Faint rays of sunset fell across the sea, glinting on the waves as Sea Beasts surfaced and sank. The evening view was beautiful, but dusk would not last.
Darkness was beginning to fall.
It was no ordinary darkness. It carried intense Particle Energy Fluctuations.
Ryan emerged from Meditation, a flash of alarm in his eyes. The particle energy he sensed utterly overwhelmed his own. Someone was casting a spell.
Outside the window, darkness as thick as black mud swallowed the light. It spread up from the depths of the sea and enveloped the Wizard Ship.
Ryan's pupils contracted. Even the hundred-meter safety zone had been swallowed.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck!" Harak gave a trembling cry inside the room, instinctive wariness in her blood-red eyes.
Through their Consciousness Imprint, Ryan understood that she had sensed a threat in the darkness. Among ordinary animals, it would be like a cat's fur standing on end or a dog baring its teeth.
Ryan sealed the door and windows, then barricaded them with every heavy object in the room.
On the boundless Endless Sea, nowhere was truly safe.
Staying in the room at least gave him the narrow space to work with, and that meant more options.
Ryan glanced at the round window. If there was no other way, he could grab the food and have Harak carry him out through it.
That had been part of his reason for choosing to raise Harak in the first place: she made up for his lack of mobility.
Leaving his safety entirely in someone else's hands would be foolish.
He stroked the back of Harak's neck, calming her agitation. His gaze darkened. Mastering Supernatural Power was what would give him the greatest confidence.
His own strength would never deceive or betray him.
"Those two idiots live on this floor, don't they?"
Arthur wore a broad smile. If Rowena had not brought them up, he might have forgotten the two of them existed.
After all, why would someone as noble as him spare any thought for two lowly freshmen?
"Thanks to you, Rowena. I remember they collected at least half a month's worth of food that day, maybe more. With that, we can hold out a good while longer."
Orson happily clapped Rowena on the shoulder. Rowena's smile was less natural.
He even felt uneasy. The thought had simply occurred to him, and he had mentioned it without thinking. He had never really intended to take their food. At least, that was what Rowena told himself.
The people in the cabin corridor suddenly stopped. They exchanged horrified looks. There was no mistaking what they had just felt: a Particle Energy Fluctuation, so powerful it seemed as deep as an abyss.
At some point, the corridor lights had begun to flicker. Farther down, darkness swallowed the passage like a vast, gaping maw.
"What's going on? And that fluctuation just now..." Rowena's mouth hung open.
Arthur and Orson said nothing. They stared at the darkness as it slowly crept toward them, almost as though it were alive.
An oppressive unease filled the corridor. They held their breath without realizing it.
Drip!
Arthur touched his cheek. His pupils shrank. Bright red blood!
A damp, salty sea breeze blew from the far end of the corridor, whipping their hair and robes backward. The three instinctively took a step back.
It carried a heavy stench of blood. Then a human head, its face twisted in agony, rolled out of the darkness.
They could barely breathe. It was a Wizard Freshman, and the wound at his neck looked as though something had bitten his head off.
Terror made their legs tremble. They could not even react.
Damn it!
What the hell is happening?
Drip!
A limb caked in seaweed, mud, and sand stepped out. Black scales covered it, and seawater mixed with blood dripped from them. When the creature emerged fully from the darkness, its body filled the entire corridor.
A Thorn Sea Beast—an amphibious creature of the Endless Sea. Its body was covered in scales that blades could scarcely damage, along with thornlike bone spurs.
But the Thorn Sea Beast before them was two to three times the size of an ordinary one, and its scales were black instead of their usual green.
Most importantly, they could sense supernatural fluctuations coming from it.
The sea atlas clearly recorded Thorn Sea Beasts as ordinary creatures.
"What the hell..." Orson stared stiffly at another Thorn Sea Beast appearing behind them.
Not far ahead, a door was smashed open. A Thorn Sea Beast dragged out a Wizard Freshman, bit through his neck, and began to feast.
It set off a chain reaction. Doors were broken down one after another, and the sounds of more Thorn Sea Beasts filled the corridor. Their low growls made the three men's scalps prickle.
The same thing was probably happening on every floor.
Finding food no longer mattered. They had to survive. A Thorn Sea Beast blocked the way behind them, while more were emerging ahead.
Arthur's eyes hardened. Without a moment's hesitation, he kicked Rowena forward and shoved Orson back.
"Arthur, you actually—"
"Arthur, why would you do this?"
Thrown off balance by Arthur's strength, the two men stumbled toward the Thorn Sea Beasts and stared at him in disbelief.
"I have the greatest talent and the highest status. I have to live. If your deaths let me survive, then dying is your duty—and your honor."
Arthur charged toward Orson, ready to escape while the Thorn Sea Beast attacked him.
"Ah!"
A shriek rang through the cabin, followed by more screams. Inside his room, Ryan's face darkened. He had heard the commotion.
So far, there had been at least twelve screams.
That meant at least twelve Wizard Freshmen were dead.
He did not yet know what was attacking the freshmen in the cabins, but for now, his room was safe.
Wariness filled Harak's eyes. She raised her wings and stared at the door.
Ryan frowned. Something was coming.
Dagger in hand, he hid in the shadows behind the door, his eyes cold.
Alert: An unknown creature has entered the five-meter detection range. Analyzing... Analysis complete. Target: Thorn Sea Beast (mutated) Details: A Sea Beast found in limited numbers in the Endless Sea. It sits at the top of the ordinary food chain. Supernatural intervention has altered its body, granting it some Supernatural Characteristics. Characteristics: Sturdy Scales, Supernatural Breath, Bone Spur Blade
It was not a true Supernatural Lifeform yet. He could handle it.
Ryan's eyes brightened, and his confidence grew.
Here it comes!
Next chapter at eleven thirty.
Before you continue