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Salt and Blood - Chapter 25
🕑 Added 2024-09-29 16:11:53 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 24 | Table of Contents | Chapter 26 >>
1.25 - Academic Pursuits
Some say there’s little difference between a thief and a pirate. Those people forget one crucial thing. A pirate has the whole ocean to escape to. A thief is landlocked.
-Quoted from Baldwin Silverhand
Rose mulled over her status for the umpteenth time that afternoon. Maybe divine inspiration would strike and reveal some fantastic way to utilise them for a heist. Or not.
Name: Rose Everblue
Race: Human
Occupation: -
Title: -
Available Titles: Murderer
Skills: Cleaning 10, Reading 9, Fishing 13, Swimming 8, Writing 6, Butchery 6, Cooking 5, Herding 2, Focus 12, Drawing 11, Sailing 7, One Handed Weapons 5, Blades 7, Pistols 7, Firearms 4, Unarmed Combat 1, Endurance 2, Precision 2, Arcane Attunement 1, Light Attunement 3
Traits: Sensitive Line, Deft Hand, Good as New, Tunnel Vision
Trent had left her to her own devices to go and plan his grand distraction. She knew how to sail—that wasn’t her problem.
And the pirate had assured her that even though she would be stealing the frigate alone, he would join her soon after to make a clean getaway.
If she was being honest, there wasn’t much to it. Provided Trent dealt with the guards, all she had to do was unmoor The Crown of Salt and then sail away.
It was easy.
Most of her fear didn’t come from a lack of ability. It was the uncertainty of the half-baked heist.
Whoever owned the ship was wealthy and connected. They could afford a constant vigil over their property.
They had been able to procure an early model of a new type of craft—from one of the most prestigious shipbuilding companies in Minenblum. Rose grinned.
She really wanted to steal the ship now. It would be her first true act of piracy. The sort of thing her heroes had done at the start of their careers.
With little else to do until night fell, she decided to sit up on the harbour wall and write in the logbook Captain Bradshawe had gifted her.
The Unrequited Love was no longer of this world, save for the decimated remains that now lay in the slumbering depths of the Bluestone Sea, but she would write an account of her own adventures.
If she ever met any of those colourful characters again she would have some fantastic tales to regale them with.
Rose was sure Felix would love hearing about her adventures in the convergence, though he might want to gut Trent first.
She took the beautiful quill from her jacket. It was a little damp and the nib softened from all that she had been through, but it would still write.
And write she did.
Dockworkers ran up and down the wooden piers, hauling goods and delivering messages.
Skill up!
Writing 6 > 7
When it passed noon, they all surged towards the food stalls to unburden the chefs and bakers of their delicious wares.
Skill up!
Writing 7 > 8
The fishing boats came in as the sun began to set, the men unloading great hauls before rowdily crowding into the taverns and brothels of Highbream.
Skill up!
Writing 8 > 9
Finally, the last rays of sunlight disappeared as the majestic blazing king of the day sunk beneath the horizon.
Rose tapped the quill against the page, a full stop bringing an end to her winding tale of woe and wonder. And what a tale it was.
Skill up!
Writing 9 > 10
You have earned a new trait!
Endless Inkwell: No matter what you hold in your hands, it can become a tool to deliver your words. A talented scribe needs no inkstone—it flows from their very spirit.
Her fifth trait was not world shattering. It would, however, save her a great deal of coin and effort. Exactly what a level ten trait should do, in her opinion.
She took a moment to gaze across the harbour. Lanterns flickered all the way down the wooden walkways, casting reflections of the moored ships into the peaceful water.
A waning moon should have been disastrous for a night time robbery, if not for the thick grey clouds that blanketed the sky.
Rose noted that clouds often accompanied her—in the most fortuitous and unfortunate of times.
She hoped it was the former tonight.
Before she would make her silent, invisible journey towards her prize, Rose read through her written account.
It was quite the heavy read, even for someone who had lived through the events. A tale of treasure, sacrifice, terror and discovery.
‘Neither of the pair would ever look upon a blue creature the same way ever again. The ocean should hold sole claim to that most calming and chaotic of colours.’
Skill up!
Reading 9 > 10
You have earned a new trait!
Quick Consumption: Words pose no puzzle for the educated mind. You can scan a page and derive the important information with but a glance.
What a coincidence. The completion of her log had earned her the tenth level in both reading and writing. And that wasn’t all.
Another splash sounded in her ears.
You have met the requirements for a new occupation!
Apprentice Scholar
Cerebral Type
[Reading 10][Writing 10][Drawing 10]
Learn all academic and educational skills ten percent faster. Gain greater insight into certain workings of the world. Develop this profession by levelling associated skills or performing scholarly feats.
Rose couldn’t quite believe her eyes. She had known about professions, of course, but this was far from the first one she had expected to acquire.
She had to stop herself from equipping it on the spot. Choosing a profession was a tricky decision.
Once you had it, you had to reach level one hundred in order to complete it. Then the bonuses would stay with you forever.
Reaching that level was a gargantuan task. Many people only mastered one profession during their lives, if at all. And she was no scholar.
Yet, with the task ahead of her tonight she was sorely tempted to take Apprentice Scholar.
It claimed she would ‘gain greater insight into certain workings of the world.’
That sounded like the kind of vague, tide-ey nonsense that might just give her an edge in a hit-or-miss heist like the one she was about to embark upon.
Another point in its favour was the fact that the three prerequisite skills were all ones she used often. And they were simple to level up.
She looked towards The Crown of Salt. Two guards stood watch, vigilant against any who dared step foot on the magnificent vessel without their permission.
Rose figured she would need every advantage she could get. What would Trent say if she fucked up?
Available Occupations
Apprentice Scholar [Cerebral]
Fuck, I hope I don’t regret this.
WARNING!
Removing or changing professions before you reach completion will cause you to lose all progress and permanently lock the current profession.
Would you like to assert Apprentice Scholar as your profession?
[YES][NO]
Rose hadn’t heard of many scholarly pirates. She selected yes anyway; if she was going to be a pirate, she would be a pioneering one.
Perhaps she could be the first pirate to study at Tidespire Keep?
That doesn’t sound so bad. I’ve heard there’s more hidden knowledge locked away in the keep than in the rest of the world combined.
Rose gasped as her ears filled with the sound of crashing waves and a surge of arcane energy washed over her—the same energy she had felt in the convergence, but gentler.
When it passed, she felt the same as she had before. Splash.
You have earned a new title!
Apprentice: When this title is equipped, gain levels towards apprentice professions ten percent faster. This bonus increases by two percent for each apprentice profession you have completed.
She wasn’t sure about the second part of the title. No one on the Emerlan Isle ever completed more than one ‘apprentice’ profession.
The oldest and hardiest of the fisherfolk and shepherds might have completed two professions related to their jobs, but even that was rare.
However, the benefits it gave from the beginning were already enough to qualify the title for her available slot.
And it didn’t have any negative effects like Murderer, which was already enough to qualify it in her eyes.
Six traits, twenty skills and her first profession.
How far she had come from that naive little girl running away from home, in just a couple of months.
It had felt like years. The convergence had been strange.
Name: Rose Everblue
Race: Human
Occupation: Apprentice Scholar 1
Title: Apprentice
Available Titles: Murderer, Apprentice
Skills: Cleaning 10, Reading 10, Fishing 13, Swimming 8, Writing 10, Butchery 6, Cooking 5, Herding 2, Focus 12, Drawing 11, Sailing 7, One Handed Weapons 5, Blades 7, Pistols 7, Firearms 4, Unarmed Combat 1, Endurance 2, Precision 2, Arcane Attunement 1, Light Attunement 3
Traits: Sensitive Line, Deft Hand, Good as New, Tunnel Vision, Endless Inkwell, Quick Consumption
What a day it had been. She was now Apprentice Rose, the apprentice scholar. And she had a ship to steal.
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