[Create Silk rank 2 level 1]

  [0.5 Magic added]

  Vel stared at the rank, frowning deeply. She should be happy. It was her first skill that she’d managed to rank up, granted, it wasn’t one of her more useful skills. She completed the textile she’d been working on, watching the levels climb nearly as fast as they did during their first rank.

  [Create Silk level 2]

  [Create Silk level 3]

  [Create Silk level 4]

  [Create Silk level 5]

  [Create Silk level 6]

  [Create Silk level 7]

  [Create Silk level 8]

  As she worked on the textile, she stopped. Wait. Did the rest of it just materialize? The white fabric before her was two times the size of her usual textiles, didn’t require individual threads, and materialized before her hands. She didn’t feel nearly as tight, her muscles sustaining the expenditure far better than before.

  “Huh,” Vel said, furrowing her brow. “Seriously?” she frowned. If Erl saw that she could create them at this size, and so quickly, he wouldn’t stop until she was rank three. A part of her thought to burn it, but another part knew that if she did, he’d suspect something. He knew how the Purple Fairy worked better than she did, meaning that he’d know how monumentally stronger a skill became upon ranking up.

  “No point in hiding it, I suppose,” Vel scratched her head, her hair still somewhat a mess, but at least it was up. Can I make other shapes?

  She materialized another silk textile, trying to form a shape with it, but found that it refused, forcing her to create a rectangle. At least it wasn’t a square.

  [Create Silk level 8]

  [Create Silk level 9]

  [Create Silk level 10]

  [Create Silk level 11]

  [Create Silk level 12]

  Curious, she made a silk thread, testing to see if that would do anything for her level. It took a substantial amount, forming a pile that fell off the edge of the table in front of her, before it finally gained a level.

  [Create Silk level 13]

  Clearly, the early levels, regardless of rank, were still easier to gain. She wondered if that would be true at higher ranks.

  “Purple Fairy, how much experience do you need to have to go from rank one to rank two?” Vel asked.

  [156,116 experience is required]

  Vel blinked. She’d expected Maldwyn to not respond, but . . .

  “Purple Fairy, could you please show me how many times I need to use a skill to gain experience?”

  [Experience gained differs per rank]

  [Rank 1: 500 experience per skill use]

  [Rank 2: 900 experience per skill use]

  [Rank 3: 1,100 experience per skill use]

  [Rank 4: 1,400 experience per skill use]

  [Rank 5: maxed]

  That . . . Looked like a lot of math. Vel didn’t know that much math, but she could assume that a learned man would know how many skill uses were required to reach the next ranks. Erl knew. That much was clear when he was asking about her levels, wanting specifics.

  I feel so used, Vel thought, though she already knew that much. Still, she couldn’t help but feel like a cow, and Erl was milking her for everything she had. Gold weaver . . . that’s what he called me, she thought, frowning. It was true, she was an endless supply of wealth. Never again would she make the mistake of revealing this ability to anyone, or . . .

  Furrowing her brow, she made another textile.

  [Create Silk level 13]

  [Create Silk level 14]

  [Create Silk level 15]

  [Create Silk level 16]

  I need to pick a fake class, she thought, considering future interactions. She’d been so honest up until now, and it dawned on her that that was due to pure luck. The people she ran into hadn't used her, but now that she was further away from Alnon, and thus the church, she was further away from the war between church and anti-church. Instead, she considered herself to be amongst greedier folks. Pirates; thieves.

  The door behind her opened, its creaking making her jump and turn. Erl waltzed in, shutting the door behind him. He moved to the table, looking over at the new textiles.

  “Ah,” he said, grinning. “As expected.” He lifted the square one, looking over it. “I’m going to retire somewhere nice with you around. Wouldn’t you like that? Live in a palace?”

  “I have a palace waiting for me . . .” Vel muttered, looking away. She hadn’t meant to say that, but thinking of palaces had her remembering her conversation with Sigurd━that she was a princess in a past life.

  “You do?” Erl leaned towards her. He reached out, grabbing her chin, and as he jerked her to look towards him, she slapped his hand away and glared. “What palace do you speak of?”

  “The one in Ymril, you fool!” Vel hissed at him.

  [Insult level 4]

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Erl’s hand snapped towards her, grabbing tightly at the wad of hair on the back of her head. She seethed at him through clenched teeth as he leaned in closer to her face. He looked between her eyes, then shifted up to look at her lavender hair.

  “I thought that color was strange for Alnon,” he said, realization seeping into his expression. “You’re part Ymrillian?”

  Well, no, Vel thought, narrowing her eyes. “And here I thought only one of you in your group was.”

  “What?” Vel asked, blinking.

  Erl smiled. “No, you’re not part Ymrillian,” he said. He let go of her, straightening. “Maybe a small line of your family once was, but if you’d been to Ymril, you’d be able to see their traits in your boyfriend.”

  Sigurd? Vel thought, blinking. Now that she was thinking about it, his skin was far too dark for the people of Alnon. That made sense, though, given how much he knew about Ymril, especially when Vel had never heard of it before. Granted, she was starting to think that there were many things purposefully hidden from her. Rarely did patrons even speak to her. That had been why Edard stood apart from the others that’d come to the temple.

  “What level is your skill now?” Erl asked.

  “Sixteen,” Vel answered, sighing.

  “Good. We can at least double that before returning you to your cage,” Erl replied. With that, he turned, Vel watching him go.

  “I hate you,” she said after the door closed. She stared for a long moment, then turned back to her work.

  Upon completion of four more textiles, [create silk] was only at level 28. She slumped over the table, unable to go any further. He would rob me of his life, she thought. Is it so evil to rob a man of his life when he robs others of something so precious? she wondered, lulling herself to sleep.

  It was late into the night when Vel woke back up. Her body was sore, back aching as she righted herself, looking out the windows past Erl.

  Erl.

  The man sat across the table, eating some sort of succulent meat that made her stomach growl. He looked up at her. “Get enough sleep?” he asked, his expression hard. “I would have liked you to tell me your level before you passed out.”

  “Thirty,” Vel croaked.

  [Deception Level 8]

  “Close enough to where I wanted you, I suppose,” Erl sighed.

  And you’re right where I want you, Vel thought, narrowing her eyes. She leaned back against the chair she sat in. “You didn’t take me back to the brig,” she noted, idly stretching her legs under the table. At least she’d not passed out from her skill this time. Well, mostly. Enough that she consciously chose to rest.

  “Like you could go anywhere,” Erl said, “unless you were holding out on me?”

  Vel shook her head.

  [Deception Level 9]

  “Well then, eat up. You have more work to do,” Erl said.

  Her muscles weren’t as sufficiently stretched as she would have liked, but Vel stood up anyways. She picked up the plate that’d been set beside her, then slowly moved towards the center of the table. Looking at Erl, she found him watching her with interest. She picked up a steak knife, then rolled back on her right foot, allowing her to fall into the Shadow Realm.

  Through the glass, she could see the captain stand up abruptly, and as his hand moved to the sword at his hip, Vel ran behind his chair, rolling her foot on her last step. Her body swung back up into the physical world, and with Erl’s back towards her, Vel shot sticky threads out towards him, watching them connect to his back.

  [Shadow Sneak level 21]

  [Sticky Thread level 50]

  [Sticky Thread level 51]

  [Sticky Thread level 52]

  [Webshot level 50]

  [Webshot level 51]

  [Webshot level 52]

  [Webshot level 53]

  Erl whipped around, his sword emerging from its hilt with an array of fire. It effortlessly slashed through Vel’s threads, and burned at the remnants, forcing her to disconnect them and stumble away. As he swung out at her, she slipped right back into the Shadow Realm.

  “Lass!” Erl called, voice coarse. “You’ll not win this! Come out and give yourself up!”

  Vel breathed, hands shaking. Magic. He had magic. She’d sorely underestimated him, thinking him a melee man only, but then . . . his sword burned, blocking her view of him entirely.

  “What are you?” she whispered, staring through the glass wide eyed. The flames fell away from his sword, though they didn’t touch anything else, leaving him and the room entirely unscathed. And making him visible to her again.

  “You walk in shadows,” Erl said, narrowing his eyes. “Do you think you can’t be touched there?” he asked. Then he looked directly at her. “I can hear you breathing, girl.” He thrust at her with his sword, flames igniting and the light bleeding into the Shadow Realm.

  She yelped as that light brushed against her knees, forcing her back into the physical realm. Jumping away from the flames, Vel tripped over the low table, her head fortunately hitting the padded surface of the couch behind it. Scrambling up to her feet, she threw her steak knife at him, if only to deter him from his approach.

  It worked for a brief moment. The time he took to bat the weapon away with his sword allowed her to slip back into the Shadow Realm. She moved past the wall and into the study, popping back out.

  [Shadow Sneak level 22]

  “Think, think, think!” she hissed at herself.

  [Rock throw], [fireball] . . . Ugh! Vel’s eyes scanned the room, searching for anything that might help.

  [Keen Eye level 3]

  The door burst open behind her, light dancing across the room as Vel desperately leaped over and behind the desk.

  [Feather Foot level 2]

  [Rapid Dodge level 6]

  She felt lighter than usual, and blinked at the new notifications. Cursing herself for relying on her magic so much, she considered how leaning into her strongest stat could aid her━dexterity. Looking at Erl, his features eerie from his burning blade, she waited for his next move.

  “Lass, if you don’t give this up, I will kill your friends,” he threatened.

  Liar. You’ll do that anyways, Vel thought.

  [Investigate level 2]

  Did that mean she was right? He was lying? Scanning over his face further, Vel could see it. He was cross with her, enough that she knew someone was going to pay for this, and it wasn’t going to be her. There was no choice now, she had to do whatever necessary to save Sigurd and Amalia.

  Erl took a step towards her, then another, but Vel stood her ground, gripping the edges of the desk. When he took another step, she heaved, flipping the heavy thing right onto his toes. As he yelped, she danced towards his left side, opposite one to the sword. That didn’t stop him from swinging it towards her.

  In a heart-stopping gamble, Vel ducked at the last minute, feeling the flames singe her hair. She slid the dagger from her boot, and jolted forward with it. The small blade barely piercing his skin, Erl vigilant in moving away.

  [Dagger Stab level 24]

  Something blunt hit Vel in the gut, and she coughed, somehow having missed his fist swinging for her. His hand moved to grab her knife hand, and Vel darted away, moving right out the door and back into the cabin with several impossibly wide and light steps.

  [Rapid Dodge level 7]

  [Feather Foot level 3]

  [Feather Foot level 4]

  [Feather Foot level 5]

  [Feather Foot level 6]

  “Silly girl! Get your arse back here!” Erl yelled. He swung his sword from within the study, flames flying off them. Had he managed to hit her, Vel might have burned to a crisp. Instead, however, she jumped away in a wide leap, feeling the heat of the fire as it rushed past her then slammed into the wall beyond, engulfing it in flames. Fire. He lit the ship on fire!

  [Feather Foot level 7]

  “Idiot!” Vel yelled, eyes wide.

  [Insult level 5]

  Sigurd! Amalia! Vel turned, moving for the door out of the cabin. The flames were catching fast, and at this rate, the whole ship would sink, her friends with it. Reaching a hand for the handle, an arm grappled at her waist, and Vel was yanked back. She hadn’t even heard him move for her over the crackling wood!

  “You’re not going anywhere,” Earl hissed into her ear. His sword clanked to the ground, and he placed his right hand around her throat.

  Vel jolted, pushing against him as he constricted her airway. She opened her mouth, desperately trying to take a breath in, but he was just so strong. No! she thought, clawing at his hand around her throat with her left one. He didn’t let up, and her vision began to darken.

  [Metal Claw level 19]

  Desperate to be free, she stabbed at him once, twice, then three times with her dagger still in her hand, each in quick succession, thrusting the blade into his leg behind her.

  [Dagger Stab level 25]

  [Dagger Stab level 26]

  Erl cried out, and dragged her as he staggered back. His grip on her loosened, and Vel gasped in air, her vision returning to her. She fell back with him as he pulled her down, and twisted. With one loud cry, she raised her dagger, and the moment she saw his face, she thrust the blade into one of his wide eyes.