Ryan climbed back onto the Wizard Ship, his expression unchanged, and dumped the Shellfish Sea Beasts he had dragged aboard onto the deck.
He wrung the seawater from his clothes and glanced at the new arrivals on deck.
No one paid attention to you. To them, you were just another stranger.
It was like the unchanging sea: only an unprecedented storm could leave a mark that stayed with someone for life.
To Anna, this unremarkable newcomer with poor aptitude was like the black bread commoners ate back when she was a mortal. She would most likely ignore him.
Yet as she watched Ryan walk away, a trace of surprise entered her crimson eyes.
He actually hadn't told anyone. With their Top Aptitude, she and Arthur had always drawn the other newcomers' attention. Even now, plenty of them tried to make an impression on her.
They were like peacocks spreading their tails, unable to hide their lust. It was tiresome.
If he had told anyone, the story would have kept everyone talking for the next month.
Wasn't that just how men were? No matter how well they hid it or how splendid a mask they wore, their true nature always came out.
Was he genuinely a good man? Anna Karina couldn't help laughing. The sound was as sweet as wind chimes, and her fiery hair streamed through the howling sea wind. She drew the eyes of the newcomers across the deck.
Life at sea was dull. A little entertainment was always welcome.
She and Arthur had made their positions clear to each other. He ought to know what to do.
So what if it was cold-hearted? He had lost an arm and his face was disfigured. Even with Top Aptitude, he was bound to fall behind in the early stages.
"Why haven't you shaken this little habit, even after becoming a Supernatural Lifeform?"
Ryan opened the window and let Harak in from her outing.
He shut it again, keeping out the darkness that seemed to press its way inside.
She had nearly destroyed the clothes rack. Riddled with holes, it looked ready to collapse at any moment. Harak seemed to enjoy that precarious state, frequently scoring new cracks into it with her sharp claws.
Harak had brought back tonight's supper: several delicious Silver Moon Fish.
These fish emerged only when the moon appeared and shone upon the sea. Their scales reflected the moonlight, making the water shimmer like a painting washed in dreamlike colors.
Only heaven knew where Harak had found them. Roasted, they tasted wonderful.
On one corner of the desk sat an open wooden box. Inside lay the Grim Finger Bone. A Wizard with sufficiently strong Spiritual Power would have seen faint flickers of light and shadow upon it.
Ryan studied the Red Metal Ring intently, with the Water Prison of Corruption Wizardry Scroll set beside it.
Dripping blood on it did nothing. A Wizard's supernatural tools could only be accessed with particle energy and Spiritual Power.
When his Spiritual Power dwindled to its last wisp, Ryan gave up.
The Storage Wizard Artifact was of exceptionally high quality. Opening its internal restrictions normally would take at least a second-level Wizard Apprentice.
Ryan's Spiritual Power was nowhere near enough to refine the restrictions and leave his mark.
He had managed to make out three Wizardry Scrolls, around thirty Magic Stones—the currency of the Wizard World—and three unusual books that likely contained a wealth of information.
The only thing he could not identify was a medal-shaped piece of metal. He had no idea what it did.
The original owner must have met with an accident and lost this Storage Wizard Artifact. There were still some everyday supplies tucked into a corner of its modest space.
But because of the artifact's properties, he could not judge how much time had passed from the condition of those supplies.
Ryan frowned. He could take something out, but it was difficult and would consume at least a third of his Spiritual Power and particle energy.
Putting something in would cost just as much.
There was clearly more to this Red Metal Ring than met the eye. He simply had no way to tell where Arthur had obtained it.
To Ryan, it was a small treasure trove of mysteries waiting to be explored.
As Spiritual Power flowed from him, the ring began to glow. He now had a better way to store the Thorn Heart in his room.
Of course, Ryan had not forgotten to take something out of the ring as well.
A crimson book made from parchment lay on the desk. It did not look particularly ancient; in fact, its hand-stitched binding was plainly visible.
Ryan opened it and knew he had struck gold.
It was a Wizardry Inheritance.
Notice: Preliminary analysis complete. The book contains a complete Wizardry Inheritance. Wizardry name: Hephaestus's Wrath. Grade: High-grade Wizardry. It progresses through simplified Low-level Wizardry and Mid-level Wizardry as parts of the same tradition.
Ryan froze. Only after a moment did he absorb the information and understand what it meant.
It was like an entire course of Supernatural Knowledge, taking him from the basics through the difficult parts to complete mastery. Both the difficulty of learning it and the time required would be greatly reduced.
A complete progression leading to High-grade Wizardry... The owner of the Red Metal Ring had to have been at least a Third-level Wizard Apprentice.
Ryan's breathing quickened despite himself. This was no small thing.
Even Wizard Tuta was only at that level.
There were other inheritances in the Red Metal Ring. If he mastered them all, wouldn't he be all but guaranteed to become a Third-level Wizard Apprentice?
Ryan's ambitions went well beyond that, of course. What mattered was how much time it could save him.
A blue sheen glimmered in his eyes as he reached out and gently touched the Grim Finger Bone.
Through Ryan's eyes, the girl with long green hair appeared before him. Her long lashes rested against her cheeks, and her faint, flickering soul had fallen asleep.
When he had brought Lusen back from Wizard Tuta, the Eye of Truth had shown that her soul was stable. She had even been able to see him.
Now she was much weaker and remained asleep.
Of the three methods Wizard Tuta had proposed, the most reliable was to become a full-fledged Wizard, cultivate a body, then use his formidable Spiritual Power to forcibly fuse her soul with it.
The Supernatural Material required to cultivate a body would not be hard for a full-fledged Wizard to obtain.
He had just enough Spiritual Power left to open the Red Metal Ring once more and take out one item.
Ryan frowned, enduring the exhaustion of pushing his Spiritual Power to its limit. Time had always been short for him.
A glimmer flashed across the Red Metal Ring.
Another book appeared on the desk. It was brown, with three times as many pages as the Wizardry Inheritance.
More importantly, Ryan sensed something ancient about it, as though the book had been passed down from a distant age.
Anticipation rose in him as he examined it with the Eye of Truth.
Notice:
Before you continue