The Captain's Quarters lay in ruins. A dark glow filled the room, shielding it from prying eyes outside.
Thump, thump!
His heart beat faster and faster. The searing pain felt as though it would tear the flesh of his chest apart.
Wizard Tuta sat on the only intact sofa, silently enduring the side effects of the Supernatural Potion.
Power beyond what his body could currently bear came at a price.
The five years this body had left had been cut to two. Even if he found a way to extend his life, he could hold on for another year or two at most.
Only by becoming a Formal Wizard could he transcend his limits, use his powerful Spiritual Power to reshape the reality of his own body, and gain a new lease on life.
"Haah..." His deep sigh echoed through the room. Becoming a Formal Wizard was far from easy.
He could even be called a failure who had fallen by the wayside.
A Limit Wizard Apprentice normally lived for around three hundred years.
The best time to Advance to Formal Wizard was before the age of two hundred. After that, the chances only grew slimmer.
The body and mind had to reach a state of balance to achieve Spirit-Flesh Unity.
How could an aging body match Spiritual Power and particle energy as vast as an abyss? It might fail to withstand that powerful energy and kill him instead.
The good news was that the enemy had been driven back.
The other man's injuries were no lighter than his own. Healing them would cost him dearly.
Wizard Tuta's eyes turned cold. That man was a Wizard from the Umbral Expanse.
Even if Tuta had gone blind, he would never mistake Umbral Heart, the Legacy Wizardry recorded in the Umbral Codex.
But he still could not understand why. Who was this man really? What did he hope to gain by doing this?
His somewhat weakened Spiritual Power spread throughout the Wizard Ship. The damage was worse than Wizard Tuta had anticipated.
The propulsion and navigation systems were largely intact. The ship could still reach Umbral Wizard Academy on time.
The problem was the Automated Restaurant that kept everyone fed. 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 they needed vast amounts of energy.
He could not leave this room now. The dark glow came partly from wizardry he had cast and partly from precious healing resources he had drawn from his reserves.
It would take at least two months to heal his injuries.
The Wizard Freshmen who had survived last night's events had proven themselves capable.
He decided to change the rules aboard the Wizard Ship.
The corridor reeked. Most of the Wizard Freshmen had gone back to wash up, but Ryan remained on deck when a familiar booming voice sounded behind him.
"Ryan! Thank goodness you're alive too. Last night scared me half to death."
Gray was struggling to carry a brown lizard about half the size of an adult. He had clearly had a rough night: his hair was a mess, and his clothes looked as if he had rolled through filth. As soon as he drew near, the stench grew several times stronger.
At least he had survived. Ryan managed a smile and stepped back two or three paces, glad his friend had made it.
Gray ran a hand through his tangled hair and bared his yellowed teeth. "You'd never believe what I saw last night. Good thing I was smart enough to smear shit all over myself. I hid in a room and saw it through a crack in the door. Arthur abandoned his two companions, Rowena and Orson, to save his own skin. That guy's ruthless. Wonder if he survived."
"He probably did. Someone that ruthless wouldn't end up in a Thorn Sea Beast's jaws."
He did survive. And he certainly looked ruthless now.
Ryan was about to say something when he frowned and looked toward the Captain's Quarters.
Gray looked startled too.
A voice rang throughout the Wizard Ship, reaching every Wizard Freshman.
It was Wizard Tuta. He was making an announcement, and its contents made every Wizard Freshman's expression change.
"Starting today, the existing rules will remain in place, but a new rule governing food acquisition will be added: the Wizard Ship will stop for a time, and all Wizard Freshmen must enter the sea to hunt Sea Beasts for food. Each Wizard Freshman must hunt a set quota of Sea Beasts. The food you receive will be directly tied to that quota."
They were actually being told to enter the sea and hunt Sea Beasts themselves. That was not how things had worked before.
"Why would Wizard Tuta make a decision like that? The Endless Sea is so dangerous. Who knows what kind of Sea Beasts are out there?"
"Exactly! Hasn't the Automated Restaurant always provided food? Why make us hunt Sea Beasts? We're Wizards, not laborers."
The Wizard Freshmen broke into complaints.
Under the existing rules, no one was permitted to kill anyone aboard the Wizard Ship or inflict serious injury.
"What if the Automated Restaurant's food production has been damaged?" a calm, perceptive Wizard Freshman asked.
Many of the Wizard Freshmen immediately fell silent. Last night's events were still vivid in their minds.
That boundless, oppressive darkness, the rampaging Thorn Sea Beasts, and the abyss-like Particle Energy Fluctuations all pointed to the same possibility.
Some of the Wizard Ship's functions could very well have been damaged.
"Don't be stupid. Can you refuse a decision Wizard Tuta has made?" another Wizard Freshman said with a sneer.
Gray complained to Ryan, "You've got to be kidding me. Wizard Tuta really knows how to make life hard for us. Go into the sea and hunt Sea Beasts yourself or go hungry? I think he's targeting Wizard Freshmen in the Supernatural Nurturing Department."
Nurtured Creatures needed large amounts of food to fuel their transformations.
Harak had already completed her transformation into a Supernatural Lifeform. Ryan no longer needed to find food for her; she could hunt in the sea on her own.
Under this new rule, she could even help Ryan meet his daily Sea Beast Hunt quota.
The brown-skinned lizard had a flat head and was much larger than an ordinary lizard. Its eyes were closed in deep sleep.
From what Ryan could tell, the lizard had not become a Supernatural Lifeform. It was still a long way from completing its Ancient Physique transformation.
For Gray, the new rule would be much harder to deal with.
Gray's shoulders slumped. "What else can we do? We just have to put up with it. Nobody's going to change Wizard Tuta's mind."
"Let's hope nothing else goes wrong and we reach Umbral Wizard Academy soon."
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