Might as Well

The part of the beach where they appeared was thankfully rather empty, but even so, in the distance, they could see half a dozen big ships, turned to their sides, occasionally letting out puffs of smoke, which were then followed by explosions.

Not to mention the occasional flashes and flares of magic that were thrown around.

To Sam's senses, the entire area was like the ocean in a storm. Mana swirled around, threatening to swallow everything.

On the other hand, in the other direction was a small dock, where several small fishing vessels were docking. Obviously, everybody ignored it as they weren’t actually sea-worthy. But to Sam and Gregory, there were their tickets out of this fight.

Sam tapped Gregory on his shoulder, causing the man to look away from the ships flying Deepanchor’s and several guilds’ flags and motioned toward the small fishing harbor.

“Let’s go…”

“O-of course!”

They advanced slowly, keeping low and next to the tree line, ready to jump into cover at a moment’s notice.

But it was all just precaution. Despite the chaos that the battle caused in the local ‘mana-scape’, people still showed up clear to his senses. And he sensed nobody at their destination.

With their sneaking, it took them a solid half an hour to reach the small harbor, while they were forced to listen to the oft-muddled sounds of the battle behind them, forced to imagine what was happening.

Sam was pretty sure that the guilds would win, but he saw that Gregory was rather nervous about the outcome of the battle. This apprehension was evident in his behavior when he kept glancing backward as if expecting to be chased down by angry pirates.

He said a few placating words, but his attention was on their journey.

Reaching the small docks, he cast his eyes around while ushering the frantic man into the small shack that was the only infrastructure in the area.

He quickly closed the door behind them and went up to the dirty window to look around while throwing glances at Gregory who took a seat on an upturned chum bucket and appeared to be hyperventilating.

Momentarily confused at what to do, Sam stepped away from the window and placed a comforting hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Come on, Greg, only a little more and we’re home free!”

Gregory looked up and gave him a shaky smile.

“W-well you haven’t steered me wrong before, adventurer…” he hesitated for a moment, then continued. “What’s the plan?”

“See those small boats?”

“Yes.”

“We are going to take one of them and escape the island!”

Gregory looked at Sam for a long moment then shook his head. “I may not know much about sailing, but even I know that we will not get far on those…”

Sam nodded. “I’m aware of that. That’s why our target is not Deepanchor, but the closest part of the mainland.”

The other man blinked in surprise then looked thoughtful. “And how are you planning to avoid the eyes of those ships?”

“Simple! Magic!”

Gregory let out a sigh. “Why did I expect anything different…”

A short rest later, they rushed to the end of the dock, and jumped into one of the ships that fit them comfortably, while even laying down and with Sam keeping a lookout both with his eyes and his mana sense, Gergory untied the rope that kept the small boat in place and launched themselves toward the open sea.

As the boat began moving, the currents of the sea imparting motion on it, Sam summoned his Grimoire and quickly found the page that he was looking for and then slowly took his own mana and began shaping small strands into a small chain of runes.

Soon the boat was surrounded by a circle of runes that he had put together back in the library when he was working on runes. Originally, it was intended to be carved into stone to hide something, but with his Illusionary Runes, it should prove the perfect cover.

The last rune to be placed was his Heart Rune and the moment the circle was finished with that, he called out softly.

“Runic Mirage!”

Instantly he felt the mana being drained from him as a small haze formed around the ship with the runic circle slowly circling around.

“Woah!”

Sam gave the other man a proud smile. “If we are far away, they will think it's just a mirage. Happens on the sea all the time…”

Gregory nodded in understanding, however, he couldn’t help but ask a question. “That’s great, but how are we going to reach the mainland with just paddles?”

Sam made sure that thread of mana connected to the illusion around them, anchored to his Heart Rune, then he moved to the back of the ship and put his hand underwater.

“Why with magic, my friend!”

A moment later Gregory watched with an open mouth as the water behind them began to bubble gently as the boat moved forward at a steady pace…

The trip to the mainland exhausted Sam something fierce. Thankfully, he could dissolve the illusionary cover after they got out of the sight of the invading ships so he could concentrate fully on maintaining a steady burst of wind under the ship while also keeping the ship from capsizing. And with the tides changing the sea became a little more turbulent.

Sometimes he even had to use shielding magic to make sure no water could get into the boat, while Gregory sat at the front and watched the horizon.

Soon, however, the land was in sight. Gregory grew excited, while Sam let out a tired smile.

He directed the boat to a sandy part of the shore and let out an exhausted sigh as soon as the bottom of the boat touched the grainy ground of the rocky beach.

Retrieving his slightly wrinkled hand from the water he shook it off and used the Clean spell to get the salt still clinging to it off.

Gregory happily jumped out of the boat and Sam suspected the man barely held back from kneeling down and kissing the ground. He soon followed the man while throwing a small fire at the boat, setting it aflame, wanting no evidence of their passing.

They waited a few minutes for the boat to burn down, then he blasted the pieces back into the sea, before turning to Gregory.

“Let’s go back to Deepanchor!”

“By foot?”

Sam looked at the exhausted man and thought about the existence of escort quests, and shook his head.

“Of course not! Lucky!”

The wolf obediently emerged from Gregory’s shadow, causing the man to jump in fright as he evidently had forgotten about the giant predator that Sam instructed to protect him.

After finishing his quick chuckle at the man, he instructed the man to climb onto Lucky’s back, then he followed him.

Soon, Lucky was off with them, at great speed toward Deepanchor.

Getting to the city took a while and Lucky had to take a few breaks because transporting two people was much harder than only Sam. Not that he minded. While they rested, Sam and Gregory talked, mostly about unimportant things, but Sam made sure to hint toward his business and the opportunities he was looking for. They didn’t talk about anything concrete, but he was sure that Gregory was savvy enough of a businessman to understand what he wanted.

The sun was descending by the time they reached the city gates, casting everything in bloodred light, but the smile on Gregory’s face at the sight of the walls could have illuminated the entire city.

Once again, the guards didn’t really care for two people walking into the city without any visible product and they were soon on their way to the Morrison estate.

This time it was the excited Gregory who led the vigilant Sam. They were on the last leg on the journey, so he expected at least one ambush to waylay them. To Sam’s surprise, aside from a few drunken sailors who started drinking early (or never stopped), nobody was even bothered by their passing.

Half an hour later, they were at the iron gates, rusted a little from the sea breeze, being greeted by one of the guards.

“What do ya’ want?”

Sam stepped forward and motioned toward the anxious Gregory.

“As you can see I brought back what the old man wanted!”

The guard blinked in surprise then leaned forward to see Gregory better. Sam helpfully summoned a Light Ball that illuminated their immediate surrounding. The moment the light lit up the guard jumped back in surprise.

“Master Gregory! You’re not dead?”

“It seems not,” the man answered with a small chuckle.

“The master should be told immediately! Come in! Come!” The guard exclaimed grabbing Gregory’s hand and dragging him into the estate, while Sam followed them at a more sedate pace, closing the gate that was left open.

By the time he reached the still-open door, the house was in pandemonium. Maids were rushing about, yelling and crying while Gregory stood in the middle looking mightily confused.

Finally, a piercing cry broke through the chaos.

“What in the blazes is going around here?”

Sam instantly recognized James Morrison’s hoarse voice.

It was Gregory who answered him. “I’ve returned, father…”

Sam looked on as the old man gaped, then burst into tears, followed by rushing to his son and enveloping him in a bear hug.

“My son! I thought… But how? By the gods… It’s really you!”

As he kept babbling, Gregory just stood there awkwardly, trying to answer the questions pouring from his father but kept being interrupted by even more questions.

Sam watched the scene satisfied while glancing at his notifications.

[Congratulations! The quest ‘The booty of mystery!’ has been completed!]

[You survived and escaped. You even managed to return something lost to the Morrison family. It’s not a ring, but they are still very appreciative…]

Nodding in satisfaction he dismissed the screen as one of the older, more composed maids approached him.

“Sir, if you would follow me? The master will be with you shortly!” she said, beaming at him.

“Naturally. Please, lead the way, madam,” he answered with a gentle bow of his head.

He was then led into a small room, decorated with nautical themes, where he was told to sit and wait until the master of the house was ready to meet with him. Promptly, another maid appeared and he was served excellent tea and a small snack. Upon smelling the treats, Lucky emerged sniffing the delectable offerings. The maid squeaked in surprise and rushed away in fright. However, a minute later another maid returned with a plate full of jerky that was placed in front of the excited wolf.

Lucky looked up from the plate at Sam for permission and he just smiled. “Go on, buddy, you deserve it!”

The wolf instantly threw himself at the small pile of jerky as if he hadn’t been fed for weeks. As the preserved meat was being devoured, Sam began pulling out the small loot he gained from his short adventure, intent on going through it while he waited.

Most of it, as he expected were coins. Mostly silver, with a few bronze coins here and there, and some bags of gold coins hidden under the pile of silver.

Another contained jewelry, and Sam was surprised to find the ring that the old man Morrison was looking for, recognizing the crest on it from when he saw it on the gates. He set it aside and returned the jewelry, all with only very basic enchantments to the box, for Lucy to later get rid of for more money for the company. Or to use them for mysterious business purposes. Who knows what witchy things she did in her office…

Sadly, aside from the money, jewels, and a few art pieces he didn’t find anything that he could use. It seems he would have to be satisfied with the favors the old man now owed him.

Finished with the rather disappointing loot, disregarding the fact that most players would have cheerfully murdered a small village just for the money he found, he turned his attention to his skill notifications.

[Congratulations! You’ve leveled up!]

[You’re now level 42!]

[Gained 2 unassigned attribute points!]

[Gained 1 END for holding out!]

He immediately assigned one to STR and one to DEX, then continued with the rest.

[Mana Manipulation is now Level 33!]

[Mana Channeling is now Level 4!]

[Mana Shield is now Level 74!]

[Mana Resonance is now Level 6!]

[Mana tempered Body is now Level 31!]

[Synchronization is now Level 2!]

[Mana Gaze is now Level 10!]

[Controlled Slash is now Level 4!]

[Triple Mana Slash is now Level 4!]

[Mana Body Enhancement is now Level 68!]

[Mana Disruption is now Level 17!]

[Spell Layering is now Level 19!]

[Mana Construct is now Level 22!]

A pretty respectable start, he thought as he leaned back in his comfortable armchair and sipped tea.

[Ground Shake is now Level 4!]

[Wind Movement is now Level 39!]

[Wind Edge III is now Level 9!]

[Greater Wind Affinity is now Level 19!]

[Windstream is now Level 5!]

[Gentle Wind is now Level 3!]

[Spirit Link is now Level 43!]

[Advanced Shadow Footwork is now Level 16!]

[Shadow Grace is now Level 8!]

[Shadow Burst II is now Level 5!]

[Shadow Mirage is now Level 21!]

[Shadow Transformation is now Level 19!]

[Shadow Shield is now Level 25!]

[You gained the spell Shadow Shield II!]

[Shadow Shield II: Level 0/25 (0%) (Active) The spell allows you to conjure a strong shield made of shadows in front of you. The spell protects against physical and magical attacks. The defensive strength is increased by 1% per level in your Shadow Affinity.]

[Shadow Cloud is now Level 5!]

[Greater Shadow Affinity is now Level 14!]

[Shadowstride is now Level 2!]

He was happy to see the improvement, but the true transformation into a powerhouse still waited for him. However, for now, he was content. There may be people with much higher levels than him, but he doubted anyone had better mana control or foundation. And after he reached the capital he could go nuts with the leveling.

[Basic Armor Mastery is now Level 52!]

[Resistant Armor is now Level 1!]

[Steady Heartbeat is now Level 5!]

[Flow is now Level 52!]

[Surprise Strike is now Level 8!]

[Blood Magic Resistance is now Level 5!]

[Multitasking is now Level 87!]

[Illusionary Runes is now Level 6!]

Satisfied with the changes, he closed the screen, and just as Lucky was finishing licking the plate clean, the door to the room opened and the old man of the estate strode in, still disheveled but the smile on his face making him look at least ten years younger.

“Adventurer! Welcome to my home!”

Sam stood up and bowed his head a little.

“Thank you for the warm welcome, sir.”

The man laughed out loud and stepped closer to Sam.

“No need for the sir, my young friend. As of now, you’re family to us!”

Sam was led back to the seats and shortly the tea was refreshed, and they were sitting across each other. The older man naturally noticed the ring on the table, but he made no move to retrieve it. He, however, leaned forward and smirked at Sam.

“Now, tell me how I can repay something that can’t be repaid!”