High-grade Wizardry, Hephaestus's Wrath

Wang Ya climbed onto the Wizard Ship with an unchanged expression, then flung the several Shellfish Sea Beasts he had been dragging onto the ground.

He wrung the seawater from his clothes and swept his gaze over the new students on the deck.

No one would pay attention to you. At most, you were just a stranger.

Like the ordinary seascape, endlessly repetitive; only an unprecedented storm could leave a memory carved into the tracks of one's life.

To Anna, this unremarkable low-level newcomer was like the black bread peasants ate in her mortal days—something she would most likely ignore.

Yet as she gazed at Wang Ya's retreating back, her crimson eyes held a trace of surprise.

This fellow had actually not told anyone. She and Arthur, with their Top Aptitude, had always been the focus of the newcomers. Even now, quite a few newcomers still tried to leave some impression before her.

Like peacocks spreading their tails, unable to conceal their beastly desires, making her sick of them.

If he told others, it would become the topic of conversation for the next month.

Were men not all like this, possessing such inferior natures? No matter how well they hid them, no matter how splendid the masks they wore, they would eventually reveal themselves.

A truly good man? Anna Karina could not help laughing. Her laughter was as pleasant as the chime of wind chimes, her fiery red hair streaming in the howling sea wind. She was a vision of allure, drawing the gazes of the newcomers on deck.

Boring life at sea always needed some amusing diversion.

Her relationship with Arthur had already been made clear. He should understand what to do.

So what if reality was different? With an arm lost and his face disfigured, even with Top Aptitude, he could not avoid a disadvantaged start.

"Why is it that even after becoming a Supernatural Lifeform, you still can't fix this little bad habit of yours?"

Wang Ya opened the window and let Harak, who had gone out to roam, fly inside.

He shut the window, blocking the flowing darkness that tried to squeeze in.

The clothes rack had been ravaged until it was nearly beyond recognition, riddled with holes as if it might collapse at any moment. Yet Harak especially liked that precarious feeling, often using his sharp claws to rake out new cracks.

Tonight's late-night snack was brought back by Harak: several delicious Silver Moon Fish.

Only when the moon rose and its light shone upon the sea would these fish emerge, reflecting the moonlight with their scales. The glittering waves made them seem like a painting brushed with dreamlike colors.

Heaven knew where Harak had found them. Once roasted, they tasted exquisite.

At one corner of the desk sat an open wooden box containing the Grim Finger Bone. A wizard with sufficiently powerful Spiritual Power could see flickering light and shadow upon it.

Wang Ya carefully studied the Red Metal Ring, while the Water Prison of Corruption Wizardry Scroll lay beside it.

Blood dripped onto it to no effect. A wizard's supernatural items could only be touched with Particle Energy and Spiritual Power.

When his Spiritual Power had been exhausted down to its final thread, Wang Ya gave up.

The Storage Wizard Artifact itself was of extremely high quality. The restriction within it required at least a second-level Wizard Apprentice to open normally.

Wang Ya's Spiritual Power was simply incapable of refining the restriction and leaving his mark upon it.

What he had observed included three Wizardry Scrolls, some Wizard World currency—Magic Stones, numbering around thirty—and three unusual books that likely contained considerable information.

Only one medal-shaped metal item remained, whose purpose and details he had been unable to identify.

This Storage Wizard Artifact had definitely been lost because its original owner met with an accident. There were even some daily necessities tucked away in a corner of its limited space.

Because of the Storage Wizard Artifact's properties, the exact time could not be determined from the degree of decay of those supplies.

Wang Ya frowned. He could take items out of it, but it was difficult, requiring at least one-third of his Spiritual Power and Particle Energy.

Putting items inside was the same.

The origins of this Red Metal Ring were anything but simple. He simply could not determine where Arthur had obtained it.

To Wang Ya, it was a little treasure filled with unknowns that needed to be explored.

As Spiritual Power surged forth, the ring emitted a gleam, and the stored Thorn Heart in the room received the best possible treatment.

Of course, Wang Ya had not forgotten to take one item out of the ring.

A scarlet book made from parchment lay upon the desk. It possessed little antiquity, instead bearing traces of hand-stitching.

Upon opening the book, Wang Ya knew he had struck gold.

This was an inheritance of Wizard Knowledge.

Prompt: Preliminary analysis complete. The book contains a complete Wizardry Inheritance. Wizardry name: "Hephaestus's Wrath." Grade: High-grade Wizardry. It follows in one continuous lineage from simplified Low-level Wizardry and Mid-level Wizardry.

Wang Ya froze, then slowly absorbed the information and understood what it meant.

It was equivalent to a course in Supernatural Knowledge, progressing from simple to difficult, until complete mastery. Both the difficulty of learning and the time required would be greatly reduced.

The owner of the Red Metal Ring, which contained High-grade Wizardry from a single continuous lineage, had to be at least a Third-level Wizard Apprentice.

Wang Ya's breathing quickened unconsciously. This was no small matter.

Perhaps Wizard Tuta was the same.

There were other inherited materials inside the Red Metal Ring. If he mastered them all, would he not be guaranteed to become a Third-level Wizard Apprentice?

Wang Ya's ambitions naturally did not stop there. The key was that it could shorten the time needed for his growth.

A blue sheen flickered in his pupils as he reached out and gently brushed his hand above the Grim Finger Bone.

From Wang Ya's perspective, the green-haired girl lay with her long eyelashes tightly shut. Her faintly visible soul body had fallen into slumber.

When he had brought Lusen back from Wizard Tuta, the Eye of Truth had still been able to observe Lusen's soul. It had been stable then, and she could even see him.

Now, she had weakened considerably and remained in a constant state of sleep.

Of the three methods Wizard Tuta had given him, the most reliable was to become an official Wizard, cultivate a body, then use unimaginably powerful Spiritual Power to forcibly fuse the soul with the body.

As for the Supernatural Materials and the cultivation of flesh, neither posed a difficulty for an official Wizard.

He had only enough Spiritual Power left for one final activation of the Red Metal Ring, enough to take out one item.

Wang Ya frowned, enduring the exhaustion of Spiritual Power depletion as it reached its limit. His time had always been tight.

The Red Metal Ring flashed.

A new book appeared on the desk. It was brown, and its pages were fully three times thicker than those of the Wizardry Inheritance.

More importantly, Wang Ya sensed an ancient aura from it, as though it were a book passed down from antiquity.

Anticipation rose within him as he looked at it with the Eye of Truth.

Prompt: