Jane cast magic bolt until she blacked out. She awoke to a student peering down at her.

  "Why are you upside down?" She murmured.

  "I'm not, uh,"

  The boy shuffled around so he was the right way up in Jane's vision.

  "Are you ok? I saw you lying there so I cast cure, and you woke up."

  "Huh, thanks..."

  Jane sat up and the young man held out a hand. He had brown hair and a slender build. He looked a bit bashful, not at all like the nobles Jane was accustomed to.

  "Harry."

  "Jane. Thanks again, Harry."

  "No problem! Actually, I just got Cure recently, so I'm trying to level it. If you ever black out again, please let me know. It would be great practice."

  Jane laughed at that.

  "So students here, you just practice your spells? All day every day?"

  Harry scratched the back of his head.

  "Eh, I think so? I'm fairly new here myself. But I think the idea is that you always use your mana, every day, and when that's gone try to learn some kind of theory that might help you level up your spells. And when that well runs dry..." Harry looked to the sky for help. "You go to a party, or get drunk, or have a pushup competition with the other lads, to see who's most worthy of taking Lucille to the next ball."

  "Ha. She's a big deal, huh?"

  "You wouldn't believe. Half the boys here are chasing after her. Half of them are chasing after themselves."

  "And what are you chasing?"

  Harry looked at Jane, then blushed and looked at the ground.

  "I just came here to learn magic."

  Jane gave a small smile.

  "That makes two of us."

  Zig sat in a tower at the top of the Red Mine fortress. He stewed. He brooded. He considered his recent actions and choices. He sighed.

  He was in time out.

  Jints hadn't thanked him for the opportunity to level cleanse (though he did level the skill, the ungrateful ham), instead he'd said things like "this is too far," and "where'd you get all this blood", and "can I take you to a healer", and "seriously, whose blood is this." The Alchemist was officially banned from business until Zig had a way to properly interact with the captains who seemed half traders, half opportunistic pirates.

  A little bit like the Red Daggers, Zig supposed. He liked to think they were moral and right, but upon second thought, most of their income was coming from illegal trades and tax evasion.

  But their hearts were in the right place.

  Knob had kept building more and more dirt structures, most recently this tower. It was about ten times Zig's height, and placed near the top of the hill, so Zig could see the entire forest valley laid out before him. There was no internal staircase or room, it was just a solid spire of dirt with handholds embedded on one wall so you could climb to the top.

  Gutters had cut a path through the trees, all the way to Liston. Zig didn't want to know how many skills the two boys had picked up recently. Knob was leaning heavily into goblin crafting and construction, he'd been going at it for weeks now. Gutters was still thoroughly enamored with his rapier, whipping it out and practicing against invisible enemies whenever he thought nobody was watching. When he wasn't doing that, he was chopping down trees. Extremely fast. Zig had a legendary skill allowing him to devastate a tree with rocks, but Gutters had somehow combined several basic skills—Chop, Axe Proficiency, and First Strike, into a combo that let him equal Zig with speed, cutting through about a third of the tree in the first swing of his axe. Zig watched him knock down a tree in about forty seconds, and sighed again.

  "Hey, Hepp," Zig called down from his tower. The blonde ranger-turned-digger looked up from a cart he was pushing.

  "Ho Zig! What's happening up there?"

  "Not much, hey, how come the boys are getting all the skills, and I'm stuck with nothing?"

  "I dunno man, maybe it's harder when you're Legendary? What skills have you been working on?"

  That stumped Zig.

  "I... Ah... You might have a point there. But what about everyone else?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "People in town, they have what, four skills each? "

  Hepp got tired of shouting from below, and climbed up the tower. He reached the top, and stared out at the view, whistling his appreciation.

  "Not a bad place we got here."

  "Especially now we have the beginnings of a road," Zig nodded to the cleared path Gutters had chopped down. It was a patch of dirt, grass, fallen trees, and tree stumps, snaking all the way from the mine to Liston. "We'll have to get Gretta and Teeth on pulling out the stumps, then I think we could start some serious wagon trains to bring all the wood and stone to town."

  "I think—I think you just answered your own question, Zig."

  "Eh?"

  "We have a job needing strength, so we'd get Gretta and Teeth, our strongest, to do the strength related stuff."

  "...makes sense doesn't it?"

  "Well yea, but you'll never get Strength, will you? I think that's the way of it in town, too. The Baker does all the baking, at least anything serious or challenging, so we end up with a town where only a handful of people have Baking at anything past Basic."

  "Huh. You're really smart sometimes Hepp."

  "Thank you Zig."

  "But like Endurance? Strength? Why doesn't everyone have it?"

  "Zig, do you remember how you got Endurance? I don't think everyone is willing to go through with it."

  "It seems like such a no-brainer, though. I'd think everyone would be spending every day trying to get all the skills.

  "Some do. A lot get killed. The survivors tend to drift towards the bigger cities. You'll find monsters among men there."

  They sat in silence a while, staring out at the landscape.

  "I think we have an advantage though, Zig."

  "Oh yea?"

  "Yea. Endurance. It's a smart skill to get early. It lets us work hard toward any other skill. Also, we have you. If there's anything dumb that we'd hesitate to do, we've got you to jump in first."

  "Thanks Hepp, that's kinda sweet. I think. We have another advantage too, you know? Another person that really makes us dominate any conflict. Besides Teeth, of course."

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Hepp subtly shifted towards a heroic pose, looking out at the forest below. The wind caught his hair and it waved a bit.

  "Oh yea? Who might that be?"

  "Gretta, of course. The girl's insane."

  "I'm pretty handy in a fight too, you know?"

  "Gretta can play tug of war with Teeth."

  Hepp had to give her that one. He left Zig to his thoughts, and climbed back down to the mine. He was digging out a third level of the "Red Daggers Super Secret Hideout". The name was pending approval by everyone other than Hepp, though Hepp felt like Knob was pretty close to giving in.

  "I was worried about blood magic, I gotta say."

  Captain Blackhook sat in his office, which was the center table of whatever tavern had the misfortune of being closest to his ship. Around him sat six other captains. All the captains currently docked at Liston.

  "I heard he's faking it, but nobody fakes being comfortable with that much blood."

  "Aye, and he killed Sod and Heresh."

  "Allegedly, Bell, allegedly."

  Bell tried to swipe Blackhook's mug, but Blackhook smoothly picked it up and took a drink before his old shipmate could get there. Blackhook smiled as he drank deep. It was the little things. He slammed his mug back down on the table, noting the little cracks forming in the wood. There was an art to slamming things on tables. Too much and you constantly need new tables. Too little, and you were some little princess carefully putting her cup back on the table.

  One of the other captains, Torod, shifted in his chair.

  "He's got money, you said?"

  "Enough to throw a couple hundred into a deal without blinking."

  Torod thought about that, then nodded.

  "That's enough for me. I'm in."

  "Cheers to you Torod, I knew you'd be on board. How about you, Guzz?"

  Guzz lifted a black eyepatch and peered at Blackhook with a glass eye that glowed a soft blue.

  "I heard he's got an enchanted club. If that's on the table, then I'm in."

  Blackhook nodded slowly while wincing inwardly. He wanted that club himself. It was going to get messy once the boy was dead, and the seven of them no longer had a common interest.

  "We can do that. Just the club now. Any other enchanted gear gets spread around. Deal?"

  "Deal."

  "I get the killing blow." A small child spoke up. The other captains let the boy speak, out of reverence for his father. It couldn't be easy, inheriting a ship at his age. The only thing a crew would respect was power, and the boy...

  "Ah, thinking it might shift you up in the world?" Blackhook suggested casually.

  "If he's got money, connections, and he's powerful enough to kill two captains," the boy said, "then I think I might shift classes twice, let alone get a legacy skill or two out of it."

  Blackhook sighed inwardly. He liked the kid, he really did. But the lad just reminded everyone how profitable it'd be to strike the final blow. Nailed his own coffin, really. Outwardly, Blackhook smiled and winked at the boy.

  "Battle always has a bit of chaos in it, but we'll try our best, young captain. I swear on my honor. For your father. To Ironbeard, may his corpse spit on the monsters of the deep!"

  "To Ironbeard!" The captains all took a drink of honor. Blackhook gave the boy a month before someone stabbed him in the back. Sad, really.

  But such was a pirate's life.

  Jane closed her eyes, trembling a little, feeling the potion give a little bit of mana back to her system. She'd never had such a drink before. Harry called it Cocoa, something from the swamplands down south, and it was hot and sweet. Jane set the mug down in front of her, and got back into her meditation position. She sat on a bench in the courtyard, hearing the trickling of various fountains surrounding her. She took a deep breath in, held it for nine seconds, then a deep breath out. She cast Magic Bolt again, but as slowly as she could, sensing everything possible.

  The mana strands curled into a rope in her core, rotating slowly within her gut. Jane watched them turn, watched how new strands were drawn out of the cloud of energy in her core. Eyes still closed, she leaned to the left and gestured with her left hand. A small bolt of white energy leapt from her hand and cracked a nearby statue that was standing in a foundation. Jane winced slightly at the sound, but remembered how much this academy was charging for everything. Spinning up a new cord of mana, Jane leaned to the right and released a second bolt, chipping a little piece off a second statue.

  "You're doing it, Jane!"

  Harry cracked an eye open from where he was meditating.

  "It's amazing! Thanks for the tip about Cocoa, it really works!"

  "Don't overdo it, I think it has diminishing returns."

  "Isn't overdoing it how we improve?"

  "...fair point! Overdo away. Try to cast a bigger one, and a smaller one. Feel the difference between them. When you're out of mana, try to cast the smallest bolt possible."

  Jane was already well past her limits. Her head was spinning, as if she herself was a magic bolt. Only her Advanced Endurance skill was letting her sit upright at all. She heard the instructions, got them mixed up in her brain, and flung both hands out at the same time. A weak bolt flew out of her right hand, not even chipping the statue this time. In the same moment a whisper of the smallest bolt, just a little candle flame, flopped out of her left hand and fell to the ground. It fizzled in a puddle, then vanished.

  "I thought magic bolts didn't fall to the ground?" Harry called from his meditation.

  Jane tried to think of a witty response, but she was too busy fainting again. Just before the darkness overwhelmed her, she felt a little message buzzing around her brain.

  New skill acquired! Multicast (Advanced)

  Jane smiled even as her eyes closed and Harry's repeated casting of Cure failed to bring her back. She'd gained a skill. It was time to rest.

  Neither of them saw Lucille, standing at the entrance of the courtyard, watching with a cold fire in her eyes as Harry gently picked her up and hurried to the infirmary. She didn't care for Harry. She'd never cared for Harry. And how dare he look at this new woman waltzing her way into Lucille's academy. Lucille stood there for a long time, unmoving, like one of the statues themselves.

  "Elemental!"

  Hepp sprinted out of the Red Mine. Hot on his heels was... Zig squinted. It was a little clay man, about the size of Knob. He looked kinda cute, thudding along on stubby legs.

  "Ho, Hepp! Who's your friend?"

  Zig called out from the top of his tower. Hepp's response was a scream as he dashed down the hill as fast as he could. The clay man had ten of Hepp's knives embedded into him, eight of them fading away even as Zig watched. They didn't seem to faze the elemental at all. He plodded along after Hepp. At some point, the clay man scooped up some dirt from the ground, molded it into a ball, and threw it at Hepp. Thankfully, Hepp had looked over his shoulder just in time. He ducked, and the ball sailed past him, hitting a dirt wall with a heavy sounding thud.

  "Not bad," mused Zig, "a clay man after my own heart. Must have some kind of Dirt Proficiency."

  Zig fished in his pocket and pulled out his emergency rock, but Hepp was there, and Zig didn't want to get him by accident. Zig was pondering what to do when he saw the boys, Knob and Gutters, arrive on the scene. Knob had a shovel and Gutters had his rapier tied to his belt. The blue-skinned troglodyte boy drew his blade and the sound of metal rang out across Red Mine hill.

  "Now that's a proper sword-drawing," Zig said to himself. Between the three of them, this shouldn't be an issue. He settled down to watch.

  Gutters jumped in first. Zig remembered first meeting these boys. Gutters would always hide behind Knob, letting the half-goblin do all the talking. Now it seemed to be the reverse. Knob ran to the back and started hacking away at the bottom of a dirt wall with his shovel. Gutters jumped in front of Hepp, flourishing his rapier and actually swiping a chunk off the clay man's shoulder.

  "A rapier cutting through mud? Must be that First Strike skill he picked up."

  Gutters' latter attacks weren't so effective. Even with his Chop skill giving him surprising power,

  the metal blade simply didn't go more than an inch into the dense clay.

  Still, it bought them time. The elemental—who Zig was mentally naming Clayman— stopped chasing Hepp and turned to Gutters. It lurched forwards and swiped at him with heavy arms. Gutters didn't try to parry, but dodged backwards. The blows looked heavy but slow. They came to a stalemate. Clayman couldn't land a blow on Gutters, and Gutters could deal any damage to Clayman. Gutters kept at it, though, buying time until eventually Knob called out.

  "Over here!"

  Gutters walked backwards, still fighting the elemental, keeping it's attention, until Knob saw they were in the right spot. Knob knocked a final support, and the dirt wall nearby collapsed with a rush, swallowing up Clayman. The dirt settled into a pile, with just one stubby hand poking out, wiggling a bit.

  "Do you think he'll get out?" Hepp asked nervously.

  A rock flew into the dirt wall with a "wump". The clay hand broke into pieces and blended into the rest of the hill.

  "Na," Zig said, walking up to them. "Nice work everybody. Gutters I am jealous every time I see you with that rapier. You were born to that thing. Knob, that was amazing. Was that goblin crafting?"

  "...kinda? A mix of crafting and construction, but," the half-goblin looked crosseyed, "I just got a Goblin Trap skill."

  Zig sighed, trying to looking really happy for Knob, wishing his mother had been a goblin.

  "That's amazing Knob. You two are really flying through the skills, aren't you?"

  Teeth was drunk. She stumbled along the forest, occasionally neighing and kicking a tree that looked at her the wrong way. The two men she'd eaten this morning had been carrying some kind of poison on them. Potent stuff. Enough to even affect Teeth. They weren't inside the walls of Liston, so Teeth didn't feel like it counted as "bad behavior". They had been creeping through the woods, heading toward the dirt hill that Hepp kept digging into. Perhaps the boy was half ant?

  They were an odd bunch.

  Teeth liked them, though. Farmer Haggold's skill to bind them together had failed, but she still didn't have the heart to let Zig know. She was no bound pet, she was just Teeth. But as a member of the Red Daggers she'd been exploring the world, seeing and eating things she'd never have come across in the forest she grew up in. She quite liked it here. Even the two little goblins that had joined the party, one green and one blue. One day they might—

  Teeth blinked, trying to get the images of about twenty men to slide back into the eight real figures she'd just stumbled across. They were all staring at her in stunned silence.

  I won't tell anyone if you won't. Teeth tried to tell them, but she couldn't talk. She was a horse. Teeth swayed a bit, unsteady. She was about eighty percent sure she was a horse. She took a bite of whatever was in front of her.

  That poison was some damn good stuff. Teeth thought as she chewed on one of the men. The others all started running off, screams fading in the distance. Teeth sighed. That was the thing about groups of people, you can eat one, maybe two and by that time the rest have all gone. Teeth burped and sneezed at the same time, dropped the remaining bits of the man, and wandered off to find Zig.