“Alright, let's test my new skill. Boriss, y your sword down oable.”

  Boriss obliges. He uhes and carefully ys the curved sword oable, on its side. The metal shimmies off the ntern light as I take a good look at it. “Alright, how do I activate Remote Examination? Do I just think about using the skill while staring at it? Because I am right now, and nothing is happening. Myers, any advice?”

  The old man leans forward. He examihe sword, more so the leather scabbard. “Many [Captains] get [Remote Examination] ier levels because the requirements for unlog the skill requires two or more skills of the type in your crew.”

  “Wait! Are you saying that if Emma never joined, I wouldn’t get this skill?”

  Myers nods. “Precisely so. Many skills have prerequisites that o be pleted before they bee avaible. The same is true for csses- not that I know what a [Shifter] css is capable of being.”

  I stretch my left back paw. “I see. I’ll keep that in mind. Now, [Remote Examination]. How do I activate it?”

  “[Remote Examination] is a passive skill that allows you to activate the requisite skills of your crew. For that, you must think of them activating their skill for you and not your own.”

  “Oh, so if I think about Emma using [Identify Item] then it sho- there we go!”

  Name

  Shamshir of Slig

  Rarity

  Exceptional - 8 Runes.

  1(1-Durability)1(1-lightweight)2(3- Enhanced Sharpness)Description

  This greatsword is +30% more durable, +30% lighter i, and is +150% sharper.

  Sustain

  0.10% Mana regeion per minute.

  A simple floatihrough box of text mas directly above the sword.

  “Oh, that's . What if I use Cillians [Sense Rarity] skill .”

  Name

  Curved Greatsword

  Rarity

  Exceptional

  Description

  This on is an overly rge runed curved sword. You do not have suffit knowledge to deduce where this on is made and by whom.

  “Iing. The information is different, and g. The sword is named Curved Greatsword instead of Shamshir of Slig.” I g Myers. “Any reason for that?”

  “These types of swords are created by the desert wolven. They call them Shamshir. A Shamshir of Slig just means that the most advanced rune on the sword is [Enhanced Sharpness]. Hehe naming.” Myers expins. “Cillian, if giveion, would categorize the on as a Curved Greatsword.”

  “I see. Well, this will still still be useful.”

  A nearby door squeaks open and a drowsy Cillian walks towards the table.

  “rade Cillian. You are awake, yes?”

  Cillian blinks at Boriss’s grihen looks at me and Myers staring at him. The man looks like he’d awoken from a hangover.

  “What happened?” He asks and I snort.

  “You drank six bottles of wine and passed out on Morris’s floor. Boriss had to carry you back to the ship.”

  He blinks rapidly as what I only presume as memory enters his noggin.

  “Didya get the tract?”

  “I did. Checked it, sig, and already loaded the goods. I have to admit, I wasn’t expeg twenty-seven thousand trist to leave the ship in their care. Morris looked kinda upset about it- like he just took a bite out a lemon, or smelled some shit.”

  “He was greedy, I was greedier. Now, I think I need a drink.” He walks up to the cupboard and grabs a bottle of some new alcohol. “Finally something good.”

  He uncorks the bottle and takes a gulp. “Yup, this is good. He gnces around. “Where is everyone else?”

  “Emma, Irmgard, and Cy are still sleeping. It’s five in the m.”

  “Shit… how long was I out?”

  “Twelve hours.” I answer.

  He nods slowly. “Must have been good wihen. Shame I don’t remember much. So, when are we leaving?”

  “Ten ho. We’re moving to our destination.” I look at the old man. “How long until we’re at the tower?”

  “A day or two depending on the winds. Speaking of which,” he gets up off his chair. “I should check our heading and make sure nothings ged while I was down.”

  Myers walks away from the table, up the stairs, aers the deck.

  When the doors shut, Cillian taps his . “Quasi, he’s got a secret. A big one.”

  “Da, big secret.” Boriss nods. “Like KGB spy big secret.”

  I y down oable right o the Shamshir. “Doesn’t matter. I made a deal. He helps with information and I let him tag along. Granted, his willio py navigator and pilot the ship does put him in a good light. Also Cy. Cy is a good kid.”

  “Da,” Boriss nods ,”good child.”

  Cillian yawns. “Too polite if you ask me.” He grabs another bottle. “I’m gon some more sleep.”

  The Scott leaves the kit with a bottle in both hands.

  I stand up. “Well, looks like its us two. Grab the Shamshir and follow me to the hold. Lets see what you do with that sword.”

  _________________________________________________________________

  Just like over an o, so too does the sea of mana rage. A storm brews far above, the clouds gray and stormy. Droplets of rain fall from overhead, mere warning of what is to e. Lightning surges and thunders like a musi tuning his instrument.

  The only saving grace is that the winds have yet to grow dangerous. They are subdued… for the time being.

  “This storm’s going to be big. If we turn baow, we avoid the worst of it. Otherwise, we’ll be in danger unless we tether to the tower. Frigates don’t do too well in storms, at least not ones as bad as the one brewing above.” Myers expins. The old man is currently holding firm on Timbergrove’s core while staring directly ahead.

  Squinting on his shoulder, I see the distant outline of what may well be the tower. Which is less vertical and more horizontal.

  “I think I see something at the base of the tower. Some lump.”

  Myers g me before removing his hand and grabbing his spygss. He raises it up to his eye.

  “Three ships are moored to the tower. One Galleon and two dedicated destroyers. All three have fgs denoting them as part of the Tower Ecclesiasticus.” He lowers the spygss and then takes the orb.

  “Are they friendly?” I ask.

  “Out of all religious groups, they are the frie and most wele to outsiders. If we he tower, they will likely assist in log down the Timbergrove to weather the storm.”

  “Sounds good to me. Full speed ahead.”

  ______________________________________________________________

  Kneeling uhe growing onsught of rain, James tinues his prayer towards the one divine great creation. Before him, the great tower's entrance lies open, accepting the worship of its pilgrims. Holding the tower rosary within his palms, he offers a prayer, oed by the [Priests] behind him.

  The prayers tinue even as the wind and storm intensify. But, sutensity is muted when so close to the tower's divine presence. Indeed, staring at the the entrance, raindrops fall and slide down an invisible barrier that only allow the immaterial to enter. It is through prayer, belief, and words that the divine may listen to his mortal servants.

  Only with the sound of approag g metal does James allow his prayers to halt. He turns to find a trim-bearded man in golden armor kneeling towards the tower but head swerved to face him.

  “[High Padin] Simon, have you e to join in prayer, or has something e up?” James asks. As devout as the man is, he takes his holy duty of prote very seriously.

  “If only, [Bishop] James. I e bearing information. A thhly armed cored frigate approaches bearing the name Timbergrove.”

  “[Pirates]?”

  “Unlikely. Nor do they hoist any fg.”

  James nods. “Then t them with open arms as is dictated by our teags. Assist them with dog their ship. Then hoist a tent with food and drink and offer sanctity closer to the divine ear. If they accept, I will speak to the crew and offer prayers that they may need.”

  Simon smiles and nods. “Of course, [Bishop].”

  The [High Padin] looks to the entrance. He offers a silent prayer before standing up and rushing away.

  As he leaves, James returns to leading the service.

  __________________________________________________________

  The winds have grown violent and the rain has e p. Lightning violently rumbles overhead nearly every minute. With every rumble es a fsh as the storm seems to intensify.

  “How’s the ship ing?” I ask Myers.

  “Surprisingly well. The added weight is making it easier to deal with the winds. We should make it to the tower before it gets unmanageable.”

  “Good, good.” I nod slowly. I g myself to find my fur having ged to a fluffy light blue color. As the droplets of water fall ohey slide off as though I am made of oil.

  At our current position, I see the tower perfectly. The tower looks like a nail- where the bottom is a very rge disc with the tower in the ter. The radius of the disc is easily in the hundreds of meters, with the tral towers radius in the dozens of meters. Vertically, the tower is as tall as it is wide.

  It is then that I focus ohree ships docked at the edges.

  Bate (Five-Mast Destroyer)

  Max Speed: 15 knots

  stru: Wood

  Modifications: Thick Hull. Expanded Gun Deck

  Hull Iy: 3740/3740 Mana

  Mandrake (Five-Mast Destroyer)

  Max Speed: 15 knots

  stru: Wood

  Modifications: Thick Hull. Expanded Gun Deck

  Hull Iy: 3344/3344 Mana

  Towers-Keeper (Four-Mast Cored Heavy Galleon)

  Max Speed: 13 knots

  stru: Wood

  Modifications: Expanded Living Quarters, Expae

  Hull Iy: 15,963/15,963 Mana

  “Myers, how strong is a Galleon pared to a Destroyer? Actually, what's the rankings between ships all about?”

  Myers grunts as he mahe ship's side and top mast to realign the ship's dire. The man is soaki everywhere except on his face. Sitting on his head, I use my body as a makeshift hat to keep the rain from getting in his eyes.

  Then he smiles as he usually does wheiarding ships are asked. “Let's start with the sed question first. As you know, the smallest css of ship avaible are corvettes and to a lesser extent, sloops. These ships are fast and very cheap to produce. But they must absolutely avoid storms and do not have enough ste space for long voyages.”

  “So what's the differeween Sloops and Corvettes?” I ask.

  “Sloops are much smaller and are more along the line of transport between isnds. Many much rger ships may have a sloop or two they deploy for easier dog on isnds. Regardless, both ships are very small. Most [Captains] would look to quickly upgrade to a frigate, which is where ship size doubles. Frigates is where most [Captain] bee less members of a crew and more a leader of them. They are a favorite of first time [Captains] and are sometimes perma homes for aire family.”

  “You mentiohe smallest css had Corvettes and Sloops. Is there a different type for a frigate?”

  “Some have attempted to produce a variant, but none have succeeded. Frigates are just ne enough for such signifit ization.”

  “But the smallest css is?”

  Myers goes silent for a moment before he speaks. “I should mention that there are six css rankings of ships. They are based on the six rankings of cores. Core ranking from stroo weakest is White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold, and e. A ship is able to use a core equal to its ranking or one higher and one lower. Two cores lower and the core anipute the ship. Two cores higher and the ship's hull will be overloaded with mana- causing the ship's hull to degrade. A corvette have a green core installed, but a sloop would degrade because it is so much smaller.”

  Six rankings, six csses of ship sizes based on how well they handle cores.

  “Simple enough.”

  “Good. The third css of ships after frigates are destroyers and haulers. Destroyers are bat focused vessels and Haulers are trade focussed. pared tates, they are anywhere from a third to a half ship rger. Both haulers aroyers be modified into the other- except for dedicated military destroyers. Those ships will be built with a thick hull that ot be removed, but they are far stronger and resilient in bat at the expense of internal space. Many [Pirates] fly haulers modified into destroyers. They add more ons and speed, but nowhere near enough resilieo handle a dedicated military vessel.”

  I shift my body more forward to better block the rain. “Yea, I noticed that by the differen hull iy. Dedicated military destroyers have three times as much hull iy pared to my frigate.”

  “Four times, actually. Cored ships have higher iy.”

  “Well, that big ass ship over there is a Four-Mast Cored Heavy Galleon named Towers-keeper. It has nearly sixteen thousand hull iy- more than twice the amount of those two destroyers bined and nearly thirteen times the Timbergrove. Am I looking at the fourth css, or is this the fifth? Because that ship is only twice as big as a destroyer but is so much more resilient.”

  Myers releases a rare chuckle. “Many [Captains] make the same mistake when they first set eyes on a css four. Which is uandable because all ships higher than a css three are built with different wood. Csses oo three use arborean wood for strug the ship's hull. Such wood is cheap to produd quick to grow. Unfortunately, Arborean wood ot adequately support ships rger than css three. Instead, css four, five, and six ships are made using der-oak, Darkwood, or Heart-Cypress. All three are much strohan Arborean, but also more expehat galleon looks like it’s made using darkwood.”

  “Is galleon the only ship type at css four?”

  “No. Css four prises galleons, cruisers, brigantines, and galleys. Galleons are vertically rge with big holds. Brigantines are the same except a bit smaller and faster. Cruisers are more horizontal with higher speed and mobility. Galleys are simir to cruisers but with more speed and are exclusively used by the Buxon.”

  Myers clears his throat. “Do hat these ships be heavily modified for a variety of roles.”

  I figured as much.

  “Is Css five and six just bigger ships?”

  “They are. Css five prises Battleships, Barges, and Capitals. Battleships are as the name suggests, ships dedicated for bat. They are capable of taking oire fleets of css four and ing out on top. Barges are trading vessels with enough space to feed cities. Capitals are ships that are built to be effective at everything, including bat. The admiral of a try's navy will only be aboard a capital ship.”

  Myers frowns as a particurly strong bit of wind hits the ship. He mahe sails and puts us ba course. “We’re almost at the tower. Looks like they’ve already got a weling ittee.”

  I stare at the dock to find several men of mostly human species standing ready with rope.

  “We’ve got a minute. What's the st css of ships?”

  “Css six is uhey prise only the Carrier css. Carrier css ships are from five to ten times rger than a css five. They also all require an e core to fun. The number of such vessels be ted in the single digits.” Myers pauses for a moment. “We’re nearing the docks. I’m slowing down now. Get your crew to throw some rope as soon as we’re docked.”

  The sails on the Timbergrove swerve and shift, causing the ship to rapidly decelerate.

  “Got it.”

  I hop off and rush io get help.