Chapter Four Hundred and Eighty-Two - Get a Second Opinion

"Will you remain seated here?" Desiree asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, but instead of anything coherent, a big old yawn escaped. About halfway through, I decided to just let it all out until my jaw cracked. I brought a hand up to cover my mouth, but it was a little late. "S-sorry," I said.

"Ah, the reason you're here is because you're too tired to evacuate back to your rooms," Desiree said with a knowing nod. "I shall carry you, then, like a princess in one of those sordid tales!"

I giggled. "No thank you! I don't need to be princess-carried to bed just yet. Though I guess I am a little tired."

The remains of breakfast were laid out on the table before me. Toast and oatmeal porridge and some tea for those who had just woken up. As for me, well, this was more like a very very late supper, or a second super early lunch, maybe.

Being up all night long kind of rattled my sense of time a little. "I should go to bed," I said.

"Ah, but something holds you back?" Desiree asked with a knowing nod. "You haven't done your nightly ablutions, then?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, those are easy. I just use Cleaning magic on myself, then swish some around in my mouth. It's not the same as brushing my teeth--no minty taste--but it works well enough." I was kind of terrified of getting cavities. Even though I was sure there were people with the Dentist class out there, most little towns mainly relied on their barbers to handle tooth problems. Hopefully, enough Cleaning magic would let me avoid the entire issue.

"I suppose you're the one keeping the ship so absurdly clean?" Desiree asked. She reached a tail over to the top of a shelf and ran the tip along the edge. Her tail returned, entirely dust-free.

"I kinda leak Cleaning magic all over," I admitted. "I think it might be good practice? And it's not like Cleaning magic is harmful. At least, I hope it isn't! It keeps the ship nice and clean, and I think everyone is happy that they don't need to do the laundry or scrub out the toilets."

"Perfectly understandable," Desiree said.

"It doesn't keep things organised though," I said. "If you leave stuff all over, then it'll be clean, but it'll still be out of place. So we need to make some effort to put things away."

She nodded along. "Are you going to stay awake to continue expounding on the glories of Cleaning magic?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I should be going to bed. But I've got too much thinking to do. I can't decide."

"Decide on what? Are you still, perchance, working out which skills to obtain?" she asked. Desiree could be surprisingly astute at times. She stared at me, tails swishing behind her.

"Yeah," I said. "I shortened my list a lot. Then I rewrote it. Did you want to see?"

She shrugged a shoulder, then watched as I tugged my new list from a pocket and set it on the table.

- Mana Regeneration
- Danger Sense
- Basic Mechanics
- Petting
- Laugh in the Face of Death
- Swashbuckling
- Never Miss
- Thick Skin
- Graceful Under Pressure
- Haredevil
- Hoarding
- Flight
- Draconic Confidence

Desiree looked at the list for a while, then squinted. "I recognize none of these words."

I blinked, then looked at the list myself. I supposed that with how tired I was, I'd written it in plain English. So I grabbed it, thought of the local language, and tried my best to focus as I rewrote the whole thing so that Desiree could understand it.

My Riftwalker abilities were weird. Strange that they weren't a skill or anything. "So, these are... thirteen skills that you must pick from?"

"That's right," I said. "And I only have four general slots and one for Wonderlander," I said. "So obviously I need to trim it down a heap."

"Petting?"

I flushed. "Alright, maybe I can cut that one," I said. "But I felt bad dismissing everyone's suggestions so I wanted to keep at least one from each friend, at least through the first round of cuts!"

Desiree shook her head. "You are a silly bun."

"No I'm not," I grumbled.

"I think you'll find that upon further observation, you are in fact the silliest bun aboard this vessel."

"There's only two of us," I said.

"Yes, and the other is literally about to marry a dragon after only knowing him for some scant weeks. And yet, somehow, you are still the silliest."

Well, now I was pouting, and it was all her fault.

"Come on, Captain Bunch, let's get you to bed. You can speak to me of your choices on the way over. A bit of discussion will certainly help." Desiree patted me on the shoulders as I stood up. "No no, leave the dishes. I shall see to them forthwith. Now, what's the reasoning behind the underlining of certain skills?"

"Oh, those are the ones that I thought would be the more interesting," I said. "Your Grace Under Pressure for example sounded really neat. Maybe a literal life saver, and it can be used in and out of combat."

"I see. Is that important to you? Skills that are efficacious in both violence and peace?"

"I guess so," I said. We started through the corridor towards my room. "I don't really... well, maybe I do enjoy fighting, but more for the teamwork and the exertion than the actual fighting part. But when it happens, I'd like to be pretty good at it. The other option is to be pretty bad, and that's just not great."

"A personal priority on personal safety is eminently reasonable," Desiree said. "I would counsel you to retain Mana Regeneration upon your shortened list. Such a skill improves the foundation upon which your magical prowess is built, and is therefore a prudent addition in any circumstance."

"Okay," I agreed. That was probably going on my shorter shortlist either way.

"Danger Sense can stay as well, I suppose, though you do have friends with this skill already, do you not?"

"I do? Who?"

"Calamity and Caprica, I believe," Desiree said. "Do bear in mind that I speak only from personal observation, however. Possibly, they possess some related skill that grants similar effects."

"Oh," I said. I hadn't seen that. Did they have the skill? It... probably made sense that they did, actually.

"Basic Mechanics... hmm, I suppose I see why you might want this. But to practice this one, it seems to me you shall have no choice but to tread on poor Awen's toes."

I shook my head as I headed into my room. Desiree followed. "I thought it would be a nice excuse to spend some time with Awen."

"Silly once more, Captain Bunch," Desiree said. "You can spend time with your dear friend regardless, and perhaps she'd find your cluelessness all the more endearing."

I grumbled, but she wasn't wrong.

"Now, strip out of that armour whilst I search for your nightwear. Have no fear, I've seen worse than anything you might be hiding. Chop chop, or I'll give you a tail-lashing!"

With how soft and fluffy her tails were, would that really be a punishment?

Still, I took off my armour and then my gambeson, and finally tugged on the nightgown that Desiree gave me.

I sat on my bed, the covers pulled back. "Now that I've moved, I'm not tired anymore," I complained.

"Hmph," Desiree said. "Well, we can go on. For one such as yourself, Petting is entirely without value. Yes, it would be nice to have someone pet my tails with all due skill, but your job is to captain the ship, not assuage my tail's ill humour."

I sighed, but she was probably right.

"And now we come upon the first of the underlined skills. Laugh in the Face of Death? Well, I suppose that this isn't an ill choice. None of these are. Hmm hmm, Swashbuckling and Never Miss. Combat skills. I imagine you'll want to pick the one or the other."

"Not both?" I asked.

Desiree carefully shoved me onto my side, then she picked up my feet and slipped them onto the bed. "Certainly, there is nothing preventing you from striving to obtain them both. However, doing so would restrict your options. It appears to me that a number of these skills will likely only be available through the combination of smaller talents that you must first acquire. Naturally, that will be impossible if you secure too many other skills."

"Urgh," I said.

My pillow was fluffed and tucked under my head, then Desiree patted my ears out across the top of the pillow. "Are you awake enough to continue?"

"Mhm," I said.

"You don't sound very awake."

I snuggled in deeper into the blankets. They were so warm... was Desiree warming them with magic? That wasn't fair. "I'm 'wake," I murmured with great determination.

"I see," Desiree said. Judging by the noise, she placed my list on the nightstand nearby. I couldn't see, on account of my eyes being closed.

That was, until I heard a familiar noise from Mister Menu.

Ding! For doing a Special Action in line with your Class, you have unlocked the skill: Snoozing!

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