Back in his cabin, Angel continued to hole himself up and study the questions his mentor had left behind, sometimes even missing mealtimes. More than ten days passed. During that time, Angel heard about the grudge between Isley and Dev: a nobleman had humiliated a young girl to death, while the girl's childhood sweetheart had turned grief and fury into strength, endured humiliation and lived on, and finally rose up one day to kill the nobleman.
It was melodramatic, but it was also reality. In this world, where the law targeted only the common folk, whatever the nobility did was always treated as an exception. Fairness existed only when both sides possessed equal strength.
After hearing the story, Angel did sympathize with Isley. Though he was a noble himself, Angel had received Jon's Earth-style education and held only faint notions of class. But later, Angel heard something that greatly worsened his impression of Isley.
The reason Dev had gone to the dining hall without a single attendant that day was because Isley had slaughtered every one of his followers. Some had been members of minor families from the Central Empire who clung to power and flattered the influential. Some were new followers Dev had recruited aboard the ship, favoring some over others. Some had even been beauties and talented people Dev had forcibly taken. Never mind the first group—the latter two had no conflict with Isley at all, and some even shared the same misery as him. Yet Isley had killed them all, leaving none alive.
Angel disliked such cruel actions, but he did not develop any hostility toward Isley. He simply lost a measure of sympathy and gained a measure of wariness.
The World of Wizards was even crueler than he had imagined.
Time passed. They crossed the Whisker Whale Sea in peace, and the Bauhinia entered the legendary, most terrifying Devil Sea.
This sea was filled with evil pirates, gigantic sea beasts, bizarre weather, and even the legendary undead ships.
To ordinary civilian vessels, the Devil Sea was an insurmountable natural moat, impossible to cross.
But the Bauhinia was different. With wizards stationed aboard, all evils retreated.
When they were halfway through the Devil Sea, Irene, who had vanished for nearly a month and a half, came to Angel's room.
Irene's face was deathly pale, and she looked somewhat dejected. Her former vitality was gone as she sat listlessly on the stool by the window.
"Brother Pat, only now do I realize how stupid I am. I don't even know who I can talk to. Brother sensed spiritual power the day before yesterday. But me... it's been over a whole month, and I haven't achieved anything in meditation. Never mind magic power—I haven't even seen the shadow of spiritual power."
Irene went on about her meditation experiences from the past month, regardless of whether Angel was listening. By the end, her nose had reddened, tears glimmered in her eyes, and her lips were pursed in a pout. She looked utterly wronged.
Angel sighed. He did not know how to comfort the girl and could only repeat, "You'll definitely succeed. It's only a matter of time."
The more he said that, the harder Irene cried. With Alan and Isley, who had shone brilliantly a few days ago, for comparison, Irene became even more unable to stop herself. Not only did she cry, she also began to complain about how boring meditation was, as well as all the messy, chaotic thoughts that arose while meditating. Fortunately, Irene still had some sense and did not reveal the core content of the Triangle Guidance Method.
Even so, Angel gained a great deal from it. He carefully remembered all the possible drawbacks that might arise during meditation.
After she had finished crying and complaining, Irene wiped away her tears, her face flushing with embarrassment. Just now, she had felt so wronged that she had treated Angel like a tree hollow to pour out her feelings. Only after calming down did she remember that her behavior had been rather unladylike... Would Angel think she was spoiled and willful in the future?
The atmosphere became quiet. Irene nervously squeezed her hands, her eyes darting about as she thought of how to ease the mood—preferably in a way that would make Angel forget her earlier sobbing.
"Brother Pat, what are you writing?" Irene noticed a stack of paper covered in writing on the desk, curiosity in her eyes. She had seen those characters before in the stilt house at Pat Manor. They were called "Chinese characters."
"A diary. These days, apart from reading and sleeping, it's been really, really boring. I can only write a diary to pass the time." Angel told a small lie. He was actually solving problems, but explaining it would be too troublesome and might involve his mentor's secrets. Fortunately, in this world, apart from his mentor and himself, no one could recognize Chinese. He was not afraid of being exposed.
Irene looked at it for a while and found that she truly could not understand it, so she simply put it down and searched for another topic to ease the mood.
Irene's topics still could not escape the narrow horizons of a noble girl. Angel could not bear it after listening for a while and was just about to interrupt when the ship suddenly rocked violently.
Neither of them panicked. They swiftly grabbed the iron anti-shake rails on the wall to steady themselves.
How could one sail upon the sea without encountering a little wind and waves? Moreover, they had entered the Devil Sea, where wind, thunder, clouds, and lightning were at their most uncanny. Over the past month, there had been small squalls every three days and great waves every five. They had long grown accustomed to it. Because of this, Angel's desk held nothing besides paper and pens.
The waves lasted five minutes, which counted as a minor bout of rough weather in their month or so of experience.
Because of those waves, the awkward atmosphere vanished completely. Irene brushed back her slightly disheveled hair, while Angel stretched his brown short shirt, now so wrinkled that his abdominal muscles showed. The two stared at each other in surprise, then smiled.
The relaxed mood did not last long. Before either of them could react, a rapid "tap-tap-tap—" of footsteps sounded overhead on the wooden ceiling, disorderly and dense, as though many people were running.
.
What happened upstairs? The question arose in both their minds.
Irene leaned over the windowsill and looked outside curiously. Then she suddenly cried out, "Brother Angel, come look!"
Hearing her, Angel hurried over and looked outside.
Outside was a vast expanse of darkness. The incomparably azure sky had been blocked by a gigantic creature. Angel wanted to see exactly what it was, but the creature was so enormous that he could not distinguish its head from its tail for the moment.
Angel's heart jolted, and he said quickly, "Let's go outside and take a look!"
If such a colossal creature attacked the Bauhinia, hiding in the cabin would only make them die faster. Irene understood this as well and followed Angel without hesitation.
After leaving the room, they saw that the doors to the other rooms along the corridor had all been thrown open. Everyone was running toward the deck, their faces tense or even panicked.
When they reached the deck, they found it already packed with people. The gifted, the servants, and the sailors stood in their own groups, all staring blankly at the gigantic creature floating in the sky.
However, Angel noticed that the gifted mostly wore worried and terrified expressions, while the sailors and servants aboard the Bauhinia were filled with curiosity and amazement, without the slightest fear.
After noticing this, Angel's originally uneasy heart relaxed somewhat. Since even sailors who had spent all year aboard ships were not afraid, this gigantic creature probably would not threaten their lives.
With that stroke of luck in mind, Angel calmed himself and carefully examined the enormous creature in the sky—
He had not been able to see its complete form from inside the cabin. Once on deck, Angel could finally glimpse its true appearance.
It was a colossal whale at least two hundred meters long, floating a hundred meters above the sky. The two huge fins at its sides resembled wings, and every flap stirred up a whirlwind. The earlier huge waves must have been caused by the cyclone it had raised, right?
The whale's eyes resembled azure gemstones, shimmering with rippling light. A lofty sharp horn rose from its streamlined forehead. Against the blue sky and white clouds, the horn seemed to be wreathed in some inexplicable mist.
"I never thought the legendary Cloud Whale actually existed in the Devil Sea!" someone exclaimed in astonishment.
"Cloud Whales have always been gentle by nature, but to guard against any eventuality, we must prepare for the worst." Not far away, the Bauhinia's first mate shouted orders to the sailors, then turned to look at the three "lords" behind him.
"My lords, the Bauhinia needs to activate the Mirror Spell. I beg you to lend me a hand." Dressed as a knight, the first mate knelt on one knee before the "lords."
These three "lords" were the escorts from the three great wizard organizations stationed aboard the Bauhinia. One woman and two men. The woman was dressed with dignified elegance. She was Lady Meline, the Third-Level Wizard Apprentice from Hurricane Tower whom Angel had seen a few days earlier.
Of the other two men, the young and handsome one with black hair, brown eyes, and leather armor was Lord Kormoen, a Second-Level Wizard Apprentice from Gravity Forest.
The other was a gray-haired, gray-bearded old man whose face was full of age, though his eyes gleamed sharply. He was Lord Florent, the Third-Level Wizard Apprentice escort from White Coral Floating Island Academy, the organization Angel and the others were about to join.
Behind Lord Florent stood a black-robed old man and a youth. The moment Irene saw them, her eyes lit up, and she waved her arms at them.
The old man and the youth were Moro and Alan, whom they had not seen for a long time.
Before you continue