“Success is all a matter of perspective. It depends on where you start from and where you want to end up.”

Pat Summitt

“There, but for the grace of god, go I,” I said as I turned back to look at the galley still besieged by monsters. It did not look like they would sink anytime soon, but with their ship damaged and nearly disabled, it would take a while for them to even attempt to pursue us again.

“Gods, Kai.” Father corrected. “That was . . . unbelievable.” He said, referring to my waltz through the valley of death blindfolded. “A legend, not an idiot. It was an impressive song, Kai. How did you do it?”

“A new skill or two, a few more stats and the right circumstances.” I smiled somewhat chagrined, on the one hand equally impressed at my ability to elude the mess behind us on the other, recognising that I had held onto a god’s hand to do so. The golden thread of fate had faded, Fortuna had let go of my hand. We were on our own once more. “It did not go quite as planned,” I admitted my failure to my father. I had, after all, let my arrogance cause my fall. “I should have left after sabotaging their hull and removing their helmsman and rudder, not stayed longer to burn their sails.”

“All’s well that ends well. We all make mistakes, and it was not a poor plan. You’ll do better next time. Now, it's time to go home.” He commiserated, reminding me that, at the end of the day, he was still my dad. He was there for me, rain or shine, sea serpents or slavers.

We set sail and headed for home. The Libeccian galley trespassing aggressively into our seas would not impress the family. But, when adequately prepared, we would have to see what we could do about them. I was almost looking forward to it. The idea of Namir and Arawn blitzing through them warmed my heart. They would not know what hit them.

As the outline of our island grew on the horizon. Father finally asked what had to have been bothering him the entire time. “So . . .” He hesitated before continuing, “What exactly happened when you were captured and taken below deck? I had already headed away to make the most of whatever disruption you caused, so I did not see what had happened. When I realised, you had been partially successful and turned to see your escape, they were already carrying your unconscious body below.” He described the turn of events from his perspective.

I thought through what had happened. The impossibility of it. The new revelations regarding my past, present and future. The existence of gods and their interference, the rising trials the compass continent would face that had been alluded to. I focused on what had helped me to escape, my prayer and a goddess-given miracle of skills, stats and circumstance.

“Well, you know how you always wanted me to take the Church of the Lodestar’s faith more sincerely? You no longer need to worry about my lack of faith in the eight. You might say that I had the ultimate religious experience. Consider me convinced. I no longer doubt they exist. I know they do.” I outlined my impossible vision of the eight and the guidance I had received with the warnings of what would happen when I awoke and what I would have to face. I demonstrated to my father where my mana cores had formed, lifting the mana manacles I was still bound with to show him the physical cores that had formed. Father listened silently as I talked until I outlined my escape following the Lady of Luck’s lingering presence in the mortal world.

“But how? If the manacles still blocked your Mana?” He asked, confused as to how I had appeared to walk through the air as much as I had leapt from serpents back to back

Ah yes. That. “I have another resource,” I answered evasively. My poor habit of hoarding secrets struck again, but he was not accepting it this time.

He was not to be denied, “Kai, you met the gods, if I can accept that; whatever else it is you are hiding can hardly be as shocking, can it? And if you think your mother, sister or Lady Acacia will accept that flimsy answer, you have another thing coming. We might not be savants or geniuses, but we are not idiots.” He added crossly, his patience for once finally worn thin enough that he snapped at me. The stress of our flight, attack, capture, and impossible escape over a sea of serpents took him past his breaking point. He had never hit me, but I could see his clenched hands on the rudder he held firmly as he shouted the last four words in frustration at my continued evasive answers.

“Um, I have Health, Stamina, Mana and one more, psi.” I finally answered, subdued. I could not remember the last time he had shouted at me. Had he ever? “While the mana was blocked, the extra hidden resource psi was not,” I explained.

“Psi?” He asked, confused. “What’s that?”

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I was unsure if his ignorance was a general ignorance of the world or a more specific ignorance due to our location at the world's edge. “Think of it as mental energy.” I tried to explain.

“So, like Mana.” He clarified.

“Yes and no. Mana is made by everyone, sure, but it also permeates the world around us. You can pull on it to make runes and glyphs work. Weave it in different ways, such as Spellsong and enchantments. Psi is different. There is no psi energy floating freely through the world. It only exists within me; it does not appear to be generated by others. I can use it to see beyond myself into others; it is solely a power of the mind, not the world.” I tried to explain what I understood about the extra resource I had on my status, but it wasn't easy to do so as I had never had a teacher. Only my bungling attempts at understanding it. Along with my hesitancy to infringe on my family's privacy of thoughts. And I fear what might have happened had I tried experimenting with it before today.

“You can see into others?” he asked, focused on what seemed the most sinister aspect of the resource to me. However, he did not sound overly alarmed.

“Yes, to an extent.” I hedged.

“What am I thinking?” he asked with a grin and a challenge. Of course, he was not calling me a liar, but unlike my outrageous claims of the gods' interventions, this was something he could personally test to see if what I was spouting was true.

I focused on his thoughts as we sailed ever closer to home. The dearth of minds out on the open sea was a help as I attempted to focus on his and his alone. What was he thinking of all of this? I had never been the son he had expected. I was breaking every baby milestone with every step I took. Dragging his family into the nobility, although that was more his father’s fault than mine. Along with his wife’s secrets that had been hidden even from her, I wondered whether he ever regretted the complexity of knots his life had slowly tangled up with each new achievement or interaction of mine.

Still, as I attempted to penetrate his mind, I only sensed a sense of open wonder and trust as I used Insight.

“You are surprised by my statement but willing to trust it,” I answered, trying to verbalise his vague emotions.

“Close enough. But is that all you can get? If that is the case, you got it from your mother, who also reads minds!” he laughed at his poor dad's joke.

“Pick a number, any number.” I teased in return, making my best street magician impression.

“A number?” he asked, confused.

“Yes, think of a number and hold it in your mind,” I explained what I attempted to do. “I’m going to read your mind.” I continued in my showman’s voice. While making a mentalist routine out of this was tempting, I knew that keeping it secret beyond the circle of my immediate family and advisors would make me safer.

Moving up from my Tier 1 skill, I tried Mind Sense and got the image of a die with the number 4. He was projecting or at least trying to.

“4,” I said, pleased the image had been so straightforward. Even if there were no words, unlike when the Goddess Fortuna projected into my mind. I was not disappointed. My father, after all, was only mortal.

I was even happier when he grinned and said I had it correct. Then, high on the success of my attempts, the high of open honesty, and the relief of letting go of one more secret, I called out, “Pick another number.”

Being the joker he thought he was, I did not see a number but the colour blue when I focused on his mind. Thinking about returning the joke tenfold and using my new tier 3 skill, I attempted to project back.

You’re thinking of the colour blue. So I thought, verbalised, and then projected my words toward him. I had not had to do so within the hall of the gods, relying on the goddess to understand my thoughts without attempting to project them to her directly.

He jumped. Startled at the sudden words appearing in his mind, You’re thinking of the colour blue, “That was you, right? It wasn’t just me imagining it?” he asked, astounded. Not quite ready to admit that he was not hearing any voices in his head but my own.

“It was my new skill, telepathy,” I said out loud. I looked forward to levelling this one. Then, I could bother anyone without anyone else listening to it. I could imagine the fun I could have with it. Even better, they could not bother me unless I paid attention to them.

. . .

We eventually arrived home from our day’s break, sailing much later than planned. The sun was setting. We would not have long to get home before we would be travelling in darkness. Usually not a problem, but I could not light the way with my mana still blocked. Not that I needed the light. Today had not been as restful as I had hoped. But it had been different from the day-to-day jobs and lessons. They say a change is as good as a break, but I felt I could do with another one. However, that was not to be the case.

Arawn was waiting for us when we docked. “You’re late.” He grumpily started the conversation, stepping up from the crate he had been sitting or sleeping on.

“We ran into a bit of a delay,” I answered, looking to my father for the support I would not find.

“Slavers.” He summarised the day’s worth of events into a single word.

“I’ll gather the family. How long do we have?” he asked, addressing my father rather than me.

“Dawn, at the earliest, but more likely, they will arrive closer to noon. It will all depend on how long the feeding frenzy lasts. But we are the nearest port large enough to handle their repairs. Little Wester wouldn’t have the resources, and Wester Levante would be further than they wish to risk without runes to hide their presence.” He explained his reasoning.

“Feeding frenzy?” he raised an eyebrow looking out to the calm sea. "Runes?"

“Kai was very effective in distracting them for a while. It’s a long story.” He shrugged, dismissing the day’s legendary events with a shrug.

“Another tall tale?” He smiled at his son-in-law.

“The tallest; you had to be there to believe it.” He laughed.