With his eyes closed while he rested on the deck of the small ship, Thomas began to use Serenity to recover his nearly depleted mana. He'd only left himself with enough to not feel sick from running too low. At most he would be able to cast a single weak spell with what remained. He still didn't feel completely safe and away from the pirates so he was determined to recover his mana as quickly as possible.

As he was recovering, Selena glanced over at him while her eyebrows scrunched together. She could feel his mana recovering far more rapidly than it did for even other immortals that she'd met on her journey to find him. On her journey, her looks had attracted many immortals into approaching her. Mostly on the caravans that she took to travel in safety. She couldn't help wondering if it had to do with his race. Not much was known but someone containing both Holy and Unholy magic should be impossible. That's why she was determined to get him on her side. Though seeing his attitude towards the pirates she knew she had to be very careful about her approach.

Lexiana moved around the ship adjusting things here and there to make the ship's movement a little faster through the ocean. She too glanced over in Thomas's direction to study him and Snowlily. When Snowlily had first informed her of the connection between them, Lexiana's first instinct was to hunt down and kill Thomas. She couldn't really be blamed for that. Anyone of her race would have had the same impulse. A sacred Garou becoming the Soul Companion of a human was just... wrong.

However, there were two things that stopped her from really thinking along those lines anymore. First, Thomas was immortal. What would be the point in killing him when he would just come back shortly after? Second, Snowlily herself. Snowlily was proud to be the companion of Thomas and wanted to be near him. Lexiana had no idea why but since that was the case, who was she to argue with the Garou? So, she accepted their bond and had no more intentions to try and get them separated. Of course, she would continue to stick near them to protect Snowlily even at the cost of her own life, if necessary.

While the two women looked at the man and wolf resting, the man himself felt the majority of his mana had recovered and opened his eyes to examine the sea around him. The gunwales of the ship weren't very tall allowing him to peer over the wall even while sitting down. Behind the ship, a fair distance away now, he could see the place he'd been held for so long. It was a large island and seeing it brought a huge grin to his face. He turned to look at the two women traveling with him, "Do either of you know the name of the island I was on?"

Lexiana shook her head causing her wavy red hair to bounce and sway in the sea breeze. Selena also shook her head but spoke up, "I don't know the name of the island, but I do know that it is the smaller of two islands east of the peninsula of Solvikia."

Thomas pulled out the map he had and checked it. Sadly, it did not cover the area he was in leaving him blind with no knowledge of where to go. After storing the map away he looked at Selena again since she seemed to be the captain of the ship, "So where are we headed, Captain?"

"We're heading south for now. We'll circle around the peninsula then head north for the port city of Snubanes." She turned to look at Thomas, "Where were you heading anyway? You just suddenly left Reykhoten without a word."

He gently stroked Snowlily's head while he looked over at Selena, "I didn't realize we were close enough for me to inform you of where I was going. Regardless, I'm looking for Master Hekrin's master. Hopefully, I can get him to teach me something I want to learn. After that... well, I'm not really sure. Explore, find materials, make interesting or amazing items. Definitely find some time to grow stronger."

Selena covered her mouth as she chuckled, "So what you're saying is after learning what you want to know you don't really have any plans?"

Thomas shrugged his shoulders then narrowed his eyes at Selena, "So, I know the 'how' of how you found me. Now explain the 'why'."

Selena froze for a moment. Thomas still didn't know her true identity. At most, he thought of her as a woman from a noble family, not the actual princess of the Reykhoten kingdom. She hesitated to tell him the full truth. She settled on telling him a partial truth as she knew that lying to him would only come back to haunt her, "My father instructed me to come to you and support you in any way that I can."

She didn't verbally explain why, but the way she was staring at the ring on his finger that suppressed his Unholy magic was enough of a clue for him. He remembered that Selena learned Unholy magic in her family and that it was their heritage. Something he never judged them for. So it made a certain amount of sense to him that her father might want to try to recruit him and was sending Selena to be a honey trap. He definitely didn't mind that at all. Selena was completely inside of his strike zone and he had no complaints about spending more time with her. He could probably even get her to easily teach him more about Unholy magic. She might even have a clue about where he could learn some Holy magic as well. If he could learn some healing spells he would become far more difficult to beat in a fight.

Thomas sighed before waving his hand randomly, "Fine. I'm heading to a city in the mountains called Kafla."

Selena thought for a minute and then smiled, "I think I remember where that is. That's the dwarven city inside of Solvikia right? Considering the rampant racism within Solvikia it's quite the oddity." She glanced at Lexiana and frowned slightly, "We should consider a disguise for you Lexi. If a noble spots you, they might demand you be thrown in jail or turned into a slave on the spot. Not all of them are the same but if we ran into a fanatic it would be very bad."

Lexiana's usually perky ears drooped when she realized they were going to Solvikia. She, and pretty much every non-human race, hated the country and wished to see it burn. Just being this close to the country was already dangerous for her. Actually setting foot on the soil would be extremely dangerous for her. Thomas might not be thrilled to have Lexiana following him around but there was a deal to be kept and though he didn't make it himself, he was always a man of his word. Or in this case, Snowlily's word. He thought for a bit before pulling some materials out of his inventory and setting them on the deck of the ship. He retrieved some purified Sunshine Gold, Origin Steel, and an unpurified Troll mana crystal.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The girls looked at him curiously so he explained, "I'll make something and see if we can't hide her features to attract less attention."

The girls watched curiously as Thomas used his Transmutation in plain sight to purify the mana crystal. Frankly, he didn't care if the two of them saw this. Selena was already after him and knew a big secret that could fuck him over worldwide so what was one more. As for Lexiana, he knew she would never cross him because it would alienate Snowlily. Besides, his plan was to find the biggest, deepest dungeon that he could and dive to the bottom. He needed strength now more than anything. Even if it meant spending weeks or months in a single dungeon to gain that power. He didn't intend to find Hekrin's Master until he was within the King realm.

Seeing the purplish mana crystal shrink in size and become clear shocked both women. Lexiana wasn't too familiar with the tiers of mana crystals. To her it was like he was wasting half of the crystal, a shocking thing indeed. To Selena, on the other hand, she knew what a clear mana crystal meant. Seeing the crystal become clear shocked her even more than knowing about his race. His race only really affected him but being able to produce such clear perfect mana crystals was something an entire country could benefit from. Now more than ever she had to do whatever it took to bring him to her side. Within reason.

Once he finished purifying the mana crystal, Thomas set it to the side and started to reform some of the Origin Steel. Thankfully items would resize to fit the wearer perfectly so he didn't need to call Lexiana over and measure her finger for the ring he was planning to make her. The Origin Steel flowed as he willed and became a simple finger ring sticking off of the rest of the steel by a needle-thin spur. After snapping it off he smoothed it out and examined the item for any flaws. Seeing none, he moved on and began to make a trench completely around the outer circumference of the ring that he could inlay the Sunshine Gold inside of.

His next step was to do just that. He thinned out some of the Sunshine Gold into a flat bar and molded it into the tench on the outer circumference of the ring. Once it was set he fused the two metals together to make sure the ring wouldn't fall apart due to vigorous use. From his inventory, he retrieved his mortar, pestle, and Alchemists Oil. The newly purified mana crystal was quickly ground to a fine powder and mixed with the oil. Metal Magic had become his go-to way of making engraving tools recently and he saw no reason to change that now. With the summoned tool in hand, he began to carefully engrave a pattern into the soft gold of the ring. His intent for the enchantment was simple, 'make the wearer appear human'.

The surface area he had to work with was pretty minimal so his usual circuitry pattern morphed into a jagged line that circled completely around the outer layer of the ring. He really liked engraving the Sunshine Gold. Like regular gold, it was rather soft for a metal, making it easy for him to carve the enchantment into it. As he connected the enchantment to finish the ring, it flashed with a golden light surprising both Lexiana and Selena. Both knew that the light meant that the ring had reached at least the Rare level. It seemed impossible to them that something Thomas seemingly casually made could reach such a level.

System Notice: You have created a Rare rarity Ring of Disguise. Quality: Excellent. You have gained 1,127 Magitech Engineering experience. You have gained 1,127 experience.

Item Type: Ring of Disguise Rarity: Rare Quality: Excellent Description: When worn this ring allows the wearer to change their appearance. The changes are only visual, an illusion. Touching a changed portion can reveal the flaws in the illusion.

+When activated the wearer can change appearance at will

+When activated the wearer's Magic attribute is decreased by 50.

After reading over the description for the ring, Thomas slipped it on his thumb to give it a try and make sure it did what he wanted. As soon as the ring adjusted to fit him he received a notice.

System Notice: Picture how you wish to look and will the ring to activate to enable the illusion.

He tilted his head to the side as he read the notice. This was the first time he'd gotten a system notice when wearing or using an item. Maybe because the ring was a special function? He didn't know or really care. He was merely a bit curious. He decided to follow the instructions by closing his eyes and picturing himself as a woman. Why? It was a big change and would help him judge the effect of the ring. When he willed the ring to activate with the image in his mind, he didn't feel any physical changes but his mana dropped by a large amount and stayed down. He was now blocked off from fifty points in his Magic attribute.

At the same time, he heard gasps from both women. When he opened his eyes he looked down at himself and didn't see anything different. As always, as the user of the item, he was immune to its effects. He couldn't see the illusion covering his body but the two women clearly could. He looked between both of them and smiled, "So, how do I look?"

Lexiana stared at him while absentmindedly saying, "Beautiful." beneath her breath. Thomas still managed to hear her though. Selena, on the other hand, just snickered and said, "I didn't know you had such preferences."

Thomas just rolled his eyes and plucked the ring off of his finger ending the illusion immediately and returning his Magic attribute to himself. Though the mana lost from the drop in the attribute was still gone. He'd have to keep that in mind when he made similar items in the future. He held the ring up while looking at Lexiana, "Take this and wear it. Just focus on an image and it will create an illusion to hide your identity. Just remember, it's only an illusion. Your tail and ears will still be there."

Lexiana looked flabbergasted and pointed at her own face, "You're giving it to me?"

Thomas rolled his eyes and continued to hold the ring out to her, "Snowlily made a promise and I intend to keep it. You can't travel with us if you're in jail, a slave, or dead. So take the damned ring and make yourself look human so we don't have any issues."

Lexiana nodded dumbly and walked over to collect the ring from Thomas. A few moments after she wore it her tail and ears disappeared while her eyes changed from golden to hazel. She instantly changed from a beautiful beastwoman to a normal human woman, at least in looks. She reached behind herself and patted her now invisible tail. Seeing that, Thomas couldn't help but wonder if the ring could be used to make an entire body invisible. He really wanted to know so he spoke up, "Lexiana, see if you can make your whole body invisible."

She looked confused for a moment until realization dawned on her. She focused for a moment to change the image of the illusion. Her tail and ears reappeared but nothing else happened. Eventually, she opened her eyes and shook her head, "It won't work."

She returned to looking like a human while Thomas sighed. Well, it was a Ring of Disguise not a Ring of Invisibility. He looked at the supplies still sitting in front of him and wondered if he could make a functioning Ring of Invisibility with them. Well, they were on a ship without a whole lot to do...