Twelve days had passed since they departed the island that had stoked the flames in their souls. With the enhancements Synexus made to the wood and sails, they were making great time without much being a threat to them.
A dreaded sea serpent had attempted to attack them on the sixth day, but the ship took no damage from the encounter and with everyone ready for a test of their new abilities, the serpent didn’t last long. It did net them some magical scales, and a skill echo to shoot pressurized jets of water.
Shell had told them on the second day that she would send word to her family when they got to Port Palm, but she had decided that adventure was what she wanted and needed going forward. Nobody disliked the idea since she had grown into their group, and her music was a breath of fresh air to have around. Her excitement when there was nothing but acceptance, made people realize that she had been maybe feeling on the outside and they quickly moved to apologize for that. They had all thought of her as part of the team since Synexus pulled her from the water the day of the attack.
When she showed them her ocean dimension bag, they instantly started fishing using some poles that Synexus and Kumo had bought in Gale to fill it with various fish. Even the class expected helped out since she had been the one helping them with various meditations and answering questions they may have about their upcoming class day. To her it was heartwarming and a little terrifying that so much attention was being placed on her.
Kumo spent most of her time up in the crow’s nest keeping watch and practicing her Cloud Walking skill. She wanted it as high as possible, so she could walk amongst the clouds as second nature. When Synexus told her he had not only passed her by one level but also made his own skill netting him another achievement, she started pushing harder with her training. There was no way he would stay ahead of her going forward.
As for her plans when they reached the city, she was going to send a message to her dad back in Whisper letting him know they made it across the ocean finally and that he shouldn’t worry about her. She and Synexus also decided to send him his money back with it as thanks for getting them started. From there, she would follow the group to their next big adventure.
Prith had brought the idea of going to the Smile Isles to the group about four days into their trip and everyone seemed onboard. None of them besides him had seen the isles and they wanted to explore. They gathered around the map in the captain’s quarters or really their map room since no one actually used it for anything else and mapped out their next path. It wasn’t going to be the first stop since it was so far away and they wanted to prioritize getting Yu home since it had been centuries, but from the Shadow Labyrinth mountains they would turn south and explore everything they came across until they hit the coast again. Synexus said he would pay someone to sail their ship which had yet to be named down to the closet port city and it would be waiting for them there.
Vorin decided he would take the teleportation gate back to Gale and inform the twins parents of Layola’s death and let them know that Laiko would be found. It would be a tough conversation, but it needed to be done. He would also inform Rupert’s relatives while there and pick up a few things the team had left behind since they thought it would be a quick return trip. This would be the longest detour for the group once in Port Palm, however, that wasn’t a bad thing. It would give them time to make clear plans, shop for more supplies, and find out what the port city had to offer.
Drackenn would also take the teleportation gate except he would be leaving the group and going back to the pirate cities. First, he would ask for a meeting with city council officials to get word to several class masters about Abyss and Nihil. They were still a danger to any on the ocean, and he would not stand by while more people died to the foul beasts.
He found himself sad to leave the group, but it was time and with him around they would slow their progress once more. His progress would also slow since he needed to be leading pirates to advance more. He had no doubt that they would all meet again.
Zuls had been pouring her mana into the egg daily and it had started to change colors a bit from that of stone to a shifting pattern of various colors. She found it beautiful and would watch it for hours in her room. When not with the egg, she would have chats with Yu about what she could expect from a Hydragon. According to the wise sphinx, it had been centuries since one roamed the skies of Motholo. Yu was curious about the egg and had joined Zuls several times to watch the colors. The two were becoming quick friends.
When they got to the city, Zuls decided she would go to any local animal facility and ask about the new continents potentially rare animals to look out for. She was always looking for more bonds, and they had never actually explored the wilds past Port Palm on any of their trips to the city before. From her conversations with Yu, she had learned that knowledge is truly power, so she would be informed.
Yu herself had spent her time during the voyage getting to know everyone. It had made her more comfortable to have surface level knowledge of the people she would be travelling with for some time. Once they got to the city, it would take another dozen months on foot to travel to her home even with the enhanced speed of class chosen. She also had no doubt that her sisters were scrying, and this would give them some reassurance that these people meant her no harm.
She didn’t have any plans in the city. Zuls was going to stay on the ship with her until nighttime if they didn’t arrive at night since her leaving the ship during the day probably wasn’t a good idea. They would find a temporary residence that was private and then in the dark of the night the two would head there. It wasn’t dangerous for her to be seen, but she didn’t want to trust anymore humans until she was once again home with her sisters.
Gene loved the positivity buzzing through the people onboard the ship. It had been several weeks since everyone was smiling, and they knew that these moments were the ones to live in since there never seemed to be enough of them.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
When the owl wasn’t people watching, they were assisting Synexus in trying to figure out how to unlock Yu’s Flight skill. Whatever enchantment was used to block the will pathway was powerful and it would take precision to unlock it. They weren’t entirely sure it was possible, but there was one sure thing that would fix it: a class evolution. When one goes through a class evolution, mana bursts through the will pathways to widen them, which in turn increases their efficiency. However, that would take the sphinx a lot of time to achieve, and the group would be at her home before then.
As for their plans in the city, they would explore like everyone else. They didn’t have a tree in Port Palm, so the experience would be completely new. Now that they had a mouth, the owl decided to start trying food for the first time ever, which excited them greatly.
Synexus had been busy the past twelve days. He was working on a way to unlock a skill for Yu, making plans going forward once they got to the city, practicing his skills, and performing an enchantment demonstration using Mana Weaving. Instead of enchanting a weapon or another piece of gear, he had enchanted the hull of the ship. He gathered the mana for two days for such a big enchantment and then got to work shaping the pathways which is borrowed from one of his skills. Extreme Repair was helpful when being attacked by the pirates on the Windswept, so he enchanted the hull of the new ship with something similar. Now it would automatically repair itself with the atmospheric mana. Even better was that when the will pathways were active it would look like constellations in the night sky given the appearance of the hull itself. When they were active, you couldn’t see them like a normal enchantment.
When he finished, people were amazed, and even Yu was pleased with the skill shown. The other class chosen asked for another demonstration and that’s when he got another idea. Another day of gathering mana and molding his will led him to enchanting the sails to attract wind which improved their speed by at least double what they were doing before. Unfortunately, this wasn’t until the eleventh day, but it would be great for any future voyages.
Other than Mana Weaving practice, he had started working on his other skills again, and his plan was to get them all to level 30 within the next month. Now that he could collect the data for the elements themselves, he had touched most everything again which was gaining experience for Soul, but the armor took a lot to level up. For his other skills, he had Mana Sense on constantly, he would use Enemy Transmutation on every monster they saw, he was constantly growing plants with Extreme Growth within his Progress Garden, and at the same time he was repairing various things within his Progress Garden. He loved his new skill deeply.
With his new ability to read skill pathways he had been focusing on all his friends to see where everyone was at in turns of levelling. Prith had made it to 30, Shell had made it to 30, Zuls had made it past 30 along with Vorin, Kumo was sitting at 20, but would hit 21 quickly with how hard she was pushing herself every day. He felt that when the others hit that wall at 30 that Kumo and himself would finally catch up. With his Progress Garden, his more tedious skills would be much easier to practice meaning his leveling speed would skyrocket with those. For him it would be the combat skills that would be the real hurdle.
When the sky turned orange on the twelfth day, they all gathered on deck like they would when aboard the Windswept. These were Synexus’ favorite times because the sky was beautiful, everyone was happy, and the world seemed peaceful even for only a few moments.
Vorin broke the silence.
“Hey Synexus, why have you not named the ship yet? You know it’s bad luck, right?”
“Well, I had a few ideas for the name and was going over them in my head. There was one that stood out, however. I’ll grow a name plate when we get a little down time.”
“What name did you decide on?”
“Anexi. After my mother. It’s fitting since she had always kept me moving forward even as a child.”
All the gathered repeated the word in unison and then nodded with approval. Silence filled the deck once again as the sun fell behind the horizon. That was when Synexus got the notification that the city was in sight. Now, their adventure would truly begin.
Name: Synexus
Race: Zaxillian
Class: Progress Architect
Level: 21
Health Points: 1555/1555
Mana: 3165/3165
Stamina: 1655/1655
Stats
Intelligence: 280 (+28)
Strength: 140 (+14)
Endurance: 142 (+14)
Vitality: 134 (+13)
Agility: 138 (+14)
Perception: 190 (+19)
Skills
Race: Sensing Touch, Enhanced Cognition, Perfect Memory, Silver Blood, Devour Sunlight
Class: Genome Archives LV 30, Genome Perfecting LV 30, Extreme Growth LV 29, Body Transmutation LV 29, Element Database LV 31, Element Modification LV 30, Extreme Repair LV 27, Mana Sense LV 27, Enemy Transmutation LV 23, Progress Garden LV 9
Achievements
Slayer of Monsters: You will now be able to see the remnant magical material of slain monsters.
Ullashtt Ender : You bested one of these massive, fabled beasts taking some of their vast power for yourself. +10% to all stats.
Evolved: All resources have risen by 100.
Mana Weaver: You’ve learned how to diverge from your initial class path to create your own. You can now read and understand will pathways of yourself and others. Your ability to manipulate mana outside of your body has significantly increased.
Triumph of Oneself: You have completed a trial dungeon and triumphed over what was weighing down your soul. Through knowing yourself better and cleansing your soul, your resources have benefited. Stamina and Mana will now regenerate at double the rate.
