“HE FOUGHT A TYRANT!?”

  Leah exploded in fury at the two people in front of her, a female zaurian and a societal reject. They were all standing in the middle of Coconut Shores, with their conversation drawing looks from more than a few bystanders.

  “Well, he didn’t exactly mean to…” Saphina explained cautiously. “I sort of got caught off guard, so he decided to fight it off while I got away. Fortunately, we managed to kill it, so…”

  “THAT DOESN’T MAKE THINGS BETTER!” Leah raged, then began breathing hard. “Oh, dear sovereigns, please tell me he’s alright!” Leah proceeded to look in every direction, as if that would reveal the location of her son.

  Lukey promised her that he wouldn’t be getting into any dangerous situations, yet he seemed to be doing that even more consistently nowadays. The incident with the aquaclaw stalker worried her enough, but when these two strangers told her that Lukey almost died fighting a tyrant, she was just about ready to pass out.

  Leah still missed Favian, enough so that when she heard there was a scholar working at Ocean’s Bounty, she immediately went over and made a request of the young man to divulge the details of his disappearance. Lukey already demonstrated a habit of being just as reckless. She didn’t want her own to disappear and leave her with a broken heart all over again.

  “He’s fine, but he ended up passing out from exhaustion. The healer from Dragon’s Lance said that he would recover on his own in a few days. You weren’t here, so we asked around and found your house. After that we put Lukey in his bed and looked for you.” Bohdi explained.

  “Put him in his bed? Wait, how did you get into my house? I locked the door before I left.” Leah questioned with suspicion.

  Saphina looked away.

  “Well…” She began.

  Leah didn’t even bother listening to the explanation as she marched over to her house and walked over the collapsed doorway without a second thought. She immediately headed towards Lukey’s room and opened the door.

  “HE’S…. Not there?” Leah said with confusion.

  Saphina and Bohdi followed behind her and looked into the room to see an empty bed.

  “We just left him there this morning! Where’d he go?” Saphina cried.

  …

  Gentle waves rolled along the beach near Coconut Shores. Meanwhile, the sun beamed down from above, illuminating the clear sand and sparkling waves. The gentle sloshing could easily be heard, because there wasn’t a seagull in sight.

  Lukey sat in the shade with a bottle of wine he stole from his mom’s cabinet. He would make sure to repay her later, but for now he just needed to be left alone to think.

  First, he needed to check his attributes. Lukey was unable to check anything during his stay on the Mystic Reef, so now that he was out, it was time to check how many levels that tyrant gave him upon its death.

  Huh… My rating shot up, but my level only went up a bit.

  It made sense that he only got stronger by four levels. Norman’s level was only a bit higher than his. Even with the extra energy that came with killing a tyrant, it wouldn’t put him over by much. Even so, four levels were still weeks, if not months, of work, so the least he could do was be grateful.

  As for the reason his rating shot up. Looking into his titles revealed the answer.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  After learning how Aether worked, it wasn’t hard to figure out exactly what titles were. Basically, whenever someone performs an action, and that action is given recognition, then the aether will twist itself into a thread and bind itself to the person that achieved it, making them stronger.

  It seemed that the boost from the title [Tyrant Hunter] was big, really big. It was effectively a flat boost to everything, which would be an immense help going forward. It may be considered unbalanced, but considering what Lukey had to go through for the title, he thought the rewards matched the effort.

  [Nimble Butterfly] was interesting, and Lukey immediately equipped it because of the name. The title seemed to hint at others like it that focused on dodging attacks, so it gave Lukey something to strive for in the future.

  [Scripted] and [Student of the Arts] were obvious, given that he learned a script and already modified an art. However, what was far more interesting was the title [Guest of the Mystic Reef] and the fact that the description for both it and [Neptune's Disciple] was scratched out.

  I guess it isn’t a mystery how I got them; one was for being invited to the Mystic Reef, while the other was for learning the Neptunian Script. I suppose their descriptions got erased while I was still in the reef as a way of preventing more people from discovering that place. It must be very special, considering that visiting it alone gave me a flat one hundred luck.

  Lukey had spent a lot of time memorizing the Neptunian Script, and after he was taught how to modify arts, he spent considerable time and consideration doing that as well. He held an immense gratitude to Blustag for sticking his proverbial neck out for him, and he would make sure to honor his wishes going forward.

  But… what do I do? What am I even doing with my life?

  Lukey and Blustag talked… a lot. It was practically the only thing to do, considering that he was stuck there. By the time he had to leave, Lukey was seriously beginning to consider what he wanted out of his life, and looking back on what he’d been doing, he started to feel like he’d been wasting his time up until now.

  Why aren’t I more like Caldoon or Triton? When they want to do something, they just do it. Me? I get nervous whenever I try something new. I avoid my problems until I feel confident enough to deal with them, and, even then, I still don't confront them directly. Every time I fight, I feel the fear well up inside me, and the best I can manage is to shove it down until it’s over. I pretend to be confident, but I’m nothing but a bundle of nerves waiting to explode.

  Fishing, surfing, messing with new projects… I enjoy wasting my time with things like that. Is that wrong? I tell people I work for a guild now, but I still act more like a little kid than an adult. Heck, I’ve never even been on a date, and there are people my age who are already getting married.

  These thoughts plagued Lukey’s mind as he downed the bottle of wine and stared up at the clear blue sky. He didn’t have the energy to move around, so he just let everything go as he lay sprawled out in the sand, just enjoying everything. He listened to the waves roll, he listened to the whistling winds, and he listened to the tranquility all around him as it embraced him, body and soul.

  This… this is life. No levels, no worrying about my future, just… pure bliss.

  This continued for a good long while, until Lukey eventually started to get bored. Instead of returning to his house, however, he chose to continue looking for the Aethereal Brand. After some training from Blustag, he finally knew how to look for it effectively.

  Lukey started up [Insight] and quickly began tracing the internal channels within his body. To his mind's eye, it looked like a network of blue lines that extended all over his body. Originally, the lines were a lot more angular and simpler, but after learning the Neptunian Script, they looked far wavier, with many twists and spirals within their joints. The script had a lot of basis in rotation and spinning as a form of movement, so his channels had altered themselves to take this into account. First, Lukey looked through his brain, then the rest of his head, before moving onto the channels around his neck. Nothing turned up, so Lukey began to move down until something finally showed up.

  Woah… that doesn’t look good.

  Lukey found something, but to him it looked downright unnatural, if not dangerous. Along the azure channels that covered his heart, there was what looked like a gout of flames. It was as if an arrow had pierced his heart, and the flames would threaten to destroy it if left alone. Lukey opened his eyes, and with a panicked worry, he inserted ether into the brand to identify it.

  Lukey read the description once, twice, and then a third time. All the while, his face kept switching between looks of worry and confusion as he kept reading what the brand entailed. After resigning himself to the fact that he was now stuck like this, he downed even more of his wine and fell back on the sand.

  This is it… the reason Blustag tried to help me. He took one look at my ethereal form and immediately knew what the brand entailed. That’s why he was so consoling.

  Lukey wanted to be angry, but after some consideration, he knew Blustag was just trying to be considerate. The strange attendant knew his situation, and instead of telling him and causing panic, he gave Lukey a task that would ensure his life didn’t go to waste.

  Flame of Judgment? What judgment? The only reason I was given this brand was because I saw the breach. The only thing I can infer from this is to find eight rings, or I’ll die.

  Lukey couldn’t even begin to comprehend what that meant. Eight rings? What rings? Are they some treasures of major significance that he should somehow know about? Even if they did exist, something told him they wouldn’t exactly be easy to get or find.

  Life doesn’t always turn out the way you plan it, huh?

  Lukey chuckled. He was drunk and bleary-eyed, but he knew his surroundings were unfocused. His decision was clear in his mind.

  No, no, it does not. But if fate didn’t bend to those with fortune, we wouldn’t have sovereigns now, would we?

  In an outburst of insanity, Lukey laughed and cried. He laughed at the circumstance that landed him here, and he cried at the misery he foresaw himself going through. All he ever wanted was a class, something to give him purpose, something to get everyone else to stop calling him a lazy good-for-nothing.

  If he had never gotten his class, he would’ve never gotten that vision from Hemingway. If he had never seen that vision, he would’ve never seen the breach and never gotten the brand. He had searched for a purpose for his life, and he got one. It just came in the form of an obscure quest that would inevitably get him killed.

  “What a miserable life!” Lukey laughed, tears in his eyes. “First, it’s giant crabs and killer snails. Now what? Whatever it is, it’ll probably be even worse!”

  Lukey laughed, because if he didn’t laugh, he would start sobbing, and no one wanted to see that.

  “Well… it’s a miserable life, but it’s my life. So, I’m going to make the most of it.”

  Lukey grabbed his quest log and began updating it.

  Quest 2: Attack of the Killer Snails

  The final stretch of beach contained Norman, The Cannoneer. The tyrant caught us off guard, but we managed to best it with brains and willpower. Bum’s Break is now all cleaned up.

  {Complete}

  Infinite Quest: Eight Rings in Hand

  The Flame of Judgement demands I search for eight rings, but I have no idea where to start. Maybe something will turn up?

  Personal Quests

  -Upgrade Fishing Rod

  -Create or modify one of my arts

  -Reach Lv. 80

  -Document Neptune’s Legacy

  -Document Neptunian Script and teach it to others

  -Find a new weapon

  -Help out in the Searing Seas

  -Go on a date

  Art Inspirations

  -Combine [Ripple Sense], with [Labyrinth Sense] and [Tyrant Sense]

  -Focus [Fisherman’s Stance] on lower body.

  -Invert [Ripple Sense], make a new art

  I have a long break ahead of me. If I only have so much time before my next mission, I’m going to make the most of it.

  First, his second quest as a fisherman was complete. All that’s left was to report to Caldoon. As for the eight rings? That would be its own quest entirely. Lukey wouldn’t actively pursue it, but he would keep an eye out in case anything popped up. As a matter of fact, he dreaded the day he encountered information on the rings, because that would mean dropping everything to pursue them.

  For his personal quests, he just added everything that came to mind. Of course, he added Blustag’s request, but in addition to that, there was helping Kiran, something he already promised to do; finding a new weapon to replace his spear; and finding a girl to go on a date with him. That last one wasn’t necessary, but if he was going to die any day now, he needed to live life to its fullest.

  Lukey closed the Quest Log and put it away. He was about to leave the beach but then remembered that there was one thing he hadn’t checked yet: his arts.

  There were two things of note. One of them was a surprise, and one of them wasn’t.

  [Ripple Sense +] was the modified version of [Ripple Sense] he created with Blustag. As per Roman’s recommendation, he took fragments from [Tyrant Sense] and [Labyrinth Sense] and added them to [Ripple Sense]. Specifically, what he took were the symbols that identified labyrinths and tyrants, so now, those things would be highlighted for him in his mind whenever he used [Ripple Sense +].

  [Aquatic Nature], on the other hand, was a new art. It was his level forty art, and the second to last one he would get for his class. Now that he had it, he could dive underwater without fear of being caught off guard by monsters. It was something Lukey had to consider, especially now that he had to find a new weapon. Caldoon will probably have him do a mission that involves underwater work soon.

  Finally, there was the unspecified art. Lukey asked about the art already, but Blustag actively refused to elaborate on it, saying, “You’re not ready yet.” All Lukey knew was that it had something to do with a deeper feeling. A feeling like the one Neptune had; the same feeling that allowed sapient creatures like Lukey to use arts.

  For everything Lukey's mind could understand, there were some things that could only be grasped with his heart.

  Those things needed to be felt.

  To be experienced.

  Lukey was young. He had only just got his class and still had only the smallest grasp of what the world beyond his island was like. Aether was information, yes, but that was only a beginner-level understanding of what it was and what it could do.

  It looks like there’s a lot more to life than what I know. I guess the only choice is to get out there and see it all for myself.

  Lukey was upset about the discovery of the brand, but crying over it would do him no good. He would discover why it was there and what the rings were for. He just needed to have patience as he experienced what life had in store for him.

  Lukey wiped his tears, drank the rest of the bottle of wine, and began heading towards Tranquil Waters. It was time to finish his report to Triton and Caldoon and maybe get a second lecture from Roman about modifying arts.