The next morning, I found Sallia and Felix, and discussed what I had learned about keyword abilities and glut penalty. When I mentioned the ability to take magic systems from world to world, Sallia’s eyes lit up for a moment, before they dimmed.
I had gained the right to purchase a keyword ability by fighting the glowing fish and successfully fending it off for several hours, saving my boat in the process and overturning a deadly situation. For Sallia to do a similarly amazing feat with only three runes would be incredibly hard. Which was something she was well aware of, and something that made it all the more frustrating for her.
The three of us knew that Sallia would become incredibly powerful in future worlds with an absorption essence Ability. Since her major talent was in absorption essence, she might become the strongest member of our trio until Felix and I found our own essence. But earning a keyword ability would be incredibly hard for Sallia in this world, and it was hard to guess when we would stumble upon another world with absorption-essence magic.
I frowned, trying to think of a way to fix this situation, but I couldn’t think of an easy way for Sallia to achieve a similar feat. All the ideas I thought of were half-suicidal, and didn’t have a high chance of succeeding. I shook my head, before sighing. I would try to find a way to help Sallia get a useful keyword ability - but I wasn’t optimistic right now.
After I explained what I had learned, the three of us departed from the area.
However, Felix followed me, instead of going towards his teacher. As Sallia disappeared from view, I stopped, and turned towards Felix. He must have had a reason for following me, after all.
“Do you think fighting a landbeast and winning with only 3 runes would be impressive enough for Sallia to get a keyword Achievement?” asked Felix.
Huh? I tried to think, before I realized what Felix was aiming for. “I think she already got an achievement for fighting a land beast - at the very least, she should have gotten an Assist for one. During the fight with the outsiders, one of the land beasts came up and nearly killed me. Sallia helped hold it off and injured it, until one of the village chiefs from a different island helped us finish it off. I got an assist for the fight, and I only distracted it for a few moments, while Sallia actually did some damage to it. The village chief knocked it into the ocean, where it died. Since she didn’t get a keyword ability from the fight, it clearly wasn’t enough.”
Felix frowned, thinking. “Hmm… maybe the problem is that she got an assist, instead of a kill? After all, when you kept the glowing fish off of your fishing boat, you did it almost entirely by yourself. But during the fight with the outsiders, the other village chief did most of the work.”
I thought about it for a moment, before I nodded. “I don’t know if that’s the only factor that’s different, but your idea seems plausible. Where are you going with this?”
“If Sallia managed to get the biggest contribution in a fight against a landbeast, wouldn’t that get her lots of Achievement and a good keyword Ability? It would be insanely risky, but if we can figure out a way to do it…”
I thought for a moment, before nodding. “I do think it would work, if Sallia could somehow win. The problem is, I can’t think of a way to make that happen without getting Sallia killed long before the fight was over.”
Felix nodded thoughtfully. “I was originally thinking we could go to the other side of the island, and then maybe try to lure a land beast over. If Sallia can just hold it off, maybe with some help from us, it’ll eventually kill itself by diving into the ocean. There might be a way to make it work…”
I frowned, trying to think of a way to make Felix’s idea work. The problem was that Sallia just wasn’t strong enough to survive against a land beast for several minutes. She could probably hold on for a bit with her incredible fighting abilities, but she needed to spend huge amounts of mana to keep up with a stronger opponent, and once she ran out, she would die. Some land beasts could take up to an hour before succumbing to the call of the ocean, and there was no way Sallia could last that long.
I just didn’t see a way to help Sallia do the majority of the work in a fight against a land beast. I shook my head.
“I like the idea, but I don’t know how to make Sallia survive the process. I don’t even know of a way to make the battle successful.”
Felix frowned as well, before nodding.
“I’ll keep an eye out. I still feel like there must be some way to make it happen, if we put together enough resources and plans… perhaps if Sallia prepares a bunch of traps in advance? Or… I don’t know. There must be something. Actually, the fact that I’m a year older helps a lot, doesn’t it? When Sallia does her second adulthood ceremony, I could ask my hunter group to take Sallia along, then help her drag a landbeast to a beach away from the village. That would at least ensure there were lots of other powerful fighters around if something goes wrong during the fight… but the problem still comes back to the fact that Sallia can’t win on her own.” Felix sighed in frustration. “I just feel like there must be a way to make it work. If Sallia gets this ability, she could turn all of her future lives around. Even in this world, with her cripplingly low Absorption Essence and Willpower, she can nearly keep up with both of us. If she just has an Ability and gets another chance for better Stats…” he sighed in frustration. I gently patted him on the shoulder.
“It’s not a bad idea, and your plan for improving her safety net is pretty good. We’re just missing a key piece of the puzzle, and that’s why it doesn’t seem like it’ll work out yet. But we might be able to come up with an idea in the next four years. That’s how long we have until Sallia turns sixteen and starts her second adulthood ceremony. We’ll keep an eye out for ways to make this work. I’m glad you’re at least thinking in this direction - we can come up with an idea in that time.”
Felix sighed, before he grinned.
“Let’s make it happen then. I don’t know how to boost Sallia enough to let her win a fight, but maybe we can come up with something,” said Felix. I also grinned at the thought.
“If we can get her that ability, maybe next world she’ll be carrying the two of us along on her crazy adventures instead of barely keeping up. It’ll be the story of Sallia and her two sidekicks, until we find our own essence abilities.” The two of us chuckled at the thought, before we continued on our way. It wasn’t a fleshed out idea yet - after all, we were missing the most important part of our idea right now. We still didn’t have a good way to help Sallia win against a land beast. However, it was a goal to work towards.
Once I finished speaking with Felix, I continued making my way towards the village. It took me a few minutes before I found the village chief, and then told him I was going to participate in the fight against the glowing fish.
He stared at me for nearly a minute after my statement.
“It is going to be dangerous, little Miria. Are you sure you wish to go? Nobody will blame you if you don’t participate, considering how young you are. You haven’t even passed your second adulthood ceremony yet,” he said, giving me a gentle look. “It’s going to be very dangerous, and plenty of the people who join the fight might not come back. The creature’s teleportation ability makes the fight far more dangerous than it normally would be. I’m sure your mother and father would be sad if you died during the fight. If you feel pressured to go just because you encountered the fish first, or just because your ability is a little useful, you don’t have to feel pressured. The adults of the village can win the fight, with or without you.”
“I’m sure I want to join, chief. The glowing fish hurt Claus, and if it doesn’t die, everyone will starve to death. I want to protect the village with my own hands. My ability will be really useful in the fight, right? I could keep a lot of people alive if we’re lucky and the fish doesn’t wisen up to my illusions. I don’t want a lot of people to die just because I was afraid of taking part in the fight.” The village chief gave me a solemn look, before falling into thought.
Finally, he sighed. And then, he nodded. “Very well. But make sure to take care of yourself and survive. I don’t want to see a young woman like you die in this fight. Leave the dying to us older folks, all right?” He gently smiled at me, although the edges of his smile were strained. I gave him a much more genuine smile back. Although I understood the village chief’s worry, and his hesitance at the thought of relying on a child to survive, I wanted to help win the fight. And I now had permission to join the hunt of the glowing fish.
* * *
The second day after the meeting, I went to report to my boat. There, I saw Edel, Olav, and my father, also waiting for our hunters to show up. A few minutes of waiting later, Claus came to join us, taking me by surprise. I hadn’t expected him to participate in the hunt at all, since he had just lost his leg. When he saw me and my father, he stopped for a moment, and gave both of us a smile.
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I smiled back at him. If he hadn’t reacted quickly enough and pulled me out of the way, I might have died during the first encounter with the glowing fish.
He laughed, and hopped over to us. He now used a bone spear as a crutch, but he was still mobile enough to get around. My father also smiled at the man.
“Thank you for saving my daughter, Claus.” My father’s eyes got a little watery, and Claus’s expression turned a little more awkward as my father nearly crushed his ribs.
“When Miria was young, I remember you saved me from a crisis once, Silas,” he said to my father. “Our boat got hit by a great fish, and the half I was sitting in broke off and I nearly fell into the ocean. If you hadn’t reacted in time, and used your wind ability to float me back to the boat, I might have gotten killed in the chaos. You broke your leg in the process. I’ve always wanted to pay you back for what you did for me,” he said, giving my father an awkward smile. “I’m glad I was able to repay my debt.”
My father hugged Claus even more tightly, and I wondered if his ribcage would be all right. Claus patted my father on the back a few times, and my father finally let go. My father didn’t say another word - his expression said enough. Olav gave me a gentle smile, before he continued making his way to the boat.
A few minutes later, three hunters came to our boat and greeted us.
“Nice to meet all of you. I am Brezin. Your boat has a total of four adult sailors, plus Miria, right?” he said, giving Olav a friendly not.
“Yep, we’ve got four adult sailors, and little Miria,” said Olav, giving Brezin a friendly handshake. “I’m thankful fer yer help in this fight. I want to kill that beast for takin’ Claus’s leg, and fer all o’ the people it’s killed from our village. Welcome aboard my boat,” he said.
Brezin nodded, returning Olav’s handshake and giving him a friendly grin. “It’s an honor to be aboard your boat, Olav. The work you and other fishermen put in to keeping our village fed is what allows hunters to do our jobs.” Then, he cleared his throat, giving us all a closer look. “All right, first thing’s first - we should go over abilities and boat capacity. Your boat has been assigned three hunters - can you handle that many, or do we need to figure out something else?”
Olav frowned, mulling it over for a moment. “I think we can handle three, but it might be a little tough weight-wise, especially if yer movin’ around on the boat and shiftin’ your weight durin’ the fight. It can change how we need to move the boat, after all.”
“Do you need to drop it to two hunters? If so, let me know so I can inform the village chief.”
“Let’s see how it goes in today’s trainin’, and we can adjust at the end of the day if it ain’t workin’ out.”
“That sounds reasonable to me. Now, what abilities do the sailors of your boat possess? Besides Miria, of course - I already know what ability she has.” Olav turned towards the adult sailors, before nodding.
“My first rune ability is to control blood. I can’t replenish what’s lost, but I can manipulate what’s there. It’s worth notin’ that most creature fight back against me manipulation’ their blood. My second ability allows me to deepen wounds that have already drawn blood in a creature - it’s a bit specific, but can be very lethal in the right circumstances. My third ability is to take a drop of my own blood and weaponize it, turning it into a kind of acid that corrodes blood, inflicts wounds, and deepens then. By using all three of my abilities together, I can turn one of my drops of blood into a very lethal weapon against weaker creatures. But based on my experiences, the glowing fish is too big for me to do lots of damage to it with my rune abilities, and it’s probably a bit too resilient as well.”
Brezin nodded, before turning to the other sailors.
My father spoke up next. “I can do wind manipulation, and my second ability rune boosts my first ability and reinforces it. I usually work to catch people if they fall off the boat.” Brezin nodded.
Claus spoke up next. “I can drastically enlarge and reinforce bone spears and change their flight path in mid-air. I may be missing a bit of mobility, now that… now that I only have one leg, but I can still help with the fight.” Brezin gave Claus a careful look, especially checking Claus’s stump, before he slowly nodded.
Edel spoke up last. “I can reinforce ropes and heal bones. A little mismatched, but I can do a lot of useful things during regular hunts.”
Brezin sank into thought, before he sighed.
“I think we can make this work. Miria, a few words the village chief asked me to deliver to you. You’ve already proven that your ability is very effective against the glowing fish. There aren’t any other villagers in our village or the other villages who have an illusion ability, and the glowing fish has shown that it can’t differentiate between real boats and illusory boats very well. The chieftain has an idea that he’d like you to expand on. Can you make a bunch of projectiles, or a couple large projectiles, in order to frighten the fish? A few of the chiefs are planning on using their abilities together to create a few big attacks during some parts of the battle - can you mimic those big attacks and make the fish dodge or frighten it away during the fight?”
“I can’t make a lot of smaller attacks, but I can copy a big attack if I practice it long enough. What would the attack look like?”
“It’ll look like a much bigger version of this - “ He said, and he gestured towards two of the other hunters.
One of them pulled a small waterskin out of his belt, before he poured it into midair. The water began hovering, before it began to condense into a bubble.
“Imagine this is the surface of the ocean,” said Brezin.
I saw a giant bubble of water begin to condense in midair. One of the other two hunters gestured, and sand and rocks from our surroundings began to fling themselves into the bubble of water. A few moments later, the bubble of water began to writhe and squirm like a volcano about to erupt.
The sand and rocks assembled themselves into a spear, before they hardened into stone. Finally, I saw the other hunter cut herself before adding a few drops of blood to the stone spear. It glistened with a vicious red gleam, before the bubble of water exploded.
The stone spearpoint was flung directly towards the ocean, where it whizzed into the distance.
“We don’t actually have any blood-related abilities among the three of us, but one of the village chiefs specializes in it, and our village chief said the stone spears will be cooperative efforts. So I expect some spears will have blood abilities tacked on, and some won’t. Can you copy that attack? And make sure to sometimes add a red color to the spear point, and sometimes keep it stone-colored?”
I frowned, looking at the spear point that Brezin and the two hunters had created, before I nodded.
“I can already create illusions of spear points. I can probably make an illusion of the full attack with enough practice, I think. It’ll look much cruder, but the glowing fish doesn’t seem too bright.”
Brezin grinned. I nodded.
“I’ll get working on it, then.”
Brezin grinned. “In that case, you’ll have a pretty hard job, Miria. You’ll need to be helping fly the boat during some parts of the fight, but you’ll also need to swap to rune abilities when I tell you to. I’ve heard you have a lot of fish cores, right? You might need to bring some along, so that you can replenish your mana during the fight. Can you do that?”
I nodded.
“Good,” said Brezin.
Olav nodded as well. “What about your other abilities?” he asked, turning to the hunters.
“We have water, sand, and stone control, as you’ve already seen. We also have the ability to convert sand into stone, and to make a stone spearpoint much sturdier. Finally, we can strengthen your mind, as long as you’re within ten or twenty meters of him,” Brezin said, pointing to the hunter who hadn’t been part of the spearpoint demonstration. “I brightened up at that thought.
“Including Intelligence?” I asked. My low Intelligence was one of the bigger weaknesses I struggled with on this world, and it especially hampered my illusion abilities. If one of the hunters could boost mental strength, it might be a game changer for me.
Brezin nodded. “His rune enhances the ability to think, as well as the speed you think and your ability to sense your body and the world around you. Sadly, he cannot boost your mental defenses against things like the Ocean, or his ability would be much stronger. Finally, we have a few useless abilities like wood manipulation. Wood manipulation is great in the forest, but on the ocean…“ Brezin shrugged. “Not so useful. Any attack that hits a boat will probably kill the crew instantly during this fight, after all.”
I nodded to myself. Brezin made it seem like the rune enhancing ability boosted Intelligence and Perception, but not Willpower. If that was the case, it would be surprisingly useful for my Illusion rune ability.
Olav also nodded while I was lost in my thoughts. “I think that’s it for introductions. Should we get started?”
The next several hours were an exhausting blur. The fishermen on the boat, including me, practiced using our abilities while keeping the boat steady and retaining our awareness of what everyone else was doing. We flew just a bit beyond the island, so that I had access to lots of water.
The hunters inside the fishing boat practiced throwing spears to hit targets made of sand, which the third hunter floated around the boat to simulate the movements of the glowing fish. As a result of their incredible strength, and the huge amount of mana they could blow on each attack, some throws would mess with the balance of the boat. However, the five of us were just able to compensate for the throws after an hour or two of practice.
Meanwhile, I also needed to try to actively use my ability to sneak in assistance during the fight. I would almost always be in charge of maintaining at least one ‘fake’ boat during the fight, and I needed to keep it near the ‘glowing fish’ at all times. When Brezin gave me additional orders, I needed to stop worrying about the boat and start creating illusory projectiles instead. It was incredibly difficult, although the boost to my mental Stats helped a lot. I estimated the boost to be equivalent to about a quarter of a grade. It wasn’t enough to make my Illusions reach a new level, but it was just barely enough for me to hold on while juggling illusions and controlling the boat.
The next five days followed a similar routine. The four hunters kept training in our boat, and gradually, we began to learn how to work as a team and better control our movements while coordinating with the hunters. Each session was exhausting and stressful, but the fishing crew’s coordination with the hunters grew better and better, and my illusions also grew better and better. I got used to working under the influence of the mental boost from the hunters My broken arm also finished healing up, thankfully.
Finally, after five days of training, we had reached a decent level of cooperation and coordination with the hunters. On the ninth day after the village meeting, the chief sent word to the participating hunters and fishing boats. Tomorrow, we would begin the hunt.