Rather than spend the early morning physically writing out an essay on paper, I instead spend my time unlocking the ability to write as a ghost. It is a very obvious skill that I have no difficulty in figuring out based on what I already know about [Ghostly Watcher] and [Ghostly Enchanter].

Skill acquired: Necromancy (Ghostwriter) Description: You can summon a ghost that is capable of making markings appear on surfaces. If you are writing sigils, a proper medium must be provided. Mundane markings do not require ink, but if ink is not provided, the markings will be temporary, with a duration depending on your level in this skill and the amount of energy put into this skill.

I have such a strong resonance with this skill that I barely needed to think of what I wanted the skill to do and its name before it appeared. It takes more Inspiration than the plain watcher spell, but not nearly as much more as the enchanter.

I'm going to need to set up a writing area somewhere within view of the skymote's primary aether core. If I can see the core, my Inspiration regeneration will soon be high enough that I can keep the skill up indefinitely. This would be fantastic, because there's many, many things I need to write and not enough time to do so and still be able to fly and delve dungeons.

And his name is Galliard. One of my less successful past lives, who died at Basic rank because he gambled everything on a literature career that failed to take off.

[Perfect!] Galliard tells me telepathically. [I'll make a fantastic Ghostwriter! No need to eat or sleep, so I can't literally starve to death if people ignore my writing!]

"Alright, you know everything I know about what we discovered in the Spooky Crypt," I say. "Here's the paper and ink. I'm going to go take care of those messy biological needs."

[Have fun!] Galliard says, the disembodied orange eyes settling in to get to work.

By the time I'm done with the morning routine and checked on my party members, the [Ghostwriter] has finished with our write-up of the Spooky Grove. It won't be winning any points for grand literature, but it doesn't have to. It's just copies of system windows and a clinical analysis of how our run went, interspersed with snarky commentary. Hopefully Grace Dolwen won't mind some character in our essays.

I gather my party and venture forth, and stop by the Dungeonology building. It's Thursday, and I manage to catch Grace Dolwen on her lunch break to deliver my essay.

"Here you go," I say. "That write-up on the Spooky Grove you wanted."

Grace puts down her half-eaten apple and snatches up the papers I offer her. "More thorough than I expected even of a reincarnator. This is fantastic. Maps, boss behavior, skill descriptions… You even included their names! Although the colorful commentary mocking their names was probably not necessary."

You have increased the Dungeonology knowledge of Dolwen. Your Intelligence has increased by 1 and is now 26. Skill acquired: Knowledge (Dungeonology) Description: You have an understanding of how dungeons function, and can often intuit what you may find.

Oh. There's a skill for that? Thanks, Dolwen!

"I will make a note that your tuition for next year will be waived," Grace says. "I look forward to seeing you in class, Drake Corwen. Run along now. Your party is waiting for you and you've got a dungeon to run, and I've got work to do."

Having no particular desire to walk the 20 kilometers to the Hidden Glade if I don't have to, we set off in the Celestial Duck and are outside the dungeon in an hour. Man, I love flying. I can't actually see inside the dungeon from the air, of course. My physical eyes just see uninterrupted wilderness, while Clairvoyance picks up on the disorienting shimmer of illusions but can't penetrate them at my current level.

I set us down on a patch of lightly wooded moorland next to a wooden sign with an arrow and the words 'Hidden Glade. Yes, it's totally there. Trust me.' While the wording does not instill confidence, my [Aether Sense] can pinpoint the entrance perfectly fine even if someone hadn't laid down a cobblestone road leading up to a wooden pergola and planted several signs in the area.

As we pass through the final wooden structure at the abrupt end of the road, we enter the dungeon's own aether sheath. It doesn't look like we've gone anywhere at all, but the feel of the energy in the air here is different. Birdsong fills the air, and the undergrowth rustles with movement. Probably monster squirrels or something.

I didn't actually read up on what to expect in here beyond the assurance that there's nothing out of our league. Why spoil it when I can just look myself? I summon a [Ghostly Watcher] to scout ahead, and my mental map quickly fills out with information.

While the Secret Garden is themed around secrets, there doesn't seem to be much hidden once you're inside the Hidden Glade. Once we're out of sight of the entry, we come upon a cluster of trees with the red auras of monsters. They're beautiful trees, nothing sinister-looking about them at a glance, but faces appear on their trunks as we approach.

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Race: Treefolk | Gender: Male | Rank: Elite | Class: Treefolk Gambler Disposition: Neutral | Mood: Ah, fresh marks!

"Visitors!" exclaims the Treefolk Gambler. "Would you care for a game of cards?"

Of course. Of course it's the card-playing talking trees again.

"Puzzles! I've got puzzles over here!" calls another treefolk.

Another tree waves. "Can I interest anyone in a board game?"

"Riddles! Riddles to tease the brain!"

[Somehow, this has taken literally all the mystique out of a Hidden Glade…] I telepathically comment to my party, resisting the urge to sigh aloud.

My ghost passes along the positions and classes of the various treefolk scattered about the glade. Melody makes a beeline for the Treefolk Bard once I identify him. Amethyst goes over to chat with the Treefolk Bartender. Some of the others decide to play cards. I decline and just wander for the moment, with Rowan trailing along after me.

[Don't let me keep you from cards if you want to play,] I send to him.

Rowan barks a laugh. "Good joke."

We spend the remainder of the afternoon engaging in various activities with talking trees. I spend some time examining their auras and astral roots to try to determine what they are, and can only come to the conclusion that they're trees that have been reincarnated so many times that they've attained sapience. Out on the edges of the glade stand less developed treefolk who don't have much to say, while the Heroic treefolk in the middle bears an ancient soul to rival my own.

"Do the human saplings come seeking wisdom?" asks the Treefolk Sage.

"Sure," I say.

A wooden table and bench made of roots rise out of the ground in front of the talking oak. With a sweep of a branch, the treefolk places on the table three large leaf-shaped "cups", each with five dice that look like inexplicably perfectly cube-shaped acorns.

"Then let us play Seeds of Wisdom," the Treefolk Sage says. "Do you know the rules, or do you need a tutorial?"

Of course this is another minigame. I wasn't sure what I was expecting. Fine, I suppose I'll play. What else am I here for, anyway? I take a seat at the bench, and Rowan joins us obligatorily as it gave him a "cup" too.

The treefolk describes a game involving bidding and bluffing, and I think what it's calling "Seeds of Wisdom" is just a variant of liar's dice. Less obnoxious than a collectible card game, at any rate. I don't do as well at it as I might hope, but it's enough to unlock a skill.

Skill acquired: Persuasion (Bluff) Description: The ability to deceive with a false show of strength or confidence.

Once the skymotes turn red, we regroup back at the boat. I feel like I just spent a day at a casino rather than a Hidden Glade, but at least a casino that gives skill bonuses rather than just takes your money.

"How did your quest go, Melody?" I ask. (I can see on her aura that it has changed, but asking is polite.)

"I completed it!" Melody says with a bright smile. "Apparently seven puzzles was the magic number."

"Congratulations!" Anise says. "Did you get a follow-up?"

"Yep! Now it says I should seek out music-related puzzles in Crux. But that will be for later. We've got your quest in Gleam to do next!"

"Did you ever think about attending Crux Academy?" Anise asks.

"I don't think I'll be able to afford it," Melody says. "But if I can scrounge up the gold somehow, that would be amazing!"

"Your family wouldn't be able or willing to cover it?" Basalt asks.

"I don't know," Melody says. "They could afford it if they wanted to, but I don't really want to rely on them, you know? And convincing them to pay might be hard…"

"Well, we'll be visiting soon," Basalt says. "I'm sure we can convince them you're worth the investment."

"You think so? You haven't met them yet. I've got penny-pinching uncles and aunts who think daughters ought to stay home. Convincing Uncle Squirrel to spend one more copper than he has to might be a Heroic Deed in and of itself."

"Hold on," I say. "You have an uncle named Squirrel?"

"Yeah! He's an absolute hoarder."

With Melody's quest complete, we fly off into the night, because it's only 6 pm and we can absolutely reach an actual bed before dark. Not that even 'dark' is all that dark when the summer sky is yellow. Making it to a skyport before we stop for the night would mean that we would be able to set off directly for Gleam in the morning, so we pass up Halkyn and head straight for Caldicoth, and arrive before dark.

I've never been to Caldicoth before and knew it as nothing more than a name on a map, but Amroth would have been a slightly longer flight that would not have gotten us closer to the City and I'm ever curious about seeing new places.

Caldicoth is larger than Amroth and Dolwen combined. While it lacks a prestigious prep school or an Adventurers' Guild, it boasts a sprawling mercantile district and a vast array of docks. I find myself staring at all the skyships as we come in to dock at the tower facing the interior of the domain for local travelers.

We settle in at the closest guest house for the night, weary from a long day of flying and playing minigames with talking trees. As we head into the hearth, I spot the welcome sight of a group of goblins, including some familiar faces.

"Milo!" I exclaim, going up to give him a hug.

"Drake, good to see you!" Milo says.

It's late, but we spend some time over dinner catching up on what we've been up to and what our plans are.

"How's Caldicoth been treating you?" I ask.

"It's a hell of a place to do business, but we've been making great progress," Milo says. "They've got skyships shipping everything to everywhere. There's even a publishing house here that has agreed to distribute a book of Estelle's Common poetry. I don't know how well it will sell, but we had a deal and her training has been invaluable."

"Oh yeah, I have some notes on skills for you to look over. They're just rough drafts and I haven't written them down yet but there should be enough information there to unlock a few more very useful Clairvoyance skills."

I telepathically transfer the files to him, and he blinks and stares off into space.

"You've certainly been busy," Milo says. "Much appreciated. Clairvoyance doesn't come as easily to me as it does to you, but this should help."

"Hey, Milo," Basalt says. "How do you feel about a trip to Rust at some point? Once you're done persuading the goblins here not to be jerks, there's some goblins there that Jade tells me are also the anti-social sort."

"I'm always open for new markets," Milo says.

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