Chapter 2: Jackpot

Chapter 2: Jackpot

Chapter 2

Mat observed Rellanhis father, even if it still felt weird to think of him like thatsifting through the messy pile of papers and scrolls scattered on his desk. It was a familiar sight, Rellan was some kind of researcher, he wasnt sure exactly what he studied. From the sketches of dilapidated buildings and weird hieroglyphs covering the walls of his study, he hypothesized some ancient civilization.

In the last six months, he spent many hours observing him meticulously go through dozens of books and ruined tomes, writing tiny annotations on journals and spare pieces of paper. He seemed to be following an order only he understood.

He had not seen fireballs or flashy displays of magical power yet, but there were many inexplicable events. His parents moved and carried things around the house with little to no effort, no matter how heavy the object was. Just now, when his father wrote, his hands moved unnaturally fast and graceful, while his handwriting remained perfect. He could even swear he saw the ink move on the paper by itself a few times.

Rellan always wrote using the same pen, but he had never seen him add ink in six months. The little silvery stick was a bit underwhelming from afar, but after he got a closer look, he spotted a series of small strange interlocking symbols carved on its sides. Its delicate craftsmanship was superior to anything else he had seen in this world thus far.

What worried him the most was not if magic existed, but that he had not been able to perceive anything mystical. In each novel he read the main character always discovered how to do magic in a couple of hours to a day at the latest. Mat had not made any progress in half a year.

Either he had no talent or he was missing some key detail, hopefully the latter.

I didnt go through the trouble of getting reincarnated to end up being a background character that gets killed off the page.

Turning to look at Rellan, Mat sighed. Each time it was his father's turn to watch over him, he ended up watching him work on his theories for hours. With recurring ohs and ahs among other exclamations whenever a piece of the puzzle only he could see fit together.

He had been fascinated by his work at first, but since he could barely understand the new language, let alone read anything, it got boring fast.

Mat had no idea what his father was looking for, but he admired his zeal and patience. Occasionally he cursed some Philip something something for cutting his funds, but never raised his voice. He was 99% sure something wasnt a nice adjective, but an insult of some kind.

He liked listening to his calming voice, Rellan had a different accent from anyone else he heard.

Even if there were many words he still didnt know, he usually got what people meant. Boredom had turned out to be an excellent motivator to learn the language. The only problem was that he couldnt make people talk about what he wanted to know.

Being limited to the house or the lawn outside, there was only so much he could learn. He counted on his tiny hands the times his parents had brought him along during their errands around the village.

With unpaved dirt streets and wooden buildings with thatch roofs, it had not been an impressive sight, but the cheerful atmosphere and tropical climate had their charm. It reminded him of some tourist destinations he had wished to visit in his previous life.

Ignoring Rellans ramblings in the background, Mat patiently waited for the weekly notification, it should b

*Ding*

Weekly Summary: Life Experience: 46 XP - Skill Experience: 100 XP

No profession detected all XP siphoned towards race enhancement.

Name: Matthew James ReeceRace: HumanProfession: None

Body stats

Strength: 1Dexterity: 1>2Constitution: 2>3Mind: 5>6Spirit: 6>7Perception: 3>5

Skills (1/7):

Meditation (lv1>16)

Not much had changed apart from his stats increasing a little as his body developed. There had to be some approximation since his strength value had not changed, but he had grown a little stronger.

Learning from zero to move your limbs or flex your fingers was terribly frustrating. There was nothing worse than inhabiting a body that refused to follow your commands. He had improved a lot, but there was still a long way to go.

Now my sight is only partially crap. Hurray! And my limbs graduated from wet noodles to well something slightly better, I didnt think that far.

Locked in his unresponsive body, Mat discovered a few things. The most important and frustrating was how hard it was to gain new skills. Despite all his knowledge, he had not been able to learn even one more. He had worried he could only have seven, but that seemed an unreachable goal.

He needed to perform an action to learn a skill, the knowledge of it wasnt enough, otherwise, he would have learned a ton from his past experiences. Okay, maybe not a ton but at least some.

Being constantly watched and only able to crawl on the floor didnt leave many chances to perform notable actions. Crawling clearly wasnt a skill.

He had tried drawing on the floor and walls of the house to test his theories, but with his mediocre dexterity and improvised charcoal from the fireplace, the results only astonished his parentsand not for their beauty. Making an innocent expression and pointing to his sister Keandra had worked, that was until they spotted his dark nails dirty with coal. It was an amateur mistake, but it had been hard to clean the evidence without being able to reach any water.

Im sure I can draw better, but I dont think its worth it, at least not yet.

On the plus side, his past life had to count for something. He got most of his levels in Meditation in the first month, then it slowed to a crawlno pun intended. He bet the higher the level the harder it got, but the difference couldnt be this big. He must have reached the limit of his past experiences and now it was all uncharted territory.

I should have paid more attention to those meditation tutorials on YouTube.

Race: HumanGrade: Red Next enhancement 2,823/10,000 XP

I think I know what that word meant.

Sea! Mat exclaimed; his gaze captured by the dozen shades of aquamarine that painted the view. Crashing waves continued to hit the shore, while his family exclaimed in surprise.

I hit the jackpot with my new location.

~~~~~~~

Cressida stepped on the deck of the Darya for the second time during the 2-week-long journey. The first was when she boarded the ship. Her clothes were made for palaces and to walk the paved roads of the capital, not to stand on a ship like a common sailor.

She could already taste the salt on her lips, she suppressed a grimace, the sea would quickly ruin the delicate lace of her dress.

They were nearing their destination and she would not disgrace herself; she would stand with dignity and grace. A good first impression could save months of work, even if she didnt know if there was anyone who could appreciate her subtle efforts in this gods forsaken archipelago.

She had no idea why the Merian Republic had bothered to annex a territory with no natural resources or strategic value. No doubt it was the idea of some privileged buffoon trying to hide their incompetence with an easy win. They would not be the ones who had to worry about what came after, they always left the hard parts to others.

Taking a deep breath, she recomposed herself. She got to where she was through her own ability and hard work, this was just another obstacle in her path.

The Darya cracked underneath her, reminding her the challenge might be greater than usual. It was a miracle the ship still held together if they asked her. It had once been the jewel of the Merian navy, it had hosted important diplomats and participated in historic battles that made the Republic what it was today. That, however, was several centuries ago. This ship had already been old when her great-grandmother was born.

With a glance she noticed the blue paint was peeling off in several parts. The maintenance had been done poorly and with the cheap products on top, but that had at least been maintained somewhat.

She didnt dare imagine how long it had been since the runic script of the array had been last updated, but she had a feeling she was better off not knowing. Even her cabin temperature control failed multiple times, making this journey even more miserable. Still, she would have rather burned alive before going to her husbands room.

Ervyn had told her what honor it was to sail on such a renowned ship, luckily she wasnt a fool like him. The Darya was an insult, a tease as they crushed his political career together with all her future hopes. This ship was a relic left behind by the tides of time, she would not let the same happen to her.

She had been absent for just three days to attend the 100th birthday of Serinna Vyke, a completely unremarkable woman. She wouldn't have bothered if it werent for the fact her husband sat on the highest pier of the Azure Council. Cressida took three days to travel to Serinnas summer estate and back. In that time her husband was able to ruin years of planning and efforts on her part.

She could not fathom how even a squirrel-brained individual like Ervyn could have accepted this assignment. She could remember his proud smile as he told her he had received a promotion. He was going to be a governor, he said.

It was more than a month ago, but every single detail of that moment had been imprinted into her brain with devastating clarity. The sudden suffocating feeling, as if someone had punched her in the chest and stole her breath away.

Even before asking for clarifications, she had known it was bad news, but she could have never imagined how much.

Exiled to a place she didnt even know existed. He was going to be the governor of a handful of useless rocks with no value. It was the classical glorified position, where they sent pampered scions no one could afford to fire or old geezers to retire. It was also the perfect place to kill the career of a political rival.

She had not looked him in the face or spoken to him since that night, not a word. She considered divorcing him but eventually resigned herself to the situation. With two children it would be near impossible to find another palatable husband.

Cressida wondered how she ended up marrying such a trusting fool, before remembering those were the exact reasons, she was able to seduce him.

Evryn. She called, her voice was calm and smooth, not betraying any of her emotions.

As they got closer to their new homeeven if the thought repulsed her avoiding him wouldnt be feasible. She had already idled in her misery long enough. It was time to assess the damage and plan for the future.

Not even a second later Ervyn appeared beside her, despite his impressive stature, his current demeanor was anything but imposing.

Issy, sweetheart, I told you how sorry I am. They told me it was a

She patiently waited for him to finish his useless apologies. Another time she would have been amused by the stark contrast between his hulking figure and the beaten puppys look. She was considered tall, but he was more than a head and a half taller than her with a physique to match due to his military background. She remembered his naive brain wasnt the only reason she chose him, but that was a thought for another time.

Its already forgiven dear. She put on a serene smile. She would have liked to swear at his face and slap him, but that would solve nothing and hurt her hand more than him.

It was her fault, she should have known better than to leave an imbecile alone in that den of vipers.

She learned when she was five that no one was going to help her besides herself. She had to be practical.

When their destination came into view, even her low expectations were disappointed. Higharbor was supposed to be the biggest city of the Baquaire Archipelago, it looked barely a town to her.

There was no airdock anywhere in sight and even the greedy merfolk didn't come here to trade. For the gods' piety, this was a goddamn archipelago and the main traders of the sea didn't bother with it.

She had no idea how, but she would find a way to turn this setback into an opportunity. She always did. If there was no airdock she would build one. If those greedy bastards didn't include these rocks in their trade routes, she would personally jiggle her purse to make them come and find a way to sell them seawater if necessary.