B6 Chapter 28: Skill Check

(I am not entiirely set in stone on the skill names: If any of you have any suggestions/better ones. Feel free to comment and I'll consider it :D)

I stepped onto the deck and scanned the sky. The sails blew, the storm behind us brewing. The moon was out, bright and shiny green. I had gotten used to it, but seeing it like this, it’s light guiding the sky amongst the churning ocean, it made the world feel so large.

Crew members were manning their posts with a couple of runners strutting about. They glanced my way but quickly averted their eyes like I was the plague. I sighed and moved forward, walking towards the front of the ship. 

I had felt her mana, even as it permeated the vessel. When I came to a stop, she held out a drink. I sniffed it, finding it pungent but sweet.

“If this is poison, that’s a ridiculous attempt.”

“Considering you own my soul, have an apothecarist and poison expert on your team, that would truly be ridiculous,” she replied.

I took a sip and found it pretty good. It was like apple juice mixed with pineapple and cider. 

Beneath us, the ship rode the waves without disturbing the water below. The enchantments stabilized the ship, but even with the magic preventing the worst, you could still feel the vessel rock with the motion. Chains clinked and the sails flapped as the wind came and left. 

Honestly, it felt silly. Here I was, living a life in a fantasy world, bumping shoulders with pirates. At least the ocean was beautiful at night, if a little scary.

Ellena glanced my way and raised her glass, catching the moonlight inside the amber liquid.  “Do you know the first tenet of the sea? The rule that all who sail must etch into their hearts?”

“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me,” I said with a shrug. When she didn’t answer, I clicked my tongue and observed a wave hammer into another, being obliterated by a bombardment of smaller waves. “Probably something along the lines of respect the ocean. Dangerous waters and all that.”

She nodded. “Respecting the ocean is a must, but that is not the first tenet. No. The first rule you will learn is that the sea cannot be tamed. To try and do so, even for those with powers of storms and waves, will find themselves a lone fish against a giant.”

The captain downed her drink and set the cup down. A single chain, no wider than my finger, stretched from the railing and bound the glass to the ship. Ellena met my eyes and nodded, letting her mana settle back to the previous calm.

“So that’s why your ship rides the waters, no cut through it.”

“Indeed.”

I downed my drink as well before placing it next to hers. Another chain rose, my senses stretching outward to observe the process. Despite recognizing the signature, there wasn’t the same spike of mana that had appeared when Ellena set her cup down.

I see. So that’s what she’s doing.

I turned to face her and leaned against the railing. “You know, I was going to hide it, keep things to myself and see what you decide to do, but frankly, I don’t care about playing the game anymore. I have enough shit to deal with.”

Ellena's expression didn’t change, but her fingers twitched as she adjusted her posture. 

“What do you mean?” she asked.

I pulled out the folder of files and hefted them into the air. Instead of falling, they came to a rest above my shoulder, fanning outward to reveal their contents. Ellena's mask cracked, her eyes narrowing as the clinking from the chains above disappeared. For a brief moment, all was still amongst the ship, not even the crew dared move.

Then it ended. Sound returned and Ellena raised her head.

“I see. If you desire, I will apologize.”

“That’s it? Not even going to try and defend yourself?”

Ellena slowly exhaled. “You say you don’t want to play games. Yet you know that you hold dominion over me. I’ve already offered all but my crew and my life. Whatever it is that you desire, I will fulfill if it’s within my capabilities.”

Silence followed, but I shattered it with a clap. Slowly, and politely, I smirked.  “You say that, but the chains pooling underneath the deck say otherwise. You tell me. If you’re willing to sacrifice just about anything, even your body and dignity, then why is your crew ready to explode?”

Ellena glanced back at the angry faces glaring in our direction. The crew flinched as if being slapped and swiftly returned to their duties. When she turned back to face me, she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

“I’ll have different members of the crew attend you and your party. As for the rest… They are still my men.”

“No need.”

“I–what?”

I tilted my head to the side and eyed Karre hiding in the crow’s nest. “Your pirate hunters aren’t a threat. At least for now. Besides, danger is easier when you know it’s there, right? They can keep attending us. As for the rest, I still want to meet your diviner. Throw in the mental user. I’d like to see how he measures up.”

“His name is Kallim,” Ellena said after straightening once more.

“Kallim. Whatever his name is. I’d like to talk tomorrow, before the divination expert.”

I peeled myself off the railing and stepped just past the captain’s shoulders. The files that floated in the air slapped together and returned to my hand. I raised my head and stared at the bright moon above.

“I’ll say this now, so there won’t be a misunderstanding later,” I looked back, meeting Ellena's eyes as I smiled. A cloud of black miasma stretched outward from behind my head. Crimson eyes of different sizes appeared, focusing on the captain with a malicious glee. “Touch the kid or my friends, and I’ll have your entire crew lobotomized.”

To her credit, she didn’t shy away.

“Understood.”

I patted her shoulder and returned to the room. The wind continued to howl and lightning cracked in the distance underneath a roiling blanket of black.

***

The kid didn’t wake for almost a full day. I had Áine periodically check on him, along with Khrem running his own diagnostics. 

Perfectly healthy.

The kid’s mana was a tide of ever-spiking, ever-pulsing, and ever-shifting waves. I could feel it rise and steady before crashing against itself, folding together like pressed dough. Despite the chaos of it all, his breathing remained steady and his skin held a healthy luster.

It only made the damn wait for him to wake up that more agonizing. 

To top it all, Zog had still not returned from communing with his god. The monk’s body continued to radiate a soft heat that filled the room, but otherwise remained just as dead to the world as Teldrin.

When Teldrin’s eyes started to flutter open, I used my tail to grab onto his ankle. He slowly came to and blinked as he took in the ceiling.

“I’m… awa—aaaagh!” 

I lowered my gaze and leaned down, staring at the boy underneath my legs.

“Welcome back. Enjoyed your nap?” I asked.

Teldrin froze, panic filling his eyes. “I-I’m sorry!”

I reached down and tapped his nose. “Better be. Not only did you throw up on me. You also tried to give me a heart attack. You started convulsing, idiot. I understand your excitement, but all of them at once? Really?”

Teldrin lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry.”

“Baaah!” I grabbed Teldrin by the collar and stood him up. “Just get this over with. I expected you to turn down the pebble skill, maybe even the cake skill. But instead you went and used all of them anyway.”

“I–”

“Skills, now,” I commanded.

Teldrin rushed to nod and sent over the system prompt. 

I expanded the prismatic dot and watched the text fill the screen.

STATUS

Name: Teldrin 

Race: Awakened Riftborn (Human)

Age: 12

Tier: 0

Active Skills:

(T:0 R:0): Ripplestone Surge

(T:0 R:0) Summon Familiar: Tidebloom Feast (N/A)

(T:0 R:0) Pondstone Anchor

Passive Skills:

(T:0 R:0) Internal Current of the Pond Giant.

(T:0 R:0) Pond Skimmer

Perks:

Rift-touched

Ysanna’s Blessed

Legacy of the Living Pond

Ripplestone Surge:

• Compress a fragment of stone, infusing it with the shifting currents of the pond. When released, the stone expands outward in a controlled pulse.

• Timing and direction can be influenced at will.

• Low Stamina cost, Moderate Mana cost.

Summon Familiar: Tidebloom Feast (N/A)(Currently no spirits contracted)

• Summon a bonded familiar. The familiar is an elemental-based creator.

• Summons can remain inside the body in a passive state. While active, they reserve an amount of your mana pool.

• All Summons have their own mana pool and regeneration, but may tap into their summoner's mana when they run out.

Pondstone Anchor:

• Summon a stationary Anchor in the form of a rotating water pearl.

• The Anchor emits rhythmic pulses that detect nearby movements and disturbances.

• Each pulse generates a tangible water field around the Anchor, slowing enemies and altering the flow of movement within its radius. The intensity and range of the pulses can be adjusted.

• Low Stamina cost, Moderate Mana cost.

Pond Skimmer:

• A passive skill that empowers the user’s body with the fluid agility of a water strider while coating them in a thin, slick layer of pond residue. Increase slipperiness, flexibility, and resistance to grabs or restraints, allowing you to shift, slide, or glide across liquid surfaces with ease.

I minimized the system notifications and found Teldrin once more, staring anxiously. He kept his fists tight, but he didn’t look away from my gaze.

The skills were both what I expected and yet not at all. I was surprised to see the pebble skill become something that sounded actually useful. 

Except there was one skill that caught my attention more than the others.

My eye twitched upon rereading the summon familiar skill. As far as I last checked, the skillstone was not a summon-type. It was conjuration, a weird one!

How in the hells did it transform into a familiar-based skill? Now I have to teach him how to contract a familiar…. Uggggggh!