"So. To the matter at hand. Skills can either become general skills from class skills, usually something extreme has to happen with the skill. Alternatively, you can create your own sort of skills as general skills. The biggest issue with the latter is that it's improbable they can be passed on to others and it takes an extremely long time."
"Think of it like this. An Alchemist doesn't get the skill healing potion, right?"
Trillia nodded. "Their skills just help an alchemist to learn how to make healing potions instead. It goes even faster if you already know a working recipe. With that in mind, someone who has never brewed a potion before and doesn't have alchemy could theoretically brew a healing potion on their first attempt. It's best to think of crafting your own skills like that."
Another nod. The mental conversation faded as Trillia processed.
"What would you recommend as a starting point?"
Illana shrugged at the question. "That depends entirely on what you're after for a skill, Trillia. Start with something you know and are familiar with. Go from there. Even if you don't need that particular skill, learning how to bend and weave your mana in a different fashion should be a good start towards learning how to do things better."
Trillia thanked her and the two sat at the bow of the ship in silence for a while longer before Trillia excused herself.
-=- The Next Day -=-
Trillia woke to the sound of boots on the planks above her. The ship was somewhat quiet at night, but it was never fully silent. Andromeda sat at the same table scribbling in the same book. Layla was nowhere to be seen, probably already out and on the deck.
The next few days were more of the same. The Captain never seemed to sleep, and neither did Illana. Lak'Lorn mostly cleaned things. The rest of the crew each had their own little piece to do.
Three days in, and Trillia still hadn't made any headway. Nor had she decided what to do about the [Alchemist] class.
She raised her hand and looked at her ring, with a mental tug it activated.
"Boring so far. Water is pretty. Met an elf and an ogre. Hope everyone is well. We will rotate messages. Bye."
A few minutes passed and a message appeared in her mind.
"Things are well here. We miss you. Everyone wishes the two of you luck. Try to stay busy. Bye."
Trillia let her hand fall and continued to lay in bed. She was finding it rather difficult to motivate herself to do much other than test her mana.
With one quick glance at Andromeda, she grumbled and headed to the deck. It was more of the same.
Trillia walked over to the table the Captain was at. "May I join you?"
An affirmative grunt was her answer as the man read a book. "How do you all not go crazy with boredom?"
That drew a chuckle from the Captain as well as Illana, who was at the helm. Robert looked up from his book and stared at her. "Read, mostly. A slow boring journey is what most sailors desire. The alternative is almost always something that can end in everyone's death. "
Trillia's shoulders slumped and she sat there, staring up at the sky, and merely waited.
A couple of hours went by before someone came to relieve Illana. Illana turned her head to Trillia. "Would you like to learn how we navigate?"
Trillia perked up a bit at that. "It isn't by magic?"
The elf shook her head and reached into the table that Robert sat at, pulling out a chart. "It is not. A lot of effort goes into navigating at sea. There are no landmarks to base things off of. Let me show you."
Well. It was something to do.
The next few days passed and Trillia started to learn how to read charts, navigate by the stars, and plot a course. As well as a rather large amount of sailing jargon.
A full week had come and gone. Truth be told, Trillia was bored out of her mind. She had to endure and deal with this for six months? Maybe more?
She had taken over the duty of charging the ship every day. It gave her something to do and freed up everyone else for an hour or two that they normally spent dumping their excess mana into crystals before going to sleep.
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The crew tried to show her some of the dice and card games they played but it all felt so wrong. It felt wrong to sit and do nothing. She couldn't swim since the ship was far faster than she was in the water.
She finally resigned herself to sitting on the bow most of the day and practicing creating things with mana. She'd spend an hour or two with Illana learning the basics but otherwise did nothing.
One week dragged into two.
Two into three.
...
...
Midway through the fourth week, Trillia sat with the Captain. He had read the first book and was on to book two. Illana had started to teach her the elven tongue, which she was grateful for. But so far she hadn't been able to create a single skill. She began to wonder if it was just having no levels in the class, or if she didn't understand the explanations well. Her frustration grew by the day, as did her boredom.
Nearing the end of the fourth week, the Captain raised a brow as she plopped back down into the seat. "You can see the flow of mana, right?"
Trillia nodded but didn't open her eyes, having just slouched back to wait for time to pass.
Robert nodded and slammed his book on the table, causing Trillia to jump a bit in her chair. "Turn your [Mana-Sight] on. For the next four weeks, I want you to watch the crew in the Crow's Nest. From this table. Watch how the mana forms around them, watch how and when their mana surges. Consider it a bit of homework."
Trillia had no idea what homework was, but she gathered that it was a mission to do.
A pointless mission, but a mission all the same.
The first day she only half-heartedly listened to his instructions.
On the second, she began to notice that anyone who was in the crow's nest had different mana that swirled around them. They were all supposedly using the same skill, or a variation of it, called [Eagle Eyes].
But every single one used it in a different way. There were even two people who shared a class, species, and mana type, and still, the mana swirled around them differently.
The third day had Trillia observing a bunch of people on deck. Watching the mana swirl about and be processed in different ways.
On the fourth day, the Captain extended a spyglass to her. "Look through this end. Stare at their mana through it.
To her surprise, the spyglass magnified what she was seeing. Despite it being through a tool, her [Mana-Sight] still worked.
By the seventh day, she had begun to grow weary of holding up the spyglass and had started to swirl mana around her eyes in various fashions. Testing out each person's method and trying to imbue the spell with a different intent each time.
She was now nearing the end of her second month. As Trillia sat there with Robert, she finally jumped into the air with a pumped fist.
General Skill: [Basic Sight Enhancement] Level 0 Obtained!
Basic Sight Enhancement
Your eyes have been constantly reinforced with mana. You have a very small bonus that scales with your Perception and the level of this skill, to your eyesight. It is harder to disorient you based on vision.
Robert glanced at her and hid his grin with his book. Trillia activated the skill. Her eyes widened in surprise when she simply 'saw" further than the spyglass had allowed to do so.
Suddenly, she had a new goal. She began to all but stalk some members of the crew, namely those who had abnormal strength or didn't sleep as much.
Trillia was just about to disappear below deck when a shout from the crow's nest made her pause.
"Land, off the starboard bow!"
Trillia kept her sight enhanced and began to study the horizon.
Illana had taught her a child's word game to remember. "You always bow to the future, look sternly at the past, keep the port on your left, and chase the stars, as that's only right."
Trillia moved towards the front of the ship and looked out toward the right.
After a few minutes, more calls cried out in excitement regarding land.
It wasn't for another full twenty minutes that Trillia did anything. "Where is this?" She asked of a human standing at her side.
"Port Korinthien. Pirate den, low-life scum. Good place for provisions and rumors. Keep yer head about you if you go ashore, lass."
Trillia offered a nod before staring out at the port. The closer they got, the more sails she saw dotting the horizon. Some of the ships that were anchored at sea were two or three times the size of the Argo. She wondered just how such creations could float, or how fast they'd be. Before they made landfall she brought up her status and gave it a look over. The only real offensive abilities she had right now were her fencing skills, her mana crossbow artifact, and chain lightning.
She told herself to start developing more offensive options.
Name: {Trillia Demonsbane}
[Status: Alive; Scorned Divinity]
Species: [Mortal]; [Orc] Level: 91
Available Stat Points: 0
Subspecies: [Mana-Infused Orc-Adolescent;Runt] Level: 83
+5 Wisdom Per Level
Class: [Alchemist] Level: 18
Class: [Mana Conduit] Level: 0
Stats:
[Brawn: 300] + 50%
\Strength: 100 + Vitality: 200/
[Dexterity: 973] + 50%
\Agility: 139(+263) + Wisdom: 750/
[Charisma: 218] + 50%
\Intuition: 108 Presence: 116/
Traits:
Pact-Bound (Deity)
Runt
Limitless Mana
Thirst For Knowledge
Divine: Unwavering Determination
Alchemical Blood
Spawn Seeker
Dungeon Addict
Tongues
Remain Standing
Core Destroyer
Mana Attunement (Lightning)
Lightning Conduit
Dungeon Predator
Racial Skills:
[Orc Savagery - Passive]: - Level
[Orc Constitution - Passive]: - Level 1
[Orc Tenacity - Passive]: - Level 10 (MAX)
[Orcish Fury- Passive]: - Level 4
General Skills:
[Alchemy - Hybrid]: Level 2
[Cooking - Hybrid]: Level 4
[Chain Lightning - Active]: Level 4
[Herbalism - Passive]: Level 4
[Lesser Corrupt Mana Resistance - Passive]: Level 7
[Lesser Fire Mana Resistance - Passive]: Level 5
[Lesser Ice Mana Resistance - Passive]: Level 3
[Lesser Mind Mana Resistance - Passive]: Level 3
[Lesser Wind Mana Resistance - Passive]: Level 2
[Mana Obfuscastion - Hybrid]: Level 10 (Max)
[Mana Sight- Passive]: Level 10 (Max) [Currently: Off]
[Minor Health Regeneration]: Level 15 (Max)
[Minor Telepathy - Hybrid]: Level 10 (Max)
[Monster Taming - Active]: Level 7
[Rapier Mastery - Passive]: Level 15 (Max)
[Runic Scripture - Hybrid] Level 4
[Stalwart Mana- Reactive]: Level 8
[Sustained Travel - Passive]: Level 3
[Translator - Passive]: Level MAX
[Universal Mana Manipulation - Hybrid] Level 9
[Basic Sight Enhancement - Hybrid]: Level 3