Bar residents in the coastal city of Soluve were stereotypical in their dress and activities. Drinks, bets, and fighting were all regulated but open to all. It was funny seeing what I thought looked like stereotypical pirate sailors shuffling around the dock. Humans made up the majority of the ship-dwellers, followed by aquatic beastkin. A smattering of elves and other races I didn't recognize occupied other corners while the sun started to set.

"Uggggh. Please, I didn't mean it…"

I lowered my head and sighed. The beautiful chaos of a port city fell away as useless thumping sounded behind me. Standing up, I stretched my back and yawned before turning around to face the squirming elf on the floor.

He was a burly one, covered in thick brown hair that made me suspect he was half human. He wore a loose shirt, baggy pants of the same make, and a silky bandana atop his head. He was honestly handsome if you could make it past the scraggly beard and unkempt mustache.

Moving closer, I leaned in and held out my hand. With a dramatic plop, a pirate-themed mind squid came rolling into my palm. He brandished a hook and several swords, among other miscellaneous items, in his other tentacles.

I raised a brow, but the little spirit started bouncing until he reached my head and grabbed on. With another wet plop, he dove in and settled.

"Did you find what we need?" I asked.

"Yes!" he bubbled.

Before I could ask, Galarion shoved the pilfered memories into my brain. Slowly at first, it was mostly useless drivel I'd expect from someone who visited shady bars. When it started to dive into smacking a barmaid's behind, I paused the feed.

"Galarion, just devour everything I don't need, okay? Enjoy the harvest, you earned it."

The scenes started to dissolve into soup and melt away as Galarion sectioned off the chunk of relevant memories.

This time, I watched as the man turned down a few streets and circled the eastern dock. From there, he ducked through a couple of buildings before making his way to a specific ship. It looked rather plain, not sharing many standout details that would make it more noticeable than the rest harbored at the port.

When he reached the right side, he tapped a metal badge and sent mana through the simple enchantment. I recognized it as part of a set—one half of a barrier key that alerted another set of runes.

Unfortunately, the man's mana senses were god-awful. I was only barely able to see the slight change in the airspace surrounding the ship before the man activated a skill to launch himself aboard.

From there, he moved past some warm faces greeting his return before he squirreled his way up to the captain's cabin, where he met a giant of a woman. She had greyish skin and a large, thin horn atop her head, as piercing green eyes stared down.

"Back already, Rigger?" she sneered.

Rigger's emotions blossomed, with both indignation at the disrespect and heat toward his crotch.

Ugh.

"I'm here on Captain's orders," Rigger sputtered.

The large, muscular oni pushed away from the wall and stalked forward. The dual emotions of fear and eagerness in the man's body continued to run rampant even as she grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against a box.

I was tempted to ask Galarion to fast-forward, but this was potentially useful information. So onward I watched as the two went through a series of threats and what honestly felt like bullying, except this guy was constantly asking for it.

Eventually, the large oni tossed the man forward and through the door. The memory stumbled and whirled until he came to a stop—but not on his own. A pair of silver chains held him aloft as they stretched taut from the ceiling.

The captain's footsteps echoed in the man's ears, each one a sharp thump. When metal stilettos sporting a blade longer than my hand nearly sliced the man's nose, he screamed in terror.

"Captain!"

"Rigger. You've returned," came a calm, feminine voice.

Neither high-pitched nor low, it was perfectly neutral and controlled. The chains holding Rigger up shifted and raised his head so he could meet the captain's eyes.

If I had to describe her, it was… plain.

No makeup or sharp features. The elven woman had natural blonde hair and dull grey eyes. Her skin was tanned, as expected from someone out at sea. She wore a mixture of metal jewelry and a basic, loose-fitting blouse of equally plain yellow along with leather pants.

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Her hair was down—a sight that focused Rigger's thoughts like a hound dog catching a scent trail.

"C-captain. I've returned," Rigger managed as he tried to smile despite the situation.

Before the scene continued to play, Galarion pulled up the wanted poster and a still from the memory sporting the captain's face. They were completely identical, down to the matching scratch line at the corner of her lips.

Yep, that matches.

I let the rest of the memory play, while I catalogued the ticks and facial cues of both Rigger and the Captain. Outside of the metal chains there were no other instances of skill usages but I wasn't too worried.

What I really wanted to know was the information that Rigger passed on to the Captain regarding a certain underground meeting.

Shaking myself free of the man's emotions, I let Galarion drain it all and focused on the still-squirming man. It was only then that I noticed the tent in his crotch, completely unimpeded by the loose fabric.

As my mouth dipped in a frown, gentle knocking tapped against the window nearby. I walked past Rigger and pushed the window open before stepping back.

Green fog rolled in and slowly condensed into a stunning felkin wearing a dress.

I whistled. "That's more than I thought you were willing to do. Didn't you say no more dresses now that you're a real adventurer?"

Sereza batted heavy lashes, catching the sunrays against the dark green makeup over her eyelids. Her tail swished behind her, and with a flick, the strap of her dress came undone, revealing casual clothes underneath. She then took a finger glowing with yellow mana and quickly ran it over her face, leaving behind a still-beautiful but less sparkly woman.

"Yeah, well, only one of us knows how to behave at those kinds of parties," she scoffed.

I shrugged. "I think I've had enough for the next decade or two."

She scanned the room atop the bell tower and stopped upon seeing Rigger. He just so happened to release a moan as she did.

"So what exactly did you do to this guy?"

"Uggh. He's a pervert. Somewhere between masochist, little man syndrome, and being turned on by women bullying him," I groaned.

"And because of that, you turned him on? Really?"

"It was not on purpose," I said, deadpan. "All I asked Galarion to do was keep his thoughts focused on his boss punishing him. Apparently, that was a mistake."

She shook her head with a chuckle and held up an item. It was a black pouch, and she pulled out a small glass bead. Pinkish-purple gas swirled inside.

"Khrem says they'll last about ten minutes. Less if they have any sort of resistance."

I grabbed one of the balls and held it up, testing the firmness of the glass and finding it relatively thin.

"Does this mean we're good to go? The guards won't intervene?"

She flashed a smile. "Correct. As long as we don't involve any innocents and bring it to the streets. They're already waiting for the signal with the adventuring guild rep."

"Khrem?" I asked.

"Waiting nearby."

I nodded and closed my eyes. Delving into my soulrealm, I scanned the ground and found most of the island repaired. Only a few of the golden runes were scratched and dim, but not many. Toward the throne, the floating core that was Mordred continued to hover.

Returning to the physical, I carefully threaded mana and activated Spirit Lord's Invocation. Galarion bubbled in excitement in my head as he broke down and his mana mixed with mine, completing the transformation.

Sereza eyed me up and down and circled me, noting the changes. She came to a stop, crossed her arms, and cocked her head. "Looks mostly the same. Your eyes are weird and rotary, and the tops of your horns look squiggly, like heat from a candle. Can you keep up the transformation?"

I examined her in turn, seeing the swirling cloud of green and yellow throughout her body. The dark pink core near her heart was the same, but the sharpness of her aura had changed. It was still weak, still… unsolid.

But the green had spread and expanded somewhat, the haze growing a richer shade of color than the last time I examined it.

"You're improving. In the next month or so, I'll start teaching you and the others what Eraztis taught me. Even if you don't have an aura skill, it should help fight off against certain attacks. Orrrr, that's what Eraztis said."

"It's still insane that you have the Caretaker as your personal mentor," Sereza huffed.

"Yeah well, you're free to try joining. Trust me, he's not nice."

Sereza gave me a playful shove and she jerked her thumb back to where Rigger lay. "We leaving him?"

I shook my head. "He'll be sleeping for the next couple of hours at least. We finish the quest and then we inform the guard he's up here. I want to collect the reward and be out of the city before sunset."

She glanced out the window. "We better hurry then. I take it you found the information you needed?"

I nodded and sent her a mental knock. Light but deliberate, like tapping against the window with a knuckle. She grimaced but the connection was smooth as I tethered to her mind and sent over the packet of memories. When it was done I retracted the tether and inwardly pumped my fist.

A few months of practice and that was the smoothest attempt so far.

Sereza sifted through the new info and pulled out a map. She traced her fingers along the specific route of the city we needed to follow and nodded before putting it away.

"Alright. Let's see if you can stick with the restrictions this time," she said. With a light thump of her tail she grabbed the window and smiled. "We don't want a repeat of last month."

"Last month was literally impossible. He openly admitted to setting the conditions so I would fail. Something something, humility and all that dragonshit," I protested.

She laughed, dissolved into green smoke, and drifted out into the open air.

I rolled my eyes and headed for the door, stopping long enough to take one last look at Rigger. His aura was practically nonexistent. A small wisp of light silver-green emanated from his chest. His face scrunched as if in pain but the noises he made were anything but.

It was all rather pathetic, but when the man rolled in his fitful sleep, the sleeve of his left arm rolled back exposing a tattoo.

My eyes narrowed and I closed the door behind me.

In the sky, a small ball of light exploded near the top of the city. Pulling up the system clock told me it was just shy of nightfall.

I ignored the crowds of people and headed toward the southern part of the city. Underneath a particular inn sporting a red roof was a gathering that I wasn't going to miss.

They won't run this time. Even if I have to break Eraztis's conditions.

Tucking my tail around my waist, I started jogging through the streets. It was time to see if mental skills lived up to the hype.

In the back of my thoughts, Galarion flashed an infinite maw of teeth in an upward grin.

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