“I’d be happy to, but I can’t promise he’ll change his mind about Flame essence,” Levi said, tucking the scroll into his robe.

“I know, but he was interested before. This Wanderer assignment put him off,” Andrea said with a sigh. “I wouldn’t want to burn things alive either, monsters or not. Being a Wanderer isn’t exactly his calling though, so I’m hoping once that’s behind him, his enthusiasm will return.”

“True. I’ll give it to him if I think it’s a good time, then,” Levi agreed.

“I’d appreciate it. Have a safe trip,” Andrea said as she left.

Seth finally got Chadwick’s armload adjusted so that nothing was at risk of being dropped, and carefully hefted most of the remaining items. In the end, all that was left for Levi to carry were a pair of stiff boots that Seth wasn’t looking forward to wearing and one of the hastily stuffed bags.

Thus encumbered, the three made their way through the city toward the docks. Seth kept an eye out for exotic garden shops along the way, but didn’t see any likely options as they quickly moved through less affluent neighborhoods. He wished he had gotten the tome about Plant essence earlier; his brief scan having turned up several useful tips about collecting plants with unusual qualities. He hoped to find a scroll about unique jungle flora in one of the towns on the way back to Lith.

They reached the boat, the Havannah, with some time to spare, but not enough to do any more shopping.

“We’ve two rooms ready for you lot,” an unusually well-dressed sailor informed them once they were aboard. “The girl’s already down in one of ‘em.”

Seth looked to his dad, who snapped his fingers.

“Right, I forgot to…” Levi paused as the hand motion nearly dislodged one of the boots under his arm, “mention that. Meranda being heightened to Priest left a vacancy for an acolyte in Lith.”

The sailor opened a door for the three and directed them to the passenger rooms down the stairs.

“I am certain that the young lady would be more comfortable rooming with Priest Levi than either of us,” Chadwick finally spoke, his voice quiet and clipped. “We will share the second room.”

“That’s fine,” Seth said, following the young man’s slow pace down the slightly swaying steps. “We might as well start getting to know each other.”

They reached the two rooms in question, and Seth slid past Chadwick and his armload to open the second door. To his surprise the acolyte was in that room, sitting on a trunk with a glazed look in her eye. He closed the door again and the three backed up a step so he could reach the first door. This room was unoccupied, and slightly larger than the other.

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“Would you mind if I take the bed with the small desk?” Seth asked Chadwick.

The pile of equipment in the man’s arms shifted with what might have been a shrug or just an adjustment for balance before he replied, “that is fine for me. I will use the open space on this side of the room.”

Chadwick deposited his load on what was now Seth’s bed, then left the room. Seth heard him climbing the stairs.

“...I guess that’s that?” Seth said, looking at his dad.

“I’m not sure what to make of the man either,” Levi said, setting the boots and bag in front of the desk. “My one-word description of him so far would be ‘abrupt.’”

Seth looked at his rapidly filling side of the room and decided to keep the desk clear, adding his bag and carried supplies to the bed pile.

“His build isn’t healthy,” he said offhand, sliding the boots under the low bed to free the chair. “He has no fat at all, and even then, people don’t look like that unless they’re not drinking enough water.”

“There are exceptions,” Levi replied, setting his pack down and leaning against the door with a sigh. “Chadwick has at least two, even three, abilities enhancing his body. Strength, endurance, maybe more. As a Wanderer, one of them will be at the basic level as well.”

“And that makes people look like dehydrated muscle heads?” Seth asked, scooting the other bag over to the bed and pulling out the chair.

“It can,” Levi confirmed. “He must be eating the bare minimum and training a concerning amount, but it isn’t as unhealthy as it would be otherwise.”

Seth put the library bag on the desk and carefully pulled out the two books and several scrolls. He wished he could leave his backpack in the chair, but it would just follow him.

“I’m going to settle into the next room and check in with the acolyte,” Levi continued, scooting his bag out the door with a foot instead of picking it up. “Once the boat gets moving, we need to talk about how to best use the next few weeks.”

As his dad shuffled down the hall, Seth set his ghostly backpack next to the door and sat in the chair. He looked at the nearly three foot high pile of bags, equipment, and supplies on his bed and decided to glance through the scrolls then take a look at the boat.

Unsurprisingly, the scrolls were all about various facets of being a Wanderer or a Priest working with them. The most interesting was a general overview about the organization itself, if it could be called that. The information was more detailed than just common knowledge, and Seth was glad he could avoid asking too many dumb questions of the rest of the team when he met them.

He wished people would write more things down for other more curious people to read. Folks sometimes got annoyed or patronizing when he ‘pestered’ them, but how else were you supposed to figure things out? If it wasn’t in Lith’s anemic library and his parents hadn’t thought to mention it, he was out of luck. Seth wished something like the internet that Landon had described was possible with essence. Linked books were a poor and expensive substitute. He pulled out the laptop, deciding to open a browser to see if it worked.

“Seth,” Levi said behind him, making Seth jump slightly in his chair. “A couple more things. I’m going to go talk to the captain and crew about your healing practice like last time. Also, the acolyte’s name is Gabby, and she doesn’t like boats, so don’t bother her if you can help it. If you have any issues with seasickness or getting to sleep though, she has a Nonsense ability that can help. Also, you need to start organizing that mess on your bed if you want to have somewhere to sleep tonight. You’ll have plenty of time to use the laptop games later.”

Levi pulled his head back out of the doorway and headed up the stairs. Seth looked at his bed again and sighed.