Easy questions didn’t always have easy answers. The monks were farther but Heath knew what to expect there. They would let them be for as long as they wanted to stay, but it would be dead boring the entire time. And they would have to pay back the contract when they missed delivery. Which meant they would probably need to move sectors if they ever wanted to find work again. Not the worst, they’d already drifted quite a bit, but not ideal either.

  The base meant completing their contract, but that was all Heath could predict. What kind of accommodations or how welcome they would be was up in the air. But it was also only a few days away. Longer now because of their damage, but not the weeks and weeks it would take to get back to the monks.

  Maybe it was an easy question. Because through his [Ship Link] he could feel the Loon putting on a brave face and ignoring the pain. And that was not acceptable for the ship that had done so much for Heath.

  His crew was looking to him for an answer, and he gave it. “We keep going. Recover at the explorer’s base camp.”

  Expressions on his crew ranged from thoughtful to eager to carefully neutral, but Heath was confident. If there were consequences for this decision he would face them.

  Jenny Mae yawned and Heath realized his own exhaustion in sympathy. It really had been the longest fucking day.

  “Crew quarters are off limits for now,” Heath informed everyone. “Let’s all find somewhere to bunk down and get some rest.”

  It was a sign of how very tired everyone was that he received neither quip nor complaint at the pronouncement. After shuffling through for some food– nutrient sludge because no one was willing to cook anything else– they all followed instructions. Copperfield and Emerald ended up finding some corners of the cargo bay to sleep in. Ekaterina, to no surprise, ended up in the training room, curled up on the meditation mat, and Jenny Mae had assured him she wouldn’t fall off the bench in their mess hall.

  Heath found himself alone on the bridge, leaning back in his Captain’s chair and begging sleep to take him away. He was dead to the universe within moments.

  ********

  Heath jerked awake, heart pounding at a half-remembered dream. His shoulders and neck complained at the action, Captain’s chairs were not made for rest, and he let out a little whimper. But after a moment of moving around, he realized he felt good. Better than he should, at least.

  There was a lot of System information to go through, the fact nagging at him like an itch where he couldn’t reach. Yesterday had been a flurry of keeping everyone alive and together, but they were stable now and pushing off acknowledging the changes for too long would only make it more painful.

  It felt wrong, that he was benefiting from the Loon’s pain, but that was the life of a Captain, he reminded himself. A mental command pulled up his status, condensed to show only the changes.

  It was absurd. The kind of thing that happened in a story, not real life. Levels, lots of them, in almost all of his skills, more class levels than he had ever gotten in a month, let alone one day. It all pointed to one conclusion.

  “We should have fucking died in there.”

  “Ah, you have completed your review, Heath.”

  “Yeah, and it’s absurd. Like, I’m-not-sure-whether-I’m-having-a-breakdown kind of growth numbers.”

  “Crewmember Jenny Mae has also awakened and reviewed her notifications. It would seem like everyone has benefited from the ordeal.”

  “I’m sorry –”

  “No.” The Loon cut him off, perhaps for the first time that Heath could remember. “Do not apologize Heath. Were there no benefits at all to such an occasion, that would be the true tragedy.”

  He supposed that made sense, it was a rather mature way of looking at things, but the Loon was centuries old, even if she couldn’t remember all of that time so well.

  “In fact. I believe you all were not alone in the benefits.”

  “What do you mean?” Heath asked. Who else was out here to benefit?

  “Hmm. Well. It would seem. I cannot quite. Right. Yes. So.”

  “Loon?” Heath was getting more terrified with each passing moment. The Loon was never lost for words.

  “Apologies Heath. I do not know how to state this but I did not mean to worry you. While you slept, I seem to have gotten a status.”

  “What?”

  “A status.”

  “What kind of status?”

  “A System status. As you would call it. A reflection of your abilities and improvements as recognized by the argo.”

  “Loon, ships don’t have statuses.”

  “This was my thought as well. And yet…”

  The view screen blinked on as the Loon trailed off, on which was displayed a good approximation of a status. But it was nothing like what Heath had experienced.

  Where his own status listed skills, the view in front of him listed Crystalized Argo Augments, with bars next to each indicating some sort of progress. Where his own status listed stats, the Loon’s had various measures of ship efficiency, hull strength, top speed, maneuverability, top supported expansion ratio, and offensive power. The last didn’t seem to make sense to Heath as a stat but that wasn’t the most shocking part.

  One thing their statuses had in common was the existence of a Class. For Heath, that spot had gone from Spacer to Captain when he first took over the Loon. In the same spot on the display in front of him, Heath read Cargo Vessel.

  “Loon. Did you make this?”

  “No Heath. I am merely displaying the information in a way I believe you will find approachable. This is what the System showed me.”

  “But…” Heath trailed off. Ships didn’t have statuses. But ships also weren’t alive. “How?” he finally said.

  “I have been ruminating on that for several hours. For a sapient like yourself, there are two ways of earning a Class. Dedicate yourself to one profession enough that the passive argo consumption within your fleshy body eventually coalesces into a class. Or assist in the killing of a monster.”

  “Sure.”

  “Yesterday, for the first time since my own awakening, I assisted in the defeat of a monster. One containing so much argo that it is generally expected to be fought with many Classholders at once.”

  “What about the Trellis?”

  “Ah, I have been thinking about this as well. My theories are manifold, though I do not think we can ever be certain.”

  “Give me your best guess.”

  “Our combat in that system was limited. Furthermore, while I was present, I did not materially assist. My able crew did all the work.”

  “That’s…I guess that makes sense.”

  The pair sat in silence for a long moment. With a jolt, Heath re-opened his own status and dove into an area he rarely bothered with, pulling up the description of his [Ship Link] skill. It had changed. Formerly a respectable ability to get feedback, and to push some of his skills out to encompass the whole ship, now at the end there was one more line.

  [Share experience in the form of aetherized argo absorption with whichever ship you are linked to.]

  “Holy shit,” Heath said. “Loon, if you have a Class, that means you can advance it. This is an even bigger deal than growing your own argo matrix.”

  “Crewmember Ekaterina will be thrilled.”

  Heath threw his head back and laughed. For now, nothing had changed. But Heath was already making plans to talk to Jenny Mae about their schedule. If the Loon could grow then maybe they could fit some monster extermination contracts in between the hauling and delving. After all, the best way to make sure no one would come after them was to make themselves so strong that nobody could.

  *********

  “Jump complete. Time to destination, fifteen hours and twenty five minutes.”

  Heath sighed in relief. It had been a long two weeks as they finished out the last leg of their journey. The entirety of which was spent in a state of mana exhaustion for most of the crew, as they tried to keep the Loon from falling apart. They had bolted on spare sheets of metal to the hull breach, which gave enough for the [Hull Strength] skill to latch onto to get them through the jump. But only just. Their berths were still uninhabitable. They needed time to do some serious repairs.

  Not to mention decompress. Months in tight quarters and a life or death battle had frayed any remaining patience down to nubs. Everyone was snappy, except the Loon, who had valiantly held on to her unceasing politeness as the rest of them devolved into petty arguments.

  At least it was almost over. Less than a day and they would be at their destination. Whatever that might look like. The contract had come with the basic information about the planet, but freely admitted that there was no way to know what the exact setup would be since it had been over a year since anyone had visited for their resupply.

  That was later’s problem. Heath spent his mana pool on his repair skills, and then settled in to get some sleep.

  ********

  The entire crew gathered to watch their approach to the explorer’s camp, and their first glimpse of the official Edge.

  Frontier System D4245 was marked by a single impressive planet. A bit smaller than Imperial standard, but not so much that future settlers would have to worry about compensating for lower gravity. Wide swaths of a brilliant purple were visible from space, some sort of local grass that covered most of the continent they were aiming for. Glittering blue oceans filled in the gaps, covering only a third of the planet but with mineral content that meant they were mostly safe to drink. A fantasyland reward after months of a hard journey.

  Heath knew it was an illusion. The reports sent out to ships coming through the jump gate listed a series of impressive predators, willing and able to attack any humans that wandered too far from safety. Along with poisonous plants that made one of the continents inaccessible to anyone without protection equivalent to Copperfield’s armor. But it made a pretty view on their descent.

  Heath had been a little worried about entering the atmosphere, but it went off without a hitch. The forces it took to survive passing through a jump gate were far in excess of what it took to land on a planet.

  Their final destination came into view and Heath sat back in shock. Where he had expected a few temporary buildings he saw a bustling town. Small, to be sure, but lively with people scurrying in every direction. A sturdy wall, at least ten meters high surrounded the area, with guard towers at regular intervals and the slight haze that spoke to defensive formations embedded throughout.

  “We are being hailed, Captain.”

  “Thanks, Loon. Project to everyone, please.”

  “--our resupply?”

  “That’s us. The Wandering Loon, with supplies for the Darkside Explorer’s base.”

  “Best news we’ve had all week. There’s a place for you out in between some of our skiffs. Can’t miss it. Welcome to the Edge!”