Aegis Secret Record, the Legendary Battle Body Wizards

Target: Aegis Secret Record

Details: A Wizard Legacy left over from the Ancient Era, fortunately preserved intact. Unlike the prevailing Wizard System of the present age, it was an ancient, rare secret record of the Battle Body Wizards, a branch of Wizards that revered absolute physical might.

Note: Soul, bloodline, consciousness, dreams, energy, elements, matter... Wizards chased truth and explored every unknown. These were pioneers in the study of the body's limits.

Further analysis complete: The secret record was incomplete, containing only its foundational section. It could be used to forge the Thunder Emperor battle body, dramatically raising Physical Value, granting various traits, and awakening innate abilities equivalent to wizardry.

Ryan: "..."

This was completely outside Ryan's knowledge. Nothing he had learned so far mentioned Battle Body Wizards.

The books aboard the Wizard Ship gave Wizard Freshmen a general understanding of the Wizard World and introduced matters related to the Wizard Force of the Umbral Expanse.

Perhaps he could find relevant clues in the Umbral Expanse.

Ryan could not tell whether this Battle Body Wizard path was worthwhile, or whether he should try cultivating it. He had already decided to master Hephaestus's Wrath. A complete Wizardry Inheritance was hard to come by.

Judging by the number of pages, the Aegis Secret Record was probably more complex and difficult than Hephaestus's Wrath.

No one had the energy to learn and master everything. Choosing one's own Wizard path was the most important decision of all.

Ryan rubbed his forehead. What am I even thinking? Before he entered the Umbral Wizard Academy, choosing a Wizard path was out of the question. He would be lucky just to have Supernatural Knowledge to study. The freshmen aboard the Wizard Ship were still struggling to grasp the Low-level Wizardry they had chosen.

His Supernatural Nurturing wizardry for Harak was already complete. He could spend the rest of his time aboard the Wizard Ship studying this Supernatural Knowledge. That was his advantage.

Curiosity was a Wizard's most fundamental desire. He wanted to see what made Battle Body Wizards distinctive, and why they were so rare in the present age.

Still, studying it would never take priority over the Hephaestus's Wrath Wizardry Inheritance. He would not even consider examining it until he had fully mastered the latter.

He stacked the two books together and stood up with them in his arms. Now there was one thing more important than anything else: sleep!

Exhaustion washed over Ryan like a tide. Before collapsing onto the bed, he set the wooden box containing the Grim Finger Bone securely beside his pillow.

Then sleep overtook him almost at once.

Even in his sleep, Ryan lay clutching the two books, his brow faintly furrowed.

Waves rose and fell outside, their sound drifting into the room as the ship rocked.

Through the haze, a figure with long green hair seemed to appear, gazing at him tenderly.

As she had done so many times before, she reached out with both hands to pull the covers over him, but they passed straight through.

Her eyes froze, then filled with complicated emotion. She sat on the edge of the bed and watched him in silence for a long, long time. Waves struck the blue stones with a bursting roar. At last, a brilliant shaft of light pierced the ink-black darkness and entered through the window. Her figure grew even more insubstantial in the light, then vanished.

His black hair was a mess, falling across his handsome brow.

Ryan sat halfway up in bed, one hand braced on his knee while the other ran through his hair, until he felt more awake.

Harak had woken long ago. She was darting around the room, wings flapping as she bumped against the window and ceiling.

Ryan yawned and walked over to open the window. Sunlight poured in, bathing him in gold.

With the salty sea breeze and warmth on his cheeks, Ryan felt exceptionally good.

Except for a certain black crow, who was burrowing against his shoulder, trying to get out the window and enjoy the freedom of the sky.

He flicked Harak on the head, grabbed her, and hurled her out like a shot put.

Harak recovered at once, spread her wings, and flew excitedly toward the heights.

The food at the Automated Restaurant was the same as ever. Ryan sat in his usual spot and ate quickly, his mind full of the Wizardry Inheritance.

The prospect of High-grade Wizardry only deepened his interest as a Wizard.

Gray was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was in his room feeding his lizard, Kobik.

A graceful figure suddenly stopped in front of him. When he looked up, the first thing he saw was striking red hair, followed by a fair face touched with arrogance.

Anna said, "The Wizard Ship will reach the Umbral Wizard Academy before long. I'll give you a piece of advice as thanks for that little favor you did me the other night."

"Give up on Supernatural Nurturing wizardry," she said evenly. "Your crow hasn't grown at all, which proves you have no talent for it. Choose the Elemental Energy Series and study Particle Energy Wizardry. If you speak to Wizard Tuta, you might still have a chance to switch."

"I'm going to hold another Wizard Exchange Meeting. Of course, if you choose the Elemental Energy Series, you'll be qualified to attend."

Anna turned and left, her red hair seeming to set the air aflame as she swept away.

Ryan ate in silence, his expression unchanged.

But when the Wizard Freshmen in the Automated Restaurant turned their eyes on him, his brow creased slightly.

What he disliked most was pointless trouble like this.

There was plenty in their gazes: surprise, disapproval. It was as though a Wizard Freshman who chose Supernatural Nurturing was beneath them.

Ryan's gaze was cool, his face utterly calm. He ate his last bite, stood, and headed toward the cabins.

Back in his room, Ryan gave the incident at the restaurant no further thought. Anyone who cared so much about other people's looks and attitudes that they changed themselves had lost sight of who they were. Such a person was pitiful.

He looked at the two books on his desk and ultimately chose the Wizardry Inheritance.

When he opened it, he found draft pages covered in analyses and notes tucked between the book's pages.

Sometimes a single draft page held more writing than a page of the Legacy Wizardry Book. As he flipped onward, he found drafts throughout almost the entire book. That made this Wizardry Inheritance even more valuable.

Someone who seemed to have been a Third-level Wizard Apprentice had filled it with his own hard-won insights, experience, and annotations. Ryan would not have to repeat his mistakes, and even the difficulty of analyzing it with the Eye of Truth was greatly reduced.