They walked into the dimly lit tavern and Synexus looked around. The floor seemed to be sticky like something had been spilt. The bar was beautifully polished wood, and the stools were mismatched in color and style. It was fairly busy with only a couple of tables free. Some people were having quiet conversations while others were clearly inebriated. There were a few couples that looked like they were on a date, and they seemed annoyed at the few loud tables, but everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Two people were in the corner booth and waved to Vorin when they all walked in. Kumo and Synexus followed Vorin over to the table and sat down.
“Some introductions are in order.” Vorin said before starting, “This is Zullany, but we call her Zuls and this is Prith.” He then turned to the other side of the booth and said, “Then this is Synexus, and Kumo.”
They all said nice to meet you at one time in a jumbled abomination of sound. Vorin took the initiative again to continue, “As I said, we will be the only class chosen on our voyage. There will be two months on board, so it would be nice to get a gauge on each other before there is no turning back. Normally, we would have at least three more class chosen, but it didn’t work out like that this time. The route we are taking, however, has been deemed one of the safest.”
It was Prith who spoke next. “Yeah Vorin, because people can expect monsters to follow something you read in an information pamphlet.”
“Of course we can Prith, you know Vorin and monsters shop at the same sailing shops.” Zuls said with a little laugh.
“Come on you two, we were supposed to be professional around our guests.” Vorin turned to give an apologetic look at Synexus and Kumo.
“Hey Vorin, you said it yourself, we should get to know each other before boarding. If this is how all of you normally speak with each other then they are just following your orders.” Kumo said in a joking manner.
“I like her! She is exactly right, Vorin. I mean captain! Just following orders, sir!” Zuls piled on.
Synexus looked at Vorin who seemed like he knew arguing against it would only prolong the joke. Instead, he changed the subject.
“Alright, alright. What I was really hoping for was a conversation about our classes and abilities to ensure we all are on the same page. We never know how much time the danger will give us before it shows up once we leave the cities safeguards.”
“You’re no fun, captain.” Prith said and then took a swig of his drink. “You three don’t even have drinks yet.”
“Fine, lets get some drinks and then we get down to business.” With that Vorin waved over the tavern waitress. She came over quickly with a smile on her face and before she could even speak Vorin said, “I’d like your cheapest mourt over ice please, and whatever these two want.”
Kumo spoke up almost immediately, “I saw a colorful iced drink when I walked in, I’ll take whatever that is please.”
They all turned to Synexus who realized he hadn’t spoken yet except his quiet contribution to the mass voice earlier. His hands were fidgeting under the table. After what felt like an eternity but was actually a few seconds he found the courage to speak, “Sorry, I’ve never been to a tavern before. Do you suggest anything?”
Kumo put her palm to her face and said, “I totally forgot that you have never had a drink before.”
The waitress cut in, “that’s okay. Right now, we have a new specialty drink called, Nightsky Lemonade. It’s really good, and it’s only spiked a little.”
“Sure, I’ll have that then thank you.”
She smiled, “Of course, I’ll have those out for you in a few minutes.”
The waitress walked up to the bar and that was their queue to start their conversation once more.
Vorin looked at Synexus, “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I’ve honestly never met anyone who hasn’t been to a tavern before. Well, ever since I’ve become class chosen that is.”
“No, it’s okay. I grew up in the Branch settlement and they didn’t have taverns there. I’ve only ever been to Whisper where Kumo is from, and Gale.”
Zuls whistled, “The Branch settlement? I’ve never heard of anyone coming from there before. That must have been pretty sheltered then. What was it like?”
“It was sheltered which I’m now realizing the more time I spend out in the world, but it was also a great place to live. The Branch were kind and protected me when they didn’t need to. I wouldn’t have chosen anything different; it made me who I am today.”
“Rightly so! It’s good to be proud of where you came from. I’m from a small formation of islands that many people look down on, but they can all shove off. My heritage and my home are important to me, and I’ll carry that flame with me to the end.” Prith said with enthusiasm.
Zuls rolled her eyes and in a teasing voice said, “oh great, you got him started. The Smile Isles are the greatest place in the world.” She ended with a laugh and then looked back at Synexus, “I like to tease him, but I think it’s great that you take pride in where you came from. Being sheltered isn’t a bad thing. There are a lot of bad things in this world that we all have to come face to face with at some point. Being sheltered held that off for as long as possible. If you have some good friends around to help you navigate this world then it doesn’t take long to overcome.”
“I’ve noticed that. Kumo has been a great help to me. I’ve also learned a lot navigating this city the past few days alone. I like to sit on this bench in the market district and watch people living different lives than I have ever experienced. It helps me to realize how vast the world truly is. I can’t wait to see more of it.”
He finished talking just as the waitress appeared again with their drinks in hand. She handed Vorin his small glass of mourt with ice. It was a dark brown liquid that gave off a strong smell. Then Kumo reached out to take her tall glass full of an iced drink with a multitude of colors swirling together. Finally, the waitress handed Synexus his drink which looked like a refreshing blue liquid, but the thing he first realized was the cup it was in. The drink was in a bamboo vessel that was his nightsky variant. He winced when he realized.
They all took a sip and Kumo let out a sound of delight. “This is super good! It’s nice and sweet, but with that hint of alcohol.”
Synexus winced again at the burning sensation of the liquid. It was a refreshing taste, but the burn as it went down his throat was unpleasant. “Is it supposed to burn?”
Everyone at the table laughed except for him. “That’s how you know it’ll work. Also, it seems like this place really steered into that new bamboo variation craze with the barware and the tables outside.” Zuls quickly said after realizing Synexus didn’t understand why they had all laughed.
Kumo looked over to him with a smile on her face when Zuls commented on the bamboo variants. They really had taken over the city. She saw many of the class chosen on patrol with bracelets or even bamboo armor of all sorts of colors. “Yeah, the whole bamboo thing going on this city is wild, right?”
Vorin looked up from his glass, “What is going with all of that? I saw some of the other shipowners fitting new bamboo rails and stools onto their ships today.”
Prith slapped a hand onto Vorin’s shoulder, “Captain, we should get on that. I really like that new firelight variation. Imagine us sailing the seas at night and having some of those lanterns hanging overhead for our guests.”
“You know we can’t afford that. The fee is barely covering our overhead costs, but we can’t raise it without loosing our only competitive quality.” Vorin looked at Synexus and Kumo, “I’m sorry you two do not need to know about our financial problems.”
Without a second thought, Synexus reached into his bag and grabbed a handful of gold guins. He laid them onto the table in front of Vorin. Everyone looked at the pile of almost 60 gold guins and then looked up to Synexus. Kumo smacked her hand on her forehead again.
“What’s this? You two don’t need to pay the rest of your fees until the day after tomorrow. Besides, this is way too much.”
Synexus looked at him with a straight face, “I have too much money, and I don’t need it. It sounds like you could.”
Prith spoke first, “Quuazz yeah we could!” He picked up one of the guins before noticing the look Vorin was giving him. “But we can’t take this. We didn’t bring you here to ask for a handout.”
Kumo shook her head and said, “He hasn’t grasped the importance of money yet. He also isn’t giving you a handout. You said you had a small financial problem, and he likes to help people. Let’s call it an investment. We both will need to come back to Gale at some point, and it would be nice to have a seat on a ship with people we enjoy being on.”
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Zuls looked at both of them and realized how sincere they were being. “Vorin, we could use it, and I don’t think we should turn it down. It is an investment because I see all of us working together in the future. This could help us to make the ship a bit safer and add some comfort for the guests.”
Vorin looked down at the guins and then to Synexus, “are you sure? Also, where did you get this much money. We’ve been class chosen for two years now and even with a good paying job we haven’t been able to have much disposable income. You said you have been in Gale for what? Four days now?”
Synexus looked a little embarrassed at causing an awkward situation, but he did want to help. “I’m sure. I was told to come here, find a crew and a ship to make it across the ocean, so I could work on myself and my class. You all are allowing me that chance. I don’t really care for money much, but I realize it is needed to live in bigger cities. You seem like kind people, and it seems like this money will help you more than me.” He paused while considering if he wanted to tell them that the bamboo variants were his, but he knew they were going to talk about their classes tonight, so he might as well. “As for where I got it, well…” He lifted his cup. “I created all the bamboo variants. I’m working with The Grove to provide them for the city. They took off more than we thought and in the first two days, I made 2000 gold guins. I’ll be getting more tomorrow before we leave on the voyage.
There was stunned silence. Zuls had practically spit out her drink when she heard 2000 come out of Synexus’ mouth. Prith’s jaw was on the floor because his explanation was the last thing he expected to hear. Vorin looked puzzled like he was still processing everything.
Kumo laughed, “I know, right? His adventures are wild.”
Vorin looked at her and then back to Synexus. “2000?! And what do you mean created?”
Synexus sighed. “I guess I can start the class discussion first. I’m a Progress Druid. My skills revolve around storing genes of plants and animals into a library of sorts and then I can edit out the genes of other plants and animals to the desired result I want. Such as different colored bamboo.” He used Body Transmutation to turn his arm into the same night sky color of his cup. “I can also copy some of those genes to transmute my body for an additional option in combat. Then I can use Extreme Growth to rapidly grow plants and stimulate animal genes.”
He took a sip of his lemonade which was growing on him. They were all looking down at his arm taking in what he said. They had obviously not heard of it like Kumo hadn’t.
Zuls gathered herself first. “Wow, okay. That sounds awesome and I would love to talk to you alone a little later or tomorrow.” This got a look from the rest of the group, especially Kumo. “I’m a Bond Forger. My class revolves around forging bonds with animal companions. I don’t want to call any of them out in the middle of the tavern, but I’ll introduce you all on the ship. This…” She pointed to a bag on her hip, “is an animal dimensional bag. It allows me to store trusted animal companions into a dimensional space where they can live and rest until I call them out for combat or to hangout. I have a skill that allows me to call them out with a thought. The rest of my skills are buffs to allies including my animal companions.”
Vorin went next before anyone else could speak. “Synexus, I’ve never met anyone else with a collection skill. I’m a Plague Doctor. My class revolves around collecting diseases and ailments by healing people who have them. I can’t heal wounds though. I can then use that collection to give my foes those diseases or ailments through touch. One of my other skills allows me to create new diseases by combining the ones in my library. It doesn’t sound like much and when I started it wasn’t, but now it is a potent class. My other skills are about making my diseases resistant to healing, making them proliferate within my foes, and dealing damage in conjunction with how diseased my foe is.”
Kumo looked at him terrified for a moment. “Wow that is kind of a grim class, but I like it. I’m a Cloudmancer. I can fight with cloud blades that are condensed to be extremely sharp. I have a skill that allows me to release a sound and force wave to damage and disorientate my enemies, but it doesn’t affect my allies anymore. Another skill allows me to conjure fog which is helpful in combat to obscure my movements. Then I have passive skills like my own breeze, and a cloud that provides shade.” She ended with creating a small breeze which surprised everyone except Synexus.
“I guess that leaves me.” Prith said. “My skills are nowhere near as complicated as all of yours. I’m a Swordmaster. My class and skills all revolve around me, mastering various blades and fighting styles. I can make any of my blade’s sharper and more durable. I’m a damage dealer and I will go for the kill when I can. I’m a simple man.”
This made Vorin and Zuls laugh. “He is a very simple man.” Vorin said, trying not to laugh even harder.
“Hey! Take that back! It’s not like your diseases can stop my blades!”
“They won’t need to. I’m three levels higher than you, remember? “
“It’s not all about levels. It’s about how you use them.” Zuls added to the argument. “That reminds me, what level are you two? I’m 19, Prith is 20, and Vorin is 23.”
Synexus and Kumo looked at each other realizing how much lower their levels were than the other class chosen at the table. Kumo answered, “We are both level 8, but are close to level 9. We are hoping to get our classes to level 10 before we leave. That’s coming up pretty fast though.”
“No worries. We have been class chosen for two years and have worked together as a party for those two years. The first few months we all went on adventures together before settling in Gale to set up our voyages. You’ll level up fast until you hit level 10 and then it’ll get a little slower until you hit 20, and then it gets even slower. Every 10 levels you will hit a new wall. I’m sure you two will hit level 20 by the end of the two months at sea.”
Synexus had caught a little sorrow in his voice when he talked about all of them going on adventures together, so he didn’t want to ask about it, but he was curious about what would make them settle down in Gale. Instead, he turned to Zuls and asked, “are any of your companions owls?”
She looked confused and then laughed, “that was random, but no, I have never forged a bond with an owl. Why do you ask?”
“A Grand Umbra Owl landed on the balcony of my inn room the other night. It was majestic and I was able to copy its genome.”
“Wow, those are rare. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. Are you planning to alter it somehow with your abilities?”
“Well see, I don’t know how comfortable I feel about altering the genes of animals. I feel it’s a bit unethical except to heal or help them in some way. I’m trying to find a different way to a help a friend out, so I don’t have to harm any animals.”
“I like your style, Synexus. Most people don’t care about animals or nature. They care about power and will stop at nothing to gain more of it. It sounds like you understand that we still need to be on the right side of things. Why would your friend ask you to alter an animal?”
“Well, it didn’t necessarily. It wants an animal form to travel with us, and I thought an owl would be perfect for its purposes. I’m considering trying something that I believe will be more difficult but would be more ethical. Instead of putting my friend into an animal, I’m thinking of shaping my friend into the form of an owl. I’m not sure if it will work, but it would be the better way of doing things.”
They were all staring at him like he had done a magic trick, so Kumo broke the silence, “his friend is a tree, but also a seed in his bag. I’m confused too. His abilities are outside of things I need or want to understand.”
“So, you’re turning a seed meant to be a tree, into an owl instead of turning an owl into a tree?” Zuls said with a puzzled look.
“That’s the plan right now. I tried to ask it, but its consciousness goes in and out. Its one of the projects I need to accomplish before the voyage starts, but I need to get one of my skills to level 10 first.”
Everyone at the table except for Kumo asked at the same time, “Can I watch?”
Then they all looked at each other and laughed. Kumo said, “it’s incredibly boring to watch. You don’t see anything except for him focusing really hard and then out of nowhere some new plant grows.”
“I still want to see this seed becoming an owl. How often do you get to see that?” Zuls said with the nodding of Vorin and Prith.
“If everyone wants to watch then I’ll let you all know when I get my skill to level 10. I was grinding it all day yesterday and today. I can feel it close to leveling up to 9. That means I only have tomorrow to get another whole level. Luckily, we picked up some legendary plants today that will help.”
Prith looked at him and said, “wow way to subtly remind us that you’re rich. Legendary anything will cost a pretty penny. Did I mention that drinks are definitely on you tonight?” He finished speaking and then laughed.
“I would be happy to pay for the drinks, but we didn’t actually buy the plants. I recorded their genome with my skill, so I could experiment tomorrow.”
Vorin jumped in, “he was just joking about you paying for the drinks. Drinks are on me tonight since this was a get to know you for the voyage.”
“Well technically they are still on him since you are paying with the investment, he just gave us.” Prith laughed again while still looking at Vorin.
“I suppose you’re right. To Synexus!” Vorin raised his glass, and everyone followed to perform a toast.
Hours passed with laughter and conversation. They each tried a few different drinks and Synexus found out what he liked and didn’t like. The stuff Vorin liked was too strong for him, and the drinks Kumo liked were too sweet for him. He liked the ale that Prith enjoyed. The wine that Zuls was drinking all night felt familiar to him because he knew the traveling merchants at the Branch settlement would get some plants to make it when coming through. He didn’t mind the taste of it, but he wouldn’t drink it on a regular basis.
The night came to an end, and they all started leaving the tavern. Kumo and Synexus started to head back to the inn when Zuls caught up to ask him a question. Kumo left them alone at the request of their new friend. She said it was private and Kumo didn’t question it.
Once they saw Kumo head into the door of the Inn, Zuls started speaking. “Hey, so I apologize if this is too much. We only met a couple of hours ago, but I wanted to ask you a question about your abilities if that’s okay.”
“Of course! What would you like to know?”
“Well, as Prith mentioned, we went on adventures as a party the first few months of being class chosen. I don’t want to get into everything that happened to make us stop for awhile because it’s heavy and we don’t like to talk about it, but we got into a fight that we couldn’t get out of without some casualties.” She sighed and her eyes looked watery in the moonlight. “Worse things happened that day, but one of the things is that my snow fox companion, Snowfall, lost one of her eyes. She’s alive thankfully, but she hasn’t been the same. We’ve been training, but without her other eye, she’s struggling with combat. She is suffering and I can feel it through my bond. I’ve gone to healers, and none have been able to regrow her eye. There was one that specialized in healing animals, except he wanted more guins than I’d see in a lifetime. I can pay although it doesn’t sound like you’re interested in money. Whatever it takes.”
“Zuls, you wouldn’t need to pay or owe me anything. If I can help, then I’d like to. I just don’t know if I can. To be honest, I only got the ability to log animal genes two days ago. Can I see Snowfall?”
She nodded and then summoned a giant fox. Snowfall stood taller than both of them. She was pure white, and her claws and teeth looked like they were made of ice. The one eye glanced Synexus up and down before she turned to Zuls.
Synexus stepped forward to place his sensors on the snow fox, but she started to growl until Zuls brushed her fur and told her it was okay. The information started flooding in and his enhanced brain sorted through it.
Snow Fox (rare): 100%
