Jake found himself surprisingly unable to feel anything, considering he had just been taken on a roughly 15 minute tour of his own boat. They were now walking up to the captain’s quarters when the woman stopped again.

[This is where Morkin stays, but he’s probably busy right now. I’ll set up your audience with ‘im for later today, then you can see 'im.] By this point even she sounded tired of this, likely meaning it wasn’t her first tour that day.

[Very well then. Am I expected to stay on the ship or am I free to roam the area in the meantime?] He was hoping he could go back to gather more Fire Spirit.

[Ya can’t leave, but you can do whatever else ya wanna. I can take ya back down to the quarters if ya like?] She was clearly only doing her assigned job, and Jake already knew his way around anyways.

[That’s quite alright, I remember where they are. Any room in specific I should take?]

[Any room’s fine, long as it’s empty when ya get there. Either that or whoever’s there doesn’t mind your presence. Just don’t take the first one, it’s mine.] She said this with a yawn in her voice, which was odd considering they technically didn’t need to sleep.

A tad minimalist for his taste, but he supposed it would do for the time being. He wandered off to the quarters with her in tow. She probably decided she would sleep for the time being, but it still felt like she was hovering over him. He wasn’t a child to be chaperoned.

Once they arrived at the quarters, which was on the floor below the captain’s, she immediately slipped into the first room on the left.

[Oh, before you go, can you at least give me your name? It seems a tad odd still not knowing, especially if we’re going to be seeing more of each other.] Jake had almost forgotten, but they still hadn’t officially introduced each other.

[You first, new guy. No way ta know if you’re just gonna get my name and book it, forever remembering so you can attack me in the future when I least expect it.] There was a distinct joking tone to her voice, along with something else.

[It’s… Locke. You can call me Locke.] This was a name Jake used whenever he was on land, as he had been extremely wanted. For obvious reasons.

[Well Locke, I’m Kyrie. Pleasure ta finally get ta know ya. Hopefully ya don’t suck.] Jake still had some trouble getting used to her odd speech, but it was beginning to grow on him.

[I hope so too. Have a good…] Jake paused to consider the time before deciding on morning. [Morning rest.]

[Pfffhahahaha, it’s like 8 p.m! Geez, someone really needs to teach you better time management.] Her aura visibly shook when she laughed, exuding slightly more Spirit than usual.

If Jake could smile he would have been absolutely beaming. He didn’t recognize the name, thankfully, but in either case he was certainly enjoying her presence. He found himself hoping she did as well.

Kyrie put up a door made of Spirit, which he learned was common considering there weren’t doors anymore. She said it only took about 2 of her primary Spirit, which was unsurprisingly Water. Also, her current race was apparently Wisp, which made sense. It explained why her aura was so malleable and varied based on emotions. From what he had heard in life, Wisps varied in elements but were always consistent with their more vivid emotions.

[Hey, move out of the way, you’re blocking the hall. I refuse to go through your weird mist, it’s full of Fire Spirit. And… Dark? Ugh, disgusting.] Jake was caught off guard by a feminine voice slightly lower than Kyrie’s and leagues more scornful.

[Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there.] Jake immediately regretted saying this.

[You didn’t see me? Morkin’s grace, just sign up to be a Conduit now, you’re useless.] Whereas Kyrie was playful even when annoyed, this woman was clearly just trying to be hurtful.

She was a brown and blue mixture Jake hadn’t seen before and also a Wisp. Hers seemed different however, her aura gravelly unlike Kyrie’s silky and fluid aura.

Jake quickly moved aside to give her room, not that she seemed to need it. Her aura definitely would have resisted his mist, it was simply inconvenient. It was a form of Spirit Jake hadn’t seen before though, which made him wonder just how hers worked.

[Oh, by the way, I’m new here. You can call me Locke.] Hopefully he could create a more positive relationship in the future, but he doubted it.

[I don’t care what your name is, Conduit-to-be, but my name’s Kate. All things considered, you’ll probably be hearing it a lot.] Her tone grew more sour by the second, her aura literally covered in spikes.

[Alright then, sorry to bother you. Have a wonderful evening.] Jake wasn’t trying to brown nose, he simply knew that nothing else would work on this woman.

[Doubt I can, now that a useless Conduit’s tainted my day.] She stated this with ice in every syllable as a mud door erupted into existence, splintering the wood slightly and cutting off the connection.

Too frustrated by the interaction with Kate, he simply went into the nearest room and tried to make a dark door. The Spirit left his mist and filled the door frame which he then solidified. It became solid for a moment before quickly cracking and breaking to pieces. He then repeated the process, only this time holding it in place rather than solidifying it. It merely dissipated uselessly, but Jake was sure he had it figured out. For the third attempt, he filled in the doorway, solidified it, then coated the solid door with a second layer. This time it took, the solid door keeping the looser Spirit stuck and the loose Spirit canceling out the pressure. Once he released his control, it became true darkness rather than Dark Spirit, making it impossible to see through and hard to get through. He was finally free of any nosy visitors from bothering him.

Insight +1

Insight 15/15

Dark Spirit -6

Spirit 24/25 (Dark 14, Fire 10), Dark 0/5

Skill Unlocked: Inferior Spirit Manipulation 1/5

Perfect, his Insight capacity was now full and he felt his mind running decently faster than before. It wasn’t a huge leap, but it was definitely better, and that was all Jake could ask for.

Satisfied with the progress and eager to improve more, he went to sleep.

* * *

Jake woke up on his back staring up at a rather large flame raging directly above him. Acting quickly, he shot up and banged his head on the black gem floating in front of him. Clutching his head in pain, he backed up right into the flames, immediately freaking him out. He ran out in fear, then quickly realized it wasn’t burning him. He thanked the gods no one could see him in his Soulscape.

“Sup, Ryder.” Roger’s voice rang out crystal clear, both terrifying and embarrassing Jake.

“Gods above, how are you in here?!” Jake shouted in confusion. He was used to Roger’s constant presence, it was more comforting than anything. He was moreso shocked by the appearance Roger had, probably unintentionally, donned in that realm.

He looked physically like the original Roger, save for the shoulder length black hair and brown irises, where the original had blonde short hair and blue eyes. He had the same stubble, though obviously in black. He wore a short sleeved black button down with the top buttons undone, leaving his chest hair peeking out. He also had on loose fitting shorts and sandals, which Roger would’ve never been caught dead in.

“I changed it up, man. It was really tough, but I wanted to be useful to you. So I changed my race again, this time to Inferior Insight Intent. From there, it got super easy, man. I learned how to bail from my Soulscape so I’ve been buildin’ up a Dark Gem stockpile. Bein’ here is just lucky, to be real with you. Our connection lets me send my Insight through even when you’re in here. Really glad I did, Ryder, I missed you, man.” Roger was an absolute softie in Jake’s eyes if him being away was all it took for Roger to force himself to change.

“Well I missed you too, friend. I’m also happy to see you’re out of that low from before. Anyways, I’m gonna make a Fire Gem if you don’t mind.” Jake began pulling in the Fire Spirit as he said this, not waiting for an answer.

“Yeah, go ahead man. I’m gonna head out for now. Later, Ryder.” With that Roger faded away, weirdly dissipating into the air.

All distractions officially gone, Jake began the lengthy process of shaping the Spirit in his hands into a proper Gem. Unfortunately, no matter what he did with this one, it simply wouldn’t stay in a circular shape, not even close in fact. Every time he tried to smooth it out, the other end began to violently flare up. Unlike with Dark Spirit, Fire Spirit was unstable and didn’t enjoy being otherwise.

Just at the peak of his frustration, Jake stopped and tried to think about what he was doing wrong. Brute forcing it would do him no good. He tried to think about what kind of shape would work best before deciding on a diamond shape. The two pointed ends would have miniscule vents leading into its wide hollow center, allowing it to let off heat without losing Spirit. The slanted edges on the exterior would essentially be constantly on fire, holding the gem together rather than breaking it apart.

Satisfied with the design, he pulled all the Spirit back into his hands and molded it into shape. Though he had a few hiccups where it nearly exploded, Jake managed to create the Gem. Sweat was pouring from his forehead, most of it from the exertion rather than the heat which he barely felt. Wonderful, now he only needed to do it four more times and he was good to go.

Inferior Fire Spirit Gem successfully created; Fire Spirit Capacity +5

Fire Spirit -10

Spirit 14/25 (Dark 14), Dark 0/5, Fire 0/5

Inferior Spirit Gem Creation increased to 2/5

Jake was sincerely hoping that skill would have gone up two levels but no such luck. He supposed it had already been a difficult process; it probably wouldn’t improve that easily. In any case, there was no sense worrying about it, for any improvement was better than none at all. For the time being he moved some Dark Spirit into its gem to free up some space for other Spirits.

Spirit 9/25 (Dark 9), Dark 5/5, Fire 0/5

Jake then took a seat on the ground and gradually pulled himself out of his Soulscape. As he breathed methodically he thought back to his current situation. He had a multitude of issues to deal with, first and foremost his meeting with Morkin. Hopefully he wouldn’t recognize him, as Jake figured he still hadn’t forgiven him for making him a deckhand so long ago. It felt like years ago even though it had probably only been about 4 months.

* * *

Jake focused in on a peculiar sight. In front of him his Dark door was gone, and in its place were Kyrie, Kate, and a Soul Intent behind them he didn’t recognize. They only had Water Spirit, but Jake wasn’t worried about them. He was more worried about the fact that three people had just broken into his room and didn’t seem at all friendly. Kyrie seemed to be trying to make herself as small as possible, her aura tight against herself.

[Locke, you have been found guilty of the crime of Dark Spirit control. Come peacefully or face immediate execution. What say you, scum?] Kate’s voice betrayed her pleasure with this outcome. She knew it would happen but said nothing.

[Well I suppose my hands are tied, aren’t they?] Jake moved towards them, then jerked back when a mud spike appeared mere centimeters in front of him.

[You move when we say you move, fiend. How you hid your filthy Darkness from Kyrie is beyond me, but I won’t make the same mistake. Torvin, orb him.]

[Right away, Lady Strauss.] Jake was surprised by the fact that they were distinctly including him in their mental speech, making him wonder whether or not it was intentional. On top of that, he referred to her as Lady, which was a title reserved for royalty. Did they even have royalty? If so, then just how important was she?

He didn’t have time to think about any of that, however, when he suddenly became aware of a globe of water containing him. It was jarring how different it was from the regular water. It was absolutely pure, distinctly missing any form of impurities he’d only just realized the regular water contained. He tried to move around but found it to be a momentous task and gave up. These properties were likely thanks to it being Water Spirit rather than truly water, which meant Torvin hadn’t loosened his control on it yet.

Complex Reason increased to 7/10

He tried reaching out to speak but felt the Spirit around him tighten, inflicting actual pain, which he hadn’t felt since he’d come back from the dead.

Vigor -1

Vigor 1/15

Wonderful, what little Vigor he had gained was gone just like that. On top of that, he was being accused of breaking a law he didn’t even know existed, and he couldn't even defend himself. Jake had no doubt he was completely screwed.