Money & Skill

I utilize my ability to propel myself through the water that surrounds me to follow behind Lady Neptunia and her unusual entourage. Her guards monitor me, only rarely looking away from me. That's sensible, I am a newcomer to the city and for some reason, I seem to have caught the eye of the princess they serve. If I were one of them I'd also be wary of me. I don't have to read their minds to sense their caution, but when I unintentionally do so I easily feel their suspicion, and I also learn of other titles that Lady Neptunia goes by.

We cut across the courtyard. As we move, several curious natives peer at me, and I am grateful for several of the perks I possess which heighten the universality of my attractiveness. Things like "Nymph's Kiss" and "A Star In The Night" allow me to catch people's eyes in ways that ensure that I am as appealing as possible. I can sense their gazes and I am keenly aware of the fact that by the time I leave this place, I will be a central topic of conversation.

We reach the massive doors leading into the coral castle less than a minute after beginning to move. The doors are over fifteen feet tall and gazing at them up close is more than a bit intimidating, but as soon as I reach the thing the doors begin to open. As the doors open I spy a greeting room where servants float to and fro completing different tasks in the name of their divine lieges. I can spot different rooms connected to the large room, such as a kitchen, a storeroom, and a hallway filled with statues.

My entire group floats in front of the massive structure until it opens completely and when it does I watch Lady Neptunia wait for her royal guard to float out in front of her. The soldiers observe what I assume must be proper protocol and form two rows that form a straight path to a throne room. The design is curiously, perhaps even arrogantly simple, but there is a certain power in that as readily as making the way to the throne room be a bizarre labyrinthian experience would project another distinct sort of power. I follow Lady Neptunia and her entourage into the throne room while curiously studying everything around me, memorizing all of the sights I see.

We float into the throne room and Lady Neptunia moves to the front of the entourage. She moves more energetically now and swims over to the throne before sitting down on it. Her followers separate and in doing so perhaps unintentionally create a path for me to follow so I can kneel before the throne. I follow the path, more than willing to play out this scenario from a roleplaying game, and kneel before the throne. Time slows as text boxes appear in front of me.

"Lady Neptunia, allow me to present you with a handcrafted tribute I made throughout the past few days." I remark as I reach into my inventory and retrieve the ornate treasure chest. I mentally place it in front of me, between the princess and I, and when it appears she delightedly gasps as she looks at it. She orders me to open it, and I smile as I reach forward and do as she asks.

As the chest opens I smile at the contents within it. They constitute some of my finest works, and I've made some truly exceptional items so far. Inside the chest are the unique accessories I've fashioned for the princess, a ring, a bracelet, and a tiara. I gather all three and ask if I can put them on the princess as I reveal them to the onlookers gathered around the two of us.

Scattered gasps emanate from the crowd as they gaze upon three masterpieces. The three accessories are connected in every way, three linked, named objects. They aren't enchanted or alive just yet, but the three objects benefit from other enchanting perks like "Mastercrafting" and "Form Equals Function". When Lady Neptunia gazes at them I can feel the shock that courses through her.

The three accessories are stunningly beautiful. The tiara is diamond encrusted, the ring is made of platinum, and the bracelet is silver, allowing there to be some degree of color coordination and for the objects to cost a true fortune. I truly invested in the things, and I made full use of a hilarious assortment of skills to transform my resources into these objects. Text boxes appear before me, and give me a chance to consider what I want to say next.

"A princess's first shield is her beauty. It is also her most superficial, but nonetheless there are many instances where it is all she needs. I designed these objects for you, to make that shield a bit more sturdy." I remark, gently, as I float toward the princess. These words wash over her, empowered by perks both old and new. She grins as she hears me and presents her arm and waits for me to put the ring on her. I slide the ring onto her finger and she smiles as she languidly presents her other arm so I can put the bracelet on her. As I do this I focus on the princess and make her the target of a powerful perk in my possession, "Home Cook". It's a secret ace-in-the-hole perk I possess precisely for moments like this.

I smoothly wrap the thing around her arm, and when I finish this she motions with her other hand for me to put the tiara on her head. I grin at her and smoothly do it. As I'm floating beside her I quietly inform her that I want her to tell me what sort of enchantments she wants on the objects and if I can I'll do them. She subtly nods at me and I find myself growing increasingly fond of the mermaid-like princess. When we pull away from each other she smiles and sizes me up. Eventually she speaks, and I am surprised to find that her voice projects across the room.

"Mateo, oh Honored Sea Soother, I am delighted that you have come to my palace. I look forward to seeing what else you present to my court, later tonight. My people have heard of your talent with cooking and your performance skills, and we would be most delighted to see you put on a show and taste your food for ourselves. I will grant you full access to our kitchens to make this meal, as well as the aid of our chefs." The princess tells me, right as a quest prompt appears in my mind's eye. I hide my surprise at aspects of this, since I didn't know I'd get an organic chance to play my music for the princess without some prompting but I eagerly accept the quest and thank the princess for the honor she is bestowing upon me.

The quest reveals that I will earn rewards for successful completion of this that relate to being a bard as well as items from other pathways and potentially even perks related to the style warrior pathway to power. Since I am not a bard, at least as far as the pathway to power goes, this interests me, and thankfully completing this will count as progress towards me becoming an actual pathway to power bard. I am a bard, by class, but not being one by pathway to power means I'm not as excellent as I could be and as I plan to become.

The style warrior things are of mild interest to me, but not as much as the notes about bards are. Still, gaining some of Sophia's powers would be amusing and potentially very handy.

She nods at some of her guards who move toward me and ask me to come with them. I nod and when they move I propel myself after them. We travel through the castle and eventually float up a staircase to a floor that, according to the guards, consists of apartments. I am told to pick one and make it my temporary home for the duration of my stay. I do as they ask and they tell me they'll be here guarding me. Their spears glow and then one of them tells me that I'll have a few hours this afternoon to make dinner for the royal entourage but until then I am free to do as I please. I thank them for their time and enter a lavishly decorated living room.

I set foot onto the floor of the room, and study it for a few moments. I can see faint wisps of colored smoke wafting off of some of the furniture and I grin as I realize that the furniture is enchanted, presumably in such a way that it relays whatever is said in its vicinity to some information gatherer somewhere in or around the palace. That suits my objectives just fine so I don't bother doing anything to it.

I have a few hours to prepare anything I need to prepare for tonight's activities. What I need to focus on is preparing for the performance I'm going to give, which is certainly my real opportunity to impress the princess. I should take the cooking part of this seriously, and I will, but I don't need to worry about it as much since I have gained dozens of hours of experience cooking and I am passively empowered in tremendous ways by countless cooking and crafting perks. My performance skills are not so lucky. Plus I have a secret weapon in the form of "Home Cook", a perk that allows me to make my food perfect for single individuals and is thus tailor-made for moments like this.

"Master, what are you thinking?" Asks a quiet voice, in the back of my mind. It is my lute, an instrument I made specifically for this performance.

"I am thinking of what to do for the performance. I want to truly enthrall Lady Neptunia and I know that I have the food part of tonight's activities down but the performance… The performance is another beast." I explain, speaking telepathically right back to the lute.

"What do you think could reassure you that you are ready? Do you wish to try and create something?" The creature asks, and I shake my head.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. That said… I do have a shortcut of sorts." I mentally mutter, causing the lute to let out an intrigued mental sound.

"As a merchant I can do something quite tricky. I can invest in myself, and in you, to improve my skill and the quality of your sound respectively. It's not cheap, and it's a hilariously unfair ability, but it is something that I have the power to do." I explain, which causes the lute to mentally laugh.

The abilities I'm referring to are two separate abilities but I can do them. They are both merchant-based abilities, one is called "Investing" and it's when the same basic power is directed at a non-living thing. The other ability is called "Pay2Win" and it is when the ability is directed at a living creature. In this context, I'd still be using "Investing" on my lute, as opposed to "Pay2Win", something that I learned yesterday. Both abilities would require that I spend hilarious sums of money but if the end result is good I could do more than just impress Lady Neptunia…

I will be performing for the entire court. Impressing Lady Neptunia is something worth investing towards, but this is more than her. If I succeed here I will have the opportunity to meet more aquatic nobility and to gain access to sponsors and allies throughout the seas.

I end up spending the time before I am called to the kitchen investing the totality of my rewards from my adventures in Oceanos in myself and my lute. I powerfully boost my musical skills and the lute's already pretty quality, and though I pay a hefty fortune to do so I am proud of my decision. This is something I can do because of my unique internal synergy, and my willingness to spend money rather than hoard it. Both of these facets of my nature will surely pay off both tonight and in the long term.

I eventually get escorted by the guards stationed outside of my apartment to an enormous kitchen on the same floor as the throne room. The kitchen is staffed by a respectable group of various creatures, some of which are awakened and gigantic marine animals or are some sort of aquatic humanoids. The curious thing about the kitchen is that it seems technological, which is a bit strange since we're underwater. I am a bit surprised when I see a merman fiddling with one of the local devices and I get further surprised when he adjusts it and the thing bursts to life, projecting a small flame, despite the impossibility of that. I realize that there must be some strange ambient physics manipulation going on but nothing here triggers my ability to perceive magic…

One of the awakened animals, a massive lobster, approaches me and does an approximation of a respectful bow.

"Greetings, Sea Soother. I am Layerian, and I am the princess's head chef. I have been told to aid you to the very best of my abilities and in the pursuit of the princess's happiness I wish to see you successful. I will lend you the full support of this entire kitchen." The lobster tells me, speaking the same language Lady Neptunia speaks but with a slight accent.

Text boxes appear as I open my mouth and feel the world slow down around me. I study them and eventually select the one that most heavily emphasizes respect.

"Hello Layerian, I am honored beyond words by our lady's willingness to allow me to visit this sacred city and meet you and her other servants. I am also moved by your willingness to aid me in my mission, our mission, to please the guardian of the Coral Sea." I proclaim, and I sense the lobster's respect for me rises ever so slightly. Time slows to a crawl again as I get ready to speak some more.

"I am a culinary warrior. I intend to use not only the sum total of my skills, but also some of the items I have gained over years as a chef to make Lady Neptunia's meal. I ask that you and the rest of the kitchen make meals for the rest of the royal court. Is that something you can do?" I ask, and the lobster again nods. This thrills me, and I ask if the chefs can clear the center of the kitchen so I can utilize one of my handy items: "Kitchen Space" to prepare the food I wish to make.

The lobster commands the chefs in the kitchen to do as I have asked, and in a matter of minutes I can impose my handy personalized kitchen onto reality in the heart of the gigantic space I'm in. While they work I read their minds and use the information within them to learn where the ingredients in the kitchen are located, as well as to zero in on the princess's specific culinary tastes.

My personal kitchen materializes almost instantly, complete with my support staff. The instant that they materialize I feel the things come to life, their eyes opening and I grin as I mentally command the creatures to begin to move.

The rest of the kitchen staff stares at my allies in confusion and surprise. We immediately begin to get to work, with some of the robot-like beings working to turn on various bits and pieces of technology, while I draw my tools and orient myself mentally with the artificial lifeforms. The technology works just fine underwater, which is something I've discovered through trial and error during downtime over the last few days. I've also discovered that there is something quirky about the food I make in the kitchen that preserves and protects the dishes from environments like this, allowing someone to taste the food the way it's meant to be tasted. It takes a full minute before our companions, the chefs who will be cooking for the other members of the royal court snap out of their daze, Layerian eventually managing to get them to focus on the present right as my machines begin to wander over to where the local ingredients are stored and begin to retrieve them.

I am going to be preparing an elegant seafood dish, one of higher quality than I've ever made before. To do so I have several fish brought to me that I proceed to debone with swift, efficient strokes of one of the knives located in my kitchen. I also have my staff work on subtly preparing things that will flavor the food I am preparing, such as having one of the creatures prepare a pot of water to poach the fish in, and have the others work on other minor dishes that will go well with the main dish which is seafood and local filler-foods, such as seaweed and starfish.

When the fish have been deboned and then further cut down into small stripes I dexterously move them into the pot I had a support creature prepare to be used to poach the fish. I turn the temperature to the correct amount, just below boiling, and I then utilize the support staff as my main eyes and ears and I go and offer aid to the rest of the chefs.

For the next few hours, we cook. Cooking has never felt so nerve-wracking, and this is not the part of the day that I need to be nervous about.

I offer aid to almost every chef underneath Layerian's watchful eye. Sometimes my aid is significant, such as helping a chef precisely control the magitech they are using to cook in the first place, while other times it is fairly light and subtle, such as gently guiding a chef to help her better figure out how to balance flavors.

During this time my support staff handle my part of the cooking, doing so with frightening dexterity and simple, deft movements, and on occasion utilize my connection to my vault to put a special, secret ingredient into the food. This manifests as light dust that is sprinkled onto the food and quickly melts away in the heat of the water that is being supernaturally heated by the powerful flames that heat the dishes that are being cooked.

In what feels like no time at all we are told that it is time to begin to serve the food. I inform a handful of mermen and mermaids, ones that I know through psychometry from touching different dishes spread throughout the kitchen, will serve the princess personally, about the dishes I have personally prepared for her and the order they are intended to be served to her. They faintly express surprise at my ability to know who they are, but they accept my remarks and swear to serve the princess the food prepared for her in the correct order.

When the merfolk begin to leave the kitchen I slyly touch my outfit and utilize an alchemist perk to cleanse my clothes. This causes the outfit I am wearing to flash for a second, and when my outfit is done glowing my clothes are not only clean they smell fragrant as well. Other perks are doing the same thing to my body passively so I don't need to cleanse myself.

A quiet merfolk child wearing a uniform enters the kitchen and calls out to me, asking me to follow him. I glance at the chefs who glance back at me and give me confused looks. I unsummon my items, causing them to disappear, as I float towards the child who quickly darts out of the kitchen and into a nearby hallway.

"The Princess wishes for you to have time to prepare for your performance!" The child tells me as he swims through the palace, with me close behind him. We go through a curiously maze-like portion of the palace before entering a strikingly small dining room where a single carriage sits in the middle of the room. A powerful aura of magic surrounds the object and I momentarily study the thing before realizing that it reminds me of "The Traveler's Dream".

The child darts towards it, opens one of its doors, and then vanishes into the carriage. I gasp and follow after the child, only to stop when I move past the front door and find myself in a fancy foyer. The child is grinning at me mischievously and waiting for me in front of a shrouded door frame, with whatever is behind it hidden from view by a pair of red curtains.

"This is the traveling stage! It's a mobile theater, and it was once the property of a famous bard. There is a legend that the bard slept with a powerful water elemental and scorned him afterward. In revenge, he struck her caravan with a powerful tidal wave and robbed her of this item. The king of the seas gave it to Lady Neptunia as a way to give her a better chance to attract bards to her court." The child tells me, before pulling the curtain back and revealing a massive auditorium, where several creatures are already seated, facing an opulent stage.

"Now come. Let's get you to your dressing room!" The merchild tells me, his voice filled with mischievous delight and almost contagious excitement. We dart into the auditorium, and the child flits into the air above the seats, as we swim towards the stage. When we reach the stage we continue to ascend towards where catwalks would be on a modern stage, but instead of there being a catwalk where lights are fitted and positioned downward all there is a wall where a door is. When we reach it the child opens the door and we swim into a short hallway where multiple dressing rooms are positioned back to back. We swim towards the closest door and when we reach it the boy eagerly swims into the nice room and welcomes me to my dressing room.

"You have half an hour to prepare for your performance. In ten minutes the appetizers will be served to the lords and ladies of the court, including Lady Neptunia. When it's almost time for you to come onstage you'll be sent an escort. Until then, bye bye!" The youth tells me, speaking almost staggeringly fast. I grin and bid the youth a temporary farewell, so that I have time to do some final preparations before my first big show.