“It's an evil class. No big deal,” Kelda said with an even tone. “You see a lot of them out around the edges of things. It's only back there that they get rare.”

"What?"

“You aren't real quick on the uptake, are you?” Kelda moved closer and shook her head. “Tell me, Marco. Do you think of the ocean as big?"

“Yeah? I mean, it took us days and days to get here. Even with a shortcut."

Kelda shook her head. “That's what I thought. You little island folk never really think beyond that size of life. My father was a captain, you know. Had what they call an evil class now. They called it a growth class then. Not everywhere had that name, but some places did.”

“All classes grow,” Marco countered.

“All classes gain levels. Not every class grows.” Kelda kicked the soil. “It's like this island. It's growing, and real growth means change."

“Most islands don't grow, though?"

“Exactly. Marco, the way my father put it was that every place needs people. They need people to live there just to be places. Most people's classes are for those kinds of lives. They are for people who do just one thing, who are prepared for just one way of living.”

“Well, yeah. Your tailor doesn't really need to know how to fight,” Marco said. “Unless you count using scissors really damn well as fighting.”

“No, I don’t and he doesn't. But out there? Look out there, Marco. How far do you think that ocean goes?” Kelda smiled and shook her head before pulling away. “It goes forever. And it needs people who can go at least that far.”

The conversation went pretty quickly after that. Marco explained the temple, which Kelda barely cared about. She said she'd leave it to the scholars and miners to figure out but seemed to take it as a given that Marco and his team would be given the first shake at whatever it contained. She was old enough that mystery had lost a lot of its shine, she said, and was in it for the resources.

A bit later, the scholars were a bit less calm.

“Obsidian, you say?” Talla asked, her voice two octaves higher than what Marco had heard before.

“Or some other black rock,” Elisa said. “Like I told you already. Four or five times."

“Still. There are only so many ancient civilizations that worked in obsidian. And all but one of them were before the era of pacification, before these seas were calm. Do you know what that means, girl?” The older female scholar was all but shaking Elisa by the shoulders now. “Do you?"

“It means the potential for artifacts from an era of great class advancement,” Elisa said matter-of-factly. “When the average person was stronger. They had to be, but they were less specialized. Special things, probably. At least interesting ones."

The woman paused briefly.

“Well, yes, I suppose you do know.” She turned and looked behind her, where Elisa had organized most of their work as she filled her in on the potential for artifacts and then waited out the scholar-storm. “Thanks for that too, I suppose. I've always been meaning to get to it, but there's always something new to research. You know how it is."

After leaving the scholars, there was nothing to do but rest. Marco was finding that everyone was exhausted, even after days on the island. The danger and stress of the earlier days had built up in all of them in ways that were only just starting to dissipate. When he put the idea of leaving right then or leaving in the morning to a vote, every hand raised immediately in favor of the rest.

They ate hard, took some walks, and slept. When the sun breached the horizon the next morning, they were ready.

—

Kelda met them early the next morning.

“Brought you some things. Had to rush to get them done, but when I explained what you were up to, the craftsmen didn't mind much. Elisa, some robes. They'll be a lot more protective than what you are wearing. I'm surprised, given what you've been through, that the system didn't give you more than you have already, but these would be pretty good regardless. Riv, this is the same thing except it's for Sturdies. Aethe, your armor was pretty good but I had our fletcher put together a barrel of special-use arrows for you, and I think you'll find you like this bowstring just fine."

“A string?” Marco muttered. “She's giving her a string?"

“After a while, that's the only part of the bow you can upgrade easily. It's fine,” Elisa whispered back. “Trust me. Or just look at her."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Aethe was turning the bowstring over and over in her hands, lovingly. It seemed that Elisa was right. If Aethe loved the gift, it was pretty good in Marco's book too.

“Marco, you'll have to make do with the equipment you have. I suspect upgrading it to something different wouldn't be that productive for you. Hopefully the boat and the spyglass are enough.”

Marco looked at his ship, which was floating beautifully in the water. It really was enough.

“Now, I think you should let your captain look at that equipment before you get it equipped. It's good practice for him to know what he's working with.” Everyone reluctantly handed over their gear, and Marco took it while shooting a questioning look at Kelda. “Just a good habit. Knowing what you are working with prevents surprises. I'm sure you agree any surprise you encounter is usually bad.”

“That string description is pretty minimal.” Marco dangled the string from his hand, looking for anything special about it. To his eyes, it was still just string. “We're sure..."

“We're sure.” Aethe snatched the string back from Marco and held it in hand jealously.

“Then good.” Kelda clapped her hands together. “Now for something you all should know. I got a message today, something I promised an awful lot of goods for. I think the information was worth it. The pirates, it turns out, have a leader. Sort of a nasty one."

“A leader? I didn't think they were the types. There was a really strong ship in their den thought,” Marco said.

“No kidding,” Riv said. “Hierarchies don't seem like a thing for pirates."

“They usually aren't, but it's not unheard of.” Kelda looked down at her notes. “It looks like the person in question is another evil class holder, Marco. He's from a little further out than you'd expect, and my source wasn't sure what drew him back to more civilized parts of the world. It seems he picked up just about every ship of criminals and wastrels he could find on his way back.”

“Quite a few of them.” Marco remembered the hundreds of ships around the volcanic island.

“But why?”

“No idea. Maybe he knows something about this island somehow. Stranger things have happened. Things like treasure maps do exist, since the system doesn't want value it created to go unfound or untapped. If he has one, it must be pretty general or he'd come to the island himself.” Kelda looked over her document one more time and then handed it over to Marco. “Really, I'm telling you this so you can avoid him. He's not a good match for you right now. Read that when you get the chance, but for now, it’s time for you to get out on the water. You'll find your hold is a little better stocked than when you stopped in. Elisa, Riv, make notes on how it's packed. It might teach you something.”

With a nod, Kelda was gone. Aethe looked after her approvingly.

“When I'm that old, will I be that good?” Aethe said. “I hope so.”

“Better, I think.” Marco patted her hand. “Although she's certainly quite the woman. Come on, everyone. Let's get going."

The scholar and sturdy took turns changing into their new gear as Marco and Aethe began rigging the ship to get it underway. Soon enough, Riv and Elisa were both on deck with their new clothing on, hers a dark blue that verged on black, and his a light brown everywhere it wasn't reinforced by dark-tanned leather. Riv pushed them away from the dock with an oar while Marco used his normal sailing maneuvers to move them further from the island into the wind.

“Okay, everyone. Ready to see what this thing can do?” Marco asked.

“Of course.” Aethe drew near to the ship's wheel to stand with him. “If nothing else, to make sure you don't die of anticipation.”

They dropped the sail, which caught the wind immediately. From the first moment, there was no question that the ship was fast.

“How can it speed up so quickly?” Aethe said. “It's like it jumped into a dead sprint."

“I think... it's just a lot better. Plus we have some reinforcements from my Conquest skill, remember? It's like the water is barely catching the bottom of the boat."

“How does it turn?” Elisa asked. “Is it as maneuverable as it is fast?”

“You know what? Let's find out."

Marco gave the wheel a hard spin. Out on the water, all turns tended to be a little smoothed out. Ships needed to maintain wider arcs for a while to get any real directional change. This wasn't so different that the same description didn’t apply, but relative to what they could have done before, it might as well have been a ninety-degree angle turn.

The Foolish Endeavor leaned into the maneuver hard, slicing a crescent through the water with barely any loss of speed. A wake fanned out behind them like they’d punched through the sea itself, and the hull thrummed under Marco’s feet in a way that was hard to describe. The ship was taking whatever power he could pour into it and doing much, much more with every ounce of it.

“How can it be more efficient with my magical power? It's just wood, right?” Marco marveled.

“Magic items work better by just working generally better than their non-magic counterparts.” Elisa pointed at her robes. “If I improved these, they'd be the same, just with more of the same effects working even better. I'm guessing it's the same with the ship. They did a lot of work on it, Marco, and I'm guessing that wood was the best on the island.”

Aethe steadied herself against the rail, her eyes wide with appreciation as the ship's sharp turns threatened to throw all of them this way and that.

“You weren’t kidding. The ship’s responding like it’s reading your thoughts,” she commented.

“It honestly sort of feels like that. The class connects me to this thing in ways I'm still figuring out,” Marco said.