B6 Chapter 21: A Discussion

“We’re clean,” I said.

The others relaxed. Khem started unloading his more stationary alchemic equipment while Sereza summoned a chair and sank. Zog remained leaning against a wall, a faint smirk on his face, while poor Teldrin was left confused.

He slowly raised his hand. “What was that? Was that a skill? I’ve seen you activate it before, but not… It felt… wrong. Like my body was wrong from my… Insides.”

“You’re going to have to get used to it. It’s rather demanding, isn’t it?” Sereza chuckled.

“It’s a passive of mine,” I said while tossing some candy at Sereza’s head.

She batted it away and managed to skewer another with her tail, much to her disgust as the juice-filled snack oozed down.

“You use it like an active, though,” Teldrin said.

“Here, read it for yourself.”

I pulled up the system notification and sent it over. Teldrin’s eyes unfocused as he read through it, his expression growing more confused by the second.

“I don’t understand.”

“Welcome to the club. Another thing you’ll have to get used to,” Sereza teased.

I sighed and raised my finger, allowing a pulse of my aura to ring outward. “I was checking for hidden enchantments. I have an active that… Works more like a passive. You know what, don’t ask. Just know I was scanning the room in case there was a trap or listening devices.”

“It’s a bare-bones use of aura,” Zog threw in. “It’s rather remarkable. For a passive aura to be used in an active way before tier three. From what I’ve seen and felt of its effects, it is commanding in nature. One that is possessed by those who control the things around them.”

“Oh! Sir Ventus talked about aura. It’s a mixture of soul and pseudo-ether.” Teldrin looked at me with wonder in his eyes. The same sparkle and admiration that made a pit form in my stomach. “If you can produce an aura already, then he’s right. That is impressive!”

“Yeah…”

Sereza flicked an empty wrapper at me after a brief pause, shattering the awkward silence before it could settle. 

“Do you think they bought the acting?”

“Maybe. They’ve never met you, so it’s more likely to be believed. The captain isn’t dumb, however. If she takes the bait, it will be done slowly and cautiously,” Khrem said.

“If she takes it at all. She seems properly afraid of you. I have to admit, seeing the chain you conjured is horrifying. I don’t know if I’d show the same composure,” Sereza admitted.

I spared another glance at the boy, but he was calm and collected.

“Yeah, well. She’ll be free if she isn’t stupid. Actually, Zog, did you ever manage to get any info on them?”

In response, he conjured a stack of files and tossed them over. 

“They aren’t as extensive as some others, but she has some accolades to her name. Up and coming, a solid tier two. Thirty-four of undilated rift time. Beyond smuggling and some questionable black market trading, there isn’t much known.” Zog scratched his chin and stared at a picture of her first mate. “That’s the law side of things. In the pirate community, she is known to be cold and merciless. A tactician who hires petty criminals and turns them unerringly loyal. Other ships fear her for having a successful divination expert, as well as a trained group of pirate hunters.”

“Who are the pirate hunters?” Sereza asked.

“You know two of the five. Red stripe.”

I flipped through the folders until I found the one with a long red stripe on the front. I laughed upon seeing two familiar faces amongst the pages.

“That bitch.”

“What?” Sereza cut in.

I spun the folder around and she groaned. On the inside, our two servants-to-be, Inuk and Karre, were front and center. 

Inuk the Wind Shade. Known for delivering swift kills by launching herself toward enemy ships amongst ballista bolts. Apparently, she had a camouflage skill that operated on distorting the air around her. Helped mask her scent and sounds.

Karre was also wind-aspected. But unlike Inuk, he was known as the Shrieker. His powers of air branched into the sub-elements of sound and vibration. The go-to move was to pop people’s eardrums and shatter blades through controlled bursts.

The other three were faces I hadn’t seen deckside when we stepped onto the boat. That meant she kept them back just in case. Smart, but they were all tier two at most. Well, there was one exception.

The final dossier in the folder showed a plain man with an equally plain face. Human, brown eyes with darker brown hair. On the outside, there was no indication of his ascendant skills influencing his body due to his tier. 

Sereza looked at the file I was reading and frowned. “That’s a disgustingly short amount of information.”

Indeed. All it said in his file was medium-range mental user. Telepathy was confirmed along with telekinesis due to being spotted using floating daggers in combat. Beyond that, there wasn’t much information.

I shrugged. “I’ll pay him a visit. It’d be good to get some more training for Galarion.”

“Aren’t you already training under a god?” Sereza scoffed.

“Yes, but he’s so skilled that it’s almost wrong to call his training training. Pinning Galarion against a more tier-appropriate mind user would do him some good.”

“And you,” Khrem pointed out. “From what I remember, you need practice with your illusions.”

I grumbled at his comment and leaned back. By now, Khrem had already set up his stations and was carefully unloading the box of supplies we received from the Soluve guildmaster. I had helped him on a few occasions, so I could recognize a portion of the bottles, but the sheer amount of ingredients made my head spin.

Zog eventually settled down and started meditating, becoming a statue of meat and muscles. As for Sereza, she helped Khrem with some potion work, handling some of the toxic chemicals he had stored.

And that left me alone with the boy. Teldrin stared at me politely, waiting, expecting. He was dressed in a clean shirt made of light blue linen. He wore appropriate belts and straps, showcasing a knife on his thigh with a set of sturdy boots on his feet. Steel-capped, from what I could tell, and none of it enchanted.

When did he change clothes? I bet it was Ysanna. Fuck, I’m getting rusty.

I clicked my fangs and summoned a small device. It was one of two, with the other being kept by Khrem for safekeeping. It was expensive, but the duration wasn’t long and it was a one-time-use artifact. Within thirty minutes, the metal lining the enchantment would burn out, rendering the object into an inert block. No better than a paperweight in use.

When I activated it, a film of mana stretched around us, covering us in a light dome of vibrations. 

When I spoke, my voice came out with an echo that distorted until silence. “I put the barrier up. We have half an hour of privacy. Listen, Teldrin. I won’t make you reveal anything you don’t want to, but it would help to know what your affinities are. Ysanna has a gift for you, and I have a few skillstones as well, but they might not be a match. So–”

A mental ping came, and I read the request.

“Don’t worry, Cyrus. I trust you,” Teldrin said without hesitation.

“If you’re sure,” I said after a drawn-out pause.

The boy never wavered and the mental ping of the system came again with the rotating dot in the corner of my vision.

Opening it, I scanned through the wall of text that spelled out Teldrin’s future.

STATUS

Name: Teldrin 

Race: Awakened Riftborn (Human)

Age: 12

Tier: 0

Active Skills:

Passive Skills:

Perks:

Rift-touched

Ysanna’s Blessed

Legacy of the Living Pond

His race was a surprise. I knew that they called themselves riftborn, but I had never stopped to consider if it was an official classification after Ysanna extracted their souls from the rift. For all purposes, he looked and seemed to grow like a human. At least, on the outside. I had a suspicion that his perk would give me a clearer answer.

Rift-touched:

• Reshaped and reborn. Your soul will always carry with you the mark of one who belongs not to this world. 

• Minor increase to spatial-aspected mana.

• Minor resistance to mana-destabilization and etherious pressure.

• Hidden–Rift-Fragment-Core-Splice-Hidden.

Well, to be honest, that didn’t answer shit. Also, what the fuck is that last bit? 

Ysanna’s Blessed

• Blessed flock of the goddess Ysanna. 

• Minor protection from sea-sickness, lightning strikes, wind pressure.

• Minor increase to water-aspected mana.

It was an interesting mix of passives that made one perfect for living the sailor life. Another thing of note was that it said a minor increase to water-aspected mana. If what Celenae taught me was correct, it actually means an increase in affinity. With a higher affinity, the fewer skills cost, and the more powerful they were. 

Like his first perk, he would find a higher inclination toward spatial and water skills. Of course, if his spatial affinity or water affinity was naturally low, the minor increase wouldn’t override things entirely.

Not something I have to deal with as a Reborn…

I finally turned to the last perk. The one that caught my eye the moment I saw it and set my teeth on edge. 

“Teldrin,” I said carefully.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Do you know what the third perk means?”

Teldrin froze, as if caught doing something naughty. His excitement wavered, but then grew with his grin. He slowly nodded and tapped his chest.

“I have you to thank, right? What did Lady Ysanna give me for joining you? It’s a Legacy… Everyone knows the stories of Legacy bearers.”

“You don't have to thank me for shit,” I nearly snarled, managing to bite back the disgust before I let it trickle through. Teldrin flinched, but I shook my head and held up my hands. “Sorry. Sorry. Ysanna gave it to you. Thank her, it cost a lot more than you knew.”

He nodded solemnly. “I will in my prayers.”

I sighed. “Good. I’m not the best example for showing gods respect, but Ysanna is a good one. She deserves some thanks.”

“I understand.”

I clicked my fangs. Out of all the things she could have done for the boy, a perk wasn’t what I was expecting. 

“You’ve meditated before, correct?”

“Yes! Every morning and evening. Kids are encouraged to practice meditating as a habit for their awakening.”

“Good. Do me a favor and think about your soul. Your inner self and your status. Think of it like slots, or empty bubbles. How many do you see?”

Teldrin closed his eyes and assumed a standard meditation position. It was similar to how one pictured meditating monks, with his legs crossed and his hand resting on his lap. Except that rather than straight and rigged, he was relaxed and almost drooping.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Teldrin’s face started to scrunch. 

“I think I feel it? I can’t see it…” 

“That’s fine. What do you feel? There should be at least a set of two connected by a third.”

He scrunched harder, looking constipated, before his expression softened with a smile. Teldrin opened his eyes and beamed at me proudly. “Five pairs, and five more connected. Does that mean…”

I whistled. “Congratulations. You have the technical means to achieve godhood.”

“Godhood?”

“Technical. Because apparently, few people ever achieve tier four, let alone tier five. But congrats, nonetheless. You have as many slots as most nobles. That means ten actives, five passives.”

“Really? That’s amazing!”

I raised my hand. “Hold it. Ten actives and five passives are good. More skills, more mana, more opportunities. However, it also means it’ll take more to fill those slots. I was actually a tier zero for far longer than I should have been because I didn’t fill my slots fast enough.”

“Don’t worry, Cyrus. We are taught in schools what to expect.”

Wise kid. 

“Do you know how Legacies work?”

Teldrin opened his mouth, then closed it. He repeated a couple of more times before he finally shook his head. “Only that it influences your skills. It aligns them toward the Legacy itself. That and it’s inherited by your children.”

“Eh, close enough. Let’s see…” I tapped my thigh and scanned through my mental notes. “You know how I have familiars? Like Galarion and Erebus?”

“Yes!”

“Well, it’s because I have a Legacy. All of my skills align toward spirits, and so almost all of my skills were transformed into something that summons a spirit permanently. A familiar. Different from normal summons, apparently. If you remember, Teddy, he also had a Legacy. His made almost all of his skills aura based.”

Teldrin frowned. “So any skillstone I use will change the skill to align with the concept of a Living Pond? What does that mean?”

What indeed.

I opened up the final system notification and read through Teldrin’s perk.