Caleb half-sat, half-fell into Grimshaw’s massive paws. The drake moved to prop him up against a nearby wall. A vast swirl of light lit up Caleb’s vision even as he looked over to Malum Kane’s body.

The breathtaking feel of euphoria, of mainlining oxygen, filled his body with a series of jolting electric tingles. While he’d felt these sensations before, this time it felt different. The tingles and scents felt sharper.

More intense.

“Thou art injured!” Shaw exclaimed, emphasizing his concern with a clack of his beak. “I must take thee–”

“No, wait,” Caleb gasped. “Things aren’t hurting as much right now. I don’t think my wounds are bleeding anymore.”

“Mayhap,” Shaw said, though his voice remained unease. “I cannot tell whether thou hast thy own or thy opponent’s blood splashed upon thee.”

“Bide a moment, then. Something’s happening.

Double-level jump, so something new has to be expected, Caleb thought, as he hurriedly envisioned the red radio volume knob in his head and dialed it as far down as he could. I mean, I did jump even farther the first time I killed Malum Kane, from Level Three to Six, but it was different then. As a matter of fact, I’d fallen unconscious and missed all this.

As he’d seen multiple times before, a couple lines of text finally came into sharp focus.

Congratulations, Soul Traveler. Due to the completion of two major Quests and the vanquishing of a Recurring Villain, you have jumped two levels to Level Sixteen.

“All right, I’ve got some new spells waiting for me,” Caleb said quietly. “And a new Corsair-based skill.”

A single gesture brought up his full Character Sheet. He studied it, shaking his head as he looked at the second line. The day he’d arrived in Avalon, starving and stark naked, there was no way he’d thought about living long enough to get this advanced.

Name: Caleb Ledger Level: Sixteen Class: Wizard / Corsair Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Individual-Specific Specialty: XP Edge - Enhanced 42% Wizardly Sub-Specialties: Weathermancy, Craft with Iron Corsair Sub-Specialties: Charisma Boost, Dead Reckoning, Piratical Flair, Depth Sense, Bluff Assist, Swap XP for Gold, Expert Taunting Existing Buff / (Debuffs): Innate Charisma increased 11%. (Corsair abilities reduced by 50% due to the wearing of inappropriate attire for an extended period.) Potential Buff / (Debuffs): (Corsair abilities shall continue to decrease in an individual who does not conduct himself properly.) Unspent XP 1095

Caleb chewed over the information. His XP Edge and Innate Charisma continued to gain incrementally. And it looked like his efforts to be more like a ‘Corsair’ had paid some dividends, since his abilities were (for the time being) at half strength.

Half a loaf. I’ll settle for that.

The new Corsair Sub-Specialty intrigued him. He tapped on Expert Taunting to see what that was all about.

Expert Taunting: This ability increases your ability to taunt, insult, and trash-talk opponents. Unlike your Charisma Boost or Bluff Assist abilities, ET generally does not help you convince someone to listen to or follow you. Rather, this is designed to provoke, infuriate, or unsettle your opponents. Can be used one-on-one or on small groups. References to someone’s mother being a hamster while their father smelt of elderberries are not allowed.

Caleb considered. Wonder how much use this can be. I get under Lord High Captain Delacroix’s skin easily enough. But that man’s got a hair-trigger when it comes to being insulted. This could come in handy against someone who’s more level-headed.

He swapped out the Character Sheet to look at the spells under Weathermancy he hadn’t activated yet. Thanks to attaining Level Sixteen, he now had five that needed gold in order to be added to his repertoire.

Weathermancy Spells available for individuals ranked up through Level Sixteen:

Wind Cast (45) Wind Shift (45) Call Up Storm, Minor (50) See Through Weather (52) Microburst Deflection (54)

I could really use any of the first three, but the new pair of spells sounds interesting. He tapped the first one to look at it in detail.

See Through Weather: This spell temporarily grants the ability to see through fog, mist, glare, or smoke for 1 minute per level of the caster. This is a relatively rare spell that allows Transference.

Caleb frowned at the use of that last word. However, when he tapped it, an explanation helpfully appeared below.

Transference: The ability to transfer a given spell to another, or even a group of people, for a limited time. By default, only certain spells are transferable, and usually to only one or two others. The individuals granted a transferred spell do not have to be conversant in magic, nor do they need to be a magical being themselves.

Once he digested that bit of information, he went back to the spell listings and tapped the remaining new entry. Caleb found himself particularly intrigued, given that the spell used what he thought of as a modern, Earth-based term: Microburst.

Microburst Deflection:

This spell generates an Avalonian microburst event within a sharply defined area of up to 10x10 feet for a Level 10 caster, increasing by 2x2 feet for each level gained thereafter.

In the world of Avalon, microbursts are one of two weather events.

1) A sudden downdraft of air. This is distinct from a Squall Burst in that it does not have to be linear, it moves air in a single direction (down) and it costs only half as much in Magical Energy.

2) A sudden disruption of existing air movement, causing a change from a smooth air flow to a chaotic one up to 5 seconds per level of the caster.

All right, that’s got potential too. What about my Craft with Iron spells? A flip of a finger, and the three un-activated spells came up.

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

Assess Metallic Object’s Value (26) Magical Conduction (36) Cymatic Vibration (42)

He knew about the first spell. So a tap on the middle and last spell brought up their descriptions instead.

Magical Conduction: This spell allows the caster to convert XP into Magical Energy to power spells or metallic magical items. The efficiency of this process is limited: However, it works best if the conversion is done in large amounts of 100 XP at a time or more.

Cymatic Vibration: This spell allows the caster to harness a subset of vibrational phenomena – specifically, the ability to set up vibration in metallic objects within visual or magical sight. The strength of this ability will depend on multiple factors: The level of the caster, the composition of the metallic item, and the distance involved.

Again, he stopped to consider.

A spell for conversion, of a slightly different type than my Corsair Ability, Swap XP for Gold. As for that other spell…I suppose that could come in handy as well. I’d have to experiment with that one.

Caleb let out a breath as he pushed the screens aside so that they winked out.

“All right,” he said aloud. “I need to get back on deck. If we’ve won the fight, then we’ve got two ships and a lot of wounded people to attend to.”

“Mayhap that includes thee, Captain,” Shaw said, in a concerned voice. However, the griffin withdrew his paws as Caleb got up.

“Mayhap, but I need to see how badly…” his voice trailed off as he got to his feet. “…I’m hurt?”

His legs ached, but Caleb cautiously bent the knee that Kane had smashed with his pistol. He’d have bet money that the kneecap had been cracked, but the joint bent with a minimum of protest. The re-opened cut on his other leg simply oozed blood, as did the wounds on his arm and side.

“Malum Kane did more damage to me than this,” Caleb stated plainly. “A lot more.”

“So ‘tis thine own blood I see on thy clothes,” Shaw observed.

“Yeah, I think so. I need to check on something. Bide a moment longer.”

Shaw sat back on his haunches and watched like a curious tabby cat as Caleb moved his hands in mid-air. While the drake couldn’t see it, Caleb pulled up three colored bars showing his Health, Endurance, and level Magical Energy.

The first was down by perhaps fifteen percent, the second thirty, and the last was full. The readout were clear. But Caleb stared at them, trying to make sense of it. Among other things, he’d been using magic quite liberally during the approach to the Damsel. There hadn’t been enough time for that energy to be completely regenerated yet.

He snapped his fingers as he got it.

“I just went up two levels,” he explained to Shaw. “The people from my world…the Gods structured part of our existence around the RPG games we’d play. Going up a level in some of these games replenished health and energy, at least partway.”

“‘Tis not something I truly comprehend,” the griffin admitted. “Doth this be something that has happened ‘ere our fight aboard this sloop?”

“I’ve never gone up a level when I was badly wounded. Well, except the one time I was knocked out.” That made him do a double-take. “But my health must have been replenished! I was beaten unconscious, and barely had more than a mild headache when I woke up.”

“Mayhap the same charmed existence continues unabated about thee.”

“I think so.” Caleb looked over to the drake. “I owe you my life, Shaw.”

The griffin fluffed up his feathers at the statement. “And I owe thee my freedom, Caleb. I dislike laboring under the idea that we ‘owe’ each other. Perhaps thou wouldst simply call it a favor returned?”

Caleb rested his hand on Shaw’s golden shoulder. “I’d like that, my friend.”

The drake made a happy chirrup! in answer.

“Come on, let’s go see what’s happening up on deck.”

With that, Caleb led the way towards the stairs that led back up to the main deck.