It took me nearly three entire hours to finally break away and take a moment to breathe.

First, of course, it was business – Give Greta the coin, then flee like a demon was at our heels.

I tried to slip away and hide during that, but other people on deck insisted on chatting with me, including a woman insisting I come visit her for tea if I was ever in the area, a marriage proposal, and an entire chest full of random stuff that they insisted I simply MUST take as thanks.

It got bad enough that Yushin, in the guise of a middle aged human woman, pretended to be my wife, just to get people to stop making moves on me. Also, she could use her enchanted storage to hold the stuff.

Once people were finally starting to calm down, I thought I might have a break, but instead, a sailor approached.

“First ma– Err, the new captain, sorry. She wants to meet you in the captain’s office – her office.”

Yushin and I exchanged a look, and the sailor spoke up again.

“Just you, mister Sinclair.”

Yushin and I spoke several rapid sentences in Hua-Long, her promising to act as backup in case the worst happened, and I nodded to the sailor.

The office was small, but elegant, with bookshelves covered in a good quality, almost perfectly clear glass, maps, and a large wooden desk in the center. Behind said desk was the new captain, who nodded for me to take a seat.

“Mister Sinclair,” she said. “Before we begin, I should thank you. You played that noble child like a harp, and likely saved many lives.”

“Not really,” I said. “She’ll still launch her invasion.”

“Under the rules of war, and that would have happened regardless. Now several hundred people get to flee as refugees, rather than stay as prisoners of the Dreki family.”

I shifted uncomfortably, and she nodded.

“So thank you. Now, that thanks is the entire reason we’re speaking now, and you’re not being tossed overboard.”

I blinked, caught off guard, and the captain gestured to a book on the table I hadn’t paid attention to.

“There is no Alastor Sinclair in the records. Not purchasing a ticket. Not checking in.”

I laughed, relieved that she was just upset about that, then waved my hand.

“No, no. Not what’s happening. I saw your grimoire, you must know a good bit about magic.”

“I know more than most. I’m a second circle mage,” the captain said, a hint of pride in her voice. “Ship affinity. That’s what got me into this business.”

“Alastor Sinclair is a false face. The first circle spell,” I explained. “My ticket was for Anders Velcer.”

I mentally checked my ether pool, and seeing I’d recovered enough, nodded.

“With your permission, I’ll end the spell early, then re-cast it before I leave.”

At her nod, I ended my false face. The illusion over my face, body, and clothes faded away, leaving me as Emrys again.

Or, I supposed, Anders.

“Thousand hells, you’re young,” the captain said, then her eyes widened. “Sorry, meant no disrespect. Just… To go from looking to be forty to being, what, seventeen?”

“Nineteen,” I said.

“Still,” she said, then recognition dawned. “You’re a student, traveling to the Citadel, aren’t you? I’m guessing that you couldn’t afford the fees of one of the faster passenger ships, are trying to save coin for college, or else you just enjoy being at sea, right?”

I shifted uncomfortably at her analysis. She was a little too sharp for my liking.

“I am,” I said. “On scholarship, and trying to save coin, since I only have a limited budget.”

“I see, I see,” the captain said, bobbing her head rapidly. “I must say, thanking you is much nicer than dealing with a helpful stowaway. I was planning for your reward to be room and board, but since you already paid for it…”

She hummed in thought, calculating. I didn’t press her. The people here had already given me too much, and she’d been the one to pay out Greta and get her to leave.

“Well, I might not know much compared to your academy, but I got a few spells that are helpful in my grimoire. You’re welcome to make copies of whatever you want.”

I grinned.

“That is absolutely wonderful compensation. Thank you!”

She tossed me her grimoire, and I stared at her.

“Ah, keep it. If anyone asks, I’ll tell them Anders pestered me to hell and back, so I’m letting him look. I don’t need it for casting most spells. Just copy it out, and give it back to me.”

I agreed delightedly, before recasting my illusion, heading to a bathroom, and dispelling it again, then met up with Jackson in our shared room.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“What was all the commotion about?” he asked, looking absolutely green at the gills. “Did some guy really kill a Dreki?”

“Something like that,” I said, “though she didn’t die. Just beat her. And can your healing not fix seasickness?”

Jackson made a retching sound, and I shuddered, stepping back.

“I’ll… Leave you be,” I said.

I headed to Yushin’s room, which was smaller, but private. She was already in there, presumably having escaped when I’d been called in to see the captain. I grinned at her, and waggled the grimoire.

“Captain’s rewarded me by letting me steal all her spells,” I said with a grin. “Don’t suppose that anyone gifted me with a book and paper?”

Yushin sighed and waved her hand. There was a flash of light, then a pile of assorted junk appeared on the floor.

“I’m taking a cut of this,” she warned.

“Totally fair,” I agreed, as I started sorting through the contents, before pausing.

“I… don’t suppose you know the ethereal chest spell?”

“I do, but you won’t be able to cast it here and now,” she said. “Unless someone gifted you the components for it.”

I cursed, and eyed the massive pile. I had never been much of a person to gather random things. As a wanderer, anything I owned needed to be carried with me.

“Let’s start sorting into four piles,” Yushin suggested, kneeling on the floor next to me as I took a seat.

“Hm?”

Yushin ticked items off on her fingers.

“One for items that you want to keep and carry around with you, like coin or spell components. One for items that are to be sold, like a silver brooch or earrings. One for items that could be useful once you settle into the dorm, but aren’t useful now, like plates or a blanket. And the last pile will be for items to get rid of.”

I agreed, and we set about sorting.

Coin was easiest. After paying Yushin back for the diamond dust loan, as well as a small fee for holding onto all of this in her storage ring, I was left with a shade over three hundred silver, which made me feel absurdly rich. I even bought a chest from the captain, so my stuff wouldn’t rattle around in Yushin’s storage, as well as a book, ink, and quill to copy the spells from the captain's grimoire.

There were a lot of things that fell into the second and third category – especially jewelry.

I didn’t know why. Maybe people had simply divested themselves of valuables as thanks?

But there were other things too. Cutlery made of silver, silk handkerchiefs, bags full of various spices, a very stylish and well tailored coat that was three sizes too big for me, but might fit Jackson, a copper handsaw, several sharpening stones, a over a dozen bottles of wine or oil of assorted qualities, and a mountain of other things I could keep or sell.

Outside of that, I received a set of calibrated hourglasses set for a minute, hour, and day, which Yushin also insisted I keep. I’d never seen the use in them when I’d been on the road, but I could see how they might be of some use at a university.

There was plenty of trash, of course – fliers for churches and events, a crock of eggs that would definitely spoil by the end of the week, and no less than fourteen candles.

But the real haul, in my opinion, was in magic and information. Yushin disagreed, saying it was trite, but I appreciated it.

I’d been gifted three martial manuals for different sword styles, and while I was no real swordsman – there was a reason I didn’t carry a blade around – I knew how valuable learning different perspectives could be.

In addition to those, I was gifted two vials of antitoxin and a weak healing salve.

Finally, I received a spell guide for arcane missile, which I already knew, but also a guide for a first circle spell, arcane disc, which was new to me.

And that wasn’t including the captain’s spells. I couldn’t make heads or tails of her affinity magic, but it contained some non-affinity spells as well: a cantrip that molded shadows into a cloak that protected from heat, a day-long waterproofing spell, a spell that conjured an orb of air from one of Etherius’ planes around the person’s head, and a second circle ritual spell.

Ritual magic was… Weird. They were still spells, like any other, but they thad a lot of steps, components, and that had to be taken to cast the spell.

Of course, Magyk was fair. All that hassle usually meant you got a really powerful effect, far more than a normal spell of its circle could provide.

My bloodmark spell was the perfect example. I’d had to come up with a personal symbol beneath the full moon, draw it in blood, and keep it in contact my skin until the new moon, at which point I needed to burn it while reciting a poem about myself.

The following full moon, I’d painted my new symbol seven times, as well as the entire spell, onto a tree that was big enough to fit it, all in my own blood, while chanting the words of power seven times.

Normally, a second circle spell might have had a sentence or two, but the bloodmark spell’s had lasted for a full page, and as I’d said, I needed to go through it seven times, all while channeling ether into the drawn out spell and symbols, and not passing out from blood loss.

Naturally, if anything went wrong, the spell failed.

Did the paper lose contact with the skin? Fail.

Did you not copy the symbol onto the trees right from your memory after having burnt it? Fail.

Mispronounce the words of power? Improperly balance the ether? Pass out from blood loss? Go back, start over, you’ve wasted a month and a half on being a failure.

But… They were worth it. For all the pain my bloodmark spell had been, now all I needed to do was touch an object with a drop of my blood while channeling ether, and the blood would vanish, leaving an invisible mark on the object only I could see, and more importantly, track.

For a year and a day after I set the mark, I knew exactly where the mark was, no matter how far away it got from me, and if I added more blood and ether, I could extend it basically indefinitely.

The captain’s ritual was, unfortunately, not a blood ritual. It was called naiad’s kiss, and required close to a hundred silver each worth of powdered blue, silver, and pink pearls, a glass vial of water collected from the ocean under the light of a full moon and stoppered with red wax, and an actual kiss on the forehead from a naiad, though the book did mention that most sapient aquatic creatures, like merfolk or selkies, would work too.

The instructions for the spell form and completing the ritual were every bit as elaborate as bloodmark, but different in nature, and while I copied them down diligently, I didn’t put much effort in committing them to memory, given how far out of reach just the components were.

Still, I couldn't help but envision the supposed effects. The grimoire claimed that it would allow someone who had completed the ritual to use their ether and adapt to water, be it salt or fresh, breathing it freely, swimming as swiftly as a naiad, and seeing through it clearly. Returning to being an air breather was as simple as stepping out of the water and channeling ether again.

A semi-permanent transformation ability was basically unheard of using second circle spellcraft, unless, of course, it was through a ritual like this one.

Even without being able to complete it, spending the months on-board allowed me to truly relax for the first time in what felt like an age. We could see out for miles, so if there was a boat coming, I applied my tincture, false face, and enshroud spell, but the rest of the time, I was just able to relax, study my notes from the captain’s grimoire, and practice spellcraft.

I did have to make a few more appearances as Alastor Sinclair, before disembarking in Middlehold’s capital, dispelling the illusion, and heading back onto the boat as Anders.

Jackson… Was not nearly as happy, but by the time we were nearing Panath Hold, and thus, the Ocean Spires region, he was able to walk around for a few hours on deck before retreating to the room.

The only thing that marred the comfortable trip was the fact that Summerhold was going to war, and news was sparse. The White Sands region I’d grown up in hadn’t been captured or attacked yet, but I checked the news each time we stopped in a port.