The captain's shout rang loud across the camp. Yet the frenzied men paid him no heed. They tore through the white linen of his tent, arms stretching the fabric thin against the dim light of the moon as if they could read divine scripture in every thread.

Radeon, a man given to stone faced calm, almost snorted a laugh but managed to hold it in. He had once been that eager in his past life, but now bafflement had taken deeper root in his heart.

To him, Samsara was the finality of a realm. The last stage of a world's natural evolution, reached only when sentience had crawled and climbed through uncounted epochs.

'Why scramble for a blind chance at Nascent Embryo?'

Radeon wondered if he had misseen, but the six colors within his eyes did not lie. In his mind he pictured a magnate being handed table scraps and calling it a feast.

'Something in this world is badly off.'

As Radeon mulled over the seriousness of the predicament, the captain approached and patted his shoulder. The man's fingers pointed helplessly toward the ruined tent. His face twisted with confusion and he could not find a single word.

"Captain, you going to let that lot forget who they're talking to?"

"That's begging for broken bones, that is."

Radeon glanced around the camp, then jogged to a signpost and tore down a recruitment notice. He pressed the sheet into the captain's hand.

"Let this first mate in on it, eh? Show him whose crew's best."

(Talents old and young are welcome. Scout the way forward for the glorious march. Gain both fame, honor, and riches.)

The captain was incensed at how stupid the plan sounded, and he was about to tear the paper apart when Radeon caught his wrist and pushed his hand down.

"Captain Todd," he said quietly, "this old man's not reaching gilded core, not in this life. When I'm gone, just send my ashes home."

Radeon drew out a pouch heavy with spirit stones. His eyes tried to speak what his mouth did not.

"Aye," the captain replied, low. "I'll see it done."

With heavy hearts they headed for the shared tents, the captain's chest tight and uneasy beneath the weight Radeon had placed on him.

The sun rose, and the itinerant cultivators who had registered beforehand lined up to seize any spot promised by the sweet words on the recruitment posters.

Radeon's aim was clear. To drop himself where he could reach the cult's peak alone.

Offers were written out in neat rows, from supply runners to sword bearing escorts, but one job stood out to him.

(Helmsman. Spirit Boat Karvi. Gilded Core required.)

Radeon took it without hesitation. He and the old man Sail Knife had never served as formal helmsmen before, but Radeon himself had ridden through turbulent voids and spatial storms.

'This might be fun. Haven't had any since I landed in this world.'

As he handed over the job notice, the sword maiden at the desk, acting as a receptionist, politely pointed at the line of requirements. Her delicate young eyes held only innocent doubt.

"Aye, this old man can manage that."

Radeon did not call for someone more experienced. He wanted an idle berth and, besides, he was not even sure what kind of spirit boat a Karvi was. He did not have to wait long before a youth in pure white robes beckoned for him to follow.

"Old sailor, I'm only making this exception because you've worked with us a long time."

The man was over fifty, yet his cultivation held his features at the bloom of adulthood.

He thought it safer to rely on a veteran he had worked beside for decades than on some no name. Ships were far too costly to hand to strangers.

As they walked, ships of different sizes came into view, from narrow skiffs fit for a single cultivator to the largest frigate that could carry a hundred men with ease.

"Over here. Fine thing, isn't she?" the white-robed man said.

A compact longship drifted into full view. Radeon stepped closer. With a knock on its wooden hull, the vessel answered with a soft thrum that told him its story.

Its oars, once meant for water, had been replaced by a flight array, wings folded tight along the flanks so it could soar and turn in the open air.

"She turns quick," Radeon said with a grin. "Good for slipping in and out. Though not much belly for a beating."

The man beside him flushed at the sharp appraisal. He did not want Radeon to think he was being sent to his death, so he scrambled for something comforting to say.

"Strip her more. I want her down to skin and bones."

"Skin and bones? I can get you round shields for the rails... What did you just say?"

"Pull off the hull and bare the array," the old first mate said, eyes bright. " Leave only the frame. Seats too. Just a little hollow for a man's bottom to sit in."

"No. No. I daren't strip her further. That would be preposterous."

Radeon did not wait for another protest. He found a hammer nearby and set to work, prying plank after plank from the longship. Men on deck and those tending their own vessels paused to watch. His measured blows and the sure rhythm of his hands told them he knew more than most of them ever would.

When the last plank fell away, Radeon hauled down the wool sail, then seized a torn tent from a pile of castoffs. His hands shaped qi through the cloth, weaving a new sail out of plain linen.

"Wait, sky-sailor, you… you cannot be serious!"

Radeon did not let him finish. His hands were already on the ship's wheel that served as the array's core.

As he poured spiritual energy into the vessel, the wings hummed with an emerald glow. The light brightened, then sank into itself until the wings turned nearly transparent. One hundred low grade spirit stones set at the stern fed the array.

The white robed man said no more. He felt that Radeon knew the ship as well as his own palm.

Then the craft soared. Its first path arced straight toward the great frigate.

Radeon let it miss the hull by a narrow breath, skimming past sailors who leaned over the rails to gawk.

"You old fool, I'll let you have one."

"Show-off bastard. Bring that thing down here."

He drove the Karvi through tight lanes of canvas and rope, slipping through gaps where tents stood only inches from the beating wings.

The ship rolled upside down, then dove low over the heads of mercenary applicants, who reached up as if they could grab hold of such a capable helmsman by the heel.

After a brief and dazzling run, Radeon brought the ship to rest. Even from a distance, the crowd kept cheering.

"Well? This old mate getting the berth or not?"

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