Going through the streets of Canvas was a very different feeling that night. First of all, the Upperseas were shining brightly, as if the waters were so thin you could see the stars behind. Second was the ambiance, which had changed so radically from the day before. People were celebrating, their homes opened, fires lit brightly, lanterns hanging everywhere. It was like a Chinese festival. As people spotted us, they came to thank us, gave us mugs of beer and invited us to their homes, we politely declined most of what they offered except a beer. It was tepid and quite bad, but it was filled with the joy of the ones we shared it with. As we continued our walk, I recognized the sun-kissed man I had saved, he presented himself as Jonas, and asked me if I wanted to marry his son. I refused while my sister laughed loudly.

I saw a few people sitting at the edges of the giant party, looking sad but smiling, nonetheless.

The freedom of their village had cost them dearly.

Anna came to meet us as we reached the plaza. She gave us a polite tour of where we could sleep, while recommending we didn’t go to the fifth or sixth floor as some rooms weren’t safe. She left us quickly. Despite what she said, I was pretty sure she didn’t want to hang around us anymore.

I understood.

I looked out from the window of the lavish bedroom we had been lent. In it had to be the largest glass window I had seen in this world yet. Barely enough to stick your head and shoulders out, but at least it gave a better view of the forest and cultivated plains to the east, while at the bottom you could see the villagers celebrating the end of their pitch-dark nights. There were men on top of the palisade keeping watch, the only ones who didn’t participate in the festivities.

Them, and us.

We hadn’t taken Henry’s bedroom, but a neighbouring one that didn’t have a bed, and instead a mountain of cushions over a thick rug. It didn’t have any other furniture except the lantern hanging at the wall, and the landscape painting of a city on the sea. In the sky of the canvas you saw ground. All in shadows and contrast of dark, red and green. It was fantastical and beautiful, and the reason why we had decided to sleep there.

We had even found ourselves a bucket with water. It was cold, but my sister had gotten an idea.

“This is time for our new class to shine! [Move]!” She shouted at the bucket. Nothing happened.

“Uh uh?” I looked at her, my elbows sitting on the window’s stool.

“Oh, come on! Can’t it be simple? I wanted to move the water to heat it up, I assumed with the giant bath upstairs there was a way…”

She tried a few more times, but nothing seemed to work. The impure water didn’t budge.

“Too bad.” I sighed and tried to clean myself as well as I could with just the bucket and soap.

After cleaning ourselves, we dressed to sleep and decided to examine what was new in our statuses.

I was a bit anxious, not looking forward to all the game theory reading that I probably only would half understand.

“We’ve gotten plenty of new skills, be excited!” L had a joyful expression; the party below having contaminated her with good mood.

“Fine.” I laughed. I suppose I was influenced by her emotions as well. “[Status][Skills]”

You have unlocked General Skill: [Scheming]

[Scheming] levelled up

You have unlocked level 1 Class Skill: [Strength]

You have unlocked level 1 Class Skill: [Vitality]

You have unlocked level 1 Class Skill: [Sight]

You have unlocked level 1 Class Skill: [Enchant]

“Urgh, why is this supposed to be fun, exactly?” I winced at the sudden pop ups. “Great, we’re schemers now. I suppose it’s what I think it is.” I skimmed through my General Skill tab. “Only level ten? Our super plan is only worthy of a level ten?”

Gaëlle didn’t seem bothered by it. “Compared to the best scheme ever made in this world, I’d say it’s pretty good for our first attempt. I’ve gotten two more skills in my Ascensus class. What about you?”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“Let me check. It doesn’t say if it’s for the Berserker or Ascensus… [Class Skills]. “Oh, I’ve got two new ones in Berserker and also two in Ascensus.”

“Really? How does experience work? Aren’t I supposed to get…twenty-seven per cent more XP than you?” Gaëlle said in slight annoyance.

“I don’t know. I’m level twenty-one in Ascensus.”

“Mhh, twenty-six for me. So I did get a lot more, and it seems we get a skill every ten levels.”

“About that experience question.” I responded. “We’ll have to calculate with Bonnie when we’re back on the station. Let me check the Berserker skills, and you tell me about the very cool ones I’ll never be able to use?”

“Don’t say that, only what, one hundred and forty monsters left to kill?”

“Shut up.”

She grinned at me. “Fine, let me level up…[Status]…and…confirm… aaaand [Sight].”

I echoed her. “[Status].”

Name: [Nielle Templier]

Race: [Homo Chimera Sapiens]

Age: [29 years old]

Level: [106]

Statistics:

[Strength=110] [Constitution=110] [Perception=115] [Agility=115]

[Hydrology power=1] [Hydrology control=1]

Remaining stat points available: [80]

Class: [Berserker = 23]

[Ascensus = 21]

Innate Skills:

[New Species]

[Identical Twins]

[Help]

[Basic Hydromancy]

Skills: (+)

I distributed all my points in Hydrology Control, then said out loud. “[Strength].”

Strength: For one hour each day, gain 20% improved [Strength]

“Huh, well, that’s pretty simple. [Vitality]”

Vitality: For a limited time each week, gain improved regeneration and 100% improved [Constitution]

“Now we’re talking.” I realized I was copying my sister’s enthusiasm now; I refrained a sigh. “What does yours say?”

“Still reading.”

“Well then. [Sight].” I didn’t wait for her.

Sight: Water touched by the Blue can be used as a second pair of eyes by the caster in exchange of [Hydrology Power]. The range and duration depend on the caster’s [Hydrology Control].

“That’s way cooler than mine!” I complained.

My sister groaned. “Not really. I went and checked the [Help] on this. Now, this spell, skill whatever costs 10 power, which according to my stats means I should be able to use it twenty-seven times a day. Pisses me off. I didn’t know power counted as some sort of mana counter, the more I have the more I can use my spells. I shouldn’t have gone Jack of all trades.”

“I think twenty-seven times may be enough?”

“I doubt it. When Henry fought, he had to have used the [Move] skill a lot, and it has the same cost as [Sight]. Twenty-seven attempts is good if the fight only takes a few minutes, but what about in a sustained fight?”

I gave her an uncertain look. “I think you’re being too brash. What is the limit of the skill? How long does it last? Are we counting on getting ourselves in sustained fights? There is too much we don’t know. Before you go and invest more points in your stats, especially those that don’t translate in other worlds, experiment first. I’ll do some with you.”

She scoffed at me. “I won’t let you explode yourself with your abysmal control.”

“I did the [Purify] with no issues.” I reminded her.

“Yeah, or maybe you poisoned yourself twice as much and I saved your life.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

“I’ll ask Kan tomorrow.” I decided.

“Good plan. Should we tell him we have the Ascensus class?”

It was a pertinent question, and I sat down on the pillows next to her to think about it.

“Mhh. I suppose? He promised he would tell us everything he knew about the system; I suppose that falls into that category. I think he really needs our help.”

She gave me a dark look. “But after that? Can we trust him?”

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll leave. We’ll try to know everything we can about the System, Gorunt Fay and the people Henry worked for. Everything we can about this world. We don’t even know how it’s called.”

My sister hummed me a no. “That’s not true. It’s called Blue, they use the word all the time.”

I gave her what had to be a stupid look. “Really? I didn’t even realize.”

“Mh mh.” She responded with fake pity in her voice. But then her mood switched, serious all of a sudden. “Isn’t it a bit heartless? We’re basically helping them in exchange for information.” Gaëlle was asking that to see if I was okay, I recognized her tone of voice.

“I don’t think it is. We need help, they need help. I would have gladly given them a hand even if I needed nothing in return. But this situation is beyond just me, I can’t just trust anyone if it isn’t only my life that is at stake if I’m wrong. There is you I need to think about, and potentially entire worlds. Now that they know some of our secrets, the fact that they require our presence is reassuring. It lowers the chances of being betrayed.”

Gaëlle continued playing devil’s advocate. “What if he lied to us? What if he doesn’t need help? Is that worth the risk?”

“I…I think so. If we stop being human in exchange for safety… there will be very little left of us in the end.”

L stared at me for some time, before finally saying: “I can get behind that. Now back to the last skill, [Status][Enchant].”

I was too tired to read now, the softness on my back so much better than anything I had slept in before.

“We should steal this room when we leave.” I whispered as I dozed off.

“…I one hundred percent agree. And I like it when my sister gets naughty.”

“I will hurt you.”

“No you won’t.”

My eyes closed, half a smile on my face. I listened to the ramblings of my sister as I fell asleep.

“Pretty cool skill. Let's us teach any skill we have that’s over fifty to anyone. As long as we write a book following some distinct rules and use a shit-ton of power, control, and time. It’s also used for parchments…one-use magic scrolls, but the advantage…doesn’t have level limitations. Classes… pretty much the same…”