Nirou had been on a boat before, but the sensation was completely different from right now. Without an engine to propel it, this boat was at the mercy of the wind and current. And you could tell as much just by the swaying of it while you stood still. Nirou wasn't keen to continue wobbling in an attempt to stay standing, so he made his way to the nearest chair and took a seat. Laska sat next to him, though she wasn't desperate in the same way that he was. She seemed plenty accustomed to this mode of travel, with no balance issues whatsoever. Nirou realized as he thought this that she did in fact have a blessing for that, but chose to believe she was used to riding boats anyway.

"Go ahead and take something out of the icebox if you get thirsty." Hamid pointed towards the wooden box on the floor with her thumb. "Except the booze, that's mine. You can't have any."

"Icebox?" Nirou was so surprised to hear the term that he got right back up and stumbled over to the wooden container, kneeling down to open it up. Sure enough, the inside of the box was filled with ice as well as gourds and flasks presumably full of beverages sticking out. He hesitantly poked one of the gourds, and it was the coldest thing he had touched since arriving in this world. "But how is this possible? This wooden box can't be enough to insulate effectively. Where did you get this ice here in the tropics, anyway? Is this the work of some artifact?"

Nirou had suddenly become more inquisitive than usual. Not that he wasn't always curious about these things, but this time he had the urge to ask all about it himself. When he considered why this could be, he couldn't escape the notion that it may be just because this could be related to food.

"Nah, it's all me." the woman replied, before exhaling a mist of ice crystals. "Since I'm doing all the legwork, I get to keep the good stuff."

So she used a blessing to refrigerate her drinks. Nirou wondered just how much of his world's modern technology could be simulated by such means. And did the practice encourage or stifle development? Maybe people were less focused on inventing when they can just make due with gifts. Laska had crept up beside him to listen and observe the icebox herself. She hadn't brought it up this time, but she was just as interested. Given her example, Nirou decided any stifling that happened couldn't be too bad.

"Blessings and artifacts that allow one to make ice as they please are fairly rare, as far as I know." Laska chimes in. "An artifact that makes ice is quite the luxury, and will sell for an exorbitant amount. Quite unlike the boiling stones used in the bathhouse. You remember those, surely? They are two star artifacts, common enough to be collected and used as part of a service. As for the blessing behind this icebox, I'm going to guess that it is four stars. Based on some assumed limitations, I admit."

"Damn good guess." Hamid snickers. "You're right. Sounds like you'll fit right in with our own little miss bookworm."

"The subject of gift logistics is highly overlooked." Kishaldam enters the conversation, nearly unable to conceal her eagerness. "My father was tasked with keeping such records in the Anjdrahm royal archive, and I've poured over them extensively. While we naturally can't have access to all information on it considering gifts that go unreported, I'm quite confident in my ability to assess rarity based on the knowledge that was collected."

Nirou has closed the icebox by now, well aware that the subject has shifted. His companion has made for a seat on the bench next to Kishaldam to make talking easier, and he goes ahead and follows her. Where else was he going to sit, by himself?

"I've heard tell that Dragunasia also keeps such records internally, though the chance I could ever read them is slight." Laska replies, taking to the topic like a fish to water. Indeed, these two were already getting along swimmingly. "I'm quite envious of your access to that much knowledge."

"Were it anyone else, the access would be wasted. But fortune saw me receive Perfect Memory, a four star blessing. I remember every single rune in each of those tomes."

"Man, she must really like you." Ajandi notes loudly from his side of the room. "She's known you for five minutes and she's already giving away her blessings!"

Kishaldam is visibly embarrassed at hearing this, her face flushing red. Nirou can't think of anything he seems to have in common with this girl, but somehow... he gets it. He could imagine also getting overly enthusiastic with someone if they liked to talk about the same things. Could probably be chalked up to his lack of friends.

"I have every hope that you will all be willing to share them with me in time." Laska goes on. "I could always get a bit of your blood to use for Analyze, but that goes against the spirit of cooperation that I would rather foster."

"You have Analyze as well?" Kishaldam throws aside her embarrassment at so easily sharing one of her blessings to immediately do it again. "It's the first time I've met someone in person who I know to share the blessing. It seems even fate would have us be friends."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Wait... isn't Analyze only two stars?" Nirou wonders aloud, recalling what he had been told. "It's not that rare, is it?"

"Even a two star blessing is not so easily repeated that you would stumble upon another without taking measures." the woman in red explains, once again relishing the opportunity to flaunt her knowledge. "Using a statistical framework provided by the kingdom's records, there are rough assumptions that can be made regarding the chances of meeting someone who has received the same gift as you from tribute. At one star, you can expect to have shared the result of your tribute with many people in just a single large city like Rajandra. Moving up to two stars alone is a significant jump in rarity. You may only get the same number within all of Anjdrahm. For three stars, the same could be said of all the continent. At four stars, you would have to scour the continent to find even one who shares your gift. Once you reach five stars, the chances of you being the only living recipient of your gift are near certain. As for six stars, your search for a shared gift will have to be done in a thousand years of records. I shouldn't have to mention seven stars. At that level, your gift is yours and yours alone."

"There truly isn't a thing our Kishaldam doesn't know, is there?" Rashen laughs as he praises his subordinate. "Just what would we do without you?"

"You would do something foolish and get your team killed, I'm sure." she replies, her expression instantly as deadpan as it had been when Nirou entered. "You would be hopeless without me, Captain."

"Not one of them. Not a single one of my subordinates respects me." Rashen holds his head in his hand. "I'm a Captain. It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"I respect you, Captain!" Ajandi shouts, sticking his hand up for visibility. "You're the strongest one on our team! It's always cool to watch you beat people up!"

"Respecting me means doing what I say, which I don't find you doing a lot." the beleaguered captain sighs. "It's not just beating people up. People don't love the General just because he beats people up."

"We have had this boring conversation a million times." Hamid groans, her head hanging back to face the ceiling. "Shut up and talk about something else before I slip into a coma."

Nirou was honestly a bit unnerved. If this was the usual level of comradery among the team, then there might be some serious problems down the line. Several quiet seconds passed without anyone breaching a new topic, so he took it upon himself to suggest something that would actually be helpful for him to know.

"So uh, Captain." he nervously broke the silence. "Could you tell us some more specifics about this mission we're on? We've only gotten a vague outline so far from the General."

"Ah, right. I should fill you guys in, true." Rashen admits. "So for the last few weeks, the reports were of a Tiger Beastman sighted on the island of Layamadi. The weird thing was that it hadn't caused any known casualties. It would just appear in front of people and make some threatening noises."

"The working theory is that it was trying to intimidate them and keep them away from someplace in particular." Kishaldam adds. "Perhaps an entire unit of covert Beastmen on the island. Naturally if such a thing truly existed, it would be a monumental threat. That's the reason we were initially set to investigate."

"Covert Beastmen?" Nirou pondered the notion aloud. The way they were talking made it seem like they were supposed to be spies or something. Not really fitting in with what else he had heard about them. "How does that work?"

"Every few years, the Beastmen will invade in force." Kishaldam begins to explain. "Obviously those invasions are a huge cause for concern. But more insidiously, the Beastmen will also send members of their own one or two at a time to slip through our defenses. They lay low in the wilderness, picking off any humans they manage to get their claws on. As if they are dead set on not allowing us a single moment to feel truly safe."

At this point, it was obvious to Nirou that they couldn't be talking about wild beasts. This was guerilla tactics they were describing. They had to be intelligent.

"Anyway, the situation got more urgent with a report we got a few days ago." the Captain continues. "At least two more Beastmen have been seen in the area, and these ones are more like normal. They've killed nearly ten people in less than a week. Because of the other one being less hostile than usual, this mission was lower priority. Not anymore. We need to find the Beastmen, and kill them as soon as possible to prevent more deaths."

So this truly was a serious matter. People's lives were counting on this team being able to work together to take out a threat. A glance about the four left Nirou with some lingering concerns, but he tried to put them out of his mind. The General wouldn't put his faith in a group he couldn't depend on. Even if it didn't seem like it now, Nirou was pretty sure they were going to show their true colors in battle and put all his worries to rest.

However, there was another factor here. He and Laska would be present this time. Even if he believed that the Four Winds would have no trouble taking out Beastmen as a team, was he also confident that they could account for his and Laska's safety on top of that? It's true enough that Nirou had no intention of getting close enough to any fight for that to be a concern. But Laska might. In fact, he was almost sure that she would. How could he get her to back down, at least this time? Nirou wracked his brain trying to come up with a line that would convince her to play things safe this time around. At least until they had a better idea of how they can work with this group.

"So we'll definitely be killing some Beastmen. Sounds like fun." Hamid grinned, grabbing a flask from her icebox. "It's been a dry spell for us since the last invasion."

"Don't get too cocky, now." Rashen warns his subordinate with a wag of his finger. "We don't know the types, or for sure how many of them there are. I want you all in top shape and ready to handle anything. So for the rest of the journey there, make sure you're fully rested!"

"Yes, sir!" his three subordinates said in unison, almost mockingly. It seems this was one order that they had absolutely no qualms about taking.