Lin says "There was probably no other way to do that. Couldn't you have just made the ship out of multiple trees?"

"I could have, but I wanted the ship to be special. It needed to be able to keep the elves safe."

Lin says "Well, it is definitely special. You said the tree had a spirit, was it friendly?"

"Yes, at least it was to me."

Lin says "Then I wouldn't worry too much. If the artifact becomes intelligent it will most likely be friendly to you."

"Let's hope so. We will just have to wait and see."

Lin says "True. So, what's the plan once we set sail?"

"The exploration teams didn't reach the jungle. I plan to go take a look once the ship is moving. The team will include you, if you want to go, Brightfire, Nala, and Albion."

Lin says "Of course I want to go! What about Mulan and Mushu?"

"I was planning to let Brightfire convince Silverstream and Silverleaf to watch them for us."

Lin says "Are you sure that Brightfire will agree to that?"

"She really wants to go with us, so of course she will."

Lin says "That's kind of mean, but it will probably work. When do we leave?"

"Probably the day after tomorrow. I want to make sure nothing goes wrong with the ship."

Lin says "Alright. I will be ready."

Since Mulan and Mushu are still wide awake, I take them and Lin on a tour of the ship. They got to see it already in the soulscape, but there is no harm in seeing the real thing. Besides, I want them to get used to the elves and the elves to get used to them.

That way they can roam around the ship during the journey instead of staying cooped up in the cabin. Of course, they are far too young to roam on their own, but Nala and Albion can help. That way Lin doesn't have to watch them all the time and can have some free time.

Not only has she helped me a lot by watching the kids, but she also needs time to read. I am going to be depending on her to gather the magical knowledge that I need. I would do it myself, but I don't have the time, something always seems to come up.

Honestly, most of the time it is because of my curiosity, but I can't really help that. There are too many things that I am curious about and if I don't satisfy those I can, I will go insane. Then again, most people would say that I am already insane, and I would find it hard to argue.

By the time we have explored the entire ship Mulan and Mushu are exhausted. So, Lin takes the two of them back to the cabin for a nap while I head for the bridge. Stillwater is on the bridge when I arrive, watching the activity on deck out the windows.

"Stillwater, how do you like the new bridge?"

Stillwater says "I love it! I honestly wasn't expecting that you could make so many changes in such a short time."

"To be honest, I haven't slept since we arrived. I only meditated when I needed to recover my mana. It was the only way to get everything done so quickly."

Stillwater says "I appreciate your hard work. Why don't you go get some rest?"

"I want to wait until the ship is underway. Just in case anything goes wrong."

Stillwater says "Alright. We should be ready in less than an hour. The last wave of boats is leaving the beach now."

"Have the exploration teams returned?"

Stillwater says "All but my daughter's team. They are on the last boat."

"Of course."

While I am waiting for the elves, I walk over to the core and put my hand on it. As soon as I touch it I feel a welcoming warmth from the core, it recognizes me. It doesn't feel like it is sentient yet, but there is a feeling like it is somewhat aware.

It makes me think that the odds of it becoming intelligent are really high. I send some warm mana into it as a way of saying hello and it seems to like it. For some reason, the core gives me the same feeling that the tree did when it was small.

It makes me wonder if the tree's spirit might just still be a part of the ship. If so, and it becomes the spirit of the core, then I don't have anything to worry about. While the spirit was kind of disappointed in the elves, it didn't consider them enemies.

Unfortunately, it is still too early to tell what is going to happen, so I can't do anything. If I knew for sure that it was the spirit of the tree, I would try to help it grow. Come to think of it, maybe there is something that I can do, so I scan the ship.

This time I am looking specifically for any traces of spirit that remain in the wood. This is not something that I have done before, so it takes me a while to figure out how. It is similar to looking for small pieces of a shattered soul, and I actually find some.

As soon as I find them, I start to gather all of the pieces together in one spot. All of my time spent working with my own soul comes in really handy now. Not only am I able to slowly gather the pieces together, but I can also feed them energy.

With the energy I provide, the small pieces slowly start merging together. Once the dozens of pieces have become one, I guide the spirit into the ship's core. Without my help this probably would have taken weeks if not more.

It still isn't enough for the ship's core to become sentient, but it will help a lot. It will also guarantee that the core will become the spirit of the tree, or something close to it. I will have to ask Lin what she knows about item spirits, maybe there is something more I can do.

I really wish that Yui could enter the soulscape, she surely knows a lot about item spirits. Although, when I first met her, Yui seemed more like a sentient program than a spirit. Still, she should have the information from the ancient mages' experiments.

Thinking till here I look around and make sure the elves aren't ready to leave yet and sit down. I quickly enter into meditation, open a soulscape, and then call for Myria. She shows up pretty quickly, but she looks surprised that she is the only one.

Myria says "Ash, is something wrong?"

"No, I just have a favor to ask."

Myria says "Sure. Whatever you need!"

"Since I can't invite Yui into a soulscape, I need you to ask a question for me. The core I made for the ship is showing signs of developing a spirit. I need to know if Yui knows how I can help it grow."

Myria says "Alright. I will ask her and tell you what she says tonight. Although, she will probably have to dumb it down for me."

"That's fine. Anything will help. Thank you."

Myria says "Okay, see you tonight."