As soon as Jake was practically jettisoned out of Roger, his metaphorical jaw hit the ground. The plethora of different Intents floating around caught him completely off guard. He was prepared to see maybe a dozen different beings but there were probably over a hundred all at different stages of Evolution everywhere.

He then turned back to Roger, or rather shifted his attention, as his vision was currently a 360 view and immensely confusing. Even with his large misty form he still felt dwarfed in comparison to the massive slow moving darkness that was Roger.

He reached out with his Insight to speak to him but found it was almost impossible through the thick Vigor-Darkness sludge. At least now he knew why it was so hard for Roger to send out his Insight, considering his body was practically a solid object. Good to know that solid objects stopped it from flowing.

[Helloooooo, anyone in there? Geez, what is your Insight, 1?] Jake suddenly became aware of an annoyed feminine voice talking to him.

He focused in on it, which was technically in the opposite direction he was focusing. He desperately needed to learn to spread his awareness if it was truly that easy to sneak up on him. In any case, the being he saw was unlike any of the descriptions he had seen, which he assumed meant it was a more advanced race.

They seemed to be some form of orb with a blue aura surrounding them. From what he could tell it was almost entirely made of Spirit, so much so it was constantly spilling out around them. He wasn’t sure why, but just from looking he could tell they were definitely female. Perhaps it had something to do with their aura?

[Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there. I was focused on just how many people there are here.] Jake wasn’t sure if he could trust her but it was still technically the truth.

[Whaddya mean ya didn’t see me? You should be able to see everything at once, what’s wrong witcha?] Jake was wondering the same thing if it was truly that easy to do.

[Sorry, I recently went through a Race Change, I’m feeling a bit dazed. Also, I didn’t catch your name.] Even if he didn’t trust her, he could still try to be courteous. No sense making enemies of the first people he met.

[That’s because I didn’t tell ya.] She stated this in a rather matter-of-fact way.

[Ah. Well, can you tell me?] Jake was confused by her strange manner of speaking.

[Nope. But I can take ya where ya gotta go.]

[And where would that be?] Hopefully Jake could get something out of her if anything. She had been nothing if not incredibly vague.

[To Morkin, the leader here. What, are ya livin’ under a rock? Actually, nevermind, you actually mighta. Or under... whoever that is.] Jake was surprised when she literally pointed with her aura.

He turned his attention and found her pointing at Roger. He would’ve been lying if he said he wasn’t slightly miffed by her almost disgusted tone towards him.

[Do you mean Roger? Yeah, I guess I was under him.] He didn’t want to be too vague, just in case she was quick to anger.

[That sludge pile has a name? We just use ‘em as an example of why not to go down the Dark Spirit path. Didn’t even know they had Insight, ta be honest witcha.] Jake had to stop himself from having an outburst, especially considering he didn’t know this woman. Hopefully this wouldn’t be the norm with her.

[Anyways, let’s getcha outta here, it’s dark and stuffy. By the way, good choice with the Soul Intent. Any other path and I probably woulda just killed ya here.]

Jake was caught off guard by how nonchalantly she stated this, as though it were a daily occurence. If it, in fact, was a daily occurence, he would need to leave as soon as possible. But only after he figured out how to take Roger with him, of course.

At this point they started heading away from Roger, which bothered Jake greatly. He hadn’t figured out how to speak with him yet, and he knew it needed to happen soon. Isolation would do him no good in his current mental state, but an angry mob of hundreds of beings would be worse. He’d just have to figure out how to do it later.

Inferior Spirit Symbiosis increased to 4/5

Inferior Spirit Gathering increased to 4/5

Jake paused upon seeing this, then continued on after he heard the woman huff impatiently. Was that connection still active between them? It had to be if he just gained a bonus to those skills. After thinking on it for a moment, he tried sending Insight through the connection.

[Roger, can you hear me?]

[Loud and clear, man. How are you doing that, Ryder?] Roger sounded tense but relieved to hear him.

[That connection I made with you, it’s letting me send Insight right to your core and speak with you. I’ll be back as soon as I can, don’t worry. This woman told me I needed to speak to their leader so that’s what I’m doing. By the way, when you were gathering Insight around me, was there anyone else around?]

[Yeah, there were a couple others, but I wasn’t really checking out what they were doing. I was making sure you were all good before anything else. Why, another name come up, man?] Roger was already starting to sound more relaxed, which was a great relief.

[Yeah, the name Morkin. I know you probably don’t remember it, seeing as how that isn’t actually part of your memories, but for me it was an old deckhand we had. If I remember, he was one of the first people that went over when the sea storm started. Poor bastard was running to warn his crewmates when a wave suddenly crashed into the boat, rocking it and sending him overboard. Gods above, we would have helped him but it only got worse from there. He was the first to go over, but he unfortunately wasn’t the last.] Jake’s speech grew faster and faster as he described the scene before ending on a low somber note. Whether he realized it or not, there was a certain level of trauma left behind.

[Wow man, it sounds like what happened really messed you up. I don’t blame you though, that’s a pretty gnarly situation to be in. But you should probably pay more attention to what’s going on, I’ll talk to you when you get back man.] Roger sounded sympathetic yet touched that Jake had confided in him.

[Alright then, I’ll let you know when I’ve met their leader.] With that he pulled his Insight back through the connection and returned focus to his immediate surroundings.

Insight +2

Insight: 13/15

Jake clearly hadn’t been paying attention for a good long while, as he had no idea where he was at the current moment. Even though he technically couldn’t feel, the heat from his surroundings was still terrifying with its intensity. He could tell that one wrong move would spell disaster, but he had no fear of mistakes. His current form was leagues more coordinated than the average human body, even as a disembodied mist.

[Are we almost there, miss? Sorry to seem impatient, it’s just our surroundings have seemingly gotten a lot more dangerous.] Jake sincerely hoped she hadn’t already tried speaking with him, otherwise he probably seemed like a useless fool.

[Oh, back with the livin’ are ya? Can’t even begin to tell ya the amounta times I tried talking to ya, but you just wouldn’t notice. You really do got somethin’ wrong with ya, dontcha?] With that Jake’s hopes were dashed, as he clearly came across like a complete buffoon.

[I’m so sorry, I’ve been focusing on gathering Spirit and wasn’t paying attention.] Speaking of which, Jake actually gathered some of the Spirit around him while he was at it. At least then he wasn’t a liar.

Fire Spirit +5

Spirit: 20/25 (Dark 15, Fire 5), Dark: 5/5

Fire Spirit, in the ocean? Jake’s metaphorical jaw nearly hit the ground, the realization sending him reeling. He’d heard of things like underwater heat pockets while on land, but he simply chalked them up to inane theories made by bored magicians and scholars. To think they were actually grounded in reality was nothing if not perspective shifting. He gathered up enough for a gem later then stopped focusing on that entirely, for the moment filled to the brim.

Fire Spirit +5

Spirit: 25/25 (Dark 15, Fire 10), Dark: 5/5

Inferior Spirit Gathering increased to 5/5

Inferior Spirit Gathering upgraded to Minor Spirit Gathering 1/10

Just like that, Jake understood how to more efficiently gather Fire Spirit, realizing that he had been gathering it in much the same way he did Dark Spirit. Whereas Dark Spirit was a constant and gradual trickle, Fire Spirit worked best when it came through in bursts. This would allow him to greatly improve his technique and avoid unknowingly leaving behind as much Spirit.

[Not bad, new guy. If ya keep gathering like that then maybe ya won’t be a useless Conduit.] She practically spat out the last word, almost making Jake reconsider asking what it was.

[What’s a Conduit?]

[Ha, now I know you’re joking. Wait... by the gods, you’re serious. I thought that’s what you were usin’ that sludge pile for, considering the connection between ya.] Jake had to bite back a snide remark at the words ‘sludge pile’. [A Conduit is basically someone ya use for the Spirit Symbiosis Skill ‘cause it’s all they’re good for. Things like your friend back there can’t really do much in the way of gathering since they can’t really move too much. They end up just relying on others to get Spirit for them. It’s their best asset and their biggest weakness since they usually don’t try to get off the path they’re on once they get good enough at it.] Though he hated the way she spoke about Roger, Jake couldn’t deny that what she was saying was the truth. Roger urgently needed to change paths, but without proper help he probably wouldn’t try.

Complex Reason increased to 6/10

Jake stared off into the distance, all the possible scenarios now running through his mind. Was the current Morkin the real one, or was it just another being like Roger, who had simply picked up Morkin’s name through his Insight? If it was the true Morkin, was he allowing the power to go to his head like he would on the Blue Rose? He sincerely hoped not, as that was the main reason he had been reassigned to deck hand. The man was not good with power, and considering what they were now, he probably had nothing but power.

[What kind of path did Morkin take, if you don’t mind my asking?] Jake tensed up as he asked this.

[He went down the Vigor Intent path. Then he went down the Insight Intent Path. He briefly went to the Soul Intent path, but has largely stayed as a Vigor Intent since then.] Well the man certainly knew how to diversify, but Jake had to wonder just how much longer he’d been awake if he had gotten that far.

In any case, if he was still a Vigor Intent that was bad news. It meant he was almost indestructible and as a result probably immensely bull-headed. Considering he already had mildly tyrannical tendencies, Jake could only imagine how bad he’d become now.

Insight +1

Insight: 14/15

[Hey, pay attention, we’re here. Welcome to the Blue Rose, outsider.]