It seemed like Jim took my advice to heart, because instead of doing anything rash he simply went about his work as usual for the next few weeks. I was stored a couple more times in the Ferrymen dock house, but the only conversations I overheard were mundane. I was able to make note of a few more midnight transactions, which seemed to happen on a regular basis every eight days. The people conducting them were usually pretty quiet, but they did say enough to confirm that they were smuggling illegal goods. Mostly stolen jewelry and the like, but a couple of the packages they bought and sold were mysteries to even the people moving them.

Once we had that schedule figured out I convinced Jim to stop storing me at the warehouse for the night. It was somewhat limiting having eyes on me at all times, and while I could rest, I wanted to have at least some portion of the day available for me to do what I wanted to do. It also meant that when we were done taking customers around town we would simply head home right away instead of having to detour halfway across town.

I was getting a steady stream of experience, as was Jim, but neither of us was spending it at the moment. We still didn’t have a plan for how we were going to steal from the smugglers, and after discussing it had decided to bank up our experience until it was needed. Heists on Earth needed experts in their field to accomplish difficult tasks, and that was likely true here as well. The difference was that in this world people could become experts either by spending years of their lives studying and training, or by investing experience into the Skills needed to complete a task. Most people had likely already invested their experience into a set of skills, making it difficult for them to pivot to a new role easily, but both Jim and I were new to the System. Our rate of earning experience was faster than it would be for people who had been doing the same thing for years, and every point we got was stockpiled. It was tempting at times to spend even a portion of it, but between the two of us we managed to keep each other accountable. It helped knowing that we would be spending it soon, and even without gaining levels or Skills we were still learning new skills and improving our capabilities.

My colony of barnacles had continued to grow, and making sure that their growth was orderly took up a good amount of my attention. Since I was able to use Mana Infusion from the very beginning of their life on my hull, I had a much larger degree of freedom in how I helped shape their growth, and the lumpy conjoined shell of my initial attempt slowly evolved into something that looked and operated much like scale armor. It did cause my weight to steadily increase, but I figured it was worth it due to the amount of protection that it gave me and the fact that it didn’t affect my performance at all. It wasn’t necessary yet, but Jim had shared that there were Skills available that could improve a boat’s capabilities, which provided an emergency tool if needed and gave me the confidence to keep on experimenting.

Jim’s own growth was more focused on his social skills. Growing up in a small town meant that he hadn’t had the practical experience needed to socialize with strangers, and it made for a bumpy few days of trying to attract business. Every time something went wrong Jim learned from it, and with three or four candid observations from myself he was soon capable of small talking with the best of them, providing a positive social ambience that helped keep our passengers entertained while we carried them to their destinations. He still had a preference for being quiet when he could get away with it, and it came as a surprise one day when I could hear him talking to someone else even as he approached me.

“My boat’s right over here. It’s a relatively new vessel, about eight feet long, and is painted bright orange and green. I didn’t choose those colors, but apparently they let people know that this is a Ferrymen boat. Probably because no one else would use those colors together.” Jim explained to his companion.

“There’s the edge of the dock here, so you’ll want to sit down and take it slowly while you get in. Let me hop down first, and I can make sure the boat stays steady for you.” He continued while putting action to his words. It didn’t take long for him to get this newest passenger settled, and once they were comfortable they spoke up.

“Thank you.” She said, surprising me a little with how youthful her voice sounded. Most of our passengers tended to be on the older side, with both the money needed to pay for our service and the inclination to not walk all the way home by themselves.

“It’s nothing.” Jim said bashfully, and I carefully made note of it. It seemed as if Jim might have a personal interest in this lady, and while I wasn’t about to make a big deal about it, I felt that it was my right as his friend to tease him a little about any romance he might encounter.

“It’s not.” She countered. “This is the first time I’ve been on a boat, thanks to my condition. You’ve been nothing but honorable and trustworthy to me, and that means a lot.”

“It shouldn’t be anything, then.” Jim fired right back. “Just because you can’t see doesn’t make you any less a person deserving of respect.”

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“You really mean that, don’t you?” She asked curiously.

“Mom and Dad raised me right, I guess.” Was Jim's somewhat flustered answer. I was definitely going to tease him about this later, but for now I was content to simply listen in. “Now where exactly do you live again? Can’t exactly take you home if I don’t know where I’m going.”

“It’s a little room over by the General Fountain. I’m pretty sure that there was a section of the square accessible by canal, even though I haven’t used it before.”

“There is.” Jim confidently told her. “I haven’t been there before, but the bastards from the Ferrymen made sure I knew how to get anywhere in the city, and I do mean anywhere.”

"I thought you would have had a better opinion of the Ferrymen, being as you are one and all.” The woman observed.

“Nah. This is just a job and a uniform. I need the money and the work, but it won’t stop me from saying that they’re a bunch of greedy bastards.” Was Jim’s fiery answer.

The woman laughed a little at that, a light tinkling noise “I happen to agree with you on that point, so you don’t have to worry about me telling tales or whatnot.”

“Oh? What’s your story then?” Jim asked. The woman was silent for a bit. She drummed her fingers against my hull before she finally spoke.

“Let’s just say that they couldn’t believe that a blind person could be anything but a beggar.”

“What!” Jim was shocked. “But I’ve seen you work! You do your needlework right there on your mat. It makes for quite the show, and I have no idea how they could have been so blind.” There’s a pause, as Jim processes what he just said. “Oh, sorry…”

“No need to apologize, Jim. I’m blind, not a harpy. And that wasn’t a recent event, but was back when I was first getting started and didn’t have the same level of proficiency with my sewing needles. It’s a large part of why I try to make such a spectacle out of my work nowadays.” The woman’s tone is kind, but their conversation still comes to an uncomfortable silence as the pair struggle to find another topic of conversation. I focus on getting us to our destination, glad that I wasn’t an active participant in the awkwardness. Jim might have been the one required to memorize the layout of the entire city, but I’ve picked up a fair share of locations myself, and while Jim’s hands are resting on the oars I only need minimal input from him to guide us slowly towards the General Fountain.

Eventually the woman takes pity on Jim, and speaks up again. “I expected a boat ride to be somewhat rougher, especially on a craft this tiny.”

Jim leaps on the conversation change, grateful for something to talk about. “The canals are pretty still if you’re not right next to the ocean entrances, but there are a couple of skills involved as well. Water Resistance and Stability are the main ones.”

“Water Resistance? Isn’t that what slows the boat down?” She asked, confused.

Jim was quick to explain. “”It is, and that’s resistance caused by the water. This skill is resistance to the water, which mostly does the opposite.”

“I see.” She answered dryly. It took Jim a second to get her joke, and then he spluttered a bit before regaining his composure.

Her self-deprecating joke removed the last of Jim’s embarrassment, and they moved on to small talk to fill the air. It was only a few minutes later that we pulled up next to the General Fountain square, and Jim carefully helped her out with the same care he had shown previously.

“I’ll talk to you later, Jim.” She said goodbye, before slowly walking away.

“Bye Stella!” Jim called back. The boat rocked a bit as he started to wave, only to abort the motion halfway through.

To keep himself busy, Jim grabbed my oars and began to row away, but I wasn’t willing to let him off so easily.

“Stella?” I asked. “Is she cute?”

“Shut it.” He grumbled back. “I’m going to get enough of that from Mom, I don’t need it from you as well. I just thought she was interesting, and she’s really capable of some impressive things with her needles. She does stitchwork, crochet, and some other things I don’t have the name for as well.”

“Sounds interesting. But it doesn’t explain why you were so willing to give her a lift home.”

“It was for you.” Jim protested. “I know you miss being able to see, and while Stella is blind, she has a couple of Skills that let her get around despite that. I don’t know what they are exactly, just that she has them, and I thought you might be able to learn them as well.”

I didn’t have a satisfactory answer to that. It was touching that Jim was thinking of me, and was looking out for ways to help me. I didn’t know yet if I was comfortable with letting the truth of my existence being shared with other people, but Jim hadn’t done that. He was simply getting to know someone who could help me, and it was even possible that simply giving her a ride home would give me enough interaction with her to start learning those skills.

“Thank you.” I finally managed to tap out. “She seems like a nice person.”

“She is.” Jim agreed. “Despite everything life dumped on her she’s still cheerful and friendly.”

“Not a bad person to have a crush on, then.”

“Hey!” Jim protested, and I let the topic drop as we rowed off into the evening.