Ian was only seventeen. With the Fate Card, his spirituality was stable and he was progressing rapidly. He also had no shortage of lifespan in the short term.
Besides, Extraordinary beings weren't invincible, especially in naval warfare, where warships mattered far more than individuals.
So he decided to give this drop of Life Water to Wawa.
"Wawa, open your mouth!"
Wawa's dazed little eyes instantly filled with excitement. A golden-red drop of water, radiating strange fluctuations, drifted gently toward him.
Wawa reacted at once, opening his huge mouth and swallowing the liquid.
"Wawa..."
Nothing dramatic happened. After conveying a thought of "comfort" through their spiritual connection, Wawa immediately fell asleep.
Ian glanced down at the pendant around his neck. The drop inside was gone, leaving it empty.
With the Life Water gone, Ian felt a pang of loss.
Ian figured that only the terrifying stability of his Spiritual World had kept him safe. Otherwise, the intense desire stirred by the sight of the Life Water could have distorted a person's spirituality.
The more precious the treasure, it seemed, the more dangerous it was.
Ian sank into his Spiritual World once more and entered deep meditation, calming his turbulent emotions.
A sense of danger, sharp enough to sting, came from Ian's spirituality.
His spirituality instantly surged from calm to boiling. Mana poured forth in a torrent, his body tensed, and his blood raced through him like flames.
Every ounce of energy within Ian seemed to be forcibly awakened in an instant. Spiritual light surfaced over his body, Emergency Guard activated far faster than ever before, and his body shot away from where he had been as if pulled by an invisible force.
Almost the moment he moved, a powerful pillar of storm shattered the door and, without losing momentum, struck the spot where he had been standing.
Boom—
The somewhat worn floor shattered instantly. The broken column of wind whipped up a gale in the cramped room, scattering everything inside.
The violent shock wave shoved Ian and the sleeping Wawa against the wall, pinning them there.
"Not bad. I love watching prey struggle before they die. The harder they struggle, the more excited I get. Hahaha..."
As a storm swept in through the doorway, a short figure holding a long staff appeared in the room.
He wore a short silver-blue robe and had brown hair and blue eyes. Storms swirled around him, and every movement drew the wind along with it.
Haistorm had deliberately waited a day and looked into Ian's background. Once he discovered Ian had only just arrived, he'd acted without hesitation.
"It's you—"
Ian recognized him as the Extraordinary who had tried to force him to sell Wawa at the Bounty Hunter Guild.
With storms coiling around him and an oppressive force radiating from his spirituality, he was probably a Sequence 7 storm-type Extraordinary.
The tower was a place where storms gathered, and Haistorm could control them. It was no wonder Ian had struggled to notice his sneak attack in time.
"You can actually hold on. You really are a genius. Most people have to give it everything they've got just to face me."
Haistorm seemed not to be attacking directly, but his assault had already begun: the most perilous kind, a clash of spirituality.
In a one-on-one fight, High Sequence beings could repeatedly use this move against those of a lower Sequence. The greater the gap between their spiritualities, the more effective it was.
Of course, people generally avoided it unless they were certain their spirituality could crush their opponent's. Spiritual injuries were no joke.
Haistorm spoke arrogantly, but in truth he was already giving it almost everything. He couldn't believe Ian hadn't collapsed in agony.
That only made him more irritated. He hated so-called geniuses.
Though, in a sense, he was one himself.
Ian felt the immense pressure of Haistorm's spirituality. He was outmatched in both quantity and quality.
But his spirituality was stable, pure, and tightly controlled. He drew it close around his body and relied on the powerful support of his Spiritual World. He could still endure the pressure.
What a big mouth. This guy must be crazy.
Ian watched his opponent prattle on from the moment he entered, his expression blank and offering no response.
Ian raised his right hand. A deep-red spiritual flame, giving off no discernible warmth, appeared in his palm.
When Haistorm saw the flame appear in Ian's hand, a suffocating fear instantly spread to the depths of his soul.
Ian swung his right hand. The spiritual flame "vanished," tracing Ian's spirituality and almost instantly touching and igniting Haistorm's wildly spreading, overwhelming spirituality.
"Aah—!"
Haistorm let out a sudden, anguished scream. His trembling, distorted voice echoed through the entire tower, impossible to drown out even with the howling sea wind.
An indescribable agony spread through Haistorm's soul. It was as if his Spiritual World were engulfed in flames. His body and soul convulsed in torment, leaving him barely able to think.
The spiritual flame spread incredibly fast. In just a few seconds, it had ignited Haistorm's exposed spirituality, bathing the entire fifth floor in deep-red light.
The strange spiritual flame set nothing else alight. It burned only spirituality and souls.
Ian drew the Fate Card, Hidden Attack, hoping to take the opportunity to finish Haistorm off.
But he saw Haistorm, still howling, pull all of his spirituality back into his Spiritual World!
This... You're killing yourself, Ian thought.
If Haistorm had severed the burning spirituality the moment it caught fire, then drawn the rest back into his Spiritual World, he might still have survived.
But not everyone had the courage to sacrifice a limb to save themselves.
Besides, Haistorm had never seen anything like it. He didn't know how the spiritual flame worked, and in his panic, he probably hadn't thought to "cut off a limb to save himself."
As Haistorm dragged the spiritual flame into his body, his Spiritual World was swallowed almost instantly by the increasingly violent blaze.
Once the spiritual flame had burned away all the spirituality, it gradually went out for lack of fuel.
Thud...
Haistorm's body, outwardly unharmed, fell face-first to the ground. His heartbeat and breathing were gone; only an empty shell remained.
"So that's the power of Ignition?!"
Having witnessed Haistorm's death from beginning to end, Ian couldn't help feeling shaken.
What would he do if he ever faced something like that?
There was only one answer: focus his will and "cut off a limb to save himself" the moment the flames caught. Spiritual injury was better than death.
"A powerful storm-type Sequence 7 Extraordinary, taken out effortlessly by a single Ignition!"
It was like playing a game in his previous life. He'd casually start a fight and cast Ignite, only for his opponent to die from the spell.
So much for balance in the real world!
He'd taken down a Sequence 7 without a scratch as a Sequence 9. Ian felt a rush of satisfaction. That's me for you!
His opponent was dead, but Ian didn't let his guard down.
Ian first carried Wawa, who was fast asleep and completely unaware, down to the fourth floor. Then he searched every corner of the tower, inside and out, top to bottom, making sure Haistorm hadn't brought any accomplices.
The spiritual flame he'd accumulated was gone. A new one had just rekindled at its source and was still weak.
He lacked any powerful means of attack for the time being, so it was better to be cautious.
Next came the delightful business of looting the corpse.
Before you continue