The silver-blue short robe Haistorm wore and the metal staff in his hand were both pieces of Magic Equipment. Besides those two, Ian had also found an exquisite purse and a silver hand mirror.
Everything else was ordinary.
Once he was sure he hadn't missed anything, Ian didn't immediately examine the spoils.
Instead, he carried the body out of the tower and ran north along the coastline. A few kilometers later, from a high cliff by the sea, he hurled it into the water with all his strength.
The ferocious sea creatures would help him erase the traces.
When Ian returned to the tower, he saw the fifth floor in disarray and could only sigh. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
He brought the spoils back to the fourth floor. Wawa was still fast asleep, without even changing position.
Ian held the silver-blue short robe and used his spiritual perception to examine the Magic Equipment.
As an Alchemist, identifying ordinary Magic Equipment wasn't difficult for him.
The silver-blue short robe was a low-grade piece of storm-aspected Magic Equipment. It was of decent quality, could partially block spiritual probing, and offered solid protection.
Its equipment spirit leaned toward speed. While running at high speed, it reduced wind resistance and noise, and enhanced the traits of storm-type professions.
Haistorm's metal staff was also storm-aspected. It was 1.7 meters long and nearly five centimeters in diameter. It looked like a metal pole with a long, baton-shaped crystal attached to each end.
The metal staff could help gather energy and had the Double-Wing Wind Blade spell built into it. Its spirit leaned toward violence, and its properties were extremely potent—but highly unstable.
Even before using it, Ian felt the "violent wind" affecting his spirituality in waves as he held it.
The silver hand mirror was somewhat special. It was a curious item called the Seeking Shadow Mirror.
By activating it with spirituality, the mirror could place a hidden mark on a creature or object from a distance.
It could also actively search for spiritual auras, though this method was severely limited by distance.
The mirror could sense the approximate location of a mark or spiritual aura, and all traces would be projected onto its surface.
The mirror could hold no more than three marks or spiritual auras at a time.
"Isn't this basically a tracking device with a high-definition camera?"
Ian's face brightened. This was the greatest prize of the day.
Next time he ran into an enemy, he could mark them first, then wait for a chance to strike.
There was no doubt he'd keep this one for himself.
The other two pieces didn't suit his spirituality, so he'd sell them.
Besides those items, there was a bag of gold coins, mostly magic coins. There were a little over twenty altogether—a small fortune once again.
The next day, Ian left the Extraordinary Professions Union without learning much.
The Union didn't have the attacker's exact identity, either. They only knew that he called himself Haistorm, was a Sequence 7 Storm Lord, and had come to Paradise Island from the Sea of Miracles in the south. He had been staying at the Scheiberg Noble Hotel on Central Avenue for over two months.
He had also clashed with other Extraordinary practitioners during that time. Sure enough, those practitioners had all gone missing.
But Haistorm was clever. The missing practitioners had all been unaffiliated, with no real connections.
On top of that, he was extremely powerful. The Extraordinary Affairs Investigation Bureau had merely filed a brief report and never investigated him.
The Poldoria Kingdom's Extraordinary Affairs Investigation Bureau specialized in handling crimes committed by Extraordinary practitioners, and it held some influence on the Eastern Continent.
But in the Sea of Miracles, hardly anyone took it seriously.
The Bureau had always focused only on Extraordinary practitioners who harmed the Poldoria Kingdom's interests or slaughtered large numbers of civilians. It generally stayed out of other conflicts between practitioners.
Ian wasn't too worried. He'd just stay alert when he went out from now on.
When Ian returned to the tower, a group of craftsmen were waiting at the entrance.
They had arrived early that morning, but found the door locked and could only wait outside.
Ian opened the door and told them to resume work.
Then he called the foreman, Old Hans, up to the fifth floor and asked him to arrange for people to clean up and renovate it as soon as possible.
After finishing up, Ian hurried back to the fourth floor. Only when he saw Wawa still asleep did he finally relax.
With Wawa home alone, he could never feel at ease while he was out.
Especially now, with noticeably more ships and people coming and going from Paradise Port. Just during the brief time he'd been out that morning, he'd already seen several clashes.
In just one night, Wawa's body had changed considerably. The change was most apparent in the head, where the outline of the ship's hull had grown increasingly distinct.
Lia lashed her horse and raced down the street. She didn't even have the heart to worry about the Rose Horse she'd raised for years.
Her face was like stone, but her heart churned with unease and worry.
Today was supposed to be a small gathering for the Whaling Group.
But when she heard that a fierce battle between Extraordinary practitioners had broken out near the tower the previous night, with spiritual intensity briefly reaching Sequence 7, she had panicked for a moment.
There were no other buildings near the tower.
The Whaling Group's core members all knew she was working with Ian, but most of them didn't know he'd moved to the tower.
"Tell the captain." Lia tossed the words to Damir, who also knew the situation, then rushed out the door and rode straight for the tower.
Damir remained calm. He knew that rushing over there now wouldn't change anything.
He briefly explained the situation to the other members of the Whaling Group, then hurried off to find the captain.
Lia only began to calm down a little when the tower came into view in the distance.
She smoothed her wind-tousled hair and slowed her horse. That hadn't been like her at all.
Riding over without thinking had been reckless. If what she feared had really happened, she would only be putting herself in danger, too.
Even as Lia thought this over, she didn't pull up and stop. Instead, she continued slowly toward the tower.
As she rode through the sparse mangroves and spotted the craftsmen working in an orderly fashion on the tower, half the tension left her.
Lia urged her horse forward. When she sensed the familiar fluctuations of the Alchemy Array inside the fourth floor, her heart finally settled.
At that moment, Ian was in a room on the fourth floor refining Enchanted Weapon Oil when he sensed a familiar yet strange spirituality drawing near.
It was Lia. She usually kept her spirituality tightly reined in, like a wall that blocked everyone's perception and prying eyes. It was difficult for others to sense even the slightest hint of emotion from her spirituality.
Now, her spiritual fluctuations were intense, filled with a chaotic and inexplicable emotion.
"Something must have happened!"
Ian immediately stopped the Alchemy Array, got to his feet, and headed outside.
He strode out of the room and onto the viewing platform, then looked down from the tower.
Lia was dozens of meters away, sitting astride her horse and looking up at him.
When she saw Ian standing unharmed in the fourth-floor window, a radiant smile spread across her face.
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