Sea Beast Hunt, Conflict Arises

The Captain's Quarters had been almost completely destroyed. Umbral-colored light filled the room, cutting it off from outside prying eyes.

Thump! Thump!

His heart beat ever faster, and the intense pain felt as though it would tear apart the flesh in his chest.

Wizard Tuta sat on the only intact sofa, silently enduring the side effects of the Supernatural Potion.

Wielding power beyond his current state came at a price.

The five years this body had left had been shortened to two. Even if he found a way to extend his lifespan and vitality, he could only hold on for another year or two at most.

Only by advancing to a Formal Wizard could he undergo sublimation and transformation, use powerful Spiritual Power to influence and alter his predetermined reality, and gain a new life.

"Sigh!" His deep sigh echoed through the room. Advancing to a Formal Wizard was hardly so easy.

He could even be called a fallen failure.

The normal lifespan of a Limit Wizard Apprentice fluctuated around three hundred years.

The best time to advance to a Formal Wizard was within two hundred years. Beyond that, the further one went, the slimmer the hope.

One had to achieve a balanced specimen of body and spirit, attaining Spirit-Flesh Unity.

How could a decrepit, aging body match Spiritual Power and particle energy as vast as an abyss? Perhaps one might even be killed by being unable to withstand such powerful particle energy.

The good news was that the enemy had been driven back.

The other party's injuries would be no lighter than his, and might even require an enormous price to heal.

A cold darkness flickered in Tuta's eyes. This was a Wizard from The Umbral Expanse.

The Legacy Wizardry, "Umbral Heart," recorded in the Umbral Codex—even if he had gone blind, he would not have mistaken it.

Yet he still could not understand the reason behind it. Who was this person's true identity? What was the point of doing such a thing?

His somewhat weakened Spiritual Power spread throughout the Wizard Ship. The damage it had suffered exceeded even Wizard Tuta's expectations.

The power and navigation sections were fine. They could still reach Umbral Wizard Academy on time.

The troublesome part was the Automated Restaurant that sustained their lives. It could no longer be used; the integrated facilities for hunting and preparing food had been completely destroyed.

Wizard Tuta frowned. Thirty Wizard Freshmen had survived, and Wizard Freshmen were beings who required vast amounts of energy.

He could not leave this room now. The Umbral-colored light was partly the effect of Wizardry he had cast, and partly precious healing resources he had brought out at great cost.

It would take at least two months to heal his injuries.

The fact that these Wizard Freshmen had survived last night's incident proved that they possessed considerable ability.

He was prepared to change the rules aboard the Wizard Ship.

The corridor was filled with a dense foul stench. Most of the Wizard Freshmen had probably gone back to wash up, but Wang Ya remained on deck when he heard a familiar booming voice behind him.

"Wang Ya, that's great—you survived too! Last night scared me to death."

Struggling to carry a large brown lizard, nearly half the size of an adult, Gray had clearly not had an easy time last night. His hair was a mess, and his clothes looked as if he had rolled around in filth. The moment he came close, an even stronger wave of foul odor hit Wang Ya head-on.

At least he had survived. Wang Ya forced a smile and took two or three steps back, congratulating his surviving friend.

Gray rubbed at his tangled, messy hair, baring his yellowed teeth. "You'd never guess what I saw last night. Luckily, I'm smart enough to know to smear my whole body with shit. I hid in a room and saw through the crack in the door that Arthur, out in the corridor, abandoned his two companions to save himself. That Rowena and Orson—they were ruthless enough. No idea whether they survived."

He added, "They probably did. People that ruthless aren't likely to die in the mouths of those Thorn Sea Beasts."

They did survive. And their current appearances really do make them look ruthless.

Wang Ya was just about to say something when he frowned and looked toward the Captain's Quarters.

Gray's expression also turned surprised.

A voice spread throughout the entire Wizard Ship, reaching every Wizard Freshman.

It was Wizard Tuta. He was delivering a message, but its contents made every Wizard Freshman's expression change drastically.

"Starting today, while the existing order and rules remain unchanged, an additional rule regarding food acquisition will be introduced: the Wizard Ship will dock for a period of time, and all Wizard Freshmen must enter the sea to hunt Sea Beasts for food resources. The Sea Beasts each Wizard Freshman hunts must meet a certain quota, and the distribution of food obtained will be directly tied to that quota."

They actually had to enter the sea themselves to hunt Sea Beasts. It had not been like this before.

"Why would Wizard Tuta make such a decision? The Endless Sea is so dangerous. Who knows what Sea Beasts might be down there?"

"Exactly. Didn't the Automated Restaurant always produce food? Why make us hunt Sea Beasts? We're Wizards, not laborers."

The Wizard Freshmen immediately began to complain.

The previous rules had forbidden deaths and excessively serious injuries aboard the Wizard Ship.

"What if the Automated Restaurant's ability to produce food was damaged?" a calm and intelligent Wizard Freshman said.

Quite a few Wizard Freshmen immediately fell silent. Last night's events were still vivid in their minds.

The endless, profound darkness, the rampaging Thorn Sea Beasts, and the Particle Energy Fluctuation as powerful as an abyss—all of it pointed to something.

There was a high possibility that some of the Wizard Ship's functions had been damaged.

"Don't be stupid. Can you refuse a decision made by Wizard Tuta?" a Wizard Freshman said with a cold laugh.

Gray complained to Wang Ya, "Seriously? Wizard Tuta really knows how to torment people. We have to personally go into the sea to hunt Sea Beasts, and if we don't, we don't get to eat. I think this is aimed at us Wizard Freshmen from the Supernatural Nurturing Department."

Nurtured Creatures required large amounts of food to satisfy the energy needed for transformation.

Harak had already successfully transformed into a Supernatural Lifeform. It no longer needed Wang Ya to find food for it and could hunt in the sea on its own.

In fact, once this rule was implemented, it could even help Wang Ya meet his daily Sea Beast Hunt quota.

The brown-skinned, flat-headed lizard was far larger than an ordinary lizard. Its eyes were shut as it slept.

From Wang Ya's observations, this lizard had not become a Supernatural Lifeform. It was still far from completing an Ancient Physique Wizard.

For Gray, the implementation of this rule would be relatively difficult.

Gray's shoulders slumped as he said helplessly, "What else can we do? We can only endure it. No one can change Wizard Tuta's will."

"I just hope nothing else goes wrong. Getting to Umbral Wizard Academy as soon as possible is what matters."