Rylan leaned over the prow railing, staring down at Dreadmaw in disbelief as it dazedly started to swim off, the captain securely inside. A stiff swish of its tail sent it slowly floating off to the side, away from the ship, as goopy blood trickled steadily from the corner of its closed maw.

The captain's final blow had clearly done a number on it—one of its eyes had even popped out, and was now dangling out the side of its head. However, while it seemed to be retreating, it didn't look like it was dying anytime soon.

Next to him, Soren was relaying what had happened to those who hadn't been able to see.

As he finished, Yuel let out a blubbery wail, but stayed at his station. Belatedly, Rylan realised the blond former pirate had little choice in the matter; he was still tied to the deck for safety.

Tamina let out a sigh. "We should get out of here," she declared grimly. "Lest it recovers enough to come back for seconds, and her sacrifice was in vain."

Halloth nodded slowly. "Isai... full steam a—"

"Wait!" Rylan cried, his eyes widening as Dreadmaw turned aside and he spotted a blue glow coming from where he expected its stomach to be. "She's still alive! I-I can sense her!"

[Wait, really?] Arphin replied in surprise. [You can still sense her in there? That's incredible, Boss!]

"She's alive?" Yuel repeated hopefully. "It must've swallowed her whole—Halloth, we can still save her!"

Rylan turned back in time to see the hesitation come over Halloth's tattooed face.

"Yuel," Tamina said grimly. "We have to be realistic. If that blow didn't kill the damn beast, then there's nothing we can bring to bear that will!"

"But-but," Yuel sputtered, wringing his hands. "Can't we just—I don't know, cut open its belly somehow? Or toss in a rope to pull her out..."

Tamina started shaking her head before Yuel even finished.

Rylan had to agree those plans weren't feasible... but they did give him an idea that caused his eyes to widen. "I can get her out," he blurted before he could think twice.

[You can? That's awesome!] Arphin exclaimed.

'Actually, Arphin... we can. I'm going to need your help for this one, buddy.'

[You got it, Boss, just tell me what to do!]

At the same time, all eyes on deck turned to him, some of them hopeful, others—like Soren's—alarmed.

"Can you really? How?" Halloth asked.

Rylan felt the sweat break out on his already damp back. The concept of him using a simple C-grade runegear to safely pluck the captain from inside a giant shark's belly somehow, without even being able to see her seemed... a little farfetched. But was he really ready to disclose Arphin's existence to the world?

Before he got the chance, Soren broke in. "There's no time to explain," he stated firmly. "I can already barely make out Dreadmaw's tail, and we're still rising. If Rylan says he can do it, I believe him, but we need to decide now."

This time, all eyes turned to Halloth.

Nazyr was wearing a heavy frown, while Yuel looked pleadingly, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks. Even Holly and Ezra had popped their heads out of a hatch in the deck. Only Isai was still up in the floater, as he wanted to open the hatch down into the captain's cabin as little as possible to avoid losing Aetherium, but Rylan was sure the old man was listening intently.

Halloth stayed silent for a moment, his heavily tattooed face inscrutable. "Knowing the captain," he finally spoke. "She wouldn't want us to waste her heroic sacrifice by trying something foolish."

Rylan's stomach sank, as Yuel let out a stifled sob.

"But you know what?" Halloth continued, turning his eyes to Rylan, heat filling his gaze. "Since she's not on board, I'm the one in charge, and what she wants doesn't matter. Kid, if you say you can get her out, then I choose to believe you. I've long known you are blessed by the spirits. Hard to starboard! Let's bring our captain home!"

Cheers went up as fists were raised all across the deck. Then Halloth spun the wheel, and they started to turn, to chase the massive Ruby-Grade Malequint through the fog.

It was sheer madness, and in a way, better than any adventure Rylan had dreamt up as a child.

But it was also serious business, and his heart beat in his throat as he settled his gaze on the distant sapphire dot, which flickered uncertainly in the belly of the beast.

Soren leaned over the railing next to him. "Rylan, are you sure about this?" he asked quietly. "You're thinking of trying to Recall her, aren't you? If this goes poorly... you might lose you-know-what. Or rather, who."

[Nuh-uh! I will never leave you, Boss!]

Rylan took a deep breath. "We have to try. But I'm probably going to need your help too, Soren. Both of yours, actually."

"You got it, buddy."

Standing on the other side, Tamina shook her head with a sigh. "Fine. But only because I don't trust you guys not to get yourselves killed. Or worse, all of us."

Rylan smiled at her in gratitude. Tamina rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth quirked up as well.

As the Soggy Shepherd gained on the foul beast, Soren, Rylan, and Tamina lowered themselves along a single rope, in that order.

Climbing down was easy enough in the fog, but no less scary for it. Jellyfloats and small clumps of mistweed came floating by left and right as the noise coming from the ship above faded, leaving only their panting breath and the sound of his heart beating in his ears.

As Dreadmaw's massive tail came closer and closer, Rylan did something he hadn't done in a while. He prayed.

"Blessed Zeph," he muttered under his breath, not caring if his friends heard him under the circumstances. "Praise be to you and your winds of change. Please help us deliver Captain Hammermore from her captivity."

He blinked, turning his head after he spotted a flash of yellow from the corner of his eye, but when he looked, it was gone.

A little spooked, but also heartened, Rylan firmly locked his feet around the rope in a friction hitch, straightened his back, and placed his hand on Arphin's hilt.

Slightly below him, Soren also stopped descending, holding the rope with both hands and keeping his feet loose. "We're gaining on it!" he whispered. "Do you think we're almost close enough?"

"Not nearly," Rylan whispered back, craning his head down to reply. "I can't afford to miss and waste precious mana, and even if I hit, I need to be real close to pull her out."

"Oh fog," Tamina suddenly muttered from just above, and Rylan turned back to find tall shadows starting to appear in the fog ahead of them, rising up from the depths of the canyon floor below.

As they got closer, the shadows resolved into extra-tall versions of the stone-topped pillars they'd gotten so familiar with.

"Hang on tight," Soren whispered. "This might get bumpy!"

Despite its injuries, Dreadmaw slipped between the pillars like a liquid. Meanwhile, the three of them were simply hanging from a rope with no way to communicate to the ungainly ship that was chugging along above.

As they headed straight for one of the pillars, multi-coloured light sprang up below Soren's boots, forming a platform from which he pushed off to the left.

They swung around the pillar, but now they had sideways momentum, the rope creaking as their swing reached its apex before they accelerated back like a pendulum.

Rylan took a deep breath, choosing to leave their manoeuvring to Soren and keep his eyes on the prize. With each second that passed, Dreadmaw's slow-sweeping tail and the blue glow in its belly came closer and closer...

[Ehm, Boss, I think we've got a problem!]

Rylan followed the mental nudge to look up, and his eyes widened as he spotted the vague outline of a massive arch of rock that seemed to span the ravine. Dreadmaw was about to pass under it, but the ship was up too high; they were on a course to smack into it!

In fact, the crew seemed to have realised the same thing, and the Soggy Shepherd appeared to be slowing down and starting to turn.

"No!" he hissed. "We're going to lose her!"

Soren swore, looking up as well. "Well, we can pass over and keep chasing, right?"

Rylan glanced back at the flickering blue light which was so close yet so far. "There's no time; I need her conscious for this to work!"

"All right... then you better pray we have enough rope!"

"For what?" Tamina asked in alarm.

In lieu of answering, Soren once more activated his runework and started sprinting forward, pulling the rope with him as he went.

While this meant they were now rapidly catching up to Dreadmaw, it also meant they were pulling ahead of the ship, and thus, to stay at the same height as Dreadmaw, Soren started sliding his hands farther down the rope.

Rylan quickly unlocked his feet and started sliding down after him.

Soren rushed forward, coming level with Dreadmaw's tail and then moving on past it, until he was almost at the shark's right pectoral fin.

He had picked the side of the shark with the dangling eye, which should hopefully keep it from detecting them.

Rylan swallowed as he locked his feet into place once more and pulled Arphin out of his sheath. It was now or never.

Drawing back his arm, he started to charge his Skill, focused on the flickering blue light he could now clearly see coming from Dreadmaw's stomach.

[We got this, Boss!]

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There was no time to second-guess himself, so Rylan didn't hesitate, and simply whipped his arm forward, hoping for the best as he launched the spiritgear straight at the captain, trusting her Mana Shell to stop him. He used his Skill to straighten Arphin out just in time for the blade to pierce rough skin and pierce deep into the belly of the beast.

He held his breath for Arphin's report.

[I hit her!] the blade cheered.

'Yes!' Rylan sent back, unlocking his feet to slide down further as he started pouring mana through their connection.

[Ah Boss, it's so gross in here!] Arphin whimpered.

'Then you better shine brightly so she can see you! And pulse your glow!'

[I'm pulsing, I'm pulsing!]

At that moment, however, a little ways down, Soren came to a halt, straining to keep the rope taut as he pulled on the knot at its end.

At the same time, a twang reverberated through the braided twine as it hit the stone arch above.

"Fog!" Rylan hissed, his eyes widening. "I need more time!"

"I got it!" Tamina replied, before another cone of darkness erupted from the shield on her prosthetic arm.

The momentum-robbing field extended to envelop most of Dreadmaw's lower half, noticeably slowing down its tail's movement, as well as decreasing its overall forward speed.

"You better hurry though!" she continued through gritted teeth. "This is taking a lot of mana!"

"Same here!" Soren panted.

Rylan didn't bother to reply, focusing fully on what he could perceive through his spirit vision and his connection to Arphin. The blade's yellow spirit was right next to the captain's flickering blue one, but all he seemed to be touching was a slimy mixture of dead fish and plant matter, and meanwhile, Dreadmaw was still slowly pulling away from them.

Fog, if they keep moving like this we'll never—

Right then, a stiff breeze suddenly picked up. Soren audibly had to strain against his platforms to keep in place, but Dreadmaw had no such anchor, and was actually briefly pushed back towards them, buying them valuable time.

[Ewewew—oh! Boss, she grabbed me!]

'Then here we go!'

Rylan opened the floodgates, stretching out his hand and pushing mana through their tether with reckless abandon, faster than he'd ever done.

While the captain was quite a bit bigger than the fish they'd originally done this with, she was also a lot closer. And unlike the clump of flesh Arphin had ripped from the ramtusk Malequint, she wasn't attached to anything. It should work. Rylan hoped.

Point after point of mana flew through their connection, as they both tugged on their connection. The node in Rylan's spirit started to quiver, then tremble before, suddenly, finally, there was a loud pop.

Rather than just a handle, a complete hand appeared below Rylan's palm, attached to a bedraggled, slime-covered figure. He quickly reached out and grabbed onto the captain's wrist. His eyes widened as he realised the captain was somehow still holding her deepmetal hammer in her other hand, and thus started to drop through the floaty fog much faster than he'd expected.

Thankfully, Soren was still below him, and was able to quickly sling an arm around the captain's waist. Then a metal arm reached down and grabbed onto the head of the hammer.

Finally, the captain came to a halt, sputtering and coughing, her eyes still closed. "What the fog is happening?!" she rasped.

"Captain, you're being rescued!" Soren stage-whispered jubilantly.

"Be quiet," Tamina hissed back. "We're still right next to it!"

The massive gapejaw had grown unnaturally still, clearly seeming to have noticed there was something awry. Belatedly, Rylan realised that the hammer coming along also meant a literal weight had been removed from the shark's stomach.

Rylan held his breath as the shark started to turn its head towards them... revealing an eye that dangled down uselessly.

Around the same time, the glowing platforms below Soren's feet vanished, as did the cone extending from Tamina's shield. And moreover, the breeze that had suddenly come on died down again. As a result, they started to rapidly swing back. And after a stomach-clenching moment, Dreadmaw continued moving forward.

Once they'd gained a bit of distance, Soren let out a quiet cheer. Meanwhile, Tamina had gently taken the hammer from the Captain's grasp, while Rylan had liberated Arphin.

[Ewewew, Boss, this was the grossest thing ever! But also so awesome—we totally did it!]

Rylan had to agree on both counts. The scent of sour fish coming off the captain was making him gag, and the goop covering her tingled unpleasantly on his palm, but he held on tight regardless.

Meanwhile, the captain wiped some of the gunk off her face—which Rylan now realised was covered in acid burns—and blinked open her eyes. "Rylan?" she slurred, in between coughs. "How the... fog did you... get me out of there?!"

"I, ehm, I Recalled you," Rylan admitted.

The captain stared at him for a moment, then she started to laugh. "Hah. Hah! Plucked me right out of the belly of the beast, did you? You kids are mad!"

"Let's get you back up to the ship, cap'n," Soren said cheerfully. "You look like you could use a drink!"

"And a wash," Tamina added.

"Yet I have time for neither," Captain Hammermore replied. "I have a crew to lead. Let's get climbing!"

With a grunt, Rylan hefted himself back onto the deck next to Tamina. Then he turned around and reached down over the railing.

A reddened hand covered in acid burns clasped his wrist with surprising strength. Tamina reached out to help, and together they pulled Captain Hammermore back onto the ship.

The crew burst into loud cheers, Nazyr and Yuel stamping onto the bamboo deck as Ezra lifted his fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly.

As behind her, Soren clambered onto the deck as well, the captain straightened up with a wide, shark-like grin, and raised a fist.

"Clodpolls! You're all a bunch of stubborn fogging clodpolls!" she roared. "But by the spirits, am I glad you are! Halloth: get us the fog out of here!"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

Shaking her head, the captain turned back to the three of them. "Kids... No, my fellow Thar... Thank you. I really thought that was it for me; I owe each of you a debt of gratitude."

Soren made a small bow, smooth as ever. "It was our honour, captain. But you should thank Rylan most of all; it was his plan."

Rylan's cheeks hurt from smiling as he shook his head. "We'd all be shark food without you, captain. This just makes us even."

"Fighting Dreadmaw was my only option," the captain countered. "Coming back for me when you could've sailed away... that was a choice. So thank you—to all three of you. I won't forget it."

Tamina scrunched up her nose. "You're very welcome. However, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going back to my station now... upwind."

The captain cackled and accepted the large hammer that Tamina held out to her. "Fair enough, girl. Back to your stations, everyone; we're not out of the haze yet!"

As Rylan stumbled back to his spot beneath the portside fin, he caught a glimpse of yellow from the corner of his eyes. But when he looked over, it was gone. It can't actually be Zeph, right?

Biting his lip, he glanced around, then whispered a thank you under his breath. Just in case.

Thankfully, nothing else interrupted their slow ascent. An hour or two later, after weeks and weeks down at the cloudbed, they at last reached the driftline. And as they did, beams of light broke through the fog and lit up the whole deck in colours more vibrant than Rylan had remembered they even could be.

When the cheers of the crew died down, the captain raised her voice. "Yuel, get up there and take a bearing. Next stop, Cliffport!"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

As the blond pirate eagerly started fumbling with the rope tied around his waist, a stray beam of light hit the side of Rylan's face. He looked up, squinting into the bright glare, and saw... the sun. And it was glorious.

Epilogue

That evening, after a quick dinner of cold leftover boar, Rylan stood on the top deck, holding onto the railing as he looked out over a roiling sea of clouds bathed in soft hues of red and orange by the setting sun.

Sailing the cloudsea was everything he'd imagined, and more.

Three moons hung over the still-distant skyline of Cliffport. Tenebri's deep purple was barely visible, especially compared to bright yellow Soli. But once again, Rylan only had eyes for the blue light coming off Tempi, seemingly present for each of his great escapes.

His musing of its significance was interrupted when a gust shifted the ship's kitesail, causing it to block his view.

Having reached topside, they had been able to deploy the kite to supplement the professor's engine, and the captain said they were making good time. In fact, they would reach Cliffport by noon tomorrow—granted their supply of gasified Aetherium held out, which Isai had indicated it should.

Rylan's stomach twisted at the thought of going to the Knackered Hag and looking for the man who may or may not be his father. Would he even be able to recognise the man? What if he couldn't find him? What would he say if he did?

Rylan shook his head, once more pushing those concerns away for later. They first had to make it through the night, with the sailors sleeping in shifts to maintain the course. The risk of Malequint attacks was a lot lower up at the driftline, but never zero, so the Quinthar would be sleeping in shifts as well.

It wasn't Rylan's turn at watch for a while, but even though he was rather excited about spending his first night in an actual hammock aboard an actual ship, he simply wasn't sleepy enough to try yet. Hence why he had volunteered for lookout duty, and was soaking up what he could of the sun's last rays of the day.

As he did, his mind wandered, the warmth hitting his face bringing him back to weeks and weeks ago, when he'd been shucking scallops in a sweltering kitchen.

Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined himself where he was now, standing atop a former pirate vessel as an Emerald-Grade Quinthar with three Skills, not to mention an Affinity!

Actually, that reminded him. In all the commotion, he hadn't distributed the Free Attribute Point he'd gotten for Cooking yet.

"Blessed Ethereon," Rylan started politely, perking up a little. "May I see my Status Window please?"

Status

Mana Pool: 7.9/13

Mana Shell: 6/6

Attributes

Strength 3

Dexterity 3

Endurance 2

Mind 3

Perception 3

Presence -1

Free points: 1

Skills

Knife-Throwing, Rank 3

Jumping, Rank 3

Cooking, Rank 1

Quint Structures

Mana Core, Tier I

Mana Pool, Tier I

Mana Shell, Tier VI

Quintessence Credits: 148

Rylan's eyes eagerly roved over his Attributes and Skills. He couldn't imagine it ever getting old to look at them. After a moment, however, he grew more serious.

Emerald Skills would only provide him a single point going forward, so he had to make a careful selection. The only thing he was clear on, was that he would use it to bring one of his Attributes to 4. After all, all Sapphire-Grade Skills required three Attributes that summed up to 10. The trouble was finding out which Sapphire-Grade Skills required what spread of Attributes...

Well, I can always try to gain more Emerald-Grade Skills or Enhancers, keep raising my Attributes until I qualify for lots of them.

While learning how to make tinted mana so he could unlock a Ruby-Grade Skill was his ultimate goal, there probably wasn't much of a chance of him succeeding at it without first reaching Sapphire-Grade. Aside from the fact that he currently had no way of completing his Affinity, creating tinted mana was supposed to be a far more difficult feat of mana-manipulation than making textured mana.

Considering how much work he had ahead of him in that regard, Rylan nodded his head, his mind made up. "Ethereon, please put my free point in Mind."

《Free point successfully distributed,》Ethereon's voice droned coolly.《Attribute enhancement in progress. Estimated completion in: six hours.》

Rylan smiled. He was already looking forward to trying out manipulating mana again once his Mind Attribute had finished upgrading. And of course, he was quite curious what latent talent or talents the Attribute might awaken in him.

One thing stood out to him about his Status Window, however. His Affinity wasn't mentioned anywhere.

"Ethereon, is there an Affinity Window or something you can show me?"

It was silent for a moment. Finally, just when Rylan was about to ask again, a window popped up in front of him.

Affinity

UNKNOWN – UNABLE TO PARSE

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