Trillia motioned for him to carry on.

Captain Highwind took a small pebble out of a pocket and set it on the table in front of him. Trillia saw a thin veil cover the two of them.

Illana made a few motions with her hands. Highwind responded, then turned to Trillia. "How much do you trust your companions?"

"I trust Layla with my life. She has saved me many times and is fiercely loyal. I do not trust the dragon hunter at all."

Highwind nodded and leaned back in his seat. "In addition to bringing you to the central continent to meet with the dwarves, Lord Arlyss tasked us with another job. He told us to use any asset at our disposal."

Trillia thought about that for a moment and held up her hand. "Understand, Captain. If I can help a fellow pact-bound, I will. But my duty and mission to Lord Arlyss is of the utmost importance. It must come before any other objectives."

Highwind offered a smile. "I'm well aware, Lady Demonsbane. You are our Lord's avatar, and the things he entrusts you with will always come first. If you feel that this side objective would distract you, I am happy to stay silent on the matter."

Trillia shook her head. "No. We're all in this together. I just don't want it to be a question of loyalty. I will choose my primary mission if the choice is to be made."

"I'd expect nothing less. The Argo, that's the galleon you're on, is carrying an artifact. We have been for a year now. Lord Arlyss has asked us to charge it with mana in a very specific spot in the ocean. We have another lesser artifact to get us to that location. The problem is, if we spend more than a few hours there, wyverns start to scout the area. Where there are wyverns, there are dragons. The last time they came much earlier."

"You expect that if you keep it up, at this rate, it will be a dragon that comes to investigate, and the ship and artifact will be lost?"

Trillia got a nod to her question. "You want me to supercharge it with mana when we're in the area. I don't see an issue with that."

The Captain nodded and started drumming his fingers on the table. "The problem is that the artifact gives off a weird sort of energy. We aren't even sure what it does, but we trust Lord Arlyss. It's close enough to the central continent that he is no longer capable of looking out for us. So yes, I'd like you to supercharge it like you did the Argo. But I also have to warn you that it may draw some very unwanted attention."

Trillia sat back in her chair and pondered. On the one hand, Arlyss wouldn't give them a meaningless task. On the other, it very well may risk the ship and the portal. "Is it possible we could do it after we set up the portal in the dwarven lands?"

The Captain shrugged. "It'd take us significantly further away from any other objectives, but I don't see why not. Either way, it's a detour. Perhaps if the portal works, Lord Arlyss can send a copy of himself with us to ensure everyone's safety."

"Why didn't he just get on the boat with all of you before? To sail to the central continent or charge the artifact?"

The Captain opened his mouth to speak, then shut it and got a confused look on his face. "I never thought to ask. I just...I just assumed he had a good reason not to do so? Hang on."

With a huff, the man pushed himself out of his chair and stepped out of the little bubble.

Trillia assumed it was a barrier of sound dampening since most of the sounds of the ship, crew, and ocean had been dulled when it first appeared.

Robert spoke briefly with Illana before joining Trillia at the table again. "Illana says it is because of the leviathans. Evidently, they count as dragons. Though, I'm not sure what that has to do with it. Perhaps he doesn't want to anger the leviathans by being in their territory?"

Trillia immediately knew why. She remembered the trait that caused all dragons to attack him due to some curse of some god. But if Arlyss didn't reveal that to others, she wasn't about it. "I guess that makes sense. My uncle says that dragons are extremely territorial creatures. It's why whenever people fly, they stay below certain heights so as not to anger the dragons. Maybe it's the same for a deity being on the water?"

The Captain nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer. "In any case. Once we set up the portal, we can ask Lord Arlyss if it's okay for you to charge the artifact. I don't want to fail his mission, and while he never gave us a strict time limit, the artifact itself has a slow drain on the mana it is charged with. Realistically, about half of what we charge it with every few months drains back out."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Trillia shrugged and waited to see if there was anything else to be said.

"I am willing to try once we have finished our duty at the dwarven city. Assuming that Lord Arlyss does not have something more pressing for me to do. I'm unfamiliar with the central continent. Are we sailing directly to the dwarves?"

Robert shook his head and pulled a chart from the table. "No. We'll stop for provisions at this set of islands here. I'll warn you it's not an official port, and we do not have jurisdiction. So don't expect it to...be a pleasant experience. We can't afford to take on a whole port of people. After that, we'll keep sailing toward the central continent. We'll land, and you will have a two or three-week journey to the dwarven lands. It is to my understanding that Lord Arlyss has people on the central continent that are aware of this journey, but I don't know."

After giving her a moment to respond, he continued. "If we cannot make contact with someone else, Illana and Wedge will lead you there. We'll stay in port for a couple of months and wait."

Trillia nodded once more.

"I think that's everything to discuss. You are free to stay and chat or do as you like. As I said before we left, our crew is going to treat you like a VIP, so you have no mandatory duties."

Trillia stood and bowed to him. "Thank you for your time, Captain Highwind. I need to deal with my class change, and I'll fill Layla in on loose goals for when we are back on land."

The two parted ways. Trillia found Layla sitting on a stool near what looked like a full stove and oven.

The surrounding area was heavily enchanted. Trillia could only assume it was to keep the ship from catching fire.

Layla waved but didn't interrupt the old human who was stirring a pot. "I tell ya, lass. Biggest damn serpent we ever saw. The thing could near enough wrap around the Argo twice over! Thought we were dun fer! Then ol Lak jumped on its head! Wrapped his big meaty arms around the thing and squeezed so hard the whole fukkin head popped off!" The old man stuck a finger in his cheek to make an odd popping sound.

"We feasted on that thing for two days! I reckon that's when folks stopped grumbling about how much the big lad eats. Strong bugger, heart of gold as well!"

Layla smiled and swung her legs as she watched him. Trillia joined them at the table. "I hope I'm not intruding."

The old man shook his head with a toothy grin, more than a few teeth missing. "Not at all, lass! I was tellin' yer friend 'bout how Lak joined up with us. Ogres are a rare sight on the coast. Rarer still on ships."

Trillia nodded and motioned to the rather low-hanging ceilings. "I do wonder how he gets around."

"Got 'imself a fancy trinket. Lady Perishsong gave it to him. Makes it so he only 'as to duck instead of crawl. Lad has earned that and far more."

"What's the Argo made out of? I've never seen wood this color. To be fair, I've never ventured far from the Shattered Plains." Layla asked and passed over some vegetables that the old man pointed to.

The old man bobbed his head as he expertly worked a knife and carved the vegetables. "Us humans call it night wood. It's a tree from Lady Perishsongs homeland. 'As a fancy name in the elf tongue. I reckon everything sounds fancy in the elf tongue. Not sure everything about what it does, but I know the Captain paid a hefty amount to refit the entire ship out of the stuff. Takes a good beatin."

Trillia spoke up next. "I've never met an elf before. She's a bit intimidating. She's so slender but has this sort of air about her."

The old man nodded solemnly. "Elves are a scary bunch. Not countin beasties like dragons and levis, Elves are the longest-lived mortals. Well. All natural without skills and whatnot. Lady Perishsong is a damn scary marksman and a scary mage to boot." He opened his mouth as if to say something else, then glanced at each of them before shaking his head.

Trillia motioned to Layla. "I need to borrow my companion for a bit. I hope that's ok, Sir...?"

"Just call me Coot. The others do. Coot or Codger." He flashed another toothy grin and got back to cooking.

Trillia led Layla to their quarters. Andromeda sat at a small table, scribbling in a book. She sat and explained what the captain had told her of their journey by sea and land. She left out all mention of the artifacts.

The others mostly shrugged and told her she was the leader. Trillia figured she was okay with that but still wanted to keep them informed. Layla left to wander the ship, and Trillia lay in bed and brought up her status windows.

She knew she'd have a whole lot of downtime. Better time than any. She evolved [Mana Sage] into [Mana Conduit].

Somehow, she had gained almost no experience with Alchemist. It was still sitting at level eighteen. It should have also skyrocketed from all the work her potions did in the dungeon. She'd have to seek someone out for advice on that at a later date. After a few minutes more of staring, she closed her status and tried to see if her mana had changed. Conduit had basically no skills to go off of, and she certainly didn't know anyone else with the class.

With the special condition of [Mana Conduit] came an important question. What skill would she choose as a mastery option for [Mana Sage]?

She mulled it over for a few minutes before choosing [Mana-Warped]. Something about the skill stuck out to her as important.

Suddenly, a thought came to her. She sat upright in bed and looked over at Andromeda. "Can you teach me the dragon language?! You speak it, right?"

Andromeda glanced at Trillia and tapped her head. Trillia established the link immediately. "My job isn't to educ-"

Trillia cut off her statement. "We have literal months on a ship together. Please don't be so cold the entire time. If that's how you are going to act, I won't ever trust you to actually protect me, and you may go back to your Master. Why do you hate us so?"

Andromeda gave the mental equivalent of a heavy sigh. "You are weak. Your master is strong. That is the only reason I am here. That is the only reason my training has come to a standstill. You may have all the time in the world, I do not. I am a human. I must become strong enough, fast enough, to become an immortal."

The two sat there in silence for a while. Andromeda turned away, back to her scribblings, but didn't cut the connection.

"Sorry. I'm just not used to traveling with people who are only doing it because they are ordered. I won't bother you about it again." Trillia bowed her head slightly and laid back down, looking over her status screen again and tugging at her mana reserves.