Fearful Flame: Arthur's True Colors Exposed

Chapter 21: Fearful Flame: Arthur's True Colors Exposed

Target: Fearful Flame wizardry

Information: One of the essential foundations of Legacy Wizardry, classified as Low-level Wizardry.

Details: Fire Element Particles were gathered to form highly radioactive Energy Flames. Each flame could deal devastating damage to living beings.

The Legacy Wizardry Book contained far more than Hephaestus's Wrath. It also held two Mid-level Wizardry spells and three Low-level Wizardry spells.

Ryan spent the entire afternoon immersed in studying this Supernatural Knowledge.

He did not join the Sea Beast Hunt. As for food, one trip out to sea by Harak was enough to meet his daily needs.

Wizard Knowledge held such a pull on him that he even considered shutting himself in his room indefinitely to study.

"Fearful Flame, Fire Elemental Energy Shield, Scarlet Heat."

Once he mastered the Supernatural Knowledge behind these three Low-level Wizardry spells, he could move on to Mid-level Wizardry.

Learning them step by step would be far easier than tackling a Mid-level Wizardry spell on its own.

It was like assembling a puzzle into a shape, then adding more pieces to refine what was already there.

Ryan put down the Legacy Wizardry Book without reading the Supernatural Knowledge that followed.

He had to take it one step at a time. Even the foundational Wizard Knowledge was proving difficult.

Without taking the Wizard Academy's various supernatural courses, much of the specialized material was hard to understand.

But he had another way. He rubbed his forehead to ease his fatigue, then fixed his eyes, flecked with blue light, on the Legacy Wizardry Book.

Notice: Analyzing Fearful Flame wizardry. Estimated completion time: seven days.

A week was not long. Cultivating Iron Hide Steel Claws had taken about the same amount of time.

For now, he could assume the Eye of Truth needed only seven days to analyze Low-level Wizardry.

All he had to do next was wait.

Anna shook out her damp hair and wrung out the hem of her clothes. She glanced over the Wizard Freshmen on deck, ignoring the looks cast her way.

To her surprise, she had not seen Arthur for two whole days.

Had her words hit him so hard that he no longer dared show his face?

Anna gave it little thought. All the better. She would not have that ugly, hideous face buzzing around her like a mosquito.

Still, she needed to discuss restarting the Wizard Exchange Meeting with Arthur.

Proud as she was, she would never seek him out. Give it another day or two at most, and he would come looking for her again.

She was certain of it!

That was Anna Karina's confidence in her own judgment.

She had not seen her little diversion, either. Perhaps Ryan was still hunting Sea Beasts at sea. Anna shook her head. He had not gone to Wizard Tuta to change his Beginner Wizardry. Did he still think he could complete that cultivation spell? She had made her warning clear enough. If he failed to seize the chance, he would have to bear the consequences himself.

She would not show him mercy a second time.

For some reason, Anna felt lonely. Everyone left on the Wizard Ship was a Wizard of low aptitude. Not one caught her eye. She could not even find anyone she could talk to, anyone who shared her interests.

Three days passed.

The Wizard Freshmen aboard the Wizard Ship finally noticed something was wrong.

The revival of the Wizard Exchange Meeting reminded many freshmen of the days when Arthur had held court, chatting and laughing with everyone.

When they turned their attention to him, they realized he had not shown his face for four or five days. No one had seen him at the Automated Restaurant, either.

Wizards were living beings too. They needed energy; they could not simply stop eating.

Anna was certain something had happened to Arthur.

No one answered her knock, so she kicked the door open.

A foul stench of sweat rushed out, mingled with the reek of an unflushed washroom.

Anna quickly shut the door, frowning. He was not in his room. Where else could he be?

Something must have happened to him. Most likely, he was dead.

"Troublesome. Does this mean the Wizard Exchange Meeting is off?" She needed the meeting to identify someone else who could help her. But she could not bear standing before those low-aptitude Wizards like a piece of meat on a cutting board, enduring their disgusting stares.

Worry clouded Anna's face. She went to the Automated Restaurant and told everyone about Arthur, causing quite a stir.

This was not like that night of darkness, when there had been no order and no control.

A Wizard Freshman with Top Aptitude had gone missing. Everyone needed an answer.

Wizard Tuta had established the rules. The instant Anna set one foot on the red carpet, terror flashed through her eyes. She stopped and pulled her leg back. She had sensed the threat of death.

The Wizard Freshmen who had followed her stood behind her.

Anna bowed toward the area shrouded in umbral light at the end of the red carpet. "Honored Wizard Tuta, I am Wizard Freshman Anna Karina. I have something of the utmost importance to report to you."

The Captain's Quarters had been almost completely destroyed in that battle.

A curtain of umbral light had replaced the walls and ceiling. An aged figure lay within it. As wisps of umbral light sank into Wizard Tuta's withered body, some of the foreign Radiated Energy in his wounds dissipated.

Wizard Tuta slowly opened his eyes. They had never looked so dim, so utterly drained of light and full of exhaustion.

He could not give the Wizard Freshmen outside the answer they wanted. But no one had broken the rules.

He no longer had the energy to concern himself with matters beyond his authority. Frowning slightly, he sent his Mental Fluctuation outward.

"No one has broken the rules or disturbed the order aboard the Wizard Ship."

His words were brief, but his meaning was clear.

Anna and the Wizard Freshmen present still had doubts. If no rules had been broken, how had Arthur disappeared?

The likeliest possibility was that one of their fellow passengers had killed him and thrown the body into the sea. No one would be the wiser.

But Wizard Tuta's impartiality was beyond question!

"Wizard Tuta said no one could have attacked him aboard the ship. But what if it happened off the ship?" The Newborn Wizard's words startled everyone. There were the Sea Beast Hunt periods to consider.

"Of course, Arthur had lost an arm. He could have run into a Supernatural Lifeform or a vicious Sea Beast and died while hunting."

That settled the matter.

The living had little reason to care about a dead man who could no longer offer them anything.

All they had wanted was Wizard Tuta's assurance that the rules and order still held.

As time passed, Arthur gradually faded from the Wizard Freshmen's memories.

Ryan had expected the outcome all along. The endless sea could hide a great many things.

"The seven days are finally up."

With excitement, he received the analysis of the Supernatural Knowledge behind Fearful Flame wizardry.