I appear within the white world again with both the Imminent Huntress and the Timbergrove floating above. Both ships are just as I’ve left them with no discernible changes as of yet.

The Imminent Huntress should disappear once the cannons are moved to the Timbergrove and the ship is sold.

“Wait a second.”

Doesn't the Seden’s Orbit have cannons? It does, doesn’t it. Bigger ones too… and a Ballista!

During my musings, a portal opens and a screaming Goddess crashes onto the white floor of this realm. The crash was rather violent and quite hard. A mortal would probably be dead, but Yazula is no mortal. Though…

“Why are you crying?” I ask.

She sniffs. “Because Yazula wanted to gloat and Yazula did not get the chance to. Yazula feels betrayed.”

“Right… well, since you’re here. I’m guessing I leveled to twenty, correct?”

“Negative. You have leveled to seven.” I hear a voice behind me.

When I turn, I’m met with the red floating eyeball, also known as Administrator #81.

“Oh, Red, you’re here too?” I ask. “I thought you only show up when I sleep on my ship.”

“My presence is permitted when skills are to be provided or titles obtained,” Red explains.

“Really? Nice! What did I get?”

Title Name

Underdog Boarder

Title Rank

Rare

Title Effect

[Captain’s Authority] stat decay is slowed when boarding enemy vessels.

“Huh.” I rub my chin. “So the [Captain’s Authority] skill decays when I’m away from my ship? I wonder how fast the decay is. I’ll have to ask Myers later.”

I glance back at the eyeball. “Are there any other changes?”

“Negative.”

“Then I’m done with you.”

At my words, the red eyeball disappears. When it does, I turn back around.

“Are you just going to lay there and mope?”

“Yazula is not done moping.”

I sigh. “Fine.” I kneel down next to the goddess. “Did you want to tell me why you are moping? I think you mentioned something about wanting to gloat.”

“Yes, Yazula was about to gloat about how amazing Yazula is compared to big spiky man, but Yazula was unfairly sucked here before she could.”

“Uh huh. What exactly did you do that would let you gloat?”

She puffs up her diminutive chest while lying down. “Mean spiky man said Yazula’s champion is lucky and that Yazula’s champion will never beat spiky man's champion in level. But then Yazula’s champion gained two levels and now Yazula’s champion is higher level.”

The fuck?

“Wait, this spiky man is a god, and the god knows my level? Is my level public to all the gods?”

She nods and then points above her head. “Yazula was at a party where champion levels floated on everyone's head.”

“Oh? So you know the levels of the other gods? What's the highest level? What about second and third highest? Do you know the average level? Do you know how many champions there are?”

At my eagerness, she sits up with a grin. “Yazula is second place and spiky man is third. Yazula is superior,” she exclaims haughty.

Second place? That sounds pretty good. Then again, I gained a lot of levels from the leviathan.

“What about the highest level? What about average? How many champions are there?”

She takes a moment to think. “Twenty four is the highest. Yazula thinks the average is ten. Big squishy man says there are eighty-two champions.”

Twenty four is a hell of an outlier. They must have seen a lot of constant action. As for an average of ten, that’s pretty decent considering the levels of my companions. Speaking of companions, I wonder how much Boriss leveled. It must have been several times after all the killings.

“That's good to know. Did you learn anything else?”

“Yazula made a friend with a mouse girl. Mouse girl is very cute and squeaks when Yazula pets her.”

“Right… How about something more concrete? Like, what species are the other champions?”

She shakes her head. “Yazula only knows that Yazula is the only goddess with a human champion.”

That's actually useful. If they are human, then they’re not a champion.

“I’ll need you to keep track of the number of champions and what levels they have every time they meet.”

Yazula hops up and then offers a salute. “Yazula understands. Yazula will even write it down for you.”

“Good.” I nod. “Now, I think you have some skills to offer me, right?”

She blinks in surprise, and then grins. With a flourish of her hand, a jar forms above her palm. “Yazula is prepared!” Her hand digs into the jar and produces three pieces of paper.

Class skills have been chosen by entity Yazula. Initializing Selection.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Please choose one of the following skills.

Soul Expansion

Mental Clarity

Peak Transformation

Soul Expansion

Increase max soul quantity by 100%

Mental Sovereignty

Immune to personality traits of transformation ability.

Peak Transformation

All transformation will be based on the strongest and healthiest of the species at current age.

Reading through my options, I can't help but note that [Soul Expansion] shows up again. The skill will most likely be useful once I learn how to transform into other things or gain other transformations, but the wording is still percent based- which infers an alternative way to increase my number of transformations.

[Mental Sovereignty] on the other hand is something more along the lines of a nice to have. Sure, my cat form makes me cockier and more aggressive, and that may cause problems in the future. But, I don’t think it is worth an entire skill. So long as I’m cognizant of my shift in personality, then I can deal with it.

Finally, [Peak Transformation] is arguably the most interesting. From the description, it seems it would allow my transformations to become the most elite versions of the species. In the animal kingdom, this can be pretty significant. For example, two lions of the same species can be exponentially different in physical and mental capabilities. Hell, even snakes differ in the concentration of their poisons from one-another.

The only problem is that I have two transformations that could benefit from the skill. My cat form isn’t going to necessarily get stronger, and my other transformation is far too expensive anyway. Also, Fenrimorph is my base form, so it is unlikely to benefit from any changes.

“These choices aren't very good.”

I can easily rule out [Mental Sovereignty]. I can deal with the problem outside of a skill. As for the other two, it is a toss-up between them. On one hand, I gain additional transformations immediately, on the other, all of my transformations will be at peak capability.

Regardless of my choice, neither can really benefit me in the short-term. Maybe [Soul Expansion] if I learn how to transform quickly, but it’s not like those transformations will likely be stronger than a Fenrimorph. My shift ability requires mana, and that cost seems delegated to size. Anything too big and I may not be able to transform into it anyway.

“Let's just go with [Peak Transformation].”

Skill selection [Peak Transformation] accepted. Adding skill to Entity Quasi Eludo.

Skill addition successful.

All Champion responsibilities completed. Removing entity Yazula.

I hear Yazula scream as a portal sucks her into the ground.

Then another portal opens. Green floats through.

“Entity Quasi Eludo, you have 2 attributes to spend. Do you wish to spend them?”

“Put them both into Strength,” I command.

_____________________________________________________________

“What do you mean you can't find the cat?” Richard asks. “My castle isn’t that big and there is only one entrance. He must be somewhere here!”

“S-sir, we’ve checked nearly every room. There is no cat anywhere here.” The [Guard] sputters under the intense gaze of the [Lord].

“Then check everywhere again! I need to talk to that damn cat as soon as possible. If you find him, send him to my office.”

The [Lord] of Breston storms off and rushes down the hall. He makes his way towards the nobility wing of the castle, but just stops as he passes his sister's room.

He opens her door and storms in. “Janice, good news. You know those armor and weapons I ordered? Well, I was notified that they are…” He freezes at the sight of his sisters happily petting a purring fluffy kitten on her desk. The same damn kitten he’d been looking for for the past three hours.

“What did I tell you about knocking?” Janice pouts.

“What are you doing?” He ignores her question.

The cat opens its eyes and stares intently at him.

“I’m petting a cat, what do you think it looks like?” She rolls her eyes.

“That’s not a normal cat. That's a dangerous [Captain] who killed Calvaron!”

Janice glances down at the soft and fluffy cat. Oddly enough, the cat seems healthier and even fluffier. Softer too.

“Meow.” The cat tilts its head cutely.

She smiles and continues petting.

“Richard, are you so jealous of my affection towards a kitten that you have to make up such crazy lies?”

“It's not a lie! I’ve been looking for that cat for several hours. And I don’t need your affection.”

She giggles. “Oh?So you just want to pet this little guy's soft fur.”

“I DO NOT!” Richard whines. “That cat is dangerous.”

Janice lifts up the cat to her face. “Are you a dangerous little boy?” she asks sweetley.

“Meow,” The cat exclaims cutely.

She turns the cat around. “Are you seriously telling me this little guy is dangerous?”

With the cat's back turned to Janice, a cocky grin rises on the felines face.

“It's mocking me!” Richard yells.

“Brother! It’s a cat. Grow the fuck up.”

“But.”

“OUT!” she yells. “And don’t come back until you want to be honest with me.”

“Janice.”

Her leg moves and Richard hops out of the room.

“And close the door.”

“But.”

“CLOSE THE DOOR!” She orders.

Richard’s face is bright red as he stares at Janice petting and holding the grinning cat passionately.

“Fine. If you die, it’s not my fault.” He closes the door.

Seconds pass for long moments. Then she leans back happily. “That felt good.”

The cat yawns. “Agreed. Thanks for playing along.”

Janice giggles while continuing to stroke the cat. “Oh, absolutely. Richard always gets on my nerves. Revenge feels so good.”

Her hand brushes along the cat's fluffy coat.

“By the way, is it me or did you get fluffier?”

“New skill.”

“Oh. When he said you killed Calvaron, was that true?”

The cat nods. “Yup, and leveled for it. Hence the coat. By the way, you mentioned he’s your brother? Why does it seem like you run Breston and not him?”

“How do you figure that?”

The cat points at the stacks of papers on the table. “From a quick skim, those documents seem like things a [Lord] should be taking care of.”

She snorts. “Breston would fall apart if that idiot took charge. He’s a capable and charismatic fighter- and that's about it.”

“Sounds like you should take charge.”

She quickly shakes her head. “No. Absolutely not. [Pirates] respect strength above strong administration. One of the reasons Breston is wealthy is because the unsavory types aren't willing to stand up against him.”

“Makes sense.”

Someone knocks at the door. Janice shifts her foot and deactivates the runes. “Come in.”

The door opens and two [Maids] enter with trays of food. They place the trays on the desk and walk away.

“Is that… is that milk?” The cat leans towards one of the trays.

“Yes. I ordered it while you were asleep. I hope it suits you.”

The cat walks to the tray and sniffs. Then smiles. It looks back at her.

“Janice, I am [Captain] Quasi Eludo of Timbergrove and you have gained my utmost respect.”