Chapter 19

I was exhausted by the time I logged in that night. The moment I returned home from Bryant's, my parents unloaded a barrage of questions. I supposed I'd been asking for it. It was the first time I'd ever messaged them to say I would be spending time with friends.

After I escaped, I rushed through my homework and a quick workout, but I was faced with a second barrage over dinner. It took most of the evening to calm my mom and dad down, making me realize exactly how worried they'd been over my antisocial behavior.

I decided not to tell them about the possibility of making money through gaming since it would only make them fear I was being used. It'd only be a headache to convince them I was the one using the party to get the most bang for my buck without putting in any real effort. I had ancient coins and materials coming out of my nose, but no infrastructure to sell it at a good price. They had the infrastructure, but no source of ocean goods. It was win-win for both of us.

When I tried to send a friend invite to Trace using his Net ID, I received a system message saying he wasn't online yet. It made sense. If I didn't have a capsule, I would have waited another hour or two to go to bed.

I took the opportunity to talk with the Mayor in hopes of tracking down the Sage he'd mentioned during my beginner collection questions—the author of the Journal I'd received as a reward—only to find out I'd just missed the infamous Sage Karson.

I asked for his description and what direction he went, then hurried off to the Cerulean Forest to chase after him. There were no longer any players farming kelp in the area, causing the entire map to overflow with vines until it was more like a jungle than a forest. Without even trying, I managed to gather several stacks of the leafy vines as I searched for the Sage I hoped could teach me a skill.

According to the Mayor, the Sage should have been in the area for another day before moving on, yet I couldn't find him anywhere. Was he buried under the vines somewhere?

I stared up at the rippling sky, feeling defeated, until my eyes caught on the canyon walls surrounding the forest. I wanted to smack myself. I'd been thinking too much like a man and not enough like a merman.

Turning off my foot anchors, I swam toward the top of the ridge and peeked my head over the side at the sandy wasteland imitating the sea floor. I found him! The Sage sat atop a rock outcropping, feeding pellets to a school of tropical fish. I quickly hurried over to him, excited over the possibility of finally leveling up.

"Hello," the Sage said as I approached. "If you're looking for medicine, I have a few remedies available."

A vendor window appeared, but I ignored it. "I'd love to trade, but first—are you Sage Karson? My name is Jay. I'm a Sage and I'd really like to learn from you."

The Sage's face lit up with joy at my words. "Oh ho! So that's how it is." The vendor menu blinked out. "What exactly are you hoping to learn from me, young man? I've traveled far and wide, so there's many things I could teach you. Do you want weapons skills or perhaps a trade skill? You don't seem very experienced with magic, but I know a few magic spells you still might find interesting."

A new vendor window appeared. I scanned through it, my heart racing at the variety of skills he offered until I noticed none of them were marked as restricted to 'Sage'. I needed a class-specific skill if I ever wanted to level up.

"You're very knowledgeable," I said, swallowing down a lump in my throat. "I see many things I'd like to learn, but are there any skills you can only teach to another Sage?"

The vendor menu blinked out again as the Sage rubbed his jaw. "You're wiser than I expected. I imagine you'll go far as a Sage. Out of the many skills I possess, there are only three I would share with a fellow practitioner."

{Druidic Touch

Communicate with plants

Restriction: Sage

Cost: 5000 Ancient Coins}

{Bardic Empathy

Express emotions through music

Restriction: Sage

Cost: 2500 Ancient Coins}

{Astral Displacement

Teleport to any known location

Restriction: Sage

Cost: 1000 Ancient Coins}

I wanted to fall over in relief upon seeing he could teach class-specific skills. Even better, all three were tempting. "Can you tell me more about these skills before I decide? I don't want to make assumptions on how they work."

[You have shown wisdom and gained the title 'Wise Sage'.]

"It's very wise of you to gather information before making a decision. Very well. To begin, Druidic Touch allows a Sage to communicate with plants. This is a valuable skill for farmers and herbalists as it allows them to better understand the stages of a plant's growth, improve them with hybridization, and diagnose plant illnesses."

"So it's a Sage-specific tradeskill," I replied, hiding my disappointment. "I don't think it'd be very fitting for me. I don't intend to stay in one place for very long."

"Druidic Touch can also be used for scouting at higher levels. Plants can be found almost everywhere. As long as you nurture the skill and communicate with them often, anything they know, you can know."

"That does sound powerful, but it still means I'd have to settle somewhere to level up the skill. It's not like plants can uproot themselves and follow me around. Or can they?"

"I've heard of a few trees capable of such a feat, but no—plants generally need to be rooted to flourish."

"How about Bardic Empathy? I know bards are musicians. I hope using the skill doesn't require me to sing, because I'm not good at that."

The Sage laughed at my comment and shook his head. "Not at all. Although singing allows you to use words, making it easier to express emotion to people, the skill itself doesn't require it. Furthermore, different species prefer different kinds of music. I know of at least one Sage wandering in a demon realm who only uses drums to entertain skeletons, and a flutist in a mundane little human town who only plays for rats."

That was definitely a reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin. "Does that mean it's a control skill?"

"It depend on what emotion you express with your music and your skill with the instrument you use, but it's possible to use it in such a way. The skill allows a Sage to curse people with their hatred, summon friends with their longing, and even heal with their sympathy. The only limits the skill possesses is in the will of the musician and the feelings they're capable of expressing through song."

It sounded like a skill with a lot of potential and I could practice it without being tied to any one place. Best of all, even if I sucked as a musician, I could practice to my heart's content since I traveled solo. I only had to worry about hurting my own ears in the process.

I narrowed my eyes as something occurred to me. "Can I play music under water?" I asked because I remembered the horror I felt over drowning my Kitsune pet. I didn't want to make the same mistake.

"As long as the instrument is built for the environment, it can be played," the Sage soothed. "I have several instruments that I can sell to you."

"What about Astral Displacement?" I asked, refusing to choose until I knew the details of all three skills.

"A common skill," the Sage said dismissively. "With the reservoir of magic you possess, you can only use it once a day at most. It's a good life-saving skill if you have a vast amount of intelligence and, if you're skilled at Aetheric Cultivation, it will allow you to blink around a battlefield, but otherwise it's only good at saving some coins on return scrolls. It would be a waste for you to learn it from me. I only offered because you asked for what skills I could teach, Sage to Sage."

I nodded in understanding. If that was the case, I'd learn it from another Sage who didn't have any other skills I wanted. "I understand. I'd like to learn Bardic Empathy, if you're still willing to teach me."

[You have learned Bardic Empathy. Sage Karson's Favor +20]

"I've granted you the basic knowledge. Train it well. I'll be traveling this way again in four days. You can ask me to test you when I return."

"Thank you. Is it still possible to see what you items you have for trade?"

The original vendor menu appeared again, but it was different than it'd been before. There were now triple the items, whereas he'd only offered medicines the first time.