With William's demonstration complete, they went on to discuss some of their plans, things turning to the coming operation and the beginning of their hunt for levels.

  "We will head to Sticky Reefs tonight." Dan led the impromptu briefing. "Sticky Reefs is different from the Swarmers' territory in that it isn't that isolated, some ships would still pass by there or head there to gather those weird sticky weeds, it isn't safe to enter it in the morning.

  "Our current plans have us move after sunset, we aren't that far so we will reach that area fast, we then would head deeper into the Sticky Reefs so we wouldn't be spotted by any ships passing by that area. Being deeper inside, and with Enshrouding Fog, we hope that we won't be spotted. It is good that the Voyager got her Aura appendages, so even if those weird weeds somehow stick to the hull, the Voyager can just use her aura to isolate herself from them."

  "We will prepare some tests to run for the creatures that infest that area," Marcus cut in when Dan was done speaking, "We need to know how they would react and how dangerous they are for the tenders."

  Seeing nods all around as everyone there agreed, Dan brought something that had been mentioned before, but wasn't really finalized.

  "Who is going to join the hunting trips? We need that decided by the time we are there, we can't just push it aside till then."

  "We will have it prepared," Marcus said, "Don't worry."

  The talk about choosing people reminded Dan of his choice to have a meeting about what skill to link to the Voyager. Thinking that it was as good a time as any, he brought it up. After explaining things to them and ignoring the raised eyebrows at the fact that there was the possibility of linking another skill, he asked,

  "Which skill do you think is the best to link?"

  "Let us know those that the Voyager can link with first," William said after thinking for a bit, "If Linda is among them it would be quite a useful skill to copy."

  "Okay, I will see." Dan then went to contact the Voyager, asking her to show him the people she could link to.

  The Voyager sent great enthusiasm and anticipation once she heard his request. The first person she showed him, as expected, was Freddie. She had already shown him the 2nd mate before after all. The second was... There was no second, the camera just fixed on Freddie and didn't change.

  "Voyager, is he the only other one you can link to?" he asked in confusion.

  He felt that it wouldn't be such, he doubted that amongst them, only Keith and Freddie were able to connect with her.

  As Dan was still a bit confused, the Voyager sent a feeling he had never felt before, it almost felt as if she was sulking as she disagreed, she could contact some other people.

  As Dan was still confused and wondering why, if she could link to other people, she only showed him Freddie, he noticed the camera focus even more on the second mate, along with that focus was a feeling of insistence. Only then did it click for Dan.

  "You want to link with Freddie," he said with a disbelieving chuckle.

  Dan glanced at the others, who must have been keeping an eye on him as he had his one-sided conversation, and he found himself unsure of what to tell them. He found it a bit awkward that they had a sulking cruise ship on their hand, and that she, for some reason, really wanted a skill that Freddie had.

  "What is it?" Francis asked after Dan went silent for a while.

  "Well," Dan started, "It seems that the Voyager has a preference for what skill she wants to link with."

  "What skill is it?" Old Raily asked after the group looked at each other for a second, Dan could almost swear he saw a smile fight to appear on his face.

  "She wants to link with Freddie, he has a skill called World Map." He then went on to explain what the skill did, then continued, "It is a good skill, and would make things pretty convenient for us. Not having to check with Freddie every time we moved and every time we want to reorient ourselves would be welcomed."

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  "Why does she want it though?" Marcus asked with a tired sigh.

  "Who knows?" Dan smiled wearily. How could he know?

  "It is the first time she truly wanted something," surprisingly, it was Old Raily who said, "Let the little girl have it, she deserves it."

  Dan felt the gentle warm aura all around stiffen for a moment at Old Raily's words. From their connection, Dan knew that the Voyager had her full attention on them.

  "Well." William chuckled as he scratched his head. "Let her have it then."

  The other also joined in with their agreement one after the other. Dan could feel the Voyager's happiness through their connection as the warm gentle aura in the workshop all rushed towards Old Raily. Dan's heart skipped a beat for a split second as he feared that it was Aura Appendages, but he calmed down soon, it didn't have the same feel to it. The aura just enveloped him and swirled around him for a few seconds before dispersing.

  Dan watched Old Raily look around in confusion, as if he had felt something.

  "I think you just won yourself the position of the favourite grandpa," he teased the old man.

  "Aww, that can't be, I wanted to be the cool grandpa," William spoke from the side. Dan guessed that the old engineer was joking, mostly.

  With that episode complete, Dan and the others went their separate ways as the preparations for their late-night journey began. Dan had the Voyager wait on contacting Freddie as he made his way to the bridge, wanting to be there to see it happening.

  "Hey, Freddie," he called the second mate, "I need you for a moment."

  "What is it?" Freddie looked up.

  "The Voyager wants to link your skill," Dan explained what was happening.

  "Wait, she wanted it?" Keith, who was close, joined the conversation.

  "She seems pretty insistent on a skill you have for some reason." Dan chuckled.

  "Okay, big girl," he called to the Voyager, "Go on."

  He didn't have to say anything else, as soon as he was done speaking, Freddie looked into the air blankly for a bit before nodding,

  "I got a message about the Voyager wanting to contact me," Freddie started explaining what he was seeing, "Okay, accepting that, it now talks about how the Voyager has an interest in my skill and knows that it would be of much help for the people on the Voyager. It even mentions her own fascination with the skill. Well, here goes."

  Dan couldn't see Freddie's system, but from how excited the Voyager became and how one of the biggest screens on the bridge came to life and showed an incomplete world map, he knew that the man must have given his approval.

  Feeling the Voyager's already high excitement rise even more as the world map on the screen zoomed in on different locations randomly, Dan couldn't hold himself as he started laughing.

  "Well," Keith said with a smile, "I guess it's kinda expected of a ship to be this happy about knowing the world she's in."

  Dan had to agree, the Voyager rarely showed such excitement and emotions. Through their connection, he felt her excitement and longing as she scrolled through the map.

  "This also makes it so she doesn't need any input from us," Freddie interjected thoughtfully, "Before, I had to turn her to the right direction after consulting my skill, now she can do all that herself. We can totally just start talking to the air, mention the location we need to head to, and she would move there all on her own."

  Dan paused for a second, he hadn't considered that. With a live feed showing her location on the world, she could go wherever she wanted without anyone's help. Dan wondered if she wanted the freedom of doing so or if it was something else that brought that up.

  Leaving that aside, Dan focused on the matter at hand as he turned to Keith and Freddie,

  "Everything ready for the coming voyage?"

  "Only waiting for the sun to set," Keith answered, "Everything is perfect."

  Dan's heart calmed down, you could never be too prepared, especially in their situation. They needed to check time and time again to be sure that things wouldn't go south at the drop of a hat.

  The time after that passed fast, Dan knew that preparations were being made for the coming hunts. From the manufacturing of ammo, to Rose working on the tenders and putting even more runes on them; now that she had the preferred ink and tools to use, to Sam, who seemed to have had quite the haul of levels from their last contact with the pirates, sending his Swarmers hunting whenever he had the chance. Everyone was trying to help in the best way they could.

  The thought of the tamer made Dan remember what they had talked about before, he might be the first amongst them to reach tier 2. The ability of those angry monsters to hunt wasn't anything to scoff at, he had a passive income of experience. The only downside Sam had was how not all the 94 Swarmers were under his control, only 10 of them were, and only those contributed to his experience growth. Hopefully, once he reaches tier 2 he will be able to control way more.

  And just like that, night finally fell and the Voyager made her way to the Sticky Reefs, way before sunrise, they would be there and their hunt would begin.