Within the bowels of the timbergrove, a group of individuals rest within the mess hall. They sit around an old regur table with some degradation. Atop the table is a dle that barely illumihe room in a soft glow. he dle ys a kitten, its eyes stare at the flickering light with annoyance.

  “You bought dles?” I gre at the Scot as he struggles to open a firmly corked bottle.

  “Who the fuck corks this so ha-there we go.” Cillian grins when he finally mao opetle. He then starts p the liquid into several cups oable. Old, ceramic cups, but cups heless. “Because they were cheap.”

  “That's fine, but couldn’t you have bought a ntern or something? Or even an oil mp?”

  “I could’ve.” Cillian finishes filling the st cup and then pushes the cups to all those that are of age to drink. “But they didn’t have much, and what they had was needlessly expensive.”

  I groan.

  “Fine, whatever. We’ll make do with dles for now.” I look to Myers. “Time for you to answer questions. First, let’s go with the simple one. What do the different traits do and how, uess, what, do the attributes ge?”

  He blinks. “That is not as simple a question as you think it is.”

  I nod and wave a paw for him to keep going.

  “Hmm, it may be best to start from the beginning. You’ve all seen your character sheets, correct?”

  We nod.

  “Then we’ll start with the five ns. Traits are your mental and physical attributes. Human Average, or whatever species you may be, is what the base traits of your species is. IBD, or Individual Base Calcutions, is what your own unmodified capability is. Both Human Average and IBbsp; ge over time. Especially IBC, which be increased with excursion.”

  He looks at us, making sure that all are listening to his every word.

  “Level modifications are pertile increases to your IBC. You gain a single pert improvemetribute point. Your Trait Actual Value is the final value after all modifications have been implemented.”

  “And the traits themselves?” I ask.

  He chuckles. “You sound like an eager child who just got their css.”

  He clears his throat with a sip from his cup. “There are seven traits. Strength, Endurance, Vitality, Perception, Intelligence, Mana, and trol.”

  “We’ll begin with the first trait: Strength. Strength is your Tensile Muscur Force. It is the most popur trait to modify for the average man. It increases the strength of your muscles, allowing you to lift more, wear heavier armor, and overpower others if you get into a fight. But, there is a limitation, which leads to the rait: Endurance.”

  “Endurance is your resiliend rigidness. It is your body's ability to withstand physical stress. This trait makes you more durable and capable of withstanding physical trauma. If you are of a race that has natural armor or ons, they too will beore durable. Now, on the subject of the caveat. Strength makes your muscles stronger. You push and pull harder, but if your Endurance is too low, then you will tear your muscles in the process. For most, two to one muscles to endurance is reended.”

  “I imagine people ighat fact.” I ent.

  He nods. “They do, and they only get away with it because they do not know how to utilize their full muscur capacity.”

  “The rait is Vitality. Vitality is your body's ability to heal wounds, recover mana, resilieo iions, poisons, and a longer lifespan. This trait is popur among women and the aristocracy for the lifespan alone.”

  “That's a trait you’ve increased by quite a bit, isn't it?” I ask the old man who talks like someone over a tury old.

  Myers nods. “Of course. A longer, healthier life allows more time to gain wisdom and levels.”

  “How is the increase in lifespan calcuted?” Irmgard asks, intrigued.

  “It is a direcrease by the pertage. Putting a hutributes into Vitality will double your lifespan.”

  “Huh. If your normal lifespan is one-hundred, all you o do is gain a level or two a year, and you could be immortal.” I ent.

  He sighs. “If only leveling did not bee expressively more difficult the more you level.”

  “Is dere a max level?” Cillian asks with a sed bottle in his hand.

  “None have exceeded y.”

  So, levelis progressively harder and the soft-cap is in the eighties.

  “For vitality, I noticed a pertage and the letters M/R/M. What is that?”

  “Mana Regeion per Mihe pertage is how much of your maximum mana yee per minute. For most, it is rather low, but certain lineages have grossly increased base pertages.”

  “The rait is Perception. Perception is your physical senses like Touch, sight, smell, hearing, and taste. It is, as you’d expect, a rather unpopur and unmodified trait.”

  “The rait is Intelligence. Intelligence is your learning speed, memory retention, and memory recall. It is also a trait rarely taken except for certain csses like [Researcher], [Librarian], and [Teacher].”

  He strokes his beard slowly with his left hand while his right hand traces the cup in front of him.

  “Now, the rait is Mana. It is the simplest trait in the sehat all it does is increase your maximum pool of mana. It is a trait only improved by [Mages].”

  “Mageek? Dey hav Mageek?” Cillian slurs with a third bottle in hand.

  Myers stares at the drunken Scot for a moment. Then he remembers he has his own drink. He takes a chug and tastes wine. He coughs for a moment as the potent drink slides dowhen clears his throat. “Yes, there's magic, though we probably won’t see any [Mages] this far from the major nations.”

  “And the st trait?” I ask.

  He grunts. “The st is trol. trol is arguably the most plicated stat. The trait improves physical and magical accuraovement. It allows you to use activatable skills more often, makes said skills activate faster, improves skill radius, and increases the speed at which mana is maniputed- which allow for faster casting. The skill is favored by [Duelists], [Archers], and any css that utilizes precision ons or equipment.”

  “And anyone who has an activatable skill.” I add.

  Myers Grimaces. “Activatable skills show up only in expert csses, and very rarely in advanced ones. If you add all of your attributes to trol expeg an activatable skill, then you will be firmly disappointed.”

  “Vhat is advanced and expert?” Boriss finally speaks. Though he’d been silent the eime, all of that time ent listening and learning.

  “Those are just css rankings. You bee an advanced css at level twenty five, an expert at fifty, and master at seventy five.”

  I stretch my paws forward and back before ying back down. “What about titles?”

  “You’ve unlocked titles?” Myers asks, surprised. The old man leans forward, now very ied.

  “I have ole that I got for solving the corruption problem.”

  And like that, Myers' i subsides.

  “Ahh, it is a single use, then. Pity. Titles are difficult to obtain and information on how to obtain them is a closely guarded secret.”

  Before I ask another question, the dlelight flickers out, drowning the room in darkness.

  “Goddamit cillian, your dles are trash. They don't even st. No wohey were so cheap. Go light another one.”

  I am met with silence.

  “Cillian?” I g the Scot. His eyes are closed and drool leaks from his mouth.

  “Goddammit.”

  “Is fine,” Boriss gets up, “I will light dle.”

  “Actually, fuck the dle. Brihat glowing ball. We’ll use that fht.”

  “Da.”

  Boriss leaves the mess hall aurns with a bag. He removes the bag and the entire room is smothered in a bright gold glow.

  Myers' mouth falls open while Cy smiles at the glowing ball.

  “That's a gold core. How did you get something so rare?”

  “From the corruption.” I tell him.

  Boriss pces the orb in the middle of the table, wherein Myers leans closer.

  “Amazing. I’ve only seen two of these before, and both were installed on ships.” He leans back after a moment and then looks at the cat. “That title you got, it is Leviathan Syer, isn’t it? Only a fully formed adult Leviathan could produce a gold core.” He shakes his head. “It must have been heavily injured and dying already. You must have fi off.”

  “Huh. So, how much do you think this thing is worth,” I pat the orb between my paws like a ball of yarn.”

  “You could buy several isnds with a gold core. Hell, you could buy aire fleet of cruisers.”

  “So, what you’re saying is that I’m the wealthiest kitten in the world.”

  Myers brain stops for a moment as he digest what I’d just said, then he chuckles.

  “Yes, you’re the wealthiest cat in history.” He adds, jokingly, which gets cy giggling and Irmgard showing the slightest smile.

  “Vhat is funny?” Boriss asks, fused. “rade Quasi is like fluffy unist supreme ander. When leader is rich, all is rich?”

  His wet a snort out of me, which turns into ughter when I note his rather serious and fused expression.

  Only after the ughing stops, do I ask my question.

  “So, Myers, I know about csses, but what are jobs? How are they different?”

  Myers nods. “Ahh, yes, you’ve not slept yet. Whe you sleep, you will be presented with the [Ship Captain] job. Simir to your css, the job level up to your current level of css. But unlike a css, a job be removed. For example, if you were to lose this ship, you would lose the [Captain] job as well.”

  Myers looks at the other three members of my group, staring at Cillians drooling face for a slight bit longer. “When you get the [Captain] job, you will be offered several Jobs that you admio your crew based on your ship, your level, and the css of the crewmember. As you level and improve your ship, more and more jobs will bee avaible for you to give.”

  “This, in turn, directly enhances your job based on the number of crew, their levels, your level, and your css. These enhas be anything from trait improvements to entire passive skills.”

  So, jobs level up to the level of the css, but unlike a css, they be lost.

  “If you lose your job, do you lose your levels and then have to level again?”

  Myers leans bato his chair. “No. You will immediately regain the levels if the job is taken again.”

  “What about leveling speed? Are they slower or faster than csses?”

  “Faster.”

  “And you only have one job?”

  “Yes, though you ge jobs easily. In rger ships, it is on for people to have levels in several jobs. This way, if a crew member dies or is injured, another member take his pce.”

  I’ll have to look into that once I figure out what the jobs provide.

  “Last question. You mentioowers and some cult?”

  “The Tower Ecclesiastibsp;are zealots, but I would not sider them a cult. They have grown rather rge and anized sihe towers rose.”

  “And the towers are…”

  Myers grunts. His hand strokes his beard again. “Over a hundred years ago, innumerable metal towers rose from the bottom of the p and started floating like isnds. They are rge structures with iructible metal. The towers have some form of barrier blog the entrahat as of yet has never been traversed. Over the tury, people began worshiping the mos, f a cult, aually a religion around them.”

  F a religion off of iructible towers? Yea, that's a first for me.

  “I should be able to traverse the barrier since I’m a champion.” I announce, which gets an eyebrow raise from Myers.

  “So you’ve bee a god's champion?” Irmgard frowns. “When did you wish to tell us this?”

  Tell you? Didn’t I already… oh.

  “I fot.”

  She frowns at my answer.

  “What? I may be amazing, but even I fet shit- and it's not like it was important at the moment.”

  “rade Quasi, you are unist ander. You must not keep secret. Is bad for trust. We are family, yes?”

  I pout towards the Russian. Somehow, being reprimanded by him hurts expoially more than Irmgard being upset.

  I sigh.

  “Yes, sorry. I just figured it wasn’t important. I rioritiziing ourselves in a better position.”

  Boriss grins. “Is good apology.”

  “Why do you o go to these towers?” Irmgard asks.

  “To win the god games. I o visit all seventy two of them, and the tower's location will be revealed. I imagiering the st tower will beat the game.”

  “And why should I follow you around?”

  “Because you’ll get to level very fast and I’m currently the safest option. Also, because I’m a great leader.”

  Boriss nods at the st part.

  “But really, I’m not f you to follow me. If you ever want to leave, you . I’ll leave you with s and supplies, and you go your own way.” I point a paw at Cillian and Boriss. “That goes for all of you.”

  Boriss frowns but stays silent.

  Cillian drools and also stays silent.

  Irmgard folds her arms. “I will keep that in mind.”

  I turn my attention bayers. The old man has been silently listening in on our versation.

  “So, you’ve heard I o find the towers. Any nearby?”

  He nods. “There are some, but I would not reend going to them as they tend to be far from the safer routes.”

  “Don't really have a choice.”

  “Then you’d best get more crew and ons. Without ons, every [Pirate] is going to be attracted to this ship.”

  Right, ons. This ship’s got no ons.

  “Where would I get ons?”

  The old man grunts, “Most towns dont sell or buy ons. You’d have to go to a major port, or a town that specializes in produg the ons. The closest I think of is Breston, but that is a good month away.

  A month is a bit long- or maybe not. Holy, I should probably see about getting hold of a map.

  “Anything closer?” I ask

  Myers rubs the side of his gss with a thump. “Well, if you don't mind dealing with unsavory types, we visit port Enigma. They tend to have a variety of illicit goods for sale. You probably buy some used ons from them.”

  “How much closer is Enigma?”

  “Four days minimum if the weather permits.”

  “That's a lot better than thirty days. Is Enigma some kind of pirate town or something? Am I to expect trouble?”

  He shakes his head. “Not necessarily. The town deals with all manner of trade, including [Pirates] and even [Pirate Hunters]. So long as we stay armed and follow the town's minimal ws, then there shouldn't be a problem.”

  “You mentioned we’d need crew.” Irmgard interrupts. “ we even find reliable, trustworthy crew there? It seems like a of vipers.”

  Myers chuckles. “Sometimes, vipers make better crew than rats.”

  “Da,” Boriss nods and points at me. “Rats will cry and hide from kitten. Ster.”

  I g Boriss for a long moment, and then turn tard. “Have you leveled your css yet?”

  “I have not.”

  “Then I’m putting you in charge of the new crew- as soon as we figure out what crew we need.”

  I return my attention to Myers. “Though I probably don’t o ask this, do you know how to get to Enigma?”

  “I remember the way, yes. Just know I’ll o slow the ship while I sleep, unless any of you have traio pilot a cored ship by ce?”

  “You teach me,” I say.

  He raises an eyebrow. “It takes years to learn to use a core.”

  “Give me a day,” I say fidently.

  He shakes his head while I stretd release a yawn.

  “Alright, I’ve got more questions, but I’ll ask them tomorrow. For now, I’ll go to sleep. Boriss, take Cillian to one of the beds and go sleep. Irmgard and Myers will take first watch.”

  “Cy, you’re too young, so go to sleep. Wake up whenever.”

  Cy grins. “Yes Captain!”

  I snort and then pounce off the table. “Good night, and wake me up if anything happens.”

  ___________________________________________________________

  The moment my body curls on a pillow, sleep immediately takes me.

  Then I open my eyes and am greeted with the usual white room.

  Except, this time, it is not just utterly white. To my side, a perfect repliy ship greets me, alongside another floating eyeball. Except, this eyeball isn’t green like the st one, but is instead red.

  “Wele, entity Quasi Eludo. I am administrator #81. My job is to serviy and all ges to your Job. You are currently Jobless. The job [Ship Captain] is avaible to you. Do you accept it?”

  You know, I was kind of hoping for something uo be offered.

  “I do.”

  Initializing Job instaltion oy Quasi Eludo…

  Job instaltion has activated…

  Installing Job [Ship Captain] to entity Quasi Eludo

  Instaltion Successful.

  Job: [Ship Captain]

  Level: Level 1

  Job Skills: 1

  Ship Size: Frigate

  Primary Jobs Avaible: 3

  Support Jobs Avaible:5

  Maximum Job Capacity: 7

  Primary Jobs

  [First Mate]: Limit 1

  [Quartermaster]: Limit 1[Navigator]: Limit 1

  Support Jobs

  [Boatswain]:[Gunner]: [Cook]:

  [Carpenter]:

  [Rigger]:

  Hmmm. Primary jobs seem like leadership positions, while the support jobs are the average crew stuff.

  “I don’t suppose you expin to me the positions?” I ask the eyeball.

  “That information is restricted.”

  Of course it is.

  “ I add attribute points to my traits?” I ask.

  “ive. Administrator #37 is assigo css ges.”

  Well, that’s stupid.

  “ you show me my stats?”

  “ive. Administrator #37 is assigo css stats.”

  Of course it is.

  “Fine. I see I’ve got a job skill. you show me my skills?”

  “Request Aowledged.”

  [Captain’s Authority]

  -Perceive the jobs of others. Perceive both the job and css of those under your direct authority.

  -Offer and Remove jobs under your direct authority.

  -Increase all traits by 1% per level of [Ship Captain] css while near your ship.

  [Shift] Transform into the species of any souls you possess.

  Activation Cost: Mana (Variable)

  Sustain: Mana (Variable)

  Duration: Until sustain stops.

  2/2 souls.

  [Stat Spread Allocation]

  All transformations be from 50% of level modifications.

  “Ah, so you show me all my skills. Good. lets see…a pert increase in stats while aboard the ship? That seems pretty useful- makes for a harder mutiny. I wonder how close you have to be to get the be. Do you have to be on the ship, or you walk on the port?”

  “That information is restricted.”

  “Shut up, I wasn't talking to you. I was- wait a sed. Why does my shifter skill have two souls? Oy, floating eyeball, show me my souls.”

  Baby Mimicus (Soul)

  Mimicus are one of the most adaptable feline species in all of tristique. They have the unique ability to adapt to even the most dire enviroal stimuli. They are also exceptional vocal mimics who are capable of mimig any and all sounds they hear.

  Activation Cost: 77 ManaSustain: 0.8 Mana per minuteDuration: Until Sustain Stops

  Elder Decay Leviathan (Soul)

  Leviathans are the apex predators across all of Tristique. They are rge beasts capable of flying via the absorption of ambient mana. Each Leviathaually gains a unique ability that grows stronger with age.

  Activation Cost: 237,631 Mana

  Sustain: 3,759 Mana per minute

  Duration: Until Sustain Stops

  OH SHIT!