The Feast of Crows

In the end, Captain Sam "agreed" to pay 2,800 gold coins to ransom himself.

Ian didn't think an Extraordinary should be worth only a little over two thousand gold coins. Wawa bound Sam in chains, dangled him over the sea, and had a friendly "chat" with him.

Sam even confessed to how much money he'd been skimming from the crew each year. The sailors below glared at him furiously.

In the end, Ian accepted the price, which was far lower than he'd expected. Either Sam was genuinely broke, or he was a good actor. Either way, Ian couldn't be bothered to keep making trouble for him.

As for the [Swordfish], Ian didn't even discuss it with him. For one thing, Sam couldn't afford it; for another, even if Ian sold it, he wouldn't sell it to Sam or the Royal Niger Company.

Ian appointed the [Swordfish]'s Sailmaster—the one who had been most eager to expose Sam—as its temporary captain, and put him in charge of the ship. Sam was locked aboard the [Swordfish], under his watch. The other sailors were told to stay below deck and forbidden from going up on deck without permission.

After issuing a few warnings, Ian had Wawa withdraw the Activated Rope, then returned to the [Leviathan] with Milta.

The [Leviathan] hauled in one anchor chain, while the other was looped around the stern and left attached to the [Swordfish]'s bow, towing it toward Storm Cape.

By then, it was completely dark. Ian made a simple meal in the kitchen, and the three of them ate in a hurry.

After all that commotion, the three of them and Wawa were all a little tired. Wawa especially needed to rest after several bursts of speed under heavy strain. After all, it was still a "child."

Over the next few days, Ian and the others would take turns standing watch. The [Leviathan] would travel at "idle speed" for a day or two, maintaining a pace of five or six knots to ensure they got enough rest.

Ian arranged for Lia to stand watch until midnight, when Milta would take over.

Ian returned to his room, sank his mind into the Spiritual World, and entered a state of deep meditation.

Late that night, Ian awoke from his meditation. Looking up, he saw a new "star" appear, adorning the empty Veil of Fate.

At Ian's thought, the "star" flickered and appeared before him.

It was a witchcraft card. Strange purple patterns were etched into its four corners, and in the middle of the translucent card, a flock of crows circled one another. Their feathers were black with a reddish sheen, and their eyes, beaks, and talons were a striking blood red.

[Card: Feast of Crows]

Feast of Crows: Permanent witchcraft. The host permanently transfers a portion of their spirituality, life, and mana to create an Evil Crow.

An Evil Crow inherits the spirituality, life, and mana transferred by its host, and can grow alongside the host. If an Evil Crow dies, the host permanently loses the portion of their spirituality that was transferred to it.

Like magical pets, Evil Crows have independent personalities and thoughts. They all share one name.

Evil Crow abilities: [Mind Link], [Shared Senses], [Soul Sight], [Devour], [Nourishment].

[Mind Link]: Each Evil Crow maintains a mental link with its host, allowing information to be transmitted without delay. Of course, it also transmits some useless information. When the flock grows too large, remember to shut off the link, or your emotions may spiral out of control. The link has a relatively long range, which is affected by your own strength.

[Shared Senses]: The host can sense the location of each Evil Crow at any time and share its senses. The sharing range is relatively short and is affected by your own strength.

[Soul Sight]: An Evil Crow can activate its unique Soul Sight to discern the souls and spiritual characteristics of creatures in the surrounding area.

[Devour]: Evil Crows feed on life, souls, and spirituality. Their beaks and sharp talons can easily tear off fragments of souls and spirituality, while consuming the victim's life as well.

As the victim's soul and spirituality are devoured and left incomplete, they suffer intense pain. This way of feeding is extremely cruel.

[Nourishment]: After an Evil Crow consumes life, a soul, and spirituality, a series of transformations produces pure energy, which is then returned to the host.

Ian studied the card thoughtfully. At first glance, it seemed like a magical pet, with the ability to scout, attack, and grow. In reality, it was a strange form of witchcraft.

But seeing the price of creating an Evil Crow made Ian hesitate. Wouldn't that weaken him? Was it really worth trading that for a crow with an unknown amount of combat power?

I'll give it a try. My spirituality has been growing rather slowly lately, so I'm probably nearing the limit for Sequence 9, Ian thought to himself.

Ian pointed a finger at the card. One of the crows suddenly came to life, burst through the card, and flew out.

It circled Ian once, then turned into a streak of light and flew up to the Veil of Fate, where it hung in the "sky," becoming a black-and-red "star" shaped like a crow. It slowly circled the "sun."

This was the manifested form of the witchcraft.

Ian began channeling spirituality, life, and mana into the crow-shaped "star." The weakness he'd expected never came. After he'd transferred roughly a tenth of his spirituality, a crow broke free from the "star."

"Caw..." Its hoarse cry echoed through the Spiritual World.

Ian felt an immediate sense of closeness toward the crow. Its blood-red eyes fixed on him as it darted toward him.

Ian smiled faintly and left the Spiritual World. The moment he opened his eyes, a black-feathered, red-eyed crow emerged from the "void" beside him and landed gently on his shoulder.

"Caw..." It leaned toward him, rubbing its head and beak against his face again and again.

Its cry was hoarse, shrill, and startling, as if it came from another world. It sent a chill through anyone who heard it, stirring up a nameless dread.

Its appearance suited its voice perfectly, giving anyone who saw it an immediate sense of ominous dread.

Ian raised his left arm. The crow spread its wings and hopped lightly from his shoulder onto his arm. It tilted its head and stared into Ian's eyes with its blood-red gaze.

"Caw..." It was over 35 centimeters long, with a wingspan of more than 50 centimeters.

Ian didn't care what other people thought. He thought it was pretty cute.

Ian stroked its smooth feathers. "I'll call you... hmm... Beatrice."

From the moment Beatrice appeared, Ian understood what made this witchcraft so unusual.

Ian hadn't lost any of his power. He and Beatrice were one.

For example, if the spirituality limit for Ian's Sequence 9 was 100, and his spirituality had already reached 99, close to the bottleneck, then after Beatrice appeared, his spirituality would be 89 and Beatrice's would be 10.

Ian's power hadn't changed. As he and Beatrice continued to grow, they would break through the limit.

The only thing he needed to watch out for was making sure Beatrice didn't die in large numbers. Otherwise, it would seriously hinder his own advancement!

The night sea wind howled, and the sails billowed. The starry sky glittered, the Milky Way stretching across it like a ribbon as specks of light shone down.

As soon as Ian stepped out of his room, Lia, standing watch atop the Quarterdeck, noticed him. She looked at the crow on his shoulder with some curiosity.

Ian walked up to the Quarterdeck platform too and chuckled. "Her name's Beatrice. She's very well-behaved."