Early the next morning, Rylan was woken by Soren for his guard shift as usual. Yawning, he went to sit in the mouth of the little cave they’d found in the opposite wall of the now-confirmed ravine.
Looking out into the fog slowly flowing by in the early morning light made his eyes start to droop again, so he decided to check his Status.
Status
Mana Pool: 13/13
Mana Shell: 3/3
Attributes
Strength 2
Dexterity 3
Endurance 2
Mind 3
Perception 3
Presence -1
Skills
Knife-Throwing, Rank 2
Jumping, Rank 1
Quint Structures
Mana Core, Tier I
Mana Pool, Tier I
Mana Shell, Tier III
Quintessence Credits: 58
After some discussion with his companions the night before, he’d decided to stick both of his free points into Mind.
He already met the requirements for the next Skill on his list—Knife-Fighting—and now he met at least one requirement for all Sapphire-Grade Skills. Unfortunately, he couldn’t meet all of the requirements for any Sapphire-Grade Skill in particular, as that required him to have ten points divided over three different Attributes.
The most he came up to was nine, combining Dexterity, Mind, and Perception.
From now on, he would only receive one free point for any additional Emerald-Grade Skill he gained, so his next point would be going into either Dexterity or Perception. He didn’t know which one yet, as Soren hadn’t been able to give him any specifics for Sapphire-Grade Skills.
If Tamina knew the requirements of any, she likely wasn’t able to share.
He’d also bought the third tier of Mana Shell, having decided that he wanted the Quintessence Structure at least at tier five before he started saving up for a better Mana Core. He’d considered whether a Mana Pool upgrade—which would double his current pool, giving him 20 points of mana plus 2 per point in Mind—would be better, as it would allow him to save up more mana for fights, but he ultimately kept coming back to the conclusion that a better Mana Core had more value as it meant more mana to train with.
And if he could train enough to earn a Sapphire-Grade Skill, the rewards would be much greater as well. According to Soren, Quinthar received 5 free points for their first Sapphire-Grade Skill, on top of 500 Credits for each Rank!
A shadow passed in front of the cave mouth, some presence blocking the dim early morning light, and disrupting Rylan’s deliberations. His fingers darted for a knife, but the shadow moved on, and after a moment of tension, he relaxed again.
As happened often in moments like these, his thoughts drifted back to his first ever watch in the cloudsea, and how na?ve he’d been about the dangers back then. He’d driven off his fair share of night-time predators since, and never lost himself fully in chores or training while on duty anymore.
They trained plenty in the evening anyway. Last night, aside from sparring with Tamina, he’d practised with his Jumping Skill, and even gotten a careful start on overcharging it.
Right now, he preferred to let his mana continue to recover a bit more. Whenever he filled up during the day, he could just spend some on a good overcharged Jump.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t doing any kind of training. Even if he needed to stay alert, watches were still long and boring, so he did as most mornings and went through the mana control exercises Tamina had taught him a while back, after he’d gotten his first Rank-Up for Knife-Throwing.
The exercises were simple enough. They all involved drawing some mana from his pool, moving it around inside his body, then pouring it back into the pool. When done right, it was an almost entirely lossless exercise.
And so, as Rylan sat there, keeping an eye on the entrance, he started with the first and easiest form. He drew some mana, moved it in a big circle through his chest, and returned it. After repeating that a few times, he moved on to more and more complicated shapes, and eventually to pushing it into and out of individual limbs.
For some reason, however, his mana appeared to be moving faster than before, less sluggishly...
Of course, I improved my Mind Attribute!
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The update to his spirit should have finished while he slept, and Soren had mentioned something about the Attribute improving his ability to manipulate mana. Rylan just hadn’t expected it to be so noticeable. This must be why all Sapphire-Grade Skills require a high Mind Attribute; you probably need it to form textured mana in the first place.
At the time, Rylan had been more interested in how Soren had said the Attribute would sharpen his mind. Apparently, it was hard to predict how exactly the effect would manifest in people, as it mostly awakened seemingly random, latent talents. After raising their Mind Attributes high enough, some Quinthar became inexplicably better with words or numbers, or took up a new instrument or creative skill like they were born to it. Others started remembering details of their past with startling clarity.
Rylan secretly hoped he’d be one of the latter. All he had left of his youngest years were vague impressions of a warm figure, haloed with gold, singing a half-forgotten lullaby. It might even just have been a dream, but he still clung to the possibility that it was an actual memory of his mother, from before he’d been dropped off at the Thistlethorns’ porch.
So far, however, he found it hard to tell how the Attribute affected him, if at all. Perhaps he needed more of it anyway, before it really became clear.
On a whim, Rylan once more attempted the ultimate goal of his current mana exercises: to push out and hold a ball of mana in the palm of his hand.
He sat up excitedly when, for once, the mana didn’t immediately merge into his Mana Shell the second it left his skin. For a brief moment, the small wisp of glowing mana pushed through and hung over his skin. But then it fell apart, lost to the air around him.
With a sigh, he slumped back down. While it seemed like improving his Mind Attribute had definitely been worthwhile, he clearly still had a long way to go before he could get a Sapphire-Grade Skill.
That morning, after they’d been trekking along the rock wall for some time, Soren suddenly stopped and pointed at the ground, his eyes going wide.
“Look!”
Rylan followed his finger down to the red clay in front of them, where he found a trail of hoofprints.
“That’s awesome, bud,” he said, sharing a knowing look with Tamina. Soren had barely shut up about the kelpies since their encounter the day before.
“It is, actually,” Soren replied, unperturbed, as his finger moved onwards, tracing the tracks. “Especially when you look at where these hoofprints lead.”
Rylan blinked, and took another good look. Then his eyes widened as well. The hoofprints led onto a ledge that ran along the rock wall, going up.
“One Hectocube says this path goes all the way out of the ravine,” Soren stated with a grin.
“None of us can afford that,” Tamina replied dryly. “Including you. And either way, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to take that bet. I have it on good authority kelpies are ‘some of the smartest creatures known to man!’ or whatever.”
“Well, they are!” Soren sputtered.
“Still not as smart as we are though, are they?”
Ignoring the banter, Rylan knelt down, studying the prints in the clay. “It’s not just kelpies that go up here. Those are armadon tracks, and I have no idea what these are... some kind of bird?”
“Looks more like a reptile,” Tamina replied, kneeling down next to him to have a look. “Birds have less of a sole. Also, they can fly, so they probably wouldn’t walk up in the first place. Either way, if more creatures use this path that’s good news, because that means anything can traverse it. Let’s go up. I’m sick of this place.”
Rylan approached the top of the cliff in a great mood.
The tingles were back.
He’d never thought he’d one day be relieved to once more feel tingles going up his spine, pulling him towards some mysterious destination, but that was just... life. Apparently.
He was also quite happy that the accompanying mysterious sense of direction confirmed that they hadn’t gotten turned around somehow, and had climbed up the correct side of the canyon.
It seemed whatever being was beckoning him had indeed had trouble reaching him down in the ravine, for whatever reason. Ethereon managed just fine, though. Perhaps it’s simply weaker?
Well, ‘weaker than Ethereon’ didn’t exactly help narrow it down. Actually, if a being as powerful as Ethereon needed Rylan’s help, he really wouldn’t know what he could possibly do for it.
All his musings ended when he finally reached the top and came to a halt next to his companions. Though Soren had predicted it, Rylan still hadn’t been ready for the sight of a true forest of kelp.
For once, the ever-present fog was not the biggest bottleneck for their vision. Instead, countless stalks of deep-blue kelp filled their view from the ground all the way up to where they disappeared into the fog above, most of them thin, but some too thick for Rylan to encircle with his arms.
Despite that, it wasn’t dark down below the swaying plants. Bulbous, buoyant growths along the stem gave off a soft blue glow, appearing like a canopy of stars of various sizes, that gently drifted back and forth in the currents.
“Called it,” Soren said softly.
“Fine. It’s quite pretty,” Tamina admitted, matching his volume. “Let’s keep moving. We’re too exposed here. Kelp forests are just as good a place to hide as reefs, so there’s bound to be predators here, too.”
Having said that, she glanced over at Rylan expectantly.
“It’s that or climb some kelp for a view, Mr. Tingles,” she said, a twinkle in her bright-green eyes. “And I just washed this surcoat.”
“Anyway,” she continued. “I have a feeling we’re going to have a hard time moving straight in there, so go ahead and lead the way, Ry.”
Rylan handed the backpack off to Soren, took another look at the dense kelp, and hesitated. He’d just had another tingle and still knew roughly which way to go, but...
“Do you think it’s safe to follow the wildlife tracks?” he asked, indicating the well-trodden path that led deeper into the forest. “We’d probably make better time that way.”
Tamina pursed her lips. “Nothing’s safe down here. But I doubt it’s any more dangerous than stumbling blindly through the kelp, so I’d say go for it.”
Beautiful as the gently swaying kelp forest was, walking through it was rather nerve-wracking. At first, Rylan jumped at every shadow—and there were a lot of those in the forest of bioluminescent kelp. When they didn’t come across anything but the occasional fogfish, amphibian, or crustacean for a while, he eventually relaxed.
It helped when Soren came up to walk next to him. “This is awesome,” the young noble whispered, staring up at the swaying lights. “Seeing one of these has been a dream of mine for years. I practically begged my dad to take me once I became a Quinthar, but he just kept saying I wasn’t ready yet...”
Soren fell silent then, some emotion passing over his face.
“You’re going to be reunited with your family,” Rylan promised. “One way or another.”
Soren flashed a smile at him, but it quickly slipped. “But you’re not coming with, are you?”
Rylan sighed, turning his gaze back to the front, making sure to check up as well. “Somewhere out there, I have a family I’d like to be reunited with too, you know? Well, probably, anyway. I might not end up liking them, of course, but... I’d at least like to get a chance to find out.”
Soren hummed. “That’d be nice. Probably.”
“Probably,” Rylan agreed with a small smile. He hesitated for a moment, then decided to bring up something that had been burning at the tip of his tongue for a while now. “You know, I, uh, think my father may have sent me a letter.”
Soren actually stumbled for a moment. “Wait, really? How come you never said?! And what do you mean may ha—”
“All right, keep it down,” Rylan laughed, glancing back at Tamina, who was covering their rear. Part of the reason that he’d been hesitant to bring up the letter was that it hinted at secrets that probably shouldn’t be spread. While he was considering confiding in Soren, he didn’t feel he knew Tamina well enough yet to trust her with something this personal and sensitive. “I never told you because it only happened recently.”
Soren shot him a look.
“Not down here, obviously,” Rylan said, rolling his eyes. “But, very shortly before we ended up here, while we were still fighting. And I said it ‘may have’ been sent by my father, because there’s a scratched-out word at the bottom, and I can't quite tell what it says.”
“You brought it with you?” Soren asked excitedly. “Can I see?”
On the other hand, Soren might know some things about its contents, like the location of The Knackered Hag, or something about Rylan’s supposed caretakers. If so, his reaction to it could be quite... informative.
Rylan finally sighed. “I’ll be honest: I kind of want to show you, but I also kind of don’t. It’s pretty personal. Do you mind if I take some time to think about it?”
Soren’s face fell a little, but he immediately started nodding. “No, of course, of course... Honestly, this probably isn’t really the time or—”
Suddenly, a deep thump rang through the kelp forest, stopping all three of them in their tracks.
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