to three metres. The larger seals were a deeper a darker, navy blue colour, whereas the ‘smaller’ seals were varying shades of aquamarine—some bright blue, some bright green. Ivory saw a few goliaths that were almost pitch black. Xei Shi turned to Ivory.

"From Terandria, you said? You have been to Cenidau," It was not a question. "Ours prefer the warmer seas. Nozumu, explain to our guest the reason for their appearance, and state their Drathian name.

Both youths had a lightbulb moment. Nozumu's back straightened as he went into student mode.

"Drathian Seals spend most of their time in the water. Their colour and size is dependent on their age. The bigger the seal, the darker their colour. The darker the seal, the older it is. The older the seal, the deeper it can survive. Seals need to be able to blend in with the water that they swim in, so as they grow and change colour, the deeper they need to swim to be safe. [Biologists] claim this is not a coincidence."

Xei Shi was impressed at Nozumu's quick pick up. Ivory, on the other hand, was impressed that this world knew of the concept of evolution. Ivory thought it ironic that a bird-person was inadvertently espousing Darwin.

"Are they friendly?" Ivory asked. God, he hoped they were.

Both Drathians looked at Ivory. Xei Shi a brief side-eye; Nozumu did a full head turn.

“What!” he protested. “You can go near some birds and… horses!”

“They are 50 times heavier than all of us combined. I would advise keeping your distance.”

Ivory pouted. That was always going to be the answer and, on reflection, the thought of being near great white shark sized seals that could probably shoot lasers out of their eyes filled Ivory with dread.

Looking out at the sea of greens, blues and blacks, Ivory realised that there weren’t any baby seals.

“Where are the babies? The pups?” Ivory asked.

“It isn’t breeding season. There aren’t any.”

Ivory’s face could only be described with a :/. Baby seals were the friendly ones that didn’t want to kill you!

"We can walk along the beach at a distance," Nozumu said, trying to rescue the situation. "They are not friendly, but they won't come to attack us. There is a sorta truce here—in the water, they are fair game for [Seal Hunters], but it would not be honourable when they come to land to relax, or to breed."

Well, that's nice, Ivory thought. They weren't actually walking on the sand, they were on another 'beach walk' path, as Ivory would put it. Some of the seals were as close as three metres to the trio; wobbling and bobbling along the sand, or sunbathing in ecstasy. He noticed that the underside of the seals were a more pale shade of their main coat.

"What are these seals called in the common language, Ivory?" Nozumu asked.

"Oh, yeah. That's right. 'Drathian Seals'." Ivory immediately heard a pah.

"That Skill!" Xei Shi spat, shaking her head.

Ivory just grinned and kept looking out at the seals. Some were going back to frolic in the shallow water, or rolling around having a grand time. A small, grey sphere on the water's edge caught Ivory's eye.

"Hang on." He came to a stop, and the Drathians looked to where he was pointing. "That's a baby one over there. See?"

As he said that, it yawned and started bobbling up the sand towards a large rock in the sand. As it was doing so, the sand in its light grey fur fell off, like sand falling from a seal shaped hourglass.

Nozumu had an interested look on his face; Xei Shi was squinting in its direction, trying to make it out. Ivory craned his head in amused confusion, and got his wand out to cast [Detect Magic].

The grey loaf turned bright blue for a few seconds, before it started lapping at the air. Slowly, the sphere began to lose its blue glow—patches of grey began to emerge, and after a few seconds the colour loss ramped up.

Nozumu wasn't sure why Ivory's eyes were open so wide; all the seal was doing was licking the air. Sure, it was a bit random, but not enough to warrant such a reaction. The seal then reared up slightly, rapidly slapping its blubber, looking for something. It eventually looked at Ivory and aaaaa'd happily.

"Oh, there it is," Xei Shi finally said. "Well done, Ivory. Well done." He turned abruptly to her.

"Did it eat my magic?"

"It did. You did well in spotting it. It will sell well—we can split it three ways. You get a bigger share, of course!" Xei Shi said with a grin.

The seal then lifted off the ground and slowly floated towards the trio, its eyes locked on Ivory.

"Now it's flying!" Ivory said in amazement. He saw the floating fatty bob towards him. "I take it these are a different species?"

"They are not. I don't know how it happens, but sometimes they are birthed this way. They are very rare. Its fur is used by every tradesperson, owing to its magical properties. Its flesh makes for powerful offerings, too."

"Wait, wait wait wait wait. We're going to just kidnap it and sell it?"

Xei Shi nodded and walked over to intercept the seal.

Ivory's time in this new world, thus far, had been very tame. He had played it safe, not done anything rash—well, tried not to. Ivory made the first truly impulsive and rash move of his new home.

It was about 15 metres in front of him, now—he beelined to it, weaving around Xei Shi, and grabbing the seal around its top half. It wiggled in Ivory's grip so that it's head was facing away, letting its flippers hang from Ivory's arms. It tried, unsuccessfully, to lap at Ivory's wand.

"Oh no, not that, mate," he said, pocketing the now acorn in his pocket, as his Bag of Holding was trapped.

He turned around to see Xei Shi, eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing?"

"I'll look after him. He eats magic, right? I'm a [Sorcerer], I can feed him. Or her."

"You are picking up a wild animal, that you do not know how to look after, nor know nothing about. To keep as a pet."

Her tone was icy. Reality set in real quick. Nozumu had followed the two to the sand.

"That Courier—"

"(Do you think he has the flesh? The levels? The means?)" Xei Shi snapped at Nozumu in their native tongue. She turned back to Ivory and sighed deeply.

"And I thought you were wise. I have business to attend to."

Xei Shi retreated from the sand, continuing on the path. Presumably, that was where the [Fishermen] were.

Ivory and Nozumu were left on their own. Well, with thousands of giant seals, and one miniature, magical one.

"It is not too late. You could put it down and head back," Nozumu offered.

Ivory was tempted to follow the very reasonable advice. It was an objectively ridiculous thing to do. But…

Ivory gave the seal a congenial smack on its stomach, with the little dexterity he had whilst holding it.

"Ooweh."

"Well, you heard it here first. I need to think of a name," Ivory said with a smile. "Erm, can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?'

Nozumu gave a cursory glance down the seal.

"It is female," he decreed.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Very."

"Well, that's that that then. Actually…" Ivory placed the seal down in front of him and then squatted down to address her.

"Okay, so I don't want to take you from your natural habitat, so if you want to stay then, well, off you go," Ivory did a shoo shoo motion with his hands. Ivory and Nozumu were waiting with bated breath, both believing they would get a response.

…

"Welcome to the family then! I'm sure this is how wild animal adoption goes."

"Ehp!" she… said, and used the remainder of the mana she had eaten from his [Detect Magic] levitate up above him and do a 180 degree turn. Ivory shot up in surprise, thinking maybe she had seen a predator or something. There was no reaction rulebook to see a magical seal float and spin.

"Aww," he said as he realised, and went to hold her like he had before. "Aren't you nice HOLY Christ you are heavy!"

Not fully grasping the concept of being held, she had still used the eaten mana to levitate whilst being held.

Nozumu, meanwhile, had been looking in stunned curiosity. This random foreigner had come here at the behest of an important [Merchant], given him a Skill he didn't think existed until then, and then encountered a rare magical beast—which would sell for thousands of gold total—which he then adopted as a companion pet!

"We… Let us go back?" Nozumu said, his tour operation now in complete shambles.

"Ok!" Ivory replied, strained from his payload.

Nozumu lead them back through the scenic path—

"Pause!" he shouted, carefully lowering himself to the ground, putting his cargo between his outstretched legs. She was having a lovely time. After a minute, he was ready.

The two had to stop another four times before they came to the stone stairs.

"There's… no way. Argh!" he half groaned, half shouted in an attempt to summon the last of his strength to get up these stairs in one piece. Unfortunately, he never realised he could have just fed her some mana and she could have levitated up.

Ivory reached the top of the stairs and got a second wind as he saw the empty pagoda in the distance.

"(Dead gods!)" Nozumu breathed, as he tried to keep up with the now running Human, as he was forced to jog in order to keep up with Ivory.

On each corner of the hexagonal exterior was a foot-high table with neatly trimmed patches of grass on each side, suitable for a party of four to enjoy a spot of scenic tea. Ivory collapsed against one of the walls and slid down; his cargo slid gracefully onto the grass betwixt his legs. Nozumu took a seat opposite him.

"My… Far out… So heavy…" he slumped onto the smooth, stony table. "Gonna need a pram… or trolley…"

Nozumu exhaled a defeated gurgle-scream-sigh which scared both the seal and Nozumu.

"Do… you want me to to and bring some water back?" Nozumu asked. All he got in reply was a grunted eerrrgghhhhh.

Curious to see if Ivory was being a sooky la-la—another term he had learnt—Nozumu stood up and went to pick up the seal, who was having a lovely roll around the grass. He knelt down and put his talons around her hefty body.

"(Three, two, one—)"

He lifted with all his might—knees bent, or course—and only managed a few seconds before he deposited her on the table.

“How did you carry her all that way?!” Nozumu said, rather loudly. He was but a lithe Beastkin, and the Bird varieties weren’t known for their upper body strength. At least, most weren’t.

He never got a reply—Ivory’s face was smooshed against the table in a most undignified manner.

“Hello?” He went to poke Ivory, but a careening cube was beating him to it.

[Beast Tamer Class obtained!]

[Beast Tamer Level 1!]

[Skill - Lesser Strength obtained!]

“Blegh!” The seal yelped, as she joyfully collided with Ivory’s face. He just groaned sadly in response.

Ivory’s eyes fluttered as he opened them, somehow not feeling as exhausted.

“Wait, I got a new class! [Beast Tamer]!” his face cycled through showing excitement, disappointment and uncertainty. He didn’t want to tame this seal, he wanted a companion.

“Oh! Did you get a Skill?”

“Shit, I did! [Lesser Strength]. Is that why I don’t feel so exhausted? Wait, let me test this,” Ivory said as picked up the seal looking at him.

“Holy hell, okay. Wow. She feels like… I’m holding a fat cat. So I’m just stronger now? That’s busted, what the hell?” He put her back down on the table and sat down.

“Busted?”

“Like, it’s not fair. It seems too good!”

Nozumu chuckled.

“While I am jealous, I am happy for you. Perhaps I will need to try my [Astral Sight].” The mention of Nozumu’s unused Skill reminded him of his own.

“I totally forgot—I got heaps of spells yesterday when I levelled up! I need to try ‘em out!” Ivory excitedly declared. The seal started clapping adorably. “Where’s a good place to just… practise magic? Are there, like, shops that let you?” Ivory had magical dojos in mind. Nozumu’s answer was far more simple.

“The seals will have gone back into the ocean. You could go there?”

“Oh yeah. What will you do?” Ivory asked.

“I was going to find a book on Drathian Seals. I am sure a [Biologist] will have written one. You will need to know how to look after her—what name will you give her?”

A name! Ivory didn’t even think of that. Hmm.

“Since she’s Drathian, she should probably have a Drathian name. Any ideas, Nozumu?” Ivory asked. He picked up the as yet unnamed seal and put her in his lap.

“Hmm. Oh! There’s an old legend of a beast named Misoe; it was a story that our elders would tell me when I was a misbehaving hatchling. A long time ago, when the seas went dark, Krakens came up from their deep homes in search of food. The Dragons of Baleros forced them away, and the Minotaurs of Minos used a strange power to keep them at bay. All but one Kraken retreated to their home—it came for Drath. It is said that as the Kraken saw land, a great beast attacked it. I have heard it as many different things—a Dragon, a Treant, a whale, an [Archmage], and even the ocean itself, wanting to defend Drath. For two days and two nights, the beast battled with the Kraken, until it got tired and returned back to the ocean's depths.”

Ivory blinked several times.

“So… what’s the morale of this story, exactly? Why would you be told this if you were naughty?”

Nozumu laughed lightly.

“We were told that if we misbehaved, a Kraken would come to get us, and they would scream and grab us.” Nozumu shuddered at the memory; Ivory was just confused.

“That doesn’t make any sense. So, why’s it named that? Does it mean anything?”

“... I do not know, but I think the name sounds nice!”

“Well, fair enough. Misoe. Mi-so-eh. Maybe Missy for short. Hello, Misoe!”

Misoe aaaa’d happily in Ivory’s lap. He stood up, did a big stretch and a few stationary spins, and was ready to go.

“I will see you sometime later then. I’ll be where the seals were,” Ivory said, picking up Misoe.

“I hope I will be able to find something for you. I have no idea what she eats, or how old she is. Xei Shi would know. I will see you later.”

“Buhbye!” Ivory called out.

Ivory felt that fire within him again. For the first time since coming to this world, he was going to actually practise magic. Casting [Light] and [Lightshow] was fun, but you can only see so many flashing lights before you got bored. Now was the time to experiment and play with his magic. And he had made a new friend.

What fun!