Name
Broccoli Bunch
Race
Bun (Riftwalker)
First Class
Cinnamon Bun Bun
First Class Level
10
Second Class
Wonderlander
Second Class Level
2
Age
16
Health
135
Stamina
145
Mana
130
Resilience
45
Flexibility
60
Magic
25
Skills
Rank
Cinnamon Bun Bun Skills
Cleaning
A — 37%
Way of the Mystic Bun
D — 00%
Gardening
D — 24%
Adorable
D — 100%
Dancing
D — 100%
Wonderlander Skills
Tea Making
D — 92%
Mad Millinery
E — 00%
General Skills
Insight
C — 87%
Makeshift Weapon Proficiency
D — 100%
Archeology
F — 65%
Friendmaking
C — 56%
Matchmaking
E — 32%
Cinnamon Bun Skill Points
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
4
Wonderlander Skill Points
1
General Skill Points
4
First Class Skill Slots
0
Second Class Skill Slots
0
General Skill Slots
5
That looked pretty good. I didn’t have anything to compare my growth to, really, but for someone that had only been around for... about a month? I felt like I was doing alright. A bit slower now than when I was caught in Threewells, but that was fine, I had friends now.I still needed to grow some more. Maybe after this whole debacle with the Sylph we could take the Beaver Cleaver and explore some neat dungeons.For now I had a bunch of General Skill Slots left open. That was five skills I could still learn! There were so many neat things available. Maybe one or two airship-related skills? Or maybe Dragon Riding. That had to be a skill!I yawned. It wasn’t even late, and I wasn’t shivering anymore, so I wasn’t quite sure why I felt a little tired, but it was okay.The Manatee slowed down as Amaryllis deployed more sail, and we went around in a big circle before Amaryllis guided us nice and slowly between the Beaver Cleaver’s deck and its great big balloon.Clive was there, a pipe dangling from the corner of his mouth as he helped Gordon lower the Manatee onto the deck. “Ahoy there ladies and gents. Wasn’t expecting much by means of guests, especially not delivered like this.”“No time for pleasantries I’m afraid,” Amaryllis said as she jumped off and landed on the Beaver with a thump. “Did we get refueled yet?” she asked.“Not yet, ma’am,” Clive said. “Steve’s off too, getting some supplies for the galley.”Amaryllis huffed. “Fine. Gordon, come with me. We need to put pressure to get the ship in tip-top shape. Clive get us ready to launch. These three kids are yours now.”I started to climb up and Awen jumped to help me. “Careful,” she said. “You look a bit pale.”“I’m probably fine,” I said. “Just need to get dry.”I noticed Amaryllis and Gordon running off the deck to one side while Clive stood there and puffed away. “You look like you ran into a spot of trouble, Captain.”“Yeah, something like that,” I said. “Some jerks kidnapped Awen, so we went to rescue her. She’d figured it out though, at least, mostly.”“Awa, I would still have been stranded on Roger’s ship.” Awen helped me over the edge, keeping an arm across my back as she did. “I think you need to rest Broccoli.”“‘M fine,” I said.Bastion appeared next to me. I didn’t see him move, the sneaky paladin. He pressed a hand to my forehead and frowned. “That cut, what was it from?”“Huh? Uh. Roger’s sword?”“I think you might have been poisoned,” he said. “It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that kind of man putting something lethal on his weapon.”“I used Clean on the wounds,” I said. “I... think I did?”“It wouldn’t take much,” Bastion said. “Clive, I’m heading into the city. Awen, I suppose that means you’re in charge along with Clive here. Try to get as much ready as you can.”“Awa?! Broccoli!” Awen said. She was by my side, but hesitated, hands wiggling as if she wanted to grab me but didn’t know if she should. Bastion started walking away, and the others all kind of just looked around.“Where’re you going?” I asked Bastion.“I’ll be back soon,” he said, which didn’t answer my question at all.Clive took one last puff, then stepped to the side of the ship and tapped his pipe off over the edge. He turned to the Scallywags and fixed them with a birdy glare. “Right, you lot. Seems like you’re working alongside me now. I’m Clive, I do all the ship stuff on this here beauty of a vessel. By the looks of it, I was a veteran when you lot were still twinkles in your daddy’s eye. Let’s get that skiff secured on the starboard deck. You.” He pointed to Joe. “You know your ropes?”“Uh, yeah,” Joe said.“Good. Undo every-other mooring. Every other. Not just any half of them. Do it evenly.” He stuffed his pipe in a pocket, then moved over to the Manatee. “My old bones can’t lift this thing on their own. Take your ends.”“Come on,” Awen said as she guided me towards the back.“We should be helping,” I said.“We can help later. You need to lay down to rest a bit.” She brought a hand up and touched my cheek. “You’re very hot.”“I’ve always thought of myself as a bit more plain actually,” I said.Awen giggled and held the door to the port cabin open for me. We stumbled our way down. The ship must have been rocking a little because it was hard to stay up on the steps. Awen slipped into my room and looked around all of my dressers in a hurry. She laid out some underthings on my bed with a blush, and a nightgown next to that. “H-here, can you put these on while I wait?”“I should take a shower first,” I said.“Awa? Can’t you use Cleaning on yourself?”I blinked. “You’re so clever Awen.”“I don’t think I’m all that clever, Broccoli,” Awen said. “Can you clean the poison away too? Maybe that’ll help?”I frowned. Not at her of course, just frowned in general. “You know, you can call me Broc if you want. And I’ll call you... uh... Awen, I can’t make your name shorter.”Awen laughed. “That’s okay. It’s already small.”“But making it smaller would be even cuter.”Awen shrugged. “You could call me Awa?”I shook my head. “No no, that’s your noise. It’s like... Awen’s trademark sound.”“Trademark?” she repeated. “Ah, it’s just... when I was a baby, I made that noise a lot. It’s why my parents called me Awen. They thought it was nice. Until I grew old enough to speak and my mother... she didn’t like it anymore. Um. I’ll leave you to get changed.”“Right,” I said.“Broc?” Awen asked as she stood by the door. “Thanks for coming to save me.”I grinned back. It must have been a good grin because my cheeks felt nice and rosey from it. “No problem. You know I’d do nearly anything for one of my best friends.”Awen nodded and pulled the door shut. “Tell me when you’re done.”You’d think that with the amount of times I’d changed my clothes before, it would be really easy to change again, but I kept dropping things and having to shift around to keep my balance. I did manage eventually though. I used up a bit of mana to clean myself off too, of course. It didn’t help with wiggly feeling in my tummy though. The nightgown was very pretty, with lace trim and a sort of silky material that felt really nice. “I’m done!” I called out.Awen opened the door a crack and peeked in. “Ah, good. Um. Did you... awa, want me to tuck you in?”“You sure I need to sleep?” I asked. “I’m not tired.” I scrunched my nose. “Not too tired.”“It’ll make you feel better. Remember, Bastion thinks you were poisoned.”“He could be wrong. I don’t feel poisoned.”Awen came over and moved the blankets aside on my bunk, then pressed me back down so that I was sitting. “Lay down,” she said.I mumbled something that even I didn’t understand, then Awen pulled my blankets up and pressed them down around my collar. “Just try to feel better, okay?”I nodded. Maybe I did need to rest. I felt really tired. “Okay. Good night Awen.”“I’ll be here, okay Broc?”I nodded, and then I slipped into sleep.
* * *
Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Eight — Untoxication
Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Eight — Untoxication I swam out of the dark, then slid back in.My breathing was always hard and laboured, and I felt everything pressing down around me. Heavy. Everything was heavy.Sometimes I’d swim to the surface, only to find the world nightmarish and twisted, things clawing at me, and wetness pressing down all over.The nightmares would fade though. Someone would always come in, with light and noise to cast away the dark and droning silence. I’d feel a touch, fingers and talons, feathers and whispers, and for a while the light would turn the cloying dark into something kinder.These were my friends. I couldn’t put a face to them, and their names were nothing to me, but I knew, even as I laboured to breathe and fought against the rising tide, that they were the people I loved most of all, and that they were there because they loved me too.And then, eventually, the darkness faded back, and when I sank once more it wasn’t into the oily black of nightmares, but the quiet bliss of dreamless sleep.I awoke some time later, feeling like the day after leg-day, but everywhere at once. I blinked and brought an arm up to get the eye gunk out of my eyes. It was almost as if someone was forcing my arm back down.Persistence in the face of common sense was always my forte though, so I managed to get my hand close to my face, then let it fall down so that I could brush the crud away.“Urgh,” I said.I hadn’t felt this tired in a long time, and yet I couldn’t fall asleep. I wasn’t sleepy-tired, I was just exhausted. And sweaty. And I had to pee.With nature’s call prodding me on, I turned to my side, then used both arms to push myself up. My legs slipped off the side of my bunk and I just kinda sat there, heart racing as if I’d sprinted a hundred meters instead of just sitting up.I closed my eyes, let the dizziness pass, then tried to get up.Then I failed to get up.On my second attempt, I grabbed the little end table next to my bed, conveniently bolted to the floor, then hauled myself to my feet.I stumbled over to my cabin’s ensuite, and did my business with some difficulty. Then it was back to my room.My plan was to get dressed and head out to see my friends. From the little window above my bed I knew we were over the sea and in the sky, the sky bright and cheery, but that was all. It was my job as captain to be informed and to help where I could.Instead, I flopped onto my bed and fell right back asleep.Someone woke me up a few hours later. “Broc?”I turned my head to the side to see Awen standing above me, blonde hair glowing in the light of the setting sun just outside the window. “Hmmph,” I said.“You’re, um, meant to sleep with all of your body on the bed,” she said. I felt something grabbing my feet. “You’re kinda half-off.”“That’s how I landed,” I said.“Landed?”“Had to use the washroom.”“Oh,” she said. “Ah... well, okay? Can I move you? I’ll tuck you in again.”I nodded into the bed, too weak to really protest as Awen shifted me around and pulled the blankets over to cover me. “Thanks,” I said.“No problem,” Awen replied. “You have a lot more energy.”I yawned, putting some doubt on that. “How long has it been?”“We left Needleford two days ago. You slept all day yesterday. We were worried, but Bastion knows a bit of stuff about medicine, and he gave you some antidotes. You were delirious, but it broke this morning.”“Oh,” I said.Awen moved away, and for a moment I was worried she was leaving, but she returned with a cup and a rag. “Can you drink? I can wet the rag if not.”I nodded. “Can you help me sit up?”It took some doing, and a couple of pillows that Awen fetched from somewhere, but I managed to sit up enough that I was able to drink with just a bit of help.“Joe is actually a pretty good cook,” Awen said. “I’ll ask him to make some soup for later.”“Soup would be good,” I said.The door to my room opened and Amaryllis stomped in. She looked worried until she saw me sitting up, then her expression pinched and she looked like a bird who just saw a squirrel in her feeder. “So, you’re finally awake,” she said. “Do you have any idea how much trouble your nap has caused?”“Thanks for worrying,” I said.“I didn’t worry, you imbecile!” she screeched. “Do you know that it’s illegal in harpy airspace to just dump a body overboard? We would have had to keep you rotting in the hold for who knows how long. I bet you’d stink as a corpse.”I smiled. “That’s a very confusing way to say that you’re happy to see me alive,” I said.“Hardly,” she said. “Awen, is she actually better?”“I think so?” Awen said. “She’s drinking, and she can move a little. Um, it might take some time before she recovers, maybe. I’m a mechanic, not a doctor.”“I feel much better,” I said. I tried to gesture for emphasis, but all I did was knock my cup of water over and spill some all over myself. “Ah, oops?” I said.“You moron,” Amaryllis deadpanned. “Just rest some more, maybe when you wake up, some of your missing brain cells will reappear.”I smiled and helped Awen take the cup from me. “Okay,” I said. “Awen, can you wake me up when... supper’s ready?”“Awa, sure thing,” she said. “I don’t know if you’ll be ready to come and join us, though.”“She can eat here,” Amaryllis said.I shrugged, then held back a yawn. I wanted to know how things were going, and knowing Amaryllis, she’d be too worried to tell me if I looked tired. “Where are we now? Is Rogers after us?”This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it“We’re two, maybe three day from Insmouth,” Amaryllis said. “No sign of that golden bastard either.”“Insmouth? Isn’t that... uh, to the south of where we’re going?” I asked.“We don’t have much of a choice. There’s a nasty crosswind this time of year that would fling us off course. If we had come down over Deepmarsh, like we were meant to, then we could have avoided it by flying over the Trenten Flats, or at least along the shores, but as it is we’ll have to go the long way around.”“I’m sorry,” I said.“Idiot,” she replied. I think that was an ‘I forgive you’ from her. “You have two days to feel better and get on your feet. It wouldn’t do to land without our captain in tip-top shape.”“Yes ma’am,” I said. “How’s the rest of the crew?”Amaryllis huffed. It was a mildly annoyed huff, annoyance at someone that wasn’t here to feel all the wrath of her huffing in person. “Those brats you brought aboard are a bunch of mewling babies. You’d think they were the nobles, what with the way they whine and moan about every little thing.”“Really?” I asked.Awen shifted. “Well, they’re not so bad? Sally has been helping with the sails and such, and Oda is helping with the engine and maintenance. Joe... does complain a lot, but he works hard still.”“That’s great,” I said. I blinked, then blinked again. It was hard to keep my eyes open, and the next yawn was too strong to stifle. “How’s... ahhh, Bastion?”“He’s fine,” Amaryllis said. “You need to sleep.”“Just fine?” I asked.“He trains a lot, and sometimes he’ll help, but he keeps to himself,” Awen explained.“We need to make him open up some more. He could be a nice friend.”Amaryllis crossed her wings. “He did save your sorry hide. No one noticed you were sick until he did.”“I’ll thank him later.” Did sylphs like hugs? “And Clive? And the others?”“That old bird will outlive the lot of us, the way we do things, and the other two are smart. They mind their own business and do their work as best they can. My sister picked good workers.”“Good, good,” I said. “And you two?”Awen pressed a hand to my head. It was warm. “We’re fine now,” Awen said. “We’ll let you sleep, alright?”“Mm? But I have more questions.”“Moron,” Amaryllis said. “You can ask them to an empty room then. Get some sleep.”I waved my friends goodbye, but only after Awen helped me lay back down properly and fluffed out my pillows. She’d make a great mom someday. Not that I’d tell her that, I didn’t want to have her be feverish too.When I was alone, I found myself stuck between sleeping and not. Half-dreams slipping past like a haze, then disappearing with a blink and a shift. It took a lot of effort for me to actually fall asleep.I woke up some time later when the door opened and Awen came in, this time accompanied by Bastion who was holding up a little lantern with a glowing rune within. “You’re awake,” the sylph said.“Yeah,” I said. “I think I’ve been in and out.”“We brought supper,” Awen said.I glanced around. The sky had darkened while I was dozing. Probably why they needed the lantern that Bastion set on a hook.“What is it?” I asked.“Just soup,” Awen said.She helped me sit up again, though I didn’t need it as much. I was feeling far better already.“Thanks,” I said as I took the bowl she offered me and sniffed it. The soup was just shy of being hot. I held it against my sternum with one hand and chowed down with a spoon. I didn’t know I was so hungry until the first few swallows were down.“You’re looking better,” Bastion said.“Mmhmm,” I said. “Thank you, by the way.”“It’s nothing,” Bastion said. “Fighting piracy is one of my duties, as is caring for the companions I fight next to. It was the least I could do.”I nodded. He was getting so many hugs later. “Thanks anyway.” I took another spoonful, then licked my lips. “You do training, right?”“I do,” he said.“Can you train me some? I nearly died on Roger’s ship, and I have the impression he wasn’t even trying that hard.”“I suppose I could spar with you a little. Though I can’t exactly teach you any techniques from my order.”“That’s fine,” I said. “I’ll owe you doubly then.”“Awa, can I train too?” Awen said. “I don’t want to be kidnapped again.”“I’m not sure how much training will help you in that regard, but I can give you someone to test your skill against,” Bastion said.Awen nodded, then bowed a little, as much as she could in my rather cramped room. “Thank you.”“We can see about that tomorrow,” I said.“I think it might take you a little more than a day to recover fully.”I pouted, but that didn’t seem to do much to sway Bastion’s opinion on the matter.Awen smiled and absently started playing with my ears. “You’ll be fine,” she said. “Take your time. We’re in no hurry, alright?”“Of course we are,” I said. “We need to get so strong and tough that even things like nasty pirates won’t be a problem for us,” I said.“I look forward to seeing you reach hitherto unknown levels,” Bastion said. “But perhaps a little bit of patience would do you better than merely rushing along without a care.”I gave him an Amaryllis huff, but I couldn’t really disagree. “Fine then. We’ll just see.” I let my spoon drop into my empty bowl. “Can I have more?”
* * *
