"Who's there?" Arthur's face twisted with shock and anger. His voice rose, and his eyes turned vicious.
He strode toward Ryan.
Someone might have overheard his entire conversation with Anna. He could not allow that.
Once his fragile pride was wounded, it gave way to an outpouring of extreme emotion.
Arthur was in exactly that state. Panic and resentment swelled inside him, ready to burst.
Who the hell was listening?
Anna looked upset too. Her fair face was flushed with embarrassment and anger.
"Ryan? It's you." Anna frowned. "What are you doing here? Were you listening to us the whole time?"
As she watched him emerge from the darkness, her eyes flickered as though she were considering something.
Then she lowered her gaze and said to Arthur, "All right, I'm going back. Arthur, I've always thought of you as a friend. Get some rest tonight."
With that, she went straight into the cabin.
To her, Ryan's appearance was an opportunity. Word of tonight's conversation could get out, making her position with Arthur clear.
Ryan had no desire to be dragged into this. It was pointless trouble.
The Scarlet Scale Bigfin in the bucket he carried kept banging against its sides. Harak fluttered her wings on his shoulder, her blood-red eyes reflecting Arthur's furious, resentful face.
"You worthless bastard! You listened in on me and Anna? Damn you! Damn you!"
Arthur clenched his right hand until the veins stood out. He was so furious he wanted to rush over and beat Ryan senseless.
Then another thought struck him. This worthless bastard had heard tonight's conversation and might spread it around. Imagining everyone giving him strange looks, Arthur's eyes turned red. Alongside his resentment rose a hysterical madness.
Why was this happening? Why was everyone against me?
I have Top Aptitude and a Wizard Legacy. I have the highest standing of them all. Why did those lowly newcomers get to survive without a scratch?
His empty left sleeve, his disfigured face—everything seemed to swallow him from within, leaving him hollow.
Ryan frowned and gave Arthur an indifferent glance. Without a word, he walked past him.
There was no point to any of this. Dwelling on it would only waste time.
He usually paid no attention to things that did not matter.
His steps slowed for an instant, then returned to their usual pace as he entered the cabin.
Beneath the dim, warm light, he raised his head slightly. His gaze had turned ice-cold, filled with unmistakable killing intent.
On the deck, he had sensed killing intent from Arthur. The man had barely concealed it; he had seemed ready to strike at any moment.
Ryan had used his Consciousness Imprint to put Harak on alert.
Arthur was not a fool. He had held back and suppressed the urge.
Wizard Tuta's presence maintained order throughout the Wizard Ship.
As long as no rules were broken, there would be no problem.
Break those rules, however, and the punishment could be worse than death.
Ryan closed his door and set the bucket aside.
He washed up in the bathroom.
In the mirror, his handsome face was cool and composed, his eyes slightly narrowed. He considered why Arthur wanted to kill him.
Over something this pointless?
Given Arthur's recent changes and the severe injuries he had suffered, Ryan could only put it down to an unstable state of mind.
But he did not care what was happening to Arthur. What mattered was that Arthur wanted him dead.
That made Arthur a threat.
He had to eliminate him.
Ryan's gaze hardened, and he made up his mind.
He was certain Arthur was thinking the same thing, though probably out of that ridiculous sense of inferiority.
Neither of them could make a move aboard the Wizard Ship. Wizard Tuta was there to enforce order.
But on Sea Beast capture days, they left the Wizard Ship and went out onto the Endless Sea. That presented an opportunity.
If Ryan could think of it, Arthur probably could too.
Then it would come down to who played his hand better.
Ryan left the bathroom and looked at Harak perched on the coat rack, then at the petri dish on his desk.
It held the Supernatural Toxin known as Scarlet Scale Toxin.
One night was not much time, but Ryan could get plenty done.
The bucket held twelve Scarlet Scale Bigfin. He gave two to Harak as a late-night snack, then took his dissecting knife and removed the poison sacs from the rest. The extra fish gave him room for one mistake.
He extracted all the Supernatural Toxin and placed it in the petri dish.
The particle energy began to change properties.
All that remained was for the toxins to coalesce into true Scarlet Scale Toxin.
Around one in the morning, Ryan began his daily practice of the Vast Sea Meditation Method.
Seven days had passed since he asked the Eye of Truth to analyze it.
The knowledge concerning the second Vast Sea Rune had settled deep in his mind, and he understood it thoroughly.
With a thought, he entered the world within his Sea of Consciousness.
The darkness was as black as ink, not unlike the Endless Sea. Only one star shone overhead, its faint light barely illuminating the surroundings.
Ryan had heard a legend: when the Sea of Consciousness was fully lit, a Wizard's path would be complete, granting power great enough to burn mountains and boil seas.
With a wave of a hand, such a Wizard could reduce a towering mountain to its finest dust.
As waves rose and fell in his Sea of Consciousness, Ryan drew upon a steady stream of Spiritual Power to trace a second Vast Sea Rune beside the first.
It resembled the first, but its deeper structure was vastly different—more intricate and more difficult.
The seven days of analysis paid off. Ryan was awkward at first, but soon it felt like someone was guiding his hand as he wrote. The difficult strokes became smooth and simple.
Just before his Spiritual Power ran out, a new Vast Sea Rune appeared beside the first. Their glows drew toward each other, resonating like magnetic fields.
Splash!
He seemed to hear the surge of a vast sea, then the gentle trickle of a spring.
Some unknown force nourished his nearly depleted Spiritual Power. In an instant, it returned to its peak.
Its strength had grown considerably as well.
Back in the Real World, Ryan opened his eyes. Flecks of blue light shimmered in his black pupils.
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