"So..." Rose tried to break the silence, doing her best to ignore the 3 floating bodies next to her, "What did you use to take the bodies to the open space at the stern last night?"

  "A pallet jack," Arnold said, chuckling, "It wasn't easy. For sure not as easy as... this..."

  Rose knew what he meant, it was great that she didn't have to drag some eldritch corpses to the stern late at night. Having them float next to her wasn't much better, though.

  She and Arnold had been waiting for the tender to be hung so they could drag the monster bodies down and then deal with them, but who would have thought that it would start floating on its own before dropping down again.

  After that they got the boat secured, everyone seemed safe and no one seemed to be hurt. Except that all the while, Captain Dan seemed to be trying to calm down someone through a one-sided conversation, she soon realised that might be him talking to the Voyager, which was proven soon after.

  While she and Arnold were trying to go about taking a look at the monsters that were brought for them, Captain Dan seemed to get an idea as he called into the air for the Voyager,

  "You can help them!"

  That one sentence and some back and forth between him and the air, led to them walking into a small area of the open stern, which was going to be the ground of their dissection, with 3 ocean monsters floating next to them.

  Rose was sure it was going to be closer to butchering than dissecting, but you gotta think of it a certain way to bypass the mental hurdle.

  This actually feels like I'm having a cruise ship carry my groceries...

  From how Dan talked about the Voyager, she could almost imagine a little girl skipping while walking by them, holding the groceries they bought with all her might. That was the furthest from the reality in front of her though.

  "You can put them here?" Arnold spoke into the air in uncertainty.

  As they watched the bodies being put down gently, honestly too gently, Rose's memories went back to Dan talking to the air about handling things that might break gently and not being too forceful or lifting things without asking first. She couldn't help but smile at the absurd situation, how it seemed like a literal cruise ship was being brought up right in front of them, while keeping things in mind better than any child!

  "Thank you, Voyager," she said into the air. Trying to show the appreciation in her voice, "This helped us a lot, it would have been too hard for us."

  "Oh, yeah." Arnold hurried to join. "Thank you, I really suffered while getting them here last night."

  Rose didn't know if she was just imagining things, but she felt a warmth brush against her gently for a split second. She turned to Arnold just to see the man shivering as if he had felt the same.

  "Ahem, moving on," she whispered, "What now? What are we supposed to do?"

  "I don't think you're going to like this." Arnold shook his head with a chuckle as he went to a corner and pulled a meat saw. "But now we start dissecting."

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  In the somewhat dim light of the stern, Rose found herself helping Arnold cut open different creatures. Fortunately, this batch didn't include any of the truly scary ones. They just looked like kinda scary fish, if you squinted enough.

  "I can't believe you did this on your own the first time," Rose spoke as she helped Arnold by pulling at the edge of a plate that felt almost like iron, while Arnold cut under it, trying to separate it from the flesh.

  "It wasn't as bad as you might think, I honestly find it fascinating." Arnold shrugged. "If it wasn't I wouldn't have gone with this Class. Plus from what happened with the Captain, you get experience by doing things related to your Class, it's a win-win."

  Nautical Archivist, that was the Class Arnold said he got after she asked him. It was a Class that went into studying and noting all the events and creatures in the ocean. She wondered what this Class might bring to its holder, but she didn't want to push, it was his choice after all, she had no reason to go after it.

  "What about you?" he asked after the plate was finally separated, "I know joining me here has something to do with your Class too, but how, I don't think you've gone into that yet."

  "My Class needs materials to work." She sighed, as she remembered her predicament. "When I got it, I also got some knowledge about what materials to use and how to use them, a mix of magical dyes and the like. As you can see, it doesn't seem like we can get any of that anytime soon. Fortunately, I was reminded when I heard about you doing this that I can also use ocean creatures' blood and body parts. They aren't as good as the real thing, but you know what they say, beggars can't be choosers."

  "What's your Class if I may ask?" Arnold asked as he put down the hard plate he had been studying before going to write some things down in a notebook he brought with him.

  "You're looking at a Vessels' Runesmith," she announced theatrically.

  ***

  Jackie headed to the secluded cabin he had chosen to stash the parts he took from the monsters before Arnold threw their carcasses into the ocean. He had him clean that place well of course, the tender too, they couldn't let the place fall into disarray just because no passengers were here after all.

  As he walked, his eyes unconsciously moved to the open ocean. He always had a deep respect and fear of the ocean, those who didn't were either idiots or people who didn't see how scary and wild it could get. That respect and fear got stronger after he got his Class though, he felt as if he had a deeper connection to it right now, it was part of his soul, his very being.

  He didn't keep much from those creatures, a bit of blood and a few rib bones from the mermaid-like creature and a handful of scales from that colourless, almost translucent fish. Those were the materials his instincts told him would work best with his skill.

  He first organised the materials in front of him, then sat down and focused on them. His Class didn't feel as restrictive as some of the others made theirs feel, just him sitting there with the materials in front of him had his skill start reacting, he didn't need to activate it or anything, it just came to life.

  His first skill was called Spirit Awakening. It was a skill that imbued the remains of ocean creatures with magic, awakening their spirit and giving some abilities to those remains, resulting in magical items.

  As his skill awoke, his hands shining with a deep blue hue, Jackie focused on the rib bone in front of him, then slowly, he started following the instructions his instinct was feeding him.

  He first dipped his index finger in the bowl of mermaid blood and just started drawing some squiggly lines on the bone. The lines weren't accurate to him, but even that was good enough, his instinct told him that feelings and soul were more important than hard math and precision.

  Some of those lines went from one tip of the rib to the second, some were circling it, and others were a mix of the two. The more he drew, the more the air in the cabin felt thicker, as if he were falling deeper into the ocean.

  After the last line was drawn, Jackie felt a presence join him in the deepest depths of the ocean. Lifting his head from the rib bone, he saw a shape swimming around the room, going from one corner to the second, looking curiously at things. Jackie didn't feel fear even though the mermaid's form was extremely off-putting, he knew that it was just a pure soul answering his call.

  He moved his gaze from the soul, lowering his head as he lifted the bone reverently with two hands. He felt more than saw the soul turn and focus its attention on the bone, it got closer and closer, finally standing right in front of him.

  He felt a hand extend towards the bone slowly, then finally, a tap.

  The Charm was done.