The captain didn’t elaborate on the quest other than saying, “We’ll discuss it when we get to port.”

The crew members, on the other hand, were eager to meet the human cannonball who sunk the pirate ship. Helmsman Cedrick even offered to show me how to steer the ship, which was exactly what I wanted.

New Trait Acquired: Basic Seamanship

“What are you doing?” Sasha asked. “You already got the quest from the captain. We all did.”

“You got that quest too?” I asked, not mentioning the new skill I just got.

She nodded, smiling for the first time since the aptly named Salty Dog Inn. “We all got the prompt when he told you he needed help. My guess is it’s a big quest.”

“I think so too,” I replied. “I want to check out Mount Drunder first but we can fast-travel back once we escort the dwarves home.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” she replied.

“Where are Nelly and Abigail?” I asked, wondering why Sasha was alone. She usually stuck to Nelly like glue.

“Nelly’s playing Card Battle,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “Where else would she be? I’m not sure about Abigail. She was watching but I’ll bet she went back to fishing.”

We didn’t see either on deck so we decided to go find them. We arrived below deck in time to watch Nelly defeat Abigail in a game of Card Battle.

“She has a fishing deck,” Nelly marveled, excitedly pointing to several cards with exotic fish on them. “I want the bait and tackle card but I got the Carp Card three times in a row.”

Abigail giggled. “I don’t choose what you get when you win. Don’t feel bad though. You never let me win so I haven’t gotten any of your cards.”

“She used Wrecking Ball on you, didn’t she?” I asked.

Abigail nodded, narrowing her eyes at Nelly. “That card is overpowered.”

I pulled out a copy and handed it to her. “There. Now you’re even.”

“How are you doing that?” Nelly asked as she watched me fork over the card. “I meant to ask the other night but I was so happy with the cards that I forgot. I can’t trade any of my cards and I’m a Card Battler. Anna told me the only way to get or give cards is through battle.”

“I don’t know,” I lied, making a mental note not to hand out any more cards. “Those didn’t have the soulbound tag for some reason.”

“You made those cards, didn’t you?” Sasha asked, busting me. “It’s the same as when you copied my Power Thrust skill. Right?”

“Can we talk in private?” I asked, not wanting to explain in front of the sailors who’d gathered around to watch the game.

“I want in on this too,” Abigail said. “It sounds like you’ve discovered an Easter Egg.”

When I mentioned wanting to be alone, the sailors dispersed. Perhaps it was a game mechanic that forced them to honor player requests for privacy or maybe they were just being polite.

Still, I didn’t trust it. “Let’s go somewhere quiet.”

That turned out to be the ship’s hold even further below deck. Aside from a rat I saw scurry about chased by a ship’s cat, we were alone. Taking even further precautions, I huddled with the three girls. “I don’t want to explain how or why but yes, I have the ability to create cards of skills I’ve seen. Please don’t tell anyone about it. I think they may take it away if it gets out.”

I wanted to tell the whole truth but Nelly, at the very least, was sure to want a copy of the Imbue Card skill. Anna would figure out where she got it from and then I’d lose the skill all over again.

“What skills did you copy?” Nelly asked after a long while. “Show me your cards.”

“Show me yours!” I shot back.

She slammed her deck on a crate so fast it made me jump. To say Card Battlers got a bonus to Card Battle was an understatement. Her deck was bigger than mine and her cards were several times better. It made me wonder what chance normal players had against the NPCs that Nelly struggled to defeat. It was true what she said. I couldn’t touch any of her cards. My hand passed through them when I tried.

I laid out my starter deck along with a few of the cards I made. They knew about the Power Thrust card, so I included that along with the three I’d given Nelly and Cannonball. I kept the rest hidden.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Is that all?” Sasha asked, frowning. “Are you telling me you haven’t experimented with this at all since you copied Sasha’s skill?”

I shrugged. “We’ve only been in the game a couple days. Besides, I don’t have many skills.”

“Can you copy traits?” Nelly asked, sounding hopeful.

“I don’t think so,” I lied, worried she was going to ask me to make everyone heart decks. That would surely give me away.

“Can you copy any of my skills?” Abigail asked.

“I’d have to see you use them,” I replied, not mentioning I copied a basic version of her Angler trait.

“But I used a bunch of them,” she whined.

“You did?” I asked.

She frowned. “Couldn’t you tell by watching me?”

“No,” I admitted. “When Sasha used her skill she hit me with it and told me its name.”

“Want to try?” She asked. “I can tell you what they’re called and show you.”

“I don’t want to do this on deck,” I replied. “There are too many people out there.”

“Are you talking about the NPCs?” Nelly asked.

I nodded and we all stood in silence for a few moments.

Sasha broke the silence. “They aren’t real, you know.”

I had a feeling she was talking about Mary. Abigail saved me from having to answer. “I know! I can show you a skill that doesn’t require me to be near water.”

She fished out her tackle box. It consisted of several rows of compartments, each filled with various hooks and weights. Below that was a large space with bits of wire and fishing line.

“This skill is called Make Hook,” she announced, grabbing a bit of wire and twisting it with a set of pliers.

Once she’d made a crude design that was vaguely hook-shaped, the skill took over and her hand glowed. When it dimmed, the result was a shiny new hook that looked identical to one of the hooks in the compartment.

“I can use any bits of metal I find to make hooks,” she explained. “The same goes for weights and lures. When I run out of metal, I have another skill called Scavenge to get more.”

“Can you demonstrate that skill too?” I asked, eager to get the more useful skill.

Abigail winked playfully. “I showed you mine. Now it’s time to show us yours. Show us how you make a skill card and I’ll think about it.”

I took out a blank card and wrote the skill ‘Make Hook’ on it.

Make Hook

Card Battle Card

“What does it do?” Nelly asked as a picture of a simple hook appeared on the card above the lettering.

Make Hook

Attack + 1 to one monster

She whooped when the stats appeared on the card but I was more interested in what a card like that could do outside of Card Battle. If a simple skill could be used to make fishing hooks, could a Make Sword card do the same thing? I decided to experiment with that the next time I was alone.

“Are you satisfied?” I asked Abigail. “Will you show me the Scavenge skill now?”

“Give me a blank card,” she said after pausing to consider. “And the paintbrush.”

I sighed and handed them over. Abigail did a few strokes on the blank card before frowning when nothing appeared. “Why doesn’t it work? Where is the ink?”

“It uses mana for ink,” I replied before carefully adding. “I can’t say why it won’t work for you.”

She set the brush down and studied me for a bit. “Is that so? Oh, well. I guess I’ll show you how to Scavenge.”

To demonstrate, she kneeled and swiped her hand an inch off the floor. A light glowed in her hand and when she straightened up she was holding a few rusty nails.

“That’s my skill; Scavenge,” she explained. “There’s more to the skill title but I’d like you to just paint ‘Scavenge.”

I realized she had the same idea I had. Nelly and Sasha stood mesmerized as they watched our transaction. I did as instructed and wrote ‘Scavenge.’

Scavenge

Card Battle Card

Both Abigail and Nelly gasped as the image of a stick figure holding a shining treasure aloft appeared on the card. I inspected it again to see what it did.

Scavenge

Draw 3 Cards

“Is there a way for me to use that card?” Abigail asked.

“I want it too!” Nelly squeaked.

I chose to answer Abigail first. “If you use it outside of Card Battle, it will disappear after you use it.

“Let me try it,” Abigail whispered.

“No~o.” Nelly whined.

“I’ll make another one,” I placated Nelly while handing the card to Abigail.

Abigail wasted no time trying it out. The motion was the same, and she scooped up another shining object. When the light faded, she frowned. In her hand was a sprig of berries.

“What is this?” She grumbled.

“A snack by the looks of it,” Sasha giggled, speaking for the first time since we started the experiment.

Nelly surprised me and stuffed the card in her heart deck when I handed it to her.

“Can you make me another one for Card Battle?” she pleaded.

“Sure,” I replied. “Is that card really good enough for your heart deck?”

She grinned. “Did you check the stats?”

I had to look again to see the non-Card Battle specs.

Scavenge

Search the immediate area for hidden treasures. Chance of rare increases with perception

“Perception?” I asked, not familiar with the stat.

“It’s a hidden stat,” Nelly explained. “You can use it in Card Battle to predict how your opponent is going to move. I don’t know if it works on players.”

Hidden stats were another thing I was going to have to add to my list of things to investigate later.

“Can I have a few more copies?” Abigail asked.

“Me too,” Sasha said, practically bumping Abigail out of the way with her hand held out.

“I don’t mind,” I replied, starting to scribe more copies. “I’ll make plenty.”

“I don’t need anymore,” Nelly said with a satisfied grin.

“I might have to unlock Card Battler,” Sasha pouted. “Your class is so much more interesting than Pikeman. I haven’t even gotten to use my skills yet.”

“You killed those rats,” Nelly pointed out, trying to cheer her friend up.

“I know,” Sasha grumbled. “But all of you have cool classes that you love. I just picked the first class that looked good.”

“Maybe you’ll find something you like better in Mount Drunder,” I suggested. “I’m sure they have to have something.”

“Or you can talk the dwarves into giving me one of your classes,” she replied, waggling her eyebrows at me.

“I would if I could,” I replied. “I don’t think it works that way though.”

“It should be easy for the NPC whisperer,” she shot back. “That’s what you were doing with the waitress last night, right?”

Did she think I was getting hidden quests? I supposed that was easier than admitting the truth about what I was doing.

“Well, yeah,” I lied. “But it turns out that she didn’t have any quests for me.”

“You were gone an awful long time to come back empty-handed,” she replied. “What exactly were you doing?”

“Shopping!, I replied, grasping at straws. “I was also trying to pick up new skills.”

Sasha frowned but seemed to let it go. “Did you learn any?”

“Just what I showed you,” I replied before I remembered a simple trick I learned. “Oh wait, I know. How do you feel about breathing?”